The ship let out a groan as it listed under my hooves. I braced myself against the hallway bulkhead as the others in the kitchen did their best to keep breakfast from sliding onto the floor. You know, I never thought I’d say this, but I think I understand Tofu’s airsickness a little bit more now…

“Sorry about that, everyone.” Eliza’s voice came through every speaker in the ship at once. “The blizzard has stronger wind shear than expected. I am doing my best to compensate, however, it may be prudent to anticipate more disruptions.”

“You know,” Happy groaned from inside the kitchen. “Now that the pegasi aren’t busy trying to keep us grounders suppressed, you think they might do something about the fucking weather…”

“We do have our limits.” Dad’s aggravated tone resonated off the walls and instantly sent me back to when we’d still lived in the city. “It’d take a city’s worth of pegasi a day to disrupt a storm system this large.”

As the listing stopped and the ship leveled itself, I got my hooves steadied enough to hobble into the mess hall. Delta and Cora were sitting at the table as Happy and my Dad brought out a few steaming plates of food from the kitchen. My mouth watered as the smell of freshly cooked potatoes, hay, and corned cabbage wafted towards me.

“Oh, good morning, Night!” Happy grinned nearly from ear to ear as he set down a steaming tray of baked cram using his wooden hoof. “Slept well, I hope!” With an unnatural lightness to his hooves, he spun himself around and headed back into the kitchen.

“Yeah…” I almost tripped as my mind tried to process the sheer amount of joy in his voice. I didn’t get sucked into another one of my Jynx’s ‘utopian’ dreams, did I? “Is uh… everything alright?”

Happy stopped just short of the kitchen door. He didn’t offer me a cheery response, or shrug off my question. Instead, he let it sink in for a moment before he let out a sigh.

“No.” He shook his head. “But, things are... better, Night.” Turning to me, he shared his now waning smile, as well as the same hope filled gaze he’d worn yesterday. “Thanks for genuinely caring, even though I’ve been kinda’ a jerk lately.”

“That’s my Night!” Dad offered me a sincere smile as he sat himself down at the table. “He’s always been one to care about others, and I’ve never been more proud of him.”

“Dad…” I groaned. Oh goddesses, please don’t embarrass me in front of everyone…

“You don’t have to tell us.” Cora grunted as he leveled a glare right at me as I went to sit down. “It’s gotten us into far more trouble than he’s going to be willing to admit.” Okay, as true as that was, ask yourself, did I really deserve the glare he was shooting me!? “Not to mention, that ‘caring nature’ of his has rubbed off on my daughter.” Hey, I’m still trying my best! He has no right to tell my dad...

“Actually, I wanted to bring that up, Night.” Dad’s tone wavered as he reached over and placed his hoof on my shoulder. “I’m… surprised you took an interest in someone like her. Not that there’s anything wrong with exploring and experimenting, mind you! I myself did some experimenting at your age, you know!” He let out a nervous laugh as the room started to feel like it was shrinking. Oh goddesses, that’s from the weight of all the embarrassment I was feeling, wasn’t it? Why me… “But, it’s about your other friend, you see…” He paused as an all too familiar look fell across his cracked and ghoulish face. “Are you sure you don’t want a nice stallion for a husband?”

The way he said that, what he was insinuating, I couldn’t believe it was coming from my own father.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I spat at him as I did my best to shrug his hoof off of me. However, without my own forehoof to help, he firmly held his hoof and gave me the look he always did when he expected an answer from me. “What’s wrong with Buck?”

“Whoa easy there, Night. And pops, don’t worry about it.” Double Delta smiled as he started to dish some of the steaming potatoes onto his plate. “The Doc’s a great guy, real upstanding and caring as well. It’s not hard to see that he’s head over hocks for Night here.”

“But, that’s not exactly what this is about, is it?” Cora grunted as with a blink, he shifted his glare from me over to Dad. “You don’t like that Night isn’t dating a pony, right?” I always found it interesting how others looked under the weight of a glare like that, but part of me wasn’t sure how to think about it when the other person was my Dad. “You don’t have to tread lightly here, no Enclave bureaucrat is going to whisk you off to jail. With us, you say what you mean, or you don’t say it at all.”

I mean, as much as I liked to see the tables turned, Cora had read this wrong. As much as my dad was uncomfortable, he was going through the same period of adjustment I did when I woke up in the Inuvik, that’s all. I’m sure, given time...

“Well, you see... it’s just…” Dad stammered and shrunk back a bit, jamming up my train of thought. “Your daughter is so lovely, and I’m glad that she makes Night happy. But… at least she’s still a flier, you know? Us fliers have to stick together, after all! But I mean, being with some wasteland monster...”

I was wrong to be mad at him. Cora had read my Dad like a book. An outdated, and incredibly wrong book.

“I’ve heard enough.” I grunted and pushed myself up from the table.

“Night, I know you think you love him…” Dad tried to start, but I wheeled myself around on him and literally spat in his face.

“Have you once stopped and thought about what you’re saying, Dad?” I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard from him. “Have you thought about those Enclave morals you’re desperately trying to hold up? Having to ‘stick together’? You’ve seen where that got us, right?” I dragged my hoof across my neck where the blackened and knotted flesh from his explosive collar on his still sat. “I didn’t expect you to be happy for me, but I expected you to understand that I’m an actual adult now, and that this isn’t your decision to make.”

“Hey, don’t you take that tone with me, mister.” Dad pushed himself up to his hooves and clenched his jaw. “You may consider yourself a grown stallion now that you have your cutie mark, but I’m simply concerned for your well being, Night! The Enclave may have had its share of mistakes, but it was for a good reason! If your mother were here, she’d have the same…”

“Mom’s dead!” I snapped back at him, putting every ounce I could behind my voice. “I love Buck and Hispano more than I could have ever imagined, and Mom would’ve at least been fucking happy for me!”

Turning myself around, I headed back for my room and ignored the calls for me to come back and talk. I wasn’t going to sit there and argue with somepony who couldn’t see that things were different now. And it hurt. I wasn’t lying when I said that I hadn’t expected him to be happy, but it still hurt to know that he disapproved.

