This vertibuck was cramped, just like the last one I’d taken. But this time, the sense of being trapped was gone. Instead, that feeling had been replaced with frustration, and an impatient bloodlust. Also, it had the smell of dogs.

I looked over at Mayall, who seemed to be having a fun time cuddling up to Ollie, and a nagging question tickled the back of my mind.

“Hay, Mayall? The name Mister Wizard kept coming up, and I also remember my sister and Temboril mentioning him too. What's your family's connection to him?”

Mayall scratched her chin. “It was before my molting, so I have no memories of it. But from what I was told, we had found a big ship under the water and were trying to fix it. Some ghoul discovered us, and made a deal with mother to help us. But when we got it floating, the ghoul betrayed us, and stole the ship. The lurkers aboard the ship were all killed, including mother’s mate, my father. It was a massive blow to the nest, as I was told, more than half of our population was lost in one night.”

“Shit, sorry about that.” I looked over at my pipleg sticking out of Mayall's bag. “Here, pass me the pipleg, I’m going to try and download the program for you.” I still didn’t believe Mayall about finding Harp, no way some pony could survive falling into a collapsing megaspell. But deep down, I wanted to believe she was still alive.

Without the levitation assist spell, connecting the cables was much harder. After a few frustrating tries, I managed to get the pipleg connected to Mayall’s old pipbuck. It took a few minutes, but I had the tracking program copied and transferred over.

Mayall messed with her pipbuck, and sighed. “No signal. She must be out of range.” I didn’t say anything, but death was in a fact, quite out of range for the living.

A lurch to the side by our rusting ride announced that we’d reached our destination. Within a minute, the vertibuck had touched down onto the deck of the old ship. The engines slowed, and the back door opened, revealing those scurrying about the deck with their tasks, as well as the smiling muzzle of Red. Taking a deep breath, I was the first to exit.

“Looks like I won a bet, so how'd you get…” Red Steel paused as she looked at me, her eyes narrowing and she studied me. “Well shit, you look like you’ve been to pony jones locker and back.” Next to her stood the unicorn, Narwhal, levitating a notepad, and sporting a black eye. The preacher on the other hoof was nowhere to be seen.

“Close enough.” Trotting up to Red, I pulled out and shoved the memory recorder into her hooves. “Lets just say nopony survived this mission. Now I need to get some rest and some booze.”

“Fair enough.” Red commented. “Narwhal will take you to a room, and provide you with some food and drink.”

“Hay Red pony!” Mayall came bounding out. “Are we not fighting anymore?”

A chuckle came from Red. “The mysterious crustacean pony, Mayall. Good to see you, and no, we're not fighting anymore. That aside, why don't you come with me? I know a creature who would love to meet you.”

I looked back at Mayall, and she shrugged back at me a trotted over to Red Steel.

“Miss Vibraphone, if you would follow me.” Narwhal directed me as she trotted ahead. I frowned as I watched the mare take the lead, her exposed backside covered in lash like bruises that showed through her fur, all the while swinging her hips. I started to regret not waiting for Orthrus to show up.

I basically passed out as soon as I hit the bed, not caring that I was taken too Reds room. Honestly, I just needed the rest. If I had a dream, I didn't remember it, but I did get a creeping feeling that I had forgotten something critical as I woke up.

It wasn't so much the feeling of being naked, or something covering my face that had me worried, but that I knew the both were separated from each other. Then something hard pressed down on my back, and I had to suppress a yelp in surprise.

“Your awake, that's good, I hope you slept well.” Narwhal said in a cheery tone. She didn't fill me with any sense of safety, and I was annoyed that she woke me up.

“Whatever you're doing, it stops now. Come pick me up, body.” I felt something press down on my back again, harder, and painful… but also felt good. “What are you doing?” What turned out was a towel was removed from my face, and I saw my body laying sprawled out on the bed, with Narwhal on top of me, pushing a hoof into my back.

“You were just so dirty, and your muscles so stiff. I cleaned you up while you slept, I hope you don’t mind.” She pushed down in another spot, and a mone snuck out of my mouth. “Right now, I’m using my hooves to push out some of the built up stress in your back.”

“What? How?” I blurted out.

