Vira found herself standing with a much younger Longfellow Steeds, watching the slightly brighter blue stallion pace the beach she had washed up on and mutter to himself, throwing anxious glances up towards his cottage, then returning to pacing a trench in the sand, scratching his purple and grey beard as he went.

"Longfellow? L-Longfellow I'm sorry, you told me not to enter that room and I did... I was feeling very funny and.. that's no excuse, but I do apologi... Longfellow?" Vira waved a hoof in front of his face, figuring out what was going on when the trotting buck simply walked right through it and continued.

"A memory? Why... I must be asleep. All those feelings, the intensity and feedback from your reaction... I am seeing what you thought about..." Vira puzzled it out, turning with the younger stallion to look out at the sea when he gasped.

The pinkish grey haze was thick, made even more oppressive by the solid ceiling of dark clouds overhead. Vira hadn't seen skies like this since the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows... Judging by Longfellow's young age, that wasn't all that surprising now that she was able to think about things clearly. What caught his attention was a rather rare sight outside of places like the Everfree Forest in those days, a ragged patch in the clouds let the fiery colors of sunset peek through, the brilliant view in all this grey getting the pacing Longfellow to pause and stare.

Through the limited window, they watched as the sun sank to the waters of the Celestial Sea, reaching the horizon and nearly lost behind it. The last glimmers of Goddess Celestia's fire were swallowed by the waters, disappearing with a bright green flash that made both Vira and the ghost of Longfellow beside her gasp.

The sound of a newborn foal's cries coming with the strange phenomena tore their gaze away, Longfellow yelped and ran for the cottage and the shrill cry, forcing Vira to canter after him when the beach faded and became insubstantial beneath her hooves. This was his memory, when Longfellow left the beach, he didn't have any more memories of it. She had to stay with him and the roving spot of awareness that followed him.

Rushing into a much neater and tidier cabin, Vira followed his mad gallop down the hall and to his own room, bursting in on an old stallion in a dirty lab coat packing his leather doctor's bag. The elderly unicorn grinned and nodded to Longfellow's big bed, the weary looking seafoam green pegasus mare lying there gave a weak smile back, staring back with sparkling blue eyes under her sweaty and bedraggled pink mane.

The squirming, squalling bundle of blankets in her hooves wriggled as she held it up slightly, nuzzling the screaming green face poking out as she spoke in a hoarse whisper. "C-Congratulations Longfellow, meet your daughter..."

Longfellow's face paled at the words, he reached up with shaking hooves and pulled off the battered white captains hat he wore instead of his knit one. Taking a shaking step forward, he came close to the proud new mother and her infant, gulping after kissing her cheek when he looked down at their baby. "D-Daughter.. I'm a dad..."

Seeing the small family together in a tight little huddle made Vira's heart flutter. Here was all her mother ever wanted for her children... To create the small miracle cradled in their hooves, to form families of their own, be prosperous and multiply... The three of them struck a chord with her, looking between them and sharing in their soft smiles. Mother, Father, Daughter... the words rang in her mind with feelings of happiness and longing.

This was everything Vira wanted for herself, why she was so focused on finding the male alicorn... Not just because he was her only option to create her own little filly or colt as her mother wanted, but because of those warm emotions forming a cocoon around the three before her. It was a a shield better than any Vira could cast herself, one that made the world outside of it and all its horrors fall away, powered not by magic, but love... a family.

"Yes you are dear, I suppose they'll let any fool be one these days huh? So? What do you think, did you figure out a name in all that pacing while you were totally not hiding, my big, brave captain?" The mare, Ocean Breeze... Longfellow's wife... giggled tiredly at Longfellow poking at the whining little bundle and cooing.

"A-Actually yes, told ya I just needed to step out and have a think about it is all, don't look so surprised. I saw something even a skeptic like me is willin' ta take as a sign from the Goddesses. How about... E-Emerald Flash?" Longfellow answered with a defensive snort, smiling as he stroked the tuft of blue and violet mane sticking up from the foal's head.

"Oh, that's lovely dear... Definitely worth the wait. Emerald Flash... our little filly..." Ocean Breeze's words echoed as everything faded and swirled away, the memory ending with such feelings of love and hope it made Vira's heart ache.

"So that old codger had a wife and kid?" Nick glanced up from the fire several settlers were huddled around, looking to the dark cottage and total silence that had reigned since Longfellow's fit.

He wasn't too worried that he'd hurt Vira, given what he knew of the old buck and how his assistant got along with him, but he couldn't help worrying. Returning to the local stallion that helped create this fiasco, Nick gestured with his hoof for Jar Head to continue the story, wanting to know just how concerned he should be.

"A long time ago, yeah... Longfellow used to be one of the most prominent Captains in Fog Harbor, could'a taken the top spot if he ever wanted it actually. My ma was the same age as their filly and was friends with her, so we were always kinda friends of the family. She told me all about it, since she was one of the few ponies Longfellow would tolerate coming by. I tried to keep it up after she died and he helped us out here and there, but he just got worse over the years." Jar Head sighed sadly, shrugging back and looking from the detective to the other islanders nodding along.

The stern looking mare Sea Kelp made a point of sitting at his side closely, raising a hoof and speaking in a whisper. "Most everypony knows the story, but we don't talk about it. Especially with outsiders... But if your ...assistant... in there set him off, you should know I guess. Why it's important not to bring this shit up when he finally let a few of us stay here. I swear if you fucked this up Jar..."

"I didn't know she was gonna do that Kelpie! I t-tried to tell her going in there was bad... it's just she..." Jar Head blushed furiously trying to explain what had happened yet again to the irate mare, without really getting into the specifics of being seduced by a drunken alicorn.

"You two lovebirds can squabble over what started this all you want later. Right now I'd appreciate getting clued in mac. I don't see no grandkids runnin' around, so I'm betting something happened and it wasn't them going to the mainland for a vacation to Sparkle World. I need to be worried he's gonna go completely crazy in there and try to hurt my hoofull of an assistant or himself?" Nick broke up the back and forth between them before it got started, making Jar Head cough and sputter at the synth detective calling things like he saw them concerning the mare glowering at him.

Flinching away from Kelpie's hard stare, Jar Head shook his head and picked up the story. "N-No! I mean... I don't think so. It's a sad story Detective, why nopony has really blamed Longfellow for hiding out on his land since then and not having anything to do with us. We might not gossip to outsiders much, but ponies on the harbor do talk. A juicy ghost story about the Mother of the Fog is one of those things that they don't forget or let go away either. From the story my ma told me, it all started with their pet dog..."

"Higher poppa! Higher!" Vira's mouth opened to speak her part in the latest memory, tears streaming behind her along with her whipping mane as she felt a dutiful shove at her back, soared higher on the odd swing composed of a rotting old tire and a rope.

Her much smaller wings fluttered behind her in joy she shared with the filly in Longfellow's memories. As the images and feelings had swirled from one memory to the next, she found herself more and more often inhabiting the role of Longfellow's daughter as Emerald Flash got older. Like the experiences contained in a memory orb, she was just a passenger filling a long past role, in this case melding with Longfellow's memories playing out before her.

Looking down at herself as she took an ungainly leap and flapped her little wings in a blur, only to crash in the bushes, Vira could understand. Both why she found herself taking the filly's place, and why Longfellow could have such paternal feelings for her in the real world. She was a gangly little green filly, the lilac in the blue mane falling into her eyes matched the streak in Vira's flowing dark one. Emerald was missing a horn which felt odd... but otherwise they looked similar enough to feel comfortable.

Her perspective also let her experience something she had never known, a father's love... There were plenty of memories where the kind pegasus mare Ocean Breeze now trotting up was present and just as caring, but these were Longfellow's memories and focused on his bond. Years of recollections had flashed by; bedtime stories, games of hide and seek, being made to eat yucky vegetables, getting in trouble and seeing that disappointed frown on Longfellow's bearded face, dressing up for Nightmare Night and singing Hearth's Warming carols, hundreds... thousands of hugs, kisses, nuzzles, playful hoofbumps and corrective swats to the flank... A life, Vira got to see what it was like to be born and raised a normal pony, reminded dimly of vague memory fragments of her own she had buried and forgotten long ago.

"But where'd Scraps go poppa?" Vira's mouth moved again, this time staring at a weathered wooden cross and a mound of fresh earth.

Vira felt a stab of sadness sitting between Longfellow and Ocean Breeze giving her sad, helpless looks. The foal she inhabited in the memory might not understand, but the beaten red leather collar hanging on the grave was enough for Vira to work it out. The filly's dog... the dog Longfellow had found as a pup after killing its feral mother, brought back to his daughter's squeals of gratitude and delight.

The alicorn had gotten to know the cute little animal and it was too adorable to not form some attachment to, even through mere flashes of memory. Scraps and Emerald were constant companions, the filly and the scruffy brown and white puppy explored all over the woods and beaches together. Now Longfellow remembered the day he buried the brave pooch with regret and remorse tinging the sky of the imagery.