But I wasn’t a colt anymore, I was my own pony. And while maybe mom wouldn’t have approved either, that still didn’t change how I felt. I loved Buck, no matter what anypony else said, they would never convince me otherwise.

I snorted with a smirk as I hobbled my way to my room. Had Buck been here with me right now, he’d have probably suggested we talk it out, and explain it to my father. But as much as that’s probably what my Dad needed to hear right now, I was happy letting him sit there and think about what he’d said for a while. If Dad wanted to act like a foal, he could use a goddess damned time-out to reflect on his opinions...

Now that I think about it, why was it somepony around me was always acting like a fucking foal? First Happy, and now Dad. Ugh, why does this shit always happen to me.

“Sometimes the only thing more dangerous than a question, is an answer..” The other me poked her head right through the sealed bulkhead to the captain’s quarters. “But if you’d like, I could arrange a little… accident for your Dad. One little over-pressured reactor line and I’m sure he’d learn his lesson…”

“You do that and I’ll devote the rest of my life to finding a way to remove you painfully.” I glared at her, predictably only getting a smile for my efforts. “I don’t want him hurt, I just… I want him to change his mind.”

“About what?” Buck’s voice startled me as he poked his head through the Core Systems room bulkhead. The smile he wore across his jagged metal jaw dimmed as his gaze wandered over me. “Night, what’s wrong?”

“It’s… nothing.” I sighed and shook my head.

“I beg to differ.” He chuckled as he stepped through the bulkhead toward me. “Come on, Hispano’s slept long enough, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind talking about whatever it is that’s on your mind.” Carefully, he held his paw out to me and smiled like he always did.

I loved the small, genuinely caring smile across his muzzle because it proved I was right. How could anypony think that he was a monster? Sure, I’d thought that’s what he was at first, but I was fresh from the clouds and as ignorant as a colt. But if you spend any amount of time with him you’d be able to see past his appearance like I had. And well, Dad has had more than a week on board to get to know him, and for me, that was ample enough time to see the kind soul under all the metal and fur.

“I love you, Buck.” I whimpered as my leg’s pushed me past his paw and right into a strong hug. “I don’t care what my dad thinks.”

“And I love you too, Night.” He nodded as I squeezed my fore leg around his warm furred body as tightly as I could. With soft stokes, he ran his mechanical paw down my mane and let a soft chuckle out. “But there’s a lot to unpack with what your Dad thinks of me, and that we’ll definitely need to talk about it. Not just alone, but with him as part of the conversation, even if he doesn’t like me.”

“I knew you’d say that.” I chuckled as well as I pressed myself further into his warmth.

“So then you know I’m right.” He lifted one of his paws up and used it to open the door to our quarters. “But we don’t have to do that right now. Here, let’s wake up Hispano and have a little talk, because we have more to discuss than you might think.” Looking up through his fuzzy chest at him, I watched as a heated blush grew across his face.

Just what exactly did he mean by that?

“Excuse me, you um… what?” I blinked and stared at Buck and Hispano’s nearly matching glowing blushes. The two of them shifted uneasily as they sat perched on the end of our bed, and I could understand why with the bombshell they just dropped on me.

“During the examination I gave Hispano,” Buck brought one of his paws up to his metal jaw and scratched at it softly. “We were both curious if… if everything was functionally male. And when we spoke, I mentioned a way I thought could help her adjust to being a guy...”

“Yeah! I mean...” Hispano’s male voice was something I was still adjusting to, but it couldn’t hide the same nervous undertones her feminine self had held sometimes. “It wasn’t like I’d straight up asked him to do anything. It’s just, one thing lead to another, and the urges you guys have to deal with are so… different...”

“And so you guys just... went at it.” I nodded as I still worked in my head to process it. I can’t say I’m not surprised, and I’m far from disappointed. Both Buck and Hispano had said he’d been interested in helping her de-stress before. It’s just that with Hispano being a guy now, the timing was… unexpected.

“I know you said you wouldn’t be jealous, but…” Hispano clicked his beak nervously and looked up at Buck. “it won’t happen again, if it makes you uncomfortable.” He fidgeted with his talons, tapping at his hindlegs with his claws as he looked away. “But Buck says I could be like this for a while, which, isn’t the end of the world anymore since I know it’s at least not permanent.” He pressed his talons together tightly and took a few deep breaths. “And knowing that, I was wondering… while we have this chance, and because I know you’d love me more if I were actually a guy…”

As much as I did actually find her more attractive this way, that’s… that’s not why I liked her and she knew it.

“Hispano…” I let out my own sigh and resisted the urge to facehoof with the only hoof keeping me from falling over. “We’ve been over this. It doesn’t matter if you’re a guy, or if you were a hippogriff, or anything! You know I love you, so don’t you go thinking that because your going to be a guy for a while, that I’ll be happier with you.” I paused, waiting for him to look back at me. It didn’t take long for his gaze to drift back over, and with it, came a soft smile tugging at the ends of his beak. “So long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters to me.”

“That’ll be ten caps.” Buck smirked and nudged at Hispano sharply, pulling a few slow blinks from me.

“Excuse me, you made a bet on my answer?” I asked flatly. While I didn’t care about the two making a friendly wager, part of me wanted to give a good glare at Buck for betting on such a personal topic.

“I… I didn’t even want to tell you.” Hispano groaned as he flopped back onto our bed. Even though he was laying flat, his sharp, larger masculine features only helped to show the bright glowing blush radiating from his face. “I’m sorry, but I’ve seen some ponies react really poorly to being told things like this.”

“So you’ve met another couple in a three way relationship where one of them changed genders overnight?” Buck snorted. He winced as Hispano’s swift response came in the form of swinging my pillow at his face hard enough that I’d thought it might split open. Well, at least this situation was easily diffused, compared to...

“Since you brought it up, you know what makes me uncomfortable?” I sighed. The more I thought about it, the more I just needed to say it out loud for myself to hear. “How even after finding out about everything, about what the Enclave did, my Dad still tries to act like we’re still a part of it.” I hung my head and again resisted the urge to do something stupid. However, this time it was wanting to bash my head against the floor until I couldn’t think anymore. “I mean, he doesn’t even know either of you, and he’s already decided what’s best for me!”

