The Ocean Pearl was the biggest ship Vira had ever been on, not that that was saying much, but the green alicorn was greatly enjoying her view from the elevated bridge. The little fishing boat chugged around the coast of Fog Harbor with Captain Longfellow at the large wheel. Actually, Vira was just happy period, beaming a smile and watching the gruff old pony operating the vehicle with a practiced hoof.

"Quit grinnin' like an idjit Vira, still mad at you fer runnin' off with that Crawler. I had it well in hoof ya know, brought down a few in my time. Lucky ya didn't get yer fool self killed lassie..." Longfellow chomped on his pipe puffing clouds of smoke up with his grumbles, squinting gruffly to the goofy filly.

His words phased Vira not at all however, she was basking in the warm glow she could feel under what he griped about. Longfellow came to her rescue, even now, he was lecturing her as he would his own daughter. Those wonderfully warm paternal feelings and love Vira was so interested in were radiating off the old buck giving a snort to her closing her eyes and smiling wider in response.

He blushed and sputtered when she leaned down to nuzzle his bristly bearded cheek, flailing his hooves at the still larger than normal mare squeezing him in a bonecrushing hug happily as she burbled. "But you saved me! I am happy feeling how much you care Longfellow, I love you too! And I like your boat you stole to gallantly ride to the rescue as well."

"G-Gah! Alright ya silly filly! 'Course I care, I already got all mushy with ya once today an' admitted it, ya don't have ta rub it in. An' I didn't steal it! I told all of ya, it's MY boat dammit! Though I'm sorta glad I get to show you an all I s'pose. I don't think yer boss likes it near so much though lassie." Longfellow huffed as Vira let him go, snickering out the cracked glass to the synth detective hanging his head off the prow.

Even though Nick's face was made of pale plastic, Vira giggled seeing how green he appeared. Her employer really was no good with boats or flying either one. She would go out to comfort and thank him for the daring rescue as well, but had been protectively ushered up to the bridge with Longfellow as soon as they were under way, making Vira tilt her head curiously and ask about it.

"It is a lovely boat though regardless. I'd very much like a tour, or to at least look around a little bit Longfellow. Why must I stay in here again?"

The old stallion propped the wheel in place to turn around and eye the oblivious alicorn filly with his eyelid twitching up at her looming over him. Vira had burned off at least some of the radiation that had saved her life, but still absolutely filled the small cabin. It took catching Longfellow's agitated brown eyes flicking out a side window to the handsome fisherpony stallion Jar Head, busily working the ropes and booms hanging off the side of the deck below, for her to at least have an inkling what the problem was, but she still blinked in confusion, getting an exasperated snort from Longfellow.

"Because yer runnin' around in yer nickers dammit! Ain't havin' my filly out there with that buck on my boat when I already caught ya foolin' around once! Show a little modesty Vira!" Longfellow waved his hooves at the tall and shapely alicorn, his eyes continually diverting away and a brighter blush showing through his beard.

Looking down at herself, Vira sighed again at the runs in her lovely dark stockings, unashamedly tugging at the silky black panties and garter belts that were pinching and tugging most uncomfortably. "But I outgrew my nice outfit.... At least Kelpie was nice enough to fix it for me. I still don't see the problem, I told you, Jar Head is her special somepony, so I promised not to 'fool around' as you put it. He seems busy anyway..."

"Not busy enough ta not get an eyeful! Trust me Vira, you go saunterin' around out there lookin' like that, no buck'll be able to resist. He's actually not that bad, insisted on comin' along soon as he heard you two was in trouble, so I'd sorta feel bad tossin' him off my boat in the middle of the sea. You just wait till that bossy lil' lassie finishes fixin' yer coat an' you can fit in it again, then I'll give ya the grand tour." Giving a huff and putting his hoof down, Longfellow turned back to navigating the rocky shores, resigning himself to Vira curling her wings around him and resting her chin on his old hat with a pleased nicker.

"We made friends though Longfellow! She is not... alright, maybe she is a little bossy, but she has her reasons."

"Hey, watch it bitch... Or maybe you don't want this back?" Speaking of the devil, they both turned to the teal mare poking her head in the cabin with a smirk, waggling Vira's maroon trenchcoat in her magic like she may just toss it overboard. She giggled with the big alicorn dove at it with a squeal, then goggled with a disbelieving shake of her head as Vira tried struggling into it. "Thanks for keeping her out of sight old timer, at least one of you has some shame. He's right Vira, I could do without you wobbling that giant ass around with yer panties in a bunch. Jar would be drooling a puddle on the deck and... i-it'd be hard to get any attention out of the goofball at all."

"It is not giant nor wobbling! This will wear off soon enough, nngh... I am... nearly... able... to... fit... unff!...a-already!" Vira stuck her nose up defensively and kept right on struggling to squeeze her way in her coat, pausing with a guilty start when she heard a freshly sewn seam give a warning pop of stitches.

She frowned at Kelpie's immediate admonishment, letting the poor coat rest around her shoulders and hanging her head as the naggy little mare fumed. "Don't tear it up again silly! That thing was hard to fix even that well, and it's not pretty. Just... shrink back down first. Goddesses that's weird bitch... I'm glad you're all totally healed, but getting even bigger is... just wow..."

Pouting as she tugged one of the side windows open and poked her head out to start firing out emerald beams of magic from her horn, Vira tossed her long mane and muttered back. "You should see my sister Swan if you're so impressed Kelpie, or the state I was in when I arrived on Fog Harbor for that matter."

Longfellow gave a bark of laughter at that, smiling to the stunned unicorn and nodding his agreement. "Oh aye, damn near filled my barn when she washed up on my land. Dunno about her sister or nothin', but she's a petite lil' filly compared to that. Worth it seein' them Trappers get theirs too! Heehee! My lassie really gave it to 'em!"

Even Kelpie laughed along with the old buck at the fate of the Trappers occupying the Zip! Factory, the two harbor ponies taking grim pleasure in the deaths of a lot of insane ponies. Kelpie relating more of their adventure along with showing off the fortune in bottlecaps they'd found gave Vira a few minutes to keep burning off magic, eventually able to carefully wriggle her coat back on with a victorious whinny.

Pulling her head back in the cabin, she donned her large hat again, stamping a hoof to interrupt Kelpie and Longfellow sharing stories mainly concerned with embarrassing her. "Ahem! If the two of you are quite done, I am presentable again Longfellow, I wish for my tour now."

"Alright, alright lassie. I'll show ya around all ya..." Longfellow started with a smile, then spun back to the controls when the ship lurched and chugged, slapping his hoof against the gauges angrily as he continued. "Aw dammit! What the hell those fools been doin' to my boat! Well, even more of a reason for the tour Vira, gotta see how much those harbor idjits have messed up and try to undo the damage..."

"Er... I could help take a look Longfellow... if you wanted anyway. Islanders pay their debts and I sure owe you old timer, I'm not bad at fixing crap you know." Kelpie's ears were flicking towards the rear of the ship as she spoke, trained on the unhealthy noises coming from the engine.

"Oh, yes! Kelpie is very good at fixing things, besides my lovely coat, thank you again Kelpie!" Vira brightened as she saw Longfellow considering it, trying to encourage the gruff old stallion and grabbing the unicorn mare to squeeze in a grateful hug she wiggled against playfully.

"H-Hey! Cut it out Bitch! You're still all sticky and smell like Captain's Blend!" Kelpie struggled and stuck her tongue out as she tried to pull away, reminding Vira sourly that her silky green coat was indeed still matted and sticky with the vat of local soda she had taken a swim in.

"Oh? But I thought you liked it Kelpie? Here, taste!"

Putting aside her distaste, Vira just squeezed harder in mock revenge, plastering Kelpie against her chest and rubbing her face in the matted floof of fur there. Vira couldn't wait to get back to Longfellow's home and use his shower again, thinking of the blissful relief even the cramped little stall waiting for her offered. If Kelpie was going to tease her though, turnabout was fair play and Vira enjoyed smearing the little unicorn with the disgusting fish flavored soda coating her.

Longfellow looked between the two mares and raised a bushy grey eyebrow, sighing softly and shrugging as he opened the opposite side window Vira had and nodded. "Hmm... alright then, let's see what you can do lassie. Ahoy! Jar Head! Get up here an' steer a minute!"

The fisherpony jumped at Longfellow's gruff shout, his hooves clattering across the deck as he dashed up the narrow stairs going up the larger above deck rooms the cabin was situated on, then giving an eager salute when he reached the door. "Aye, aye cap'n!"

"What the hell are ya even doin' runnin' the nets sonny? We ain't on a fishin' trip." Squinting at the nervous stallion, Longfellow's pipe puffed and waggled towards the ropes and booms hanging off the ship he'd called Jar away from.

Shifting on his hooves anxiously, Jar Head stammered a reply to the old buck. "Oh! Umm... w-well, partly it's force of habit I guess Cap'n. Feels wrong not fishin' on the Pearl. And besides, there's uh... well... The rest of the crew and the folks on the docks were pretty ticked at us stealin'..."

"I didn't steal it!!!"

He flinched at Longfellow's snorting interruption, sheepishly continuing under the elderly captain's glare. "....r-right... at us borrowing her sir. The harbor's overcrowded and every bit of food is needed, so I thought they might not be so mad if we came back with a little of her usual haul anyway."

Giving the young buck an appraising look that lingered long enough to make him even more nervous, Longfellow eventually huffed and directed Jar Head to the wheel. "It's MY boat, I'll do what I want with her. I let Barnacle Bill use her these years, but ain't never named nopony else captain. Still... suppose that's good thinkin' youngster. Ain't used ta considerin' them ponies on the docks anymore I guess."

Vira beamed at Longfellow offering just a bit of praise to the younger fisherpony, even though it was gruff and he immediately went back to shoving Jar Head around to follow his orders. The fact he was willing to open up and grudgingly befriend anypony else heartened her. She may have had to pester and whine to get him to try again, but she could feel how much happier he truly was and felt good for the part she'd played in that.

He paused and explained things well enough, but Vira could feel him testing the stallion's knowledge before hoofing over the controls to what he firmly viewed as his ship. Plus he gave a smack upside his head every time Jar Head's eyes flicked back towards Vira still filling out her Shadow Spade costume alluringly, making the alicorn giggle and blush at his protective feelings.

She also felt a twinge of sadness and longing from Kelpie at her side, realizing she was taking up the attention that should go to her and nudging the smaller unicorn forward. Flattering as his attention was and despite still being quite interested in at least experimenting with mating before returning to the mainland to find the male alicorn, Vira didn't want to come between the two foalhood friends. Now that she understood some things about their relationship and love in general a little better, Vira was rooting for her new friend and determined to help her somehow.

