Fallout: Equestria - The Ranger of Seamane

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

• Saint Clover Conscript Briefing

I woke up to a nasty headache.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Can I see the mare though?” I asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yeah?” He replied.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Suture smirked. “So was I.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There came a knock at the door.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vimes and Constable left, closing the door behind them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Silaha smiled. “Thanks, Winter.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

An hour went by before somepony knocked at my door.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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