Looking back, it blows my mind that all that happened in only a few short hours. Our first steps out of Neighson, and they led straight into what felt like one of the longest days of my life.

All that work though, and we weren’t out of danger yet. It makes for a poor story, but the evening trek from the ambush site proved every bit as physically and emotionally draining as the combat before it.

Worn out, tired, hurt and hungry. Freezing our rumps off while marching towards a tenuous shelter, all the while relying on the word of a mare who had been our enemy mere hours before. On top of that, there was the constant threat of the unknown enemy, exacerbated by the conditions.

The snow had stopped as the temperature fell, and every snow-crunching footstep was deafening in the still air. Visibility was good, but the lack of a moon overhead lent the world a low contrast that tired the eyes just trying to make sense of it.

Words alone can’t do it justice, but that trek was a wake up call for what navigating the Northern nights was all about.

It was a few hours after we’d left the ambush site. Our halfway-frozen and variously injured forms were forcing our way up the Southern slope of the valley, moving steadily, if not particularly quickly towards the haven Ebb had promised us. One hoof in front of the other, we slogged our way through the snow.

The wound in my shoulder had faded to a dull ache, but I was pretty sure blood had frozen into the fabric. I felt my hooves more from the impact of punching through a crusty layer of snow than any real sensory input. On top of that, the tips of my mane had frozen into icy little needles that weighed heavily on my head, and frost had formed a crust on just about every exposed bit of cloth or steel.

The group as a whole wasn’t faring much better, but aside from some initial griping, a sense of inevitability seemed to have fallen over us all. If anyone had spoken in the last hour, I hadn’t noticed.

My cold-fatigued brain was just beginning to wonder how long it would be until Fade started calling me a “peg-icicle” when we caught our first glimpse of our destination. It wasn’t much to look at, but that pair of boulders lodged against the rock face was the best thing I’d seen all day.

Ebb had led us true, and we’d found the Lobos cave just as she described it. We might have even missed it had it not been for the scorch marks against the rocks, or the shell casings our hooves disturbed as we made our way forwards through a thick layer of undisturbed snow. It seemed like nopony had been there since the battle, but I wasn’t about to take chances.

With a wave of my wing I motioned Crafter and Tailwind up, then signalled for the others to hold position while we cleared the cavern. Fade and Bernard took up firing positions, while keeping Ebb close at hoof.

“Call it, Chief,” Tailwind whispered once the two of them formed up behind me. I could see her shivering under her barding, but she managed to keep it from her voice.

I nodded. “I’ll lead, Tail you take second. Crafter, follow in right behind us, scanning with EFS. Let's get this over with, and get out of the cold.”

Tailwind’s reply was a curt nod, as she slipped into position behind me.

Crafter looked around, presumably giving a preparatory scan on his EFS. He quickly nodded, ready. His lips were beginning to look blue, and his movements were sluggish.

With comparatively fluid movements, Tail and I moved in, with Crafter not far behind us once he adjusted to our speed. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Crafter was there as EFS-based early warning and magical support… Fair, I think, as this was his first exposure to something like building clearance, much less having the training to do it.

It became immediately apparent that there weren’t any light sources left in the cave, and no smoke funneling out the entrance meant there probably wasn’t a covered fire or something inside, either. I glanced back, giving a slight nod to Crafter once I managed to catch his gaze. “Crafter, light it up, but stay quiet.”

He nodded back, then lit his horn and created a magical flare on the tip of a stalactite visible from the entrance.

The light threw the area into harsh, flickering contrast as it revealed branches left and right almost immediately after entering the cavern. The light also revealed a grisly sight, if somewhat dated. There was a body laying just inside of the entrance, clearly one of the Lobos judging from the spiral tattoos running from his muzzle down beneath his barding of furs. He’d died from a series of gunshot wounds, his lifeblood long ago bled out and frozen against the wall and floor. I knelt down briefly, pressing a hoof to the side of his cheek – His corpse didn’t even give way, frozen solid where he’d fallen. Virtually impossible to tell how long it had been, but for all I could tell, it could have been a month ago, or yesterday. Evidence so far seemed to back up Ebb’s story, and I didn’t really believe she was in a position to lie… but I’d trained to be thorough, when time allowed.

Getting to my hooves again, I resumed the advance with only a quick nod to the others.

It was far from the last body we passed. Corpses laid where they’d fallen trying to hold this place, and as we moved to the fork in the cave, we could see the main settlement – a spitting image of the locale we’d stayed the night in only a few days before, aside from the wreckage of tents, frozen bodies and evidence of ransacked equipment. By contrast, the path off to the right led to a small pool of water, rippling gently on some unknown current, with soft wisps of condensation emanating from the room. On that side of the cave, there were no obvious signs of destruction.

Seeing what I needed to, I moved us off to the left. We’d check the unusual pool later. I wasn’t expecting survivors, but I wanted to see what we had to work with before making the call to move the others into the cave.

The Lobos had fought to the death, that much was certain once we moved into what had been the living area. Hasty barricades, pools of blood and frozen bodies spoke of a hold-out scenario that only ever had one outcome. The weapons, equipment, and the wolf-skull helmets were missing – I’d expected the former, but the latter seemed to me that they were sending a message to any other tribes that happened upon the cave.

The interior of the cave was frozen, but only just. I got the impression that it was simply from a lack of heat – even a small fire would gradually warm the area, and the maze-like entrance seemed to act as something of a naturally insulated barrier.

Near the very back of the cave, I spotted a small alcove nestled against the rock face, with ruined tents positioned such that their bulk partially blocked the small sub-cavern.

I motioned with a wing towards the alcove, getting a pair of nods in response. Moving in, I kept my gaze and weapon up.

Ultimately, the effort was for naught.

As I rounded the corner, the flickering light of Crafter’s spell cast shadows upon the scene before me. The alcove was small, no more than a couple square meters hidden from view by a stalactite structure and the pair of tents near its entrance. I saw four tiny bodies huddled in the corner, guarded even in death by an elderly stallion.

The bullet casings and blood told the grim ending to that story.

Glancing down, I set my lips in a tight line and gave a soft nod of respect to the dead stallion. Turning my body sideways, I intentionally placed myself between the others and the sad scene that had played out its bitter conclusion. I think it still showed in my eyes – the pain I tried, perhaps in vain, to shield them from.

“We’re done here,” I stated, “It’s clear.” I was eager to change topics and get the hell away from there, adding, “Let’s check back with the others, this place will do. We’ll check that pool near the entrance afterwards.”