"Damn Fog Hopper sweetheart... All my fault lettin' the thing sneak in, not watchin' close enough... but Scraps did for me. You remember how he protected you and got bit? T-That made him sick and... a-and..." Longfellow's hard face wavered and cracked, his brown eyes getting watery trying to explain death to his little filly.

"And he had to go away for awhile. But someday you'll see him again... He'll be waiting with the Goddesses and so happy to see you!" Ocean Breeze lied for her husband, stroking Vira's cheek with her own teary eyes hid under her curly pink mane.

The memory changed again and now Vira was herself again, standing beside Longfellow bucking pieces of deadfall from the forest into his rickety cart. The fog beyond the fence of condensers marching off into his wooded bit of land was thick and swirled against the barrier, a bad year by the echo of Longfellow's memories.

"I found more this way poppa!" Emerald's high pitched voice came over a rise, full of excitement over helping.

Time hadn't moved forward much, taking the filly out with him to do his chores had been an attempt to fill her time that she had normally played with the lost dog. It was also spending time together and giving the growing filly more responsibilities and freedom, though he didn't like losing sight of her.

The younger Longfellow leaned down and picked another bit of wood up in his teeth, shouting a deep voiced reply around it. "That's nice Emmy, but come on back here and help deal with what's on our line already."

"Scraps?" The curious yell of the filly was even further away, that and what she said causing a sliver of icy fear. She squealed happily from further still and Longfellow scrambled free of his harness at the retreating yell of, "Scraps! There you are! Wait for me silly!"

"No, no, no, no..." Vira ran right alongside the puffing buck breaking into a dead run, sharing the sensation of that chilly sliver turning into a dagger of fear to his heart when he crested the rise. One of the condensers was flickering weakly, allowing a tendril of dense fog to spill through the barrier. "FUCK! NO! EMERALD!! GiT BACK HERE!"

The world was swallowed up in pinkish grey as Longfellow charged directly through the fence. Even knowing these were all events that happened long ago, Vira shivered in fear too, sharing Longfellow's thoughts and feeling the necromantic mist crawling over them. It was a bad patch, the worst of the worst... one of those drifting bastards that moved like it had an evil will of its own, and it had his daughter.

They ran as fast as they could, avoiding trees looming up out of the fog with well practiced grace, stopping at the least little muffled sound hidden by the mist and flicking their ears together, then charging off in a new direction. Longfellow knew all the fog's tricks, shutting it out from latching on to the terror he felt, ignoring the way it made sound echo and mislead, avoiding its swirling depths hiding pitfalls.

Another giggle of, "Poppa? I found Scraps! C'mere you silly puppy!" sent him flying towards it, recognizing the slippery stone under his hooves and screaming himself raw. "EMERALD ESMERALDA FLASH, STOP THIS INSTANT!! DON"T LISTEN!'

"Wait up Scraps! You heard Poppa, we gotta go homeeeeEEEEE!" The much closer and clearer voice called back, the sadistic fog wanted him to hear now... Hear how it ended on a fading scream with a sudden stop...

He ran past the point he knew he should stop, dropping to his belly and skidding over sharp stone that tore through his coat and hide, to the edge of the cliff overlooking the rocks and crashing waves below. Longfellow held on by his bleeding belly and hindlegs only out of instinct, had he been capable of any kind of thought on seeing the bright red and dark green spot tossed limply in the foam below, he would have just let go.

As it was, he screamed. He screamed and screamed with a noise like the end of the world, the intensity of his grief and pain shattering the dream world around them, leading to darkness.

"That's a damn shame... all too common even in places without evil weather patterns too. No wonder the old buck freaked out finding you two fooling around in there..." Nick sighed wearily after getting the tale, scratching at his battered notebook without much feeling.

The fire had burned low and the shadows on the young mare Kelpie's face looked haggard and angry when she replied, agreeing with Nick by smacking Jar Head upside the head with her hoof. "Exactly... Outsider floozies like her might not know no better, but you sure as hell did Jar. What the hell were you even thinkin'!"

"Er... I wasn't thinking that much, heheh... s-sorry!" Jar Head flinched and gave a hasty answer that only earned him more smacks.

"That explains Longfellow, but not how he was married to this Mother of the Fog ghosty. Guessin' there's a little left to the story?" Nick's sleuthing trained mind already had a good idea where this was going, but he needed to hear it all now.

Eventually, other memories faded in and out of the darkness. A tiny coffin buried beside the faded cross with the dog collar, islanders offering their condolences that meant nothing, gloomy days where the rain drizzled in the silent and empty home robbed of all the filly's light and life. Longfellow and his wife appeared in these, but they were ghosts, even all the emotional context Vira normally felt from memories like this was a dead drone of nothing, emptiness...

Through it all Vira sobbed, crying for the two ponies who didn't have any tears left she saw flit by. Eventually recognizing slight changes when the images paused at a more solid memory. The bleary eyed Longfellow was sitting at the cozy little dining table Vira herself had eaten at, having a liquid dinner and eying the door to the cottage and the darkening twilight outside angrily.

The wraith that finally trudged her way in made Vira gasp and cry again, his wife Ocean breeze looked worse than he did... The sodden mess of her dirty mane falling nearly to the floor hid her sunken eyes. She dragged her mud splattered hooves, making a weak attempt at shaking the rain from her unkempt wings and losing a feather or two in the process. The gesture also gave a glimpse of her clearly defined ribs on her narrow chest, she looked like a walking corpse... Though she wasn't a ghoul, merely a mother who had lost everything.

She sat in the chair opposite Longfellow, keeping her head down and simply staring at the bowl of stew waiting there blankly. Her mane and tail dripped a spreading puddle beneath her, prompting Longfellow to finally slur out to fill the silence. "Eat Ocean."

Her sunken eyes never moved up to recognize him, but her hoof did finally rise at a glacial pace, fumbling at a spoon and shoveling a bite to her cracked and filthy muzzle, taking direction and chewing like a broken down old robot. Watching her at least put something in her mouth, Longfellow took a long swig from an amber bottle, draining it and tossing it out to join the numerous empties littering the much dirtier cottage.

Dragging another bottle across the table, Longfellow cracked the top and took another drink, letting his wife eat until the spoon clinked away after a few bites, then glowering at her staring at nothing again. "You have to eat Ocean, I know it's hard, but if yer gonna go out wanderin' around all day for no reason, ya gotta keep yer strength up."

"Find her..." A small, cracked voice drifted up in response, tinging the memory with a wave of anger flowing off Longfellow rising to lean over the table on his forelegs.

"She's gone! Ain't nothin' out there in that fog but evil an' misery that'll eat you up too if'n it can! Ya ain't findin' shit but a slow way to die out there Ocean! She's dead and buried and ya need ta find a way ta deal wit' it!" Longfellow snorted in a rage that trailed off into sadness, realizing it all over again and biting back a tear.

Ocean's cracked hoof reaching up and tipping over another liquor bottle to smash to pieces on the floor just brought that anger back with her gravelly whisper in reply. "Like you?"

Vira cringed when the young Longfellow flipped the whole table her way in a rage, the furniture passing through her harmlessly as he stomped through the vacated space and got right up in his wife's face, holding her sunken cheeks up and shaking her bedraggled mane away from her dead eyes.

"You think I don't feel like fuckin' dying too!? It was my fault! She was with me! I got her the damn dog ta begin with! Should'a told her it was dead and gone! Or maybe should'a let you teach her to fly a little better! Or just never let her get outta my sight! But she's gone Ocean! She ain't out there waitin' in the fog for you to find her! Emerald. Is. Dead." Longfellow panted and let her go, dropping to his hooves and slowly softening his glare at his wife curling in on herself and weeping.

"N-Neither one of us is doing too good love, I need to stop drinkin' and you need to stop... stop lookin'... We gotta help each other an'... a-and move on... It's what she'd want. M-Maybe I could take up Semper Fi and his family's offer of... h-help... Just a little mind ya, but... spendin' some time with his wife and kids would probably do you some good dear, they miss Emerald too, that filly of theirs especially. W-We'll get through this together somehow, someday we can even... t-try again..." Speaking sadly and struggling for sobriety, Longfellow gave his slouching wife a hopeful look at her weak nod, not recognizing it as a flinch at his mention of 'trying again' someday.

Bucking the table back in place and stroking her mane, Longfellow nuzzled her damp cheek and nodded out to the door. "T-Then how about I do that right now and you get some rest? Bet I can catch em in town now, we'll bring 'em back and get things cleaned up, how would that be darlin'?"

Taking in another weak nod, Longfellow stroked her back on his way to the door, shrugging into his rain slicker and captain's hat. He turned back one last time, what Vira could read from his memories truly was the last time... The last time Longfellow had seen his wife, slumped in her seat with her back to him, a wet, miserable mare staring at nothing.