Cautiously backing her way out the door as Longfellow finished up with his gruff instruction, Vira sighed wondering how exactly she could though. Fascinating and wonderful as it was, love was very difficult...

Vira quickly found that while she liked riding on Longfellow's cute little boat while above decks, below decks was an entirely different matter... Even though she'd almost returned to normal size, following the nimble little unicorn and experienced earth pony captain quickly reminded her she was still a big mare.

She had to back her way down the stairs like a ladder, then fumble and squeeze her way around to follow Longfellow's tour towards the back of the ship, frequently bumping one side or another of the tiny halls and getting her wings or rump stuck at the rounded hatches. Longfellow and Kelpie both snickering playfully at her just added to the indignity...

"Sorry Vira dear, space is at a premium out on the sea, specially on a working boat like this. See, even the crew is stuffed in like sardines." Chuckling at Vira popping out of another doorway, Longfellow tilted her frowning muzzle up with a grin, pushing open another too small hatch to the side to show a bunkroom for four ponies to sleep, then wrinkling his muzzle and snorting angrily at the mess inside. "Course that don't mean they need ta smell like it too dammit! I told Bill to keep her ship shape, not let her turn into a chum bucket!"

"It's still a lovely boat though, despite being cramped... Why do you keep calling it 'she' though?"

"All boats are mares Vira, it's a rule." Longfellow answered cryptically, putting on an air of seaworthy wisdom that still left her confused over who exactly wrote such a rule.

"I see... I don't understand though, if it is your boat, why have you not continued on as captain Longfellow? You seem very at home here, despite the state of things agitating you so. You could have taken me back to the mainland when we met for that matter, rather than seeking out some other captain to do so. T-Though I am glad you didn't, otherwise I wouldn't have grown to care about you and make so many friends! I'm merely curious, why don't you... L-Longfellow?"

Vira flinched at the sadness her question elicited in Longfellow, worriedly biting her lip, even as he shook it off and gave her a forced smile. She asked innocently, but didn't realize it may cause him pain or why, until Kelpie cleared up some of her confusion with a snort. "Jeez Bitch... Think before you just blurt out whatever pops into that weird brain of yours." (His daughter dumb-dumb... Longfellow stopped going out after...)

Cutting off her sudden gasp at Kelpie's hard thought directed right at her, Longfellow sighed and shook his head somberly to confirm it. "It's alright lass. When I... when the sea took my Emmy away from me, I didn't feel like goin' out on her no more is all. Hung up my hat and lent the Pearl out to those what would use her. They gimme a cut of the caps and I didn't hafta do nothin' but sit on my land and sulk."

"Oh! Oh Longfellow... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you... I was just confused and..."

She could still feel that sharp pang of sadness, but somehow it was lighter now. Longfellow even gave a more genuine smile and patted her shoulder soothingly as he continued over her jabbering. "S'alright Vira. Definitely worth it ta ride to the rescue like yer comic book pony yer so smitten with. Another thing you helped me get over dearie, so don't you worry, and DON'T get all weepy again. Not havin' you blubberin' over me again, got it?"

"Y-Yes Longfellow..." Vira sniffled sheepishly, but gave a bright smile and nod to the old stallion and continued her guided tour eagerly.

(Goddesses Bitch, what are you? One of those old timey heartmenders or something? How do you do that?) Vira blinked to Kelpie rolling her eyes while Longfellow took the lead again, tilting her head curiously to the unicorn filly falling back a step and speaking privately.

(Do what Kelpie? Stick my hoof in my mouth so frequently?)

Kelpie kept pace with her as they poked their heads in a tiny galley room that was more of a mess than the bunks, giggling at Longfellow throwing another tantrum while she kept up her more serious psychic conversation with no sign. (No, though yeah, you're damn awesome at that.... I mean... You got Longfellow freaking Steeds to stop being such a hermit. Got him to start caring again, he even treats you like his own filly! Hell, you got ME to be all sappy and tell you... s-stuff... I haven't told anypony, ever! Are you using some of that mind control magic like you did to the Trappers?)

(N-No! I don't know Kelpie, I just... listen? The stallion you all keep teasing me about helped me, showed me I don't have to put up a shield around my heart, that letting other ponies in is better than pushing them away. I guess I just don't like seeing others I care about making my mistakes.)

Kelpie blinked her bright blue eyes up to the green alicorn with a blush, raising an eyebrow and smiling with warm feelings of real friendship flowing off her that made Vira whinny happily. She chuckled and held a hoof out to help pull Vira through the door to the clattering engine room that made them both pin their ears back, putting aside the difficult thoughts of a reply to prance out into the deafening noise of chugging, smoking, filthy machinery Longfellow was already squawking about angrily.

"For Celestia's sake! I told those fools only high quality gulper grease!! And what's this doin' run through here! Did they shove fucking bits into the fusebox!?!" Even over the noise, Longfellow's stamping shouts were audible, his fury over his boat being in such a state overwhelming even the heat in the engine room.

It was all a mystery to Vira, but Kelpie seemed just as annoyed as Longfellow. She immediately grabbed a nearby wrench in her magic and set to work, using it to bash at some of the more unhealthy sounding bits as often as for its intended use. Watching her go, Longfellow stopped his stream of curses with an appreciative eye as she zeroed in on several problems on her own.

Of course it might have been appreciative for other reasons when Kelpie wriggled her way under one long metal housing with lots of wires and doo-dads, forcing Vira to blush and nip the old goat's bearded cheek when he lingered a little too long on the teal mare's rump stuck up in the air, her red and violet striped tail whipping back and forth in agitation.

She huffed and narrowed her eyes at Longfellow's innnocent shrug and grin, but let it go on feeling his honestly impressed thoughts over the unicorn mare Vira had befriended. He allowed Kelpie to work and watched her with more professional interest, smiling to himself as he took off his captain's hat and twisted it in his hooves a moment. Vira was worried he was still dwelling on painful memories, but was surprised when he turned his brown eyes up to her watching anxiously.

"You made a fine friend Vira. Er... I just wanted ta say, you know... I'm glad you washed up on my beach an brought all this excitement an' new ponies into my life. Still pretty ticked at you almost gettin' yerself kilt, but that's 'cause I er... I love ya lassie. So don't scare me like that again. And just cause I said it again, don't you go... GAH!" Longfellow muttered sheepishly as Vira's eyes grew wide and shimmered, but was prevented from finishing his warning by the very thing he was afraid of as Vira scooped him up and squealed happily.

Kelpie came crawling back out with grease staining her face and smirked at the old buck squirming in the hooves of the big green filly nuzzling and squeezing until his blue face was even bluer. She sighed at the strange alicorn mare and the way she seemed to have a talent for getting ponies to open up, even her. Eventually she shook her head at the mysterious mutant mare and counted herself lucky for the ability, deciding she better rescue the elder pony before she just crushed the life out of him.

"Bluuugh... Ponies weren't meant to go bobbing along the sea or flittin' around the air dollface... it ain't natural..." Nick was still hanging off the prow of Longfellow's boat when they came back to the deck and went to check on the synth detective, rolling his strange yellow on black eyes back to them weakly.

Fluffling her wings primly, Vira snorted as she rubbed her employer's back soothingly. "I disagree about the flying Nick, it's quite natural for me."

"Alright, earth ponies then. I still stand by my opinion sweetheart." Nick gurgled back, sliding down against the railing to sit and hold his plastic coated tummy and light a cigarette.

Nickering down at him gruffly, Longfellow joined him by stuffing his pipe and took a seat on a bundle of crates covered in soggy rope netting. "I'm an earth pony there laddie, an bein' back out ta sea is as natural as breathin' to me. Yer just a land lubber, quit yer whinin' and take in that sea air."

Vira, Longfellow and Kelpie all chuckled at Nick giving them a flat look, the green alicorn smiling as she sat beside Nick and leaned down to nuzzle his green face. "I'm still very happy you put aside your discomfort to come to my aid Nick. I'm sorry you had to do so, but very grateful."

"Yeah, well... dockin' your pay for that little misadventure there dollface. Wasn't gonna leave my assistant in the lurch though, glad you came out ok. Now we can get back to the case, hopefully with less fog monsters and armies of crazy ponies, huh?" Nick smirked back, pulling out his battered notebook to flip through the pages in thought.

"Vira said you have to go deal with those church assholes, so I don't think you're done with crazy ponies by a long shot Mr. Detective. You sure about that? Those rad worshipers are worse than the Trappers, we'd all be better off if they blew themselves to tartarus with that sub of theirs. Will you two be ok?" Kelpie hopped up to the crates to sit with Longfellow, giving a worried frown to the alicorn and synth duo that earned her a warm look from Longfellow beside her.

"Aye, listen to yer new friend Vira, she's a smart one, did a bang up job down in the engine room after all. I don't like the idea of you going to that place again neither... Last time they sent you off to go get plastered and you would up staggerin' around my place like a drunken yak. Long as I got the Pearl back out anyway, I should just take you down there if'n you insist on bein' foalish. So I can keep an eye on ya this time, an' you can make a quick getaway when it all goes ta hell." Longfellow nodded his agreement, pushing a sweaty strand of Kelpie's red and violet mane from her eyes in a gesture of approval that made the unicorn mare blush.

Nick groaned at his offer, but hung his head with his synthetic ears drooping as he replied. "May take you up on that mac, as much as I hate the idea. Those Church of Balefire ponies are in an old naval facility anyway, ought'a be able to take this tub right up to their front door. We're hopin' Vira passed their little initiation nonsense and it'll be a quick in and out, but starting to plan on Discord turning everything topsy turvy where my Mare Friday is involved."

Vira stuck her nose up at all the teasing directed her way, tossing her sticky mane and frowning at the way it didn't flow and whip through the air with the gesture as it should, instead remaining a matted mess frozen in wild angles. "It's not my fault! I didn't know that blasted spring would affect me that way! Besides, the worshiper we encountered already confirmed I had passed their test, I received the blessing from their Mother of the..."

Kelpie dove from her seat and tackled Vira at that, clamping her muzzle shut and thinking at her very loudly. (Shut up Bitch! Don't mention the Mother of the Fog in front of Longfellow! He's...)

Kelpie's attempt to cut her off was too late however, even as Vira's green eyes widened with a muffled gasp, she felt the complicated swirl of emotion around Longfellow harden as he gave a terse whisper. "The Mother of the Fog... You... You saw her Vira?"

"Way to go bitch... Go on, may as well tell him now." Kelpie clambered off the big alicorn wincing sheepishly, giving a light punch to her shoulder to get her going before slinking back to her seat beside Longfellow.

"I... We believe so Longfellow. I saw my mother, but I was delirious at the time. I did find this however, why? What is wrong? The others told me not to mention it, but I do not understand. Why do you feel so... conflicted?"