As we trotted back out, postures relaxed, the others seemed relieved. Bernard and Ebb were both hunched up in their barding, trying to eke out what warmth they could. Fade seemed almost disinterested, brushing flakes of frost off of his wingtips with a talon as he scanned the valley behind us for any sort of movement. Bernard caught my eye, and I guess my emotions from back in the cave showed pretty clearly – Softly, he simply asked, “Foals?”

“Yeah… foals,” I replied distantly. “The cave’s clear. Looks like there’s some sort of pool off to one side, we’ll have to check that out. Otherwise, we’ll have to find a place for the bodies before starting a fire. We don’t need them thawing out on us.” Finding my voice, I called out to the remainder of the group, “Fade, Ebb. The cave’s clear, at least the living area. Come on in.”

The others filed in, Fade sticking close to Ebb, with Crafter and Bernard following in behind. Once everyone was out of the elements, I finally let myself breathe a sigh of relief. That agonizingly long day was coming to an end. All that was left, was sorting out what exactly we’d found in that cave.

First things first, I decided to check out the peculiar water system, trotting over to the right hand side of the cave, and the pool of water at its center. As I moved in, I noticed a pathway continuing this side of the cave, maybe three meters wide and hidden from the entrance by the natural curve of the rock. I’m no geologist, but I figure the pool was probably the source of the cave itself, gradually carving its way through solid rock, and creating the tunnels we were taking shelter in. The generally smooth sides and floor of the cave supported the theory. The air on this side was actually warm (rather than simply not cold, like the living area), above freezing even. Soft wisps of steam curled from the water, and Despite a few lingering reservations about interacting with untreated surface water, I decided to dip the tip of a forehoof beneath the water.

The water wasn’t too hot, nor cold. In fact, it was quite a pleasant temperature, making my hoof begin to tingle with warmth almost immediately. It was only reluctantly that I pulled my hoof back, mindful that we hadn’t actually tested the water for anything harmful. “Hey Crafter,” I called back, to where he and the others were still shaking the snow and frost out of their barding and kit. “Could you come here with that Pipbuck for a sec? I want to see just how irradiated this water is.” Now, my hoof didn’t feel tingly or anything, but from my (admittedly limited, and most certainly biased) knowledge of balefire radiation, that didn’t necessarily mean anything.

With a simple nod, he cantered over to the edge of the pool, leaned over and put his forehoof near the surface, keeping an eye on the readout. After a few seconds, he seemed to be satisfied, and summarized his findings as he glanced back to me. “Well, it looks to be free of radiation, aside from normal background levels.” As an afterthought, he added, “It’s got a really high mineral content though. I dunno what that means, but it seemed notable.”

I raised an eyebrow at that, deciding that this had to be the cave that the terminal back in the other lobos cave had referred to. If that was the case, then there had to be another storage-type room, like the one a certain teal mare had gotten trapped in a couple days ago. At length, I replied, “Well, there’s a stroke of luck. Let’s scout out this side passage, then we can start looking at getting set up for the night.” As I spoke, I started to move towards the side passageway, with Tailwind again falling into step beside me. Surprisingly, so did Crafter, leaving the others to their own devices for the time being.

The small path quickly narrowed even further to about a meter and a half across, and led at a slight upwards angle – probably formed by some sort of runoff, back when this area actually thawed for a portion of the year. We’d hardly gone around the first bend when we came up short at the foot of a very heavy set door with a terminal built into the left side. Not unlike what I’d been led to believe Stable doors looked like, this one seemed… smaller in scale, more like a blast door on a Raptor than an apocalypse shelter.

Scorch marks and blast scarring across the door’s surface and the surrounding walls spoke of serious attempts to force entry, ultimately abandoned.

Crafter immediately trotted up to the terminal mounted on the wall. Blast fragments had severed a few of the cables connecting to the terminal. Its screen cover was spiderwebbed with cracks, presumably from the explosions, and the screen was dead.

Without prompting, Crafter immediately set to the task, rooting around in his packs for a few seconds before finding what he needed – a few standard power and data cords, probably still there from his last day of work in the Stable. He stripped the old wiring back from the damaged parts, and spliced what he could see. The whole process took maybe a minute, and left me quietly impressed with his magical dexterity.

As he connected the very last few strands of the power wires, an electric crackle filled the quiet air and a few small sparks leapt from the connection. Crafter stumbled back, probably as surprised as we were. We all watched for a few moments, before the soft glow of the terminal’s boot-up filled the mostly dark tunnel.

Cantering over, I gave Crafter a comradely slap on the back as I asked innocently back in Tailwind’s direction, “Think it still works?” I’d be lying if there wasn’t a hint of challenge in my tone.

Tailwind stepped to work in a flash, giving the keys a few experimental pokes with her wingtips. “Yeah, seems to have reconnected just fine. Surprising that it works at all, all things considered.” She sidled up to the console and started to dig through subroutines and backdoor access codes. It took only a few moments before her muzzle scrunched up and she let out a low whistle, “This is… pretty substantial encryption here. Somepony knew what they were doing when they locked this thing.”

“Seems like this is the second cave from that report you found,” I idly commented as she typed away, “What with the mineral spring and all.” The message had mentioned that the ponies back then hadn’t been able to get past the writer’s security, but almost two hundred years had passed since then. Anything could have happened, and I wasn’t about to take chances.

“Yeah… it would seem so,” Tailwind replied distantly, her attention focused on the console as she backed out and reset the log-in counter for the second time.

Seeing that the process might take a while, I commented quietly, to avoid distracting her, “I’ll leave you to this. If you need a hoof, just give me a shout.” I hesitated just a second, feeling awkward just standing there when there were still things that needed attending to in the other cave. I turned on my heel, and headed back towards the others, and the mineral spring.

Crafter stayed behind, quietly watching her work.

Returning to the others, I caught the tail end of a conversation between Ebb and Fade. The mare was standing at the edge of the pool, gazing down into it as she asked, “So does the… uh, ‘mineral level’ mean we can’t drink it? How does that work?”

Fade seemed to have been staring off into nothing again, as his gaze snapped back to her, then the pond, then back to her before he let out a contemplative “Hmm.” He shrugged his shoulders and leaned forwards, swirling a talon in the softly steaming liquid, offering in reply, “Considering the Tribals took up residence in this wretched hive, I’d guess it’s fine. Minerals just come from rocks, or are rocks, I think.” He removed his talon, gazing contemplatively at the liquid that clung to the surface of his talon. “Kind of hard to avoid in this instance, or ever really. Water’s always on the ground, and the ground is mostly rocks…” He let his sentence trail off as he once again stared back into the pond. A few moments went by, before he flicked his eyes back to Ebb, asking, “So… gonna try it? If Wrenchy says it’s okay, it probably won’t kill you. Well, his Pipbuck at least. He doesn’t know much about anything to be honest… including his Pipbuck.”

