"Good morning Commonwealth, it's another lovely day in Equestria under a new dawn and I'm delighted to speak with you all again. For those unaware, this is Princess Celestia, speaking to you from Diamond City on the New Equestrian Empire Airwaves, formerly the automated classical radio station I understand.

I plan to keep all my little ponies abreast of the progress we're making to restoring Equestria like this, so tune in often please. I understand there are a few other options on your radio dial, most of which are understandably suspicious of me, but that's exactly why it's so important to talk to you like this. The secrecy of the Institute over the last two centuries may have been necessary, but the terrible Svengallop abused that security for his own benefit. I assure you from now on, transparency and openness with be paramount.

In that interest, it's my sad duty to inform you of a terrible tragedy... The Shrouded Stallion has destroyed the settlement of Covenant, completely... I know our battles after the attack in Diamond City have caused great damage and suffering, for which I apologize for my part, but I hope you all see how necessary it is to stop him now, by whatever means. The pony you've come to know as a hero is possessed by an ancient and powerful spirit I myself once sealed away. That it was once my sister's loyal servant kept me from destroying it ages ago, now my mistaken mercy has now cost more lives, each of which weigh on my heart heavily.

The beast seems to be moving steadily northeast after abandoning its futile efforts to oppose me a week ago. To any listeners in that area of the Commonwealth, I implore you to take care. Do not approach it or stand in its way, if you see it coming, please just run away as quickly as you can. Report its whereabouts to any member of the New Equestrian Army in the area, the former mercenaries known locally as the Gunners, or to our friends in the Kingdom of Sanctuary's Minutemares, as it has retreated to their territory to take its fury out on innocent ponies.

Take care of yourselves and your loved ones first, I swear that this time, I will resolve the problem permanently, so no more will suffer such a fate. For now, I'm afraid I must leave you, but I promise to return to speak often. Our long night is finally over, it is TIME for a New DAY in EquestriaAA!"

I woke up thrashing and screaming in a warm, feathery bed of some kind, roaring in rage and pain and grief with my magic lashing out wildly and tears blurring my vision. I blinked on realizing it was just another dream, not even bothering to figure out where I was in favor of just curling into a fetal ball and weeping for a few minutes. I was getting to dread sleeping, every time I did, I saw Glitter's pink eyes going blank as she crumpled to the ground. Again and again and again... my stupid, broken brain insisted on reliving the moment I lost her over and over.

That one was just worse than others, as I saw the same thing happen to everypony I cared about too. Jade, Val, Witchy, Swan, Peri, Ivy, Zed, my parents and brother, Sunset and Grizz, Summer and my squad of Fixers, Preston, Burny... every friend I'd ever made... They all fell with her in a mountain of broken synths in the burning ruins of Covenant, leaving me alone with my shadow consuming the light as I screamed myself awake.

I whimpered at the voice of 'Be Dark...' trying to be consoling breaking the silence, eventually sighing and cracking my bloodshot eyes open to figure out where the Shroud had gone while I'd been out of it. I was surrounded by dingy, pale feathers in some kind of nest, so apparently the spirit had finally figured out it had to let my body rest anyway. I wondered where it got the comfortable bedding that felt so much like being wrapped in Jade's wings, then gagged as I saw that's what they were, severed wings... big ones...

I supposed I'd gotten too used to the grisly things the Shroud got up to, groaning as I trudged out of the bed of bloody feathers, rather than prancing away in fright. Instead I just looked around blankly, taking in the details of the small metal room I found myself in. It was some kind of modular capsule, a few rusty pipes and blinking bits of arcano-tech scattered around, somewhat covered up by the bundles of netting in the corners filled with bloody meat I didn't want to guess at the origins of. I couldn't ignore a stray hoof pointing out of one, but simply counted myself lucky it was too cold for the disgusting bundles to be... squishy... A few rusting orange barrels provided a soothing chatter of ambient radiation that had restored my wounds and made for pretty restful sleep at least.

There was a large window on one wall and a door leading out to rickety looking catwalks leading down from what seemed to be a high perch, I could see giant satellite dishes through the gaps, somehow still standing proudly with their crystalline, gem studded tips pointed to the cloudy skies.

Trotting over to the door to get a better look, I fell back in surprise at a large silver coated mutant alicorn poking its long horned head in. The Terrible Shotgun was out of my saddlebags and pointed between its dull red eyes in a flash, but it wasn't attacking, flinching back and lowering its head submissively with its ears laid back.

"Underlings? What the hell are you talking about, what have you done now?"

The mutant didn't look put out at me talking to myself while still aiming a shotgun at it, waiting until the Shroud gave its vague answer and I blinked in confusion. If anything, it lowered its head more in a bow, looking up and speaking in a gravelly voice. "Alpha awake? We bring food now?"

"Huh? Alpha? Er... I'm a little confused here, who are you?"

"Hook, me serve new alpha good, me no challenge, please no kill! We bring food now, okies?" I'd never heard one of the intimidating mutants sound nervous before, but this Hook sure did, bowing his warped and indeed vaguely hook shaped horn again as he repeated his question.

Seeming to take my raised eyebrow as assent, the mutant turned back from the door and nickered, signalling a hulking earth pony mutant alicorn to come tromping up the rattling stairs. I stood back just to make room for the overly muscled brute, sticking my tongue out at the radhog carcass it bucked from between its tiny wings before bowing its head and carefully backing away again.

My stomach growled and my fangs extended at the plump radhog, even as I felt queasy at the prospect of tearing into its flesh raw as the Shroud wanted. I did manage to turn my nose up at it at least, tilting my head to the unicorn mutant still watching anxiously. "Food good Alpha? Want other prey? We go get?"

"Umm... y-yeah, it's great, thanks Hook. Maybe we could see about cooking it though? You could explain what the hell's going on here?"

The long, twisted horn on the mutant's brow lit up and the radhog was instantly floated back out, the obedient and apparently eager to please mutant tossing it down to the ground with a gruff shout. "Alpha wants cooked! Hurry up! You come Alpha, we cook and tell things?"

"Suuuuure..."

I eyed the mutant dubiously, but followed its waving hoof out the door and took a better look around, my pip-buck chiming in my ear as I took in the large complex of three huge satellite dishes surrounded by catwalks, a forth stretching above my head from the maintenance room I was in situated in. Location Discovered: Revere Satellite Array.

It was a dilapidated ruin enclosed by rusting and bent chain link fencing. A large concrete building in the center of the lot was blackened and had large gaps in the roof, a tingle of radiation coming from that direction adding to the ambient glow of orange barrels scattered haphazardly around. The huge dishes were still pointed to the sky, though one was nearly straight up and covered in cobbled together scrap walkways that allowed access to the concave dish itself. That and more rough wooden shacks hanging off the dishes and catwalks spoke of normal ponies once occupying the location, but now it was a hive of the Institute's twisted mutant alicorns staring up at me and bowing.

While the view of all those mutant alicorns bending their heads low in hushed silence was pretty creepy, the Shroud puffed up proudly, my wings flaring out as I perched at the railing and all the mutants cringing in response. Once the spirit had soaked up enough fearful respect I was allowed to turn away with a groan, opening my mouth to speak, then brought up short and yelping at the horrible display pinned to the wall of the lair I'd taken.

