Fallout: Equestria - The Ranger of Seamane

“Everything has code, inputs, outputs. In a way, everything can be broken down into a machine, except a pony’s heart.”
- Pipbuck Repair Technician’s Guide

My mind wandered as a stallion checked over my flank to make certain everything had healed right. Thoughts turned to Riptide and my overall feelings for the group. Empathy made me feel for Riptide, but at the same time I knew the best medicine at times was time itself. It wasn’t useful to push to talk when somepony wasn’t ready to talk. I had in the past lashed out at others trying to get me to talk after things had happened but before I was ready to.

When things between me and Winter fell apart I hadn’t been the easiest to talk to about it. We had been a thing for a few years when the whole ordeal with Ocean happened. It had taken a while before I had warmed up to those two again. In the end though, I was happy for them; they made a good couple.

Then there was the time Dad and I had been out and I had gotten ambushed by a couple of bandits. I had no idea where Dad had gone. That was not a fun day having to dig myself out of. I didn’t have to kill them but I certainly harmed them. Knocked a couple of them out, and fled after having to string them along with my words. Didn’t take me long to be reunited with Dad but I was so furious with him after he explained what happened that I didn’t talk to him for a week. Apparently, he was busy hiding from the same group, or so he had thought. They had, in fact long moved away, finding me instead. He just failed to notice and sat under a desk for two hours.

And Sil? I wasn’t certain what her feelings were for me, I had always thought of her as my sister, my cousin even. She was family but now she was starting to act like a different kind of family, the type you pick over the type you’re born with.

In the end I was given a clean bill of health, aside from having me suck down a radaway of course. I had no idea why this stuff was even flavored when said artificial flavoring tasted so nasty.

I trotted out of the clinic and looked around for Sil, hoping we could focus on making that Pipbuck Zero she was so excited about. Plus I’d like to have something to distract me from her…

Let’s not think about her shapely- Oh come on brain, stop it!

While I looked for Sil, I took the time to talk up the traders in the area. Given what the unicorn had said, these folks travelled for a living and would have far fresher information than the town’s scouts. Then again, I had no reason to think Wayhill would bother sending folks so far north considering the immediate area was all the town needed to concern itself about.

I found out that a few of the traders were from down south, some even from the heartland out east. The names of the towns nagged at my mind and I soon figured that they were pre-war settlements, probably too small to have been hit. Most had travelled up from Las Pegasus or Applewood along the Five and were going to head back south after business was done. Some were going to go further north with a few from even further north than us in fact. Vanhoover one of them had mentioned, though they were in no hurry to return. From them I gleaned some information of the surrounding areas, and the dangers of traveling the Ninety Nine, Twenty, and Five to Dockland.

The good news was that the Five was the fastest way to Dockland. The bad news was it was the route most populated by the good and bad all throughout. There would be resistance but thankfully there would also be oases of civilization. It was still a better option than heading westward then turning back east like my backup plan had been. Plus the Five had plenty of cover in the form of burned out carriages, ones not likely to explode after having done so a few generations back. Useful if anypony decided to try to shoot us instead of asking for a fee.

A rough plan was now cementing itself but I still had loose information to share with Winter and Ocean, whenever I next had a chance to talk to them that is. We would take the 20 north out of Wayhill to avoid the Wayhill Crater and then take the Five up into Dockland. It would be three days of travel with about thirty miles a day for the first two days then the remainder on the last. We might even take a day’s rest in between or the day before Dockland.

Things in Dockland could get rather dangerous from what I understood. The east side of the city and the northern part over the Columbmane were full of bandits, raiders and slave gangers. The east siders would maruade west over an old, unsecured bridge while the northerners would have to cross the Columbmane via boat as most of the bridges in their area had been destroyed, pestering the riverside areas. Riptide had given me a bit of information on the city along the way as well as a destination once in Dockland: a marina on the western side of the city.

While waiting on Sil to find my flank, I went about the task of asking around for talismans, electronics, and other parts for the Pipbuck Zero. I encountered a mix of bemused and curious replies. It seemed Wayhill had mostly shipped in targeting talismans to keep a healthy supply for their turret array. They did have some environmental and medical electronics as well as talismans but I guessed that those were in lower demand.

When asked what I was working on I showed a few traders the blueprints I had for the Pipbuck Zero and a few offered to tweak the design from their experience working on robots and medical equipment. The thought of looking out for Sil swiftly fell to the wayside as folks who had nothing better to do on a slow trading day took to the project like a brahmin to water, time rapidly sliding by as we worked.