With merely a shrug in response, Ebb leaned down to the pool and took a long draught of the water. After her drink she leaned back, wiping residue from her muzzle with a forehoof and wearing a disgusted look, “Eww, oh my goddesses that tastes awful!” She shook her head and spat towards the side of the cave, “Ugh, I forgot what warm water tasted like, too.”

Fade watched her with what might have been trepidation, though it’s hard to tell with him. When she was clearly not permanently harmed by the experience, he let out a held breath, reaching back to retrieve his waterskin from a pouch in his jacket. He drained the remainder of the skin, and refilled it from the non-fatal source of water that stood before us. Grinning slightly, he sat back and replaced the plug, giving the container a shake for emphasis. “And now you remember,” he replied, “but more importantly, you’ve confirmed that the water is drinkable. A noble service if ever there was one.”

Seeing Ebb’s reaction to the water from where he’d sat down between a pair of stalactites, Bernard piped up, “Is there any way to make the water more palatable at all?”

Seeing the potential to join in on the conversation, I gave a quiet cough, and all three looked up to see me. “There’s a sealed blast door, looks like it’s been that way for a while. Tailwind and Crafter are looking to get it open.” I wasn’t sure how much it added to their conversation, but it might direct it somewhere, at least.

“Ahh,” Fade replied, looking up at me. “Might explain the clean water then. The area is filled with caves, a fair number of them stuffed to bursting with pre-war technology and such. Lots of research installations from what I’ve found. Makes sense with Neighson being close by.” Following his moment of surprising lucidity, he seemed to do a double take as he spotted Bernard sitting off in the corner. The griffon wheeled around and going into a crouch. It seemed… well, typical of him, is the best I can describe it as.

Deciding to ignore the fact that Fade lost track of one of our party members, I decided to throw Bernard a bone, giving a non-verbal “Umm,” as I rifled through the pouches on my saddlebags, I finally found what I was looking for, deep in one of the pockets that had once held rations, back when we still had some Enclave-issue food. Producing a pair of small packets, I held them up. “Until then, we’ve got drink mix, ‘purple’ flavour, and ‘instant coffee’ if anyone is brave enough to attempt that,” I offered helpfully.

Fade snapped out of his daze as soon as I finished speaking, holding up a talon to interject, “The last one is mine, if you do recall, miss. Something I’m owed by your other half, but I’ll accept it from you, in her stead.” Dropping his hand, he peered back over his shoulder at Bernard, adding, “This so called ‘purple’ drink is all yours if you’d like it. Given the title I do question if it will improve the quality of the water, or deteriorate it further. Choice is yours; best of luck.”

Seeing the small packets and Fade’s indignation, Bernard shot me a skeptical look. “What does ‘purple’ even taste like?” He asked.

“Oh, it’s all yours,” I replied to Fade, tossing the packet of coffee to him, neatly caught in his taloned grip, as he set off to presumably begin brewing the foul concoction. I’d tried the bitter drink on too many occasions already, and honestly I didn’t know what he saw in it, aside from bludgeoning your brain into waking up by being simply terrible.

Come to think of it, maybe I’ve just stumbled upon why he fixated on the stuff.

Regardless, if it paid a debt, I was all for it.

Cantering over to Bernard and leaving Fade to inspect his treat, I replied, “They made it taste… sweet, I suppose. Like somepony who had never tasted a grape attempting to emulate the flavour and failing.”

“Well,” Bernard replied with a sigh, “I can’t say I’ve ever had a grape before, so I guess the memory isn’t there to disappoint me.” Reluctantly retrieving the packet I passed him, he trotted over to the pool to fill his own canteen.

Fade seemed momentarily content to examine his prize, turning the packet over in his talons this way and that, reading the “Instant Coffee” printed on both sides of the small packet in seeming every direction he was capable of, then giving the whole thing an exploratory shake.

He glanced over to me, as close to pleading as I’d ever seen him. “Now what?” He asked.

It was a trial to keep the smile off my face, one I ultimately failed. Fade, hardened griffon merc Fade, was completely at a loss when it came to a humble coffee packet. “Well,” I replied, “I’m not gonna pretend to be an expert, but I believe you need boiling water. You’ll need a fire, which is fantastic because we need one of those anyways.” I paused, shifting my weight from hoof to hoof before I added, “The living area is an abattoir, but there’s shelter enough for us. We could make a fire there.”

After having filled up his cup and poured his packet into the drink, Bernard trotted over to where he’d left his saddlebags, sitting down to favour his drink. He gave it a quick shake to mix it around, then gave a tentative sip. “Well it’s not bad…” He took another. “Or good really, for that matter.” He concluded. Despite that, he continued to drink, so I’d chalk that one up as a success.

Glancing from Bernard, to the coffee packet, to myself, Fade seemed to come to his own conclusion. “A fire it is, then,” he stated in affirmation, adding on an emphatic nod for good measure. Stepping off at a brisk pace, he came up short beside me, speaking in a soft tone with a sad smile on his beak, “I heard about the previous residents. Their young. I said you can’t reason with Red Eye, now maybe you see.” Not waiting for a response, he returned to his previous pace, turning the corner to the living quarters and disappearing from view.

Surprisingly, Ebb dutifully followed him. I wasn’t sure if she also wanted the warmth of a fire, or if she was operating under the assumption that she was all but tethered to Fade for the time being.

Bernard gave me a glance, before stoppering his canteen and following the others. Was it sympathy in his eyes? Was there something on my face?

As he rounded the corner, I reached up with a hoof to touch my cheek, and found wetness there, as tears fell unbidden from my eyes.

The world seemed to close in around me. A detached part of me realized it was because I’d finally slipped out of being “in control,” finally let myself relax, and now I was paying for the experiences I’d had, so much in so short a time.

I stumbled back, back back… just uncomprehending, at once letting it happen and powerless to stop it, I backed up until my flank hit the smoothed rock of the wall. I slumped down until I was sitting, my legs unwilling to hold me up.

It wasn’t any single thing, I feel just about anything that had happened that day I could have weathered… but all of it, that so very long day, left its mark, and my body had only just caught up with what it had experienced. Thoughts of the day flashed through my mind. Bodies, burials, bullets… death, killing, the frantic firefights of the day and seeing the corpses of those tiny little foals. It was all too much.

For the first time since we’d left the main road what felt like ages ago, I just slumped down and took a moment to not be in charge of anything, much less anyone.

It wasn’t that it felt “good,” but rather, it felt like if I didn’t at that point, something would just… break. I just needed some time.

Of course, while I sat there, things quieted down. The sounds of Bernard and the others faded into the other side of the cave, and the only noise was from the pair on the other side of the cavern wall I leaned against, around the corner.