I found out where the severed wings came from anyway... A rather large and well muscled example of the pegasus variety of mutant had been impaled by numerous pipes and bits of rebar, turned into a bloody trophy with two long ribbons of crimson staining the wall where his wings had been cut off, to make a bed... His limbs were spread eagle and speared in place, while a circle of hoof smeared blood going around the display completed the image of the Institute's own emblem. My stomach did a lazy flop as I looked over all the bite marks marring his mottled pale coat, choosing not to dwell on where his eyes wound up.

"W-What the hell happened here?"

The Shroud's cheery answer filled in the broad strokes as the anxious mutant alicorn next to me gave me an odd look, cocking his head and answering with only slightly more detail. "You make good fight with old alpha, put up trophy so all see and know new alpha is strong. You no remember?"

"I'm a little... absent minded lately. So I killed your leader, and now you all think I'm your new leader?"

Nodding eagerly as I trudged down the unsteady catwalks, the odd mutant volunteering to be my assistant answered in his gravelly voice. "Challenged alpha and won, Shroud-pony new alpha. We obey. Er... obey masters first, but obey."

"Masters... The Institute? Why do they have you here anyway? What are you supposed to do?" I blinked curiously between the strange mutant and all the satellite dishes, noting at least one of them was functional and feeling a vague itch of curiosity as we trotted across the snowy grounds of the satellite array.

Hook took a moment to puzzle over my question, eventually leading me to the broken concrete building blanketing the area in radiation as he replied. "We guard. Sorry, all we know. Masters say guard, we guard. They send plastic ponies to this room sometimes."

It seemed like a bunker, the heavy steel door creaking when the tall mutant pushed it open for me. I poked my head in to find a room of blinking terminals and equipment, powered by a pair of arcano-flux generators off to the side. One of them had been blasted to smithereens by whatever pierced the reinforced ceiling at some point, the damage old enough to guess it was from the war itself and not more recent. The remaining generator was still chugging along though, I absently noted a few recent repairs and replaced components here and there as I strolled in the dusty room, stepping over a pile of bones in tattered Equestrian Army fatigues to take a look at the biggest terminal in the banks of equipment blinking a simple enough missive;

The mutant alicorn at the door shifted on his hooves as I poked at the equipment, obviously torn over his orders from the Institute to guard this facility, versus his interest in remaining alive. I felt no reason to push the issue though, I had no idea what a 'Celestia One' was or why it would need to be jammed, but only had so much interest in much of anything anymore. Who cared what the Institute was doing with this thing, it wasn't really my concern...

Besides, I got the idea if I screwed with it, the so far friendly enough mutants would turn on me out of a sense of duty or enforced obligation. The scent of cooking radhog drew me away, more rewarding than poking into Institute mysteries that had caused me nothing but misery in the past.

The rowdy and brutish crowd of fellow Institute alicorns was probably where I belonged anyway. The Shroud seemed to like them as I sat out in the blustery day without feeling a thing, taking the first and biggest share of the cooked bounty and watching them snap over the scraps like wild dogs amongst themselves. They were slow witted and poor conversationalists, but sturdy enough for shadowy tendrils of my magic to smack them apart when they got too rough without killing them.

Plus if I did end up killing them all, did it really matter? It was better than wiping a town of regular ponies off the map anyway, wasn't it?

I still wasn't sure... Jade would say they were all living creatures deserving of respect and kindness. They didn't remember who they were or really care though. The blurry remnants of their cutie marks as distorted as the disfigured mutants themselves were mentally and physically. They only existed in the now, enjoying guarding their territory and slaughtering anycreature that came near, including the rare caravan that made the mistake of coming too close.

I did leave them with orders not to do that anymore and hoped they'd listen, but was aware I was leaving a vacuum they'd fight each other to fill until one came out on top. I just couldn't bring myself to judge or care though. In a way I envied their simple existence unburdened by the past. I soon left them behind and headed northeast again, following the pull of 'Be Dark...' leading me on up the broken roads through the quickening snowfall.

"Ok, one more. I spy with my little eye, something beginning with F..."

Groaning at the hopeful murmur of a reply to the simple game, I shook my head and sighed. "No, not food... We just ate, try thinking of something else."

"Not that... Come on, look around, there's nopony else here, you're supposed to actually look and find something nearby."

Feeling my eyes drawn up to the next gentle hill I was trudging up, I did see smoke from a fire somewhere ahead drifting up through the dense, blackened trees. It wasn't what I was thinking of, but it did give me pause, stopping in the silent and snowy woods and making for the actual focus of the old foal's game I'd been playing just to pass the time and keep myself and the Shroud occupied.

"Close. Fire-engine, this thing here. They used to go around and fight fires."

I clambered up into the decrepit old fire engine rusting away in the ditch off the road and snorted tiredly, getting the Shroud's confusion with the image of a pony trying to actually fight a fire, like with a sword... "Not like that, with water dummy. I guess the hoses are all rotted away, but this kind of carriage has a big water tank and could hook up to all those fire hydrant things you see everywhere still. These ponies were called firefighters, they'd go put fires out and save ponies from burning buildings and stuff. They were heroes too, like you used to be."

There was a sullen pause at that, letting me root around in the wreck and gently pull one of the still intact firefighter helmets from a frost coated unicorn skull and turn it in my hooves wistfully. Glitter didn't have one of these in her collection of nifty hats... I stuffed it in my saddlebags with a sniffle, returning to poking around the already looted medical boxes and equipment bins festooning the old engine. I caught myself explaining old world things to the spirit in my head like I would with her and sighed, missing her innocent grin as she listened and asked questions.

"You kill pretty much everything though... granted I'm not much better anymore, so I guess I should've said like we used to be. Speaking of which, it does look like there's a town or something up ahead, so are you going to behave? Or can we just go around?"

I stopped to sit on the tattered seat atop the rear of the long vehicle, absently playing with the independent steering wheel and fiddling with my pip-buck map to figure out where we were. While flipping through the menus I had to resist the urge again to bring up Jade's locator tag, a powerful temptation the Shroud only encouraged. Whatever was up ahead wasn't marked on the map yet, though I took a minute to bring up my recent travels and find out what all the Shroud had been up to while I'd been in and out of consciousness.

It was a weaving, meandering course starting where I woke up at Kindle Hospital, going vaguely northeast, but twisting and turning around between varying points, sometimes doubling back on itself in weird loops. "You're easily distracted, aren't you?"

The defensive mutter was interrupted by the Shroud's eager shout and a blast of lightning crackling out of my horn, more controlled than I could manage and lancing out to fry several cawing ravens up in the dead branches overhead. While one of them did turn into a splatter of glowing green goop raining down to the snow, it still illustrated my point enough I only had to raise an eyebrow in a smirk.

"Yes, yes, good catch. I guess they're keeping an eye on me. We should probably keep moving..."

