Fallout: Equestria - The Ranger of Seamane

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Patrol Duty
Chapter 2 - Guard Duty
Chapter 3 - Off Duty
Chapter 4 - Clean-up Duty
Chapter 5 - Woods
Chapter 6 - Fog
Chapter 7 - Wayhill
Chapter 8 - Programming
Chapter 9 - Coach Class
Chapter 10 - Toxins
Chapter 12 - Delivery
Chapter 13 - A Rocky Venture
Chapter 14 - Vipers
Chapter 15 - Hydra
Chapter 16 - Afterparty
Chapter 17 - Hoofview
Chapter 18 - Dockland
Chapter 19 - Family
Chapter 20 - Obligations
Chapter 21 - Work
Chapter 22 - The Fluttershy Medical Complex
Chapter 23 - A Gift of Kindness
Prologue: Plinking
Chapter 11 - Arrogance

Chapter 1 - Patrol Duty

“Everyone in the community needs to do their part. When we all do our part we survive. When somepony doesn’t, everypony pays for it.” - Unknown Wastelander on Settlement Survival

The sound of rain and wind greeted me as I woke up. I winced as I shifted under the rough covers and pulled my left forehoof out from under the sheets. As I turned the lamp on with my magic I grimaced at both the pain from in my leg and the sudden brightness. The dark red and white of the injury and bandages were easy to see against my raincloud grey coat. With a sigh I slid to the side of my bed and fished out the bag of first aid medical supplies I kept under my bed. They were for emergencies, or just plain old injuries like this. I cut off the old bandages, sanitized the bite wound again, and then re-wrapped myself with fresh magical bandages.

Things had been rough for decades ever since the last pony who knew how to make healing potions round here died. They had, unfortunately, not written down how to do it. With how valuable ponies were that could heal it was rare for one to travel this far. Not unless it was a case of an epidemic or a whole lot of caps. We couldn’t afford to send any of our medical staff off to hopefully learn how to do it either. Somehow writing down instructions had never worked or maybe nopony had ever tried to negotiate for them, so we had to make do with magical and mundane bandages, as well as the trickle of healing potions from inland for the worse injuries. What was going on with our medical supplies though was above my pay grade; well it had been until recently. Now that I was getting more medical training and working on a library it was starting to be something I should know about.

My stomach growled at me and I growled back at it. I knew one thing though, I needed food, even though I had gone out yesterday with dad to clear out those mole-rats. Of course that wouldn’t dismiss me from guard duty today. Today was? Right, today was dune patrol. So I wouldn’t get to sit around babying my leg. Well shit, oh well. Too late to do anything about that. I had gone into work with worse, anyways.

I willed myself out of my room. Nopony was around in our family common room and that gave me a good idea of how late it was. Given the injury and the drinks after killing the mole-rats that Dad insisted upon I wasn’t surprised, though it meant I had to cut out going by Patches to double check my leg. That also meant not doing much work in the library today. Thankfully Patches could generally handle the workload on his own and I was more just looking to have him hasten my recovery. The library was more having to go through and reshelve books and to clean up. Not that it got that messy anymore; ponies had learned to respect it a bit more in the past couple years. Ever since I started teaching foals during the winter.

Breakfast was a simple affair, pre-war canned peaches with enough preservatives to likely preserve my stomach for another two hundred years. I grumbled as I worked through my room finding my barding. It wasn’t much to talk about, some simple leather garments that were more to protect from the elements than it was from any serious attempt to harm me. Given the bite to my leg that had proven all too true. Unlike a lot of ponies who worked as town security full time I didn’t have any fancy bits of armor to strap on top of it or full suits of armor that protected from bullets. That was only for when we got to pull out the riot armor; then I had my own suit. Mainly I stuck with lighter barding because I preferred being light on my hooves. Which with dune patrol meant less sinking in sand. It also made it easier to dodge hooves and claws of things that wanted a part of me. Plus it had been a while since anypony really had seriously shot at me.

I shrugged on my barding before I headed to the marketplace with purpose. I had finally gotten enough money to buy a new gun and a few bits of other equipment.

The marketplace was, even on rainy days, abuzz with life. I noted that there were a few gryphons in town today. Not the most common of visitors, but they flew in from time to time. Generally we had one or two a year come through as a guard for some merchants. Couldn’t blame the merchants, having an eye in the sky as they cruised along the coast was a good call. I had always teased the thought that they took up residence in the coastal range because of the likely abundance of game to hunt up there. The few times I had talked to gryphons, they hadn’t been shy about their hunting prowess.

While I would have liked for new barding or boots other things took priority. My revolver was on its last legs and I needed something to replace it. I knew who to visit to get it replaced, anypony in the guard did. It was an unspoken rule we got a discount for our work, though I made a habit of not abusing it. While I eyefucked some of the weapons I settled on getting a combat knife and a nine millimeter pistol. I would have prefered to get a revolver, I always found it was more reliable for me to just dump the bullets out a cylinder and reload them with magic than manage a bunch of magazines. Plus it was always a hassle to stuff magazines full of ammo. Unfortunately today the revolvers on hoof jumped up in caliber and price respectively. That jump was just too much for me right now, so I made do with what I could get. It was better than relying on my horn and hooves for everything.

Sacrifices for keeping myself armed and not having to dip into the guard armory - if I did, then my pay would be docked. At least the guard got paid and not just given shelter and sustenance. Those were bad days when things were tight. Hopefully things didn’t get bad like that again.

Everypony had a job in Saint Clover. Generally it broke down into medical, maintenance, mercantile, or the guard. Very few just did nothing. Most who did nothing per say were busy being foals and the ponies watching over them. Those watching over foals got lumped in with medical given it was proactive work to keep foals from being hurt. It made sense at least. But my side project of starting a library and maintaining it had thrown a wrench in things. It wasn’t really an easy fit into any of them. I didn’t sell books, I bought them, I taught when I had time off. Ponies checked out books, mostly parents and maintenance. Given my off and on care of foals there had been some talk had been floated of putting me under the purview of medical, as my brother had informed me. As with all things related to foals and their care.

I checked the time on the market clock. There were a few hours before I had to report for duty so I went outside to check on the library. The rain had lightened up to a lazy mist since last night. I let out a sigh as I trotted down the gangway to the docks. There weren’t any ponies outside but I could see a few in the buildings down here. They were enjoying the fresher air while in the safety of the structures we had reclaimed.

Once to the library I went inside and checked the buckets for how the leaks were doing and swore to myself as I carried them outside to empty them. Due to the continued leaks I had gotten some fans and spark batteries to power them, so I connected the circuits for the fans as I made my rounds. I then went onto the roof to get back to patching it, again. I swore it grew new holes every week.

After two hours I was certain this time I had patched every hole and possible hole and possible possible hole. I also had coated the roof in wonderglue. If that didn’t seal the leaks then the leaks were somewhere else than the roof.

After a quick check on the books I turned the fans off and undid the spark battery clamps for them. No sense in leaving them on while I would be gone. I didn’t see any new returned books or notes for books checked out while I had been fixing the roof. I grabbed a book I recently acquired and packed it away for tonight’s patrol.

With that the library closed up for the day, not that I bothered locking it. The only thing of value were the spark batteries and I couldn’t imagine anypony taking those. Even if they did it was for the fans, so it was hopefully the end of their usefulness to me. I headed back to the restored police department: one of the first places that had been rebuilt was now where we dispatched patroles.

I pushed aside the tarp that led to the briefing room and got a nod of acknowledgement from the pony on radio duty. He was a good stallion, had been around for a good long time, wasn’t good for walking much anymore. But he still had the knack for knowing when trouble was up.

The briefing room was empty save for the two ponies who made up the rest of my squad. Ocean Spray, technically my senior, not that chain of command really existed. She was more of who to bitch at to get things moving again or who to run to when things hit the fan. From the decade of experience, it was solidly both. Her seafoam green coat was always easy to spot, though her green and light green mane fit in well with the vegetation we generally had to take cover in.

The other was my ex. Winterwatch, he was a good stallion. His coat was grey like my own, bit lighter, splotches of white mixed in like a flurry of snow. His mane was like my own it's blue color though unlike mine it was deeper in color while mine was a faded cerulean, and further unlike mine he kept his mane and tail cut short. I pulled my eyes away from his brown eyes as I moved to take a look at the map on the table.

“Looks like we’re all here. Winter, double check the packs. Moony.” Ocean turned towards me and gave me an apologetic smile. “We need to repair the radio tower, the one that the Steel Rangers messed with a while back. It’s been acting up today. “She sighed. “Again” She added apologetically. “And the lighthouse went out. Maintenance thinks the generator might have shorted out due to all the rain, so we might need to move it out of the basement and dry it out. So we are probably spending the night out there.” Ocean explained, tapping on the map of the surrounding area. What was annoying was we would have to take a boat down the river, dock, and then hoof it to the radio tower. Which meant trotting on the dunes with my injured leg. Ocean’s deep blue eyes betrayed her degree of sympathy seeing the bandages on my leg. She said nothing though.

“Looks good, hopefully we'll make good time over the dunes. Any word on how we are getting out to the island? I would rather not swim again. Last boat we had couldn’t handle those waves.” I groused as I caught my bags when Winter tossed them to me. I began to check them as he pulled out some inflatable rings to go around my legs and midsection. “I hope I’m not going to be carrying enough to warrant needing those this time around.” I said with a roll of my eyes. Winter stifled a laugh.

“Well, they said this boat is in better shape. I looked it over but, well you’re the one who knows when shit’s going to break.” Ocean replied giving me a shake of her mane before she pulled a rain slicker over her barding.

“Fair, and my mind’s primed for looking for holes so I’ll give it a look over before we hop in. Though I wish Sil was still in the guard then I’d have her take a look at it with me. Regardless, given the past two hours of what I was doing, I think I know a thing or two about getting wet, and leaking.” I snorted, Ocean looked at me embarrassed as she tugged her tail down over her rear. “Pfft, somepony is gutter minded today. I was fixing a roof.” I smirked at her embarrassment.

Winter sighed as he pulled my attention away from his mare. “Hey, Moony, lunch patrol saw tracks on the dunes on the beach side. So it isn’t all fun and games today. Was only a couple hours ago they went through. Morning patrol didn’t see any so it was between dawn and lunch.” He eyed me. I had tried my best to keep being friends with both of them. It hadn’t been easy over the past few months. Maybe that was more on my side of things than theirs. They hadn’t ever pushed me away that I could remember. Maybe I’ve just been over thinking things. But, things hurt, so maybe not. Whatever, sort this out when we’re back from patrol. It’s something to ponder upon.

Things were fine when Winter and I used to date. Then he started dating Ocean as well. I was, at first, okay with it. I knew I couldn’t fulfill all the emotional needs he had. But, then he tried to get us both in the same bed and when we tried, things just didn’t work. Since then I’d just sat off to the side of things. It was always a bit of an awkward spot between us. We had kept it all quite professionally though. I had wanted to make things work, so had Winter but, things hadn’t. It was all types of awkward and pangs of hurt and guilt for me now. Given the looks Winter gave me he felt some regret and guilt as well. Thankfully the higher ups didn’t change things because we slept together a few times. It had probably helped that we weren’t at each other’s throats. Plus we had a gap in new recruits. There was a bit of an age gap between the last batch of conscripts and the next ones. So it was a few years before we could plug any holes. Regardless of all that. I was trying to keep things as they had been before. Well, I was trying to keep the teasing to a minimum now. The teasing really was what made me most uncomfortable anymore. And that used to be the cornerstone of how things were.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I replied. With us going out on the dunes I was thankfully my barding and dark grey coat blended in pretty well with most situations. While I did carry medical supplies I didn’t carry it in a ministry of peace colored box. Plus those boxes weren’t very comfortable to carry. Those metal boxes really cut into my flanks.

“Good, the last thing we need is for our medic to get hurt.” He teased then he saw my bandaged leg and let out a sigh. “What did you do?” He asked as he put down the magazine he was reloading with a frown on his muzzle. I allowed him to inspect it as he trotted over, before I explained the source of my injury.

“Dad wanted to do some father-daughter ‘bonding’. So we found that mole rat nest last night and I got bit. It’s not infected.” I sighed as I wiggled the injured leg, wincing at the pain that caused. “But I’ve been taking care of it.” I groaned as I pulled out some tape and wrapped it to waterproof it. Winter threw me some boots and rubber socks. “Oh, that’s a better idea, thanks.”

He nodded. “Don’t need you getting sick. Or shot.” Winter said, as he gave me a smile. He slung his rifle on his back. While I got my boots and waterproof socks on. Winter returned to his seat and finished reloading his magazines with his hooves.

“Looks like that’s everything packed and we’re all geared up so let’s get going, Ocean?” I asked as I checked the strap for my pistol holster. Not wanting it to slide out and get lost, not after just buying the damn thing.

“Right, let’s move out. When we get to the dunes, Winter, take point. Moonlight, you’ll have rear guard, as usual. Let us know if you have trouble on the dunes with that leg.” Ocean Spray said as she trotted to the back door and lifted another tarp.

“Sure thing.” I replied.

Boating down the river saved us a great deal of time. Not that we could tell the time really; none of us had watches. Those were a luxury of a bygone era. The boat thankfully handled the river just fine. No leaks, no weak spots. It was as if it had rolled out a shipwright’s warehouse yesterday. After testing the motor we left it off. We would need as much power for the trip to the lighthouse and back. Instead I rowed while Ocean and Winter kept an eye on the river banks. My forelegs burned from the rowing. I could have let us drift down the river, but we had places to be in a timely manner today. Plus the current was not a very strong one.

Winter pulled us into the dock after lassoing the post. Once we were tied up we took the oars with us and the battery for the motor. No sense in leaving it here where either could get damaged or washed away. Or stolen by whoever was out here. If they were still out here. My gut told me nothing was amiss though so I just relaxed and focused on what was coming next. Winter took the lead, finding where to step in the unstable sand dunes. He was a good pathfinder, always had been.

The soft mist had continued as we trotted along the sand. I could see the radio tower, it was a damned rusted spike of metal stuck into the ground. I had worked on the damn thing several times over the past few months. Whatever the Steel Rangers had done had damaged it which was what kept us coming out every couple months to fix one thing or another. Maybe I should just fucking rebuild the whole thing. Ugh, no, find everything that I can and fix it. We have another job today. I’ll put in a request to have the damn thing rebuilt when I got home.

“I fucking hope I don’t have to climb this damn thing again.” I groused behind the other two.

“Given how badly you did last time?” Ocean sighed. “Then again it was coated in moss. You do remember to clear that off first before grasping a rung, right?”

I let out a groan as I remembered that fall. I had spent a month on painkillers while my back had healed. At least then it hadn’t rained recently so the sand was softer. “We’ll let’s get there and see what’s wrong.”

Once at the radio tower I began to check everything from top to bottom. Well of what I could reach without climbing first. Grumbling escaped my lips as I found more spots where the Steel Ranger scribes had done a rough job splicing their electronics into the system. They had no care of how they did their job, it was just a wastelander’s radio tower. They only needed it for a short time to coordinate their attack. Just to expand their network from wherever they had been hiding at before. Bastards.

The various patchwork jobs had been left to the elements in a number of places. It took over an hour to find every last damn spot they had spliced some damn thing into. I even then found new devices that were still active. Though the build up of moss suggested they were from when the Steel Rangers first came out here. I cut everything out that was damaged or not ours. The tape came out as I resealed wires. A few times I dug my head out of the wirebox I saw Ocean and Winter turning away. They had been keeping track of how many times I cursed so far with lines in the sand. I gave them an eyeroll and tail flick for emphasis.The tail flick didn’t get the response I expected but I ignored the two lovebirds. I had work to do.

A bit of singed fur, some shocks, a couple of cuts, plus a mental note to get another shot for tetanus when I got back later and it was done.

“Done, fucking finally.” I swore as I wiped my forehead. “Now then, how does the sea look?”

“As smooth as it’s going to get. I’m just glad we aren’t having to haul a new generator out to the lighthouse tonight.” Ocean replied.

“If we’re unlucky we’ll have to tomorrow.” I groused. “Sorry, just, I’m a bit frustrated is all. If you couldn’t tell by the swearing earlier.”

“What swearing.” Winter snorted as he wiped away the tally marks with his tail before I could count them. I put away my tools and zipped up the duffel bag. With the scrap I pulled out I didn’t have the space in my saddlebags. “Looking at the sky, I don’t think we’ll be getting home tonight. Alright, let’s get the boat and go hit the lighthouse before it gets dark. I don’t want to try to navigate the ocean by hornlight.” I stated as I held a hoof over my eyes. I couldn’t see any squalls moving in at the moment. But, having lived by the sea all my life, I knew that the weather could change in minutes, and the sea even faster.

It didn’t take as long to get back to the boat since our tracks marked the fastest way back. With the battery plugged back in and the motor running, Winter and Ocean laid down in the boat. They were my eyes for any hostiles while I kept my focus on piloting us safely. Before we got to the mouth of the river I tied us all down, no sense in going out to sea and having the surf toss us or our belongings into the ocean. With my hoof on the motor handle, I guided us out the gentle river as the sound of crashing waves on the beaches around us greeted us. As I had expected and worried the surf had gotten rough already. One hell of a day for a cruise in a glorified lifeboat.

The surf made it slow going for the first hundred feet off shore. Then we got to the open ocean and the waves got a bit more manageable; though the swells were scary they weren’t cresting and dumping water on us anymore. Though we were soaked, I was glad we strapped ourselves and our bags to the beams of the boat. Rough seas continued for the rest of the trip out to the lighthouse. At times I had to take long parallel paths to the coast to avoid us capsizing just to wait for a swell to lower so we could sail over it.

When we got to the lighthouse the sun had begun to set on the horizon. The red orange hued clouds hid the sun as the storm continued to lay on us. I had hoped it would break so I could get a nice view of the sunset tonight. It had been a while since I had been outside when the clouds were thin enough to catch a sunset. Longer since I had been out to sea and seen one. A long time...

My focus turned to getting us docked. With how rough the surf was it was a small miracle we managed to get close to the island in the first place. I got us close then used my magic to secure the boat with rope to the dock posts. Once secured we pulled ourselves in and used the posts on either side to hoist the boat secure from the water.

“Good piloting, Moony.” Winter said as he untied our bags. Ocean hopped onto the dock as I took the battery out of the outboard motor.

“Thanks, I just hope the sea is softer tomorrow. I don’t want to imagine trying to sail through worse than that.” I frowned as Winter and Ocean went towards the lighthouse and I looked towards where the clouds were coming from. “Hey, Winter, once you get that stuff in I want to get the boat in the storage house.” He looked at me a bit worried. “Call it a feeling.”

“Well, your gut has saved us a few times.” He replied. It had; it had saved us from an ambush before. While it had saved me from being shot in the head before I still ended up taking the round to the chest. My barding didn’t do me much good in that case as the bullet had punched clean through me. Still a bullet through my chest had been better than through my head. Typically don’t survive being shot in the head.

While I waited for Winter to return, I stayed with the boat and scanned the clouds. I could feel that the pressure was dropping again and that the wind was starting to pick up. Thankfully the buildings out here were built to last. Both buildings were pre-war, barely even Equestrian era architecture. At some point ponies before the war had fit it with an automatic light system. Which made it so nopony had to live out here and pour oil into a fire, or burn wood. When Winter came back out we carried the boat to the storage building that sat separate from the home-lighthouse combo.

The lights in the inside of the lighthouse were on so the generator was working. Ocean had set out our supplies and had gotten a fire started while I had been outside waiting. Part of me wondered if that was what took so long for Winter to come back out. That didn’t matter now, I needed to focus on figuring out why the lighthouse beacon was out. As I trotted in from the front room I felt and heard the waves outside pummeling the island again. Not just the sound reverberated but the impact. Nothing fell down though, and with how long this place had stood, I doubted tonight would be any different.

With a frown I decided to start at the top. Things down here were working, so it only seemed logical to start where things weren’t working, the beacon. At the top I could see out over the ocean. I smell the surf, and hear the crash of waves clearer. What little reprieve we had getting here was truly over as I could see a low wall of clouds coming in with a squall. I cursed my luck as I got to work, checking the components of the light itself.

The howl of the wind grew, the hiss of the rain ever present on the glass around me. After the exterior door got blown open and hit my rear I latched the door to the outside closed. The lock was sturdier than the regular door latch. I could hear and feel each wave as it hit the island making the building shake, more than when I had walked in. It was probably going to make sleeping a bit of a pain tonight. All in all it made it rather difficult to focus as I worked. I had found several flaws. This was a case of ad hoc repair after ad hoc repair over centuries. I pulled out a small lantern and hung it on a nail sticking out of the wall behind me as the night overtook twilight.

As I continued to work the evening away my stomach growled at me. I could smell whatever those two were cooking below me. As I tried to rush through one last repair I muttered to myself. However that led to another set of repairs, and then another. After a few minutes I gave up on it all. I know that I can’t focus while I’m hungry, why am I even bothering trying to? I knew my temper was getting the better of me, my hunger was causing a lack of focus. My continued push to fix the beacon before getting food, or at least wrap up one last chain of repairs was just an exercise in frustration. A break and some food would do me good.

Once I was most of the way down the stairwell I could see the two were busy entertaining one another. Without a word I continued on to the dining room, rolling my eyes at the two. At least they had been polite enough to not do it in the same room as the food this time. I swear they’re trying for a foal. Then again, none of us are getting any younger… I dismissed the thought with a shake of my head and focused on the food. With a bowl of soup, I made my way back up but paused when I noticed water at the bottom of the stairs leading to the generator. I felt my eye twitch. I mentally groused and fumed at my friends busy doing other things when there was work to be done. I let out a breath as I tried to ease my mood. I was just frustrated and exhausted. But here I was the technician here, doing all the work and they were off having fun. Then again they were the… Guns? Guards? Meatshields? Whatever. Let’s just focus on eating and work, instead of this.

As the bowl of soup cooled next to me on the grated floor I took a minute to relax and let my mind wander away from work. Then it hit me: when in Tartarus did either of them had time to make soup from? Downstairs I hadn’t seen any pre-war soup cans. Unless they had prepared it earlier today. Of course Winter would have, come to think of it. He did enjoy cooking. Bitterness tried to take root but I bit it back and instead enjoyed a bite of the soup. It made me tear up a little, an old favorite of mine that Winter had introduced me to, broccoli and cheese. Melancholy washed over whatever else I was feeling and I let the emotion sit. I had to acknowledge it first and let it flow through me before I could turn my focus back to work.

I had gotten most of the way through clearing out the ad hoc repairs and properly repairing the light by my guess though that was mostly based on how much material I had replaced within the circuits. Honestly I was practically rebuilding it. With the familiarity of the soup and the melancholic feeling slipping out of me I felt good enough to continue once more on my work. However, misfortune struck soon after when I tested the beacon itself. I had hooked a battery directly to it and bridged the circuit with my magic so I could break it if need be in an instant. When the light turned on I realized the mistake as I was blinded. Part of me had forgotten that to be seen at substantial distances the beacon had to be excessively powerful. My vision went from white to a giant blob of green, orange, and blue as I rubbed my temples with a hoof.

Ocean called up, probably from having seen the light flash on for a moment. “Is everything alright?”

“Mostly. I just flashed myself.” I answered as my head tensed up. “Just need to find what other issues exist. Then check the power lines.”

“So it wasn’t lightning we saw?” Ocean asked, thankfully she didn’t decide to ask how I managed to flash myself.

“No, not unless you see more flashes. Can you two check on what’s up with the basement? I saw some standing water on the steps down to it” I called down.

“Alright, we’ll check on it in a bit.” Ocean shouted back up to me.

While I waited for the jellybean of doom to go away I laid down and closed my eyes. There wasn’t much I could do while being blind. After a few minutes I could see once again.

“Okay, the light works. Check the last few bits.” I said to myself. With the last bit of soup I took some painkillers. They wouldn’t work immediately but it would help with the oncoming headache. The tension in my head was already mounting, it wouldn’t be long until it peaked.

The last few repairs only took a few more minutes once my vision had cleared. With that down I went down the steps with my tools. When I got to the bottom I found Ocean and Winter were still eating. A moment of debate and I decided on seconds of the soup before I continued to work. It would also let the painkillers have more time to kick in.

“Well is it fixed? Wait, why isn't the light on?” Ocean asked as I sat down.

“Well, the circuit for the light is. I think there might be some issues with the line up. The cable up along the stairwell is fine.” I explained as I had some more soup. I could feel as my headache started to ease with the noise of creaking wood. “Have you two taken a look in the basement yet?”

“Yeah, there’s a bit of water. We should drain it before we head out. And probably move the generator to a higher place. Hopefully that will keep us from having to come out here again for a while. I think your suspicion about the cable in the basement is right. Though we didn’t get shocked down there.” Winter said before he tapped his chin with his spoon.

“I mean I doubt you would have unless you stepped directly on the broken wire. Even then the fuse box probably shut off the line when it broke. Anyways, when we're done with dinner can you two help me with getting the hose out the front door so we can pump the water out?” I asked. “Once that’s done I’ll look at moving the generator. Might be a pain to rewire the place.”

“Sure.” Ocean replied.

Once we were done the three of us went down to the basement. Winter wasn’t kidding about the water. I halted the other two from joining me in the basement.

“No need for all of us to get our hooves wet.” I said, then I snorted. “I have the waterproof socks and rubber boots on already.”

“Good point.” Winter smirked. “The hose should be on that wall. Can you get it to us? We'll run it outside for you.”

The hose and the box it was housed in were obvious, I nodded to Winter. Mercifully Time had spared it. I levitated out the hose to Winter and dropped it around his neck. He trotted off with Ocean. Returning to my work I found the fuse box and began to check it. As I had suspected the light fuse had been tripped at some point. I traced the lines out of the box into the water. The water itself was too dirty to get a good look at what was under the surface. I went back to the pump preparing to wait for my companions return. Which timed out right as Ocean returned and gave me the nod. I flipped the switch and the pump began to do its job.

Down here I could hear the deep rumble of waves as they hit the island. It gave me a troubling idea of where the water had come from. While the water drained I checked around the room for any cracks in the foundation.

Over the loud noise of the pump Winter called out. “Need us for anything while the pump goes?”

“No, I’m just going to check for any leaks. Hey, is it still raining outside?” I asked.

“Yeah, getting heavier again too.” Winter called over the pump.

“Could you check two check for any leaks in the rest of the house? And if there aren’t any, well, I’ll figure something out.” I sighed. “Two hundred years of haphazardly done maintenance has left me with the short straw tonight.” I muttered to myself.

Winter and Ocean headed back up the stairs. I was glad at least the pump was able to drain the basement faster than whatever had flooded it. I brushed my dark and light blue mane out of my eyes and made a mental note to get it trimmed. The ambient moisture plus getting soaked on the ride to the lighthouse had left it limp and getting in my eyes. Not that the cruise out here hadn’t soaked it already. While I didn’t mind it long in the back, it quickly grew to be a hassle when it got long in the front.

Once the water was low enough I found the break in the line and was glad I had the hoof protection on. The rubber boots prevented any possible shocks I could have gotten. Though I still doubted the water with all the crud in it was less conductive than my hoof. I turned the pump off and waited to see if water suddenly refilled the room. When I wasn’t suddenly back up to my belly in water I let out a sigh of relief. At least it wasn’t a large crack flooding the basement.

“Alright, I need to turn the generator off so I can fix this and possibly not fry myself. Yes, I know, magic means I don’t have to touch anything but I ain’t leaving shit to chance.” I called out to the other two.

“Thanks for the warning!” Ocean called back.

With the generator now off the whole place went dark. Only the sounds of the storm and surf outside kept us company. A few wires were well on their way to being entirely eaten away by the salt water. One was entirely corroded away where the wire jacketing was gone. It was an easy bet that, that was the one for the lighthouse beacon. While having to do everything by hoof while lighting the room with my horn made it take longer it was far safer than doing this with live wires. I wasn’t about to let my magic act as a possible conduit of rogue electricity nor was I in the mood to play “which switch controls which wire?” tonight.

I wished I had a watch to know how long I had spent fixing the damn lighthouse. Moreso I wished I was paid by the hour instead of a stipend. Given we had left in the afternoon and the sun had long set since we were definitely out here a while. Without any of the clocks that were around us in Saint Clover it was up to our feelings of hunger and need for sleep to tell us what time it was. Even without the the ever-present cloud cover, the sun and moon hadn’t been reliable for two centuries since they were let loose of their equine masters.

Regardless, the job was finally done. After I did a quick test run of the generator to confirm the lights and beacon worked before giving a sigh of relief. With that done I turned everything off and, with my companions help we moved the generator, fusebox, and rewired what was required. My job was done, finally. Now I just needed to keep an eye on things over night. If by morning nothing further had broken we could go home. Of course that was if the waters weren’t murderous.

I fetched my lantern from the kitchen table and got ready for bed. Since I was going hen, I got the sofa next to the front door. It would have gave me a nice view of shore if it had been daytime, but at least the windows let through the sound of the ocean at night. Of what little comfort that was tonight with the storm raging outside. The lovers got the old bedroom which was separated from me by a storage room, a guest room, and two full bathrooms. I was thankful for the thick walls though given how well I could hear the outside, it would have been nice to be in the guest room. Oh well, I’ll take the sound of the sea over anything provoking bad memories.

Winter trotted in as I finished checking the dressing on my bite. “Hey, you holding up alright?” He asked sitting down on the sofa next to me.

I looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “This was a lot more work than I expected.” I said before I took a swig of water we had brought with us. “Still regretting yesterday though. I’m just glad I didn’t get a hangover on top of the bite. Guess a decade of experience drinking means I know how to hold a buzz and not give myself a whammy in the morning.” I smirked as I pulled out some water, the thought of last night's drinking reminded me that I hadn’t had any water in a while.

“You seem to be getting around just fine. Well, okay, a little bit slower but alright.” He said, as he gave me a gentle tap to the shoulder. I winced a little as I looked back at my foreleg. “Have you taken any painkillers?”

“Yeah, after I blinded myself testing the beacon. Still keep to the philosophy of only using them when I need to.” I said as I looked up at him from my foreleg. We were about the same height and build. Which was nothing to really write home about. Shorter than textbooks said we should be for adults but so was everypony was thanks to the malnutrition in the wasteland. At least we could grow crops around town part of the year in addition to what we could trade for with the prepper communities up and down the coast. That helped things from being worse than they were. So we were only a half hoof or hoof shorter than we ought to have been. It wasn’t that bad, it was well within the margins of average ponies back then. We were just the new average. The Princesses really would dwarf us. Heh, would be hard to tell if statues were slightly exaggerating or not if I ever saw one.

“Good, and looks like the socks did their job at keeping it dry. How deep did that rat get ya’?” He asked. I rolled my eyes and leaned against him. It felt right, and I did it out of habit. He was still my friend, even if sometimes things got awkward between us. Right now though, things felt okay, and I wanted to hold onto that as long as I could. I missed being friends with my friends.

“Well it didn’t hit bone, little fucker took too much of my hoof into its throat to do that. Hurts to bend it too far so I’d say the muscle is a bit messed up. I was going to hit up Patches to maybe buy a healing potion. I wouldn’t ask him to give one to me for free. Got it all stitched up though.” I explained, running down my triage from last night and self examination follow up this morning.

He chuckled. “Bit pincher.” He teased me as he used his hooves to braid my mane. It had been a while since he had done this, not since we had stopped dating. Let’s not think about that, just enjoy somepony touching me again. It had been too long since I got some physical affection. Or… was I reading him wrong?

Stop thinking.

“So, any reason as to why you’re being sweet on me?” I asked and he stopped braiding my mane. “I didn’t say to stop.” I snorted. He soon resumed braiding my mane. I had to admire his dexterity. Dad had taught me to work and fight with my hooves and mouth, but, compared to Winter, I was a foal.

“Ocean’s already out cold. I’m a bit too wired right now to sleep right now.” He admitted. “So I thought maybe we could catch up. Something we haven’t really done in a while... Not for the past few months at least. I… Kinda want to change that.”

I let out a sigh as my hooves dangled off the side of the sofa. “Well, I mean we have our own lives now. You and Ocean love cooking so you do a lot of the meal prep for the guard these days. I kinda just went my own way.” I said as I wiggled my hooves, and completely failed to resist the urge to shake my mane. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to mess up your work on my mane…”

“No worries, de-, Moony.” He caught himself. I felt myself wince at the words as well but I tried to hide it and moved on to another topic.

“At least the library roof should be fixed for the winter. I swear if I find it leaking again somepony is shooting holes in it.” I groused. “I replaced the whole thing over the past month and sealed it today with wonderglue. If that doesn’t keep the water out I don’t know if anything will.”

“At that point it’s probably not the roof.” He helpfully pointed out. That smirk of his was infectious.

I rolled my eyes and smiled in return as I put memories away of how I fell for the buck in the first place. “I know, I figured that one out for myself already. But, we won’t know until I get to check again. But, it’s just been annoying to deal with so constantly.”

The gale and rain against the windows with the crash of waves filled the silence between us as we sat on the sofa. Winter working his hooves on my mane to braid the wavy mass. I didn’t really have much to offer in the way of conversation and he seemed perfectly content with continuing to braid my mane. It was a relief to not have to talk about something. Maybe neither of us wanted to dig up old painful things. Thankfully I didn’t have to worry about him wanting to do that tonight given his earlier engagement with Ocean. Not that I had any mood for that. I hadn’t since we had broken up. It almost felt like a part of me died because of it, like I had finally grown past that phase of my life. In a way it had felt oddly liberating.

At some point we had fallen asleep. He was lying on me, like the good old times. His head on my neck, my chin on his forehead as my forelegs wrapped around his shoulders. I blinked as I tried to discern what had awoken me. The wind was still clawing at the old timeworn stones of the house. The rain I could hear pelting the roof and windows. The waves crashed against the island, unrelenting as ever. I tried to put it out of my mind. I nestled my face back into Winter’s mane and enjoyed his company. I left an eye open though, my gut told me to, just to leave it open until sleep conquered me once more. As the beacon’s beam swept across the island, I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye.

It’s probably just the boathouse door open in the wind, nothing to worry about. We have the boat properly secured, and we have a radio incase we need to have somepony come out and get us. So nothing to fret about right now. I’ll check on it in the morning when Winter’s awake. I reasoned to myself.

The beacon light went by again and I saw something equine. I caught the shadow’s gaze before a crest of water interrupted the brief connection. I heard Ocean’s snoring over the weather in the other room. Winter’s weight was still pressed against me, his scent in my nostrils. We were all accounted for.

This far out to sea and with how steep the sides of the island were it wasn’t a mirelurk or their ocean dwelling relatives. Not unless the waves had thrown it onto the island but it didn’t have a shell shape to it… Given the equine silhouette of the head I doubted it was a dolphin, not that they came this far north. A seal would make sense as we’re in the right area, except for the equine head, but this was shadows I was dealing with. Then again it was getting late in the year for one to still be this far north. Maybe I was just imagining it?

I gently used my magic to hold Winter in place as I got up then tucked a pillow in his forelegs for him to cuddle in my place as I went to the window. The beacon passed again and I saw the shade once more, our gazes connected once again; recognition formed in my mind and it’s. My instinct to go for my gun sparked and - a light pop filled the air as the green of my magic briefly flashed and then died before the spell’s concept even took form.

Something was wrong with this picture but I couldn’t put my hoof on it. The storm had let up so I could go out there and check if I wanted. I was armed and it was doubtful anything dangerous was out here. Anything my pistol and horn handle that is. Yeah, let’s get to go for a stroll. Make certain the storm hasn’t blown the boat away. Or maybe pirates. Though if it was pirates I would have seen a boat moored up somewhere. Whatever, the storm’s moved on, we’re up, let’s go check on the boat.

I went out the door and trotted towards the boatshed. So I trotted the wet path towards the boatshed making my hooves get wet from the water that had built up from the rain and surf. As I went I lit my horn so I could have a constant light in the night; relying solely on the beacon’s beam would be a game of stop and go. When I got to the boat house my eyes caught on a figure curled up inside. I moved inside to assess the situation.

Closer to the mare my horn light washed over her I could see numerous fresh injuries across her body. The obvious ones injures were the fresh cuts across her hide, bleeding as she lay breathing. She was a fortunate one to have landed out here tonight of all nights. As I approached the lack of reaction from her told me she was out cold. I quickly began to triage her, beyond the cuts from the rocks around the island I could see the obvious cuts from mirelurk claws as well as a few bullet wounds. I needed to get her back to the house so I could use my medical supplies on her.

Her appearing here though was curious but the claw marks and bullet wounds gave me an idea of how. She likely had been attacked at some point by raiders and mirelurks and ended up in the ocean. Given how far out we were and the stormy weather a rip current pulled her out to sea. Given she was breathing fine she hadn’t drowned so I imagined she saw the lighthouse and swam for it not knowing how perilous the approach was. That accounted for all of her injuries, even the one right under her horn, looked like a bullet grazed her there as somepony tried to neuter her magical abilities. She was going to require a lot of time to make certain I had treated every wound and stitched her up. Having been in the ocean for as long as she had been she’d need some antibiotics as well she’d be at high risk of infection.

My magic wrapped around her and helped me lift her enough to get my head under her. With her on my back I trotted back towards the house. All of the sudden the front door was flailing wildly in the wind, the rain stung as it was propelled by the gale force winds, the surf crashed over the island again. The force of it all made me brace myself against the boathouse as I held the pony against my back with my magic.

“Wait, what the fuck?” I yelled to myself. My words were stolen away from the ears of any others by the wind. I shook my head and broke into a canter to get back to the house.

As I entered the house again I pulled the door closed with my magic and made certain it latched. When I did the lights came on and I felt the front room table hit my forelegs. The pain made me yelp as I collapsed onto the floor. The cold press of a gunbarrel greeted me as throats were cleared.

Through tear filled eyes as I bit back the pain I looked up through the half blinding light to see Ocean standing two lengths back with her battle saddle. Her twin sub machine guns aimed at me and the pony I had found. I turned to see Winter with his rifle in his battle saddle aimed at me. I let out a whimper of pain and a bit of fear.

“Okay, what the fuck is going on, Moonlight?” Demanded Ocean.

Yeah I’d like to know that too. Who is she and how the fuck did she get out here? Were my first thoughts on the situation. Then again I had gotten a good look when I found her, but she wasn’t in any condition for questions. Of course when I had found her out there my mind had shifted into a quick triage and rescue rather than playing twenty questions with a pony who was in dire need of my help.

“Good question.” I replied which got a bullet to go high over me. “Okay, fuck off, Ocean.” I hissed in return.

“You just went out into a storm and picked up a random mare covered in injuries and want me to ignore that?” Ocean asked.

I eyed her. “List-” I stopped myself short. It wouldn't help to antagonize my friend and ‘senior’. No, think, like we always do. Stop and analyze the situation, then act.

“That’s more like you.” Ocean said, her stance looking more relaxed.

More like me? What, you don’t think I’d drag some bleeding half drown pony in the middle of a storm? I’d want someone to do that for me.

“I don’t like this, how did she get here?” Winter asked as he looked over the mare on my back whose blood was definitely soaking into my fur. “Some of these are gunshot wounds. Some of the gashes are… probably from the rocks around us.”

“Well, we can ask her if you let me do my job. We all know corpses aren’t that good at giving answers.” I muttered, I looked at my hooves and groaned. I hadn’t thought to rebind my leg in tape so the water had soaked the bandages. The wound itself had reopened to boot and dark splotches were forming on the bandages. “You do yours and make certain she doesn’t do anything?” I offered. Ocean thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Okay, Winter, put her on the table. Then, I’m going to get up. So please don’t fucking shoot me. I don’t need to treat more wounds tonight,” I groaned as I slowly rose. “Ugh, and remind me to clean my leg again. It got wet and started to bleed again.”

“Once you stabilize her.” Winter ordered. I grunted in return. That probably wasn’t the wisest order of operations but, it was the one I was being given. Winter placed our mystery mare on the table and dumped my bags next to me.

So much for trying to get things back to normal.

Thankfully my medical supplies were already in the same room since I had been sleeping here. I was a little worried by Ocean’s jumpiness that she’d still shoot me. More so when she figured out Winter had slept on the sofa with me. I stuffed thoughts away while I focused on the task at hoof. Whatever the case I was going to be expending a lot of supplies.

I paused. “Did the storm stop at all while I was out there?”

“No, no it didn’t.” Winter said with concern.

“Uh… Okay. Well I didn’t see her horn glowing at any point... Something came over me that made me ignore mortal danger and not even perceive the storm while I went and picked her up. Though that went away right around when I heard the front door slamming against the house which was after I picked her up.” I explained as I broke out the medical supplies and began to clean up Mystery Mare’s wounds. I kept to myself things that didn't add up with my memories. I didn’t need to frighten the two any more than they were already. I’d leave sorting out my memories for when we got to shore, and let a fellow hornhead check me out and make certain I was okay.

“Huh, no cutiemark. Well that’s not that strange.” I noted.

“What do you mean came over you?” Ocean said, I could feel her aim move to rest on my head again. At least it wasn’t on my patient. Sometimes I regretted believing so deeply in that damn oath.

“As in, I woke up and saw something outside. During the next pass of the beacon I caught her gaze while at the window and my first reaction was to-” I paused as my memory felt fuzzy. Yeah, getting somepony to check my head out is moving up that priority list now. “To go out to see what was out there. About then I stopped perceiving the storm I think.” I explained as I rolled the mare’s head over checking for any further cuts to her face. She was nicer looking that I would have expected for something the ocean spat out. Healthier too; no sign of parasites, teeth were fine too.

I opened her eyelids to check her eyes and their reaction to light. She had a concussion but she wasn’t waking so I nixed the idea of any painkillers or a healing potion. I refused to use those unless I had first talked to a patient while they were awake. Unfortunately that meant I would be stitching her up once I checked her wounds to make certain nothing was left in her. Thankfully that was something I was well familiar with by now. Something gnawed at me that I was missing something as I worked her over.

“So that’s why you went out without waking me?” Winter asked. I winced a little. Now Ocean was probably going to figure out he had slept on the sofa with me. She wasn’t dumb, though maybe she’d file it away for something to pester us about later when things weren’t so dire. Or she’d just shoot me, probably in the flank. Again. Not like she hadn’t done that before, thankfully those times were by accident.

“Yeah, logically I would have woken you up to cover me. Or at least had held a rope while I went out to retrieve whoever was out there.” I explained. I might as well admit that he had been sleeping with me; my grave is already being dug, might as well finish digging it. “I don’t like this, I feel like my mind is working against itself.” So much for keeping that part quiet until we hit the shore? Oh well, I don’t like lying to my friends anyways.

Ocean thankfully didn’t press the whole wake him up part. Guess she wasn’t being bothered by that. Maybe it was only my stupid ass that was still bothered by it. Had she sent him to go sleep with me? Asked him to give it another shot to try to smooth things over with our friendship? Ugh, too much to think about right now, let’s just sew this pony closed first. Is that a fin? Whatever, I can give her a physical later.

I put all of it out of my head. Ponies had weird biology at times. Two hundred years almost after the bombs had fallen who fucking knew what weird mutations you’d find when working on a new patient. If she had an errant fin, whatever, that was pretty good for what could happen. By Tartarus as far as I knew she had gills and that was how she managed not to drown this far out. I paused and checked that she was still breathing. Probably should have done that sooner.

“Okay, right, she’s still breathing. No need to clear her lungs or do mouth to mouth.” I commented to myself. Why do I feel their eyes on me like that? I ignored the sensation and returned to focusing on the mare. I wanted to give her a painkiller before I began to dig around inside of her but, she was still out cold. So instead I started to use the detect spell Patches had shown me to triage patients. It was a flexible spell, it was even better when you were able to do multiple spells at once. Right now though I just needed to triage this mare.

I strained my magic once I found she had no internal injuries that required a healing potion. She was bruised, battered, and had a few broken bones, but those could wait until we got to shore. Nothing immediately life threatening. If we couldn’t get to shore tomorrow I’d set the bones myself.

Straining myself again, and thankful for all the practice Patches made me do to get to this point I used the detect spell and my telekinesis to clear the bullets, rocks, and bits of shell stuck in her hide before finishing my work.

“Well, I think she’s stable for now. Somepony needs to keep watch over her until we can get in the boat and head back.” I said as I wiped the blood off my hooves onto the bottom of my chest, one of the few non-bloody areas left on me. “Ugh I feel gross.”

“You look like a raider.” Winter stated as he put his battle saddle against the wall.

“Smells like one too. Well also like fish? Was that mare rolling in fish before she came out here?” Ocean said as she fanned her nose.

“I mean, she did just get out of the ocean, so, yes in a way?” I offered with an upturned forehoof.

“Well tend to your bite and… right the water doesn’t work here anymore. Uh,” Winter paused as he regarded the sofa we had shared. “Yeah you’re going to sleep on the floor. Sorry Moony.”

“Ah… Yes, the comforting stone floor.” I sighed, the weather outside wasn’t any better for the moment. “If it was easing off out there I’d just dip outside and take a shower.”

“With a rope around you.” Ocean added.

“With a rope around me.” I nodded. “Preferably the stomach.”

“Speaking of rope.” Ocean said. I felt very confused.

“Um, excuse me, really?” I said cutting her off before she could continue. “Time and a place?”

Ocean’s brain seemed to hit a critical error and failed to process anything for a minute while Winter guffawed. She did recover a moment later, shaking her mane out of her face and glaring at me. I could see the hue under her coat had changed. It had been a while since I had seen her flustered. It was nice, even humorous. Though I still didn’t have my answer.

“No, ugh.” Ocean sighed as she sounded defeated. “Well. Okay, yes. Gag and rope.” She said as she dug out some cloth from her saddlebags. I looked at Winter and he was trying to play innocent in the whole thing. “It’s a rag, not an actual gag. Like I’d be dumb enough to bring one with me.”

Perverts and gutterminds, the lot of us. At least she had plausible deniability with the rope though a rag was reasonable, at least she could just laugh it off if anyone inquired. Who doesn’t need a rag close at hoof in the wasteland.

“Okay, use your words since you are so excited to prevent someone else from using theirs.” I said looking at her. The interrupted sleep was starting to bite me on the rump but, I wanted to be defiant even as I stifled a yawn.

“We don’t know who she is, and you got put under a spell with her being the only possible caster we can find.” Ocean explained.

I frowned for a moment and gave it some consideration. Unfortunately, I agreed with her points. “Okay, that makes sense. We don’t want her to be capable of affecting us again.” I agreed. She pulled out another rope and tossed it to Winter. “Uh?”

“We don’t know what all her magic did to you.” Ocean explained further.

“Right. I could be compromised.” I replied as I levitated a rag out and started to wipe myself down. I tried to also disconnect the ammo feed on Ocean’s guns. I was getting the hang of doing two spells at once but in close proximity this was a bit trickier. It was more to keep her from accidentally shooting me now since she was smart enough to check her guns in the morning before we left so I doubted it would bite me in the ass. “I get where you’re coming from but I feel you’re overreacting. I’m also wondering who’s going to pilot the boat back.” I said as I saw the feeds disconnect.

“Winter can do it.” Ocean said as she trotted up to me. “Winter, make certain our uninvited guest won’t be moving, nor see, or say anything. You know better than I do on how to restrain a unicorn mare.”

Oh yes, bring that up while going to do this to me. Then again I wasn’t hostile, just antagonistic at times because I was a bit of a bitter bitch.

Poke the bull and you get the horns, after all.

“Ocean, one thing though.” I said. She paused as we were muzzle to muzzle almost. “Maybe we should start packing cuffs and what not just in case? Because this is what, the fourth pony we have had to take back to town this year? It will be easier if the next one isn’t hogtied and we can have them walk with us instead of carrying them.”

She looked as if she had expected something else but she just smirked. “You aren’t wrong and thank you for not making this any harder.”

“I mean-” I got a gag to my mouth and I glared at her. She had not made any comment about silencing me.

“You know how I feel when you talk too much.” She said dryly looking at me. I winced as she put a hoof on my horn. She held it there while Winter dealt with our guest, once he was done with her it was my turn. He made certain to put the waterproof sock on first over my wound after treating it. Overall he was gentler than Ocean would have been, and showed he still had my well-being as well as our safety at the center of his concerns. Oddly this was one of the few situations we had ever had where those two had come into any degree of conflict.

Morning came with the subtlety of a prod to my flank. I opened an eye to see Winter. He offered me a spoon of soup. One thing Ocean forgot was that, other than myself, we lacked a way to counter other unicorns so I just removed the gag from myself. Winter found it funny that I could have escaped if I wanted to and even more humorous when I allowed him to spoon feed me instead of using my magic.

“Guess you still like how I tie you up.” He teased, but I didn’t dignify it with an answer. “Well the weather is a bit better. I should be able to get us back. Honestly I don’t think you should be tied up, but. Well…” He trailed off. I couldn’t blame him though.

Getting on the bad side of our senior who was also his marefriend would have been a sticky place for him. More so since they lived together. I knew how Ocean could get once she had her mind made up. Things just had to end up being the way she thought they had to be done. I was prone to that issue at times too. While I didn’t envy his position I could still sympathize with him so I gave him nod of acknowledgement followed by a roll of my eyes.

“Yeah I know.” He smiled and ruffled the mane around my horn.

With the sun up, Ocean and Winter got the boat out. The seas had calmed down a bit more after sunrise and with the storm calmed down, we had a good moment to get away from the lighthouse without risking the boat. I was loaded into the boat first, followed by our gear, and then Mystery Mare. All of us were tied to the boat’s seats and we were off. I was thankful that I had packed up all my tools the night before. I didn’t want to think about losing them due to the rush to get out the door while the weather held.

The ride in was uncomfortable thanks to being tied down. Winter was going faster than we needed to which made the ride a bit jarring as my chest thumped against the seat when we landed after launching off of every damn swell. My annoyance at the situation was noticeable with how my ears were pinned back and the amount of tail flicking I did until we docked back at home.

The looks the other guards gave at seeing me trussed up was aggravating. Given how I spent my early years in the guard I could already tell there were going to be more comments floating around now. Once Winter had us tied to the dock, Ocean went off and found somepony in charge, she had a report to make. The mare was taken away and the three of us ended up sitting in the locker room of the police department. Mercifully I had been relieved of the bondage that Ocean had thrust upon me. Ocean had gotten a few choice words from a few others about how she had decided to handle the situation. As it was, the three of us were basically stuck together. Unlike the other two I had a book, though Winter had playing cards, so they weren’t entirely without entertainment.

Ocean came over from where she had been sitting by Winter and sat by me. “Hey, Moony?” Ocean muttered.

“Yeah?” I replied as I flipped a page.

“I’m sorry for treating you like that.” Ocean apologized.

“No need to. There were a lot of unknowns last night. Just…” I paused and looked at her and gave her a weak smile. “Next time let’s not go straight to tying up our friends. Alright?”

“Yeah, I think that’s reasonable.” Ocean nodded looking between exhausted and pitiful.

“Cheer up, we had a safe patrol and the only thing that went wrong was we came back with an extra. Who wasn’t even hostile. I’d consider that pretty damn good for a weird patrol.” I smirked.

“She’s right. We’ve had worse.” Winter added as he shuffled his cards for a new game of cards.

“Yeah, I guess.” Ocean agreed.

“They chewed you out pretty badly?” I asked.

“Something like that.” Ocean replied.

“Hey, once I get the library or medical position to be full time how about we just quit the guard? We aren’t getting any younger. You two love to cook so you both can keep cooking for the guard. I can teach foals or help heal ponies. We’ll have drinks in the evening. Maybe you two can even teach me how make something other than haycakes so you don’t have to for the three of us?” I offered.

“Sounds a lot better than dune patrol for another year.” Winter snorted. “Are you close to being able to muster out?”

“If what Silver said is true? Yeah.” I answered. “His word is pretty good as we know.”

“Well, I guess that settles it. Once the whole library situation is settled we’re done with this.” Ocean nodded. “With how peaceful it’s been the past few years I doubt they’ll ask for ponies under the conscription age to join up to fill the current gaps.”

“Yeah, probably.” I looked up at the ceiling as I leaned back. “Hopefully.” I couldn’t help but shake the feeling something was off as I heard Winter deal another game.

We had gone back to quietly entertaining ourselves after that. Half way through the book I heard odd noises and looked over the edge of my book. I had expected to see the two engaged in some relaxation with one another. Instead they were asleep and by the sounds of it dreaming.

Oh right, they stayed up to keep watch. Though with the noises they were making in their sleep I was amazed they didn’t wake one another up. I guess they were having some nice dreams. Hey, Luna? How about doing your job and keeping their dreams in their dreams. It’s spilling out into reality.

The head of day watch entered the room and regarded my friends with only a raise of an eyebrow. He turned his head and motioned for me to follow him. Constable wasn’t the most talkative at times but he was respectful to those under him, though he did come down hard when anyone fucked up. I couldn’t regard what happened yesterday on patrol as fucked up so this was going to be interesting. Well, maybe a little on how the three of us initially each handled the situation with the mare but, Ocean already got her dressing down. Well, I might be about to get one, but, let’s just play this by ear. Never pays to try to squirm out of punishment anyways.

We went to the break room. He set down a mug of tea for me. I was surprised for a moment when it was of the type I liked. Then I remembered how closely he had kept track of me and, well everypony in the guard. Not because he questioned our loyalty, but to make certain we were okay and weren’t overdoing it or getting ourselves in trouble. He was kinda like a parent to everypony in the guard that way, even to those ponies that were older than him. He took off his hat and put it under his foreleg as he sat down across from me. He was too serious of a figure for the simple folding table we sat at in the break room.

“This is twice in one week.” He said, I choked on my tea in surprise, he also knew how to be overly dramatic at times. As he nodded to my injured leg. “While I know that one wasn’t while strictly on duty it was something that we’re supposed to handle anyways.” He regarded me and I could see the tiredness in him. “Ocean’s explanation was interesting. Care to offer me your own? For the mare and coming back tied up like a thief that is?”

I let out a habitual groan as I slouched a bit. He added. “Try not to slouch too much, as it might become a habit.” He smirked. I out of habit mimicked his words silently as I sat up. More as a reminder to myself than any dislike to him, and he knew it.

“And no slouching while on duty.” I replied to him, he gave me a nod in return. It was mostly to show discipline, but it also helped with standing in place for a long time. We could slouch, just we had to not do it while on an important guard duty. It also often led to falling asleep on our hooves, so there was to be none of that while guarding the market, or storage. We had quite approval to slack off a bit when guarding the bureaucrats. Not like any of them ever needed us they just had us fetch their shit, and by the stars they had their own staff to do that already!

“Well, I’ll give you my debriefing. Do you want one on paper too?” I asked, and he produced paper and a pen. I gave a nod before I went through the entire patrol with him. I figured it was best to just go through the entire thing now since I’d be filing a report later anyways. He was a bit troubled by what I had found in the radio tower but agreed it was likely just left over. We had run those thieving Steel Rangers out of the area pretty fast so it was unlikely that they were still around. Plus we hadn’t had any further contact with them, nor had traders. His main concern though was when I went over the incident with the mare.

“Well, right now she’s being taken care of by our medical staff but, I’ll get a pony down here to check for any spells on the three of you as well.” He said as he put my report into his saddlebags. “For now though? I want you three to stay put. Don’t want you wandering off and causing panic.”

“Can do.” I replied. “I’ll see how the signal sounds now that we repaired the radio. Might as well do something useful.” I sighed as I sat back in the chair and stretched out.

“Don’t worry about it. We checked the signal last night after we saw the radio tower light turn back on. You did turn it off to fix everything. Plus we knew you wouldn’t leave it half done when we saw the lighthouse turn on last night.” He pointed out. I facehooved. I was nowhere near as well rested as I had thought I was. “Go get some rest, I can see that you need it.”

“Yeah, I think I will. I think I need it.” I admitted with a soft smile. “Thanks, Constable.”

Chapter 2 - Guard Duty

“The community welfare comes first and foremost, without a community there is no home.”
-Wasteland Survival Guide, Unknown Settler

I had taken Constable’s advice and gotten some more rest. The break room thankfully had a cot in it. While the lovebirds were leaning against one another in chairs in the other room. I took the chance to enjoy the silence and to rest. The first few hours after he had left I had spent finishing the book I had taken with me. It was a nice book, not useful for surviving the wasteland, but it had been a nice dose of escapist fiction. The break room was stocked with some food; food which I used to make my lunch. The afternoon went as I took a nap. I knew I slept lightly as I woke up hearing the radio operators switching shifts. Nopony came to check on us for any lingering magic from that pony we rescued. It mildly worried me that there was no follow-up.

It was getting close to sundown and I was getting fed up with the slow pace of things, so I went to pester the pony on the radio. At least then I could get in touch with those on the ship. Maybe get somepony to finally check in on us. I wondered why Ocean hadn’t bothered to do so yet. On the radio, I saw an old friend, Vimes.

“Hey, Vimes, what’s going on? I would have thought that someone would have come down by now.” I asked as I trotted into the radio room. Vimes gave me a look before he pulled off his headset.

“Hey, Filly.” He replied. “Yeah, things have been moving slowly today. Every hornhead has been busy with that mare you fished up.” He answered and I noticed that peculiar tick he had when something was up, he was chewing an unlit cigarette that looked like he had put it out several times in the past hour. Having known most of the senior members of the guard helped me get a heads-up on when things were going down.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Plus, I’m hardly a filly at this point. I’m twenty-six.” I smirked.

“We’re getting some reports of something up north.” He admitted. “And I know, but you’re still less than half my age.”

I sighed and shook my head as I pulled up a chair. “What reports do you have?”

“Know the old tourist trap up on the cliff side?” He asked and I nodded. It was the sea lion caves. “Lights have been seen up there and then down the highway from there. I have a bad feeling about this. Constable hasn’t been available with your fish taking everypony's attention. So I’m managing things right now.”

I bit my lip. “I’d hate to say it, but… Yeah. Get to the ship. With the tracks yesterday morning and that mare’s injuries? Shit’s coming our way. I think she might have been from a town up north and got dumped in the water after being shot; she had more than a few bullet wounds.”

He nodded. “I was getting to that point as well. Would make sense somepony messed with our radio before we saw the lights up north. Things are falling into place too nicely aren’t they?”

I was quiet for a minute. My gut was telling me I was missing something. My mane itched from all the sea salt and blood still in it. “Fuck it. Fuck whatever protocol is going down. If that mare put a spell on me to save her, I don’t think it’s going to mind me fighting to protect the town she’s in.”

Vimes looked at me and shook his head. “Maybe, but we're getting nowhere and we need everypony on hoof. Get the other two, I’ll get some hornheads to check you out.”

“Will do,” I said as I got up. “And, thanks, Vimes.”

“No problem, Moonlight.” He said as he collected his stuff. As I began to leave he started to make some calls over the radio. The heat is on.

I went back to the meeting room that Winter and Ocean were in. “Hey, you two.” I barked at them.

They both looked up from their card game. “What’s up?” Winter asked.

“We’ve got trouble. Come on, Vimes’ is getting us into the ship to finally get us checked out. We’ll finally get to do more than sit around.” I explained.

Ocean looked at Winter and then at me. “What type of trouble?”

“Remember the tracks you told me about in the dunes yesterday?” I asked, and both nodded. “Likely tied to that. Got movement coming down the old coastal highway as well as lights last night in the old tourist trap at the top. Vimes has his feelings about it and my gut agrees; something’s up with the recent radio issues and our little fishie’s wounds.” I said as I picked up my gear. I was only a little miffed that the rest of the guard had taken away all of our ammo, though I couldn’t blame them. There was an obvious question of how safe we were. Now though? The question became ‘For how long’.

“Then let’s get moving,” Ocean said as she put away the cards. Winter got up and grabbed their things. “Good thing we got a bit of forewarning. That way I could fix my ammo feed.” Ocean teased with a hoof bump against my side.

“So you noticed, hmm?” I smiled. “It wasn’t easy.”

“Didn’t until we were here. Since Winter was piloting us back I used his battle saddle just in case something came up while we sailed back. Didn’t want to leave things to chance with throwing bullets instead of a well-placed shot.” Ocean explained and gave me a smirk.

“Ah, that explains why you didn’t kick me.” I snorted and gave my friends a smile. “Come on, let’s get going. Vimes’ is going to try to coordinate from the ship radio center. Apparently, everypony else, including Constable, has been preoccupied with our fish.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Winter said.

“Nor do I. I’m hoping Vimes’ can smack some sense into them. Go and let the medical ponies handle her for a while instead.” I replied.

“So what? Do you just want a reason to get your hooves on her again? I saw that look you had.” Ocean teased.

I rolled my eyes while facing away from the two. I knew it was teasing but it hit something in me. Made me a bit annoyed. I turned to face the two again. “You know I stopped sleeping around with everything a few years ago.” I glared at her before I rolled my eyes and trotted to the door back to the radio room. “Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate beauty when I find it.” I huffed. Winter laughed behind us, and we both looked at him.

“What? It’s good to hear I didn’t completely fuck up.” He admitted. I gave him a smile. I could appreciate that point of view. Had I been in his hooves I would have been worried about having forever made someone unable to love again. Then again, I wasn’t certain I could yet. But, to hear that I could still appreciate beauty was, likely, to them, a sign I wasn’t entirely dead inside. Let’s just put that feather in our cap and keep going. Bigger things to focus on than this.

“No, you didn’t. If you did, oh, you would’ve known.” I just let that smile linger as I gave him a sinister look. He gulped. “As it is, you two are some of the few friends still around. I ain’t going to let all that get in the way of our friendship.”

Ocean let out a sigh of relief. “It’s good to hear that, finally. We’ve been worried. You’ve kind of been giving us the cold shoulder for a while. Vocally at least.”

“Well.” I took a deep breath. I could feel a pang of heartache as I thought. I couldn’t bring myself to smile again. “It’s a process, I’m getting there.”

Ocean gave me a hug, which surprised me but I gave her a nuzzle. “Oh by the elements. Your mane’s still caked in blood.” Ocean sputtered as she pulled back.

“Yeah, remember there isn’t a shower in here?” I chortled.

“Well, let’s see if there’s time for you to get washed up while we get changed.” Winter offered.

“Yeah, Vimes’ should be done with his calls. Let’s get movin’.” I ordered.

We caught up to Vimes as he issued orders to the guards at the gangplank. More guards were on their way down to the dock from the ship. They started to fan out into the town, going door to door to get ponies evacuated. Vimes’ nodded back to us and we followed him up.

The first few cracks of gunfire sounded off in the distance. I paused as I stole a glance back at the hills to the north. I felt that deep-seated fear start to creep in as the sun began to set to the west. A night siege. They were the worst from what I knew. I hadn’t had to deal with a siege in my years of service. Raiders running by, sure. This though... I could feel it in my gut, it was more than some raiders coming by for a quick score. The lights on the hill, the hoofprints on the dunes, raiders don’t case and amass they just strike once they spot a target. I hurried after the others into the belly of the ship.

With Vimes at the lead, nopony dared to block us as we headed for the heart of Guard Command. Once there he began barking orders at others who were between shifts. He had clearly been calling ponies out on patrol to head back given we had all heard the gunshots. This far in we couldn’t hear the gunshots outside, but, ponies in the radio room were starting to panic and looked relieved to see Vimes. He gave us a nod as he headed off to take control of the situation and the three of us got to preparing for war.

I had killed before. I hated it, but I had. Hopefully, though we wouldn’t be put in a frontline position and I wouldn’t have to cut ponies open. While at range I could handle taking the life of another creature that could communicate. Up close, to see the life drain from their eyes, it was entirely different.

I pulled on my armor. It was heavier and more restrictive, but at the same time, I liked knowing it would actually stop bullets when bullets were going to be flying. The helmet was heavy but the horn protection and built-in hearing protection were great. We also strapped on respirators when the call went out that fires had been set outside. Given what a lot of buildings had been made of pre-war it was not something we wanted to breathe.

I stowed the pistol in my foreleg holster and knife on a shoulder sheath before pulling out the long rifle from the armory that had been assigned to me. The fucker had a lot of kicks, but it put holes in just about anything I had ever tested it on. The only downside was it was a gryphon rifle, so I would be making use of Dad's training tonight.

A unicorn came by, I couldn’t tell which one they were thanks to the combat barding. They checked Winter and Ocean and motioned for them to get going. When they got to me they paused and checked again more thoroughly before motioning for me to get going as well. If I had been a betting pony I would have wagered that the double-check was if the spell still had a trigger, or if it was just a hoofprint left in me that had yet to clear.

Over the built-in helmet radio, I could still hear Vimes giving orders, so I changed the channel from general to our combat group. I heard another voice come through and ordered us three to the bridge to give overwatch to the town. I groused at the lack of time to wash my coat and mane, still itching from the blood and sea salt in them, but there were more pressing issues than my comfort. Winter and Ocean had a half-minute lead on me to get to the bridge but I knew my way around the ship like my own hoof. I cantered through the narrow halls, prancing around the other ponies who were rushing off to their positions. We had drilled enough in the past decade for various emergencies; we knew how to move in a situation like this.

At the bridge, I caught up with Winter and Ocean. Ocean had gotten herself up on a console to lay down and spot through a window staying in the relative safety of the bridge. I couldn’t blame her. She wasn’t a markspony but even so, she was still damn perceptive. With her scouting scope and its infrared tag laser, and our rifle scopes, we had an advantage though there was a downside which was the smoke. It was a common tactic to torch things to obscure while approaching. Old as dirt, move unseen. Winter and I went out onto the pitched-up wing of the bridge where we could aim over the edge and keep ourselves in as much cover as possible while giving supporting accurate fire into the town below.

Looking around I could see that to the north and northeast some of the old growth had been set on fire, as had parts of the town to mask the attackers. Smart as with how wet everything was there were no real open flames to light them up. It also meant things would smolder for ages.

We took our time familiarising where with friendlies were before even daring to open up ourselves. The easiest way to tell was the muzzle flashes, those on our side were going to be holding a defensive posture and the flashes would generally be obscured while the aggressors pushing towards the ship would more often be facing towards us so their muzzle flashes would be fuller and less obscured by cover.

To see our town burning and under siege was disheartening. The feeling was one that hurt deeply in my heart, to know when this was over the place I grew up in would be forever changed. I knew some of the ponies I saw daily would be gone all because some ponies couldn’t be arsed to just fucking trade instead of fighting to get what they wanted.

From the top deck, the gun emplacements opened up, raking into the hills with the old thirty-millimeter cannons deck cannons. In return, I saw what we all worried would eventually come in a siege. The bursts of light from rocket fire came from the hill overlooking the town and we did what we could to stop any further rocket-toting raiders. Thankfully, while the rockets they fired cut through the air and a few struck into the town, none looked like they hit anything important.

Then we heard strange whistling before explosions began to rain down around us. One hit the top deck, and several went far and detonated on the far bank or in the water. Mortars?! Fuck, I didn’t see any flash. Did they have any tell? Crap this just got a lot worse.

Those in the town below began to hose down the wing of the bridge we were on. I cried out as shrapnel from the rounds impacting around us cut through the thinner parts of the barding. Winter dove inside and left his rifle outside. I started to pull back and dragged his rifle through the door with me. Ocean left her perch as we got inside to check on us, there wasn’t much point to spotting when your shooters were out of action. As she cantered across the bridge she fell as the sound of ricocheting bullets filled the bridge. Winter dove to protect his mate as I slammed the door to the wing of the bridge shut. I could feel the sting of my injuries as I turned to face the two and found them in a heap. Panic began to set in.

I swore under my breath as I used what strength I could through the pain to pull the three of us to safety away from the windows. I lit the bridge with my horn and as I took off my cracked helmet. It had saved my life but as it came off it fully crumbled. As Security said, it was only good for taking one solid shot to the skull.

Too close. Far too close.

I pulled the barding off of Winter, checking him for injuries. His helmet had caught a round like mine, and his barding had a few rounds stuck in it. He wasn’t bleeding anywhere though. Likely knocked out from the bullet that hit his helmet. Given it was in the back of the helmet, damn lucky. We both were.

Thank the princesses for these helmets.

I turned to Ocean, she was bleeding, and her barding had a few holes in it in her chest. I struggled to focus as I cut her out of it. There wasn’t time to undo it, not if she was critically hurt. I had no time to waste if her life was at risk.

Winter would never forgive me if I let her die here. Nor would Sil. I can’t let anything further mess up our friend group more.

Protect them.

I shook my head. Winter wouldn’t blame me, it wasn’t my fault. Still, I couldn’t let a pony die in front of me; not a good pony at least. I broke out the medical supplies as I started to triage Ocean. Thankfully what I had learned from Patches was of great use, as using magic to triage let me quickly check her vitals and find shrapnel. Backed up with telekinesis, it made it easier to remove the metal in Ocean instead of rummaging around inside of her with tools or having to cut more tissue to get to it.

I was thankful that we had some stores of healing potions on hoof for situations like this. We couldn’t wait for Ocean to heal up on her own or at the pace magical healing bandages would afford her.

The gunfire outside had stopped pelting the bridge. I was still amazed - and thankful - that the glass had held after all these years. If it hadn’t I’d have more things to deal with than the smell of blood, gunpowder, and our current injuries.

Two ponies suddenly bolted onto the bridge from the stairs. I didn’t immediately recognize them through the barding but seeing I was up and helping Ocean the two relaxed. My mind couldn’t place them further than they were other medics being trained under Suture, the guard’s main doctor. It didn’t help that in our barding the best we had to go by was eye and tail colors. I surmised they were either here to relieve us or recover our bodies and I groused as I realized I hadn’t had radio communications since my helmet got destroyed so effectively the three of us had gone dark. I grabbed Ocean’s helmet and put it on so I could fill Vimes’ in on what had happened.

“Why in Tartarus didn’t you think to do so earlier, Filly?! Over.” He swore at me.

I didn’t want to admit my failing at that. “Was too focused on making certain the others were alive, my own helmet took a hit and crumbled. Over.”

The two ponies who had come up took over caring for Ocean while I handled the radio. I tried to not sulk about how my coat was increasingly red over grey as blood continued to stain it. It was inevitable with how things were going for me.

“Well fine, we’ll find you someplace to be useful in the meantime. At least the medical ponies I sent aren’t going to waste. Sit tight while they take care of you and I figure out what to do with you, over.” He admonished me.

He likely wouldn’t have sent anyone if he had known I was still up, or just one if any of the others were up instead of me. “Understood, over.”

I felt a hoof on my rump, looking back it was one of the two working on taking care of my injuries. I had forgotten about the scatter back from the shrapnel. I shook my mane as I felt the pinprick of a needle. I knew it wouldn’t just be painkillers; protocol dictated a cocktail of things to keep us on our hooves. Note to self, have someone pick me over for anything that might have gotten past my barding.

Ocean and I were given healing potions to drink. Given the lack of pain, I figured I was in the clear from shrapnel being in me. For Ocean, it was more akin to one of the ponies pouring it down her throat while she was still out. You couldn’t really drown in healing potion fluid. Winter though was still unconscious. The two that came to aid us double-checked him while I switched radio bands to listen to local chatter and drink in what was going on.

Our fire teams were falling back it seemed. That wasn’t necessarily a bad sign. Falling back could allow us to set up better kill zones and prepare defensive positions. At the same time, I heard word that the hull was breached from a rocket impact and ponies that could be better used outside were having to guard it. I didn’t like how things were progressing, but I only had a snapshot of the fight.

Winter was finally woken up and the two medic ponies ushered us to head down. They picked up Ocean on a cot between them. Winter looked worried about her, and I could understand.

“Winter, don’t worry. She’s already had a healing potion and we already pulled the bullets out of her. She’ll be fine. Between the three of us, you and I are in the worst shape. You with the concussion and me with the lovely cocktail of drugs in me.” I explained to him.

He gave a nod but still looked worried; I could sympathize though. I’d probably be out of sorts seeing my significant other clocked out from injuries and bandaged up. For now, I focused on taking care of myself, there was little more I could do and I needed to be ready if Vimes’ wanted to throw together an ad hoc squad.

In the changing room, I peeled off my barding and washed myself off. We were combat ineffective for the moment and until Vimes had an idea for us I might as well get comfortable. I removed the bandages on my leg since the healing potions had done their job in fixing all my wounds. I pulled the stitches out as well, wincing a bit at the pain but, I was restored. Other than a bit of missing coat nopony could tell I had been bitten there. The heated river water was soothing and helped relax the tension that had built over the last forty-eight hours. If it weren’t for protocol I would pester about our uninvited guest. Or take a nap. I don’t know if I can sleep with this cocktail in my blood.

Now I was as clean and relaxed as I could be. I could hear the rattle through the metal of gunfire impacting the hull. It was worrying to hear it this far in the ship, however, nopony was calling for me to run out to help. I knew better than to just run out without orders when things were this fucked up. Despite being as far away from the action as I was now, I changed back into my normal barding and salvaged the radio equipment from my shattered helmet. If something came up inside the ship I could help respond without feeling like I had the grace of a brick flying through the air. I also doubted we would be going back outside all too soon; our armor had to be replaced.

Listening in I heard Vimes continue to coordinate things with a deftness and calmness I hadn’t thought possible. In the time I had taken to shower we had managed to stall the push into the town, but we weren’t in a position to push back the attackers. I looked at my gear and saw the inflatable rings Winter had teased me with. While swimming upstream wasn’t the easiest thing to do, it could let a few of us get in a position to decapitate the attack and maybe end this.

I just need to get a team. Winter is a no-go, not with that concussion. Ocean is still in recovery. The healing potion may have healed her wounds but she lost blood and that means she’s going to be out of energy. I thought to myself as I trotted to the radio room. I could already hear the constant chatter of incoming and outgoing reports so I clicked my radio off to keep any chance of interference to a minimum.

“Moonlight.” Constable greeted me with a nod as I entered the room before turning his focus back to the map. Caps and bits were shuffled around for estimated positions of ponies around us. Caps for the attackers, bits for us.

“Constable,” I replied in kind to my superior. I regarded the table. I was no strategic genius, but it looked like we were definitely outnumbered. “Is this a time for stupid ideas or a time for hunkering down?” I asked.

Constable regarded me for a minute. “Depends on the idea.”

I looked at the table. With the lack of caps around the river to the north I saw the point we could thrust a metaphorical dagger to cut the enemy’s supply line, possibly even their leadership. “Well, I know upriver isn’t the most friendly ground to trot through thanks to the local plant life. So a few of us swim up the river, come up on land here, and hit them on the flank. We steal their heavy weapons, if any are left, then fire them into the rear before making a run for the river?” I offered.

Constable frowned and chuckled. “If we had ponies to spare.” He drew a line with his hoof of a path to take. “That might be possible, but I think they’re out of heavy ordinance given the lack of any more rocket attacks.” He offered. “We have no confirmed location for a leader either so no cloak and dagger. Get some rest. I’ll keep it in mind in case the situation changes.” Constable said, his voice carried that firmness of an order without the need to make it one. I gave him a nod and found a quiet out-of-the-way place to lie down for a few hours. It was hard to sleep with that cocktail in my blood.

-=O=-

At some point, I had dozed off, but when I woke up it was to a face I hadn’t seen in a while. He was one of our older squads. Sea Serpent was his name and one of our resident hippogryphs, and he was part of the group that had taken the name “The Buckshots”. Generally, we sent them out to clear raider camps instead of hiring mercs; they were cheaper and they were seasoned.

I let out a small yawn. “Sea?” I asked as I wondered why he, of all the folks on the ship, was the one waking me up.

“Yep. We got a chance to put your plan in motion. Cross got hurt so we don't have our medic.” Sea explained. “So, since nopony else with medical and combat as well as technical skills is free…” He smiled as he picked up my stuff. “Tonight you’re prancing with the Buckshots.” With that, he set my saddlebacks on my back.

I snorted. “As if we haven’t done this dance before.” I shook my head as I got up.

He pulled out a Sparkle Cola. “Here, have a little wake me up.” He explained. I took it and bit the cap off. I was never a big fan of the carrot flavor of normal Sparkle Cola but the caffeine was welcome. He set down the rest of my gear and I realized I wasn’t getting a minute to wake up before we went. Instead, my opportunity to wake up before we left was while we made our way to the top deck.

“Alright, let me just get the radio set to the right channel,” I said as I switched the headset on flicking the dial to the Buckshot’s channel. Sea tightened my saddlebags while I checked the rest of my gear. I was still a bit startled with how fast things were going, but at the same time, Sea and the rest weren’t known for letting a chance slip through their hooves. I remembered the other times I had worked beside them though it was more a case of Ocean, Winter, and I spotting something and calling it in. We were told to keep an eye on things while the place got hit by Buckshot himself and the rest of the team.

Once we were on the deck I was thankful for the slight tilt the ship was on from being beached; we had some solid cover as we went from the bridge tower to the side. I saw the other three members of the team. They had also decided to take a lighter load for this dip in the river. I noticed the ropes over the side of the deck.

“There you are Sea, found us a replacement medic?” Buckshot asked.

“Yep, she didn’t even protest.” Sea laughed. “Alright, Wraps, Blaze, let’s get moving. Wraps, I’ll make certain Moonlight here doesn’t float away.” I looked at the two, Under Wraps and Sea Serpent were relatives and both were hippogryphs.

It dawned upon me why Sea was going to be the one holding onto me, Wraps was generally the forward observer of the group. Sea on the other hoof (Claw? Talon?) was more broad framed and built for the loud brute force methods, which meant he was ideal for dragging me against the current upstream. Plus this meant that the group’s scout wouldn’t be bogged down managing their medic.

We climbed over the edge of the boat on the ropes; it was too far down to just jump. I realized how much more dangerous this was once we were part way down as the only illumination we had was the burning wild grass on the far side of the river. The smoke hung over the water itself as we descended, like a morning mist.

Once in the water, I felt a claw grab my right foreleg and Sea gave me a grin. “Hold on.” That was all he said before we began going upriver. I had never experienced how fast a hippogryph could swim but now I regret having wasted the water for the shower a few hours ago. I was thankful we were on this side of the Seamane range. The water here wasn’t radioactive, unlike those further inland. We still had weird plants and animals. Of note were the giant tubular plant structures that glowed a light blue at night and smelled of death, which we called corpse trees. They seemed to lure in bloatsprites and other carrion eaters with their scent and trap them in their long tube trunks.

We came ashore north of the grove of these corpse trees. The ground was soft and peaty as we skirted further north than I had thought we would. We were going far wider than the positions I had heard being called but, I was the new pony here. I also wasn’t going to question the leader otherwise I’d have to start calling the shots. I was here as the replacement medic with a gun, a really mean, long-range gun. I guessed they wanted me at a distance to keep me from getting unwanted attention.

Wraps went ahead and I quickly lost track of her in the brush. Buckshot and Blaze were ahead while Sea and I formed the back of the square as we cut through the vegetation. Ferns, berries, evergreens, some glowing fungus. It was different from the usual grass that I patrolled to the west and south over the dunes. Then again, the beachside was a much safer area to patrol, you had a much longer line of sight there than here on the north side of town.

Wraps radioed in the position of a makeshift camp that had a few ponies in it; we caught up to her a few minutes later. The camp was lit by eerie blue candles which rubbed me the wrong way. Raiders would usually just set some barrels on fire. The whole place felt off. From the candles to the little windchimes, the way the camp was laid out and its materials, all of it seemed to scratch at my mind. The ponies themselves were clearly raiders, though they probably had picked up some kind of new madness, that was all.

Sea offered a grenade launcher as a solution, Wraps pointed to her suppressed rifle. Argent offered a different option with knocking over a candle and spreading the fire to the tents; it was more subtle, and effective. Of course, it wasn’t just a suggestion for her. She had already gone ahead and executed her plan without our input anyway, sound plan or otherwise.

Ponies spilled out into the open and were in a panic as they tried to put out the fires and protect the ammo dumps, valuable information.

Buckshot and Argent ran into the fray and began the process of slaying. I winced at the display of carnage; shotguns at close range and hoof-to-hoof combat had never been something I could stomach. I pulled the rifle out and laid down suppressing fire to prevent ponies from fleeing or retrieving weapons as Wrap called targets for me to go after. I was thankful she was catching what I didn’t see. Sea however had moved to securing weapons while laying down even more suppressive fire. The revised plan, as I had gathered it, was to torch the camp, kill any semblance of organization on the backlines, and work on disrupting any possible supply line. Given how quickly the ponies were breaking, it was working.

Snap.

I rolled to my side and pointed my hoof with its pistol holstered on it to where I heard the noise while Wraps flew off. Hope you give me some covering fire.

A figure came out of the forest and I fired knowing we should have been the only friendly out here. I’d patch anypony up who was on our side, though I doubted it: no declarations ahead of time.

Two rounds went low, the third round hit home in the chest, the fourth went high and grazed the head, fifth and sixth went high and into the woods. I hadn’t properly accounted for recoil while firing from the holster on my hoof. The stallion screamed and charged at me. I rolled onto my hooves and moved to fall back, but he was faster.

I pulled the knife from my shoulder sheath as he caught me. His black cloak of his pulled back as he hit me. The fires behind us illuminated his loose pallid flesh. His eyes looked wrong, and some kind of brand was seared below his eye. His magic was a deep blue. I clenched my teeth around the handle of the combat knife, scraped up dirt and pebbles with a hoof, and tossed them into his face.

In his anger, he made wet squelching noises from his mouth as he cleared his eyes. I lowered my stance preparing to fight hoof to hoof, his odd noises making me stay back. Then he exploded. My ears rang from the pressure wave. My knife hit the ground as I spat it out, swore, and wiped the blood off of my goggles. I was already caked in gore again. Fucking great.

A claw gripped my shoulder. I looked up and saw Wrap with concern on her face. I tapped my ears to try to tell her I couldn’t hear for the moment and she nodded. She pointed me to a bush and I nodded. I figured it was a place for me to take cover so I did, taking my long arm with me.

The camp was pretty much cleared out at this point. The rest of the Buckshots had done their job. My hearing came back after a few minutes though the constant high-pitched whine from the damage remained. However, that was preferable to what could have been. What was that pony going to do? Did he have his tongue removed? Whatever, focus on the now. Not like I could check his body. He’s kind of off-red paint over the grass now. Ugh, and me. Fuck I can’t wait to get back and wash off again. Okay. Don’t think about the fact that I’m caked in fine powder from a pony.

I shuffled a little and aimed at the camp to focus on any raider coming towards us. I felt a rush of air behind me and cursed my deafness, barely noticing Sea and Wraps vanishing into the night sky. I then started to see explosions in town a few moments later. The plan had evolved to just carpet bombing the battlefield with the mortar shells recovered from the raiders.

That explains that.

Argent and Buckshot trotted up to me and Argent offered me her hoof. I took it and got up as she hoofed me a healing potion and tapped my head. I felt it was a waste but then again having someone being half deaf was a liability. I swallowed and was grateful for my hearing to return without the constant ringing.

“Our backup medic needed a medic.” Argent teased at my plight.

“To be fair, it was only due to Sea firing basically point blank into her face.” Buckshot chuckled.

“Only because I failed to place my shot. Also Wraps flew off and left me exposed.” I groused.

“She tends to do that, she’s not used to having to protect somepony. Should have had you and Sea stick together.” Buckshot sighed, and he gave me a ruffle of my mane as I reloaded my pistol. “You didn’t do that bad though but, don’t count on getting added to the team.” He winked. “Maybe get some more training with that fancy hoof shooting. It’s a good surprise trick.”

I just rolled my eyes. “Thanks and I’ll think about it. Right now though I’m just hoping Winter and Ocean aren’t too banged up.” I looked at the two ponies before me. “So what’s next?”

“We need to run.” Buck said and hit me on the flank as he ran past. Argent smiled and began to run as well. I turned and followed suit as we headed back towards the river. Our two fliers were fine for exfiltration and I hazarded a guess we were going back to the river to take a relaxing soak to Saint Clover. Plus we didn’t want to be where we had just been when the stragglers started retreating north.

We ran back through the corpse tree grove. The stench as always made my eyes water, the buzz of carrion eaters filling the air as they flitted about. It was a good thing that the plants here had that nice soft glow so we could see the critters instead of enjoying a blind run through the whole damn mess. Or worse, by having to turn our horns into fucking insect-attracting beacons to light our path.

The insects had grown beyond anything I had seen in the surviving books I had managed to rescue over the years. I could see marginal relationships between them and pre-war species, though: Beetles, wasps, millipedes, pseudoscorpions, the errant bird or rat, bloatsprites.

We finally hit the river and half swam, half rode the river current back to Saint Clover. I was thankful to get the blood off of me before it fully dried. The distant detonations had stopped from the battlefield, but there continued to be bursts of gunfire. Radio chatter continued as our teams moved up with cover fire from the air by Sea and Wraps; they were working on clearing what remained of our attackers.

From what I could gather, the survivors of the attackers had fallen back after the two hippogryphs had flown over, tossing mortar rounds on their heads and throwing landmines like frisbees. It was a good guess that the attackers had planned to lock us down once they got close enough to use those landmines. We would have been stuck in the boat while they could just entrench themselves all around us.

We climbed back onto land just behind the palisade that had marked the border of what had been or was being redeveloped within the town. Buck radioed ahead so we wouldn’t get shot as we headed for the ship.

“Alright, everyone is in one piece and it took us only half an hour to do it. Now they’re falling back.” Buck said, offering me his hoof to bump; I took the chance. “No idea if we hit a leader or something, but those mines they had planned to use sure bit them in the ass.” He chuckled. “Go get some rest, you’re off duty.”

I nodded. “Thanks for letting me ride along with you lot, it’s been real.” I thanked Buck and Argent.

“Keep it up and we can retire.” Argent chortled, “Eventually. It’s too much fun going out there and kicking ass.”

I regarded the mare; I was of a different cut than these ponies, I wasn’t a thrill seeker, but I could respect them. “I’ll try to not outshine you, yet,” I smirked. “Though I don’t think I can shine brighter than Argent.” I laughed and Buck joined in with me.

“And you know it.” She said posing with one forehoof up doing her best to look regal while still dripping wet, before flash drying herself with her magic. “Nothing shines brighter than my flame in the night.”

I rolled my eyes as her flash of light left a splotch of discoloration in my eyes. “Would be useful to know how to do that though.”

“Tell me about it,” Buckshot said. “At least she shares her talents.” Argent then dried us both off with her masterful control of fire magic. “Ah, nice and warm. Even if it makes your coat fuzzy and mane frizzy.”

I snorted as my mane managed to keep its wavy nature through the flash of heat, though my coat was now fluffy. “You do know that it just means your mane is naturally frizzy, right?” I teased him.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ve been to the interior enough to know that.” He sighed as he pulled out a hoofbrush to quickly tame his mane before it got in the way of his eyes. “How about you get on going and go get some rest? You and your whole squad are relieved and have been relieved of duty for hours after all.” He smirked. “I guess I should congratulate you for a job well done for a pony who has technically been combat-ineffective this whole time.” He laughed.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll go home, need to be rested so I can help out tomorrow. Going to be plenty to do then.”

He nodded. “We’ll handle things out here. Plus with how long it’s been the reserves are ready to go to clean up too. Now the other heads of the ship aren’t complaining about the hole in the side of it while nopony is within a mile of the damn boat.”

“First I’ll check on my friends, then some rest. Thanks for the short adventure.” I laughed in return.

“Thanks for being our fifth.” He said, giving a nod of his head, I returned it before I trotted up the gangway. The other two went back into town. I kept listening but cut my mic feed. I went off to poke around in Medical.

Medical was a mess of ponies resting, more being rushed in to get treated. Suture, the guard’s main doctor saw me and pulled me along.

“Moonlight! Oh, I am glad you’re here! I could use another hoof.” Suture said as he tossed an apron to me.

“I was more looking to check on Winter and Ocean,” I replied as I pulled the apron off my face.

“Oh. Well, they are okay. They just need some more rest.” He said as he trotted past me pushing a cart full of medical supplies. “They’re off in the barracks resting. I need to keep these beds open for ponies in need of more attention.”

I nodded. “Alright, let me get something in me to help me focus.” I grabbed some Sparkle Cola and Mint-als. I didn’t like relying on chems but duty called and it was only for a short time.

The hours went by, one bled into the next as I triaged and applied the best medical care that I could. As the Mint-als wore off Suture refused to let me take another dose to keep helping out. Instead, he asked me to go home and rest. He had concerns about addiction to Mint-al’s and I was showing the withdrawal symptoms even if I wasn’t fully addicted.

It was a trudge home as I walked the halls, slipping past ponies carrying supplies. I walked past the hole in the ship, where I could see ponies working on figuring out how best to patch it up. Thankfully nopony had lived there; it had been a popular lounge and now it would have to be refurbished, assuming everypony felt lightning wouldn’t strike twice. Luckily for me, home was on the other side of the ship.

When finally I got home nopony was awake and the lights were off. I lit my horn and fumbled my way to my room. Once there, I peeled off my barding. There was a bit of blood staining it but I didn’t care right now. I took a quick shower, feeling clammy as I came down from several drug highs. I toweled myself off before I laid face down in bed.

Tomorrow there would be a lot to aid in cleaning up but tomorrow was another day and those problems weren’t mine right now and I would be damned if I faced them without proper sleep this time. This time, I was going to look after Future Moony.

When I have money again I should get some nicer sheets, these are getting really worn out. I thought to myself as I drifted off.

Congratulations Level up! Welcome to Level 2 and your first perk: First in Class, you took the time to study hard and learn from those who had the time to teach to help you go further. You get +5 to Medicine and Survival per rank!

Chapter 3 - Off Duty

“While you might be off duty, you still represent the guard. So be on good behavior. And try not to make a fool of us or yourself. In addition, you never know when your time off might end so try not to get too drunk.”

Saint Clover Conscript Briefing

I woke up to a nasty headache.

I cursed under my breath as I sat on the side of my bed and drank the water from my canteen. Skipping two meals yesterday and using cola and drugs as a crutch to keep moving had been a bad choice.

No, the bad choice was not drinking half my body weight in water before going to sleep, I mentally berated myself. Wincing, I realized I still had my rifle. Ugh, well that needs to go back to my locker. I mean it wasn’t that big of a deal but I would rather not forget about it until the next inspection. I turned my attention to the radio squawking on my desk. I really wasn’t thinking about anything after helping Suture. Well, I’ll check-in on with him to see if he needs a hoof when putting this all back.

Stretching my sore body, I walked out to the common room to find my parents.

“Oh, Moony, I thought I heard you come in. You look like you’re alright.” Mom said. I nodded, her dark green eyes, one I shared a color with looked tired, cradled by bags.

“It’s been a long couple of days. Ended up having to pull...” I tried to count. “Well, a bunch of back-to-back shifts.” I let out a yawn as she got out some food for me.

Mom worked hoof and horn to make certain I had a proper breakfast as I joined Dad at the table. Well, more of what passed for a proper breakfast. Dad offered me some of his toast. I waved it off as I massaged my temples to alleviate the headache that I was still saddled with.

“We’re glad you made it out of that alright,” Dad said. “Did they have you do anything stupid?”

“Vimes was in control of the planning,” I stated. “He kept things mostly in a controlled defensive posture for most of it. We got shot up while giving overwatch from the bridge.” I felt my tail flick reflectively thinking about the rounds that had hit my helmet; the scatter back that had pelted me. “After that, I ended up getting dragged out with Buckshot and his crew. Went for a swim, got blown up.”

Dad prodded me to check I was still alive which elicited a groan from me.

“Throw in the long day before that where I rescued some half-drowned mare before getting roped into helping Suture after coming back from who knows how long with Buck. Yeah, I ended up back late. I mean I’d still be out there if the fight was still going.” I finished explaining.

“Sounds like you got to run through the ringer. More like three rounds with an Ursa Minor.” Dad offered apologetically. “If I knew this was going to happen, I would have had us just go drinking, instead of hunting mole-rats and then drinking. How’s the leg anyways?”

I lifted up my leg and wiggled the hoof. “Ended up getting enough punishment to have a healing potion dumped down my throat so no more injury. It was a pain in the rump though going out on the dunes and off to the lighthouse so I need to properly thank Winter for those rubber boots. They kept it clean and dry.”

“Speaking of Winter, how are those two doing?” Mom asked as she set down breakfast. The freshly cooked eggs and hot tea smelled great. I guessed the chickens had laid a few more eggs.

“Well, they’re doing pretty well. It seems like they’re doing well, anyway. Still…” I groaned as I thought about things. “Well, I’m working on getting myself to accept how things are. I love both of them, they’re my friends after all.”

Mom petted my mane. “Good on you. I know it isn’t easy.” I let out an annoyed neigh. “I know, hun. I’m being a bit overbearing.”

“No, just, you know it takes time to heal wounds.” I sighed. “They’re good friends and still care about me. Just the three of us are navigating how to handle things. I'm just glad I can still lean on Sil. Wish I was still as close to the others as I used to be.”

“Well, Sil has been thankful for you opening up the library. She’s gotten a chance to do something more than what Majar was able to teach her now that she can read our books,” Dad said. “Still surprised he couldn’t read, but then again, raised on the move with just oral traditions.” Dad trailed off.

I just shook my head as I dug into breakfast. Not long after, Silver Shores and Silaha showed up. Those two had become close in the past few years. Silaha had shown little interest in leaving the ship, something Majar was likely very happy about. Given what I had gleaned from the few conversations I had with him it was also what her mother would have wanted as well. A safe quiet life.

“No Cherry today?” Dad asked, teasing Silver for the lack of his marefriend.

“She’s busy having to handle the mess with the big old hole in the hull.” Silver said. “Moonlight, why didn’t you shoot the rocket down?” My brother teased me. I glared daggers at him before poking him with my magic in the chest. “Okay, okay, I get it, sis.” He laughed.

“You two and your magic.” Silaha chortled with her usual singsong voice before smirking. “Even with all of your magic you still can’t get over a few chems?”

I gave Silaha a look. “Right, because you have a cure for withdrawal. I don’t think your dad was an alchemist. Or a chemist.” I drawled as I flipped my fork over in my magic to point the handle at her.

“Okay, fair enough but for all the touting of your medical knowledge it’s funny to me to see you here obviously nursing a headache,” Silaha said before trotting over and giving me a hug.

She was a good zebra mare, one I had grown up with and I returned the hug. She also was one of the very few zebras I had ever met which was really just her, and her dad. There had been the odd one or two every year as a bodyguard with merchants but Silaha though stood out with the brown in her coat just above her hooves and along her spine. Her dad had the same markings and supposedly so did her entire tribe, at least those who had followed her mom doing something out east involving spirits. Something to do with horrors unleashed by their anti-Equestria kin during the Great War.

“Yeah, rather be nursing something else.” I laughed. I got some looks. “A stiff drink. Come on.”

Silaha’s amethyst eyes sparkled as she smirked. “Would have helped if you had said that while not staring deeply into my eyes.”

“Oh come on! One, I know you don’t really swing that way.” I snorted. Well, I kind of do swing that way, not romantically as far as I’ve experienced. “Two, I see you as my sister.”

Silaha snorted and rolled her eyes but kept her smirk. She then took a seat by me and sniffed my tea. Instead of being snippy I let her sip at my tea, we were used to sharing drinks by this point. Her stomach growled as Mom prepared her meal so I let Silaha have some of my breakfast in the meantime. It was probably for the best with how quickly I felt full. I’d rather not waste my mom’s cooking.

“I’d love to stay. But I need to return my rifle and the radio. Also, I should check in about that mare I fished out of the ocean.” I said as I put down my cup of tea.

“You fished a mare out of the ocean?” Silaha asked.

“Yeah, during the storm the other night while on the lighthouse. There was some weird stuff about it.” I explained.

Silaha looked puzzled by it. “Are you certain that you didn’t fish up something that just looked like a pony?”

I pondered that for a moment then shook my head and gave a laugh. “She was out cold when I found her and I pretty much pulled her apart and put her back together. I would be rather surprised if she turned out to not be a pony.” I explained, half expecting foalish giggles from my gathered family. Not even a snicker was unleashed, not even a stifled laugh. “Color me surprised, not even a wisecrack.”

Dad smirked. “What, we know when to lay off and this is a bit of a serious subject.” I rolled my eyes at the comment, I found that doubtful.

“Anyways, I need to pester some ponies about her. Check on Winter and Ocean as well. Probably pick them up some drinks.” I turned to Silaha. “Want to come with?”

“See this pony you fished up? Sure.” Silaha said. She had always been interested in odd things. I didn’t think she was all that interested in the mare and more interested in hanging out with Winter and Ocean after.

“Alright, let me get my stuff,” I said as I got up.

“Don’t take too long.” Silver said. “I’m also curious about this pony if you don’t mind your brother coming along.”

“I don’t mind, plus you have a bit of status. Doesn’t hurt to have other parts of ship leadership poking around.” I replied with a snort as I trotted back to my room. Thankfully it didn’t take very long to get all geared up. I wasn’t going on patrol so it was more of pulling on my saddlebags and throwing on my rifle with its sling.

I trotted back out to the common room. “Alright, let’s go find out about this mystery mare and then go see how Winter and Ocean are doing,” I said, Silver and Silaha getting up and following me through the door.