The memory faded away entirely when he left the cottage, leaving Vira to cry in the cold, empty darkness that was left. For all the love and feelings of family she had drank in through the vantage of their daughter, the empty shell that was left after she was gone was all the lonelier, reminding her of when her mother the Goddess had left her children and how lost she had felt then.

Reaching the end of the sad tale, Nick lit a cigarette and blew a long plume out to mingle with the smoke of the campfire as he thought. No wonder the old buck had lost it. It was one more sad story in the wasteland, but Nick never got used to them. Part of being an old world pony underneath all the plastic hide and fancy arcano-tech guts.

"So, his wife turned into this... Mother of the Fog pony? How exactly?" He finally asked, looking between the fearful looks from the harbor ponies when he spoke of their old ghost story.

Kelpie snorted and picked up the story for Jar Head scratching his mane, rolling her blue eyes tiredly. "Outsiders... don't know nothin'... The fog Mister Detective, the fog here is evil case you ain't figured it out yet."

"Er... yeah, so I've been told... That's kind of a catch all statement though. You're saying she just left one day and has been out there wandering in it ever since doll?" Nick replied, arching a disbelieving eyebrow to the young mare.

Still looking pretty sheepish, Jar Head hushed her and continued softly. "The fog messes with ponies out in it, those that stay too long like the Trappers all go crazy Nick. Longfellow's wife... something else happened to her... For a long time, everypony just figured she died out there like she wanted, joined her filly ya know... But then stories started comin' in about a ghost out there, a pegasus that was like part of the fog itself. She wasn't crazy like the Trappers tryin' ta kill anypony she saw, a-actually helpful sometimes... but spooky. Foals especially would see her, but every once in awhile she'd lead somepony lost in the fog back home, or whisper from the edges of their camps before monsters came. All the stories and the way ponies like to tell 'em though... it got to Longfellow. Folks laughin' behind his back at his crazy wife goin' out in the fog and haunting the island... He stopped comin' around, except to trade or to drink."

Sea Kelp's sleepy sister Mossy Bark muttered quietly in the silence after Jar finished, adding to the story from a foal's perspective. "Kelpie always said not ta go out in the fog alone, or the Mother of tha Fog would come get me and take me away..."

Kelpie sputtered and blushed in shame, shushing her sister and shrugging sadly. "I-It's an old mare's tale nowadays... she heard it from other kids too... and it is a good way to scare 'em into not gettin' lost out in that soup. I-It's wrong though Mossy, it was hurtful to Mr. Steeds to tell you and you shouldn't say it where he can hear. I hope you'll just forget I said it..."

Nick nibbled on the scarred end of his stubby pencil in his teeth, adding to his sloppy notes and thinking. "Hmm... A ghost story, but she's real. Those Church of Balefire nuts seem to worship her... Think they might be right and Vira really saw her?"

"After seeing that statue you found, probably Detective. That was the Mother of the Fog alright, you see Trappers and other madponies like those Church fools carving them after seeing her." Jar Head's answer put another twist in the case, they had stumbled their way right into the local ghost story.

Vira being blessed by this Mother of the Fog might grease the wheels when dealing with the Church, but Nick didn't like getting caught up in supernatural shenanigans where he could avoid it. He especially didn't like her drunken romp piling on to the hurt that old buck in there was feeling, but the last thing Longfellow probably needed was Nick poking his snout in.

At least after hearing the tale and seeing how the enraged old stallion had so tenderly tucked Vira in, Nick wasn't worried about her safety anymore. He was concerned about the odd mare navigating the potential minefield of old pains and new anger when she woke up, but she was a big mare that decided to go making her own choices, she could deal with the fallout from this one.

He hoped...

When Vira's eyes cracked open, then immediately flinched shut at the bright sunshine filtering through the fog and lighting the cheery yellow foal's room up, she was sure it was reality and not another memory instantly. Dreams didn't feel so goddess damned miserable...

Her head throbbed dully, flaring with pain at the sounds of harbor ponies outside waking up and starting their day, all perfectly picked up by her sharp ears even lying back with her hooves pressed to them. She also felt parched and her stomach gurgled uncomfortably, the taste of bile rising in her throat enough to smack her lips and stick her tongue out with quiet 'urk' noises she struggled to quiet.

Worst of all was how emotionally wrung out she felt. She knew so much she hadn't about her friend Longfellow, so many sad things behind his gruff hermit attitude, when he had once felt such love. When she turned to find him sitting in a creaky old rocker beside the bed and raising a bushy eyebrow at her waking up, it all came rushing back and her eyes watered.

"There ya are... ain't none too happy with you young missy, been waitin' ta really let ya have it while ya was nice and hungover. So you can just sit there and take..." Longfellow's voice deliberately rose in volume catching her flinch at his first soft words, but he was silenced by the big filly lurching up and tackling him.

This was not going as planned... Longfellow knew he lost the trail somewhere along the way somehow, but wasn't sure why the big filly immediately started bawling. He wanted to really rip into her for abusing his trust, going where she was told to stay out, bringing up things he didn't want to think about... Having her crushing the air to complain out of him while simultaneously soaking his mane in a torrent of tears was completely unfair...

What she finally managed to blubber out made him tense up in her hooves and get a better idea anyway. "L-Longfellow! I-I-I'm s-so so-sor-sorrreeeeeeeeeee! Y-Your baaaaaabeeeeeee!"

She wailed like she knew... Had that snot nosed buck he caught her with told her? Or had she just used those fancy alicorn tricks to dig in his head? "Y-Yeah... this is her room and I don't want nopony botherin' it... N-Not even you Vira, only let ya stay cause movin' yer big ass around is hard on my back..."

"E-Emeraaaaald!! I saw! I was bad and c-c-caaame heeeeeeere! I felt funny, but.. I... I ... then you came and... I saw it all! I didn't mean to, but it hurt soooooo muh-muh-muuuuch!" Vira bawled and hugged him tighter, leaving the old buck no escape from the tears forming at the wrinkled corners of his eyes.

So alicorn telly-hoozit it was... Though it wasn't like everypony else on the island didn't already know, he had liked Vira was the one pony who didn't. Even with as mad as he wanted to be with her, the alicorn filly had become his weak spot and he just couldn't. Maybe it was how much she looked like his Emerald, or how much like a lost little filly she could be in some ways, but he had felt all those things he had thought died in him a long time ago when she came to stay with him.

Having the sobbing alicorn in his hooves made him feel like a father again, his natural reaction was to soothe her and savor the long lost feeling, burrowing into her flowing mane to wipe his eyes dry. "Wish you hadn't done that, but done bun can't be undone. Bound ta find out eventually anyway. All happened a long time ago too Vira... it's alright..."

"Nuh-uh... N-No its nooooot!" Vira hiccuped against him, tugging her wings free from the faded quilt she dragged with her and curling them into the embrace. "It's not ok. I didn't know... I never would h-have come here and... and made you remember... I'm SOR-REEEE-HEEEE-HEEEE!"

When she threw her head back, twin fountains of tears came pouring out, soaking Longfellow's grey mane as he sputtered and let them disguise his own. "A-Alright, alright ya big crybaby... n-nuff of that now. Hey... how about I make you some breakfast and we talk all about it with less waterworks, huh?"

Sniveling and hiccuping her distress, Vira looked down to the old stallion hopefully. "I'll try... Can I haz pancakes?"

Longfellow tilted his head at the odd request, fighting of the nostalgia to at least administer a little punishment lest he be viewed as a complete pushover. "Sure lassie. How about some Cram fried in Mirelurck fat on the side? Little Foghopper eyeball jelly to go with your toast?"

"Urk..." Vira turned even greener than her fur and held a hoof up to her puffed up cheeks, giving the half smirking buck a panicked look of betrayal.

"Some Radroach hashbrowns? Pickled Radhog hoof?"

Longfellow managed a chuckle and felt a little better watching Vira's eyes cross as she swayed, laughing openly when she shoved herself free of him and ran for the small bathroom. He even ignored when she put a significant dent in the plaster wall, skidding through the turn to reach it and knocking the door down entirely.

"Let that be a lesson missy!" Longfellow laughed after her from where she had stampeded over him, giving a weary, sad sigh at finding himself actually laughing in this room again.

"Vomiting is most unpleasant... that was not fair Longfellow." Vira muttered quietly in a corner of Longfellow's cozy kitchen, sullenly watching the buck wearing a gruff smile as he worked.

Vira had never been physically ill like that before and had not enjoyed the experience. At least she was allowed to use Longfellow's shower to put herself together afterwards, enjoying the warm water and taking her time grooming herself in the cramped space. She only vaguely remembered how giddy and good she felt while under the effects of the blasted spring water, wincing at each hazy memory and thoughts of how she had embarrassed herself that slowly came back while she soaked. When she came out wearing her new detective outfit, she felt a good deal better and enjoyed Longfellow making a production over how she looked in the outfit, lifting her low spirits.

At least sitting here and watching Longfellow throwing ingredients together and whipping up a thick batter further brightened both their moods. The old buck hummed as he ladled it out on the griddle of his wood burning stove, thinking bittersweet thoughts as he spoke."Take your punishment lassie. These will settle your stomach, used ta make em all the time for..."