Longfellow gave a long, tired sigh when Vira floated the crude driftwood statue from her collection in her bag, sending the odd little likeness over to the old buck who took it in trembling hooves as he croaked. "Told her ta keep it quiet eh? There's yer first mistake, big filly's not that good at keepin' secrets... It's alright Vira, don't look so worried, I'm just a little... sad. Been awhile since I heard one of those ghost stories about my wife."

"Your wife!? Ocean? I... I saw the last time you saw her in your memories before and knew she was gone, but h-hadn't asked what happened yet. It seemed painful, but I didn't know she was... I'm sorry Longfellow. W-What happened? How...?" Vira gaped back, her ears pinned back as she spoke in a comforting whisper to the pained pony she loved like a father.

"It's a long story Vira, another one of those things I was trying to ignore by hiding out on my land I guess... High time I dealt with it though I suppose. You got a real knack fer dragging up old shit and making me face it honey." Longfellow sighed, but managed a weak chuckle at Vira's wince that made her feel better.

Nick broke the silence with a groan finally, flipping back through his notes and giving the old buck a sympathetic look. "We all got our pasts to deal with pally, I'm with you there. My assistant might not be too discreet, but may as well get it all out in the open. Those Balefire nuts are pretty damn sure she got your wife's blessing anyway, so knowing more about it may help when we go there."

Longfellow's ears drooped as he slumped on his seat, puffing at his pipe until Kelpie sidled closer and wrapped a foreleg around his back in a hug with a hopeful look. His aged brown eyes flicked over to the unicorn mare gratefully, then turned out to the fog shrouding the island they were slowly puttering around and grew misty in memory as he croaked.

"Alright then, I'll tell you what I know, though it ain't much. One of the reasons I became the best tracker on the island once I gave up the sea, was because I spent a good number of years out there lookin' for her. But she don't wanna be found I s'pose. Least not by me... If you saw her though Vira, maybe... maybe I can finally see her again." Longfellow's sad thoughts gave way to a glimmer of hope Vira could feel shining off him, making her feel better about her mistake as she leaned forward and perked her ears up when the old stallion started telling the tale, passing the time in a sad story while the old fishing boat slowly made its way back towards the town of Fog Harbor.

When the muted lights of Fog Harbor started glimmering through the pink mist, Longfellow had finished his tale and trotted off to relieve Jar Head from steering the ship as they came into port. A raw psychic wound Vira could feel had been reopened, but in this case it was like an infection had been drained from the festering wound. Longfellow felt hurt, but he also felt better in a way that relieved Vira enough to leave him be.

Besides, Longfellow wasn't the only pony Vira had decided to meddle with, out of caring of course! When she heard Jar Head's hooves clambering down the steps to the bridge, she grabbed the still groaning Nick by his rumpled trenchcoat collar in her teeth, yanking him from his seat near the railing. She ignored his surprised sputter to gallop off to the cabin on the opposite side the handsome buck was approaching from, leaving Kelpie alone with a confused tilt to her head watching the weird alicorn.

Vira tossed her surprised employer through the hatch with a yelp, then dove in after him, leaving Kelpie with the view of her hindlegs scrambling madly to shove her rump through the narrow opening. The teal unicorn's mouth was hanging open and she was squinting at her like Vira had lost it when her head popped up in one of the round portholes, giving an exaggerated wink when Jar Head came trotting on deck.

(There he is! Go on Kelpie, I believe in you!)

Kelpie facehoofed when she figured it out, then gulped with a blush lighting her cheeks as Jar Head walked over with that damnable smile that made her knees go weak. (Oh you bitch... really!?)

Vira had her hooves hooked on the lip of the porthole and was peeking up from below with a giddy grin, nodding eagerly before ducking back down where just her sparkling green eyes, frazzled mane and long horn were poking up. (Tell him how you feel! You said you would, why wait any longer?)

(Because! I...) Kelpie narrowed her blue eyes and hissed back in her head, but lost her train of thought completely when Jar Head took his knit cap off and tossed his brown mane, speaking in a buttery baritone that made her ears fall limply along with her lidded eyes. "Hey there Kelpie, some night huh? You sure you're ok?"

"Umm... Y-Yes? I mean! Er.. yeah Jar, I'm fine. I'm uh... r-really glad you came to help though, those Trappers were... I thought they were going to..." Kelpie stammered back, then her nervousness gave way to real fear again as she remembered those last desperate moments before her foalhood friend and the others had shown up.

He knew what she was talking about, even if she couldn't give voice to it. Jar's square jaw clenched and his brows came down in a hard line as he snorted back. "Fucking assholes... I hope Fogscale ate em all slow after that Kelpie."

"Yeah, hehe... g-guess we got to storm the dragon's castle after all huh, like when we were kids? Seriously Jar, thanks a lot. You really came to the rescue, like some knight in shining armor or something, just like back then. I-It was really awesome..." Kelpie fidgeted with her red mane and mentally bucked herself for sounding like a gushing schoolfilly, but the goofy bitch forcing her into this and making shooing gestures with her hooves behind Jar Head's back were seriously throwing her off.

(Sweet Celestia I sound like an idiot... why did you do this Bitch!?)

(It's working though! He liked that! He feels very proud and happy, keep going!) Vira's green eyes were wide as dinner plates in the porthole as she replied to Kelpie's sour thoughts.

Taking a look at Jar Head puffing his chest out and blushing with that stupid 'aw shucks' hoof scuffing the deck, Kelpie rolled her eyes, knowing when he was getting a big head. She had to bite back the urge to smack him down a peg, working on her tendency to be 'frumpy' and instead fluttering her lashes like an empty headed waif.

The way it seemed to work just rankled more, Jar stuck his nose up and did sound very pleased with himself when he answered. "Yeah well, Longfellow did most of the work. That old buck is scaaaary... I just followed his and the Detective's lead. When they came for his boat and told Bill and the crew what was going on though, I wasn't gonna just stay behind like them with you an' Miss Vira in danger!"

She giggled in response, actually fucking giggled... It was killing her, but all she had to do was ask herself what the romance crazed alicorn in her head would do and Jar just played right into it. Even now she could feel Vira giving a pleased little whinny and blush on getting mentioned.

At least the goofy mare was listening to more than that, rifling through her thoughts before speaking up again. (You need not pretend to be somepony you're not Kelpie, merely soften the rough edges a bit. Lower that shield and be honest, you promised to tell him how you felt...)

(I know I did dammit! Just quit rushing me!) Kelpie scowled back over Jar's back, then bit her lip under his confused amber eyes and stammered out loud. "Er... It was still really brave Jar, you umm... didn't get in trouble leaving work to help us though, did you?"

"Oh... Hmm, I guess maybe I did..." Jar Head slumped as he thought about it, but he shook it off with a shrug. "It was still worth it. Besides, it's not like they were gonna do anything without the ship, I just went along with Longfellow instead of sittin' on the docks an' watchin' him sail off like they did. I'll smooth things over Kelpie, you don't have to worry about everything. Losing the caps for a half day will suck, but I'll just work harder than anypony to make up for it. I haven't forgotten Leather's medical bills, no need to start nagging already silly."

Kelpie's eyelid twitched at his offhoofed joke and stupid grin as he punched her shoulder, she wasn't a nag! She was just the only one who thought ahead! His brother Leather Neck would be in trouble if it wasn't for... for something she could share with him that would fix that problem at least! Giving a gasp, Kelpie's teal magic rooted in her bag and pulled out one of the collector's albums she'd looted from the Zip! Factory, holding it out in her hooves to display the pages full of bottlecaps proudly.

"But you don't have to worry about that anymore! See!? Me and the Bitch... er... Vira I mean, we found the Zip! treasure! She let me have it, so Leather's bills are covered and then some! None of us have to work so hard for awhile Jar, we can actually do those things we always dreamed about!" Kelpie gave a wide, honest grin at her foalhood friend's slackjawed face, making her give a real giggle of pride.

The hug he snatched her up in sent all the blood in her brain directly to her brightly glowing face, feeling his strong hooves squeezing her as he gave a wild cheer. "Kelpie! That's great!! Oh goddesses, you found the treasure! You'll really pay for Leather... thank you! Praise Luna you're the greatest!"

The way he nuzzled cheek to cheek and babbled happily made her melt, Kelpie's normally no nonsense and practical mind fogged completely with bliss and she actually managed to murmur up to Jar's ear in a husky whisper, finding her courage hesitantly. "O-Of course I want to help your brother dummy... I care about both of you, you're family to me. I really... r-really... love..."

It felt like she was walking up to the edge of a high dive, then abruptly fell right to the hard, unforgiving ground of a dry swimming hole when Jar Head held her back by the shoulders to grin like an idiot and interrupt. "I still can't believe it! You found it and Miss Vira just let you have it!? What an amazing, generous mare, huh Kelpie!? You seen her around? I gotta thank her too!"

Kelpie's face fell looking up to his eager smile and darting eyes searching the deck for the green alicorn, even as the mare in question was facehoofing in the porthole behind him. The expression of joy on her face turning to a hard frown as her brows came down and she snorted at the stupid ass. "No, I haven't... Just... Just go find her yourself if that's all you care about!"

At that, the poor filly stomped off, leaving a confused Jar Head behind and managing not to show the tear trembling on her cheek or break into a gallop until she was out of sight around the cabin. She charged right by the door Vira was hidden behind, ignoring her sympathetic thoughts and reaching foreleg beckoning to her to make for the ship's stern alone. She didn't really blame Vira now, the psychic alicorn could feel that much in the whirling storm of thoughts and feelings around her, but she didn't want to talk to her either.

Nick patted her back as Vira cringed from peeking out the door with her ears laid back, shrugging up to her and sighing. "Give her a minute dollface... she'll be ok. I'll go have me a little chat with the numbskull out there and..."

Whatever Nick planned to do to the oblivious buck now shrugging to wander the deck and seek Vira out, they were interrupted by a sudden gruff shout filling the cramped cabin. Vira blinked and looked all around in confusion at Longfellow's voice coming from nowhere, finally finding the tarnished brass tube running from the ceiling near the door with the somewhat trumpet shaped end, the hinged cap open to allow their captain to yell through the speaking tube and get their attention.

"Ahoy, all hooves on deck down there! We're comin' into the harbor now, get ready to make fast youngster! Everypony else may wanna get out here too, looks like we gots a welcomin' committee." Longfellow's order at least got Jar Head to gallop off to start pulling on various ropes and get to work, though when Vira poked her head out to look over the town of Fog Harbor resolving from the pink mist shrouding it, she gulped nervously.

She couldn't see them clearly yet, but there were a lot of ponies on the docks they were approaching. What's more, even from this distance, she could feel a collective cloud of emotion above them, full of hard, angry thoughts...

