The Last Watcher: Neighagra Falls

"The stars, the moon
They have all been blown out
You left me in the dark

No dawn, No day
I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart."

I woke with a gasp and sat upright in bed. Months later and the same dream keeps happening. I continued the motion and rolled out of bed. I pushed aside the images in my mind and focused on my barding. I paused to contemplate those eyes staring out from stars I'd never seen. I accepted the judgment they passed on me without a word and stepped into the black shell I wore like a second skin. Once all that was on, it was time to do a cleaning of my firearms. Old reliable, the 10mm sidearm that ponies of all types have trusted for 200 years. The 5.56mm service rifle, the backbone of any infantry unit because it covered just about any situation. The .32 civilian model with scope for when I had the luxury of long distance and time. Each of them disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled with careful precision and the speed that only comes with lots of practice. Last was the pair of broken .44 revolvers. They were beyond repair and certainly wouldn't work again, but I cleaned it as attentively as I did all the others.

I hadn't checked Magnum's PipBuck hanging around my neck when I got up, so I wasn't sure how long it had been. I did know nopony could run through that whole routine as fast as I did. Being able to manipulate each individual screw simultaneously did help with that; a little exploded cloud of parts making it easy to get at the hard to reach places. The sun hadn't risen yet by the time I finished, but I wasn't going to stick around in here any longer, so I headed out of my room and down the ramp.

I was not the first one up, as usual in the Coffee Inn. A tan earth pony with a creamy white mane was behind the counter in the common room leaning over a small mug. "Mocha, I don't know how you're always up so early."

"The miracle of coffee." White Mocha smiled as she looked up at me, then leaned over her mug and breathed deep through the nose to emphasize the point. "You'd like some yourself, I assume?" She smiled and took a sip.

I nodded. "And breakfast, if you don't mind."

"I'll go grab some of the freshly roasted beans." She took her mug with her as she walked off. I sat at the counter and waited, following her path in my head. Better her path then the well-worn one my mind wanted to go down. There was the greenhouse deeper in the city where her family grew the beans and the roaster they used as soon as they picked them. She'd be grabbing the most recent shipment from them, from the phrasing they must've gotten in yesterday. I heard the whirring of the grinder, turning the beans nearly to a powder. The smell was strong and hit me hard even in the dining area, overpowering the smell of metal and rust that most of this place was built from, for a moment at least. I breathed deep and sighed. I could just about hear her getting it into the coffee maker and listened to it start to boil the water.

She got my breakfast out to me while we waited for my coffee to finish. I popped the lid off and dug in, eating unenthusiastically.

"Up early again, I see," Mocha said, making conversation quietly so not to disturb the other guests sleeping upstairs.

"Evils never cease. It's hard to rest when you're thinking about what you're not there to stop." Close enough to the truth.

"I get it. Sometimes it feels like you're the only one putting a stop to any of it." She took a thoughtful sip. "I think that makes it all the more important you get your rest. When you're needed that badly, we need you at your best."

"Easy to say, but actually getting the rest is a lot more difficult." I looked down at my can of century-old food. I wasn't even sure what it was, I certainly wasn't tasting it.

Mocha didn't say anything and we sat in companionable silence, her drinking and me chewing until my coffee finished brewing. She brought to me as soon as it was done and I downed a good part of it as quick as I could. Coffee was impossible not to taste, few things were so bitter. I snorted and shook my head. "I don't know how you can sit there and savor this." It was well worth the effects though. I could already feel myself waking up like a kick in the muzzle.

"It's an acquired taste," she chuckled.

"How many caps does this leave me with?"

"I didn't check. You should be careful though, you're down to a bare few thousand caps." She smirked at me.

"Can't afford to let it slip my mind. I'm not good with caps. If we can't get supplies we can't help anypony."

"Well, you're not in any danger of that. Going shopping today?"

"I'm not exactly low on bullets or rations, but I'm always running out of medical supplies."

"You mean healing potions," Mocha sighed. "You should have an actual doctor treat you more often. There's more to injuries than what a potion patches together."

"In combat, you don't get much choice of who patches you up. Besides, I'm doing fine so far."

"Of course." She looked a little sad but didn't say what was on her mind. "I'll make sure the caps are ready to pay Nectar when he sends the bill."

"Thanks, Mocha. Your family's been great to me."