I hopped down off the end of the fire engine still hanging on the edge of the broken road, turning in surprise to find a red painted Ponitron was wedged in a compartment in the back. There was a darkened alarm light on its glass domed head and a pair of corroded spouts sticking from its broad steel chest, catching my interest for a moment where I forgot how miserable I was in favor of some new gadget. It was a good idea, the robot pony could go into burning buildings without fear and spray down the flames with the pair of cryo weapons it sported right up close. The stall housing it looked like a newer addition, stamped with the Robronco logo as a 'generous donation to the T.F.D.' and a date not much before the end.

Sighing at the reminder breaking my curious poking and prodding, I slumped and moved on to stripping the dead robot for spark cells and parts, stuffing the ammo and cryo fuel in the pockets of the leather bandolier across my chest. "Not really... just distracted too. So, I think I figured out where you're going... You're heading for that asylum where Grandpa's assistant got sent, aren't you? The one you drove insane? Why exactly?"

"Uh-huh.... I got part of that anyway. It does remind me of something that's been bothering me though. How come that pony went nuts just touching your prison, but you've been in my head all this time without doing that? Er... ok, maybe I went a little crazy, but not that bad. Why?"

"No hurt... That's right, you can't hurt kids, Luna's command? So you couldn't hurt me until I grew up, and that took a long time because of the Stable... So what, you were just biding your time?"

"That still doesn't answer how you possessed me to begin with, but it is something... I wish I could remember whatever Grandpa covered up in my memories. You don't know anything useful about how you got in my head, do you?"

I stopped dead in the winding country lane at that, my mouth hanging open until I shook my head and shouted out in the blowing snow, clapping a hoof to my fedora as my stolen scarf whipped in the wind. "Do what!? What do you mean, 'invited'!? I didn't... ASK you to possess me! D-Did I?"

The only answer I got was my pristine Shrouded Stallion action figure floating up from my packs in my corrupted magic, bobbing out from the pile of Ministry Mare statuettes and hovering in front of my muzzle. Zed said it was a soul jar too... and one I'd made somehow, but I didn't see how it fit with what the spirit was haltingly saying. The idea I had somehow invited the dangerous creature into my head was unsettling, but it was telling the truth...

Before I had time to really take it in, a hiss from the woods to my right drew my attention back up from staring at the toy in shock. My head snapped towards the threat before I was really aware of it, a low growl coming out of my throat in response to the... what the hell was that?

It was pink... The mottled color standing out against the snow covering the fallen log it was perched on. A fuzzy ball of pink spikes about the size of a foal, but round and waddling on its stubby hindlegs. Something like a hedgehog? It was mutated, that much was obvious from its size and the tumorous growths, very spiky and aggressive looking for the cute color and cuddly ball shaped appearance. It had sharp teeth though, along with gleaming claws and beady little eyes drawn down in a scowl. Definitely not friendly then, E.F.S. showing a red dash in my vision just confirmed the obvious.

"Go away fuzzball... You don't want any..." I snorted at it and made to keep moving along, ignoring the weird little thing in favor of just getting out of its territory and avoiding trouble.

It didn't take well to being brushed off... The vaguely familiar creature chattered angrily when I trotted on, tossing an acorn with its dexterous little claws that thunked into the back of my head. I spun and I snapped at it in a guttural bark, my blackened magic automatically lobbing a large chunk of asphalt at the pest, that it rolled away from as a spiky ball that disappeared into the snowy foliage.

"Just leave it alone, it's a pest, who cares?" I groaned tiredly, my voice not matching the fang filled scowl on my face.

"It threw an acorn... It's not like it- Hey!"

My huffing reply turned to a yelp when another missile hit me right below the tail, making me jump in surprise and spin in the air. The pink bastard was on the other side of the road now, standing on a blackened stump and sticking its damn tongue out as it chittered what I had no problem recognizing as laughter.

This time a shadowy crescent of magical force lanced out of my horn at it, digging a long furrow in the road and snowy ground before splitting the stump in half, just behind the pink thing disappearing again. I was still glaring at the smoking trench when another acorn smacked me in the eye, drawing a roar from my throat in response to the damn thing dancing on a rock and blowing a raspberry at me...

It jumped down and rolled off again as a darkened, bluish-black beam of magic blasted from my horn at it, the boulder exploding into a rain of gravel that was scattered by the icy wind. Another acorn smacked into my flank and my head snapped left, catching it scurrying through the branches bursting into flame behind it from the gout of blue flames the Shroud poured out in a tantrum.

I was torn between sour amusement and annoyance at the show, though torching its home seemed to piss off the pesky twerp and escalate things. It popped up from a fresh hiding spot and curled in on itself with a screech, puffing up like a blowfish and sending a rain of sharp spikes arrowing out at me. I dodged and pranced back with a snarl, most of the pointy missiles bouncing off my armored trenchcoat, but a few found flesh and dug in painfully, a burning sensation spreading from each hit scored immediately.

"Fine you little bastard! You got it!"

I shouted back and the Terrible Shotgun snapped up, activating S.A.T.S. to catch the slippery little rat dodging from another magical onslaught from the Shroud, I paused on the name displayed in the HUD overlaying my vision. 'Puck-Bloody'? The name tickled a memory from my Dad's book from the Society for the Preservation of Magical Creatures, but I couldn't remember what. Whatever it was, the targeting spell blew the ball of pink spikes to giblets with some satisfaction.

"Grrr... it was a freaking mutant hedgehog! We could have just ignored it and moved on, but you just have to kill everything in your path that ticks you off! Don't you think this was a little over the freaking top!?"

Huffing and turning to pull the painful needles from my wings and neck with my teeth, the Shroud's defensive muttering just aggravated me more than once again dealing with the results of it lashing out. My ears pricked up at the sound of a lot more hisses and chatters surrounding me before I could start berating it however. Turning my head back slowly and realizing Eyes Forward Sparkle was now filling rapidly with red dashes, I blanched on finding the woods to either side of the road full of more little puffballs. There were dozens of them... popping up from the snow, scowling down from branches and wiggling out of knotholes in the dead trees, all different colors of spiky monsters chittering angrily.

With a collective screech, they started sending an absolute storm of needles whizzing through the air, leaving me nowhere to escape even with the sudden shout of 'Be Awesome!' helping me roll and dodge agilely. More needles found exposed hide as I started blasting away with my shotgun, forced to use the sturdy weapon's stock as a club to swat one of the nasty things away when it launched itself as a spiky ball right at me.

Drawing Deliverer with an aggravated hiss back at the swarm of pests, I went with the speedy pistol and S.A.T.S. to make a dent in their numbers. My silent 10mm fired rapidly, blowing away one after another, only for more to take their place. They lobbed themselves at me as more spiky balls, those that managed to hit sticking tight and viciously biting or clawing, forcing me to tear them off with increasingly frustrated growls. Every bit of my hide not covered by my magical armor was riddled with stinging needles, drawing blood that stained the snow as I bucked and snarled under the concerted attack.

My anger kept boiling up until it matched the Shroud's fury, an increasing whistle of rage that finally exploded outward in a swirling cyclone of wind and telekinetic force that shredded the pests and knocked down trees. The woods were filled with their screeches and yipes, under the cacophonous creaks and crashes of long dead trees exploding and falling in a wide circle around me.

Snorting puffs of steaming breath through my nostrils and stamping my hooves, I growled out to the retreating monsters in frustration. "That's right! Run you little fuckers! I warned you!"