Of all the sensations from ponies Vira's blessing from her mother let her experience, the one she hated the most had to be mob mentality. It brought out the absolute worst in ponies, worked them up into doing things they'd never do on their own. It changed them from a collection of individuals into some beastly amalgamation of their darkest impulses.

The gaggle of hard faced fisherponies glaring at them as the Ocean Pearl pulled up to the crowded docks was a mob. At least this one was held in check by the older mare at the head of them, Cap'n Berry still wore a frown herself as Jar Head trotted about to tie the old boat up and bucked a weathered gangplank out to land at her hooves, raising a greying blue eyebrow at Longfellow strutting out to the docks to meet her like nothing was wrong.

"Longfellow... While it's good to see you out on the water again, I understand you stole that ship..." The leader of Fog Harbor huffed, stamping a hoof for silence from the crowd murmuring their behind her.

"Oh fer fucks sake! I. Didn't. Steal. Her! IT'S MY DAMN BOAT!" Longfellow bellowed back, snorting pipesmoke from his nostrils like a locomotive and glaring back at the crowd flinching at the outburst. "Every one o' you wee minnows knows the code, I'm the captain of this here ship an' I decide what to do wit' her! Ain't none of you got any right to give me guff, so first one ta open their mouth about it is gettin' bucked right off this damn dock!"

"We're under an emergency here though Longfellow! You can't just come barging in and take one of the best fishing ships from the docks because you feel like a pleasure cruise!" The light grey mare shouted back, getting a mutter from the crowd at her back in agreement.

A portly, middle-aged purple earth pony stallion snorted and interjected himself before Longfellow could reply. He wore a captain's hat like Longfellow's on his thinning green mane too, though his was ragged and dirty like his flannel shirt and rubbery yellow coveralls, his blue-green eyes drawn down in a scowl. "We had us a deal Longfellow! There's folk starvin' on the docks, prices have never been better! Ya can't go back on our bargain like that, just cause yer off to go after some daffy mutant piece o' tail."

Longfellow drew his rifle in a flash at that, aiming down the long weapon at the scruffily mustachioed face of the fisherpony and seething to him and the crowd equally. "Yer talkin' bout my Vira there Bill, a filly what's like my own dear daughter, so watch yer damn mouth sonny... Already pissed at you anyway, our deal was you took care of the Pearl while you was usin' her, not turn her into a scow as sloppy as you. You ain't earned that hat, you ain't no captain and I'm reconsiderin' our whole arrangement. She's my boat an' I don't like her in yer hooves, so I'm takin' her back."

While Vira always enjoyed Longfellow's protective, paternal feelings directed towards her and blushed warmly at his declaration of her as his own filly in front of the whole harbor, she didn't want things to get out of hoof either. Leaning down to gently push the barrel of his lever action rifle down, she gave a slight bow to Cap'n Berry and the residents of Fog Harbor to calm things down.

"I'm sorry to have caused problems, but without Longfellow's ship, Kelpie and I would have been in trouble. If it makes up for anything, there was an army of Trappers in the Zip! Factory preparing to attack your town and the other groups on the island that will now no longer be an issue, thanks to the dragon they had imprisoned."

"Fogscale's still alive!? And you idjits let it loose again!? Luna damn it ya fools, I s'pose a quick death by dragon is better than a slow one by fog, but not by much!" The crusty fisherpony who'd gone after Longfellow shouted, his valid point making Vira wince, even as she sensed the thoughts consumed with what he clearly viewed as 'his' boat stewing in his mind.

Vira narrowed her eyes at the portly stallion, reading his greed and desire to turn this situation to getting his grubby hooves on Longfellow's boat officially. She didn't understand the inner workings of how the harbor ponies governed themselves very well, but had gotten the idea from Longfellow and Jar Head both that being a captain carried a lot of weight. The handsome young buck stamping his hooves and coming to her defense now had told her even the rusty sloop he and his brother had put together from junk gave him a say in things as a captain.

Enough for him to charge up with misplaced gallantry in his head and shout back to the unpleasant Barnacle Bill pony apparently. Jar's anger on her behalf was still flattering when he jabbed the older buck with a hoof to the chest. "Hey! Vira and Kelpie helped all of us dealing with those Trappers, I saw it myself! They were building a damn army and ready to hunt us all down for sport moron! The dragon always stayed around his lair, they weren't going to! Miss Vira helped us when she came here and Kelpie's one of us, but you were gonna leave them to die when Longfellow asked for help, 'cause you're a big fat coward Bill! If all you care about is yourselves, you can just shut up about that too! I ran the nets on the way back and nopony's been able to fish up near the Zip! shoals in forever. I bet I got more of a haul than you've managed to overcharge all these starving folks for in weeks!"

Even though Kelpie was still annoyed with him, she nodded back and joined his defense of the confused alicorn. Kelpie's horn lit up with her ruby magic as she turned back to the gently bobbing boat, pulling some unseen lever by the grinding noises Vira's ears flicked at, then huffing and pointing a foreleg back to the slow cranking, clicking noise drifting down to them.

The boom over the ship's hold slowly hauled a thick series of ropes, pulling a net full of flopping, slightly mutated looking fish that made the mob standing on the docks give a soft, collective 'Ahhh' of wonder as Kelpie shot back. "He's right! Take a look at all this ya ninnies! When's the last time this old walrus brought in so much, and Jar wasn't even really trying!"

Vira smiled to her new friend, though she sighed internally to the wistful feelings Kelpie was hiding over the snorting stallion standing between her and the crowd protectively, even as she greatly enjoyed the furious scowl he'd brought to Barnacle Bill's face. Jar Head still saw Kelpie coming to his aid proudly as a sisterly bit of help, oblivious to both her annoyance at him and her ability to put it aside to support him. For all her interest in the subject, she wouldn't have thought she'd want to turn away the very emotions she sought to learn about, and Vira had no idea how to redirect the lovestruck buck's attention to the unicorn mare it should go to.

Longfellow trotted forward and cut off her distracted thoughts on the complicated subject however, smirking at the fisherpony he'd leased his boat to with a proud tip of his battered captain's hat. Just to drive home whose boat it really was, he disregarded Bill and turned on Cap'n Berry and the crowd. "Ayuh, young lad there did a fine job, quite a haul for just keepin' you folks in mind when I couldn't care less. He's got me feelin' all generous even, so how 'bout I just donate it all to the needy of Fog Harbor an' we call it a day there Cap'n? Tired of dealin' with you fools and gots a big day tomorrow, takin' the Pearl out again to go help my filly here with some errands down south."

While she could sense reluctance coming from the light grey mare, Vira could feel her resolve born from true caring about the ponies she was responsible for as Cap'n Berry replied with a sigh. "We appreciate that, both of you... It doesn't change the fact we are in a crisis here Longfellow, I can't have you making off with your ship whenever you feel like it. We need every hoof working together to ride out the fog this year. Unless you plan on taking up the captain's mantle again full time, you need to let Bill go back to bringing in whatever he can with her for now Longfellow."

"When pigs fly ya bossy mare! It's MY boat, you've no right! Not hoofing her over to a buck what couldn't even keep to the bargain and take care of her proper! I'll scuttle her first!" Longfellow sputtered and raged back, stomping his way forward to snort and shove at the leader of Fog Harbor.

(Longfellow... it's alright, perhaps you should listen to her. We will make do without your lovely ship, they need the food it can bring in. Cap'n Berry is prepared to declare an emergency and name that unpleasant Barnacle Bill pony as captain of your ship if need be.) Vira managed to stop Longfellow's tantrum by psychicly soothing him, relating what she read from the mare weathering the storm of his anger with a firm stare.

He gaped back a moment, looking between Vira giving a nod of confirmation and Cap'n Berry's mouth drawn down in hard line. A glance over to Jar Head still puffing through his nostrils at his side brought a crafty grin to the old buck's face however, inspiration lighting his thoughts as he turned back to the leader of Fog Harbor with a carefree snort.

"Course maybe you've got a point Cap'n... T'wouldn't want ya deciding things are bad enough to call an emergency and force the issue..." Cap'n Berry's eyes widened and her confidence was shaken when Longfellow voiced the very thought running through her head, continuing with a wink as she gave a confused and wary look to the green alicorn at his side.

"Plus I am gettin' a little long in the tooth to go sailin' the seas again. Allowed Bill here to run the Pearl until I named a new captain so she'd still be of use, and for the caps o' course. After seein' how he treated her an' how he's profiting durin' yer big, important 'crisis' though, I'm thinkin' it's time I did. I think the whipper snapper here would make a good choice, he cares about you nitwits a lot more than I do anyway. I am still allowed to name my successor, right?" Longfellow smirked and paced the dock, speaking to the crowd and ending with a flourish to a very surprised Jar Head.

"M-Me!? You want..." Jar sputtered in shock, panicking at being put on the spot.

Cap'n Berry was nearly as surprised, her ears flicking at the interested and positive sounding murmurs from the mob turning to the new bit of theater. She recovered quickly though, raising an eyebrow and quirking her muzzle in a soft smile as she nodded back. "Aye old timer, if you were to name a new captain that clearly knows how to bring in full nets, I suppose that would calm a lot of fears here. What say you Jar Head? You're ready to take on becoming a full fledged captain of the Harbor? Abide by the old laws of the sea?"

Nodding eagerly with a stunned and goofy grin, Jar Head was prevented from answering by a furious Barnacle Bill. The portly purple stallion's face was red as he stamped a hoof down and tried to get the now happier crowd back on his side. "Hey! That's not how we do things! He can't just name some goofy colt barely out of diapers to take over the best ship in the harbor! I put in my time an' run a full crew, including that brat! He's gotta prove himself! If Longfellow wants to skip all that, then he's gotta do a Captain's Jig!"

Jar Head's mouth hung open in surprise with a bit of anxiety flowing off him, but Longfellow ignored him entirely. Instead he shoved his way forward, pushing the younger buck aside to answer for him by glaring combatively with Barnacle Bill. "Aye, that's fine then. We'll take the Pearl out tomorrow like I planned an' the young buck'll do the best Jig any o' you ponies have ever seen! Now if we're done, I need a drink ta wash the taste of all these horseapples outta my mouth. Move Bill..."

At that, Longfellow thrust his chest out and made the heavyset pony fall back a step with a flinch, then trotted off with his head held high through the crowd parting around him, leaving Vira, Nick, Jar Head and Kelpie blinking after him in shock and confusion. He paused after a few steps at least, turning back with a gruff snort that broke the spell of silence that had fallen over the docks.

"Oy! Let's go you lot! Vira me dear, come along, let's go have us a drink an' grub ta celebrate. I'll get ya one of them glowy green soda's ya like so much!"