I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, honest… but just the same, I heard just about everything that passed between them.

“...Well, I had a lot of practice and professional tutoring, so I hope I’d be good at using terminals by now.” Tailwind’s voice carried in the still air, and the acoustics of the cave. I guess Crafter had asked her something about what she was doing to the wall mounted terminal. “As for those symbols, it’s just nonsense mostly, jumps in the code that the program can’t or won’t display properly. It’s a byproduct of the backdoor I’m using.”

There was a pause, and I could faintly hear the soft clack-clack of the keyboard.

“I can show you the basics one of these days if you’d like,” She continued, “It’s kinda nice to see somepony interested in it.”

Ouch.

“That’d be awesome!” Crafter replied excitedly.

“Well it’s a date then!” Tail declared, with more levity in her voice than I’d heard in awhile, before she weakly finished with, “For… some point in the future.” The soft clack of the keyboard once again overtook the air, before Tailwind spoke up again a few seconds later, “I’m sure there’s quite a bit you could teach me in return. You were a maintenance pony, right?” She seemed legitimately intrigued.

“Yes I was!” The excitement in the Stable pony’s voice was palpable. “Back in the Stable I was one of the best if I do say so myself!”

I could practically see him puffing out his chest as he said it.

Tailwind gave a soft laugh in response, replying, “So what did you fix in the Stable? It must’ve been some rather complex machinery.” Before Crafter even had a chance to reply, she suddenly yelled out, “Fuck!” and it sounded like she’d just kicked the terminal with a forehoof, if I had to guess. “Sorry,” She added, slightly abashed, “I’m just rather close to getting it.”

Her cry would have been enough for me to have heard even if I hadn’t been listening in, and had caused me to wince in sympathy. I wanted to check, but a part of me also felt somehow kind of hollow, hearing the way they conversed when I wasn’t there. I didn’t want to keep listening to that, to be honest.

Getting to my hooves, I had to brace myself after a short stutter-step nearly caused my legs to buckle. I gave a frustrated sigh, wiping my face of any remnants of my breakdown before trying again. Following a more careful second attempt, I cantered around the corner. “Everything alright over here, you two?” I asked in a level tone.

Tailwind gave me a glance over her shoulder. “Hey Chief, the terminal’s just playing hard to get. Crafter here was just keeping me company, telling me about how he had all the mares just lining up for him while he was growing up.” She shot him a playful grin as she finished.

For his part, Crafter picked up on the story a touch slow, replying, “Um, yeah, they were all trying to get uh, some of this…” He gave me what must have felt like a proud smile. “I, uh, see the way you look at me too, Snap.”

He finished with the single most ridiculous rolling of his eyebrows I’d ever seen. I guess he was going for “alluringly,” but… well, he didn’t quite manage it.

For my part, it seemed only logical to play that conversation out to its conclusion. “Oooh, Crafter,” I gasped demurely, fanning a wing to cover the lower half of my face. “One good fight under your barding and you already know how to make a mare blush.” I fanned myself dramatically, wearing a sly smile behind the obscuring wing. “If I didn’t know better…” I trailed off, shooting him a wink as I drew abreast of the pair.

Tailwind gave him a playful hip bump as she purred, “Where was that attitude a couple of nights ago, hmm?”

“Oh, uh,” Crafter stammered, backtracking as quickly as his confidence had appeared, “I uh, was just playing hard to get...” He trailed off, clearly feeling backed into a conversational corner. Thinking fast, he opted to divert the tack of the conversation. “Say Tail, how’s this uh, door coming along?”

She gave him a snicker, but humoured him by dropping back to a businesslike tone. “I should be through soon, hopefully. Whomever made these doors really knew what they were doing.”

I brought my wing back to my side, dropping my own playful voice as well. “If it managed to last through all the attempts Ebb and her company put into opening it, whatever’s inside is probably of use to us. We can wait if we have to.”

Having gone back to giving the terminal her full attention, Tailwind’s reply was rather curt; “Yeah, hopefully there’ll be some food and other supplies.”

Crafter stepped back a pace, glancing at the explosive indicators around the door. “Ebb’s group?” He asked, “I can’t think of them having any real smarts to get in there. Not like Tail- uh, I mean, us.” He stammered out that last bit.

Aww, he’s still flustered from earlier.

Glancing over at him, a whimsical smile played across my features in response to both his unease with… us, and what he’d actually said. “No, Most certainly not like us.”

He let out a small sigh. I wasn’t sure what was going on in that head of his, but he seemed to be thinking in overdrive, and had just taken a second to clear his thoughts. “So what do you figure’s in there?” He asked at length, as Tailwind continued to tap away at the keyboard. “I mean, other than the hope for food and such. A door like this has got to have treasure in it.”

“Treasure?” I asked with a quizzical twinge to my voice. Honestly, I simply hadn’t thought of it in that light. “Some maps of the area, if we’re lucky. Weapons, armour, ammo… information.” I let that last word practically drip off my tongue. We were still flying so blind down here, just about anything would help. I thought about that for a few seconds, before nodding thoughtfully to myself. “Maybe you’re right, maybe there is some sort of treasure in here.”

Crafter let that sink in for a moment, giving off a huge smile when I affirmed his “treasure” terminology. “Yeah, that’d be great,” he stated whimsically, sitting down and idly watching Tail continue her work. “What kind of information are you talkin’ about, anyways?” He asked, seeming like he wanted to pass the time more than anything.

I gave a soft sigh, deciding I didn’t want to breeze over my response. Giving the concept some thought, I finally replied, “Well, I don’t… know, specifically. Locations of other Lobo encampments, Red Eye troop dispositions, trade routes, hunting tips… you often don’t know what you’re looking for until you find it.” I looked him in the eye. As vague as it all was, I had a point, and I was in my element. “Anything we can sell, trade, report or use. Anything to give us an edge. Information is often more important than ammunition, and it doesn’t weigh us down.” I glanced at Tailwind, a soft smile playing across my features. “It’s what we did… what we still do.”

Tail stopped typing for a moment to share a glance with me, and a smile. Nothing more needed to be said. It felt… good.

Crafter noticed, and his curiosity immediately got the better of him. “What was with the look?” He asked, quizzically.

I looked over at him, seeing in his eyes an honest curiosity. He was serious. Despite the appeal of replying with a degree of snark, for whatever reason I decided to answer him straight. “Remember that whole thing we did earlier today, finding out those Red Eye positions like we did – after you spotted those first ones for us? That’s a part of it.” I paused a moment, letting that sink in. “That was our job, Crafter. That was what Tailwind and I have spent years training to do, for real. What we…” I paused again, covering up a twinge of emotion as if I needed to clear my throat. “What we originally came down here to do. As much as we tease you… and flirt with you… this isn’t that. This is just that close to what we actually thought we were going to be doing down here.