We managed to fit a radio, biomedical scanners, and radiation detector, but lacked the Eyes Forward Sparkle. I couldn’t afford the equipment to add that feature, not here at least, but I was shown how to do it. Thankfully I was able to get a small screen on it with the use of an electronic watch. From there we were able to get hacking tools to cooperate with it as well as a way to show vitals and a map. I’d have to go break down some robots to properly integrate the systems but spritebots were everywhere so that was something to look forward to.

At some point Riptide had come down looking for us and found some food, given she was eating something while watching me. I only noticed Sil when I got a shock at our hooves suddenly touching. She gently directed me to stop touching the pipbuck so she could upload code to it. Probably for the best too because the forced break made me notice it was already sunset. Still, most of the work was done now and all that was left was for Sil’s code to take root in the arcane matrix so the parts all talked to one another.

My stomach started to growl at me, probably from hyper-focusing for the past few hours. “I’m sorry mares and stallions, but it is time for me to take a break and eat something,” I said, excusing myself. “My striped friend here will finish up the coding. While we wait to see if it works feel free to copy the schematics.”

“Now I know what took you two so long,” Riptide said before nosing a tray of something that passed for cooked food towards me.

“I’m sorry about that, one thing led to another. Meant to leave this to Sil; she’s a lot better at this stuff than I am, though I got a lot of help and learned a few things.” I giggled, feeling a small blush on my cheeks. “I have to admit it was nice to get to meet some ponies passionate about something other than fixing water pumps and patching holes in the side of the boat.”

“I think I can understand.” Riptide giggled and shook her mane before going back to nibbling at her food.

“I’m just glad she had other ponies helping her. As it is, I can see a few singed bits of fur around her hooves.” Sil teased. I rolled my eyes at her before sticking my tongue out. “Careful now Moony, or I’ll grab that tongue with my teeth.”

I blushed at the thought.

I turned my attention back to the food. It was, or at least I believed it to be from first look some kind of mix of fried waffle, melted cheese curds, and gravy. I shook my mane, took a bite, and decided that it wasn’t poisonous. It was pretty good actually, though I wasn’t going to make it a regular addition to my diet unless I wanted to add more than a few pounds; I could taste the fat and grease.

“It’s something from up north called Poutine?” Riptide explained hesitantly, not certain herself what to make of the meal. She was at least amused by my reaction to the first few bites.

“Well, it’s certainly better than eating two hundred year old bags of salt with chunks of vegetables in it.” I replied, mocking the amount of preservatives that must be in those boxes of pre-War food.

Riptide let out a soft giggle before returning to eating her own food.

The other ponies eventually came over to our table, having finished copying the blueprints and inspecting the Pipbuck Zero. One of them, a stallion, sat down next to me and put the now reassembled device on the table.

“Here you go, I think this is the best we can get with what we have here.” He chuckled. “This does give us ideas on how to replicate pipbucks, though I’m not sure we can salvage some of those abilities those Stable Dwellers can do with theirs.”

“Something is better than nothing.” I smirked. “And hey, at least this way there's no chance of something breaking and freezing me and everything around me in a localized time disruption.”

“Don’t joke too hard about that, we found something like that once.” He replied and I felt a shiver go down my spine I hadn’t thought was possible. “Well we suspected it was some kind of malfunction at least. Everyone frozen in the area turned to dust in a flash once we got close. We talked to the stable in question and they hadn’t been open for more than a week.”

“I guess whatever allowed them to do that aim assist magic must have gotten damaged and when an outside source of magic entered it, it disrupted the field and ran infinite time.” I pondered with a gulp. “On second thought, I think I’ll pass on the time manipulating aim assist.”

“Not that you have much choice.” He chuckled. “Unless you can get your hooves on some Stable-Tec materials that knowledge is lost. Aegis by the way.”

“Moonlight Grimoire,” I replied, offering a hoof that he shook in return.

“You said you were headed up to Dockland?” Aegis asked.

“Yeah, my friends and I, we’re all headed up there. Riptide lost her close family recently while they were in the process of moving to join the rest of her extended family in Dockland.” I explained somberly. “I got contracted out to escort her from Seamane after she washed up there.”