As we walked I abused the fact I had forgotten to return my radio to check in with who was on the air. Vimes had gone down a few hours ago for some rest. Constable was still up or back up, I wasn’t certain which. Clean-up of the town had continued as I slept.

"Next time remember to put your gear away," said Pocketwatch who happened to be playing dispatch at the moment. "Go pester Suture about your guest once you do, over."

“I know, I was a bit over-exhausted after everything. I’ll try not to do it again, over and out.” I replied.

“That’s all we ask,” Pocketwatch replied. “See you around, over and out.”

I turned the mic off and passively listened to reports coming in. It wasn’t really what I should do, but nopony was going to tell me off for it. Not when I was going to put all of it away in a few minutes and not when I was in no condition to give aid if anything did come up in or outside the ship.

Thankfully nothing happened so instead I just put my gear away once we arrived at the now sparse armory. We would have to replace a few helmets after last night.

My return to Suture was different; most of the beds were now empty which was a good sign even if the good doctor looked rather worn out.

“Moonlight? Are you up already? Well color me impressed. How’s the noggin’?” Suture asked as he finished checking a pony’s wound dressing.

“Still got a headache squeezing my skull but, I’ll live,” I answered. “I didn’t come here about that though, I came here to check on my mystery mare.”

“Ah her. We managed to get some details out of her but she's being a bit withdrawn; raider attack. Had her ship sunk under her? Got attacked by mirelurks. Family’s dead from the attack.” Suture explained. “She’s been rather quiet on the details. Not surprising, considering the traditional signs of trauma. She might open up eventually, for now, she needs some quiet time.” He leaned back and sighed. “She wants to at some point leave and go to Dockland, her original destination where the rest of her family is.”

“That’s a bit of a way aways. I don’t think we have a boat for that.” I frowned. “Wait, why don’t we have a boat for that kind of journey after the whole fucking shit that went down with the town-wide epidemic? You know, the one where my mom and the Buckshots went off to get doctors to save us all?"

He just gave me a shake of his mane. “Sorry, I know we had one for a while but not my job to keep track of that sort of stuff. And what if we needed it while she was being taken to Dockland?”

Silver cleared his throat. “Said boat is out of commission; It needs some major repairs. The other ones are in Dockland or down south. The price we paid for some trade contracts.”

I let out a sigh. “Alright, that’s reasonable. Guess that will sort itself out in time.” I looked down to where Silaha was chatting to some of the few patients still recovering in the clinic. “Well has anypony made a choice on what’s to be done with her in the meantime?” I asked as I watched Silver trot off to join Silaha chatting with the other ponies resting up.

“Well, for now, we’re letting her heal. To be honest, she’s about in traveling shape at this point. You did some fine work on patching her up. Probably helped that you didn’t need much more than pulling some bullets and a healing potion. It’s nice to see that you’ve learned pretty well.” Suture smirked.

“Well, what I can say, having good teachers goes a long way.” I giggled and returned the smirk. “Just glad I could help save some lives with how easy it is to take one."

Suture nodded at that. “If it weren’t morning I’d say we could drink to that. A healthy respect for life is rare out there.” I nodded in return.

“Can I see the mare though?” I asked.

“Sure, her name’s Riptide, a bit ironic given what Winter said on account of what brought her so far out there.” Suture chuckled. “She’s probably awake at this point and if not, well, she’s been resting a lot so don’t feel bad if you wake her up poking your nose in on her. If she isn’t awake feel free to drop by later. I might even send her to your place once they let me release her.”

“Send her to Winter and Ocean’s,” I replied. “We’re planning on spending the rest of the day there with Silver and Sil. Figure those two would enjoy some company while we all recover.”

I trotted over to what was more of a brig than a room. From time to time we had to take care of a pony who was combative or had something that needed them to be isolated. I’ve been in that room far too many times. Excess caffeine, and bad reactions to certain drugs for the combat cocktails. Few other situations. As it was, I knew the room more than I would admit to anypony but Suture. I unlocked the door and trotted in.

“Hello?” I asked the mare, who shifted in response. “Oh good, you’re awake. I’m Moonlight Grimoire, the pony who fished you out of the ocean and patched you up. How are you doing, Riptide?”

“Oh, you already know my name,” Riptide said as she rolled over. She looked exhausted, which given how I felt probably mirrored her. “Did Suture tell you?”

Her accent was different from the local flavor. Placing it said she was from the south of us mixed with something else. I knew of a few traders who came in by boat from around Applewood who sounded a bit like her.

I nodded. “I was just talking to him for a bit. I’m mostly just checking in on you. Anything I can do for you?”

She shook her head as I heard the door open to reveal Silaha and Silver. “Oh, who are these two?”

“Oh, uh this is my younger brother, Silver Shores,” I said as I pointed a hoof at my brother. “And this is my sort of sister, Silaha. Everyone, this is Riptide, the pony I found at the lighthouse.”

Upon hearing my description of her, Riptide turned to look at Silaha. “Sort of sister? If my eyes are working right she’s a zebra, right?”

“She can see my stripes, right?” Silaha asked, examining her foreleg wondering if her stripes had vanished. I snorted at Silaha’s reaction as I couldn’t tell if it was mocking or not.

“I can, I didn’t know ponies could have zebras as siblings,” Riptide answered.

I facehoofed. “She is not a blood relative, we just grew up together.” I groused.

“Oh, that makes more sense. It’s nice to meet the ponies that rescued me.” Riptide said with a smile.

Silver false coughed. “Actually, Sil and I didn’t rescue you, we weren’t there. That was Moony’s friends, Winterwatch and Ocean Spray. If you get cleared to leave you can get to meet them in a bit.”

“Oh, well, any idea on that front?” Riptide asked.

I shook my head. “Suture would better know about that. I’ll talk to him again about that in a minute. How are you feeling?”

Riptide let out a grunt, I knew that kind of grunt, one of defeat and exhaustion. “Tired. I know I’m physically well. But…” She trailed off as her eyes filled with tears I trotted up to her and offered her a hug. She took the offer. Empathy I had found solved a lot of problems while serving in the guard. It was easier to get a pony to open up by offering an ear, and a shoulder, even offering them a break did a lot. “Thanks.” She sniffled into my mane.

“No problem. I’ll poke around to see what’s holding up getting you released. I mean, other than…” I trailed off. “Well, let’s just say, you didn’t need to charm me to get me to save you.”

Riptide let out a squeak. “Sorry, just, I didn’t know who I would encounter given how my day had gone up until then.” She responded.

“That’s a fair point,” I said patting Riptide’s mane as I hugged her. “Just a forewarning, that sort of thing is kind of looked down upon.”

Riptide nodded as she let go of me. “Thank you, Moonlight.” She paused like she wanted to ask something. “If you don’t mind, I'd like to have some more time to myself.”

I nodded. “I can understand. I’m acquainted with loss myself.” I said, giving her a sympathetic look.

“I’m sorry that you are,” Riptide said, trying her best to smile. I could tell now where her exhaustion was; she was crying off and on when nopony was in here with her.

The three of us left the room and closed the door. I politely didn’t lock it. Riptide wasn’t a threat as far as I could tell. She might have been foalish but she wasn’t a threat to us.

“Hey, Suture?” I asked as he trotted by.

“Yeah?” He replied.

“What’s the deal with Riptide still being locked up? The whole charming thing was.” I paused looking for the most diplomatic words I could use. “A precaution.” I queried as Silver and Silaha headed past me.

“We’ll go pick up some drinks for Winter and Ocean.” Silver said before Suture could answer. “Once you’re done why don’t you just head right to their place unless you get sent a paper chase. We’ll just meet you there.”

I nodded. “Don’t get anything too hard, we want to enjoy the drinking, and after everything else applied to my liver in the past short while I’d like to go light on the liver abuse today.”

“Can do, sis.” Silver chuckled as he and Silaha left.

“Well, back to the point of Riptide. She did admit to using a charm on you because she wasn’t certain about what or who she’d encounter on the lighthouse.” Suture replied. “Shame her family didn’t come into port before heading further north.”

“Yeah, they would have been safe here while those raiders were about. By the way, any news on what’s further north?” I asked.

“No, but I’ve been listening in a bit. Mostly just talk about cleaning up the town but, they’re looking at sending some folks up to clear out the Sea Lion Caves and set up a camp there. It’s where they think any stragglers are holding up. Once they secure that, go and send scouts further north to see if any other towns got hit.” Suture said as he dug out a bottle of water. He looked at it and double-checked it before taking a drink. “Good, that’s water. I was hoping I didn’t forget to label some alcohol.”

I snickered. “I swear I was expecting it to be alcohol.”

Suture smirked. “So was I.”

I shook my head. “Guess I should go pester Constable then about Riptide.”

“Yeah, she’s ready for release, physically. We both know it can take a while for emotional trauma to start to heal. Giving her room to move about would definitely help so she won’t feel like she’s a prisoner.” Suture said. “I’ve already put in my recommendation for her release. With Silver having seen her probably will have a bit of extra leverage on that front.”

I nodded. “Thanks, and see you around.”

Suture waved as I trotted off. Constable wasn’t ever hard to find; he had a habit of knowing when somepony was looking for them. In fact, he was waiting for me, or maybe somepony else in the breakroom adjoined the radio room.

“Moonlight.” He said, giving me a nod of acknowledgment.

“Good morning, Constable,” I replied. “Was wanting to talk to you about our guest.”

“I see, so you finally had a chance to talk to her?” He asked, I nodded. “She’s got some kind of luck. I have a meeting in a few hours on what we're going to do about her. We’re not going to keep her locked up. Given her testimony, and prying into your head to confirm the spell's effects things check out. The question is more of how to handle her wanting to go to Dockland. We also need to check where we stand after the attack as well as to figure out who’s going to get sent up to the Sea Lion Caves and who will get sent further north to do some recon.”

“Sounds like my brother should be doing things other than getting drunk with me and our friends.” I sighed. “Or did he run the numbers last night?”

Wait, he did come in this morning after I got up. I’ll pester him about that later.

“Don’t know but if he’s off relaxing, he or his boss have probably already done them. For now, I’m going to let Suture know that Riptide is fine to let wander about. The guards know to not let her off the ship though.” Constable explained. “You said you were going to be relaxing with Winter and Ocean?”

“Yeah, I figured I should check in on them,” I explained. “Those two went down pretty hard yesterday.”

“Alright, well. I was already going to put Riptide under your care. I also think that her sharing space with the ponies who rescued her would do some good. I’ll have a guard take her to Winter’s place.” Constable explained. “Don’t get too hammered, we need our reserves mostly sober just in case.” He smirked as he patted me on the shoulder. “But do enjoy yourself, you three did your fair share.”

I paused for a moment as I thought about just fetching Riptide myself. No, let those on duty handle guard duties. “I’ll try not to and I’ll keep an eye on Riptide.”

Once I was at Winter's place I found the door was open. Inside I could hear laughter and music from their radio playing so I let myself in. My family and friends were telling stories, drinking, and relaxing. I put up my bags and joined them. Everypony waved a hoof to me. It was welcoming to be with all of them.

“Shower first, Moony, you’re still bloody,” Winter said. “Hold on, how are you bloody again? I thought you took a dip in the river?”

I grumbled as I regarded myself and saw splotches of dried blood across my coat. I hadn’t done a good job of washing up last night. Then again I was overly tired so it was to be expected.

“Fine but save some drinks for me. Oh, and uh, Riptide, the mare we fished up? She’s going to be dropped off here at some point. She’s being put under my care.” I explained.

“Well, we’ll save more drinks then. Now go get scrubbing!” Ocean commanded and shooed me away with a hoof.

I got washed and rejoined my friends and family. A few hours passed with us relaxing, getting inebriated, and remembering our foalhoods. I felt far more relaxed than I had in a long while. It had been too long since I had just hung out with my friends without work forcing us to spend time together. For the first time since Winter and I stopped being a couple we were all just hanging out together. The feeling of heartache didn’t move in at any point and happily left me alone as I enjoyed my morning. Things just felt at home the entire time.

I needed to move on and seeing that I could enjoy being around my friends without the specter of the past looming over me meant I could do it. It would be an unsteady path but I could do it. I did understand that it wouldn’t be constant though. I just needed to remember this moment, and hold onto it when I felt bad. Clobber those bad feelings over the head with this memory.

There came a knock at the door.

"Come in, the door's open!" Winter called out, his voice filled with joviality and mirth.

None of us were really hammered, we had in the past done the whole drink until we blacked out. Anymore we drank enough to establish and maintain that buzz. Spending the rest of the time chasing the buzz with sips instead of hammering drinks.

Vimes and Constable came in. I swallowed down the urge to stand at attention upon seeing the two guardsponies I respected the most walking in. I spied a Riptide behind them standing in the hall. Constable had said he would send her with a guard to me if she wanted to go somewhere. So why were two of the most senior members of the guard here?

“Good to see you took my advice to heart about moderation while relaxing,” Constable said, giving us a smile as he trotted in, Vimes and Riptide in his wake. He gave Riptide space to pass him by and she looked around the room.

I scooted over on the sofa crowding, Silaha a bit as I offered Riptide a spot to sit with us. With a sniff of the drinks, she wrinkled her muzzle and went for the water. Not in the mood to drink, eh? Probably for the best missy, drinking while miserable was never a fun experience for me.

“So, what was the result of the meeting?” I asked as I leaned my head backwards over the sofa, my forelegs set on the back of it.

“Well, given you lot don’t look too drunk,” Vimes said regarding us. “They decided that with how things are here, and with the turning of seasons we can afford to expend a few ponies to escort Riptide overland to Dockland. Now, sending one pony with her would be… A little too little they felt.” Vimes explained.

“As Vimes was saying.” Constable continued. “We want you three, Moonlight, Ocean, and Winter to take her overland to Dockland. We figured that the three of you should be more than capable of doing it. Before you go off we’d also like you to investigate and clear the Sea Lion Caves so we can set up an outpost up there.” Constable regarded Riptide for a moment. “Given what Riptide told us about a raider settlement to the north we felt it would be good to give ourselves a bigger buffer. After that, it will be up to you to figure out what way you want to take to get through the range. It should be pretty safe; we haven’t gotten any reports of any big critters for a long time wandering about out there. Ocean, come by the briefing room for some updated maps, Sea and Wraps are up there doing a final quick flyover.”

I lifted my head and looked at my friends. “Well, guess we’ll be spending winter inland.” I looked back to Vimes and Constable. “Actually, are we okay to have the three of us go? We must have lost a few ponies during all that chaos.”

“Given the change of seasons and the number of bodies of attackers we’ve collected, we should be fine for the winter. If not, I don’t think three ponies would make a difference.” Vimes explained. “Probably best to sober up first but it's up to you when you want to head out. You've only got a few hours of daylight but the sooner you get prepping the better. Seasons don’t wait for anypony.”

Winter let out a groan. “Well, we’ll start packing. Moonlight, how about you go and let your parents know?”

I nodded to Winter. “Yeah, are we going to get anything for this, Vimes, Constable?”

Constable set out a bag of bits on the table. “Paid in advance, and then some. Figure you lot could use it for getting ready.”

Ocean nodded. “Alright, Winter you pack my stuff alright? I think I want to get what they have for us and start reviewing it as soon as I can.”

Silaha raised her hoof. “Would it be alright if I came along with them?” I looked at her. None of us could stop her, she was her own mare.

Well, that was out of the blue. Since when did she want to get out of Saint Clover? Hmm, well I’ll ask her about that later.

“That’s up to everyone else, if you think you won’t be a hindrance feel free,” Constable stated as he turned to leave. “Somepony let us know when you head out. Take a flare gun to fire off when you clear out the caves.”

Vimes and Constable left, closing the door behind them.

“So, I guess I’m going to be an only child for Hearths Warming this year?” Silver joked from his side of the table.

I let out a snort and gave my brother a look. He just smiled.

“So, Sil, you want to come with us? Do you have any barding or a gun?” Winter asked as he got up and trotted to a dresser.

“I don’t and I know my dad won’t be too happy about this. He’s been rather protective of me but…” Silaha looked at the bottles on the table before taking a shot of something stronger than the cider we had been having. “He’ll let me go. Don’t worry I’ve got a good reason; I'm not just galavanting off to be with you guys. However… if I’m not here in an hour just head out without me.”

“You know, he might have something for you to take with you. He and our dad used to travel together.” I added. “Don’t know how fitting it will be, but I can make minor alterations.”

Silaha gave me a hug before she got up to go. “I’ll go talk to Dad. Going with the three of you should make him more relaxed. He knows he can count on you to protect his daughter and one of us needs to do this. I just don’t know how he’s going to react to having so little time to prepare.”

“You can fill me in on the details later once we are on the road.” I nodded. “I’ll walk with you, I mean, we live next to one another.” I paused and regarded Riptide. “Riptide, come with us. My parents probably will want to meet the mare I’m escorting across the wasteland to get back to her family.”

“Hey, Moonlight, I’ll go pick up some extra equipment for everyone. Not going to let us leave here unless everyone is armed and has some kind of barding.” Winter said as he set Ocean’s saddlebags on her back.

“Thanks. Riptide looks to be about my size so shouldn’t be too hard to find. Get an extra set of barding for Sil, in case her dad doesn’t have anything for her.” I went to my bag and fished out my bag of bits and caps. “Take what I got and get us everything you can think of. Medical supplies, ammo, guns, barding repair equipment. I don’t mind if you burn through what I have.”

Winter nodded and packed my bag of bits with his and the one Constable had given us. I got up and moved to leave. Silaha, Silver, and Riptide followed with me. “See you in… How about we all meet at my parent’s place? Easier than trying to set a time to meet up.”

“Sounds good,” Ocean said as she trotted past me. “Oh and Winter? Try not to spread our ammo types too thin.”

“I won’t.” Winter laughed. “Sil, you want a battle saddle or a gryphon gun?”

Silaha blinked. “A battle saddle, it’s been too long since I did anything with two-hoof style.”

Winter nodded. “Alright, I’ll get you a battle saddle then. Didn’t want to assume and leave you high and dry when shit hits the fan.”

Silaha smiled. “Thanks, Winter.”

With that, we split up and my small group headed off toward our families' section of the ship. Eventually, I waved off Silaha as she headed a few doors further down to where she and her dad lived and opened the door to our family dwelling. Mom, Dad, and Cherrybomb, an oddly named mare who had the not-so-obvious talent of repairing things, were chatting over coffee.

“Oh, Silver, there you are!” Cherry said as she waved enthusiastically. The three of us trotted on in and Silver gave his mare a hug and kiss. “I was wondering where you had gone off to.”

“Oh, I thought Mom and Dad would let you know I was hanging out at Winter and Ocean’s. We just came back from there.” Silver said.

“Explains the cider breath.” Cherry teased Silver. Riptide and I trotted over to my parents and I gave both of them a hug.

“Who’s this?” Mom asked looking at Riptide.

“This is Riptide, Riptide, this is my mom Tender Shores. My dad Dusty Shores, and that is my brother’s marefriend, Cherrybomb.” I said introducing everypony to everypony else.

“Hi, I’m the mystery mare that Moonlight rescued,” Riptide said, keeping a few hoof steps back from everypony and waving with one hoof.

“Ah, well, good to see that you’re up and about,” Dad said. “So why are you all here? Did something happen?”

I bit my lip for a moment then hung my head. “Yeah. Higher-ups made the call. We’re going to respect Riptide’s request to go to Dockland instead of waiting until winter is over. They decided to have Winter, Ocean, and myself escort her out there overland. I think part of it is to get us to have more experience further out from home. We’re also going north first to do a bit of scouting. Kill two birds with one stone and set up an outpost at the Sea Lion Caves once we make certain it’s clear.” I explained.

Dad put his hoof on my shoulder. “You’ll do fine. This time of the year is a good time to go on a trip.” He assured me.

“I know, most raiders have headed south to warmer places. Drier ones too.” I giggled remembering how absolutely wet most of our falls and winters were. “I’m not going to ask what Dockland’s like because it has been decades since you’ve been there, Dad.”

“Yeah, you’d be better off talking to, well.” Dad paused. “Well, I imagine Ocean is covering that side of things right now.” I nodded.

“She’s probably off doing that right now; after all, it’s what her job is. When are all of you heading out?” Mom asked.

“Hopefully before sunset. Constable wanted us to go as soon as we could. Sil is hopefully coming with us.” I added.

Dad tapped his chin. “I’ll be back.” He said as he got up and trotted out the front door.

“He’s going to talk to Majar. Those two know how to get the other to see things more realistically.” Mom said. “Sil finally decided she wanted to see more of the world?”

“Maybe? She said she had something that had to be done, something that was a good reason for coming with us to Dockland. I didn’t push her on it though.” I explained. “I’ll make certain she stays safe though. Not going to let anypony die if I can help it.” I gave a soft smile to Mom. “I know I can’t stop us from getting hurt, but, I know I can keep us alive.”

Mom gave me a hug. “Knowing your limits is the first step to finding your place.”

I smiled at that. “I’m pretty certain my place is in my library. I just finished re-roofing that darn thing. Plus those foals aren’t going to teach themselves how to read.” I let out a soft sigh as the smile that had been on my muzzle faded away. Mom wrapped her forelegs around me, I hugged her in return.

“Well, maybe you’ll find yourself on this trip. Just, don’t go chasing after it.” Mom said.

“Yeah, I know.” I smiled softly. We ended our embrace and I looked at Riptide, she looked a bit worse for wear. Seeing touching family interaction probably wasn’t good for her mental health. I waved to her and took her to my room. She sat down on my bed as I began to pack. She let herself cry once I closed the door.

“Sorry,” I said, giving her a pitiful sympathetic look as I cleaned my barding.

“No, don’t be,” Riptide said. “I just.” She went quiet for a while as I pulled on my barding. “When we go north I want to see if anything remains of them. If it does, can we stop and bury them?”

“Certainly. It’s only right that we do.” I said as I strapped the pistol and its holster on my right foreleg. “I know it sounds… cheesy, but you can talk to me whenever. Blame my voracious consumption of Ministry of Peace books. Kind of needed to because.” I paused to think of what words to use. “Well, as I said before, I’m familiar with loss.”

I felt Riptide behind me and then she gave me a hug. “Thank you.” She said as she continued to embrace me from the side. I was still. She was quiet, or had I been caught up in my head and not heard her?

“No problem and don’t worry if it takes a long time to recover. It’s… not a straightforward or quick process.” I said. “Healing hearts is hard.”

Riptide was quiet for a moment. “Sounds like you mean that in more than one way.”

I looked away from the side she was on. “Yeah, but that’s my problem. Not going to lay that on you. You’ve got your own stuff to worry about. I also have others I can lean on for my problems right now.” I replied.

Riptide let go of me. For a moment I felt my heart skip and my brain felt confused. I beat those feelings into submission as she went back to my bed. There was nothing there. It was just the lingering effects of a charm spell, one she regretted using on me. I had known her for a grand total of thirty minutes at most.

I put my saddlebags on my back again and let out a breath. I was mostly ready for this. I hoped Winter would remember to get Riptide some saddlebags.

“Sorry, we didn’t find any of your stuff,” I said as I climbed onto my bed with her. “Is there anything on the trip to Dockland you’d like me to keep an eye out for?”

“I… don’t know. I’ll think about it.” Riptide answered.

“That’s all I ask. Anything to help you along, I'd like to do.” I replied.

“Thanks. I’m glad I bumped into some understanding ponies.” Riptide sniffled.

I bit back a joke that came to mind that would have been in bad taste. “Most of us are pretty willing to help once we get to know a pony. Or zebra.” I smiled. “We’re pretty open-minded. Probably due to how many times our town would have collapsed throughout the years if it hadn't been for a helping hoof. Bit of an unspoken lesson we learned: lean on others, you can’t make it alone.”

Riptide was quiet as we sat there on my bed. I pulled out a book from the personal library I had in my room. It was one of the books that hadn’t been properly restored, something I had yet to learn how to do. I gently began to flip through the damaged book as we waited for my friends to return.

“Moonlight, would you mind if I asked you something personal?” Riptide asked.

“Depending on what the question is you may or may not get an answer but go ahead and ask away,” I replied as I softly flipped through the pages.

“I… don’t recognize your accent. I can place your dad’s and your mom’s but Sil, Silver, and you? I can’t place it.” Riptide admitted. I snorted as I closed the book softly.

“Ah, that. Well, my dad is from somewhere in the heartland. My mom is from a small town up north so that’s why you can place their accents.” I explained. “As for what’s going on with Sil, Silver, and myself.” I giggled. “Well, when you have three parents raising you with different accents you end up having whatever you call mine. I know Winter said it was part heartland and part southern with a healthy dose of the local flavor.”

“Doesn’t help that your voice is pretty neutral overall. But, given all that, I guess you’re more of a failed southern belle than a regular northwesterner.” Riptide nodded. “That explains the odd dropping of g’s in your words while talking like everypony else out here. And why do your brother and ‘sister’ do the same, but not your parents.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it. My accent as Winter put it one drunk night is a melting pot of Equestrian accents.” I snorted. “I’m just glad that what was the result of it all was something halfway understandable and not some kind of guttural snarling and growling.”

“That would be something.” Riptide agreed looking at me.

We settled back down for a quiet break while we awaited everypony else to return.

An hour went by before somepony knocked at my door.

“Moony, you aren’t already getting it on with Riptide, are you,” Winter asked through the closed door.

I let out a sigh as I calmly closed the book. Once the book was replaced on my bookshelf I opened the door. Annoyance filled me and I knew Winter could see it raging in my eyes as I said nothing and kept my calm demeanor. He for his part just grinned at me. I for my part put a hoof behind his head which made him squeak in fear before I locked my lips with his, pulling him closer.

I broke the kiss. “Ya fucker. I’m not ready for that. I’ve also now known her for like an hour and a half.” He tried to hide the blush as I grinned at him, I felt a pain in my chest at having kissed Winter. The teasing I had used to do hurt to do now, it had been a mistake but I kept a mask on my face. What was I saying? I’ve hopped in beds faster back in my bar crawling days. Ugh, whatever. That was then this is now.

“Fair, you aren’t who you used to be.” Winter chuckled as he looked away trying to hide his blush. I guess I failed to hide my hurt because he quickly turned to look back at me. He didn’t say anything but hugged me.

“Thanks,” I whispered into Winter’s mane.

“No problem, buddy,” Winter replied. “Next time try something smaller.”

“Yeah, I was feeling really good earlier. Thought that maybe..." I said, slowly trailing off.

“Shhh, I get it you goofball.” Winter chuckled. “I’m here for you whenever.”

I realized how much I missed Winter’s comforting presence. I bit back my tears and focused on taking some deep breaths and recentered myself.

“Okay, I’m good now. Really should have started doing this healing thing before.” I quietly confessed to him.

Winter took a step back. “Hey, you needed to take your time to process things first, so don’t worry.”

I looked past Winter to see Ocean. She somehow wasn’t glaring daggers at us and was instead making herself busy helping Silaha get into a battle saddle. I let out a sigh of relief. “Well, at least Ocean didn’t see me kiss you so I won’t have to worry about her crushing my throat.”

Winter let out a quiet laugh. “Oh, she wouldn’t. She’s not the jealous one, stop projecting.” He booped my nose to punctuate the point.

Wait, she wasn’t the jealous type? Had I really had that wrong this entire time? Well, shoot.

“Well, let’s get everyone squared away, got Riptide’s new gear?” I asked moving away from the subject of heartache.

“Yep, saddlebags, a pistol, I think it’s actually your old thirty-eight, barding. Got us three tents, plenty of repair materials, sleeping bags.” Winter rattled off the list. “You think we should get a cart?”

I pondered for a bit as I let Winter pass me to give Riptide her equipment. A cart would be useful but it would be a pain in a lot of situations; those trails in the range were often just mud.

Winter had to help Riptide at first get into her new padded leather barding before I took over. With my magic, I adjusted the fit so she wouldn’t struggle to get in and out of her new barding. What use was barding if it choked you? Still, though, standard gear load out was acquired for Riptide for when we patrolled: saddlebags, bandolier, and a knife to compliment the revolver.

“Have an answer for me, Moonlight?” Winter asked as Riptide got used to how the revolver reloaded.

“I’d wager that the trails are probably too muddy this time of year. We have enough of us to carry everything. Once on the other side of the range, we’ll look at salvaging something if we need a cart. I mean, it would end up being you and me pulling in the end anyways.” I answered

“That was roughly about what I was thinking. Plus we don’t know the condition of the trails in general. Might have mudslides out there.” Winter mused.

I nodded as I tossed Riptide a speed loader to practice with. She took to the gun rather quickly so she had definitely been taught at some point how to handle firearms. I’d probably get more of her past out of her eventually. I wasn’t going to go prying anytime soon. I needed to let those emotional scars heal so she’d open up to me in her own time.

I walked over to my parents and my brother. Majar had come over as well and was talking with Dad. He seemed to be in a jovial mood. I could hear them talking about some beast they had taken down back east so that was a good sign. Apparently, it was related to how Majar ended up with Silaha’s mother for a while.

“Sil, how’s the fit?” I asked as I trotted up to her.

“Little tight. Mind helping with that?” Silaha asked. I took a moment to help tailor her barding making it sit better on her figure. It wouldn’t do if the barding was loose, then something could easily slip past what protection it offered. “Much better, thank you, Moony.”

“No problem, Sil.” I smiled. “What about the battle saddle, comfortable?”

“A bit odd, but I'll get used to it,” Silaha replied. I nodded as I regarded it. Winter had given her a shotgun; it was a reasonable choice, with good mid-range support, the bit had options to switch ammo. “Slug and uh, buckshot?”

“Yeah, if we are doing anything at long range, just go with slug shot,” I advised Silaha. “How many rounds does it hold if pulled out of the saddle?”

“It’s a five-shot tube.” Majar answered for Silaha. “One of my keepsakes. Trusty shotgun from way back. Was going to sell it at one point. Got a better one from my travels but well, I didn’t want to get rid of it. Feels right to hoof it over to Sil.”

“Hey, Moonlight, speaking of, catch!” Winter said as he tossed me a long rifle. I caught it in my magic. “Not as punchy as what we get when going out but figure you’d appreciate having something more than just a pistol and knife.”

I pulled the bolt back, it wasn’t a powerful rifle, but it was a carbine and it took a few rounds of five five six rounds. “Yeah, this will do nicely, good scope on it too. It’ll let us double up on scouting as well.”

“That was my thought,” Winter said tossing me some stripe clips of ammo and an ammo pouch belt. “Might help.”

“Heh, good thinking. Hmm, no removable magazines?” I asked, and he shrugged. “Well, I’ll poke around at it later. Maybe it’s stuck. Anyways I guess it’s time for goodbyes.” I said as I pulled on the pouches.

We said our goodbyes. Winter and Ocean’s parents showed up as well and it was a bit awkward seeing his dad again after talking to him twice today. Usually that only happened when I really screwed something up. As for Ocean, her family was much smaller as only her mom remained. Regardless everyone wanted to see us off. We were their foals after all, even if all of us had grown up long ago. I couldn’t blame them, we were going to be gone for who knew how long trotting into who knew what.

Chapter 4 - Clean-up Duty

“After every fight comes the inevitable phase of cleaning up. Sometimes it’s just washing up some blood and teeth. Other times it is patching up bullet holes and burying some bodies. Sometimes, it goes on for months.
-Equestrian Royal Guard Manual On Disaster Response

Our five sets of hooves clattered against the metal of Saint Clover’s decks as we left home for the last time in what would likely be a very long time. Winter in the lead as usual; he was the one with the best eyes. Ocean was half a length behind him. Behind them Sil and Riptide trotted side by side. As per usual I fell in behind the rest to guard our rear.

When we left Saint Clover the scent of the Ocean and smoke greeted us. It was then that it struck me that this was something I was going to have to get used to: no more noises and smells of the ship. Instead we would be all day and night from here on living out in the open. It was like an indeterminately long patrol duty. My gaze went to the sky as we trotted down the gangplank. The sky above churned and spun as we walked to the dock, windy but not a lick of rain on the horizon.

As we passed my library I had us pause for a minute as I checked it. Winter let out a small chuckle as he sat down waiting for me to return. Sil though went with me to help check on the repairs.

As we checked the repairs I turned a corner and bumped muzzle to muzzle with Riptide who had wandered in. I was too distracted looking for leaks and she was too distracted with her mind elsewhere.

“Sorry.” She muttered as I helped her up.

“It’s fine, just follow my tail, alright?” I informed her and she nodded.

After another half hour Sil and I nodded in agreement as the entire building seemed to be in good shape and for once dry. As such I let out a whoop as there was no sign of needing to do any further work. It felt nice to leave the place in such good condition.

While we had been checking on the Library, Ocean had gone and informed Dispatch we were heading out for the Sea Lion Caves. Given Ocean had more gear than when she left she had clearly scrounged up a few bits more of equipment.

We pushed out into the ruins of the town itself, past the battle torn palisades to where the fighting had been the worst. As we continued down what had once been the coastal highway and main street we could see the depths of the siege to our home. While we had long ago abandoned much of the town to live within the hull of Saint Clover, Seamane itself was as much our home as the ship was. We knew many of these buildings as places we had explored when we grew up, places we had trained. Beyond that a good number of buildings that had survived the tides of time had now succumbed to the meaningless destruction of the siege, places that were slated to be refurbished and re-inhabited over the next few decades as we finally resettled the town itself. Instead much of our home was an ashland, a dreg heap. It only filled me with despair to see. So much senseless destruction. Of course, that’s raiders in a nutshell. Not that any of that mattered now. By the stars, if you listened to some of those still around now all that mattered was click click bang bang.

The devastation kept us quiet company with the smoldering ash and warped metal blowing in the wind as we left our home headed north on the coastal highway. As we kept going we got to the worst of the new scars on the landscape, the front-line. Here ponies we knew, well besides Riptide, were out working checking for ‘presents’ as well as battle salvage.

The carpet bombing by our air support had made a mess of things here. While it was effective it gave me insight on the cost of warfare. When the battle was over you had to pick up the bits and pieces and find a way to make things whole again. It wasn’t just about healing ponies, it was about more than that. Something I had never thought about given every fight I had prior was a skirmish in some ruins or some place I didn’t have to care about.

I was left with my thoughts as we continued onward. Our scenery gradually changed, the overgrowth from the hills had subsumed parts of the outskirts of Seamane and now that we were trotting out of Seamane the transition from ruins to grass, ferns, and short trees was gentle. The gentleness of this change was such that one not paying attention likely would have thought the grown over buildings had been merely hills that ferns and trees were growing out of before the terrain smoothed out again.

Doing my part I kept my head on a swivel and looked to the west where the coast lay and the more normal trees that books of the past documented. Keeping an eye on the east as well I saw the swampy low lying land where the river regularly flooded, that we had trotted around the other day. Even from here I could smell the fetid water, hear the distant buzz, chirps, and caws of the life that lived within. As we approached the hills that blocked Seamane’s valley we lay in from the next. The bodies were still laying out in the open from where we had put them down. The tents had finished burning hours ago and not even embers remained. The smell of blood, smoke, and burnt bodies made me gag as I smelled it again, I had hoped not to.

As we continued to trot uphill the swamp to the east ended and the forest began. The half bent trees formed by the everblowing coastal winds as if pointing to tell us to go back as we headed towards the Sea Lion Caves.

Riptide broke the silence that had been over us as we trotted towards likely the last raider den.

“It’s so alive up here.” Riptide gasped shattering the silence we had all quietly agreed to embrace so far on the trot out to the Caves. “I haven’t seen this much green since visiting a seaweed farm.”

The change was enough from the constant rustle of grass, leaves, and branches in the wind that it made me jump. Given I was looking along the hillside when she spoke I didn’t spot if anypony else had a mild heart attack at the silence ending after somewhere near an hour of trotting.

While I caught my breath with my hoof against my chest to force my heart back down my throat Sil carried the conversation for us. “It is rather pretty, I’ll agree with that. My father talks about how barren things get the further east you go, or south. Also, a seaweed farm?”

Riptide nodded. “Yeah, a town down to the south near where we used to live farmed kelp offshore. Unlike out here the beach doesn’t drop off a sheer underwater cliff.” She shook her head and I caught a glimpse of a smile on her muzzle as we continued to trot. “While it isn’t the best tasting food, it is better than pre-war food. Was about the only thing that grew too in the area besides some small shrubs.”

Hearing Riptide talk about something other than what had happened to her and smile was a good sign from what I knew. It put a small smile on my muzzle as I was happy to see at least there was still some life in her heart. I knew all too well how loss could break a pony.

My mind turned to the information that had been provisioned to us though and I quickly digested it. “Huh, well that explains where the shipments of seaweed come from. Always could tell when one was coming, the smell was unmistakable.”I snorted. “Also it makes sense somepony would start farming it too. I think even pre-war it was considered a crop.”

I continued, feeling a bit of mirth filling my chest. It was nice to have a conversation with a bit of levity in it. I had hoped things with Riptide wouldn’t be constantly morose.

Sil nodded to me before she chimed in again. “So down south, is it pretty brown?”

Riptide nodded. “Mhm it is, it’s not totally barren but you’d get your occasional tall tree with leaves on it with lots of scrub grass and dry dirt. As we came up north I saw the coastal hills getting greener and greener, more and more tall trees.”

While I was happy to hear more about Riptide’s trip up I wanted to head it off before she got to the bad part, so instead I decided to educate her on some of the local flora. “Well, not all of this is a good old growth forest. We got some weird plants out here that aren’t in the pre-war books. Case in point, the swamp has what we call corpse trees. Smells like decomposition, glows in various places, and has openings that lead into a trap. They seem to have mutated from a rare carnivorous plant that existed here pre-war.”

“Carnivorous plant?” Riptide nervously laughed, her steps a bit more cautious and hesitant. I could see her looking around for things readying to go after her. “As in, it eats ponies?”

That made me snort. Thankfully I didn’t know of any highly mobile carnivorous plants. “Not quite, it is a passive eater, has a trap of some kind in it that lures in small critters. They go in and then due to some mechanism they can’t come out. Apparently there were a lot of different types of them back in the day, all of them had trouble growing to grow outside their natural habitats.” I shook my head. “Then there are harder one's to pin down how exactly they work.” I started then hummed to myself. “To put it bluntly you have some that react to things interacting with them, like bear traps.”

“We’ve documented some big enough to enclose around one of us.” Sil added with a wince.

“That’s terrifying.” Riptide whimpered.

“Yeah, but from what I gather unless we were roaming the south on the other side of Equestria we’re not really going to bump into anything like that. Also I could point out from the books I have, most samples of plants that ate insects and what not back then were passive partakers. So even if we do find them there’s very little chance of us being in danger. More at risk by what it eats than the plant itself.” I informed Riptide. “Of course that’s assuming the books I have are the grand sum of knowledge about plants of Equestria, which it cited itself to be.”

“Well, now I’m less worried about running into horrible plants that want to eat us.” Sil giggled.

Riptide shook her head. “And what exactly would they eat to get as big as those trees?”

“Probably bloatsprites and other carrion eaters, so generally nothing to worry about. More worried about eating bodies than making them.” I informed the two. “Still have to worry about ponies wanting to make us into bodies.”

“Or worse.” Riptide muttered.

“Or worse.” I affirmed Riptide’s statement as it seemed like Sil didn’t pick up on it.

It was a while until we got to the Sea Lion Caves, the uphill climb and the wind from the ocean breeze forced up the hills slowing us down. It was pleasant though to smell the ocean again instead of the swamp, or smoke, or most other things. Reminded me of a lot of relaxing times throughout the years. Uneventful patrols that turned into more of us just lazing on the beach watching the waves roll in. Wasn’t like a pre-war resort and sunning but beyond that boat trip out to the ocean, I hadn’t gotten to feel the sunlight, or for that matter, moonlight.

“I will say though, it is nice to go up here in the hills. Haven’t in a long while. The air is refreshing.” I smiled, taking in a deep breath. “Heh, one would think I grew up underground with how much I complain about the air in Saint Clover at times.”

“I don’t know how different it would be between growing up in a Stable with its door open and growing up in Saint Clover.” Ocean said. “I mean at least they have hydroponics according to the Survival Guide but they face the same threats nonetheless. Of course there aren't that many Stable Towns out there to compare.”

I nodded, then again our news from the rest of Equestria was rather slow to get to us. We had a radio station from up north but it mostly played some... ‘lo-fi’ I think it was called as well as weather reports.

“Still all of this is a nice change from the burnt out forest I grew up in and around.” Riptide said before she stopped to eat some grass that was growing between the cracks in the pavement. “And that was not as tasty as I had expected or hoped, yuck!” She spat.

I let out a giggle as she wiped her tongue off. “Well, magical hellfire did burn most of the world. Then came the radioactive snow and rain. I imagine whatever grows up here was either planted after the fact or didn't present much of a target to get bombed.” I explained and punctuated my uncertainty with the shake of my mane. “Though I go and say there isn’t much around here and yet Dockland has three craters in it... Well, I guess my point is, the coast was probably too lightly populated to have been targeted where we are and whatever ensuing wildfire just failed to burn all the way out here.”

“I guess that makes sense. It is just nice to see it so green and alive out here.” Riptide stated. Growing up everything was grey, brown, and black as if the whole world had been charbroiled.”

Because of her pause to sample the grass, Riptide had fallen in with me at the back of the pack. Sil decided she wanted to be part of the talkative group and slowed down until she was with us letting Ocean and Winter get a few lengths ahead of us.

“Well, glad to break that illusion, though once past the Seamane range it’s going to get a lot less green.” I explained. “I know there is some kind of forest to the east of Dockland, but well we won’t be going out there, obviously.”

“Ah, well, I’ll enjoy it while it lasts.” Riptide said. “On a different note, how do the other towns make it out here? Seems like everypony would just come to Seamane and stay where it’s safe.”

Sil spoke up before I could. “Because of family. Or being stubborn in the case of those who are descended from preppers." When Riptide gave her a confused look, Sil went on to further explain. "Uh, ponies who had seen the writing on the wall a long time ago and started 'prepping' for all this by building their own shelters." Sil elaborated. "Anyways, most other towns around here are a lot smaller so they generally get by without all the trade we need. Tend to be more… how to put it.”

“They tend to trade us for our purified water for in return whatever they scavenge or grow. Be it animal or plant. Given we have a small population of non-ponies meat isn’t… uncommon, nor unwelcome.” I answered. I knew there were some ponies who didn’t like the idea of eating meat. But, if it couldn’t talk generally it was considered fair game. Lot less kind than things used to be but we had to eat as well. “Generally fish, radhog, mirelurks; those are those crabpony things. Blame the Wasteland Guide for the name.”

“Oh, so you have meat up here too?!” Riptide beamed as she seemed to take the news in the opposite direction I had thought, given her elation. Sil and I gave her a nod. “That’s good to hear, though we’re leaving. We’d have fish every now and again since the seaweed farm was also really good for cultivating various fish.”

I nodded and pondered that. "Answers a few questions I had on how a town with no deep sea fishing ships came to trade regularly with so much fish and seaweed."

Riptide nodded. “So, something I’ve been wondering: how bad does it get with raiders up here? Do you ever have towns completely go raider? Like the one to the north?” Riptide asked. “Well, other than the one to the north.”

“It’s not that common but towns do get wiped out by raiders every once in a while given most of them are composed of preppers and folks they let into their family. We have over the years had a few go dark and when checked everypony is just gone. Nopony enjoys those trips, the place always feels off. The biggest worry for those of us who knew anypony then becomes having to fight them if they went full raider and turned up at our doorstep.” I informed Riptide. “Thankfully that was more common a hundred years ago when things weren’t as well off as it is now. Then again, maybe that’s only because there are less ponies to deal with.” I let out a sigh, not liking that kind of thinking, even though it was rational at times.

“Any idea what caused the one up north to go raider?” Riptide asked. “And they certainly did, I got more than my share of time seeing it.”

“And bullets in your hide to prove it.” I added before inquiring about the town itself. “I don’t remember you mentioning that you got to see the town itself. Then again, I’m not privy to what you told everypony else.”

She went quiet for a bit, her face carried a look of hurt. It wasn’t directed at us, but to me it was likely the hurt was at the memory of what she so recently faced in and around that town.

Given my experience with unfortunate things I knew how hard it could be to talk about them and put a consoling hoof on Riptide’s shoulder. “You don’t have to tell us right now what it was like in the town if you told somepony else already.” I told her.

She nodded before she began to speak once more. “I want to though, to get my thoughts straight and because we’re headed there.” She took a sharp breath then started speaking, I half expected her to launch into a long winded explanation. “The town was all kinds of wrong. I’ve never seen so much gore out in the open.”

I nodded. “That definitely sounds like Raiders. Almost like a curse makes them enjoy it. Too bad no way to properly study raiders to figure out what makes the most broken of them so broken.”

“Probably the lack of hope.” Sil offered. “What does it matter if I make that stallion’s face into mush, the world is toast!” She mockingly exclaimed, Riptide winced a bit but nodded.

I gave a small nod to Sil as I had considered her point before. “Then of course there are the more sane and rational ones.” I began more to myself thinking about what we could encounter. “The Bandits you can actually talk to who mostly go for caravans,they try to extort a tax of some kind. The run of the mill Raider who just swoops in, beats up who they want and takes what they want. Generally more nomadic.”

I thought for a moment. “Well outside of fall and winter; they either migrate south or find somewhere to bunker down.” I paused and felt the gears in my mind turning. “By the sounds of it, we lost a trade partner to our north to some nomads coming in and slaughtering the place. Part of why we are going this way to clear an outpost. Then again, I wonder how many they have left given the numbers thrown at us...”

“Probably half of what came down. Throw the weaker or less stable at us, let us thin the herd so they have less mouths to feed over winter.” Sil said. ”According to Dad, that happened to his family. Part of why it ended up breaking down and scattering across the east past the Unicorn range.”

“Oh, well, that makes sense.” Riptide said, then pointed with a hoof. “Is that the shop up ahead?”

I looked forward and saw that we were getting close to the top of the hill, the roof of the large tourist gift shop looming over the rise.

“That would be the tourist shop for the Sea Lion Caves. Alright, let’s stop.” Winter said with a nod as I trotted up to catch up with him.

“Hey Winter? Let’s get looking for trouble!” I giggled at him with a smirk on my muzzle as I caught up with him. He smirked back as we skulked ahead.

Ocean left us to do our thing and guided Sil and Riptide off the road into the bushes.

“With three of them they should be able to handle any stragglers running up the hill from town.” Winter started while we hid behind a rusted out autocarriage. ”Well, two, I don’t know how good Riptide will be in a fight.”

I gave him a nod as I pulled out the five five six rifle.

The minutes dragged on as we scouted out the shop from range. The number of ponies there had to be small given there was never more than one pony on watch outside. Said pony was smoking while keeping watch; their hooves were cracked, blood stained their coat, a patchwork of tires, leaf leather and metal plates making up their barding

“Moonlight, you sneak on up there. I’ll come on up once you take him out. We don’t know how many more are inside," Winter said. "Those windows are boarded up so I'm not getting a good view of the inside"

I nodded as I felt a degree of pain at having to get close for this. My pistol had a suppressor on it now, but this had to be quiet which meant the knife. “Alright, if anything happens, try not to shoot me in the ass.” I sighed.

“I try to only hit that with other things.” Winter teased. I felt my cheeks go warm, and not from the emotion of anxiety or guilt.

I trotted off through the bushes, keeping low. Every now and again I stopped to get eyes on the pony on guard. He was certainly strong given his size and he had a cricket bat on his back with barbed wire wrapped around it with nails to hold the wire in place. The handle of the bat had a guard for his muzzle, and a leather strap that was loose. I had seen how that could be used before as a way to swing the bat around. He had the reach game on me unless I used my magic but, floating a knife over to a pony looking in my direction was one of the worst ideas I could think of. Instead I shuffled further back into the bushes to make certain my hornglow wouldn’t give away my position and used my magic to make a carriage next to him ping as if a rock hit it.

The raider grunted as he turned to look at where the sound had come from. I eyed him carefully and launched a small rock to land at the corner of the building to draw him in the other direction. The sound of the rock made him curse as he trotted off to the corner I had thrown it to. I pushed through the bushes and pulled my knife out with my muzzle. He had to go down fast and quiet. If he didn’t die quickly anyone inside would come out and then things would get messy given we still didn’t have a number on how many there were.

I cantered across the distance between us and angled my head at the last second as he turned, having heard my hoofsteps on the broken pavement. I slid to a stop and slid my muzzle up under his, the knife locking his jaw closed as it cut through skin, muscle, bone and finally puncturing his skull to slice into his brain. He went limp on top of me. I pushed his body against the wall and pulled the knife out, wincing as the blood got onto my muzzle and chest. At least this time it had been quick, taking out a pony up close and personal. Even as I pulled the knife out I could see exactly how I had killed him, and knew how I had violated his physiology.

I tried to blink away the images of ponies being torn open from the previous time I had to do this. The memory of the wet heat of their organs falling out after cutting their gut open stuck with me as the scent of blood washed over me.

I shook my head and wiped the blood off of the knife onto the stallion’s coat. I quickly checked his saddlebags for anything of use. All he had were more cigarettes, a lighter, and some bandages. Once the quick toss of his bags were done I then dragged his body out of sight and kept the blood in him with my magic. Winter joined me shortly after and we got back to casing the backside of the gift shop.

At some point the backdoor of the shop had left its hinges. I didn’t even see it inside the shop itself. The carpet within was a matted mess of moss and plastic in a struggle to coexist. I peeked in to see a lamp on a table surrounded by cards and ashtrays. Between the light outside and the lamp inside, the contrasting light levels were making it hard to see any details. I could only make out two figures within the structure, mainly due to a two way conversation going on between them.

Winter leaned up against me. “How many do you figure?” He asked.

“I can hear two,” I said. “I’ve got a shadow around the cashier stand.”

“Well, want to sneak in or shoot ‘em?” Winter asked, tapping my rifle on my back.

“You know what, sure. If more are in there I’ll duck in and you put down some suppressing fire.” I said, laying down on the ground as he stood over me. “Got the one on the right.”

“Got the one on the left. On three.” Winter said as I took in a deep breath. “One.” I started to let out my breath to even my aim. “Two.” I got a good crosshair on the mare chatting to the other raider. “Three.” He said and we both fired. The sound of the guns going off into the doorway echoed through the building leaving me half deaf as the flash from both of our guns lit up the darkened interior.

I heard another shot and stood up to get out of the way, Winter was still over me making the feat impossible. He let out a startled whinny as I pushed up on him, both of us stumbling back from the doorway. I felt a bite of heat against my cheek, quickly tapping it with a hoof only to find blood as I pulled it back. I had barely missed taking a bullet to the skull. Now bullets were now flying at us in bursts accented with profanity.

“Winter, stay here and fire some shots through the door, I’ll go around.” I said before I pulled out my pistol from its holster. He looked at me dazed and confused for a moment. “Winter, covering fire.” I ordered.

Winter nodded and fired a few rounds into the building; it didn’t matter where they landed, so long as it spooked our last remaining unwelcome guest. I got to the front of the building and threw the doors open with my magic to reveal a single stallion who had retreated to hardcover from Winter’s position.

“Fuck!” He shouted.

The shotgun held in his magic spun. I dove and fired. His shot missed. My shots went through his chest, shoulder, two in the neck, one at the back of his head. It was hard to miss at such close range.

He gurgled at me as I pulled my knife out with my magic and slammed it into his head, cracking his horn off. I put two more rounds into his chest where his heart should be to make certain he wasn’t getting back up. I stood from the cover I was at, my shoulder hurt from hitting the low wall, but it was better than bullets.

“Clear!” I called out to Winter.

He poked his head in from the back door and saw me and gave me a little wave with his hoof then ducked back for a moment. For a moment I wondered what he was doing until he popped back in with my discarded rifle slung over his back.

“Shit, Moony I haven’t seen you go that hard before.” Winter exclaimed as he examined the body of the stallion I had shot and stabbed. “Are you alright?”

My gaze lingered on Winter as to not look at the stallion whose blood stained my hooves and parts of my barding. “Not really. I’m getting flashbacks to when...” I took a moment to ease my racing heart. “To when I first had to use a knife on a pony.”

He nodded as he drew closer to me.“I remember you crying in my hooves when you got home from that.” He said before he gave my mane a pet to test the waters. “Don’t know how I would fare doing it myself.”

I leaned into the petting of my mane as I spoke again. “It’s why I preferred to do things from behind a rifle or at least a bit back with a gun. It’s not as…” I took another gulped breath. “Less chance of all that.”

We were quiet for a minute as he hugged me and I got a face full of his neck fur. He ended the embrace and opening my eyes I winced seeing his snowstorm coat stained red from the blood off of me.

His hoof gently brushed my mane again. “How about you go and get the other? I’ll double check that the shop is secure, alright?” Winter offered.

Getting the others meant fresh air and getting away from the slaughter house we had created, something that was a good idea so I nodded and headed off.

As I trotted down the road back to where the others had last been it was Ocean that spotted me. I had failed to spot her as my mind was still too wrapped up in what had just happened, that shook me a little as I had expected my perception to be sharper than my knife’s edge after a fight, instead it was duller than it’s pommel. Ocean waved me down to where she had hidden herself and the others.

“How bad was it?” Ocean asked.

“Four ponies. One outside, three inside. We didn’t spot the third until we dropped two of them from the outside. Got a little…” I fumbled for words.

“Given the blood on you, guessing it got up close and personal.” Ocean said regarding my coat and hooves. “Given how you’re reacting, let’s get us all inside. I think you need some time to calm down.”

The comment made me wince as I was pulled fully into reality and made aware of how my body was reacting not just my mind. Given my state my reply to Ocean came in the form of a nod as the other two came out from the foliage. Sil was regarding me with concern, concern that was echoed in Ocean’s face and now I realized it had been painted across Winter’s as well. I was still visibly shaken, and while not physically shaking from adrenaline bleeding out of my system the look I was likely giving them probably told them everything. That and having not had the good sense to wash the blood off of myself after a fight.

As the four of us trotted back to the giftshop my senses began to feel a bit more normal, my anxiety beginning to decrease. I looked up at the sky. I could really go for some rain to wash the blood off of me, I thought, as the smell of blood clang to me.

Once back inside the gift shop I beelined for the restrooms. Inside I found shattered mirrors, broken open medical boxes. The stalls were knocked over. I tried the sink and found no running water. I didn’t know what I had expected. I held back the urge to try to scrub the blood off of my hooves. I looked into the shattered mirror, half a dozen partial me’s looking back. Tired, bloody, cheek cut. My eyes were wide, I had no idea if it was shock, adrenaline, or exhaustion. I bit my lip and walked away.

Winter was gone when I left the restroom. Ocean looked at me and directed me to what was left of a sofa. Sil I didn’t see, nor did I see Riptide. A single push of my hoof was enough to incite me to sit on the floor instead of the moist sofa. Ocean gave me a funny look before testing the sofa herself and settling for the floor as well.

“Where’s everypony else?” I asked.

“Sil and Riptide are taking care of the bodies. Best to dispose of them before their smell attracts anything. Winter is checking the stairs down to the caves. Elevator itself is long gone.” Ocean explained. “No running water?”

“Yeah, no running water. Think he’s okay going down there?” I asked.

“Should be, the door was barred from this side. If anything is down there he’ll spot it and hoof it back to us.” Ocean assured me.

Though we had both known him for almost as long I had known Winter a bit more than a year longer than her. Regardless, considering we had all known each other close to two decades, that didn’t matter much.

I closed my eyes for a moment and took some time to calm down, images of death still lingering in the back of my mind. I could hear Ocean move about the building. It wasn’t a large space, enough to hold forty ponies at best. Two registers had been on the counter when we came in, the counter itself faced the main door out to the road. Behind them was a wall that had like once held small gifts for sale.. This lower pit area had chairs and sofas likely for ponies resting or waiting for the elevator down to the caves. Maybe there had once been a projector for films.

Despite being covered in moss near the rear door, further in the carpet revealed itself to just be stuff brittle plastic aged with time. Still, it was better than a soggy rotten sofa. More hooves sounded on the floor as they entered the building from the rear entrance. I figured it was Riptide and Sil given the lack of reaction from Ocean. I tried to stop focusing on the sounds around me, tried to relax my body and focus my mind on relaxing, driving out all other sensory inputs.

* * *

I felt as if something slimy slithered by me, brushing around my hooves as it passed. I opened my eyes. The colors were off, the wind sounded wrong, like a single tinny note held. I looked around as I lit my horn. It was dark. I must have messed up my meditation and ended up passing out instead. My green light bathed the inside of the gift shop. I tried to blink away the blur of sleep in my vision but it persisted.

“Is anyone awake?” I asked quietly, not wanting to be too loud incase everypony was already asleep. There wasn’t a response. I didn’t like that, somepony should have been on watch. I hadn’t been woken up by anyone I could see to take my turn.

I trotted outside and felt the wind on me as singular constant pressure pressing against me. There was no turbulence in the wind. I could smell the sea from up here but something was wrong with the smell, as if some other scent was buried below it. I looked up and felt a mix of awe and terror. The clouds were gone and I could see the stars again though there was no moon in the sky. The cold of the air hit me as I stared out towards the bluff to the north where the sky kissed the sea. The sea glowed, corpses floated on the waves. The wind’s constant breeze stuttered and shuffled as the stars watched on.

* * *

I pushed the dream out of my head as I ate. Any thought of it left me feeling cold. Winter had woken me up before dawn during his shift of guard duty. He had with him a deck of cards. I had thanked him for waking me up out of the strange dream before it had become a nightmare. I never did enjoy my dreams. They were always visits to strange places, impossible dreams that left me melancholic upon awakening to the world I had, or outright nightmares. My mind had a surrealist touch at times.

“Feeling better?” Winter asked as we sat out front under what remained of the awning.

I swallowed down the food. “Bit, didn’t mean to fall asleep. Anything of note in the caves?”

“Lurk nest. The Raiders tried to clear it, but failed. Explains why there were just four here.” He said. “Though Riptide says the next town went raider.”

“Did Ocean send off the flare?” I asked.

“Yeah, she did. You were out like a light so we let you be.” He chuckled. “You did a lot of heavy liftin’. Even if you didn’t do several stories of stairs back to back.”

“I shouldn’t have passed out,” I sighed. “If I hadn’t we could’ve moved on to check the roads ahead of us.”

“No worry, I did that.” He replied. “We’ll take a cart with us but first we have some cleaning up to do.”

“Clean up?” I asked, feeling some worry.

“Yeah, Riptide’s family. We brought them up here and tomorrow they go back to Saint Clover. It felt right to us to bury them in our cemetery.” He explained. “Riptide agreed to it too. It was our best option for giving them the respect they deserve, after all some respect now is better than maybe more respect later. And it's not like we really have a timetable for this whole trip anyways so we figured we could afford to take the time to give her family the respect they deserve.”

“Ah, no point in all of us going back. I’ll take the cart and Riptide.” I offered.

Winter nodded. “She’d appreciate that. We’ll do some poking around to figure out a good route through the range.” He paused then pulled out a folded square of canvas. “Oh, and Wraps dropped off a new map; she apparently went flying out to check trails for us and spot any sign of raider camps.”

“How far north is the site?” I asked.

“It’s a few hours. Gregor’s Cauldron.” He explained, unfolding the map for me. “Agate Point’s still abandoned so Riptide’s attackers must have come from further north.”

“Ah, well, guess we’ll be cutting inland around then won’t we?” I asked as I looked over the map.

“Probably, for the best.” He chuckled. “I don’t envy the folks who’re going to be stationed here. There's still lots of work that needs to be taken care of. A new transmitter and tower, one of those fancy portable generators, not to mention the roof leaks as bad as your library’s.” He snorted as he gave my side a jab, making me roll my eyes. “But that is for other ponies to deal with. We got our job to do, they got theirs.”

I let out a long sigh. “Yeah, I guess.”

“In the name of security.” He sighed with me. “Not how we expected the town to grow, is it?”

“Yeah, but that's always something to keep in check.” I offered.

“Mmmhm.” He nodded.

We sat outside for a few more hours before dawn broke. Riptide was quiet as we left with the cart. I didn’t push for any conversation; we had the bodies of four of her relatives in the cart. I hadn’t seen them, didn’t want to. A few days out in the open would have left them a terrible sight.

While it had taken us hours to arrive at the caves going up hill one would have expected it to take less time to get home by going down hill. Unfortunately this is not the case when hauling a heavy cart full of things you desperately wish to gently carry to their destination. The worst of it wasn’t the strain of keeping the cart under control going downhill. No, instead the worst of it was the wind at our backs blowing the scent of days old dead ponies that also casually carried the scent of the ocean and dead fish with them.

Riptide for her part kept quiet the entire trot back but beside me with her head at least level instead of her eyes locked on the cart or her hooves. I had unfortunately made the trip to bury others a few times and been in her hooves before as well as my current position. Both situations were not easy and my heart went out to her, sympathy was one thing the Guard hadn’t robbed me of even if they warned us of it being used against us.

When we arrived at the cemetery my eyes scanned over the unfortunately familiar markers. Too many friends were buried here, lost before getting their cutiemarks, snuffed out before getting to really experience life. In more than a few cases even their parents wandered off and disappeared. I didn’t understand why when I was a filly but I could now.

It was not easy to lose your reason to go on. It had taken becoming older to realize that hopelessness. Hopelessness could easily become terminal. Part of me even wondered about the wisdom in bringing a foal into the world as it was. There were places like Saint Clover across Equestria, on my more bleak days I felt it was a pointless existence.

Regardless, today was a day I needed to be there for somepony else. I had to remember life wasn’t just a series of losses and pain, that our kind was just circling the drain waiting to be finished off. There were happy moments, tender moments, fleeting sparks of life that defined what it was to be alive over the malaise emotion of the world. In these moments we were our best, and I did what I could to be a shoulder for Riptide to lean on, a pony who had lost everypony dear to her. I helped her bury her family, helped her focus on the good times, and remind her already she had some genuine joy.

To lose others was never easy, but friends could help you find the light. Find the light in the depths of darkness our own hearts and minds can sink to in that ocean of sorrow.

Chapter 5 - Woods

“Many of the walking wounded in the wasteland have no visible injuries, the wasteland psychologically wounds deeper than anyone could have ever imagined.”
-Wasteland Doctor’s Field Guide

We returned to the gift shop over the sea lion caves a few hours later. Riptide had ended up resting in the back of the cart. The whole affair had left her emotionally drained which reflected in her physical state.

As one would expect, the drive up the hill was harder than going down. The mist that began to settle over the area didn’t help as the cart’s wheels were slipping on the now wet moss. The whole affair made me silently whisper a thank you to the princesses for the body I had.

Thinking about myself my mind drifted to comparing Riptide and myself. She was a head taller than I but then again I was about average for a wasteland pony. Malnutrition, minor constant radiation, and the general stresses of the wasteland meant most of us were smaller than those before the bombs. Regardless, ponies were hardy things so while we might have been a bit smaller we were just as tough if not tougher thanks to how things were now. One thing I was happy about was that I still had all of my teeth. That was one thing Saint Clover had two centuries of, friggin toothpaste.

We left the cart with the ponies at the tourist shop. Winter, Ocean, and Sil were ready to head out when we arrived. We took a bit to rest while I let my legs recover and got Riptide to eat and drink something. That seemed to help her a little. Four hours was a bit of a trip, but if need be I knew I could carry a pony for a while. Part of the medic training was being able to carry a pony twice our weight for long distances.

Searose was, as Winter had said, abandoned; a burned out, quiet, husk of a town. We didn’t go through the heart of it; there were too many ways we could be ambushed and my gut agreed with that assessment.

The caw of birds and the rustle of critters in the bushes made us jumpy. Winter and Ocean took the lead while I minded Sil and Riptide. Searose, as we trotted around the outskirts of the abandoned town, was host to signs of recent temporary habitation. There were fire pits, fresh tracks, well fresh enough to still be around, detritus from staying a night. My gut told me this had been the staging grounds by the looks of it for the assault on home.

Nothing jumped out at us as we continued to go, our guns were at the ready though. After getting north of the ruins I trotted backwards with Sil guiding me with her tail. Trotting backwards wasn’t something ponies were really meant to do but with enough training I could manage and we weren’t going terribly fast, given we wanted to be careful. Riptide one time when I looked over my shoulder was looking at Sil and I as we had locked tails with a slight hint of amusement.

Riptide’s look I ignored and dismissed, Sil and I had trained together in the guard, and having somepony watching your back was damn important. Princesses knew that I had been on the bad end of an encounter more than a few times due to lacking somepony watching our withers.

The trot north of Yachats was fine, after we had cleared the abandoned town I relaxed a bit but kept throwing a glance back to check that nothing was following us.

An hour later we arrived at Grogar’s Cauldron, our approach was met with the smell of rotting flesh. When we drew closer to the ancient shore that was host to a mysterious offshore hole. What bit I knew about this place was nopony was certain where the offshore hole went, but water constantly flowed into it and vanished forever. On the rough rocky ground soaked in ocean spray, we saw numerous rotting corpses left to rot. From fallen Raiders to ocean creatures, from bare ponies to brahmin. This was a site of slaughter, and the air was heavy with the smell of it.

Riptide couldn't bear to even look at the sight so I guided her over the uneven rocks as she cried into my mane. Winter and Ocean kept a dutiful eye out for signs of trouble ahead of us as we headed inland along a smaller dirt road. Sil took up the rearguard.

With a few hours behind us, we had made it quite a ways inland. Here the road turned to mud, the air filled with the buzz and rustle of life just out of sight. The road followed a creek inland, both cutting a path inland through the thick forest around us. The more natural greens surrounded us as we pushed ever-forward away from home.

As the road went higher along the narrow valley we were trekking through we got a good view of the valley ahead. Through Winter's scope, we both agreed on an area of dry ground ahead of us as the road neared the riverbed. It would make for our campsite tonight, a far better alternative than the abandoned scenic overlook which was little more than a muddy pit of gravel and sucking muck.

Winter and Ocean had their own tent which was a small blessing for me. The rest of us set up the larger tent to share. Once camp had been made we got down to making a fire. Said fire sat under a makeshift cover of old tree bark and branches to keep the rain out and diffuse the light. The first watch landed in my lap. Ocean and Winter would take the other two.

The watch was dull, cold, wet, and dark. After the previous week, it was a nice break from the gunfire, smoke, dull orange glow of fire, and being drenched in fear.

One thing I can safely say is that even after being through combat many times before it never stops being as scary as Tartarus. Then again that’s why the guard is important, those few of us who carry the scars of taking the life of another so not everyone has to. Not like everyone who went through the guard had to do what we did over the past week.

My mind wandered to thinking about the combat I had done. It certainly feels a lot different between being up close and firing rounds down range toward where you see shapes. Sure I had killed some through a long-distance scope but I never saw their faces, not like when I was at medium range or… I shivered as memories of ending lives with a knife brushed against my mind. That terrible feeling of taking the life of another will never leave me. I really hope it never does, because if it does oh I am not going to feel good reflecting on that.

My thoughts continued to wander for the three hours of my watch, at which time Ocean joined me under the cover of the rain shield of old tree bark. She looked like she wanted to say fuck it and crawl back into bed with her mate. I couldn’t blame her given I knew that feeling, especially considering it was concerning her buck. Why did it have to be those two with us? Oh well, skill is skill, even if it stings.

“Hey, Moony.” Ocean began before stifling a yawn. “You look like shit. How about you get some sleep? I can imagine Sil will feel a lot better with you in the tent with her.” That got me to raise my eyebrow at her. “You know, because this is the first time she’s going this far from home, where we’re going I mean.”

That made me sigh, a deep tired sigh. Ocean was just looking out for me, for us, as she should given she was our leader.

“I guess the past week has been exhausting so I would look like shit.” I agreed with her. “Do you need anything before I hit the sack?”

“No, I’m good. Well as good as I can be.” She answered truthfully as she used the embers I had kept warm to heat a drink.

The gentle rain had turned into a blanket of mist by the end of my watch, leaving things nice and quiet save for the gentle babbling of the creek next to us.

Crawling into my tent I found the other two mares still fast asleep. Sil's familiar and comforting gentle snoring was present, ready to ease me into slumber while Riptide's breathing was uneven as she lay facing away from me. Once more my heart went out to the mare.

Sil’s forelegs wrapped around me as I crawled in beside her, muttering something in her sleep. Her warmth was comforting and so I snuggled into it, what comfort I could have given to Riptide I felt would make her startled and backfire. So I let myself drift off holding my foalhood friend.

With frustration in my heart I awoke in the morning without coaxing, well before Sil given her hooves were still wrapped around me. Her warmth against the cool damp air clinging to my eartips made me briefly snuggle into her grasp. Her familiar scent, gentle breathing and heartbeat kept me company as I continued to awaken; being in the Guard had ruined my ability to sleep in. Begrudgingly I disentangled myself from her clinging hoove, though I had little desire to leave the warmth of the zebra.

Once outside and telling Sil to get a bit more rest I joined Winter under the makeshift cover as I restarted the fire. We then proceeded to heat some water and make a warm breakfast. Mash wasn’t ideal but it would do; I didn’t feel like eating any of the other options we had on us.

Half an hour or so rolled by then Ocean had decided to join us, quietly leaning on her stallion as they shared a cup of hot tea. Riptide joined us not long after, her eyes unfocused. I offered her my tea and she absentmindedly took a sip only to spit it back out, blushing furiously. Apparently, my tea did its job in waking her even if it wasn't to her taste.

“Well I guess she thought it was something else.” I giggled to Winter.

“Ugh, how the fuck do you drink this?” Riptide asked as she sent the canteen back to me. I took a sip of it. “It’s foul, I expected water.”

Winter spoke up before I could “Moony needs her caffeine in the morning but doesn’t like coffee.” He explained and gave me a grin. “She can get really cranky if she has to be doing things early after a night watch. Caffeine helps her not shoot first and ask questions later in those situations.”

I snorted. “Just don’t give me too much caffeine or I’ll go back to shooting first and asking questions later.”

“And that’s why she doesn’t get coffee.” Winter nodded sagely.

“Even if it would have saved our asses a few times.” Ocean teased.

Riptide warmed up some water and got out some seaweed to go with the mash. “I’ll just not ask about that. Point being, no feeding the grey unicorn coffee for the sake of not unleashing a living storm of violence upon the wasteland.”

“Correct.” Ocean giggled at my expense while I just rolled my eyes, chortling.

Winter turned to look at me, smiling as he unfurled a map of the region. "So Moony, you weren't around when we laid out the path. Let me fill you in."

And there was that confused storm of feelings in me. Whatever, breakfast and planning over these feelings.

Winter meanwhile continued with the explanation, ignoring the flashes of emotions across my muzzle. “So we’re cutting in here so as to not get closer to Hayshore. We’re going to let the others handle checking out the other towns along the shore.” He explained as he pointed to spots on the map as I held it up in my magic. “We’re going to hit the small town of Fisher and from there to Alsea. Once there Alsea it’s north onto Wayhill and then we hit the old Five and go north. We’ll deal with what we find as it comes up.”

Once his explanation was done I took a moment to magically mark our path out and where we planned to stop for the night each day. “Alright, that’s easy enough and we got a number of alternative paths so we should be good.” I said, folding and stowing the map. “We’ll have a decent view of what’s ahead of us coming out of the hills into Wayhill. I like it, things should be pretty calm until we get to the Willamanette valley.”

Riptide piped up having listened in. “So how long do you think it will take?”

I rocked my head side to side as I thought about how fast we had managed to go so far.

Ocean answered for me. “Probably three days to Alsea, another three to Wayhill. We should get to Fisher tonight.”

Winter nodded at that. “Plus Wraps said it was clear through here. It’s a bit surprising that there aren’t any raiders out here.” Winter said with a dismissive shake of his mane.

Riptide nodded digesting the information. “So it’s just going to be a nice quiet trot through the backwoods?” She asked.

Her question made me giggle. “As far as I can tell, yeah.”

We took our time getting ready for the trot ahead of us. Winter bid me to wake Sil so I did, or at least tried to; she dragged me back into the warm confines of her sleeping bag in her half-asleep stupor for cuddles. The warmth and comfort defeated my will to go on a cold wet march through the hinterlands.

Half an hour later Winter poked his head in then giggled when he saw Sil with her head against my chest fluff. My cheeks flushed as he gently shook his head at us.

A few minutes later Sil was out of bed and leaning on me, sipping her tea while the rest broke down the camp. While I kept an eye out for trouble and minded Sil, I pondered on why she was suddenly glued to me. Then again we had grown up together so I was as close to an anchor for her out here in the ocean of the unknown we waded through.

An hour later we were several miles inland. Thankfully the roads had mostly dried out over the night. The weather had continued to hold with a gentle mist, the heads of hills were stuck into low lying clouds Through the narrow valleys the wind still rustled through the branches of the conifers, de-leafing the deciduous trees around us. The buzz of the life around us had quieted the further we had gone inland.

A whine steadily built up as we continued to trot further inland, existing over the buzz of the forest life. The noise made me flick my ear as if to bat away a fly buzzing around my head. Without asking I got acknowledgement from Winter by way of a simple look as his own ears flicked instinctively.

Before we could take more than a moment to start scanning our surroundings something slammed into my side. The edges of my vision darkened and my hearing blanked out as I felt the sensation of sailing through the air. Suddenly I could hear that whine again, only louder this time. When I regained my sight again all I could see was chitin.

This was definitely not how I desired to experience flying given I was now in the many-limbed grasp of a giant pony eating insect. The nightmarish vespidae had its massive stinger lodged into my side through a saddlebag and while I couldn't feel it I knew the lack of pain wasn't a good sign. I tried to worm my way out of its grasp but that only made it push its stinger deeper in, its limbs closing on me harder. It was then that I saw movement within what I now knew was the parasitic wasp's abdomen.

Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck, it's laying eggs! Well those will take a bit to hatch but I need to escape. Now how to-

That train of thought was quickly derailed when the sound of gunfire rang out. The insect foalnapping me staggered and I used that moment to tempt fate by lighting my horn to cast a spell. This proved futile as it acted like a moth to a flame and clamped its mandibles onto my horn, causing my eyes to water and my spell to fizzle out.

Thankfully it proved to be enough of a distraction for my captor, its body shuddering as many more shots cracked into its chitin making it falter in its flight. It was then that I noticed the rapidly approaching trees lining the valley's wall.

“Oh this ain’t good.” I whimpered to myself as I braced for a crash landing.

Our struggle came to a very abrupt end when the massive wasp slammed into a tree. Having grown up watching other fliers like gryphons and hippogriffs earn either a one way trip to the infirmary or an early grave from such a crash I knew the wasp was done for. We tumbled down to the ground and, as my luck would have it landed with the bulk of the insect on top of me, knocking the air out of my lungs.

With only a brief moment to gain my bearings I drew my pistol and flicked the safety off in my magic as the wasp twitched and buzzed, attempting to get back into the air. I unloaded an entire magazine into the underside of the critically injured creature until it stopped moving; even if it was trying to parasitize me with its young I wouldn't let it suffer a slow painful death. Unfortunately this meant I now had to carry its dead weight on my shoulders as I frantically tried to get out from under the damn thing.

Grunting and panting, I managed to make my way out of the demon spawn insect’s deadhand. Pain coursed through me as I laid in the underbrush and caught my breath. Looking at the dead insect and its stinger I remembered the violation of my form caused by it and then immediately checked my side. To my relief I didn't find any wounds though I couldn't say the same for my saddlebags. Examining the contents of the saddlebag I found my busted up tea box filled with small translucent eggs. I froze, my mind failing to comprehend the disgusting sight before I snapped, using my magic to launch the eggs out of sight into the forest.

A minute later my mind recentered itself. “The… The fucking wasp was after my tea? MY TEA?! Why in the actual fuck would a wasp want to lay eggs in my tea?!” I swore as I double checked for a hole on the other side of my saddlebag before giving the insect corpse a glare. "I fucking swear Discord made this thing specifically to deprive folks of caffeine!"

If it had managed to lay any eggs in me I didn't see any. A quick detection spell over my body and the lack of exit hole on the other side of the saddlebag had me feeling relieved. I spared another glance at the insect and pulled out my knife, stalking towards it to make sure the likely dead wasp wouldn't be getting back up. Now that I had a moment to examine it outside of fighting for my life I could see it was a long orange and yellow wasp with horrifyingly long and flexible stinger-ovipositor. The shell of the insect was cracked with it’s ichor leaking out around the exposed flesh.

The distant calls of my friends dragged my attention away from my would be foalnapper. I trotted off in the direction of their voices, pushing through the underbrush till I got to the bank of a river running through the bottom of the gully I was in. My friends were looking down at me, waving but I couldn't make out what they were saying.

I made an executive decision. “I’m fine!” I shouted up and made pointing gestures with my hooves, hoping they would understand. “Keep heading for Fisher, that road and this creek go the same way!” Their response was faint and unintelligible, and soon they began to head in the direction I pointed.

Sparing a moment of time, the pellet sized hole in my saddlebag was patched with a bit of tape. I lacked the time to do more but at least it wasn’t going to split apart any time soon. The trek upstream was easier said than done at a number of points; algae and moss covered rocks made me lose my hoofing and the stream itself was bitterly cold which drained me while keeping me painfully awake. The only upside I could see was that I got a lot of practice of squeezing my coat out with my magic to dry off. Unfortunately it wasn't as effective as I had hoped for as unlike Argent’s method as my technique didn't add any warmth.

Two hours later I finally made it to Fisher. I could see Sil sitting at the top of the thankfully low slope that led down to the creek. She waved a hoof at me and I waved back. A few minutes later I was hugging her as we took a moment to relax in each others' company; the solo trot had been nerve-fraying and given the way Sil looked she was about as distressed as I was.

Before I could strike up a conversation with Sil I was distracted by the scent wafting from Fisher, the smell of rot. Taking a moment to gaze around our new settings I could see a few homes, many covered in what I could only describe as a diverse colony of fungi. Nature was in the process of consuming the town. My eyes slid to what lay outside of the homes; fields untended for who knows how long had grown wild and left to grow and die as the world decided.

Sil noticed where I was looking and gave me a comforting nuzzle, slowly leading us to where the others were.

Winter caught sight of us first. “Oh hey Sil, just in time. We found a terminal for you to take a crack at. I have no idea how it still has power but, eh whatever it means you can have your way with it.” Winter said before he trotted up to me and hugged me. “The hell was that thing?”

Sil gave me a nod and trotted off to deal with the errant terminal. I nodded back to her, my eyes following her for a fleeting moment before I answered Winter’s question.

“It was some kind of fucked up giant wasp," I recounted. "Honestly fuck if I know what the bastard really was but I do know that it was a toss-up between my tea or me and I got fucking lucky it liked how the tea smelled more." I shook my head. “Thankfully my saddlebag tricked it into thinking it had penetrated my side and it deposited its eggs there instead. I returned the favor by depositing bullets into it and tossing away said eggs.”

He nodded at my explanation. “Well, you don’t smell too different from the other mares so it must have been the tea.” He explained as he ended the hug with a sigh. “As it is, Sil got the shot that made it go to ground. She’s remembering pretty quickly what her dad taught her. So how banged up are ya?”

That got me to roll my eyes, the thought of how I smelled compared to the other mares long gone. “Thankfully not that badly. Some bruises and a bit stressed out from the event followed by trotting up through cold water.” I answered and rubbed my chest to emphasize the bruised part before continuing. “Anyways, what have you found, anything interesting or of use?”

“Not much, Ocean and Riptide are checking a house right now to see if it’s safe to sleep in given, you know, the circus of fungus growing on a few of them.” He sighed. “Right now it is looking like the barn is our best bet for a place to bed down. Somepony stored some hay in there and I have no idea how it's still good.”

The idea of still-good hay made me curious as to how we could augment our supplies. “Well the barn sounds good, folks are more likely to check houses instead. Not that I don’t find it curious as to what happened here, but given how everything is right now--” I said before being cut off by a yawn.

“It's likely nopony has been around for a good while," he finished for me before turning to look at the sky. "It's getting close to nightfall. How about you go keep Sil company, I’ll keep an eye out for any trouble.”

I gave the stallion a smirk and giggled. “Yeah, more giant insects.” I snorted. “Out of everything the end of the world could have given us why is it so common that insects got stupidly big?”

He chuckled at that. "To teach us of our hubris in thinking we ruled the world for one," he said. “And two, because something like giant snakes would make us unable to think straight.”

The notion of a giant snake made me shiver in fright. “Okay, maybe.” I groused as I headed in the direction of the barn.

Upon entry to the barn, the noise of Sil tapping away at a keyboard made it easy to navigate to where my striped friend had squirreled herself away. I was mildly worried at her lack of reaction to hearing me coming in when I realized I had forgotten to announce myself. Regardless, she could've done with a bit more awareness overall so instead I settled down on the seat of an old tractor and watched her work. There I lay looking over her shoulder like a lazy cat, reading the logs along with her as the minutes dragged on.

Sil finally noticed my presence and cried out. “Fuck! By the stars, Moonlight, you scared me.” She squeaked as she held a hoof to her chest while she caught her breath.

I felt a sense of amusement at her given I had done nothing but exist near her. I wasn't even watching her this time, instead gazing out a window to check for the rest of our group.

After a short giggle fit at Sil’s expense, I answered her. “I’m sorry, Sil, I really didn’t mean to scare you half to death I just don’t care about the terminal.” I giggled. “Figured I should keep an eye out for trouble given you got a little too engrossed in that terminal.”

“Thanks, but you should have told me you were there earlier. I mean sure I would have still jumped, but...” She gave me a soft smile and then rolled her eyes.

I returned the smile. She was a cute zebra I had to admit to myself, never understood why she didn’t have a mate already even if she did once complain to me about finding the right one for her. She was one of two I had known and both had brown stripes, which was odd given the ones I had seen in old Pre-Last Day posters were more varied, with different coat patterns akin to crystal ponies.

“I know, Sil, I get engrossed in work as well.” I giggled. “Next time wait for one of us to be around before you dive into something otherwise it might not be one of us biting you on the flank.”

She grumbled under her breath. “I wish you would.”

I turned my attention back to her, having not heard what she said. “What was that?”

At that moment she hopped up on the tractor with me and poked a rib making my eyes water a little.

“Just that I was going to get you for that, so now we’re even.” She giggled before she leaned against me to wait for the rest of our entourage.

This got a giggle from me as well. I shook my head before turning to more pressing matters. “So I guess you had no joy with the terminal?” I asked her.

She turned her head away from me to the terminal. “Eh, nothing of use.” She sighed.

With that I gave a shake of my mane. “Was a long shot that anything out here would be.” I said.

She was looking at me again. And I chalked it up to her being worried about the whole being dragged off by a giant insect thing.

Time moved along like a…

Slow moving body of water, bayou? I needed more words to describe low moving flows. Okay let’s try again.

As a slow moving evening crawled upon us like a sleepy beetle, the other three eventually showed back up, the mountain mists rolling in behind them. We made camp and with some clever use of cans and string we set up an early alert system; if the doors to the barn were ever opened in the night, the contraption set into the hinge would fall out and make a commotion. We then settled in out of view of the windows before making a small fire on the concrete. For tinder we used some of the excess dry hay. Without much effort I used my magic to ignite our campfire and Winter took to tending the weak flame so it could keep the damp cold out.

First watch was once more in my lap but I was used to that. Ocean and Winter somehow managed to function off of split sleep and I had no idea how since neither were caffeine fiends. Whatever the case may be this meant that I had the painful, psychologically tortuous task of watching the others sleep while also being tired.

Three hours into my watch I was startled by sudden noises. Out came the gun as I let my ears twitch and start to home in on the source of the sound. As I panned my head left to right I suddenly locked eyes with Riptide’s who looked embarrassed and scared. With an exhausted sigh I holstered the pistol and took a moment to collect myself with breathing exercises.

“Sorry, I’m just jumpy.” I apologized to Riptide while keeping my voice down.

She shook her head. “No, it’s alright.” She replied as she recomposed herself.

“So, do you need anything?” I asked as she trotted over to me.

“Um, could I have some company?”

I gave her a nod. “That I can do that.” I said as I let her lean against me.

There was no need to ask what was wrong. I knew those familiar eyes, I had seen them often enough in the mirror. Trauma was a frightful predator, one that haunted one's dreams oh so vividly long after the events that inflicted it; like a partially healed scar that left its mark forever. Gently I brushed her mane while she let out quiet sobs.

With myself indisposed and the three hours of my watch over, I used my magic to prod Ocean awake to take her watch. She took one look at me comforting Riptide and gave a tired knowing smile before settling down in the chair before the terminal to start her watch. Riptide continued to use me as a body pillow and handkerchief, letting all her feelings bleed out as tears and quiet sobs into my chest fluff. Tired as I was, I soon drifted to sleep beside the mare.

-=O=-

The beginning of awareness was marked by the smell of bread. I cracked my eyes open to see Winter cooking haycakes with the excess hay that was here. I had no idea where he procured the other ingredients but I had long learned to stop asking as the answers invariably made my brain hurt. Upon seeing that I was awake, he wordlessly offered one and in return. I gave him a tired smile as I floated the haycake to my mouth. I had no desire to move with the poor mare by my side fast asleep, actually looking at peace for once. Ocean for her part was sipping a hot drink and making more for the rest of us.

Thank the Princesses for magic, otherwise I’d wake Riptide up.

This morning was less strictly paced than the past two; instead we decided to take it slow for once, letting the general feeling of tiredness settle over us.

Upon waking, Sil saw my predicament and just silently giggled before sticking her head out the door. The way her mane ruffled told me a gentle eastward wind had settled in with a light mist. She joined me with food of her own and sipped at my tea as always. Riptide woke up from the noise of movement around her and the smell of food and caffeine. The mare took a good few minutes before letting go of me with a small blush on her muzzle. Not like I minded the possessive hugging she had given me in her slumber. It wasn’t unusual for folks to grab onto an anchor in a tempest, emotional or weather.

Once Sil and Riptide had their morning routines done we headed out. A light rain mixed in with the mountain mist for our trot, the pitter-patter of the rain on our barding and surrounding trees was ever-present as we trekked through ever more muddy trails. The groaning from the trees grew louder as the wind picked up, adding to the cacophony around us. After yesterday all of us bristled at the sound of life in the underbrush. The day was far more anxious than was warranted but none of us felt like having an unexpected flight courtesy of things that couldn’t be reasoned with.

When lunch came around we decided to stop under the cover of a turned-over autocarriage. As we ate we saw a few birds and heard of what could have possibly been squirrels or mice running in the underbrush. We even saw proper-sized insects flitting about. It was as if nature had simply ignored the end of our civilization and continued on without us. In a way it was soothing to sit back and bask in the tranquility, even making my mind drift to thoughts about the future. That maybe one day our world would be like this if peace was not found between the remnants of our civilization, only the most sturdy of ruins reminders of the foolishness that had once marred the healed world.

Then again, for some reason, most of Equestria had never healed like it had out here. Did we have clean soil, or did the proximity to the coast mean something? Could it have been the lack of balefire contamination since the only important coastal cities were far to the north and south of us?

Our reality bugged me. It wasn't that folks had gotten so angry at one another that they turned our world into ashes in a fireplace. What bugged me was that islands of nature remained with clean water and farmable land, and yet for a hundred years we had done nothing to improve our nation. Hopefully one day someone will figure out the intricacy of things, the hows and whys, and leave the past well alone. After all, anyone who had been remotely responsible for the blight on our world had probably long atoned for their sins either from horrible undeath or radiation.

With less than an hour of daylight left we crested the last hill separating us from Alsea. The rural town was less green than the hills, almost as if pony settlements were a blight. Worryingly Alsea had some lights on, unlike Fisher, and thin trails of smoke rose from many buildings. All of the signs of life that did little to fill me with ease.

While we were still well within the Seamane range we could now see the valley where our highway out to the Willmanementte rested. Ahead of us was the inevitable interaction with interior ponies as well as the threat of dealing with whatever politics existed out here. Regardless we had accomplished the first step of our journey; we had made it to the interior, kinda.

I shook my mane and refocused on the issue at hoof, Alsea. We needed shelter for the night and with no idea as to who or what was within this town, I turned the safety off on my guns as we made our descent.

“Let’s uh, keep away from ponies here," I announced. "Maybe have a moment to rest and recover before we have to deal with the locals and, if possible leave before any trouble finds us."

Winter nodded in agreement. “Right, let’s keep an eye and ear open for any trouble.”

Ocean nodded too and added. "Remember, our first priority is finding a proper shelter."

As we moved slowly into the empty suburbs around the town, a song started playing on my internal harp of distress. Strings of apprehension tensioned by stress and plucked on by every little noise and movement out of the corner of my eyes manifested as jitters and twitching externally.

To our fortune and my relief, no further signs of life showed themselves. The mists helped cover our entrance and quiet the sounds our hooves made but I still felt the twinges of panic as we toured the dead quiet suburb. The lack of bodies, traps, or movement frustrated my mind. The place screamed trap yet nothing came. I had learned to trust my gut feeling when it came to these things and despite all my anxieties, all evidence pointed to the contrary, that this part of town was dead.

We pushed into an open building, some of its lights still flickering with life. We were in what looked like the main living area. A sofa rotted away to its metal frame, a working radio sat at a table spitting out static and the walls showed markings of mold. We pushed on out through the back door and moved to another house. Reasonably enough we weren’t willing to stay in a building with such an obvious mold infestation.

Finding more houses with working radios, we did a little investigation and found the radios tuned to the same frequency. Said frequency was a local radio station set up in the town, likely an emergency broadcast system for the community. Given the lack of music, chatter, or anything but static, it must have been abandoned. The working lights left on were also a curiosity. The place had been hit at some point during the evening or night. Maybe hit was the wrong term, but something had made those who lived here bug out in a hurry. Hopefully whatever that was wouldn’t bother us tonight.

Two centuries ago this would've looked like we were touring the neighborhood house shopping. We just had different priorities. As the hour dragged on we hurriedly tried to find a place overlooking Alsea. We had also decided it was best to cut off as many routes of approach to us while also giving us overwatch on the throat of the valley while securing the ass end of it.

Eventually, we found a neighborhood close to the edge of the hill watching over Alsea. The lack of working lights gave us ease of mind, as did the absence of random radio static.

Our trail was a series of lawns, removing fences so as to keep out of sight if anyone was watching the road. Between careful hoofsteps on damp grass and keeping buildings between the large road and us, we kept our presence to a bare minimum. Unfortunately for us every house we wandered past we found caved-in roofs, terrible water damage, standing water, and a few times bloatsprites and other festering insects were feasting on whatever was left. More than a few of the still-standing homes were home to the remains of ponies. The brittle state of the remains spoke volumes as to the age.

Before the end of the neighborhood, we found a mostly intact home whose front door was still locked. Luckily for us, the back door wasn’t and we soon found ourselves in a home lost to time that was welcoming of new residents.

While we had before lived in a rather well-kept home it was nothing like pre-war homes. I wasn’t the only one of us to find it amusing that we randomly stumbled upon a temporally displaced house given the end goal for Seamane was to restore the town to a state like this. Searching the place we found the calendar had stopped being updated a few weeks after the Last Day which told us everything we needed to know. The prior residents had moved out fancying their chances somewhere else.

The first floor still had furniture throughout, none showing signs of distress from folks fleeing or fighting and some even had covers draped over them. What was probably the most telling thing was the lack of any long-dried blood. The dichotomy between clean and abandoned messed with my nerves but then again I was also used to the time-worn homes where the age of the building couldn’t be missed. I was also used to living on a ship with spots of rust, scuffs, and scrapes with the thrum of ventilation.

Regardless this wasn't our home yet and we took our time doing a sweep of the entire house. Half an hour later and having cleared the house of any possible hazards in hiding we had our sanctuary for the night.

We divided the house among us. Ocean and Winter agreed to take the guest room while the rest of us decided to share the master bedroom on the other side of the floor to give them some privacy. Between us we had access to two bathrooms and what was once someone’s office. The upside to this arrangement was not only that we were near but also had the edge of the second-floor platform letting us see anyone who came inside.

Finally having some proper downtime for the first time in days, I peeled off my equipment and tested the water. Whatever heating element existed Pre-War continued to function as did the fresh water supply. Oh, the wonders of old-world plumbing please wash the wasteland off of me.

Wiping at the steamed-up mirror, I went about tending to the rest of my hygiene after a well-deserved bath. It was funny brushing with somepony else’s toothbrush, but I doubted any mouth bacteria could've survived over the centuries.

Refreshed, cleaned, and with my barding cleaned off of the grime I had gotten from the past few days left me feeling warm and fuzzy. Dinner wasn’t long after and was a short, quiet affair that was followed up by curling up with the two mares under my guardianship. To that end, my pistol and rifle rested on the wall, as were the other weapons we had in our care.

My last thought before drifting off was silly but apt given our situation.

I really wish I had packed a shotgun. Guess I’ll nab one whenever I find one next.

Chapter 6 - Fog

“The fog hides many things and distorts the world. Maybe it is not the fog that distorts and hides things in the fog but the psyche of those who walk in it. A mirror into the mind.”
-Unknown

I awoke early again despite having a comfortable mattress to lay on even if it was a bit tight between Sil and Riptide. The upside to sleeping with the two mares sandwiching me was I wasn’t cold.

The window displayed a frosty foggy morning. It was only mildly cool inside and I wasn't getting the best view from bed but I could at least see a coat of condensation on the inside of the window, thankfully without a trace of ice on the window sill. I lay in bed and let my mind wander.

Riptide had wanted to share the bed because it was going to be a cold and I had been good at helping her feel safe enough to let her guard down for sleep. Sil on the other hoof was used to sharing a bed during sleepovers from our youth as well as enjoying the warmth I put out. This way we also didn't need to unpack our sleeping bags and it kept us together instead of being separated from the herd in the last bedroom across the house. This had been the second safest option for us as a group. The safest while maintaining privacy for Winter and Ocean.

Riptide hadn’t been the quietest sleeper. Throughout the night she had woken me up a few times with her whimpering. I couldn’t tell if she was awake or not during it but my heart had gone out to the mare, causing me to hold her close. I had to admit she was made of some strong stuff to not decide to curl up for a few days or months in the safety of Saint Clover before going on this trip. Or worse, to disappear into the wasteland like others who had lost it all. I had… seen that before.

It had been a few years, half a decade maybe since I lost anyone close. I knew ponies who died, but didn't really know them. It had been a while since I had felt loss like she had but I had seen in others and in myself how debilitating it could be. It heartened me to see her try her best to press on.

Riptide shifted against me. I realized I had been holding her and my mind froze as I worried she might get the wrong idea. She just nuzzled her head in under mine against my neck, barely above the thick comforter. I felt relieved that I could have a bit more time to think of a way to make this less awkward.

Then I felt Sil press against me from the other side, her head coming into view as she looked over my shoulder.

“My my…” Was all she said before getting out from under the covers. Sil crept to the master bathroom and politely closed the door with barely a click. The muffled sound of running water began a bit later. It wasn’t hard to figure out Sil was getting her turn with the warm water. I frowned as Riptide stirred more, wondering if it was because she had heard the water.

“Moonlight?” Riptide asked in a half-awake tone.

“Yes?” I answered.

“Why are you snuggled up with me?” She asked.

“Because you were whimpering in your sleep and when I held you, you relaxed,” I explained.

“Oh.” She said before she yawned. “Mind if I stay here for a bit? You're nice and warm and I can feel how cold it is out of bed on my horntip.”

“Yeah, go for it,” I said looking at the wall while Riptide pressed herself against me for my warmth.

I heard the bedroom door open and I turned my head to see Winter coming in. He stopped and gave me a smirk before quietly backing out. Really, my empathy is going to make this awkward? I rolled my eyes. Whatever, momentary embarrassment that was coming was worth helping a heart mend. It was the right thing to do.

Sil came out from the bath and smiled at me. “Your turn, Riptide. It’s nice and warm in there.”

Riptide stirred and lifted her head from the covers. “Hot water?” She said groggily. She had a serious case of bedmane which made me giggle even as I got a faceful of it.

“Lots of it. A good way to warm up.” Sil answered.

Riptide rolled over me and slid out of the covers. She went into the bathroom and flipped into the tub and soon managed to get the water going after some fumbling and wiggling in the tub. I just lay there blinking in astonishment.

Shaking my head, I got out of bed, not needing to stay in it to warm or comfort anypony any longer. I trotted out of the room to check on the others. Downstairs I saw Ocean struggling with the old kitchen and Sil jokingly giving her advice on how to get the ancient stovetop to work. Winter was sitting at the back as he looked out a window.

“Hey Winter, what’s got your attention?” I asked.

“Hoofprints.”

I frowned as he pointed them out to me. There were several tracks, but I wasn’t certain what they belonged to. The hoofprints weren’t like ponies. Maybe a ghoul’s given the shape, cracked hooves and all. Didn’t know if hooves or anything even grew on ghouls. Whatever the case, the doors were still locked, as if somepony had looked in and then left.