“I guess… I guess it just feels like we’re finally doing something worthwhile.”

Crafter gave me a long look, then cast his eyes to Tail. “What exactly do you mean, ‘originally came here to do-”

He was abruptly cut off by Tailwind’s cry of “I got it!” Accompanied as it was by her pumping her forehoof into the air. “The password was ‘through the flames of dawn,’ with numbers and capital letters thrown in for good measure.” She shook her head lightly, “Like hell anyone would have ever guessed that.”

“That’s a messed up level of security,” I replied holding off on answering Crafter’s question for a moment, “How the hell does somepony even remember that?”

Turning back to the buck, who’d shrunk back a bit in surprise at how animated Tailwind was, I replied to him in turn, “What we’ve been telling the Rangers, Crafter… it’s the truth. All we were told was to report on any indications that the griffins were establishing a base in the region… and we found all this. Neighson, the Rangers, Red Eye… the Lobos, the civilians living up here… you, and the Stable you came from.” I gave a soft sigh, “We have no ties here, you included. If we can provide a service for some of the bigger groups – the Rangers, maybe, maybe not – we might be that much closer to finding a place to live, more permanently.”

“All good, Chief?” Tail asked, glancing between us as her hoof hovered over the key to finally open the sealed door.

“Yeah, we’re good,” I replied, “hit it.”

With an exaggerated motion, she swung her hoof down and tapped the key to open the colossal door.

After a short pause, the door yielded a series of loud, hollow sounding thuds as the large tumblers built into its sides retracted. By the time the door finished making noise, the locks had seemingly disengaged, leaving the three of us staring at it for a moment.

“Wow, all that and it isn’t even automatic?” Tail bemoaned, “We just don’t get any breaks, do we Chief?”

“Blegh,” I replied with the taciturn wit befitting a mare of my stature. “Well, good thing you’re here, Crafter. We could use a good set of stallion muscles to give us a hoof with the door.”

With a grin, Crafter hopped to, setting his shoulder against the massive edifice like he had a point to prove – which, I suppose, is just about the story of his life.

The door had a degree of resistance, but the three of us didn’t have much trouble getting things started. Its hinges were both protected from the elements and well designed in the first place, and the door swung open comparatively easy. What we saw was… well, decidedly not what I had expected. Another small pool of water inhabited the left side of the cave, probably either feeding to or from the one we’d seen earlier, but the water wasn’t what drew my eyes. Protruding from it was a set of haphazard looking, but seemingly well thought-out machinery, leading to a large drum. I could see a siphon sticking out of the water, and a series of filters along the way, plus a series of devices I could only hazard a guess at their purpose.

Around the edge of the room were a series of raised workbenches made of steel and wood. Each served its own purpose, and housed machinery that seemed to be designed to fold and cut metal. Tools and toolboxes were all neatly organized and stacked on or beside the tables for ease of use. Beside those sat a series of machineworks. I could recognize a hydraulic press, bandsaw, lathe and milling machine, and a series that I hadn’t the faintest clue.

Aside from the relatively heavy machinery, there sat a single solitary bunk beside a small desk, equipped with a terminal. In turn, a moderately sized refrigerator sat beside the desk.

It wasn’t a huge chamber, but the layout was impressively ergonomic, and effective – every piece of machinery was close to each other, without interfering with the other’s use, and there was just enough room for a bit of a living space besides.

There wasn’t a clear indication of what was generating power for the room, but a series of lights illuminated the area, allowing us to turn Crafter’s pipbuck light off for the time being. We could only assume the same power supply allowed the operation of the machinery.

I let out a low whistle as I stepped past the threshold, giving the assemblage of equipment an appraising scan. “This must be the water purifier the Lobo terminal mentioned,” I commented off-hoofedly. “We could stay the night in here. The door even locks, and we wouldn’t have to post a watch.”

“Anypony- anyone here?” Crafter called out as he stepped inside behind me, speaking to the room itself, to a degree.

For her part, Tailwind let out a light “Oh, wow.” as she scanned over the assorted equipment. Naturally, she migrated towards the terminal, but for once her gaze was drawn elsewhere, at least for now. “Whomever lived here had a very strong grasp on things. It looks like he made most of that door in-house,” She said with mild awe as she glanced at the precision tools and machinery.

I glanced over at Crafter with a smile, gesturing towards the interior of the room with a forehoof. “See, Crafter? This is exactly what I was talking about – information. Even if we can’t use this, the Rangers would pay well for details of what’s in this cave.” I glanced down. “A shame about the previous occupants, but there isn’t much to be done there. Their loss might just help us survive.”

He nodded, clearly not understanding entirely, but I suppose he was willing to accept that at face value as he turned back to marveling at the reality of what we’d found. Ultimately, he turned back towards Tailwind and the small, desk-mounted Terminal she was poring over. “What’s in this? Could be more information. You know, for selling and such.”

As we’d been ogling the technology in the room, Tailwind had gone straight for the terminal. If it had been secured at all, she had cracked this one before I even registered that she was even working on it. She paused a moment as she scrolled through readouts on the screen. “Yeah, you can say that. What I actually found is more text files from the buck who set up this place.” She fixed me with a look, uncertainty on her features, “Although I’m not sure how comfortable I am just giving all this over to the Rangers…” She trailed off, leaving the statement hanging in the air.

I placed a comforting hoof over her shoulders, glancing at her rather than the display. “It’s an option, nothing more.” Giving her what I hoped was a comforting squeeze, the words felt strangely hollow. I believed them, but… it felt like I’d already made the decision, in her eyes.

I hope I’m wrong.

From behind us, there was a light shuffling noise, and Fade called out from around the bulkhead door, “Everything alright in here? Any need for rescuing or shooting?”

Glad for the distraction, I let go of Tailwind and turned to face the griffon. “No, we’re good, Fade.” With a smile, I gestured with a wing towards the room as a whole, “We found a place to sleep, though – purified water, too!”

Fade took a step through a doorway, having to hunch over only slightly, “Wh- really?” He asked, taken slightly aback by the sight that awaited him, “No as-of-yet unseen horrors hidden away? No monsters left from the war?”

Crafter, currently in mid-investigation of the refrigerator, replied in my stead, “Not unless you count two hundred year old beans.” Behind him, I could only just make out a series of cans of food, all ergonomically packaged with the same sort of military adornment I could sympathize with – a flat yellow wrapper with black text proclaiming each can’s contents.

Blinking, I embellished, “Besides the beans, there’s a full machine shop in here, plus a water purifier.”