“Ah, sorry to hear that, Riptide,” Aegis said, tipping his head sympathetically towards Riptide. “Well, you two should find Ruby Saddle, she’s got a stagecoach and everything. It’ll be the same pace as on hoof but having some extra ponies around is always welcome which you’re probably accustomed to in your line of work. This time of year is generally safe, but one can never be too careful.”

I pondered this for a moment. A carriage would be much safer; lots of ponies would be a bigger risk for any small group of raiders to go after as well as being moving cover. Plus after getting a bullet to the ass I wanted an option for transporting hurt ponies now that we weren’t dealing with mud.

“Could you introduce me to her so I can see if I can arrange a trip?” I asked.

“Ah, this time of year she’d be happy to take passengers. You’ll still have to pay a few caps, but it’s mostly so she can pay for a surplus of grease for the axles.” Aegis laughed. “I’ll go find her in a bit. You two don’t have much on you so you’ll fit in her coach just fine.”

I nodded. “Well, that makes the trip a lot less nerve-wracking to think about. Thank you, Aegis.”

“No problem, think of it as payment for this,” Aegis said as he tapped the plans for the Pipbuck Zero. “You have no idea how valuable this is, especially to certain ponies.”

Aegis' statement made me curious, something the stallion easily read on my face yet only replied with a smile. I shook my head as I knew I wouldn’t get a straight answer if pressed.

“Well it’s worth it for the peace of mind,” I said as I shook my mane. “Also it’s not like it’s something really new. It’s just reapplying what we already have.”

“I know, but we have to start somewhere.”

“That we do,” I replied, feeling a bit somber as I remembered the feeling of looking over Wayhill from the clock tower. “Something small can grow into so much more.”

Sil had joined us at the table at some point and gave me a questioning look at that. Maybe she didn’t understand how much any innovation meant in this age, or maybe it was something else. She was a smart mare, smarter than me when it came to technology, so maybe she was just still connecting the dots.

Aegis gave me a pat on my back. “Just got to cultivate it, right?”

“Just keep in mind what you’re cultivating. The ponies of the past learned that the hard way.” I replied.

“Zebras too.” Sil added.

Aegis paused as he sat back, thinking to himself for a moment before nodding. “You’re right on that. I’ll go get Ruby, you stay here, get your mind off of heavy things. Here, have this, on me.”

Aegis set down a glass bottle in front of me. At first, I thought it was one of the various pre-war colas until I took a drink from it. It was cider and not the fizzy kiddy stuff either, this was the alcoholic type. I wondered where he had gotten it from as the taste of pear washed over my tongue mixing with the alcohol pleasingly. I hadn’t expected alcohol and pear to work so well together! I did a quick check with my magic to make certain it was just cider and, after confirming that it was happily kept drinking.

Alcohol was nice at times like this, when things were calm and sociable. Even though I still preferred things that didn’t remind me of work, of past drinks in the guard that tasted of turpentine.

Aegis returned with a mare I assumed was Ruby. Her coat was a two-tone of cream, her mane meanwhile a two-tone of ruby red which made her name sit right at home with her. Her cutiemark was a saddlebag. My eyes must have lingered on her flank for too long given the eyes she was giving me.

“What?” I asked.

“Well, that’s a good first impression.” Ruby chortled.

“I mean, you did pose,” I replied. “No, I’m not checking you out. I believe Aegis probably told you I’m interested in your stagecoach trip to Dockland.”

“Good, I don’t swing that way,” Ruby replied, which made me scrunch my muzzle as she sat down and pulled out a canteen. “So, it is a four-day trip; two days, a day’s layover in The Hill, then finally to Dockland.”

“Sounds reasonable,” I replied. “Do I have to pull the carriage?”

“No, not unless things go wrong, and they just might,” Ruby replied seriously. “So don’t get too comfy and keep your guns close.”

“Fair,” I replied. “How many others?”

“Four more, two pulling, one on the roof, one up front with me,” Ruby explained. “Three of you will fit inside--”

“Five of us. We’ve got two more with us.” I interrupted.

“Fine, the other two will be on the top.” She went on. “Don’t worry, it has cover.”

I nodded and before I could talk again Riptide interjected. “How much space?”

“It’s no royal carriage, but you three will fit fine with the cargo,” Ruby replied. “So long as you lot don't mind being close.”

Given the sleeping arrangements on the way over here that wouldn’t be a problem, nor was the affection from Sil and Riptide. It would get awkward though if Winter and Ocean wanted to switch.