“Well, we can’t stay here, that’s obvious.” I said, “Not that we had planned to.”

“Yep, looks like we’ll need to go as soon as we’re ready.” Winter nodded.

“I’ll check on Riptide," I said, turning to head upstairs. "She was pretty out of it this morning. You keep an eye on things down here.” We both winced hearing something metal break. We looked back to see Ocean holding a rusted valve in her hoof. I let out a sigh. “And keep a nose up for gas.”

“Can do.” Winter chuckled. “Sil, make certain there isn’t any gas coming out of there. We wouldn’t want to blow ourselves up.” I shook my head as I went up the stairs.

I entered the hot, steamy bathroom and looked at Riptide. I had to admit the warm, wet air was a nice reprieve from the cold in the rest of the house. The mare was lying in the tube with her nose just above the water. Her ears twitched at my hoofsteps.

“Okay, I know you were cold and wanted to relax some more but, seriously, you are just asking for trouble bathing like that,” I said staring at the mat of mane that floated in the tub. “Come on, let’s get you up so you don’t fall asleep and drown yourself.”

I put my hooves into the water and lifted Riptide only to find she was asleep. “Seriously…” I muttered. “I swear I am going to have to talk some sense into you…”

I woke Riptide with some gentle shaking. She was embarrassed at me finding her in the tub asleep instead of bathing. Despite her weak protest I soon started helping her wash down, making use of abandoned shampoo and conditioner, and my already wet hooves. She had a scent about her still and pre-war soap would attract less attention than her current smell. It would have been nice to find this place before I got clean in ice cold creek water. Oh well, when life deals you a hand and you have to play with what you get.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” Riptide said with a deflated look.

“Riptide, accidents happen. I should have thought to check on you before going downstairs." I sighed. "You were acting all dopey but I figured that was just you in the morning so it's my fault as well. You are my ward after all."

Riptide just sat quietly as I finished washing her. She could have easily done it herself, but sometimes the little things are the hardest to do. I drained the tub and helped her towel off.

“I think I smell food.” Riptide said as I finished drying her off.

“Guess one of them got the stove working.” I smiled as I rolled my eyes.

“Food? Or did you want to wash up?” She asked.

“I got plenty clean in the creek while swimming upstream the other day, I’m good.” I replied with a snort.

“Alright, well, let’s get down there. I don’t want to miss out on food," Riptide said before adding. "I have to keep telling myself to remember to eat. That's been hard to do at times.”

“Yeah, I can relate. Just do what you can and lean on the rest of us for what you can’t do on your own.” I said as we trotted back into the bedroom. I grabbed our three bags and headed downstairs after we got our barding on, Sil’s barding laid over my back.

We ate breakfast with a side of joviality. We had crossed the Seamane range and now the real trip began. I didn’t like the idea of traveling in the fog but at the same time it would give us cover, which gave us some comfort given this was the last town until we hit Fillymath. Technically we had to go through Fillymath first but the map we had showed the two were basically one city now. Well, back then; growth had made Fillymath creep into Wayhill at some point.

We headed out not long after breakfast. Weapons checked and loaded. Feeds for our battlesaddles cleaned and connected. Barding tight and secure on us. Together we trotted into the deep fog that emanated from the trees on both sides of the valley.

The town was quiet, and I couldn’t really discern any scents beyond the cold dampness of the air. Shades of buildings haunted our path as we left, the fog leaving them just shapes rising and falling from the gloom.

There were a few reasons I disliked traveling through fog. First its shifting nature often tricked my eyes with the illusion of movement. Second was how it, like snow, muffled the sounds of the world. Third it made everything slick and wet, causing reflections to spring up and disorient us. Fourth and finally when it was cold enough the fog would freeze on everything while staying in the air.

This morning, thankfully it was only the first two plaguing us. While it was only an hour or two to travel to Fillymath and then to Wayhill I still had my worries as we moved into more and more formerly populated areas. Beyond that I still worried about those tracks that we saw around the house in the grass. I just hoped it was somepony checking us out to see if we were moving in or not and would be happy we were just passing through.

An upside though to the fog was the lack of rain so we were drier and kept warmer as we continued our trek.

The intact buildings we passed still offered up little. We briefly passed a small post-War settlement that had collapsed after they had consumed all that was left in the surrounding area. The place wasn’t rotten but it was clearly abandoned, or almost abandoned given the tracks we had seen. The upside to this was there were no signs of ghouls but given the distance from the big cities I wasn’t surprised at the lack of undead ponies.

Within half an hour of us leaving the house we had descended down into the valley that would lead us towards the Columbmane basin. The fog was thick here even though we were in the valley now. With only the fog-clad specters of trees and the clacks of our hooves on cracked pavement for company we pushed on.

I kept my holster unlatched, same with the sheath on my knife. Maybe it was paranoia from being used to good vision lines or the bad sense of sound. The rest were on the same page as me, a bit on edge and ready for a fight with anything coming out of the fog. Riptide however didn’t seem as on edge as I did about the fog.

One downside to the constant moisture in the air, and likely frequent afternoon rains here was the smell rot as we kept going along the Alsea highway to Fillymath. It apparently wasn't a common scent the closer one got to the cities and heartland of Equestria, the lack of protected wooden buildings out east the likely culprit. However, to even smell the rot like this it meant the moisture levels had been painfully high like this for days or weeks as of late.

The sky above remained its usual placid grey self when I could spot it among the breaks in the fog, the weather unmoved by my desire for the fog to burn off.

I had never seen sunshine on land before. Once as a filly we had gone out to sea a few miles and seen the blue sky and sun. It was a memory I treasured. It was before Silver had been born, so it was just Majar, Dad, Sil, and Mom out there. The sunlight had felt unreal to me then, even more so now as I reflected on the memories of its warmth and just how blue the skies were then. Even as I begged for the sun’s return to burn away this fog and warm up the day, I still felt that strange ethereal nature to it. Even the night sky I had seen back then felt unreal. To me the sky was just clouds, to see otherwise was odd.

The morning passed without incident or many words between any of us. Riptide seemed to glisten in the dew as it gathered on us while my mane and coat just flattened and looked depressed. The others were in no better condition. This made me more curious about Riptide and her seeming affinity for water. It was a nice change to have a non-depressive thought in the wilderness as we traveled.

Occasionally I caught Riptide humming something to herself. It was no tune I recognized but she kept it quiet enough that I only caught the occasional note or chord. Maybe it was her way of dealing with the drabness of the fog-smothered road we were on, or maybe it was to take her mind off of the past week. I didn’t mind it though; the occasional note or chord was nicer than the occasional spritebot blaring out some pre-war music, or advertisements. Some would even stop broadcasting music for a while, pausing in their path as if their programming had broken down upon seeing ponies once again. They would eventually make a pop and begin bobbing along like nothing happened. The entire thing was a bit unnerving but I shrugged it off since nothing came of it.

For lunch we went off the road for about minutes to an abandoned campsite. All we encountered were a few bloatsprites. Thankfully these were the variants that didn’t shoot carapaced, half-developed children at us, instead opting to vomit radioactive and tainted digestive fluids. Since none of us suffered any open wounds we were no worse for wear. The radiation and probably some taint exposure wasn’t great, but it was of a small amount and I didn’t notice anything sprouting off of us.

Lunch was a simple affair of dried foodstuffs and a mix of fresh food from Seamane supplemented with canned pre-war food, which didn’t help the radiation count. Not that we had any way to keep track of our radiation exposure levels.

“When we get to Dockland, or someplace with decent medical facilities we should get our radiation levels checked, possibly get some treatment if anypony’s levels are too high.” I said, more thinking aloud than directed at any of my companions. “I wish I had a chance to work on something to keep an eye on vitals while out here. Oh well, something to do when we get some down time.”

“What, do you have plans for some kind of mobile miniature hospital?” Sil asked.

I snorted at the thought of carrying a miniature hospital on my back. “Not quite. Do you remember pipbucks? Those things stable dwellers have?" I asked then continued after a pause. "Something like that. I’ve seen a few of them on ponies as they passed through while I was on and off duty. Those damn things have all sorts of useful abilities; medical readouts, friend or foe identifier, magical aim assist, built in radio, inventory manager, and hacking tools. Pretty complicated but very useful, those lucky flanks."

I paused to grumble then continued. "Anyways, even getting something to do a fraction of that would be damn useful.”

“Sounds like something anyone wandering the countryside should have.” Riptide said. “But what are you looking at doing if it is so complicated?”

“Medical, maybe friend or foe," I started listing the functions. "Radio is… debatable. I mean, seriously, a radio? I don't see a use for one other than to broadcast your position. Hacking tools if I could figure out how to do the interface or a way to store the cables.”

“Most of these things I could get from salvaging some medical equipment, pre-war robots, and finding someone’s old terminal tools," I elaborated. "But yeah we’ll see what happens. The real question is finding a place with all that equipment and the tools to work on all of it.”

“If you can, would you make me one as well?” Riptide asked.

“Sure, so long as I figure out how to get the systems to work in harmony,” I answered. “Easier said than done, probably.”

"Yay!" Riptide exclaimed as she cleaned up the remains of her meal. "That would be very helpful and a nice token to remember you by.”

“I’ll at least try to make them once we are in Dockland.” I said as I followed suit.

“Probably should look to make us all some of those,” Ocean said. “Sooner the better, given we have no way of knowin’ what’s comin’.”

“Yeah, you aren’t wrong. It’s on my priority list for the first town we hit." I glanced off to the side to a lone spritebot silently observing us, slowly bobbing in place. "I'm ignoring the spritebots for the most part because, well, I think if I shot one it would destroy everything in it.”

“Fair point. Was just about to offer to blow that one out of the air.” Winter said as he lowered his rifle. “Noticed that too?”

“Yeah. Might just be how they are.” I stated with a shrug. “I figure they're probably directed ads for any pony they see, but nopony was around to reset them after the ads expired so they error out and go back to their default routine is my guess from what I’ve seen.”

“Hmm, maybe. Best to keep an eye out for them. Y'know, in case they do anything… stranger than just watching.” He admitted.

“Agreed. Still unsettling.” I nodded with him.

With our lunch done we continued north again towards Fillymath. After that it was on to the old college town of Wayhill, supposedly named for how you could find your way by keeping the hills on one side and the Willmanemette on the other. From there we could either get some watercraft and go up river or north via the Five, depending on how bad things were around the pre-War cities along the river.

For the next few hours, our pace stayed the same, the fog staying thick and heavy to cover our advance. When the fog finally lifted we were met with the ruins of Fillymath. The suburb was a burnt husk, the mangled twisted remains of buildings left to burn in the aftermath of the bombs whistling and groaning in the late evening breeze.

We stopped and I broke out the binoculars while Winter used his rifle’s scope to examine the ruins for any movement. I saw no signs of current occupation; there were skeletons, graffiti, and even what looked to be raiders encampments due to the prevalence of cages with skeletons in them. The lack of tarps, barrel fires, random gunfire, or yelling spoke to me that they were likely abandoned. This place was a graveyard, which was fine by me. I didn’t know anyone buried here.

“I don’t see any activity,” I said putting my binoculars down. “Winter, I think it’s been cleared out for a while. Not hearing anything either. How about you?”

“I got nothin’ as well. This place is dead. Let’s let Ocean know so we can move on through.” Winter said as he got up.

I nodded as I put my binoculars back into their pouch on my side and sat up to rejoin the other three. Ocean agreed with our assessment so we formed up and began to move into the town using the old highway we had been following north. It cut right through the heart of the town but this way we at least had more options to scout ahead via accessible rooftops. Given we didn’t see or hear anything moving, nor any sign of recent fires it was an acceptable risk. With the density of the town’s buildings, we also had plenty of hard cover if needed.

“Jumpy?” Sil asked quietly, having long ago picked up more than a few of my nervous ticks.

“Mostly I just don’t feel comfortable in a place like this. Not used to it,” I replied as I glanced between buildings that I could make details out of through the light fog. “Woods, small towns of a few houses? Sure. This, not really.”

“I can relate, I’m feeling jumpy too,” Sil replied as she kept close but made certain not to brush against me.

“I’ve been through a friggen siege of our home, come on Moonlight, get it together,” I muttered to myself.

Sil looked apologetic for having not been there for me when we had been under attack but she had been out of the guard for years. It wasn’t her job anymore to run into the fire to save others.

We had done a decent job scouting the town from the hill outside and now that we were in it we had five sets of eyes and ears to keep track of everything. I didn’t need to be so jumpy, is what I kept telling myself.

We made it a few blocks into town, a lot filled with ruined autocarriages on our right and boarded-up homes on our left before we noticed it: a soft groaning and shuffling. I held a hoof out to stop everyone else silently and fished out my binoculars again, quickly scanning our surroundings. It didn't take me long to spot them. I had heard and seen a few of them before and unfortunately for me, the binoculars gave me a much closer look than I ever wanted.

Ghoul ponies. They wandered aimlessly in the street ahead, among them many half-eaten raider bodies, chewed armor, and guns. Now we knew where the raiders were; ghouls had swarmed and driven them off or at least into hiding.

“Silently, slowly, take one of my knives. Your revolver is going to draw much more of them than my pistol.” I whispered an explanation to Riptide beside me. My dad had explained to me how feral ghouls were entirely blind during one of his lectures on critters of the Wasteland. Sound was the main sense that remained for them and while some retained some sight it would be terrible in the twilight surrounding us.

Riptide pulled a knife out of my saddlebag while Winter and Ocean started heading south of us to creep along the fence of the ruined wagon lot. We slowed our pace from our four-beat pace to creeping along a single step at a time, checking around every corner. For the most part, it seemed that the ghouls only infested the north side of town. While this made our detour relatively safer the downside was there were no corpses to loot. I half wanted to go in and strip the gear off the dead raider bodies anyway due to the prospect of money once we found someone to trade with.

We made it another two blocks before we ran into a problem; the raiders had barricaded the street from one side to the other with wood and barbed wire. I couldn’t see any signs of a gate on the makeshift wall and the only option was to go up between buildings to the north again. Sliding out of the alley, I checked for anything moving only to be greeted with more corpses. Even if there were ghouls among them the number of bodies missing limbs certainly made for less of a threat.

To my right, there was a partial wall with a section that had collapsed forming a hole. I nodded to Winter and pointed a hoof at the gap before we carefully picked our way through the corpse field.

Once inside the walled-off area, we found ourselves standing in front of what remained of the fire department, a firewagon resting half out of the building, its wheels cracked. The station’s flagpole stood bent with two small bits of burned cloth at the top, likely the remains of the Equestrian flag.

Across the street, I could see another intact building with a postwar sign of a crudely drawn gun. To top it all off, the area was filled with cages, chains, graffiti, blood, limbs, and the assorted bodies of ghouls and raiders.

“Guess we’ll get a chance to pick up some loot after all,” I said to myself before I waved the other three to join us.

Carefully we picked through the corpses. It had been a few weeks at least which left the area smelling more of decay than rancid, decaying bodies. What was left of the raiders had scraps of garments in poor condition. A few had guns, though nothing I felt safe firing, as well as the more notable salvage: an assortment of knives and drugs. I kept some knives, they were always useful. The drugs we kept as they would be good for selling off later; though some had medicinal uses most were recreational such as Dash, Mint-als, and Buck.

As we approached the ‘gun’ store we stumbled upon some ghouls milling about the alley beside it. They didn’t seem the friendly sort if their sounds were any indication. Instead of waiting to see if they were feral or not I decided to pull out one of my knives, making a gesture to the others of my intent before pouncing on one. Sil followed my example and slammed her own knife into their soft skulls before leaving them in, moving silently with me to take the rest out. Ocean, Winter, and Riptide kept an eye out for any stragglers.

My heart thundered as the irradiated ghoul blood ran down my front and I checked for any more surviving threats. Seeing none I began recovering our knives as Sil stomped on ghouls to make certain they were dead. Riptide on the other hand began to work the door to the gunshop to get it open.

I felt awful in a way for killing the ghouls but from what the non-ferals had explained those who turned were in an eternal haze of unlife with memories of the past clouding their sense of reality. The pain, the confused sense of time and place, anypony not familiar to them was seen as a danger which generally meant they reacted violently. At least I could view them as creatures instead of ponies. They looked like us but they had lost who they were a long time ago. It was a mercy, not a crime.

“Got the door, noticed the board on the window was loose and unlocked it from the otherside.” Riptide explained as she pushed the door open.

I let out a small giggle. Sometimes all that was needed was good application of situational awareness. I drew a flashlight and my pistol with my magic as we checked the interior of the shack. I felt what small hope was in my heart crumble as the place was full of makeshift weapons. The guns looked like they were made of plumbing and tree bark with few signs of actual, intact old world guns.

“Well, I knew it was too much to hope for, but I'm still disappointed.” I sighed.

“Same.” Ocean said as she started to dig through boxes.

“Well, let’s grab what looks salvageable. At least we will be able to make some bits when we hit a town with someone willing to trade.” Winter said, looking at a pipe shotgun before tossing it aside with a grumble. “Half of these look as dangerous to the user as to anypony facing the other end.”

I turned around and closed the front door, locked it again before I joined the rest in giving the shop a good toss. However, beyond the pipe guns, knives, machetes, and other guns in desperate need of repairs the shop was a bust. It had been the Raider’s armory once but they had clearly gone through most everything to defend themselves.

I wagered their guns jamming was the main cause of their downfall for they had plenty of surplus ammo. A quick look in the back room showed plenty of gunpowder, primers, and casings along with reloading and repair tools. I sat down and decided to make as many thirty eight and nine millimeter rounds I could with what was left. We would always need spare ammo with Ocean’s submachine guns around. Once that task was done I set about repairing what remained of the raiders’ guns. Three out of four were good for nothing but parts and were jammed so badly I ended up having to use my horn to break their slides open. Not that it hurt the already ruined guns.

At some point Sil and Riptide had joined me in the small room and I was glad that there was enough space for the three of us to spend time together. Sil set to work on her barding, adding some more protective plates to it. Riptide on the other hoof seemed more curious as to how to go about taking care of guns and making ammo over the finer points of barding maintenance.

While I wasn’t the best mechanic I managed salvaged as much as I could out of the horrible piles of weapons we had found. I had also found an old map the raiders had been using, scribbled with barely legible notes.

The town apparently had a school and library, the former left empty while the latter they had repurposed to hold prisoners. I doubted anypony was still alive but I wanted to check out the library to see if any books had survived. It was a long shot but while the town was mostly burned down some buildings had still managed to survive, mostly near the fire department. The library, if I was placing it right, was another potentially intact building.

Once we gathered together again, Winter and I poked our heads out the door into the street, his head above mine as we scanned the street.

“Let’s go, the coast seems clear.” I whispered moving out from below Winter’s craned neck.

We slipped eastward down the street then turned into an alley which was the shortest route to our destination. It didn’t take long for us to find the Library. Being a brick building with its roof still intact it was in better condition than even the fire department. I didn’t spot any ghoul nor raider bodies and I’m guessing the lack of prisoners meant either there weren’t any at the time of the attack or the raiders decided they were better off as bait.

With haste we piled into the library and found it was about how I expected; the entrance hall was full of cages, open and empty. Ocean and Winter took up watch behind the check out counters while Sil, Riptide and myself volunteered to clear the rest of the building.

Further back were shelves of books turned moldy from water damage. If anything survived it would have to be further back, I reasoned, where there wouldn’t have been as much of a chance for water to have gotten in. As we travelled deeper into the musty library, I was rewarded with a few pre-war books that survived. Unfortunately most were trashy pre-war romance novels. I let out a frustrated sigh and packed them away anyways. While not the best source of knowledge they were still worth preserving given their condition. At least somepony else could use them for some escapism.

As we checked the furthest depths, Sil found a section on spells and among the weathered books only two proved promising. Both were unfortunately beyond my skill to make use of; one would let me repair things with just my magic, the other how to make a focused shield instead of a wall.

I packed the books away into my saddlebags and, seeing nothing else of interest, moved with Sil and Riptide back to the front of the library.

“Well not much left here, but some spoils.” I said upon re-entering the front room. “At least nopony was left to starve to death.”

“Yeah, and it looks like we’re clear to move on to Wayhill.” Winter stated as he poked his head up from behind a desk. “Most of the ghouls were by the gun store and beyond the barricade on that side of town.”

“Well we should get a move on. We only have a few more hours of daylight and it’s probably best to make camp far away from here and closer to Wayhill.” Ocean said as she moved for the exit. “If we’re lucky Wayhill will have nice ponies in it that’ll let us rent a room or two.”

“Just two rooms? So the three of us are going to be sharing a bed again?” Riptide asked as she looked at Sil then me

“We do what we must to survive.” I simply said with a shrug.

“That so?” Riptide asked, giving me a curious look.

“Winter and I rather not share a room with the three of you for pretty clear reasons. They might have a room for you three that is a couple of beds.” Ocean said as we joined her outside.

“I’d wager two beds for our room. One for me and one for the blooming couple.” Sil teased as she gave me a grin.

“Oh come on.” I sighed. “Just because I was holding her doesn’t mean there’s anything going on.”

“You lot are terrible.” Riptide added with a huff.

She fell back to keep up the rear guard with me, leaving Sil and Ocean as the middle of our formation. Winter, as usual, took point.

Riptide and I trotted quietly together as Sil and Ocean chatted ahead of us. She then regarded me for a bit before speaking up. “Sorry if my neediness is making things awkward.”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry, I’m still getting over some stuff and the dynamic with my friends has always been--” I paused, grasping for the right word. “Well within the realm of playful teasing. We tease because we care.”

Riptide smiled. “I can understand that.”

I nodded, happy that Riptide could understand that kind of friendship. “Plus they all know that I basically don’t have a barn door anymore.” I laughed. “I can just take a roll in the hay with anypony. To my own detriment of course; they can tease me about anything at this point because of it.”

Riptide looked at me. “Barn door?”

I facehoofed. Of course, not everypony had heard of that term.

“It’s a metaphor for what she likes,” Sil called back, apparently overhearing our conversation. “And by that, she means she doesn’t have a preference one way or another.”

I groused at her perceptiveness and prepared to give a more nuanced explanation that would keep my cheeks from feeling they were on fire when Riptide interjected.

“So... anypony?”

I let out a sigh. “Kinda, so long as I feel a connection to them. At least with the whole getting into bed for things other than, uh, what we’ve been doing on this trip.” I replied nervously. “Technically I have a preference for stallions but I haven’t done anything since my last relationship.” I looked up at the sky and repeated words from a book by some pre-war pony in the Ministry of Peace. I believe it was Heartmender? “Hearts take time to mend.”

Riptide was quiet as we trotted away from the ruins of Fillymath, steadily drawing closer to Wayhill. The clouds here were low and with the fog lifted I could see rain ahead of us. Eventually, the mare replied quietly to me.

“I think I can understand needing time for a heart to heal.”

Level up! Welcome to Level 3! Well for a minute Cherchez La Filly was in the cards for you but lacking a barn door means you’re disqualified from both it and Black Widow. However, given your continued aptitude for weapons and repairing them Gun Nut has been dealt to you as it is ever appropriate. Enjoy your bonus +5 to Firearms and Mechanics.

Chapter 7 - Wayhill

“The scars of the past wound the land and the ponies in it long after they are covered over.”
-Unknown Wastelander

We left the heart of Fillymath and traveled through the connecting suburbs to Wayhill. I could imagine back in the day how ponies would likely have woken up in Fillymath and walked this same road to get to work in Wayhill. The area seemed like it would have been nice to live in too; here and there I could still see green spaces among the collapsed homes. However, the further we got towards the city the less green we saw and the fog hid less. Judging by the vast number of leveled or burnt-out buildings, Wayhill had likely gotten hit in the War.

An hour further in I started tasting the telltale sign of radiation poisoning as the flavor of blood suddenly filled my mouth.

“I really wish radiation detectors were cheaper,” I swore as I dug out some RadSafe. “Alright everyone it’s radioactive here, if you haven’t noticed by the taste in your mouth. We’ll take a pill and I’ll keep track of how long we’re out here. I hope like hell we can get checked sometime soon for our exposure levels though.”

“Should we find another way?” Riptide asked.

Winter spoke up. “No, this route likely has less raiders or other critters if it’s the only pocket of radiation around here. Nopony is going to bug us.”

“Oh, okay, that sounds good.” Riptide said. “How are we going to keep track of our radiation though?”

I grimaced at the question. “Well without a watch I can only take a best guess on how long we’re being exposed. As for how I can tell we’re being exposed, all I’ve got to work off of is the intensity of the taste blood in our mouths. If we start showing worse symptoms I’ll know the radiation is far thicker than I thought. Oh how nice it’s for a deadly invisible force to give us a hint when we tread on it’s turf.” I explained. “Keeping track of how long I’m tasting blood in my mouth as well as if anyone experiences worse symptoms I can get a range of our exposure and know when we have to call it quits. Suffice to say, it’s not ideal.”

“Lovely, it’s like running from an invisible predator nipping at our hooves.” Sil replied.

“Eh, pretty much.” I admitted.

We pushed onward, urgently looking for something with some height to climb. Unfortunately it took us longer than expected so our blind wandering put us firmly in the irradiated state and left us feeling all weakened by the time Winter spotted a mostly intact clock tower. While the tower itself was only about five storeys it was taller than the ruins around it. In addition, the melted metal outside gave me some hope that it would give some insulation from the radiation.

Together Winter and I pulled the door out of the way, its groaning hinges almost fused from what must’ve been the heat or light of balefire detonations. Scrambling inside, we finally got a reprieve from the taste of blood in our mouths, proving the assumption that the clock tower was able to shield us. Despite our exhaustion, we pushed the door close behind us and, a few light arcane blasts later I welded the door back to its frame. We breathed a collective sigh of relief and given the time of day it was probably best to rest.

“Drink this.” I said passing out bags of RadAway, first giving one to Riptide. “It’s going to taste like mango, even though it says orange flavor.”

“Okay?” Riptide answered, clearly confused.

“It’s RadAway. It’s meant to clear our system of built up radiation.” I explained. “Downside is it’s going to be a bit awkward in a few minutes given it… well, it goes through you real fast. Suffice to say, I’m glad we have a corner with some walls for privacy.”

Riptide went from confused to understanding to a mix of curious and horrified.

“Also never try Grape RadAway.” Ocean added as I passed out the rest of the bags. “I tried it once and I’ll spare you the details. Suffice to say, the radiation purge works but the flavoring does not. I don’t know what it was even close to.”

I understood that as embarrassing as it was to explain how RadAway worked at least I now knew the most polite way of saying you’d end up pissing rainbows, having had to explain it to a few dozen creatures by now. Plus one more pony knew not to try Grape Radaway; that stuff didn’t just taste bad, I ended up curled up for a few hours and was a mess thanks to it. It purged your system alright just not the way I believe the makers had intended.

We agreed against a fire or any lights, and with our numbers we could keep a constant watch going. Winter had scouted the top floor while we tried to liven up the temporary living space. The square floor plan of the tower left a bit to be desired and was an odd choice given the spiral staircase that went up to where the mechanisms for time keeping rested. Winter, for his part, spent a good while up there though we could easily see him through the mesh stairs. Given who he was I knew he was taking his time looking for paths to our destination.

The next morning arrived, almost too quickly for my tastes. As I regained consciousness I heard crows cawing in the distance. I also heard a few cracks of gunfire. So, this town still has some ponies still alive in it. I let out a soft sigh enjoying the warmth from Sil and Riptide. It was becoming a welcoming feeling to have the two against me every morning. There had been enough floor space in the entry room for tents and with what little strength we all had, had laid out two sleeping bags to lay on with another unzipped on top of us.

I had no desire to get up. It was cold beyond the tent, it was warm in here. We had been walking for more days than I was used to, not to mention waking up early day after day. I had no real qualms with cuddling close to an old friend and what was measuring up to be a new friend.

I felt something unexpected while I laid there contemplating things. I opened my eyes to Riptide kissing my neck. I looked at her to find she was still asleep. Well, this isn’t totally awkward at all. I rolled my eyes and cursed Luna for once more failing to keep dreams from spilling over into reality. With my curse of the dead princess done, I resigned myself to waking her up. It might have been a mistake but I didn’t want her to do anything in her sleep that she might regret.

Riptide’s eyes met mine as she woke up. Her face showed a sign of clear confusion. Then she kissed me. I froze as I was uncertain of what to do. I had made out with others before but this was clearly not right. It took a bit of time for me to come to my senses and gently use a hoof to push her back.

“Uh, you’re awake.” I informed Riptide.

Riptide closed her eyes and seemed to process her thoughts for a minute as her face turned beet red. I had assumed her face would turn purple given her blue coat but I think at this point she had surpassed normal blushing and achieved over blush.

“Um, your technique was pretty good for somepony I assume hasn’t had much experience.” I tried to offer in an attempt to defuse the situation.

Sil stirred next to us and looked over at the blushing mare. “What did you do, Moony?” She asked me.

“She was… having a nice dream while making out with my neck?” I explained hesitantly. “So I woke her up and she apparently didn’t understand she was awake and we…” I paused. “Made out for a hot minute.”

Sil turned my head to face hers. “You were going to leave me out?”

I felt taken aback at hearing that, my brain suddenly having issues processing the teasing despite it being fine before. I knew my cheeks were now ablaze as Sil started to hush herself with a hoof, giggling quietly at me. She then gave me a look as she calmed down and I felt the tips of my ears burning but before I could move to make a comment Sil silenced me with a hoof.

The minutes ticked by before I managed to get my mind rolling again.

Riptide seemed to be on the road to recovery from her embarrassment at least. I felt as if a door had hit me in the head when I finally figured out that Sil was doing this to get the attention off of Riptide. It was working but I didn’t enjoy being subjected to this teasing.

If this was to be the tent of embarrassment then so be it.

I kissed Silaha firmly on the lips. I was then surprised at how she really got into it. My heart started doing loops like they had when Riptide had made out with me. Shit, I think I just played myself.

When I broke the kiss Sil was blushing and giving me those eyes that made my heart flutter.

“Okay, that backfired.” I blushed.

“Oh it did, but I know you enjoyed it.” Sil smirked still in my forelegs. She leaned in and kissed me again. “And just so you know, so did I. To think, a pony is trying to steal my heart and it’s the mare who was like a sister to me.” She faked outrage looking away with a hoof to her forehead, holding it there for a moment before giggling. “Feeling anything more than just embarrassed?”

I just buried my face in her chest fluff trying not to die from embarrassment from having made out with my not-cousin.

“Well, Riptide, it looks like the heat is off of you.” Silaha said as she petted my mane. “And I can firmly say it looks like her heart has mended a fair bit since I tried teasing her like this.”

“Is… Is it really alright for us to be doing this?” Riptide asked. “I mean we are all adults but, I mean she’s practically bursting into flames.”

“Normally she’s able to roll with the kicks. My guess is...” Sil trailed off as the two pressed against me with a hug. “Honestly I’m just glad she’s not freaking out or crying.”

That hurt a little but she was right. At least it seemed like the heartache really only hit me with regards to Winter and Ocean, though really it was just Winter the more I thought about it. Now though I had just made out with two attractive mares who were now hugging me. This was not something I was used to. I had a few encounters years ago like this, but it was less teasing and more seeking out company. They had been cute gryphonesses too. Oh, and there goes my ability to stop blushing. Now I feel a dumb grin on my face.

“What you thinking about, Moony?” Sil asked, tapping my nose with her hooftip.

“Well, uh.” I felt my heart in my throat as I answered looking up from her chest. “Just some fond memories, that’s all. This reminded me of them and it all makes my head spin.”

I felt Riptide lean against me and I could sense the affection for me as she lay her head against my shoulder. “Was it spinning earlier?” She asked.

I squeaked, feeling like I was being swarmed and swallowed to try to calm down. Honesty is the best thing here. Even if it is embarrassing.

“It was.” I admitted.

“Then I think.” Riptide whispered. “We should get one big bed in Wayhill if they have a place for us.”

I locked up again, my thoughts racing. Was I even certain I would be okay with that given I was still defusing my own emotional minefield. Worse, I felt it was not the healthiest thing that she was forming an attachment to me so deeply and so quickly. It could be her replacing the hole in her heart that her family occupied with me. Maybe Sil too? That could work, in time; Sil and I had always been close but I barely know Riptide and Sil’s saying… wait Sil is saying…

I felt my brain break realizing the relationship structure that was forming around me. Oh no, Sil is serious. I’m actually somewhat entertained by this. I need to stop. Fuck. Abort, I can’t think about this right now.

“One big bed would be interesting.” Sil added.

Oh no, worst case confirmed, okay, freak out in three, two, on- my thought process was suddenly derailed by a kiss from both of them.

“I think we broke her.” Sil giggled at the look on my face.

I took a minute to recompose myself as the two giggled and tried to tease me even further. My mind had locked up too hard to process their continued comments.

“Okay, one room, one big bed. No guarantees, alright?” I stated firmly. “I don’t want anypony getting hurt and by that I mean emotionally speaking.”

“Wait.” Riptide paused. “Really?”

Sil stopped her giggling. “Finally.” Both Riptide and I looked at Sil. “What, you think just because we were raised together I wouldn’t have feelings for you?”

Just like that I felt my entire view of Sil and her interactions with me for the past decade get flipped on its head.

“Okay, can we stop with the breaking of my mind for a while so I can like, eat, have some tea. You know a bit more mental processing power to handle all this.” I sighed. “You are both lovely mares and I’m certain we are going to end up with a noise complaint at some point but how about we cool off for now and actually get where we need to be?”

I then shook my head before looking at Sil. “I think there needs to be some talking to sort out our feelings, for all three of us. Even if just for my own sake so I can figure out if I can even handle what you're proposing. No offense to either of you, I’m just not so certain about myself.”

“Of course.” They said together before Riptide nipped at my ear and Silaha kissed me again. They wanted to break my mind in two, I was certain of it! At least this wasn’t teasing anymore.

The two mares left the tent at the same time. I felt conflicted as they gave me a parting tease with coordinated flicks of their tails. Of course I had seen so many accidental flashes while in the shower room for the guard that it didn’t bother me. Plus unless a pony was going outside of the ship, they tended to not wear anything. So It happened, you got used to it.

It was always the context that mattered though and that just made me flop back down on the sleeping bags as I saw a bemused Winter and Ocean peeking in past the open flaps at me.

Of course they had been awake and heard it all. At least it hadn’t gone all the way, even if I still felt dirty somehow. At the same time I felt more confident about actually letting somepony back into my heart. Two at once though? Maybe it would work this time since I was the center and not the third wheel… I thought to myself.

I just hadn’t known Riptide for long and didn’t want her to get hurt throwing herself into a relationship as an emotional crutch. And Sil, well we grew up together so that was less of a quandary. It made my heart confused, and my mind even moreso. To think I just had to go on a trip across the territory to learn how to love again as well as get two pretty mares out of the deal.

Though one… one we were going to leave in Dockland. I was uncertain how that would work out for us. Maybe after sometime with her family she’d go back with us when the boats were running again. I’d have to get my own place then which meant I really would have to look at finding some kind of work once we got to Dockland.

“You just going to lay there all day, Moonlight?” Ocean asked.

“Thinking, processing.” I replied with a sigh. “Someone get my tea going.”

Once the tea was ready I took it to the top of the clocktower and took a seat behind one of the few remaining windows. There I got a clear view of what had been the city of Wayhill.

To the southwest was the hill that was the city’s namesake. Supposedly it was a distinctive hill back in the day that served as a waypoint for early settlers of Equestria. Now one half of it was covered in long dead, burnt trees and the other side facing away from Wayhill full of newly grown woods. To the east I could see a soft glow on the low clouds and buildings that bent away from what was certainly a balefire crater. I could even see details from here of how the metal structures had melted to the firestorm.

This was my first real taste of the devastation of the Last Day, our civilization’s end. Before, I had a loose understanding of the effects of the war but the devastation here was far greater than I had grasped. Seamane was a town that had fallen into disrepair over time due to a lack of industry to support the maintaining and repairing every building in town against the elements, raiders, and the first few years of wild weather. Out here things were of a different magnitude. It wasn’t just the slow decline of buildings as time wore them down. This was beyond that.

The closer to the crater I looked the more the world seemed to lose color, becoming a mix of greys, blacks, and green eventually. Closer to our location the faded pastels of paint, billboards, signs, still lingered and clung to their homes. Even now I could see a mist rising from what I could only assume was the heart of the crater of the blast. Maybe it was steam from the intense magical radiation, maybe it was from the falls. All I knew was I didn’t want to go in to find out.

The scene stuck with me. Unlike those brought up in Stables I knew some of the horrors of the wasteland but I had never gotten to see the devastation of the heartland firsthand, even from the worn copy of the Wasteland Guide I had traded for. Things back home and even here were tame compared to the devastation in places like Hoofington, Fillydelphia, and Manehatten.

This hadn’t been the biggest of cities and yet it had been hit. I shuddered thinking about how Canterlot must look, rubble at the bottom of a mountain. The Wasteland Guide had mentioned that the Canterlot ruins existed but the section on it was ruined. A bit ironic but given what every other section mentioned I could guess how thoroughly annihilated Canterlot was.

Not that I had a reason to go that far east. Instead though my thoughts turned to our final destination, Dockland.

Dockland would likely be hotter than Wayhill considering, from what I understood a trio of bombs had gone off there. One had hit the skyport of Dockland, one the naval base. The last one had fallen short and hit the hillside near the industrial sector. We would be passing through The Mill, the old regional capital. I knew at least one bomb had gone off both there and near the river. Memory reminded me of Dad and Majar’s adventures through the valley and I felt a creeping worry worm its way into my mind for the first time about clean sources of water. I would need to find somepony to teach me a radiation purge spell since it was my job to keep us as healthy as possible.

Winter had joined me at some point while I was lost in thought. I gave him a nod when I finally noticed him before spotting some kind of large fortification made of rubble. I pulled out my book of maps and found where we were relative to it. According to it the fortification was in or around an old university.

“You thinkin’ what I am?” Winter asked.

“How am I going to handle all this pussy I’m drowning in?” I replied jokingly.

He snorted and guffawed. “That would only be the case if somehow the four of you became my harem.”

I regarded him for a moment before responding. “Eh, better than the alternatives of other stallions out here.” I teased. In response he covered his chest theatrically in mock hurt. “Yes, yes, I know you’re going to say ‘you wound me’.”

I waved a hoof at him in mock dismissal as we smiled at one another before laughing. It was a good laugh that we both needed.

“Yeah, you got me.” He explained. “Everyone’s been wondering when Sil would make her move on you. She’s been itching to jump on you for years now.”.

“Fucking color me surprised.” I replied before taking another sip of tea. “Like, no really. Dense as a doorknob on her feelings for me.”

“I can’t blame you there.” He acknowledged, settling down beside me. “You two did grow up together after all. Probably just saw it as just having an affectionate sister, or you grew used to whatever feelings she had and didn’t think them to be anything special.”

“Probably.” I nodded.

“You alright?”

“Probably.”

“Probably.” He said mimicking me.

“Probably.” I said again wondering how long he would take it for. Surprisingly we went back and forth for a few minutes.

“So, no sudden panic attacks?” He asked as he broke our streak of probably’s.

I took a long drink of my tea before I gave him a reply. “Well, not the type where my heart feels like I got shot.”

He moved closer to me and gave me a hug. “Well, that’s a good sign.” I nodded as I leaned against him.

“Hey, Winter. You’ve been doing well holding it together.” I said, I looked at him. “Didn’t ask how well you handled me getting foalnapped by a giant bug.”

“Well.” I felt his muscles change as he tensed and then relaxed. “Not well. I couldn’t take the shot. Sil could but I was too worried about hurting you. And, well, now we both know why she was so set on saving you. Having hurt you before I was scared of doing it again, especially physically.”

I smiled and gave his cheek a nuzzle. “I can understand that. Thanks for worrying about me. Please tell me though, nopony tried to jump off the trail to save me. Right?”

“Uh, well. It was hard to resist going off the side to find you. We were debating what to do while Sil was calling out to you.” Winter said. “When you called back and gave us a way to proceed, well, I stopped worrying I had lost my best friend. Well, one of my best friends; Ocean and you are the top two.”

I smirked. “Hence why you wanted us in the same bed so you didn’t have to pick?”

His cheeks flushed and he looked away. “Maybe but this works for me too even if I can’t tell at times if it is just platonic between us or you’re going to push me over and--”

I put a hoof to his lips. “Hun…” I paused, looking down as I felt a pang of guilt at using that word. “Winter. There is still hurt in my heart but I understand you and Ocean just fit together better. I still love you.” I felt that pang of hurt twist further. “But those two do something to me. I think I might love them too.”

“So where does that leave us?” He asked.

“Don’t know. How we feel about one another might change with time. For now, keep watching each other’s tails?” I offered.

“Just the tail?” He teased.

I shoved him playfully. “Stop making me want to kiss you. You silly goof.”

“Never.” He beamed. I rolled my eyes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. It didn’t hurt and he blushed. “Maybe someday.”

“Someday, maybe.” I agreed with a nod. “Now, plans?”

“Get you three your own room and get one on the other end of the building?”

I facehoofed. “No, not that part. Good plan though. No, I mean how are we getting to the campus?”

“Well.” He paused as he looked over the map. “Given it’s a bit hot out there we are going to want to go as quickly as possible. Having spent a while up here last night looking around I’m thinking about this course.” He traced out a path on the map. “It shouldn’t take long.”

“That looks good. Less time means less RadSafe to use up, and less Rads in us.” I snorted. “I don’t think any of us would look good bald.”

He snorted. “Yeah, only one head around here should be without hair.”

I choked and hit him on the shoulder. “For fucks sake. Stop thinking about your dick.”

“Eh, nah.” He snickered, looking proud at himself. “Just wish you would take the lead sometimes. Given the route I think you should take point, because of your reaction time. Having good eyes is great when dealing with fields but block by block? I think your fleet footedness takes the cake.”

“So you just want to stare at my ass?” I deadpanned.

“Sure! It is pretty nice.” He gave my rear a pat which made me blush. “But, I don’t think it’s mine to play with.”

I huffed. “Keep this up and maybe not.” I felt flustered without guilt. “Fuck, why is that not making me hurt.”

He looked at me confused. “You know how this is all going to end right?”

“Yeah, I’m going to have a harem.” I replied.

He snorted and then doubled over laughing. “Oh come on. It’s not like those feelings died for you two.” I added before I leaned on him, giving him my most seductive tone. “They really didn’t.”

This time it was his turn to blush. “Well, let’s keep doing some exposure therapy to get you comfortable with things again.” He said with a smirk.

“Yeah, not a bad idea. Kinda what I was doing anyways.” I looked down at him as we lay there. I rolled my eyes as his face turned crimson. “Yeah, even if I was ready for that, not in the ruins.”

“Sorry, you know how it is.” He apologized.

“Oh I do. Oh do I hun.” I said before I rolled off of him. “Let’s get you calmed down then rejoin the others.”

He nodded and we took a moment to focus more on the city around us than one another.

A few minutes later with our plan in place we rejoined the rest. I distributed some RadSafe for later and had Riptide take a bit more of the load as I was going to take point. Winter’s argument was sound and Ocean agreed with us on how my fleet footed nature would be better served by taking the point. Sil and Riptide were obviously not as happy about the arrangement until Winter pointed out they could watch my rear the entire time. That seemed to make them warm up to the idea.

We cautiously left the tower, leaving the door off to the side to allow anypony else to take shelter more readily. I shook my mane in disgust; once outside I began to taste blood in my mouth again despite taking a dose of RadSafe before we opened the door to leave. I would just have to make do with the taste until we got somewhere less hot. I had hoped we wouldn’t use up the limited supply of RadSafe but if this kept up we might have to really dig into it.

“Winter spotted some kind of compound to the northeast so that’s where we’re going.” I commented while keeping my eye on the crossroads just outside the doorway. “Going to be doing some zigzagging through the streets due to debris blocking a direct path.”

“Saw a few other places, but they looked abandoned and they’re closer to the crater.” Winter added.

“To the northeast then.” Ocean replied, as she set her saddlebags on her back. “How far out?”

“A few miles. We’ll be there in an hour, so long as we don’t have any reason to stop or back track.” Winter explained. “We should be fine, just gotta keep quiet so we don’t draw any unwanted attention.”

“I’m ready to go when everyone else is.” Riptide said taking her place on the other side of the doorframe.

We headed northwest which was easy enough considering the city was set up in a tidy grid, letting us take a zigzaggy route between the north and east streets. The campus was big enough a landmark that we could hardly miss it.

Unfortunately the best laid plans will always crumble at first contact with an opposing force. In this case it was a band of “toll seekers”, or what we generally call bandits. Scouting had given us the lay of the land but not patrol routes, unfortunately. With the heavy urban ruin and being a smidge distracted, we received a swift reminder of how different the cities were from our usual stomping grounds from the group of ponies suddenly trotting on out of an alley. We would need to move slower, quieter, and through alleyways in the future.

For now though we would need to deal with these ponies who were approaching us, their weapons trained on each of us. I shot a look at Winter who wasn’t in the mood to give me a reaction, instead he was simply waiting for the shooting to start, as was everyone.

Lovely, then again this isn’t our first ambush.

“This is a toll road, so pay up.” The lead stallion shouted at us as we drew closer. He had a ramshackle battlesaddle with shotguns. His companions didn’t have much better equipment. Random bits of debris strapped to them over some pre-war clothes. The five of them were well set up for filling the street with rounds.

“How much.” I asked. I doubted I had the money to pay but maybe I could barter with the chems I had on me. A few of them were a bit twitchy.

“You lot don’t look like traders, so thirty five caps or bits, in total.” The stallion said, I was surprised with how reasonable it was, then again, to survive you have to be reasonable.

“Fair, would you be willing to take some chems in place of money?” I asked as I slowly and visibly opened my saddlebag with my magic, reaching for a few of the chems I was less interested in. I hadn’t gotten any bits or caps back from Winter’s shopping spree and I also wanted us to have as much money on hoof when we finally reached some civilization.

“What ya got?” The stallion asked, dropping the trigger bridle from his mouth. A good sign.

“Dash, Mint-als, Buck.” I answered pulling out a few doses of each, keeping the Steady, Hydra, and Rage to myself.

“Ten caps.” The stallion offered. “And hand over three of those Dash inhalers, plus two of those bottles of Buck.”

“Happily,” I said, nodding and levitating the caps and surplus drugs over. “Caps and drugs.”

“Been a pleasure, alright, you’re clear to go.” The stallion said, his compatriots already more focused on the drugs than us.

“Well, that was reasonable.” I said to Riptide who had trotted up to join me. She gave me a confused look as if wondering why I didn’t just apply violence. “What? I don’t like the idea of killing unless I have to. Plus we also have a numbers disadvantage, they have a pony on the roof to the left, and they turned out to be pretty reasonable.”

“I just… That hadn’t ever crossed my mind.” Riptide said, perplexed.

“Ponies aren’t naturally hostile. So when you get a chance to just deal with them it’s great to just skip on past that. Really it is only the most desperate or psychotic who are dangerous.” I explained though my thoughts settled onto the Steel Rangers. “Or exceptionally greedy, but that's only after exhausting the other options of extortion, bribery, and good old trading.”

“Generally most living outside big towns are just a bit less mentally stable than those inside a wall.” I continued as we trotted along. “Not to say there can’t be psychos in towns of course.” I’ve had to put down a few in my time. Too little too late.

“So if they had come out shooting?” Riptide asked as we had moved a block away.

“If hostilities engage then it’s safeties off, keep shooting until they surrender, flee, or are expired,” Ocean explained matter-of-factly.

“Speaking of hostiles, Winter, why didn’t you warn me about them?” I asked my spotted compatriot.

“Didn’t see them when I was watching the city from the clocktower.” He offered. “They were probably camped in some building. What? Do you expect me to spot everything?”

“No, just looking for an explanation is all,” I replied. “Then again we’re not terribly used to urban environments are we?”

“Nope! Small town ruins, sand dunes, forest, swamp, and caves? Sure thing. Balefire blasted urban hellscapes? Not so much.” Ocean snorted. “I think we should all be thankful they weren’t hostile.”

“That’s fair. Let’s cut through some side alleys and stay more out of sight.” I offered.

“I guess that’s more prudent,” Riptide replied. “It isn’t like we have a magical ‘those ponies are mean’ and ‘those ponies are nice’ device to tell us to shoot first or not.”

“Eh, if I get a robot or three to rip apart I could probably rig something to at least tell us about actively hostile targets.” I shrugged. “I mean it’s either that or find a dead stable dweller with their pipbuck. Both work, though I still don’t trust a machine to fully tell me the intent of others.”

“You better let me help with that,” Sil interjected.

“Obviously. As if I could keep juicy tech away from you.” I smirked at Sil.

“I prefer the first option,” Riptide stated.

“As do I. Also, dead stable dwellers generally mean bad things. They’re… lucrative targets; good technology, food, water, better to trade with than kill. Most raiders know that.” I explained. “Better to capture and force out the stable’s location and ransom them back for supplies, or pretend to be nice ponies so they can set something up for better supplies. Being clever has a better payout than being strong.”

“Sounds like that’s your virtue then.” Riptide giggled.

“Maybe but I’ve never given virtues much thought.” I mused. “Being clever did keep Dad alive before he settled in Saint Clover with Mom so that’s probably something that rubbed off on me. Guess Mom’s traits rubbed off on my brother more.”

“I guess the right sibling captured me” Riptide snickered garnering an eyebrow raise from me as well as Sil.

“And by that, you mean what?” I prodded, curious to fish for Riptide’s intent. “What do you mean captured?”

“Well your brother is already taken, you aren’t. Also, I’m guessing he is more…” Riptide paused to find the right word. “Academic?”

“One, I didn’t know you were that... thirsty.” I snickered before explaining. “Anyways, he is just as good with a gun as I am but he’s more focused on running numbers. He’s in line to take over being the town’s accountant or quartermaster. He may be a desk jockey but both of us can take a raider down from three hundred meters with an iron sights on a rifle.”

“He’s also really good at mixing drinks,” Sil added, garnering a small glare from me. She grinned, slowing her pace to drop from the conversation.

“In that case, his main downside would be his lack of medical knowledge.” Riptide pondered as her gaze went from Sil to me. “Sil is very good at repairing things so I’m glad she’s here.”

When Sil joined I hadn’t thought of her skills and what they would add to our little adventuring party but Riptide was right.

“You’re right on that part, a lack of medical skills can quickly turn a scratch into a grave,” I stated as I checked the intersection ahead of us before deciding to take the north road instead of continuing west. “As for fixing things, yeah Sil is great at it. I’m good but she’s better.”

“I hope I can find a niche in our little group.” Riptide sighed. “I can’t put a hoof on anything I’m specifically good at.”

My eyes drifted to Riptide’s flank where no obvious cutiemark lay, just some darker fur in some kind of pattern. It reminded me of Winter’s snowfall-like coat, and those sock-like fur patterns he had.

Drawing my eyes back to our path again I spoke once more. “Well, I did pick up a book that teaches how to repair stuff with your magic.”

“That sounds rather useful.“ Riptide agreed. She then quirked her eyebrow and asked. “Wait, why is Sil out of the guard while you’re stuck as the guard’s repair pony?”

“Simple. She already did her time and is now working for my parents,” I said matter-of-factly as I studied an intersection for threats. “Meanwhile I have no foals, no partner, and my highest achievement is maintaining a library. That and studying under two of the different doctors we have as well as being adept at repairing things without magic.”

“So you’re too important to let go and have no place to be if you quit the guard?” Riptide asked.

“Yeah pretty much. It's also a good way to earn my keep. No having to justify sticking around if I’m part of the guard.” I laughed, then let out a groan. “Even with the library and the whole teaching thing gaining traction, I don’t think I had any legitimate reason not to get kicked out if I quit the guard.”

“How is teaching not a legitimate reason?” Riptide asked.

Sil, for all her good grace, answered for me. “Well, because generally it is left to parents to teach their kids. In addition, we also communally raise our foals. That way the loss of a parent isn’t as hard to recover from.”

“Wouldn’t that make a teacher that much more valuable as they’re another communal parent who has no foals of their own to take more attention away from the others?” Riptide asked in return.

“Yes, and that’s what folks up top were starting to realize. When you’re not close to something going on it is a bit hard to tell the actual details and interactions.” I sighed. “Plus being at the top generally means you raise your kids with the others at the top. There is a bit of nepotism going on back home.”

“And is that why you’re out here with me?” Riptide asked.

“Nah, it isn’t entirely the nepotism. Well, probably a smidge.” I answered with a shake of my mane. “Sil has her own quest to do and the rest of us interacted with you after you cast some spell on us. There are more than a few paranoid unicorn haters in Saint Clover.” I sighed. “It’s still amusing that they have fewer issues about Sil being a zebra just because they think her dad and her can’t do magic and are thus safe.”

Riptide dwelled on that for a minute as I picked our path further on. “Well, I’m sorry for screwing you over.” She said to both of us. “Well, except Sil given she wasn’t with you at the time.”

“Eh, it's fine. It’s not like that raider attack happened because of you.” I smiled at the strange pony.

Riptide returned the smile. “Thank you for the thought. I’ve been beating myself up thinking it was. Also thank you for talking to me.”

“Hey, not a problem. It helps to talk every now and again even if the subject isn’t easy to digest.” I paused checking the intersection and recounted the map before I started moving again.

“So… Any plans once we hit Dockland?” Riptide asked.

“I have no idea what’s in Dockland,” I explained. “I guess learn the lay of the land, sell whatever excess materials we have, and get some better armor and weapons.”

“And a spa trip! All this walking is fucking up our hooves.” Sil called to us. Apparently she was still listening in and her remark made all of us laugh.

“Okay, I can agree on the spa treatment. I’ll join you if something doesn’t come up.” Riptide said with a giggle, then sighed. “Hopefully my family doesn’t make me stick around too long when I get there.”

“Sounds like a plan and a simple one at that. Simple plans better handle rough waters after all.” I said with a wink. “Though it’s still a bit of a way to get there I had planned to reward ourselves. It helps get through the rough parts.”

“Mhm.” Riptide sounded off.

Her being willing to talk about sensitive things was a good sign, she was opening up and willing to engage in a two-way conversation. Even so, she was still rather odd to me. Personally, I was curious for more details about her and her family, something she had kept tight to her chest for good reasons. I just wanted to befriend her, a mare who lost everything deserves to have friends.

Ouch, yeah that stings a little given I feel like I lost almost everything. Thanks, brain.

As we continued trotting I started feeling much more relaxed. In a moment of introspection, I found the source: Riptide was humming again. A thought ran through my head at that. Musical magic was old, something not used much anymore. I didn’t think it was used much even around the Great War but apparently, it was potent. How curious that she uses it passively to relax herself and by proxy the rest of us as well. I’d wager everyone who could hear her right now was feeling its effects but with how quiet she was I didn’t think anypony but the two of us did. I was curious if she knew her humming’s effect upon others or if she knew it had magic running through it.

I decided against interrupting Riptide’s soothing melodic humming. Instead, I wordlessly continued to guide us to the university campus. I'd broach the subject of her music once we were not focused on survival and had some thick walls between us and ponies that would take advantage of us. As curious as I was, the effects were nice and I didn’t want to lose them to a suddenly self-conscious mare who may or may not know about her abilities.

We soon arrived at what seemed to be the perimeter wall for the campus. I had expected to see guards patrolling the rubble and instead some rough-looking ponies trotting in our direction. I held position at the edge of a building while I had the others wait back from the intersection in hardcover.

The ponies drew closer and I saw them dressed in what typically showed up on raider types. I mean who in their right mind wore tires with nails hammered through them? Regardless they quickly spotted me, which in all fairness was pretty easy because my blue mane stood out among the grey and red urban rubble. It didn’t take the group long to holler and fire some poorly aimed shots.

“Psychos.” I muttered before calling out to the others. “Hostiles ahead, spread out and I’ll lead them into the killbox.”

Everyone fell back while I fired wild shots around the corner, not even aiming as the rifle levitated before me. Then the familiar sight of a grenade, a metallic apple, bounced off the ground in front of me.

“Ah fuck…” I muttered before turning and giving the metallic apple-shaped explosive a good buck. “Buck your apples!” I called out around the corner. The grenade exploded scant seconds later, causing my ears to ring.

Okay, time to run!

I looked over my shoulder as I cantered down the broken street to see a pony poking their head around the corner of the building. I turned to look ahead and noted that I couldn’t see my friends, confident they were already lying in ambush.

Suddenly a bullet bit into my flank, making me stumble and then tumble.

“Nailed her!” A stallion cried out as I lay on my back, sore all over and bleeding from the bullet wound.

Note to self, bullet in the ass makes it really fucking hard to run.

The stallion came charging at me and I didn’t like that he wasn’t just shooting me dead given my low vantage point. The upside was he didn’t know about my companions. Looking to my left I saw Sil and Riptide waiting in an alley; they’d have a prime shot on the bastard as he came to claim his prize.

The other two ponies who shot first and were definitely not going to be asking questions later trotted around the corner as if they had all the time in the world. In their defence, they didn’t know I had four extra sets of hooves waiting to turn them into holely cheese.

The stallion skidded to a halt in front of me sending gravel bouncing off of me as I just lay there groaned. Playing the part of bait sucked but it had worked as the familiar chatter of Ocean and Winter’s guns opened up. To my annoyance the stallion who was initially very excited to see me didn’t have his head immediately turn into a blossom of gore.

“Oh fuck!” He shouted. Capitalizing on his distraction, I returned the favor by sending two knives through his neck with my magic.

One.

Bullets clattered around me, whizzing off of the pavement and brick buildings as I lay in the middle of a gunfight using a dead raider as a shield for my rear end. Thankfully we were far from home so I wasn’t about to get teased endlessly about this situation. Looking back over my shoulders I saw a bandolier of grenades on one of the hostiles. With a thought, the pins went flying as the pony ducked back around the street corner. The thump and blast wave a moment later told me all I needed to know.

Two.

The third pony came out around the street corner with a tube cradled in their forelegs. Hefting it up onto a shoulder they aimed and I realized it was a homemade rocket launcher.

The actual fuck? I swore internally, pondering how in Tartarus some brain rotten raider knew how to make ordinance like that.

Then he fell on his face and exploded.

Three?

Looking back to the alley where Sil and Riptide had been I noticed they were gone. Given what I could see of said alley they had snuck up behind the last raider and shot him. Then in his last moment of life he pulled the trigger and blew himself and his homemade launcher up. So much for looting that.

The upside was we only had one body to loot, after Winter gave me a teasing look at my situation. Being face down, ass up on the road with a raider’s dead face against my dock was not something he was going to let me forget about any time soon. Thankfully he just kicked the corpse off of me and checked the body for loot while I set to work digging out the bullet.

Having done so I then poured one of our few healing potions into the wound and stayed put. It was a bad idea to try to walk on a leg that had who knew how much of the muscle severed. Frankly, at this point, I wanted us to get a carriage so one of us being shot didn’t slow us down.

Riptide and Sil returned just as my flank regrew its missing flesh. Sil looked worried. Riptide looked distant.

Getting up we moved on, quietly and with Winter guiding us. I had my fill of taking point for the day. Even with the healing potion, I was favoring my right hind leg as I walked. Sil and Riptide were keeping me company though that was less for my emotional state and more so I didn’t get left behind. I really didn’t want that to happen considering that last encounter could have ended very poorly for me.

Fates worse than death and all that.

Thankfully it was a short walk to the front gate of the campus. Winter took a while observing the gate and guardhouse that made up the University’s entrance to make certain it wasn’t raiders running the place. Looking through my own binoculars, the ponies I could see were milling about seemed more orderly and less stained in bodily fluids, even if they were wearing parts of carriages for armor. A good sign but I was reminded that I still had no idea why raiders seemed to universally love stapling garbage to themselves for protection.

Though it might be due to them being so far gone mentally they only remembered they needed to wear something to protect themselves. To be fair, intimidation was probably the point of their outfits now that I thought about it. Who would want to fuck with someone wearing spikes?

After some discussion, we made the decision to approach the gates. The gate complex baffled me with the level of design put into it: two gates, a number of walkways above, and so many damn turrets. Beyond that the gates didn’t swing. They lifted so one could just drop them and run, sealing the entrance. Someone with a specialization in civil engineering had clearly built this.

Once past the first gate it closed behind us with a shudder and we waited to be let through the second one. I guess my injury and us not wearing the latest fashion created out of rusted metal and tires helped speed things along.

“Damn, and I thought we were over-prepared back home.” Winter whistled. “I want to talk to whoever built this.”

“You’re not the only one.” Sil added.

The second gate opened and we walked forward to be greeted by two earth ponies with light machine guns on battlesaddles and a unicorn with a clipboard.

“State your names and business in Wayhill.” The unicorn said with a rather bored tone.

“Trading, rest, information, roughly in that order,” Ocean explained.

“Not a caravan, so scavengers I assume?” He asked as he looked us over and saw no cart or brahman.

“Close enough, traveling from St. Clover to Dockland,” Winter informed the unicorn. “Couldn’t get a ship so we’re going by land.”

“Alright travelers, welcome to Wayhill. You can get a place to rest on the east side, just look for the old gymnasium.” The unicorn explained. “We have doctors and traders around there, given her limp I assume you’ll need both. Can I get your names?” He asked.

“Moonlight Grimoire,” Ocean said tapping my chest then pointed out the rest of our group. “That’s Riptide, she’s not feeling so well after a run in with raiders a bit ago. Silaha, Winterwatch and I’m Ocean Spray.”

“Do any of you need a cart for her?” He asked as he wrote down our names and, I assumed, descriptions. His eyes landed on Sil and lingered for longer than usual. “Zeb?”

“No need for a cart, she can walk.” Ocean quickly explained. “The other one is still fresh to the whole combat thing so she just needs a drink and some time.” She paused and looked at Sil, who returned the look. “Is she going to be a problem for you?”

“No, just been a while since any passed through here.” The unicorn replied, stowing his clipboard. “Given you’re travelers I’d suggest hitting up the scout’s office. We haven’t done much scouting in a while but they keep as up-to-date information on the region as we can offer there. As for the others, traders have alcohol and there’s a tavern by the gymnasium.”

His eyes looked over Sil though it was more curious now than anything else.

“Random question, is there free access to some tools for repairs and such?” Sil asked.

“In the trader commons, there is every tool a mechanic could ask for.” He politely said. “We find it makes for better commerce if everypony has access to repair their equipment for free if they have the skills.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“Enjoy your stay, keep your noses clean.” He said before he and his guards let us pass.

Sil and Riptide trotted with me to the Gymnasium while Winter and Ocean went to check in at the scout’s office. Thankfully the place had signposts and a big old stone map of the campus to give us directions.

While we walked, Sil continued to get looks as ponies probably saw a zebra for the first time. I was just happy the looks were curious and any conversations with other ponies indicated they were just happy to see new faces and interested to meet a zebra. We managed to get a room without issue, though the said room wasn’t what I had expected at first when we were told to go to the gym.

The gym had been deconstructed and rebuilt into three floors of hotel rooms without windows. All of the bathrooms were downstairs under the building in the old locker rooms. I couldn’t complain, it was only twenty caps for one bed for the three of us. We went up to our room and I sorted our stuff between essentials and sellables, leaving the former in Riptide’s saddlebags.

“Hey, Riptide? We’re going to go get my leg looked at and then see if we can pick up some equipment after.” I explained to Riptide. The mare just nodded quietly.

As we trotted out of the gym Sil asked. “Do you think it’s fine to leave her here?”

I shook my mane. “Kinda? She seems to need time to process what happened. I suspect she was the one who took the shot on the final raider?” Sil nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, she probably wasn’t expecting to see a pony turn into pink mist. That always sticks with you.”

“That’s fair, Alright let’s get your flank looked at,” Sil announced. “And while they look over your leg I’ll go shopping.”

“Thanks, Sil.”

Once at the clinic, she stopped me and gave me a bag of caps and a rather passionate kiss, one that I hadn’t expected.

“Hey, Moony?” She started. “Thanks for seeing me for more than my stripes.” She smiled before trotting off with a certain pep in her step and... yep, totally not going to keep looking at her backside.

Folks are more than their looks. They were also their personality, their abilities, their pasts. It didn’t help that Sil was nice on the eyes, plump and curvy... Wait, am I thinking about her like this? I am. Well crap, that’s fucking awkward. Hey Cadance? Are you trying to repay me for the heartache? Because I’m just getting an overdose of anxiety instead.

Chapter 8 - Programming

“Everything has code, inputs, outputs. In a way, everything can be broken down into a machine, except a pony’s heart.”
- Pipbuck Repair Technician’s Guide

My mind wandered as a stallion checked over my flank to make certain everything had healed right. Thoughts turned to Riptide and my overall feelings for the group. Empathy made me feel for Riptide, but at the same time I knew the best medicine at times was time itself. It wasn’t useful to push to talk when somepony wasn’t ready to talk. I had in the past lashed out at others trying to get me to talk after things had happened but before I was ready to.

When things between me and Winter fell apart I hadn’t been the easiest to talk to about it. We had been a thing for a few years when the whole ordeal with Ocean happened. It had taken a while before I had warmed up to those two again. In the end though, I was happy for them; they made a good couple.

Then there was the time Dad and I had been out and I had gotten ambushed by a couple of bandits. I had no idea where Dad had gone. That was not a fun day having to dig myself out of. I didn’t have to kill them but I certainly harmed them. Knocked a couple of them out, and fled after having to string them along with my words. Didn’t take me long to be reunited with Dad but I was so furious with him after he explained what happened that I didn’t talk to him for a week. Apparently, he was busy hiding from the same group, or so he had thought. They had, in fact long moved away, finding me instead. He just failed to notice and sat under a desk for two hours.

And Sil? I wasn’t certain what her feelings were for me, I had always thought of her as my sister, my cousin even. She was family but now she was starting to act like a different kind of family, the type you pick over the type you’re born with.

In the end I was given a clean bill of health, aside from having me suck down a radaway of course. I had no idea why this stuff was even flavored when said artificial flavoring tasted so nasty.

I trotted out of the clinic and looked around for Sil, hoping we could focus on making that Pipbuck Zero she was so excited about. Plus I’d like to have something to distract me from her…

Let’s not think about her shapely- Oh come on brain, stop it!

While I looked for Sil, I took the time to talk up the traders in the area. Given what the unicorn had said, these folks travelled for a living and would have far fresher information than the town’s scouts. Then again, I had no reason to think Wayhill would bother sending folks so far north considering the immediate area was all the town needed to concern itself about.

I found out that a few of the traders were from down south, some even from the heartland out east. The names of the towns nagged at my mind and I soon figured that they were pre-war settlements, probably too small to have been hit. Most had travelled up from Las Pegasus or Applewood along the Five and were going to head back south after business was done. Some were going to go further north with a few from even further north than us in fact. Vanhoover one of them had mentioned, though they were in no hurry to return. From them I gleaned some information of the surrounding areas, and the dangers of traveling the Ninety Nine, Twenty, and Five to Dockland.

The good news was that the Five was the fastest way to Dockland. The bad news was it was the route most populated by the good and bad all throughout. There would be resistance but thankfully there would also be oases of civilization. It was still a better option than heading westward then turning back east like my backup plan had been. Plus the Five had plenty of cover in the form of burned out carriages, ones not likely to explode after having done so a few generations back. Useful if anypony decided to try to shoot us instead of asking for a fee.

A rough plan was now cementing itself but I still had loose information to share with Winter and Ocean, whenever I next had a chance to talk to them that is. We would take the 20 north out of Wayhill to avoid the Wayhill Crater and then take the Five up into Dockland. It would be three days of travel with about thirty miles a day for the first two days then the remainder on the last. We might even take a day’s rest in between or the day before Dockland.

Things in Dockland could get rather dangerous from what I understood. The east side of the city and the northern part over the Columbmane were full of bandits, raiders and slave gangers. The east siders would maruade west over an old, unsecured bridge while the northerners would have to cross the Columbmane via boat as most of the bridges in their area had been destroyed, pestering the riverside areas. Riptide had given me a bit of information on the city along the way as well as a destination once in Dockland: a marina on the western side of the city.

While waiting on Sil to find my flank, I went about the task of asking around for talismans, electronics, and other parts for the Pipbuck Zero. I encountered a mix of bemused and curious replies. It seemed Wayhill had mostly shipped in targeting talismans to keep a healthy supply for their turret array. They did have some environmental and medical electronics as well as talismans but I guessed that those were in lower demand.

When asked what I was working on I showed a few traders the blueprints I had for the Pipbuck Zero and a few offered to tweak the design from their experience working on robots and medical equipment. The thought of looking out for Sil swiftly fell to the wayside as folks who had nothing better to do on a slow trading day took to the project like a brahmin to water, time rapidly sliding by as we worked.

We managed to fit a radio, biomedical scanners, and radiation detector, but lacked the Eyes Forward Sparkle. I couldn’t afford the equipment to add that feature, not here at least, but I was shown how to do it. Thankfully I was able to get a small screen on it with the use of an electronic watch. From there we were able to get hacking tools to cooperate with it as well as a way to show vitals and a map. I’d have to go break down some robots to properly integrate the systems but spritebots were everywhere so that was something to look forward to.

At some point Riptide had come down looking for us and found some food, given she was eating something while watching me. I only noticed Sil when I got a shock at our hooves suddenly touching. She gently directed me to stop touching the pipbuck so she could upload code to it. Probably for the best too because the forced break made me notice it was already sunset. Still, most of the work was done now and all that was left was for Sil’s code to take root in the arcane matrix so the parts all talked to one another.

My stomach started to growl at me, probably from hyper-focusing for the past few hours. “I’m sorry mares and stallions, but it is time for me to take a break and eat something,” I said, excusing myself. “My striped friend here will finish up the coding. While we wait to see if it works feel free to copy the schematics.”

“Now I know what took you two so long,” Riptide said before nosing a tray of something that passed for cooked food towards me.

“I’m sorry about that, one thing led to another. Meant to leave this to Sil; she’s a lot better at this stuff than I am, though I got a lot of help and learned a few things.” I giggled, feeling a small blush on my cheeks. “I have to admit it was nice to get to meet some ponies passionate about something other than fixing water pumps and patching holes in the side of the boat.”

“I think I can understand.” Riptide giggled and shook her mane before going back to nibbling at her food.

“I’m just glad she had other ponies helping her. As it is, I can see a few singed bits of fur around her hooves.” Sil teased. I rolled my eyes at her before sticking my tongue out. “Careful now Moony, or I’ll grab that tongue with my teeth.”

I blushed at the thought.

I turned my attention back to the food. It was, or at least I believed it to be from first look some kind of mix of fried waffle, melted cheese curds, and gravy. I shook my mane, took a bite, and decided that it wasn’t poisonous. It was pretty good actually, though I wasn’t going to make it a regular addition to my diet unless I wanted to add more than a few pounds; I could taste the fat and grease.

“It’s something from up north called Poutine?” Riptide explained hesitantly, not certain herself what to make of the meal. She was at least amused by my reaction to the first few bites.

“Well, it’s certainly better than eating two hundred year old bags of salt with chunks of vegetables in it.” I replied, mocking the amount of preservatives that must be in those boxes of pre-War food.

Riptide let out a soft giggle before returning to eating her own food.

The other ponies eventually came over to our table, having finished copying the blueprints and inspecting the Pipbuck Zero. One of them, a stallion, sat down next to me and put the now reassembled device on the table.

“Here you go, I think this is the best we can get with what we have here.” He chuckled. “This does give us ideas on how to replicate pipbucks, though I’m not sure we can salvage some of those abilities those Stable Dwellers can do with theirs.”

“Something is better than nothing.” I smirked. “And hey, at least this way there's no chance of something breaking and freezing me and everything around me in a localized time disruption.”

“Don’t joke too hard about that, we found something like that once.” He replied and I felt a shiver go down my spine I hadn’t thought was possible. “Well we suspected it was some kind of malfunction at least. Everyone frozen in the area turned to dust in a flash once we got close. We talked to the stable in question and they hadn’t been open for more than a week.”

“I guess whatever allowed them to do that aim assist magic must have gotten damaged and when an outside source of magic entered it, it disrupted the field and ran infinite time.” I pondered with a gulp. “On second thought, I think I’ll pass on the time manipulating aim assist.”

“Not that you have much choice.” He chuckled. “Unless you can get your hooves on some Stable-Tec materials that knowledge is lost. Aegis by the way.”

“Moonlight Grimoire,” I replied, offering a hoof that he shook in return.

“You said you were headed up to Dockland?” Aegis asked.

“Yeah, my friends and I, we’re all headed up there. Riptide lost her close family recently while they were in the process of moving to join the rest of her extended family in Dockland.” I explained somberly. “I got contracted out to escort her from Seamane after she washed up there.”

“Ah, sorry to hear that, Riptide,” Aegis said, tipping his head sympathetically towards Riptide. “Well, you two should find Ruby Saddle, she’s got a stagecoach and everything. It’ll be the same pace as on hoof but having some extra ponies around is always welcome which you’re probably accustomed to in your line of work. This time of year is generally safe, but one can never be too careful.”

I pondered this for a moment. A carriage would be much safer; lots of ponies would be a bigger risk for any small group of raiders to go after as well as being moving cover. Plus after getting a bullet to the ass I wanted an option for transporting hurt ponies now that we weren’t dealing with mud.

“Could you introduce me to her so I can see if I can arrange a trip?” I asked.

“Ah, this time of year she’d be happy to take passengers. You’ll still have to pay a few caps, but it’s mostly so she can pay for a surplus of grease for the axles.” Aegis laughed. “I’ll go find her in a bit. You two don’t have much on you so you’ll fit in her coach just fine.”

I nodded. “Well, that makes the trip a lot less nerve-wracking to think about. Thank you, Aegis.”

“No problem, think of it as payment for this,” Aegis said as he tapped the plans for the Pipbuck Zero. “You have no idea how valuable this is, especially to certain ponies.”

Aegis' statement made me curious, something the stallion easily read on my face yet only replied with a smile. I shook my head as I knew I wouldn’t get a straight answer if pressed.

“Well it’s worth it for the peace of mind,” I said as I shook my mane. “Also it’s not like it’s something really new. It’s just reapplying what we already have.”

“I know, but we have to start somewhere.”

“That we do,” I replied, feeling a bit somber as I remembered the feeling of looking over Wayhill from the clock tower. “Something small can grow into so much more.”

Sil had joined us at the table at some point and gave me a questioning look at that. Maybe she didn’t understand how much any innovation meant in this age, or maybe it was something else. She was a smart mare, smarter than me when it came to technology, so maybe she was just still connecting the dots.

Aegis gave me a pat on my back. “Just got to cultivate it, right?”

“Just keep in mind what you’re cultivating. The ponies of the past learned that the hard way.” I replied.

“Zebras too.” Sil added.

Aegis paused as he sat back, thinking to himself for a moment before nodding. “You’re right on that. I’ll go get Ruby, you stay here, get your mind off of heavy things. Here, have this, on me.”

Aegis set down a glass bottle in front of me. At first, I thought it was one of the various pre-war colas until I took a drink from it. It was cider and not the fizzy kiddy stuff either, this was the alcoholic type. I wondered where he had gotten it from as the taste of pear washed over my tongue mixing with the alcohol pleasingly. I hadn’t expected alcohol and pear to work so well together! I did a quick check with my magic to make certain it was just cider and, after confirming that it was happily kept drinking.

Alcohol was nice at times like this, when things were calm and sociable. Even though I still preferred things that didn’t remind me of work, of past drinks in the guard that tasted of turpentine.

Aegis returned with a mare I assumed was Ruby. Her coat was a two-tone of cream, her mane meanwhile a two-tone of ruby red which made her name sit right at home with her. Her cutiemark was a saddlebag. My eyes must have lingered on her flank for too long given the eyes she was giving me.

“What?” I asked.

“Well, that’s a good first impression.” Ruby chortled.

“I mean, you did pose,” I replied. “No, I’m not checking you out. I believe Aegis probably told you I’m interested in your stagecoach trip to Dockland.”

“Good, I don’t swing that way,” Ruby replied, which made me scrunch my muzzle as she sat down and pulled out a canteen. “So, it is a four-day trip; two days, a day’s layover in The Hill, then finally to Dockland.”

“Sounds reasonable,” I replied. “Do I have to pull the carriage?”

“No, not unless things go wrong, and they just might,” Ruby replied seriously. “So don’t get too comfy and keep your guns close.”

“Fair,” I replied. “How many others?”

“Four more, two pulling, one on the roof, one up front with me,” Ruby explained. “Three of you will fit inside--”

“Five of us. We’ve got two more with us.” I interrupted.

“Fine, the other two will be on the top.” She went on. “Don’t worry, it has cover.”

I nodded and before I could talk again Riptide interjected. “How much space?”

“It’s no royal carriage, but you three will fit fine with the cargo,” Ruby replied. “So long as you lot don't mind being close.”

Given the sleeping arrangements on the way over here that wouldn’t be a problem, nor was the affection from Sil and Riptide. It would get awkward though if Winter and Ocean wanted to switch.

“That won’t be a problem,” Riptide answered for me. I nodded in agreement.

“Oh, that’s why you were staring then.” Ruby snorted, which elicited a blush from me.

“Oh for all that is…” I groused, staring at them. “One, long day. Two, I’m drinking a bit. Three, I appreciate beauty in general. I can look without thirstin’.”

“But crossing the Seamane range sharing sleeping bags might mean something.” Sil teased.

“And a bed,” Riptide added, not helping.

“Not in that way, yet...” I muttered under my breath.

“Plus you two already made out and cuddled a lot.” Sil continued her barrage of teasing.

I applied my face to the table and attempted to see if I could phase through it with a slow application of pressure.

“Is she usually this much of a stick in the mud?” Ruby replied as she snickered. I felt total defeat flow through me.

“No, not really. I think she’s just flustered and has already had half a bottle of cider.” Sil answered. “That’s usually when she gets a little silly.”

“Is she usually this hostile to sex jokes?” Aegis asked. I had almost forgotten he was there.

“No that isn’t it.” Sil laughed.

“Seriously, is she just not into it?” Ruby asked.

“No, she’s just been burned,” Riptide answered. “Prior relationship that went funky.”

“Ah, okay we should lay off,” Aegis said to Ruby. Part of me picked up a tone of familiarity between them, possibly romantic.

I know that kind of familiarity. I should have known, they were a couple.

“So you two were a couple,” I muttered as I dredged my face up from the table. Time to get payback on them, and then I’ll deal with Sil and Riptide.

They both looked at me, blinking then said in unison. “How?”

“Spend enough time around other couples and you see it. Plus, I’ve had a long-term relationship before.” I replied with a smirk then let out a snort. “You shouldn’t tease random ponies though, it’s a bit rude.”

“She put us up to it,” Ruby said pointing at Sil, causing me to throw an inquisitive look her way. When the hell did she have time to do that?

“Hey, I… I was hoping she’d just go with the flow like usual!” Sil stammered clearly now on the defensive.

I need to teach her a lesson. At least Riptide is just giggling her head off. I can handle that.

“Sil you should know better. Also, I think it’s a bit impolite to your potential lover to get her inebrayy-, er, drunk and have strangers tease her.” I replied unsteadily. “That said, the alcohol is doing something for me.”

“Well if it’s anxiety it might be helping.” Aegis offered.

“Ah fuck, she realized you two were a couple and asked for help didn’t she?” I asked, looking at Ruby and Aegis.

“No, I don’t think she did,” Ruby answered.

Sil shrugged. “Guess I’m not as good at spotting couples as you are.”

I gave Sil a nod to that. “Well, I’m going to take ‘er back to our room and get a good night’s rest.” I eyed Riptide. “You too. Also, when do we leave tomorrow?”

“Around nine? Hard to give an exact time for most of us.” Ruby said, pointing at the Pipbuck Zero’s time readout.

“Sounds good,” I replied then picked Sil up in my magic. “You’re coming with me.”

“Hey, no fair! You know I hate when you do this!” Sil squeaked.

Riptide snorted. “I think this is a good example of why you should stay on her good side, Sil.”

I nodded at Riptide’s explanation. “Well, we need to talk and maybe some other stuff,” I replied as I carried Sil beside me in my magic, Riptide trotting alongside us. “No bad things per se but there are things that need to be said.”

“That phrase always makes me nervous.” Sil protested squirming in the air.

“Yeah, me too.” I retorted. “But it’s accurate.”

“Are you upset at me?” Sil pleaded, sounding scared for once. I hadn’t heard her scared in a long time.

“You didn’t get me angry,” I replied soothingly. “Little bit annoyed is all. Like a ‘I’m going to boop your nose’ level of annoyance. I haven’t had random strangers teasing me before. Friends, family? Yeah, but strangers, not really so I’m mostly flustered and embarrassed.” I wobbled a little. “Also the cider is hitting me pretty hard. At least I’m fairly certain it’s just the cider. ”

“You might not like the fact that there is more cider in the room then,” Riptide informed me as she got the door to our room for us.

“I mean I’ll have it if she doesn't,” Sil said.

“Yes but also we’ll see, might just be what I need,” I said feeling my eyebrows try to waggle. Given Riptide's confused expression, it must have looked strange and, given how my face felt, it probably was.

“That didn’t look right.” Sil snorted. I eyed the levitating zebra before licking my lips and pulling her close enough to kiss her on the lips.

She just giggled and winked in return. My guess was I had successfully disarmed her anxiety so she was feeling more relaxed now. She was probably still annoyed at being in the air though. At least I had the common sense about me to keep her tail tucked against her stomach.

“Are you okay?” Riptide asked, now out of genuine concern. “That didn’t look right.”

“Alcohol, low tolerance, always had it,” I replied, closing my eyes a moment to get my bearings. “Best if I just sip at it instead of chugging half the thing like I did. Also generally don’t have it on a mostly empty stomach. That can do a lot.”

“Well, I didn’t cast anything on you,” Riptide said, booping Sil’s nose as she floated about head level in front of us.

“And I can’t, and wouldn’t, put anything in your drink,” Sil added, trying her best to rotate in my magic.

“Exhaustion, alcohol, stress, it’s hitting me all at once,” I replied nodding to myself. “We are in a situation where I can relax for a moment so I’m subconsciously letting it all come out at once. What has built up over the trip so far and it’s hitting like I just had a keg.” I paused for a moment. “Maybe more like a keg of whiskey.”

Riptide for her part just nodded as we went back to our room. We got more than a curious look, at least it was at me instead of Sil. I kept drinking the cider as I carried Sil up the stairs to our room in my magic. It probably looked like I was probably going to have drunken fun with her. Though it had crossed my mind I wasn’t in the mood for that, not entirely. It was hard to tell.

I was surprised to find more interest in doing something like that than I had in a while. I was finding both of them interesting in a way unlike anypony else since things ended with Winter. It was nice to feel like I hadn’t lost an entire range of emotions. At the same time, I just didn’t feel the need to act on it. Just feeling that desire lightly in my mind was enough for me to feel more whole again.

Then there was also that feeling of not being needed to do something, that lack of urgency. I could finally rest and recover instead of continuing to have that feeling of being half dead, reliving crushed dreams, and all that. I no longer had to just focus on getting through the day; one shift after another, punch in and punch out. Keep my mask on so I didn’t get questions that I didn’t want to think of answers for.

I let out a snort and rolled my eyes at myself.

No, that was the negative side of my mind thinking. It hadn’t helped things that I never really felt like I was doing anything of worth. I mean it was fine even if I wasn’t that appreciated, I didn’t do it for fame, glory, or wealth. I just wanted to help but even when I did I just never felt like I saw the results.

The fruits of my labor.

My thoughts floated back to my library in Seamane and how the merchant representative saw it as a wasted effort. He had stood in my way for such a long time until my brother and parents danced around him and got it for me anyway. He was fuming for months after that but it was all legal and the guard told him that if anything happened to it he’d get a bullet. A good number of ponies liked the library at least, especially the parents. Some even dropped off their foals for me to teach, others stayed with them and made it a whole family experience.

Ah fuck it, who was I kidding, I grew up in the wasteland, and I wasn’t really that sheltered. Sure I was sheltered from the horrors of the heartland wastelands but I still grew up in a ruin. I grew up in a society that demanded everypony do their part; be it repairing the town and ship, keeping the water clean and flowing, keeping everyone healthy and alive as long as possible, and keeping us safe from those who would take advantage of our town.

I grew up being taught that eventually, I would have to take life to preserve my life or the lives of others. I had to learn to be okay with something abjectly against the nature of ponies and be okay with it. I had already done it a few times on this trip and would do it more in all likelihood.

Though my heart and soul cried out in agony over doing so I knew I would have to continue taking lives for the sake of those around me.

I closed the door behind myself as I gently placed Sil on the bed, Riptide joining her soon after given my desire to talk and share the bed tonight.

“So?” Riptide started. I looked at her as I put my things down. “You do know you’ve been complaining out loud for the past few minutes, right?” she went on. I stood there quietly, Sil nodding confirming Riptide’s comments.

“Oh, well that’s lovely...” I sighed before I climbed onto the bed with the two and curled up between them, feeling shame overtake me. “This is why avoid harder stuff. Or drinking fast. Does the same thing to me as exhaustion does. Oh well, at least cider tastes nice.”

“Oh,” Riptide replied sullenly. “Well, I can kind of see why.”

“It’s fine, didn’t know it would hit me like this either. Might just be all these repressed feelings coming out.” I replied, giving Riptide a nuzzle, had her coat always been this soft?

“Um?” Riptide asked, clearly confused by my mixed signals.

“I like your humming.” I said, “It's relaxing.”

“I… thought that I was doing that in my head.” Riptide stammered as she blushed profusely.

“Nope, under your breath,” I said, and then booped her nose. “Boop, also you have a cute blush.”

Sil for her part had been quiet. I guessed she was avoiding any further retribution after having been carried against her will in my magic all across campus.

“I... how is so little alcohol hitting you this hard?” Riptide said as she tried to change the subject. Sil pressed herself against my back. Both of them were so soft. It felt nice and comforting.

“I haven’t slept well since, well you heard my rant, but anyway I haven’t gotten enough rest since you washed up on the lighthouse,” I explained. “It’s not your fault, just a rollercoaster of events. Constantly stressed about everything that could go wrong. Now that we’re safe in a slice of civilization all of that exhaustion is coming down on me. Add the alcohol and it’s making me a mess. Kinda a common thing. Supposedly.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Riptide said looking at me with her left eye as I leaned against her left side, head still firmly against her chest. “You were that stressed out?”

“She was, I could tell. She is generally a bit more perceptive.” Sil pointed out. “Plus after a while, you’ll start to notice her little tics when she’s out of it or stressed.”

I gave her a nod. “Sil’s right, we wouldn’t have gotten ambushed or foalnapped by an overgrown bee if I hadn’t been,” I replied with a sigh. “I just didn’t know if there were any bits of civilization for us to stay safely between Seamane and Dockland. All the things we’ve been through and seeing the interior of Equestria for the first time, seeing the true ruins of our world has been weighing on me rather hard.”

Sil nuzzled me from one side as Riptide leaned against me from the other, so I did what any greedy lover would and held them close as I lay on my back, pressing their muzzles into my chest.

“I can relate given we grew up with the same stories of the heartland. To see how it is though, to face it all for real for once.” Sil trailed off as she held me tighter. “I’m glad to be here with you. I’ll leave it at that.”

“I… am in the same boat on that front,” Riptide added. “While where I grew up wasn’t the nicest. It was still a bit nicer than here. Without all of you, I don’t know how well I’d fare on my own. Also, I think I’ll stay away from alcohol if I’m getting this sappy without it.”

“Probably for the best,” I said in agreement. “Then again, who knows what would happen if we all got drunk? Buzzed? Probably wouldn’t mean much. Sloshed though? Definitely not the best of choices.”

“So, we are going to draw straws to see who gets to drink?” Sil teased.

“Eh, I’ll pass. Go for it, Sil. Do you mind if I call you that?” Riptide asked.

I floated over a fresh bottle of cider and popped the cap off, setting it into my caps bag.

“Thank you, Moony and you may,” Sil said taking the drink into her hooves.

A few minutes passed quietly then Riptide began to quietly hum to herself, then opened up and began to sing softly. I closed my eyes and listened to her heartbeat and singing reverberate through my body, just letting myself breathe. Her song wasn’t in Equestrian or Ancient Unicorn. It was something else entirely yet pretty and relaxing all the same.

I felt enthralled by Riptide’s singing to a degree. It wasn’t so much moving but it made me feel like I was an open book to her. Then her song changed. It was a bit mournful, and I felt the same way. I didn’t want to interrupt her song to ask. We all had our different ways of coping with what happened so maybe this was her way of doing so. The song soon became hopeful before ending. She blushed as she looked at us.

“Sorry, that went on for a while.” Riptide blushed.

“It was beautiful, though I didn’t recognize the language,” I said, complimenting her. I felt Sil nodding from behind me as her chin tapped my neck.

“It’s… unique.” Riptide managed.

“Fair enough.” I giggled and felt something well up in my chest. I thought I was going to get sick but then realized no, I wanted to kiss her. I let it drain away, it wasn’t the right time for that, and we needed to talk things out.

“I… Thank you for letting me have time to deal with all this.” Riptide said, punctuated with a sigh.

“No problem,” I replied, giving her neck a nuzzle before blushing and mentally cursing myself. I was trying to have some time for us to talk about things here. The three of us needed to sort things out and it certainly didn’t help that I was already entangled in their limbs.

“I, uh. Well, those two raiders were the first ponies I’ve ever killed.” Riptide explained. “Mirelurks, that giant wasp, ghouls, those I’ve dealt with. But, somepony like us? No.”

“You’ve seen those giant wasps before?” I asked. Riptide nodded.

“Huh, guess they are up and down the coast then,” Sil added for me and I nodded in agreement.

I let out a sigh as I pulled the two mares tight against myself once again. Time to do some therapy.

“I wanna talk to you two to... to help me process some stuff. It’s probably going to sound a bit scatterbrained as we go through it.” I admitted.

“You two remember how shaken up I was after killing those raiders up close at the Sea Lion Caves?” I took a breath to center myself as flashes of warmth and blood slammed through my mind. “And the raider today whose skull I shoved a knife into, watching them see and comprehend what was about to happen?”

“It still haunts me.” I went on. “Years ago when I first had to shoot another pony, I stopped remembering my dreams. I had to do it. If I hadn’t shot them. Well...”

“I’m not quite following, but keep talking if it helps,” Riptide admitted, both of them giving me a sympathetic squeeze. Sil particularly knew about the first time I had to put a pony down. She knew a little too well given she was the first pony to find me after the fact.

I let out a sigh, not certain where I was going either. “Killing doesn’t get easier, not even for the raiders. It only does for the truly broken ones. Well, that’s probably why they are broken in the first place.” I explained. “It’s why I hoped they would run away after we returned fire. It’s dangerous to chase someone who has had the time to fall back and all that. Maybe they were just bloodthirsty or desperate, not that we’ll ever know.”

Riptide nodded.

“Still, even if they chose to chase you it still hurt to kill them,” Sil said. “At the end of the day, it should always hurt to take a life, especially when talking fails.”

Things went quiet for a few minutes.

“I... when I was in that town that went raider north of yours…” Riptide opened up. “They had been catching, cutting open, sacrificing, and eating anything from the sea.”

I let myself become the little spoon for Sil so I could turn my attention towards Riptide. Sil’s head rested on my shoulder as we paid close attention.

“My family and myself, you probably have figured out looking at their corpses and putting me back together that we aren’t normal ponies,” Riptide confessed.

“I noticed the scales on some, fins on a few of them,” I said. “Sure they were odd adaptations, but you had mentioned you and your family spent a lot of time in and around the water. I figured it was some kind of mutation to that end.”

Riptide nodded. “That’s why we were targeted, I think. Given what I saw there it only makes sense.” She sighed and laid her head on my stomach, looking up at Sil and me with tired eyes. “You haven’t had your trade disrupted all season by them so whoever led them targeted us specifically, probably due to our time helping ponies down south. They intercepted our boat and dragged it to their dock after having harpooned it. Most of my family just dove off and made for shore.” She hesitated. “I… hid. That’s how I saw the town. I wish I hadn’t.”

I gave her mane a comforting brush with my hoof and bid her to continue when ready. Sil for her part reached down with a hoof and stroked Riptide’s cheek, the touches from us seemed to help anchor Riptide in the here and now, calming her as she settled further up on my chest.

Honestly, this wasn’t where I had expected things to go but helping Riptide handle her trauma trumped any desire to get laid.

Riptide took a breath. “The town was… like nothing I had seen before. Raiders? Like the ones we saw in Fillymath? They’re all about cages, exploitation, and everything rusty from caked-on blood. There?” She shivered. “Everything was slimy.”

“Maybe it was just the ocean mist, maybe the algae on everything but it was unsettling.” She shook her head before continuing. “There was this constant droning, maybe a choir? Also an altar. I didn’t dare get close, everything in me told me to stay away if I wanted to stay alive. There was a lot of magic in that town. These aren’t just raiders, something is very wrong there.”

I nodded, curious to know more.

“The gravel and sand weren’t right anymore either. It was pearlescent, all of it. The streetlights were messed up, the tops like fish hooks with lanterns, blue flames burning in them.” Riptide explained evenly. The blue flames reminded me of the buck who had charged me during the siege and that worried me. “There were flayed corpses of creatures that came from the ocean carved open, chairs arranged around them like a buffet. Red streaks of blood ran down the streets into the ocean. There were ponies convulsing in the street. Were it not for all of that, it would look like any normal town on the white sands. Instead.”

She paused and took a long breath to steady herself while squeezing her eyes shut. “Instead there was something. It hurts to even try to remember the effigies they had around the town, the symbols make my head whenever I try to hold the image in my mind.” Riptide gasped, leaning against me for support. “I don’t know what they found but it is wrong.”

I gave her a tight hug, letting her take her time to come to terms. Meanwhile, I put her knowledge into my mind, chewing on it and digesting it. The symbol gnawed at my mind and I swore I could hear something; a sort of scratching or ruffling paper sound as I tried to recall it from my mission with the Buckshots.

Could they have come south to attack the town? But why with so much force? Was it due to Riptide? Surely one mare wasn’t worth that many lives or did they need to dispose of excess lives? It’s sounding more and more like it could have been a sacrifice.

Riptide continued after a moment. “Fleeing, fleeing was terrifying, they were dragging my family back to shore, still alive from the ocean.” She shuddered, eyes staring blankly through me. “They bleed them dry, cut out their organs then left their bodies to rot. I watched, I couldn’t stop them, I had nothing to fight them with. I don’t know what they did, what they took, but the next moment I was able to try to leave, no longer transfixed as if the place was holding onto me.”

She felt colder for a moment as I held her. Looking into her eyes I felt something off, as if she was impossibly far away while still wrapped in my legs. Her eyes were transfixed on something I couldn’t see, her lips moving without noise. As her lips moved I felt my perspective warp, maintaining eye contact eliciting a scream of pain from the depths of my mind.

I closed my eyes and did the only thing I could think of to try to stop her lips, pushing mine on hers. Maybe that was still the cider making me think that way.

I heard Sil make some kind of squeak. I couldn’t discern the nature of it. I felt Sil embrace both of us as I held that kiss. Maybe it was a stupid option but things started to feel normal, well normal enough for our first genuine kiss.

As we lay there, the noise of doors opening and closing in the hall could be heard, but I paid it little mind as I had more pressing concerns. Such concerns as I was laying atop of Riptide with our lips firmly pressed together. The fact that my heart was occupying my throat as it raced. And that whatever had been causing that unnerving feeling was dispelled with said kiss.

I laid on her for a few minutes, feeling her warm up. Riptide’s eyes slowly focused on me instead of distant shores, with the mental return of my companion I broke the kiss.

“You two good?” Sil asked.

“I think so.” I blushed.

“Riptide?” Sil asked with her gaze moved to our citrine-eyed friend.

“Hi, I’m here.” She answered. “Uh, I blanked out, did something happen?”

“Yeah… but let’s forget that, Moony say something to her.” Sil urged me.

“Um, hi.” I stammered.

“This isn’t what I expected for my first kiss.” Riptide blushed.

“I think we all can say the same.” Sil giggled.

“Can I have some of the cider?” Riptide asked. “I think I need it. And now I am remembering what happened, cider time.”

“Given what you just told us? I don’t blame you.” Sil sighed as she relaxed, though I saw a blush on her face.

“I think we all could do with some more drinks. And relaxing.” I sighed as I floated over some fresh bottles, tossing the caps into my bag of money.

“So, how far are you willing to take that?” Silaha winked as she gave me a look, that blush still squarely on her cheeks

“However far the cider takes us,” I replied.

“Both of us?” Sil asked.

“Yeah, I think… I think I can handle that.” I answered. I had experience.

“Well, time for round two with you,” Sil smirked.

Round two? Wait I thought that was just a dream…

“Given the look on your face, you remember that drunken romp from a few years ago.” Sil smiled.

“Thought it was just a dream.” I rolled my eyes. “Well, now I really shouldn’t be surprised you love me.”