"Well, you've been great to us in the months since-" She stopped herself and I was grateful. I didn't need the reminder right after I'd pushed it all out of my head. She quickly changed the topic. "We're not a bank though."

"Of course you are," I smirked. "You just happen to have only one customer." I downed the rest of the coffee, finally braced enough to finish it. "I'll get going."

"It's still a little early for shops to be open."

"Yeah, but they'll be open soon enough and I feel like going for a walk." Really I felt the need to be moving but same difference, right?

She smiled at me, but there was a note of sadness to it. "Alright, stay safe out there Longshot."

"No promises," I said, heading out the door.

I stepped out into the dim light of early morning. The sun was rising somewhere beyond the never-ending clouds and a new day was beginning. Lock's Port was still sleepy though. The central square that the Coffee Shop was in only had a few ponies up and about yet, though that would certainly change through out the day. By the last lock was a guard who was doing his duty well, looking alert despite the fact his shift was likely about to end. I made no attempt to distract him and he offered no greeting.

Sadly the same couldn't be said of one of the others who were up this early. "Good morning, Watcher," came a chipper voice. "Out trying to do the impossible once again today?" The earth pony smiled widely. A little too wide for my tastes. He wore patchwork robes that were clean in places and disgusting in others.

"Still fighting the good fight, if that's what you mean," I said, more coldly than Compassion would allow. I couldn't help myself. "How about the Cult of Discord? Still cheerily wrecking things in the hope of being 'saved'? Or are you here today to preach how we're so lost and need a savior, even if it's not the savior we'd like?"

"Of course! You'll realize one day that ponies can't fix the mess we've made. When you do we'll be waiting to receive you with open hooves." He never lost that creepy smile. I couldn't tell if he were sincerely on the edge of insanity or was just trying to push himself to be, in order to better appease his god.

"I promise the day I think Discord could rule better than anypony is the day I throw myself into Tartarus."

He laughed. "That's a splendid idea! Why, if you could find and open the gates to Tartarus that would make for some wonderful chaos! Surely Discord would turn his eye on us once again."

"Read the history books sometimes, Discordant. Your 'god' is encased in stone, he's not coming back so easily."

"I see quite clearly what history tells me, Watcher. Perhaps you should look to your own and discover the futility of your fight."

I could feel the heat rise to my face and pushed it back down. I didn't always need to call on Fire to feel its presence. "Yeah well, let me know if you ever make contact with your god. Maybe we'll talk then." I turned to walk away.

"Oh, he speaks to me all the time!" I was hit in the back of the head with something and whipped around only to see a mutifruit on the ground near me and that the Discordant's smile had only gotten wider. "He suggests you lighten up and have something fresh."

I was sorely tempted to pull out a rifle and be done with him. I doubt anypony would complain, including the guard nearby. But this was something that Compassion wouldn't give in on. Everypony we kill is a pony we've failed. He was just a pony who had lost his way. I might not know how to help him, but I certainly wasn't going to strike him down for being annoying.

"Thanks," I said through gritted teeth and picked up the mutifruit. The Discordant just laughed as I walked away with it.

I nodded at the last pony present this early, a beggar unicorn whose name I'd never caught. She responded gruffly. "Don't you let him get to you, Watcher. We need ya."

I didn't respond at first. Digging through my saddlebags, I found a couple bottles of unirradiated water and passed them to her. At least I could still please Generosity this morning.

"Ah, the good stuff. Bless you, Watcher. I won't be sick today." She took it in her magic and took a careful sip. She obviously wanted to down it all but knew she needed to make it last.

I watched her for a moment, wondering how long she'd been surviving on the generosity of others. "I won't be around to give you free water forever, you know."

"Nonsense," she scoffed. "You're young yet, you're gonna be around a good long while. Besides, I survived before you started coming around, I'll survive when you're gone."

I wanted to ask if surviving was enough for her, but I doubt the mare had ever known anything else. It wasn't worth trying to push it. I inwardly shrugged and walked on.

"Hey, you gonna keep that mutifruit?"

I was caught a bit off guard, I'd forgotten I was still holding it. I shrugged, "If you're sure you want it." I passed it over to her.

"Can't live off water alone," she said and quickly tore into it. I let her enjoy it as I walked off, heading for the marketplace.