I went stomping off once I was sure they weren't going to come back for another go, yanking the stinging needles out of my face and neck with my magic and feeling particularly stupid. I should have just flown off from the first one... They didn't have much of a chance to really hurt me, but their needles burned and were difficult to pull out, yanking my face down into a grimace as I muttered and tugged them away.

Coming to the top of the hill and looking ahead to the ribbon of smoke trailing up into the sky, I spotted the settlement ahead and tried to focus on it. A swimming pool? I... I remembered going there as a foal during the summer actually, a big public swimming pool had become some kind of wasteland town, I could see scrap built fortifications and blurry little pony shapes moving about.

Shaking my head dizzily, I realized I couldn't focus very well on it and didn't feel so good... I should be able to make out every detail from this distance, but everything was blurry and spinning. A chime from my pip-buck threw up text I had a hard time reading, but confirmed my first thought; 'Puck-Bloody Poison Detected'.

Dammit... It must be pretty potent to be affecting alicorn biology this strongly. I underestimated them... or overestimated myself... The combination of the cute looking fuzzballs and the overpowered Shroud being comically teased put both our guards down. A normal pony would already be easy game for the round rats to come biting with those sharp little teeth.

This is what you get for freaking hubris stupid... It would be a hilarious way to die, the mythical Shrouded Stallion, slayer of raiders, armies of Gunners, killer robots and huge mutant monsters, brought low by a bunch of pastel fuzz balls in the middle of the woods... I couldn't help giving a loopy titter of laughter at the idea.

The Shroud definitely wasn't interested in dying an ironic death however, pouting at being laughed at and prodding me forward with just a tinge of panic it really might suffer such an indignity. I stumbled and wove my way down the slippery road, hurriedly yanking more needles out and making for the settlement up ahead. A place to rest awhile... let this shit run its course... The locals were probably used to dealing with those things, maybe they had an antidote or something...

'Be Unwavering!' gave a weary bit of encouragement and I flapped my wings, managing a weak, lurching flight for a few minutes before crashing to the ground again and staggering on. The cartoon alicorn on my pip-buck's health screen had its tongue stuck out and eyes slumped, expressing its displeasure as I slugged down a purple healing potion woozily on finding I was still bleeding from the dozens of pinpricks, losing too much blood...

I tried flying twice more, making less distance each time, until crashing into a snowbank and struggling to get back to my hooves and dig myself out. I had to crawl back to the road, weakly flopping to the snow and looking up to a blurry shape approaching from the town ahead. It was a pony... I was pretty sure anyway... bundled up in bulky winter clothes, but galloping right at me through the wind and snow.

Resting my chin on my outstretched foreleg, I vaguely hoped they were friendly as I passed out. Though if they weren't, maybe I'd get my hilarious death, which would probably be for the best anyway... Either way, it was out of my hooves for the moment. I embraced the blackness like an old friend, even the blanket of snow felt warm as I closed my eyes wearily.

"He shouldn't be here Posey, you heard what happened to Covenant..."

"So we should just toss him back out in the storm!? I took an oath Wisemare, twice even! I won't abandon my duty just because you're scared of some story on the radio! Besides, you know how creepy those Covenant ponies were, if the rest of the story DJ Miles got from that merc about the filly they took is true... Well I won't say they had it coming since that would be against the Follower's principles, but connect the dots ya big chicken!"

"He's dangerous... I saw that much myself, ripped a fifty yard circle of dead puck-bloodies and exploded trees outta the landscape. Follower's or no, I gotta obligation to the ghouls here and that buck ain't right..."

"Nnngh.... S-She's right... I'll leave... dangerous..." I groaned my way awake to the gravelly voices raised in an argument, mumbling and flailing to get up, before finding myself held down again by a firm but gentle hoof.

Once again, the Shroud raising my tolerance for the creepy and macabre spared me from yelping out loud on finding a rotting face inches away, instead I focused on the kind rose eyes holding mine with a pained whimper. It was a ghoul mare, her leathery hide a muted and dusky pink under the wisps of a mane the same color as her eyes. Her cracked horn had a bit of a curve to it and lit up in a soft pink glow as her free hoof tugged at my eyelid, letting her peer closely at my dizzy gaze a moment before giving a soft huff.

"You lost a lot of blood young buck, you just stay right where you're at and let the antidote work. Puck-Bloodies are nasty in big clusters like that, you're lucky... Never seen anypony look so much like a pincushion and survive. Anti-coagulant in their poison, nearly bled out in the snow. I'm Dr. Posey Patch, you're safe here... The Princess would be awful disappointed if we let you up and die on us, which we are NOT doing, right Wisemare...?" The ghoulish mare wore a tattered labcoat nearly as bedraggled as she was, her leading question turning towards the other pony in the room.

This Wisemare was another ghoul, a dingy yellow blackened and torn in spots, a chunk missing from her scalp gave her green mane a lopsided appearance she tried to cover by styling it in a stringy tail hanging off that side of her frowning face. She was dressed in a ratty brown coat with a tan ruff of fur around the hood at her back, snorting and stamping her hooves in frustration at the implacable look the doctor mare wearing the medical box saddlebags of Jade's Followers turned on her.

Eventually she gave a long suffering sigh, tugging at the hunting rifle holstered on her back and raising a withered eyebrow down at me. "Are you going to be a problem smoothcoat? Don't need no trouble and it seems to follow you around, Shrouded Stallion..."

Taking a better look around the gloomy, candlelit tiled room I found myself in, I realized there were more ponies nearby and struggled up to my haunches against the doctor's protests. They were crowded around the only door out of what seemed to be a large bathroom originally, the ones closest to the doors were armored in Minutemare livery and heavily armed, while the ones craning their necks for a look behind them seemed more like civilians. They were all ghouls, their rotted features animated enough to show wary concern fighting curiosity.

"Ugh... You're not secretly some non-ghoul hating cannibal cult or something evil, are you?"

Wisemare snorted again like the very idea of my tired sarcasm was offensive, shaking her head brusquely. "Hardly! The Slog is a member of the Kingdom of Sanctuary in good standing! Your Princess accepted our settlement herself, she's the reason I didn't leave you out in that mess outside too, so... so I suppose we do owe her... He's your responsibility Posey, first sign of trouble and I'll... sigh... I'll pray to the goddesses he doesn't kill us all I suppose... You'll be gettin' an earful in the afterlife though!"

At that she turned on her heel with a huff, taking her annoyance out on all the 'lookie-loos' she shooed off gruffly as my pip-buck chimed; Discovered Location: The Slog. There was a lot of shuffling hooves, muttering, whining and worried nickers, but soon enough it was just me and the kindly medical mare. She floated a scratchy blanked around my wings, trotting over to a sputtering heater in the corner and a hot plate keeping a dented tin coffee pot hot, pouring the steaming liquid to a chipped mug and hovering it over to my hooves.

"Sorry about them, they're just skittish after... er..." Dr. Patch started softly, then drifted off awkwardly, leaving me to cut right to the truth for her.

"Afraid I'll burn this place to the ground too? It's ok, it's a valid concern I guess... T-Thanks for taking the chance anyway, I'll get out of your manes as soon as I can..."