“Wait, you two have done it before?” Riptide asked, looking between us.

“Yes, and to say the least, she’s good.” Sil giggled before kissing my neck. “Go on, touch horns, I’ll manage what you two can’t.”

Blushes were heavy on all of us, as was the smell of alcohol and other things.

This wasn’t like last time with Winter and Ocean. I could feel in my heart that I loved both of them and they both cared for me in turn.

With Sil, it was a natural progression of how close we had been all our lives. For Riptide it was the result of my caring for her wellbeing that had grown and flourished quickly from friends to partners. Maybe this time I could handle something more complicated. Maybe this was the two of them trying to help mend my broken heart.

This didn’t feel like they were fighting with one another over me, as it had felt between me and Ocean over Winter. No, this was three ponies coming together out of love and care for one another. While I was the focal point, it was mutual between all of us. We could lean on one another. Two broken mares and one, as far as I knew, healthy mare. This wasn’t competitive, it was mutually supportive. I closed my eyes and let the night go where it would.

Chapter 9 - Coach Class

“Riding in safety IS riding in style!”
- Ruby Rose Caravan Motto

Morning arrived faster than I desired, my left foreleg vibrated as the finished Pipbuck Zero awoke me. It was nice to see Sil’s work had gotten the mess of circuits working. I opened my eyes and tried to move, only to find myself very much pinned by a heavy Riptide on my left, the mare still within the clutches of slumber. To my right Sil was cutting off circulation to my right hoof, which explained why I couldn’t feel it.

I let out a happy sigh as memories of last night filled my head. The alcohol hadn’t washed them away thankfully. It was a wonderful time. Not entirely unanticipated but I was grateful to get some time with just the three of us. Given how relaxed I felt now, yeah, it was needed. I hoped the other two felt the same way when they woke up and I certainly hoped they would wake up sooner rather than later given how my body was starting to feel.

Instead of just hoping for the best, I decided to do something about it, something that would definitely wake Riptide up, and Sil once I got to her. To my fortune, Riptide did enjoy my method of waking her up. Sil woke up shortly thereafter in the same manner.

“Okay, so, that was lovely, but we should get cleaned up.” I chuckled. “AND I really need the little filly’s room now.”

“She’s right; the air is pretty thick in here,” Sil added.

Riptide nodded. “We should get moving then or we’ll get left behind. Don’t want to get trapped in this bed all day.”

I let out a snicker. “As if that would be so bad but yes we should get going.” We really had in the space of a bit over two weeks gone from strangers to lovers hadn’t we?

After a quick trip to relieve myself, I joined the others for a shower. We opted to help wash one another, scrubbing and even giving impromptu massages. We also took the opportunity to clean one another’s manes, something we hadn’t done in a while.

I had learned to be careful with the little frills on Riptide’s jaw, something I hadn’t noticed before last night. Was she hiding them? How had she? Oh well, they’re cute along with the rest of her. Cleaned, dried, gear gathered and donned, and Pipbuck Zero waterproofing tested by accident, we left the communal showers groomed and ready to get some freshly cooked food.

Breakfast today was an assortment of some kind of eggs, hay, and hashbrowns. I didn’t bother to ask what species these eggs came from. The hay I didn’t recognize either but it was less distressing as it was fresh. Who knows, maybe Winter had sold some of what we found in Fisher. Finally, there were the good old, regular hash browns. From two centuries ago.

Generous portions regardless and for the amount of money I paid it was well worth it. Ruby and her crew were eating with us, her stagecoach visible behind them.

I started visually inspecting Ruby’s stagecoach from where I was seated and found it... interesting. I first noticed that it was coated in clipboards. This immediately struck me as odd; it wasn’t that the clipboards seemed to replace the exterior but acted as additional protection, something I had not seen before. It was novel, but the additional cover to those up top was reasonable.

“Wonderin’ why it’s covered in clipboards?” Ruby asked, having caught my inquisitorial gaze. I gave her a nod. “Well, it’s because clipboards, for whatever wonderful reason, are practically indestructible. I mean, some things like cutting tools can deal with them but amusin’ly not bullets.”

“Excuse me, what,” I said in bafflement. I knew pre-war clipboards were strong but to hear them used for armor was wild.

“No joke! Unless some jerk-off has some major ordinance these suckers will protect us.” Ruby explained. “Main issue is the wood behind it bucklin’ which makes it harder to, say, make a bunker out of it on the front or top of the driver.”

“Ah, load transfer,” I said, nodding in understanding. “Yeah, that would be… difficult. Would eat up most of the extra space and weigh a fair bit. As it is the mounting and clipboards probably slow things down a bit.”

“Yep, probably room for betterment, but as it is she’s pretty solid,” Ruby said with pride. “Been through enough ambushes to make me happy with my investment.”

“Well, I feel safer already,” I admitted. Ruby seemed to beam with pride hearing my words.

“Good! Don’t want a client backin’ out when we’re all rearin’ to head out with them.” Ruby sighed in relief before elaborating. “Because boy howdy, is it easier to pick off a couple of ponies on hoof and loot them? Lot harder when the group, and by that I mean us, can just keep rollin’ on by as you shoot them.”

Sil nodded. “That’s a good point. Makes carriages a poor choice unless they can set up a barricade and even then probably a lot cheaper for them to just trade instead.”

“Yep, though the more organized things are in a region, the harder it is for raiders, turning them into bandits and gangers over just roamin’ pillagers,” Ruby added.

I tapped my chin with my hoof. Ruby’s logic made sense, it would be far easier to pick off a few wanderers than a big group. Far less investment of resources and risk for a more stable reward. Realizing I was staring at my dish, I started working on finishing my breakfast. I wasn’t used to eggs as they were an infrequent food back home. It was however a good source of protein which complemented all the muscle-building I had been doing as of late.

“I see why caravans are popular.” I nodded. “Carriages must cost two legs.”

“For a stagecoach like mine? Yeah costs a bit but then again there are plenty of them layin’ around to restore.” Ruby chuckled before elaborating. “It all works out in the end, not many get hit anymore.”

“Most issues are with ponies who wander too far outside of towns and get taken captive.” She went on. “Some bandits out this way do the occasional raid or siege of smaller towns, usually workin’ for some of the not-so-savory groups out there. These are the ones thievin’ and extortin’ all their life. Others still eventually settle down and change for the better.”

I nodded. It made sense after all. A parasitic relationship was unsustainable and once established enough it became self-defeating to continue exploiting others so deeply. Those who don’t learn probably leave the groups that settled down, are dealt with for messing things up, or die before they settle down.

“Never really think about it?” Ruby asked, seeing me focus inward as I processed her impromptu lecture.

“Eh, yes and no. Was a guard and… several other things back home.” I said before letting out a snort at how long my resume had become at this point.

“She also did some part-time medical work,” Sill added for me. “And worked on restoring and running our library.”

I rolled my eyes. “Was also briefly part of maintenance but ended up just using those skills to do repair work for the guard. The field medic came with my more recent training. Probably was going to end up being either a doctor or teacher in a few years with how things were going.”

Ruby nodded, pondering it seemed. Before she could speak, four ponies joined us from securing luggage on the coach.

“Hey, Mom, everything’s stowed.” One of two unicorn mares said. I could see two earth ponies working on adjusting their barding, the hoops used to connect to the stagecoach clacking lightly.

“Moonlight, this is Wild Silver.” Ruby introduced the mare who just spoke, then gestured to the other unicorn mare. “And my other daughter, Night Dust.”

“Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you.” I greeted the two. The two mares shared their mother’s cream coat but Silver’s mane was, well, silver, while Night’s was a deep blue like a painting of the night.

“Pleasure.” Both replied nonchalantly, seemingly going through the routine of meeting passengers, neither very interested in getting to know us.

“Well, let’s get all of you situated so we can get going, daylight’s burnin’.” Ruby commanded waving a hoof at us to get moving.

I noticed at this point that the two lovebirds had so far failed to join us. With a sigh, I got up and carried what remained of my breakfast in my magic as I went to hunt down the two stragglers. The first stop was their room, because if anything they were probably getting some much-earned sleep. As for how I could tell they were still asleep? Ocean snored. Loudly. It was a dead giveaway.

I couldn’t be too angry at them. After all, this was the first chance any of us had to get some proper sleep. Regardless we had a deadline.

Lacking any of my equipment, I resorted to the polite thing first and knocked on their door. Nothing happened and so I sighed again before taking the last bite of my breakfast. Picking locks without tools was possible but not something I had done frequently. I had time now and no immediate danger that needed that door open immediately which helped me focus.

Leveling my eye with the keyway, I let my magic gently wrap around the handle and into the lock itself. Despite grasping at straws somewhat, I realized all I really had to do was figure out where the pins were, shove them back, and then twist like a key does. No fiddling about tensioning with a wiper insert and then booping pins to see if I can get them to bind.

After half a minute, I decided my approach required more horn lockpicking practice, possibly when I had a day or two to just lay on a mat with a lock out of its housing. Frustrated, I instead opted for the other sensible thing and let my magic grasp the latch, popping it back out. The initial bit took more magic to move but then I heard the deadbolt rotate with a satisfying clunk.

With a tap of my hoof, the door swung open and I could see my two errant companions. They were still asleep and I could see several bottles of alcohol scattered around them, the sheets twisted messily around them.

I could feel my tail flicking behind me in agitation as I scowled at the two. Closing the door behind me, I started to clean up the mess the two had made. We had reputations to form and maintain and a messy room would definitely be a setback. I started with washing the bottles out, giving me a way to dump some nice, cold water on their muzzles and in addition letting me bottle some clean water for the long road ahead. Who knew when we would get a chance at clean water again?

By the end of the hasty clean-up, I decided against soaking the two. That would just make the two wake up in a jolt and I really didn’t want either of them to shoot me in a panic. Sure they didn’t have their battlesaddles on but Ocean’s SMGs could be mouth-fired in desperation. That would likely cause all kinds of headaches, and not just from firing a gun in an enclosed space without hearing protection.

So I made the choice to use my magic to gently close their mouth and noses so that the lack of air would wake them up. Ocean had a bad habit of waking up in the middle of the night because of that, her snoring occasionally causing her to choke and gasp for air from some sort of blockage of his airway. Still, I prepared for the possibility of either of them bolting up awake and beating my ass in delirium as my magic settled around their muzzles.

The things I do for friends…

Winter woke up first and I let my magic fade away.

“Huh? Who's there?!” Shouted Winter jumping out of bed and surprising me by closing the distance before I had a chance to answer.

He was on top of me in an instant and would’ve smashed my face in if I hadn't blocked with my forelegs. His hooves came down and I felt the unfortunately familiar sensation of bone starting to give. Great, hairline fracture. At least I’m not walking for a few days…

To my utter confusion and surprise, a cartoon version of myself appeared before my eyes, sitting sadly on her rump, her forelegs in slings. So this is what it’s like to have EFS. Neat but unfortunately no time to marvel at this! Sil was up for a lot of affectionate kisses and praise for getting the ‘Eyes Forward Sparkle’ working on the Pipbuck Zero. Another blow to my legs ripped me out of the moment of reverence for Sil’s software engineering and back to the present.

Before a third blow could land, I heard Ocean cry out. “Winter! Stop, it’s Moonlight.”

Laying battered and bruised under Winter I gasped for air. Twenty-four hours ago I wouldn’t have expected this to be how I was feeling in this position with him.

“Winter, please it’s me, Moony!” I pleaded.

Having hesitated at the cry from his mate, Winter sat on his rump and looked at me bewildered before a look of frustration set in. I tried to move my forelegs and this seemed to get his brain working past his feral protectiveness.

Winter finally voiced his feelings. “Why didn’t you knock?” He hissed. I knew him well enough he was looking for a way to downplay his own guilt.

That frustration vanished when he went to touch my dangling forelegs with a hoof and I winced away from him. We had been around one another enough to know each other’s body language.

“I’m sorry, Moony.” He sighed.

“It’s… alright.” I groaned before regarding my EFS portrait. Based on the readout and my experience with treating others, this was going to take a healing potion to deal with the hairline fractures in my forelegs. Healing potions that were packed away on the stagecoach. Great.

“As for knocking, I tried that but you two slept through me knocking on the door.” I went on. “Loudly.”

Ocean trotted over into my vision, her stuff haphazardly slung on her back. She looked down at my forelegs and grimaced.

“Winter. Get off of her, I don’t think it’s going to help having you sit on her lap.” Ocean said and I could hear a minor tone of command in her voice. He scrambled quickly to his hooves and offered one to me to help me up. When they both saw my legs weren’t cooperating, I was lifted bodily and put on his back instead.

“By the way, this is going to sound sudden but we probably should get you two some food,” I said sheepishly. “Uh, I should have also talked to you both sooner about this but I got us a ride to Dockland on a stagecoach.”

Ocean sighed as she started for the door. “I’m glad you found us a safe way but I would’ve liked to have been in the loop.”

“Sorry. Things just kind of happened real fast last night.” I apologized. “Then before I knew it ponies got me drunk.”

“Well, you’ll have to explain that bit to me later. Let’s get moving.” Ocean said.

“I’m sorry Moony.” Winter sighed as we cantered towards the mess hall.

“I’m sorry as well,” I said, trying to console him. “I really don’t know how you slept through me washing all those fucking bottles and putting them in Ocean’s bags.”

“You were probably about as exhausted we were last night.” He offered.

I nodded to myself as we headed out of the gym-turned-hotel. “Yeah, but, you know how I can’t sleep that well anymore.”

Winter just gave me a non-committal noise.

Ocean on the other hoof tried to change the subject. “How did last night go?”

“Well, pipbuck works. Could only afford the one though but at least now I can keep a relative track of our radiation exposure level.” I explained. “Somepony even got the EFS working -- uh, the thing that gets projected in your eyes to give you information, entirely magical. Didn’t think we could fit it but I guess Sil or somepony else figured it out.”

“Well, that’s amazing but not what I was wondering about.” Ocean snickered.

I paused and realized she was wondering about the other half of my evening. “Oh. That. Uh.”

“Uh huh, that sounds promising.” Winter snorted.

“Shut up you.” I hissed. “I’m still processing it. I think we’re a couple so, yay? Fuck if I know. My brain is still full of doubts on whether it’s okay for me even to let them in.”

“But you’re trying?” Ocean asked.

“I’m giving it a shot,” I replied. “An honest, real try.”

“That is good to hear.” Winter sounded relieved.

“Yeah, life just kind of needed to slap me in the face a few times, enough for me to sit down and stop looking gifts in the mouth.” I sighed. “You two have a good evening?”

“It was a relaxing one,” Ocean answered. Winter didn’t answer.

“Good. Well, we should have another one tonight in the Mill.” I offered. “If I can’t patch myself up on the way there, we’ll see about somepony there taking care of this mishap.”

“You aren’t angry?” Winter asked.

I mulled it over for a moment. “No, not really. You scared the daylights out of me though. I’m just glad I’m as tough as I am because I think it’s just fractured.”

“Can you…” Winter started.

“Yeah, I won’t mention it to the others.” I nodded. “Oh, and you two won’t be sharing the inside of the wagon with us, only room for three in there. Some very solid cover up top though. We’ll switch who is guarding Riptide as we go along. Keep it fair who gets rained on.”

“Sounds good.” Ocean nodded as we got to the tents around the stagecoach.

Sil saw me and her ears flattened, letting out a nicker as she trotted up to me. “Did something happen?” she asked, checking me over.

I nickered in return. “Yeah, waking them up didn’t go as planned. They got up, but there was a bit of a tussle.”

Sil nuzzled my neck and let me lean into her a bit. “They didn’t wake up to Plan A through H?”

I groaned. “Yeah, we’ll leave it at that. Let’s just get me in the coach while they eat.”

Sil leaned back against me. “It happens. Alright, Winter, I’ll take her from here, you two get some food in you. I don’t think there are any diners to stop at for lunch between here and the Mill.”

With the help of one of the pullers, Sil got me into the stagecoach and closed the door. I could have with my magic but I was busy getting seated and fussed over. I finally managed to get comfortable enough to check on my forelegs. Nothing major like a bone sticking out from flesh but it was obvious by how they hung that things weren’t right. Riptide for her part looked rather upset at the situation.

“I can fix it and Winter is sorry for the whole thing so don’t take it out on him. Accidents happen.” I said in an attempt to console her. It got her to take a few breaths at least as I shuffled through our supplies and began to triage my injuries. I wanted to do what I could before we were on our way in case I needed to set anything. Better now than when we were bumping along.

Fixing yourself with only your magic was always difficult. One couldn’t hold things where they wanted to, but I was getting better with practice at holding multiple spells and instruments at a time.

By the time I finished fixing my forelegs, Winter and Ocean caught up with the rest of us and took their places on top of the carriage. I would still need a while for my legs to fully heal but in a pinch, I should be fine downing another healing potion or two. There was just a desire in me to hold onto the healing potions for something more dire like holes in ponies.

While Ocean and Winter did their best at laying flat on the roof, Sil, Riptide, and I barely fit inside the cramped carriage and we did our best to try not to move too much. It helped that we didn’t have our saddlebags or battle saddles on and I was personally thankful we had washed up before breakfast. As much as I enjoyed the closeness it made doing anything an uncomfortable affair. That left us to enjoy the scenery, chatting, and reading, whenever the wind wasn’t blowing the wrong way or I could hold the pages with my magic.

We finally pulled out onto the highway, and every bump on the aged road I could now feel through the centuries-old suspension. To the west, or left as we went north, I saw the healthy green flora of the Seamane range pressing east as it fought to reclaim the land against the scars of the past. To the east, I could see the Cascadia range, mixes of browns, oranges, greys, greens, and whites dominating what I could see with some splotches of other odd colors between them.

Twenty minutes later we were north of the Wayhill Crater, its glow visible even during the day. Just getting in position to look at it caused the radiation gauge to start clicking, giving a minor reading miles away with a direct line of sight. I leaned back from the window. I wanted to avoid what radiation I could but due to the cramped space we all shared the best I could do was make a note to get our radiation levels checked later. I then cursed myself, remembering the spare radiation monitors I had, foreleg mounted. I should get those out for the others when we stop.

Barring the jarring bumps in the road and the constant squeaking of the wheels, the day was surprisingly calm. Riptide’s singing, as well as her being pressed against me, kept me company when we weren’t talking. Sil was squeezed in on the other side of the coach making this a Riptide sandwich. While part of me wished I was in the middle, Riptide was our cargo so it was best to keep her in the middle where she would be safest from any hazard.

While the coach wasn’t faster than walking it was certainly safer and peace of mind was worth the cost. Not to mention part of me enjoyed drifting in and out of sleep while resting my head against Riptide. It had been too long since I let my guard down, emotionally and physically. Eleven days since we had left and the entire time we all had to be each other’s guards. Now? We had our own bodyguards and it was time to just rest, something we were all in dire need of.

My thoughts turned to my newly formed relationships. Well, formed and altered. Riptide I had known for the sole sum of just under two weeks but, I also knew not to hold that against a real friendship. Yet I had my doubts about our relationship.

I leaned against Riptide as she napped. We were now a few hours from anywhere at this point and the scenery was rather dull; dead trees with new sprouts fighting to survive around them, fields of centuries of wild crops waiting to be tended to. My eyes turned to Riptide and I felt my heart rate slow, the feeling of melting washing over me.

And that answers part of my own questions about how I feel about her. To feel some earnest affection for this mare and not just lust is a nice change. I think it is about time Cadence cut me some slack and let me settle down. I’m not getting any younger and she makes me feel a mix of things, most of them good. The doubts I know I’ll squash in time.

Still, though, I know she cares for me. She cares enough to make certain I’m anchored in reality. She has a sense of protectiveness towards me and not in the motherly sense but more of camaraderie. Fuck me with my own horn, this is a messy mix of loves. I know consummate and romantic loves weren’t there yet but platonic and physical ones certainly were. I could already feel it though, the slow approach of romance. It just needs some time to get its slow rear here.

As for Sil… I felt a lot of the same physiological responses looking over at her as I had for Riptide. The romantic love is definitely already there, maybe it always was. I know I reciprocated the platonic but not the physical side of things.

Two different types of relationships, growing and coming to fruition as I cultivate my feelings for these two and they in turn do the same to me. Though I’m not certain who is doing what here. I smirked at my own confusion. Cadance, you really wanted to make up for things going poorly with Winter, didn’t you?

I looked up at Riptide, having been resting my head against her chest. She was smiling and it made my chest melt even more.

Yep, that’s that romantic love setting in. I wasn’t wrong with my analysis.

“You alright, Moony?” Riptide asked, curiosity filling those brilliant yellow eyes.

“Thinking. Realizing how you have already completely I’ve fallen for you.” I replied honestly.

Riptide blushed and shoved my face into her chest fluff preventing me from seeing the rest of her reaction. I didn’t mind though. Honesty was the best practice here; it would prevent us from hurting one another, even if it made us into damn fools. Then again, who hadn’t been made a damn fool by love?

Probably the Princess of Love, I mused. Curiously I never heard her fate... Sadly she probably died with the rest when Canterlot was obliterated, though the spirits of the princesses have probably stayed with us given the sun, moon, and love’s mysterious ways.

The first day of the trip ended with us pulling into the ruined city called The Mill. It had, when the founders of Equestria still walked the earth, been the regional capital. Now it looked a lot like Wayhill. While I hadn’t seen a crater, the entire city looked toasted, buildings burnt to a crisp and lightly irradiated given the random clicks every few minutes. We were still a ways away from the heart of the city though, coming to rest in a suburb called Four Corners.

“Well, it’s not much to look at.” I quietly commented to Riptide as we got out of the coach and stretched. I tested out the patch job on my forelegs and found them to be holding just fine.

“Seen more than a few ruined towns myself,” Riptide replied.

Sil took in the sights, less than familiar with blown-out cities, this trip was our first real experience with them.

While I had enjoyed the stagecoach ride to a degree, it had been cramped even if it had been nice to just be in close company with the mares who had stolen my heart. Tonight though I’d resolve the issue of having spent the better part of the day with Riptide instead of Sil. It seemed unfair to just give Riptide all the affection since last night but Sil was practical-minded like me so hopefully she hadn’t taken it the wrong way. I was probably just overthinking it. Per usual.

“This way, love birds.” Ruby taunted and waved us towards her with her hat.

I raised an eyebrow at Ruby. “Yes, because I was lost in thought about that sort of thing.” I huffed.

“I woulda expected as much after the talkin’ I overheard on the trip.” Ruby teased. “Come on now, let’s get our rooms squared away.”

I nodded and we followed Ruby while her workers unloaded supplies and made deals with the locals. Thankfully the three of us weren’t sharing a room with the rest. With an early start once again for tomorrow, Ruby reminded us not to be late and gave a glare to Winter and Ocean.

Winter and Ocean headed up to their room without a word to us. I suspected the ride up top had not been relaxing and they probably wanted an early night. The three of us that remained began to explore what we could of Four Corners. Well, what was safe to explore, we weren’t going outside of the walls.

What made Four Corners safe was the pre-war buildings purposefully collapsed to form the suburb’s defensive walls. Strolling atop one of them, we could see into The Mill for a good distance as Four Corners sat on a hill. From our vantage point, we could also see the glow of The Mill’s blast crater, its mincing glow reflecting upon the clouds. This was only the second crater we had seen but it wouldn’t be a big stretch of logic to deduce that every major population center and regional governmental center was hit.

It only made sense, from what they had taught us about the Great War. The short of it was that the zebras fired because they were afraid of suffering under Equestria if they lost. The bombs were not just to cripple military might but any ability for Equestria to recover quickly. Of course, given both sides had megaspells, it was pretty certain whatever remained of the zebra homelands were just as ruined and rife with madness, mutually assured destruction come true.

Once we had our fill of wandering about, and after picking through some vendors for more parts, we found ourselves at The Dip-pogriff Diner, a little eatery that looked like it had survived the War. The three of us were soon relaxing in a corner booth, enjoying the ability to stretch out. Our food had been ordered and now it was just a course of waiting. I had also gotten our room number and key so we could take our time tonight.

Around us rose the low rumbling of conversation from fellow diners and as we sank into our seats we began picking up the odd conversation or two.

“So I finally went out east. It’s real haunting.” A stallion at a nearby table said to another. “When you’re in the heartland you can see the specter of Canterlot sittin’ on the mountain from almost everywhere. Apparently, the place didn’t get directly hit with balefire but by somethin’ else. Melts your flesh right off ya right quick.”

“By the Sisters, I knew the zebras hated Equestria but that’s extreme even for them.” The stallion's companion replied. I felt equally aghast as he probably did but for a different reason. I noticed Sil’s ears were pinned back and though I knew the ponies in the other booth couldn’t see her hearing such things must sting at least a little.

I leaned against Sil and comforted her and she did the same to me in return. I think she knew it wasn’t her they were talking about nor her parents. Her ancestors were allies to Equestria and refugees, not zebras who wanted to destroy it.

My thoughts turned to Canterlot though. Most of us out here had never gone inland past the branch of the Unicorn Range that cut us off from the heartland. The same range also cut off any view of Canterlot and in the reverse the Cascadia Range. Regardless, even if neither of them were there, Canterlot itself would’ve been too far over the horizon. Most of us had assumed the capital had been obliterated from the face of the world, like everything out here.

Well, I had. My copy of the Wasteland Survival Guide’s section on Canterlot was ruined, which was fitting considering all I had gotten out of the legible parts described the city as burnt ruins. An abandoned flesh-melting city was certainly different from what I read. I had also, with the erroneous information, assumed that being the seat of Equestria’s power, Canterlot was burned down due to the zebra’s rabid hatred in the end for Twilight and the Ministry mares.

To instead hear that it was turned into a horrific ruin effectively forbidden to all was far worse. We were unable to even bury what remained of those there, unable to recover our history while it sat there taunting us, preserved.

Not that there was anypony left we could be angry at. The ones who did it were long dead and even if they lived past the Great War I doubted our troops in their lands would have stopped short of killing every zebra in their path as retribution. I doubted undeath for those who came back as ghouls would have stopped them honestly. The thought made me shudder, saddened for the souls lost in the endless torment of a war long lost by all.

Riptide had at some point caught on that my focus was on the Canterlot conversation, though said the conversation had moved on to more mundane and less world-shattering subjects at this point.

“There's a chance at some point somepony can find a way to clean it up or counter the effects,” Riptide stated. “I mean, we have ways to clean up radiation so why not whatever that stuff is? It’s just a matter of resources.”

I gave a nod. Plundering Canterlot’s vast resources preserved since the Great War had merit but it wasn’t my place to attempt. Canterlot was weeks away from here and I doubted I would ever see the Heartland.

I wasn’t even certain what would happen to us once we got to Dockland so it would be best to not get ahead of myself. I had figured there was a good chance I would be staying the winter with Riptide and her extended family while running odd jobs throughout the former city. It was that thought that made me more than aware of my current lack of knowledge concerning Dockland. The uncertainty was only the start of the avalanche of thoughts racing through my head.

What was I doing with my life? I had interrupted what training I had been getting to be a bodyguard, fell in love with my ward, and was now halfway to a city I knew nothing of. Then there was the cold desire to avenge Riptide’s family, to protect her, and to slaughter those who dared butcher her family. That coldness I didn’t like, almost afraid of the detached, emotionless desire.

My thoughts were interrupted when our server returned with our meals balanced on a tray atop his back. He then deftly slid them off the tray and onto the table, a talent I had to admire seeing as none of our food decided to go on an adventure from the move.

“Here are your salads.” Our server said, giving a bow before setting out a choice of dressings from pouches in his apron.

“Thank you,” I replied, the other two giving similar responses as we began idly picking away at salad.

The salad was a blend of preserved and fresh ingredients. While the taste was noticeably different from what I was used to I could understand the cost-saving measure; not everything was available fresh this side of the Seamane, something about balefire fallout had made it incredibly hard to farm in the region. I didn’t mind though, I wasn’t used to eating fresh food all the time anyway.

The bits of cooked fish were what caught me off guard and given the spike in my radiation levels I figured that was the reason there was so little of it. I hoped it didn’t come from a species that could communicate, that was my one hard rule on consuming meat. Sil was having the same salad I was having, though she seemed to have fewer reservations.

Riptide on the other hoof had been keen to try the fish and got an entire baked trout, which came a few minutes after, alongside her salad. I was happy to pay the extra price, especially once we got to see how cute she looked upon tasting the fish, her eyes lighting up as she held it in her maw.

Unexpectedly, she began tearing into the fish with a voracious appetite that scared both Sil and myself. We exchanged looks and crossed our hind legs. Maybe the aquatic nature of Riptide mutation made her a more predatory type of pony. That or she just really wanted fish. However, I swore I also saw fangs while she ate, which made me question allowing her to do certain things to me the night prior.

I turned my focus away from Riptide’s feeding frenzy, slightly regretting picking the corner booth as I was sandwiched between the other two. Instead, I tried to turn my attention to the future, to what would happen once we hit Dockland. I knew what was going to happen with Riptide but Sil I was uncertain.

“Hey, Sil?” I asked.

“Mmm?” Sil responded after a moment.

I was glad she had enough dignity not to talk with her mouth full. “Was wondering what your plans were once we got to Dockland. You didn’t come out with us just to chase my flank, obviously.”

Sil swallowed before replying. “Well, Dad wouldn’t have let me come if it was just to go after your rear.” She tapped her fork on the plate for a moment. “So you know Dad raised me alone, along with your parents of course. Anyways, this wasn’t because, you know, my mom died. In a reversal of roles, Dad was sent off to raise me after I was born while my mom continued with her work in the tribe.”

I nodded, following along, a few bits about her heritage resurfacing in my memory. “Well, a while ago we had lost track of them.” Sil went on, looking down into her salad. “A few months later we finally got a lead on a trader that regularly crosses paths with them. It’s still been over half a year since then. Dad hasn’t had time to come out here and find the pony who talked to the tribe and, well, now I have a chance to.”

“So you are going to try to find this trader.” I continued for her. “And if not, find any more recent information and figure out what you can?”

“Kinda, I’m going to go a step further.” Sil sighed. “I mean, I was effectively raised as an earth pony who just happened to have stripes. I kinda want to know what it means to be a zebra of my tribe. I mean, I know, my tribe is technically yours now given I was raised in Saint Clover and now your mare but...” She trailed off.

“But, you want to at least talk and meet your mom or any other relatives if possible.” I finished for her, nodding. “I can understand that. I mean, I never really got to know anyone outside my parents. Tell you what, I’ll happily lend a hoof to figure stuff out while we’re staying in Dockland. I’ll even take a trip out east with you if we get a solid lead and can figure out a way to get there relatively safely.”

Sil hugged me. “Thanks, I knew you’d help but it means a lot to me to hear it.”

“No problem. I wouldn’t let you do this on your own, you’re family.” I replied as I gave her cheek a nuzzle. Riptide chose that moment to let out a belch, ruining the moment and turning the soft smile on my face into a deadpan look in her direction. “So, did you enjoy your fish?”

Riptide nearly choked and blushed before she gave her answer. “Yes, sorry, got a bit carried away. It brings back memories from when I was a filly.”

“That’s good to hear, though next time slow down,” I said with a strained smile. “You were going at it so fast your teeth looked like fangs.”

Riptide covered her mouth with her hooves semi-playfully, as if to check for said fangs. I shook my head and sighed again. Oh by the stars what had I gotten myself into with these two?

Suddenly I heard a blast and loud roaring from outside. I felt myself pop open the holster strap, not even feeling my horn light up as I looked out the window to my left. We were well away from the town wall but instincts died hard.

“Don’t worry you three, the guard has it under control.” Our waiter explained seeing our eyes drawn to the window. “Likely just some vipers wandered too close to the wall again”

We all looked at him with obvious confusion.

“It’s what we call the strange creatures that climb out of the dark places at night.” He went on to explain. “They look like pony-sized snakes but don’t let that fool you, they come from a hydra. It usually just keeps to itself upriver for the most part but Steel Rangers recently came through and made things worse. You know how they are.” He stopped to shrug. “If there is one upside to this it’s that the vipers are still a hydra, and thus can be harvested for making Hydra. The medicine that is. Pretty nice bit of income for the town over the scavenging.”

I gave him a nod as I closed the clasp back on my pistol holster, letting out a held breath as all three of us settled back down. We’re safe. I wasn’t this town’s guardian and they have their own guard. I could just let things take care of themselves. The town was used to what the Mill had to throw at it most days. I leaned back against the booth as I turned to look outside, taking deep breaths to calm myself further.

I saw the all too familiar grey clouds resting above, a blotch of green reflected onto them to the west. That was likely where the Mill’s blast crater was. I had heard that In all these years the necromantic radiation never decreased around the initial blast sites, the ground never recovering. The land around Saint Clover seemed to recover but then again it hadn’t been directly hit.

Of course, I doubted ponies carefully monitored radiation levels around the blast sites. Nature in general was probably recovering, mostly in the few gaps where the bombs had been scarce. It still felt as if some horrific spell was still raging on in the heart of those craters as if the balefire itself was an eternal curse upon our land blighting it for good.

Not that it did me any good thinking about it. The resources to wipe away the residual effects of a megaspell required a megaspell in and of itself in all likelihood. This was just how the world was going to be for now. All I could do was take care of those around me to the best ability and not lose my head in thoughts of fixing it all. I wasn’t like the Element Bearers of yore, or the Pillars, or the Sisters. I was just a mare with a big heart.

I turned back to the table to see that Riptide had finished her salad at some point and took to staring out the window as well.

I was half-lost in admiring her looks as I checked how her wounds had healed. The cuts on her had healed into scars, ones I could only see because I knew where they were. Her coat was also thin in a few places, then again so were most ponies around. Overall she was looking healthy. No extra hooves, fins, or other things that she didn’t originally have.

“Room for dessert?” Our server asked as they came around again. I gave a nod and ordered something for us, leaving Riptide in her own little world.

It didn’t take him long to return with a tray of our desserts. I almost drooled at the ice cream sitting on what looked to be brownies of some form.

Sil rushed ahead of us to enjoy dessert and I couldn’t help but admire her deft hoofwork, holding a spoon with her hoof. It made me consider working on my hoofwork too. Riptide finally turned her attention from outside to the dessert tray and I offered her a spoon in my magic.

“It’s supposed to be good,” I said with a tilt of my head. “Don’t know if it’s all fresh or pre-war but it smells good so let’s just enjoy it.”

Riptide nodded and we dug in. While it wasn’t the freshest I’ve had, it was still good and didn’t immediately make my Pipbuck Zero scream bloody murder. The rich chocolate did its bit to help lift our moods.

It was easy to see that we were all a bit worn out from the ride today, even with the endorphin rush from the chocolate bringing on a more mellowed-out atmosphere to our group. I made the executive decision for all three of us to retire for the night on this positive note.

I paid our bill and we left having deposited a decent-sized tip for the server. I knew back home tipping was dead but I had no idea how things worked out here. Plus I was certain the town needed every cap it could get given its dealings with the hydra and its mutated progeny.

Our accommodations weren’t far thankfully and upon checking in, we enjoyed the half-decent mattress, slightly scratchy blanket, and the pleasant surprise of functional central heating for the building. As we settled down, I rummaged through my saddlebags and finally handed out the spare radiation counters for Sil and Riptide which they were both surprised and grateful for.

We spent the rest of the evening winding down. Riptide kept to herself with her humming, Sil fiddled with my removed Pipbuck Zero and I read the magic book on shield magics. I needed to get better at them. I barely even remembered us sleepily converging onto the bed one at a time to catch some rest.

-=O=-

The building shook which startled me awake. I felt Sil shift to my right as she slid out of bed silently. Riptide on the other hoof was still deep asleep, laying half on me and in such a way that I could smell the fish on her breath. I had no idea how she was still asleep. Then I heard a roar of an inequine nature, part roar part hiss, and entirely horrifying was the only way to describe it. It was then that the screaming started.

“Of course, the one night we’re here is when the fucking hydra waddles up and decides to attack Four Corners,” I muttered as I gently shifted Riptide off of myself.

Riptide muttered in her sleep. “I want more eggs, hun.” I just looked at her for a moment contemplating her words. What? I guess she has food on her mind. It was nice to hear that she seemed to be having a good dream given what she had been through.

With a shake of my head, I moved to join Sil at the window. The light outside made my heart stop for a moment, a mix of green and orange light bathing both of us upon opening the curtains. The hydra’s silhouette was visible through the smoke and fire, looming just outside the town. It had growths on its back that glowed a sickly green, my Pipbuck Zero clicking rhythmically with each pulse of light.

The chaotic, orange glow of fires threw flickering shadows across the town, shadows of fighting and things moving across town, wiggling. No, slithering.

“Vipers?” Sil whispered.

“That would be my guess,” I replied in a hushed voice.

“That roar? Hiss? Whatever it was, it sounds massive which means the hydra must be right outside of town.” Sil stated.

“Agreed. Let’s get ready to repel invaders.” I said as I backed away from the window.

As we donned our barding, I used my magic to shake Riptide awake. I wasn’t going to have somepony sleep through something like this; it was just as much a threat to her, either awake or asleep, so she was better off being able to fight back. It didn’t take too much work to wake her up thankfully, though she was a bit loopy being roused in the midst of dreaming.

“What’s going on, Moony?” Riptide asked with a yawn, stretching her forelegs before blinking at me and then at the window. “Is it morning already?”

“That light is from the fires outside--” I started but was rudely cut off by the sound of thunder, dust, and drywall falling from the ceiling as we all cowered from the thunderous report. “The fuck was that?!”

“Okay, time to get dressed!” Riptide said, maybe even shouted; we were all half deaf, our ears ringing as I finished donning my armor and helped Riptide into hers.

“Let’s-” I was cut off again by another volley of booms. We leaned against a wall, huddled together hoping the building wouldn’t collapse even as dust fell around us. I heard something fall in the hallway, heavy enough to feel it through the floor.

“Okay, first things first.” I began again, pulling out earplugs and stuffing them in everyone's ears. “Now we can go. Hopefully, these cut out most of whatever is fucking exploding. I just hope whatever is going on doesn’t blow out the enchantment.”

“Do we need to shout?” Riptide shouted, then covered her muzzle when she realized she in fact did not need to. “Okay, these are really nice.”

“Yes they are, and they really help when you find a gun without the usual sound suppression talisman,” Sil explained, shaking dust off herself. “You know, pipe weapons, most things manufactured Post-War, even some obnoxiously big and loud Pre-War guns. Lovely little things.”

I nodded in agreement with Sil’s explanation. “Alright, let’s get moving,” I said, moving to the door now that we had a moment of respite. “If the city is under attack I want to be somewhere with more guns between us and hostiles. If anything we need to regroup with the rest and get any other civvies-”

I opened the door and froze. The horrific serpent-like creature on the other side blinked before greeting me with a hiss, lunging straight at me. I slammed the door shut as I felt the muscles on my face quickly contort into a mask of terror.

“Guns! Get the guns, all of them, now!” I commanded pulling both of mine out as the door split apart, lasting but a few seconds against the serpent before it barreled into the room. The serpent's eyes glowed green, drooling venom as some kind of miasma flowed from its open maw. I saw two vestigial limbs as it slithered its lower half towards us.

“FIRE!” I practically screamed as I pulled the triggers of both my pistol and rifle at the same time, doing so until both clicked empty.

I felt the heat from the muzzle of Riptide’s thirty-eight revolver to my left as we unloaded on the scaled beast. The slugs from Sil’s shotgun proved more effective, the plastic casings hitting me from the right every time she fired, singing a bit of fur as their heated backends made contact with me.

The viper shrugged off the initial volley of fire, moving rapidly to get to us and getting almost halfway before it lost an eye to one of Sil’s slugs. It reared up and hissed in pain as the hail of gunfire removed scales and carved holes into its flesh.

Spent casings littered the ground around us. I had gone through my rifle’s ammo strips and pistol magazines and had to resort to manually feeding each round into my weapons in a sort of magical belt feed. I even added arcane blasts of whatever element I could to see what hurt it the most.

The viper finally fell over, our combined barrage thankfully overcoming its regenerative abilities. I dropped my guns, pulled out my knives and started to carve the damn thing up, supplementing the grim task with my magic to flay the flesh from its skull. I wanted to make certain the thing couldn’t come back.

“Okay, shotgun slugs are the best for these bastards.” I coughed, grisly trophy gathering done. “Need to get myself one sooner rather than later.”

We were drenched in sweat and coughing. I didn’t even see the little toxin alert on my Pipbuck Zero until we were certain it was dead. The thing must have breathed some kind of poison and by the Sisters, I didn’t want to know what their venom did.

Packing away its skull as a trophy as well as insurance so the fucker wouldn’t come back to life behind us, we fled our room through the splintered remains of the door. We had all of our belongings in our saddlebags and the rest were stored in the stagecoach which helped our quick exit.

The moment we stepped into the hallway there was an overwhelming taste of copper in my mouth, making me hack up blood. I spared a glance at Riptide who had blood coming out of her nose. Sil had the brighter idea of putting a cloth over her face though I doubted that worked considering her eyes were watering and turning red. I really missed my face mask from the guard at this point.

“Miasma, we need to get out of here now.” I gasped before breaking into a coughing fit. I pointed to the exit for the external stairwell; the internal one could be a potential gas trap given this miasma seemed to be heavier than air.

We stumbled to the door, coughing and feeling both our lungs and eyes burn only to find it wasn’t opening. I promptly wheeled around and gave it a solid buck, taking it and its frame off the wall. Faster to pick a lock by removing the door at times like this. Riptide pushed past me as I spun around and began firing. I swore and moved out with Sil beside me.

Throughout the town, I could see pockets of miasma where the group of vipers were at their thickest. Even now, right below us, there was one slithering up the light pole to get to us. Without time to reload my magazines, now in my saddlebags together with all those spent shell casings, I was forced to assault the viper purely with ice magic and bad language.

Riptide aimed her revolver where I had frozen flesh with metal, shattering large chunks of the viper. Sil couldn’t depress her battlesaddle to aim down and instead moved clear of the door to get clean air. That removed our best weapon for putting down the damn monsters. Fortunately, our strategy was doing well, the viper below us hissing in pain as it died frozen to the pole, unable to regenerate around the missing chunks of frozen flesh.

I hope the rest of this thing’s brood are too busy elsewhere in town to come to help it.

Suddenly everything shook. Another loud roar-- no, it wasn’t one roar. It was twelve all together, all with different pitches and tones but of the same type. The stairwell we were on began to pull away from the wall from the reverberations. I struggled to form a shield around all of us but it was too much, I couldn’t manage it.

Instead, my shield spell wrapped around Sil and Riptide as the metal below screeched, crumpling under its own weight. There wasn’t anything more to do so I closed my eyes and braced myself. Immediately the jolt of impact rolled through me and something cold slid through my flesh.

Shouting and screaming greeted me when I could once more sense things. My whole body was shaking violently and it took a moment to realize it wasn’t from the terror or the cold. I knew that weakness: blood loss. I was cold from a lack of blood to keep me warm.

“Get her to the clinic, she’s lost a lot of blood!” Somepony shouted, I think it was Sil. Her voice was hard to miss. I felt myself dumped onto a cart and could feel every bump as I was wheeled away.

Blood, yes blood. I fell. I felt something puncture me, so internal injuries, likely bruised organs, lots of lacerations, concussion, and poisoning. Hopefully, I won’t go septic before someone can get to me. Maybe, just maybe whatever impaled me missed anything important.

Hopefully, Riptide was okay. I heard Sil so she’s up at least, I'm not doing a great job of being there for my friends, am I? Still, I did what I could, I shouldn’t be hard on myself for hitting my limit. The rest was in the hooves of others. As much as I wish I could just sit up and stitch myself together, that isn’t going to happen right now. Please be safe Winter and Ocean, fuck where were they?

I felt my sensations fade away. I felt the bounce of the cart fade away, the sounds end, and the feeling from my body stopped.

hope this isn’t how dying feels like. This is a bit too comfortable.

Chapter 10 - Toxins

“The body has many ways to fight toxins by itself but sometimes it needs help.”
-Wasteland Medic’s Guide

Dreams hadn’t kept me company. I had grown accustomed to not remembering dreams, having just a disjointed memory of consciousness from when I fell asleep and to when I woke up. This time it felt different as I came back from that void of consciousness. As my awareness came to me the totality of my being blossomed into pain. The pain left me gasping and crying out as it filled the void of my senses.

Time rolled on by and the pain dulled to become background noise, tinnitus for the whole body and all its senses. When I finally opened my eyes, I was met with nothingness. A moment of fear gripped me and left me worried I had gone blind. However I felt no heat of a light source on my body, instead I felt the rails of a cot on either side of me holding me suspended with a scratchy sheet.

Well, I think I can feel everything, and I don’t think I’m blind. I don’t feel any heat on me but then again I don’t think there's a lamp pointed at me. I reasoned.

Gently filling my horn with magic, I attempted to illuminate my surroundings. As the world turned a faded green my head started to hurt. With a gasp for air and squeezing my eyes shut the spell imploded, dropping me back into darkness. The strain of casting alone had felt like someone had driven a railroad spike into my brain through the base of my horn.

Fuck me that hurt. Okay, so, good news, I’m not blind. Bad news, that fucking hurt like somepony kicked my horn’s root. I think I need to take a moment to catch my breath and sort out my thoughts. Just think things through. Plan out what I need to do. It is the best thing to keep my mind anchored and from wandering from nasty what-ifs.

Suddenly a roar shook the room. My eyes watered as I recoiled at the painfully loud noise. Beyond that, the roar itself frightened me. In my weakened state I felt so vulnerable and weak like I was a foal again, like when the plague had its claws in me. Then came a burning sensation and an acrid smell in my sinuses that I knew all too well. I held my head off the edge of the cot and just let my body do the rest.

Okay, I’m extraordinarily weak and possibly still poisoned, or whatever the term for having venom in you is. Fuck brain is too exhausted to remember terms, whatever, focus. Okay, so I need to do something to buttress my system so I can help my body recover faster. There's a battle still going on outside and I need to find some way to defend myself because right now I can’t even buck somepony. Oh right, the term is envenomed I believe? Whatever, priorities.

Without resisting the instincts of my body, I allowed my system to sort itself out before curling back up on the cot and putting it out of my mind. Focus had to be maintained on getting out of this situation if I wanted to not slide into the pits of despair and panic attacks.

Okay, what spells can I do? I can produce light, but not useful in this situation. Telekinesis, yeah that’s not helpful. I can’t actually see the toxins and have no idea what they look like to remove them, plus I’d have to bloodlet effectively to do that. Could be useful for getting medicine though.

My thoughts moved on to other magical avenues of self-medicating. Magic blasts? Nope, not unless I needed to blow off my own limbs, cauterize something, or start bloodletting. Wall of Energy? No. Regeneration? That will help the weakness to a degree, but, that’s not hitting the base issue, it would be like a bandage for a severed leg. Right, Enhancement, buff my vitality since that seems to be suffering. I need some Buck, chemically do what I could with magic, far less strain and likelihood of immense pain.

I paused and retraced my lines of logic before moving to look for my bags. I doubted I had been separated from them. If I had, well, then things would get complicated real quick. I’d be left with just trying to do some spells to deal with being weak as hell.

Let’s run back through what happened. My vitality is trash. Did I get bitten? No, no I never did so anti-venom wouldn’t help at all. It was that miasma crap those Vipers spewed out along with fucking taking a collapsing staircase to the fucking barrel. Okay, so definitely some Buck to help my vitality.

My path was clear now of what I needed to do. I braced myself by shutting my eyes as I built my magic into my horn. I could see the light through my eyelids. I put my left foreleg over my eyes to block the light from my horn. I still felt the sting of strain from lighting my horn.

“Okay, magic is still a go, let’s see if I have my bags,” I muttered.

I opened my eyes and looked down. Under the cot, I spotted my barding lying in a neat pile. I wasn’t surprised given I had been impaled in some manner some time ago. I decided to leave exploring my own body for where that was for later and focused on finding my bags. It didn’t take too long, though it made me groan seeing I should have leaned over the other side of the cot instead to take care of business. Guess fortune favored me since I didn’t hit my own stuff.

I rolled to the other side of the cot and carefully fished through my saddlebags, my hoof still fumbling over a few bottles. I pulled them all out one at a time by hoof. It was slow going but I could put back what I didn’t need later. Of course, I’d also look like a drug fiend in the meantime, covered in various chems but looks didn’t matter when you wanted to stay alive. At least that’s what I tried to tell myself when the chips are down.

Finishing grabbing what I could from my bags I rolled onto my back again and let myself rest as the light faded. When my strength came back I’d relight my horn and sort through what I had managed to grab from my bags. For the moment I needed to breathe and recover some strength. As darkness returned to the room, I let my hooves wander to examine my body. In return, I found that while I still had most of my barding on, my stomach had been uncovered as had my barrel. My front hadn’t been hurt but my underside seems to have taken the brunt of the damage. The bandages covered whatever method of treatment had been applied, leaving me in the dark as to what type of injury had occurred.

I could tell from the tenderness where the injury was and it certainly wasn’t in a place that brought me joy. The fact I was alive eliminated some of the more nasty injuries I could have gotten, ones that would have left me going septic on a battlefield. Inspecting my foreleg I found my holster and Pipbuck Zero still upon me. With a bit of coaxing, I got the machine to turn on again, though I was uncertain how or why it was off. Unfortunately, the strange cartoonish version of myself in my vision that greeted me was telling me I was in a lot of trouble.

“I think what you are telling me, my little digital friend, is that I’m fucked in all kinds of new and exciting ways.” I sighed before laying my foreleg on my chest. I let my eyes close and just breathed.

The same disjointed perception of time asserted itself upon me. Rationally, I assumed I had dozed off at some point, which wasn’t a bad thing to do given how hurt my Pipbuck said I was. Thankfully the nap had left me feeling a bit better. I used the light on the Pipbuck instead of straining myself to produce magic, which also proved using magic was what was giving me those lovely painful spikes in my brain and not my eyes hating the light.

Even being blessed with a lack of hyperlight sensitivity, I was still limited with how well I could see given the Pipbuck screen wasn’t aligned right for use as a flashlight to sort things that lay on your lap. The upside was that I wasn’t in a rush.

Once I had finished sorting the bottles I took a double dose of Buck, which was safe to do if you weren’t doing it too many times a day. So long as you don't get addicted of course but doing it once shouldn’t cause a dependency. This was likely not the wisest of choices but at the same time, I was deeply fucked up on the physiological side of things and not so much on the psychological side.

The upside of a double dose would be I hopefully would stop feeling like death warmed over sooner rather than later. Once that happened I could start actually working on putting myself back together.

Given it would be a while before I needed another dose of Buck the medicine was returned to my bag, a bit easier this time as I didn’t need to cast light from my horn to do it. Unfortunately, things in my bags were nowhere near as organized as they had been but that was fine. It was something to occupy myself with when I was more able-bodied.

The pain from my senses dulled and I began to feel more normal though still weak. The oddity of the situation sank in. Here I was somewhere dark, alone, with no medical equipment. Moving my foreleg to shine the light of my Pipbuck around I could see wherever I was hadn’t a lot of space, about enough to move around me with a canvas curtain at the feet of the cot. My gut told me I was in an old utility closet. Given my hypersensitivity at first and my general poor health it made sense to isolate me and keep things quiet. What was strange though was the empty IV bag stand. No bag, no tube, though checking my other foreleg I saw a bandage on my foreleg. So I had been given fluids at least, which explained the odd taste in my mouth. Weird how I could taste an IV bag’s contents like that...

Triage must have categorized me as being in the worst case within the survivable category. They did what they could for me and then put me somewhere out of the way where I could recover. Still better than waking up in a makeshift morgue. Still, though this is probably a new record for the number of injuries I’ve had upon admission.

Giving a moment to regard how I felt and looked, I thought about how much worse my condition must have been upon entry. Poisoned, impaled, knocked out, heavy blood loss? Yeah, those would be low chances. Though, that gives me a good idea of how bad things were whenever it was that I got hurt. High cost, low chance, do what they could to help me and hope I recovered. Which meant a lot of other ponies were hurt and needed to get back on their hooves quickly. I was just a guest in town, after all, not the town guard, for once.

I stretched out and shut the light off. I didn’t have any idea how long I had been incapacitated. I hadn’t checked what time it was on my pipbuck when shit hit the fan but upon realizing I had my Pipbuck still. I tried to not be too hard on myself for not noticing earlier. I was after all, fresh from having myself skewered and smoked.

I finally felt the Buck finish kicking in. I closed my eyes and rolled off the cot. Or rather I got halfway off the cot before it tipped over, depositing me unceremoniously on the hard floor.

“Ow…” I muttered. The clatter hadn’t been quiet and yet I hadn’t heard anyone come cantering to check on me.

Another muffled roar, a series of muffled cracks of thunder, and more shaking of the world. My legs refused to work as I continued to lay on the cold, hard concrete floor.

It was fear that was keeping me here. I can’t deny it. Just two of those vipers were enough to put me down. Down but not in the grave. I need to grab my gear and show the staff here I’m still alive and bucking. That they can do more for me than just wait for me to recover.

I smirked and croaked. “I’m not dead yet.” to myself before pushing myself to my feet.

Before leaving, I politely righted the cot just in case someone else needed it. With a moment to double-check check my saddlebags were secure before I put them on, I was as ready as I could ever be to show whoever treated me that I was alive.

“Okay, let's try to find someone to finish fixing my body. Or at least give me a once over.” My voice sounded rough even now, approaching that of a ghoul’s.

My resolve softened when there came a pause with the realization that I had no idea which way to head to find help. So then came the tried and true method of wandering until someone found me as I pushed my muzzle through the scratchy, heavy curtain that blocked the doorway.

With my escape from the utility closet, I found that I was in some unused part of a building. The lights here were all dim but not such that you couldn’t see, and what I saw was a lot of medical supplies. Well, used medical supplies. I also saw a few other ponies laid out along the hall, still breathing. Given the lack of bandaged midsections, I figured no impalements.

One hoof after another I approached the door. Leaving behind those who I imagined were individuals that required too much work. Or possibly needed more time to heal than triage had beds to spare.

Opening another door, I was greeted with an empty hallway. I was a bit surprised by this. A grunt slipped from my muzzle as I pushed on, taking a moment to softly shut the door behind me. I may have been hurt but that was no reason to be impolite to others who were still healing. After a bit more wandering I took a minute of rest, my shoulder meeting the wall. Being upright was likely a marvel given my condition. Once energy had returned to my limbs I pressed on, trying my best to ignore the small stumbles in my step as I searched for help. A few minutes later I heard voices and looked in that direction to see a better illuminated doorway.

Salvation.

The room was alive with activity and my assumption had been on the money, the triage was overflowing with casualties. If I was in better condition I’d throw myself into helping. Right now though, I felt a bit guilty for wanting help. At the same time, if I could get help I could try to help protect the city now that I was better armed with knowledge.

I heard a noise to my right. Before I could see the source I felt a nuzzle against my cheek as I was pulled away from the wall.

“Oh thank the Stars you’re alright,” Sil said as she hugged me. I was thankful for her gentle embrace.

“Alright is pushing it. Upright is a more apt descriptor.” I replied as I felt a light smile cross my muzzle.

To further my point about being upright I leaned on Sil to support my weight, which she was all too happy to help with.

“Well, I’ll take that over what I was afraid of. I’d get Riptide but she's busy helping with triage. I had been helping for a while, but...” Sil slumped against me and I followed her lead. I didn’t want to fall over again.

“It’s fine. You did what you could and now you’re here for me. Riptide can visit in a bit.” I frowned. “Any idea what they did for me? I half want to get somepony to help me, but.” I looked at the mess of work that was cut out for the medically inclined ponies. “Maybe I should just use a healing potion. I mean we have a few, why the buck not?”

Sil sighed and helped me to my hooves again. She guided me to what passed for a nurse’s station. “I’m not certain what they did for you but your shield spell saved our lives. Without that, I think all of us would have gotten skewered and concussed.” She explained. “You’ve also been out for the best part of a day.”

I grumbled when I heard that. All that time resting and I was still feeling like crap.

“Well, time to lay down and check myself over.” I sighed. Sil for her part guided me to a break room while I nosed back at her. “Can you get me some water?”

“Sure. Just don’t go anywhere.” Sil replied.

That was not a hard request to follow as all my body wanted to do was sink into the softness of the sofa that she had guided me to. Once on the sofa, my attention turned to giving myself a lookover in the proper light. A frown crept over my muzzle as I found wrappings around my lower body. That was a bad sign; a fair number of important internal organs were down there. At the same time, the coloration was a good sign as there were only a few splotches of red on the off-white cloth.

Oh goody, what internal organ did I fucking ruin? Then again, I’m not septic so maybe they patched me up before that could happen. Just did enough to heal me so my body could do the rest which, given the current workload around here, was the right call.

I gently rubbed a hoof down my stomach and muffled my cry of pain. That would be… well... Let’s just hope it was magically healed otherwise that’s a few things off the table. Then again, not like it really was ‘on’ in the first place. Oh well, it was always more likely that Silver was going to carry on the family line. Whatever, there’s nothing I can do about it right now. So what use is it fretting over the possibilities?

Even with my own words consoling myself I felt some tears in my eyes. I was uncertain whether it came from the physical pain or the emotional pain. Whatever it was, I let the tears roll freely. It was fine. I just needed to experience the emotion and let the feeling flow through me.

“What’s wrong?” Sil asked, setting down a bottle of water on the table.

“Just… felt where the wound was, and it still hurts. Then I went through the list of what was in that area.” I answered.

Sil was quiet for a moment then she hugged me. She must have been told what the damage likely was. After a few minutes, I downed the water and pulled out a healing potion.

“I did ask someone to come back here and check on you. But, they’re… well you saw. You’re on the list to get checked on when they have time.” Sil sighed. “Probably best to not drink that yet. Just in case.” She rolled her forehoof. “You know, it makes you grow a bunch of tissue wrong.”

I put the bottle away. “Yeah, you’re not wrong. Can you stay here with me?” Sil responded by climbing up on the sofa with me. I made space for her behind me so she didn’t lean on my injuries. She seemed about as tired as I was, even if she didn’t look nearly as hurt.

-=O=-

I woke up in another bed. Good money would be on me passing out again. Then came the sounds of stomps and roars. They were louder this time, closer, followed by the answering thunder. That had to be cannons. I tried to get up and immediately found that I couldn’t. While I had been strong enough to walk or endure the pain with Buck in my system I now had half a Riptide on me, pinning me by my barrel.

I didn’t know how the mare could be asleep on a veritable battlefield. Of course, I didn’t know how injured she was. Plus she had apparently been working with those doing triage. With no clocks around I was without a sense of how long it had been since I was last awake.

Hey, your Pipbuck zero has a clock, dumbass.

I groaned before looking at my left foreleg to catch the time. It was then that I noticed something interesting. It had been almost a day and a half since we arrived in town. No, it was now two days, considering it was evening not morning. I really should set the clock to twenty-four hour time. Well, that would explain it. I looked around, as my body told me it was all still there, a positive start to a new day. Not so positive was the ache that coursed through me but the nausea seemed to be gone for the moment. I moved my left foreleg around trying to get a feel for how much of my strength had returned, wincing as I did so.

Upside, I do not instantly want to curl up and die, or reflexively empty my stomach so that’s a marked improvement. Downside, I’m in no condition to fight nor am I really good for doing much of anything right now. The major downside is, shit’s still being belt-fed to the fan outside and I am nowhere near any condition to lend a hoof with it. I hope Ruby and her caravan are fine, not to mention Winter and Ocean. Not that I would want to run out of town while this shit’s happening.

I turned my head to my left and saw an IV drip going into my left foreleg. I also saw one going into Riptide’s right foreleg. A third bag was on the IV stand and I initially thought it contained blood. Then I realized what it was seeing as it almost stirred within itself. How it wasn’t a deep red but a ruddy grey.

It was Hydra, the drug. If I hadn’t known of the regenerative properties of Hydra I would have just pulled the needle out and closed the IV feed right then and there but I needed to be on my hooves as soon as possible, even if it meant this.

I just hope there isn’t too much taint. I don’t want to grow an extra leg. Regenerating a leg is fine but growing a bonus one isn’t.

Maybe it was the slow transfusion. Maybe it was just the nature of Hydra. Maybe it was how much damage there was unseen to my eyes but it was taking a long while for me to feel better as I laid there with naught but time to pass me by.

Oh, wait. The Pipbuck Zero has a medical suite. I can just check to see how fucked up my body is.

I chastised myself for not thinking of it sooner. With my left forehoof in front of my face I manipulated the buttons in my magic. The small read-out transferred to my E.F.S. after a few moments. I had a concussion, lacerations, bruised ribs, and more than a few torn tendons in my legs. I was still missing a good tenth of my blood and had severe toxin exposure of an unknown type.

Well, how the fuck did I walk down that hall then? Or did I fuck up my legs doing that? The toxins must have been from the miasma of the Vipers.

I saw the warning for taint, it had no identifying name for it. But it was helpfully labeled internally as “unknown arcano hazardous toxin”, then it was re-labeled to something else a minute later, a process that repeated several times. I shouldn’t be surprised by that though. This thing was cobbled together and programmed by us wastelanders after all. I let out a sigh as I just let things do their job.

I can say the feeling of taint is not fun. It’s like something worming its way through me. It was as if I could feel something under my skin move, writhe, and act of its own accord. It didn’t help that the nausea was coming back.

When I next woke up my left foreleg was asleep, having ended up laying on the metal arm of the bed we were on. I looked to my side to see the IV bags were gone. Checking my time read-out I saw a further six hours had passed. Then my stomach growled. That made sense; it had been around forty-six hours since I last put something in my stomach that wasn’t a chem. Probably didn’t help, taking Buck on an empty stomach. Also probably why I felt so nauseous after.

With some effort I managed to slide enough of myself out from under Riptide to sit upright and look around, drinking in my new surroundings. Isolation curtains, same canvas as before. The same ceiling I saw when in the nurses' station. I was likely in the same building but there wasn’t a rush going on around us so we possibly had been set up in a more isolated spot, not back in the store room with the other intensive care patients.

Okay, well the IV drip kept me alive but my mouth is dry as fuck. My stomach growled again and this time I felt pain from my midsection. And my stomach is starting to eat itself. I need to take care of that.

I looked around the little private room we had and spotted my bags. Unfortunately, they were too far to reach with my hooves, and with Riptide still pinning my lower half it was down to using magic if I wanted my bags. While I was stronger I didn’t want to dislodge her. Part of that was out of fear of shifting her onto my wound and screaming in pain. The other was I wanted her to get what rest the wasteland afforded us.

I used my magic to pull the bag closer. I also reached out to catch the bag so I could strain my magic-less in the hopes of pre-empting another headache. Suddenly I felt myself start to slip as my hoof caught under the bag and took its weight. Didn’t take long for my face to meet the floor. It was just another injury to be added to the extensive list of injuries. I just closed my eyes and embraced the ground for a minute. I was honestly surprised Riptide wasn’t woken up by this. Then again, when I looked back she was still mostly on the bed pinning my legs so she didn’t even get shifted.

“Miss?” Somepony asked.

I groaned in reply. In response magic wrapped around me and lifted me back into my bed. My head spun slightly as I felt my sense of balance reassert itself.

“How are you feeling?” The stallion asked as he set me down. Another pony had also entered the little room I had. I noted that the stallion didn’t have a horn so I wagered the other pony had been the one who had helped me up.

“Terrible.” I coughed. My sight filled with spiraling white and black dots, I decided to preempt them and lay flat on the bed. “I feel like someone crushed me into a wall and then proceeded to stuff my wounds full of salt and worms.”

Scribbling came from the stallion as he took notes, his face darting over the clipboard.

“Mind if we do a few tests now that you’re rested?” the stallion asked. “I’m Crash Cart by the way.”

I blinked. “Uh, I’m up for some medical tests though you might want to poke my Pipbuck Zero for data. Also Moonlight Grimoire.”

Crash Cart chuckled. “We know your name already, your friends told us who you were.”

“That makes sense, I guess,” I replied. “What kind of tests do you want to run?”

“Well, first we’ll pull what data we can get off your Pipbuck. Never seen one so compact. What stable are you from?” Crash Cart mused.

“Uh, none? I’m from Seamane. Might know it better as Saint Clover.” I answered as I offered up my left forehoof.

“Wait, then how do you have a Pipbuck?” Crash Cart asked as he waved a cart over. The other pony connected a terminal on top of it to my Pipbuck Zero.

“Well, uh. For one, it’s not an officially licensed Pipbuck.” I started explaining as I tried to look at the terminal’s monitor. “Two, we built it out of junk you can find in the wasteland. You can ask Silaha about that since she helped make it. I’ve only had it for a few days since I built it at Wayhill. Having heard about Stable ponies with their Pipbucks, I realized how darn useful they were and wanted one for quite a while.”

“Huh, well that makes sense. Impressive work for a wastelander.” Crash Cart said as his technician booted up the terminal and started interfacing with my Pipbuck.

Numbers, code, and various bits of information scrolled past my eyes. Bright lights flashed and made my stomach feel like it had turned inside out. My brain felt like someone punched it. “Nope, this sucks.” I squeezed my eyes shut and just focused on keeping my stomach bile down.

“Just hang in there while we look through the medical readouts.” Crash Cart said soothingly. “Honestly this is far better data than an oral interview and physical exam could have ever done. We’re still going to have to do a bit of a physical exam by the way but now we have a baseline to work with.” He paused for a moment. “Oh dear, that batch of hydra had more taint than expected. We’ll have to check for any obvious mutations.”

I wished I could have seen exactly what he was doing but, lovely, higher chance of mutation. Guess that ruddy color wasn’t supposed to be there.

“Miss, if you don’t mind, I’m going to start that physical,” Crash Cart’s technician explained. “Tender Care.”

“Okay, just, give me a warning before, you know. I’m still pretty sore.” I sighed, submitting to Tender Care’s tender care.

Minutes went by as I felt myself get poked and prodded. My ears were looked into, my sinuses and throat were checked, unmentionables delicately inspected, reflexes verified. A small whimper or two as they moved onto my wounds. Riptide was woken up so they could get her off of my hind legs to fully inspect me. That and I had her fetch me something more than the pre-war food I had in my bags.

“Okay, while we can’t find anything obvious at this time in terms of mutations there might be a delayed change.” Crash Cart sighed looking a bit annoyed. “Could also mean that you’ve gotten off scot-free. In either case, it would be a good idea to keep an eye on your vitals as it could take time for any mutation to mature. Your vitals are also a bit low but you should be okay once we get some food and bed rest in you.”

He paused to flip over a few pages on his clipboard. “We also checked over the two friends you came in with and they’re in good health for your information.”

“Oh, that’s great to hear. Guess Riptide resisted the miasma better than I did.” I giggled and looked away. “Sil was smarter and wore something to try to protect her lungs.”

“That, and Riptide is a bit taller and was further back in the room when the Viper broke in.” Crash Cart explained. “Plus you holding them aloft kept the two of them from hitting the ground as hard or getting cut up as badly as you did.”

I nodded. “What about Ruby’s caravan and my other friends, Winterwatch and Ocean Spray?” I inquired.

“They helped the guard, got some exposure.” Crash Cart explained. “They just need some rest but nobody is really going to be going anywhere for a while with the Hydra sitting on the Five northbound.”

“Fertility looks lower than expected.” Care interjected, to which I produced a bright blush. “Sorry, we want to check for any mutation. Surprisingly your Pipbuck has some pretty advanced sensors”

“Well, at least it wasn’t invasive…” I sighed. “Then again, I did take a fucking stars-damned metal beam to my stomach so not that surprising.”

“Well, aren’t you observant? You’re likely right on in that regard.” Crash admitted. “Though with your current… relationship situation it’s likely not something you’re too worried about, am I correct?” He held a few vials of my blood in the air. “You probably missed me taking the blood as it felt like the shooting pains you’ve been experiencing.”

I let out a groan. “Well, probably. To all of that. I mean sooner or later the wasteland takes away everything from us, at least that’s how the saying goes.” I tried to laugh. At that point, Riptide returned with Sil. I presumed the two had some food with them given Riptide’s directive from the good doctor.

“You need to eat.” Crash Cart said as he pushed another cart over, this one covered with various scientific instruments. Microscopes, centrifuges, and other devices for analysis. “We’ll keep working on checking you over. We don’t really have much to do now that things are calmer.”

I gave a nod. I wasn’t going to say no to ponies figuring out if there was anything else wrong with me. The food was mostly pre-war, which was fine even after ignoring the wait, why wasn’t there any clicking from the rads? I ignored the oddity of the situation. My perceptiveness had been already called into question anyway. It took a while to feel full, though this was a good sign that my body hadn’t gone into starvation mode.

It didn’t take long for my full stomach to lull me into yet another nap.

Sensations came before recognition as Riptide nuzzled my neck, sitting down next to me and holding her own food in her hooves.

“Glad to see you’re awake.” Riptide yawned.

“Same,” I replied and leaned over to nuzzle her in return.

“You two were out for a good while. Thankfully things outside have quieted down for now.” Sil informed me. “I took a few quick trips around town. Helped get ponies out from under debris and whatnot. After the other night, I was glad to see no real bias towards me on account of my stripes.”

It dawned on me that I hadn’t heard the roars, stomping, or cannon fire in a while. I took a wild guess that the fighting outside had died down. At least I wouldn’t have to try to defend a bunch of sick ponies while myself still recovering.

“Glad to hear nopony gave you a hard time. Hopefully, most of the old bias has died out over here, though maybe you look more like a zony thanks to that brown in your coat so you’re getting a pass.” I shook my mane. “Whatever the case, nopony needs an ass kicking.”

“Yeah pretty much,” Sil said and nipped my ear. “Though if you kicked anyone’s ass in your current condition I think it would forever shame them. I can take care of myself, Moony.”

I gave a nod, then a yawn as I let myself lay back down. I felt full and exhausted. “Yeah, well, more rest seems to be on the docket anyway.” I laughed, then smirked both of them. I was happy to see both of them doing okay.

-=O=-

I woke up with Sil against me, a rough blanket draped over us. A shudder ran through me. I didn’t see an IV bag and the feed had been removed from my leg so I probably needed water given how my mouth felt.

“Get some water to drink,” I muttered to myself as I blinked away my blurred vision. “I’m definitely still dehydrated given the headache and how my mouth feels.”

I felt a bottle thump against my chest and I reflexively wrapped my right foreleg around it. My vision cleared enough to see Crash Cart fussing with his clipboard beside me. I gave him a slow nod before undoing the cap in my magic.

“Found anything of interest?” I asked, carefully sipping at the water.

“A few particulars but that’s from comparing between baseline pony genes and your current genes.” Crash Cart explained. “It’s a little hard to know what's new and what was already there.”

“Fair.” I yawned then stretched my forelegs.

“Sorry about having to give you boiled water, there isn’t a reliable source of pure water out here.” Crash Cart said.

I paused and regarded the bottle. Then I took another sip and noticed the rad counter go off but my accumulated rads didn’t go up. I had noticed my rads didn’t go up from the pre-war food earlier. Something was off. Was I still experiencing radiation but not being harmed? Was I processing it?

What the absolute fuck? I shook my head. I would need to verify this with more testing.

“That’s fine, it’s more about managing net rads. It’s near impossible to avoid getting them anyways.” I assured him before taking another sip. Once again my radiation count didn’t increase.

No, this can’t be right. I mean, this tracks how much radiation is coming back out of your body as well as environmental radiation. Something is definitely wrong. Did the sensor get busted in the fall? I mean, honestly, that would make sense given I fell several stories. Actually, that makes the most sense. It is pretty delicate.

“Hey, are you certain this is dirty water?” I asked, setting the mostly empty bottle on the cart of scientific equipment.

“It should be, why?” Crash Cart asked.

“Well, my Pipbuck didn’t go off while drinking it. No jump in radiation within me.” I replied, staring in confusion at my left forehoof. “Can you check it? I think the fall might have broken or damaged the rad counter for my Pipbuck. If not, maybe it’s not radioactive? Though… Well, anyways, best to check it. Worst case I have to do some repairs.”

Crash Cart nodded and Care came over seemingly out of nowhere with a radiation probe. He lowered it into the bottle and we all heard the clicking, even Sil who was now more than awake.

“Well, that’s annoying,” I replied before pulling the pipbuck off my foreleg and slapping it onto Sil’s. “You take a drink, see if it goes off.”

“Well, sure. A good way to check if it’s the sensor or not and easier than wiring in a longer probe.” Sil replied before tipping the bottle against her muzzle. As she drank I both saw and heard the notification for radiation exposure, perfectly in line with what the probe had accounted for.

“Soooo, it works. It registered the rads going in and staying in, but not me so uh, tada, there’s the mutation?” I explained, trying to feel a bit of cheer knowing I was less of a pony now.

Then again I was dating a pony who had fins on her coat, could possibly breathe water, and whose entire family had scales under their coats so maybe I should just be happy I didn’t grow eye stalks, tentacles, or a self-aware mane.

Sil on the other hoof was pretty normal, she just had stripes. Riptide was the weird one in the relationship, and well now so was I.

“Interesting. Well, now that we know what to look for we’ll do some radiation tests to see how your body is reacting.” Crash Cart said, writing feverishly on his clipboard. I panicked a little at those words and he quickly added. “No, no, not on you. We’ll test it with your blood, we already have that.”

“Oh, right. Okay.” I sighed in relief, not wanting to get blasted with radiation for science.

Sil turned the Pipbuck Zero over to look it over.

“You still owe me one.” She teased with a nudge.

“I know, I’ll look for the rest of the parts when we get to Dockland,” I replied and leaned back against Sil. “I owe both Riptide and you one each after all. We’ve even got almost all the parts for one more right now.”

“Now then, I suggest you get back to getting more sleep.” Crash Cart said from behind his terminal. Beside him spells were going off, messing with my blood samples. “While everyone else is in good enough shape to travel, the Hydra is still sitting on the Five to the north.” He paused and pointed at me. “And you, Moonlight, need another day or two before I am willing to let you leave. Your insides are still pretty mashed and your outsides are still pretty bruised so we need to make sure everything is healing correctly.”

“Alright, I’ll get some more rest.” I snorted. “I have some medical training after all so I know the value of rest.”

Sil rolled her eyes and began to pilfer my bags for parts both to make repairs on my Pipbuck Zero and possibly make her own. “Let me know if you need any help, Sil,” I added. “I might get cabin fever after all. Also, toss me a book would you? It would be nice to get some reading done.”

“That I can do.” Sil nodded, smiling at me and pulling out the spell book we had found.

-=O=-

The next two days mostly consisted of us reading and me telling stories from my foalhood in Saint Clover to Riptide, along with more blood tests from Tender. Sil added her side of the story to my own in between working on the Pipbuck Zeroes and by the end of the second day she had managed to fabricate the bones of two more of the devices.

Beyond that Crash Cart and Tender Care were happy to tell us stories of the town’s past, about their troubles with a chapter of Steel Rangers that had once resided nearby. The townsfolk sent them packing after getting those magnificent cannons. Nobody ever really picked through the bunker they left behind on account that nobody wanted to give the Steel Rangers a reason to come back.

I also forced myself to do some physical training to see how my body was recovering which mostly resulted in flopping on my belly, face-planting, and twitching from muscle spasms. All of these were common for those exposed to the Viper miasma, which wasn’t an anticoagulant but a neurotoxin, lovely.

The third day of rest began with an early wake-up call from Crash Cart. For the second day in a row, I managed to get myself out of bed and walk on my own without the assistance of another or my magic.

“I think I know what the mutation is and, well, it’s one of two things, both positive for survival purposes.” Crash Cart sighed. He had been working hard to treat everypony along with trying to figure out what the taint had done to me. In part, he felt guilty because I was the only one they treated with Hydra only for it to be contaminated.

“It could be radiation resistance which means it’s going to take much higher doses for anything to stick. Of course, given your blood still broke down from high radiation exposure I wouldn’t recommend going over the normal limit regardless.” He explained. “On the other hoof, since we were just testing your blood you could just have the ability to regenerate, but given blood cells don’t go under mitosis we didn’t see radiation-induced regeneration. The only way we could test this of course is with, well, either giving you a cut and irradiating you, or seeing if you heal abnormally fast from highly irradiated food and water. As it is, your blood still breaks down at high radiation levels so I can safely say that reactors and blast craters are a no-go.”

The information took a few moments to process in my head.

“So, fundamentally I just have a constant dose of RadSafe?” I replied, trying to get the news to click in a nice clean way.

“That would be a good way to look at it.” Crash Cart nodded. “Though, if you start randomly healing while in an irradiated area, it might be more of a radiation-triggered Hydra dose with a mix of RadSafe. We’ve had a few noted cases of such happening up and down the Five.” He paused to rub his chin in thought. “I don’t know the long-term downsides of this but I have to say you came out of this better off than before, something most can’t ever say. Painkiller addiction, permanent disability, things like that are sadly the norm.”

I sat down with a groan. So I was still visibly as pony as I ever was even if I had some hidden advantages. At the same time, I shouldn’t go off beating myself up over it, considering reports of mutants like me all over the wasteland. The most common being ghouls of course. Still, taint had gotten everywhere so everypony likely had some kind of small mutation at this point.

Well, outside of those Stable Dwellers but they would eventually get something once they stepped outside and ate or drank anything from after the war. In some cases, even wartime items for some reason.

“You should have breakfast.” Crash Cart said as he pushed over a cart with food and a hot plate. “And after that, you and your friends should probably get out of town, preferably by today. The vipers are getting active again. It’s looking to be the worst fall in the past few years and we might even abandon Four Corners for the winter at this rate.”

With a nod, I prepared some tea on the hot plate and nibbled thoughtfully at the food. Worst case scenario, Riptide, Sil, Ocean, Winter, and I, with some Buck and Stampede, would pull the coach while the others were in it and hope we were fast enough to outrun the vipers.

As I ate, I messed with the readouts in the E.F.S. and managed to add the option of a digital readout for a clock onto the compass, though I noticed I had to focus to get either to show up. I much preferred it this way. Far less distracting than having text and symbols constantly in my vision. Then again, I bet Stable ponies got used to it after a life of having a Pipbuck on. Oh well, I wasn’t one and this was my device.

An hour passed before the other two woke up. I poured them cups of my tea and watched them quietly, deep in thought even as Cart brought more food and Care helped me with my stretching.

“Is there anything that you know of that draws the vipers?” I asked suddenly. “I know I don’t need to but the Five is the lifeblood of the region and we need it clear. It doesn’t sit right with me just flee while the town is in danger so I’d like to lend a hoof.” I snorted at my own words. “Blame my good nature or my time with the guard back home.”

“Uh, no. We never paid much attention to what attracts them or not.” Crash Cart answered, tapping his clipboard. “We just guessed it was the increasing population in town and slim pickings on the other side of the river so, no, we don’t know why the actual Hydra got up and started stomping around. Thank the Sisters we have those cannons though. Didn’t do much but at least it made it back off.”

I was left tapping my hoof against my chin as I began to plan. Ruby and the others needed more time if we had to make a break for it and take a longer route. They had been up and about the past day but were still weak. Beyond that, I wanted to keep this town from vanishing off the map due ironically to what was keeping them around, their source of regenerative drugs.

“So where’s that Steel Ranger bunker?” I asked. Crash Cart looked confused and a bit worried about what I was planning. “The situation is getting worse, right? Well, sounds like you need more than just ponies up on those walls if you catch my drift.”

“Well, you got it right on that account.” Crash Cart hummed before nodding. “I approve of this, just don't strain yourself. Let me see your Pipbuck so I can mark its location.” He trotted over and stared at the device for a minute before realizing he had no way to input a location on it. “Right, your Pipbuck doesn’t have a map. Let me go get one.”

Mutation Unlocked! Well, you earned one. It has been applied to your character sheet. Once you encounter a situation in which it activates it will be revealed to you. Congratulations on surviving!

Chapter 12 - Delivery

“Courier work is dangerous. Ponies see you carrying stuff and always want to take a look. It’s exactly why I got out of the trade.”

We were finally done. My poor brain was burnt out and given how it felt, so was my horn. By Tartarus, my horn was practically glowing from overuse as I pulled my muzzle out from the last of the roboponies. On top of all that my coat was also caked in grime from digging around the robotic guts but at least we now had the last of the viable talismans.

Sil, my partner in crime, decided that this was a good stopping point, worriedly staring at my horn as it refused to stop glowing even when I wasn’t doing magic. Honestly, I didn’t know what to make of it either but blowing on it felt nice at least.

“Alright, we’re done for the day.” I sighed in defeat, plopping my rump down in exhaustion.

“Let’s get you both to those showers we saw on the second level so I can hose you off,” Riptide said as she helped me back to my hooves. “Seriously I’m surprised at how fast you two managed to get so dirty.”

“It comes with the territory,” Sil replied dryly.

We took it slow and easy for the evening, consisting of a shower and a dinner of scavenged MRE’s. The MRE’s themselves were surprisingly good, even if they were all apple-flavored. The little bags even had some kind of chemical heater in them; you just had to press down on a metal disk to get some kind of gel in the bag to crystalize and heat up. Sil decided we should keep a few intact so she could figure out how to reverse-engineer the crystallization process so we could have heating packs on demand.

Before bed, the three of us decided to do a final check to make certain the bunker was locked down for the night. It was also nice to just walk off the stiffness from contorting myself inside the bowels of machines all day.

I spent the last bit of downtime stretching and laying with my partners, my body still sore despite the shower and walk. I knew part of it was due to my injuries but hopefully, it wouldn’t be long till I was back to full strength, or close enough that it didn’t matter.

As the three of us lay huddled together with the lights off, my mind started wandering towards our plan. If it worked I wouldn’t even need to be on the front lines until- no, not until. I wouldn’t even need to fight if all went according to plan.

This wasn’t my fight nor were they my people but we were doing all we could to help them anyway. Maybe a few centuries back I would have had some baked-in loyalty to my fellow Equestrian but I didn’t consider myself nor anyone else in the wasteland to be one.

After all, it was hard to be an Equestrian when Equestria didn't exist anymore. Regardless, the long and short of it was that until things were resolved here we couldn’t move north. Thus I was doing what I could to stack the deck in favor of us getting out of here without being shot at or chased for our tasty flesh.

Morning came swiftly and, after an equally quick breakfast, we lifted the lockdown on the bunker, starting the process of moving the gathered salvage. It took a few trips but we managed to move all the heavier crates up to the surface level, the process taking up most of the morning. My horn still ached from the strain and barely helped with the heavy lifting but I still did what I could. Didn’t sit right with me to sit this one out as much as I enjoyed watching them work. At least the manual labor kept me limber.

Now we would need to find a way to haul all these boxes of supplies back to town. I really didn’t fancy shoulder-checking a convoy of heavy boxes without wheels several miles.

Just the thought of doing that made my shoulder hurt.

“Alright, let’s find something to get this crap back to town,” I told the two.

“So… any ideas on that front?” Riptide asked.

“Anything with wheels that doesn’t run on combustion.” I quipped, then added. “I also managed to figure out most of a Repair spell last night so if you find something banged up I can probably fix it. Well... so long as it isn’t one giant block of rust.”

“Alright, I’ll go trot about and see if I can’t find us a set of wheels.” Sil nodded, trotting off out of the pit. “You finish hauling the crates up in the meantime.”

It took a good half hour to get the boxes up and out of the rocky hole the bunker was sitting in. It wasn’t so much the exertion as it was the distance and squeezing the crates past the rubble. My magic was enough to keep things balanced on my back for the most part but I still had to watch my step as I navigated the slippery, rocky slope.

That said it was a bit misty out this morning so while it wasn’t raining the ground was still slick with moisture. By the time Riptide and I had finished moving everything up, Sil had come back around to check on us after searching the yard. She even had bandages on her forelegs where her investigations had bitten back.

We quickly ran through our options. One was a massive earth mover. It had no obvious power supply until I found out it ran on unicorn magic which was an odd feature for a Ministry of Technology backed company. It would have made more sense for their technology to work for anypony. As it was, the earth mover was rusted solid and would take forever to magically restore due to its size. Even if we could restore it, I’d have to keep it fed with magic which meant I’d be beyond exhausted by the time we got back to town.

The second option was some kind of auto carriage in the parking lot. As I looked it over, I found that all it required was a magical battery, something that we were in short supply of. I could just power it with my horn but that would hit the same snag of the first option.

The last option was the most promising; a few unpowered carriages sitting in the back lot. Though missing wheels or parts of wheels, there were more carriages than we needed given their carrying capacity so it would be an easy repair job between Sil and myself. We would also be able to take turns resting and acting as lookouts on the trip back.

“Let’s go with the regular carriages, everything else is too much work,” I said finally, patting one of the carriages. “Looks like we’ll see just how much Draft Pony we have in us today.”

Riptide and Sil nodded in agreement and began to load the two carriages that looked in the best shape. “How about you two lend me a hoof to fetch the spare parts?” I went on, horn sputtering to life. “We still have to repair these before we go and I don’t want to get a headache casting two spells at once.”

With their help, we managed to get the carriages moving again within an hour, swapping in the good parts from the other derelicts to the two we were taking. With a bit of magic long rusted parts began to move. It took much less time to get the now-repaired carriages loaded with the spoils of our expedition. Unfortunately, we now had to contend with the muddy yard and the three of us spent even more time just pushing both laden carriages up onto the paved road outside the work yard.

With that ordeal over with, Sil and Riptide got themselves hitched up to them.

“Okay, now for the hopefully easy part.” I groaned. “Back to Four Corners.”

I was going to take point when Sil held out a hoof to my chest, shaking her head. “Sorry, Moony but we only let you help because it would go faster with the three of us.”

“Also because we didn’t want to have the extra weight of your rump to deal with.” Riptide snorted. “The mud was already making it hard enough.”

“Hop on in, we’ll get us back,” Sil said comfortingly. “You just rest your body and keep an eye out for trouble, okay?”

I thought better than to protest and simply nodded to the two before climbing atop Sil’s carriage. These weren’t luxury rides but at least they were big enough to carry what we had scavenged.

As we began to roll I simply nodded to myself. They were both right, I was better off resting on the trip back considering I was still in the process of healing. I needed to rest and it was something easy to get while guiding us back and keeping an eye out for any threats.

Progress was slow as Riptide and Sil were unable to go faster than a trot. They made up for the lack of speed with the endurance to keep going, even if at an undoubtedly sedated pace. The trip that had taken us an hour to do yesterday took two the other way around, taking into account the detours around collapsed bridges and buildings that we had walked over on our way.

By the time we returned to Four Corners, I could smell the sweat from Riptide and Sil even through the earthy smells of rain. I smiled at the tired duo, thankful we didn’t face any trouble on the way back at least.

-=O=-

“Hey! They made it back everypony! Get over here so we can help unload their carriages!” Shouted the same guard who generously opened the gate for us yesterday. I hadn’t even had time to ask the guard to open the gate before he had done it for us.

Before we had even made it fully through the gate a crowd of ponies, more than those living in town, had gathered, clamoring to get their hooves on our supplies.

“Hey! No touching the saddlebags.” I demanded when I felt somepony’s hoof brush against me as I gingerly climbed down from the carriage.

With a frown, I regarded the crowd as the desire to address them swelled within me. Viewing the throng of equids, I spotted Sil struggling to escape her harness and the crowd as it swarmed us. Riptide gave me a pleading look before I lost sight of her.

It didn’t take a genius to ascertain that the three of us were deeply out of our element. Even with riot training in the Guard, I wasn’t really used to facing a crowd this size. Ten to twenty? Sure. This? Frankly, I didn’t know nearly a hundred ponies lived in Four Corners, but now I did and it did not fill me with happiness.

With a rough push through the crowd, I waded my way to the two mares, got them out of their harnesses, and swiftly dragged them back up onto the driver’s seat of one of the carriages, the crowd milling about unpacking the goods like a ravenous swarm of worker ants. For the moment we were safe from being carried off or separated.

I stood to my full height and took a breath to address the crowd, only to cough, killing the swelling boldness in me.

"You can do this." Riptide encouraged me.

Her words strengthened my resolve and I shook off the anxiety. So I took another breath and began to address the crowd.

“Four Corners!” Everypony paused to look up at me but I didn’t falter. “The Steel Rangers have indeed left but they unintentionally left a gift for you! I have gathered a portion of it and brought it here. This is what we could find after a day of going through their records, sifting through all those crates they left behind.”

I paused and pulled out a bundle of talismans from my saddlebags for dramatic flair. “Now we have the means to make turrets, a surplus of MRE’s for food, and a small ammo dump. As of now, we have more weapons to protect the town; forty-four caliber rifles and revolvers! Perfect for punching through those Viper's scales and shattering their skulls!”

I had barely finished my speech when a cheer went up and I found hooves going around me, lifting me into the air. I found Sil and Riptide had been pulled from the crates as well. This was a first for me but as much as I was amused by it, constantly being volleyball-tossed was not helping my bruised body. The hooves touching my rear were also not welcome, though I was certain it was by accident given they shifted to better support me before passing or tossing me. It was, all in all, a strange but positive experience.

-=O=-

“Alright, you go on down there.” The guard said to me, patting the turret beside him. “Now that we got these set up I’m going to start tuning them.” He turned to Sil. “You, uh? Sil? Go and check on other parts of the wall to see how they’re doing. Maybe then we can rest easy for a bit.”

“Just remember to load them after you get them to shoot the target and not Moony,” Sil replied while I snorted in amusement. “My marefriend is not to be perforated.”

She trotted off to help set up turrets on the north side of town while I ventured out to where the mock target was.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a spritebot floating about, warbling out itswartime music and ads. I tried to tune out the tinny music and voices as I kept an eye on the turrets. The targeting talismans, their operation indicated by a small light that cycled between green, yellow, and red, were what I was watching for. As the minutes dragged on and each turret was brought online I found I could barely make out the color from where I stood.

Out of exhaustion, I wound up plopping my rear on the wet street as I waited out the calibrations. Suddenly there was a crack in the air that broke me out of the stupor before the pavement next to me exploded, shards of it biting into my neck. I dove to the side of the street and I grabbed my guns out of instinct, remembering my shield spell and rapidly casting that too.

“Sorry! looks like one of the turrets wasn’t cycled to empty the chamber!” One of the ponies on the wall shouted. “You okay?”

“Fine, just a couple of nicks,” I called back as I put my guns back into their holsters.

I dropped the shield as I caught my breath. Adrenaline was a good way to bypass the exhaustion, pain, and tenderness of my horn and body but they had a nasty habit of returning. I was tempted to take some painkillers, already retrieving my water bottle but decided against it in the end. The dull aches and constant re-bruising were frustrating but they didn’t warrant more medication. Once we got going again I could just rest and recover, or at least that was my hope.

“Why.” A tiny, synthesized, emotionless voice asked.

I yelped and fumbled the bottle as I turned to look at the spritebot.

“Fucking Tartarus! Since when the fuck do Spritebots talk.” I snapped, narrowing my eyes at the intruding machine. “Then again, I have seen them pause their broadcasts before…”

“Why did you help this town?” The machine asked again in the same tone.

I stood up and trotted around the Spritebot, prodding it carefully with a hoof. I then pushed on it from the side, sending it spinning for a moment before it looked at me again, the cameras whirring as they focused on me. If I didn’t know any better it looked almost frustrated.

“Curious. Looks like somepony hacked into the old broadcast system.” I pondered, ignoring the question for now. “No exterior tampering. Wonder where the piggyback is from?”

“Perceptive, but not you didn’t answer my question. Why did you help them?” The spritebot asked again. “Why did you cooperate with those raiders? Why did you share your invention in Wayhill?”

The last question got my attention. I hadn’t seen a spritebot in Wayhill. Wait, no, there had been one, it just wasn’t fully functional. Curious...

“It’s in my nature, as it used to be in all ponies. You know, help out anyone who looked like they needed help, let alone those who asked.” I stated, still staring inquisitively at the spritebot. “We pack bonded nearly instantly back in the day and some of us still have that good-natured disposition, I suppose. It was mutually beneficial in all those cases; sometimes just in the short term like with those bandits but in the long term you get this.”

I raised my Pipbuck Zero to emphasize the point. “This wouldn’t exist without help from others, my marefriend’s too to boot. Also with its design spreading out? More and more ponies will have the tools they need to survive in the wasteland. So what if I don’t get a single cap out of it? By the Sisters, I had to pay for it.” I huffed, then smiled. “I happily paid for it. I would rather something useful be added to this world for the sake of others than hoard it for myself like those arrogant Steel Rangers.”

“I see.” The Spritebot said.

“Now then, if you’ve been watching me you already know who I am. What should I call you?” I probed.

Silence, then. “Watcher.”

“Fitting.” I deadpanned, pinning my ears back against my head and glaring at the floating robot. “Well, is there something more you wanted other than picking my brain, Watcher?”

“For now, no. You already beat me to the punch about helping ponies. And making friends. You’re a curious pony.” Watcher replied, then after another short pause. “I’ll be... watching.”

“Of course you will.” I frowned as the music returned with a pop and the spritebot started to bob away.

It then promptly exploded as one of the turrets shot it.

“Oh for FUCKS SAKE DID YOU NOT CHECK THE REST FOR AMMO?!” I barked at the ponies on the wall as I summoned my shield once again. “Or do I have to go up there and do that for you?!” My left eye was twitching slightly as I finished dressing them down from range.

Maybe the instructors had been wrong, I’m not half bad at being intimidating when I need to be.

The ponies on the wall shrunk at my shouting and then made good on checking the turrets for ammo before we continued testing them. I just rested a hoof on my face and sighed.

A moment later a few more shots rang out, this time from behind me, plinking against my shield. I turned around with a snarl, drawing my guns to see raiders charging towards me.

Oh, come on. Really, more bullshit today?

“Fuck the friend or foe recognition. Give the turrets ammo, NOW!” I barked at the wall when I saw that it wasn’t just a couple of raiders looking to pick off a pony. Instead, they were just the tip of the spear.

“Who the fuck did I piss off to deserve this?” I begged the sky before firing off the first few rounds of the revolver rifle into the oncoming ponies, watching the leg collapse out from under one of them. “Well, at least the gun works. I really should have checked that when we found these… too late now!”

I aimed again and kept plinking.

The turrets behind me finally opened up, firing indiscriminately between me and the raiders. The upside was that this halted the raider's advance for the moment. However, as soon as the raiders ducked into cover I was the only target that remained for the turrets. I changed tacks and dashed to the nearest piece of cover, using my shield to deflect the worst of the volley coming at me as I put a physical barrier between the turrets and myself.

I peeked over at the now stalled raider advance. Well, the advance here. I have no idea how the rest of the town is faring.

Then came a familiar whistle, one I had heard when Saint Clover was under siege; mortar fire. Like before, I was certain the mortars weren’t on the so-called friendly side.

“Well, fuck. Okay, this isn’t a raid, this is a siege.” I pondered to myself before being interrupted by gunfire chipping away at my concrete cover. I fired a few blind shots in return. “They said the raiders lurked mostly out to the west and so did the Vipers. Something must have happened to push them out. Maybe… yeah that would explain it. Cart did mention the entire town would have to leave if the Vipers and Hydra kept harassing them so it would follow that these raiders could be in the same situation as Four Corners.”

“Bitch get out here and fight us!” Cried one of the raiders.

“I’m figuring out what your fucking motives you fuck face!” I shouted back.

“I want your house and to fuck you!” Another shouted back.

“I don’t live here and I’m spoken for!” I shouted back.

Lovely, but that answered a few questions. Mentally patting myself on the back, my focus shifted to moving through the ruins in hopes of flanking my attackers. I crept through the abandoned house that currently served as my shelter, staying low, slow, and quiet. Coming upon a hole in the wall of what was once a single occupancy bathroom, my focus switched to memorizing the locations of all visible hostiles outside. As I did so, I swapped from my very loud revolver rifle to the silent pistol; the latter held in my magic and combat knife in my muzzle.

Time to kill. I felt my shoulders slump a bit as that thought washed over me. Well, it’s a good thing the thought of killing another person doesn’t feel good. Still, that enthusiasm is a bit unsettling. Oh well, address it later when not in a combat zone. Therapy later, slaughter now.

I steeled myself mentally for what was about to happen; to spill blood up close, to take lives, and watch the terror and life drain from their eyes as they understood that moment would be their last.

I kept with the tried and true slow approach as I crept to the next piece of cover, which wasn’t as much of an issue as the raiders were still shooting where I had been.

That was until one spotted me out of the corner of his vision. Thankfully he wasn’t aimed at me from the start so I had time to dive into the cover of another ruined house before he could get a bead on me.

Well, of course, they would notice, they have peripheral vision; they don’t have fucking stupid helmets on.

Falling back to the other tried and true method, I began blasting. Of course so did they with bigger, meaner, and louder weaponry; armaments that decided I didn’t need cover and started punching holes through it, chewing away at the building’s facade like metallic beetles. Obviously, this wasn’t good for my health, so I scooted away keeping low enough to be hidden below the blown-out window sill.