"I know... I saw your memories, lived in them... T-That was why I requested them, after seeing how happy you and Emerald were, having this special treat together... I am sorry if asking you to make them again is painful, I just... wanted them..." Vira interrupted meekly, still sorting out the psychic backlash she had taken in, years of Longfellow and his daughter together.

Her ears drooped sensing the sadness pooling around him, hanging her head and tapping her hooves together anxiously as she listened to the mutter of his thoughts. When he shook himself and flipped the flapjacks with a deft move of the spatula in his teeth, he finally turned and gave her a sad smile.

"S'alright Vira, don't start gettin' all weepy again... I wanted ta be a mite bit madder at you, but you doin' that just ruins it." Longfellow nickered gruffly, nodding her towards the small dining table as he flipped the savory smelling flapjacks to a stack on one of his chipped plates that was mostly clean.

Vira cantered to her seat and licked her lips when he presented it with a flourish, floating a dusty bottle of Fog Harbor molasses and clapping her hooves together happily. Her first bite brought a blissful expression to her face, just as good as in Longfellow's memories! Her cheeks were completely stuffed in a flash and she almost missed his quiet musing.

"You remind me of her you know... Not just how you look neither, when you do stuff like that, or bawl, or whine, or break things... I laugh and think about Emerald. P-Probably why I took you in to begin with, when I saw you washed up on the shore, for just a second I thought the sea brought her back to me, just how I always pictured her all grown up... Er... little more grown up than I figured on, but you get what I'm saying..."

Nodding slowly and moving the pancake mush in her mouth to speak around it, Vira mumbled back. "Mmmhmm... I didn't know we looked so similar, it... it must have bothered you and influenced your decision to help me... B-But I'm glad it did... those father-y type feelings you have are... v-very nice..."

"Be lyin' if I said I hadn't caught myself thinkin' that way Vira, but it felt sorta good. You was so helpless and awful at everything, I couldn't just leave you be." Longfellow stared down at his own plate in thought, mulling over memories he'd buried for a long time, then finally turning back to her and putting on his grumpy growl to his voice. "Just tellin' ya all this 'cause I still ain't happy... If it was anypony but you foolin' around in that room, I'da shot the both of you once I got you outta there so you wouldn't bloody the place up. Might have a soft spot where yer concerned Vira, but don't abuse my trust an' hospitality again."

Throwing her head back to gulp down her mouthful in a rush, Vira lowered her gaze and spoke in a weak whisper in reply. "I won't Longfellow. I'm really sorry..."

"That's a start then, now eat yer pancakes 'fore they get cold ya big filly..." Longfellow gave a sharp nod of satisfaction at her clear remorse, turning to his own plate and getting a little misty eyed at the nostalgic taste.

A long silence stretched out, Vira could feel his thoughts chasing themselves over eating pancakes at this table with a filly he cared about again. The flashes of so many mornings with his little Emerald in the seat Vira occupied going on behind his bloodshot brown eyes, made her keep focusing on her own thoughts and feelings on the subject. How much she liked being the focus of just an inkling of that parental love and caring, how much Longfellow had done for her when it had clearly been hurting him to do so.

"Longfellow?" She whispered hoarsely, blinking down to the old buck sipping his coffee with an eyebrow raised.

Continuing in a slowly speeding rush, Vira gulped and dove in. "I... I never knew what fathers were before, why they were important... I didn't understand. My mother only taught us males were necessary to procreate, not all the other things they did. After seeing so much of your memories of your daughter, experiencing them from her place... You taught me what one is, because I know you are a very good father-pony Longfellow."

"I tried to be..." Longfellow sniffled with his head down, stuffing his mouth to cover up the unspoken thought of, 'not good enough.'

Vira panicked and stammered in reply, this wasn't what she wanted him to feel! Wasn't what she was trying to say... "But you were! You are! T-The way you feel... about me.... about her... I... I know I'm no Emerald, e-even if I remind you of her. But... B-But I'd be very happy if I was her... To have a f-father-pony like you... I wish I... I w-wish I really was your filly, I... I love you very much Longfellow..."

Longfellow's fork fell to the table at her bashful admission, blinking up to Vira tapping her hooves together anxiously waiting on a reply. She was hopeful at the surge of those paternal feelings flowing off him, but scared and vulnerable. She'd never told anypony she loved them, never felt that way really... She suspected she might about the male... but until she found him and sorted out her feelings herself, that could just be infatuation.

It wasn't in Longfellow's case however, she knew that much. New to the emotion or not, Vira knew she loved him. Not in a romantic kind of way, but in a new way she was still figuring out. She loved him like... like family... that was the closest psychic experience she had ever felt out of other ponies. Longfellow had been like a father to her after finding her on his beach.

He cared, he was gruff and firm, but could be soft and loving sometimes... He hugged her, stroked her back when she was sad, was quick to soothe her tears away when they came, laughed when she got frustrated trying to help in some way and failing, encouraging her to try again and teaching her how.

When the old stallion got up and trotted over to her, she worried she'd overstepped her bounds however, reading the conflicted feelings swirling around him. Seeing him standing next to her with his face screwed up and his brown eyes shimmering, she only got more concerned, cringing in her seat and trying to think of something to say to just forget she said anything.

When grumpy old Longfellow himself initiated a hug for once, her wings fluttered in surprise and she nearly fell back. He had gotten used to her grabbing him randomly when she felt like it, but he never hugged her... Feeling his bristly, scratchy muzzle at her neck and the warm wetness there, Vira relaxed and returned it softly, trying to comfort him the way he had done the same for her so many times.

His voice was thick, muffled by burrowing in her mane and cracking as he tried to maintain his crumbling resolve. "D-Dunno why ya would ever wanna old coot like me lassie... G-Guess I ended up carin' about you too though, whether I like it or not. Er... w-which I guess I do! I just... it's been a long time Vira, you just come bargin' in on my life an' makin' me give a damn again, feel things I ain't in years... S'pose the least you can do is take some responsibility an' let an' old buck be happy ta think of you that way too. I'd be p-proud if you was my filly Vira, an' I umm... l-l-love ya too..."

Vira gasped and burrowed against him tighter, savoring the wonderfully warm feeling and the elation she felt. This! This was what she had been seeking since feeling just a little of it from the male. Love! Maybe not quite the same flavor, but strong and pure and... right. A hole in her heart she hadn't realized was there ever since her mother the Goddess died, perhaps even before. Vira squealed happily and felt herself leaking more tears, but was so happy to have the wonderful emotion accepted and returned she could barely stand it.

"Ack!... V-Vira... t-too strong... e-easy girl..." Longfellow's pained wheeze finally brought her back, releasing the poor stallion before she broke his back in her tightening grip and smiling sheepishly.

"S-Sorry! I'm very sorry, I still overdo it... Ah! T-This is gentler, I practiced!" Watching him whoop in air and cough, Vira nickered behind her hoof, leaning down to plant a light kiss on his scratchy cheek that just made him sputter more.

Turning red and rubbing at the spot of warmth there, Vira could feel how much he liked that, despite his exaggerated protests and defensive muttering. "H-Hey! Warn a pony 'fore you do that Vira! Guess it is less likely ta be lethal and pretty nice, though I don't care fer your 'practicin'' I caught you at with that buck. So don't think a lil' peck on the cheek and a bunch of weepy sappiness is enough ta get outta trouble entirely. Gimme a break and eat your breakfast while I think on yer punishment, tell me about what you been up to with that tin can detective boss of yers."

"Tin? I always thought of myself as one of those fancier aluminum cans they were thinking of putting Sparkle Cola in mac. So, by the cozy scene I'm hopin' you won't feel to shooty at me checkin' in on my assistant here? Could help tell the tale of how invaluable she's been, maybe add a few notes on punishment considering how much of a hoofull she was..." Nick's nervous chuckle from the doorway got a surprise out of both of them, even though the synth detective was sticking close to the door out and only dipping a hoof in the waters.

Longfellow glowered at the advanced robot, but his unfriendly attitude lessened at Nick voicing their shared disappointment with Vira's drunken romp. She pouted at the two of them chuckling together at her expense, but was glad when Longfellow actually invited her employer in with a sigh, saying, "At least fancy robots don't eat. C'mon with you then..."

Vira was so glad to see her two friends getting along and all sitting together, she nearly missed Nick's terse thoughts calling out to her directly. Glancing at him only flicking his strange eyes her way occasionally and putting on a false, easy going face to Longfellow, she tilted her head trying to figure it out. He had braved coming in here to check on her once everypony outside could clearly hear them awake and moving around, he had been concerned for her and that was nice... She didn't understand why he was concerned for Longfellow too however, his short instructions didn't add up to her, though she trusted Nick and decided to follow them.

(Don't tell him about thinking you saw your ma dollface, or about that weird statue... Just leave it be for now.)

