Fallout: Equestria - The Ranger of Seamane

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.”