Fallout: Equestria - The Ranger of Seamane

“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.