“That won’t be a problem,” Riptide answered for me. I nodded in agreement.

“Oh, that’s why you were staring then.” Ruby snorted, which elicited a blush from me.

“Oh for all that is…” I groused, staring at them. “One, long day. Two, I’m drinking a bit. Three, I appreciate beauty in general. I can look without thirstin’.”

“But crossing the Seamane range sharing sleeping bags might mean something.” Sil teased.

“And a bed,” Riptide added, not helping.

“Not in that way, yet...” I muttered under my breath.

“Plus you two already made out and cuddled a lot.” Sil continued her barrage of teasing.

I applied my face to the table and attempted to see if I could phase through it with a slow application of pressure.

“Is she usually this much of a stick in the mud?” Ruby replied as she snickered. I felt total defeat flow through me.

“No, not really. I think she’s just flustered and has already had half a bottle of cider.” Sil answered. “That’s usually when she gets a little silly.”

“Is she usually this hostile to sex jokes?” Aegis asked. I had almost forgotten he was there.

“No that isn’t it.” Sil laughed.

“Seriously, is she just not into it?” Ruby asked.

“No, she’s just been burned,” Riptide answered. “Prior relationship that went funky.”

“Ah, okay we should lay off,” Aegis said to Ruby. Part of me picked up a tone of familiarity between them, possibly romantic.

I know that kind of familiarity. I should have known, they were a couple.

“So you two were a couple,” I muttered as I dredged my face up from the table. Time to get payback on them, and then I’ll deal with Sil and Riptide.

They both looked at me, blinking then said in unison. “How?”

“Spend enough time around other couples and you see it. Plus, I’ve had a long-term relationship before.” I replied with a smirk then let out a snort. “You shouldn’t tease random ponies though, it’s a bit rude.”

“She put us up to it,” Ruby said pointing at Sil, causing me to throw an inquisitive look her way. When the hell did she have time to do that?

“Hey, I… I was hoping she’d just go with the flow like usual!” Sil stammered clearly now on the defensive.

I need to teach her a lesson. At least Riptide is just giggling her head off. I can handle that.

“Sil you should know better. Also, I think it’s a bit impolite to your potential lover to get her inebrayy-, er, drunk and have strangers tease her.” I replied unsteadily. “That said, the alcohol is doing something for me.”

“Well if it’s anxiety it might be helping.” Aegis offered.

“Ah fuck, she realized you two were a couple and asked for help didn’t she?” I asked, looking at Ruby and Aegis.

“No, I don’t think she did,” Ruby answered.

Sil shrugged. “Guess I’m not as good at spotting couples as you are.”

I gave Sil a nod to that. “Well, I’m going to take ‘er back to our room and get a good night’s rest.” I eyed Riptide. “You too. Also, when do we leave tomorrow?”

“Around nine? Hard to give an exact time for most of us.” Ruby said, pointing at the Pipbuck Zero’s time readout.

“Sounds good,” I replied then picked Sil up in my magic. “You’re coming with me.”

“Hey, no fair! You know I hate when you do this!” Sil squeaked.

Riptide snorted. “I think this is a good example of why you should stay on her good side, Sil.”

I nodded at Riptide’s explanation. “Well, we need to talk and maybe some other stuff,” I replied as I carried Sil beside me in my magic, Riptide trotting alongside us. “No bad things per se but there are things that need to be said.”

“That phrase always makes me nervous.” Sil protested squirming in the air.

“Yeah, me too.” I retorted. “But it’s accurate.”

“Are you upset at me?” Sil pleaded, sounding scared for once. I hadn’t heard her scared in a long time.

“You didn’t get me angry,” I replied soothingly. “Little bit annoyed is all. Like a ‘I’m going to boop your nose’ level of annoyance. I haven’t had random strangers teasing me before. Friends, family? Yeah, but strangers, not really so I’m mostly flustered and embarrassed.” I wobbled a little. “Also the cider is hitting me pretty hard. At least I’m fairly certain it’s just the cider. ”

“You might not like the fact that there is more cider in the room then,” Riptide informed me as she got the door to our room for us.

“I mean I’ll have it if she doesn't,” Sil said.

“Yes but also we’ll see, might just be what I need,” I said feeling my eyebrows try to waggle. Given Riptide's confused expression, it must have looked strange and, given how my face felt, it probably was.