After their meal, Longfellow and Nick remained inside, smoking their pipe and cigarette together, then taking turns chiding Vira and sending her out to do chores to pay her penance. She didn't like them scoffing and making fun of her together, but could hardly deny she had made a foal of herself because of that blasted spring water. A point just further drove home nearly as soon as she stepped out the door in her clean maroon trenchcoat and stylish hat.

The stallion she had practically assaulted was waiting outside, scrambling to his hooves and away from the fussy mare she vaguely remembered meeting last night. She could feel betrayal and that strange, chilly emotion she remembered with more clarity than the mare staring daggers at her radiating it. Though from Jar Head cantering up to the porch she sensed much warmer feelings that offset it, some of which made her blush in embarrassment catching glimpses of what she had gotten up to while inebriated.

"Miss Vira! Are you... f-feelin' better this mornin'? You umm... look loads better!" Jar Head was full of nervous energy, prancing in place and ready to go, but unwilling to do so until he spoke with her.

"O-Oh... Thank you Jar, I do feel more myself today. I... I am very sorry for how I behaved, I didn't mean to take advantage of you or cause so many problems..." Vira replied meekly.

His overenthusiastic answer made her flinch, getting more images as he shook his head frantically. "No Way! I mean, you can take advantage of me any time you want Vira! I had a great time, er... until the end there... But really, it was no problem. Just seeing you singing and dancing was worth it!"

"Singing and dancing? Oh no..." Vira cringed catching memories of herself prancing around like a fool, laying her ears back and shrinking behind her wings with a whimper.

Seeing her fold in on herself was just 'cute' according to Jar Head's bright thoughts, chuckling openly at her and giving a friendly hoof to her shoulder. "Aw it was great! Don't worry, everypony does silly stuff their first time drinkin'! Me an my brother ended up sailin' an old washtub around the docks, only kept from makin' for the mainland an' raidin' Trotson as the Blacktail Pirates cause of..."

"Ahem!" The irritated cough of the blue green mare... Kelpie, that's the name he thought of and it did sound familiar, Kelpie was the filly who prevented Jar Head's amusing story from continuing. Both back then and now by her huff as she floated up a basket of tattered laundry and stuck her nose up. "You two idiots would'a been swallowed up by the fog and never known it. Somepony had to keep you in line, still does apparently... Weren't you running late already?"

"Huh? Oh! Shit, she's right Miss Vira! I gotta get back to the docks and hope they don't set sail without me. Just didn't wanna leave until I was sure you were ok... Umm... I'd really like to try taking you out for that drink again, now that you're not sick and all, but I had a great time! Do you and the Detective need a ride back to town?"

Vira floated up the bundle of Emerald's musty quilt and sheets from the door behind her in answer, giving a crooked smile and shaking her head softly. "N-No thank you Jar Head. I appreciate the offer, but I have some chores to atone for my mistakes... We will be fine getting around on our own, thank you. Please hurry off, I don't wish to make you late when you need your caps for your brother."

"R-Right! Hope to see you again soon then Miss Vira! Bye Kelpie!" Jar Head shook himself at the reminder and galloped off, waving to Kelpie's younger sister Mossy on his way to the beach and missing the elder sister's glare.

Since the unicorn mare seemed to be doing the same thing Vira needed to, the alicorn trotted after her with her bundle floating in tow. Several frayed, small ropes had been strung between a cluster of trees, a pair of salvaged old bathtub at the center of them, one full of sudsy water with a strange bit of corrugated metal sticking up and the other simply clear water.

Watching the smaller mare work carefully, Vira puzzled out what she was doing. Normally she'd think just her thoughts would inform her how to use the bar of crude soap and the... washboard... she got the names anyway, but everything was tinged with spiky irritation and anger.

"Are you gonna sit there and stare all day, or do you have some kind of thing you could be doing instead." Kelpie finally floated up the last of the flannel clothing she had vigorously washed and snarled over her shoulder, catching Vira by surprise at the aggressive thoughts turned her way.

While using her magic would clean the small blankets and sheets she held, she wanted to do a good job and be careful with Emerald's old possessions. So Vira swallowed her retort and took up the vacated washtub, dunking it all in the soapy water and sniffing a reply. "I was merely observing while I waited for a turn, no reason to be so snippy..."

Holding the slippery soap with her hoof and rubbing it across the washboard was difficult, then she had to be very careful with the old quilt so she didn't tear up the cute little patches of birds and fish. It took enough of her attention that the steadily rising steam whistle of anger she could hear coming from Kelpie was most distracting.

When she finally spoke, Vira was surprised at how light and controlled her voice was, speaking breezily with a hard edge. "I'm snippy 'cause your drunken show could'a gotten us all kicked outta here, but you don't care nothin' about that, do you? Yet somehow you end up havin' a cozy little breakfast with the old goat and only makin' a piss poor attempt at doing his laundry to apologize."

Vira flinched when Kelpie snapped her dripping clothes in her magic and flung them on the line, squinting at the unfriendly mare with a grumble as she copied her and hung Emerald's quite beside her. "I didn't mean to cause trouble for anypony... I was not myself, so I imagine we got off on the wrong hoof. I am glad Longfellow was so forgiving, and that he has allowed your sister and even unpleasant ponies such as yourself to stay here with the others."

"Unpleasant!?" Kelpie shouted and wheeled on her with a snort, the smaller filly tromping right up and pushing Vira back with a hard hoof to the chest. "You ain't seen unpleasant yet you overgrown floozie! Think we need outsider sluts like you comin' here and ruining things!? You just come on in, traipsing your way around, wiggling that giant ass an' having everypony fall all over you!"

"I do NOT have a giant ass!!" Vira's shock at the fury and hurt she felt coming from Kelpie was overcome by her own annoyance, standing to her full height and flaring her wings, getting the bitchy little unicorn to fall back a step as she stomped her hooves. "I don't know why you are so upset, but I don't know you and have no reason to suffer your c-completely groundless insults! I am not to blame for... for whatever is bothering you, I can't quite see it... Jar Head?"

Kelpie's blue green face turned as red as the bulk of her mane, squeaking and backing away from Vira's puzzled expression working it out. "H-He's got nothin' to do with nothin'! You just leave him out of it! L-Leave him alone entirely far as I'm concerned! That buck's a fool that falls for any pretty mare that gives him the time of day, but don't need nothin' from a big brahmim like you!"

"Jealousy?" Vira blinked at the fury and embarrassment warring in the unicorn, tilting her head and trying to ignore her insults to work it out. "Yes... jealousy... that is that funny emotion I keep feeling off you... You are jealous. You love Jar Head and feel threatened. Ah... you think I'm prettier than you too! Ha!"

Kelpie retreated from the grinning alicorn, yelping back in a panicked voice rising to a shout. "N-No I'm not! No I don't! NO! Get outta my head! Y-You just shut up and stay away freak! W-Why don't you just leave already outsider!!"

Vira flinched at being called a freak, remembering the same word hurled at her from far too many frightened and angry ponies over the years. Despite her efforts to be better than she had been back then, the cruel insult and hate she felt brought all her old anger bubbling back to the surface.

She stalked after the unicorn mare, reading enough out of her head to find just the right angle of attack to hurt her back, smirking down at her through half lidded eyes. "I will leave when I wish, just as I will associate with who I wish, how I wish... Jar Head denied being involved with you when I asked, viewing you as a sister, not a romantic interest. He was quite clear he saw me veeeery differently however..."

Still backing away from the large alicorn swaying her flanks to demonstrate just where Jar Head's interest lie, Kelpie scowled and stammered back. "S-Shut up! He... H-He just n-needs a little time, get leering after stupid whores like you outta his system... H-He'll see! I'll still be here and y-you'll be gone! Then...."

"Ah... you plan on chasing any other mares off and waiting in the wings, hmm? He certainly doesn't want me to go. I had been trying to return to Trotson as soon as possible, but now I think I will delay my travel plans long enough to pick up where we left off last night. I am still interested in gaining a little experience when it comes to mating, and Jar Head was very eager to teach me..." Part of Vira knew she was falling back into old habits, using her gifts to pick at every doubt and fear in Kelpie's mind and playing on them to torment her.

It was wrong... she should stop... Vira knew that... But the angry little mare started it, was she not supposed to defend herself from ponies who hated her for no good reason? No... Whether she was trying to be a better mare or not, she refused to allow anypony to hurt her and simply take it.

It did hurt too... being called a freak, monster, abomination, demon... She had heard it all before, too many times by too many hateful little ponies like this one. They'd run away screaming into the wastes when she was just trying to be friendly, drive her from their ramshackle towns, shoot at her on sight, jeer and throw rocks at her trying to preach the glory of Unity. Virescent had bottled all that pain and sadness up over the years, clinging to the desperate belief she was one of her mother's perfect children, not a monster like they said.