Moving completely inside and beginning to look around, Fade replied absently, “Now this I have to see… And thank you Wrenchy, your assurance inspires much confidence.” The sarcasm practically dripped from his tone, but nonetheless he slung his rifle with the rest of the firearms strewn across his person.

The casual sarcasm drained from his tone entirely as he took a good look around, eyes flitting from one piece of equipment to another."It looks almost like a homemade vault. A resourceful one made this – a wonder it was still locked." He paused a moment before begrudgingly conceding, “Maybe you ponies aren’t the worst at spelunking after all. Who knew?”

At length, once the novelty of the tech we’d found wore off, we set about getting ready to bed down for the night. You see, by this point in the year the sun was setting by what I would have normally considered mid-afternoon. We’d finished sorting out the cave by early evening, and easily had almost a ten or so hours before sunrise. Plenty of time, plus with the door and the weather outside keeping just about anyone from trying to follow us, it promised to be a long, relatively safe night.

After we refilled our water supplies, everyone pretty much split off to their own ends. Fade was cleaning his veritable armoury, having laid out a small towel to hold the smaller pieces of the various weapons he was taking care of. Crafter had the trail carbine disassembled before him, and Bernard was walking him through how it worked as he tended a small cooking fire, beginning to get dinner heated up. Tailwind was working on the terminal, and had promised to transfer anything of note she found to my TFD for later.

I was fiddling around with one of the battlesaddles we’d taken from the ‘Reds, trying to get it to mount the heavy carbine opposite the one functional assault rifle.

Ebb was lying on her back, staring at the ceiling and generally looking very bored.

Things seemed to be proceeding smoothly towards eventually bedding down, when a thought occurred to me. I figured we might as well make use of the mineral spring – pure drinking water was a gift, no doubts about it… but a real spring? I was quite frankly baffled that water even worked like that, what with natural heating and all. I mean sure, us pegasi could make clouds do similar for us whenever we wanted a warm shower… but the natural occurrence was a treat I wasn’t about to let slip by, especially given the circumstances.

I decided to speak up, a smile making its way across my face as I did. “So, I was thinking. It would be a real waste not to make use of the spring out there. In the interest of fairness, I think the mares should have our turn first, don’t you agree, Tail?”

Catching on immediately, Tailwind left the terminal halfway through some sort of data entry, got to her hooves and started all but bouncing towards the spring. “Oooh,” she called out, “an all-mare bath break. Better make sure Crafter doesn’t peak on us!” She threw him an obvious wink before slipping out of sight around the corner.

Given the suddenness of it all, Crafter seemed like he’d choked on nothing at all, on top of turning a shade of red that nearly put my own mane to shame. Bernard gave him a knowing smile, and a comradely pat on the back.

“Erm, I don’t think I follow,” Ebb commented, seeing she was being included but also somewhat suspicious of the “why.”

I replied in the same tone I’d been using, with a healthy dose of levity. “It’s been a long day – A bath would be a perfect way to warm up!” Then I dropped to a quieter tone of voice as I leaned closer to her, just loud enough for her and myself. I held on to the smile, but I’m sure it didn’t reach my eyes. “And besides that, you and I need to talk – privately.”

“Ahh, an informal interrogation, got it.” She blithely replied, getting to her hooves and following Tailwind’s lead. It seemed that confirming her suspicions was easier than telling her I really just wanted to let loose a little, a fact I filed away for later.

Pushing himself up into a sitting position, Fade cleared his throat after it became clear that Ebb was coming with Tail and I. Giving me a determined stare, he commented, “Anything ‘private’ concerning our bezmaz draugs concerns me as well. It’s a parcel deal, you understand.” With a few snap motions, he slapped his rifle back together and re-inserted its magazine. He then waved a talon dismissively in Crafter’s direction, “Unlike certain company, I won’t violate your trust; I’m no voyeur. I’ll simply be nearby.” He rose to his feet and slung the rifle behind his back. He seemed determined, and I didn’t suppose this was an issue I could dissuade him from.

For that matter, it wasn’t like I actually cared if any of them peeked. I really just wanted a chance to talk to Ebb while she was, ostensibly, a bit more relaxed.

Deciding not to press the issue, I shucked my saddlebags and battlesaddle, leaving them just inside the blast door, next to where Tailwind had left her own kit. “Oh, I suppose that’ll be fine,” I replied, “Don’t get too bored though, wouldn’t want you falling asleep on us.” With that, I turned and walked out. If he wanted to follow, he could damn well catch up!

As I turned to leave, I just barely caught a look expressing something along the lines of, “Oh, so you actually agree with me this time?” coming off Fade. Following me out, he called at my back, “Oh, don’t worry about me. You all might be dull, but I’ll make do. Just try not to drown or something, hmm? I’d rather not have to fish your putniņiem out of the water!”

Mostly ignoring him, I rounded the corner to see Tailwind already happily floating around in the hotspring belly-up, her barding thrown haphazardly off to the side. Likewise, I stripped off my own barding, grimacing as dry blood stuck the fabric to my shoulder and leg, only letting go with a disgusting sucking noise. I folded and placed the barding neatly at the side of the cave, making a mental note to give it a wash when I got the chance. Then, I followed my better half and stepped into the water, and oh skies did it feel delightful.

We’d managed to warm up the cave to the point of relative comfort, but the hotspring (it truly did live up to the name) was a whole ‘nother level. I’d had showers – warm, cold, long and short – from some of the finest rain clouds the sky had to offer. I’d even had the chance to avail myself of Neighson’s relatively primitive, but at least warm facilities as well. To say those experiences paled in comparison to the mineral spring I stepped into would be an understatement of epic proportions.

A tingling warmth spread through my hooves, then my belly, barrel and wings in turn, until only my head was out of the water. It felt slightly uncomfortable at very first, but within moments my body adjusted to the temperature, and it felt simply heavenly.

If the day’s events weren’t weighing on my thoughts, I could almost have jumped around in glee at the feeling, as the water slowly flowed around me, moving on a gentle current all its own. I held my breath and dunked my head, closing my eyes and fully submerging myself in the soothing pool. A few seconds later, I breached the water across from where Tailwind was floating, her wings spread-eagled on top of the water and her mane forming a messy halo around her head. Finishing looking around, I brushed my mane out of my face and turned to glance at the sea-green mare standing at the entrance as I casually beckoned, “Come on in, the water’s nice.”

“Um, I guess…” She stammered, clearly not comfortable with the whole situation. As she shucked her barding, I noticed that she undid most of the clasps with her mouth and hooves, only making use of magic to assist her ever so sparingly. She piled it in the corner beside the other two sets.