“He’s your father, Night. He simply cares about you.” Buck pushed himself up from the edge of the bed and reached out to me. Slowly I pushed myself up and walked over to him, allowing him to scoop me up and place me down on the bed next to Hispano. “And given time, I’m sure he’ll see us for who we are, rather than what we are.”

“You don’t understand,” I didn’t want to whine as I said that, but… it was like a reflex. “Dad’s smarter than this, and he’s had nearly as long down here as I had to adjust!”

“Yeah, but you need to know, Dum Dum,” Hispano reached over and wrapped his talon around my remaining foreleg. “You had us there, the whole convoy there to help you adjust. And you adapted, faster than I thought you would despite your morals getting in the way at every turn.” With his blush still glowing across his face, he looked me straight in the eyes and smiled. “Buck and I? Were not going anywhere, even if your dad never learns to accept us. But that doesn’t mean we give up on him.”

“Exactly.” Buck’s mechanical paw reached over and slowly gripped around Hispano and I. “Even if he isn’t supportive, that doesn’t mean we won’t stop trying to change his mind.”

My own blush flared up across my face, burning brightly as from each side, Buck and Hispano pulled themselves in and planted a series of soft kisses. Slowly, they worked their way forward, and I all but melted from the attention. The moment they connected to my warm muzzle however, all of my stress evaporated, just like that.

Goddesses, what did I do to deserve a family like this?

And before you decide to show up and ruin things, Jynx, that wasn’t an invitation. Not even you could ruin a moment like this. Everything would be perfect from here on out.

“You sure you want to make that bet?” Her voice echoed from the back of my mind as her head peeked over the end of the bed.

I was about to give her a response, and went as far as giving her a passing glance before Hispano’s talons wrapped under my chin and pulled me further into another kiss with him. Meanwhile, Buck’s paws ran down my sides, sliding down and sending a shiver through me that told me that while we may have come in here for a serious chat, none of us were at all interested in talking anymore.

As the Arcturus began to list again from the blizzard outside, I found myself with little time to ponder just why days like this always seemed to lead to long and warm stays inside our little cabin...

The room turned red.

An alarm pierced the air with an almost ear-splitting shrillness to it. The ship itself listed further than it had before, nearly forcing Buck, Hispano, and I to slide right out of our bed. What the hell, did we just hit something!?

“Captain.” Eliza’s voice boomed into my head and out of the walls as the alarm bell continued to ring out. “Starboard side cloud drive has been damaged by an approaching force of unknown assailants arriving from position one three zero mark zero one five. They are landing on the hull and now attempting to force their way inside the ship.”

A small box opened in my augmented vision that displayed an almost completely white image. Flickers of something moving came through what originally looked like static, but I could just barely make out a sort of roundish, sparkling sheen that stood out. I started to understand that the static was actually the blizzard’s snow whipping past the camera on the hull, and as it cleared a bit more, I could see who was knocking at the hatch.

Three alicorns, one of each color, stood around a circular, cloud-stripped section of the hull. The green one stood as still as a rock, a flickering glow from their horn casting a magical bubble over the other two. The purple and blue alicorns had their horns down, combining their magic into some sort of magical cutting torch that, as I watched, made quick work of the outer hatch.

Then with a flash of magic, they disappeared from the camera’s view.

“Shit, where did they go!?” I gasped as the ship righted itself once more, and the three of us were able to clamber off of our bed.

“Who?” Hispano called out as he threw himself across the room to where he’d secured Suiza. “What’s going on?”

“Alicorns.” Buck’s growl punctuated just how much any of us were going to enjoy the inevitable fight to come.

“Captain, intruders on the bridge!” Eliza’s less than monotone voice came over the speakers. “They’ve surrounded King, and forced her to shield herself in a bubble.”

“We’re on our way, Eliza.” I spoke as I hobbled my way to the door. Gripping the hatch, I yanked with all my strength and pulled it open. Before I could step through, Buck’s paw wrapped around me and stopped me short of leaving.

“Let Hispano and I handle this, Night.” As he spoke, Buck’s arm unfolded and revealed his small magical energy weapon. “You don’t have your gear on, and I won’t let you go into a fight defenseless.”

As remiss as I was to agree, he did have a point. Fuck! I didn’t like the idea of idly standing by when I could be helping. And after everything I’d been through, you think I would have been smart enough to keep something on my…

“Thanks to you, I’m never defenseless!” I gasped as I thought about my emergency one-shot eye-gun-thing. I focused on it, and felt my augment vibrate as one of the optics pushed out and glowed like it had last time.

“Cool, we all have a gun.” Hispano squawked flatly as he shoved me out of Buck’s grasp, and through the bulkhead. “Now let’s go kick these bitches off our ship.”

We turned and headed for the bridge, basically running right into Delta as he walked across the core systems room toward us with a worried look.

“Captain, there are three of them in there with King.” He spat as he spun on his hooves and pointed to the surprisingly bright purple air in the open bulkhead leading towards the bridge. “They’ve put up a shield spell to keep us out.”

“What are they doing with King?” While I didn’t like the idea of three alicorns busting into our ship, maybe they knew him. “Maybe they just wanted to talk.”

I hobbled up toward the shield and looked inside to the bridge. Three alicorns stood almost equally spaced around the bubble that King projected around himself, one of each color. Several of the consoles in the bridge sparked and crackled with fire from where his bubble cut straight through them. The invading green one had her horn lowered to King’s bubble, and it was wrapped in several layers of overglow as it looked like she was using it like a cutting torch again.

“What is taking so long to counter her spell?” The blue Alicorn snarled across to the green. “Take much longer and the new Unity may not find that you add to Razor Storm’s perfection. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

“Almost… through…” The green whimpered out as yet another, brighter glow wrapped over her horn.

“Matriarch, we have company!” The purple one called out as her eyes fell upon my own. “Crew of this vessel, stand aside, our business does not concern you!”

“Foal, speak not with them!” The blue alicorn boomed out louder than any of us had expected.