“That didn’t look right.” Sil snorted. I eyed the levitating zebra before licking my lips and pulling her close enough to kiss her on the lips.

She just giggled and winked in return. My guess was I had successfully disarmed her anxiety so she was feeling more relaxed now. She was probably still annoyed at being in the air though. At least I had the common sense about me to keep her tail tucked against her stomach.

“Are you okay?” Riptide asked, now out of genuine concern. “That didn’t look right.”

“Alcohol, low tolerance, always had it,” I replied, closing my eyes a moment to get my bearings. “Best if I just sip at it instead of chugging half the thing like I did. Also generally don’t have it on a mostly empty stomach. That can do a lot.”

“Well, I didn’t cast anything on you,” Riptide said, booping Sil’s nose as she floated about head level in front of us.

“And I can’t, and wouldn’t, put anything in your drink,” Sil added, trying her best to rotate in my magic.

“Exhaustion, alcohol, stress, it’s hitting me all at once,” I replied nodding to myself. “We are in a situation where I can relax for a moment so I’m subconsciously letting it all come out at once. What has built up over the trip so far and it’s hitting like I just had a keg.” I paused for a moment. “Maybe more like a keg of whiskey.”

Riptide for her part just nodded as we went back to our room. We got more than a curious look, at least it was at me instead of Sil. I kept drinking the cider as I carried Sil up the stairs to our room in my magic. It probably looked like I was probably going to have drunken fun with her. Though it had crossed my mind I wasn’t in the mood for that, not entirely. It was hard to tell.

I was surprised to find more interest in doing something like that than I had in a while. I was finding both of them interesting in a way unlike anypony else since things ended with Winter. It was nice to feel like I hadn’t lost an entire range of emotions. At the same time, I just didn’t feel the need to act on it. Just feeling that desire lightly in my mind was enough for me to feel more whole again.

Then there was also that feeling of not being needed to do something, that lack of urgency. I could finally rest and recover instead of continuing to have that feeling of being half dead, reliving crushed dreams, and all that. I no longer had to just focus on getting through the day; one shift after another, punch in and punch out. Keep my mask on so I didn’t get questions that I didn’t want to think of answers for.

I let out a snort and rolled my eyes at myself.

No, that was the negative side of my mind thinking. It hadn’t helped things that I never really felt like I was doing anything of worth. I mean it was fine even if I wasn’t that appreciated, I didn’t do it for fame, glory, or wealth. I just wanted to help but even when I did I just never felt like I saw the results.

The fruits of my labor.

My thoughts floated back to my library in Seamane and how the merchant representative saw it as a wasted effort. He had stood in my way for such a long time until my brother and parents danced around him and got it for me anyway. He was fuming for months after that but it was all legal and the guard told him that if anything happened to it he’d get a bullet. A good number of ponies liked the library at least, especially the parents. Some even dropped off their foals for me to teach, others stayed with them and made it a whole family experience.

Ah fuck it, who was I kidding, I grew up in the wasteland, and I wasn’t really that sheltered. Sure I was sheltered from the horrors of the heartland wastelands but I still grew up in a ruin. I grew up in a society that demanded everypony do their part; be it repairing the town and ship, keeping the water clean and flowing, keeping everyone healthy and alive as long as possible, and keeping us safe from those who would take advantage of our town.

I grew up being taught that eventually, I would have to take life to preserve my life or the lives of others. I had to learn to be okay with something abjectly against the nature of ponies and be okay with it. I had already done it a few times on this trip and would do it more in all likelihood.

Though my heart and soul cried out in agony over doing so I knew I would have to continue taking lives for the sake of those around me.

I closed the door behind myself as I gently placed Sil on the bed, Riptide joining her soon after given my desire to talk and share the bed tonight.

“So?” Riptide started. I looked at her as I put my things down. “You do know you’ve been complaining out loud for the past few minutes, right?” she went on. I stood there quietly, Sil nodding confirming Riptide’s comments.

“Oh, well that’s lovely...” I sighed before I climbed onto the bed with the two and curled up between them, feeling shame overtake me. “This is why avoid harder stuff. Or drinking fast. Does the same thing to me as exhaustion does. Oh well, at least cider tastes nice.”

“Oh,” Riptide replied sullenly. “Well, I can kind of see why.”

“It’s fine, didn’t know it would hit me like this either. Might just be all these repressed feelings coming out.” I replied, giving Riptide a nuzzle, had her coat always been this soft?