Tilting her head, Vira wrinkled her nose at the offer for a moment, she'd had all the soda she could stand for awhile... The way he offered it however, like a doting father offering a sweet treat for his little filly, that made it very enticing... Giving a shrug to the others, Vira beamed and cantered after the old stallion, flicking her sticky tail to swat Barnacle Bill as she passed and joined Longfellow giving her a wink and turning to the Last Plank bar.

"Slow down Vira, you miss the part about food bein' an issue around here? What is that, your third order?" Nick leaned back in the cracked leather booth in a corner of the Last Plank, smirking at his assistant blinking up from the metal bucket she currently had her muzzle stuck in well after the other living ponies at the table had finished their meals.

Pausing in her crunching away, Vira blushed and mumbled back with her cheeks stuffed. "Mmno! Mt's jssh sccnd! Ss gud!"

"Well, I'm no expert fisherpony like these two, but I think you're supposed to just eat the meat out of Rad-Crab legs, not everything in the pail Vira..." Nick chuckled back, taking the break in Vira's so far voracious eating to light a cigarette and gesture towards the unused crabcracker resting on the worn table.

Looking from Nick's cheery grin to find Kelpie and Jar Head both goggling at her with slow nods of confirmation as bits of broken shell fell from her pouting lips, Vira tilted her head to Longfellow hooting laughter and piling on. "Glad you found something you like an all lassie, but yer robot boss is right. Plus you're gonna eat a hole right through my wallet at that rate. Not that I mind darlin', not much else to spend my caps on and it was worth it just for the show."

Vira blushed brighter when he jerked his muzzle out to the rest of the bar, pointing out Kelpie and Jar weren't the only ones staring in slack jawed shock at the big alicorn crunching her way through two buckets of crab legs with only a lot of butter poured right in the tub to lubricate things.

Kelpie finally finding her voice and squinting up to her forcibly gulping down her last stuffed mouthful just embarrassed her more. "Holy shit Bitch... your teeth..."

Running her tongue out to lick her lips of the delightful butter making them glisten (incidentally attracting too much lusty focus from Jar Head she was trying to avoid), Vira felt the sharp points of her fangs and held a hoof up to her mouth with a wince. Willing them back to her normally even and inviting smile, she took a rushed sip of her glowing green beverage sheepishly.

"Er... I'm sorry... I was famished and that was a wonderful meal, thank you Longfellow. I umm... n-never had anything so tasty, so I got a little too excited. I guess not eating the hard bits would have been easier, but they were nice and crunchy... T-They go back to normal though Kelpie, see?"

Kelpie just groaned and shook her head at the goof leaning over with that big maw open wide right in her face. All those gleaming teeth were indeed back to being the flat and disgustingly perfect pearly whites of a normal pony, but she'd been watching Vira just cramming her face with a shark-like grin of sharp and clearly strong chompers. She'd never get used to being friends with a mutant pony... never, ever, ever...

She was friends with her though, something that lightened her heart and helped her put aside her current annoyance with both the green alicorn and the oblivious earth pony sitting across the table from her. With a sigh, Kelpie found herself giggling and sticking her tongue out, feeling a bit like a manticore tamer by reaching out with her hooves to snap Vira's muzzle shut again. "Ick! C'mon Vira, gross! I don't wanna up close view of your dinner, I get it ok? No wonder you're such a fat ass, you freaking inhaled all that food, on Longfellow's cap even!"

"I am NOT fat!!" Vira stuck her nose up and huffed, but cracked a lidded green eye open and shifted in her seat to flank check the unicorn beside her with a giggle, nearly tossing the smaller mare out of the booth with an innocent snort. "I rarely ate food before, so you'll all just have to excuse poor manners. I really was starving though, after all that flying and running and fighting... The radiation may have recharged me, but this is more satisfying somehow. Thank you Longfellow, it was delicious! I can pay of course... er... can't I Nick?"

Puffing on his cigarette, Nick dug in his rumpled trenchcoat and pulled out a jingling bag of caps to the counter, then arched a plastic eyebrow and shook out a few before hoofing over the rest to his assistant with a chuckle. "Told ya I was docking your pay, but there you go, that should cover it dollface. Now, if everypony who has an old fashioned, flesh and blood tummy and gets to eat food is full, you wanna explain what just happened out there mac? You know, for us ignorant tourists and all? Not that I mind helping out pal, plus my mare friday is probably tagging along no matter what I say, just curious."

In answer, Longfellow pulled his intricately carved meerschaum pipe out to join the detective in an after dinner smoke, shrugging back in answer. "Damn pushy Cap'n forced my hoof, so figured I'd screw over Bill for pissin' me off. He's gotten a lot greedier and a lot fatter since I leased the Pearl out to him, could see he just wanted ta get his grubby mits on my boat, so I named the kid here Captain to fuck him."

"I still can't believe... Y-You really want me to take over for you sir? I mean... the Pearl is the best ship in the Harbor! Why'd you pick me to..." Jar Head shook his head as Vira felt the idea hit him again like a ton of bricks, holding back the elation he felt in favor of waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Eh, you was there and convenient?" Longfellow shrugged back, then laughed at the younger buck's crestfallen expression and put a hoof on his shoulder as he continued. "I want to see her in good hooves lad. You dropped everything to help my Vira and the lassie here when nopony else would help, you thought to run the nets for those hungry fools on the docks, you know your business on the sea and you're a good sort. Plus I... Your ma was friends with my Emmy lad, I knew your grandparents and ma well once upon a time. When she died I... I should'a been there for you kids like she tried to be for me over the years. Just too busy wallowing in my own misery to think about anypony else/ Consider this me tryin' to make up for it."

Filling the stunned silence Longfellow's pained answer brought, Vira lunged forward to drag him across the table with her and Kelpie, hugging and nuzzling the sputtering old stallion with a squee of delight. He really was making an effort to let other ponies in again, had changed since she met him and he wanted nothing more than to be alone. Thinking of Kelpie and Jar Head as ponies he could trust again, helping them out and expressing regret he hadn't when they were growing up as orphans, these were all big steps for the stubborn old stallion and Vira was so happy for him she ignored the snickers from the bar over the legendary Longfellow getting brazenly cuddled.

"Vira, you're gonna crush him into chum if you keep that up, we need him alive long enough to do the Jig and make Jar captain you know. Wait till then to snuggle him to death..." Kelpie giggled and teased them both, helpfully pulling Longfellow from the alicorn's grasp and righting his captain's hat before hesitantly reaching for her own, less lethal hug, whispering against his scruffy cheek. "Thank you old timer... really..."

Vira had her lip stuck out in a pout watching the tender embrace, but felt happy at the surprised emotion from Longfellow slowly turning to happiness, patting Kelpie's back and whispering low enough Vira had to perk her ears to make it out. "There, there lass, s'alright. Just forgive an old fool for not helpin' out earlier. Me Vira here... she told me how hard things were for you growin' up. I could'a done somethin' sooner, I was just... just an idiot..."

Biting her lip and tapping her hooves together as she watched the two gruff and normally stone faced island ponies sniffling and letting their defenses down, Vira felt left out. She felt a tear roll down her cheek in sympathy and couldn't stand anymore, lunging forward to grab them both and curl her wings around the two equally stubborn ponies, giving them privacy from prying eyes while also getting to include herself.

When they finally broke apart, both Kelpie and Longfellow were forcefully rubbing their eyes and sniffling, the younger unicorn the first to put her mask back on with a weak snort. "A-Ahem, enough of all that mush, huh Longfellow? Er... b-back to your question detective, we have to do a jig for Jar to take over as captain. Normally it's not needed, but that's for first mates who've served a long time and built up trust and respect with their crews. Jar's too young and inexperienced, so it's like a way to prove himself to everypony. If you don't have the faith of ponies you're asking to follow your orders out on the sea, you won't get anywhere. It's an old tradition."

"Aye, an' we tend to do it down in the southern marshes too, so be goin' the same way we wanted to anyway. It's no big deal detective, we'll set sail in the mornin' with a gaggle o' witnesses followin' along in their own boat, the young buck here dances his jig, then it's all settled. No more meddlin' from NOSY DAMN TOWNIES WHAT SHOULD MIND THEIR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!" Longfellow wiped his nose on his dark peacoat, ending by glaring and shouting over the music playing from the jukebox to the patrons in the bar hurriedly flicking their eyes away from their corner booth.

"I still can't believe it, b-but I promise to do a good job sir! This is so awesome, I can't wait to tell Leather... oh! A-Actually, I need to go do that while we're in town, and umm... pay Dr. Teddy? If you're not still mad, are you Kelpie? I thought we could go see him before taking everypony back home to Longfellow's for the night, he'd really like seeing you an' Miss Vira both to thank you." Jar Head spoke up first once the normal hum of the bar settled back out, sliding out of the booth and giving with a hopeful look to Kelpie.

She rolled her eyes and huffed, but Kelpie hopped up and made to follow him, pausing to turn back and make her manners. "I'm still annoyed.... but that doesn't change anything. We've got a bill to pay real quick, will you guys be ok waiting a minute?"

"Oh aye, ain't even got that deep in me cups what with all the cozy dinner. You kids go have fun, me an the detective here will amuse ourselves like a pair of old fogies." Longfellow shuffled around in his new seat across from Nick with a grin, reaching out for his bottle of Wild Pegasus and pouring a pair of shots.

Chuckling back, Nick took the offered shotglass and downed it smoothly. "Well if you insist mac, though I'm a lot older than you. Never get in a drinking contest with a synth whipper snapper. Go on assistant, you're off the clock and deserve a little down time."

"Coming Bitch? Leather Neck's cute, you should meet the buck you're helping so much, I bet seeing you would help his recovery even." Kelpie held an inviting foreleg out to help Vira clamber her way over Longfellow and out wiggle of the cramped booth. She only partially upended the table and buried the old buck under a lot of squirming filly until she popped out, forcing him to shove past her rump and flicking tail to save the bottle of Wild Pegasus from her graceful efforts.

Looking between Kelpie and Jar Head, Vira fidgeted with her mane and shook her head. "Oh... I look frightful still, I'd rather not meet Jar's brother all sticky with soda and exhausted. You two should go! Together! Maybe talk about... things... I will... just have a trot about town, please send my regards though."

(Smooth Vira... but thanks...) Kelpie raised an eyebrow at Vira's unconvincing smile, but a blushing glance to a confused Jar Head was enough for her to go along with the alicorn's gentle nudging. "You do look like hell Bitch, you'd probably scare him into a coma. Wait until his heart can take meeting his savior when she's cleaned up. C'mon Jar, let's pay off the old drunk so he'll finally stop bitching and maybe try to do his job better."