There was a sizzle and a sharp snap from inside the bridge as King’s bubble fizzled. He cried out as his horn sputtered and blackened, but he didn’t simply stand still. With a strength only a body like theirs could muster, he lowered his horn and charged toward the purple alicorn.

There was another flash, and King stopped cold mid-charge as an aura of blue wrapped around his body.

“Excellent work.” The blue alicorn’s horn glowed brightly as she torqued her head and lifted King’s paralyzed form up into the air with little effort.

“Enough standing around!” Hispano grunted as he shoved me aside. With a swift swing, he brought the barrel of his sister to rest against the magical barrier in the doorway. “Fire in the hole!”

The report from Suiza deafened us all momentarily. A high pitched ringing set in before the muffled sounds of the rest of the world came back. The three of us watched as the magical barrier in the doorway filled with spidering cracks that stretched out from a twenty millimeter hole in the purple magic shield.

Without hesitation, Hispano lifted Suiza higher up. Again, with her barrel firmly placed, he pulled the trigger. Another deafening shot lead to another hole and yet more cracks in the barrier, but it still held. We were running out of time.

“Hold on.” Buck barked as he pulled Hispano and I away from the door. “If I can rotate the settings to find the inverse magical attunement…”

He lifted his magical energy weapon towards the door and fired. An almost vibrating pulse ran down the solid beam, striking the weakened barrier. An even higher pitched whine to what was in our ears filled the air, and with it, came a scream from the purple alicorn in the bridge.

Like a pane of glass, the barrier cracked and fell.

“I’m sorry, Matriarch!” The purple alicorn cried out as Hispano and I pushed our way into the room.

“Take us out!” The blue one commanded as she turned her head towards us.

I lined up my eye with the narrowed cat-like blue slits of the alicorn. She wasn’t going to get away with King. Not if we had…

My eye shifted as I noticed my own head pop around the backside of the Alicorn. Jynx smiled to me as she tumbled slowly through the air. As she did, the whole ship listed in the storm once again, and I gasped as my one shot weapon went off.

The magical bolt sailed low, striking her just above her shoulder, but doing nothing more than singeing her coat. Hispano fired Suiza from beside me at about the same time, and I watched as the listing caused the shot to eradicate the terminal on the far side of the room, rather than the head of the green alicorn who’s horn was now glowing brightly again. By the time that Buck had been able to bring his own weapon to bear, a shimmering green shield extended around all four alicorns.

“A valiant attempt, but futile.” The Blue alicorn smirked as her glowing horn held up King like some sort of trophy. “Do not attempt to follow us.”

“Buck!” I snapped at him and pointed at the bubble.

“On it!” Again, he raised his arm and pointed his magical energy weapon at the bubble as the purple alicorn inside flared her horn with a cry.

With a magical flash from the purple one’s horn, the green bubble was gone, and so was everyone inside of it.

The bridge fell silent. Outside of the three of us, and the sparking and broken control consoles, there was nothing. The alicorns were gone. And with them, King.

No, I refuse to let them get away that easily.

“Eliza, where are they?” I asked. This ship has more advanced sensors than anything else in the skies, we had to know where they’ve gone.

“I was not able to compensate for the stronger than anticipated magical radiation interference in the blizzard, and only observed them for a moment before I lost them.” Eliza’s frowning mare appeared on the few still untouched monitors across the bridge. “I’m sorry, Captain.”

“That’s not good enough!” I screamed at her. Again, this ship has all the advantages here! “I refuse to believe that we’ve simply lost King!”

“We have not completely lost him.” Eliza’s frowning mare flipped over to what looked like a radar readout that was unlike anything I’d ever seen used before. A green arm traced around a circular screen like I’d expected from a radar readout, but the interior of it was all white. With a flicker, a black dot appeared for just a moment before vanishing. “I was able to pick up their approach coming from the south east.” The screen fuzzed before showing the same green and white screen. Once again, the black dot showed up in the same place as before, for just as long. “This is what I picked up as they left, once again from the south east.”

“Then that’s where we’re going.” I growled and felt like kicking myself. How could I have let this happen? King trusted me to help him, and I just let them take him!

“If I may, Captain.” Eliza chimed in with more hesitation to her voice than I’d ever heard. “We are hours away from the settlement known as Maple Station.” Her frowning face took over the bridge displays again, and something about it seemed more sincere than it ever did before. “It may be prudent to ask the residents there if they know anything about the alicorn abductors, or whomever this ‘Razor Storm’ is.”

“That’s not a bad idea.” Buck nodded as he carefully brought his paw down onto my side. “I’d much rather see if anyone else knows what sort of trouble we might be running off into before we go and get right into it.”

“Fine,” I hung my head, still fighting with the idea of kicking my own flank because of this. “but even if they don’t know anything, we’re going after King.”

The numbed warmth of the water running over me was swiftly becoming the only thing I’d probably enjoy today. Sighing, I breathed deep, taking in the steam from my shower as I tried to relax.

“A valiant attempt, but futile.”

The image of those alicorns, as well as Jynx, showed up and instantly made my muscles tense up again. Alright, maybe I’ve spent long enough in the shower. The problem was that I still needed something else to keep my mind occupied.

I wobbled on my hock and a half, restoring my balance fairly easily. Looking at my prosthetic, I moved to reach out for it, but stopped as my foreleg stump pulled at the wet bandages uncomfortably. Right.

Taking another deep breath, I relaxed enough again that I could hear the hoofsteps through the doorway making their way towards the showers.

“Night? Can we talk?” Dad’s hesitant voice instantly threw my mind back to the dozens of times he’d come to talk to me in my room after some incident at school or another. The only problem was, I wasn’t locked away in my room, and there was no door here to keep him out.

“Do I have a choice?” I asked as I carefully scooted myself across the floor towards my prosthetic. “Or have you decided this for me as well?”

I winced as the cold and wet steel wall pressed against my skin. Though the talisman numbed my feelings, I still shivered as the cold steel quickly sapped what little warmth I had gained from my shower. With my prosthetic in reach, I hoofed it over and did my best at starting to fit it over my hindleg stump.