With foggy and drunken memories of seeing the Goddess again still fresh in her mind, along with the grief on realizing her mother was dead all over again, all that carefully suppressed pain broke free and took over. Vira's green eyes glowed under the wide brim of her hat as she backed Kelpie into the nearby clothesline, looming over the mare tripping and getting tangled in the dripping laundry, leaning her head down to sneer and twist the knife.

"Of course, who could blame him? Or you for being jealous? With an exotic alicorn beauty like myself showing up on the island, why would he ever pay any attention to a weak, inferior, mousy little mare like you? Do you really think you even have a chance? When Jar returns, perhaps I'll rut him silly just to spare you the embarrassment... That way when I do leave, when I want to, and you eventually worm your way into his bed after I'm gone, you'll always know who he's thinking of while he's giving you a mercy fuck..." Vira pushed her way muzzle to muzzle with the gaping mare, ignoring the curious looks they were attracting from the harbor ponies working nearby and speaking in a low purr they couldn't hear, digging in Kelpie's head to find the right words to hurt her.

She wasn't quite sure what 'mercy fuck' actually meant, but it was a deep, dark fear Vira exploited and threw at the cringing mare, satisfied by the stabbing pain to her heart it elicited. Her enjoyment only lasted a moment however, a disappointed echo imprinted in her mind drifted up and made her flinch and come back to herself.

'Be better Virescent... Please...'

Remembering the male alicorn's earnest plea made Vira canter back and shake her head, suddenly very ashamed of herself. She had been trying so hard... doing so well... What stung more wasn't just the thought of the male's disapproval and potentially declaring her 'not a good pony' now either, but the realization that Longfellow and Nick would be disappointed in her too, that she was disappointed in herself...

Being both physically and emotionally hung over was a poor excuse. All it took was being pushed to revert back to her old ways, to hurt others so they couldn't hurt her. After the kindness so many new friends had shown her, Vira felt true shame and regret at her vicious words.

She held a shaking hoof out, using her telekinesis to try to untangle Kelpie, looking down to the unicorn mare with her ears laid back miserably. "I... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry Kelpie, I... I didn't mean..."

The blue green filly smacked Vira's long foreleg away and stumbled to her hooves, her face a furious red even brighter than her mane and tears streaming down her blazing cheeks. "FUCK YOU! J-Just shut up and go away! I HATE YOU!! Get the fuck away from me! You horrible CUNT!!!"

The silence that fell on Longfellow's plot of land was broken by the door to the old stallion's cottage bursting open. Longfellow charged out with his long rifle clamped in his teeth, spitting it out to his hooves as he hissed in a low voice that carried, his steely eyes darting everywhere before settling on the two mares.

"Shut the fuck up! Both of you! You damn fools want to attract some beastie from the fog!? I told you idjits, there's shit wanderin' around out there I couldn't track down before dark yesterday! All you fresh meals on hooves I let stay here are already drawin' em in! Vira! What have you done now lassie!" Longfellow's snarl was masking the real worry he felt, the warmth and caring they had shared shoved aside to treat them all equally in his annoyance and fear.

Vira read enough of his thoughts to get a vague idea of what was upsetting him, glad to find a kernel of concern for his new guests hidden under his gruff demeanor. He hadn't been here when she arrived with Nick and Jar Head last night because he had been out tracking, trying to keep the very real threats the scent of a gathering of ponies was attracting since he allowed them here.

She couldn't quite make out the shadowy image matching the muddy tracks he had found that had him so worried, but the gulp of dread he felt when an inequine roar echoed out from the fog made searching his memories unneccessary. Something was coming, something all the local ponies recognized with a wave of terror spreading through them like wildfire as they ran for shelter.

The terrified chant of their thoughts was echoed by Longfellow's shout as he dove off his porch, waving them away on his way to his ramshackle shed. "FUCK! Rainbow Crawler! RUN!"

Vira gaped at the line of condensers keeping the fog back, transfixed by the shape charging through the mist like a freight train. When it burst out of the fog, she was able to understand the name of the thing, but not much else. It was something out of a nightmare, a very bizarre, technicolor nightmare...

It was some kind of mutated... bug? A crustacean maybe? It had a long, shell covered body, the bulk of which was a brilliant, iridescent blue and turquoise, ending at a fan shaped tail of violet and red. A number of blurring little red legs propelled it along the hilly ground like a centipede at a horrifying speed. This long lower body led up to an upright 'chest', covered in segmented plates of green, gold and orange.

A pair of huge, wickedly curved, neon green claws branching from the middle lent it the odd upright posture and multiple limbed appearance of a centaur. The arrow shaped head at the top darted from side to side at all the fleeing ponies, an absent swipe of those claws ripping a fleeing stallion in half as it snaked its way forward. The huge pink eyes then focused on Vira and Kelpie standing still as statues as the easiest prey, the long, golden antenna sprouting from it bent back when it poured on the speed.

The slobbering red mandibles opening in another roar finally broke Vira from her fearful frozen state, spreading her wings to flee from the monstrosity as quickly as possible. Sparing a glance down to Kelpie, Vira froze up again, seeing that the unicorn was trying to drag herself away, but remained caught up the clothesline Vira had backed her into. She couldn't escape, and it was Vira's fault...

A short hop put Vira between Kelpie and the crawler thing with no time to spare, crouching over the smaller pony protectively and summoning her blazing green shield a bare instant before it plowed into it, giving a confused roar when its pounce was brought up short by the barrier. The thing was even more hideous this close, separated only by an all too thin wall of magical force that gave a good view of its underbelly plastered against it, pressing down on the bubble of a shield with its considerable bulk and snapping at them uselessly. It was twice as tall as Vira and very strong...

"Untangle yourself, quickly! I do not know how long I can hold it back, we must run!" Vira hissed through gritted teeth, a light sweat springing up under her glowing horn as the monster tested the barrier.

"W-What?! You... r-right! Just gimme a second and..." Kelpie looked confused for a moment, gaping up to her alicorn savior before tugging at the thin rope wound around her hindleg frantically.

The crash of Nick's revolver from somewhere beyond the hulking thing covering her shield gave Vira a moment of hope, though it dimmed when she saw the .45 rounds harmlessly sparking off the multicolored shell. It didn't even turn his way, focusing on the meal it had trapped before it and drawing back one of those huge claws.

Vira poured magic into her shield in anticipation of the attack, barely beating the claw shooting forward with blinding speed that left a trail of sparkles in the air and impacted her shield with a dazzling flash. Vira's face paled when even her reinforced shield instantly cracked under the frighteningly powerful blow, forcing her to brighten her horn with a layer of overglow as it drew its other claw back to follow up.

She shared the relief she felt surge in Kelpie when the unicorn mare finally extricated herself, cringing to the back of Vira's bubble of a shield with her back pressed to the curved barrier, pushing with her hindlegs frantically to get as far from the threat as possible.

Vira could do without the screaming commentary however... "L-Let me go bitch! We have to get away! It's a Rainbow Crawler, it'll tear us to pieces! I have to find Mossy!!"

She could hardly spare the strength to do a quick scan of the frightened thoughts swirling around her, but Vira sought out the cute little foal and found her watching from the crowded barn, grunting a reassurance to her sister behind her. "S-She is fine! Safely with the others and hiding! We are in much greater danger than she is, I promise! Q-Quickly, climb on my back!"

Another lightning fast jab of the Crawler's claw made Vira stumble back as a spiderweb of cracks spread across her shield, lending urgency to her words Kelpie still tried to ignore. "W-What!? I'm not... just let me go dammit!"

"As soon as I lower my shield it will attack and it is far too fast! Hurry! I can fly us away, but I cannot take another strike like that!" Vira grunted, leaning against the force pushing against her on trembling legs.

She could sense the distaste and frustration Kelpie felt, but the unicorn put it aside with a force of will, hooking her forelegs over Vira's back and scrambling against her flank. If she could spare the magic, VIra' would just pick her up telekinetically and deposit her there by force, but every ounce of power she could muster was flowing into her shield already.

Unfortunately she could already tell it wasn't going to be enough as the beast drew its claw back again, the creak and click of the powerful tendons sounding like the cocking of a gun to her sharp ears. Before it struck and shattered her weakened barrier however, a loud, furious shout drew its attention, followed by an explosion at its tail made it rear back and roar. "Leave her alone ya big bastard! You won't hurt her!! Over here!! Come an' get me!"

The blast gave Vira the opening she needed to launch herself to the air with the screaming Kelping clutching at her neck, desperately hoping that whatever the monstrous Rainbow Crawler thing was mutated from, it didn't have some kind of range attack. Vira resettled Kelpie on her back and took advantage of her position to look over the situation from above, seeking out where the gruff shout and blast that saved her came from and gasping in fear when she and the Crawler found it at the same time.

Longfellow... He was standing beside the shed he had run for with a battered wooden box full of red sticks of dynamite, holding several in his teeth with Nick holding his tarnished gold lighter out to light the fuses. With the two mares making their escape to the air, the Crawler immediately spun and charged for the old buck and synth, skittering through Longfellow's crops on its multiple hindlegs and dodging through the trio of explosions tossed in its path.