"Ponyfeathers! It's past midnight and blowin' up out there like we've got windigos on our doorstep. Damn barrier storms have been bad lately and we're close to the edge here. You stay where you are and recover youngster. Meant what I said, Princess Jade's special somepony's not getting his fool self killed on my watch." The ghoul physician clicked her teeth and hummed as she moved through the room, checking the IV hanging from a rusty nail nearby and tapped into my foreleg.

There were a pair of windows set high up on the walls near the moldy ceilings, enough to see they were crusted with snow and ice, while the wind howled outside the fairly warm little bathroom that had been converted into a doctor's office / home. Most of the stuff out here was part of what I'd expect in a doctor's office anyway, a couple cots, a rusty cabinet full of medical supplies, a cleanish looking sink basin with shiny medical implements nearby. The handicapped stall hadn't been torn out for scrap like the others I saw the faded shadows off, a big enough privacy enclosure to hold the mare's personal bedding, photographs, a trunk for clothing and a battered radio, all lit by the soft glow of a lantern inside.

My armor and saddlebags were near the unhealthy sounding heater in the corner, dripping dry to the tiled floor. Taking a better look at myself under the ragged blanket, I saw I was wrapped in a lot of bandages stained red in a polka dot pattern from all the punctures that nearly led to a death by a thousand cuts. No wonder they were called Puck-Bloodies, it would have been a very bloody end...

Looking back up, I saw one of the Minutemares guarding the door peeking through the crack, the dusty tan ghoul filly giving a sharp "Eep!' and fumbling with her magical energy musket when my eye caught hers and she quickly turned away. I sighed and my ears drooped at that, the brave soldier of the Kingdom of Sanctuary afraid of their General...

Dr. Patch huffed as she trotted over to her personal space, rummaging around in the old stall and calling out to me softly. "Nevermind them now, we all know what it's like to be seen as a... er..."

"Monster?"

"Well... yes... The Slog was founded by Wisemare and a lot of old ghouls like me that got run out of Diamond City as a bunch of fellow 'monsters' a long time ago, so we sympathize. They know better, just jumpy, forgive them dear. We're all grateful to your Princess though, she took us in to her Kingdom without a hint of prejudice, a real Princess, not like that... thing... pretending to be Goddess Celestia. She sent me a letter even, see!?" Posey came practically prancing back out of her stall, proudly holding a framed scroll and certificate in her magic and thrusting it out to my hooves with a wide smile showing through the hole at her cheek.

I blinked away tears looking down through the cracked glass at Jade's flowing script, a personal letter inducting her into the Followers of the Apocalypse, personable and charming when she had time to write out her response instead of speaking in person;

'Dear Doctor Posey Patch,

Thank you so much for writing such a lovely letter and your interest in joining the Followers of the Apocalypse. I was delighted to hear your of community The Slog joining the Kingdom of Sanctuary, while sympathizing with the prejudices you described that led you fine ponies to form your own settlement for ghouls after Diamond City's most unfair purge. I assure you, both our Kingdom and the Followers do not allow for such bigotry and welcome anycreature willing to help make the wasteland a better place, in whatever way they can.

After going over your credentials with the Ministry of Peace, I see you possess the knowledge and experience to help greatly, thus it is my honor to induct you into the Followers of the Apocalypse. Forgoing our normal induction procedures in the case of former MoP employees, your previous rank and accreditation carry over, as represented by the certificate I am pleased to include with this message on behalf of Velvet Remedy herself, who has graciously granted me such authority here in the Commonwealth.

I do hope to meet you personally soon, though your message caught up to me at the Castle and we are preparing to leave towards the south, in hopes of finding more allies for our growing Kingdom. So while it may be some time before I am able to travel north to the Slog and inspect the home of our newest friends, know I eagerly look forward to doing so. In the meantime, I am sure they are in good hooves when it comes to medical care and know you will continue to live up to the ideals of the Ministry of Peace and the Followers of the Apocalypse. Thanks to ponies like you, we will be better together.

Sincerely,
Princess Jade of Sanctuary'

The certificate included that I glanced over recognized Dr. Posey Patch's prewar training and position with the Ministry of Peace, a form I'd seen Jade carefully copy more than once, stamped with a seal of the cross and butterflies of the Followers she was never without when doing official things for the group from beyond the Commonwealth.

The old ghoul's cracked hoof came up to wipe away a tear as I sniffled, a kind, sad look on her face as she set the framed documents aside and hopped up to the cot beside me to offer a leathery hug. "Sorry... I'm just proud to be part of something so good again and... Why aren't you with her dear? Do you... want to talk about it?"

"Your friend Wisemare is right, that's why. I'm dangerous... I'm not totally in control and might... I might hurt people, I might hurt her if I was with her. Our baby..."

The nice ghoul gave a giddy gasp at that, her old rose eyes sparkling as she gave a squee and shook my hoof rapidly. "Oh! A baby!? Congratulations then! That's wonderful! I always wished I had gone with my second choice of obstetrics instead of theoretical restorative magic research. Children are such a blessing and... Oh... oh dear, don't cry!"

"Sorry... You're right and I really do want to be there for her, for our baby and... er... the others... I just can't... My daughter..."

She rubbed the spot between my wings curling in on myself soothingly as I wiped at my eyes, sighing sadly. "Oh... Y-Yes, we heard on the radio. I'm sorry about that, those Institute ponies were always cruel and losing a child hurts so much it can break a pony. Poor Mr. Glass outside still pines for his filly 200 years later and we've all lost those we care about. It never stops hurting, but it does get... not better, but tolerable. Try to focus on the happy memories dear, those will shine brighter as time goes by... I've even done research here, there's a 47% lower incidence of going feral for those of us who can hang on to those positives and not dwell on the negative."

I raised a tired eyebrow at that, blinking down again at her prewar credentials and mulling it over a moment, trying to turn the conversation away from painful thoughts. "You know about the Institute? It looks and sounds like you did pretty important stuff with the MoP judging by the alphabet after your name here..."

Posey snorted laughter and my weary joke, a little hearty for the croak I delivered it in, but honest. "Oh yes, I did a lot of research for Miss Fluttershy's Ministry, some of it ended up being with those eggheads. If we'd known the work meant to heal would be twisted into our doom, we never would have done it..."

"Huh? What do you mean, how could anything Fluttershy's Ministry did be bad?"

The old ghoul seemed to age centuries at my question, slumping beside me and looking to her hooves dangling off the cot with a whisper. "Let's just say... we all made mistakes... but it was with the best of intentions. Everypony blamed her too the poor dear, then that Lightbringer's book brought it all up again after ponies finally started to forget... Not that learning from the past is bad, but Fluttershy didn't deserve all that. She only wanted to help, we never even considered our megaspell array could be used for destructive magic."

"Megaspells? The... the Ministry of Peace came up with Megaspells!?"

Dr. Patch's sad nod matched the whimper of 'Be Kind...' drifting up in my head, leaving me stunned as she continued softly. "We thought once the zebras had it too, nopony would be mad enough to use them that way, not when everycreature would suffer equally. You see why I can sympathize with you dear? You made a mistake and burned down a town, ours burned the world..."