Repositioned, I looked for a swift way to end the firefight while the dense raiders continued to chew away my old cover. Unfortunately, the characteristic metal apples and sticks with volatile cans on the end failed to materialize. This was disappointing because even if I hated the chunky leftovers from explosives I couldn’t argue with the results. This was a horrible day to have been saddled with raiders who didn’t also enjoy explosions.

Fuck, why don’t any of them have grenades?! Raiders love explosives! Okay just think!

Another part of the wall fell away next to me. Okay, think faster, no pressure. They just want to, you know, kill and or rape me and I am fairly uncertain of the order. Actually, they had just expressed interest in taking the town and raping me so honestly that’s kinda worse.

I crawled on as the shots caused a wall to collapse at my old position, quietly moving to another spot even as the raiders roared. I had to stay unseen with the hope that I could maneuver to a spot where I could get an angle for a surprise attack. I paused as a sudden thought hit me.

That’s right, there was a spell for area denial. What was its name? Right, it was Wall of Elements! Ugh, who the fuck named these spells pre-War? The writer of Ogres and Oubliettes? Actually no, most of these combat ones date back to pre-Equestria mages like Starswirl and his forebears. Wow were we just that bad with naming shit? I paused for a moment and nodded. Yeah, we probably are.

Prior to today, I hadn’t had any use for the spell but area denial was on the menu today. Grasping the magic in my mind, I pictured the area I was looking at, visualizing it turning uninhabitable. Then I felt the strings of magic and played them like an instrument, feeling the magic spring forth and take form. I finally opened my eyes and gasped for air.

There was a rush of noise and then I heard screaming. I quickly peered at the area I was aiming for and was taken aback at what I saw, much worse than what I had projected. I had certainly made the area perfectly uninhabitable as pure chaos raged, the raiders caught in the area horrifically maimed as wild elements coursed through them, destroying them slowly.

Fucking Tartarus, I have truly failed. Discord would be proud.

A shudder ran through me as I sat there looking at my failure. With a sharp exhale, I pushed the conflicting emotions out of me. It was time to clean up and soon suppressed shot after suppressed shot filled the air as I executed the poor, unlucky raiders. Even in death, I watched ice encase and crack flesh, the fire burned and melted fur, flesh, and fat. Electricity made their corpses convulse, and pure magic atomized what remained.

Note to self, practice that spells more. I never want to see that again.

Suppressing lingering thoughts about the small atrocity I had committed, my hooves found themselves moving once more. A quick hop through a blasted-out window left me in an empty street away from the throng of raiders. With the wind blowing how it was and a building between the scene and me, it was as if there was no evidence of the thaumaturgical atrocity.

Those from before forgive me for what I have done. May Luna take your souls to eternal slumber and rest from this painful end.

I wasn’t a spiritual pony but in times like this, when I felt like I had pissed off something to cause Tartarus to come down on me, it felt right to reach out as I struggled with what I had done.

Dashing down the alley and then climbing up a mountain of half-collapsed buildings, I finally claimed a vantage point of the battlefield. Part of me knew that I should wait for backup but every moment lost waiting meant another mortar in the air. Wasted time was wasted lives. From the east, the sound of gunfire continued, a good sign that the ponies of Four Corners were still putting up a fight.

Reflecting as I plotted the course to the mortars, I felt like I should have returned to gather a group to drive a knife into the side of this assault. I reasoned that this would only make things worse; for all the extra firepower it would have it meant less on the walls to hold the line. There was only one certainty for now: those mortars needed to be gone, now.

The very fiber of my being shook as the world roared.

Ah… Fuck me with a battleship.

The hydra and its ilk had been drawn by the sound of gunfire, and likely the scent of blood. I couldn’t afford to waste more ammo on the raiders. I needed to get those mortars pointed at the hydra and vipers one way or another. A temporary truce or just nabbing them would have to do; the monsters were a larger threat than the raiders right now.

While I hated the thought of using the raiders, ponies that they were, as living shields to help the town, they admittedly wanted to kill or do worse to those inside. They had a chance to do better, they still did, and they could prove themselves here and now. Not that I could convince them with words of course but maybe they could see the danger coming and realize they could only survive by doing the right thing.

Raiders are not being idiots, well. I’ve already seen stranger things on this trip.

As I took in more of the battlefield, I could see the hydra visibly lumbering back towards Four Corners. It might be big but it seemed to be in no rush as it slowly made its way towards the river. Smaller, darker forms of the vipers were already advancing across the said river, gunfire chattering away from the mortar teams on the banks as they tried to hold the creatures off.

Further east where Four Corners sat, fires were obscuring the town from sight, blind gunfire from the walls shooting through the smoke to pin down the raiders. They in turn fired potshots while waiting in vain for the mortars to land home and open up a hole so they could flood into the town, unknowing that they were gradually being sandwiched on two fronts.

The clock is ticking, Moonlight.

With the click of the cylinder of the rifle shutting and a fresh magazine sliding home in my pistol, I was reloaded and ready to get back in the fight. I made a mad dash towards the mortar position. An idea struck me as I regarded the pile of rubble and remains of metal roofing I had to descend. With a piece of sheet metal in my magic, I took the plunge down the mountain of rubble and enjoyed the safest form of freefall I expected to experience within my lifetime.

The surrounding raiders looked on as I approached them surfing upon the metal. Most looked on in confusion and others even cheered on my display of rubble surfing. I paid them no mind since they weren’t shooting me. I hopped off the metal once it started skidding across the pavement and galloped towards the thumps of mortars and the sounds of somepony barking orders. Thankfully I had picked the right path to go.

Author's Note

This chapter was originally twice this length but it felt right to split it here, don't worry it just means you get two more manageable chapters to consume. Chapter 13 will be out in August, and then Chapter 14 will wrap up the first arc of the story.

Chapter 13 - A Rocky Venture

Chapter 13 -- A Rocky Venture

“Gangs are like hydras; you cut off one head and two more will appear, fighting against one another for the same resources, ignoring that it feeds the same body.”

Bang!

The ground in front of me exploded once again. Reflexively my shield formed around me as gears shifted preparing for a fight over a dialog.

“What do we have here? A lone pony comes to play hero?” snarled who I assumed to be the raider leader, a bulky earth pony stallion with a scowl and an absolute mess of a mane. As he came around the corner I saw that his battle saddles were kitted out with four light machine guns, similar to the ones mounted on Saint Clover.

I always found the term light machine gun humorous, having never encountered a ‘heavy’ machine gun. Regardless, this was the wrong time to ponder terminology as I had four currently pointed at me as well as what I assumed to be rocket launcher tubes. Whoever he was, this bastard was strong.

“I take it you don’t give a fuck about the hydra and its kin coming this way?” I shouted as the stallion looked me over with a bemused expression.

“It just means we need to fight harder and faster!” He shouted, his mortar crews hollering their agreement in the background.

“Fucking moron,” I muttered.

“I heard that!” He taunted.

I flinched. He wasn’t just strong but perceptive as well which was going to make this hard. It helped that I wasn’t feeling particularly persuasive at the moment, not unless you counted murder as a convincing argument.

Maybe it was desperation. Maybe it was the large stack of injuries I had accrued. All I knew was I wanted to put the stallion down and be done with him.

“If you won’t help. Then I’ll just have to take your place.” I shouted as I prepared a fire blast. With the loadout he had the best bet I had was to try to cook off his ammo.

“Try me, hornhead.” He mocked and I heard the sudden shriek of a mortar coming down.

I let loose my fire spell and hopped backward once it was away. A moment later I was thrown into the air, quickly using my magic to toss myself further from the blast and shrapnel, strain-induced headaches be damned. The shield I had partially formed In the split second before the blast barely protected me from the worst of the pressure wave, fresh cuts opening on my face and legs though my barding caught most of the debris.

That was too close.

“Five feet to the left!” The leader shouted. “Twenty feet to the fore!”

Through the cloud of dust that had been kicked up, I spotted the bastard grinning as he rolled his shoulders, the loud clack of his machine guns racking fresh shells rang through the air. His glee was visible; he wanted to play and was happy I had survived his first attempt on my life.

You have got to be kidding me! This isn’t a fucking fair fight but somepony forgot their helmet at home so a good shot to the head should kill him. Make it two; he’s a thick stallion so his skull is likely just as thick as his muscles.

“I hope you enjoy dancing in the rain, little mare!” The raider leader laughed as he opened up with his light machine guns. The howl of a trio of mortars sent skyward joined the din.

“MOTHER BUCKING. FUCK. SHIT. NO.” I couldn’t coherently think or swear as I fired blindly at the raider leader, praying something would connect as I used my magic to perform a combination of telekinesis to hold my guns, fire arcane blasts, and shield myself from the rain of shrapnel.

As good as I was at multitasking spells, I wasn't as good as I needed to be. Dozens of new cuts traced along my coat and barding, bullets glancing off them as I made a run for it. I rolled into a doorway and quickly pulled out a speed loader to reload. My heart was in my throat, my head pounding. The wall behind me shuddered as it was hammered with bullets.

Fucking hell, is this what the wasteland is like? What the fuck is this shit. I thought it was just gangs of raiders wanting shit, extorting ponies. What the fuck is this buck?! This is some fucking comic book bullshit.

I took a deep breath. Okay, calm down. Bastard hasn’t taken a hit. I’m not one hundred percent physically but magically I’m doing fine. Just need to get him into a situation where he’s at a disadvantage.

A round punched through the wall and cut my ear making me wince. I rolled to my side and started to crawl with my rifle in my mouth, keeping my horn dark as I repositioned.

“Hornheads like you always think you are so tough until the bullets start flying. Oh how I love killing you arrogant fuckers!” The stallion cackled, the gunfire suddenly dying down.

Then the door frame I had been taking cover in just a minute ago exploded inwards.

“Huh, looks like you moved. What a waste of a rocket though, points for not being like the last hornhead!” He taunted as I heard something hollow and metal fall to the ground. I didn’t dare look as I continued to crawl amongst the rubble.

“Resume fire on the town. I’m going to keep an eye out for our little miss hero.” He ordered. The mortars soon began firing again, their long howl joining the roar of the Hydra and the distant gunfire.

His tactical skill is not what I would expect. Maybe he was descended from a member of the Military? This is dangerous regardless, I need to surprise him. No, he’ll expect that. Damn it, I need explosives and trip wire. I can’t just try to overwhelm him with physical strength. Not immediately at least. Returning fire is suicide. Random fire from unexpected spots won’t cut it. I need to trip him up and get him annoyed. Pocket sand? No, he will just blast my guts out if I stand in front of him and do that. I didn’t even get to see if he had goggles or not.

“Ready or not, here I come!” Taunted the raider leader, enjoying his chance to have some fun killing me as the crunch of his hooves drew closer.

Well, that solves the issue of the giant open space between this building and his perch. Unfortunately, he still held most of the cards. Though he really doesn’t like waiting, I might be able to use that against him.

I quietly skulked about the ruins, keeping an eye out for the raider boss.

“I see you.” He called out. I caught sight of him moments after, seeing that his eyes were glowing. Was it a drug, spell, mutation?

“Fuck you!” I shouted as I unleashed lightning from my horn. The effect was instant as the bolt hit his face and made him scream. His eyes constricted to pinpricks, his body disobeyed him due to the electrical shock, and his machine guns fired indiscriminately. I didn’t dare stick around and darted off instead of trying to get a few greedy hits in. He soon recovered and started swearing at me, a few were even creative.

“I’m going to fucking cut off your damn horn and legs for that. I was just going to kill you, now I’m going to fucking torture you!” He screamed as he thrashed about.

I didn’t have a line of sight on him but I heard the rubble shift before a section of the building we were in was tossed my way. Without thinking, I put my shield up to block it. I gasped as the shield absorbed the impact and I slid back on the tiled floor. It was a huge mistake to have done that. I felt coldness spreading along my stomach as my injuries opened back up from my attempt at bracing against the impact.

“Huh, oh there are ya!” He laughed, firing over my head. “Give up and maybe I won’t kill you after I’m done torturing you!”

Well, a bigger mistake than I thought. He didn’t know I was actually here. Fuck.

I snapped off a shot at him, hitting his chest and making him gasp. At least he isn’t bulletproof, he’s feeling what I’m dishing out.

“I kind of enjoy my body's integrity and autonomy.” I retorted. “So I reject your offer. But please, let’s keep negotiating.”

“Good shot.” He coughed. “But it’s going to take a lot more than that.” He wheezed then, to my horror, began to produce an unholy number of chems. “We’re going to have so much fun together now.” He laughed maniacally before injecting himself with something, moving on to an inhaler, then a healing potion, and then another injection.

I, foolishly, stood there in awe, partially hoping his heart would just explode from taking all of those chems at once. In all honesty, I was just dumbstruck by the display.

“What?” He laughed. “Are you holding hope I’ll put on protection, maybe eat some breath mints first before we get rough?” With those charming words uttered he charged me, moving far faster than he had before.

I gasped for air as the wind was knocked out of me. It quickly became apparent that I had been knocked off my hooves. A strangled yelp escaped my lips, and the sensation of something hard pinning me to the wall filled my mind. Then there was a pop in my back, a painful one as my body tried to deal with the pressure. Then came a crunch, external this time, as the wall cracked and gave way. Thankfully the wall was only sheetrock and rotten wood or I would have been in a lot more trouble. Still, this wasn’t good on my already battered and barely healed body.

He didn’t stop with one wall and we soon hit another. He was going to keep beating me until he ran out of walls or I ran out of things to be broken. I could feel something wrong in my chest as we hit the second wall, a sharp pain in my barrel as my rib cage moved in a way that wasn’t right. Given what had happened so far, it was likely he had broken at least one rib of mine.

Aside from the physical pain, I felt something else. The pull between the grey of hopelessness and the red blindness of endless rage came for me. My mental fortitude was failing. The edges of my vision were turning black. My gaze drifting down I could see the bandages around my lower half heavily soaked in a deep red of my blood.

“How nice of you to have held still. What a silly mare, almost like you wanted me to catch you.” He grinned that sickening grin, keeping me pinned with one massive hoof. “Now for that precious horn of yours.” His other hoof pressed down on the tip of my horn. “Time for it to go.”

Act.

It was a singular thought. I knew where he was going to strike next. Resolve filled me; it was time to violate another cornerstone of magic. Instead of pushing down those emotions filling me I grabbed them and stuffed them into my horn, using them to fuel a fire within me, within my horn. I was going to put every last ounce of magical might left in me to burn his hoof off before he removed my horn.

And so I poured all of my anger, desperation, love, and passion into my horn. Drawing in every scrap of emotion running through me.

The pressure within my horn grew as his hoof pressed down upon it. It felt as if small cracks were forming in the magical bone as his hoof shifted slightly in its angle. Resisting, I pushed more magic into it, tensing up my body to keep me in place. Failure meant being hornless and likely knocked out from the pain if my skull caved in from the followthrough.

Spots filled my vision, twisting into spirals as darkness closed in on the edges of my sight. Conversely, the room itself was getting brighter, and from the shadows cast it seemed to be coming from my horn, the normally green light flaring into a brilliant white as pain flowed back into me. Painful heat spilled from my horn as the magic waited for direction. Too much longer and I’d just remove my own head with the ticking time bomb of magical energy.

But I wouldn’t and I couldn’t wait any longer if I wanted to keep my horn, let alone my life. Without the certainty of ending this bastard’s life, I mentally braced myself for whatever magical backlash was about to happen from the concentrated magic.

And then I let go.

The room became blindingly bright for a second, waves of heat crashing over us. When the light faded my vision was a mess of multicolored shapes and static. My stomach twisted in knots and my brain felt like his hoof had punched through my skull anyway.

We were both screaming in pain when my senses returned. Beyond my clouded vision, I could see that his left foreleg was gone, the left side of his face was black from burnt fur, and at the point where his shoulder met his neck, a furrow was burnt into his flesh. From what remained of his left foreleg fat ran like wax as bone burnt like a wick. He had a stub of a leg now, just a bit of bone past his shoulder. Even if he lived past today he was not going to be the same stallion.

I decided then and there to make certain he didn’t live another hour. Preferably not another minute.

Where the ray had hit the ceiling a long channel was cut into the concrete, glowing orange to a hot white where it terminated, liquid dripped and sizzled as the crater cooled. As I lay against the wall breathing the best I could with the broken rib I took in the damage.

For my fortune, the stallion was lost in his injury and hadn’t noticed the bit for his battlesaddle had fallen from his mouth, the controls for the left half of his machine gun array severed by the magical ray. Unless he sat down, a horrible mistake, he wouldn’t be able to get the bit back in his mouth. For the moment his cannons were silenced.

Gently touching my horn it was warm, wet, and stung to the touch. The fluid that touched my horn was more viscous than blood. Removing my hoof from my horn there were strands connecting to the hoof from my horn of an orange glowing fluid as it was cooling and dissipating into motes of light. This was as clear a sign as any that I had pushed my horn too hard, especially given the surface of my horn now felt smooth. There was a new curve to the sharp point of it too, likely from being pressed on while full of potent magic. Frankly, I didn’t know bone could curve like that when heated. I thought it just burned and broke.

“You-!” He started but I wasn’t giving him a chance to talk.

Swiftly I got to my hooves and swung around kicking him in the chest and hitting his new injuries. The buck did its job as he gasped for air and I felt the crunch of bone breaking. I winced feeling the pain lance through my body, praying I killed him before bleeding out.

As soon as my rear hooves landed I bounded and made distance between us, leaving the dripping glass of the ceiling as a line between us. The scorched air stung against my horn and lungs, but I was relieved that I could still feel anything, let alone my blown-out horn. Worry ate at the back of my mind about my ability to cast given my horn’s condition, more so given it was still slightly glowing from heat.

Giving into curiosity, I tested my horn. Instead of a spell, my magic just failed and the same viscous fluid rolled down my horn and between my eyes, glowing bright enough that they were expressed as pure white with rainbow after images.

Well so much for my magic.

“Time to finish this the old-fashioned way.” I spat.

Like a spring bounded forward and spun on my forelegs letting my hind legs spin and at the last moment I gave a proper applebuck to his throat. He choked and sputtered as he struggled, gasping for air as his one good hoof went to it, the other stump wiggled uselessly tossing ash from the remains of it. He fell over and kicked as he gasped for air.

Good.

My teeth gripped tightly onto a knife handle and pulled it out of the sheath on my chest. Now armed, I stalked towards the downed stallion only to get kicked away when I got too close. This time I landed painfully on my already sore back as the knife spun away across the ruined tile floor.

We both groaned as we lay on that cold hard floor. I tried my magic again in desperation and got nothing, not even a rebounding of my spell. For a moment I closed my eyes to ground myself before I rolled onto my side and pulled out a few chems from my saddlebags with a hoof. One hoof slid to my prior injuries to apply pressure as I searched for what I needed.

If you can’t beat them, join them.

Stampede, Rage, Buck, Dash. My heart went from wanting to explode to feeling like it took up my entire body. I got to my hooves and drew another knife and ignored my blood dripping onto the floor from my bloody stomach.

It has to be this way, doesn’t it?

With a scream, I broke into a canter and jumped at the last second twisting myself in the air intending to slam my hooves into the stallion’s ribs. Instead, I found myself grabbed by his teeth and spun using my own momentum, flung back first into another wall. The dust from my impact made me cough as I fought to get back onto my hooves. The stallion struggled to do the same on his three hooves, eyeing the discarded knife between us.

“Alright, tell me. What’s your name?” He asked and I could hear the pain in his voice as he leaned against a wall trying to get the bridle triggers to his mouth. “I want to know the name of who’s done so well against me. To remember, or take to my grave.”

“Moonlight Grimoire, from Seamane,” I answered, finally getting to my hooves and drawing another knife. I only had five more before I had to start picking them up.

“Bit far from home aren’t you?” He laughed wetly. “Well Moonlight, consider it a badge of honor that you got me this beat up. Not even the Steel Rangers could stomp me but then again they didn’t really try. Didn’t have anything they wanted, see.”

He gave a soft smile. “They call me Rocky Venture because any Venture against me shall be Rocky,” Venture said before swinging his body to slam against the nearest wall.

I didn’t give a shit how stupid his name was. All I desired was his death; that red-hot desire to rip his throat out, to spill his blood, to spring into action like a gryphon. Old wiring awoken.

Motivation flooded me but instead of launching into action, I stood there. Even as my mind screamed to pounce the bastard and drive home my knife into his throat, to use my talons to rip him apart. Instead, I just stared him down as my body locked up.

A moment too late I saw Venture had used his swing to get the bit back in his mouth. I scurried out of the way as gunfire started back up again, bullets biting into me and ruining what was left of my armor.

While half of him was useless, he could still act as a living turret until I was dead. Thankfully I managed to find cover among a pile of rubble and furniture just out of his cone of fire.

As I lay behind a desk, I could feel blood starting to pool under me, a very bad sign if my medical training was in any way accurate. I half lay there, trying to stay calm as I cradled my stomach out of fear the stitches there would give way.

Mentally I hissed at myself for failing to disarm the stallion’s dangerous arsenal when I had the chance. He had chosen to play with me, to toy with me in hoof-to-hoof combat. I was nothing but a plaything to him, he could have fired at any time and put an end to me.

Now though it seemed losing a foreleg had sobered Venture up, which was fine since the pain he gave me was doing the same. There was only one thing left in my mind: ending the draft horse that stood between me and saving Four Corners. The tink of metal on tile caught my attention and I blearily saw the knife I had been holding in my muzzle on the floor.

I had collapsed and blacked out for half a second I realized. My position could not be sustained and I was on my last legs.

Fuck, I can’t let it end like this! Come on, get up damn it. Move. Drink a health potion. DO SOMETHING.

My mental commands took root as I struggled desperately to move. Gasping from the pain, I managed to get a healing potion to my lips, though unfortunately, only half the liquid made it inside my stomach. Turns out that inhaling potions is rather ineffective given you start coughing it up.

Regardless half a potion was more than none and it would be enough for now. It had to be. Less jittery now that the healing magic was flowing through me, I quickly pulled out bandages and stuffed the fresh wounds with sphagnum moss. The stinging as I applied the bandages was a small price to pay for survival and keeping my insides where they belonged.

“You’re probably just bleeding out back there, aren’t you? Be a good mare and just fucking die already. I’m done playing games with you.” Venture yelled as I heard something metal hit the ground near me.

It took only a fraction of a second to spot the distinctive metallic apple, because of course everything the Ministry of Technology did involved apples somehow. Years of experience told me what it was: a proper grenade, unlike its cobbled-together wastelander variety. Instinct kicked in and I tried to grasp the grenade with my magic only to find myself grasping for the stars that filled my vision as the spell rebounded inside my skull.

My options were swiftly running out, fleeing had been off the table for some time. Given my physical condition, nothing clever would work so it was time to throw a fastball. Using the one good hoof that wasn’t holding moss to my stomach, I scooped up the grenade and hefted it back toward Venture’s voice.

“Right back at you, you fucking monster!” I cried out.

For a moment I let go of my stomach to support myself as I let the grenade fly. Once it left my hoof I let myself collapse onto the floor, allowing the ancient tile to hold my body together.

A moment later the grenade detonated, I doubted it had flown far enough to detonate on Venture but it would at least leave him in worse condition than myself. The sound wave was as sudden as my loss of hearing and soon all I could sense was the scent of explosives and blood. I could feel new warm wetness leaking from my ears making me grimace. Given how today was going I’d soon be a rust colored unicorn.

Ringing crushed all other external noise, the loudest sound that of my thundering heart. Bracing myself, I closed my eyes and shakily got to my hooves. It was time to finish this.

No, not yet. Not. Yet. Keep going damn you.

When I opened my eyes it was to see Venture was glaring at me, a small crater bridging the small gap between us. As one, we roared from the bottom of our lungs, our war cries filling the ruin as we stared each other down, sizing our injuries and working up the energy to make our next move. Our last move.

Slowly I drew another knife with my muzzle, holding the hilt firmly between my teeth as I panted and bared my teeth at Venture.

His eyes were focused on me, his ears likely bleeding just like mine from burst eardrums, and his brown hide was covered in lines of red from where he had been cut by shrapnel. His bridle and bit lay severed on the floor. Instead, he had drawn his own knife into his muzzle.

I should have agility in this fight even though he would have strength, at least I hoped so. I had no idea how well he could maneuver with a half-cooked offleg.

Without an exchange of words, I climbed over the counter and stalked towards him, sizing him up for where to strike. Venture for his part stood his ground, waiting for me to strike. He was no fool, keeping himself on a defensive footing. Both of us hurt bleeding animals looking for a way to get the kill on the other for their pack.

Damn.

We stared at each other as we stood lengths apart. I noticed a revolver on his chest, he noticed the pistol on mine. I could see the gears in his head turning, how he could easily land a shot on me if he switched to his sidearm. I knew because I was thinking the same thing.

What a gambit.

A minute passed, and the constant thumping of mortar fire outside continued unabated. We continued to bleed, staining his coat, staining my bandages. I weighed my chances; whether a nine-millimeter round would be enough, whether I could even get a good shot in the first place. He had more blood than me and wasn't bleeding out as I was. If I waited I’d pass out first from blood loss.

Unfortunately, I had to be the aggressor.

A tile cracked under my hoof and I sprung into action.

Loosening my grip on the knife in my mouth, I swung my head first one way then snapped it back in the opposite direction, launching the knife flying at Venture. The attack wasn’t meant to harm, I doubted it could even break the skin with how weak I was. No matter the case, the blade flew true and hit Venture on the cheek, cutting his exposed coat.

I didn’t stop to even check if the attack had landed. The moment the knife flew free, my muzzle dipped down, and undid the button holding my pistol in its holster. With a fluid motion, I drew the gun and gripped it fiercely in my teeth, the mechanical safety built into the gun releasing with the smallest click.

I closed my left eye as I felt liquid roll down my forehead onto it, sighting down the pistol’s barrel, and aimed for the center of mass; for Venture’s large, bloody chest. Adrenaline hit hard as I pushed the trigger down with my tongue. Time slowed to a crawl as the trigger clicked to set off the first round.

Remember what Dad taught us. Exhale, pull the trigger and count the remaining rounds.

Eleven. The first shot went wide and hit the shelf Venture had been leaning against. The recoil jarred me a bit as I aimed again.

Ten. This time in my EFS a reticule showed up. The round landed where I wanted it to, slamming into his nose making it blossom into a flower of gore.

Nine. The third shot went low and failed to do more than leave a gash on Venture’s throat, his hide was too thick.

Eight. The fourth shot removed his left eye in another blossom of gore.

Seven. His mouth was opened in a wet gurgle. The round went down his throat and out the back of his neck.

Six. The second round into his mouth, teeth shattered.

Five. Round went through his ear, superficial damage.

Four. Round bounced off his skull from the shallow angle of impact and ricocheted into the ceiling. Useless.

Three. Round impacted his bandolier and destroyed the trigger of his revolver.

Two. Round impacted his shoulder with a shallow impact. Stayed inside, likely lodged in his shoulder joint.

One. Round went into his chest, with no exit.

Zero. Round missed and hit the wall behind him. My vision swayed to the side.

Click. Click. Click. Click

The empty gun fell from my muzzle, clattering to the floor as I leaned back against a ruined display case. My hind legs had gone out from under me at some point, my forelegs were weak and shaking.

Venture fell over, dead or in shock it was hard to tell. As if in disbelief, my gaze first turned to my fallen machine of death as it lay there, lightly smoking and demanding more ammo to be fed to it before I slowly gazed back up at where Venture lay.

Blood was pooling around him. He had passed on and the world around us suddenly fell silent.

I felt numb.

There isn’t time to reflect on this. What is done is done. We need those mortars, now.

I pushed myself to collect my gun, holstering it before moving to loot Rocky Venture’s body.

How do I make them obey me? Sever his head and hold it up so they see I am the strongest?

The idea of severing someone’s head was enough to make me feel ill. I quickly pushed the notion aside and tried my best to ignore the reflexive dry heaving. It was also at this point that I felt all the adrenaline leave my system, leaving me hyperventilating and terrified.

The stallion was too heavy to drag outside but proof of death would be required. While deliberating what to do, I stripped the stallion of his gear and greedily drank down one of the three healing potions he had on him. Given his state of being was now past tense there wasn’t any associated guilt from taking his stuff.

I felt the healing magic work its way through my system, helping mend my wounds, return strength to my limbs, and giving me a moment of clarity to steel myself for what I had to do.

It only took a few minutes to get his bulky battle saddle tightened around me and the trigger bridle working again. I wanted a backup plan in case any of his crew wanted to take revenge for my slaying of Venture. Four automatic rifles spitting 5.56mm rounds was a good backup plan. The only thing left to do was figure out how exactly to break the news that I had slaughtered the raider king.

Level up! Welcome to level five! That was sure fast but then again you were busy doing stuff that you learned from! This time you’re Extra Special for being such a tough little filly so enjoy your endurance going up by one. Maybe you should have taken that point in luck instead? Then again, would just one point fix your dismal luck?

Chapter 14 - Vipers

“In the wasteland, there are many new and strange things created from the release of cataclysmic amounts of wild magic. If you find something not covered in these guides you may be the first to see it, so try to survive so we can update our guides! Remember these guides are how to survive the wasteland so don’t get killed trying to expand them!”
-Wasteland Survival Guide Author’s note about unknowns

Rocky Venture’s body was as heavy as he looked, even with the blood loss he had failed to shed enough weight to not be exhausted to move. Plus his body was now going through the first phases of death and it was… smelly; his corpse had evacuated his bowels when I picked him up and put him on my back, without magic. Carrying the damned bastard’s corpse outside was probably one of the worst experiences in my life, thus far.

When I emerged from the ruin, the mortar teams had stopped their bombardment. Another large group of raiders were milling about nearby and to my right. They must have fallen back as the Hydra moved in and were focused on what was once the Rocky Venture show.

Here goes nothing. Fuck me, I really did go with dragging his corpse out for display. Ugh whatever, let's get this over with. Either this works and I get patched up or this doesn’t and I’m probably dead. Not like I have barding to protect me at this point, not with everything Venture put me through.

“Rocky Venture is dead! He lies dead by my hoof!” I proclaimed, shrugging off their leader’s body and letting it crumple to the ground unceremoniously before resting a hoof on his throat. When no one made a move on me I continued.

“Now, I'm giving you options! Join Four Corners today for the chance of survival tomorrow! Join in fighting back the Hydra and its kin... or flee with your lives!” I bellowed, putting my hoof through Rocky’’s cracked skull. “This is your one chance. Make it count!”

Ew… that’s brains on my hoof, fuck that’s disgusting.

I could feel my muscles tightening into knots which didn’t do my battered chest any good. Then again neither did carrying the bastard. I tried to hide my gulp as I waited for the response from the now animated and loud raiders as they argued among themselves.

Soon the entire mortar team packed up and trotted up beside me. A good third of the ponies to my right joined me as well. The stragglers either slunk off quietly or stomped off angrily in groups.

Well, I’ll take that. Two-thirds are fucking off which is… probably for the best with the resources we have here. Infighting among the deserters should help keep things safe for a while.

“We can’t keep living like we were.” One of the mortar crew piped up suddenly, looking around him for nods of support. “We’re at your disposal, Miss.” Then the ponies, as if instinctively acting on some old habit, kneeled to me.

I felt a degree of anxiety at being given leadership before stomping a hoof to get their attention. And this time not into Rocky’s skull.

“Okay, we need to redeploy. Somepony get a white flag ready and follow behind me.” I barked out. “Stay a block back so no pony gets shot while I can explain the situation, alright? I’m pretty certain Four Corners will be happy to have more ponies to help, even if there will be some... friction given the prior situation.”

“As you command.” The head of the mortar team replied. “Oh and what do you want us to call you?”

“You can call me Moonlight,” I told them, not wanting my ego to grow to the size of Rocky Venture’s.

“Understood, Mistress Moonlight.” The assembled ponies chimed together.

I facehoofed but waved it off. We were pressed for time. If we survived I could deal with the terminology of leadership later.

One of the raiders commented that I was bleeding. I looked down where he was gesturing and saw that my old wounds had continued to bleed, dripping blood onto the ground below. I gave him a nod and he wrapped me in bandages while everypony else prepared white banners; the universal sign of surrender and peace. Well, that and Fluttershy’s Cutiemark.

Once I was patched up and felt we had enough flags and banners we began the march back to town. The roar of the hydra could be heard closing in and we soon broke into a canter. Time was against us and we needed to hurry even if my body wished to strangle me for doing more than merely exist at this time.

As we made our approach, I waved one of the flags that had been made and, seeing the reciprocating signal, beckoned for the former raiders to follow.

“You’re alive!” One of the ponies on the wall exclaimed.

“Yes, and, well this is going to be awkward but I brokered peace with some of the raiders after killing their leader,” I explained quickly, pausing to catch my breath. “Most of them left but we have a third of them plus the mortar team who really needs to get set up before the hydra gets here.”

The raiders trotted up behind me, keeping their weapons holstered and their white banners flying. At least they were taking my leadership to heart. How strange it was that they followed the strongest. Or as some had said, maybe they were just tired of the lifestyle.

Kill one pony to spare one hundred? Maybe I’m cut out for this. Maybe it isn’t all slaughter and bloodshed until one faction is left standing.

I pushed my thoughts out of my head. There was a time and place for analysis. This wasn’t the time to think about my place in the wasteland. That time and place was in Dockland with my head squarely on a pillow.

“Head around to the south side so we can get all of you in.” The guard finally shouted back, as more pony heads poked over the wall. “Thank the Princesses you bought us enough time to get the turrets calibrated during all that. Your zebra friend is amazing!”

“I know!” I laughed though it drew my thoughts to how the rest of my friends were doing.

“Get in, and get set up. We’ll deal with the conflicts later!” Another pony shouted, gesturing hurriedly to the other gate.

“You heard them! Get in there and set up to repel the Hydra and its kin!” I shouted to my small army.

Were they really mine though? It was such an odd thought. I pushed it out of my head as I watched the flurry of activity as both sides came together when we streamed into the south gate. I brought up the rear and followed the last of the group I had recruited in.

The injured were patched up and it didn’t take long for combined forces to set about the tasks of getting into defensible positions and sighting in the mortars.

“Which way is it to the command bunker?” I asked, my head still swimming in thoughts. Half of me just wanted to bunker down with my friends until this was all over.

“Command?” One of the guards asked quizzically.

“Town hall?” I offered.

“Just go to the building with the cannons if you want to talk to the ponies standing around looking important.” He informed me.

“Thanks. That actually helps quite a lot.” I replied honestly.

I pondered another healing potion. At first, I decided against it since I had already had one after getting shot up. That had probably been enough to fuck myself up. Then I glanced down and saw the blood that still was dripping from me. Even with the quick patch job, I was still falling apart as I trotted along.

“Yeah fuck it. I’m actively bleeding out.” I muttered as I sat on my haunches and dug into my saddlebags for a healing potion.

As I did, I saw that a few of my books had bullets caught in their covers. I made a note to remove those bullets and repair the books later before downing the potion. Initially, I started feeling better before I felt my mistake manifest.

Metal pushed its way out of the already healed-up surface wounds while the healing magic continued to regenerate tissue. I remembered the broken rib and screamed in my mind realizing how deeply I had just fucked up. I collapsed onto the ground in a pile of agony, blood, and shrapnel.

As I lost consciousness, Winter cantered into view shouting for a stretcher. “You fucking idiot, you forgot the first rule of healing potions again, didn’t you?” He grumbled as I felt his hooves working to help remove the shrapnel pushing out of me.

-=O=-

I woke up somewhere familiar. That was nice. I looked down and saw bandages around my midsection. I was covered in them. Given what I had just gone through, that made sense.

I also had a note taped to my chest reminding me not to drink healing potions while having foreign objects in me. The note was politely worded at the very least, which was nice.

Well, that’s healing taken care of, though I’m probably never going to be allowed to practice medicine again with that snafu. Oh right, I would’ve also come in here pumped full of drugs too. That… really wouldn’t have helped my case. Brilliant fucking job me.

I was, partially, surprised to find I was not restrained and started to slowly get myself sitting up in bed. This had ended up being far more eventful than it should have been. It was entirely my own fault this time considering I took the path of most resistance and least support.

I also needed to start keeping explosives on me.

“Hey Crash, Care, are either of you free?” I croaked.

Care came into my curtained-off section, glancing down at the note and then looking unimpressed at me.

“Take it easy on, well everything. Your entire body is… It’s amazing how you somehow came back in both worse and better condition than you left.” He scolded. I flattened my ears in response. He wasn’t wrong though, so I just nodded.

“That said you saved a lot of lives today and I can’t thank you enough for that.” Care continued “And for that very reason, I can’t have you dying on us just yet. At least not until this is all sorted.”

“Agreed,” I added.

“So please stay behind the walls until things calm down, okay?” Care pleaded with me.

“That is a very easy thing to agree to,” I replied, my eyes dilating at the prospect of going beyond the walls with the Vipers and Hydra so close. “I am not fucking going out there where I’m outnumbered by Sisters know how many to one with those scalie freaks.”

“Good. Now, we haven’t finished working on you so could you please lay back down?” Care asked.

“Sure, what do you still have to do?” I inquired.

Cart suddenly pushed his way through the curtains.

“Oh dear. Care you didn’t say she was this bad.” He said as, quickly checking my triage chart and running a critical eye over me. “Just a moment Moonlight and we'll get you sorted out. Your new mechanical friends are keeping casualties to a minimum so we have time to fix you up.”

“Well that’s good to hear but--” I didn’t get to finish as Cart hit me with some spell and I felt the world melt away.

-=O=-

I felt like jello.

Oh right. That’s the sensation of hard-core painkillers. Wee!~

I waved a hoof in front of my face, enjoying the sensation.

Wait. Priorities. How long was I out for?

With a thought I brought up the clock on my E.F.S. before realizing I hadn’t been keeping track of time today anyway.

Helpful.

I flexed my limbs and was shocked at how nothing hurt. Then again, I was probably on the strong shit right now. I definitely felt stronger though so I grinned and slid off the bed. Sparing a moment to check my coat in a hoof mirror, I spotted cuts across my front and gaps in my coat that would hopefully grow over to hide the inevitable scars.

At the start of this trip, I merely had a hoofful of scrapes and cuts from the Guard. And the big two from when I wasn’t. Now I was truly weathered by the wasteland. This was fine, wounds would heal in time.

I stretched and felt my joints pop then rolled my jaw to loosen it, feeling it move smoothly as always. Hesitantly, I slowly moved my hoof to my horn and gently touched it. Rubbing it, I immediately realized it didn’t hurt to touch anymore.

I felt for the grooves of my horn with the frog of my hoof. The bone was altered from the incident; the grooves were less noticeable if not gone and it also felt like my horn had a curve more now. That wasn’t surprising given the superheated state it was in while compressed. Smooth horns weren’t unique at least, just something rare up here.

I picked the mirror up again and now visually inspected my horn. It was indeed smooth, curved, and wickedly sharp at the top.

I was changed forever now on the outside. Not just the scars either. I was now beginning to feel like a different mare.

Yet I felt better than I had in a week. More like several weeks since I had been bitten by that mole rat. The fight had left its scars on me, that was certain, which was fine. All fights did. This one just happened to leave ones that others could see more easily, ones my coat could never truly hide.

I wasn’t willing to try my magic just yet. Not after two incidents of overloading my horn back to back and definitely not with my horn in its new, unfamiliar shape. I’d wait until I felt a more pressing need to start pushing my luck again. Until then I would do just things the good old-fashioned way with hoof and mouth like I was trained to do.

Before putting the mirror away, I noticed that a small part under the tip of my ear was missing and hadn’t fully healed. It was as if someone had pulled a stud out from it. I sighed and put the mirror down fully so I could start putting on my gear.

At least I had never been the prettiest mare in the wasteland so it wasn’t a real loss to have my looks marred like this. It still hurt what little pride I had held for my own looks in a small way.

As I finished putting my battle saddle on with my mouth and hoof, Care poked his head past the curtains.

“Wait, where do you think you’re going?” He asked, looking surprised to see me up and about.

“Is the battle still going?” I inquired, tightening one last strap with a hoof. I quickly moved to add the saddlebags to my load.

“Well yes but... You know what? I’ve let ponies in worse shape than you go back out there.” Care sighed and continued tiredly. “Yes, go fight. Please don’t come back in worse shape.”

“Hard to be still alive and worse than the two times I’ve come in,” I replied sympathetically. “I’ll try not to manage that feat. Do you know where Riptide and Sil are?”

“Riptide’s resting, she’s been helping us in the O.R. fixing up ponies. She’s not the quickest learner but she's good at listening to instructions.” Care explained. “Sil took a bullet from a raider before you stopped the fighting so she’s resting.”

I nodded. “Then I guess this one’s on me.”

“What do you mean ‘on you’? We have plenty of ponies here for that!” Care called to me but I was already heading out the door. “You don’t need to risk your life anymore for us, you’ve already done enough! Damn it, you’re no hero! Stop trying to play the part!”

I ignored him resolutely. I needed to pester the ponies in charge to see if they had a plan. How many times in the past seventy-two hours have I ended up out cold? Well, let’s not add to the number any more than is needed.

I cantered towards the town hall. The cannons on it were massive, cobbled-together post-war constructs, something I wagered was a goodwill gift from some group to the town. I couldn’t imagine the Steel Rangers were happy about them existing but they were history out here anyway.

Also, the Steel Rangers could go fuck themselves.

Ash was falling from the sky as I continued to push my refreshed body towards its destination. I heard a pony scream out and turned to see one of the smaller, scaly bastards slithering over one of the walls. I waited for the guards to scatter before aiming up at it and biting down on the battle saddle’s bit.

The volume of fire from my newly acquired guns quickly outpaced the creature’s regenerative abilities and left the Viper carved into bloody pieces at the base of the wall. I trotted on almost nonchalantly as the nearby guards stared in a mixture of horror and respect.

Thankfully there were no other nasty surprises on the way. Ponies posted at the doors recognized me and quickly waved me in before tending to their other business. I held the door open for a runner and then pushed past to see the inside of the town hall.

It had been… something before. I was at a loss as to what it might have been. The insides looked like a blend of pre and post-war construction. It must have gone through a couple of dozen partial renovations before another got started in a different part of it.

I got to a group of ponies who looked to be playing a board game with a map of the town. Given the expressions all around the table, they were clearly out of their depth.

Wonderful. Bureaucrats. Well, I won’t be talking my way through these ponies. Well, might as well face-plant into it and deal with the shit anyways. I’ll get what info I can and then take over the defence of the walls myself.

An Ocean of all ponies emerged from the crowd and stopped me before I got close, directing me to sit back a bit and watch. I must’ve stood out, as bedraggled as I imagined I was, while she was looking much better, even if she had a few bandages wrapped around likely fresh injuries.

“Been wondering where you went,” Ocean whispered. “You alright? You look a bit pale.”

That got a snort out of me, I didn’t know how anyone looked pale with our coats. “Took down the raider leader and got pretty beat up.”

“I heard about that but why didn’t you come get one of us?”

“Because I figured it would be faster to try to deal with it quickly and directly than to double back and get support,” I explained. “Also, you know how well I can cut through an enemy force.”

“You’ve done that twice now but that doesn’t make you good at it, just lucky.” She huffed in frustration. Her expression softened a moment later. “What’s up with your horn?”

Absent-mindedly I rubbed the frog of my hoof against the damaged appendage. “It was a hard fight and I’ve been pushing my magic harder than I should have the past couple of days.”

“Yeah, but —” She gently ran her hooftip down my horn to its base— “I’ve never seen a horn change this much.”

“Well, neither have I but right now it’s nothing more than a weak point on my head.” I sighed trying my magic again just to feel my horn hurt in response.

“Well… It would be good for goring with that point on it.” Ocean attempted.

“I mean… I guess, but I’d rather not test it. I feel like it would break off if I tried that.” I replied before shaking my head. “How have things been going? I kinda passed out for a while.”

My gaze went back to the table where the so-called leaders bickered about what to do.

Ocean’s gaze followed my own before answering. “It’s kinda a shitshow. As it is, how about you catch a bit of sleep? Things are calm enough right now also, Winter and Sil are helping mop up the town while we catch our collective breath.”

“And Riptide?”

“Working with Crash Cart. She’s apparently decent as a medic.”

“Good, would suck for her to get hurt when we’re trying to get her to her family as unharmed as possible.

“I reckon we got off to a rough start given how we found and treated her in the first couple hours of knowing her.” Ocean sighed.

“It’s fine, she understands why we did what we did.”

“And I understand why she did what she did. Doesn’t make me feel any less guilty.”

I let the words hang for a bit before replying. “I honestly feel a bit guilty as well, mostly for being uncertain about, well, everything with her given how she enchanted me with her voice.”

Ocean shared my worried look at that. “Well if she ever turns you against us we’ll shoot her horn off, how about that?”

“Please just tackle her and gag her.”

Ocean pondered that for a moment, biting back a comment. “You’re right that’s a better option.”

I stifled a yawn with a hoof. “I think I’m going to nod off here, mind keeping an eye on me?”

Ocean nodded. “Sure thing.”

-=O=-

The thunder of cannon fire greeted me as I was jolted awake from my nap. I was thankful for the long-lasting painkillers as I didn’t have a headache. With a bit of effort, I figured out which way was up and managed to fall out of the cot I was in. I groaned and tried my horn. The soreness that greeted me and the lack of light told me I was just a horned earth pony for the time being.

Well, that’s fine, I got trained how to fight without magic anyways. Alright plan, let us get some water and a briefing. Then we’ll figure out what I can do if anything.

With some water in me, I knew I would start to feel better in a minute. Sadly there were no magical rehydration methods, or at least none that I knew of. I fumbled with my Pipbuck and lit the room up with it.

I was in a glorified closet it seemed. I just rolled my eyes and opened the door, only to find myself in an unfamiliar part of the building. It took a few minutes to navigate back to the entrance and once I did it wasn’t long before I was back to the map room.

Winter and Ocean were relaxing at the periphery of the crowd for the moment. Winter had a few extra bandages on him compared to what I could remember when we got back to town. Ocean waved me on over which drew Winter’s attention who waved as well. Both seemed a bit groggy as if they had just woken up as well.

“Good to see you two, surprised someone carried me to a closet.” I giggled. “That’s twice now I’ve woken up in one in this town. How are you two holding up?”

“Doing good, you?” Winter replied while Ocean nodded.

“Better, definitely needed some rest.” I looked around. “How are things going here?”

“Alright. They’re arguing about what to do with the Hydra.” Ocean explained. “I think they should just kill it, to be honest. Also, we’re likely going back out to the walls in a bit.”

“What’s going on?” I asked as Winter gave me a bottle of water.

“Another wave of the snakes, though I think the two of us will stick to clearing the ones coming out of the storm drains,” Ocean explained. “I know why pony-sized storm drains were built -- gotta have a way to maintain them without digging them up -- but it’s really inconvenient right about now.”

The three of us quietly laughed.

“So where is Sil and Riptide?” I asked after my paramours.

“Sil is in the armory getting ammo and lending a hoof fixing equipment,” Winter explained. “Turns out most weapons don’t like running for hours on end.”

“I should go check on Sil. I need to check on the guns I looted and my armor is well.” I gestured to my naked self. “Yeah, to shreds.”

“Frankly, you look fine but if you’re going back out there? Yeah, put something on.” Ocean replied.

“Yeah, we’d hate to see you get even more scars.” Winter snorted as he eyed me.

I leaned my muzzle in close to his ear. I could feel the heat of his now blushing muzzle this close. “Right, you just want another reason to put your hooves everywhere on me, don’t you~” I teased.

Winter pulled back and gave me a shit-eating grin.

Then kissed me.

Now it was I who was blushing hard, more so when he broke the kiss to reveal Ocean smirking next to him as I sat there locked up. Then she kissed me as well and I felt the gears in my brain break.

“I think we broke her, hun.” Winter snorted.

“I forget sometimes she’s not that hard to tease.” Ocean giggled with her beau.

At that point, the universe decided to throw a wrench at me in the form of Sil, who had trotted over and proceeded to boop me. My lack of response made her pause and look at our two friends.

“What did you do to break my Moony?” She demanded.

“Smooched her.” Ocean giggled.

“Smooched her?” Sil said, standing between myself and the other two. “I’ll get her out of it.”

It took me a moment to figure out what she meant as she dragged me off, which wasn’t hard with her tail draped around my neck. I'd follow her anywhere when treated like this. The only thing I could have asked for was having Riptide as well in that half hour but Sil was more than enough.

Eventually, we pried ourselves from one another and went back out. Sil had given my quad cannons a good tuning and myself a far finer tuning as well, which I reciprocated.

We found ourselves standing outside town hall yet again, looking out on this town whose fate we had found ourselves embroiled in.

The ashfall was heavier now. One thing I had noticed from the reports was that the Vipers had been slowly moving down the west side of the wall. The south and southwest side turrets had been repositioned as a result.

As we both moved to the less defended portion of the wall, I rounded as many of the raiders I had recently recruited as I could. It was only a matter of time until the Vipers would begin to swarm again and we needed all the ponies I could to greet them.

Ash washed over me from the fires in the ruins as I stood alongside the defenders atop the wall, watching the carnage unfold below. Vipers slithered toward us, instinctively avoiding the fires that pushed them into convenient choke points. Mines detonated and took out the first wave. Pits opened up and killed even more vipers with the spikes that filled them.

I looked to the northwest to spot the Hydra, which was currently thrashing against a building; a leg had failed it and its tail bent oddly.

Looks like we can ignore the Hydra for now. It’s too busy fighting a… building for supremacy. Maybe to see who was fatter. It’s our good fortune that it was not a smart critter.

I felt something well up inside of me again, an unfamiliar emotion. I felt like I was going to vomit but instead, words came forth from my muzzle.

“Listen up my fellow ponies, ignore the Hydra! The fat bastard is too busy humping a building so let the cannons deal with it. Get word to the mortar teams to focus their fire on the biggest groups of Vipers. The turrets will handle the other sections of the wall while we hold this part!” I started pacing, moving down the line of defenders. “These bastards may be hardy, they may be able to regenerate wounds, but they’re dumb as fucking bricks! Fire when ready and send these scaly bastards back to Tartarus!”

The ponies around me cheered and Sil looked visibly proud of me.

My throat burned and my eyes watered from all the ash in the air, but I persevered and took up position. I zeroed in on the Vipers wiggling their way towards us and bit the bridle of my battle saddle, letting loose a burst of light machine gun fire.

I was massively unprepared for recoil, the vibrations, and the sheer THRILL of it. The first time I used it was reactive and my mind was elsewhere at the time. Now I could take in every little detail and right then and there I decided there was something about the firepower that felt nice. To see the damnable creatures before me come apart and die.

I felt myself cackling as I fired, switching from target to target and calling them out as I did. I was glad my dad taught me how to work with battle saddles and as a cherry on top my Pipbuck kept the saddle’s weapon convergence point in my vision; the circle showing me where my shots would likely land was pretty wide at this range so were the Vipers so it hardly mattered. I could tune the saddle later to get my guns more accurate if I wished to keep them with me.

My laughter ended in a bout of coughing. I paused to wipe my eyes and clear my throat of ash. The former raiders redoubled their efforts in my brief absence, which I was thankful for since it took a good bit of pressure off of me. I still needed to tone back the megalomania and glee at slaughter, even if the raiders around me seemed to enjoy it, falling in line with more zeal.

Well, I guess I am their leader in some fashion. An interim leader at least. They told me that they wanted to settle down so I wonder if they would want to follow me up to Dockland. At least I have a group of ponies out here who would have my back if I came running.

As if to punctuate the point, Sil wordlessly set a pair of goggles on my head and gave me a mask to keep me from having lungs full of ash. I smooched her which got an interesting reaction from the former raiders who cheered and hooted their approval. Despite the burning blush on my cheeks, I returned to calling targets as Sil slapped my flank with her hoof at having finished refilling my ammo feeds.

Occasionally I sent a runner to relay orders to the mortar teams. They seemed more than happy to prioritize my targets over others, and soon a trio of explosions, the first of many, wiped out a wave of Vipers before us.

Bullet casings soon formed a carpet under us and runners with ammo cans became commonplace. I found I couldn’t do more than small bursts with my absurd rig of quad light machine guns. Hours of shooting had turned my still-healing sides numb from the heavy vibrations, my ears ringing from the constant staccato of gunfire.

It was fortunate for us then that the onslaught of Vipers had stopped then. Gunfire died down everywhere throughout the town and I let out a tired sigh as a cheer erupted from all around me.

I carefully surveyed the battlefield as the smoke cleared and was horrified at how many there had been. They must have hibernated between meals and as more died even more were being woken up by the call of a feast. It didn’t help that some bodies fused and got back up. It meant we had to regularly bombard the corpses with mortar fire to prevent chimeric Vipers from regenerating in the slurry of reptilian parts.

“Half of you go and sweep the town for anything that managed to get inside. The rest can run along the walls to check what’s going on, and stick in large teams!” I barked, the ponies around me nodding and scampering off to their duties. “Oh, and a few of you stay here with me. Let’s make sure we got them all!”

A few stayed as commanded and I took the moment of peace to cycle rounds through the light machine guns, helping Sil with a round of quick maintenance while we had the chance. I knew such heavy use would require me to do more thorough cleaning when I had some time but for now, this had to suffice.

My ears flicked when I heard further cries of joy along the walls and within the town, which signaled, to me at least, that we had fought off the Vipers.

I huffed and sat on my haunches. This was slightly uncomfortable without barding because a floor composed mostly of brass casings meant there were a lot of little things that could go in many little places. Regardless, I needed to sit and catch my breath.

Take joy in even the smallest of victories.

Even when they come with your hooves caked in blood.

Now that I had a chance to relax, everything wrong with my body came rushing to remind me they existed. My sinuses were clogged with ash, my sense of taste was shot and useless, and my sense of touch was out of whack. My jaw was cramping which would make shooting difficult if more threats showed up.

As if sensing my troubles, Sil helped me flush my eyes and throat of the ash, which wasn’t pleasant but I no longer felt like I was breathing through a straw.

“We really need to get a proper mask for me,” I grumbled.

“I’ll get one when we have a chance to go by the armory. They owe us that at the very least.” She consoled me as I coughed up more mucus full of soot.

The painkillers were finally out of my system at least. It felt nice to be clean. As much as I knew how useful combat chems were I didn’t want to get hooked on any of them, especially things like Buck. Thankfully there was no reason for me to use them at the moment, even with all the soreness.

Yet I still felt the vigor, the rush that came from battle, that I needed to get more done. We had won the battle. We had slaughtered Princesses knew how many of those slithering bastards and yet my body craved more even as it slowly wound down in the newfound peace.

Food and water were soon given out to all the defenders. I ate without focus while Sil leaned against me having her own share of rations. While I couldn't taste much more than the ash still in my mouth, it was better than the constant coughing fits I was having. It helped that I was both thirsty and famished which let me take in what I needed regardless of the taste.

Okay, mental checklist time. What do we still need to do? We need to sweep the streets and I already dispatched parties to do that. We need to clear the corpses; bury the pony ones and destroy the Vipers to keep from attracting more mutant wildlife. Loot what we can drain what Hydra blood we can.

I finally looked up to where the Hydra rested. At some point, it had been struck dead by the cannons which resulted in it losing a number of heads, though those had taken a while to stop moving after being severed. The main body itself was resting against a building but I couldn’t tell if it was breathing or not from here.

I bet we could get a fair bit of Hydra blood from those severed heads alone, though, this Hydra was going to go from twelve heads to.

I counted the number of severed heads, pointing each out with my right hoof before pausing and considering other options.

The Hydra was barely alive. With only one head still connected. It would be easy to finish off but was that a good idea? This town made money off of the Hydra blood they could harvest. Then again, what was to say this thing wasn’t some kind of mutant whose heads could survive with just a bit of creativity? Actually no, the stomach is in the body. There are still plenty of Vipers. If those can reproduce then they would still have a supply of Hydra.

I chewed on the Snack Cake as I pondered. We needed a solution.

We? Was I really in any place to choose a solution for this town? Was I really to be the arbiter of its fate? The ponies here were best served by being able to continue existing, weren’t they? So wasn’t the best option to just slaughter the Hydra and have them bank the blood? That sounded reasonable. Though supposedly it fled after being injured like this so it would be a while before it became a threat again.

No, its children were the biggest issue. Each head would spawn even more soon enough. With eleven heads removed that was, what, two heads per head removed? So twenty-two new heads? Yeah, that wasn’t good given the Vipers seemed to come out of the Hydra's weeping neck sores and not its body.

Then again, nopony knew if Vipers reproduced on their own or not. If they did. Well, then the hydra question was a moot one if the Vipers could reproduce.

My train of thought derailed when the building the Hydra was lying on suddenly shifted and collapsed. Though the resulting dust cloud was further out it still made me cover my muzzle.

Another reflexive cough brought my thoughts back to how badly I needed a proper facemask. Full face protection would be useful in so many more situations than I had thought back in Saint Clover. Airborne radiation, airborne toxins, dust, smoke, ash, tear gas. Okay probably not tear gas but at the same time I hadn’t expected to be in a town under siege by raiders and then a Hydra.

At this point I had to be ready for anything and a nice full face, gas mask was at the top of the list. Or at the very least a new filtered mask for my muzzle. Sil’s offer to drop by the armory got more tempting by the moment.

Regardless, the little distraction was what I needed to gather my thoughts.

Even if I wasn’t in a position to be the arbiter of this town’s fate I still want a damn insurance policy for that Hydra. Just in case the winds of fate decided to blow against my sails once more.

Hedging bets as they say.

Sil was leaning against me as we relaxed, her nose pressed against my neck as she too took a breather. I looked her over as a minor distraction from the events of the day. Part of me wanted to say fuck it and take her back to our room, let the town sort this out. Perhaps even swing by the clinic, drag Riptide along too, grab some cider, and fuck off for the night.

Reluctantly I turned to the ponies still around me. “Stay here, I’m going to find some explosives,” I explained to the ponies around me who looked almost excited. “Just in case, I want something I can shove down that Hydra's damn gullet so we can give it the worst case of heartburn in Equestrian history.”

I looked up at the Hydra again. In its new position, I could see that it was still breathing, its neck oozing from injuries and the cysts that gestated more Vipers. For now, it was resting, regenerating, though I knew that wouldn’t last for long. We needed a way to drive the fucker off when it got back up.

And I just don’t trust that fucker to cooperate either. That bastard is going to wake up hungry and angry so I’m going to need some bait.

I already knew what was going to be the bait, even if I was going to say otherwise while explaining things. I needed to make certain things went off without a hitch otherwise I would then have to work on a backup plan and that would get somepony killed.

So I was going to be bait. Get the bastard’s attention when it woke up and run away with the fucker chasing me back to the crater in the Mill then blow another leg off before hightailing it out of there before it could regrow it.

“Moony?” Sil asked.

“Explosives,” I replied as we trotted along to requisition said explosives.

If the Hydra got up and resumed its assault I was sure the cannons could put it down, assuming they got a lucky hit and took off the last head or blew out its heart. Well, that’s if it couldn’t regenerate from just a torso or husk. I shuddered at the thought of something being able to revive from just bits and pieces. It was borderline unkillable unless we pulped the fucker.

That wasn’t an option I wanted to consider.

“Delivery system?” Sil asked.

“Bait,” I answered.

“Meat?” Sil asked as runners sprinted past us.

“Yep, moving too,” I answered.

“No.” She stopped me as I eyed a pocket of miasma drifting about near the town hall.

“Yes.” I sighed. “It’s not like we have a giant string to pull it along. It isn’t like fishing.”

“I’m not letting you be bait!” She snarled, which startled me.

After a moment to collect myself I responded. “Well, if you can find me a living radhog I’d go with that. As it is for now, someone's going to have to run away from it.”

“Why?” Sil hissed. “We could just do a remote bomb on a bunch of bodies.”

“Do you want a possibly really pissed off really hurt regenerating hydra that spawns snakes next to town?” I asked her.

“No, no I don’t, but there are plenty here who can do it!” She was yelling now, gathering a small, confused crowd. Apparently, this also caught the attention of Winter, Ocean, and Riptide who happened to be trotting away from the town hall.

“What’s going on?” Ocean asked.

“She wants to be bait for luring the hydra away.” Sil snapped.

I groaned. “Yes, by running with a bomb and dragging it away from town before blowing it up.”

“Is your magic even working?” Riptide asked.

I tested it and winced as the magic flowed weakly. “Enough to levitate a bomb off my back into its mouth while running.”

“So you’re planning on dying.” Sil prodded.

I blinked and realized how things looked as everyone was glaring at me. “What? No, fuck no! Dying is not part of the plan, nor is getting all that close to its mouth. I just need it to see me as easy prey and follow me a few blocks before tossing the bomb in its mouth and letting it choke on it.”

Riptide locked eyes with me and then spoke slowly. “You are not going off to get yourself killed.”

I really wasn’t trying to nor would I let myself get killed if at all possible.

“I am not going to let myself get killed,” I repeated and then blinked feeling a little off.

She continued. “You are not going to kill yourself.”

“I am not going to kill myself,” I repeated, the odd feeling was gone this time.

She nodded. “Good, now how about we come up with a better plan with the same objectives?”

Level Up! Welcome to Level 6! Thanks to stacking the bodies high you’ve earned a new level and perk! Also thanks to all this slaying you’ve gained a good deal of practice with firearms so now you’re now faster with reloading. But that’s not all! You’ve gained finesse with your firearms! Reloading, swapping guns, or switching ammo now costs one AP less to a minimum of one. Speed loaders are now a joke to you. Looks like you’ll just have to sell them off now, won’t you? Hmm?

Chapter 15 - Hydra

“Most creatures are annoying enough with one head. Brahmin can be annoying with their two heads talking to one another. A hydra? Take a guess how bad they are. All those heads and they get even more when you try to make them have just one!”
-Wasteland Survival Guide, on Hydras

We wound up in the diner where we had dinner upon arriving at Four Corners. It was, surprisingly, still open as normal but then again I knew some form of normalcy had to be kept to help keep people sane. You couldn’t constantly stay coiled and ready to strike without eventually breaking. People weren’t machines after all and even if we were, those broke too after going for too long without maintenance.

For the moment we were engaging in ‘organic maintenance’, that is eating, drinking, and relaxing the muscles between our shoulders. Okay fine, I was the only one doing that last one. I had been exceedingly tense for the past hour.

While we were drinking, eating, and catching up on the past few days of our eventful stay in Four Corners my mind was penning a plan for the Hydra. The Hydra which was still out cold on the damaged buildings like a guard resting against a wall, asleep on duty.

Regardless, the patrols outside were constant and repair crews were out in force doing what work they could to reinstate the status quo. Bodies were removed, blood washed away, and miasma cleared.

Riptide’s words still rang in my mind. I am not trying to kill myself or needlessly putting myself in danger. Unfortunately, that limited my ways of how to handle the Hydra, which the town seemed willing to ignore for now.

I don’t rely on maybes. Maybes were too unreliable for situations like this. Instead, I needed a loose but strong plan. Until we could leave, the fate of this town was our fate as well and it felt wrong not to lend a hoof.

The idea of getting the Hydra to give chase till it was on the other side of the river was still the best plan I could come up with. Of course, it did put me or whoever was doing the running into tremendous danger so what was my solution to that? For starters, I had more people on my side to help with and we could do some groundwork ahead of the chase.

“Mine,” I muttered to myself.

In response to that, I got a breadstick stuffed in my mouth by Riptide. “I didn’t know you liked bread that much.”

“She’s a slut for things that start with b’s.” Winter snorted.

That made me flush as mentally I ran down the list of things that started with b that I enjoyed. That list was longer than I expected.

“Can it! Just because I do doesn’t mean that’s what I meant.” I huffed. “Regardless, I figured out an option for the plan to go smoother.”

“And that is?” Sil asked.

“Mines,” I said simply. “We plot a course for the runner, then get pressure mines or have crews with detonators to remotely activate minefields after the runner has passed by.”

“It also means we can take rocket launchers in case things go sideways,” Ocean added.

“Having been inside their armory, I can rig us up with multiple rocket launchers.” Sil offered.

“And I can get us some extra medical supplies,” Riptide suggested. “Because I doubt this will go smoothly.”

“I can scout a path for your run.” Winter offered.

It was all coming together now. “Alright, Ocean and Sil go get the explosives. Winter and I will go scout, and Riptide will get some medical supplies.”

The other four gave me nods in agreement. The plan was safer and decidedly less suicidal, letting us minimize the risks and deal with the Hydra one way or another.

-=O=-

Getting out past the wall was easy for someone with my reputation. A few of the raiders I had recruited even demanded to come with us for added firepower and safety, though I didn’t like how they considered themselves ablative health for the two of us. At the same time my mind went back to how some of our peers in the Guard viewed Buckshot and his group, how they were willing to die for them.

At the moment I still had my quad cannons. Winter had his rifle, the bit held in his mouth as he scanned for threats and a path for this marathon. On the bright side, it seemed that most of the Vipers were dead so we didn’t have to deal with those horrible scalie nightmares. It also solidified my opinion of them; all they were, were dumb critters, drawn to the smell of blood and loud noises.

I did a more thorough look at one of the dead Vipers as we passed it. I saw they had not just those massive fangs I had seen our first night here but also a massive snake-like tongue. These things could probably smell pretty well, which given they were weird offshoots of the Hydra meant it would as well.

That was valuable information for laying our trap. We needed to work with the wind for the run as well as hide the scent of anyone giving overwatch. I started marking out spots that Winter considered good on my Pipbuck and put up strips of cloth near them to act as windsocks.

“Been a while since we had a proper hunt,” Winter smirked as we finished mapping a few routes to the mostly intact bridge leading into the burnt-out center of the city.

“A couple of years now, but yeah.” I agreed with him and I gave him some Rad-Safe. “Pop some, the radiation is thicker here.”

He swallowed and gave me a curious look. “Not taking any yourself?”

“Nope, my rad count isn’t going up,” I answered him as our two bodyguards downed some Rad-Safe too. “Guess I did get some kind of radiation immunity or at least resistance.”

“Pretty common mutation out here.” One of our escorts piped up. “I don’t have it, but word of mouth is if you run long enough you eventually get some form of it. That or organ failure.”

“Well, let’s hope the rest of us get that immunity because I like my organs not failing.” Winter nickered with a smile.

“True that. Too bad we can’t just make a copy of my mutation and give it to everyone.” I sighed. “Regardless, I think the best option is to get to this bridge and then use the bomb, drop the Hydra into the river below.”

“Nah, then you can’t make the return trip. Also you’re not gonna outpace a falling bridge.” Winter pointed out. “Go a block or two into the city and then toss the bomb, then you don’t have to slide between the Hydra’s legs to double back.”

He had a good point. “So how can I, you know, outpace it on the bridge?”

Our other escort pulled out an inhaler. It took me a moment to recognize it: Dash.

“That… might work, though it runs the risk of addiction.” I mused. “Would that actually make me faster?”

A different inhaler was offered, this one crudely colored with crayons in some semblance of a rainbow.

“Rainboom.” The former raider said simply. “Stronger, longer lasting, and a bit more addictive. One hit shouldn’t get you hooked though.”

Winter and I shared a look before I took the rainbow inhaler. “In that case, it’s worth a try, as a last resort though.”

“As a last resort.” Winter agreed.

-=O=-

Sil did quick work setting up the rocket launchers, as simple as they were. A honeycomb of rocket tubes sat within a makeshift frame, each sporting a back frame with an exhaust port angled away from their operators. I also saw some insulation between the frame and their sides so no worry of heat transfer hurting them.

As for me, Sil had rigged up a hoof holster that could fit a revolver which would, with what little bit of magic I had and some finesse, let me fire it in a pinch.

“I found a revolver in the stuff we brought back.” She stated, strapping said pistol into the holster and showing how to dry fire it without magic. “It uses .454 rounds so it’s big and mean.”

“Well I prefer something quieter but I can't say no with how tough these scalie bastards are,” I said before applying a kiss to her snoot. “Thank you, hun.”

“Well, I couldn’t just have you run out there with only your faulty magic to protect you.” She snickered.

“Yeah, and any barding would just slow me down.” I laughed as well. “Not like I’m going to be tackling ponies to the ground and need the momentum to do so.”

“Not today, and I should find you some better armor once we’re done with this.” She lidded her eyes salaciously. “Can’t have you strutting about showing off those lovely flanks to everyone.”

That comment made me blush hard. “Yeah, the fewer people thinking about my flanks the better.”

“How few would that be?” She teased me. “Don’t worry, I know you’d rather it just be the four of us at most.”

She wasn’t wrong. It was a bit weird thinking about others thinking of me in that way, even with all my prior relationships and quasi-relationships. Just too used to being that mare who was just there and not the focus of attention.

Like chatting, sure that’s fine, but desire? I was a fish out of water, which was a phrase with a whole new meaning given Riptide and her aquatic mutations.

“Hun, you’re doing it again.” Sil booped me suddenly.

“Sorry, self-reflection stuff,” I replied with that blush still stuck on my muzzle. “Anyways, yeah get me something to hide my butt. Something more protective than that old, plant leather outfit I had.”

Riptide took this moment to nip at me. At least I thought it was a nip initially but when I turned to look I saw some needle being removed from my side.

“Steroid.” She said plainly. “While it will weaken your immune system it will help make your nerves shut up.”

“And… Why would I want that?” I asked as I felt a light coolness spreading from the injection.

“Because while you weren’t saying anything I could tell you were in pain. Be it nerve damage or things still healing, this will help with either.” She explained as she extinguished the magic on her horn. “The medical ponies here helped me look for such things. If I can head off you having chronic pain I will.”

“I…” I was at a loss for words. She had quickly caught up to my medical knowledge and even surpassed me.

Then again it was entirely likely she already had a fair bit of knowledge and was just getting more that I hadn’t gotten to learn. I knew chronic pain existed but I didn’t know it was, well, preventable or treatable beyond just alcohol or painkillers.

“Thank you.” I finally managed. “Right, so we should get moving. The more time we spend here the less time we have in the field to set up and be ready for the beast to wake up.”

“You’re not wrong. However.” Ocean tossed a harness at me. “Put this on. You’re pulling a wagon this time, we need it to carry the mines.”

I looked at some of the raiders turned bodyguards and they were doing the same. “Right, let's move.”

-=O=-

The mines were finally set up. It only took us about an hour with all the people we had.

Each minefield had two people watching over it, both with triggers to activate them and a separate deactivation signal. Sil had been smart to ensure neither the activation nor deactivation signal were the same thing so there would be no panic clicking screwing us over.

Meanwhile, I stood stripped down to a simple harness that held the bomb on my back, ammo for the revolver, a few medical supplies, and of course the Rainboom. Sil had rigged a quick release for the massive bomb on my back so I could buck it and set the fuse off at the same time. I’d have a short window to get cover but that was more so the Hydra didn’t get a second try at swallowing me.

Seriously though this is a dumb plan but we didn’t have any radhogs to use as bait so this ends up still being the safer bet.

I let out a sigh as I sat on the pavement looking up at the Hydra. The walkie on my shoulder suddenly crackled to life and Ocean’s voice poured out of it.

“We’re all in position. Up to you if you want to wake the Hydra up now or later, Moony. Over.”

I stood on my hind legs and aimed a foreleg at the Hydra. It wasn’t a hard target to hit but I wanted to hit somewhere soft, preferably one of the sores or half-formed new heads. Maybe one of the twenty-two half-formed new heads.

“Understood, I’m giving the wake-up call, over,” I replied before using my magic to pull the trigger.

The .454 round was loud though the recoil wasn’t as bad as I had thought, probably due to the weight of the gun and length of its barrel. The impact was easy to see; such a large round could drop a bear with relative ease and was meant for such large predators, but not ones the size of a hydra.

While it wasn’t meant to put down an adult hydra, I did know that sort of impact wasn’t something even a creature this size could ignore. And I knew it hurt it, which was good enough for right now.

As if the aggression triggered something within the Hydra, its remaining heads rapidly finished forming as it struggled to stand once more, its main head glaring down at me as its tongue tasted the air.

“Yeah, that’s right you fat fuck, I woke you up!” I hollered up at the beast. “Now how about you come and get your revenge so you can have a nice snack to help regrow what I just took out of you!”

In response, the Hydra roared. Turns out twenty-three very large maws all roaring at once stops being a noise and is more of a pressure wave made of pain. My poor ears really weren’t getting a break today.

“This is Moony, the Hydra is awake and pissed, I’m running now, over!” I shouted into the walkie on my shoulder as I turned away from the Hydra, landing on all four hooves.

“Roger that, Moony. Just focus on getting to the bridge. Over.” Ocean replied over the radio.

Yeah, bridge, that was where I needed to be. Oh fight or flight response how I adore thee, the adrenaline hitting my system letting me tear down the road as fast as I could. Turns were a bit of a bitch but I found it was easier to slide and kick off of walls, carriages, and debris than try to slow down enough to keep my footing on the rain slickened pavement.

I soon passed the first minefield, barely hearing the call out over the radio as I focused on keeping from wiping out as I cantered as fast as I could. A few seconds later I heard a series of explosions and a scream of pain from the reptilian predator behind me.

I wasn’t filled with confidence with how little time there was between the arming and the screaming but I dared not look behind me. With how hard I was running I couldn’t really afford to ask how much space there was between the Hydra and myself.

I crossed another block in under a minute. How could I tell? My Pipbuck’s clock finally decided to show up for once. It also alerted me that my heart rate had elevated to around 220 or so which, given how my chest was feeling, was accurate. Sucking in each breath I kept pounding away at the pavement as more explosions went off behind me.

“Hydra is ignoring us. Holding fire and relocating, over.” Came Riptide’s voice. She had been the one in charge of our first line of mines.

“Hydra in Minefield Two. Activating, over.” Winter's voice came over the radio next followed by more explosions.

“Hydra slowed, again. Keep running, Moony! Over!” He added.

He really didn’t have to say it, I knew it. I could see bits of debris fly past me as the Hydra roared in pain, the explosions biting at its legs and tail. Meanwhile, my Pipbuck started displaying warnings of radiation as I drew closer to the river.

It is about 2 minutes along D street, then a left and another left after 40 seconds. Then run along the freeway and across the bridge, that should be around five minutes.

The reality of it was that if not for the stupid fucking Stable-Tec PACER tests they had us run when we were young I wouldn’t have been able to keep ahead of the Hydra at all. Yet I was screaming mentally as I heard the damn, ancient pre-recorded lines droning into my skull along with its stupid music.

Damn you Equestrian Military Rememants for keeping this one stupid thing alive. I get it, good training and crap but holy fuck talk about a nightmare earworm. If this was one thing we could have lost to the balefire I would be eternally happy.

The bridge was in sight and I saw a figure of white and brown staring at me from a window. I blanked on who it was because the sheer effort I was putting out made it hard to think for the next couple of minutes as my body burned with strain. My walkie crackled and words came through it but my mind failed to parse them as the PACER test kept going through my adrenaline-addled brain.

Fuck off. Get out of my head. I need to focus on surviving you stupid accursed fitness test.

Crossing the bridge proved harder than expected. There were, annoyingly, a lot of abandoned carriages clogging it up, which made sense; with traffic this backed up most ponies would have abandoned their carriages and fled for safety.

In the corner of my vision, I could see my radiation count starting to creep higher, which confirmed I had a limit on the resistance. Having time to think again now that I had to slow down, I risked a glance over my shoulder after cantering over the hood of an abandoned carriage.

The Hydra was still hot on my tail, its limbs rapidly shedding damaged tissue to regrow stronger legs, staining the streets with gallons of its blood.

That’s going to be a nice resource for the town to clean up. Unfortunately, my slower pace meant that the Hydra was gaining on me. I had to be careful with climbing through and around the vehicles. The Hydra on the other hoof just crushed anything in its way and was just taking a direct path toward me.

Why did no one ever clear this for caravans, fuck! I mentally groused as little cuts started gathering on my legs from being nicked by the twisted metal.

Then a wave of intense radiation washed over me as I got to a part of the bridge where the siding was gone and no husks blocked direct sight of the balefire crater. Oh, that would do it. Okay, I need to really get moving.

Another glance back and the Hydra had gained another hundred meters on me while I had gone maybe twenty. And that is way too fast to keep this current pace. Time to break out the drugs.

As I took a hit of Rainboom I realized another thing; the radiation was blocking signals to my walkie and all I was hearing were errant pops and crackles due to the magical interference. No time for backup, no time for retreat.

Then the chem hit my system. I felt off, floaty was probably a better term, but it was a new experience and not entirely unpleasant. As I continued to push through the abandoned vehicles, I felt my vision sharpening as did my hearing. I could hear the beeping of my Pipbuck growing slower.

Then I realized the speed at which I was going. To my senses, I was still going as fast as I had been a minute before. The Pipbuck wasn’t beeping slower. I was going from double speed to triple.

The doctor in me screamed at how badly this was going to fuck my everything up. I knew how adrenaline-induced super strength destroyed bodies but the other option was, well, far worse. I really didn’t want to learn how it felt to be eaten alive by a Hydra.

With my newfound speed, I pushed hard to the end of the bridge, now easily keeping ahead of the Hydra. The whole time my perception of reality continued to speed up, letting me mentally take stock of my body and surroundings.

My heart rate was at a level that I believe was best described as effectively beyond the update speed of my Pipbuck. To me, it was beating a sedate 180 times per minute, from my perspective. My perspective of a minute which, at the moment, seemed to be about 10 seconds by the Pipbuck’s clock.

Again the medical professional in me was screaming that my heart was basically going to explode or already had from the pressure it was putting my system under.

Of course, though that wasn’t the case. Rainboom was apparently more than a hallucinogenic and upper. It was made with mystical plants or as some books put it, Super Naturals. Basically supernatural plants with magical effects. Just one of the benefits of living in a magical world.

This meant that the chem had effectively put me in a bubble where time flowed differently than outside of it. This probably also explained why the world around me was taking on a more vibrant, painterly style. No that was probably the hallucinogens doing their thing.

I also noticed something watching me, though that was probably the actual hallucinogenic portion of the chem. I couldn’t quite make out what it was due to my distorted vision but it wasn’t moving towards me for now so I put it out of mind for now.

I finally trotted down the ramp on the other side of the bridge, moving at least a block up the street to give me some space for later. I then stretched, took a deep breath, and turned around to watch the Hydra, letting it catch up so I could properly test out my speed.

I fired another shot from my leg-mounted revolver before setting off. The way in which the shockwave hit the edge of the bubble as I ran was mesmerizing, as did the tracer round burning through the air. While not super slow, the fact I could track its flight for what felt like five seconds told me I was probably able to do a Sonic Rainboom if I wanted.

Well, if I had wings. I figured that was probably a critical part of doing that mythical aerial maneuver.

The bullet bounced off the side of the Hydra’s neck, hitting at too great an angle to dig into the beast. It roared in rage and charged at me.

Now was the time to kick the bomb off.

I slammed my forehooves into the pavement to anchor myself and swiftly yanked out the pin that was keeping the bomb strapped to my back. With the package loose, I bounced it off my back and then gave the explosive keg an old-fashioned, double-legged applebuck, sending it careening up toward the face of the Hydra. The light of its detonator lazily left a blinking trail of red through the air.

When my rear hooves landed I pushed once again against the pavement, launching myself forward.

Nowwas the time to haul ass.

Cantering wildly down a side street, I stole glances behind myself and watched the Hydra swallow the bomb whole out of the air. Hook line and--

The bomb detonated. The Hydra’s chest glowed brightly even through its scales before its heads all vented fire and steam. I could still see it as it began to fall over, dead or disabled, as I took a sharp turn to return to the bridge.

Running as hard as my body could carry me up the ramp to the bridge, I took the more reckless option of hopping from carriage top to carriage top.

My heart was hammering in my chest. We had done it! The Hydra was going to be a non-issue for a good while at worst, though there was no way for me to tell its condition from here and I had no desire to go check up on it. The thing had breathed fire when the bomb went off! If it was still alive after that then I wouldn’t want to stick around for it.

Regardless, I returned my attention to not getting hurt by running across rusted carriage roofs.

Too little too late, unfortunately. My hoof slipped on the wet top of a metal cargo container, sending me sliding along its length and then flying through the air when the container ended. I wrapped myself tightly in my magic and hoped it would be enough to save me when I inevitably hit the ground.

Somehow my magic didn’t hurt to do, and flowed freely. But I didn’t have the time or mental power to dwell on it.

My world became green and then shortly after, black.

Level up! Welcome to level 7! New Perk Added: Armed and Dangerous. Thanks to the abundance of practice you know where to hit to make it hurt more with your preferred weapon: ballistics. Thanks to this every ranged attack with a weapon that uses the Firearms skill now does an additional ten damage. You’re a step above just another mare with a gun.

Chapter 16 - Afterparty

“Time to put our hooves up and let our manes down!”

Everything fucking hurt.

Good, that meant I was still alive, thank the Sisters above. It felt good even as my body screamed at me.

I shifted to get up, feeling the rubble pressing against me while crazed, manic laughter escaped my lips. I was exhausted, sore, and feeling the after-effects of Rainboom.

Holy fuck that worked! Also, holy shit I need to never touch this shit again or I’m going to turn myself into a pastel splatter by accidentally running into a wall.

With a shove of my magic, I pushed the rubble off of me and took in my surroundings. Fortune had favored me slightly at least; despite going through a wall, I was at least indoors and out of the increasingly heavy rain.

I dusted myself off before inspecting my body for any serious wounds. Beyond some serious muscle strain, the effects of coming down from my fucking drug trip, and adding more bruises to my already thoroughly tenderized body I seemed to be alright.

Surprising considering the dent in the ground. I surmised that I must have slid, bounced, and then skipped right through a wall into the building.

With a moment of lucidity and having gathered my location, I attempted to use the walkie on my shoulder only to find it was busted. The impact must have damaged its internals and even a feeble attempt at a repair spell couldn’t get it working again. Thus, I decided to sit down and collect my thoughts.

As I sat watching the water flow north down the Willmanemette River, my Pipbuck continued to click away while the health alerts blipped out one at a time. It was odd seeing my injuries healing and updating in real-time but at least it seemed regeneration fueled by radiation was a thing now.

Well, that’s new. Then again, Crash had said it was a possibility and I hadn’t checked when I was doing my marathon.

With a flourish of magic, the various health warnings my Pipbuck were silenced. I didn’t need to be informed about what I already knew and besides most were certainly just from exertion and the Rainboom’s aftereffects.

One thing Sil had demanded was that I take a loaded flare gun with me. Against the siren call of just laying down and resting more, I pushed my head out the hole I had made and sent a flare skyward. Given how exhausted and sore I was there was no reason to push myself further today. The day was won, I was alive, and I had friends coming to pick me up. There was no reason to put myself at risk by moving an inch.

That and I was still feeling the tail end of the high from Rainboom. Frankly, it made me introspective about my perception of time as I sat there with my EFS off, my slowly relaxing breathing the only way to keep track of time. I almost didn’t feel myself starting to get cold as exposure began to get to me.

-=O=-

The sky had darkened.

Was it just the weather or had I fallen asleep?

Given that the rain was heavier than before it was likely just the weather worsening. I also didn’t have that feeling of discontinuity which generally came from unexpected naps, though the swiftness of the change suggested it has been at least a few minutes. Still, nothing was bothering me as I healed up and waited for my rescue party.

The sound of the gentle breeze and rain falling was rather relaxing and reminded me of home. It likely would be one of the few comforting things in the interior that would remind me of home. So did Sil, Winter, and Ocean but they weren’t the same as the smell, sights, and sounds of home, even if they did warm me with their presence.

That brought my thoughts back to Riptide who was also starting to do the same. Well okay, more than started but still not in the same way. Sure she made my heart flutter but she didn’t make every place we were in feel like home. Not yet at least and that was fine; with some time that would change.

I let out a sigh, my hot breath fogging in the cold air. Somehow that always made me smile a little.

This whole trip had been a clusterfuck, mostly from how little intel we had. Granted, Ocean was the senior in our group so technically it was her place to get all the relevant information for our trip and not me. When she shared what lay ahead of us it was pretty obvious nobody had taken this path in a long time. It was easy to understand why it was so out of date and threadbare; we had boats that made marching across the Seamane Range a pointless endeavor for us.

Well outside of that one bad year, which was where our most recent information came from.

Thank you, Mom.

Regardless, this whole trip ended up being one long exercise of frustration and on-the-fly planning. Which was probably part of why I was picked for this. Well, that and the obvious exposure to Riptide along with the risk that put the town in. At least now we had better information, newer maps, and hell I had a Pipbuck now.

What was interesting about the updated map was that a lot of rural communities had survived just like on the coast. That was of course until you neared a city, something we had seen on our march east. After Alsea, the green fell away to the necrotic undeath and scorched grey-black world of balefire targets.

With a shake of my mane, I pushed the thoughts away and sat back up, willing my EFS to turn back on. It had been about forty minutes and that worried me.

“Well I feel less dead at least,” I told myself. “Still, given the lack of anyone, even with the flare, I best get hunting for them. Good thing I have this revolver.”

I fished out one of the precious few spare rounds for said revolver and got myself back up to five shots with it.

“Comical how big these rounds are that I only get five shots.” I laughed softly. “If five .454 rounds can’t kill something then I need something other than ballistics to do it.”

Scanning around with EFS, I noted a lack of bars denoting life around me which was mildly worrying.

“Okay, that’s enough resting on my rump. It’s time to take a trot.” I muttered as I stepped out into the rain.

A glance skyward revealed that my flare was long gone, which might have been the issue. With the weather the way it was, it might not have even lasted the thirty seconds it was advertised to.

Slowly backtracking along my path, I soon found swathes of destruction; the mines had all gone off and I could see more than a few spots where rockets had been used. It was evident what had happened with the others on my wild run out of town. The surrounding buildings lacked any fresh damage so thankfully the Hydra had ignored them.

It was a small blessing it had such a singular mind, which is frankly hilarious given it had twenty-three brains. Whatever made hydras did not do them any favors beyond that regeneration.

A short coughing spree cleared more of the ash that had gotten into my lungs today. After all, I had experienced today, I concluded that I really should’ve had someone else run from the Hydra; someone who had been smarter than me and worn a mask all day.

Too late for regrets now. Whatever, I seem fine besides a little shortness of breath now and again. Given I’m hacking this gunk up and can just loaf near some radiation to heal I don’t have much to worry about.

A red bar appeared in my vision.

Of course, I had to think that.

Taking a moment to spot the supposed threat, I soon saw a bloatsprite bob into view. With a hiss, I slung a weak bolt of ice at it, freezing the monstrous insect mid-flight. It clunked to the ground and I trotted over to stomp on it hard, shattering it into pieces. I doubted it could even still be alive encased in all that ice but I didn’t want it to thaw out somehow and send its parasitic young at me.

Okay yeah, nature is just fucked thanks to the last day. Like seriously, the actual fuck is with half of the crap out here.

Pushing aside my mental grumbling, I focused on the long road back to safety; the pouring rain chilling me and the wind cutting through my damp coat.

This had to be the third most miserable shower I have had in my life, which oddly enough cheered me up a bit. Unfortunately, the intrusive thought about worse showers left me a bit depressed given it involved Winter in a way that felt rather awkward to think about now.

Well, this is where making new memories comes into play. Guess I need to get the girls into a shower stall and make some fresh memories to be fond of.

I paused for a second and shook my head. Okay, maybe I should just deal with my issues so I can think back on that stuff with Winter in a fond manner instead of longing, painful desire.

The one downside to having to strip down for this run was that what barding I still had was rather useless against the weather. Frankly, taking a second look at it, it was likely a mix of pre-war fetish gear and... well actually no it was just fetish gear; the detachable hoop was for holding the wearer aloft and it was pretty obvious given it wasn’t in a color meant to blend into anyone’s coat.

I think I’m keeping this harness. I don’t know if I’ll ever use it as intended but at the very least I can hook armor pieces onto it. It also does kinda ride up pleasingly.

I felt the warmth of a blush on my cheeks as I stopped in the street, moving in certain ways to better feel how the harness squeezed on me now that I wasn’t entirely focused on blowing up a hydra.

Yeah, even if I don’t wear this for fighting, this is… arousing.

“Moony?” I heard Sil call out suddenly, her voice making my heart jump.

Looking around I saw a non-hostile bar in my EFS. I immediately started cantering off towards it, splashing puddles as I went. I didn’t care about getting wetter, I functionally couldn’t anyway because of the rain.

“Sil!” I called back.

“Moony!” Sil responded the passive bar in my vision splitting as I drew closer.

Rounding the corner I saw Riptide, Sil, and two of the raiders who had come with us.

Quickly both of my mares tackle hugged me to the ground, leaving all three of us a bit sore and more than a little dirty. Worth it.

“That is the last time you run off on your own with a bomb on your butt.” Riptide teasingly scolded me.

“If it can be the last time, I wouldn’t mind. That sucked.” I snorted.

“I see you didn’t lose the gun or harness,” Sil commented while giving me a boop, which I smooched.

“Nope! Also, can we keep the harness?” I asked her.

The two stared at me and then shared a look before I was suddenly deposited unevenly across both of their backs.

“I’ll take that as an enthusiastic yes.” I laughed.

“Yes, now we just need to get back to town.” Sil giggled in response. “Also did you use your flare gun?”

“Yep, once I woke up I leaned out the hole I made and fired it up,” I answered. “It should have cleared the skyline but it might have fallen pretty quickly after because of the weather.”

“Damn, I was afraid of that when the weather started turning on us.” Sil grumped.

“Well next time she goes off on her own we just give her more flares,” Riptide said.

“I am amused that you two still think there is a next time for me to go off on my own.” I giggled. “I'd rather stick glued to your flanks.”

“Well, that’s what you’re doing until it’s time to get out of town.” Sil teased before whispering in my ear. “Yes, in that way, and yes, in that harness.”

That made me feel warmer than I had for the past hour.

“She’s getting a little toasty,” Riptide commented.

“She is,” Sil said. “We should have her checked up regardless. Then we can get some food.”

“And then?” I asked.

“And then you’re not leaving our room, possibly not even our bed.” She answered.

“Mmm, not our room, we should wash her,” Riptide added.

“Good point, she’s probably coated in asbestos again.” Sil gagged.

I had cleaned up before that, damn it.

“Regardless, someone should probably let the others know that you two found me.” I pointed out.

“To all teams, we’ve found Moonlight. Return to town, Over.” One of our escorts said in turn, giving me a cheeky grin. I recognized him as the one to call me Mistress after siding with me.

“Thank you,” I replied, giving a polite nod.

“Of course, we’ll keep an eye out for anything dangerous, wouldn’t want you three to lose the mood.” He chuckled, his partner joining him. “Oh, your other friends have also returned and want you to go by the clinic.”

It was a good time for some humor, frankly. Things were looking good right now and we needed to reap our reward and rest up, enjoy our victory. A check-up couldn’t hurt either.

-=O=-

When we entered Crash Cart’s Clinic we were met with an odd sight. Winter and Ocean were already there and looked a little worse for wear but what was more worrying was the anxiety-inducing copy of me lying unconscious on a bed, riddled with visible bullet wounds.

“Okay, the fuck?” I exclaimed. Winter flinched and I heard his bit click as he bit down, though thankfully his gun didn't fire. “Okay, calm down Winter, I’ve gotten perforated enough today.”

I heard Riptide quietly say, “I swear she was going to say penetrated.”

Sil replied just as quietly. “I think she thought through what she was going to say, for once.”

I gave the two a quick glare before turning just in time to have an Ocean tackle me to the ground.

“OCEAN, CAN YOU PLEASE STOP TRYING TO KILL ME?!” I shouted as something popped in my back.

Strange, that feels a lot better now. I’ll need to thank her for that.

Of course once that thought concluded my mind was immediately overwhelmed with screaming in pain as Ocean applied her knowledge of applying pressure to points of pain on me.

“Let her go or I’ll kick your head off.” Riptide hissed.

“We need to make sure she's a pony.” Ocean hissed in return.

That’s when I felt a slice along my flank and warm wetness trickled down my leg.

“That good enough?” Sil snapped.

At this point, Cart had arrived having heard the commotion. “Let her up, damn it.”

A few minutes later a still shaken Winter and Ocean left us, telling us to meet them in the diner later. Riptide and Sil were reasonably annoyed despite their apologies after the fact.

“I’m tempted to just skip meeting them and go to our room,” Sil grumbled. “Have someone deliver us a banquet and call it a day.”

Cart sighed as he finished treating the cut. “They’re on edge. That thing they encountered has everyone on edge.”

I stared at the copy of myself. The longer I stared the more faults I could see in it; it was like a pony made out of bark but with enough features to reasonably fool someone from a distance.

“You know.” I mused. “They say copying is the highest form of flattery but frankly I just wanna torch that thing.”

“And I would let you do it if not for the stories we’ve had over the decades about something like this,” Cart replied, glaring at the facsimile of me. “Turns out our ex-raider friends have stories about them as well; Leshy I think they called it, some sort of animated wood golem thing.”

The name didn’t ring any bells but my mind went to whispered tales of changelings as I trotted up to the supposed corpse. “Frankly, I don’t give a fuck what it’s called. Did it hurt my friends?”

Cart cleared his throat with a cough sensing my aim. “It hurt Winter, started hugging him to death.”

I looked back into my facsimile’s eyes. Up close up I could see just how disquieting it was; the eyelids were fake and couldn’t move, the eyes themselves akin to something between tree bark and that of an insect’s eye. Whatever this was, it wasn't mammalian.

Pulling back the blanket I saw three holes that went clean through it, which answered how it was disposed of. The damage to the creature was what I’d expect to see on a tree trunk from the rounds Ocean’s guns used.

“Right, do you think it’s dead?” I asked, probing the holes with my magic.

I was unnerved by its strange interior; it was filled with roots, moss, and sap as if it was a hollow log except that the flesh had layers to it like rings of a tree.

“As far as I can tell, yes.” Cart assured me. “While I’m no botanist it has failed to move since. I intend to ship it to the University in Dockland. They’re more experienced with the weird life that has come to call Equestria home.”

“Bind it as best you can in whatever box you stuff this thing in,” I instructed him. “Don’t let Winter know.”

“I hadn’t planned on telling him.” He agreed before adding. “As it is, I hope leaving it in darkness will cause it to cease to grow again. I also really hope this was the only one.”

In my short lifetime, I have learned a few things and one of them was that there was never just one.

“Thank you.” I nodded gratefully. “Now can I bother you for a quick checkup before we head off to get some R&R?”

“Oh certainly! I feel you deserve plenty of R&R after the time you’ve spent here in Four Corners.” He chuckled while pushing his portable terminal next to me. “Now, let me just plug into your Pipbuck before we start.”

-=O=-

I got as clean a bill of health as I could get. A dose of painkillers, some irradiated water, and doctor’s orders to get a few days of bed rest were all I needed. This worked out well since the rest of the caravan needed a couple more days to get up to full strength anyway.

I now regenerated from radiation too, go figure. It was the main reason my crash hadn’t been fatal, just painful. The downside was another notch to add to the niggling bit of self-doubt of being less pony than I was when I left home, the doubts and fears about losing myself compounding over time.

Of course, those doubts and fears were hard to keep in mind with Sil and Riptide around, more so with how news of my biological changes meant nothing to them. Well, beyond Riptide wanting to drag me out into the water because both of us would be okay in it, though I wasn’t keen on trying swimming out; it was fall and cold water was pretty dangerous after all.

In due time, the three of us reached the diner that sat at the street level of our hotel. I was half surprised to see a party in full swing but I remembered we had just bought the town a long extension on its life so a party was warranted.

Winter and Ocean were sulking quietly in a corner booth when I spotted them. Chewing on going up to them, I instead directed Sil and Riptide to join them first so I could get us some food and drink.

“Sure, you know what we want, so we’ll see you in a bit,” Sil replied.

“And I bet more than a few folks wanna give you their thanks in person,” Riptide added.

Sliding through the crowd with skills honed from weaving through the bustling market level of Saint Clover, I made my way to the bar itself. While I wasn’t in the mood for celebratory revelry, I did oblige a few ponies with various toasts to both my health and success as well as the town and its new residents.

Thankfully toasting wasn’t ever heavy on the alcohol, though I did end up with more than a few sample shots of what they had on tap. The upside was I now knew what I was ordering for myself: something hard, harder than my usual taste of cider.

I had a desire to get drunk and wallow, which nagged at me because it was frustrating to want to get plastered out of frustration and depression on the heels of victory.

Oh well. Sometimes the events of life and the mood you get put into don’t line up.

The moment of self-loathing out of the way, I turned to the bartender, ordered our meals, and bought two bottles of Wild Pegasus. I figured I wasn’t the only one who would be wanting a drink after this weird day.

With the bottles and glasses in my magic, I trotted to the rest, keeping the drinks and glass well above my head to keep them from getting bumped by accident; something that had, annoyingly, happened more than once to me. It always sucked to buy something and then a few moments later have it break because of someone else’s carelessness.