The fury and panic blazing off of Longfellow was easy enough to figure out after learning so much through his memories and their heart to heart. The fog took his daughter from him, Longfellow was damned if a monster born from it was going to take Vira too. She could also sense the well controlled fear he felt though, his vast experience hunting on the island flitting through his mind as he frantically clutched more dynamite.

A Rainbow Crawler was one of the few creatures on the island even Longfellow didn't want to mess with. He avoided them wherever possible and had been trying to lead this one away last night, the most effective way to handle the horrifying creatures. Vira could read the grim thought out of his mind and overcame her own fear once she understood, Longfellow didn't expect to win a straight out fight with the creature smashing and swiping its claws at any obstacle or pony in its path, he just wanted to get it away from her... He wanted to protect her, like a good father...

"NO!" Vira's voice boomed like her mother the Goddess as she soared after the monster, dropping her shield to summon every scrap of magic she had left.

"What are you doing! Fly AWAY from that thing, not after it! L-Let me go already! LAND! NOW! I have to..." Kelpie screamed in Vira's ear, her forelegs nearly choking the alicorn in terror that went largely ignored.

"IT WILL NOT HURT LONGFELLOW!!" Vira screamed and zoomed after the beast, a swirling charge of magic collecting at her horn as it closed in on Longfellow and Nick uselessly firing their guns at it.

Her adrenaline and fear when it drew a claw back over Longfellow's head made time freeze as S.A.T.S. activated. Of all the available targets highlighted on the beast, only the bulbous pink eyes looked vulnerable, selected with a thought as Vira came up with a crude plan. If Longfellow thought drawing the creatures away was the best option, that was what she would do...

Time resumed and Kelpie's silent scream slowly continued like a record coming back to full speed and volume. The brilliant emerald blast from Vira's horn drowned her out however, lancing down on target despite the 40% odds and boiling the ugly round eye out of the Crawler's head. Longfellow and Nick's frozen leap away from its swiping claw was successful when it screeched and lurched from the attack, digging a long furrow in the ground at their hooves.

Launching several smaller beams down that scorched its brightly colored shell, Vira flapped in the air just out of its range and boomed down at it, getting the full attention of the remaining eye spinning on her. "HERE! COME AFTER ME MONSTER! THIS WAY!"

"Vira don't!" Longfellow yelped and pulled against Nick dragging him back, his warm concern for her safety giving Vira the courage she needed to do this. She snatched his abandoned crate of dynamite up in her magic as she swooped overhead, drawing its attention to herself over Longfellow's protests.

Her taunting was definitely successful, she couldn't read what passed for the thing's thoughts, but had no problem recognizing the fury in its roar when it charged after her. Vira had to resist the urge to climb higher and focused solely on dodging through blackened trees low to the ground, flying for all she was worth and barely remaining just ahead of the creature chasing her.

"What are you doing you crazy bitch! If you gotta death wish, let me go first! Go back! Mossy is..." Kelpie yelped and thrashed on her back, throwing off her already difficult flight and forcing Vira to growl over her shoulder.

"Shut up. I'm sorry but I can't take the time to drop you off. Unless you want me to buck you off so it can tear you apart, quit moving around and hold on tight. We must draw it away, for the safety of your sister, Longfellow and everypony else! We are responsible for bringing that monster here, it is only right we fix our mistake!" Vira's distracted shout brought a spike of anger from her passenger, but she did quit squirming when the Crawler slashed at a tree that came crashling down in their path, forcing her to do a looping dodge that silenced any complaints Kelpie had.

Staying low and launching harrassing shots over her shoulder, the two of them soared past the line of condensers and dove into the fog with the Rainbow Crawler hot on their tails. Leaving behind the worried yells of Longfellow and Nick unable to keep up.

"H-Here! Three more!" Kelpie yelled from Vira's back, lighting the fuses of the sticks of dynamite in her hooves on Vira's sparking horn.

The still frightened and annoyed unicorn had to lean over the wooden crate holding a diminishing supply of the dynamite nestled between Vira's wings and Kelpie's hindlegs straddling her barrel, shoving the hissing explosives forward for Vira to grab in her magic. Vira looped and dived around the crumbling ruins below, lining up on the monster chasing them and flinging the explosives at it.

Her aim was improving at least... Learning to lead the eerily fast Rainbow Crawler to account for the fuses burning down was difficult, only made more so with the way the long creature skittered in a weaving course down the cracked streets. It dodged the bright explosions again, but Vira spotted a couple of those tiny red legs propelling it along that were burnt or blasted, slowly chipping away and slowing it down.

With a terrible roar, it speared a rusting carriage on the side of the road and threw it up at them, forcing Vira to do a lurching dive that brought her in range of those claws, barely dodging another swipe and beating her wings frantically to pull away again.

Vira had never been dissatisfied with her goddess granted form before, but she desperately wished she was one of her blue or purple sisters at the moment rather than a green. The ability to simply turn invisible or teleport away would certainly be more useful than telepathy and fancy shields at the moment...

"Aren't we far enough away yet! We're halfway across the damn island! Just get away and go back already!" Kelpie's shout only annoyed her more, distracting her from the desperate chase.

"I've been trying dammit! How exactly am I supposed to lose it! This Crawler beast is very determined, not to mention fast! You saw what happened when I attempted to use the ruins to escape! Perhaps if I were not carrying such a heavy load I could outpace it!" Vira huffed back, ducking under a leaning telephone pole the monster toppled in her path.

"Are you calling me fat bitch!?" Vira groaned at Kelpie's indignant reply, gaining a little altitude again and slowly putting breathing room between them and the monster chasing them.

On the plus side, they hadn't had to worry about Trappers, Balewolves, Mistgulls, Fog Hoppers or any of the other mutated monsters on the island. Everything cleared a path ahead of them, wisely running away from a pissed off Rainbow Crawler that seemed to sit at the top of the food chain of the island's strange ecology. That and the fact they were somehow still alive were the only real positives so far however.

Vira had been trying for all she was worth to escape the Crawler and turn back, but it was not cooperating with that plan. She hadn't been able to lose it in the foggy forests, all the dodging around trees she hoped would slow it down only did the same for her, plus it simply plowed right through any obstacle. Coming out to the roads and ruins littering the island hadn't worked out much better either, even though it let her fly faster. Diving through a hole in the roof of a Super Duper Mart only gave her a moment to catch her breath before it smashed through the wall, shredding the moaning zombies in the empty aisles just starting to stagger their way to their hooves on smelling living ponies.

"I'm calling you and the box of dynamite on my back heavy, make of that what you will. We need somewhere to hide that it can't easily follow. You're the local, you must know somewhere to escape!" Vira called back in desperation, hoping the annoying mare could do something more useful than shoving more dynamite up for her to toss.

She could do without her yanking on her ears in response after a long pause, but turned her head where directed, feeling a spark of hope on spotting the looming ruins half hidden in the fog ahead. "T-There I guess! The old Zip! factory! It's big and built like a fortress, I don't think it can just smash its way in anyway! It's full of Trappers, but anything's better than this!"

Vira darted for the hulking ruins resolving out of the pinkish grey fog as fast as she could manage, puffing tiredly with each beat of her wings. She had to agree with the unicorn mare's idea, the huge complex at the end of a sunken bit of roadway leading out to the miniature island it was situated on definitely looked sturdy and big enough to hopefully hide in.

There were several distinct buildings clustered around each other, connected by rusty catwalks and passages that made it look like a maze to lose the monster in. What had to be the factory itself was a massive fortress of thick stone walls that had held up well over the centuries, four stories tall at the highest areas, the crumbling smokestacks on top were in the worst condition. The smaller and less intimidating building nestled against the factory was still in excellent shape too, built using the same ancient earth pony construction, just decorated to be more inviting with a huge bottle of the local soda leaning on the roof above the covered entryway.

Soaring over the parking lot full of ruined carriages the Rainbow Crawler smashed out of its way or crawled over, Vira flapped hard and climbed for the factory. The pops of gunfire below corresponding to the red dashes on E.F.S. lighting up in her vision made her bank and dodge, bringing up her flickering shield as she kept clawing at the air. Kelpie was right, a swarm of fog crazed Trappers surrounded the complex, insanely attacking both the two of them and the monster in their wake.

Finally making it to the edge of the roof far above, Vira hooked it with her forelegs and clambered her way up, flopping to the roof and panting as Kelpie jumped off her and hugged the ground, letting Vira shrug the crate of dynamite off her back and catch her breath with blessed relief.

Before Kelpie had the chance to start unleashing the stream of curses on standby in her mind, the rooftop doors to the factory burst open and a trio of fur wearing Trappers stormed out, firing their shotgun and hunting rifle wildly at the intruders, while the third earth pony waved a long fishing hook in his mouth with a manic warcry.