Lock's Port was a pretty busy part of Neighagra thanks to the canal that started here and ran out to Manehatten. Plenty of goods were shipped from here to Friendship City and Tenpony Tower. However, some goods were still sold here if a buyer could be found, and there were plenty of stalls. It was mostly empty at the moment, plenty of stalls were being set up but there weren't any customers yet. I got greetings from the salesponies, and I gave some quiet ones in return but paid little attention as I made my way to the local doctor's office.

Apple Nectar's place was, like many of Lock's Port residences, inside an old world building. It was an unassuming place with a sign outside showing a cross with butterflies on it to differentiate it from the actual residences. The colors were wrong, lacking the pink and yellow that normally designate medicine, but you used what paint you had. The shape was enough on its own to make the point clear; get patched up here. Stepping inside, it was pretty dark thanks to the boarded up windows but at least it was clean. That was a big selling point compared to some supposed doctors I'd seen outside the Night Watch HQ.

"Hey, doc? You in here?" I called out, taking a few careful steps forward in the dim light.

"Is this an emergency?" I heard from somewhere upstairs. "I'm not open yet if it's not."

"It's me, Nectar. Just coming to see about picking up some supplies."

"Of course it's you, Watcher," he said, sounding a bit weary. "Just a minute."

I took a seat on the floor where I stood, waiting patiently. The lights in the room came on and the big earth pony came downstairs, the thumping of hooves on the stairs announcing his presence before he actually came into view.

"I'm afraid I got some bad news for you, Watcher."

"You're not out of healing potions are you?" I saw, furrowing my brow in worry.

"Not completely, no. I need to hang on to what I got, though. I'm running low on everything right now, healing potions might be my only fall back soon enough."

"A doctor without medicine is a doctor who's gonna have trouble doing his job."

"True enough. Which is why I need the potions. I've been meaning to talk to you about it, actually. I'm short because I was supposed to be getting a shipment in from Manehatten a week ago."

"Why didn't you mention it the last time I was here?" Medicine was important, that was something I would've looked in on last time I was in town instead of a job checking out a possible raider hideout.

"It's not that unusual for a shipment to be a day late." He shrugged. "I'm willing to hire you properly now though, send you up the canal and see if you can't find out what happened at least. I'd pay a bonus if you can get the shipment back too."

I didn't have to think too hard about this one. "I don't need an upfront payment, but I am going to need the potions you do have."

"I give you all the potions, I've got no backup."

"If I get shot and bleed out you don't get supplied at all. I'll need a few at least."

He huffed reluctantly. "Yeah, fair enough. I can spare a couple. Especially if you're not charging."

"I'll still take the bonus if I can get any back."

"Yeah, that's fair. Hold on, I'll go grab a few of them." He headed through a door in the back. I waited patiently once again until he came back and put the vials he brought into my saddlebag. "You know, if you didn't get shot so much you wouldn't down so many of these."

"If I didn't get shot so much I wouldn't be doing my job."

"Maybe find a healthier line of work?"

That wasn't a suggestion I could take seriously. "Anything you can tell me about the barge it should've come in on?"

"Afraid not, I was dealing with the supplier himself, by letters. An honest-to-Celestia zebra living on the outskirts of Manehatten brews a bunch of chems himself, doesn't scavenge for old world stuff. Don't know who he hired to bring it here."

"Could be something happened to him before he shipped it then, not the barge."

"That's possible," he said, rubbing his chin. "I sent a letter along to him to let him know the shipment hadn't arrived, but I hadn't considered he might not have sent it at all."

"If I don't find any signs of an attack I could find this zebra myself, talk to him about it. I'd need to buy more rations and clean water if I'm going all the way to Manehatten though."

"Well, I was going to pay you something before you turned me down," Nectar said. "I'll pass along some caps to the Coffee Inn to help cover anything you pick up today."

"That's alright, doc. I'm already taking some health potions while you're short. I can cover supplies for a trip to Manehatten well enough, better you have the caps to buy more supplies if this shipment isn't recoverable."

"That's real generous of you Watcher, I appreciate it."

"Hopefully your patients will too."

"Don't doubt it. I'll be glad to have those supplies in, too."

"Don't doubt it," I echoed as I stepped back outside, planning out my new mission. Finding the supplies wouldn't be an easy task unless I found a survivor of whatever took the barge down. Or I'd have to track down this zebra and make sure he was alright, which wouldn't be any easier. And then if raiders were the ones who took the supplies, getting them back wouldn't be a walk in the park either.

Sounded like a good task for a Watcher. I adjusted my saddlebags and strode forward with purpose.

In Search of Salves: Begun