Today I wasn’t going to let that happen. Halfway back I bumped into the waiter who had just added to the food my friends had ordered and was trotting away from the corner table. I knew I needed to eat, even if nothing sounded particularly tasty to me. Noodles, potstickers, spring rolls? I’ll take them. Sure they didn’t mix with whiskey but I kinda didn’t care.

I honestly disliked that I didn’t care. It made a small part of me burn with frustration.

Joining my friends at the corner table, Sil and Riptide had me sit between them. While I welcomed having the two next to me I also recognized it was a way of trying to stay between me and everyone else. Especially Ocean.

Riptide for her part had just chugged one of the two bottles of whiskey without coming up for air, though it was probably cheating with how her gills were moving. Regardless, she was very quickly getting very drunk and I couldn’t blame her.

Ocean and Winter? They split the other bottle and downed it three times slower than Riptide did, so I knew at the very least they tasted it.

Sil on the other hoof was staying sober.

When the waiter returned, I decided to order some apple moonshine. I wasn’t mentally prepared to stay sober tonight. As for food, well it was irradiated and for two out of the five of us, that wasn’t an issue. Just the fact that I wasn’t the only one to worry about the low-level rads from food and drink made me feel less wrong in my own skin.

Regardless, the five of us took our time eating quietly as the revelry continued around us. In a way, it was nice to have the cheer and happiness around us while we were in less-than-stellar moods.

When the white noise of party chatter died down, I heard a voice crackle to life over an old PA system; the same system that had, until now, been playing music since we had entered the diner.

The voice of a well-trained stallion began to flow. “And now for the news! First, we’re going to start with our friends out by Dockland. For those of you who don’t know, that's the west coast!” He explained. His energy was infectious, to say the least, and a low hum of chatter started amongst the party-goers. “So many of you out west along the Five know about that nasty old Hydra that’s been waddlin’ about the ruins of The Mill. Well, good news for those who don’t live in the immediate area! Someone finally had the guts to take it out, and what a show it was from the reports I’m getting!”

I could feel eyes turning towards us. It was no secret what we had done.

“I have to say, to the mare who served as bait for the Hydra, you’re one crazy mare!” The DJ laughed. “Still, you had a plan and, given you didn’t die from it, congratulations are in order!”

“Now that the Hydra is dealt with, trade along the Five can get back to normal.” The DJ went on. “Of course, our intrepid mare wasn’t satisfied with just that. She also put down one hell of a raider warlord just before hoof too!”

Well, that much was true; That stallion had been a brick wall of brutality and a worrying amount of cunning to boot.

“So my hat is off to you, Ranger of Seamane! To you and your friends.” He cheered. “Also, bonus points for carrying that big iron on you.”

I was rather confused as to how he knew about that detail.

“And that’s our news for the day. This DJ needs his shut-eye but, before I leave, in honor of our new Ranger here’s Big Iron by-”

I didn’t hear the rest as my attention was pulled into a rather lovely kiss from Riptide.

I forgot her un-Equine nature at times and right now I was being reminded of how weirdly flexible her tongue was. And how sharp her teeth were. Both were making me want to make excuses to leave for the bedroom.

“Well, damn, she beat me to it.” Sil huffed, clearly teasing.

“Well hot damn, she got herself a title.” Winter snorted.

“Ranger of Seamane. Fitting.” Ocean snickered.

Riptide came up for air, or rather she let me get some air.

As I hacked and gasped for air, Riptide just gently petted my mane. “Well, she did a lot of hard and dangerous legwork for the victory today.”

“I mean she did run away from a hydra with a bomb on her flank.” Sil nodded before taking her turn at stealing my breath.

I didn’t resist the smooching. It was making me feel more alive than all this hero talk.

“Plus the raiders she dealt with,” Winter added.

“And the three of you raided that Steel Ranger bunker, that helped a fair bit.” Ocean nodded.

“To be fair, that was Sil’s idea and mostly her work.” Riptide giggled.

Sil broke the kiss to let us breathe but, as I was about to speak, both Riptide and Sil started making out on my lap. I could feel my cheeks burning hot and yet also made me feel better about our situation; that they loved one another as well made me feel far less stressed out about the whole relationship thing.

Regaining some composure and breaking out of the display of affection, I addressed my non-smooching friends while petting the manes of my two lovers. “It was also your work that prevented me from becoming Hydra Food so thank you. Both of you.”

“It was nice that you let us help. I didn’t want to have to knock you out.” Ocean replied. “And… sorry about trying to do so earlier.”

“It’s okay. Well okay, not really but you know what I mean.” I admitted. “Can you walk me through what happened?”

“Sure,” Ocean replied, then took a deep breath. “We were looking for you in one of the few points we thought you might be due to how unreliable the flare was. While searching a building in the area, that thing trotted on in and quickly took to hugging Winter. I guess he was affected by it somehow because he didn’t think there was anything amiss.”

“Sounds akin to mind manipulation magic,” I muttered, my mind going to how we met Riptide.

“That was my thought as well but even knowing that I still had a hard time dragging myself out of some kind of paralysis.” Ocean went on. “It was only after I heard Winter start crying out in pain that I shook it off. Even then it was difficult because until we killed it, it perfectly copied you, cries of distress and all. Once the rounds punched through? Not so much.”

That was worrying but at least this confirmed it was very dead, given the illusion broke once it took two body shots. “Well great, now we need to worry about copycats.”

Winter shook his head. “From what we gathered it’s not common, or at least it only goes after isolated targets. It must have not known Ocean was in the other room or it would not have attacked.”

With that nugget of information, I had more to work on. “For now, stick in pairs at minimum, regardless of the situation. That should help prevent this from happening again. Also, we’ll start with verbal or sign greetings. Thus, if any of us aren’t communicative it’s a good idea to knock that person out.”

Ocean nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that’s what I was going to suggest.”

I sat back in relief just as Riptide and Sil ended their makeout session, both of them deciding to press against me. I quirked an eyebrow. “You two alright or should we?”

“Let’s retire for the night.” Riptide cooed. “As fun as this party is, I think it would be nice to go relax.”

“Agreed,” Sil replied in the same tone.

“Looks like you got your hooves full.” Winter snorted. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

“Don’t get jealous, hun, you’re going to have your hooves full in a minute as well.” Ocean teased.

“Just keep one ear open.” I snorted. “Come on you two, we’ll finish our dinner upstairs.”

Levitating our share of food above me, the three of us parted ways with Ocean and Winter. A quick chat with a server and we got our new room number and key. Given the whole affair with the Vipers a few days ago, I figured we were likely set up somewhere closer to the ground in case we had to bail out.

The trip to our room told me just how drunk Riptide was as she had to lean on me to even walk straight. That wouldn’t be much of an issue if it didn’t also let Sil stay a few paces ahead of us, flicking her tail teasingly as if I needed any more of an invitation.

Thankfully it didn’t take long to get to our room and, upon reaching it, Sil helped Riptide in as I set our food down on a small table. They didn’t even wait for me to finish removing their barding with my magic before I was dragged into bed, both frequently reminding me of the original purpose of my ‘barding’ with little tugs to the harness.

Those tugs reminded me that all I had for barding was something more at home in the bedroom than wandering the soon-to-be wintry wastes. While it did keep me warm from sheer embarrassment, it really wouldn’t keep the wind out. If anything it helped keep things nice and close to me, which was currently Riptide’s muzzle on my flank.

-=O=-

I awoke sometime later, entangled with Sil and Riptide. It had been a fun evening but right now my head was hurting. Hangovers sucked but at least I knew a few things to help them pass, though I lacked any kind of juice or bacon at the moment. Water and something cool to press against my head would have to do. As such, I used my magic to hold the two mares in place while I extracted myself from their loving embrace, replacing the gap with a few pillows for the time being.

Upon entering the bathroom I softly shut the door behind me, letting the green, magical light of my horn be the only source of illumination. Only once the door was latched did I turn on the overhead light and stare into the mirror. I looked... okay. Tired as can be expected.

My once gently curving, spiraled horn now resembled a sharply curved spire, lacking in any spirals. I gently traced a hoof along with it and sadly felt no minute details left off the old spirals.

With a shake of my head, I turned my attention back to the hangover. Opening the tap, I began to drink greedily from the cold water, radiation warnings blinking red in my vision as I did. Not that it mattered, I had accepted the mutation by now. Thinking about it once more, I probably could just remove any negative effects from chems and alcohol by ingesting enough radiation.

This left me feeling a bit off at the thought that I had a method to bypass paying the price for fun times. It also made me realize why ghouls never really cared for chems; given how they regenerated from radiation, they probably did the same for the ‘damage’ from the ‘poison’ of chems.

Even caffeine, which made me realize just how shit being a ghoul was. You probably had to ingest so much more to feel anything.

I shook my head again and focused on just treating myself.

With a stomach full of irradiated water, that likely required boiling for safe drinking, I sat down against the tub and turned the light out. In the darkness, with the chill of the water radiating through my core and my head against the cool ceramic, I finally felt some relief start to kick in.

-=O=-

The sound of the door unlatching woke me, my instincts kicking in and I scrambled to defend myself. Then I saw Sil’s brown muzzle in the muted glow of my horn light and relaxed, letting my magic flow to brighten the room for her.

“That’s where you went. Is everything okay?” She asked, slowly approaching me.

A glance at the Pipbuck clock showed that it had been around four hours since we had come up here, and another two since I slipped into the bathroom to tend to my hangover.

“Just came in here to get some relief from my hangover,” I admitted.

“So no existential dread, philosophical suffering, or other similar things?” She asked, stepping in to gently brush my mane.

Before I answered her, I shut the door to keep our conversation a bit more muted. “I mean there is a part of me that questions who I am when I look in the mirror now.”

Sil nodded then laid down against me, letting me hold her tight. “It’s not just the curved horn is it?”

“That’s the tip of the iceberg as they say.” I sighed.

“Accidental or intentional pun?”

I wanted to facehoof when she pointed the pun out. “Accidental.” I groaned. “But yeah, the mutation, the horn, the new scars.”

“Feeling like you’re losing yourself?” She asked, giving my chest a nuzzle.

“Yeah, something like that. I still see part of myself in the mirror but my mind keeps focusing on the new things, the changes the world is doing to me.”

Sil just held me as I did the same. There wasn’t much to say but just the act of confessing my discontent was enough for me.

“Just remember, you will continue to be you.” She whispered finally. “You’ll be you until you choose to stop caring.”

She was right. I wasn’t the filly running around the belly of Saint Clover having kicked the head of the Guard in the nuts anymore, nor was I the guard pony protecting our home. I was out here with her, Riptide, Winter, and Ocean. Who I was, what I was, wasn't some static thing. It was what I brought with me and caring about what I brought with me.

“Well one thing has always been true, I care about you,” I said as I nuzzled her neck. “And I always have. Maybe not in the way I do now but you’ve always been there for me and I will always be here for you.”

Sil hugged me tighter as we lay there in the mercifully quiet darkness.

-=O=-

Morning arrived, as the good morning alarm from my Pipbuck Zero annoyingly reminded me. The darkness of the bathroom made it near impossible to tell what time of day it was without the damn piece of arcanotech. When I opened my eyes, I saw a cartoonish image of a pony that looked weirdly like myself stretching and being cheerful.

It annoyed me for some reason how the clock now showed the relative positions of the sun and moon for the time of day. How the fuck it knew that I would never know. It even had the lunar phase denoted. Not that I had a way to check that given the cloud cover.

Riptide suddenly opened the door, blinking in confusion at Sil and I snuggling on the cool tile floor, my head firmly pinned between Sil’s and the side of the tub.

“That’s where you two went off to.” She yawned. “Get in the tub.”

Sil was still half asleep as I dragged her and myself into the oversized tub, which was more on par with a hot tub.

“Huh, what’s going on-” Sil started to ask but was interrupted by me kissing her as Riptide filled the tub.

“We’re going to get clean now,” Riptide explained. “Well, okay clean is secondary. Let’s just relax first before then.”

The toothy grin Riptide gave us made me question ever letting her between my legs but the way it was making me feel made me question what I found attractive. Regardless, we had a few hours if not days to relax, which we desperately needed.

And ‘relax’ we did. Thank the Sisters that the town was more than happy to keep us well-fed while we waited for the rest of our caravan to be ready to head out again.

“So, time for another round?” Sil cooed as she rested sandwiched between Riptide and myself.

Riptide grinned at me again and I lit my horn, making both of them moan. Riptide’s horn glowed with her golden magic in response, leading to yet another round of our favorite activity: making one another feel good.

Stars above, I love magic.

Chapter 17 - Hoofview

“The Five is the lifeblood of Cascadia. Without it, well, what little ponies out here would be far worse off.”

Interview of a caravaneer on the Five.

Another two days went by before we left Four Corners. In the meantime, the Hydra hadn’t shown any of its heads ever since I bombed it. Anyone I talked to about it said it was dead and I accepted their assessment as I wasn’t a regular monster slayer. Plus if anyone knew when a hydra was dead, dead it would be those who have spent their lives living in its shadow.

Back at the carriage, Crash and his partner had just finished loading a certain steel coffin.

“Listen, you two can keep looking into that... Thing.” I explained to the two. “However, I want to see it as little as possible. It fucks with something deep in my mind.”

“We understand and we didn’t get much out of it hence why we’re shipping it to the University.” Care sighed. “The testing we did came up… inconclusive. We know it’s not a changeling at least.”

“In less gloomy news, take this with you, Moonlight.” Care went on, pulling out a notebook. “It’s a copy of our notes on all of you and… It. You should have a copy. Maybe you’ll eventually want to read it.”

I took the notebook into my magic and regarded it for a moment. It held not just that thing’s medical information but also Riptide’s and mine along with our mutations. It struck me that it also gave me a baseline for Sil so I could keep an eye out for mutations or any sicknesses.

All in all, it would make treating us easier. I would want to hold onto this for documentation in case anything happened to us or changed us within or without.

“Thank you, I might be able to read it in a while,” I said as I tucked the notebook away in my saddlebag. “I’m just glad Ocean had already put that thing down before I showed up.”

“We understand. It was an extremely strange entity and an extremely strange situation; we didn’t get much out of it.” Crash said. “It is an interesting topic and that’s where we’ll leave it.”

“I can imagine. If I was in your horseshoes I’d be intrigued as well. Just, being so close to the situation was more of a horrifying experience.” I admitted with a shudder. Curiosity remained but my horror would curb its influence.

“Entirely understandable.” Care replied. “Anything more we can do for you before you leave?”

Nothing came to mind.

For the moment I didn’t really anticipate any more trouble. At most, I was expecting someone asking for a toll at gunpoint but there weren’t any rough and tumble hoof-to-hoof fights, big shootouts, or monsters to contend with.

As it was, I was thanking the Stars and Princesses that small miracles did happen in the wasteland. One of which happened to be the fact that the stagecoach hadn’t been damaged in all the conflict; no mortar hits, no vipers had tried to nest in it and nothing was stolen in the ruckus.

Everyone was also healed up, mostly. Enough to travel at least and after yesterday’s check-up with Sil, I was ready to get going. Four Corners had been nice but our stay had been longer than desired and now with things calmed down it was time to move on.

“There you three are,” Ruby said in a tired but cheerful voice as we approached. “Everything is loaded but you lot. Unfortunately, Winter and Ocean beat you here so, Sil and Moonlight, you both are going to be up top with the box.”

I let out a groan of frustration. “Well, at least everything will soon be loaded. Come on Sil, let’s get up top.”

“Try to not think about it,” Ruby said as she caught my gaze. “It’s just going to eat at you. Instead, think about how much good you did here in just a couple of days. Imagine the cap’s you’ll be swimmin’ in if you take up some contracts and pull off repeat performances up in Dockland.”

“You five managed to do a whole heck of good in no time.” She went on, smiling. “Heck, the way I hear it you, Moonlight, were a one pony wreckin’ crew.”

I frowned and shook my mane. Whatever had happened here had mostly run on its course. I had just given it a helping hoof. There was no doubt in my mind that the same result would have come to pass with or without me. The numbers would’ve just been different. One stone dropped into a raging current makes very little difference after all.

Regardless of how I felt about our actions, we had become something of local heroes, at least in the locals’ perception. In that regard, I realized we were beginning to shape up like how Buckshot and his group did; an exceptional group of friends who could do the impossible as far as many were concerned.

The reality of it, as I had experienced when I had worked alongside Buckshot and the others, was that good planning and a lot of skill did the heavy lifting.

Maybe I was just being humble but I knew that without the townsfolk or my friends, I couldn’t have pulled it off. Maybe I could have gotten past the raiders to assassinate their leader but without fire support from the walls, I would have probably been in a far more sorry condition after.

I had taken him down regardless without backup but then there was the matter of rallying the remainder of the former raiders. Without their unorthodox support, the town might have fared much worse.

We had played a pivotal role in protecting the town certainly but even so, I was under no delusion that someone else wouldn’t have stepped up and done the same without us.

Of course, I could never really sit by when there was work to be done. The only way I could ever be certain something was done right was to do it myself. Someone else might have gotten it wrong. Or I would have to live with I got someone hurt by not doing it myself.

“Well, it would be nice to get some more caps. It’ll make staying the winter in Dockland a lot easier,” I giggled as I helped Riptide into the stagecoach.

Our non-essential luggage, including all my reading materials, went in with those three. Not like I could do any reading while up on the roof of the coach. Once that was done, I hopped halfway up the coach and bounced off of a telekinetic sheet. Sil meanwhile pouted until I lifted her and set her down beside myself.

The two of us did our damndest to ignore the pony-sized metal box closed shut with straps and locks.

“You must be used to taking fewer passengers at a time,” Sil commented.

“Yeah, but we make do,” Dusk replied. “Keep yourselves lying down and you’ll be fine.”

I sighed as Sil and I lay on top of the stagecoach together. It was less comfortable than inside the cabin but at least we weren’t walking out in the open. We had some cover and could focus on keeping an eye out for threats while the pullers kept us moving.

We were on our way again, finally.

As the stagecoach rolled down the streets I was able to get a good view of the repairs being done to the walls. A new secondary wall and trench were also being built by very busy crews of workers.

Other crews were working on hauling the severed, still unrotting hydra heads. One of the heads we passed even had the end of its neck healed over with scales though it wasn’t moving. I guessed it was just dormant without the rest of its cardiovascular system.

At least I hoped it was for the sake of Four Corners or they were going to have a massive hungry snake on their hooves. Ugh, snakes... At least it isn’t my problem now.

Half an hour later Four Corners was behind us.

-=O=-

We would be stopping in some place named Hoofview that was along the Five right after it crossed the Willmanemette. I gazed to the east as we rolled north and saw Mount Hoof rising to the northeast; its foothills covered in green, its peak white with snow before the clouds cut it off.

It was different from what I was used to. On the coast, we had no mountains that tall. It just seemed to rise in such a contrast to the rest of the range.

Further to the north, I saw what looked to be a smaller mountain. Its name eluded me but it was certainly flatter. I leaned back and saw a few more peaks clustered together to the southeast and two more even further south, their peaks shrouded in clouds.

To a degree, the world was recovering. It was just society that was lagging behind. I didn’t know why but that wasn’t my problem, at least not today.

For now, there was one objective: get to Dockland. From there? Keep my friends alive while we get them back to their families. After that? Honestly, I just wanted to keep things going wherever we ended up living, be it back home or somewhere else.

Fixing the world was for someone else. Protecting my friends and family was all that I could do right now. Even if I wanted to do more there wasn’t any real place to start at the moment so no point in worrying about it beyond a mental exercise.

Fixing Equestria, let alone the world was a job far bigger than one pony or her four friends.

What gave me solace was the thought that, with time, Equestria would recover as we found ways to work around what was left as the ponies we’ve run across were already doing. In a way things were coasting from the inertia of the Last Day, ponies afraid to branch out from their little prepper communes for anything more than trading the essentials. Eventually, you’d run out of leftovers to pick through and begin cultivating and innovating once again.

Isolated survival was impossible to sustain after all, which was the case even before Equestria existed with three desperate tribes having to turn to one another to survive, their infighting bringing forth Windigoes.

Though that always made me wonder, given how shitty the situation was now, where the fuck the Windigoes were? Did ponies defeat them for good in the past? Or were those spirits shattered and new spirits of strife started to form to replace them? If so, that would explain a lot about the weird weather that rolled through from time to time. It couldn’t all be rogue clouds and the Enclave above causing it.

Farmland returned and the city fell away as the coach continued to roll further north, signs of life returning as well. Sil pushed herself against me to stay warm, respecting my silent thinking as she kept an eye out to our west.

The untamed crops rustled in the wind, ancient trees and husks of their burned-out ancestors bowed together. There was new life growing out here, away from the ruins of the cities. The scene was calming to watch as each thicket of trees passed by, the long grass blowing in the breeze.

Despite this, as the carriage kept its even pace between overpasses and small towns, I was already mentally preparing for the worst but also praying for the best.

After the shattering of the raiders under Venture, I figured many of the stragglers had been dislodging, absorbing, and fighting other smaller ne'er-do-wells. There simply was no other place for those ponies to go but north towards Dockland, Seaddle, Vanhoover, or push east out through the Dulls. The south was already getting too cold to transit to warmer places like the valleys of Applewood.

I shook my mane and looked back towards the west, towards the Seamane Range.

Towards home.

My thoughts turned to how things were going back home. There was little doubt in my mind that things were going well for them. With those weird ritualistic raiders routed and outposts established for the early warning, it would be difficult for such a siege to happen again. Regardless, I knew there was likely a good deal of mourning and grieving after we left, for those who had died in the battle or shortly after from injuries. No matter how well-fought a battle is, there are always casualties. Something we all learned unfortunately at a far too young of an age.

My thoughts drifted back to Winterwatch and Ocean Spray. How had their absences been felt? I knew how my family felt about me leaving but those two still had a bit of family remaining on the ship. I wondered what the watch commanders would be doing to fill the gaps in guard duty due to casualties and having sent us off. Well, I would get to ask when I got back.

If.

A shudder ran through me at the memories of how many times I had gotten badly hurt so far in this short trip. How easy it would’ve been for me to have met my end already. Part of me struggled to push the morbid thoughts out of my head while the rest of me knew I had to process them to stay sane. Let them flow through me, and address them. Suppressing feelings had only ever gotten me hurt in the long run.

At the same time, I also knew when to squash such thoughts, when there was work to be done. Right now I had no task on hoof, no plans to make or enact. So instead my mind had only one task to do, process how close my tale had come to an end.

Mentally I swallowed that bitter pill. If I make it back home.

At the same time, I focused on what Sil and Riptide had talked to me about; how I was neither suicidal nor doing things out of the desire of pain-induced penance for some mistake made recently or long ago. Nor were my actions fueled by the need for adrenaline.

That willingness to toss myself into harm’s way was trained, not natural. I’ve seen it with others in the past; the fear many of my kind have towards violence, towards pain, towards death. Things that I had been taught to unlearn because when you are protecting others there is no space to fret about your own life. Duty was to protect others, not yourself but you were protected through the duty of others to protect you so it usually worked out.

Hours into our cart ride, Sil had come up with other ideas than introspection for how we would spend our time going north. Primarily sleeping and with me as a pillow, a bump caused her weight to shift and make her slump gently against my left side. Given the box containing don’t think about it was securely strapped down to my right, I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

This was unfortunate because the coach had slowed down a bit, having to be pulled around long-abandoned carriages on the Five. One would’ve thought somepony would’ve cleared them by now.

They would have if it was safe. Or…

Nothing happened for the next half hour as I waited with great anticipation to be shot at, maybe even an explosion or the sounds of some horrible beasts assaulting us. Perhaps I was getting used to this interior wasteland nonsense with the growing paranoia.

… Or nopony was around because sitting out in the cold waiting for a caravan to come up the Five for your scrap sucks as an occupation. Caravans probably never bothered either due to how dangerous of a position it is. Talk about a convergence of nopony giving a shit.

To disarm the tension within myself I let out a sigh. Like, sure it was a good thing to be paranoid but Ruby would have told us to be on alert if it was that dangerous; this wasn’t her first trip through here.

Come on, Moony you’re just overthinking, again. Just relax, and enjoy riding in safety while having a cute mare sleeping with her head on your shoulder. Even if she’s drooling and talking in a language you can’t fully understand.

Wait, talking? My right ear flicked and twitched as I tried to parse what Sil was saying in her sleep. I gave up after a bit realizing it was her tribe’s tongue and as such I could only understand one out of three words, though those I could understand were making me go between confused and distracted. That reminded me that at some point during winter, I had wanted to have Sil teach me more of her tribe’s tongue. More so now given we were dating instead of just being best friends and neighbors.

What did those old trashy romance novels say? The filly next door? And I always thought myself to be said filly to some handsome stallion but look at where I am now; I’ve got two mares deeply in love with me. Guess I really was the filly next door but for some very cute mares instead of a strapping stallion. Then again… I guess Winter fulfilled the stallion role. It’s just that things didn’t work out in the sequel to that story and now I’m with mares. I wonder how scandalous that would have been in old Equestria.

My thoughts focused on the situation at hoof with my lovers. It was going to be a while until I saw Majar again and had to go through whatever trials of possession he’d have me do for his only daughter’s hoof. And then there was Riptide. I was going to see what remained of her family soon and that was mildly terrifying.

I’m going to be seeing Riptide’s extended family for the first time and I’m her mate now. Oh Sisters, help me... Cadence if you are watching please give me strength for handling inlaws. And during their time of mourning too. Well if there is ever a time to meet and show I’m here as someone who cares and isn’t using the situation for easy sex…

At least she had gotten to meet mine already. My family, upon meeting her, seemed to already know that we would fall in love and be lovey-dovey partners. Then again maybe that was just familial teasing. I hung my head.

My family knows me pretty well but there was no way they could have known I would fall in love with Riptide. I mean that’s just silly, right? Did they know that I was going to fall for Sil someday? That Sil was pining for me all this time? Fuck. How out of the loop was I to the feelings of those around me?

I just sighed as the coach bounced again.

This was going to be an interesting couple of days. I think when we made it to Hoofview I would talk to Riptide about what I could expect from her family. Surely her parents had said something to her about them. Okay, I was nervous about this whole meeting with Riptide's family. Why couldn’t I have followed the simple rule of bodyguard details and not become involved with my client?

That just made me sigh again. Not wanting to wake Sil up nor worry those driving the coach, I decided not to vocalize my frustrations. I felt like a fool but why shouldn’t I? I had been a bit of a fool, and that was fine. I just needed to deal with the consequences as they came up.

Was that how I was viewing this, consequences for hooking up with Riptide? For falling for her? That wasn't the right way to think about the situation or her.

I gave my mane one last shake before leaning my head against Sil’s. I needed to get my headspace sorted and thankfully I could rely on those around me to support me.

As we traveled north the land turned ever greener, contrasting with all the browns and yellows along the way. I even heard birds for the first time since we left the coastal range. I hadn’t noticed how quiet the towns were and devoid of wildlife that wasn’t horrifically twisted by radiation or taint.

Crows were the most common bird that I saw. Smart buggers, a bit bigger than my pre-war books said they should be but radiation and taint could account for that. That or their food sources were possibly bigger now.

I let the sounds of various birdsong fill my ears, hoping they would help me to clear my head.

-=O=-

At some point, I had fallen asleep and was rudely awoken by a bright light cast onto the stagecoach from a watchtower. I shook my head roughly, blinking away the blurry vision and letting out a groan as I heard the door below us open up.

Hearing hooves clattering out, I gently shook Sil awake.

“Looks like we got to Hoofview. Got some kind of checkpoint.” I muttered. Sil replied with a yawn.

Dusk motioned for us to get down from her side of the coach and we followed after her soon after. The guards looked over us and through the stagecoach. Thankfully they didn’t look in anything we had. It seemed they were more interested in finding someone over something.

Something must have happened recently if they’re looking for someone. Princesses, please don’t let whatever shows up delay us again. I’ve had enough of the delays.

Regardless, I just waited. There was no reason to make fellow security ponies stressed out. I knew how it was to be on the other side of this job after all. A few minutes later they finally finished tearing apart the vehicle for any stowaways.

“Sorry about that, we’ve had some issues with somepony sneaking in at night and stealing things.” The stallion said, turning off the flashlight on his helmet. “We didn’t intend to dump you on the street. This has just been going on for a month.”

“It’s fine,” Riptide groaned. “It’s just been a long week for me.”

I trotted over. “Fellow guard pony here, just a bit away from home.” I started. “What have they been taking?”

“Food and fresh water, a few bits of junk too. Thankfully it isn’t drugs.” Flashlight stallion replied, then nodded to the mare with him, a unicorn with a baton on her. “Regardless they leave no tracks which are driving us up the walls. Thankfully they don't seem to bother caravans. Guess they know that if they hit traders then the town would wither. Or they’d get a bigger bounty on their head.”

I nodded.

The thief was smart and they were taking more than just food and water. Not chems so it wasn’t medical in nature or an addiction. Instead, they were stealing items of some minor interest. How… strange.

I couldn’t put my hoof on what it meant. I felt the conclusion was on the tip of my horn.

“I bet it’s a pegasus,” Baton mare said after helping Riptide up into the coach. I didn’t need any empathic special abilities to feel the anger flowing from her.

“Why do you say a pegasus? There’s like what three in the wastes that aren’t ghouls? Rest are above the clouds if they didn’t all die from the rising ash getting stuck in their precious clouds.” I spat. “What about a gryphon? Wouldn’t that make more sense? You know, they can fly and have those dextrous claws.”

“Maybe, but no gryphons out this side of the Columbmane,” Baton replied. “Most are northwest and the other side of the river, hence the idea of a pegasus, or one of them bat ponies.”

I shook my mane. They were right where the closest communities were of gryphons.

Batponies? Nopony had heard from them since they had their first above-ground colony in centuries sacked in the war. Well that was what I knew anyway and as I’ve come to learn my information is hardly reliable anymore.

Collecting my thoughts I replied. “Well, we’re here for the evening before going up to Dockland.”

“You mean Portlandia.” Flashlight interjected. I just looked at him confused.

“Er, what? I thought it was Dockland. At least, well, it's where she wants to go.” I explained nodding to Riptide. “I know that part is named Dockland due to all the, you know, docks.”

“Oh, right.” Flashlight said. “Well keep safe going near the docks, I heard there was some big dust-up recently on the west side along the river. Some folks tried to cross the river and other ponies didn’t take kindly to it.”

Oh joy, nothing is ever simple with this fucking trip.

“Sounds like this winter is going to be a fun one,” I replied.

“Staying for the winter in the city?” Baton asked, waving Ruby forward as another pair of guard ponies opened the gate for us.

“Yeah, no point in trying to catch a boat back to Saint Clover,” I replied as we walked in with Flashlight and Baton. “No fucking boats running this late in the year and not going to pay the rates for an emergency run.”

“Ah, well then Pioneer Square is your best bet, University is a bit south of it, you’ll cut through it on the way up.” Baton started explaining as we passed through the gate into what remained of Hoofview. “Pearl District is pretty safe though, that’s the area around Pioneer. The east side is still pretty fucked but there are a few safe places that have been taken back.”

“It's still pretty hot out there. We didn’t get knackered like some of the bigger regions but those bombs still left their craters hot. I swear they weren’t just big bombs but a curse on our lands, which would fit with everything else the ghouls talk about.” The mare went on. “Still surprised Pearl District didn’t get wiped out given all the ministry buildings. The industrial part of town got a near miss too; hit the hills above instead, the rads over yonder make it dangerous scavin’.”

Behind us, I heard the gate close with a loud clatter.

“Unless you’re doing mercenary work, probably just stay in the Pearl.” Flashlight piped up. “Lots of ponies out there willing to snatch up any ponies wandering about.” He then nods his head at the coach before looking back at me. “Though you two are lucky, being Unicorns and all. Won’t get much bothered by the Family, a bunch of Unicorn supremacists. Just don’t believe what they say.”

I frowned, I knew who the Family were from prior experience, but I didn’t know they had made it into Dockland.

“Well, that’s pretty easy to do, seeing as plenty of Earth ponies are smarter, stronger, and better in other ways than Unicorns,” I said with a laugh and a shake of my mane. “All I have over an earth pony is I can directly do magic but ponies can, you know, target it. They always aim for my horn from experience.”

“Anyways, it also helps that my dad raised me to think and work like an Earth pony first, then use magic to augment my actions.” I went on, giggling. “Sometimes I forget I even have a horn, well, when I was growing up at least. I’m learning to use it more often.”

“Then he raised you right.” Flashlight smiled before waving a hoof at the small compound amongst the ruins. “Alright, you lot are going to be sleeping here. Food is just a bit further up the street.”

“Thanks. We’ll get ourselves set up and grab something to eat. Hope things stay quiet tonight.” I thanked Flashlight and Baton with a nod. They returned it and soon returned to their post, leaving us to move further into town.

What remained of the pre-war town was quaint. There were a few two and three-story buildings but most of the town was residential as was expected, including a strip mall of convenience stores. It had been a decent-sized town but nothing special even before the War. The local supermarket had its roof collapse at some point which explained why the town wasn’t set up there.

Instead, ponies had set themselves up post-war a good quarter mile away from the overpass of the Five at an intersection. There looked to have been a multitude of restaurants, pharmacies, convenience stores, and other small shops pre-war, with a hotel to the north and regular houses further west behind walls of skywagons, carriages, and rubble.

It had its charm, I admitted to myself. It was rather open to the air but many trees still retained their lush greenery, though the scattered deciduous trees that weren’t already barren still retained their orange leaves at this point. Given the number of leaf piles around town, it was easy to tell they were alive.

While none of the street lamps were lit up, there were strings of small electrical lights hung from post to post in places out of view of the Five. The town had likely learned not to be a brightly lit beacon from the most obvious attack vector. I shook my mane, trying not to overanalyze the nice town and see how these ponies had adjusted to the disharmony of the wasteland.

Enjoy the tranquility while it lasts, Moony.

The whole town had a vibe that it had seen less struggle. I felt this with the way the ponies here walked, how they looked around and talked to one another. In Wayhill, Four Corners, even back home there was a level of guardedness from years of struggle. Here? Here it felt almost uncomfortably relaxed as if things had sailed relatively smoothly for them. Even the way the homes were set up told how different things were here in Hoofview from the prior towns I had been to.

There was politeness, kindness, warmth, more than just the oppressive grey that seemed to fill every other town. It was a spark of Equestria that had survived the war, the bombs, and the horrors after it.

It honestly made my heart ache.

I wished Saint Clover had been so warm and happy. It had been warmer than the survivalist nature of Four Corners or the -- well I hadn’t paid much attention to Wayhill, but the place was a fortress against both the elements and the wasteland. The Wayhill University campus inside of the wall, while alive, was just that; it hadn’t felt like it was thriving, not like this.

Here I saw not just ponies but goats, sheep, cows, and even their mutated cousins known as brahmin for some strange reason. Looking around I even saw a yak and pony couple. Neither gryphons, pegasi, bat ponies nor the more mythical creatures that had only been spoken of like Kirin or Deer. Regardless, this was still the largest spread of species I had seen in a good while, some of whom even helpfully set out to help us set up our temporary encampment for the night.

-=O=-

Riptide approached Sil and me after we had helped set up the camp for the rest. “Your dad raised you like an earth pony?”

“Yeah, though not just him. Majar, Sil’s dad, did as well.” I replied as I busied myself with setting up our tent. “My dad, if you didn’t notice, likes to wear a hat to hide his horn. It’s due to a bad experience of ponies trying to break it off when he was a colt so he learned how to live without magic after that.”

“Yeah, and my dad found it amusing when they first met,” Sil added. “Both of them got in a verbal sparring match over buying goods, for the same group. But when things got heated and they both explained who they were trying to help they laughed at the whole situation and agreed to work together instead.”

She giggled and then went on. “They ended up doing more and more work together. Moony’s dad didn’t have any direction at the time so he ended up living with my mom’s tribe for a while. Honestly, it’s lucky that Moony isn’t half-zebra.” Sil teased.

I snorted as I set down our sleeping bags. “Pfft, I mean with how our dads taught us how to fight I might as well be. Just paint some stripes on me.” I laughed.

“You two really are sisters.” Riptide shook her head, laughing with me.

“I guess, though, things between Sil and I have always been different from that of my brother and I.” I snorted. “Of course, I don’t have a sister so I can’t rule out that, that’s how sisters act.”

“And yet you know the filly next door and her lover’s act.” Sil pointed out teasingly.

I bit my tongue to not answer. I must have made a face anyway because Sil stifled a giggle as she stared at me expectantly.

Luckily our stomachs growled at us, reminding us of how little we had eaten today and giving us a way out.

Getting food was easy but this time there wasn’t just a town canteen like I had expected, which made sense since this place hadn’t been run by former members of the military at its founding. Instead, there were three competing restaurants for us to choose from, which honestly baffled me as this was just at one street corner.

This town was smaller than Four Corners, maybe four or five square blocks, and yet there was so much variety. It must have gotten to me more than I thought given Riptide looked at me with a worried expression before brushing my cheek with a hoof.

“You’re crying, are you okay, hun?” Riptide asked. Her eyes looked so pretty and inviting now that I felt the gloom of the wasteland lifted for once.

“I think it might be how alien this place is,” Sil replied, her voice betraying how she felt a bit uneasy with how different the town was.

“It’s just so beautiful,” I replied with a sniffle. “I’m just so used to so much less that it hurts.”

Riptide hugged me as I sat on my haunches and let myself cry a bit into her mane. It was best to just let the feelings roll out. These were not emotions worth tucking away to process later. These didn’t put me in danger or scare me. They were good, healthy emotions, happy emotions. It felt good to let them out.

“I hope you didn’t wipe your nose in my mane.” Riptide teased as we finally ended the embrace.

“No, sorry, it was just overwhelming after everything,” I replied as I sniffled a bit, using my magic to wipe away the tears. “To see something so… wholesome, so unphased by the wasteland.”

“Yeah, it’s a bit… overwhelming.” Sil agreed.

“So about dinner: spicy, plain but healthy, or mystery?” Riptide asked, pointing to each of the three buildings she did.

One was a pre-war Pinto Burro, its mascot now sporting a distinct difference of wasteland wear. The next was a plain-looking building with a sign labeling it as Veggie Grille. The last one was Pony Joe’s. The O’s on the Pony Joe’s made me think of doughnuts.

I looked at the three options as my stomach rumbled and thought about when and what I had last eaten. Finally, I mentally said fuck it and started for the Pony Joe’s. We had skipped lunch and instead fell asleep two hours into the trip. Now it was late, the Pinto Burro looked dark, and the Veggie Grille looked mostly empty and might be about to close. Meanwhile, the Pony Joe’s looked reasonably busy.

Well busy for a small town of Sisters knew how many folks. Enough for small raiders to not try to mess with them at least.

“Mystery it is.” Sil giggled.

“So it is. Dusk said you two slept the whole trip, so maybe make up for lost calories?” Riptide stated.

“Yeah, we did, and probably.” Sil giggled back. “I can hear her stomach from here.”

“So that’s what that was.” Riptide mused.

I let out a groan as I trotted further ahead of the two and entered Pony Joe’s.

Upon entering Pony Joe’s I was greeted with the all too familiar smell of coffee. Coffee had overwhelmingly been the drink of choice in the guard. Personally, I never could handle that much caffeine. One time I had it I started hearing and seeing things. After that signs were put up warning others to never let me have black coffee again.

Frankly, I agreed with them. I had ended up nearly defenestrating the lead of the Nightwatch at one point. At another I froze two fellow patrol ponies to the ceiling by their boots; thankfully they didn’t get frostbite. Nightwatch had not been pleased, to say the least. I couldn’t remember the rest but I did wake up the next day strapped down in a medical bed.

At least I knew I could have alcohol and so I was encouraged to drink that instead as it helped me mellow out and loosen my lips. Not that I was the strong silent type. Instead, I tended to just not talk much unless I had something to share at which point I wouldn’t shut up. Drunk me also found things far too funny and was willing to jump into talking with new social groups.

The sign on the pay stall said to seat ourselves so Riptide guided us to a nice corner booth where the circular seat allowed us to sit together without it looking like we were waiting for somepony else to show up.

Pony Joe's menu was, unsurprisingly, very pastry-based and coffee-focused. I fiddled with my bag and counted out caps as I figured out what I wanted to order.

A green earth pony mare rolled up to us on roller skates. “Evening fillies, what can I get for you?”

“Coffee, black, and an assorted dozen doughnuts.” Riptide answered as she folded her menu and slid it over to ‘Skates’.
.
“For you, ashen?” Skates then asked, looking at me after scribbling down Riptide’s order.

“I’ll go for some milk, a dozen powdered holes, and two maple bars,” I said, sliding the menu over as well. Given they had milk, the town either had a cache of powdered milk or were good friends with cows. I mused that the latter was more likely given the cows I saw earlier.

“And.” Our server started, looking over at Sil. “What will our Zebra cake have?”

Well, for a moment I was worried there but I’ll take a pastry joke. Of course, I then totally missed what Sil had ordered due to the intrusive thought.

“Alright, we’ll have that out in a few for you mares,” Skates said before she headed off with our menus, scooping them up with her tail.

“Okay, I’ve seen Earth ponies grab stuff with their hooves but I thought dextrous tails were like a gryphon thing,” I pondered, watching Skates go with bemusement.

“Powdered holes? Here I thought you preferred them wet.” Riptide whispered suddenly into my ear, ignoring what I said and intent on turning my face bright red.

I swore I could have smelled smoke.

“Wow, I didn’t think it would be that easy to turn you that shade.” She giggled. “I guess it really is easier to do it out of the left field.”

“Oh, that’s a shade I haven’t seen in a while.” Sil joined in on the teasing. “I think I last saw that when I first caught her and Winter.”

“Oh, you’re going to have to share stories.” Riptide purred.

I was caught between the two conniving mares who were plotting my death by self-immolation sparked by embarrassment.

“I swear upon the Stars, when we get to Dockland and have some time alone I am going to make the two of you the brightest shade of red that a pony can turn. And then.” I hissed. “Then I am going to make certain you can’t sit for a week.”

Riptide paused and regarded me for a minute before giving me a sly smile. “You’re on.”

Oh merciful Sisters, what is she?

“Moony, you know better than to swear upon the Stars.” Sil huffed, then giggled. “Sounds like fun,” she added, both of them smirking at me before kissing me on either side of my muzzle.

This is getting out of hoof. Now there are two of them?! I’m doomed.

The situation had to be stopped before it devolved any further. They had to be stopped before I achieved a criticality of embarrassment and burned right through the seat.

Thus I did the only thing I could think of. With a deftness trained over years of swift hoof-to-hoof training against my fellow guards, I booped both of the giggling mares on their cute noses.

Riptide gave me a confused look in return then snickered. Sil on the other claw just went cross-eyed and stuck out her tongue at me. With the situation disarmed due to strategically timed and placed nose boops, we leaned against one another and relaxed listening to the DJ Pon3 station play.

I had expected to be served resurrected pre-war doughnuts. Instead, these were, while probably baked in the middle of the day given the toughness, relatively fresh. It was a nice break from two-hundred-year-old snack cakes.

Riptide had an interesting reaction to the coffee a few minutes after she had her first sip. I felt her tense up next to me and, looking over her, seemed to be regarding everything around her once again. Maybe I should have intervened by not letting her have coffee this late at night.

Her eyes suddenly met mine and I saw that they were narrower than before, more slits than pinpricks. I found myself stuck looking into them. There was a muffled thud of the doughnut hole I was grabbing falling back to its brethren as my magic lapsed and I felt the world shrink around me. I felt like I had been dropped onto the ocean bottom, the weight of the water around me crushing the air out of my lungs as darkness blanketed everything but Riptide’s bright, yellow eyes. Things swam in my vision that I couldn’t recognize.

Then with a shiver, it was all over and Riptide looked away with a blush on her face as she went back to having her coffee and pastries. I closed my eyes and slowly took one deep breath after another. This continued for several minutes until I realized I hadn’t felt my heart racing, quite the opposite; my heart was barely beating.

I opened my eyes to see my EFS filled with medical alerts and warnings about my cardiovascular system. My heart had apparently stopped and I was pinged dead for a few seconds. That… probably wasn't a good thing for my overall health. I thought for a second about using my magic but decided against it, instead opting to use my hooves to eat.

I knew one thing with certainty: I didn't trust my magic when I was in an unfamiliar mental situation, and oh Sisters I was in one now.

Riptide finished before I did and I shared some of my holes with her without a word as I shifted to the maple bars. Sil for her part ate something reasonably healthy: haycakes with some eggs and a cinnamon roll. Nopony could escape the grasp of pastries here.

While I was certain I was overdosing on sugar for the next month it was worthwhile. I mean by the stars, it’s a wasteland, unless you have a town that you know you’re going to be living in you have no way of knowing you’re going to make it the next hour, why not enjoy myself?

“Hey, Sil? Here are the caps for our meal. Could you go up and pay for it? I’m going to go use the little filly’s room before we go back to Ruby and the rest.” I said after finishing my share of the meal. Sil nodded and got up with the caps I had sorted out to pay for the meal, with a little more if a tip was required. I had no idea if post-war interior ponies had kept that stupid custom alive or not.

As I trotted past a table I saw a few ponies playing what appeared to be poker. The dealer shifted his head as I was moving past them. “Care to join?” He asked me.

“I don’t really do cards,” I replied, waving him off.

My eyes were still blurry, most likely from whatever happened with Riptide as I couldn’t make out the features of those at the table. One was brown, the other was white with a red and black mane. They had enough players that I didn’t need to join in to avoid a guilt trip. I heard an indecipherable noise of either confusion or amusement at my refusal and I scoffed before proceeding to the restroom. It wasn’t like this was a casino. I came here to eat, not to play cards.

Once I locked myself inside, I stared into the mirror, looking deep into my own eyes as I got some water to run. I looked mostly fine, a little tired but fine. I closed my eyes as I put my face in the sink and splashed hooffuls of water over my head, letting the water run through my mane and coat hoping to dispel whatever was hanging over me.

When I looked in the mirror again, I appeared just as exhausted. The water hadn’t helped and if anything I looked worse which made me wince.

I could see all of the new scars on my muzzle. My horn would never be the same, though my magic was coming back to full strength without much delay. I had made it out pretty lucky. I hadn’t gotten any new barding so I was left bare to the wasteland and any more punishment it wished to deal out to me.

What punishment is waiting for you?

I paused. The voice hadn’t been vocal, but sounded like it was in my mind. Usually, I just thought to myself in my mind, good old internal monolog, but this was different. Quietly I looked around and saw nobody casting a spell, nor anyone in windows who could have cast one to explain the strange intrusive mental voice. It wasn’t the first time I had heard things in my life and I doubted it would be the last time I hallucinated. Given how my face looked, I was probably suffering from the effects of built-up exhaustion.

I just need to catch up on some rest. That’s all.

I left the restroom and saw that the poker game had broken up. The same, old stallion was there alone, shuffling a deck.

“How about I tell you your fortune?” The Dealer said with a toothy grin. “You seem to be traveling, maybe it will put your mind at ease. After all, you do look out of sorts and in need of some good news perhaps.”

I giggled a little and smiled at him. “Yeah, sure.” I humored him.

I didn’t have much stock put into cards predicting the future but then again everypony could do some kind of magic. Now that I was up close to the Dealer I could see he was a well-weathered and aged stallion. His worn, grey coat showed the number of trails he had been down. He kept his head down so I could only see his muzzle. The flare for being dramatic was alive and well within him.

“Are you familiar with Luna’s deck?” The dealer asked as he shuffled the deck again with his hooves and then had me cut it. Even without seeing my face, he knew I didn’t and went on. “Ah, an old tradition. One that was renamed after her fall and restored when she was. Each card frames a different thing, an outcome, an option, or an event. It can tell things that have happened or will happen and what you can do. We can also ask the cards questions if you wish, but, I will tell you now, wait for the explanations to be done before reacting.”

It was bullshit I decided. Maybe in the hooves of a Princess, it was a tool for divining the future but in the hooves of some buck? Well, at least he wasn’t asking for caps and was just trying to make me feel better so I wouldn’t be hard on him.

“So which do you wish to do? Ask a question or a general reading?” The dealer asked as the deck sat beside him.

We ask, but what? That’s a fair point. Let’s get a feel for what he’s doing with his cold reading.

“Let’s go with a general reading. Life has been chaotic as of late.” I answered.

The Dealer nodded and drew three cards face down. He flipped the three cards over. The first was the tower, then the moon, and finally the hermit. Drawn on the cards were characters I recognized from history; Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, and Luna reformed, all of which seemed to almost move. That didn’t seem right.

“The tower is reversed. It seems whatever is going on you should embrace whatever changes are happening to yourself.”

That was pretty broad. Annoyingly I can map it to my mutations.

“The moon is upright, and in the second position is telling you how to care for yourself in these times, by your intuition.”

Right, I was already doing that. I’m still not buying that this is accurate in any way.

“The hermit is upright and at the end, telling you when you are lost. Introspection is your guide for finding yourself in these times.”

Right, the moon and hermit were saying the same thing. How useful.

The Dealer looked at me, almost annoyed.

“Moony, you ready to go?” Riptide’s voice suddenly cut in.

I blinked and was staring back into the mirror in the restroom. A glance at the time readout in my EFS showed a few minutes had gone by. In the mirror, I saw a blurry-eyed mare staring back at me, and for a moment a toothy grin in the window that sat behind me. I spun around quickly but the grin was gone, as well as its bearer.

With a quick shake of my mane, I banished the whole thing as just another hallucination. Then, as I turned back to the mirror to straighten my mane, I saw the three cards. The Tower, The Moon, and The Hermit.

Well, that is not encouraging to see.

A feeling of being watched crept over me as I stowed the cards in a pouch and left the restroom.

“There you are, everything alright?” Riptide asked before giving me a nuzzle.

“Yeah, just a bit more out of it than I thought. Guess it’s time to get some sleep.” I deflected.

My eyes landed on the table that the Dealer had been at. It was vacant but as we trotted past I heard the shuffling of cards, sending a spike of anxiety through me.

Quest Perk Added: Unwelcome Oversight. Sometimes things do not rest well in the wasteland and reach out to touch the lives of those who still live. These things are best left alone. They may be good or bad but they often are unsafe, dangerous, and unhealthy.

Chapter 18 - Dockland

“Keep Dockland Weird? How much weirder does it need to be, it has two fricken names?!”

Disgruntled Dockland Resident

Anxiety had its teeth firmly planted on my throat. In the end, I only managed a few hours of sleep. While Riptide’s gaze freaked me out at first, I actually managed to sleep better cuddled up against her as the big spoon. Given Riptide had let out a large sigh when I rolled over to spoon her I got the feeling she hadn’t fallen asleep either. Sil had tried her best to be my big spoon but we were equal size so that didn’t work that well.

I didn’t sleep that many hours. My EFS helpfully reminded me of that fact every time I opened my eyes with a cute rendition of the sun and moon, small deformed versions of Luna and Celestia resting over the time readout.

Sisters help me, the diagram of the two as cute small ponies is really growing on me despite the fact that they were supposed to be super powerful alicorns that moved heaven and earth with their horns.

Growing up I had respected them for their power and their magical knowledge, and, for a short while, a spiritual reverence for them. Still, there was a desire to believe that the Sisters were out there watching over us but I doubted they interacted with us on any level.

Regardless of that, there were more mundane things that required my attention and were worthy of inspiring worry within me. Riptide’s family for example would probably be confused, distraught, and distraught at her arriving late and without her family; even though they’d more than likely celebrate the fact that she was even alive. As far as the ponies in Dockland knew, Riptide and her family had failed to arrive and were gone, lost to the wasteland as many others were.

Ugh, questions for the morning and the trip into the city. Oh Luna, of all the nights why couldn’t you give me your gentle embrace tonight?

I sighed. Maybe I just needed to bleed off all this excess energy or, more likely, it was the sudden shift in sleeping patterns from an evening pony on night patrol to a morning one. It wasn’t that hard for me to go entirely nocturnal all that long ago, which has definitely contributed to me being wide awake at three in the morning.

That and the pit of anxiety currently eating away at me: the fear of Riptide’s extended family hating me, or her, or just… us. Certain post-war ponies weren't so open with our sort of relationship, something I’d seen in prepper communities with their hard line on ‘keeping the family line going’ and all that crap.

Too many unknowns.

I wondered what it was like having an extended family. I had never met my father’s side of the family; he had left them long ago, leaving the heartland in search of greener pastures. Ended up going to a lot of places; Manehatten, Las Pegasus (well the ground part of it), Appleloosa, Baltimare, Vanhoover, and then worked his way back down the coast to Saint Clover. Somewhere in all that he had bumped into Majar and Sil’s mom and the rest is history.

As for my mom’s side of the family, I just never got to meet them. Mom had a large number of siblings growing up but, one by one, the wasteland took them along with her parents.

I gave another sigh and pushed my face into Riptide’s mane, trying to block out my EFS. All that did was tune out everything but the greenish EFS. I stopped myself from lashing out in frustration and instead took a long, deep breath, scenting the smell of the ocean in Riptide’s mane.

It struck me as silly that she still smelled of the ocean, after so many baths and showers, but maybe it was just ingrained into her. Still, it made me think of home, and that made some of the anxiety wash away, like a wave receding from the beach.

Home…

A pang of sadness reverberated through me at the thought that I wouldn’t be home for Hearth’s Warming but I hoped that I would have a new family to spend it with instead. Failing that, I still had Sil, Winter, and Ocean; I would pry Riptide away from her family if I had to so we could all have our own little family gathering for Hearth’s Warming. While it would hurt not to get to spend it with Mom, Dad, and Silver I would still have the family I chose, my friends and lovers.

What was home then? I guess I needed to redefine it, not that redefining it would make it stick right away.

I suppose home was not where I grew up or where my parents lived. Home was going to have to be where I was most welcome; that was at Riptide’s side, at Sil’s side, around Winter and Ocean. A place where I could rest and let my guard down, that was home now meant though I guess it always had. I just had it as a fixed location instead of as a concept.

It still would be nice to have some kind of base of operation once we hit Dockland since we would be staying there for winter but I had no idea what kind of space Riptide’s extended family had in the city. Pioneer Square had been mentioned as a place to stay so I made a note to see if I could just buy a room instead of renting one out.

I let out a groan of frustration and opened my left eye to check the time. Only five minutes had gone by. Sisters damn me I was too far into my own skull that I was driving myself insane and keeping myself up all night!

With deep regret, I accomplished the feat of extracting myself from two snuggly mares I deeply loved. I selected a thick blanket to take my place and help keep them cozy on this cool autumn night before heading out of the tent. The chill of the late-night air hit me immediately upon stepping outside into the darkness; the lights had been turned off at some point in Hoofview.

“I thought you knew better than to wander off from your post.” Ocean’s voice chided before I felt her hoof mess up my mane.

Turning to face her I sighed. “Brain is being a fuck tonight. You?”

“I’ve been on edge.” She answered. “Haven’t slept well since we stepped out of Saint Clover.”

That was something I could relate to; even with Sil and Riptide to help ease my mind, sleep wasn’t the easiest to come by since we left, not to mention I was now sleeping lighter due to everything that happened in Four Corners. Waking up to fight the scaly horrors of the apocalypse was not fun.

“Got a vector or are you just wandering tonight?” She asked me.

“Wandering,” I replied. “Hoping to find something to distract me for a while,”

Ocean nodded and trotted with me, the weak green glow of my horn guiding our trot through the sleeping town. Both of us had left our stuff back at camp; no need for guns and armor here, plus neither of us wanted to arouse suspicion with the supposed thefts that had been going on.

The cool night air didn’t bother me, if anything it was comforting. Hefty mist formed from our breaths as our quiet hoofsteps filled the air. The wind blew softly, whistling through the abandoned buildings around us. Lightbulbs and branches clinked and rustled in the breeze.

“This part of town seems more run down.” Ocean mused.

Given the proximity to the Five, I figured it was an active choice to leave these abandoned to keep raiders from having easy targets. Sacrificial buildings you might call them.

One caught my eye though.

“Ah, a bookstore? Of course.” Ocean giggled when she noticed me staring.

I rolled my eyes and playfully hit her shoulder. “Yeah, and?” I snorted. “It’s not like I have a book on my flank-- oh wait I do.”

“Come on, let's get in and out of sight. I know you’ll find a way to fill the night with something in there.”

The rest of this block the bookstore had sat on was long abandoned and gave a heavy aura of abandonment. Sweeping away built-up dust on the glass front door though, we could see that it had once been well-loved before the bombs. After? It looked like some people had swept through it to find anything immediately useful post-collapse. I doubted anypony had taken time to go through it for the novel pleasure of books.

Entry was simple; I could see the basic deadbolt upon leaning down and to the side of the door. With a twist of my magic, the door was released and swung open.

A wave of fresh air swept past us as we entered but even after shutting the door behind us the air inside still felt heavy, pointing towards some form of rot affecting the place.

“I can see why you don’t practice lockpicking much.” Ocean teased as she poked abandoned periodicals that were strewn across the floor.

“Why lockpick if I can see the release?” I giggled. “Plus lockpicking is rarely useful. What’s going to be in a safe? Prewar bits are about all that will ever be useful in them.”

“Fair that but remember that doors exist.” She remarked dryly.

“Yes, they are useful, like in Fillymath.” I agreed. “Now let’s, uh, try to be quick on finding something to do. The air in here might make us sick.”

Ocean made a face as she bit back a reply. I hazard a guess that she had wanted to tease me, which wasn’t hard. Sexual jokes used to be common between us.

We slowly made our way through the store, cautiously weaving around weak-looking areas while finding all sorts of novels, history books, magazines, and technical manuals. Useful for murdering boredom as well as learning but none of it called to me. In the end, we found a section on magic.

Ah, it always came back to magic with me, didn’t it?

My horn lit up as I used said magic to brush over each book, skimming the titles. A lot of what was left were things like teaching your foal basic spells and how to control a foal’s magic. ‘Earth Pony’s Guide to Raising a Unicorn’? Did that happen often enough that they needed a book? I quickly banished the thought with a shake of my mane.

The rest of the listings remained in the more mundane fields of arcane science and so we pushed on into the back of the store, only to pause at the sight of a skeleton. Ocean motioned for me to make certain it wouldn’t stand up and pester us for our employee credentials, given we were in the employee-only section now. A magical tap on the hollow skull was all we needed to prove it was not a sleeping undead skeleton. Not that I had heard of those existing outside of monster manuals Winter had gifted me a decade ago.

Ocean soon found an office with a functional terminal and had me chew through its security over the next hour, with me taking my time trying to figure out the password and reset it. While the security wasn’t tight they had been clever about it but eventually, I managed to crack the system open anyways; thank the stars for low-security systems having bypasses for repair technicians.

Once inside I noted a few logs still on the terminal, most from before the War but two of them were post-war. However, trying to open them revealed that the directory was corrupted.

I let out a wistful sigh. I had hoped to read something by somepony from before the end. Oh well. With a few more keypresses, I accessed the inventory and was presented with three options: Reserved Inventory, General Inventory, and Unlock Safe.

There was a safe? I hadn’t seen one.

I looked around and definitely didn’t see one in the office.

Odd.

I unlocked the safe and then selected ‘Reserved Inventory’, only for the terminal to crash before rebooting. I let out a frustrated sigh and powered it down so I could inform Ocean of my findings. This building only had so much space to it. I’ve seen a good portion of it with the office and the general inventory section so where is this reserved inventory?

My question was answered when I heard a crashing noise. Cantering over, I found Ocean in a hole leading to the basement; lying on top of a pile of rotted flooring and nursing a bruised ego rather than any actual bruises. I quickly hopped down after her, my magic helping to slow my fall.

“Stop being a majestic fuck.” Ocean hissed as I helped her up.

“What? I didn’t trust anything I could land on.” I replied as I turned on my Pipbuck light.

Soft, green light filled the room, revealing to us rows of dusty shelves. Ocean and I nodded to each other and we restarted our search for anything useful. The light from the Pipbuck reminded me of my own magic, a question for later as the light reflected off of aisle labels and book titles.

As we passed a section on consumer magitek devices, my mind lingered on the oddities of the tech we smashed together to make the Pipbuck Zero. Such as the fact I hadn’t had to replace the battery felt wrong unless it’s been taking some of my magic to fuel itself. Maybe in our downtime, Sil had figured out how to augment its power supply.

My eyes quickly skimmed through the indexes held in my magic to see if anything held some documentation for the tech. Of course, it was inevitable that I found nothing; Stable-Tec wouldn’t have had secrets like how one of their most prized pieces of tech worked outside their facilities.

While not as omnidirectional as my horn light, the Pipbuck light was more reliable in the event I got disabled for whatever reason and as such did most of the illumination for us.

Ocean suddenly pointed to a shelf and the books on them. It took a few moments for me to realize her point; the books down here were definitely not fit for more public consumption.

“I’m fairly certain mares' breasts don’t get that big even when pregnant,” I muttered to Ocean who just giggled and browsed more of the covers, as did I purely out of curiosity and a little bit of incredulousness. “If I saw a stallion this well-hung I’d probably be more interested in checking their blood pressure or fleeing before they got near me. I can already imagine my internal organs being crushed.”

“Agreed, though it does make me wanna see how big you’d get with a foal.” Ocean teased me.

“Why do I keep thinking you’re just purely straight when all you want is to ride my face while Winter rails me?” I sighed.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” She giggled back.

As we continued down the pornographic section of the store I became dumbfounded that what was on the shelf hadn’t been annihilated by the Ministry of Image on the basis of sedition.

“How did they get away with making porn of the ministry heads and princesses?” Ocean asked.

“My thoughts exactly. I doubt they agreed to uh… do these shoots.” I pondered aloud. “I hope we get to the end of this stuff soon. I am getting tired of looking at all this lewd material.”

“Don’t blame you, we both have… plenty of chances to enjoy lewd materials when we desire.” She agreed. “After all, we just need to ask someone to pose for either of us.”

We finally found a section on magic, the not-so-public-accessible stuff due to how advanced it was. Smart decision too to keep these out of laypony hooves; these tomes contained ritual magic.

I reached out to one of the books only to have it disintegrate at the slightest touch. I felt my eyes tear up as I looked at the pile of dust where it had been. It wasn’t fair. I had time now.

Ocean gently hugged me seeing how distraught I was. She always did care about me after everything we’d been through and while it did make me feel bad I knew that everything had been forgiven. Still stung.

“Thanks, Ocean.” I sighed, leaning into her. “I think I needed that more than I thought.”

After a short, much-needed break we moved on to the rest of the tomes. After around thirty or so crumbled to dust, dashing my hopes and dreams in the process, we finally found one that stayed in one piece.

I hugged it gently as I sat on my haunches. This tome I would cherish and take care of. This was my own spellbook now. Its care was my duty.

“Think it will hold up for long?” Ocean asked, looking hopeful it would, at least for my sake.

It was a good question and as my thoughts were drawn to its preservation my mind landed upon the mending and restoration spell I recently learned for taking care of possessions, clothing, and equipment.

“I think I might have something to help with that,” I whispered as I let my magic flow into the book.

As the frog of my hoof ran across the spine of the book, I could feel its rough cover smoothen, the loose yellowed pages shuffle back into place and brighten, entropy reversed.

“Time may have hurt you, ponies may have left you alone but I’m here now,” I said to the magic book in a soothing voice, petting it like one might soothe a crying foal. “I’ll keep you safe.”

Ocean gave me an odd look, which I returned.

“What?” I asked, to which she just grinned.

With that adventure out of the way, we turned our attention to the rest of the bookstore. We salvaged one book and with luck, we would get a few more useful ones. Eventually, we managed to find two other books that piqued our interest. Though neither were spellbooks, one described a form of unarmed combat while the other discussed locksmithing.

I had always been curious about how locks actually worked and not the uninformed way I had been taught to pick them.

“Let me read those once you’re done. The one on punting apples looks fun.” Ocean giggled in amusement though I could tell she was sincere.

“Of course.” I beamed.

A quick check of the final backroom revealed that it was mostly filled with dirt. I shook my head and made to move on when I felt something… off, almost like the taste of mint in my mouth. Going on instinct, I began to hunt down the source of it, Ocean keeping a curious eye out as I did.

A half-buried wall seemed to be the source and, upon contact, my hoof went through it, that mint taste in my mouth suddenly going from small but noticeable to strong but refreshing.

“Huh… hidden wall,” I explained to a confused Ocean. “Weird that I could sense the enchantment for it.”

“I mean... How many active, long-term enchantments have you come across?” She countered.

“Good point. As far as I know, I’ve never seen one like it.” I replied before giggling, tapping my horn with a hoof. “But I guess it makes sense I could sense it with the whole magical antenna on my forehead.”

“So what’s in there?” She asked, peeking past me.

The illusionary wall had a thickness of nothing so I barely had to poke my head through. To my amusement, I saw the aforementioned safe, half-buried in the dirt.

“A safe, but I say fuck it, let’s head out. I ain’t diggin’ through all that dirt to get someone’s tax files and inventory printouts.” I snorted.

As we returned from the bookstore I heard something flutter overhead, it wasn’t like a bird or an insect, maybe a bat? Looking up all I saw was the night sky. Ocean herself had paused and was looking as well, given the puzzled look she also failed to catch sight of the source of the sound.

“Come on let’s get back to the caravan, I don’t know what that was,” I said to Ocean, and she gave me a nod.

Upon returning to Ruby’s camp and sitting down outside the tents where the glow of my pipbuck wouldn’t wake anypony up and read the two books. I was going to save the spellbook for the ride into Dockland. Then I could figure out what I could quickly learn from it and what would take longer to study than a few-hour carriage ride.

An hour into reading I was done with the first book and onto the second, now it was around five-forty in the morning. At this point, two guard ponies walked up to me, and both looked annoyed.

“You.” Said Nightstick glaring at me as he pushed my book closed with his nightstick.

“It wasn’t me I went into the old bookstore when I came out I heard something fly over but I didn’t catch what it was. Was around, give me a sec.” I looked at the time on my EFS. “An hour and ten minutes ago? It was headed east given the breeze I felt, must have jumped over me and into the air or something.”

“And how can we be certain it wasn’t you?” Shield said, leaning on his riot shield.

“Uh, simple, this has been going on for how long? Week? I spent roughly that long in Four Corners and I can collaborate with Ruby and her group. A good day of fighting raiders and a hydra shoulder-to-shoulder with the townsfolk. I could barely stand after being poisoned.” I replied.

“Mhm. And you were just out for a night’s stroll?” Nightstick asked dangerously.

Annoyance with them grew and I let myself wear it clearly on my face as I answered them. “I’m meeting one of my marefriend’s extended family for the first time tomorrow. At the same time, they are getting the news that her parents and siblings kind of got killed and flayed by psychopaths.” Calmly I placed a bookmark in the spellbook and looked directly into Nightstick’s eyes. “So excuse me since I’m a bit stressed out. But, as a guard for my hometown, I know how dealing with bullshit for over a week can make me extremely snippy and suspicious of newcomers.”

The two guards looked at one another and Nightstick opened his mouth to speak but I snapped at them. “Back home I was used to rotating shifts for patrol. Which meant that sleeping today in the coach put me on the same night watch schedule as you two and left me laying in bed drifting in and out of sleep overthinking like a complete basket case.”

“Fine, didn’t ask for your life story, bitch.” Shield said, rolling his eyes.

I felt my eye twitch as part of me snapped at them and unleashed my inner watch commander. Instinct told me to make them into glue, an instinct my mom had tried to train out of me after seeing my rage. The anger I inherited from my father, a rage that he had tried to tell me got him into a lot of needless fights. Like it was threatening to do right now. It would be all too easy to just crush their throats, use my knife to silence them, or pull their own pistols on them.

Breath, they’re just assholes and they’re just doing their damn job, let it go. Plus it really isn’t worth it.

“Come on, let’s go look around more, at least now we have an idea which way the fucker flies out of town,” Nightstick said to shield as the two walked away from me, at some point, they had turned around and gotten a good twenty feet away, and I hadn’t noticed.

Sisters help me control myself. I can’t afford to lose myself to the wasteland.

I turned my focus back to my book, and as I turned the pages to find where I was, I found myself looking once again at the Nightmare Moon card. I didn’t remember placing the card as a bookmark. It was supposed to still be in my bags or had I taken it out without thinking?

This lack of sleep is making me lose it.

The sound of shuffling paper filled my ears as I turned the pages in my magic and placed the card at the end and began to read from where I left off.

Morning arrived with all its subtleties. Between the gentle fade-up of light to the little Celestia posing in the corner of my vision as sunrise occurred. Ponies began their day, some shouts from the town as ponies became aware of the overnight theft but it wasn’t my problem today. I hadn’t gotten a good look at what it was or where it went, if I had I might have offered to help. Also, I was a bit sour after my run-in with Nightstick and Shield last night. Had altered my opinion of the town a little. I also had other things to do today.

Instead of eating at one of the restaurants again, I had some of my packed pre-war snack cakes and a Sparkle-Cola, it wasn’t like the rads hurt me anymore. Though the sugar was probably going to catch up to me.

Guess I’m in that mood today, huh? Well, let’s hope we can wash it away by the time we meet with Riptide’s family. I want to be neutral, not nearing sour or throat-crushing spine-ripping angry. That would leave a bad impression.

Of course, part of the lack of will to eat out again was the lack of will to deal with the social engagements that it involved. I doubted that the Dealer would be there again. I grunted at my own annoyed mood as I set the drained Sparkle-Cola down and closed the second book having finished it. I was better than this, darn it. Sure I had my anxieties and insecurities but I could handle this.

I sunk my muzzle into the grimoire that I had found in the bookstore. The beginning part was typical of any grimoire. Your typical warnings of not to use magic to harm others, only as a last resort use spells in self-defense to disable. Practice spells with a superior mage. The initial spells were your typical light, telekinesis, shield, and note-taking. Mundane stuff, things nopony would bat an eye at. I flipped back to the index and glared at Luna staring back at me and then moved her aside as I read the table of contents.

This book was broken up into degrees of difficulty to cast, graduating from daily useful spells that were easy to more challenging spells. I smiled seeing teleportation listed, an item recall spell as well. There were some odd-sounding ones of “bend surface” and “magic mirror”. All in all, it was extensive and would take time to learn from. However, I did note the dearth of offensive spells or healing. So it was obviously a spellbook from before the Ministries.

I would need to find something to cover those grounds for the Ministry of Peace, as for Arcane Warfare, well, I knew it wasn’t popular. The Ministry of Peace though had unicorn medics sent off to war, they didn’t fight but healed the injured after battles. Damn brave souls. Arcane Warfare though… The Ministry of Arcane Science would be my only bet. I don’t have any idea of any other ponies who would come up with spells for fighting. Maybe the EUP… That would mean the military base that ate a balefire bomb. Well, good thing radiation isn’t as much of a concern.

My mind drifted to those cards again and so I pulled them into my hooves again and looked them over in the daylight. Nightmare Moon’s card caught my eye and her eyes felt like they were staring back into mine. Given they were given to me by a spirit I wasn’t surprised that they all seemed to slightly move. The cards weren't in the best of condition, but the art was beautiful, terrifying, and mystical. In a moment of frivolity and arrogance, I used my magic to attempt to restore them to their prime condition.

Something isn’t right. I mean, sure they’re likely slightly magical, but they aren’t possibly outright magical artifacts. Right? … I fucked up big time, didn’t I? Shit, these are actually cards from Luna’s personal deck.

Riptide broke me out of my focus and I looked up at her, my EFS dutifully told me it had been a few hours, and my horn hurt. Taking a glance at the cards it was easy to see they hadn’t changed at all. In somewhat freaked-out haste, I stuffed the cards into the spellbook, one for each spell I wanted to research, teleportation, surface bending, and magical marks. I’ll figure out what happened later.

“Are you alright?” Riptide asked, the look on her face said everything I needed to know there was worry and she had wanted to ask something else before I had reacted the way I did.

“I’m… anxious, that's why I wasn’t in bed this morning. I’m a bit wound up about meeting your family.” I admitted, feeling my shoulders relax a little with the admission as I stacked the books with my hooves.

My horn was still steaming the morning air around it. I didn’t want to tempt fate this early in the day.

“Oh, well. I am as well, it's been a while if that helps your nerves at all.” Riptide replied looking at where the Nightmare Moon card poked out of the spellbook.

“You were really focused on those cards when I came over, anything special about them?” Riptide asked.

“I was trying a spell out on it, trying to restore them, but it didn’t work. I don’t know why but I kind of got lost in poking at it trying to make it work.” I half lied.

“Oh, that’s weird. Well, maybe they were made like that?” Riptide offered as she tried to help make sense of the situation.

“Maybe, it would explain why the repair spell failed. Can’t make something better than it was.” I admitted as I logged her idea as a possibility, a strong one at that. “I’ll poke at it later, I found them last night and I’ve never seen anything like them. When we settle down someplace tonight I’ll let you look at them. Don’t want them to get blown away while we're riding up the Five.”

“Yeah, without glass it might fly out the window.” Riptide teased. “I mean we have our magic but why risk it.”

“Yeah, those bumps can startle us, lost my place in a book more than I care to admit on the trip from Wayhill.” I giggled, those bumps were hard enough to jam my horn into the coach roof and make my magic implode.

As Riptide moved off to help break the camp down Sil caught up to her and asked her. “So is she okay? Her horn smoking isn’t normal.”

“Apparently she fucked up a new spell.”

“Ah, that would do it, still, best if we try to keep her from doing magic for a few hours.”

“Agreed, though we don’t have the privacy to do it my way.”

Sil giggled and gave Riptide a gentle push. “There are a lot of other ways to distract her.”

“Yeah, I know, but that way is really fun.”

With a shake of my mane and a roll of my eyes, I got to my hooves to help finish breaking camp down and get back on the road.

-=O=-

The trip to Dockland was an interesting one. To be fair in general the trip had been an interesting one, not just this last leg of it. Was mostly about the last leg of the trip from Hoofview into Dockland itself. While where we started out in Hoofview was nice and green the further north we got the more damage from fires was visible, even the air itself felt more sickly and stale. While the scent of death didn’t fill my nose there was an expectation of it, but it smelled like old fire and dust. Which was fitting for a balefire-blasted wasteland. Here there were fewer trees and less complex plant life whittling down the number of bushes, ferns, and then eventually just grass until that was sick brown grass. Blackened husks of towns, long sighing structures begging for the touch of ponies once more. No signs of raiders though, no cages hanging off of bridges, no smoke, no nothing. It was quiet and lonely. I wouldn’t want to walk this road alone; it was a lonesome road.

We broke east and into another valley, the Willmanemette River was to our right as we sat on the highway hundreds of feet above the banks. Mudslides had closed off the highway on the other side of the Five some time ago. Before us lay a city two craters smoldered within it off to the northeast, and a river far wider than the one we were next to lay to the north. Many buildings I could see were darkened husks on the east side of the Willmanemette but, on the west near us, they seemed tired. The hills were black on the west with burned-out trees, places were bare to the rock of the hills where soil had slid off over the centuries taking buildings with it.

We were still a few miles away but we had made it to Dockland. I felt something in me ease at the sight and the feeling of wonder washed over me. The Mill was a large town qualifying as a city. Wayhill had been a city as well but Dockland was the biggest city between Applewood and Seaddle and it showed. I had no idea how big it really meant until now. The valley itself was just a city with buildings sprawling from the valley wall out to the horizon. Twisted, burned, ruined, battered, but it was there. Two scars from the war were obvious by the green glow and ruins around them, the skyport crater the most obvious due to it even causing the Columbmane to make columns of steam rising into the sky. I knew there was one more crater to the northwest but it was obscured by the hills. The daylight hid any glow from the blast sites.

“We made it, Riptide,” I said softly looking out over her shoulder as we drank in the sight.

“Yes, we did,” Riptide replied as I felt her relax against me.

“I never thought it would be so huge,” Sil murmured.

“Yeah, it just goes on.” I agreed with Sil. “I don’t think I’ll have issues with spending time picking through the city while we wait out the winter.”

“Don’t go too far without me.” Riptide teased.

“I know, I’m going to stick close to Pioneer Square until everything is settled,” I assured Riptide.

“Good, I don’t want to hear you went out and got yourself killed on the slopes of Mount Hoof or something.” Riptide huffed.

In return, my magic ruffled her mane. I understood her worries and I had worries about her, worries about her family and how they’ll react to the news. How they will react to me and Sil. Hopefully, those worries wouldn’t bear fruit. And it was easy to understand that she didn’t want her mare to wander off too far if she was indisposed with her family. But I had the others with me so I wouldn’t be going anywhere alone, at least too often.

“That’s if your family doesn’t just let me in,” I added, Riptide looked like she hadn’t considered that, or hadn’t recently considered it at least. “I’m still going to stick close to the Marina. No point in wandering off and splitting us all up. Just would end up being a headache if we need to group up to tackle something.”

“Glad to hear it, hun,” Riptide said before leaning over to nuzzle under my jaw.

The coach started to move again as we headed downhill into Dockland proper, it wouldn’t be long now. I felt excitement finally flow into me. I was happy to feel some emotions push out the fear and anxiety after the past few days. I was practically giddy. Even with the nibbling worry at the corners of my mind.

We made it half an hour towards Dockland before things went wrong. Of course, things went wrong but, my mood didn’t sour, or maybe I had a screw loose. Someone decided to shoot at us and blocked the road with upturned wagons. So I hopped out of the stagecoach and grabbed my pistol. My rifle was stuck under too much other cargo for the time to dig it out. With care and speed, I cantered my way to the side of the Five breaking from the caravan into hardcover to break contact.

More shots rang out as everyone else fired back at the overpass the pullers had fallen back as the upturned wagons were in a kill zone. With a quick look around the front of an overturned wagon, I spotted a few ponies duck down as chunks of concrete were blasted away by gunfire. This wasn’t a one-pony operation, which meant this needed to be sorted fast and I was the one in a position to quickly end this. The blockade wasn’t going to move so that wasn’t an option, even with my magic.

The easier solution was to move closer or so I thought until I felt a tripwire snap on my rear hoof. Trap sprung it seemed as barrels rolling down the off-ramp. Well, that wasn’t that bad, with the grasp of my magic they were brushed aside and then gently stacked, they weren’t that heavy or even moving fast, to begin with. That is when I felt a searing pain in my hind followed by the thump of a shotgun. Looking back I saw that behind the wreckage of a coach there had been a shotgun set up with a light sensor.

Clever fuckers.

“Celestia forgive me for I am going to flay these bastards alive,” I muttered as I grabbed the shotgun out of its mount before I limped forward.

Grasped in my magic a carriage wheel floated ahead and another two to my sides for protection and to set off more traps that might lay ahead. Very quickly my appreciation for my own foresight became a secondary thought. Because there were so damn many fucking traps.

When I arrived at the top of the offramp the carriage wheels were only recognizable as once-circular objects made of metal. They had been made of metal but now they had gone from weathered and whole to what passed for two hundred years of raider target practice. Suffice it to say their protective abilities were exhausted. The brief thought of how bad my head would have hurt if I had tried to use a shield spell instead passed through my mind, it likely was something someone had planned on.

The makeshift shields rolled off after my magic released them, useless for any purpose other than to tell a tale. And my priority was cleaning wounds and making plans now so they’d get to rest until someone else found them. Because one thing I learned long ago was to not leave buckshot in your ass. While doing triage and first-aid I cataloged what the raiders' position had against what I had gathered on my way up. On the trip up there had been more shotguns but easily spotted, and disarmed their ammo was now mine to use against their owners. The downside to that was without anything to hold ammo and weapons my magic was being spread thin doing inventory management. Thank the Stars I didn’t have to handle everything with just two talons.

This was a terrible plan, but I had two guns, a shotgun, and a pistol. So it could have been a much worse plan.

At the top of the ramp I looked across the overpass and saw six ponies all in a line like a bunch of smart ponies, they were using the concrete wall between them and the caravan. The curb gave them a nice bit of shoulder-high cover to keep their heads from being perforated by those passing below. Not smart for them as the constant gunfire had hidden the sounds of my approach and now that I was in position I let out a wall of elements to freeze them in place. They felt the ice as it built upon them. It wasn’t enough to kill, but it was enough to hurt them, slow them, for some of them couldn’t move. Poor raiders, oh well they made the bad life choice of shooting at us.

Up came the shotgun, it was a nice short sawed-off coach shotgun. I just walked forward, letting loose an arcane blast into the nearest pony who had managed to not get completely frozen to the concrete, his legs shattering on impact. Even if he was still mobile the ice had done a number on his flesh and bone, without legs well he was nothing. I finished him with a suppressed pistol shot to the head. The next two were finished with point-blank shotgun shells to the skull. I faintly was aware of the blood splashing on me as I executed the raiders.

I took a minute to loot the raiders of ammo and healing supplies, the guns I left behind. They would have been too much work to make worthwhile. Pipeguns and all. However, I took the magazines and even ejected the rounds out of the chamber. I felt sorry for whoever came through and thought they had a jackpot on their hooves. This was just a bloodbath.

When I returned to the coach I got a splash of water from Night. “No blood in the Coach unless you got shot while in it.”

I paused looking at the pool forming around me, there was a fair bit of blood, almost none of it mine. “I only got scratched, guess I got a little too close when finishing them off.”

With a thought my magic strained me, pushing the water and blood out of my coat onto the ground around me before I climbed back into the coach. Additionally, the new acquisitions and ammo were deposited with the rest of our gear, never knew when you needed more shotgun shells, pistol rounds, and small caliber rifle rounds. Plus I doubted Ruby and her crew needed my help clearing the road now that those who had obstructed it were dead.

“You probably should have said something and I would have gone with you,” Sil said.

She wasn’t wrong, but something made me just act without really thinking, training, instinct, or need, it was hard to say what drove me to act that way. Maybe I just needed to blow off some steam, which if that was the case suicidal one-person flanking strikes were a pretty bad way to do that and my ass was very mindful to remind me of that with the fading buckshot wounds aching.

“More ponies sneaking together makes it infinitely more likely that the group gets caught. But, yes I should have two is the ideal number of sneakers.” I replied, ignoring the old billboard for sneaker hoofshoes in my line of sight behind Riptide advertising how quiet they were.

“I understand, but.” Sil started and then sighed. “I just need to act instead of waiting for permission don’t I?”

It was what we were taught to do, but Sil was always cautious, asking before doing in new situations or situations she hadn’t been in for a long while. It was reasonable, and as such I couldn’t fault her for it, but she needed to get that instinct back. Because that would have been easier with another glued to my ass. Sil more so due to her knack for disarming traps.

“It's probably best when I start going off on my own like that,” I admitted. “That or learn how to lasso me.”

Sil pondered as she put some thought into the second option it seemed.

Riptide sighed and shook her mane. “Well, you did say that meeting my family was distressing to you, did that help at all?”

I went to answer then put a hoof to my chin and thought. As I sat pondering the coach started to move again as we rolled into Dockland past what was hopefully the last thing stopping us from our destination. Though not our goal, as that was Riptide’s family. But, letting loose and putting down those raiders helped? It was, no, it wasn’t the act of killing that helped, though part of me was bothered that it wasn’t until now I was starting to feel the negative effects of having been up close killing those ponies. I couldn’t remember my emotions when I killed them, or my expression, it likely had been one of overwhelming neutrality.

No, what had helped was getting up moving, and doing not just thinking and planning but planning and executing the plan. Though now it began to gnaw at me having done it up close and personal and I felt nothing. I couldn’t accept being like that.

“It wasn’t about the raiders, it was about figuring out a way to deal with them, and doing that helped. I needed to do something more than sit on my rump and run around inside my skull. Even when doing patrol duty something was needing fixing, some turrets broke down, some generators needed restarting, and a relay needed to be dusted. Somepony needed to be let out of a locked room or somepony needed me to dig a splinter out of their ass. That last one happened more often than I want to remember. Ugh, I’ve seen so many pony butts because they forget to sweep with their tails and then sit so they get stabbed in the ass.” I sighed trying to not think about the rears I had worked on, changing my thoughts to a different type of work and then wincing as instead of Riptide coming to mind first, Winter did.

“That bad?” Riptide asked.

“You end up losing interest in pony’s rears when you spend so many damn hours pulling things from them. Sometimes from inside of them. I swear the stupid shit some ponies get up to on their watches is infuriating.” I muttered. “The fact that I’ve had to reference a Sisters’ damned magazine twice because they ended up doing something an article was written about says something.” I just buried my face in my hooves.

I understood how boredom was one of the worst things in the world but the cure wasn’t figuring out if you could fit random things into your cavities. I was just glad I only had to deal with ponies in the guard who fucked up on duty, though apparently, things were a lot better on the civilian side due to bored ponies could just go find a whore or use proper toys.

“Ugh, now I’m thinking about weird things in marehood’s again. I don’t need to nor do I want to remember this.” I whimpered as I tried to crush the memories out of my head. “Please use devices as directed to you morons.” I whimpered to myself. “I really don’t want to have to deal with that ever again.”

I could feel Riptide turn away from me. “Is what she’s saying true?”

“She’s told me stories in far more vivid detail. And I’ve seen the aftermath a few times.” Sil sighed. “Boredom is the worst thing for a pony in the wasteland, and more so on guard duty. That’s all I have to say on that.”

I looked up at Riptide to see her face carry a mix of concern and amusement. “Well, I have you but your rants make me a bit scared of what you have gone through. And what you might do.”

“Good, on both fronts I think.” I finished feeling dumber remembering all the stupid things mares and stallions got up to on their watches. “Maybe this is why Luna blessed me with the inability to remember my dreams, so I didn’t dream about this sort of stuff.”

Riptide just gave me a nuzzle.

We pulled to a stop and I looked outside, it had taken roughly fifteen minutes from the raiders to get here. There were a series of buildings with skyways between them, the letters “DU” were a shadow on the walls with rubble having been made into fortifications on the street opposite of them. The gate was opened and we were let in as a mist fell over the place. My EFS helpfully labeled this as Dockland University Campus. Looking outside I saw a lot of well-armed and armored ponies, though, no power armor. Combat armor though, battle saddles, and the occasional magical energy weapon. Nopony was outside milling about, just guards. We pulled through another gate past the buildings I had seen into a small park.

As I looked south and north it seemed to extend for a few blocks and once large trees stood as guardians over crops that grew below them. Meger little things. Wait, crops in autumn? That didn’t make sense, this was the wrong season for crops. Curious…

I heard Ruby hop off her seat and I opened the door grabbing the book Crash Cart had given me. I had made a duplicate of the book during my insomnia in Hoofview while I had not read it yet it would be of use to give to the ponies here with the… Duplicate in the metal casket.

There were more ponies here in this area behind the buildings, some spared me a few looks, though mostly at my pipbuck. A couple looked to take notes. I couldn’t imagine why maybe just making a note that somepony had arrived in town. After a few minutes in the mist, helping unload a few items from the coach three ponies arrived, two earth ponies and a unicorn trailing them. All three were in white coats and one had a cart. I guessed they were here to collect the goods Ruby had brought.

“Hey, here’s your shipment, and Crash Cart had us bring an oddity up with us for your biology team?” Ruby said as she nodded to the almost coffin-like box. “It’s dead, or should be.”

“Great, another Canterlot Ghoul?” The lead earth pony stallion grumbled.

Knowing what the package was I spoke up. “No, it is something… Weirder, definitely not a ghoul. Copied… Me, my looks but not the psyche or anything. Tried to hug a friend of mine to death, I think. It happened when I was isolated in Four Corners and they were looking for me. They couldn’t really cut it open, but they were able to confirm that it wasn’t like a pre-war changeling.” I trailed off feeling the memory of wrongness wriggled through me again.

“Whatever it is or was, it isn’t anything accounted for by our limited pool of knowledge,” I explained then I pulled out the book Crash Cart had given me. “Crash Cart had given me this to read when I was ready, it details what he found; however, that thing just gives me bad memories. So you should have it if somepony here is going to study that… Things.”

“Well okay, consider it in the queue for analysis. Given the box doesn’t have any air holes, bullet holes, or burn marks it’s pretty safe to say it didn’t get out, and it’s dead.” The lead stallion said.

“Thank the Stars for that,” I muttered.

With that, I helped unload the goods Ruby had marked for the University. Once that was done we bid the university farewell and I was informed that if I ever wanted to check in for results on the doppelganger, I could always come back and ask for the Department of Anomalous Wildlife. Apparently given we were with Ruby we were given a pass for returning. I had no interest in returning for now though. I just wanted to just let the University ponies do their thing for a while.

I needed to regain my footing within reality and had other priorities. Plus research took more than five minutes to do. We also still had two more stops to go. First, according to Ruby, was a place in the Pearl District. I figured it was Pioneer Square. While we were in the University District currently. There we would be dropping off everything except for us. Then Ruby and Night Dust were going to walk us to the waterfront where Riptide’s family apparently had a town, simply referred to as the Marina.

Another fifteen minutes later we arrived at Pioneer Square, the place I had been told about. Pioneer Square, was apparently named for the ponies who had settled in the area after following the Columbmane early in the settling of Equestria. Though most ponies here seemed to just call it Pioneer now. It was a busy town. Many of the buildings had once been living spaces, government offices, business offices, commercial storefronts, and restaurants. With three blocks together and the old city, trains derailed and turned into walls, there was security, safety, and a lot of ponies. While not every inch of the place was inhabited, it was more populated than I had expected. There were at least a couple hundred ponies living here. All of them were armed, and all of them had known the wasteland to some degree I imagined. Here they had made a home, cleaned away the debris for what was theirs, and used the rubble to block access but two access points guarded by gates.

One thing I did notice was the only ministry building here was the Ministry of Morale, it also happened to be the building that had a spa in it. Go figure, the best way to keep morale up was pampering, food, parties, and all that fun stuff. Oddly, it was right next to the courthouse. Maybe because ponies had too much fun while partying. The ponies in town didn’t regard us with much interest as we offloaded goods, I guessed it was common, or with so many ponies living here, we were just more faces a crowd. It was an odd feeling.

In Saint Clover, we had gotten to the point where it was getting close to being hard to remember who was who, but this was a different feeling. I shook my mane and focused on helping unload the stagecoach. I felt it was only proper to help after Ruby had gone all this way to take us here, even if we had paid for passage. As well as for our own food and lodgings. And I had done most of the heavy lifting with regard to threats to the trip.

I slipped on my bandoliers and saddlebags. I was busy sorting out the ammo I had collected into one saddlebag and tucking the shotgun halfway into the other when Ruby walked up to us.

“The others can take care of gettin’ the goods to their owners and gettin’ our pay. You lot already paid and I aim to deliver you to your destination. So, it’s time for us to go to the waterfront.” Ruby explained. “It’s not a long walk, and it’s patrolled reasonably well.”

“Moonlight, while you handle that we’ll get some rooms for us. Two obviously.” Ocean explained as she and Winter stood apart from the rest of us. We did need to take care of that sooner or later.

“Sure, we'll see you two in a bit. Try not to get into too much trouble.” I giggled.

“Make certain our room has a big bed.” Sil snorted.

“Yeah yeah, we also are going to not get a room next to yours.” Winter retorted.

“Hey!” I stammered feeling my face turn red.

“Gotcha.” Winter chuckled. “You stay safe.”

“Same to you,” Sil replied while I tried to get my cheeks to keep from catching fire. I didn’t snore that badly.

Night Dust joined us and took up rear guard while Sil and I flanked Riptide. Ruby took the lead for our group. It was clear as purified water that we were protecting Riptide but I wagered out here that would mean ransom over a murder. While the waterfront wasn’t that far away on hoof it still took half an hour to get there. During that time I got to drink in the sensation of walking between the towering buildings of a proper city while they didn’t scrape the clouds above they groaned, creaked, and occasionally still dropped glass somewhere. Without incident, we made it to the waterfront. While we had been on guard the area was supposedly well-patrolled which meant that this was a trade route to other towns within the ruins of Dockland the Marina was likely one of them. If they had working boats in the Marina I could imagine how they managed to stay separated for so long yet function off of trade.

I looked at the docks across the river. I saw half-sunk cargo ships, even a few still floating military ships of some kind. On this side, there was a mix of sailboats, yachts, and houseboats filling the small harbor. Around the marina was a wall topped with turrets, a few ponies sat in watchtowers, and what surprised me most were ponies swimming in the bitterly cold water while others sat by fishing lines.

“This, well I didn’t know what to expect, but this isn’t it,” I said looking at Riptide.

“This is about what I expected but I didn’t think there'd be so many! Do you think they’ll throw a party for us?” Riptide asked as she pranced in place.

Sil trotted up beside me and whispered. “Feels overly defensive doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it does. Well, there is only one way to find out how we will be received.” I said with a dismissive shake of my mane. “Thanks, Ruby, it’s been a pleasure.”

“No problem, Moonlight, don’t be a stranger if you see us. No free rides though, maybe a discount.” Ruby teased as we bumped hooves before she and Night Dust turned to return to Pioneer Square.

“Well, let’s go meet your family Riptide,” I said with a nuzzle to Riptide. “Let’s hope no shotgun weddings are involved.”

“Would that really be so bad?” Riptide snorted looking back into my eyes before trotting ahead leaving my cheek with a brush of her tail.

Sil patted me on the shoulder. She started to say something and then just let it die in her throat as she giggled while looking me in the face.

Level up! Welcome to level 8. New Perk added: Suck it Up! Physical Status’ now affects you for one turn less. Maybe it’s all the physical trauma you’re soaking up, maybe it’s just that you’re learning how to roll with the kicks. So enjoy handling getting the shit beaten out of you easier now!

Chapter 19 - Family

“Family can be a lot of things, those who gave birth to you, those who raised you, those who you choose to be your family. However, family is one thing more important than any of those, family loves you and cares about you unconditionally.”

Ministry of Peace Heartmenders Book

We followed Riptide as we made for the gate to the Waterfront Marina as we drew closer. I saw a sign saying Battleship Cascadia Memorial Marina. The memory of explaining the war to foals back home filtered into my mind. The distraction was short-lived as we drew closer and my eyes scanned the walls, the gates, and the open kill zones laid out on the approach to the marina.

As we slowed near the gates a few of the ponies stared at us more at Sil and me than at Riptide as if we had violated some unspoken rule. The weight of those gazes made me lag further behind Riptide. I felt unwelcome which didn’t help the whole ‘yay let’s meet Riptide’s surviving family’ thing.

“Hey, um, I know this is going to sound a bit out there, but, I’m Riptide,” Riptide said trying to hold back her glee to one of the guards as she barely managed to stand in place.

There was something magical in her words but I couldn’t capture what it was. But the hint of magic made me pause instead of facehoof at her words.

A breath after she finished I trotted up beside her and felt the other guard’s eyes drilling into me as he kept his guns trained on me and Sil beside me.

“I’m Moonlight, this is Silaha. We’ve been escorting her up from Saint Clover after there was an… Attack on Riptide and her family.” I explained, but the feeling of stupidity clung to me as well as the expectation of hearing safeties flick off.

Paranoid much? I mean we are returning a pony to them, not ransoming her. For fucks sake, relax.

“Just a second Riptide, it’s your first time here since you were a filly so we’re going to lay down some rules for you. One, family only, you know what that means.” The buck in front of Riptide said glaring over her shoulder at me making me wince. “Two, it is a time of mourning, we know about the attack, so more than usual, it’s just family inside the town. Third, while not a rule, you’re going to want to talk to your grandmother to sort out the rest of your family business, and your brother.”

Her brother? Wait, somepony else survived! That’s great news! That would explain how they knew of the attack. But, why do I still feel this terrible pit in my stomach?

I sighed and sat on my haunches as the two bucks opened the gate with their magic, I wasn’t going to be going in, I wasn’t allowed to, and I wasn’t family. Well, that last statement was something I disagreed with, then again we hadn’t been together that long. One could still label it as a fling instead of a long-term stable relationship.

Regardless, yay. Well, that solved that problem.

“Hey, Riptide... We’ll be back at Pioneer, I think I saw a spa being advertised there so when you’re free we can all go there and catch up. If you get there and we’re not there? Wait for us, we’re probably out doing some busy work.” I said emotionlessly.

I was fighting back everything within me to drag her back. To run after her. To just start crying. All the different options paralyzed me.

“Wait, she should be let in, she's my-.” Riptide paused as the guards shook their heads. “She’s my marefriend, damn it.” Riptide stomped looking angry for the first time I met her. “They both are!”

“Take it up with your grandmother. She’ll decide if she can or can’t right now. The zebra will stay out though.” The buck stated. I felt my guts twist. “And you heard her, she won’t be far away. So you’ll be able to go back to her soon enough.”

“THEY ARE BOTH MY PARTNERS.” Riptide barked, I could feel her trembling.

Gently and carefully I put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Hey, it’ll only be for a short while, hun,” I said, trying to smile but I knew it wasn’t convincing.

I caught a glimpse of Sil who looked devastated as well, and I could tell she was fighting just as hard as I was to put on a brave face, to not let her emotions command her and break down the wall Riptide’s family was putting up around her. Knowing her, she probably was figuring out how to demolish the walls swiftly and counting on me to figure out how best to neutralize the organic part of their security.