"You... Fluttershy... You created them...?"

I gaped a moment, vaguely remembering once when I was a young colt that mom and dad had argued bitterly for a week about Fluttershy. I was too young to really grasp why it seemed like everypony was so upset with the kind and sweet old mare on the news. Dad had been on her side as a fellow healer, while Mom had threw words like 'loyalty' and 'traitor' around in a screaming match they thought I didn't hear. They put it aside and hid things from me, but from then on, Fluttershy was a sore point in our house and I never understood why, until now...

"We did, I own my part of what happened. I lived with a lot of guilt for a long time too, figured being forced to witness the results without being able to die was my penance. Anypony can make a mistake that gets away from you and hurts others, even the kindest of us... We can't control that, we can keep trying to do good and hope though, learn from our mistakes, make up for things the best we can and always remember. Fluttershy never stopped trying to help, even when she was hated for it. You'll have to bear a lot of that burden now too, but don't give up. You saved a filly, didn't you?" The kind mare's rose colored eyes shimmered with tears, but her voice was firm, speaking from experience.

"I... I tried... I was being selfish too though, and angry... They hurt her, tortured her, and I just saw my little filly and... I killed them all... I killed that mare... Oh Goddesses I killed that mare when she was just hurt and angry too. Nevermind everypony else and how they look at me, how can I ever face Jade again when I..."

The ghoul mare squeezed me in a slightly squishy hug and cooed softly as I sobbed into her leathery chest, stroking my mane and rocking with me gently. "Shhh... I may not have had the honor of meeting her, but the Princess is as kind and worthy of my oath as Fluttershy herself. I don't doubt she'll forgive you, but you have to give her the chance. You have to forgive yourself at some point too... That's the hardest part."

"I-I'll try... t-thank you Posey... thank you... for everything... Y-You're really good at this, I think Fluttershy and Jade both would be proud. I really should leave now though. You're a nice mare, I don't... I don't want anything to happen here... Your friend Wisemare was right, trouble follows me around..."

I grunted and got to my hooves, swaying a moment before finding my balance and floating my armor and gear over. Fighting my way into my trenchcoat and buckling my bandolier and saddlebags on gave the kind doctor time to canter up and try to stop me, stamping a hoof a stammering. "W-What!? Nonsense! Never you mind Wisemare, she's a big softie under that crusty hide, she already said it's alright and... Y-You need to recover!"

"Nngh... I'll be fine Patch. I can take care of myself, I'll find somewhere radioactive enough and finish healing there. It's safer for everypony. You said we have to learn from the past, right? Well recent experience proves I don't belong around other ponies."

"Nopony should be alone! You needn't rush off like this Fast, doctor's orders!" Posey bit her ragged lip as I floated my silver banded fedora back to my head and shook it softly.

I made for the door before she could try to argue, hating to hear her panic and stutter to think of something to say, but it really was for the best I left soon. The Institute kept tabs on me with their little spies and their Gunners could be not far behind. The way the two ghoulish Minutemares still guarding the door out pranced away when my hoof pushed it open and they saw it wasn't the doctor just reinforced the idea. Neither had moved an inch from their posts looked very nervous indeed.

"Easy troops... No trouble, I promise. Just leaving is all, er... good work guarding the door, you did the right thing and are clearly pretty brave. I know it doesn't mean as much coming from this General anymore, but the Princess would be proud, I am..."

They both looked surprised and conflicted, but cleared a path and the private even managed a shaky salute, which made me give a tired smile as I returned it. The worried group of ghouls watching from behind them made it wither away quickly though, Wisemare standing at the head of them protectively with a stern eye.

I only made it two steps towards the door before Posey rushed forward to block me however, my brief pause giving her enough time to come up with another angle in a frantic yelp. "Fixing things!"

I winced when my foreleg froze midstep, raising a curious eyebrow despite myself. "Umm... what? Fixing?"

"Y-You're a repair-pony, right Fast? A very good one by all I hear. Well, we could use one!" Patch spoke in a bright and cheery voice for the crowd, stamping her hoof proudly at finding a temptation that actually made me waver.

Wisemare snorted sourly and stomped her way forward however, frowning at the doctor making a show of holding my hoof pleadingly. "Posey... He needs to go. Now. He's not a repair-pony anymore, he's a threat."

"He's a PONY! Same as we are!" Posey was undeterred, snorting back to her the leader of the Slog and the nervous residents. "I'm the doctor around here, I can demand payment for my services, can't I?"

I flinched under the glare Wisemare shot at us both, awkwardly hiding under the brim of my hat as she grimaced at the doctor pointing out at more clattering space heaters like the one in her office. Trying to look pretty much anywhere else as sparks clashed in the air between the two mares, I realized there were quite a few of them in the larger room. It was all tiled like the bathroom, lined with rusty lockers stuffed with personal belongings and knick-knacks of the residents, long wooden benches set before each row of the little containers for swimmers to stash their clothing.

There were tables, assorted chairs beds and rotting blankets set up willy nilly, more in separate rooms for changing and showers I could see glimpses of. The ghouls were bundled up in tattered winter clothes and I noticed they clustered around each of the weakly running heaters, all of which appeared to be like Posey's spark cell powered model since the long dead fluorescent lights overhead were dark.

"We can find a less dangerous Mr. Fix-It Posey, Minutemares already sent in a request with the Kingdom to send somepony. Let your patient be on his way already." Wisemare huffed sourly, pointing a hoof to the rusty blue double doors out.

"Nopony's coming anytime soon with that snow. With bad weather coming on strong now, we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth Wise! Besides, it's for his official treatment! He needs to be reminded who he is, something we've all gone through at one point or another over the years, hmm?" Dr. Patch simply stuck her nose up and fired right back, wrapping a foreleg around my neck to keep me from cringing under all the attention as she made an impassioned plea to the murmuring residents. "Every one of us is afraid of going feral, but we've never turned away a fellow ghoul on the edge. That's what this pony here is, he's not a monster and he doesn't want to turn into one either. After everything he's done for the Commonwealth, he deserves the benefit of the doubt!"

"Posey... you've all already done more than that much. Wisemare's right, I'm not worth..."

"Hush! I'm being selfish here too you know! Heaters Fast, we need heaters working, not to mention having power would do a lot to improve this settlement in general, but staying warm is a thing for us. The balefire keeps us up and moving, but none of us much enjoy the prospect of freezing up enough for bits to chip off. There's an old generator downstairs, but none of us know enough to get the old thing running again. We keep a few barrels of sludge from the Aegean Waste Containment Site down there too, for when we need rads for healing and such ourselves. You can settle your bill and rest up at the same time." Dr. Patch just trotted her way with me in tow, the crowd parting around us as she made for a small blue painted steel door.

'Be Unwavering!' gave a soft nudge at the prospect of using my non-murder oriented talents again to help others, the spirit of generosity gaining strength again along with the other Ministry Mares. "Er... w-well... I mean... I don't mind fixing it, if I can that is... I'd like to repay your kindness, but..."