The piercing covered mare chuckled. “I put out some sleep incense while you slept, great for pacifying ponies before silently killing them,” She paused, flashing up a mirth filled smirk before continuing, “but I find it’s also good for keeping stressed ponies out as I tend to them. Keeps them from fussing too much.” She pushed her hoof into me again, making a loud crack as a wave of pleasure hit me. “That was a nasty knot right there.”

I glared at her. “When I get my head back on, I’m going to beat you to an inch of your life.”

“Is that a promise?” Narwhal said as she pressed down on me once again, but this time something wet and hot touched my back. “If so.” A bit of drool fell from her mouth. “I’m looking forward to it.” I had no words, only a skin crawling feeling as I helplessly watched this masochist give my body a deep tissue massage.

After what felt like an hour of this torture, I was saved by the entrance of Red Steel, who saw Narwhal cuddling up with my naked headless body. She pulled out a riding crop, and whipped Narwhal with it, causing the mare to jolt up with a moan.

“Are you done?” Red spoke with authority, and a hint of disgust.

Narwhal saluted. “All done, our guest is washed and relaxed.”

“Fuck you, you degenerate!” I shouted at the bitch, but that only seemed to make her more excited.

Red pulled out a sword, and hit Narwhal in the gut with its pommel, the unicorn keeled over, and fell off the bed. Sheathing her sword, Red trotted over to me, to my head, and looked at me with a dangerous feeling glare. “Utter madness, that's what all this has become?”

“Isn't that what you wanted?” I responded.

With her magic, she lifted my head up, making us eye to eye. “You have no idea.” She then forced me into a kiss, her tongue touching my own, caressing it with the four gold rings attached to her oun. After a minute, she finally released me, and smiled. “What you collected should be enough to start a purge. Cohorting with a nightmare, and becoming an abomination, it's more than I could have hoped for.”

She continued to look into my eyes with a smile on her face, making me worried she was going to kiss me again. “What?”

She gave a long breathy sigh. “I think... I’ve fallen in love.”

I felt a chill down my spine. “Thats nice… is it with that stallion you’re engaged to?”

She giggled, and not like a mocking giggle I had gotten use to hearing, but like that of a young love struck mare. “Oh, him? He is only a tool. Something for me to join the game of crowns, but otherwise useless. But you, the dragonslayer, nightmare hunter, herald of the purger, and now… this.” She bobbed my head playfully in her magic as she let a lustful moan slip through her lips. “You have my heart a flutter.”

Great, this was not what I needed. “Red, last night was a one time thing, and you should know, I’m really kinda into stallions.”

“You mean that pegasus?” She licker her lips. “If I made a mare out of him, then would you reconsider your preferences?”

“Red, get a fucking grip!” I growled at her as my body jumped off the bed, landing next to her. “Or are we going to have a problem?”

She looked over at my body, and back into my eyes before putting my head back onto my shoulders. “Fine, I can share. I’m not so fickle to reject you for what you are now. But, I can't say the same for other ponies.”

Rolling my eyes, I turned around to look for my cloths. “I will cross that bridge when I get there. Now where's my dress?”

A bottle of rum floated in front of me, along with two glasses. I looked back at Red, who wiggled her eyebrows at me. “It’s being repaired, so why don't you and I just hang out for a bit?”

I looked at one of the glasses. A little blue flame stretched out and took it from Reds hold, moving it toward me by my will alone. “Right, I'm not a normal pony anymore.” I looked over at Red and motioned with the glass for her to pour the rum. “Alright, one drink, but no chems this time.”

She cocked an eyebrow as she poured the rum into my gless “Not even just a taste of that ‘chill’ stuff?”

Now that she mentioned it, I wasn’t feeling sluggish, or anything else related to withdraw. Not to say I was feeling like myself, this was far from it. “Red, like I said, nopony survived that mission, technically, me included.” I sipped the rum, and I could taste it, feel it, but I didn’t really enjoy it. “I don’t even think I can get drunk anymore.”

Pouring herself a glass, Red knocked it back, sliding all the rum down her throat in a second. “Maybe after we kill Carving, we can test that.” She poured herself another glass and put the bottle to the side. “But we do got a little more than an hour until that cyber bitch returns, so there’s something else we can test first...” She wiggled an eyebrow at me as she unbuttoned her dress.