“I wanted to say…” Dad said as he stepped into the bulkhead doorway, but stopped as he watched me attempt to attach my leg. I glanced over at him, and waited for the inevitable look of pity he’d give. And for once on this trip, it came exactly as I’d expected. “Night, I’m sorry you’ve had it so rough.”

“It’s fine, Dad.” I grumbled as I managed to finally get my stump set right into the prosthetic. The familiar suction of it helped me to relax slightly as my mind once more felt like I was slightly more whole again than I actually was. “I’ve had plenty of time to adjust.”

Dad shrunk back at my words, more than I thought he would. I hadn’t meant to sound so spiteful, but… maybe he needed to hear that from me. I wasn’t a colt anymore, and he couldn’t treat me like one.

“I...” Dad sighed “I can’t treat you like my little colt anymore.”

Wait, what?

I blinked and stared at him. Had I accidentally said that out loud? Or had I slipped into another one of Jynx’s utopian dreams during my shower? Did some ghouls become psychic with their change? It would at least somewhat explain Madame Mystic’s abilities...

“I know you’ve had it rough.” Slumping slightly, Dad braced himself against the bulkhead as his look hollowed out right in front of me. “More than the stories your friends tell me could ever do justice to, but… you’re still my son. And having you rescue me, only to spend a week getting over an addiction you gained down here? I couldn’t believe you were the same young stallion I’ve raised.”

“Because I’m not.” I blurt out, somewhat focusing his hollow, far off gaze again. “I’ve had to change, adapt, and grow in the wasteland. I’d thought that losing you and mom meant I’d never have a family again, but I found one. They’re all I’ve had over these last few months, and because we’ve stuck together, we’ve survived.” No, that wasn’t entirely true. “Well, some of us have.”

“You’ve done more than just survive, Night.” Dad smirked, but like with his eyes, it too was hollow. “You know, after you were born, your mother always pushed for me to enlist for service again? She said we could work and live together aboard one of the raptors.” A short lived laugh forced his way past his lips. “But I didn’t want that. I saw you as a reason to finally put down roots, for us to stay together.”

“Mom never did like sitting still, did she?” I shared in his hollow smile as images of her flashed up in my mind again. Goddesses, I wish I could see here again.

“No, she didn’t.” Dad laughed again, but behind it I could hear the loneliness he felt. That we both felt for her. “But she didn’t give up on either of us. She kept asking me, deployment after deployment. She pushed you so hard to live up to Enclave standards, she basically wanted you enlisted before your schooling even began. And I fought with her every time. After countless arguments and excuses, I thought the issue had finally been settled when the doctor diagnosed you with flat feathers.” His smile faded, and his eyes drifted off a thousand miles away again. “But in the end, it was all for nothing.”

“You couldn’t have known, Dad.” As much as I blamed myself for King’s abduction, that I could have done more to prevent it, this wasn’t on him. “Neither of us could have saved Mom.”

“You don’t get it, Night.” He forced out another laugh that brought tears to his eyes. “I fought with your mom on the issue because I didn’t think you’d make it in the service.” He brought his eyes into a glare that, while aimed at me, only pressed his greatest regrets upon me. “I thought that you’d be eaten alive by it like so many others. That one day, we’d get a note delivered to us that you had been ‘lost’ in a ‘training exercise’.” He jabbed at his wrinkled, furless chest with his cracked forehooves. “I didn’t believe in you, Night. For years I’ve limited your potential, and what do I do the moment I get you back? The moment I’ve seen the strength it’s taken for you to survive down here? I try to do it again!”

With that, he broke down and cried against the bulkhead. I didn’t know what to do, or what to say. He was wrong about Buck and Hispano, and he still had a lot to understand about what I’d been through, about who I’d become. But he was still my father, and like me for the past few months, he’d been thrust into an overwhelming amount of new situations that he wasn’t prepared for. The difference was, he’d been alone through it all.

“I know that Buck and Hispano aren’t the kind of family you expected, but they’ve been there for me.” I pulled myself to my hooves, trying to speak over his sobs, but not enough that I sounded like I was yelling at him. Slowly, hobbling step after step, I made my way over to him. “And you need to know that you can’t change the way I feel about them. At the same time, I understand you’re doing your best.” Carefully, I put my hoof down on his shoulder. “You’ve always done your best, Dad.”

“It’s not enough, Night.” He groaned as he buried his head in his hooves. “I should have been better! I needed to be there for you, to have believed in you! Especially after your mother...” Twisting himself, he turned and pulled away from my hoof. “You’ve built a life for yourself here, Night. And it’s not my life to intrude on.”

“Dad!” I snapped and reached out for him reflexively, but only ended up falling flat onto the cold floor. From here however, I managed to tightly grip my fetlock around his rear leg. “I don’t care if you think you could have done better, like it or not, you’re a part of my life.” He didn’t try to shake me off, and he didn’t relent as I spoke. He just didn’t move. “You’re part of Buck’s life, a part of Hispano’s, and they want you here. Just like I do.”

“But I don’t understand it, Night.” He kept his stern gaze locked forward into the bunkroom. Through his leg, I could feel his indecisiveness worming through him. “I can’t understand, I don’t have the strength you and your mother shared to deal with these sorts of situations!”

“Yes, I know you do, Dad!” Again I snapped at him, and as I did, I squeezed as hard as I could on his squishy, ghoulish flesh. He let out a whine and tried to fight my hold, but I used it to drag him back towards me. “I watched how you tried to defuse what happened on that Raptor before it exploded.” My words were a shock that completely too the fight out of him. “You tried to reason with Pepper. You tried to do the right thing while none of the others in that room did anything to help.”

“B-b-but how d-did you…” His eyes shot down to me, locked in abject horror.

“That doesn’t matter. You tried, that’s all that matters, Dad.” I did my best to look him in the eye like so many had done for me when I was confused and afraid. “Did you fail? Yes, but you won’t always.” As I said that, I felt my own words hit me hard. In fact, I blinked a few times as I understood them a little better myself after failing to save King. Letting go of Dad’s leg, I took a deep breath. “All you can do is pick yourself up and try again. You and Mom taught me that, and countless others have kept reminding me of it every time I forget.” Looking up at him again, I could see that his uncertainty had worked its way deep into his mind now. “So now, Dad, I’m reminding you.”