Having a chance to get a good look at her, her coat showed clear signs of a hard life lived. Scars and old wounds speckled her body, telling more of her past than I suspected she would ever willingly voice. Her ribs stood out against her coat, otherwise taught over wiry muscle, evidence enough of insufficient nutritional balance. Her cutiemark’s gentle, looping waves caught my eye. It was sobering, the reminder that in a shallow grave a few kilometers away lay its twin.

If not for all that, she would have been conventionally attractive. As it was, she had an aura of perseverance around her that quietly took my breath away, especially in a mare who was looked younger than Tailwind or myself, probably Crafter too.

Awkwardly doing her best to stare at her hooves, she tentatively stepped into the water, giving only a slight hesitation after putting her first hoof in. She didn’t come in far, just enough to sit down, leaving most of her body above the water.

For a while, we all quietly floated there, steam gently rising around us, lending a surreal air to the whole situation. Dimly, heavily suppressed by the contours of the cavern, we could hear the far away wail of the winds outside. I submerged my head again, letting the water soak into all of me, mane, wings, feathers and all.

From below, I could see a corona of pinkish red surrounding each of us as the water gently washed the blood away. Tailwind’s foreleg, my shoulder, and Ebb seemed to have had a nasty cut hidden in her hairline. Untouched for months, as close to pure as things get on the surface, and we brought the blood and dirt of the battlefield to that wellspring.

I let out the breath I was holding, and resurfaced, brushing my mane clear once again. Despite the time that had passed, Ebb still seemed ill at ease. Deciding to do what I could to alleviate that, I spoke up. “Don’t worry, unlike certain members of this little group, we don’t bite.” Dropping the sarcasm, I looked her in the eyes as I continued, “I wanted to talk to you – not interrogate, talk. As far as I’m concerned, any real intel value you might have on us would be near identical to what your observation post would have managed to relay already. That doesn’t concern me. What does, is that you’ve lived on the other side of the line in the North, for as well as I can guess, a long time. We intend to keep going West, and I imagine we’ll be bringing you with us. At length, I’d like to know what we’re walking into.” I paused a moment to let that sink in, before continuing, “Trotwynd is our next point of call, and I’d prefer not to go in blind. If we get lit up before we even get to the gates, you’ll be right there with us.”

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, the feeling was somewhat muted by Tailwind floating between the two of us, using her wings like a pair of paddles to propel herself along.

Ebb took her time thinking about what I’d said before responding, and I got the feeling that she didn’t… understand me, and it was making her uncomfortable. When she did speak up, it was in a measured tone. “Well, Trotwynd is kind of a small town – used to be bigger before it got toasted. Most of the ponies who resettled there afterwards got caught up in Red Eye’s net after the Rangers pulled out.” She gave an exasperated shrug, “I don’t really know what info you’re looking for. If you’re planning on using me as a hostage you’d probably be better off just shooting me. Reds won’t care to trade for me.”

I let out a soft sigh, my breath sending a puff of condensation into the air. While I could hardly blame her skepticism, it was beginning to wear on me. “Look Ebb, if we were going to shoot you for who you are, we would have by now. I want to make things clear to you – we’re stranded down here. Tailwind and myself, I mean. Our government won’t be searching for us, and odds are if we tried to go home, we’d be quarantined just for having been here as long as we have. If others hadn’t been lenient towards us where we’d done nothing to deserve it, we’d both be dead by now. More than you could possibly know, we sympathize with your situation.” Collecting my thoughts, I added, “you aren’t a hostage, and you certainly aren’t a slave – Fade seems to consider you his responsibility, but I don’t honestly think he sees you as his. It isn’t how he works. To me, you’re a potential asset to our team.”

That said, I leaned back, closed my eyes and let my head rest against the edge of the pool. “And besides all that, I’ve had enough killing for one day. I killed a griffon who probably deserved it, a pony who probably didn’t, and I orchestrated the killing of more people than I ever have. I saw Fade execute a prisoner of war, and I don’t even know if he was wrong. In the balance of things, I just don’t want to kill you. Some shitty form of penance, maybe, but it is what it is.”

From the other side of the pool, I heard Ebb quietly moving water around with her hoof, fidgeting more than anything before she eventually spoke up. “Well, I still don’t understand, but I guess that’s not the point.” She sighed, and spoke a little softer, with something like a note of honesty entering her voice. “For what it’s worth, thank you… for not killing me, that is.”

I smiled. Perhaps I’d said a bit more than I had intended to, but I seemed to have been able to get through to her at last. She didn’t seem to expect us to shoot her as soon as it became convenient, so I’d count that as progress. “Why I asked about Trotwynd,” I started again after a few moments, recalling our earlier conversation, “Is because you’ll probably be the one of us that will fit in the best when we’re there. Fade would probably be next up, but I’d rather avoid having him speak for us, to be honest.”

From around the corner, an irritated “huff” emanated our way. It was pretty easy to imagine the mock-hurt look on Fade’s face right about then.

“Oh, you wouldn’t want to anyways!” I called back, before continuing to explain, “Now, on top of that, Tailwind and I managed to accidentally convince a few too many ponies that we were affiliated with Red Eye, but I have a suspicion that we wouldn’t have the same effect on the ponies of Trotwynd.” Opening my eyes, I looked her way as I gradually got around to her part in my still-tentative plan. “Not without somepony who knows how things work on your side of the line, so to speak. I suspect it might well lead to a lot more survival, for all involved.” I trailed off, realizing I’d gone on long enough. “So what are your thoughts there? I believe you have the capacity to help us, but I can’t tell if you would have the desire to do so. I can’t say I’d blame you if you don’t.”

Ebb seemed to mull her situation over in her head before speaking again, and when she did it was with that same honest tone as earlier, “Trotwynd is still locally controlled, they’ve got a mayor and all, but their whole setup is under the watchful eye of some of Red’s slavers. I…” She seemed to falter a touch, losing a bit of confidence. “I don’t know how well I’d be able to convince them. They’re not army so I wouldn’t know any of them. I also don’t see how we could pass off as a patrol either – the warden has a tight grip on the teams going in and out, specifically so something like this doesn’t happen.”

Nodding in response, I tipped my head back, dipping my mane and all but the tip of my muzzle under the water, breathing through my nose.

Things were both better and worse than I’d imagined. It would seem we couldn’t go dressed as ‘Reds – not that I was particularly fond of the idea anyways, not after we’d just finished refurbishing our scout barding. Free agents it is, then. Even if Trotwynd wasn’t under military control, they would probably still be aware that one of the field teams got hit, but – if my gamble paid off – they might not be on as high alert as their military counterparts. We wouldn’t be able to sell everything when we stop there – certainly not the AM rifle – but the small arms and ammo… we could probably liquidate those. More importantly, we might be able to get a lead on the Serpent while we’re there.