"No buts! It's just down in the pump rooms, nopony will bother you down there, right folks? Or do all of you want to do what Diamond City did to us because they thought WE were monsters too!?" Dr. Patch finally stopped dragging me forward at least, turning to the crowd and tossing her rose mane defiantly.

Several of the ghouls looked unsure, their milky eyes flicking down in shame at the good doctor's unwavering compassion. 'Be Kind...' resonated warmly as many gave reluctant nods and Dr. Patch beamed, smirking back to the fuming Wisemare as if that settled that.

I supposed it did, Wisemare gritted her teeth and grumbled, but eventually threw her hooves up in frustration. "Fine! You win you stubborn old mare, have your way again! Just don't come crying to me when everything we're trying to build here gets blown to hell! Everypony stay back, nopony goes down there except you two Minutemares. Everypony else, go get your rest, plenty of work come morning after this storm blows over!"

Peering down into the dark sublevel of the municipal pool Patch opened the door to with a grin, I was relieved to see it was nostalgic and familiar, the sight of rusty pipes lining the dark stairs and corridors and the musty smell reminding me of home and thankfully empty. Even I had to sigh in defeat along with Wisemare, giving Posey a grateful look as I turned back from taking the first steps down and shrugging to the pair of Minutemares trotting to catch up.

"Umm... I guess I'll see what I can do. T-Then I really need to go though, you can't fix everything, but thanks for trying..."

Posey nickered and gave a light swat to my flank to get me moving again, smiling brightly at her victory. "A little kindness goes a long way Fast. Go be a repair-pony again for a little while, remember who you are and see if you don't feel better. If you won't see the Princess, I can at least try in her place."

"Shut up, I'm almost done dammit. Rebuilding a spark chamber out of tin cans isn't easy, but I think I this patch will..."

"Oh for Celestia's sake! I let you have fun, you can return the favor for a few hours! When we leave, I promise you can go kill raiders or something!" I scowled under the mellow glow of my horn casting transformation and repair spells on the corroded metal housing I'd stripped from the dead generator at my hooves, turning behind me to talk to the pair of Minutemares keeping a safe distance and exchanging concerned looks at my one sided conversation. "Hey, Private? You said there was some big crew of raiders around here, right? Causing trouble?"

"Oh! Umm... y-yes? Yes sir General! Er... Fast... Shrouded Stallion, sir... umm..." The light tan ghoul private yelped back, understandably nervous after listening to me muttering to myself in an increasingly combative argument with the annoyed spirit in my head.

Her superior sighed and lightly punched her shoulder to stop her jabbering, the older looking, dark purple mare with an odd pinkish tint to her melted looking coat was less jumpy, giving a concise answer for her. "Yes sir, the Legion. They've got a few clusters here and there towards the edge. Be a lot of folks this way that wouldn't mind if you were to... work out some aggression on them."

I gave a weak chuckle to the stern faced mare, 'Be Dark...' instantly warming to her hard smile and volunteering of victims. She struck me as a military mare, even before wearing the well pressed and fastidiously sharp blue and tan uniform of the Minutemares. The tarnished metal dogtags shaped like her warped, plant based cutie mark that seemed to be fused to her withered neck just supported the idea. I'd vaguely heard the Radio Friendship DJ Duclet at the Castle talking about a big gang up this way causing problems, so at least the Shroud would have targets that deserved his attention.

A few hours of repairing the Slog's broken generator in the radioactive basement left me feeling in much better shape, both physically and even mentally, but the whining spirit in my head was getting impatient. When the psycho got bored, bad things happened... so it was time to finish up and get moving. Though I supposed I may as well take advantage of a source of information about where I was going while I had it.

"Happen to know anything about the asylum nearby, umm Sergeant...?"

"Thistle Thorn sir, and not much, no. Parsnips Asylum is a fortress, defended by an army of mercs. Not Gunners though." The old ghoul answered succintly, making sure to amend her reply when my ears perked up at the word 'mercs', then scratching her rotting chin and shrugging. "Nopony messes with that place, but they don't bother anycreature, so most just give them their space. Been that way since the war ended."

"Huh... weird... Well, I guess I'll find out, probably..."

"Grrr... yes alright, I'm almost done already. You could be a little more informative if it's so important, the way you've been wandering around randomly, I assume it's not that big a deal and you're just whining again!"

Interrupting my back and forth tantrum while finishing up, Sgt. Thorn spoke up in a firm but kindly enough voice full of experience. "Sir, forgive me, but you're section eight, completely fubared... You need to get out of the field and back to the Princess. We have orders not to try stopping you and focus on clearing civvies from your path if you refuse to report in. If you are heading to Parsnips, it's my duty to at least warn them. They're not bad ponies, they don't deserve... whatever happens..."

I slumped and sighed at her remark, plugging in newly taped together power lines and nodding weakly. "Probably a good idea Thistle... I don't know why I'm going there, but I'm pretty sure I won't stop. If they're guarding the place... getting in my way would be bad. I'll uh... try to take my time. Have to let you stop foalsitting me first though, huh? Let's see if this does it..."

Standing up and stashing my tools, I flipped the switch on the ancient generator hopefully, tilting my head and perking my ears at the weak thrum it gave off as the gauges flickered. My horn lit up brightly and I gave the spark reaction a little goose with my magic, giving a satisfied grin when it surged to life. The bare bulbs down in the musty basement glowed, replacing the amber emergency lighting as a cheer rang out overhead.

My Minutemare guards even clapped their hooves happily when I turned around, a blush warming my cheeks as I smiled and tipped my hat to the beaming pair. When we trotted back upstairs, a cluster of very happy ghouls pushed right up, their fear forgotten as they grabbed my hooves and shook them, patting my back and shoving bottles of Sparkle Cola and alcohol, packs of cigarettes, canned food and a few hoofulls of caps up as gratitude. I reflexively cringed at ponies getting so close in fear for their safety, but the Shroud merely grabbed any offered gift greedily and basked in the attention.

I caught Dr. Patch's satisfied smirk watching from the sidelines with Wisemare, giving me a slight nod and wide smile as I blushed and sputtered. It did feel... satisfying though... The physician was right about that much, it felt good to fix something again, to see how doing so made these folks happy and take pride in a successful repair job. I missed this...

"You're actually jealous... aren't you?" I managed to mutter under my breath on the way to the door, suppressing a snicker at the petulant retort.

"Come on... It does feel good helping others for its own sake though, doesn't it? Fixing or killing, your way or mine, you actually like being a hero, don't you? You miss it too?"

I didn't get much of an answer as I pushed the doors open and winced at all the blinding white of sunrise sparkling on the snow outside, but there was a contemplative silence and quiet mutter that sounded suspiciously like '...maybe...'. Squinting against the painful glare distracted both of us though, the Shroud hissing and shrinking back from the overwhelming amount of reflected sunshine.

Thankfully the gruff Wisemare trotted up and gave me a nudge, though it was probably to keep me from trying to retreat to the gloomy building, she snorted and fished in her tattered coat for a pair of cracked sunglasses she held out with a huff. "Go on kid, can't have my good pair, but a set of shades is cheap for fixing that old hunk of junk."