Instead, I just squeezed my eyes shut.

Celestia bless you for the rain, at least they couldn’t see the tears of pain. It hurt as I watched those gates close.

“Don’t you two have somewhere to be, outsiders?” The other buck said.

The comment made me twist myself to stop my magic from lighting and twisting the buck’s neck as hard as I could.

“Yeah, by Riptide as she grieves her family, her family I helped recover and bury at my home with friends I had buried before.” I spat glaring at him.

He looked sympathetic for a moment before shifting back to a placid and uncaring expression.

And that tells me something more is going on, damn it. Damn it! FUCK.

“Come on Moony, let’s get going. There’s always something to fix, even if it isn’t what we want to fix.” She muttered.

She looked worried I couldn’t blame her. I knew she saw through the rain that I was crying. She quietly fell in beside me as we trotted off away from the marina. After a minute that trot broke into a canter as I couldn’t contain my emotions as they boiled over. The maelstrom of conflicting feelings, of pain and anger, sorrow and frustration. The need to burn out that energy however could become overwhelming.

By the Princesses damn them, damn Riptide’s family, if it weren’t for those turrets I would have tried to beat some sense into them with words or hooves.

Another part of me boiled at how they had treated Sil, I knew she wasn’t in a better mental state than I, and also desired to end that shitty guard.

Instead of stopping though, I kept going along the road south not thinking. After a few minutes, I slowed and stopped then sat down on my haunches and sniffled as I felt my heart pound and my chest hurt. I stopped blocking my emotions and instead let myself feel the hurt, I let the feeling flow out of me like the rain washed down my figure, my tears down my muzzle. Sil’s hoof brushed my mane, I could hear her lightly breathing from chasing after me. I was glad she wasn’t saying anything though. She knew I needed to process things that words tended to make me react irrationally when I was in a state like this.

I also knew she was dealing with it her own way and it hurt knowing I was making it worse with my foalish actions, with making her have to deal with my crap. I just felt myself tremble.

I knew I had sat there for minutes but I had been a fool to not hear them. I felt it, a nudge from Sil. and then a few more urgent ones.

“Dumb bitches don’t know to get out of the rain.” Some buck said as my emotions drained out of me, washed away with the need to deal with something.

The words broke my inward concentration, and I felt something snap in me, coldness spread. A growing need to see fear, to instill it, and harm in the interloper grew. Tendencies once thought buried bubbled up again after years of dormancy. The talons flexed and unraveled demanding blood. To pounce and bury my beak into their throat and rip out their trachea.

A cold emotionless state reclaimed me as a task was at my hooves to be dealt with. Sil had been trying to warn me of the impending threat; the number of ponies was too many for her to shoot on her own with that battle saddle. I had to help somehow now though running wasn’t an option given we had guns trained on us. It wasn’t a standoff, it was a hold-up.

“Caps, food, water, and chems.” A mare said behind me through the grip of her gun.

“Bandits?” I asked as I tapped my left saddlebag which held what they wanted.

“Bandits? Fuck no, Pythons.” The buck laughed, I eyed him, earth pony, grey mane, brown coat, shotgun holster on his left foreleg, loose barding, covered his rump, mix of rain gear and protective plates. “I think these bitches are new to town. Let’s give them a bit of information since they're payin’. Raiders are rare, it's gang warfare up here.”

I nodded. “Yeah only been here for an hour, already had a friend stolen away from me and now I am being robbed. Good start for my first day in the city.” I admitted but it only earned me more laughter and ridicule.

So instead I seized the moment and grabbed the knowledge of the teleportation spell.

I flashed behind the mare who was holding me up and unleashed an arcane blast into the back of her skull sending her eyes out the front of it. The buck moved to pull his shotgun out, I did the same. We stared at one another for a moment, the mare’s shattered head leaking out onto the wet shattered pavement in ever weaker pulses. Sil stood ready to shoot him if he fired.

“I’m not in a good mood,” I explained looking at him as the feeling of exhaustion hit me and annoyance replaced anything I had been feeling. “Put the gun away and you can take your friend’s body.”

Sil cycled her battle saddle shotgun to punctuate my point, good thing it was a pump shotgun or that would be a shell we’d have to collect.

“You’re crazy. I ain’t going to try to fight crazy. Don’t blame me if more Pythons come for you because of this you don’t get away with killin’ Pythons.” He said spitting the sawed-off back into his leg holster. “Consider yourself warned gangs don’t take it lightly when you kill their own.”

“I’ll worry about it later,” I said dryly and left wandering westward into the city ruins away from the Willmanemette.

“Moonlight?” Sil called to me as she trotted up to me.

After a minute I replied. “Sorry.”

She shook her head. “I’m not looking for an apology. What are we doing?” She asked.

“I don’t know. I just need to move.” I replied.

“Okay.” She said as she kept following me.

Guilt dragged at me for dragging her through this mood swing but she had been there for me when things went south with Winter. She wanted to be here with me because she was a good mare. I just needed to make certain I returned the favor. For fucks sake she wasn’t just a good mare, she was MY mare, and I felt like shit for treating her like this. Now she likely was worried about me as well as Riptide and having her feelings all messed up due to being told to fuck off until her stripes fall off.

And it all just made me angrier, I wanted to stomp, kick, and punch something until it was dust. I needed to burn out the energy these emotions were making me feel.

We wandered around aimlessly for a good hour. We eventually took cover from the rain in the entryway of a building. I tried to enter to only find a magical barrier. Looking inside I didn’t see anypony alive, or signs of ghouls. I thought back to the fight and the teleportation spell. It was a short jump, I could do it.

“Hey, Sil, can you stand next to me?” I asked.

“Sure, what for?” Sil asked as she trotted up.

I put my hoof on her shoulder before I closed my eyes and focused on the spot I wanted to go to inside the building past the barrier. Then with what felt like being squeezed through a straw and wrung out like a wet towel we were inside the building.

My insides didn’t agree with me on how impressive it was to teleport through a spell barrier or be teleported at all. Instead, my insides reminded me I was mortal and what I did was stupid. To emphasize this I became a weeping mess as my body reminded me of how many ways it could make a mess. Without a doubt, my body was empty of what it could expel within a minute. On the upside, if I ever was constipated or stuffed up again I had a terrible solution, but it worked.

Sil had fared equally as poorly and upon recovering slugged me. “Next time warn me.” She hissed.

I rubbed my shoulder where she had hit me. It wasn’t intended to hurt but to state her frustration.

“One, I didn’t know going through a barrier would do that. Two, next time we teleport I will warn you.” I explained. “Honestly good policy to warn before doing that.”

“Good.” Sil nodded. “Are you okay? I think… we might need to.” She grimaced looking around us.

“I’ll deal with it, just focus on taking care of yourself,” I replied, I felt a tint of a smile on my muzzle at her discomfort.

That wasn’t something I liked feeling and it wasn’t a good sign either, which gave me far more reason to give these emotions a strong kick to the head. The desire to return to a comfortable level of numbness and stay there grew, it was far more preferable than taking pleasure in the pain of those I love. Still, I felt like my fur was bristling, or… feathers?

The fuck? I shoved the confusing thought out of my head, I was a unicorn, not something else.

A quick scan of the lobby showed that it wasn’t as drab as it had looked from the outside. The barrier must have discolored the image of the inside. Once I had cleaned us up we set about refilling ourselves and drinking in the architecture of the lobby. The lobby was spectacularly designed as a feast of color coordination, designs, and architecture.

Then my eyes landed upon the name “Ministry of Image” and it clicked. While I would never forgive the Ministry for its sin of destroying and censoring books I could admire the taste that the Ministry had in design. I trotted around the antechamber looking around and marveling at how well-preserved the place was. There wasn’t a single body here. I halted remembering the shield.

Why weren't there any bodies here?

There wasn’t anything in here but us and wartime decorations. Not even a layer of dust was on the front desk.

I joined Sil behind the front desk to take a look at what was on it. Looking over it I found a dead terminal, it didn’t respond to Sil when she poked the power button. No safe nor chair either, I guessed that would ruin the Image now, wouldn’t it? A quick dig through the desk and nothing usable turned up, no files, no clutter. It was eerie how clean the place was, it made my mane crawl. Taking a moment to check the elevators produced nothing. Pressing the buttons the lights failed to light up, dead. Opening the door I found the elevators were a few floors below me, the cables were still intact.

“No power. Guess we’re taking the stairs today. But…” I looked at the emergency hatch on the elevator below me. “But, let’s do this logically.” I popped the hatch of the elevator open and hopped onto its roof.

“Moonlight!” Sil cried out as I hopped down.

“I’ll catch you,” I called up to her. “Magic’s working and all that.”

Sil hopped down and I steadied her fall with my magic.

“That wasn't what I expected when you said catch,” Sil replied.

“Less strain. Who knows how much magic we might need here.” I explained I had no clue what lay ahead of us.

What in the name of the Sisters am I doing? I'm just putting us at risk. And for what?

I groused at myself as I let go of my frustrations. They would only serve to put us in danger if I held onto them. Leaving was an option but killing time to lose any tail was invaluable plus it let me, hopefully, burn out these emotions without causing more harm or causing more trouble.

The inside of the elevator was dark. There wasn't a working light source inside. I lit my horn and saw the car was empty save a bit of dust. I shoved my hooves into the Elevator door and pried it open with a mix of might and magic.

“When did you get this strong?” Sil asked as she climbed through the opening of the doors.

“Don't know. Guess all this has been a bit of strength training.” I snorted as the door's emergency release was released. “Or maybe this trip I'm just starting to actually exert myself.”

A dumb grin found itself on my muzzle as Sil looked back at me.

Sil snorted in return. “So you're finally working more than your brain?”

“More like my hooves. You know as well as I do that guard work wasn't the most stimulating.” I replied as I observed our surroundings.

Sil made a… strange face at me, a small part of me told me she was trying to flirt and found something I said to be amusing or arousing. But it was unsafe to do stuff like that until we secured the building. So my attention went away from Sil’s backside to her underside, then back to the building.

Clear one so I can enjoy the other. This is the way.

The basement, unlike the entry floor, was, well, a basement. It wasn’t fancy, it was functional. Functionality wasn’t overwhelming, it was welcoming to me, at least I knew what everything did. Onward we delved as we began to pick through the basement on the lookout for anything of use.

“I mean, I told you before, Sil. Most of the time if they didn’t stick me wandering the dunes or watching some stretch of dirt I was standing by a door or watching supplies. I learned how to pick locks with my magic out of boredom and we weren’t allowed to carry lockpicks.” I smirked at her as I popped open the weak locks on some drawers with my magic.

“Yeah, I remember. That and gut feelings about ponies. Not like you had EFS to check if ponies were who they said they were.” Sil replied while she opened the drawers.

The basement had a few supplies, some unopened bottles of wonderglue, turpentine, and other industrial cleaners. Nothing surprising, I guessed the place had been put in effective stasis after evacuation. Though I was interested in how that stasis was still going, given the lack of magic taste in my head the source of the shield spell wasn’t down here. So the spark generators had to be at the top of the building.

“Pretty much. Familiarity with who was supposed to be where. Gut feelings, it bred intuition I guess that’s what’s kept me going for so long was that intuition.” I snorted. “Then again, my intuition was to run towards the mortars since I was trapped on the other side of the wall in Four Corners. Had to do it, I didn't know how long if at all when someone else would be sent to deal with the threat. Ended up eating a few walls for it.”

“What exactly happened out there?” Sil asked as she finished pilfering the long abandoned supplies.

“Well, I shot a few ponies. I broke contact and went around the main body of forces so I could get to the mortars as quickly as I could. Got to them, the raider boss was there. Tried to do some diplomacy that failed, explosively so. Naturally, that led to us getting into a fight, he was… one hell of an earth pony.” I explained.

I paused in my quick recitation of events to rub my horn. “He had a special hatred for unicorns. So he came after me when I took cover. Our guns ended up not working. He took a ton of chems. Smashed me through a few walls. Almost broke my horn, and as you know the spirals are gone from excessive heat as well as ending up bent as you can see.” I continued as I checked a few toolboxes. “I took most of his leg for that. After that, we both were pretty much on our last legs so I threw one of my remaining knives at him and shot him with my pistol. I was lucky all the damn explosions, bullets, and impacts didn’t break it.”

Sil trotted up to me and looked at my horn and then nuzzled me. I could feel her wordless worry and care for me. I hugged her in return. She didn't know exactly what I had thrown myself into but she knew the trip out with the Buckshots, the giant wasp, being stuck on the wrong side of the wall in Four Corners, and being bait for the hydra. They had all been at best narrow escapes for me, but never attempted to die.

I wasn’t suicidal, no matter what others might think.

I nuzzled her in return as I realized I probably left her scared of her choice to open her heart to me. That I would likely one day not return. Maybe that was why she was sticking so close to me now, so if I went, so did she.

In all honesty, my hope was that Sil wasn’t that fatalistic. Preferably as little fatalistic as possible, because that mindset can really mess up a person and their life.

We returned to the main floor. I stopped and pondered as we looked over the building floor plan.

Was I really in the mindset to do this? Did I want to do this right now? It wasn’t like anypony else really had ease of access to the building to loot it anymore.

Pondering this my haunches were again plopped onto the abandoned tile floor as I let myself feel out how I felt. It wasn’t that I hurt and was running from it, the major feeling in me was numbness. Behind that though was the thought telling me I was past where I had to stop and rest. There is something to say about when your body tells you to fucking stop, it generally is best to heed that, unless it meant dying. Right now I just felt like I had been shot, but it was all emotional trauma, no first aid kit or doctor’s bag would heal that.

As I sat there letting myself rest Sil plopped down beside me and leaned against me. Her foreleg went around my shoulder and I leaned back against her as we both took a moment. And a mental note formed to talk to Sil about how she was doing, they had directly said no to her on account of her stripes. She couldn’t be handling it any better than I.

My stomach broke me out of my state. Because of that the Sugar Apple bombs and Sparkle-Cola were broken out, and the extreme sugar flavor made me wince.

Was everything pre-war so over-saturated with sugar? At least the Sparkle-Cola didn’t taste like someone didn’t know how to measure sugar when cooking.

“So… I’m pretty certain heat doesn’t make bones smooth out and flex.” Sil commented looking at my horn.

“I…” I paused. “Well I don’t know what else it could have been.

“Yeah, maybe due to it was magic it kinda became pliable as you overcharged it. As in you put so much magic into it the form of your horn became pliable like raw magic?” She offered.

That was a better theory. “Maybe? I don’t know, and I doubt we’ll ever know.” I sighed. “At least it isn’t like I’m not used to having a slight curve to my horn, but this is…”

“Decidedly more wicked, yeah.” She nodded, and I nodded with her.

I shook my mane and put away the empty bottle and left the empty box on the floor. I had no reason to keep it with me and there wasn’t an obvious trash receptacle.

“Well, fuck it, I’m going to get my flank fucking toned or die trying,” I said to myself regarding the building layout again.

What lay ahead was going to be a lot of stairs, and my flank wasn’t that bad, my stomach was just pudgy and I had no idea what to do for that, though really having extra body fat was a blessing in the wastes. Given I was well away from home where I knew food wasn’t in short supply.

Sil giggled at my exclamation. “Really now?”

I felt my face flush.

“You can enjoy the view.” I fired back as I stood up.

The lack of barding meant teasing while going ahead of Sil on the stairs would be easy. Finally, some payback.

I found the stairs and began moving up floor by floor. Annoyingly the first six floors all had locked doors and the lockpicks were too tough for me to do. Forethought said to bypass the lower floors and start at the top and work our way down.

To my dismay, we didn’t, as I reached the fourteenth floor. My legs burned from all the stairs. The notion of using up my bobby pins on such few doors with unknown payoff was a bad call, however, I could see through gaps in doors and a few even through the keyway. With work, I could see past the door and determine if it was safe to teleport to the other side.

Another few minutes went by and after shifting the door a little on its hinges I could see in the reflection of the tile of the stairway that the other side was clear.

“I’ll get the door, just hang tight, hun,” I told Sil. With a pop I was on the other side, this time I didn’t feel like I went through a straw.

Instead, I felt like I suddenly stopped running and had momentum to me that I couldn’t process. I bent my legs to catch myself and recover. After a moment I looked around. This floor was filled with large offices, one caught my attention though. It must have been for the director of this branch. I opened the door to the stairs first so Sil could rejoin me before I began to check offices.

“Useful. Though I don’t think that will work on safes.” Sil teased.

“Yeah, really won’t help if a safe has a dial instead of a keyhole.” I chortled. “Need to break out some medical equipment for that.”

“Listen to the heart of the machine to find your way.” Sil recited.

I smirked. “Something like that. Come on, let's find out if there's anything useful left here.”

“Sure, thanks for the show. When we get back to Pioneer I’ll show my thanks.” Sil teased as she trotted ahead and brushed her tail along my jaw.

“Tease.” I fired back with a smile on my muzzle.

“It takes one to know one, love.” Sil giggled.

Each office was, of course, locked. Thankfully these locks were easy enough that I could just use my horn to unlock them. That locksmithing book had helped more than I imagined. A few more bobby pins would be only for when my magic would draw attention or be out of commission.

The contents though were uninteresting for each office. Most of what I saw were proposals for posters for other ministries, as well as for each of the princesses. There were also propaganda posters and leaflets that were called to be deployed to the zebras. Given the containers, it was an easy wager that they were to be air-dropped urging the zebras to surrender or call for a ceasefire. Most likely it was a joint project between M.o.I. and M.o.P., it made sense to me. Another office had a list of books to be reviewed for censorship and rewriting, which of course was promptly incinerated by my magic out of disgust.

The final office was the director’s office. It refused to unlock for me, but there was a window that was humorously clear so I just teleported in. I clicked the door open once again for Sil. The practice was going to be ingrained soon enough. Once we were able to focus on the room properly we found a scene of disarray. Clearly, the pony who had worked here wasn’t as neat as the others. Or neatness was a “do as I say, not as I do” statute here.

Regardless I sifted through the books, papers, dresses, uniforms, boxes, and assorted clutter. The upside was under none of it was a buried pony who died under this clutter. The downside was, well, there wasn’t much to loot, the dresses were nice, so I packed a few of them up, with a resizing spell I could make them fit any of us, not that dresses and the Wasteland cooperated. The uniforms lacked any armor value, purely formal wear for soldiers. The books were filled with designs for dresses, costumes, floats, posters, flags, and uniforms. Everything except for something useful in the wasteland.

I sighed and respectfully returned the books to the director's desk. “What a waste of time.”

“Not really. Though I’m glad that we didn’t see much anti-zebra propaganda.” Sil stated as she took the books full of outfit designs for herself. “What? I might be able to do something with them.”

“Fair, but yeah, I’m actually a bit surprised by that given you know it’s the Ministry of Propaganda and all that.” I replied remembering faded posters I had seen in the wastes about keeping an eye out for zebra infiltrators, how it was better to be ‘wiped than striped’, given how Sil treated me I feel most were missing out back then on how being ‘striped’ is. “Would have given them the same courtesy I gave to that list of books for censorship and rewriting.”

Sil let out a breath of relief. I hadn’t known she was worried about my view on the pre-war propaganda crap about zebras. We had grown up together plus I knew what was out there about her kin was at best-inflated bullshit about those fighting Equestria, at worse entirely made up. Not that domestically ponies likely differentiated between refugee zebras and those abroad fighting Equestria.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Sil said as she looked over one of the dresses. “Seems like this branch was a lot less about the negative side of the propaganda though.”

“Maybe, might have been Rarity wanted a personal touch to it, keep it from going too far or just far enough.” I gave a shake of my mane. “Can’t rightly pick her brain or you know go poke her terminal logs to find out.

“Fair enough that,” Sil replied as she looked at the former branch director. “Shame such pretty things were being made in conjunction with such awful things in such an awful time...”

I nodded. Though I lacked anything to add to that, the whole wartime was a horrible time, and worse it produced some of the most interesting books and tech. Still, the negatives massively outweighed anything gained, and it was hard to think anyone could disagree with how horrid life was now. It was sad to think that such marvels were made in the last few years of the Great War. However, it was in the shadow of the Great War and the war tainted everything that was made. Much like how radiation touched everything out in the wasteland now. Nothing was truly pure or untainted.

“Well, let’s get going. I’ll check a few doors as we go down but I think it’s getting late enough that we should head back to town.” I said checking my EFS to see if we had around an hour until sundown. “Didn’t check to see if there was a curfew or anything like that in Pioneer. Probably should have.”

“Something to ask about when we get back. Well, let’s hop to it.” Sil offered as she gave a playful tap to my rear to get me going.

With a box full of dresses on my back we returned to the stairs. I looked up at the access to floor fifteen, I had overlooked it as it was utility and not office space. I went up and tried the door for fifteen, but it wasn’t even locked. Strange. Opening the door I was hit with a wash of radiation that even my pipbuck crackled at and I saw my radiation exposure level increase for the first time in a while. I slammed the door closed.

“Nope, I’m resistant, not immune,” I said as I dug out a RadAway and sucked down the citrusy glowing fluid. I watched a bar showing my radiation exposure draining away back down to what were tolerable levels. “Okay, time to get the hell out of here.”

“The fuck was that,” Sil asked from the landing below.

“Whatever is powering this place is hot as fuck and I just ate a dose of radiation that would probably have made you into a glowing ghoul,” I informed her as I tossed the RadAway off the railing having emptied it. “Also, I have some resistance, but not immunity. The threshold is far lower than whatever the fuck level that was.”

“So if you start mutating again that’s normal, right?” She asked, I wasn’t certain if she was teasing or not as my mind was wracked with a mild amount of panic.

“You aren’t! Just teasing.” She stammered seeing my reaction.

With that, I took the stairs back down, when I reached the bottom floor I scanned to make certain everything was the way it was. Even the box I had discarded was where I had left it.

“Okay, Sil, looks like nothing managed to follow us in. Uh, ready to get sucked through a straw again?” I asked as I mentally braced myself.

“Yeah I don’t see anything in here, or waiting for us outside,” Sil replied then took a breath as she braced herself before putting a hoof on me. “I’m ready as I’ll ever be.”

This time I felt less like Luna and Celestia together had used their combined magical might to wring me out like a dishrag. Instead, I just felt like I was going to pop. I let out a bile-flavored belch that left my sinuses burning before casting a rejuvenation spell on myself just to be careful. It was no healing potion but it was something. For safety, I cast it on Sil as well who was dry heaving beside me. My pipbuck hasn't notified me of any major change in my health at either time.

Psychological? Whatever, we need to get going. Sadly the spell didn’t do us much good, I guessed teleporting through barriers just always sucked, good to know.

“You hanging in there, hun?” I asked Sil as I patted her on the shoulders.

“That wasn’t as bad as the first time. But, let’s try to do that as little as possible.” She said before she gave me a weak smile.

“Agreed. It’s not a fun experience. Well, let’s get to our new home.” I said looking north. “That feels weird to say that.”

“Yeah, I agree but, it is until after winter at least.” Sil nodded.

“Until we hit the trail again. Either for Saint Clover or for finding your mom.” I nodded in agreement as we started to trot north.

Pioneer wasn’t hard to get back to, it was one of the few electric light sources in the area. Plus the old city tram lines ran through it which made it easy to just pick a bit of rail in the ground and follow them. So we just followed the tram lines back and made our way inside. Once we were within the walls we headed for the old Ministry of Morale building. Once inside we quickly got our key for our room and left a note with reception about what to do if Riptide showed up. I wanted to be certain she wasn’t left sitting in the lobby for ages if we were out and about, so I made certain to fully describe how she looked.

With that done I took one key, and Sil took another. This was when we found out our room was on the seventh floor, and the elevators were long dead. Yay, more stairs. We went up and saw the room Winter had gotten us not a bedroom but an office. A large one but it was clearly repurposed. There wasn’t a bath of any kind in the room or attached to it, which meant using the rebuilt restrooms on this floor. It made more sense now that they had been called gendered bathrooms. I wagered showers, as well as other facilities, were available there.

For now, this was a fine room to have while it wasn’t ideal. It worked for me. I decided against a shower as I had gotten enough rain that all it would do was wash the water out of my fur with more water and I wasn’t keen on that. Also having been squeezed out by teleporting through a barrier I was good on the other side of things for a few more hours. So instead I laid down on the mattress as I lifted my bags off of my back and set them down. Stretched out on the bed and just relaxed and let my legs have a break. I noted in my EFS it was only six in the evening.

“I’ll be back in a bit, hun. I need to warm up and dry off.” Sil said she sounded like she was disappointed when I waved her off with a hoof.

Fuck it, I’m not in the mood to be awake, so this sulky pony is going to go to fall asleep alone.

Chapter 20 - Obligations

“We all have obligations to others, and sometimes they override what we really want to do. But at the same time it can give you direction when you’re overwhelmed.” - Unknown

Morning broke with the sound of a bell tolling seven times. A groan escaped my muzzle as I held my head and opened my eyes a little. As clarity grasped me I gave Sil a tight hug as she lay in bed with me. The past day had shown me how close she was to me and how much more I needed to respect that and how much I needed her, as she needed me.

Maybe I had gone through too much of my life with a relatively neutral emotional mindset after my mom had verbally beaten my angry temperament out of me. But as of late my emotional states bounced wildly between fury, apathy, and euphoria. The speed of those changes often left me feeling unbalanced and reflecting upon it the situation made me uncomfortable with myself. The worst part of it was how often these emotions were all consuming or entirely non-existent, zero to eleven in zero seconds flat.

Maybe I was still just an emotionally juvenile filly.

I shoved the thoughts out of my head and out the window. Instead, I buried my face into Sil’s mane.

I didn’t want to be mopy, I didn’t want to be ragey. I want to be me. I want to experience my emotions and not let them control me. I’ve seen where letting your emotions take control gets you too. After all, I was the one who had to…

That memory and thoughts connected to it were violently ejected from my mind. It was just too painful, far too much to deal with right now. One that I rarely thought about for good reason. It wasn’t something to start thinking about now.

With a grumble, I crawled out from under the sheets removing myself from embracing Sil. Now I needed a shower, to get food, and to look at what work there was to do around Pioneer. The key and its lanyard went around my neck as I left. No reason to be unsafe and frustrated.

The bathrooms were mercifully unoccupied when I visited them. When I felt the ice-cold water on my mane I could tell why, the hot water was likely used long before I got to the showers. I sighed and just took a cold shower, washed my mane with the complementary supplied mane and coat shampoo and conditioner. One thing crossed my mind as I washed: I needed to ask how much it was to rent the place out for a few months if not outright buy a room here. Another thought crossed my mind: I didn’t even know for how long Winter or Ocean had rented the rooms.

As for the Marina, it didn't seem like it had much space in it for more ponies, then again, good chance I wouldn’t be allowed to live in the Marina. Or at least not anytime soon. Beyond that, I didn’t have a good grasp of how big it was. And then there was Sil to consider, who wasn’t welcome there. Possibly good old prepper xenophobia.

Ugh, this is a mess.

All this in the end meant I needed to work to keep a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs. Well, we all needed to do so, but I had to do my part, it wasn’t fair if I didn’t. Plus if anyone could it would be Ocean she was our group leader.

However, I feel I’ve ended up guiding us a bit more as of late. Oh right, she was trying to get me to take charge more. Well, I guess that works out. Even then I feel a leader should do as much work as the rest if not more. That’s probably going to bite me in the ass, just like my desire to protect others by doing the dumb dangerous thing instead.

Is my thoughtfulness going to get me killed? Yeah, that sounds right for my fate.

A few moments later I got my thoughts going again. My priorities needed to be sorted and acted upon. Riptide had her to-do list with her family, Sil and I would do things out here to keep ourselves afloat and I’d coordinate with Winter and Ocean on anything they found for the four of us to do. There was a good chance we’d end up scavenging, repairing, and selling stuff that we grabbed on contracts.

With my thoughts in order I finished chilling myself in the cold shower. Sometimes a cold shower is better than caffeine for perking you up. Upon return to our room, I saw Sil was gone and failed to leave a note. I assumed she had gone for breakfast out at a store somewhere or maybe window shopping. Her saddlebags were gone.

While I let my mane dry I sat down with the spellbook from Hoofview as I wrote notes about the teleport spell in the margins. If this had been somepony else's spellbook I wouldn’t have but it wasn’t. Once my notes were done I tucked the grimoire away and went downstairs with a small bag of caps around my neck with my room key as well. No need to carry everything I owned everywhere.

Ah, the joys of not murder hoboing it across the wasteland. And why is this a saying somehow passed down from the original crew of Clover?

Breakfast was good however there was little in the way of oats. The salt content was tolerable. Things were calm and civil enough that I even managed to have toast and my tea. The effects of a good meal were something I often forgot about. Not only did I physically feel better, but I felt mentally refreshed. Not perfect, but I wasn’t mentally gasping for air.

With breakfast over, I inquired about contract work and was directed to what had been a pre-war news recording station in the square itself. Now it was, well, I didn’t have a word for it, part bounty hunting, part information hub, part air your grievances at other ponies to some poor couple of deskjockies who then had to try to fill out paperwork to make it into a contract.

There were two desks, helpfully labeled by signs on the ceiling. Well okay, there were three but only two that I could make use of at this point. The first was one for placing a job which I could do but I had no use for right now. The other was where I was now, which was for picking up contracts. Apparently, it wasn’t just a bounty board system, they made certain things went to folks able to handle things that really needed to get done. I wondered why they didn’t just have the town guard go do it. But, what did I know I was just a simple mare from a coastal town that worked patrol duty.

It took two Celestia damned hours to get to the front of the line. Once there the stallion, his name card read ‘Wild Strikes’ looked confused at seeing me. “Excuse miss, but this line is for picking up work, placing work orders is the other line.

“New in town, I need some work while I stay over winter,” I explained. “I got guns, ammo, armor, medical training, medical supplies, technical experience, and just walked from Saint Clover over in Seamane to here escorting a mare to the rest of her family. And on the account of outside of paying heaps of caps since boats don’t run during autumn and winter between here and home, I’m sitting here until Spring rolls around because I don’t fancy walking home.”

Wild Strikes looked at me then at some listings he had, then at me again.

“I’m also slightly radiation resistant and radiation activated regeneration on account of surviving some taint exposure. If that helps any.” I said, feeling the agitation of the ponies behind me.

“Radiation immunity and medical training with technical training and a decent amount of weapons. Well, there are a few options. Give me a minute, we usually give ponies like you, as in those new to the town, things that aren’t important to do to feel you out.” Wild Strikes chuckled nervously. “I need to double-check some information about those two jobs for you. Good caps, but I need to make certain they are correct.”

“Fair, don’t rush on the account of me though. Just still trying to get into the swing of things.” I explained, and the words made the buck relax a bit. “I try not to do things so haphazardly, and I have three companions.”

After a few minutes, two folders were put down on the desk in front of me.

“Okay, so the first job is that we have some bad ponies hanging out around the soap factory on the other side of the river, address and directions in here, point of contact is any of the guards, they can give you more information as to recent activity. Clear them out, full salvage rights, plus two hundred caps.” He then pointed to portions of the jobs outlining pay. “As usual around here the main pay is, obviously, salvage.”

Then he moved to the second contract. “The second one is a few miles north of the first. Radiation is a bit dense around the Fluttershy Medical Center on that side of the river, so nopony has really had the time to scope the place out other than the first couple of floors at most. Might be ghouls, or robots, but likely nothing in there. Simple job, go in and find what’s there, carry what you can then get back here and report what else is there. Then we can figure out what resources are worth salvaging in there. The pay’s two thousand caps, bonus for what you bring back.” Wild Strikes explained.

I nodded and picked up the folders in my magic. “If you want to read them now, well there’s no space, sorry. You did say that you had a room so I suggest you go back and plan things out there.” Wild Strikes said. “Do this and we’ll make you a profile and chit for you to speed this along.”

“I will, thank you,” I replied and left.

However, I was poised with a minor problem. I needed some armor if I was going to be dealing with combat. The term ‘Bad ponies’ was rather nebulous, but, I guessed whatever would do for barding against them. Ghouls though. I felt like something to protect my sorry hide from their teeth was in order.

I went to one of the open-air stalls and got myself some new barding. It wasn’t anything special, but it covered more than my old set, the metal bits would help keep ghouls from biting my legs as easily and the pad over my stomach would help protect against shrapnel and kicks from killing me. Hopefully, prevent further impalements. I looked like most merchants I saw out and about though, so it seemed a popular choice in local barding. Probably for the best as it would help keep me low profile. More so after pissing off those weirdos yesterday.

-=O=-

Upon returning to my room I laid out the folders and information about the jobs on my bed drinking in the information, my pipbuck adding both locations into my destinations with helpful waypoints laid out. I folded up the map of Dockland and put it into my pack as I sorted out what I needed and what could stay. I doubted I needed more than two days of food and drink. Mom always taught me to take twice as many supplies when scavenging as I thought I would need. Ammo came next, I would be taking my silent pistol and the revolver rifle, I hid the sawed-off in my bags and cast the recall spell on it. I didn’t have a holster for it, but it would be a nasty surprise if I got disarmed.

“Then again, even disarmed of my rifle and pistol I have what like ten knives and the ability to make ponies' skulls explode via magic?” I snickered to myself as I looked over my inventory.

I looked at the grimoire and packed it as well who knew I might have some time to read?

“Now, I need to find Sil and either Winter or Ocean before I head out. I don’t think I want Sil going into the radiation with me though…” I muttered to myself. “Maybe have her head back with the first contact while I go to deal with the clinic.” I frowned and looked at the map of Dockland again in my EFS. Thankfully having gotten a physical map my pipbuck had updated to include it. From what I could tell there was no logical source for the radiation at the clinic. “Well, one more thing I’m going to have to figure out while there.”

I put my saddlebags in my back and double-checked my straps. “Alright, let’s go find everyone else and sort things out,” I said to myself. “I really do just keep violating my own rule of not going alone…”

A quick check with reception and I had the room number for Winter and Ocean. I also now knew I had a week for the room after that I could buy it if I had the caps. It wasn’t stupidly pricey but I was going to need to save most if not all my caps from these two jobs. Checking Winter’s room I got no response. I grumbled and went to reception and left them a letter to give the two as I started to search the town for Sil.

It took a further hour to spot Sil. She looked a bit disappointed when she saw me. Apprehension took hold of me seeing her disappointment. After a moment of indecisiveness, I trotted to greet her.

“What’s up Sil?” I asked her.

“Just…” She was quiet for a moment. “I had been working on something for you all morning. But I guess you don’t need it.”

I paused and realized I had been missing barding for the past few days and she likely had gone to find or make some for me.

“I…” I started. “Take it as you have more time to make it even better. Given how things have thrown at us already I doubt this barding will last that long.” I assured her.

Sil pondered that for a moment. “I guess that is a better way to look at it. Though, it isn’t ready yet. I… Also had hoped we wouldn’t be going out immediately.”

“Oh.” I paused and felt my ears drop. “I... “

Your nature just calls to you to keep moving. Keep acting.

I shoved the thoughts out of my mind. “Well, one of the jobs they gave me is to poke around an irradiated hospital so it’s not like I’d have you go in there with me. Probably have you either keep a few blocks back or we’d come back after the first one. Which is to knock off some bad ponies pestering guards around a soap factory.”

“A soap factory?” Sil asked, looking a bit puzzled by this.

“Yeah, apparently some of the industry around here is still working. It’s just across the river. Probably supplies the town with its soap.” I snorted. “Might get a discount at the spa for it.”

“I think I’ll join you on the first leg of the trip.” Sil nodded.

“I need a break anyways, and some things I have to wait to get done anyways,” Sil added cryptically.

I gave her a quizzical look but didn’t vocalize my thoughts. What took that long to make for barding?

With that, we gathered some extra medical supplies from our room and got Sil into her barding. I was glad she agreed to go with me. But, I still felt bad for ruining her gift to me. The upside was it wasn’t entirely ruined given her gift wasn’t ready yet this barding was just interim equipment until her little project was done. Which suited me fine plus she had appeared, while I slept, taken my measurements and most of the morning been finding the best pony to make some kind of barding for me. I was a little too curious as to what it was going to look like in the end. But, the best gifts are those we forget about and return as a surprise in the end.

A final check of Winter and Ocean’s room yielded nothing, in an attempt to keep them in the loop we hit up reception to leave them a letter. Instead, we got one in return. They had headed out of town on a trial contract as well. Though theirs was more directed and they had picked it up while Sil and I had been sulking about Riptide. It was also more directed in aiming at getting salvage that could be used for making more pipbuck zeros.

This made me realize we could lean into producing those, but with only two of us technically inclined and the hours needed that would be ineffective until we had more resources to lean on between runs. We left a letter to the two of them about our two jobs, the Soap Job didn’t seem that hard, but any fight could become costly. And with pay being salvage it would be hard to come out on top of an exchange when most doctors don’t take random stuff for payment…

-=O=-

I should have asked somepony who the gangs in the area were. I had been taking the waterfront again when I was stopped by a group of four ponies this time. One with a spiked bat, one with a sawed-off, one with a rifle, and one with two semi-automatic pistols. All were in somewhat matching attire of green and grey rain slickers.

“And what do we have here, another pair of contractors out of Pioneer?” Spiked asked standing on his hind legs braced with his forelegs crossed on the bat.

“This is a toll road, we keep it safe from them Wigglers.” Sawed Off sneered.

Wigglers? Is that some kind of wildlife?

“Toll is two hundred caps, for a contractor like you. Don’t worry, we’ll leave you alone once paid.” Rifle giggled, the mare wasn’t crazy, just tripping on power. I knew that kind of laugh I had disciplined others in the guard for that behavior before.

“So pay up or we’re going to loot you.” Pistols said.

“Well, you aren’t pythons, who the fuck are you lot?” I asked, I got a feeling this routine was going to be common until word got around. Do I want word to get around about me? Ugh, it probably was me and my stubborn ass.

“Ha, she is new. Nah, we ain’t wigglers, Preservers. Paying us helps us keep things the way they are, you understand?” Sawed Off said before letting out a laugh.

Fucking what is with these names anymore? Well, their attention is mostly on me, Sil seems to be an afterthought to them. Right, the Family exists around here, probably isn’t uncommon to see a Unicorn bossing around others. Hornheads likely are seen as the de facto leader of any group. Ugh, unwanted privilege.

“Right, you said two hundred?” I asked as I looked at the bridge behind them.

It was a longer jump than I had done before, but I had a good line of sight, I was nice and calm with my mind clear.

“Alright.” I hopped back and wrapped my forelegs around Sil. “Teleporting, hun,” I said before we teleported, she got her warning.

We found ourselves a good ten feet above the bridge deck, I let out a yelp as gravity took effect and landed with Sil atop of me as we hit a ruined metal carriage.

“Ow, fuck, ow. Sweet Celestia, why is it always my spine?!” I cried to the heavens before I caught my breath.

Sil however seemed far less hurt, probably due to the Moonlight-shaped pillow she got to use for the landing.

“Okay, now where to, pipbuck?” Dutifully a faint line appeared along the road for a few seconds.

Since when did it do that? Actually, that’s just probably due to it having a proper map and address to work with for once.

We headed east along the bridge. I looked to the north across the river at the marina where Riptide was and hoped things were going better for her than for me.

“Stay safe Riptide, I’ll see you in a while,” I whispered to myself before continuing on to the east side of Dockland.

The bridge had a few collapsed segments in the top deck, and no real safe way to get around them, see shear drop off to the crumbled road below.

“So…” I started a part of me giddy about getting to teleport a bunch now that I figured it out.

“So… I didn’t enjoy being pulled through reality without notice.” She began, and as I opened my mouth she started to talk again. “But it was the right reaction to the situation. But when we do it traverse difficult paths like this, warnings please.”

“Of course,” I replied.

“Okay then, remember to leave us a bit of time to process the sudden change of location.”

I was already tapping excitedly on my hooftips at getting to teleport a bunch of small hops really fast. Sil’s words didn’t even enter my mind as I started plotting the jumps in my head.

The short quick bursts were ideal practice for the type of teleports that I could likely pull off in combat. So it was a good training regimen even if it was a bit exhaustive. Finally, we got close enough to the other side of the river that I could skip walking the rest of the way. With a pop, we were on the roof of a building and I checked my pipbuck for where we needed to go next.

“I said with time between jumps!” Sil hissed at me.

As I opened my mouth to reply the staccato of gunfire echoed out, and for the first time in a bit, it wasn’t directed at me. Nor at Sil, thankfully, instead it was a few blocks to the south. EFS pulled itself up as I thought about where our contract was taking us, it was time to get in position to clear out the ‘bad guys’.

Hopefully, these are the same ponies as the ones in the contract. One jump later we were at the street level and nearing the edge of a building to check the street before crossing it towards the ongoing firefight.

“Looks clear, alright, let’s get moving, Sil,” I told her as she put her hoof on my rump. I wasn’t certain if she was doing it so we formed a line or for some other reason. I stored it in the back of my mind to chew on later to look for patterns.

Moving past each street we cleared we hurried down narrow alleys to reduce how much time anyone could spot our approach. Our hooves clattered on the shattered pavement, the worn concrete, and the twice-fired brickways.

We slowed to a crawl as we reached a corner near a walled factory. The gunfire was loud enough that we must be right beside it. A glance around the corner I saw six ponies hunkered down behind a carriage, they were taking potshots at the ponies on the wall around the factory. It was a simple enough situation to resolve so out came the revolver rifle. I got to the corner of the nearest building flanking the ponies firing upon the guards before I opened up.

While I wished I had gotten some grenades Sil opening up with me was more than enough firepower for now. My first shot went high and left a good hole in the carriage. The second shot went clean through the right foreleg of one of the ponies. A third shot I had to hold off loosing as the ponies started firing at me.

Thankfully Sil had looped around to get to a different lane of fire. I teleported across the street to where Sil had ducked behind the building. We hurried off to get another angle on the ponies assaulting the factory.

We got to another alleyway while the ponies continued to fire upon the guards and our former position. I sighted in and fired the third shot and was rewarded with taking out one pony with a clean headshot. I took a moment popping the cylinder open and slotting in three fresh rounds and putting the empties in my bag. We might be able to reload them, but I’d need to see if any shop had reloading tools.

The guards now that they weren’t pinned fired a grenade launcher blowing the whole carriage back against the ponies behind it. I ran out pulling out the sawed-off and closed in on the dazed ponies. I felt rounds graze against my face, my leg, and my barrel. I blasted out both shells into the group before following it up with several arcane blasts. One pony was left alive and fled. I let them run but the guards didn’t. That annoyed me, I was hoping to track the would-be thief to their nest. I shook my head and picked over the dead instead.

“When two are done come around the corner, that’s where the gate is. I’m guessing you’re here for work. If not, well, we have work if you’re interested.” The Grenade launcher mare said from the wall.

“Be there in a few minutes,” I replied, the bandits didn’t have much of note but some ammo. Their guns were shoddy, but I could sell them off for caps. I took the backpack from one, as it would be more storage space, even if it was a bit awkward. I probably would send our scavenged goods back with Sil so she could sell them off and get us a nest egg going.

The would-be attackers' barding was nothing but rain slickers, with no color coordination between them. I sighed as I left their bodies where they lay, their blood mixing with the runoff. What a waste of life, but it was theirs to waste. Sil caught up to me after as we trotted up and around the corner, as directed, a bit further up I found the gate.

“Alright, so I did pick up a contract for dealing with the ponies who have been giving you folks some trouble,” I said up to the guard on the wall as the breeze blew the increasing rain. “Got any information on where they might be coming from, or why they’re hitting a soap factory?”

“The why is simple, take it over and ransom it. That’s what I think at least, that or somepony else wants it, don’t know why, makes money that’s probably enough reason.” Grenade launcher said. “As for where we haven’t had much luck on that further east into the city somewhere it’s where any stragglers run off to we don’t give chase. Bad idea since they might catch one of us and then we’d have to pay for the rescue.”

“Fair. In any case, we’ll get lookin’. Those six didn’t have anything on them unfortunately no pattern to their clothes so they aren’t Pythons or Preservers I’m guessing.” I sighed and shook my mane, the rain was getting bad enough, so I pulled out a pair of goggles I had been given and put them on.

“Same to the both of ya.” Grenade Launcher said with a nod.

As we departed Sil gave me a small look. I raised an eyebrow and she pointed to a window. I checked it and saw I was bleeding a bit. With the rain, leaving wounds open was probably not a good idea. I started to use my magic to close the wounds.

“Thanks, hun.” I sighed. “I know I got a little reckless there.”

“Wasn’t going to say anything.” Sil offered. “I didn’t expect them to be able to fire back after taking a grenade that close.”

I nodded. “That was my thought as well. Still not used to how the revolver rifle handles. I think I need to adjust its sites. I feel a bit stupid for not having done that before.”

“Well, at least you’re getting a chance to feel stupid about it.” Sil smiled.

“Yeah, that’s a good point,” I said as I finished closing the wounds on my face.

“Another good point is for us to get to where we’re going so we can get out of this rain sooner than later,” Sil said with a nod towards the road.

I nodded in agreement and we started to trot eastward again.

Chapter 21 - Work

“Not every job is what the contract says; we just rate them as best our intelligence and our gut says. Sometimes we get it wrong on how dangerous a contract is so be cautious. Ask around and don’t be afraid to cut and run part-way through. What you find out is more useful than another dead mercenary.” - Talon’s Advice for New Mercenaries, Wasteland Survival Guide

I wished we had bought rain slickers in Pioneer. The rain grew heavier and the wind was driving it into our faces. I was happy with my goggles but it did little to keep the rest of me dry, or warm. I felt a chill start driving its way into my bones starting at my hooves and horn. I let out a grunt as, against better judgment, I used my magic to put up a field of telekinesis to act as a weak shield against the rain.

Thankfully it was only about as draining as a light spell. I just didn’t like that it put an effective spotlight on us. Sil sighed as she shook her mane once the magical field was up, splashing me with a bit of water.

“Sorry, habit.” Sil blushed as I gave her a tired look.

“It’s alright. Want me to wring you next?” I asked.

“What?” She replied.

“Like a washcloth; just high-force telekinesis along your outsides pushing all the water off,” I explained. “I’ve been trying to copy Argent’s little trick on drying oneself off with magic, can’t get the fire part of it down. Wish I had figured this out years ago. Never show up to a meeting with a wet mane. Oh do some of the watch commanders hate that.”

“Huh. Maybe once we get inside,” Sil said, taking me up on the offer.

“Alright. Just close your eyes when I tell you to.”

As we headed onwards, my pipbuck occasionally clicked as radiation passed through it. I hadn’t heard it go off the entire time we had been on the west side of the Willmanemette in Dockland.

I shook my mane as I looked at the burnt buildings. Much of the infrastructure here still stood with minor superficial damage, while some were husks and others still looked long abandoned and in need of love. It was a mix of what I had seen coming up from Seamane; fire, abandonment, and rot from the weather. It made me feel isolated and cold.

I brushed away the broken glass of a busted storefront before hopping through the window. Sil hopped in after me as I wrung out my waterlogged coat. She found the experience novel when it came to her turn, though I had the issue of dumping two ponies' worth of water back outside. The upside was it counted as a shower in my book.

My attention turned towards the inside of the building once we were dry. Mercifully the interior of the building itself was just as dry, even as moisture clung to most surfaces. At least we weren't being rained on anymore.

We decided to lay down and have lunch while I looked over the map of Dockland on my pipbuck. I frowned, noting that the map was a bit loose on its tracking, likely due to it being a cobbled-together device. I had to just go by my gut and our current map to guess where we were.

Time was not an issue for us, we didn’t need to be somewhere by a given time instead it was more of a case of we needed to find where to go. More than a few times I poked my nose out the front window to read the street signs to provide a point of reference.

“If they ran this way usually what along this path could they be going to?” I muttered to myself looking at the map and holding it flat in my forehooves. “This would be a lot easier if I knew this side of town.” I sighed and hung my head. “Well, whatever, might be smarter to find a place to observe and catch a group as they go to attack the factory. Don’t need to stop them, just figure out where they came from for now. Then I can plan from there.”

“Hmm?” Sil asked, hearing me talking to myself.

“Just figuring out what to do next,” I replied before sighing again. “I should have asked how frequent the attacks were. It could be in an hour or it could be in weeks. Damn it, that was short-sighted.”

I groaned and stopped myself before taking a breath. “Still, it wasn’t in the file and the guards didn’t mention it so there might not be any regularity. That would make the most sense. Attacking like clockwork would be the best way to get your crew killed.”

“Means they could be poking at other places, tossing off small timers every now and again for a more established group.” Sil offered. “Hazing ritual.”

“Could be, that would mean a well-sized compound to hold the group. Still, we need to get a place to get some overview.” I tapped my chin as I pondered, then regarded the map again. “Well, there’s the highway which loops back to the west side across several bridges that they could have crossed to get here from the west side. That just opens up a lot of options.”

I stood up and packed away the map before moving to the window. The rain was even heavier now. “Maybe… I wonder if there's another town on this side. Even with the radiation, there must be.”

“Well, there has to be. I remember a few ponies mentioning it. Something about a family running it.” Sil said, reminding me of the unicorn supremacists.

Yeah, that’s going to be fun to deal with… I had hoped to bury everything about that year. At least this time… Well, they shouldn’t recognize me, ugh I just had to learn the hard way they’re a bunch of fucked up freaks.

I winced at the brush of those memories, Sil caught it but I started talking before she could ask; I didn’t want to talk about it, not even to those closest to me.

“Yeah, would be the likely hub of ponies wandering off to join gangs and bandits.” I nodded.
“As well as how anypony on this side of the town survives, hitting what supplies the town every now and again.”

“Well, we won’t find them unless we get going,” Sil said before she looked outside. “Oh…”

“Yeah..” I replied, looking at the sheets of rain coming down.

I hadn’t imagined I could get soaked to the bone faster than by falling into the sea. In the little time it took to get outside and cast my barrier again I had gotten drenched by the rain. At least I had the foresight to go first so Sil stayed dry.

She did her best not to pick at my mopey mood as I remained soggy during our search, my waterlogged mane refusing to stay out of my eyes. Thankfully with the goggles it just obscured my vision.

We needed a vantage point. If there was a settlement on this side of the river we should spot the light or smoke from it. Unfortunately, the weather decided I wasn’t allowed to see more than two hundred feet at best. The shadows of buildings loomed at us through the rain like specters, waiting to grab you when you turned away.

After an hour of wandering through alleys, we stumbled onto something promising: a construction site for what was going to be a building full of apartments, given what I could still read on the fence. I looked up but the rain turned its rooftop into a mere shadow. That boded well for us as no visible lights meant nopony was living in it so we pushed past the chain link fence and into the building.

“Well, this is a nice change of pace,” I said, looking around.

“Certainly, though a little drafty,” Sil added. “Looks like they didn’t get any windows installed on this floor. Or doors for that matter.”

The decor was incomplete, to say the least. At first, I thought there were living plants growing in here until I gave one a bite and found they were made of plastic. Yuck, who made plastic plants?! Shrugging, I made for the stairs.

“Not bothering with the elevator this time?” Sil asked.

“Duh, if this floor doesn’t even have lights I doubt it has elevators that work,” I explained. “Come now, my silly zebra cake, let’s check this place out. We might even have someplace to sleep tonight because I don’t know if we’re going to wrap up this contract in time to head back to Pioneer.”

Sill snorted. “Zebra cake? Really.”

“I’m terrible with nicknames, alright.” I sighed. “I’ll just stick with Sil.”

“That’s my good filly.” She teased me back, I swear my cheeks flash-dried out from the blush she sparked, which only made her giggle more.

The stairwell was far fancier than it had any right to be and gave me a convenient, clear line of sight for several floors above.

Sil realized what was about to happen just as I grabbed hold of her and began to quickly pop us both between floors. She rolled her eyes, seemingly starting to accept I was just going to do this when time was of the essence.

Every few floors I noticed that the interiors were less and less complete. On the ninth floor; there wasn’t even a door for the floor. The twelfth floor didn’t have carpet past the doorway. Fifteenth the walls were just skeletons for rooms, the floor was bare wood. We stopped and I walked in not wanting to go onto the roof. It seemed that while the bottom floor had lost its glass the top floor had not. Maybe early post-war vandalism I was thankful for the glass that was on this floor as the rain came down. However, I was curious as to how the glass in the city had survived the multiple balefire detonations within the city that were well beyond a point of concern.

As I walked in I heard a rustle and drew my pistol in my magic as I lowered my stance. I looked over my shoulder to see Sil move to block the doorway and get her battle saddle bit into her mouth.

Good whatever was in here we should have cornered.

I slowed my pace and scanned the floor as more rustling filled the air. I pulled out an empty bottle and cast my light spell on it and tossed it to the far end of the floor with my magic. As it flew through the air I got a good look through the floor as shadows shifted, elongated, and collapsed on themselves. Nothing. I turned and shook her head indicating nothing behind us at the stairwell. My ears flicked some more as I heard a rustling clearer, above me on the roof and I let out a sigh.

“Must be something caught on the roof, a tarp or something,” I explained as I replaced my pistol in its harness. The shadows continued to shift as the bottle rolled to the far side of the floor. “Well, I don’t think with the rain like this I’m going to get a good view of things around here.”

“So now what?” Sil asked as she joined me as she rolled the self-illuminating bottle with her hoof.

“Well, let’s wait out the rain. I… should… Do we do it here or check the lower floors to see if it’s furnished?” I asked.

“Lower floor. I’d rather not sleep on hardwood, though I know you have plenty of experience with that.” Sil snorted. What was that supposed to mean? The decks of Saint Clover were metal.

I picked up the bottle and put it in my saddlebag. We headed down a few flights of stairs. I wasn’t in a rush considering the rain was coming down hard and we had plenty of floors to check. If the storm didn’t break by morning I’d take Sil back to Pioneer and then strike out for the Clinic.

Though calling it a clinic seemed wrong when, if my map was right, it comprised a large campus. I shuddered thinking about it, glad that we were choosing to wait things out here instead of alone in an irradiated hospital with Stars knew what.

A sudden thought hit me as we checked the floors for furnishings. I pulled out the bottle again and I held the glass Sparkle-Cola bottle in my magic as it glowed the deep green of my light spell, its facets changing the luminosity as I slowly rotated it.

“Hadn’t thought about how the glass would affect a light spell,” I muttered to myself. “I really should consider using some weak light spells on objects when exploring. Would be a great way to mark where I’ve been.”

I pondered and pulled out my spellbook as we trotted along. Sil, seeing me distracted, took the lead, flicking on a shoulder-mounted flashlight she must have gotten in Pioneer when she was out without me.

“Where was that arcane mark spell.” I fumbled around the spellbook for a bit before finding it. I winced when I saw the card from Dealer again, quickly shuffling it to the page behind the mark spell and before beginning to read.

While not a simple marking spell, it was potent, making symbols for a ritual, or remotely activated spells, hidden or visible, it could even show other arcane marks or be used to make teleportation networks.

“Sweet Celestia, this is probably why this book wasn’t meant for public consumption. Somepony probably would have been afraid sympathizers would use it to create a network to teleport zebras in.” I muttered to myself realizing the power of these spells in conjunction.

“What was that, Moony?” Sil called back, poking her head out of a doorway.

“Sorry, reading.” I explained before reading further. “Found an interesting spell to either make hidden messages for me or… Well, mark a place so I can teleport to it over a long range. Though I think I can also do that by just carving it into the ground.”

Would need a bit of practice with the spell but in theory it was simple. With it I could make things like arcane landmines. Useful, yet terrifying.

“Now I am going to be paranoid that other ponies know how to do this,” I muttered, before casting the arcane mark spell on the floor outside the stairwell, infusing an arcane blast into it in the process. Anypony other than Sil or I that crossed that threshold would get an arcane blast fired at them from the floor. Which given that’s where a lot of ponies had a lack of armor, would be pretty harmful. “Now I can settle down and rest. Probably take a nap until the storm blows over.”

“I found us a bed, hun. Seems most of this floor is reasonably furnished.” Sil called from a doorway before tilting her head. “What are you doing?”

“Setting a magical landmine so if anyone but us tries to cross the doorway they get a magic bolt to the underside,” I explained. “Which, given that’s where a lot of ponies lack armor, it would be pretty harmful.”

Sil just looked at me like I was a bit insane. “Well, that takes care of keeping us safe. Guess I won’t need to set up the grenade trap on the door then.”

I paused. “No… But when did you get grenades?”

“Pioneer?” She replied.

“I really need to make myself a shopping list.” I sighed.

“Probably. How about some rest first?” Sil offered as I joined her.

-=O=-

Awareness came back to me as lightning shook the building. I let out a yelp of fear and pain as excess charge ran around me. I could feel the air filled with excess energy and lay low in the bed where Sil pressed against me. I lit my horn, afraid that my pipbuck might channel more electricity. Sil was saying something but the ringing in my ears left her words on deaf ears.

“Fuck.” I whimpered as I pressed my head against Sil’s and let my horn light fade out.

I dared to open an eye after a minute. We were still alive. I lifted my head and the blanket slid off of me. I saw the rain had let up but I could still hear rumbling and the sound of fat raindrops hitting the windows.

“Okay, fuck, let’s hope that doesn’t happen again” I croaked as I held onto the lightly trembling Sil.

Sil and I recovered after a while. She wanted to stay in bed which was understandable. Lightning was not fun. Worse when it hit what you were in.

“I’m just going to check on things around us, okay?” I stated.

“Sure, just, be quick,” Sil replied.

I nodded. I just wanted to be certain that the lightning strike hadn’t set the building on fire.

It was as I started doing my patrol that I realized we were on the fourth floor according to the room numbers. I filed it in the back of my head before pushing open one of the doors. Unsurprisingly there weren’t any locks.

The flooring was mostly finished, and interior doors inside the apartment hung open. On the floor I saw signs of habitation, with the empty bottles of water and boxes of food. Fortunately nothing pointed to anything recent. With that inspection complete, I meticulously poked through the rest of the floor.

The windows here were intact beyond a few bullet holes, nothing I couldn’t repair thanks to the majority of the glass still being there. The majority of the interior furnishings were missing, though I did note the fixtures for lights were completed to the point that lightbulbs sat in many of them. Not that the light switches worked of course.

As annoying as that was, it was at least something I could work with. While the lack of furniture would make things a problem for housing ponies here, the more technical equipment was here. Heating, showers, sinks, ovens, stovetops? I could make do with this floor.

I eventually returned to Sil and kept an eye out the window for activity below us, though part of me wondered about making this a safe house. While it would probably cost more than just buying a place, having a base of operation on this side of the river would be nice. The radiation was low enough to not need to worry about it, at least on this floor.

I rubbed my forehead. Was it a good idea to hide out so far away from other ponies though? Safety in numbers, let other ponies do the guarding. No need to sleep with a gun under my bed and set up magical and mundane traps. Yet the idea was appealing as I would have another place to store things, a place to operate out of. I just would have to do something to make it harder to access, to hide what I was doing.

“You’re being stupid, Moonlight,” I muttered. “Just buy a bigger room in Pioneer.”

“What’s up?” Sil asked.

“Thinking of converting this building to have this floor as a safe house. Enchant the windows to be one way. Fix everything up really nice. Get a generator for some heat. Get us some rain barrels. Some tools so we can work on things. Maybe loot ourselves a computer network. Secure door.” I sighed. “Soundproof bedrooms.”

Sil snorted at the last item on the list. “For the five of us?”

“Yeah, and anyone else we end up picking up along the way. I imagine at some point we’re going to end up rescuing some strays.” I giggled. “Be it via contract or just tripping over them.”

“You're not wrong.” Sil nodded. “Though transporting supplies here would be a bit of a pain in the rear.

“Well, as my reading told me. I can just teleport between marks, so…” I trailed off.

“So you just carve one into the floor here and make a rug or something in Pioneer and we have a magical transport system via your horn.” Sil laughed, realizing how much time we would be saving before kissing my horn. “Hornheads, so clever. If you ever wonder why I fell for you.”

I blinked. “That can’t be the only thing.” I snorted. I didn’t believe for a moment that was the only reason Sil would go for me.

“One of many reasons and they’re hard to put into words.” Sil admitted. “I bet you know how it is. That strange feeling in your heart and all that.”

I was intimately familiar with it so I pulled her close as we lay in bed, resting my head atop hers.

“I know that feeling all too well,” I admitted.

My thoughts returned to the safe house idea. It just wouldn’t leave me alone even while I was enjoying some cuddles. There was one big advantage I realized now. I could be certain here no one was listening in. An entirely controlled environment. How useful. Fine, I’ll think about it, as stupid and dangerous as this is. Maybe I’ll just do both and set up a teleportation network. Will let teleport back here if need be with salvage or a couple of ponies. If it wasn’t too far or we aren’t under duress. The focus component of teleport range is a bugger but, it’s that or-- I blinked away the mental images of magical mishaps I had once read. Yeah, follow spells as directed, don’t be like those ponies. As Ministry Mare Starlight wrote.

Sil and I got out of bed once the thunder had moved on, finally feeling safe once the rumbling came a good half minute after the flashes. We then worked hoof in the hoof to start repairing the fourth floor for habitation. What could be done by hoof Sil handled, what required my magic was left to me.

We first spent some time figuring out the best way to secure the stairwell. There were a few spells that could be used in conjunction with an arcane mark to make for good traps. For example, ‘bend surface’ on the stairs when anyone who wasn’t us passed it would prevent anypony from getting anywhere fast and require another unicorn to undo it. However, I would have to remember to update all spell traps every couple of weeks or etch them into the ground like the good old days. Sil and I did a few test runs with some non-dangerous spells to see if that worked and it did, though only once for now.

For now, we just set a few arcane marks to go off with more familiar walls of energy tied to ice. I’d need to practice the bend surface spell before trying it. For all I knew I would end up causing non-Euclidean geometry to occur.

Once we had the stairwell done we began to pilfer the other floors for furniture. Two hours later we had our room, number twenty-six, looking half decent, though without power there was no way to use the oven. It would take too long and use too much magic to power it directly with my horn. The plumbing was hooked up, but the building had no water so we would need to sort out some rain barrels later. Finally, I went to what had once been a communal room of some sort and, once inside, pulled the carpet up to carve the first symbol in my teleportation grid.

“Okay,” I huffed, wiping sweat off my brow as Sil hoofed me some water. “Things to buy and/or find: tools for working on barding. Tools for working on guns. Anvil or the like. Maybe go cut up some railroad for that. Sturdy workbench or two between us. What else? Ah. Reloading tools.” I paused remembering I was going to the Fluttershy Medical Clinic soon. “Medical equipment.”

“If you get medical equipment, snag some terminals. Then we can get to do some fun stuff.” Sil smirked. She was a wiz with terminals after all so of course she wanted her domain of expertise represented.

“I’ll see what I can do.” I offered. “Though I don’t know if we can find a network and drag it in here. We should probably look to see if any Stable-tec, Robronco, or other tech companies are in the area where we can go pilfer.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for when you head up to the clinic.” Sil nodded. “I can do a bit of research for us for places to hit up.” She was more excited than I had seen her in a while about getting out and doing things.

Maybe because it was just doing something together. Something that didn’t involve hurting others.

“I’ll leave it to you.” I giggled as I wrapped a foreleg around her shoulder and booped her nose with mine.

We sat there for a minute. I think we both were wondering if there was more to come. I didn’t feel the mood was right for it. I pressed my forehead to hers and closed my eyes. This was just as good if not better. For all the pleasures of the flesh, there was a simple deep pleasure of just being close to another soul who embraced you.

After a while of enjoying the closeness I continued. “Okay, let’s take a look outside anything that looks like a settlement?” We both went to the east side of the building and sat side by side, surveying the region. This building would have been a nice place to live, it had a great view of both the city and the river.

The east side of Dockland was a lot less built up than the west side was, which made it easier to see further now that the rain wasn’t blanketing the whole place. Nothing stood out to the east. I saw a few spots of lights but nothing that indicated a settlement out in the stretches of housing and commercial. I trotted over to the southern end of the floor and looked out the window that sat behind the elevators. There I saw the factory, which was easy to spot given it was one of the only places that was giving off steam and smoke. I paused as I let my eyes sweep over the ruins looking for more signs of steam or smoke as the thunder rumbled overhead.

I spotted a few places where I could see steam rising or maybe white smoke, I couldn’t be certain at this distance. Three spots to check though.

“Hey, Sil? Do you see those streaks of wood smoke?” I asked as I stood to get my bags.

“Yeah, I think I do, three of them?”

“That would be them.” I nodded and giggled. “Maybe not the same one but I doubt we saw two entirely separate sets of smoke trails.”

“Why are you being like this today?” Sil snorted.

“Because I want to,” I replied as I made for the stairs. Honestly, I was in an odd mood. “Let’s get going, I want to have a look at all the ones we can find.”

“Sounds good,” Sil said as she caught up with me.

Her bags went on with my magic as she tugged straps tight on mine. This wasn’t a long walk, but going out into the wasteland always demands wearing armor.

We returned to the second floor and teleported out of the building to street level before heading south toward the three sources of white smoke. I was fairly certain at this point that it was smoke and not steam. I had Sil double-check her battle saddle while I double-checked my guns.

As we neared the first source of smoke we slowed to a crawl, not wanting to trot into an ambush or camp. A caravan of scavengers was inside a worn-out store warming up by a fire. With a cautious greeting, we traded some of our salvage thus far for ammo, food, and tools, as well as information as to our target’s base of operation. To this end, they pointed me further south, towards the two other possible locations. I thanked them and bid them a warm day.

The second location was not the bandit nest we were looking for but instead something worse. Given the gore, the wails of ponies missing limbs in cages, the rusted spikes, and more gore we had found raiders, the really really far-gone type. Weren’t these supposed to be rare out here in Dockland? I wondered.

“They might not be our target but we might as well deal with them.” I whispered to Sil. She nodded and pulled her bit up. “We shouldn’t let them sit around and hurt more people.”

“Of course only if their numbers aren’t too great for us,” Sil replied. “Stealth is not optional, I would say.”

I disagreed, but sneaking in as far as you can and taking out threats quietly was a great way to turn numbers against them.

We took to an overpass to get overwatch on the raider compound’s yard and found ourselves alone up top. I turned my gaze downward and saw a few ponies wandering around, all in that garb of cobbled-together garbage that had been patched up with even more garbage, telltale signs of a raider.

I also saw something that made me wish I hadn’t.

Two raiders had taken a cage with the stallion in it and dropped it onto a fire pit. I should’ve acted but my medical knowledge told me I couldn’t save him even if I did. He was clearly doused with something to make him burn faster because his coat immediately burst into flames. The poor bastard. Meanwhile the two raiders were just laughing. Enraged, I lined the first one up in my pistol sights and squeezed the trigger. The shot fell short but the two didn’t hear it over the stallion’s screams of pain.

Sil glanced at me, looking conflicted about opening with her unsilenced weapons.

“You’re plan C. Open up if I fuck up.” I explained. “Now for plan B.”

“Plan B,” I whispered and appeared behind the two.

I dumped two rounds into the back of their heads, whatever scrap that made up their head protection not enough to stop point-blank shots. What was left of their brains was annihilated.

The burning stallion was still screaming. I shot him too.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Even if I had put the fire out on him. I couldn’t have given him his life back. Upon closer inspection his legs were missing and his eyes had gone while I dealt with the others. Let that never be me.

The door of the only standing building nearby opened and I made myself scarce by hopping over a barricade. Four ponies emerged and one started shouting. “Hey we told you to hold off on setting him on- Oh shit, somepony killed them! Get looking for them, I’m going for the alarm!”

Fuck, they had an alarm? Since when did Raiders have fucking alarms?!

I moved after the alarm pony as quickly as I dared around the debris while the other three began to fan out. If I could stop the alarm I could prevent this from becoming a very one-sided firefight.

It was then Sil began opening up on the ponies in the yard.

Shit she was exposed on the roof. She had no place to hide. Time for plan C.

I popped off a few shots into the raiders from the side as they aimed at Sil. The crossfire proved highly effective and left them dead in moments.

Sil hopped off the roof and I softened her landing with my magic. We cantered around the side after grabbing what guns and ammo we could from the raiders. The best call now was to be scarce and start popping heads rather than strip-searching every body.

Sil stood back as I nosed open a side door only to come face to rear with a mare who had her tail so short it left nothing to the imagination. The stallion she was talking to spotted me immediately and would’ve yelped had I not slammed his mouth shut with my magic. This didn’t help the fact that I was breathing on the mare’s delicates and that a door had just bumped her rump. Raiders weren’t smart but they weren’t braindead.

“What the? Hey, there’s a fucking horn head sneaking around!” She shouted before bucking the door in my face.

Well, if the alarm somehow hadn’t gone off yet it certainly has now.

I landed on my haunches as blood ran down my muzzle from my nose. I snorted and ejected more blood. Lovely. Well, time to deal with some idiots. I returned the favor with an arcane blast to the door, blowing a hole through the rusted metal before firing three rounds through the gap. I heard a yelp from the raider mare before I yanked what remained of the door open and rushed in.

My timing couldn’t have been worse as my barding immediately caught a chest full of shotgun pellets, knocking the air out of me. My eyes watered and my pistol fell to the ground, all while the mare and stallion grinned down at me.

“Well, that was easy.” Short Tail chortled looking at me as I tried to get to my hooves. Her buck friend gave me a grin that made me feel like I should be loosening my bowels. “Not every day a new chew toy comes in so fresh.”

Come on Sil, what’s taking you? I then heard her guns firing elsewhere. Shit, the raiders are engaging her from another direction.

I didn’t like the idea of being a chew toy but If Sil got overwhelmed things were going to get worse, fast. Given the poor stallion we saw coming in, I didn’t think chew toys got a decent retirement plan.

“Going to take my limbs?” I coughed, earning more laughs.

Right, raiders, some were psychopaths, most operated on a loose ethical code of “we do what we want because a pirate is free, yar har.” If I don’t do something quick I’m likely going to end up a lot looser and missing a few limbs in a few hours. Don’t give in the fear, use it, and turn the fear into fuel.

Can’t even see straight, words won’t help that.

My vision swam with black and white dots spiraling throughout it. I coughed and blew out more blood from my nose, eventually managing to get to my hooves.

“Oh, you can still stand?” The mare laughed.

I felt myself swaying. I could make out rough shapes of ponies so I charged forward with my horn low at what I thought was the stallion’s chest. Instead, I hit a wall which sent pain coursing down my horn skull. Hideous laughter filled the air as I fell over and dry heaved from the pain.

“The bitch is still trying at least. I like it.” The stallion laughed as my ears rang.

I looped a hoof around what I could discern to be a shelf and pulled, feeling it give and start to topple over. I scrambled out of the way just in time and heard the two yelp in pain as the heavy shelf landed on them.

“The only fucking going on around here is going to be my bullets fucking the holes I’m putting in you,” I said then winced. “Ugh, that sounded better in my head.”

“You’ll figure out one-liners eventually.” The stallion grunted.

I pulled out a healing potion and tried to twist the top off and instead broke it off. With a groan, I just dumped the contents into my mouth and swallowed. My blurred vision and ringing ears faded while the two I had trapped under the metal shelf were working their way free. “Hold on, I’ll finish you two off in a second, unless you’d rather surrender.”

“And what, get hung?” Short Tail spat then resumed trying to wriggle her way free.

“He’s hung, and you’re wet,” I said with a scrunch of my muzzle; the healing potion really wasn’t helping my head. “I got way too close to your rear when I opened that door.”

“She’s as crazy as us, ha!” The short spiky maned stallion laughed. “And thank you for noticing.”

I blew out the last of the blood from my nose and looked down at the trapped couple. “My mare is out there right now killing the rest of your crew. I’m offering you a chance to run. Why? Because I’m not really in a position to kill you.”

“Not in a position to kill us?” Spiky Mane asked as he looked at me in confusion.

“I prefer to not fight up close like this,” I replied.

“So you rather let us run than upset your stomach.” Shot Tail laughed. “What a delicate Pioneer.”

I went for my pistol in its holster before seeing it was on the other side of the room where the door was. I rolled my eyes then pulled out my sawed-off shotgun with my magic. “Well, I could just shoot you.”

The two froze realizing I had recovered and could accurately aim again.

“Okay, well, um, running sounds nice too. Can we still do that?” Short Tail asked, her eyes pleading.

“Yeah, just don’t raise another alarm.” I started, eyeing the two to see how they responded. “I mean I probably should still just put you down but you two don’t seem like the ones who would light a stallion on fire after delimbing him.”

“Those fuckers, we didn’t want to harm him, just keep him around as a pet. But no, got to torture every poor bastard we can’t ransom off, and the ones we can.” Spike Mane grumbled. “We’re done with this crew, they've been getting more deranged. We just liked the drugs and sex.”

“Fair enough, now git before I give you two some free piercings where you don’t want them,” I said as I shakily lifted the shelf with my telekinesis, giving a warning wave of the sawed-off in the process.

Sil took that moment to come up to the door. “Sil, don’t shoot.” I quickly stated. “These two aren’t threats.”

She looked at me in confusion as the two former raiders scrambled past her to flee. “What?”

“Ugh, this group is apparently going nuts, those two were planning on leaving. And we just gave them the window to do so. Count that as having saved two lives.” I wobbled unsteadily, still dazed. “Uh, could I get a hoof?”

As Sil shifted to let me lean against her side, I realized that the two raiders were both without barding and had run off carrying only a bag between them. The stallion especially was having a bit of an issue due to me interrupting them while they were getting ready to have fun.

“That’s going to be a hell of a case of blue balls.” I laughed, and then sighed when an alarm went off. I picked up my pistol and shoved it back into my holster. “Break’s over, time to get to work.”

Sil gave me a strange look.

“I’ll explain later. Unfortunately time for more killing.” I said as I double-checked the sawed-off before setting it back in my saddlebags.

“I thought I got the pony that was originally running for the alarm. Guess this is the actual alarm.” Sil sighed.

I heard hooves scrambling about on the floor above us and I hissed as I wished for a weapon with more capacity than twelve rounds. A pony ran down the stairs at that moment, saw Sil and I with our walking arsenal then dropped the machete in his mouth and ran back up.

“Huh, not the reaction I expected,” I admitted as I grabbed the machete and held it next to me in my magic.

“Yeah, not mine either. Given the scrambling above, how many do you think?” Sil asked.

“Fuck if I know. Going to be a pain in the ass. Still got the grenades?” I asked in return.

Sil smirked. “Just don’t get too close.”

“I’ll try not to.” I giggled. “Though let’s wait to use one, might blow up all the gear. Cover me in case any ponies come hearing the gunfire. Might want to keep your ass safe from the stairwell in case of ricochets.”

“Alright, I’ll wait for your signal.” Sil nodded.

I started up the stairs first and as I did I heard something heavy get tossed over with a loud thump. Smart, makeshift cover. I peeked over the top of the stairs and saw three raiders staring back from behind a table that blocked half of a doorway, all with rifles. I immediately crouched as the small stairwell turned into a shower of plaster, the chorus of rifle barks amplified by the small area. After a minute the gunfire stopped though my heart was still pounding as I opened my eyes. I wasn’t hurt, however, my heart rate was setting off an alert which I squelched with a thought.

That’s the fear of death, my dear Pipbuck. It happens. Tell me when I get hurt or when my heart explodes.

With a small movement, I lifted my head and looked over the lip of the stairs to see the three raiders move the table out of the way to come look for me. I noticed an empty spot behind them and, with a pop, I was behind them, my front falling slightly when I reappeared. Right, the position was maintained when teleporting, so that was something to keep in mind. Or was I just doing this wrong? Whatever, read later, slaughter now.

The three hadn’t heard me teleport behind them but they did notice something. I didn’t know if there was a sign of when somepony teleported, there must have been some after-effect.

“What was that flash? Since when did random unicorns know how to teleport?” One yelled, clearly annoyed as they surveyed where I once was, somehow knowing what the spell was.

Good Sil must have taken cover to stay hidden. Though this is interesting, teleporting makes a flash. The pop I feel must be due to something as well. It wasn’t just mental.

Sweeping that thought aside, I crept up to the barricade they had partially removed, leveled my shotgun at one of them before sending the machete flying into another. The target moved at the last second so it missed her head and instead went along her barrel and embedded into her flank, the pony quickly going into shock as her entrails began to spill out.

Well fuck, that’s going to stay with me. I was hoping to keep this a bit cleaner.

Next I let out a blast from the sawed-off. It removed one of the remaining uninjured ponies' heads, turning it into ground meat. Never mind, that wasn’t clean at all.

The last unhurt one stared back up at me for a moment before he started to wildly fire at me as he scrambled to the mare to try and help her. I knew it was a lost cause; without some serious medical equipment she was done for.

Fuck, I hate this. I fucking hate killing others. Give me vipers and hydras any day, but people? Fuck no…

More gunfire shook me out of my thoughts and made me duck down and hide behind the cover they had left behind. Then a grenade landed in my lap. I popped my head up and felt a bullet tear into my shoulder as I teleported back to the stairs instead of dealing with the grenade. I landed on my ass facing away from the two who were still alive. The grenade detonated a heartbeat later.

Too fucking close.

“Fucking bitch, just die!” The raider shouted as he fired the rifle with his magic and used his hooves in a futile attempt to stuff the mare’s insides back in her.

I felt three rounds go through me and immediately squashed the warnings in my EFS saying where I’d been hit. I would check my medical information later. Instead, I pushed myself upright and then leapt at the stallion, slipping my knives out of their slots and brandishing them.

It was to be a mercy killing for her and an execution for him. The mare had a face of acceptance. The stallion had a face full of fury. I could understand raging against death. I was doing the same.

Was I?

I was clearing raiders to protect ponies. Right now though I was fighting to survive, no other higher moral calling. I could have backed off and left but, no, this felt right.

To remove this cancer. To kill. To sink our talons into them.

I felt another round rip through me before I got too close for him to turn his rifle at me. I let my mass carry me in a tackle against the stallion. His magic imploded as I pushed a knife up and under his left foreleg, going for his heart. Another knife I rammed into the skull of the mare, causing her to go limp and giving her the mercy she deserved.

The stallion and I struggled. He smashed his face against mine, making my magic wink out with the blow. In return, I slammed my hoof against his barrel. He howled in pain before he bit my horn, making my eyes sting with tears. I reached under his foreleg and wrapped the handle of the knife in my knee and pulled down along his ribs slicing his chest open and destroying his left lung.

I felt it getting harder to breathe and took a glance at the EFS readouts to see I had a punctured lung, a damaged kidney, and liver damage. I needed a healing potion soon or I would poison myself to death. I needed this fight to be over with now before any other raiders showed up. Sil I am going to be leaning on you real hard real shortly.

I removed another knife from its sheath and tried to stab him again but he kicked my leg, causing me to drop it, all while keeping a hold of my horn with his rotted teeth. It was clear he intended to break it off with his remaining strength given how he gnawed at it. We wrestled for another minute as our blood commingled and soaked my barding.

I could feel my strength bleeding out of me. Every attempt I made to fight him was rendered moot. I grunted as I had one last option, and it was going to hurt. I was on a lower stair than he was so I used what strength I had to stand on my hind hooves, using my leverage to lift him with me. Instinctively, he wrapped himself around my head and neck with his forelegs. I twisted and fell to bring his spine down on the stairs letting gravity do the job for me.

He let go, his body cushioning the impact for me. I managed to face him once we landed and got my horn to align with his face.

“Bye,” I said as I focused my anger on a bolt of magic and watched in a mix of horror and satisfaction as his features were blasted away; coat, skin, muscle, bone, and brain. My magic left a small hole in his head where it had gone through, his body twitching. I slowly rolled off of him, pulled out another healing potion and downed it.

I felt my body stitch itself back together as I heard hooves closing in on my position. I grabbed the three rifles in my magic and reloaded them with the spare magazines Machete had been carrying on her.

Sil now would be a great time to use that grenade.

“Come and get me, assholes,” I whispered laying on my back as I listened to the raiders charging in from another room.

They came all at once. A good plan and far more effective because there weren't just three but eight of them. They brandished a mix of bats, sticks, a flail, a stop sign, a pistol, and another sawed-off. I just held down the three triggers held in my magic.

The screams of terror, pain, and death from the raiders washed over me and I felt nothing. I felt numb from it. I hadn’t seen these ponies care for one another or try to talk to me. I just classified them as things. Maybe it was the pain still running through me. Maybe it was the instinct of survival.

My plan seemed to work because their advance was slowed by my gunfire as they dove for cover, then ended as suddenly as it began when their cover exploded. That must have been Sil’s handiwork.

I dropped the guns and let out a groan. “Good timing.”

“We should have just used a grenade.” Sil admonished.

“Yeah,” I replied. “I didn’t see where you went though, didn’t know if you could have gotten them on the stairs.”

“Sorry about that.” Sil sighed.

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s just clean up. I need to check for anything in me.” I said, trying to get to my hooves only to get even more warnings in my EFS. “Oh, that’s probably not a good sign.”

Well, it could be worse, I could be singing.

Sil looked at me worried. “Is there anything I can do?”

“I…”I looked through my medical readouts. “Okay, we need to take a minute. Uh, do the looting. I want the machete, see if there is a sheath somewhere. And a cache. Raiders love to stash all their shit in a big pile to feel good about themselves. And to know if anyone is taking their stuff.”

“Guessing you need time to pull out some metal?” Sil asked.

“Oh yeah,” I admitted. “Oh, that’s a fair bit of stuff stuck in me. Time for some painkillers.”

“Operating on yourself. I’m certain I read somewhere that’s a no-no, but I don’t think we have an option.” Sil sighed. “Let me know if you need a hoof, though you know I’m not so good with internal medicine.”

I knew she didn’t like looking inside ponies. “Can do.”

Level Up! Welcome to Level 9! A new perk added: Horse Reflexes! You’re the bane of everypony who tries to take a swipe at you when they get an opportunity to. For this, you gain a bonus of five to your damage threshold when calculating your armor against attacks of opportunity. Bait out those attacks as they can’t touch you as you canter away.

Chapter 22 - The Fluttershy Medical Complex

“The Ministry of Peace was at the forefront of developing new ways of healing everyone, not just ponies but everyone. Beyond that, they were often attempting to find ways to end side conflicts that occurred during the war through peaceful methods. Peace above all else was the mindset of the ministry and its mare, Fluttershy.”

- Opening Ceremony Speech for the Dockland Central Fluttershy Medical Center

The last source of smoke wasn’t hard to find; the ponies outside the factory were a ragtag bunch and surprisingly non-hostile when we approached. They were being paid to try to take the building or, failing that, make it too costly to operate by needing more and more guards.

However, they were getting tired of having their friends die and it didn’t take much to push them to stop; some caps and chems looted from the raiders and they agreed to go back to scavenging. In return, we even got some more food, water, and ammo. I also got a scope that I could fit on my revolver rifle which should relieve a bit of my accuracy issues with it.

“You know I see now why you keep so many chems on you,” Sil said. “They’re really good for trading out here.”

I smiled at her, not wanting to admit to keeping them in case of another situation like Four Corners. “Yeah, you’ll find that the people who abuse them will buy them for a high price. Same reason I grab any ammo I find; someone can always use it.”

Sil giggled at that. “Oh that is for certain, and if not I could always make something that we can actually use.”

I kissed the smart mare on her forehead, closing my eyes to not let her reverse hawk get in my eyes. “One of the great many reasons I love you.”

Before we headed out, we swung by the safe house and dropped off our scavenged goods. No need to take everything with me into the hospital and lighter on my hooves meant I could drag more crap out. Sil and I regarded our salvage, picking out what to send back with her before deciding to take a detour from the clinic and returning to Pioneer. It was an extra hour but teleportation cut the trip time down a good deal.

As we stood in the square it finally set in how I was about to do something profoundly stupid. For her part, Sil instead ran a hoof along my face to guide me to look at her.

“Don’t get yourself killed, hun,” Sil said to me before kissing me on my forehead. I smiled back at her.

“I’ll try my best.” I replied by kissing her on the forehead in return. “See you as soon as I can and good luck with your research, hun.”

“I still wish I could wait for you outside of the heavily irradiated area in case you need help,” Sil sighed, the worry in her voice obvious.

Gently, I pressed my muzzle against hers. “If I thought it was an option I’d have you do that but you waiting for me somewhere less hot would leave you standing guard alone.”

“The radiation protects you from most people who would trouble you. I know.” She sighed again. “I’m going to work on some radios for us so we can keep in touch over long distances.”

“That would be very welcome to have. Just find us some way to plug into our ears. Don’t wanna have others overhear us sweet talking.” I teased her.

“Oh that’s a solved problem, earblooms are everywhere and pretty simple to make and repair.” She grinned. “I’ll also look into finding a way to track one another better. Would make it a lot easier if we could just send out a distress call and find one another even if we’re knocked out.”

I liked that idea. “Yeah, possibly a way to do so without the pipbuck zero’s on us, just in case we have to deal with technofetishists.”

Sil pondered that for a moment. “Good idea, and anything you want me to look for?”

Two thoughts hit me. “Enchantments and talismans; books on them, making them, casting them.” I went on. “I want to help make our equipment lighter or imbue some other spells into them. Maybe have them use our natural magic so Riptide and I don’t have to use our horns.”

Sil’s eyes widened and I could tell her mind was racing with ideas.

“Oh, I see you won’t be bored while I’m away.” I cooed before kissing her. “Be a good filly and stay safe.”

Sil flushed and nodded before moving away to get to work.

-=O=-

Testing my ability to teleport long distance, I pushed myself to reach out for the safe house rune. With a weird sensation, I opened my eyes and found myself at the destination, albeit a little singed and steaming, my horn lightly glowing as well. Then the nausea hit.

Okay so I can push myself further with teleporting. I’ll just feel like I went through an oven while getting my face bucked.

The pain took priority and as such I took some of the stronger painkillers I had kept a hold of. To further take my mind off of the pain, I turned my attention to what supplies I could salvage from something as expansive as the Clinic. In terms of things that would fit in the Safe House? Medical supplies, and lots of them. A good bit of medical equipment. Heck, there were also potential beds to get to, so long as they weren’t ruined by now.

With a list noted down in the pipbuck, I was ready to head out. The painkillers were doing their job, maybe a bit more. Sadly the label lacked prewar information on what was in it. Instead, it was just labeled as extra-strength painkillers. I squinted and thought I could see ‘one hundred percent certified as non-addictive by the Ministry of Morale’, which didn’t help my worry that these were addictive.

Then again I wasn’t hallucinating so it probably wasn’t those kinds of drugs at least.

-=O=-

The trek to the clinic campus wasn’t as bad as I imagined. The mist had rolled back in throughout the journey, the cool air keeping others inside. As I trotted down the old highway, the first of the Fluttershy Medical Clinic’s buildings emerged from the fog, appearing like the shadow of a fish close to the surface of the water. Though it was a full sprawling complex.

Now that I had a better view of the place, I could see that it was almost as big as the University, a light glow cast over the whole place. If I remember one of Sil’s lectures on radiation right, that was the glow of balefire radiation made easier to see by its interaction with the water in the air.

Another block closer and I was at the apex of the highway bridge, letting me see more of the campus’ layout even without the binoculars I craved.

Four buildings in the shape of Flutteryshy’s cutiemark made up the main part of the campus; Emergency Room, Urgent Care, Long Term Care and Outpatient, with the latter being the shortest at only a few stories and Long Term Care itself far taller. Each building seemed to be connected through the remains of sky bridges to leave more green space between the buildings. Given the glow, I ascertained that the radiation source was between the main four buildings.

In a partial ring around the main buildings were smaller facilities that I guessed were various administrative buildings; from groundskeeping to greenhouses, physical therapy gyms, and just other smaller individual practices that had rented out space.

Trotting towards the shrouded, glowing ruins my pipbuck started clicking, alerting me to the presence of the radiation in the air. I could see why previous attempts were so limited in success. Such a large facility required a large amount of time to search and with radiation like this most ponies could only do so for a couple of hours. For me? I had two or three days with my supplies before I needed to leave. Now where was that radiation coming from?

The rate of clicks from my pipbuck was increasing faster than I expected. Something told me I had forgotten how density changes with distance in a three-dimensional volume, which Sil could explain to me if she was here. Regardless, unless the radiation was lower in the buildings this was going to start eating up my anti-radiation supplies, even factoring in my mutations.

“Okay, so it’s far too hot for most ponies to stay long and anyone here will probably hoof it at seeing someone else show up.” I rationalized to myself as I trotted towards the Outpatient building.

One thing I did notice was that many windows were still intact; cracked but not gone, a curious trend I was now realizing in the more important buildings throughout the city. This made two ministry buildings and several newer ones I had seen. It must have been due to a difference in materials used in the periods when the buildings were built.

The front door for Outpatient lay open, the metal frame forced inward long ago. I doubted it would ever close. I quickly scanned the lobby and realized, like the Ministry of Image, that the lobby was cavernous. Here though there was a practical forest and this time none of the plants were fake based on the moisture in the air, the damage on the leaves, and how the air tasted.

This would take some getting used to. I didn’t hear the sounds of an HVAC system at least which would make hearing things on other floors easier, at least in this building.

I stared back at the gnarled and twisted plant life. They weren’t exactly textbook examples but most were well-preserved samples of pre-war plant life, with few mutations.

I trotted to the front desk to inspect the terminal even as my pipbuck continued to alert me to the everpresent radiation. Sadly, the terminal was well and truly shot, which, given the signs of corrosion on the outside of it I would have placed my bet on water damage. There was little doubt the atrium’s shattered glass ceiling was the cause of it, the lichen on the walls a good indicator of how wet the building tended to stay.

I rummaged around in the front desk’s drawers and found a still working respirator. That worried me. While I would have understood a medical mask, was there something pre-war that had happened that required ponies at the front desk to have a respirator? Let’s find answers later when I have access to notes or a database.

For now though, I put the respirator on; there was bound to be black mold here, if not worse things in the air including one less vector for radiation. I paused after slipping it over my muzzle, breathing deep to get used to the more restricted airflow. Why was this still here? I wondered then shrugged. Ponies probably just expected the front desk to already be looted in the first place and never checked, but that seemed silly given everything else seemed cleared out.

I looked around the lobby and kept clear of the plants. While they were mostly normal, I didn’t want to disturb whatever lived within this secluded grove, not wanting to risk something venomous or worse created by time and radiation.

Nope, I’m not thinking about pony-eating plants with grasping tentacles.

I spotted elevators amongst the plant life, looking like platforms in glass tubes. Those would be useless to me, their bases lost to the overgrowth.

More stairs then and more working on getting a sick pair of legs and flanks that nopony can ignore. Not that I needed more attention than I was getting from Sil. I thought in an attempt to encourage myself. Plus it’s only six floors for this building? Not bad.

Then it hit me. This was one building, a general practitioner building from the front, not emergency or urgent care. Not long-term care, or research, this was just where ponies came for their standard medical care, probably with some administrative stuff higher. I shook my mane and pushed on, moving up a stairwell that went higher.

The second floor wasn’t much better than the first; debris, dust, more overgrown flora, waiting room chairs toppled over, the works.

The radiation levels also hadn’t dropped, something I had expected to drop a little by going up a good twelve feet which was a bit worrying. I pushed myself to go faster, realizing I was on a tighter clock than I had thought. I need to find what the source of the radiation is. Once I do, hopefully, I’ll know where the worst of the radiation is going to be.

The second floor didn’t take long to clear considering it was long looted of medical supplies. However, there were plentiful medical tools, which was nice. If I was going to have a medical suite in my base of operations I would need them.

The radiation levels on the third floor was a bit higher, which I suspected came from the big open side of the atrium and made me wonder if somehow the plants were the ones emitting the radiation. Here I started to find where ponies had failed to fully pick through the building, either from running out of time or filling up their bags. I started finding supplies to treat mundane scrapes and bruises alongside healing bandages, doctor bags, first aid kits, and healing potions.

Many locked doors as well, most of which were pretty hard to pick. Sadly behind the secure doors I mostly found useless items like expired vaccines and other medical equipment like empty needles and towels. Oh! But one closet did contain painkillers and some Buck, which I grabbed. While not the super strong stuff it was not as addictive and better than nothing.

The fourth floor looked to be more of the same; a few more bottles of buck and painkillers, some antibiotics which looked to be expired but I snatched them all the same.

The fifth floor was almost pristine. The transition was almost stark to me and made me slow my pace, though I found, to my dismay, nothing of real importance, at least in terms of what I could take with me. The floor was a mix of offices, x-ray machines, and other machines to emulate what a unicorn could do with her horn. Smart, meant no pony had to wait for a unicorn who knew a certain spell to be free.

Terminals up here were locked and probing them left me with little more than medical data, logs looked to have been purged or require a personal login and not a root admin login. Higher security than I had expected for a hospital but it made a small part of me happy to see.

The final floor looked to be offices for the doctors who worked in this building. Going through desks and offices left me with a few Mint-als and some of the stronger, addictive painkillers. The radiation up here was also markedly worse than on the ground floor. Radiation must be released from something above. Damn, that is going to make it hard as fuck to loot things.

I took a break then to have a snack and some water while I looked at a map of the facility. The stairwell I came up with connected to a basement that led to the other buildings. According to what I was looking at, the buildings were connected in sequence of ER, Long Term Care and Urgent care by sky bridges. Long Term Care seemed to be the largest of them at around fifteen stories, even sporting the now darkened Ministry’s symbol on it, while ER and Urgent were both nine-story buildings.

Considering ER was the furthest from me the plan was to take the passage at the bottom of the stairwell to Urgent Care, then Long term and then on to ER. From there drop off the stuff I wanted to keep at my base then take the rest to Pioneer to give my report.

“Huh, I am probably going to need to write out what I find here.” I shuddered remembering that Pioneer was built next to the Ministry of Morale and having heard the rumors of less fun things there from the other guests at breakfast the other day. The idea of having memories ripped from your head, what the hell did a ministry focused on keeping ponies happy have to do with that? That seemed more of a thing for the Ministry of Peace, removing painful memories, not copying them. No wonder the Elements abandoned us and their Bearers.

I shoved the thoughts out of my head and politely deposited my snack wrapper in a waste bin before heading back down the stairwell. I flicked my EFS back on and saw no bars on it. No friendlies, no hostiles, just how I liked it.

The bottom of the stairs ended in a dark hallway, which didn’t surprise me. I was thankful for the open-air design of the Atrium that at least let some natural light in. Now though I needed to switch on my pipbuck light as I trotted into the gloom that led to Urgent Care.

My hoofsteps echoed ahead and behind me as I walked, my pipbuck light only illuminating what felt like a few feet around me. It wasn’t long before I felt myself adrift in an abyss where only the green spotlight around me existed. Thick pipes along the ceiling to my left, small pipes along the floor to my right, brackets that held them every twenty feet… If not for the readout of time in my vision I would have thought I had been lost in some horrific void between spaces.

My hoofsteps sounded off and I felt myself fidget then flick my ears, my own sounds somehow feeling wrong. My entire body felt off but my pipbuck said I was getting minimal radiation exposure. I shook my mane and pushed to get to the end a bit faster, thoroughly unnerved.

A door suddenly showed up in front of me and my heart stopped for a moment out of surprise. Relief washed over me as I approached it and I felt all the stress in my back drain when I tried the handle on the door and it swung open.

“Thank the Sisters.” I thanked the doorway.

I didn’t think I had a fear of small places, not after growing up in Saint Clover but that felt like something else. Like something had reached out and I had barely managed to elude whatever had been down there. That was a terrifying concept, spaces that could just snatch a pony away from reality. I shook my head to get the thoughts out of it.

I spared a glance at the tunnel and swore I saw claw marks on the walls and my hoofprints tracked over by something else’s for half a second. What the fuck? Then the moment passed and my vision corrected itself, leaving me alone fighting my brain’s paranoia

Quickly ascending the stairs, my pipbuck started to click angrily again as radiation picked back up. Interesting. The passage seemed to be deep enough that it kept out surface radiation.

I carefully peek through the door leading into Urgent Care’s lobby and saw red on my EFS. That was a bad start. I looked around for movement and saw it: what looked like a mix of mechanized stretchers and floating spiders, lightly armored and seemingly equipped to assist in dealing with medical tasks. These ‘robostretchers’ were probably altered from standard roboponies, turning their backs into a bed.

I was wondering if I could take one with me to carry loot when one suddenly turned towards me.

“Patients aren’t allowed outside of their rooms, Miss -bzzt- Grimoire.” A polite tinny robotic voice echoed out across the lobby.

Okay, that's totally not creepy. Why the fuck does that robot know my name? I haven't said it, or interacted with any tech.

Before I could finish my thought, I felt a dart slam into my chest. Looking down, I saw that it was full of some fluid that was draining into the kevlar behind the ceramic plates. Whatever it was, it was viscous.

It also was a good sign for me to get going again.

For what it was worth the Robopony seemed to glare at me as if annoyed that its trick had failed.
"So I think that counts as poor bedside manners?" I joked before moving to run.

The slower Robopony seemed to be equipped with the syringe launcher and grasping mechanical tentacles. The weird Spiderbot that was now hovering towards me instead had its graspers, surgical implements, medical scanners, and some kind of spiked appendages whirring to life.

