Jason rolled out of bed with a groan. He clutched a the pillow to his barrel before flopping onto the floor. Once he had landed, the unicorn stretched across the hardwood before slowly getting up.

Looking around, he was reminded about the fact that Dogmeat had yet to return to him after wandering off on his own. Not surprising, given the size of the town, but he was still worried about what his companion could have gotten into. They knew next to nothing about what dangerous creatures lived in the nearby forests, though clearly they're dangerous enough that the Princess had to contract a team of ponies specifically to deal with it.

"Better get on that patrol route, then," he said, bringing up his Pip-Boy.

Switching tabs, he navigated to the significantly downsized World Map he had scanned in yesterday. After he placed a waypoint at the forest edge.

He went to the bathroom and relieved himself, taking another moment to examine himself in the mirror. Seeing his fully nude pony form was still disorienting, seeing the massive mane and plate-sized eyes would take some time to get accustomed to.

"Yeah, this happened. Still not a weird dream," he said. "But at this point... do I want to wake up? I mean... what was really left for me? Brotherhood of Steel? They can fix Liberty Prime. They can take care of Megaton. Rivet City only had one way in and they've got the Brotherhood right next door anyway. There's..."

Looking down at his hooves, the sink was close to overflowing. He could see Her face in the wavering reflection.

He shivered, his whole body convulsing as he pushed the memory out.

"No... no. It's been a year. I... I can move on," he said, looking into the mirror. "I have to move on. They... they'd want me to, right?"

Nothing responded to his pondering.

"Y-yeah, yeah they'd want that."

\\\\\\//////

Calm rays of sunlight burned through the blinds, laying their shine on everything in the room. As the beams traversed the room, they glared upon a scruffy unicorn. Her response was to groan and pull her pillow closer, burying her face into its to mitigate the light.

As though provoked by the mare's action, the sunlight crept up along the bed and shined right on her eyelids. She groaned and muffed a half-hearted declaration of passive dislike against Celestia's sun as she got up from her bed.

"Mmmmm," Moondancer groaned. "I refuse to ever understand morning ponies. This is undoubtedly a punishment."

The mare rolled out of bed and began stretching. Reluctant as she was to admit it, those yoga books her mother had gotten her were definitely worth the few hours she had given them. Relaxing her haunches as she curled forward helped her focus on a constant morning ritual, and the fresh feeling her body attained after posing always got Moondancer's mood up before a hard day cracking at the books.

Except this time, there weren't books to crack, but actual legitimate tests to run.

Routing through her bag, she arranged her supplies and hung up everything she needed by the inn's door. She checked everything twice, including the files her mother had copied for her, and prepared herself. Tying her hair into a bun, brushing the lint out of her sweater, ironing her lab coat and attaching her ID badge to the collar, she found herself ready to head out.

She slipped her clothes on and strapped her saddlebags on. With everything properly place, she opened the door-

THUD

"Gah, fuck!"

Moondancer yelped as she backpedaled from the door.

Outside her room was a blue pony with a trench coat, cowpony hat and a device on their left foreleg. Currently, he was flat on his back, holding his hooves to his nose.

"Doorknob got me right in the nose!" he said, sitting up. "Who fucking swings a door that hard!?"

He looked into the room, locking eyes with Moondancer, who trembled on the spot.

Social interactions were never her strong suit, even when she and the other pony were on common, equal standing. Now, she had just assaulted a random stallion who looked like he was ready to hunt a manticore and was fully capable of it with his hateful gaze alone.

Blood pouring down his nostrils framed his scowl, but after a few heavy breaths, his angry expression softened as his glare lessened its intensity. He took in a deep breath and sat upright, bringing himself off of his flank, into a standing position.

"Sorry 'bout the nasty look, ma'am, didn't realize I had a neighbor," he said. "Hope you can forgive me."

Moondancer fumbled her hooves about the floor, stammering out a response.

"I-I-I-I-I-I'm sorry, I, uh, didn't think t-that anypony would be, I mean, the, uh... s-sorry."

"It's alright, it's alright," he said, rubbing his snout. "I should have watched where I was going."

Seeing the blood staining his hoof, she searched around her room and, with a trembling grip of her magic, levitated a box of tissues to the blue pony.

"Uh, h-h-here, sir."

He nodded, taking a few and cleaning his face with them.

"Thanks for that. Got a name, miss?"

"Moondancer."

"Well, pretty name for a pretty lady, no coincidence I'm sure."

"Buh- what!? Excuse me?"

Either she wasn't hearing him right or the doorknob hit him harder than she thought.

"Just on my way to get some patrolling done. Got a promise to keep and payments to earn. You know how that is, right?"

"Uh, w-well, I... y-yeah, sure."

"You're a doctor, right? Labcoat and name tag both have a red cross on it, so I assume you've got something to do with the hospital. Any field that's got your devotion?"

His deduction put Moondancer into an awkward state. Nopony had really asked her about her profession nor her interests. At least, not in recent years. The awkwardness of the fact that he was a stallion, one that she had just physically harmed no less, stormed a sea of uncertainty in her gut.

"Y-yes, I was on my way to examine some blood samples and run some tests. The ponies in the local hospital sent some strange samples and my mo- BOSS! My, boss, asked me to come here to check if the samples are valid. I also want to try and find the pony the samples came from and run some tests on them as well."

"Settles it, then," he said.

He hoofed the bloodied tissues into the trash bin at the door, then eyed Moondancer with a smile.

"Why don't we try reintroducing ourselves on the way there?"

"W-what?"

"I was going to pass by the hospital on my way to try and find my dog before we go and patrol, so why don't we try and... try to move past that little accident. Plus, I could help you look for that patient you need to find."

He offered her a hoof.

"They call me the Wanderer."

She looked between the hoof and the eyes of the Wanderer. His brown eyes shined with a distant shimmer of genuine kindness, something that Moondancer hadn't seen in a long time. Her face lifted into a smaller smile and she accepted his hoof.

"Nice to meet you."

Author's Notes:

Late as usual, I know. I forgot to save the first part of the chapter and had to redo it from memory.