Buckshot peppered Vira's lovely maroon coat, making her wince at the impact as she and Kelpie dove for cover behind the large pipes and vents cluttering the roof. Looking down at the damage, Vira marveled at the magically armored clothing she had purchased from Stable 118, it had stopped the painful pellets from penetrating her hide, if not the buck to the side she felt when they hit.

"What now genius? Do something!" Kelpie scowled from behind a dead exhaust fan, drawing a long hunting knife from her tattered dress and jerking her muzzle to the Trappers closing in.

Well... This was definitely better than dealing with the Rainbow Crawler on the ground below, Vira could hear it roaring and tearing the Trappers down there apart, forcing her to try to shut out the pained, dying thoughts of the mad ponies. It was distracted and had lost sight of them, even if they had to deal with the crazed hunters up here, at least they had a chance of losing it now.

Unfortunately even that less difficult task might be a problem, Vira was exhausted and had used up a great deal of magic fending the beast off. Even a few simple beams spells to deal with the attackers trying to circle around them and attack from three sides may be too much to ask.

Thinking desperately, Vira remembered the pearl handled 9mm pistol Raspberry Beret had gifted her, still in the black leather holster under her coat. She floated the silver weapon out uncertainly, puzzling over the trigger and safety as she had been taught by Longfellow. Vira wasn't great with guns, but at least the old stallion had taken the time to teach her.

She was certainly glad for his stern insistence she have a backup means of defense now, thinking back to his target practice like he had always planned to teach his own little filly and taking a deep breath. Thoughts of his paternal care helped steel her resolve now, she was going to get back to Longfellow and Nick, these insane raiders weren't going to stand in her way...

With a nervous gulp, Vira popped up from behind the corroded pipes she hid behind and trained the pistol on the rifle wielding pink mare in mid gallop. She stilled her nerves as best she could, blowing a shaking breath out through pursed lips as she pulled the trigger.

Unlike Longfellow's powerful rifle, the tiny pistol only made a tiny pop like some kind of toy, the first shot impacting the Trapper mare's ugly leather armor in the chest and barely slowing her stride. In a panic Vira pulled the trigger again, somewhat surprised when the dinky pistol fired again immediately. She had to work the lever on Longfellow's rifle between shots, taking her time and aiming carefully. This thing seemed designed more towards sending a lot of lead out quickly however, a design concept Vira figured out when she followed up the second shot with a third, fourth, fifth and sixth.

The small caliber rounds hammered away at the charging Trapper, making her stagger as several actually hit the mark. Most were slowed to a painful halt by the mare's armor, but Vira caught the coppery scent of blood and was heartened when small, round red holes opened in her neck and foreleg. She still managed to fire her crude shotgun however, the poorly aimed shot slamming Vira's armored chest and left wing, knocking her wind out and shredding her unarmored feathers.

She managed to dodge to the side as the crazed mare went skidding past her, planting her forelegs and giving a powerful buck that sent the insane bitch sailing off the roof to the chaos below. Her victory was short lived though, interrupted by a high speed .308 round piercing the tails of her trenchcoat and wedging right in her flank.

Spinning towards the attack and stumbling when her hindleg came down spared her from a second shot at least, focusing on the dirty yellow buck chambering another round and Kelpie struggling between them. The unicorn mare was barely fending off the red earth pony with the fishing hook, her knife engaged in a losing tug of war with the long handle.

Her surge of panic activated S.A.T.S. again, freezing time and letting her take stock. She had already used half the clip of her pistol and only half of those had hit the mark. The strange targeting system told her what she already knew, she was unlikely to hit either target...

While the odds displayed frozen view were better on the fish hook armed pony attacking Kelpie, the pain in her flank made the rifle bearing buck the bigger threat. The only positive Vira could see was that queuing up attacks on either target didn't use up very much of the spell charge required for the arcano-tech device to work.

Taking in the yellow stallion's heavier looking leather armor festooned with bones, Vira didn't feel very positive about going with the highest chance to hit center body mass at 60%. If she wanted to put down the Trapper frozen in the act of adjusting his aim at her with the popgun, a headshot was the only real option. She'd seen the male do it... not fully appreciating his spooky accuracy in combat until she had her own pip-buck to explain it. Now that she was in his shoes, Vira thought of the male as she selected the Trapper's head as the target and used up every remaining bullet and bit of spell charge.

When time resumed, Vira goggled at the pistol floating in her magic swiveling and firing on its own, the rapid pops guided by her pip-buck instead of her admittedly poor skills. The fifth round finally struck home, blowing a hole through the buck's eye and blasting his brains out the other side. Unfortunately he fired his hunting rifle as he fell, the loud crack coming with a wave of pain when it hit her foreleg and sent her flopping to the rooftop.

Two down... Vira had managed to shoot two enemies on her own, she'd be prouder if it weren't for the blood soaking her lovely coat and the third snarling Trapper swiping at a ducking Kelpie. She had to do something... had to save her and escape somehow... Not just because she wouldn't be surprised if the roaring Rainbow Crawler below could climb right up the wall either. She might not particularly like Kelpie, but it was her fault the unicorn was dragged into all this, saving her was right... was being a good pony...

She couldn't move though, attempting to flap her wings and get to her hooves just made her fall again hissing in pain. Her pistol was empty too and Vira hadn't really looked into how to reload it. Kelpie might be able to take care of herself with her hunting knife, but she might not too... With Vira's magic exhausted and close to burnout, she only saw one option to help.

Closing her eyes and clearing her mind was difficult with the adrenaline and fear clouding her thoughts, but Vira focused her considerable mental abilities, locking on to the insane mind of the Trapper and overriding it. When she was sure she had him she opened her glowing green eyes, biting her lip in concentration and taking in the surprised Kelpie scampering away from the buck who had suddenly stopped attacking and stood stock still, his ugly fishing spear falling to the roof with a clatter.

Vira struggled to stay in control, nodding wearily to the edge of the rooftop and grunting. "T-Take a walk..."

The trapper spun on the spot and trotted obediently to the edge, climbing over the lip and simply stepping out into empty space. Vira abandoned her mental control once he was on his way down, the surprised buck barely had time to realize he was plummeting from the four story rooftop and scream before his cries stopped abruptly.

Kelpie had run behind Vira for cover, watching with wide blue eyes as the pony who had been viciously attacking her just walked right off the roof. The stunned unicorn mare warily came out from hiding and blinked down at Vira panting on the gritty rooftop, her mouth hanging open for a few moments in shock.

When Kelpie finally found her voice, it was tinged with a bit of fear that made Vira wince. "S-Sweet Celestia... you did that? H-Holy shit... m-maybe I'll be a little nicer to you from now on..."

Groaning from her hooves, Vira looked up tiredly and shook her head. "I... would appreciate that... but I promise not to... do that to you... N-Not that I can again at the moment..."

Kelpie didn't look convinced, but trotted to the edge and peered down in fascination, spotting the red stain on the ground far below and gulping back to Vira. While her worried fear hurt nearly as much as the insults that had started all this, the unicorn shook her head and whinnied when she saw the green alicorn wheezing and struggling on the ground.

A kind of determined caring welled up in the pale blue green mare, tossing her red mane as she trotted back and dug in the pockets of her paisley pink dress, pulling out a roll of magical bandages and a purple healing potion. "G-Good... now let's take care of you so we can get the hell out of here. That Crawler's still down there and it's running out of Trappers to slaughter. H-Here, let me see..."

Vira groaned and bit back a cry when Kelpie briskly grabbed her foreleg, rolling her sleeve up to examine her worst wound and pouring a bit of the healing potion into it. She tended Vira's bleeding leg with thoughts of taking care of her sister, Jar Head and his brother in her mind, moving quickly and brusquely to wrap the long leg in magical bandages before moving on to her wing and flank.

It was awkward being cared for by a mare she had been in such a vicious, hurtful argument with only an hour ago, made more so when Kelpie finally spoke in a quiet whisper. "H-Hey... bitch... Umm.... thank you."

Moving her damaged wing the smaller mare was tending hurt, but Vira bore the pain to gently curl it around Kelpie in an exhausted hug, answering in a croak. "T-Thank me when we're safely out of here. But... Thank you too Sea Kelp. I'm... I'm sorry for what I said... how I acted... Perhaps we could start over?"

While Kelpie gave an unconvinced snort as she tugged Vira's coat tail away from her flank, Vira was heartened to feel the wary hope and relief carefully masked by her gruff answer. "We'll see... like you said, once we're out of here bitch. Er... Vira... We're stuck together for now, so shut up and let me do what I can. I got a lot of experience fixing boo boos, so... hopefully you'll be ok. Can't have you dyin' on me till you fly me back, right?"

"R-Right..." Vira sighed and let the mare dig the bullet from her flank gratefully. The roar of the beast below reminded her they were still in a bad situation, but ponies working together could do amazing things. If they could put aside their differences, be better... maybe they'd get out of this yet.

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

Heave Ho!-------------------
---Making like a big green bomber mare with Longfellow's dynamite has given you a crash course on using explosives. You now gain 50% thrown weapon velocity and range.