The silence between us wasn’t exactly the rousing response from him I’d wanted. And as it persisted as my dad thought about my words, I realized that more and more I could feel the cold floor under me. With all this talk about getting back up, maybe I should be doing just that. I rolled myself over with a grunt, and was about to push myself up when Dad shifted himself above me.

Looking up, I found his hoof held out to me, and a weak smile across his muzzle.

Without hesitation, I took his hoof, and let him help me get back onto my three hooves. I’d hardly been upright for a single second before he pulled me into a tight, yet squishy hug against him. Again, he began to sob, but as he did he only hugged me tighter. Without saying it, I think this was his way of letting me know that he wanted help.

And even though today had been one hell of a roller coaster, I’d try my hardest to do just that.

“We’ve arrived, Captain.” Eliza’s voice spoke through my augment as her smiling mare popped up in my vision. “We’re holding position about a kilometer to the north of Maple Station.”

“Excellent.” I replied without thinking about it. Unfortunately, I was met with a thump and a groan as my Dad hit his head on part of the reactor’s cooling manifold.

“What was that, Night?” He whined as he pushed himself out from between the cramped pipeworks.

“Eliza said we’ve arrived at Maple Station.” I offered to him with my best regretful look as he rubbed at where he’d hit his head.

“The blizzard has also moved far enough from the station that it will not interfere with flight performance.” Eliza’s voice sounded cheerier than normal, which was odd, seeing as she’s never really had emotion so much. “If I may ask a favor before you and the others head down to the settlement, Night? If you could go to the infirmary and inform Cora that he is free to wake Tofu now.”

“I’ll get on that.” I nodded and watched as my Dad’s eyes sank a bit. “Sorry, Dad, but I need to go.”

“It’s fine.” He nodded to me and flashed up a weak, but genuine smile to me. “I… I’ll be fine, Night. Thank you.”

“If all goes well, we won’t be down there long.” Pushing myself up to my hooves, I tried my best to believe those words.

“Hah!” The other me poked her head out from where my dad had been. “Like anything with you could ever be so simple.”

Just ignore her, Night.

“Hey, Night?” Dad asked before I could orient myself toward the reactor room door. “Thanks for talking with me earlier. Your Mom would be proud of the stallion you’ve become.” His smile shifted, filling with the loneliness he and I shared.

“She’d be proud of both of us, Dad.” I nodded to him and then got on my way.

Trotting through the corridor, I stopped at the infirmary door and cracked it open. Doing so woke Cora up from whatever nap he’d been having on the stool inside. He gave a snort as he glanced over, groaning as he realized it was me.

“What.” He spat as he adjusted himself on his seat and folded his talons across his chest.

“We’re at Maple Station.” I told him, peeking in far enough that I could see Tofu still sound asleep on the examination table. “Eliza said it’s time to wake Tofu.”

He nodded to me before craning his neck to the side with a long yawn. It gave out a few loud pops as he likewise stretched his wings and legs out. As soon as he’d done that however, he glanced over at me sharply and waved for me to leave. So I shut the door and continued on toward the mess hall.

Stepping into it, I was hit with the lingering smells of this morning’s breakfast. My stomach gave a grumble loud enough that it almost matched the groan the Arcturus bulkheads gave out now and then. Right, maybe I should grab a bite to eat before we go…

“Here.” Happy called out as he appeared from the kitchen door. With a swing of his neck, he tossed a small canvas bag from his muzzle toward me. One that I was too shocked to catch, and instead, was broadsided across the muzzle with it. “Oof, sorry! Didn’t mean for it to hit you like a sack of potatoes!” Happy gasped as the bag dropped to the floor. “Though to be fair, it is a sack of baked potatoes. Figured that you’d be getting hungry about now.”

“Thanks, Happy.” I smirked as I leaned forward and picked the bag up with my muzzle. “Hrmph murph…” Blinking, I set the bag down before trying to talk again. “Get your stuff, we’re heading down in a few minutes.”

“What?” Happy’s muzzle split with a nervous smile and a few darting glances that made me think he wasn’t who I was talking to. “You… want me to go… down there?”

“Unless you’ve got something better to do?” I tried my best to offer him a comforting smile, but I could see the fear creeping up behind his eyes. “Look, it won’t be for long. If you really don’t feel up to going…”

“Pft!” He rolled his eyes and gave a dismissive wave of his hoof. “It’s not like I’m afraid to go or anything.”

“No, of course, I never meant that.” I moved to give my own dismissive wave, but caught myself just before I fell flat on my face because of it.

“Whoa, easy, Night.” Happy’s hooves wrapped around my side in an instant and helped to steady me. “You sure you’re up to going?”

“Just, still getting used to three legs… again.” I did my best to act like that didn’t bother me, but I couldn’t shake the fear that with just one more mistake, I wouldn’t ever be moving about on my own legs again! Then again, I’m not out of this just yet, and... I can spin this to my advantage. “You know, a pair of quick and strong hooves would help me out down there.”

Happy sighed and gave me some Delilah level side-eye as he pulled his hooves back.

“Fine.” He shared just the lightest smirk with me as he turned and lined up with me. With a flash of his wooden foreleg, he snatched up the bag from the floor and held it out ahead of us. “But only because I’m afraid that without help, you’re liable to walk right off a cliff. Now, lead on, Captain.”

I shared a smirk back as the two of us wound our way through the Arcturus towards the captain’s quarters. The lack of noise as we approached gave me hope that I wasn’t about to interrupt Buck and Hispano doing anything, but it was also a bit worrying. Honestly, I should have heard something from them though...

Happy and I stopped in front of the door, and I raised my hoof to knock…

...and promptly fell forward and slammed my head against the door.

“Ow…” I whined as Happy’s hooves were a bit slow to catch me this time.

“Sorry… didn’t realize I was already on the clock!” He whispered as he helped me stand up straight again.