“Um?” Riptide asked, clearly confused by my mixed signals.

“I like your humming.” I said, “It's relaxing.”

“I… thought that I was doing that in my head.” Riptide stammered as she blushed profusely.

“Nope, under your breath,” I said, and then booped her nose. “Boop, also you have a cute blush.”

Sil for her part had been quiet. I guessed she was avoiding any further retribution after having been carried against her will in my magic all across campus.

“I... how is so little alcohol hitting you this hard?” Riptide said as she tried to change the subject. Sil pressed herself against my back. Both of them were so soft. It felt nice and comforting.

“I haven’t slept well since, well you heard my rant, but anyway I haven’t gotten enough rest since you washed up on the lighthouse,” I explained. “It’s not your fault, just a rollercoaster of events. Constantly stressed about everything that could go wrong. Now that we’re safe in a slice of civilization all of that exhaustion is coming down on me. Add the alcohol and it’s making me a mess. Kinda a common thing. Supposedly.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Riptide said looking at me with her left eye as I leaned against her left side, head still firmly against her chest. “You were that stressed out?”

“She was, I could tell. She is generally a bit more perceptive.” Sil pointed out. “Plus after a while, you’ll start to notice her little tics when she’s out of it or stressed.”

I gave her a nod. “Sil’s right, we wouldn’t have gotten ambushed or foalnapped by an overgrown bee if I hadn’t been,” I replied with a sigh. “I just didn’t know if there were any bits of civilization for us to stay safely between Seamane and Dockland. All the things we’ve been through and seeing the interior of Equestria for the first time, seeing the true ruins of our world has been weighing on me rather hard.”

Sil nuzzled me from one side as Riptide leaned against me from the other, so I did what any greedy lover would and held them close as I lay on my back, pressing their muzzles into my chest.

“I can relate given we grew up with the same stories of the heartland. To see how it is though, to face it all for real for once.” Sil trailed off as she held me tighter. “I’m glad to be here with you. I’ll leave it at that.”

“I… am in the same boat on that front,” Riptide added. “While where I grew up wasn’t the nicest. It was still a bit nicer than here. Without all of you, I don’t know how well I’d fare on my own. Also, I think I’ll stay away from alcohol if I’m getting this sappy without it.”

“Probably for the best,” I said in agreement. “Then again, who knows what would happen if we all got drunk? Buzzed? Probably wouldn’t mean much. Sloshed though? Definitely not the best of choices.”

“So, we are going to draw straws to see who gets to drink?” Sil teased.

“Eh, I’ll pass. Go for it, Sil. Do you mind if I call you that?” Riptide asked.

I floated over a fresh bottle of cider and popped the cap off, setting it into my caps bag.

“Thank you, Moony and you may,” Sil said taking the drink into her hooves.

A few minutes passed quietly then Riptide began to quietly hum to herself, then opened up and began to sing softly. I closed my eyes and listened to her heartbeat and singing reverberate through my body, just letting myself breathe. Her song wasn’t in Equestrian or Ancient Unicorn. It was something else entirely yet pretty and relaxing all the same.

I felt enthralled by Riptide’s singing to a degree. It wasn’t so much moving but it made me feel like I was an open book to her. Then her song changed. It was a bit mournful, and I felt the same way. I didn’t want to interrupt her song to ask. We all had our different ways of coping with what happened so maybe this was her way of doing so. The song soon became hopeful before ending. She blushed as she looked at us.

“Sorry, that went on for a while.” Riptide blushed.

“It was beautiful, though I didn’t recognize the language,” I said, complimenting her. I felt Sil nodding from behind me as her chin tapped my neck.

“It’s… unique.” Riptide managed.

“Fair enough.” I giggled and felt something well up in my chest. I thought I was going to get sick but then realized no, I wanted to kiss her. I let it drain away, it wasn’t the right time for that, and we needed to talk things out.

“I… Thank you for letting me have time to deal with all this.” Riptide said, punctuated with a sigh.

“No problem,” I replied, giving her neck a nuzzle before blushing and mentally cursing myself. I was trying to have some time for us to talk about things here. The three of us needed to sort things out and it certainly didn’t help that I was already entangled in their limbs.

“I, uh. Well, those two raiders were the first ponies I’ve ever killed.” Riptide explained. “Mirelurks, that giant wasp, ghouls, those I’ve dealt with. But, somepony like us? No.”