Vira felt the disappointment from Jar Head over her polite decline, but ignored the warm flush his thoughts inspired and gave Kelpie an exagerrated wink before seeing them off at the docks. She pranced along until they were out of sight, then slowed her pace and sighed, floating out her dark crystal likeness of the male alicorn to pout at. He never said all the tingly feelings he'd opened her to were so complicated. She was happy for her new friends and hoped Kelpie would find some way to tell Jar how she felt, she really was rooting for her, it was just... lonely.

Unbeknownst to the alicorn, Nick and Longfellow clinked their second shots and downed the firey liquid together, enjoying a comfortable silence for a moment. After a suitable pause, the synth detective tipped the brim of his battered brown fedora and gave the old stallion an appraising look with his strange yellow on black eyes, pouring another shot before speaking in a soft murmur.

"My assistant is new to the detective game, but I'm not mac. You're throwin' up some red flags here... Giving your stuff away like that, if a buck didn't know better, he'd start to worry you're not taking news about your long lost love that well after all. You alright old timer?"

"Mind yer business robot... I'm feelin' a mite generous is all..." Longfellow grumbled back unconvincingly.

Nick's gaze flicked out the dirty windows to see Vira's lilac striped green tail disappearing down the dock, then downed his shot and gave the sulking Longfellow a steely look. "Sure pally, not that it's my business or I haven't had those kinda thoughts myself. Vira is my business though, I care about her too. Just remember, you'll break her heart..."

That made the grumpy old stallion flinch, dragging the bottle from the table to sulk on his side of the booth and mutter back. "Guess you're smarter than those kids Detective Hearts n' Hooves. Don't worry so much, just thinkin' ahead a little. I am an old pony after all. Things happen in the fog..."

With her pay for the long day burning a hole in her saddlebags, Vira decided to try her hoof at shopping again since Longfellow wouldn't let her pay for all the wonderful food. With a full tummy, she felt like a pony again, though until she got to a shower and a bed she was resigned to feeling uncomfortable and tired. Strolling down the docks and poking her head into the various shop made her feel better somehow though, even just browsing. With the lovely new magical energy weapon in her bag though, she considered saving her caps for spark cells for the ammo glutton of a RSW gun.

She also took her time since she'd not heard much good about the proprietor of Fog Harbor's weapon shop, a crusty dark red pony named Ailing Levee she peeked at, hanging out over the counter facing the docks like many shops had with a permanent scowl under his curly green beard and tattered knit hat. The fact he was holding court with a gaggle of other rough looking customers, including the very sour faced Barnacle Bill glaring at her, just made waiting less of an issue.

The local tailor looked like a friendlier mare at least, a pretty pale unicorn with a dark brown and gold striped mane the alicorn with her face pressed against the glass window of her shop spotted working in the rear. Most of the wares on the poniquins in the window wore talented leather and fur armor pieces, some of which Vira just imagined Longfellow had provided the pelts for himself. There were several pretty dresses and accessories Vira liked looking at though, and the dusty glass cases with a few glimmering bits of jewelery she could just make out inside had her interest.

After her ordeal in the Zip! Factory however, more practical considerations took precedence. Ammo first, then pretty things... yes.. that's definitely what she should do. She eventually pulled herself away from the window with a sigh, nearly running directly into a round white Ms. Handy robot bobbing out the door in front of her.

"Oh! Excusez-moi mademoiselle, so sorry I... Ah! Madame Detective! A pleasure to see vou again!" The bubbly robot babbled at Vira cantering back a step to avoid the collision, doing a little hovering curtsie in greeting.

Blinking at it curiously, Vira smiled in recognition and returned the strange bow. "...Pearl wasn't it? You are Plaid's assistant? She's already sent you to town I see, how is she? Has everything gone well so far?"

"Oui oui mademoiselle, I 'ave been most successful, merci! I vas just negotiating on behalf of Madame Polomare vith the local seamstress! Ah, it seems vou may need her services as well, your poor ensemble!" The robot was as cheery as ever, giving a mock gasp and gesturing a claw to Vira's mended maroon trenchcoat.

"Oh... y-yes, I suppose so. My friend fixed it for me, but she says it was difficult to repair a magically armored garment. Maybe I should bring it back to Suri, will she and the others be leaving the Stable anytime soon?"

"An expedition is being prepared, oui Detective, though it may be a day or two and only a trial I believe. The proprietor of this shop is quite talented however, please don't tell Ms. Polomare I vould recommend anypony else though! She'd scramble my circuits, then vhere vould Miss Plaid be?" Pearl gave an artificial giggle and spun in the air, helpfully opening the door with a tinny jingle from overhead as Vira trotted in.

Before she'd done more than wander a few steps into the shop, the mare behind the old fashioned, ruby red, magic powered sewing machine proved the odd robot right by arching an eyebrow and speaking in an islander accented drawl. "Ho there missy, in to buy, or for alterations? That get up is a size too small, ain't it?"

Blinking down with a blush lighting her cheeks over how stuffed into her nice coat she felt, Vira scuffed her hoof and muttered in response. "Er... no, it is actually custom tailored and a perfect fit, it's more that I am a size too big at the moment..."

The local mare wasn't phased at all, tossing her dark chocolate and sunny yellow striped mane and putting aside the thick leather and fur coat she was working on to trot right up. "Uh-huh... yer one o' them mainland mutant ponies, right? Yer kind does the whole blowing up like a balloon with enough rads, instead of gettin' all glowy, huh?"

Vira didn't sense any disgust or disapproval with the term 'mutant' or her frank discussion of Vira's nature, just a statement of facts as she huffed over Kelpie's rushed repairs and started hovering over bobbins of thread in different shades of purple, while Vira gave a sheepish nod. "Y-Yes... it can be inconvenient, but also quite handy sometimes. It's terrible on clothing however, a-as you can see. Perhaps that's why my mother was against wearing them... My friend tried to repair it, but it is of a special make and..."

"Ayuh, the armoring spells make it hell ta get a needle through. I can fix it. There's an enchantment to keep this kind of thing from happening again too missy, 15 caps for the repairs, 25 for the spell work." The mare's horn lit up and the golden glow of her magic surrounded Vira's outfit a moment, then roved over to a glass doored bookshelf she unlocked to rifle through the battered spell books within, turning back with a firm nod once she pulled down an ancient tome reading 'Elegant Enchantments, by Rococo Froufrou'.

"R-Really? There's a spell that can do something to keep it from happening again? Y-Yes! Of course, I would be so happy if you could help! Umm... how long must I leave it in your care Miss...?"

"Rushing Brook, and it'll take me about fifteen minutes, ten with a couple caps tip for an incentive. It's not that complicated, that fancy doo-dad on yer hoof has the same kinda size adjustment spell. Not that different from repair enchantments really if you want me to throw one in the matrix. Not doin' nothing about whatever made it smell like that and be so... ugh... sticky though." The brusque but nice mare shrugged, taking Vira's trenchcoat and wrinkling her nose at the odor.

Vira groaned at the reminder with her ears drooping, "It's soda... something called Captain's Blend, not... anything more disgusting. I can manage cleaning it myself, I just learned how! Er... sorry I hadn't had a chance to before, I assumed I'd have to return it to its maker to do anything, but the robot outside recommended you and... Please, I'd be very appreciative!"

"Ah, you mean the weird white one still bobbin' along out there?" Miss Brook smirked and rolled her eyes to the poniquin filled window of her shop, pointing out Pearl staring in with her three eyes and waving with a cheery 'Alloooo!' before continuing with a chuckle. "Helpin' me work out a deal with those Stable ponies, robots... whatever up there at the Cliffside. You're that mare what went up there and got em to come outta their hole too, aren't ya missy? Hear you been helpin' out all over lately. Tell you what, I'll give you a discount. Some of those fools out there might wanna get their tails in a twist, but the fog always goes away eventually. We were a tourist island once and yer one of the good ones."

Vira gave the shopkeep a teary thank you and shook her hoof hard enough to rattle the glasses down her muzzle, then spent her time waiting by browsing her shop and all the cute clothing and sturdy armor on display. One shelf was full of ornate leather holsters, saddlebags, belts, bandoliers and other leatherwork she looked at appreciatively.

When Rushing Brook called her back, Vira had selected a finely etched, dark 'gulper' leather bandolier to add to her purchase. A gift for Longfellow to replace the ratty strap he wore over his peacoat to hold his lever action rifle. It nearly wiped out her meager supply of caps, but having her own money gave her a sense a pride and being able to spend it on her adopted father made her surprisingly happy, hoping he'd like it.

She facehoofed when she left and remembered she was supposed to save some money for ammo however, biting her lip and wondering absently if it would count as 'expenses' Nick had told her was part of her pay. By the thoughts she picked up from him when the subject came up, it seemed his previous assistant had a very loose definition of expenses and had taken advantage of it. Surely ammunition she used on the case would be an actual expense though, wouldn't it?

Vira resolved to ask him about it after purchasing what she could and seeing how many spark cells they even had in stock. So far, she hadn't seen many islanders using magical energy weapons, instead favoring ballistic firearms, harpoon guns and the varied fishing spears and barbed hooks she saw arrayed out on the counter under the crudely painted shingle of 'Levee's Tacklebox'. Unfortunately, that's all she saw there, the unpleasant looking ponies milling around the place were gone.

Raised voices at the nearby gates drew her eye that way, spotting the gaggle of missing ponies jeering and shouting out to the fog beyond. Vira made to trot up and ask the shopkeep to actually keep his shop, then paused when she squinted through the haze and spotted a green robed cultist prostelitizing fanatically. "Repent sinners! Repent and welcome the holy fog, it's the Mother's will! Quit hiding and holding back paradise with these foul technological tools of false ponies!"

The weapon merchant Ailing Levee, Barnacle Bill and another pair of cruel looking bucks were tromping out to the line of condensers the Church of Balefire missionary was standing behind, Levee apparently the ringleader by his gruff shout in reply. "Thought you would'a learned yer lesson after I took care of the last of you cultists to come preachin'! We don't want your bullshit around here! It's blasphemy against the goddesses!"

"The Goddesses abandoned us! They watch our suffering from on high without ever lifting a hoof. The Mother of the Fog watches over us and aids the needy, she spreads the holy glow of the fog and you reject her gifts! Murder her messengers! You harbor ponies are the blasphemers, not us!" The rad sore marked buck under the ragged green hood shot back, a lot of long held animosity on both sides close to boiling over already.

Seeing how the harbor ponies came closer and made to draw various clubs, bowie knives and fishing hooks, Vira gulped and trotted ahead anxiously, clearing her throat to get their attention before things escalated. "A-Ahem! Excuse me, Mr. Levee I believe? I w-was hoping to purchase spark cells from your shop, if you could leave this addled pony alone a moment?"