“Like I said before…” I stopped myself, remembering how devious Red is. I’m dealing with a cutthroat, not some horndog mare. Not just that, but a pony who I needed their help if I wanted to complete the task I’d been given. But now that I thought about it, maybe sticking too stiffly to my instincts was going about this the wrong way. “You know, forget what I said. Please, continue.” I knocked back the drink like she had, and then motions for another. I had to stop trying to be careful, stop being predictable, and think outside the box.

“Ah good, finally loosening up.” Red picked up the rum bottle, and sat on the bed, stretching her legs out as she lifted up her dress, revealing a black garter belt that held up two black stockings, and six derringers on each back leg. Leaning back, she pushed her legs together, and poured a bit of the rum between them, it settling near her crotch. “Lick it.”

I translated it to, ‘If you want my help, you must become my play thing’. I was sure she was still going to help me kill Carving Doll, but passed that, I could easily become her slave like so many other ponies on this ship. Playing her game would grant me some freedom, but it be on her terms, like a leash around my neck…

But, collars couldn’t hold me anymore.

Placing my forehooves onto the bed with Red between me, I dove my head into Reds lap, and quickly sucked up the rum before raising my head, and spitting it in her face. “Play these games all you like Red, but I’m beyond it.” snached the bottle from her and took a swig of the rum.

She whiped the rum off her face and glared at me. “If you want to do things the hard…” I shut her up with a kiss, this time forcing my tongue into her mouth, along with the rum I had in mine. She tried to push away from me, surprise on her face, but I just pushed down on her, forcing her onto her back. When she tried to pull at my head, I used my iron hooves to hold hers down, and after what felt like a minute, she stopped struggling. So when I finally broke the kiss, she gasped for air, and tears were in her eyes. “Bitch.” she breathed.

I looked over to the other side of the bed, and saw a blushing Narwhal. Which gave me the perfect idea. “You, bring me some of Reds toys, a strap on if it’s there?”

The unicorn saluted me “Yes, ma’am!”

“Fucking traitor!” Red yelled as I unbuttoned her dress. “You are not going to do this, I’m the one who does this!”

I looked at Red in the eyes, as I pulled open her dress. “Is that so?” I said with a smile. “Then you better make it more worth my attention, because I’m thinking of not using any lube.” She glared at me, and attempted to draw her sword, but I put my hoof down and pinned it in it’s sheath, preventing her from using it. “Red, it’s almost like you want me to be rough with you.”

She gritted her teeth, then relaxed as she began to laugh. “A pony as soft as you? Fine, rut me without it, I’ve dealt with worse.”

My cold magic welled up as I looked into her eyes. Her eyes dilated as tears formed, and fell to the side of her face. I let the evil eye do its job for what I guessed was twenty seconds before blinking, Red quickly looked away, and any resistance from her faded to nothing. With a sigh, I began undressing her, disarming her, and leaving the pirate to sob quietly.

“Told you, no pony survived, not even me.” Shuffling up next to her, I cuddled the unicorn mare. “I’m undead now. Not to say I don’t feel bad about this, but nothing in me feels like stopping right now.” I nibbled on Reds ear, making her flinch. “But buck up buttercup, because I’m not expecting to do this for free, nor should you. After Carving Doll, there's still more ponies to kill, that need to die.” I noticed Red shuffling her legs, the sound of rubbing near her flank. Pushing myself up to see what she was doing, I saw that Red was masturbating, all the while the look of fear and lust sat plastered across her face.

Narwhal returned, holding a strapon in her magic, and breathing heavily. “I got lady's Reds favorite toy.”

I motion for her to bring it over, and as I took it, I kicked Narwhal in the gut. “Not just a savage, but a traitor too, your absolute garbage.”

She crumbled to the ground, holding her chest, the look of pain and pleasure on her face. “Thank you ma’am.” she breathed out as she tried her best to hide her smile.

I looked back at Red, who was biting her hoof as she rubbed herself. Her eyes were locked onto the strapon intensely. “Now there are two options, you work for me, and I let you use this on me. There are more ponies I need to kill, more monsters to hunt, and I want you to help me with that. Or the second option, that is if you want to stay in charge of our little session, then that’s alright with me, and I’ll still stay and kill Carving with you. But after that I leave and find some other solution.” I reached back behind Red, and pressed my hoof onto her asshole. “Of course, I will rut your ass first, and do it dry. If you want to be the one in control, you're going to just have to deal with the pain.”