“You’ve seen those giant wasps before?” I asked. Riptide nodded.

“Huh, guess they are up and down the coast then,” Sil added for me and I nodded in agreement.

I let out a sigh as I pulled the two mares tight against myself once again. Time to do some therapy.

“I wanna talk to you two to... to help me process some stuff. It’s probably going to sound a bit scatterbrained as we go through it.” I admitted.

“You two remember how shaken up I was after killing those raiders up close at the Sea Lion Caves?” I took a breath to center myself as flashes of warmth and blood slammed through my mind. “And the raider today whose skull I shoved a knife into, watching them see and comprehend what was about to happen?”

“It still haunts me.” I went on. “Years ago when I first had to shoot another pony, I stopped remembering my dreams. I had to do it. If I hadn’t shot them. Well...”

“I’m not quite following, but keep talking if it helps,” Riptide admitted, both of them giving me a sympathetic squeeze. Sil particularly knew about the first time I had to put a pony down. She knew a little too well given she was the first pony to find me after the fact.

I let out a sigh, not certain where I was going either. “Killing doesn’t get easier, not even for the raiders. It only does for the truly broken ones. Well, that’s probably why they are broken in the first place.” I explained. “It’s why I hoped they would run away after we returned fire. It’s dangerous to chase someone who has had the time to fall back and all that. Maybe they were just bloodthirsty or desperate, not that we’ll ever know.”

Riptide nodded.

“Still, even if they chose to chase you it still hurt to kill them,” Sil said. “At the end of the day, it should always hurt to take a life, especially when talking fails.”

Things went quiet for a few minutes.

“I... when I was in that town that went raider north of yours…” Riptide opened up. “They had been catching, cutting open, sacrificing, and eating anything from the sea.”

I let myself become the little spoon for Sil so I could turn my attention towards Riptide. Sil’s head rested on my shoulder as we paid close attention.

“My family and myself, you probably have figured out looking at their corpses and putting me back together that we aren’t normal ponies,” Riptide confessed.

“I noticed the scales on some, fins on a few of them,” I said. “Sure they were odd adaptations, but you had mentioned you and your family spent a lot of time in and around the water. I figured it was some kind of mutation to that end.”

Riptide nodded. “That’s why we were targeted, I think. Given what I saw there it only makes sense.” She sighed and laid her head on my stomach, looking up at Sil and me with tired eyes. “You haven’t had your trade disrupted all season by them so whoever led them targeted us specifically, probably due to our time helping ponies down south. They intercepted our boat and dragged it to their dock after having harpooned it. Most of my family just dove off and made for shore.” She hesitated. “I… hid. That’s how I saw the town. I wish I hadn’t.”

I gave her mane a comforting brush with my hoof and bid her to continue when ready. Sil for her part reached down with a hoof and stroked Riptide’s cheek, the touches from us seemed to help anchor Riptide in the here and now, calming her as she settled further up on my chest.

Honestly, this wasn’t where I had expected things to go but helping Riptide handle her trauma trumped any desire to get laid.

Riptide took a breath. “The town was… like nothing I had seen before. Raiders? Like the ones we saw in Fillymath? They’re all about cages, exploitation, and everything rusty from caked-on blood. There?” She shivered. “Everything was slimy.”

“Maybe it was just the ocean mist, maybe the algae on everything but it was unsettling.” She shook her head before continuing. “There was this constant droning, maybe a choir? Also an altar. I didn’t dare get close, everything in me told me to stay away if I wanted to stay alive. There was a lot of magic in that town. These aren’t just raiders, something is very wrong there.”

I nodded, curious to know more.

“The gravel and sand weren’t right anymore either. It was pearlescent, all of it. The streetlights were messed up, the tops like fish hooks with lanterns, blue flames burning in them.” Riptide explained evenly. The blue flames reminded me of the buck who had charged me during the siege and that worried me. “There were flayed corpses of creatures that came from the ocean carved open, chairs arranged around them like a buffet. Red streaks of blood ran down the streets into the ocean. There were ponies convulsing in the street. Were it not for all of that, it would look like any normal town on the white sands. Instead.”

She paused and took a long breath to steady herself while squeezing her eyes shut. “Instead there was something. It hurts to even try to remember the effigies they had around the town, the symbols make my head whenever I try to hold the image in my mind.” Riptide gasped, leaning against me for support. “I don’t know what they found but it is wrong.”