There was a metallic squelch from the door as it opened, and the fully robed and geared up form of Buck loomed in the doorway. He stepped aside with a smile, revealing that Hispano was likewise geared up and ready. Er, well… not quite ready.

“Stupid… hat!” He grumbled as she managed to fit his flight cap over his more masculine shaped head. “Fuck it! I’ll just deal with it.” Grabbing on tightly to Suiza with one talon, he used his other one to adjust where Baby’s holster sat against his hindleg. The straps obviously hadn’t been re-adjusted for a grown griffon, and looked tight enough that they might be hampering blood flow to his leg. “Let’s just get the fuck out of here already.”

“Alright, I just need to grab my gear…” I started to speak before I found my muzzle shut by a soft press from one of Buck’s mechanical digits.

“Already packed. You can put it on in the Remora.” His jagged jaw split into a wider smile before he pulled his paws up and moved the hood up over his head. “Eliza, is the Distress signal from Unit Seven still in the settlement?”

“No, it is not currently present.” Eliza’s frowning mare popped up in my vision, but quickly flipped over to her cheery, smiling self. “However, given the intermittent pattern of contact, that should not be cause for alarm.”

Of course that’s why he and Hispano were ready! He’d gotten Eliza’s message as well. I sure can be an idiot sometimes…

“Most times, I’d say.” Jynx wore a smile as she stepped out behind Hispano wearing my combat and flight harness. “Hmmm, should we wear this out? It does feel a bit last season...” She turned and inspected the grenades at her sides before waving a hoof over my submachine gun. As she did, it morphed into one of Bessy’s howitzer shells. “Maybe one ‘o five is more en vogue this far south. What do you think, Night?”

“Night?” Happy spoke directly into my ear, making me jump a bit. I looked over to him and found a puzzled look across his face. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, no, don’t worry, really, I’m not, but it’s fine!” I worked through each and every word of that with a deteriorating sense of confidence. To cap it all off, I let out a light giggle that even to my own ears sounded like I’d slightly lost my mind. What the hell was that, Night?

“Really botched that speech check, didn’t you?” Jynx gave a delighted chuckle as she too walked out with Hispano. I just… needed to ignore her.

“Just pre-settlement jitters, Happy.” Hispano grunted as he made his way out into the hall with us before pausing to look at me. “Right, Night?”

“More the fact that I have a zebra curse in my head talking to me, but yeah, I’m good.” I nodded to her, once again not really inspiring any confidence in either of the three of them. “Anyway, we’ve got work to do! To the Remora!” Come on, Night, you’ve survived worse than this, so you can survive a short trip into town.

The Remora lurched hard in the gusting wind. While the worst of the blizzard had passed, the winds here were still strong enough to push something the size of the Remora around like the skycraft owed it a meal ticket. Again, my stomach threatened to do a flip, but was incapable of doing as much while Happy’s death grip firmly locked it against what felt like my spine.

The altitude to ground in my augmented vision ticked down until we all felt the solid touchdown under our hooves. As always, the Remora’s engines began to spool down, and the hydraulics whirred to life as they pulled open the doors. Let me tell you, the moment those doors opened, I knew I should have brought something warmer than only my bare coat to wear…

Snow whipped into the cabin as an almost blinding scene met our eyes outside of the Remora. The whole settlement was buried under snow drifts that were damn near hock deep! If that weren’t bad enough, there was just enough sunlight forcing its way through the overcast skies above that it made snowblindness a real problem. But as our eyes started to adjust, the extent of the secluded, hill-surrounded settlement became a bit clearer.

We’d set down just across the way from the train station itself. At first sight, it looked in fairly good shape for being up here for two centuries, but at the moment, it looked almost abandoned. There weren’t any lights on inside, and nopony seemed to be around it. On the opposite side of the station to us, parked on one of the main lines, sat a collection of railcars. The lights on them were on, and steam drifted from their chimneys. Through the foggy windows, I could see the ponies inside going about their daily lives.

The four of us stepped out into the snow and looked around. To our left, the Roundhouse and some various railcars sat tucked nearer to one of the larger hills, and a few residents were going about their business or clearing snow from around the entrances. A few looked to be ghouls, but there were also some normal looking ponies as well, and neither kind seemed to be concerned with being well armed.

Closer to the station sat a collection of equally impressive houses. Each one seemed not as well kept as the ones in Sanctuary, but close enough that it gave them a somewhat rustic feeling. To be honest, the fact that likewise inside these I could see ponies moving around, really gave me pause. From the way that I’d been told about it, I was under the impression that Maple Station was a maintenance depot or a rest stop. But with what and who were here, this place was a lot closer to a thriving and safe community than that.

“Huh, quaint and peaceful.” Jynx remarked as she stepped up next to me. “I bet the ponies here are monsters.” I made the mistake of glancing over at her, watching as she snuggled herself deeper into a luxurious scarlet colored wool coat. Still, she might be right, given the track record we’d had so far…

“Hey, what the fuck is wrong with you!?” An angry squawk emanated from the other side of the Remora. A flurry of flapping and a few moments later, a pair of griffons a bit older than Hispano hovered up over the top of it. The two of them were obviously related from the… unremarkably similar way they looked. As bland as textbook gryphons could be, really.

“Why don’t you watch where you’re landing your… whatever this hunk of junk is, assholes?” One of them squawked with a more feminine voice, but it was quickly shoved to the back of my mind as she angrily pointed a double barreled shotgun at us. “You could have fucking killed us!”

“What a shame that would have been.” Hispano cooed back as he unslung Suiza from himself and lazily pointed it back at the pair.

“Calm down, sis.” The brother of the angry one snorted as he guided them both to a landing just in front of us. “They seem like capable, somewhat intelligent folk. I’m sure a warning will be good enough for them to know to watch their flying next time. Sound good to you, Royce?”

“We didn’t mean anything by it, and we don’t want any trouble.” Buck spoke softly, but kept his head tilted down enough that they couldn’t see his muzzle under his white robes. “It won’t happen again.”