Red growled at me, but didn’t stop rubbing herself and moaning. This switching between anger and lust went on for a minute, then she let out a louder moan, her legs twitching as drool dripped from her mouth. Her heavy breathing slowed, her body relaxed, and her eyes were now filled with a different kind of lust, a dark, sickly lust.

“More to kill you say? I think I’m falling even more in love with you.” Blood lust, thats what was in her eyes. “Give me my strapon. I’m going to rutt you, and then you and I are going to kill a lot of ponies.”

I dropped the sex toy onto Red, and sighed. “Don’t be gentle.” I told her.

“Of course.” That got a giggle from Red. “I’m not going to get off if I don’t get rough.” She got off the bed, and I heard a pained moan come from Narwhal. “Are you sure you’re not into mares, seeing as this is going to be our second time, and you seem pretty into it?”

“Don’t push your luck, Red.” I snapped at her, looking away.

“But I will push it.” My head was pulled off, held in Reds magic, and placed onto a nearby pillow, giving me a view of her climbing onto the bed with the strapon on. “I will push, thrust, slap, and grind.”

My body had stood up, like it was confused, looking for me. There was only a moment that passed before Red lifted its… my tail, and pressed her face into my privates. The feeling of her tongue on me sent a pleasurable shiver up my spine and my body’s front legs went limp, leaving my ass up. Even detached from my body I breathed heavily as she massaged my sensitive parts with her tongue, her rings caresing it. This went on for over a minute, until I was thoroughly wet. My back legs weekend, and began to drop, but Red harsly wiped my plot with her riding crop, forcing my back legs back up.

“I haven't given you permission to relax just yet.” She spoke, wiping drool and vaginal fluid off her face.

Mounting me, I felt the strapon slowly enter inside, filling more than I had been before. I couldn't hold back a moan that came from having the large sex toy pushed into me. Thrusting, Red pushed the fake dick to its hilt, it both hurting as it was bigger than my body could rationally fit, and sending a wave of pleasure through me.

The slapping sound of flesh was unignorable as Red began to rutt me as hard as possible. Each thrust rubbing my insides, fogging my mind with pleasure, making me forget why I was doing this in the first place. I wanted more, I needed more.

My head was lifted up by Narwhal, and brought closer, giving me a close up look as Red fucked me as hard as possible. My fluids dripped out into the bed as my hips moved to match Red’s thrust, to make the shaft of rubber go in harder and deeper.

My vision blurred as pleasure shot through me, and Red gave out a loud moan as she began to slow down. I wasn't done, and forced my body to stand, and push back on Red, causing her to fall on her back. My body turned around, still with the dildo in me, and began rotating my hips.

I looked up at Narwhal, and had a bad idea. “Put my head down, and join in, savage.” She did just that, placing my head in a position where I could see everything, then disappearing. Before I could think to ask where she had gone, she returned and pushed my body forward onto my stomach, putting pressure on the strapon on me and Red, making us both moan at the same time. Narwhal had a lube covered double headed dildo in her and pressed it on my ass. I bit my lip as saliva escaped my mouth. “Do it, bitch.”

With another thrust into my other hole, I let out a screaming moan, becoming more full than before. My hips didn't stop, actually they moved a bit faster, matching the motion of the two mares, like a piston of moving flesh, making pleasure.

I lost track to how long we kept going, Narwhal was first to stop, falling back, into a less comfortable position. Red and I continued a little longer before passing out. Without another pony keeping up with me, the pleasure died down, and my mind began to clear up, allowing me to realize I was watching my body still trying to rutt two unconscious mares at one time.

I was still breathing heavily, my mind full of lustful thoughts, but I managed to will my body to stop. Getting up, the two dildos popped out of me, along with more of my own fluid and lube. I watched as my body attempted to walk, but wobbled and fell onto Narwhal. My hips felt like jelly, reminding me of after my first time with Merit.

With a sigh, I felt that taking a quick nap might be the best idea.

After our quick nap, and some uncomfortable cuddling from the two mares, we got ready for the ambush. Which for some reason, involved Bass Clarinet giving me a quick makeover. But I figured that I was already this deep into things, so it probably didn’t hurt.