Why did they give medical robots weapons?

Unfortunately, that question would remain unanswered for only the Princesses knew how long. My attempt to flee triggered the Spider’s spikes to launch out and jab into my neck.

"What the-" Was all I managed before electricity coursed through me and robbed me of my autonomy.

Another dart hit me, this time in the side of my neck. Mercifully the electricity stopped then and I crumpled to the floor, gasping as my body twitched. As I struggled to move, I noticed my EFS was gone and no amount of willing it back made it return, likely shorted from the electrical shock.

"Thank you for your compliance Ms. Grimoire." The Spiderbot cheerfully chimed.

The cheerfulness of it made me desire to stomp the fucker into a chromium pancake. Unfortunately, my body still refused to work and seemed to be weakening, some kind of sedative if I had to guess as my heart pounding made it spread faster.

I didn’t lay there for long as the machines quickly collected me and ferried me off to a dark room, sliding me off the back of the extended robopony and onto a bed. At this point, the spikes and syringe were removed.

I whimpered, struggling to not fall asleep in the irradiated hospital for who knew how long.

-=O=-

I woke up when I heard my EFS go off. I blearily opened my eyes to see a stylized version of myself waking up, again.

Right, that notification. Yes, I am somehow well-rested by a tranquilizer induced sleep, ignoring the headache or how it still hurts from being electrocuted. Ugh did the pipbuck reboot itself? Actually, that would make some sense.

I stopped my mental grousing and scanned my surroundings. The room I was in was dark and checking my EFS showed a lot of green bars which, given that they were overlapping, I couldn’t get a good count of. Given my prior encounter, likely more robots, currently non-hostile.

Electricity would be the best option for neutralization. Unfortunately, that meant magic. Not the quietest method though a fair bit quieter than a forty-four caliber rifle. I mean sure my nine millimeter could do the job in theory but I wanted to minimize the window of retaliation.

At least the bed felt nice, clean, safe, and warm. The room itself though was dark, quiet, and still. Given how long I had been awake with my eyes open I knew that there weren't any sources of light, even from the outside. I instinctively went to fill my horn with magic and felt something stop it. I gasped for air and instead turned on my pipbuck light, finally bathing the small examination room in green light.

I pulled the sheet off of myself, thankful that I wasn’t restrained despite my non-compliance. I don’t want to think about how many scav’s got that fate. I sighed. Oh why hadn’t I studied illusion magic, it would be handy right about now.

The thought of being tied down to a bed made me wince as I tried to stand, the feeling that my body was a lot more wrong than I had previously thought suddenly washing over me. My chin smacked into the side of the bed frame and I saw white dots in my vision spiraling.

Fuck.

My eyes watered and I felt exhaustion grip me, fighting the burning bile clawing at my throat. Fumbling for something to eat or drink, I realized my ability to move properly was completely shot.

With a grunt I tried to move myself back onto the bed while demanding my pipbuck tell me what was going on. I winced, staring at the warning that whatever I had been injected with contained both hallucinogenic and tranquilizing properties. Given what I understood of medicine, the only thing that made sense was that the tranquilizer had degraded into a hallucinogenic.

Trying to stay in the here and now failed as pain ran through me then, ran through where I kept getting hurt and hit.

Then I heard the ocean, smelled it, and felt like I was suddenly deep underwater as darkness and silence took me. The radiation clicks grew more drawn out, longer, quieter, as if I was sinking away from them and time itself was distorting.

-=O=-

“Hey Moonlight,” Emil greeted me, standing over me.

The gryphon rooster stood over me, looking down at me with striking brown eyes and a body that was a mix of a red-tailed hawk and mountain lion.

I blinked and flexed my talons as I stood up from the floor of Saint Clover. “The hell did you put in that drink?” I asked him as he offered me his claw to pull myself up with.

“Well, this will make the year a lot easier; no having to carry you or slowly walk in the open to scout things out.” He said to himself before explaining. “You did say you’d love to fly with your own wings, and I just so happened to have the solution. Though I expected the process to take longer, I still managed to modify your barding for those fantastic new wings of yours, even if they look like pigeon wings.”

I blinked then looked myself over. What the fuck?

“We’ll also need to give you a more gryphon-like name.” He mused as I took his claw and got up. “Ah, I know a good one, Rayna.”

This made me cock my head at him. “Well, I guess that is better than no cover name.”

He chuckled. “Your head tilts are adorable.”

And that made me flush.

-=O=-

With a groan, I pushed myself up. For a moment, I thought I was back in the hospital bed but I felt waves rolling around and over me. Then I opened my eyes.

The world was black with its edges defined by gold. The edges of the waves sparkled and traced with the selfsame gold. I was lying on some beach, somewhere. Rocks poked through the pitch-black water, their shapes looked like what I had seen of coral in books. Slowly my eyes drifted to the horizon and for a moment I couldn’t process it.

The ‘moon’ was half the size of the horizon itself but it looked to be made of true darkness, a shimmering golden wind flowing around it, spiraling into its surface at the edges.

I was in awe and terrified. Where am I? What is this? I tried to stand again but my body refused to work, as if held down. Then I stared down at myself and found a good bit of it under the surface of the water.

-=O=-

The clicks of radiation came back to me as I gasped for air. EFS popped up and showed my heart rate was elevated, respiration was low, and I was very much still poisoned. Thankfully the slow rate the radiation was building inside me wasn’t going to kill me this year but whatever I was injected with was very much not doing me any favors.

Even in the extremely dim light behind the blackout curtains, my eyes stung from the illumination from the EFS itself. My mind struggled to parse what I had just seen.

Then I gasped as I felt pain in my gut again. Looking down, I saw the scars from my recent impalement, an ache from the shots I had taken lingering in my mind, the sensitivity to reality jacked up to eleven. I wanted to pass out again.

-=O=-

The ocean lapping at me was what I felt first, then a deep seeping cold in my stomach. I felt the thump of a landing and managed to open my eyes. Emil was terrified, his claws pressing into my stomach. There was blood on him. His or mine? I couldn’t tell.

“Go, we don’t have any healing potions.” I croaked at him, putting a talon on his chest.

He fumbled with his words, working up the courage to do something useful.

“Please, take them with you, let my family know, and don’t forget the map,” I told him, a smile creeping weakly across my beak.

His tears slipped free before he gave me his revolver, a three-fifty-seven. “I wish I could do more, I really do, Moonlight.”

“What happened to using a gryphon name for me?” I teased as I weakly grasped the pistol. “Go, before they get you as well. Let’s not let everything we did go to waste, alright?”

He nodded and I watched him leap into the air. I heard a shot then and, when he didn’t fall out of the air, traced it back to its shooter and placed a round into the fucker’s skull. At least I wouldn’t die unavenged.

-=O=-

I was crying, remembering the year I blocked out. Remembering the pain of why Winter and I couldn’t have foals, a pain I knew the source of for so long but refused to face. That my desires were to never be fulfilled, that all I had left was fulfilling the desires of others. Everything I had thought I would be growing up had long been stripped from me.

“I don’t want to be here right now.” I whimpered. “I don’t want to think about this anymore.”

The desire to curl up into a ball took over as I struggled to keep memories out of my head, that even that strange beach overlooking a black sun about to devour the world was preferable.

It didn’t happen and my mind slipped away again, the hallucinogenic forcing me to relive things I wanted to forever forget.

-=O=-

Confusion of an unknown source racked me as I woke up alive in a hospital bed, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. My body ached and a quick glance down showed that my lower half was heavily bandaged. There was also a tag on my right claw with some kind of barcode upon it. With no strength to do more, I just lay there, hoping weakly that Emil was safe, as was our clutch.

As I dozed on and off, a unicorn mare eventually entered my room, her coat white, mane red.

“Oh, our mysterious bird is awake.” She said.

“Rayna,” I replied, a year of being a gryphon had made me default to this new given name.

“Rayna, what a nice and very not-pony name.” She giggled. “I will be your attending physician, call me Brightheart.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Brightheart,” I replied, trying my hardest to be enthusiastic but the energy wasn’t there.

“Well, we weren’t certain we still had you when we found you. Few expected you to survive.” She informed me simply. “Honestly, we’re still surprised you recovered but you seemed to do better when we got you back to Seaddle.”

Back in this damn city.

“You look unhappy.” She said, and I didn’t like that I was being easy to read.

“I’m sorry, just, last time I was here I caught a tail that shot me,” I replied. “Ugh, speaking of which, the fuck was I shot with and what’s the damage?”

She frowned, either at the prognosis or, more likely, my cursing. Weirdo.

“You took a thirty-ought-six round to your… Okay you’re not a medical professional.” She sighed. “You caught a round to your gut. We saved what we could but it obliterated your reproductive organs.”

A twisting pain filled me where the uncomfortable cold numbness sat between my hind legs.

“I… how am I not dead?” I asked. I knew enough that that should have made me bleed out in minutes, if not go septic.

“We’re… not certain? We removed some kind of foam that was stuffed in your gut and when an emergency healing potion was used on you, well, your body regrew using that foam as raw materials. Never seen anything like it.” She replied, almost sounding impressed. “Most organs regrew with significant scar tissue but, even if you could afford it, I don’t think anyone could fix it all…”

I just got sterilized by high-velocity lead poisoning that should have been lethal.

She stood there for a minute before leaving as I curled up and cried.

-=O=-

Fuck this, no, I’m not slipping into this again. I buried this hell for a reason.

I forced myself upright and everything went spinning. With a gasp, I was on the floor again. I growled and slowly got onto all four hooves, even if everything continued to be wobbly. I glared at the EFS, which helpfully told me two hours had passed, while trying to parse where threats were. Unfortunately it lacked enough information on the relative height of a sensor return so all I could tell was that there were non-hostiles, just not whether they were on my floor or not.

Well, back on my talons agai--

I paused and looked at my hooves, groaning as my brain struggled to parse what I was.

Yeah, that’s not going to suck at all.

Magic failed me and I touched my horn to find a ring on it, one I was decidedly unhappy to be familiar with. I groaned. Of course, that’s what the spiderbot did. Okay, first things first, I need to restore my magic.

I looked around the room and found a mirror. With the light from my pipbuck, I managed to spot the magic suppression ring on my horn but, frustratingly, not a single quick release mechanism. Grabbing it with my hooves and pulling didn’t do anything but make my eyes water.

“Well, this is a minor problem.” I muttered to myself, my eyes drifting down. I briefly wondered why the robots had left my equipment intact before pulling out my knife, trying my best to try and pry it off. I whimpered again as I nicked myself. “Fucking damn it! Really could do with those talons right now.”

It eventually did give as, while trying to twist the ring, it ripped right off, eliciting a scream. I quickly dropped it on the table in front of me and felt blood run down my forehead from where a bit of coat had come off with the adhesive that had held the ring on.

“Ugh, damn it,” I swore as I looked down at the ring and then at my bloodied reflection in the mirror. I briefly lit my injured horn and winced a little from the effort.

The nicks on my horn made it hurt to use but grit my teeth and healed myself up. I checked myself in the mirror and, satisfied with the results, moved to sweep the ring into my saddlebag. It was always good to have a way to shut down a fellow unicorn.

Now came the next step, leaving the room, a prospect that I suspected would result in me being strapped down to a bed next time I was caught. This would likely mean a horrible, slow death even with my mutation given I’d have no ability to escape and no ability to treat my radiation.

That’s not happening.

I tested the door to find it was unlocked.

Yay.

Then my face kissed the ground again as my senses got fucky. I had gotten maybe five minutes of functionality before whatever was in me decided it was time to go back to trauma detention.

-=O=-

My eyes focused on the black hole ahead of me as the waves lapped at me, the water washing over my wings, my talons, and my beak. I tried to push myself up but started sinking instead, my own feet pressing against my body inversely pushing me under as if the water surface was a mirror. A low howl filled my ears.

-=O=-

I gasped for air and writhed as a pony stepped back from my view, a stethoscope and vials of my blood held in her magic. Somehow I knew there were reasons for this and relaxed, sinking into the bed as I lay on my side. My right wing slid off the bed and its impressive span meant it splayed out on the floor. My tail meanwhile hung off the foot of the bed as a pillow was moved between my right foreleg and head so I could rest.

My body was forever changed by this trip, becoming a gryphon being the first of those.

A blink and I was flying with Emil, having just left Saint Clover, the jarring transition making me pause for a moment before my overlapping persona sank back into the mind of the me who had once experienced this.

“Hey, Rayna, you alright?” Emil asked, gliding in closer to me.

“Sorry, still getting used to being a different species.” I admitted. “Like I get that our towns cooperate on this every, what, five years, but I never heard about one of ours being made a gryphon for the whole recon duty.”

He laughed at that. “Usually no but I’ll admit I’ve been looking for a mate, and over the past month we connected really well while I was busy figuring out who would join me.”

I cocked my head at him but kept my focus on the world around us as I instinctively locked my wings to glide.

“Still cute how you do that. Anyway, it was down to you or that zebra, Silaha?” He explained and I gave him a nod. Sil was my foalhood friend and basically cousin with how we had been raised together. “Well you and I connected better. Plus you mentioned wanting to fly, and well, you seemed down for being a couple.”

He wasn’t wrong. Unlike other flings I had in the past, he felt more right even if he wasn’t someone of my birth species. He made my heart flutter unlike anyone else had before.

But becoming a gryphon was a whole different story, though it simplified my questions on how we would satisfy my desire to have a family; two gryphons would have gryphons, easy. Of course that would have to wait until the end of this stint, giving us plenty of time to get close and decide if that was what we wanted.

“Now there are some ground rules for flight.” Emil went on. “First, stay well below the clouds. As much as you want to see the sky above, the Enclave are also up there.”

“Who the fuck are the Enclave?” I asked, making him laugh.

“Okay that’s simple, the remnants of the Equestrian military within the Pegasi population who have gone full nutjob.” He explained. “It is a full-on military dictatorship up there and they do not like anyone who isn’t Enclave. And if you’re not a pony with wings? They won’t even let you fall to your death.”

“Okay then, I guess going out to the ocean is the only option to see the sky.” I sighed. “Which, yes, is how I’ve seen it before.”

“Pretty much. Gryphons and the pegasi up top are not on good terms due to a difference in opinion in how many of the roosts we built during and after the war actually belonged to us and not the so-called Equestrian Government.” He continued. “Suffice to say, there was a war and we lost so we’re stuck on the other side of the clouds.”

That gave me some painful new insight into gryphon politics. “Understood, avoiding the clouds as much as we can.”

“Good girl.” He teased and I blinked at the praise.

“That’s a good girl.” Brightheart consoled me as she finished looking over me. I nodded. A few places still hurt but I was mostly healed, not that I wanted to really exist.

“Why are you helping me if I have no money?” I asked.

“Well, because you’re good practice. We need to know how to take care of creatures other than ponies.” She answered and I could tell she was genuine. “While yes we mostly care for other unicorns there are plenty of others in the wasteland and everyone needs help.”

“Then… when can I leave?” I asked again. It had been a month already.

She fidgeted at that question. “I… I don’t get to make that call.”

My feathers bristled as I glared at her, my talons gripping the edge of the bed in frustration.

“Rayna, there is no need for that, I’ll go ask, but you’re also a bit of a curiosity.” She explained. “I mean, how you healed was amazing, we all feared the worst.”

Why do you care? You just admitted unicorns take priority so what was another dead bird?

“And… your genetics came back weird.” She went on. “We’re trying to document all creatures we come across to better understand where we’ve all come from.”

That made me cock my head.

“Oh so you’re not familiar?” She asked.

“I’m uncertain what you mean.” I answered. Genetics was… not a topic I knew that well. All I knew were the broadest strokes, that it was what made you physically you and were a host of traits passed on from parents to children.

“You… well your family recently had ponies in it. If I didn’t know better, I would say your parents were both unicorns but you’re, well, a gryphon.” She explained. “Beyond that, there is just a general weirdness that we have yet to figure out, likely related to gryphon physiology.”

Ah, great, good thing they don’t know my real name. Fuck I need to get out of here, now.

“Your expression changed, what is it?”

“I… don’t like being a test subject. I would like my stuff back and to leave,” I explained.

She backed away as I looked at her like a cat, my tail flicking in annoyance.

“I won’t hurt anyone, I just want my stuff and to be shown to the door.” I continued. “Study my blood all you want but I’m done here.”

-=O=-

The first thing I saw was the bloody ring on the floor as I squirmed to get up again. This time my EFS told me it had been another hour and my body was not happy with the position I had laid in for that entire time. My brain felt wrong on many levels as I sat up, flexing my nonexistent talons. The state of my brain approached scrambled as I checked for my wings and scowled before fishing for Emil’s revolver only to find my silenced pistol.

“This shit is fucking with my head far too heavily.” I sighed as my magic formed into talons over my hooves. Instinctively, I held my pistol like a gryphon would have. “That’s… I used to do this.”

The memories this shitty trip had returned to me were unwelcome but also made me feel more whole. I really needed to apologize to Winter and Ocean after this. It wasn’t their fault Winter couldn’t give me a foal. I had blocked so much out, that I didn’t even remember how I stopped being a gryphon or how I got back to Saint Clover.

Then the world wobbled and I threw up, gasping as another round of pain washed over me before evening out. I forced out a growl and had a magical talon slash at the door, popping the handle off. I felt all kinds of wrong but I needed to move before any more undesired trips down memory lane.

With my newfound freedom, I pondered where to go next as my pipbuck light illuminated the dark interior of the hospital hallway. What safe places would I as a ‘patient’ be allowed to be? Safety likely lay within other patient rooms as the machines here were set to knock us out and stuff us in them. I doubted they checked on us after that.

Us? I am pretty certain nobody else was alive here, at least not without being a ghoul.

I sighed as the passive markers in EFS stared back at me in my vision, inviting my curiosity.

There wasn’t much I could do honestly. Anyone or anything trapped like I was, was likely long dead or drugged out of their gourd and thus impossible to move. I turned my mind to the task at hand and looked up and down the hall. I couldn’t see anything moving but I did spot a bathroom labeled by a sign that hung from the ceiling.

Good, a place to hide. Given there weren’t any facilities in my room I wouldn’t be surprised if the robots considered it a safe space. I snorted at the term. Relative with the rads ticking away anyway. Would I die? Fuck how exactly was my body really reacting to all this radiation? Whatever, the upside is that the ‘resistance’ meant that I was taking way less compared to the normal person. I might need to pop the RadSafe or RadAway soon regardless.

Ugh, this is not going as planned. Focus Moony, task at hoof.

Time was a factor but thankfully a smaller one for me so it was safe to take it slow for now. Mental math gave me two days roughly at this exposure rate. To keep a small profile, I crouched down and slid the door nice and wide. With the door cleanly out of the way I slipped out into the hall and crept down the hall.

So long as I don’t slip into that drug-fueled hell I should be fine. EFS showed I was still poisoned but the levels showed it was significantly lower which is why I just felt hungover.

Toggling through the settings in the pipbuck EFS, I forced it and the auto mapper to stay up in my vision. Tracking threats and having an updated map was a very nice combination to have.

I need to talk to Sil about making the tracking work with that automapper, or at least a general distance and direction. The weird system this has is useless if multiple targets were along the same vector.

At the moment my options for escape were a stairwell along with an elevator shaft. The lobby below me likely still had the robots that knocked me out and I definitely didn’t want to deal with them.

Prying on other patient doors showed me a variety of scenes. A note of sorrow filled me when I saw the beds containing skeletons, my knowledge telling me these were pre-War patients, caught here when the bombs had fallen. They died coming here for help they never got. It hurt the pony in me that had been trained as a medic.

It hadn’t been safe in the hours and weeks after the bombs. The black rain, the radioactive snow, it would have been too hot to be outside. Here at least there would have been a chance with enough ways to purge radiation but the abnormal levels of radiation probably threw a wrench in that.

While most bodies had been clad in wartime dresses and suits, I saw a small number of pony skeletons in a mix of rain slicker and police riot gear which I liberated. Other ‘patients’, I realized, weren't pre-war and these wore barding that was more survivalistic in nature.

There was also some office space, likely for the nurses and technicians, but nothing that pointed to a medical supply room. After taking stock of my supplies, I proceed up the stairwell to the next floor.

“Patient.” I started and quickly faced a wandering robot just past the door. An electrical buzzing filled the air as it paused, searching for a name. “Moonlight Grimoire, your room is not on this floor. Please return to your floor for your safety until the lockdown is over.”

“I need a nurse,” I stated in the hopes that it would override its protocol and start looking for a nurse.

A brief electrical buzz filled the air again. “Your request has been filled, a nurse will be sent to your room when one is available. Now please return to your room and wait.”

I took a few more steps into the hallway and could see the floating spiderbot as well as a few open patient rooms around it. I couldn’t distract the damn thing, it had three eyestalks that covered every direction.

Choice time, fight or flight.

I focused my magic into an electrical arcane blast and unleashed it onto the spiderbot.

“Ms. Grimoire-” Was all it got out before it fell to the ground, deactivated.

My magic reached out as two disembodied talons, which made me flounder for a split second before I swiftly dragged the remains of the robot into an empty room. I quietly shut the door behind me and leaned against it while standing on my hind legs, panting as I waited to see if any EFS markers changed colors.

Thankfully no changes materialized, which made sense given this one hadn’t turned red before I took it out. I had no idea how long it would be out of commission so I started to pull the darn thing apart to make sure it stayed down.

The poor thing was fried, the better part of two centuries of work without maintenance had done a number on it. A few undamaged talismans were still of use at least. Though I didn’t have a way to make use of them for now, I had an idea to integrate the hover charm as a way to negate some weight in my packs. Aside from that, its darts were still good and I even found a small reservoir of healing potion, which I drained into a few empty potion bottles.

“Okay, well, talk about a restock.” I cheered to myself as I scooted the spiderbot to the side and paused to think about my situation.

The spiderbots, or as my pipbuck called them “Nurse Healy”, (Celestia, who named it that?) were a good source of resources but I needed more than healing potions. I also was in a good situation where the place didn’t seem to tag me immediately as hostile which meant if I just acted fast enough I could make it through this. I spared a glance out the small window at the door and caught sight of a floor map on the opposite wall.

“Progress,” I muttered as I studied the map more trying to divine where to go next. “Okay, those three rooms down the hall past the office area look to be different. Might be something useful there.”

I slowly swung the door back open with my telekinesis, which weirdly now looked like ghostly claws even if my horn still glowed from the effort. Looking up and down the hallway on either side revealed nothing out of the ordinary and I breathed a sigh of relief. Deciding I needed a way to orient myself in the dark, I then grabbed a broken panel from the Nurse Healy and cast a light spell on it before placing the softly glowing metal right next to the stairwell exit.

Wish I had a way to hide my horn glow though. Duh, that’s why so many unicorns wear hats! Shoot, why didn’t I think of that? I need a spiffy hat. Okay, that’s on the list for when I get back to Pioneer.

With that sorted, I banished the telekinesis talons, turned off my pipbuck light and started down the hall, feeling my way with my hooves. Having EFS up kept me a bit more relaxed as I at least had some measure of the layout. Thankfully the hall posed no challenge even if it did take far longer to maneuver than I would have liked.

Maybe Sil could make the EFS do a weak night vision spell so I could just see the edges of things. Kinda like… that blackhole sun beach… thing. What the fuck was that? Whatever, maybe that was the weird stuff Princess Luna saw in the space between dreams, assuming that was how things worked.

Yellow-pink intertwined light filtered through some ancient, partially closed blinds. Electric colored lights. I got to the window and sighed as I looked outside, seeing stray lights flicker to life as dusk settled over the city. Amazingly, centuries later, between war, weather and ponies being ponies, some of this district’s underground power grid still survived.

Wait, that meant something was powering the city. How and where? Pioneer also had power but I had assumed it was just something local. What if the grid was mostly okay? Interesting something to work on later. Huh, would you look at that; the yellow on the Ministry of Peace sign still worked, though the two of the three butterflies have burned out.

What did worry me was that while the floor I was on had no power, the main hospital and the lower floors of this building did. Something above me was causing circuits to fail.

Banishing the distractions, I started combing my surroundings in earnest before finding something very off about this floor; the staff areas had no bodies, only the patient rooms. If non-employees were shoved in patient rooms where were the staff? It nagged at me though. Where were the nurses, the doctors? Had they tried to leave to get help? Ugh, questions for a better time.

“Ma'am, please return to your-” I cut the robot that had appeared as if from thin air off with another blast of lightning, the blue light bathing the room I had entered. I panted in panic before nausea and a familiar pinprick hit me.

“Damn it, stupid tranquilizers.” I swore as I pulled a tranquilizer dart out of my neck, pushing onward urgently and using a wall to support myself. It would take a bit for the drug to take full effect so I had to hurry.

The closest room had nothing of use in it save for a large X-ray machine. The next was a bit more interesting since it seemed to store a limited supply of pharmaceuticals. I doubted many were good this long past the expiration date but there might be some that got stronger with time.

Unfortunately, there was another spiderbot in here.

“Excuse me ma’am only-” I cut it off with another spell, the strain making me fall onto my barrel as my hooves went out from under me.

“Damn it, come on Moony, get back on your hooves. There’s got to be an antidote in here.” I encouraged myself.

There was a terminal in here, hopefully with the information I needed, but just as I turned to close the door I let out a gasp and slipped again. I had hoped my liver would have processed the tranquilizer by now but I guess not.

Damn it.

I focused on the door, barely shutting and engaging its lock with the glowing talons of my telekinesis before the room blurred and my hind legs failed to carry their share of the load. I turned my head--

Mistake.

I was on the floor now, shaking like a leaf in a storm. I closed my eyes and just let it happen, let my body tremble and quake as I struggled to figure out what this was. I only had two doses of tranquilizer, there was no way this could be withdrawal already? No this is my body trying to fight it way too hard. Fuck.

It hurt as my muscles contorted and twitched on their own, almost like one giant spasm in every muscle I had been using since I got up. I tried to whimper but could only cry. It would be okay, I told myself, there wasn’t anything to fear. Not yet anyway. It was only a problem if it didn’t stop on its own.

My muscles burned when they finally fell under my control again. I was exhausted, physically and mentally. Not only was I exhausted on all fronts, I now felt like I had the hardest workout in my life. I slowly opened my eyes and found I could finally move. Instead of trying to push on I just put my foreleg under my head and let myself drift off as the chemicals took hold.

I just lay there on the cool tiles. Rest was the only option, as much as I hated sticking around somewhere as hot as this longer than I had to.

Okay so sleeping in an irradiated hospital, twice, may not be the best idea but with no way to move all I can do is sleep it off.

So I slept. It wasn’t going to be restful but at least it wasn’t chemically induced.It was also for the most part safe.

The robots don’t seem to patrol this area and, even if they did, I took out the one that was on duty for this room. The radiation here also wasn’t too bad and, Tartarus, it even feels like a slow healing potion was working on me instead of eating away my strength. Could be worse. Likely will be tomorrow but that’s future Moonlight’s problem.

Chapter 23 - A Gift of Kindness

Kindness is to be given, not held hostage. Kindness is a selfless action, with only the thought of how to help others and not one's self. To plant a tree for those who follow to enjoy the shade.

For too long I had accepted being here; being in this hospital, being subjected to tests, being jabbed, bled, cut, and examined. Every last feather was cataloged as I was used to create an extensive, detailed biomorphy of a gryphon hen entirely without my consent, without the ability to refuse. Property was the closest descriptor to how I felt.

An object, not a person.

Now? Now it was time to repay their kindness with my brand of generosity. I was leaving and I had gotten one of the attendees to lend a hoof in my escape. He was an earth pony, treated only marginally better than myself but well enough that he was able to return my things to me. My barding was useless unfortunately and, as it was raining outside as always, I was going to sorely miss it despite its damaged state.

Emil's revolver, and the ammo for it however was going to be very useful.

"Thank you.” I said as I checked the last of my gear. “Now like I said, curl up in the corner. I'm going to rough you up so it looks like I forced you to help me. I understand how these fuckers think."

He nodded. "I wish there was more I could do."

"Well... which way to the roof?" I asked him.

"Uh, down the hall, take a left, go straight past the next left, then take the left after that. Should be an unlocked, push bar door that will take you up." He explained. "But with the rain, it is going to be hard to fly."

He wasn't wrong; flying in the rain sucked but I needed to get some distance and Emil had said I was built for distance and power, not speed. This wouldn't be the first time flying in a storm and I just hoped it wasn't too rough or this escape was going to be a very short one.

"Thank you again and be safe, Rhubarb Pie." I smiled, ruffling his mane before helping him look the part of an unwilling accomplice. "Sorry for everything."

He was whimpering. I hadn't held back as much as I should have but I wanted to keep him safe and the only way to do that was to look like the villain here. With a dramatic turn I headed for the door, pulling the hammer back on the revolver. I didn't want to hurt anyone while leaving but I needed to push an image: violent, ready to draw blood, and not to be fucked with.

Opening the door I came beak to muzzle with the good doctor who had been in charge of my suffering. She blinked then balked as my claw went around her muzzle and I dragged her into the room to glare down at her.

"Brightheart." I said standing there, finally in full control of a situation with her. "I am leaving, don't try to stop me."

I took a breath and felt the bravado melt from me. "I don't want to hurt anyone, don't want there to be any more reasons to go after me. And no I do not want to stay here and if you or any others make escape impossible I am going to take option three."

Her eyes asked the question and I answered by making a finger gun with my talons and made a show of firing it at the side of my head. "Option three."

"Right, enough fucking about." I muttered. "Thank you for healing me and I hope your research saves many lives but don't fucking look for me."

I wanted to hurt her but she did what she could not to harm me while doing what she was forced to do. I believed her when she said that others would be less gentle and she seemed to at least have some internal angst over the situation.

Regardless of all that, I let go of her muzzle and rushed down the hall, following the path given to me. Reaching the top floor, I saw that while the storm had been bad before it was now just misting. Not ideal but it was also night and I had the old skyscrapers illuminated by the glow of Seaddle's lights as my guide.

A shiver ran through me as the cold wind set in. No time like the present to leave.

As I got to the edge to gauge my path, I heard hooves, and talons, behind me.

"Stop, or we will maim you." Shouted a stallion.

"Hen, your service is not yet done." Said a rooster with the ponies.

I slowly turned to regard them. A phalanx of ponies in thick heavy combat armor with heavy ballistic shields glared back at me, horns poking out of the helmets. Two gryphons stood there, one looked too posh for the wasteland, and the other held a bomb collar. The intent was clear.

"I signed up for nothing.” I spat. “I am captive for experiments. Fuck that noise."

"All gryphons are bound to her service and that includes you!" Shouted the posh bird.

"Who the fuck is her?" I asked, staring back at them entirely unamused.

"Our Matron, all gryphons of the region are bound to her!" He cried back over the wind. "Stop and you won't be punished."

"Too bad I'm not from here." I replied before sighing.

I had an inhaler of modified Dash and six shots ready to go. They had magic, shields, two flyers, and maybe a couple of guns. The solution was, given the birds were trying to block the unicorns from me with their extended wings, was to clip them. They'd live but most importantly nobody should be able to give chase immediately. Seconds mattered here.

"Let me think." I mockingly said. The posh bird looked hopeful.

The more observant, bomb collar-totting rooster blinked and then began to lunge as I pulled the inhaler out.

The drug hit my system hard. Time slowed as I tossed the inhaler away, having used every dose left in it. Probably an unsafe dosage but it mattered not.

Time stretched, colors became more vibrant and I got momentarily lost looking in the raindrops as they hovered frozen in time before focus returned. The revolver found its home in my talon and I fired off two shots, one to each bird, one wing each. With a hop, I bounced over the lunging rooster and watched as his face smashed into the retaining wall around the roof edge.

I let out a chirp of laughter before bounding into the air. The unicorns struggled to follow me as I swooped through the air, my wings leaving a swiftly swirling current behind me as they thread the spaces between droplets.

"Let's go home." I told myself as I felt my long unused muscles strain with madness-induced strength.

The cold was sinking into my extremities as I pushed hard. My forelegs felt chilled as the rest of me burned, rowing my wings through the cold wet night sky.

-=O=-

It took a minute to sort out when and what I was again. Anchoring feelings, like my body shape, gradually crept back into my mind; my hooves, my horn, my equine biology. With a groan, I stretched and winced seeing a familiar tile ceiling above me. For a split second I was back in Seaddle, but this time as my unicorn self on that table again and subject to the Family's twisted minds.

Ugh, okay, let's not do drugs again, or at least whatever the fuck the tranquilizers here were. Also, I am unhappy to now know I have a history of Dash use.

Shoving the thoughts out of my head I used a leg to shove myself from my side to my stomach. Said stomach growled at me and I realized my EFS and its reminders were still down. I fished out an MRE and quickly swapped the pipbuck’s batteries while the meal’s heater started doing its thing.

My mind inadvertently slid back to the memories I had been forced to relive but I immediately shook my head to dismiss them. I was almost done here so I needed to focus. Only two more buildings to clear though neither looked easy to clear.

"So much for doing this quickly. I'm sorry Sil, I am probably stressing you out."

My eyes slid onto the terminal in the room and I let a ghostly talon of familiar shape and shade manifest to push the power button. As the machine came to life, I went through a mental checklist. Hydration was a must so I started drinking. However, on the second bottle of lightly irradiated water, my body decided to breathe instead of swallow, leaving me hacking up precious water and my eyes watering.

I sneezed out what little water remained and started to worry when I looked down at the hooves covering my snout. Blood and water. I needed to see a doctor the moment I got back. Before a spa date, before another pipbuck, before checking for a letter from Riptide.

EFS warnings came back online then, though none looked immediately concerning. Namely, no taint, not yet at least, but there was plenty more hospital left to explore.

I took the moment to stretch, letting out a groan or whimper as I popped joints and stretched out tense muscles.

"Next time, I need a bedroll or something."

The terminal chirped out in readiness and, now more limber and less sore, I started interrogating the terminal as I let my food cool; the heater had run longer than I had intended it to, the steam wafting off of the non-descript brick of essential nutrition.

"They sure did treat our troops nicely." I snorted as I began to flick through the computer, this one not even needing a password.

I quickly found that it was corrupted and would have been a nightmare to work with. I groaned in resignation and shut it off before opening a couple of nearby cabinets with my magic. This bore more fruit as it was heavily stocked and everything had labels. A nice morale boost in the moment. I excitedly clapped my magic talons together while I switched to look at memos and documents.

Of the memos, there was one that took priority, the one that explained what was going on, sent just as the bombs fell. Thankfully it wasn't a long tortured spiel about the fate of the world but one from a professional staying laser-focused in the face of a crisis. It made sense, after all they were the Head Nurse, one Stainless Heart.

Due to the detonations across Equestria and the loss of contact with other cities, we have instituted a lockdown. Per the procedures laid out, staff must make certain all patients are moved to safety in In-Patient Care. Those who are capable are to be discharged and sent home or to shelters around the city. Once those patients are taken care of, all supplies must be moved to In-Patient Care to sustain the hospital as long as possible. It is very likely in the next few hours, as well as the following years, we will see a large influx of patients. We don't know when resupply will be but we will not turn anyone away. As long as we have the supplies, the power, the water, we will help until we are without supplies or life.

-Head Nurse Stainless Heart

Tears welled up as I sat there having finished reading the memo. It was timestamped around when the clocks had stopped, as soon as contact was lost. This meant Dockland had time to know their doom before it landed when I had assumed they wouldn't know till it happened. How horrific. It pained me to think of how this mare’s hopes had been buried in this irradiated city, days, weeks after the bombs fell.

No resupply would ever come. The Pegasi never came to help.

Pushing myself, I looked through the rest of the notes and found some information on possible locations for stables in the area; one by Mt. Hoof, another in the city itself and the one in Seaddle that I knew and did not enjoy the reminder of.

Logs from the other employees of the FMC wrote about when the black rain began, thick with radioactive ash, before the glowing snow arrived. They wrote about the pain they felt at seeing irradiated survivors coming to the hospital only to die. Then the radiation spiked and the skywagon crashed into the building a month after the end. The driver was dead long before the crash. The abandoning of the other buildings fell behind schedule.

Emil had told me about the Pegasi and their first atrocity. I wasn’t taking the sun and moon from us but kicking every bit of radiation out from above the clouds and even out of them, drowning the world below. The loyalty that they had was to themselves and not Equestria.

I realized I was scowling so I took deep breaths to recenter myself, letting my emotions flow through me and out of me.

Chewing through more entries, I started seeing complaints about burning through resources, then some kind of radiation madness, thought to be from extreme pain. The descriptions told me everything I needed to know. Feral ghouls.

Not long after the survivors ended up in In-Patient Care, with the sane ones moving to ER eventually but not before they all got a lethal dose of radiation. The logs stopped soon after but not before a collection of them practically screaming their frustrations, damning the Princesses, the Pegasi, the other Ministries, and the Zebras. They railed against everyone and I could sympathize with the simple need to scream into the void and hope it made you feel better.

And now only one entry was left, one last memo.

I sat there and drank it in.

This is Head Nurse Stainless Heart. When the bombs fell everything Fluttershy had worked for had been validated with Communally Assured Reciprocal Existence, or C.A.R.E. Her ‘care’ for treating the illness was in conflict. She was both right and wrong. Her megaspell was the cure but not for the suffering and the war. Unfortunately, the War adopted our cure and used it against us, turning our treatment into a vector to spread more misery. We were but reacting to a sickness not anticipating its mutations.

I foresaw this and began work on spells to deal with this after seeing the first balefire bomb detonation by the Quabians. It was horrific. That day I knew things would never be the same, that the Ministry couldn’t just stand by and respond to injuries after they had happened. We needed to understand what would come tomorrow and be ready today to treat these novel threats.

I brought my research to Luna and Twilight and for my effort I was ‘banished’ to this quiet city. It was a mixed blessing I suppose. While publicly my research was ignored, the Ministries refusing to admit that Equestria would ever be harmed despite the ongoing Stable project, I later found out through others that Twilight and Luna had at least disseminated the data privately among the Ministry of Arcane Science. I take solace in knowing that my research will be used by Stable-Tec to protect and rebuild a sliver of Equestria’s population.

There are still things I haven’t figured out how to fix but my time on Equestria draws close. I lived a short life compared to my ancestors but I did what I could to uphold Fluttershy’s ideal of kindness, and I hope that my research will spread this very kindness across this new Equestria.

Within my grimoire are new spells for healing, for purging the radiation caused by the bombs, and designs for new megaspells, though I have no idea if they will work. I managed to scale down the original version of Fluttershy’s healing megaspell. Unlike hers, which healed a whole battlefield, this is meant for a singular individual. I doubt it would affect the long dead but those recently deceased will likely be able to be brought back.

Sadly this megaspell and others require facilities and pony power I lack, and those who were working under me are now nothing more than corpses. A sad fate but I am glad they are finally resting. They have earned it, they earned it even before the bombs fell. And now I’ll join them in eternal rest as well. May Equestria rise once more.

-Former Head Nurse Stainless Heart.

I sat there numbly for a minute before the tears began to flow and I let myself weep for this irradiated mausoleum. She had watched her friends and colleagues work themselves to death as she sat high up above the radiation, safe enough to continue her research. Now her office sat atop the feral ghoul-filled building which explained the lack of anyone retrieving her work.

Now it was my turn to try, I guess. I don’t know if I can do it but her Kindness, the gift she wanted to give to the wasteland in the form of knowledge to help the world recover, to help make things right, sounds like something I should at least give a shot.

"Well, I doubt there are supplies in the ER but there should at least be some useful equipment. And probably more ghouls." I muttered to myself. "In-Patient is next then. Alright, let's eat and go."

I didn't want to linger and feel my emotions destabilize again. I needed to keep my head on straight. After all, I had clearing the rest of this building, then diving into a building full of feral ghouls to look forward to. I had to at least try to make this building safe from all the robots electrocuting and drugging anyone who tried to explore.

It didn’t take long to find the aforementioned crashed sky wagon on the next floor. Unfortunately the moment I opened the door to the floor, a trickle of glowing, rainbow fluid splashed over my hooves before I managed to react and teleport a short distance away. Panting, I checked myself to make sure I wasn't mutating visibly and sighed when nothing looked amiss. Not yet at least. My EFS was screaming about it but I squelched the warnings; it didn't do me any good to have a reminder of my likely horrific mutations to come.

Well, I know it wasn't a lot of taint at least. Definitely didn’t like worrying about how this is going to twist my body though.

As if to taunt me, I felt my insides twist and writhe, making me gasp and double over as tears slipped from my eyes.

Now I really hoped her spells would do the trick because I definitely needed to learn how to either undo taint exposure or stop it long enough to get myself and the spells to a doctor.

The fifth floor was a ruined mess from where the sky carriage had smashed into the building. A quick sweep of what remained revealed a small stockpile of supplies and some robots warding people away from the crash site. The latter did not move after me so I stuffed my packs then booked it for the sixth floor.

This floor served as administration, which would have been unremarkable if it wasn’t for the one prize I found amongst the paperwork; the shut-off override switch for the hospital’s robots, which I happily pressed. Aside from the normal office supplies, the only other thing of note was a set of orange-gold orbs, something I recognized as memory orbs without memories. I eagerly stuffed these in my bag.

Something I was less eager about, locked in a nondescript office that was almost glowing with rads from the crash site below, was a preserved, unopened bottle of scotch. The label told me this vintage was more than 200 years old but, sadly, scotch smelled like paint thinner to me and my first thought was to turn it into a Molotrot Cocktail.

Dad would be oh so disappointed in my feelings on scotch. Oh well, he isn't here to berate me over it.

Once out of the room, I took five to catch my breath, grumbling at how I was getting weaker as time went on. I was resistant but with my rads slowly creeping higher the necromantic magic was starting to eat away at my body. I debated on teleporting out or taking the stairs down but pragmatism won out in the end and I started for the stairs, sucking down one of my limited RadAway's as I kept my eyes on the EFS for any contacts. The last thing I needed was to get another visit by the lovely mechanical nurses here.

Luck favored me until I got to the bottom floor. While most of the machines on the way down were either shut down or ignored me, the machines in the atrium were still active. And hostile.

"Fuck!" I swore.

"Miss Grimoire, you need to return to your *bzzzt*" The spiderbot spouted before collapsing into a twitching mess.

I had pulled out my pistol in my magical talons and dumped three rounds into the spiderbot. The 'nurse' compatriot found its path blocked by its companion's body and dumbly flailed about trying to get to me

"Hey, machine, network status!" I barked.

It paused. "Network adapter damaged. Error! Defaulting to prior instructions."

That would explain it. No idea why it was damaged but I wasn’t going to let this opportunity go to waste. Out came the rifle while it was distracted but as I aimed, the machine finally lunged over its dead companion. I saw the glittering tips of its electric barbs and fired twice just as they launched at me. Electricity screamed into my body and I howled for a moment before the shock abruptly ended with the machine’s demise.

"Well, that's one loose end done." I whimpered, shakily getting back onto my hooves. I could smell my fur smoldering.

I took a moment to close my eyes and try to recenter myself. Well, now these machines couldn't hurt anyone else at least but that still sucked. My eyes drifted over my body; I was caked in my own fluids, my fur was singed, and I just looked overall miserable. I definitely needed a break once I was in Pioneer. At the very least I paused to dress any open wounds using what alcohol I had.

-=O=-

A brisk trot across the yard (lawn, court? Whatever) and I was at the In-Patient facility. This place made my mane crawl, what with the scattering of gurnies within the lobby, grimed with some ancient material that had long turned black, coarse, and sticky. I flicked it off my hoof before using more alcohol to clean the gunk from my nail.

"Ugh... this is going to suck." I sighed aloud.

I heard something creak at my voice. I slowly panned my vision around, willing my EFS to show itself then saw bars start to appear. It was then that they started to filter into the lobby.

Ghouls. Very fucked up ghouls. I kept quiet and moved slowly to take cover behind an overturned sofa, sharing my resting spot with the skeleton of a much less fortunate prior visitor. I saw a shotgun by its side and quickly grabbed it, finding it empty and in poor condition. Regardless, it would add to my firepower and give me at least three shots before I had to reload it.

I peeked carefully over the sofa and saw an obvious green glow coming from one of the ghouls. I started feeling cold and my rad counter started to click even faster. One or two ghouls I could handle, but twelve with three glowing with more radiation than I could heal through? I was in trouble.

But the more important question was simple:

WHY DO GLOWING GHOULS EXIST?!

What really started eating at my sanity was their constant muttering; the melted, shambling corpses somehow retained the ability for speech even if it likely wasn’t even any kind of Ponish.

Oh Sisters please let them just want to kill and eat me.

I tried my best to not focus on the strange voice-like sounds they made and instead on how all of them were handicapped in some form. A good number of them were in casts or braces while those that weren’t were reduced to wet, squishy, glowy, mushy creatures.

Think, Moonlight. Feral ghouls, soft tissue targets, low caliber will be the best for this. Radiation is pretty thick so I can take some scrapes and scratches, but I can’t let them get to me or I’ll be torn to ribbons. I need a better shotgun, the two I have do not work for long engagements…

I grabbed my pistol and slotted in a fresh magazine, leaving a round in the chamber.

Okay, that’s eleven plus one in the chamber, good start. Knives will help but fuck if I’ll be able to recover any of them in this. By the Elements do I wish I had a grenade so I can make a lot of glowy chunky salsa right about now. Okay, so what can I do? Ghouls are typically pretty blind, relying more on their sense of sound over scent. So, what, I just dash between objects? Better to go low and slow in any case instead of teleporting so as not draw any attention with a big old flash.

My lips curled as I whispered, “Ah, that’s a plan.”

Then the ghouls’ moaning paused as if they were listening before they all howled. I looked back over the sofa and saw them shuffling as best they could towards me.

With my cover blown, I vaulted over the sofa I was behind and charged down the hall.

In-Patient was a much bigger building than the other two had been. There was space here for hundreds of ponies, four to a room even on this floor. If the pattern was maintained on other floors, that was a lot of potential ghouls. Fortunately, the process of ghoulification wasn’t always successful so that would mean that some, if not most, ponies here would just be corpses and not shambling zombies hell-bent on eating me alive while their radiation-venting buddies kept regenerating me.

“Okay, mental image, please go the FUCK away.” I cried out as I toppled a glowing ghoul by shoulder checking it. “I don’t want to think about being an eternal food source for zombie ponies. Fuck that’s terrifying.”

My pipbuck screeched as the ghoul’s radiation swept over me and I fired point-blank into the poor ghoul’s heart three times to make certain it would stay down. I landed on my back and rolled over, hurriedly getting to my hooves as ghouls continued to awaken and appear on my EFS.

“Oh fucking great, if they’re asleep they don’t even show as a green bar?!” I shouted around the handle of my pistol, having thrown stealth out the window like a train full of balefire eggs into a blocked tunnel.

I looked behind me and felt my body tense in terror when I saw the gathering swarm.

“Fucking great, it’s like one of those fucking pre-war night of the living dead movies!” I swore as I threw an arcane bolt; the ghoul it impacted had its front explode into gore across the hallway, the unshielded light above sizzled as the fluids cooked.

Unfortunately I should’ve been facing the other direction because I suddenly felt an impact before screaming as I felt broken teeth sink into my neck. My pistol skidded away as I tried to turn my head so my horn faced the ghoul that was working on cutting a chunk of my neck out for itself.

I couldn’t focus, couldn’t concentrate enough to send the damn ghoul to her overdue grave with my magic so I did the next best thing: I rolled and pinned the ghoul. She didn’t mind; I hadn’t gotten my neck out of her mouth yet so she still had my meaty neck to chew on. My vision blurred as tears from the pain mounted. Finally slipping a knife into my hoof, I slammed the blade into her rotted brain over and over until I was released.

I scooped up my pistol in my magic as I rose and continued my labored run. I knew I had to keep moving because if I stopped I would just be swarmed. I couldn’t afford any more stupid mistakes.

Even as I ran I felt blood rolling down my neck, the radiation beginning to overwhelm my body even as it tried to fuel its regeneration. I had to keep shaking my head to get my eyes to focus.

I reached the end of the hallway and found myself in a little lift lobby. Howls, hisses, and slams thundered around me. I felt a warm trickle go down my hind legs as I quickly surveyed the room. The elevators still seemed to be working but as I hit the call button I drew back.

Eenope, too long. The swarm is closing.

I saw the sign for the stairs bathed in the glow of a red light and made my decision. I grabbed a table ahead of me and rammed the door with it.

The stairwell had a dry and stagnant air to it and even my pipbuck calmed down a bit. I didn’t let myself chew on this information though. I quickly slammed the door shut and shoved the table against it, pinning the table edge between the door and the railing.

Not satisfied with that, I grabbed the spellbook I had on me, flipped it open and once I found what I was looking for, deformed the floor to help give the table more purchase. I let out a sigh of relief and returned the book to my saddlebags before starting up the stairs. If Stainless Heart had survived all of this she’d clearly be higher up, away from all this radiation. Of course, I was assuming she hadn’t turned into a ghoul which was now a lot to be betting on.

“Five to one odds she’s an insane ghoul unicorn and given her dedication to healing magic I’m going to experience an internal organ exploding from her death magic rays or something,” I muttered as I cantered up the stairs. “Or accidentally healing me, realizing radiation does just that, then keeping me alive to test new methods of healing the injuries she gives me.”

I coughed as my mind raced. “Or she could just simply use me as her immortal buffet. Because that was always a healthy thing to be an option.”

I stopped to catch my breath on the third floor’s landing before looking at its door. Said door was broken outward and caked in blood, as was the immediate area outside of the doorway. A light just inside was flickering and casting creepy shadows into the stairwell.

“Top floor? Top floor it is. Fuck dealing with this shit.” I told myself as I pushed onwards and upwards.

Yeah no, let’s not go onto the floor where everything obviously exploded into fucking gore. Sisters, did someone turn into a fucking blood balloon and then explode? Nope, don’t picture it. Too late, ew. I shook my head as I rounded the landing midway to the fourth floor.

I slid to a stop at the sight of some sort of creature resting there, blocking the stairs. I took a moment to catch my breath and then teleported past it. The thing wasn’t showing up on EFS but it looked living enough. My eyes were drawn to spines of bone impaled into the opposite wall and I traced their trajectory back to weird holes all over the weird fleshy thing. I crept to the next landing, where a solid door lay, before allowing myself to take a breather, confident that the shambling horde would be sufficiently slowed down.

However, a minute into my breather I heard a screech that made me lock up before I heard scratching on the other side of the wall. Not the door, the fucking wall.

“Okay, running time!” I cried as I bolted.

What the fuck was here that would do that?! That’s not something I heard of ghouls being able to do!

Whatever it was it had sensed me through the wall and was trying to burrow its way to me, a terrifying prospect. I cast a few arcane marks ahead of myself and infused arcane bolts of ice into them as I bounded up the stairs.

Only three more flights to go.

I slowed down and caught my breath on the sixth floor’s landing, eyeing the door there warily. I would have to stop away from the doors from now to be safe. Thankfully nothing came for me this time and I pushed on once I felt less winded.

Keeping low and quiet, I moved past the last few floors without incident, eventually arriving at the very top, the ninth-floor. The door here was ajar, lovely. Weak but steady incandescent light flowed between the gap. I pulled my pistol out using my mouth and kept it there as I slowly opened the door with a hoof.

The main area of the ninth floor was unlike the ward of the second. Just past the elevator doors sat a desk where an administrative assistant would have worked and further beyond was a hall that branched off into the distance. Despite the dim light, the head nurse’s office was clearly labeled. Was it really going to be that simple? Well, why wouldn’t it be if she wanted her spellbook found?

Using my shoulder, I slowly pushed open Stainless Heart’s door to reveal the shadowed figure of a pony sitting behind their desk, their face obscured by a terminal. I kept steady aim on the pony’s head with my pistol and carefully crept into the room.

I shifted the pistol to my magic talons, the glow from my horns acting like a torch. If she hadn’t seen me now she either wasn’t alive or was asleep.

“Hello?” I asked just in case. Only silence replied. “Unfortunate.”

I sighed as I put my pistol back into its holster and walked up to Stainless Heart.

Her body was mostly preserved despite the lack of radiation, the almost freezing air up here probably contributing. An empty syringe of what looked like painkillers was embedded into a forehoof. Scratch that, several syringes of painkillers; one in her and many more on the floor, all of them empty. More than enough to put a pony down with no chance of failure. She had known she was at her end and picked the quiet way out from the pain of having lost her world.

“I can’t blame you, Stainless, you did good. You earned your rest. I hope the Sisters took you home.” I whispered as I sat down and paid my respects to the dead mare.

After a minute, I gently moved the mare to the sofa in the corner with my magic and laid what remained of a fire blanket over her. Given I could see inside of her body cavity, I knew she wasn’t going to resurrect which gave me a small modicum of assurance. I then proceeded to power on Stainless Heart’s terminal and rifle through the desk drawers while it booted.

I immediately felt like a fool because I found a hoof-bound book with the Ministry of Peace’s logo on it even before the terminal could finish its start-up. I felt a warmth to the tome that made me recoil. A book shouldn’t feel warm when everything else here feels cool.

“I found it, Stainless Heart, your grimoire. I’ll make certain copies of it go out to others. I won’t let what you worked for die here with you, or with me.” I said looking at the covered body of Stainless on the sofa. “I hope it helps your soul rest well.”

I lifted the spellbook in my hooves, the worry about its unnatural warmth soon turning into an equal measure of comfort as I kept hold of it. With that important task out of the way, I had one last thing to do here at Fluttershy Medical Clinic and that was to do my due diligence and check the ER’s status.

The terminal had finally booted up and there wasn’t even a password for it anymore. Helpfully it had the option to kill the lockdown and I immediately did just that. It was almost as if she had meant to do it before she passed but failed to for whatever reason.

Browsing the rest of the terminal, it felt wrong to read her research logs over the years. Stainless Heart didn’t need me looking at her frustrations when she had already given me her solutions. I would give her answers to the wasteland, her kindness to the wasteland.

I finally looked up from the terminal and immediately froze seeing a figure standing in the open doorway, a door I had sworn I had closed. With trained practice, I pulled my pistol from its holster with my magic while also shooting a spent syringe through the door with a light spell attached. It stuck to a ghoul’s head, hissing as it clawed at the distraction. It didn’t take long after I spotted the shadowy shapes moving behind it that the howls rang out, soon followed by a clamor of skittering.

The throng of undead had blocked any path out.

They found me! How? How in the name of all things did they find me? I mentally begged. One of these things is not like the other~

Maybe the necromantic curse that held them could also sense any life that wasn’t plagued by their affliction of undeath, leading them straight to me.

I glanced behind me; there was only one way out and I couldn’t see the ground. I needed more time so I shoved my pistol back in its holster and instead used my magic to grab an inhaler of Dash and one of Stainless’ chairs. The latter I shoved at the ghouls scrambling to get through the doorway. The former I inhaled without missing a beat and, with a swift turn on a hind hoof, I looked out the window and teleported outside.

For a second, gravity didn’t work. Be it adrenaline or Dash, the laws of physics slowed to a crawl. It invariably began to drag me down into a lethal embrace of the ground, mist beginning to collect on me as I started falling faster and faster.

I wrapped myself in my telekinesis like I had tried to with Riptide and Sil back in Four Corners. I felt myself falling faster. The pain I felt in my horn got shunted into tomorrow as I forced more magic through it and then back into myself with one goal in mind; lifting myself, slowing myself, anything to let me survive the fall. I had no desire to become a pony pancake on the pavement.

There were only five stories left to go. My horn was glowing and I was still falling fast.

Damn it, if only I still had my wings.

A silly thought hit me and I quickly made a barrier in the shape of wings, looping it through my armor. That worked somewhat and I wasn’t just falling but gliding away from the building. However, I still had too much downward velocity and no proper landing spot.

I teleported again, this time higher and closer to the building, leading to my forward momentum smacking me into the side of it. I shoved a hoof through a window and hung there, swaying weakly as the fog swirled around me, blocking sight of the ground and sapping my heat.

How long ago did I pull myself up by one hoof with a full pack? Never? Right, never…

I removed the forty-four rifle from my pack and fired three rounds through the window below me before shattering it with a kick. With a clear line of sight, I teleported into it and collapsed to the ground, whimpering in pain from the chunk of the window from the floor above embedded in my foreleg. My pipbuck also chimed in that I was critically injured.

One shot of painkillers, a rag to bite down on, and a yank later and my wound was mostly clean. I then went to work on treating it the rest of the way before downing another ancient healing potion. As much as I hated to rest more I needed time to take a break. I could just blast anything that did show up if I needed to. Fuck if I didn’t need some rest.

Level up! Welcome to level 10! You’ve been doing a lot of carrying as of late so it feels fitting to reward you with something along those lines. Congratulations on gaining the Strong Back perk! Enjoy the additional 30 kilograms of carry weight!

Quest Perk Added: Fragment of Kindness. You have found the life’s work of a pony who dedicated herself to kindness, the degree of which has rubbed off on her very work. To say she put her soul into her work would be to repeat the obvious. As Earth ponies can put a fragment of themselves into the work they do, Stainless Heart’s fragment came about through her hard work, her kindness, and her desire to help those who came after her in an uncertain future. Let her kindness join with yours and grow into a greater sum.

Prologue: Plinking

“Having good trigger discipline leads to less wasted ammo and less wasted money.”
-Wasteland Survival Guide, Gryphon Wisdom

The rain was comforting with its constant tempo. The rain was nice because it helped obscure the abandoned buildings of my hometown. The rain was nice for hiding small noises when you were trying to be quiet. And finally, the rain was nice for hiding the sound of a suppressed weapon. The constant drip and dampness engulfed our world, as we sat scouting for the nest of rats. The constant dripping had kept us company for the past half hour, nothing had stayed dry though even with being in cover. I checked and rechecked our weapons.

We were out here dealing with mole-rats, the overgrown bastards had a tendency to burrow right through the beached hull of Saint Clover. For once I wasn’t with my patrol squad and instead was out here with my dad. It had been a few years since we had gone out and done some bonding, for a long time he had been busy with my younger brother. It didn’t help that my brother followed in the hoofsteps of my parents with merchant work and now accounting. I didn’t mind too much, I still saw the three of them when I was between jobs. Guard duty, restoring and running the library, as well as working under Patches as I learned the medical trade. Mom and Dad kept busy with running their bit of merchant work during the trade season. With winter in a few months though they’d be looking for something to keep the cabin fever in check. Thankfully Silver Shores had gotten a marefriend not too long ago and had become the town accountant. Which kept him busy, and my parents bugged him about grandfoals for the past few years instead of me. So I wouldn’t need to worry about their cabin fever much.

“Hey, Moonlit-” Dad started then bit his tongue. He remembered that by tradition I had been allowed to rename myself. “Moonlight. I think I spotted the nest.” His heartland accent cut through the evening rain.

The slip up didn’t bother me. It was effectively the same name, just conjugated differently. Plus it was more of why I was being called a name not what the name was. When I had gotten my cutiemark of a book, I had dropped Shores from my name in place for Grimoire. It seemed fitting as the book reminded me of a spellbook, then I changed Moonlit to Moonlight so it flowed a bit better to my ears. I still didn't know how Dad found a mare with the same second half of his name in the first place. He wasn’t even from this region originally, which ruled out the obvious. The name change didn't stop my nickname of Moony working which was nice.

I gave Dad a nod, I didn’t acknowledge his mistake. It had been over a decade since I changed names, far too long to give a shit about it. I trotted after him down the broken pavement. We were outside the recovered blocks around the ship and dock, these streets of Seamane were left to the wild. Feral. I lifted a hoof to stop Dad as I heard the scratching noises of mole-rat claws.

“Building to our left.” I said to him in a hushed voice. I clicked the safety off of the pistol as I held it in my magic. The green glow bathed the street around us as he stood up on his hind legs with his old rifle. I didn’t know why he loved fighting without magic. To me he just gave a much larger profile using that gryphon rifle. He let out a shot and I heard the screech of an injured rat.

I got low and listened, Mole-rats burst out of the sandy ground around us. They avoided the old brick sidewalks and chunks of pavement. I let loose with the pistol counting the shots. Six, five, four, three, two, one, reload. Thankfully around here nothing had thick enough hide to need more than a thirty eight round with a low load. I let out a cry of frustration and pain as a mole-rat came out of the ground below me and got my left foreleg below my barding. Before I could shoot it Dad put a round through it. I pried its mouth off of my leg and quickly wrapped it in bandages. I held my pistol in my mouth. I disliked mouth firing but sometimes it was what needed doing. Not that I hadn’t been raised to fight without my magic.

We had dropped most of the family when the queen rat waddled out. The thing was disgustingly swollen, the smell of it made me gag as I held the revolver in my mouth. I watched as rat-pups scurried over and under it. I turned and cantered back putting distance between the glowing rat queen and myself. Dad scrambled up onto the roof of a building where he would be safe from her jaws. Though given the swarm around her...

I pulled out the firebomb I had grabbed from the armory for disposing of the nest. Since the nest was this abomination it seemed proper. The fire would deal with the swarm even if we couldn’t kill the queen bitch and only drove her off, without any mates and no pups the job would be effectively done. I reared up as I held the alcoholic mixture in my hoof and lit the rag with my horn.

“Fire in the hole!” I called out around the pistol grip in my mouth.

I threw the not-safe-for-consumption mixed drink. There was a flash of light as the bottle broke and the fire stuck to the pups and the queen. The flash made me squint against the dark. Even in the rain the mixture was enough to burn merrily as the screams of the rodent queen and its children filled the air. I popped out the cylinder of the revolver and slotted in new rounds before emptying them into the queen. Anything to finish this faster. Those screams aren’t pleasant to listen to. I could hear Dad firing his old reliable rifle into them as well.

When it was done Dad called down to me. “I think we can call it well done.” Dad said. I gave him a glare as he leaned on his rifle. I could see half of his face from the light of the fire under his wide brimmed hat. He had a smile on his muzzle. Of course he did.

I let out a sigh as I sat on my haunches and looked at my injured leg. This is going to make tomorrow a bitch.

-=O=-

Trait Selected: Good Natured! You are ill suited to the life of frontline combat, taking lives, and destruction. Instead you excel in the fields of communication, healing flesh and machine, as well as the art of the deal.

Trait Selected: Trigger Discipline! Years of instruction have left you relying on muscle memory. This means when it comes to a fight you don’t waste ammo. You win the war with well placed shots. Why waste ammo with three bad shots when one good shot will do. You find a unique calmness in the discipline from the hours of your father’s teaching of trigger discipline and pliniking at the range.

S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Assigned S 6, P 6, E 5, C 6, I 7, A 6, L 4. Are you certain you want this to be your character? Y/N

Understood. Welcome to the wasteland, try not to die too soon!

Author's Note

Note this is the prologue, as the title denotes, chapters will be longer than this. However, this is roughly the style to expect. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 11 - Arrogance

“Arrogance was one of the traits of the old world that brought it low. It was also one of the traits that the Steel Rangers kept alive and well within their ranks. Arrogance continues to hold back the new world.”
-Wastelander on Steel Rangers

“Okay, like I was saying nopony has been down there except for the Rangers so we have no idea what you’ll find. We left it alone once those metal heads left.” Crash Cart explained as I looked over the map.

It indicated that the place had been a wartime industrial site. I had expected some kind of cave, or hill, or something more obvious. Instead, it was about an hour south and in fact, we had even passed it on the way in. It seemed to be tucked away in what looked to be an industrial sector of the greater city limits, in particular a site known as Keepsake and Empire Excavations.

“Also given how little you all have dealt with the hydra and its kin let me give you a rundown on where they’re at currently.” Cart continued, pointing out the major roads. “The Five to the south seems to be clear so your trip south should be fine. North and west? Not so much, so stay to the south.”.

I nodded. “They tend to stay more to the core of the city around the blast crater?”

“Correct, and right now it seems they are mostly along the Five to the north and to the northwest around the crater.”

With a nod, I folded up the map and tucked it into my saddle bags. I stopped a moment and focused on my compass. I hadn’t tried to make use of this feature before but Sil had been messing with the Pipbuck for a few days. Set destination to K and E Excavations. A marker suddenly appeared on the compass before it faded from sight.

“Right, navigation features were part of the spritebots,” I muttered to myself. “That makes sense to be part of this. Well, that’s nice, getting that marked on my E.F.S.”

“Your knockoff has E.F.S.?” Crash Cart asked, looking at it curiously.

“It does. It’s made up of the guts of turrets, spritebots, some medical equipment, and computer repair equipment, so it mostly works as intended.” I informed him. “Barring when it flashes with random data when plugging into a terminal. Of course, I’ve only done that once so maybe that’s intended. I’d have to ask a Stable pony. Or a Stable-Tec ghoul.”

“Curious that it didn’t automatically set where you wanted to go.” Crash Cart said, tapping his chin.

“I had to mentally think about it and focus on the Pipbuck Zero for it to be so. Don’t think it’s properly interfaced into my magic field like an actual pipbuck.” I replied with a shrug. “It’s also not as durable as a Stable-Tec Pipbuck or powered by a diamond so I have to keep gem packs on me.”

“Oh, I see. How interesting.” Crash Cart said, tapping his chin more as he pondered. “Do you have a blueprint for it?”

It only took me a moment to dig out a copy of the blueprint and give it to Crash Cart.

“Now just plug her back in. Oh and might want to close your eyes this time. I’m going to download the code and see if I can make some adjustments while you’re out.” Crash Cart explained before sighing. “And try not to come back in more pieces than you’re leaving in.”

I snorted at that. “I’ll try to.”

Taking Crash Cart’s advice I closed my eyes right as I made the connection. Thankfully the E.F.S. didn’t show up behind my eyelids. Regardless, I didn’t want to risk anything so I sat on my rump for the few minutes it took Crash Cart to download everything.

“Okay, you can unplug the Pipbuck Zero. I’ll get to work on this as I keep an eye on the others here.” Crash Cart said. “You get going, hopefully, you’ll find something useful.”

With a nod, I stood up and removed the connecting wires from the terminal to my Pipbuck. I briefly saw a bunch of symbols in my sight before a no-connection message appeared then winked out.

“Are you two good to go?” I asked my companions for this excursion.

“More than you are,” Riptide replied, pulling on one of the straps of my barding with her magic. Sil simply nodded as she pulled on her battlesaddle. I moved to help her secure the straps.

With preparations out of the way and a wave goodbye to Cart, we left the building.

Outside, I got to see how Four Corners was doing for the first time in days. The town was noticeably worse than it had been when we arrived; segments of the wall had been patched with rubble and miasma still hung in the air every so slightly, leaving the taste of blood in my mouth. Looking around I could see a great deal of barrel fires lit in what I imagined was an attempt to burn away the remaining Miasma, or at least dilute it.

The clouds overhead were dark and heavy with moisture, wisps draping down from them to the west. Rain was well on its way. The upside was that we would hopefully be underground or at least in some kind of shelter within the hour.

We followed the street out through the south gate. Outside the gate, we saw teams of ponies digging ditches, building pits, and setting traps. Others were harvesting the corpses of the vipers. Work never stops after an attack, I knew that much from Saint Clover.

The path we took south swiftly deviated from how we had come into the city. We did end up having to make our way through the remains of a collapsed overpass for a freeway as we headed southwest.

“Okay, right turn here,” I said while I put the map away. “Then we stay on this street until we hit the industrial area.”

“It’s actually a nice walk out here,” Riptide said looking to our south where the land looked a fair bit less developed. Sickly, windswept fields, possibly wheat or hay, rippled with the breeze, long left to their own devices.

“That it is, it does feel nice to be walking like this again,” I replied with a smile. “That and I needed to see something other than canvas and concrete. I was getting close to wanting to chew on that mattress.”

“You weren’t even bedridden and you were going that mad. That’s worrying.” Riptide teased.

“Not enough books,” I replied dryly.

Riptide shook her head and giggled more before turning her gaze to the sky.

“She’s not joking. She’s quite the fiend for books.” Sil added with a smirk. “We probably should have also brought a cart and stuffed you in it. Would have also made it easier to carry stuff back with no worries of leaving you behind if we had to make a run for it.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I didn’t think about that. Hopefully, we can scavenge somethin’ around the bunker. Worst case there are plenty of broken-down carriages so we can make something out of that. It’ll just take a while.”

“Hey, Moony, thank you by the way,” Riptide said.

“For what?” I asked. I was guessing it was for grabbing her when the staircase collapsed. We hadn’t really talked about that night yet.

“For protecting me, even though it meant you got hurt,” Riptide replied.

“It’s instinct I guess. Or training. A mix of the two really.” I answered. “I saw what was about to happen, knew my limits, and did what I could to protect who I could. I made a choice to protect those I loved and do what I could to survive myself. It’s what we’re meant to do; help when we can, be it for a stranger or our special someones.”

Riptide shook her head again, this time with a smile on her muzzle. “I wish I had the foresight to have done the same in return. I was too focused on the danger of that monster.”

“As you should have been. If you hadn’t it would have gone for us when we hit the ground.” Sil replied in turn. “I couldn’t get a clear shot and ended up having to act as a rear guard instead. Times like that make me wish that I had a horn like you two.”

Riptide nodded before she sighed. “Sometimes I just feel like I’m a fifth wheel on this whole thing, what with the four of you being so much more skilled at everything.” She idly held my old revolver in her magic and spun the cylinder before returning it to her holster.

“Well if the Steel Rangers didn’t take everything there’s a chance we can get a nice upgrade in firepower for you,” I replied, trying to cheer her up. “Of course, they could have equally just left the stuff they thought wasn’t that useful. Still whatever is leftover is likely better than what we have given their… judicious application of firepower.”

“I’m guessing that’s sarcasm,” Riptide replied, tapping her chin as we trotted along.

“Oh, it is. The standard loadout for a Steel Ranger tends to be power armor, missile launcher, and an autocannon.” Sil explained with a laugh. “Or a heavy machine gun and grenade launcher. They will use a balefire egg to take out a bloatfly. To say they don’t know what overkill is would be an understatement.”

“Then there is a chance they left something behind for us to take,” Riptide said excitedly, beaming even. “They probably hoarded like a dragon with as much ammo and ordinance as they could.”

That was the first time I had seen her take an interest in weapons beyond self-preservation. Maybe this was her actual personality finally breaking through.

“Yeah, something like that.” I giggled. “Part of why I wanted to do this in the first place; to get Four Corners some kind of turrets or land mines to deal with the Vipers.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Riptide chortled before she broke out into a canter.

“Wait! Shit.” I tried to break into a run and let out a cry of pain at trying to keep up with Riptide. Sil politely kept up with me while Riptide kept several lengths ahead of us.

“Well, it’s nice to see her full of energy.” Sil giggled. “When we head back, you’re sitting in a carriage.”

“I can’t disagree with that.” I groaned. “I’m going to need more physical therapy before I can keep up with her.”

“That’s the right way to look at it.” Sil smiled, turning her head to look ahead of us. “I think that’s our stop up ahead.”

She was right. We had finally entered the industrial part of town just as a light drizzle started. It wasn’t filled with endless massive factories like I expected but modest brick buildings with few windows. Nondescript names adorned signage and most lots contained ruined cargo trailers and silos. It was clear a lot of different types of industry called this region home.

It only took a couple of minutes to find K&E Excavations.

The gates for K&E Excavations were left wide open. The fence around the property was made of rusting metal plates so we couldn’t see in. With a nod to Riptide, who was still ahead of us we crept up to the entrance and looked in to see a dirt-filled work yard. Sitting in the lot were a few pre-war vehicles caked in flaking paint and rust. I also noted that there were vehicle tracks from after the war, notably fresher than the wartime tracks I had to compare them to. These were flanked by heavyset hoof prints of dozens of ponies. It was an easy bet that these belonged to the Steel Rangers when they left and took what they could so we ‘simple wastelanders’ couldn’t have anything.

I looked over the yard, motioning everypony to stay put as I checked for mines or passive traps as well as straining my ears to listen for turrets and other active threats. Nothing caught my eye and only the wind and the light patter of raindrops greeted my ears. With that I slipped through the entrance and into the yard itself, giving the signal to follow along.

An office building sat at the other end, its windows long blown out and the main doorway devoid of even its frame. It would have housed a dozen ponies at the most back in the day. As we rounded the back of the worksite I noticed something that had been obstructed by the bulk of the building: a berm and within it a cave with a shallow grade.

“This must be it. An underground bunker hidden under a construction site.” I stated, a note of excitement and amusement escaping me. I trotted ahead of the rest and lit up the cave with my Pipbuck.

What greeted us was a wall of rocks. I grunted and stared up at the concrete ceiling. This was no collapse, the Steel Rangers had just buried the entrance under rubble.

“Really?! They thought this would stop anyone? Come on, let’s get these rocks out of the way.” I shouted in annoyance, shaking my head and muttering under my breath. “Fuckers thought this would stop anyone?”

“Um, okay. Are you certain this is safe to move?” Riptide asked as she examined the pile of rocks that blocked our path. Her yellow magic mixed with my green, illuminating the rocks we had begun to move.

“Moonlight’s right. We wouldn’t have been able to even get down here if it wasn’t safe to move these rocks.” Sil pointed out, confirming my observations. “Plus given it is a Steel Ranger facility they’ve built it like a Stable meaning it was meant to survive a near miss of a balefire bomb. The rocks were probably a deterrent for outsiders rather than making it impossible to get out.”

I had hoped that if we carved a path down the middle we could avoid having to move everything but in the end, we had to move half of the rocks. This was a blessing in disguise as it let me make a berm to keep the now-gathering rainwater away from the uncovered entrance.

The door itself was unlike the drawn images I have seen of Stable doors, reminding me more of a large bank vault; rectangular, possibly pressurized, and with no actual way to interact with it. Except for the terminal to the side, parts of which were accessible from the outside. Ah, vulnerabilities.

Powering on the terminal, I was greeted with the Stable-Tec symbol followed by a second one which I guessed belonged to the Steel Ranger’s. Then the terminal sat idle. I remembered reading that some terminals took a while to fully boot before they let you work with them so I let it sit for a minute. When nothing happened, I pulled out the connector cables and interfaced it to my Pipbuck Zero. The familiar Stable-Tec debugging interface popped up and I grinned. Those lovely vulnerabilities sure were useful.

Yay for standardized technology.

It took a few minutes to slice my way through the various layers of protocols the Steel Rangers had left behind to keep the door locked. Most required a simple level of knowledge on working with a terminal, figuring out which system was talking to one another and exploiting it. Others had required some pre-war history knowledge.

All in all, it took half an hour to crack open the door. Thankfully Sil was a boon for her ability to catch things that I had missed and spotting digital traps left by the scribes of the Steel Rangers.

I let Sil do the honors of pressing the button to open the door, the gesture of letting a zebra crack open a Steel Ranger bunker felt oddly nice. The door slowly swung open, stopping when it jammed partway against the rocks we had moved. That was going to give us less room to maneuver when it came time to leave with our spoils but that was a problem for later when we knew how much loot we had.

Once inside we sealed the door behind us so the bunker wouldn’t be flooded. We looked at each other determinedly; we were now sealed in with whatever was left behind by the Steel Rangers.

Now that my Pipbuck Zero was registered in the system as whatever the highest ranking the Steel Rangers had. So we should have free reign of the bunker, in theory. Honestly, I just gave myself full admin privileges to their system and registered all of us as friendlies to the internal security systems so none of them should turn hostile.

However, this would prove most humorous if we encountered anyone in there as I’ll pop up as one of their leaders. They probably never thought to change any of the encryption they use because of the “they’re just wastelanders, they couldn’t ever pose a threat to us” mindset. Of course, it will last all of two seconds before we either get shot or taken prisoner, though two seconds is better than zero.

The entrance hall we were in was, well, nothing special. It was spartan and the only thing of note was some kind of array that clicked as we went through it. I guessed it was some kind of scanner. Moving further we found an elevator that would take us further underground. It seemed to be running on some form of emergency power, which made sense if the Rangers ever planned to return.

“Hope you don’t have issues with this,” I said to Riptide as we entered the decidedly cramped elevator and selected the first button-down.

“Claustrophobia? No, thankfully.” Riptide replied, letting out a breath she probably didn’t know she was holding in as the elevator rumbled down.

“Good, because while I may have cracked the door and given us root access to the whole facility, who knows what the Steel Rangers left as a surprise for unwanted guests,” I warned, hoping to reassure Riptide and Sil.

“That’s fair,” Riptide replied with a sigh. “I didn’t know you had full access but I was prepared to be on our hooftips.” She paused as the elevator stopped, doors slowly hissing open. “Did you happen to get, like, a map or something?”

“Uh, no?” I answered. I brought up my Pipbuck to check anyway and got a rendition of the floor we were on now. “Nevermind I guess I did. No labels for anything but it's fully mapped out.”

“Well, that’s better than nothing.” Sil offered as she swept forward into the dark corridor to clear the way ahead of us.

“Well, dang.” Riptide frowned.

“Hold on, let me correct that. There’s one label now, the elevator, so I think my Pipbuck is updating as we go along.” I explained as we slowly moved after Sil.

“Okay, that’s something. I guess it's a blueprint and not what ponies labeled things while living here.” Riptide sighed. “Ideas?”

There was a moment of silence as we passed what was a security room, though now it was more of a bunker given its window was a gunport.

“Well, first let’s finish this floor,” I explained as I waved my foreleg-mounted light around. “From what I’m seeing this floor isn’t much more than a security choke point. It’s not even the ‘first floor’ so to speak.”

“Once we get down a level let's start looking for plaques and a light switch, maybe even some floor plans.” Sil continued for me as we came up to the next elevator. “I don’t believe for a moment they wouldn’t have maps inside for themselves. They weren’t always in power armor, and I don’t think the steel heads had Pipbucks.”

Once down a floor, we kept together; Riptide took up the rear, Sil the middle, and I was in front. Considering the two horn heads of the group were on either end to light things up, I honestly should have given the Pipbuck Zero to Sil so she had her own source of light. I just didn’t want to risk undoing what work we had done to register me on the internal friend or foe systems by swapping the Pipbuck.

After much annoyance and minutes of fumbling around, we finally found a service room and flipped on the fuses. We breathed a sigh of relief at the hum of electric lights as backup power came online. It wasn’t much but at least the entire floor was dimly lit instead of pitch black. It had also been a while but I was comforted by the familiar sounds of the HVAC system as it started thrumming all around us. Riptide though looked more than unsettled by the noises.

“This is how it should sound, Riptide,” Sil said comfortingly to Riptide, patting her on the side.

“Saint Clover wasn’t this loud,” Riptide grumbled. “I’m just more used to… well, what passes for nature anymore.”

I gave her a nod and moved in to hug her. I could understand how overwhelming the difference in the noise could be due to her short stint in Saint Clover. Riptide took a few calming breaths before steeling herself and we were on the move again.

The layout of the bunker was like that of a tree with the elevator shaft as the central trunk. The floor we were on was decently sized and seemed to be focused on a mix of administration and habitation, along with a solitary firing range.

We concluded our fruitless search and went down to the next floor. Floor two was far more interesting. There was an abandoned hydroponics section and a great deal more living space. While it was just as spartan, it was much less cramped than what was upstairs. This space seemed more suited for actually living in, maybe even raising foals judging by some of the rooms we passed and what remained of classrooms. Steel Rangers had to reproduce somehow.

The third floor held more administrative, medical, and physical training facilities. This seemed more of a shared space between the more domicile space of the second and the militaristic first floor with little else of note aside from its overall floor size.

The fourth floor was noticeably smaller than the previous two. It was instead a mix of varying manufacturing facilities; a mill and a foundry among other industrial features, most of which looked like it was automated and optimized for the compact space. There were also feeds coming from somewhere below, likely to sustain the industry we saw.

“It really is like a tree,” I said to myself as I brought up the map again. I mixed some of my own magic with the Pipbuck Zero’s mapping system, giving a rendition that the other two could see, this time as a three-dimensional object. This wasn’t intended behavior but apparently, the automapper also took into consideration room height. It must have used sound in some fashion, probably infrasound since I never heard it going off, and also because I didn’t remember any light emitter beyond the little screen that would account for this.

“Oh wow, look, the elevators go deeper! Are those caves?” Riptide asked, as she poked the map.

“Must be where they got their materials. I can see why they didn’t blow the place.” I replied half in awe. “I doubt we’d be able to get anything out of them. They probably mined it themselves. Would have made great strength training.”

“Yeah, well let’s check the last floor before we go down to the caves,” Sil suggested. “See if maybe that’s where the armory is.”

“Sounds good. Hmm, maybe the caves were a backup defense point.” I pondered, tapping a hoof. “It would make one hell of a choke point and who knows what they could have stashed down there too.”

“After we get done with the rest of the floors.” Sil nodded, her curiosity clearly piqued.

The fifth floor was split into two wings where we found what remained of storage. It was also unfortunately more sporadically lit than the other floors as a result. There seemed to be two storage rooms per wing, each labeled simply with a number. Peeking into a random one, I found that it was still full of crates, probably stuffed to the gills before the Rangers fucked off for Princesses knew where.

“Guess they decided to not take everything with them,” I remarked, then turned to Sil. “Let’s look around for a terminal and see if we can’t get a log of what is in these. I’ll try to find some kind of labeling system on them.”

“One thing consistent about pre-war groups is how they loved to keep logs on everything.” Sil giggled. “Also from the looks of it, we probably passed the cleaned-out armory on the first floor. Looks like we’re getting scraps tonight.”

“Yeah, seems that way but that’s fine,” I replied with a shrug. Then, against my previous fears, I decided to give Sil my Pipbuck. “It’s probably better that we split up to cover more ground. Use this to check on the other rooms while I check this one.”

“Will do, can’t wait until we can stop trading this one around,” Sil said, giving me a smirk before she headed off.

Riptide nodded in agreement as well and left to check the other rooms, leaving me lifting boxes and checking them for obvious labels.

It wasn’t until the fifth box that I realized they were indeed labeled. It was just a bunch of faded numbers and letters branded on them but it was something. Curiosity overtook me and I pried open a crate, finding almost a full crate of pre-war food, mostly military rations in sealed tins. I set the crate aside and took one from another stack, pulling it open in turn. It was the same, more rations.

“Food stock room,” I muttered to myself, taking a few days’ worth of rations for us. It wasn’t like the Steel Rangers would miss them.

Leaving the room I took out some chalk and wrote ‘Food Storage’ on the wall next to the already existing ‘Storage Room 4’. With that done I decided to check in on the other two.

The floor wasn’t that large on the layout, but the Steel Rangers had expanded each room over time compared to the original blueprint, each storeroom was now rather tall and deep. Humorously I seemed to have stumbled upon the one room neither mare had gotten to yet.

Which of course contained a terminal. Unfortunately, said terminal needed time to turn on so I labeled the room as ‘Terminal’ before I moved on. Storage Room 2 wasn’t empty and contained a very busy Sil using my Pipbuck light to peruse the room’s contents. Oddly the Steel Rangers had decided to strip the light fixtures out for this room as well. Part of me was impressed, and the other was annoyed.

“Hey Sil, when you finish here there’s a room with a terminal warming up,” I said, leaning in to peek over her shoulder. “The room will have some chalk on the outside labeled ‘Terminal’ so it shouldn't be too hard to find. I’m going to find Riptide and see how she’s doing.”

“Sure why not? All I’m finding here is some spare parts for... well I’m not certain honestly.” Sil replied with a shake of her mane. “I would guess power armor or vehicles? Anyway don’t get lost.”

“Little hard to do on this floor but I’ll try not to.” I snorted in reply.

I rationalized that Riptide was in Storage Room 3 because I remember the door hadn’t been open when I came past earlier so she must’ve found a way in. I poked my head into the room, gazed at the crates before me, and cursed. The place was a veritable maze of crates. While the boxes weren’t piled all the way to the cavernous ceiling, they were piled high enough that I wouldn’t be able to spot Riptide over them. I decided to climb to the top of the boxes instead, not wanting to deal with a box-style hedge maze.

“The great crate maze of the Steel Rangers,” I muttered to myself. I used my magic to help reduce my weight for a moment as I climbed the first set of crates. Once on top, I carefully hopped over a gap between the walls of boxes.

To my relief, the crates didn’t shatter when taking my full weight. As I walked the walls of the maze, I kept an eye out for any signs of Riptide like her horn glow or a pair of distinctive ears. Luck however was not in my favor. Absent-mindedly, I failed to notice a gap between crates and tumbled down onto my bruised chest. I let out a groan and lay there for a minute. Just another injury and my stomach would just take that bit longer to heal. It was roughly how this week was shaping up to be.

After a bit of self-pity, I picked myself back up with the aid of magic, berating myself mentally to watch my step. Misfortune continued to confound my progress when the next crate I hopped onto failed to support me and I ended up inside said crate. I was eternally thankful for my barding covering most of my soft tissues and the site of my impalement, even if the experience brought about a flash of panic at the memory of the stairwell collapsing under.

With a thought, I lit up the inside of the box to find machine parts yet again. I let out a laugh.

“Well, okay. I’ll need to sort these parts to see if any of these are useful.” I said to myself as I did my best to stand amidst the bits of machinery and caved-in crate cover. Using my magic, I moved both myself and the entire crate to the floor so I could properly inspect it.

With the lack of pressure to rush off somewhere else, I took my time to pick through the packaged parts I had crashed into. There was a possibility that somewhere among these crates there were parts for turrets. Then again, maybe they were in the room Sil was in or nowhere at all. Either way, this being a Steel Ranger bunker there was some benefit in putting some effort into combing these since they looked moderately important.

I got startled by a sudden noise and spun to face it only to see Riptide lowering her gun from around the corner.

“Oh good. It’s just you, Moonlight.” Riptide sighed as she trotted from around the box tower. It was nice to see she knew to use cover when approaching an unknown situation.

“Yeah, sorry. I was walking on the crates and this one collapsed on me.” I informed Riptide, gesturing to the broken cover. “I decided to look through it. It seems to be parts for some kind of specialized machinery. Nothing like what I’m looking for but it's a start.”

“I see, well that’s good news. Haven’t found a terminal here though,” Riptide replied. “I don’t know how many times I got turned around but it’s one too many.” She raised an eyebrow. “Why were you walking on top of the boxes?”

“Well, to have a better chance of catching a glimpse of your ears or horn.” I chuckled sheepishly as I rubbed the back of my head, all while my sore body reminded me of how foolish the choice ended up being. “As for a terminal, I found one and Sil should be working on it by now. She still has my Pipbuck before you ask.” I raised my left foreleg for emphasis.

“I was going to ask if you lost it in the box but good to know.” Riptide giggled and ruffled my mane. “Given how beat up you are, try not to take more risky paths? I don’t know how much more bruising your body can handle.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I’m already feeling it. Really where I…” I sighed. “Well, whatever. It isn’t bleeding again so we’re still good for now.”

“Remind me to strap you down when we get back to Four Corners.” Riptide sighed as she shook her head in disappointment. “I don’t want you getting even more hurt before we get going again.”

We quickly retreated from the storage room which I helpfully marked as “Parts?” and headed for the room where I had found the terminal. Sil was already hard at work, well on her way through cracking through it. Hopefully, this meant I could take the Pipbuck back when we moved on to another floor.

“Hey, you two. Well, the terminal has logs for what went in and out of each storeroom.” Sill stated, eyes glued on the glowing monitor as she tapped away. “No personal data though which surprised me a little. I guess the Steel Rangers wanted to leave as few clues behind as possible so nopony could track them down.”

I nodded attentively and milled through the voluminous data with Sil while Riptide levitated down a nearby crate and opened it, sifting through its contents. Then Riptide went on to another, and another, and another as I slowly felt my will to go on drain out of me. My face met the desk the terminal was on as time went on, my ears flattering. Sil patted my mane as she sat beside me and I let out a snort of boredom, the boring nature of the data having defeated me.

“Oh, hey! I found some guns!” Riptide exclaimed in a singsong voice. My ears stood at attention at the sound of a gun cocking.

I immediately stood up and started to make my way to Riptide only to fall forward as my hindlegs decided to stay asleep. I let out a small whine of annoyance. To make things worse, Sil pushed back from the desk at that exact moment, the wheels of the chair rolling over my tail and pinning me in place. I was thankful that pony tails were mostly hair but it didn’t get any less painful to have the tail hairs tugged sharply.

Sil too had her own misfortune to contend with. She hadn’t accounted for the fact that her chair was a swivel chair and was currently spinning uncontrollably in place. I took a moment to put myself together before grabbing both her and the chair in my magic to stop the spin. Sil stumbled off of it, looking more than a little dazed as she rubbed her right foreleg where she had hit the desk trying to stop herself, before unceremoniously falling flat on the floor. The noise of my grunt of pain and Sil’s squeak got Riptide’s attention and she trotted over to inspect us.

“You two having fun over there?” Riptide snorted.

“Yes, we didn’t find anything interesting on the terminal,” I answered. “Plus you looked so happy going through those boxes that we decided to have a little fun ourselves.”

Sil decided to make the bad choice of putting a hoof on my lower back to help her stand. Not only was this painful to me but I wasn’t the most solid surface on account of my squirming and we ended up becoming entangled.

“Sil, how about we just stop and lay here for a minute,” I added with a wince of pain.

“Sure, I’m a bit dizzy anyway,” Sil replied, deciding to wisely switch to hugging me. “Holding onto something I know isn’t going to move is probably for the best.”

Riptide blew raspberries at us before setting a rifle down in front of me to look over. It was of an uncommon make and even at first glance I could see why the Steel Rangers had left them behind; it was a revolver rifle. Earth Ponies and Pegasi preferred belt and magazine-fed weapons.

“There are more revolvers, rifles, and pistols,” Riptide added as I looked over the rifle.

Scooping the rifle up in my magic I popped the cylinder out to see what type of ammo it took. Stamped on the side of the barrel was forty-four caliber. Not that great for long-range, maybe one hundred meters, but with a bit of work I probably could swap the barrel out and rebore the cylinder for a better-equipped caliber for longer ranges.

I cycled the rifle, noting how smooth the action felt even in my magic. The Steel Rangers had left it serviced and in good condition. I looked up to see Riptide setting a crate likely containing the rest of the firearms down in front of me. A faded label declared ‘Ironshod Firearms Revolving Rifle’, one of their earlier products.

Further investigation on the rifle confirmed it via a stamp denoting it as an IF-5 model. Digging further into the crate, we also unearthed nice, regular IF-18 revolvers, which were cut-down successors to the IF-5 using .44 revolver ammunition. Packaged alongside them was a small box of speed loaders.

“Hey, Riptide, you can have my rifle,” I suggested as I levitated my 5.56 rifle over to her, along with the spare magazines and ammo. “It’s got a longer range than these do while also being magazine-fed so no having to fiddle with individual rounds.” I paused and blushed. “I’m a sucker for revolvers and while these have a shorter range the round is good against fleshy things.”

“Well, I’m happy to be done with just relying on the .38s.” Riptide offered and picked up one of the IF-18s in her magic. “How about I take one of the pistol revolvers as well? They look like they take the same ammo which would make restocking easier.”

“Sure, take one, these seem to be in prime condition. What we need now is to find ammo.” I said, tapping my chin thoughtfully.

I went back to the terminal and plugged my Pipbuck, now firmly back onto my foreleg, into it and reviewed the extra options that popped up. I quickly did a word search for ammo and started sifting through the results looking for any matching results, hoping to find any leftover boxes of ammunition.

“I’ll keep looking through the crates, I guess.” Riptide giggled as I focused on the terminal, eyes scanning back and forth over the voluminous data.

“I’ve looked at that terminal long enough so I’ll give you a hoof with that,” Sil replied as she moved to help with the crates. “Maybe we can find something a bit better than this shotgun for my battle saddle.”

It took a few hours but Riptide and Sil managed to dig up a valuable find: a few crates with simple to set up turrets. We moved these to the hallway so we could easily drag them into the elevator later. We also stumbled upon ammo for the revolvers, though the crate they were in had been packed sideways which resulted in many loose rounds spilling out around us. We were practically swimming in ammo! I let out a giggle and hugged Riptide who looked confused as I kissed her.

“Sorry, I'm just happy to have a major break.” I giggled, pulling a .44 round out of the Riptide’s collar. “Come on, let's pack this up, and remember to fill up your speed loaders first.”

It took us a while to clean up the loose ammo while also filling our bags with what we could, stuffing the excess back into the crate, and resealing it. Yet another crate to take back with us to either sell or donate since the turrets used a different kind of ammunition.

I patted the crate. I had seen what a .44 round could do and while arguably a 5.56 was better, the ability to break bones was a nice bonus. I couldn’t help but giggle again thinking about my brand new revolver rifle. More so against the stubborn hides of Vipers.

Riptide for her part seemed to find my state of excitement as a source of amusement. Unlike Sil, who was used to and equally amused by my states of excitement upon finding new ‘toys’. Sil, though, shared my love of machines and books and while she wasn’t as thrilled as I was about every book, she did enjoy the odd engineering manual or two.

We moved back to the elevators with our spoils. I had been questioning why the place relied on just a single elevator shaft and soon found that it didn’t; the upper floors had one elevator shaft supporting four elevators, but on this floor, a spacious cargo elevator joined the regular ones. We walked into it and pressed the button for the next floor down. My mind mentally labeled it as “Roots” given what we had seen on the map.

The car descended slowly, slow enough that all we had to go on was the whining of the wheels as proof we were moving. The minutes dragged on before the doors opened again. At first, there was nothing, but then in the dimness, our eyes caught glimmers of lights. We readied our weapons, widened our stances, and prepared to send the car back up at the first sign of trouble.

But nothing happened, nothing moved. All we heard was our own strained breathing and the drip of water. The heat and humidity down here were terrible, the car having insulated us from the brunt of it on the descent. I had not expected that going deeper into the earth meant that it would get warmer and wetter.

After a minute of inactivity, I cast a light orb spell and floated it into the cavern.

It was then that we noticed the surrounding area was littered with robots. I gasped and almost fired out of instinct. What stopped me was the fact that none had moved nor made any noise. We stared at each other in shock before moving to inspect them. It didn’t take long for us to find that most of them were partially disassembled.

“This is… odd,” I admitted, holstering my weapons. “A robotic workforce ... oh of course! Steel Rangers, as prideful as ever.” I faced Riptide and sighed. “I doubt they would dirty their hooves digging. Supposedly they barely even lift a hoof to maintain their own equipment, instead putting that duty on ‘lower members’ of their order.”

“Sounds like they’re a bunch of jerks,” Riptide replied as she tapped one of the roboponies. It fell over with a loud clatter that made all of us stop and stand still, listening for something to awaken from its slumber. When nothing came of Riptide’s act of wanton destruction we breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“That’s putting it lightly,” Sil replied before she poked her head inside the barrel of a robopony.

“I’m hearing nothing but the dripping of water so I think we’re in the clear,” I reassured Riptide. “You keep an eye on things while Sil and I poke around in these robots. See if there’s anything left worth taking.”

Riptide lit her horn to look around while Sil and I focused on dismantling the stripped-down robot. Unfortunately, the Steel Rangers didn’t take with them the grease, rust, and grime on the damn things so I found myself wiping my hooves often. The other bit of bad news was that the valuable robopony brains were gone.

However, there was an upside. For whatever reason, most of the talismans were still intact which meant proper turrets for Four Corners once we handed them what we could salvage. They would have more than just those quick set-up turrets we had found.

“Anything good?” Riptide asked as I put the talismans in my saddlebags.

“Yep, exactly what we want, talismans for making turrets,” Sil explained. I sighed looking around at the fleet of roboponies.

“Should we?” I asked, sweeping a foreleg out.

“What, all of them?” Sil asked in return. “How late is it?”

“We’ve been down here long enough that it’s, uh.” I paused and summoned the clock readout. “Bit after five in the afternoon now so we’ll end up staying the night if we do. Should be safe enough, I locked the big door once we got inside. Didn’t want any unwelcome visitors.”

“I guess that works. Keeps anypony from following us in and keeps anything down here, well, down here.” Riptide pondered. “Also there were some nice beds in the hab block we passed.”

“Guess that settles it then. Sorry if this gets a bit boring.” Sil apologized as I began getting to work. All that maintenance training at Saint Clover was going to pay off now.

“Hey, it’s more time we get to spend together without fearing for our lives or being crammed in a tiny carriage.” Riptide teased.

“You’re not wrong.” I laughed. “It’s a nice change of pace to just be doing something and not worry about something trying to kill us.”

With that I turned my focus to scavenging as many robots as I could stomach, stripping down and removing what useful parts were left over. In an attempt to keep busy, Riptide helped Sil and me with sorting and storing the parts into spare crates.

As I had originally thought, it took hours to make a dent in the fleet of roboponies. Sil had more drive than I did and I eventually relegated myself to being her spare hooves as we worked through the evening.

Level up! Welcome to Level 4! Your rough times and exposure to Hydra blood have changed you! No scales, yet, but your hide is tougher than most ponies’! Not to words though, just to things trying to kill you. Sorry, your emotions are still just as vulnerable as before. Enjoy the extra five Damage Threshold, even when out of your barding!