“Fucking better not.” Royce snapped as she raised her gun to her shoulder and flared her wings out in a failed attempt at seeming tough. In fact, it pulled a stifled laugh out of Hispano’s beak as we watched the two of them plod off through the snow towards the roundhouse. “Seriously, Merlin, I’m just about sick of this backwater bullshit.”

“One more night.” Merlin pleaded with his sister as I looked to Hispano. We simply shrugged and went back to watching them. “Maybe she’ll show up tonight like he said she would.”

That perked my ears.

“Do you think they’re talking about Solomon?” Buck’s voice came through my head clearly.

“Who else would hire assholes to wait for a mare to show up?” I offered back to him as I narrowed my gaze on the two. Well, at least they seemed somewhat inexperienced. I bet Hispano alone could fly circles around them if it came to a fight.

“Pft, freelancers.” Hispano grumbled as he struggled to re-sling Suiza back over his broader than normal shoulders.

“What’s a freelancer? Some sort of rival talon group?” I asked as bluntly as ever.

“Nah.” Hispano smirked and carefully placed a talon across his chest. “Talons have two paths to joining a company. Either you’re like me, where you have someone show you the ropes and take you for a few fly-alongs until you’re ready. Or…” He shifted his talon, flipping off the two as they made it to the round house and dipped inside of it. “You head off on your own as a freelancer. If you can survive and make a name for yourself in the wastes, you get to skip training altogether and are offered the choice contracts. Talon brass always love a griff who doesn’t need constant direction while bringing in heaps of caps.”

“Hmmm.” Buck shifted himself on the snow and brought a paw up to his chin. “That sounds to me like it would encourage untrained talons to take contracts far above their skill levels without any form of support. A risky proposition.”

“Like I said.” Hispano shrugged as he kicked his leg through the snow hard enough to start himself walking. “If you survive to make a name for yourself, but most Talons see that as unacceptable recklessness.”

“Eh, I wouldn’t worry then.” Happy chimed in with a smile as he stepped through the snow like it was nothing more than a thick fog around his legs. It was odd to see him in his floral print shirt and leather jacket again, but it put a smile on my muzzle. At least, until I realized just how well Rofia’s hellhound arm fit over his wooden leg. I hoped we were done running into folks like her from now on. “They’ll probably be dead in a month.”

Hispano’s face brightened up like it was the sunshine itself.

“You know what? You’re right!” He let out a giggle that seemed out of place for a griffon his size. That is, until a look of uncomfortable confusion fell over his face. “Hmm, wait, did you just…” He turned to Happy, who was quickly starting to look just as confused. “Point out a silver lining with incredibly dark implications?” A smirk tugged at his beak, and he brought a talon down on his shoulder hard with another laugh that he tried his best to make sound like sniffles. “Happy Trails, you just might make it out here in the wastes. I’m so proud of you!”

“Ugh, and ya’ ruined it.” Happy snorted before pushing past him. “But hey, I’m willing to forgive and forget, so long as you chip in for a bit of the booze and mares!”

“Happy, we’ve been over this...” I snorted as I wanted so hard to facehoove right now, but I was already cold, and a face full of snow wouldn’t help anypony.

“I’m kidding, Night!” He rolled his eyes and wore a smile almost as bright as Hispano’s across his muzzle. Like all the other times I’d seen it, it was… weird, but good. “At least, I’m kidding about the booze.” He jabbed his wooden hoof back towards Hispano. “You know, seein’ as you’re a guy now, maybe would could go halfsies if we can find a cute number for the night…”

“I…” Hispano scrunched up his beak at that while his beaming smile was traded out for an intensely burning blush. “I think I’ll stick with Night and Buck.”

While he knows I wouldn’t have minded, and I know that I wouldn’t have minded, I was almost shocked. It meant a lot to hear Hispano say that, and I think this was a moment I was going to remember for a long time to come. Staring at him, I did my best to memorize every detail of it.

“Suit yourself!” Happy whinnied as he stopped and spun around. “Might be the safe bet, seeing as how it’d be a shame if a little bit of fun gave you a bit of a bug for the rest of the time you’re a guy. I’ve had them so many times now that I’m pretty sure I’m immune.”

And there it goes, my perfect moment, ruined by Happy.

“I think we shouldn’t worry about staying overnight, as we probably won’t be here that long.” Buck spoke up, bringing some sort of order back to the two of them. Turning to me, he gestured toward the apparently abandoned Station. “Well, Night? Where do you want to start? Should we see if the mayor is in?”

“What!? I can’t believe…!” The shouting, scratchy voice of a ghoul filled the air as it beat out the whipping wind around us. “Aye, you did! Ya’ made it!” I knew that voice.

All four of us turned our attentions to a stallion who’d just come out of a service shed towards the south, and was now quickly galloping through the snow towards us. I squinted, trying to beat out the glare from the snow all around us to find out just who was coming our way. Buck was the first to let out a horrified gasp, and thanks to my optics, it only took me a moment more to notice why.

Carried across the red coated stallion’s back was something more terrible than any weapon we’d come across in the wastes yet. A plaid sack of pure torment and pain. One that only a mad pony could ever find enjoyment in.

“Jack?” Happy snorted as he too squinted. “Mad Jack is here?”

“What was that you were saying?” Hispano turned to Buck and I as he put up a talon with a concerned glance. “About not staying all that long?”

“Now now, be nice.” Buck clenched his metal jaw into a forced smile hard enough that it would whine with each word he forced out. “I’m sure it won’t be that bad this time.”

“Says the guy who can turn off his ears…” I blurted out and did my best to smile as, despite my augment, the oncoming, afternoon long headache became all too certain for me…

Author's Notes:

A huge thanks to TheFurryRailFan for his help in going over these chapters, as well as his work on his own Fallout: Equestria - Empty Quiver. The journey to get Night through his version of the Vanhoover wasteland has been years in the making, but I'm thankful he's here to help guide me through it!

And of course, a big thanks to Kkat for writing the original story. This series, as well as MLP as a whole, changed my life almost seven years ago, and it blows my mind that anything could have had as profound an impact as Fo:E did. Words fail to express how much Fo:E has meant to me, and I can't be thankful enough for it.