She was... understandably freaked out when I just passed her my head, and had my body go behind a curtain to have my cloths put back on. She yelled something about a vengeful merchant before calming down, but I didn't question her about it. Really, she could talk about whatever as long as she didn't ask me anything personal. Though, one topic did come up.

“That, umm… Sea monster said Harp got herself lost. A shame really, I was hoping we could continue where we’d left off.” Brass was brushing my mane as my head rested on a pillow. I gave off a grunt announcing my irritation at her words. “Oh, I don't mean anything I would normally do, ya dig. No ma’am. We mostly talked about our family, and home. Maybe cuddled a little.”

Great, so I’m actually zero for two with sleeping with crazy. “I… don't know if she’s just ‘lost’ as Mayall said. If a pony can survive falling into a vortex of a imploding megaspell, I’ve not heard of it.”

Brass put a few pins in my mane to hold it up. “My sister, Bone Clarinet, survived getting shot in the face. Though ever since, she’s always leaned to the left when she walked. And just between you and me, she’s became a bit more... rapey.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Aren't you bandits usually rapey?”

The pain of a hair get pricked out made me flinch. “Rude. My clan does have standards. Well, we did. See, if we were feeling generous, ya dig, we’d let the pony use their body to pay the toll, and let them keep their stuff.”

“And if your clan was not feeling generous?” I asked.

She paused for a moment, a comb in my hair. “Lets just say that the mare who shot my sister Bone? Well, the dead can't tell nopony about what was done to them.”

“That's where you’re wrong.” I said under my breath.

“What ya say?” Brass said a bit loudly as she turned my head to look me eye to eye.

I frowned. “I said, how long is this going to take?”

She shrugged, and turned my head back around. “Not long, just trying out a new style, ya dig. The republic was so square, couldn't make use of me talents. So don't go losing ya head.” She gave a giggle as I rolled my eyes. “Oops, guess ya already did!”

I let myself act as some headless dress up doll, and a styliste practice mannequin head for a few more minutes. Not to say it didn't feel nice, going to a spa was on my top ten list when this was all over, but there were two ponies who were not going to be coming with me. It also didn't help me relax knowing that Captain Carving Doll was arriving soon, with every minute there was a building anxiety and hate within me.

“Tada!” Brass announced as she held up two mirrors. I hadn't had a clear look at myself since my head first fell off, but I was unsure if it was me looking back through the mirror. My usual stripes and the scar on my lip were still there, but the rest of my mane was pure white, down to the roots. Prominent on my head was two smooth golden looking horns, sitting in front of my ears, about as long as a unicorns, but curved back. My eyes had also changed, to that of the sickly green of the corps brigade, but my pupils seemed to have a dark blue hue to them.

As for what Bass did to me, she had put black eyeliner and eyeshadow lightly on me, along with some lip gloss. My mane was now glossy after its wash, and using my new horns, she had a bit of my mane hang over to frame the side of my face, with the rest pulled back into a loose bun.

“It's… nice.” I offered as I tried my best to warm up to it.

Brass sighed. “No, ya right, I can do better.”

“Of which you can try after, not before I take command of this ship.” Red stepped in with a big floppy red hat on. “Now get armed, we’ve got a mutiny to start.”

She trotted over to the screen my body was behind, and open it up. The maid dress, minus the white apron had been repaired, and it looked a bit thicker than before. My scarf and medallion was missing, in its place was a longer red scarf with black crisscross pattern on it. My tail was wrapped up in a similar red cloth all the way down, leaving only a little bit of the tail exposed. The harness for my guns and saddle bag was still there, minus a rifle holster.

Looking passed my body and up at Snowbird who had been working on it, I couldn't help but feel annoyed. “Where are they? The accessories I had before?”

Snowbird tapped on my flank for a second before pushing out a box, and sliding it to me. “Little headless pony, the scarf was nothing but tatters, not enough to be useful if remade. So,I figured just making a new iron wool scarf would be smart for a replacement. As for your medallion, I’m afraid to say you didn't have it on you. Did you not know that you never brought it back with you?”