She was trying to be friendly and defuse things, feeling some sympathy for the Church stallion so blinded by the offshoot branch of the church she'd once been a high priestess of. Plus Vira truly didn't want to see things go bad, thinking of the poor mare like she'd found torn to shreds by wolves on the way up to Acadia. She felt afraid and ashamed about the Church of Balefire, but had found she'd actually started to care about random ponies and didn't want to see this one killed for spreading the gospel.

Vira didn't like how their anger didn't cool one iota when they turned back to her in surprise, Barnacle Bill especially was glaring daggers at her. The cultist behind them giving a gasp didn't help either, pointing a hoof her way and renewing his fervor. "Child of the Goddess! You've received the Mother's blessing! Tell these heretics the glory of the holy glow and to abandon their blasphemy!"

"See! I told'ya Levee, big bitch isn't just a synth lover, she's with these Balefire fanatics too! Might look like a goddess, but that don't mean she believes in em like a proper pony! Hear 'em? She's blessed by Longfellow's wife, I bet she's a damn rad worshipper too!" Barnacle Bill reminded Vira of nothing so much as a yapping little dog at Levee's side, pointing his hoof at her and trying to stir up conflict, forcing her back a step as they turned their collective glare to her and the cultist equally.

When she cantered back towards the quietly mumbling cultist stallion engaged in some kind of prayer, they spread out and started surrounding them both, their thoughts turning darker and crueler under Levee's gruff voice playing ringleader. "He's right lass, first you wander around askin' questions with that fancy robot boss of yers, then you go up to Acadia and find a whole bunker full o' more robots under the Cliffside ruins what are pokin' around town now, plus you freed the dragon, and now yer stickin' up for this lunatic? Might not know better since yer an outsider, but you better pick yer sides better..."

"I'm not picking sides, I merely wish to be a good pony.... to everyone. Four of you picking on one mentally unsound buck doesn't seem very fair to me, and I believe Cap'n Berry was most upset at the last of their order you decided to murder, isn't that so Mr. Levee? That's what you're thinking about anyway... how to get away with it again..." Vira's heart sped at the smaller ponies circling her threateningly, flashes of being surrounded by blood crazed Trappers in the Zip! Factory coming back to her in a rush.

The thoughts of one of the bucks who'd moved behind her only added to the panic she felt remembering it now. He wasn't really in it for any firm beliefs about goddesses, synths or Balefire cultists, just a weak pony going along with the strong. His main motivations were selfish, including the slimy lust that was so familiar after Vira's run in with Dragonslayer, sending a shiver down her matted tail.

"They should'a learned after that one, just have to keep teachin' the lesson till they get it. This one though... we don't need to kill her, right Levee? I mean, she's a fair sight prettier than those rad sore covered freaks and ghouls from the church, maybe we can teach her a different way..." The weasly, sallow faced blue violet unicorn sneered and snickered from behind her, picturing images of Vira doing things with him that made her stomach turn and a cold sweat break out on her coat.

When he made the mistake of actually touching her rump with his filthy hooves, Vira reacted in automatic revulsion. She bucked as hard as she had when the Trappers did the same thing, pawing at her like a piece of meat they'd caught... She didn't think or even aim, she just gagged as one hindleg shot out and sent the slimy buck flying into the fog. The other three tensed and readied their weapons, forcing Vira to deal with the situation even if she hadn't meant to bring it to violence first.

Flapping her wings, Vira shot backwards in a short hop that bought her breathing room and landed her right in front of the surprised cultist, looking up with a worshipful expression at the green alicorn towering over his prayers. She rolled her eyes and huffed at the religious devotion, but brought up the glowing green bubble of her shield and planted her hooves in front of the crazed pony protectively, giving a flat stare back to the harbor ponies helping their groaning cohort back.

Bill's dark purple face was red with fury, but Mr. Levee merely stared back, looking between Vira, the cultist and Vira's crackling barrier in frustration with a judgmental note to his thoughts. Surprisingly, he wasn't upset in the least that Vira' had knocked his friend into next week, giving the senseless pony trying to stay upright while clutching between his hindlegs and moaning a disgusted look, believing Vira was well within her rights to do what she had to the 'sleazeball' as he thought of him. It seemed the weapons merchant wasn't really a bad pony, but one who had very firm, if negative, beliefs.

"Ahoy down there... quit fucking around by my wall you lot! You heard the Cap'n and you know what she said, leave those nuts alone if they come round, so long as they're peaceful! And if I see you even look at that mare the wrong way, I'm gonna make a purse outta yer nuts Chum Bucket! Go on, git!" A hard, harsh voice broke the standoff before it could get any worse, coming from a light pink mare wearing thick framed glasses under her auburn mane, glaring down from atop the hulk of the ship's hull wall.

Considering she had a very large and clearly modified harpoon gun trained down on them, specifically on the whining buck who'd touched her, Vira was immediately grateful and lowered her shield as they shuffled off. Barnacle Bill looked back with dark anger still tinging his thoughts focusing on her, but Ailing Levee managed to give her a curt nod of respect, shoving his minions along and gruffly muttering back that, "Shop's open again then Miss Detective, if ya still wanted to buy."

"Oh thank you glorious child of the Goddess! Truly you are blessed by the Mother of the Fog and..." The cultist bowing and scraping as Vira breathed a sigh of relief made her continue exhaling into a groan, hanging her head and glancing back to the fanatic.

"Yes, yes, none of that... I'm just a pony, I have no desire whatsoever for worship or praise. If you're grateful, perhaps it would be best if you went on home now, please? I hope to visit the Cantrip tomorrow, m-maybe I shall see you there Mr...?"

"Zealot Wares ma'am, I'll go tell Grand Zealot Richter and the High Inquistor to expect you as a friend of the faith." When he answered, the thus far weak hunch and submissive behavior evaporated, the deceptively smaller stallion straightening up and giving a firmer bow.

Tilting her head down at him curiously, Vira was surprised. He'd been putting on an act... pretending to be weak and addled... A closer look under his ratty green robes showed very dense and fancy looking prewar armor, with a fishscale pattern here and there on the thick black plates and a strangely modified rifle was slung at his side. All that plus his title he gave to her made Vira pause and venture an unsure guess at his true purpose here.

"Zealot... back on the mainland, those of that rank were warriors Mr. Wares, I assume the same is true here? You were here to deal with those ponies, weren't you?"

Giving her a wink with the bright pink eye surrounded by loops of facial tattoos, Zealot Wares shrugged before turning to trot off into the fog. "I was sent to spread the message of the holy glow. We're just not sending defenseless initiates anymore... If those ponies who admitted to what they did to Sister Curie just now thought I was weak and would try it again, it wouldn't be my fault if I defended myself, would it? Thank you for coming to my rescue though ma'am, come look me up when you arrive at the Cantrip."

Vira watched as he disappeared into the pinkish grey mist beyond the line of condensers. Now that she thought of it, she'd never really gotten to know any of her flock back in Trotson, so didn't realize even the desperate fanatics were individuals with worth. She was still concerned about going to their church and facing whatever leadership had caused so many problems on Fog Harbor since coming here, but wasn't as afraid of the normal membership anymore somehow. She still had a lot to atone for as far as the Church was concerned, treating them as more than cardboard cutouts was the least she could do.

Fluttering over the wall rather than through the gate, she paused to land daintily atop the rusty barrier and bow her head to the gruff mare still standing guard there. "Thank you. If you hadn't intervened, that may have gone poorly..."

"Meh, I owed ya one for yer trick with the glowy shield at my gates. Islanders pay their debts. Plus Chum is a creepy fuck, just along for the ride to be a bully, doesn't give a shit about Levee an' his Goddesses superiority complex." The middle aged pink unicorn huffed, giving a gruff shake of her hoof in introduction while keeping one wary teal eye on the fog. "Name's The Mariner, glad I could help. You've just been makin' friends all over town, ain't ya?"

Unsure if the mare was being sarcastic or not with that deadpan voice of hers, Vira nodded and took it as sincere. "Er... yes? I like to think so anyway, though I suppose I won't get along with everypony, I can try. I owe the islanders here a good deal, maybe you're rubbing off on me and I wish to pay my debts as well?"

Vira giggled at getting a surprised snort of laughter from the Mariner, even if she shook it off quickly and returned to being serious as she tilted her glasses up to squint at Vira. "Don't joke about living by the code around here too much there Miss Detective, your friend Jar Head is up to his eyeballs in it goin' out to do a jig. Better hope he doesn't run into the Red Death."

Tilting her head curiously, Vira finally thought to inquire after more details now that she had an outside local to ask. "What is a jig anyway? Is it dangerous? What's this Red Death thing, you are quite afraid of it."

The Mariner sputtered at Vira picking up on the chilly fear she was hiding, her pink cheeks turning red as she shook her head vehemently. "Not scared! Sensible dammit! The Red Death has sunk many a ship out the way yer goin' missy, more ponies would be better off if they had a healthy respect for it and steered clear of that Miretank monster! As fer the jig, yer pal Longfellow didn't explain it?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make fun. And no, Longfellow has been very cryptic about it, as have Jar and Kelpie for that matter. Could I impose on you?" Vira was more than curious now, what she sensed from the Mariner was annoyance over 'The Old Coot' dragging her into things she didn't understand, dangerous things...

She grumbled and sighed eventually, "Yer potential captain has to go out and piss off a bunch of creepy crawlies in the marshes. If he survives, he's got the brine in his veins to lead ponies out on the sea. If not... well, he doesn't."

"W-What!? But that's.... Longfellow wouldn't put him in danger like that! Would he?"

The Mariner shrugged back, like none of this was that big a deal. "Not a lot of options, only way a youngster like that or an outsider would be accepted as a true captain of the harbor so quick. He's allowed to have help too, don't worry too much. Leading ponies in rough seas is what it's all about, so he doesn't have to do it all on his lonesome. Jar Head's a fool, but he's strong and a hard worker, he knew what he was gettin' into and I give him fair odds. Especially if he's got a big mare like you with all yer fancy magic tricks on his side."

"Well he does, so... so I will trust him and Longfellow, we'll just have to do our best to support him. Like friends are supposed to do, right?"

Vira enjoyed the warm smile that earned her, the mature mare nodded smartly and turned back to the fog. Her thoughts turned somber a moment as she stared out into the swirling mist, then she raised an auburn eyebrow and glanced up to Vira with a hesitant question percolating in her mind. "Was that way in the old days from what I hear anyway. Ponies were better once... Hey Detective, mind if I ask..."

"A favor? It doesn't hurt to ask, you needn't be so conflicted over it. If I can help, of course I'll try." Vira beamed back, deciding to cut to the chase so she could find Longfellow and give him a piece of her mind over not explaining things better.