There were still issues. Not least of which was that Tailwind and myself would have to go as we were – as pegasi, in a town our kind had glassed seven short years ago. Can’t say I was looking forwards to seeing how that was going to go.

Bringing my head back above the surface with a light splash, I blinked water out of my eyes as I broke my silence. “I’ve got a plan. I’ll explain in full when we’re with the others.”

“...And so, we’ll be going as free agents. Ebb will do most of the talking if we can manage it, and we’ll keep as vague as we can manage as to our destination.” It was some time later. We’d dried off and rejoined the others, and I was just wrapping up issuing orders for the next day. “They’re civvies, so a group as heavily armed as us should be able to buy ourselves some breathing room from the locals simply because they won’t want to mess with us.”

We were all sitting in a rough circle around a fire that had been kindled since we left. Bernard was overseeing a set of canned meals cooking over a small fire. The rest listened with varying degrees of attentiveness.

“Any questions?” I asked.

Bernard piped up, “So they’re supposed to assume we’re a group of mercs or some such?”

I nodded. “I don’t expect them to press the issue, but if it comes to it our story’s going to be that we’re looking to join up further down the line, Salty…”

“Peet,” Ebb spoke up, somewhat hesitant, “Saltpeet Quarry, the nearby Red Eye garrison.”

“Right, that one. Supposedly, there aren’t any slaves there anyways, all Red troops and support staff.” I met gazes all around the room as I spoke, making sure what I was saying was sinking in. Crafter seemed to snap to when I got around to him. Honestly, he might have actually dozed off at one point, but even I was too tired to ride him for it at that point. “Unless we find a big lead on the Serpent or any major slave movements, we’ll probably bypass that particular stop.”

Ebb in particular seemed somewhat relieved by that, course all I had to go by was a gentle sigh and a slight upturn in the corner of her mouth. The rest of the group took it in stride, simply listening intently. Bernard seemed to turn in on himself for a moment, no doubt wanting to be sure we didn’t end up missing his daughter along the way. If he disagreed with my assessment, he didn’t voice it.

It occurred to me that they were, as a group, really starting to trust me with these sort of decisions. It served as a reminder of the weight of my task.

To not get these people killed.

“We’ll have a better idea of where we’re going once we get to Trotwynd. Depending on how things go, we might not get a chance like tonight for a while, so make it count. Get some grub in you, take care of what you all need to, and we’ll get some rest. We’ll lock the door, no watch tonight – I want everybody one hundred percent when we roll out of here tomorrow morning.”

As if in consciously aware of my mention of food, Crafter’s stomach let out an audible rumble. He glanced sheepishly around, clearly feeling like he’d made some sort of gaffe while I was talking.

I gave him a smirk, “If there’s nothing else, lets all take a cue from Crafter’s ever reliable stomach.” Turning to the older stallion, I asked, “Bernard, how are we doing for grub?”

“Ready whenever, boss,” he replied, giving me a start as the normally taciturn buck actually used a nickname. “Got some ‘vintage’ canned food all heated up, figured it’d go well with the few expirables we’ve got left from Neighson.”

“Mmm,” I snarked, “Sounds… delicious.”

“Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it,” Bernard chided as he tossed me a can, hot and fresh from the fire. The packaging was faded and yellow, some sort of off-brand without any fancy pictures, simple black text on yellow background proclaiming dinner was going to be “Potatoes with Gravy.” The bottom edges had blackened where flames had licked at the bottom, but the can itself wasn’t quite too hot to hold. Just right, as expected of Bernard.

In turn, he reached over and tossed each of the rest a can, to go with our small assortment of veggies and a bit of jerky from Neighson. Tailwind hopped up and snagged hers right out of the air, while Crafter simply captured his in a telekinetic field as it came his way.

Fade held up a taloned hand and gently shook his head as Bernard made to toss him a can, instead reaching into his own pack for a sachet of jerky and a Sparkle Cola. “Thanks, but for now I think I’ll stick with something with some meat on it.”

With a shrug, Bernard tossed Fade’s can to Ebb, who caught it with her forehooves. It seemed more like a reflex than anything, because her expression was one of genuine confusion. With a soft smile, Bernard commented, “What, you’ve gotta eat too, don’t you?”

Getting her wits about her, Ebb replied, “Well, thanks. I just wish we knew what the hell was in these, you know?” She nervously laughed off her initial reaction.

The rest of the group was very quiet. The sort where everyone else in the room just realized something that the speaker was entirely oblivious to. Tailwind paused for a moment, halfway through using a utility knife to open her own can of what seemed to be some sort of corned hash. Crafter, usually the oblivious one, even he seemed to pick up that something was amiss.

Clearly labeled on the side of her can was the black-on-yellow word “Beans,” and she was clearly able to see it too.

She just couldn’t read it.

“Ebb…” Bernard started, realization in his eyes.

Ebb glanced back at the can, her eyes going wide as she realized what had happened. She got to her hooves, placing the can on the ground as she did. “You know what, I’m actually not that hungry,” She declared, immediately turning and striding out the open security door.

My mouth hung open as she left. I wanted to say something, but all those years of military experience, training, discipline… the world I’d known, the life I’d lived hadn’t prepared me for something like this. For the crushing realization that some- no, many people down here must have gone their entire lives not having something as simple as an understanding of how to read. Quite frankly, I had no idea how to react to that. The concept that somepony her age, someone who had lived in territory controlled by one of the major factions down here on the surface… it had taken until then for it to truly sink in that referring to any group down here as “Civilization” was, definitively, a misnomer.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d seen far too much to dismiss the absence of what I’d call civilization as a lack of basic decency, I suppose. The wasteland was just missing so much I’d taken for granted my whole life, and its absence was… well, something of a watershed event for me, if I’m to be completely honest.

To say I categorically failed to respond to her was an understatement.

Luckily, we had just the stallion to do something about it.

Bernard got to his hooves, an expression I hadn’t seen him wear before written all over his face. A heartbroken determination blazed behind his normally cool eyes. The instant his gaze caught mine, I saw the resolve there; The look of someone who’d seen a fault in the way the world was, and taken it upon himself to correct it.

The look only a father can wear.

As he scooped up the can in a forehoof and cantered off after her, I had every confidence in the world that she was in good hooves.

Author's Notes:

Well, it's my birthday, and this is my present to y'all. Hope you enjoyed it! Also hoping to continue a more reasonable editing schedule, but we'll see how that goes.

Got some updates to the team. Shady, BasicJasioh and KylieAdams (go read her story, it's a more down to earth story 'bout a Stable Security Captain and her squad:
Stable Scout) have hopped aboard. Many thanks to them for how fast they and Belmor all managed to turn this chapter around editing-wise.