My body trotted over, an opened the box, and saw the ruined scarf. I felt a deep sense of loss, like I was looking at what was left of myself. “That’s right, it’s fine. Like I said, nopony got out of that place alive.” Folding up the scarf, I gently placed it in my saddle bag. I don't know why, it was just a gift from my folks. Easily replaced, it was just a scrap of fabric now, but I still wanted to hold onto it a bit longer.

Tugging on my newer, heavier, and longer scarf, I couldn't help but feel that it was utterly unnecessary. “You do know I don't need this right? I only wore that old scarf because it was a gift.”

Red trotted over, and levitated two wooden boxes. “I had been wondering why ya had that silly thing. But no, this new scarf surves an actual purpose. Look inside.”

I used my new magic to pull on the scarf with two blue flames. Inside was a flexible thin belt with many small leather sheaths all linked together. “Whats this?”

“Ya need a new weapon, but one that’s not so visible. I know you're a crack shot, but I think something more sneaky may be the better way to go.” She opened up the two boxes, and a bunch of thin, short knives.

I looked at Rex with a raised eyebrow. “Knives? I may not have told you, but I’m not quite the best at close range fighting.”

Red rolled her eyes. “Honey, they’re throwing knives. Just... try a few out.” She levitated a throwing knife over to me. Grabbing in with my magical flame, I tossed it at on old chair, and it bounced off harmlessly.

“Don't just toss the thing.” Red sighed, and took one of the knives. “Now, when you throw them, hold the tip, pointed at your target. When you’re ready, spin it forward and try letting go when the tip points in the opposite direction.” She threw the knife with a spin, and it stuck into the chair. “You can also throw it like a dart at close range.” She then just launched it forward, also sticking it into the chair.

I watched Red throw a few more knives in different ways. Copping her, I quickly gained a grasp on it, along with using the little magical flames I can grab things with. The flames themselves were not like unicorn levitation, only able to move a short distance from me, and could only lift small objects, but still held onto them quit firmly.

Once my short practice was over, Red filled my new scarf with twenty of the knives. Making it heavier, and a bit stiffer, but overall not looking any different from before.

Leaving the fitting room, I followed Red and her little team onto the deck. Along the way I saw the divers collection of creatures like last time, though this time they seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me. It was a good guess that to them, I was the strange monster now.

“They smell a new predator, and instinctively fear you.” Snowbird chirped. “Can't blame them, you are a harbinger of death.”

Her words made me curious. “Sounds appropriate. Is that from your old folklore books?”

She gave me a wide tooth filled smile. “Oh yes, it’s often referenced as necromancer hunters, the dullahan. A headless creature who hunts down those marked for death. Some tales say that they throw a bucket of blood on those who see them, as they hate being seen. Though it's strange…” She scratched her chin.

“What's strange?” I had to ask.

The harpy shrugged. “Well most of the text about the dullahan says that they’re spirits, not creatures of flesh and blood. But old texts are full of inconsistencies, guesswork, and mostly half truths.”

“How… unreliable.” I commented. Then again, there was some truth in the fact that I was a ghost now of my former self. At least, on the inside I was.

I had been led to the room we had the feast in last night, though now lacking the smell of cooked food. Inside Mayall was sitting at the table with the two other Harpys, Magpie and Nutcracker. Also sitting inside next to them, was Tarbaery and Inquisitor Iron Wing. The Inquisitor had his face in some sort of binoculars, with a brass box on the end.

Mayall had her captain outfit on, and strangely it looked more fitting on her as she waved me over. Then again, I just spent an hour getting dressed up, so I wasn’t really one to pass judgement. Shrugging, I took a seat next to her.

“This place is amazing. Disturbing, but amazing.” She was a bit overly excited, but her eyes darted around, showing that she was clearly nervous.

The table was a mess of maps, scrolls, and other parchment held down by what looked like carved marble chess pieces. Looking back to Mayall, I smiled at her, hoping to calm her a little. I needed to use her as I needed to use Red, and not acting like an ass around her would be a good start.

“Did you get your suit refitted, I looks a lot better on you than before?”

Mayall relaxed a little. “Ya, they even cleaned it up for me. All I had to do was pose for a few drawings and tell them about my kind.”

Four talons rested on my head, the long bony appendages tapped at my horns. “When Lady Red told me about the lurker, it made me as curious as a crow.” Snowbird spoke softly over my head. “The mirelurks have been becoming a problem in the last few years. So having intelligent ones who able herd them away from the plantations would be a boon. But weaponizing them is an even more interesting prospect.”