The Mariner gasped at the interruption, then rolled her eyes and nickered. "Oh yeah, heard about that mindreadin' business, seen a lot between the sea and fog in my day, but that's just plain weird... Alright smarty pants, yeah I want somethin'... Tools. I hear yer goin' to those kooks up in the Cantrip, right? Well, that's an old naval base, they gots the kinda tools I need to reinforce the hull here. Ol' girl's been taken a beating lately, she needs work or one day them beasties out there are gonna tear right through her."

Blinking down to the Mariner giving a loving tap of her hoof to the metallic wall composed of a large ship's hull below her, Vira considered it before simply accepting. The wall protected the ponies of the harbor, without it, things would indeed get very bad. Surely getting her hooves on some tools wouldn't be as hard as the memories Dima sent them to the Cantrip for to begin with.

Vira turned away from the fog as she hummed in thought, looking over the lights twinkling bravely against the darkness and fog all around them. From her perch on the wall, she could see Jar Head and Kelpie leaving the Helpinghoof Clinic. Judging by Kelpie's awkward posture and Jar's oblivious trot in the lead, Vira nickered to herself in exasperation and already knew the poor filly still hadn't told him how she felt. Further down the docks, Longfellow and Nick were smoking by Jar's little sailboat, chatting in a serious bit of conversation to themselves and waiting for 'all the youngsters', as they thought of Vira and her friends, to show up.

Moving on and just letting her eyes rove around the busy harbor, Vira took in all the different ponies living their lives here. There were mare's in skimpy clothes that peaked her interest calling out to buck's passing by, foals running through the ropes and boxes in complicated games of hide and seek, drunken old sailor-ponies staggering out of the Last Plank, fisher-ponies mending nets and boats for another hard day tomorrow.

Vira realized she'd come to care about them, even the ponies she didn't know personally. She wanted them to remain safe. Glancing up the mountain behind her, she spotted the Starswirl Observatory against the starry sky and amended the thought to include Sumi and the strange synths. Looking back to the fog where the mysterious Zealot had disappeared, she added them too actually.

She didn't want the three groups to fight, for any of them to be hurt and die for stupid pride or misunderstandings. Cruel, dangerous ponies like the Trappers deserved their fate, but Vira had finally started to see the love she was so interested in didn't have to be focused on one male or even one small group of friends. It could be an abstract and extend to creatures she'd never met and never would. Caring about others in general was a revelation and still new, filling her with a warm glow that wasn't quite what she'd felt from the male, but close.

Thinking of him and fumbling with her pip-buck a moment, she managed to bring up the locator tag thing Nick had given her and smiled softly. The blinking arrow reading 'Fast Times' was now sitting on a gear shaped icon that said Stable 75, making her hope he was somewhere as nice as Stable 118 had been, meeting somepony like Plaid and the Robobrain inhabitants there, making new friends...

"This is what you meant... isn't it?" Vira whispered to herself as she glanced up to see Longfellow, Nick, Kelpie and Jar all gathering on the docks and looking around for her, surrounded by the ebb and flow of ponies living their lives.

She finally understood why Fast asked her to be better, to be a good pony... She'd found a new place in a wider world, closing her eyes to drink in the collective sensations of Fog Harbor, she could picture all those other creatures in the wasteland and felt that abstract caring for them too. Even if she never met them, she wished the best for all of them too, hoped they were living good lives and were granted a second chance like she was if they weren't. It meant so much...

"Of course I'd be willing to help Mariner. If I can find tools to aid the Harbor, I'll bring them back. Now, if you'll excuse me, my... my family is looking for me." Vira sniffled with a beautiful smile, spreading her wings to glide back to her adopted father and the others before the mare could even grunt a surprised thanks.

Before she could however, she felt a strange tingle and a glow from behind softly lit up the fog, getting her and the Mariner to look back just in time to see the tails of her long coat flapping in an unseen wind. Her flank was... glowing!? Vira blinked in stunned silence as the magical sparkle spread and brightened, then faded away again, leaving an image on her forest green fur that hadn't been there before. A cutie mark...

It went along with her new job, actually somewhat similar to Nick's to her further surprise. While he had a magnifying glass and a gun however, Vira's had a magnifying glass centered on a bright red heart, pointing it out and making the tiny heart she saw under the somewhat fancier golden frame look huge.

Puzzling over it all took a backseat to the shere surprise and joy of it though. Vira had a mark... Vira found her cutie mark! What had been intended as a slow flight down to the others turned into a rocketing takeoff as she squealed in delight. "Longfellow! Nick! Kelpie! Jar! LOOK!"

"You're sure about this Longfellow? I... I can find somewhere else, the couch again..." Some time later, Vira tapped her hooves together anxiously as she was tucked in under a wonderfully soft and cleaned quilt, giving the doting old pony with the blanket in his teeth an unsure look as he tugged it up past her tummy.

"The nitwit is on the couch, an' you two ain't sleepin' in the same room ta git up ta shenanigans again missy! You just hush up an' lemme do this, I... I want to. Besides, we have to celebrate, right?" Longfellow gave her a stern, mock frown and patted her freshly cleaned and shining mane lovingly, leaving her little choice but to nod sheepishly as he turned and settled in the old rocker by the little bed.

They'd sailed back across the bay from the harbor and to Longfellow's spit of land, all tired from their adventure and glad to be... home... Longfellow's little cabin had become home and Vira had again basked in the realization, nuzzling the old goat as they trotted up the seaside steps and were greeted by the refugees waiting for them.

Kelpie's sister had tackled the unicorn mare and drummed her forelegs against her for scaring her, the fear and relief Vira picked up from the filly making her wince in shame for being the one that took her sister away, even if it was to escape a rampaging fog crawler. She got a very dirty look from the foal Mossy, but was apparently forgiven once Kelpie had recovered and they all sat at the fire to relate their escapades in the Zip! Factory to their rapt audience. Vira even got a grudging hug once Kelpie told her how they saved each other more than once and even recovered fabulous riches, not to mention her very own cute-cenera put on by all her friends and the harbor ponies eager to celebrate with her.

After that, they all made their way to get some rest before their big day tomorrow. Kelpie had left with her sister to the stall they occupied together in Longfellow's barn, giving an embarrassed shake of her head when Vira tried to nudge her after Jar Head when he made to leave on his boat to his own hovel back in the harbor.

Longfellow cut him off however, to both of their surprise. Since they'd be going right back out "bright an' early dammit" as Longfellow put it, there was no reason for the young buck to go back only to turn right around after a few hours sleep. Vira's mouth hung open along with Kelpie's when the old stallion invited Jar Head into his home, allowing him to take the couch and not listening to any word against it.

It was Vira's couch though... leaving her confused about where she was meant to stay, until she'd finally come out of the bliss of Longfellow's shower to ask. She may have spent a lot of extra time cleaning her flanks and admiring her cutie mark... but eventually came out wearing the worn and comfy Hoofington Reaper's jersey Plaid let her have as pajamas and feeling much better, now that she wasn't sticky and smelling like a cannery.

That led to where she was sitting now, thinking very light and non-destructive thoughts while propped up in the bed of Longfellow's daughter Emerald... She'd objected, especially since it was a small bed and creaked ominously when he coaxed her into it, but it was well crafted by Longfellow's own hooves and held up admirably. Considering Longfellow had not allowed anypony to even step hoof in this room for decades however, Vira was still nervous, not wishing to desecrate the place further than she already had once.

"I-If you are sure then... thank you Longfellow, it's very nice..." Vira finally murmured back, glad to see the old stallion smile brightly as she primped her wings and laid back, curling up on her side to fit comfortably and lay her chin on the musty mattress, staring up to him rocking gently with wide green eyes.

"Good, because it's yers now Vira, you hear?" Longfellow replied in a hoarse whisper, furrowing his bushy brows when her head shot up to object. "No, don't ya start lassie, that's final. Consider it my cute-cenera gift if you want. This is yer room now, this is yer home, you ken? I want you to know that. Holdin' on to the past hasn't done me or anypony else any good, you getting your mark helped me decide, it's time I started lookin' to the fog ahead again. Yer my filly and this is yer home, it's yer house and land when I pass on too. No matter if yer off chasin' yer comic book buck or wherever you go, you can always come home."

Vira didn't like the complicated, somber thoughts she couldn't quite decipher in Longfellow's mind, but was so shocked and overjoyed, she didn't focus on them long. Tears welled in her wide eyes getting dark and round, her lip quivering enough warning for the now painfully experienced Longfellow to lean forward into her range with a groan, before she simply lunged at him.

He patted her back as she sniveled and did her damndest to crush the life out of him to get her inheritence early, nuzzling her sodden cheek with his bristly beard and cooing to her ear hidden by her flowing mane he burrowed against. "There, there, supposed ta be happy gettin' a gift on your cutie mark day ya silly filly, not blubbery again..."

"I a-am ha-happy! Sooooo ha-happy Longfellow!" Vira wailed back and squeezed tighter, not being very convincingly happy but for the overjoyed smile she wore as she hiccuped back. "I love you so mu-much! A-All of you! I'll always come home, lots! Y-You won't be alone anymore, n-neither of us will again!"

His thoughts turned sad at that, the image of his wife Ocean popping in his head enough of an explanation for Vira not to pry over the hint of shame he felt too. Instead they just held each other, rocking together and sniffling until they could speak again in something more than a croak.

"I love ya too lass, you remember that 'fore you go off doin' anything so foalish again, huh? Me ol' heart can't take it. Now you get some sleep, sure even you must be tired, 'cause I'm dead on me hooves after all that an' we gots more ta do tomorrow." Longfellow coaxed her back into laying down with a kiss to her horn, then stood and clicked the bedside lamp off with a quiet whisper. "Good night honey, sleep tight."

Vira watched his silhouette framed in the doorway with her heart full to bursting with love for the old stallion, snuggling into her new bed gratefully and drifting off to sleep almost immediately. Longfellow crossed the hall after closing the door most of the way, narrowing his eyes towards the living room and the snoring buck he could hear from here, leaving his own door open wide just in case.

He trotted in and discarded his tattered peacoat, smiling at the well crafted bandolier his filly had given him before hanging it up with his rifle above his dresser. He paused there, his bloodshot brown eyes hanging on a faded photograph of himself, his wife Ocean and his daughter Emerald.

He'd finally learned how to keep up certain mental defenses around his adopted daughter after enough trial and error, making sure to keep them up even as he gently stroked the dusty glass clean over his wife's face, his voice a low mutter in the quiet house. "I'm comin' Ocean..."

New Perk Added!------------------

The Magic of Friendship--------------------------

After your trial and epiphany about caring for others, you finally understand more about love and how to be a better pony, grasping the true magic of friendship! When your HP or the HP of any member of your party drops below 30%, all members of your party (including yourself) gain much greater resistance to damage.