I gave her a tight hug, letting her take her time to come to terms. Meanwhile, I put her knowledge into my mind, chewing on it and digesting it. The symbol gnawed at my mind and I swore I could hear something; a sort of scratching or ruffling paper sound as I tried to recall it from my mission with the Buckshots.

Could they have come south to attack the town? But why with so much force? Was it due to Riptide? Surely one mare wasn’t worth that many lives or did they need to dispose of excess lives? It’s sounding more and more like it could have been a sacrifice.

Riptide continued after a moment. “Fleeing, fleeing was terrifying, they were dragging my family back to shore, still alive from the ocean.” She shuddered, eyes staring blankly through me. “They bleed them dry, cut out their organs then left their bodies to rot. I watched, I couldn’t stop them, I had nothing to fight them with. I don’t know what they did, what they took, but the next moment I was able to try to leave, no longer transfixed as if the place was holding onto me.”

She felt colder for a moment as I held her. Looking into her eyes I felt something off, as if she was impossibly far away while still wrapped in my legs. Her eyes were transfixed on something I couldn’t see, her lips moving without noise. As her lips moved I felt my perspective warp, maintaining eye contact eliciting a scream of pain from the depths of my mind.

I closed my eyes and did the only thing I could think of to try to stop her lips, pushing mine on hers. Maybe that was still the cider making me think that way.

I heard Sil make some kind of squeak. I couldn’t discern the nature of it. I felt Sil embrace both of us as I held that kiss. Maybe it was a stupid option but things started to feel normal, well normal enough for our first genuine kiss.

As we lay there, the noise of doors opening and closing in the hall could be heard, but I paid it little mind as I had more pressing concerns. Such concerns as I was laying atop of Riptide with our lips firmly pressed together. The fact that my heart was occupying my throat as it raced. And that whatever had been causing that unnerving feeling was dispelled with said kiss.

I laid on her for a few minutes, feeling her warm up. Riptide’s eyes slowly focused on me instead of distant shores, with the mental return of my companion I broke the kiss.

“You two good?” Sil asked.

“I think so.” I blushed.

“Riptide?” Sil asked with her gaze moved to our citrine-eyed friend.

“Hi, I’m here.” She answered. “Uh, I blanked out, did something happen?”

“Yeah… but let’s forget that, Moony say something to her.” Sil urged me.

“Um, hi.” I stammered.

“This isn’t what I expected for my first kiss.” Riptide blushed.

“I think we all can say the same.” Sil giggled.

“Can I have some of the cider?” Riptide asked. “I think I need it. And now I am remembering what happened, cider time.”

“Given what you just told us? I don’t blame you.” Sil sighed as she relaxed, though I saw a blush on her face.

“I think we all could do with some more drinks. And relaxing.” I sighed as I floated over some fresh bottles, tossing the caps into my bag of money.

“So, how far are you willing to take that?” Silaha winked as she gave me a look, that blush still squarely on her cheeks

“However far the cider takes us,” I replied.

“Both of us?” Sil asked.

“Yeah, I think… I think I can handle that.” I answered. I had experience.

“Well, time for round two with you,” Sil smirked.

Round two? Wait I thought that was just a dream…

“Given the look on your face, you remember that drunken romp from a few years ago.” Sil smiled.

“Thought it was just a dream.” I rolled my eyes. “Well, now I really shouldn’t be surprised you love me.”

“Wait, you two have done it before?” Riptide asked, looking between us.

“Yes, and to say the least, she’s good.” Sil giggled before kissing my neck. “Go on, touch horns, I’ll manage what you two can’t.”

Blushes were heavy on all of us, as was the smell of alcohol and other things.

This wasn’t like last time with Winter and Ocean. I could feel in my heart that I loved both of them and they both cared for me in turn.

With Sil, it was a natural progression of how close we had been all our lives. For Riptide it was the result of my caring for her wellbeing that had grown and flourished quickly from friends to partners. Maybe this time I could handle something more complicated. Maybe this was the two of them trying to help mend my broken heart.

This didn’t feel like they were fighting with one another over me, as it had felt between me and Ocean over Winter. No, this was three ponies coming together out of love and care for one another. While I was the focal point, it was mutual between all of us. We could lean on one another. Two broken mares and one, as far as I knew, healthy mare. This wasn’t competitive, it was mutually supportive. I closed my eyes and let the night go where it would.