“I say no.” Mayall spoke up. “I’m not my sister. And besides, there's not enough under my command for me to even risk losing them.”

“Besides.” Red got every creatures attention as she sat at the table. “We have bigger prey to hunt. So is everything set up?”

Nutcracker saluted, “Lady Red, the bridge crew, lookouts, and any fool who could warn Carving has been reminded about what happens to snitches. As for Carving’s loyalists, and all Corps Brigaders on board the ship, they are currently busy below deck doing a weapons check. I got the sea dogs to make sure they stay below deck, so even if things take long, they won't be coming up to bother you.”

Magpie also saluted. “Lady Red, I have hidden the weapons in the places you have designated. Also several of the slaves have have pledged their loyalty to you in exchange for their freedom. I don't expect much from them, but they will do well as a distraction.”

“My Lady.” Tarbeary gave Red a nod before knocking back a mug of whatever he was drinking. “You do know if we do this, everything's going to go wrong. Even if they are heretics, they got the goddess’ luck.”

Red pushed her overly floppy hat up to better look the preacher in the eye. “I’m well aware of that. That's why I made sure we had extra guns. So Tarbarry, did you do as I asked?”

He huffed as he laid his head on the table. “Yes my Lady, I made sure that as much booze where passed around the ship. Even the good stuff from the stable. A gift from the goddesses for being good goddess fearing followers. By the time the metal winged bitch gets here, our good goddesses chosen should be well on their way to getting plastered.”

“Good, that should be enough to prevent any idiot from interfering. Now just one last thing.” Red looked over at the Inquisitor. “So how much heresy do you see in that memory reader, Inquisitor Iron Wings?”

The griffin slowly removed the device from his face, placing it gently on the ground. He scanned the room, looking at each of us, but lingering on me the longest. “Evil is something we shall not ever tolerate. But many fail to grasp that evil is not something that creatures grow on themselves, such as a head crest of a bird, claws on the lurker here, or horns that which spawn from evil acts.” He placed his hand on his chest. “Evil comes from within, lingering in the soul, whispering to your darkest desires. Many do fall into evil because of ignorance, and must be educated to be saved. But those of our herd, educated of the dangers evil holds, fall not because of ignorance. No, they fall because they want to. Because they curse the goddess name, and spit on Roselands teachings.”

Iron wing paused, closing his eyes for a moment, every creature watching him. “Now what Blackspot had become cannot be used to condemn the whole of the corps brigade. But it happening under Carving Doll’s watch does condemn her. For she as captain should have rooted out such evil long before your discovery. By this, I will condone a purge of the corps brigade upon her, and upon this ship.”

A chuckle came from Red. “Ya hear that mateys, time for a good old-fashioned pu…”

Red was lifted up by her neck in Iron Wings large tallions. “Listen well puterelle, and your headless churl whore. I know this is exactly what admiral Flintlock Hoof wants, but that doesn't mean you’re free from the consequences if you fuck up. By all means, play the bishop’s games of power. But in this world, the goddesses favor the strong, and the bishops know how to make a pony like you weak.”

He dropped Red, who had a visible mark around her neck. Picking up the memory reader, Iron Wings put it in a bag attached to his belt. “I will take this to your mother and pray for your success.” His eyes moved onto me. “And you. Whatever you have become, I suggest you start praying to the goddesses. For if we meet again, and you’re still a heathen, I will see to it that all my holy wrath is brought to bear down upon you.” He then pulled out a book, and placed it on the table. “For the maiden Mayall, please do read it well.”

We silently watched the griffon walked out of the room, each step heavy, and with purpose. Waiting a little longer, eventually we let out the breath we were holding.

“He will do it, you know.” Snowbird look at me with her too big smile. “Once saw him gut a zebra with just his talons, utterly entrancing. To bad he looks like a hen, no color in his plumage.”

I tried not to think about it. The idea of converting to an ass-backwards religion just so a griffin didn't gut me was something I didn’t need. At least, not when I had more pressing psycho to deal with.

“So, Red, what's this plan?”

Footnote:

Faction Quest Continued: Mutiny Aboard the Weeping Pegasus.