I had to yelp my gratitude as my darkened magic had already snatched the gift away and put them on, but sighed in relief and blinked out at the snow covered grounds of the Slog. The pool stretched out ahead of me, sunken in the cracked concrete still littered with a few umbrella topped tables and lounge chairs. Interestingly, it looked like they grew some kind of berries down in the water at the bottom, when it wasn't frozen anyway. There were a few ghoulish foals prancing down the cracked steps of the shallow end, off to go picking at the last few berries from the strange plants protruding from the snow and ice.

On the other side of the basin were a tall set of rickety looking stands and the rusty chain link fencing beyond that surrounded the pool. A few guards were stationed up at the top of the bleachers in an enclosed announcers stand armored with corrugated steel and junk, their jobs probably made easier by all the snow. Anycreature trying to approach would be spotted easily enough unless they were an albino, while I realized I stuck out like a sore hoof. Something I'd have to keep in mind going out wandering again I supposed, stretching my wings and glad I didn't have to trudge through it all like an earth pony or unicorn anyway. There were several ghouls shoveling at it here outside the doors, and just the thought of trying to march through that slush made me shiver.

"This seems like a nice little town Wisemare, I'm glad you joined Jade's kingdom. You didn't have to help me, or let me stay. I'll be honest, it was a risk... but thank you."

Her dour expression actually softened at that, shuffling her hooves and giving a whinny. "Well... You're not so bad kid. Crazy as a shithouse radroach, but Posey is right, we've seen worse. I feel bad giving you the bum's rush, but... I do have these folks to think about, you understand? This is a home we made for ourselves, but there's one for you out there Fast. You'll figure out the same thing I did eventually, there comes a point where you just have to stop running..."

'Be Awesome!' gave a tired yawn of approval as I flapped up and tipped my hat down to all the waving ghouls, the spirit of loyalty trying to remind me where mine lie. I pushed it aside the same as Wisemare and Posey's well meaning advice though, hovering there and shrugging.

"Maybe... But not..."

My uncertain reply was cut off by a sudden hammerblow impacting my armored chest and tossing me back out of the air, the crack of a rifle echoing across the snowy hills as I rolled back to my hooves in the slush and snarled in the direction of the rising sun coming over the river. Another pair of shots came from the north and south of the first, sending the guards peering out from atop the bleachers diving for cover with painful grunts. Another ghoul guard sitting up in the rickety and scrap armored lifeguard's chair rang an attached bell with a shout, pointing out to the river and raising the alarm of, "Raiders!"

I grimaced at the Shroud's giddy voice as I rocketed up in the air, leaving a shadowy contrail behind me and a cloud of snow in the wake of my rapid takeoff. It was fast enough to not let the raider snipers have another free shot like the one that bruised a rib, and it even offered the ghouls of the Slog scattering to defend their home some cover, but I could do without the eager glee of the spirit getting back to murder and mayhem.

Eyes Forward Sparkle showed a horde of red dashes corresponding to the raiders charging up the banks of the river and across the snowy ground towards the Slog. They seemed fairly well equiped too, wearing oddly styled armor and filling the sky with a hail of assault rifle fire. Squinting closely, I noticed the armor and weapons went along with the bulk of the members, zebras... Those were zebra made rifles and the distinctive metal breastplates and leather skirts of zebra armor I'd seen on plenty of MoM propaganda. Though there were a good number of ponies and zonies mixed in too, black and white stripes were the dominant colors. This must be the Legion Sgt. Thorn told me about.

They were as crazed and brutal looking as any other pony raiders I'd seen, stampeding through the snow with wild war whoops. Definitely not big on tactics with such a mad dash, but fearlessly galloping into the return fire from the Slog's defenders. Them being so clustered and away from innocent ponies at least made things easier, the Shroud and I both going with wide ranging attacks as we dove down to meet them away from the settlement.

Half a dozen of my limited stock of grenades were lobbed out in my blue telekinesis, while crackling bolts of black lightning shaped like giant swords rained down behind them. The explosions and electric death giving even the lunatic raiders pause and reason to scatter when large numbers of the attackers were mowed down in one volley. A pair of zebras in fancier armor possessed bloodwing fetishes too apparently, rallying their hesitating crew as the leathery wings sprouted from their backs and they flew up to meet me diving on them.

The first was a fairly big stallion, nimbly dodging through the air around the hail of .45 rounds I fired at him, barely slowing under the few that found the mark and only giving a mild grunt as he kept going to deliver a powerful hoofstrike to my chest. He wasn't as agile or fast as Zed, though the impact stung with surprising strength behind it. It put him in melee range however, a seriously bad idea against a master swordspony like the Shroud... Best Served flashed out from the rough scabbard hanging from my bandolier, slicing off both forelegs in a bloody display that rained down on the raiders running below.

The second flying zebra was a mare, wielding a well maintained assualt rifle with a striped design to its wooden stock and staying back to use it. She got a front row seat for her bruiser friend spinning to a crash, her bloodshot eyes shrinking to pinpricks and the wide dark stripes on her face paling nearly as much as the dingy white in her coat as she frantically tried to retreat, screeching down to the throng of raiders. "It's the Shadowknight!! Leave the dead ones! Focus on..."

I'd nearly caught up to her with a fang filled grin by the time she turned back and fired wildly, interrupting her frantic orders as she tried to speed up even more. The string of burning .556 rounds that stitched my side strangely smoldered against my coat and singed feathers as I soared in pursuit of what the Shroud viewed as a delightful mix of filly and fear smells. An apparently enchanted zebra weapon wasn't enough to stop the speedy spirit from catching up with her, 'Be Dark...' harmonized with 'Be Awesome!', drastically improving my flying beyond what any cheating zebra flying fetish could manage. I didn't care for how the spirit savored her scream when I sank my fangs into her flank and chomped, but was confused by the sudden pause as I tore a chunk of flesh away, hovering there as she dove to escape and rolling my tongue around on the disgusting hunk of meat. The bewildered spirit muttering 'Mine?' as it sucked at the strange tasting blood suspiciously.

Whatever its problem was, tilting my head and gnawing on raw zebra made us a bigger target. I had to take over just to smack it into gear again, spitting the chunk of flesh out in revulsion and dodging from the gunfire zeroing in on me. That focused the Shroud's attention on the wealth of targets below anyway, marking where the wounded mare had got to and dropping like a stone behind her pinwheeling descent to the thick of the raiders.

My hooves glowed with blackened magic as all four slammed to the ground, creating a shockwave of arcane force rippling out from the impact. The unfortunate ones nearest the epicenter actually exploded in a rain of gore... while several more raiders further away were thrown back by the concussive force and yowled with crackling sparks of black magic arcing over their bodies.

I briefly wondered if the Shroud learned that spell by watching Swan use it, or if they both just knew the same one, feeling the briefest moment of guilty longing for the big purple filly. I didn't have time to be thinking of another mare I loved or how much she'd enjoy this though, shaking it off to deal with the martial artist raiders trying to surround me and still only looking clumsy next to Zed.

A dozen circled the snowy crater I'd made, jeering and waving around their armored hooves or raider augmented, zebra style melee weapons. The straight, long swords and spears still looked deadly enough, without all the extra spikes and barbed wire added. They seemed like they were high on Stampede by the way they jittered and threw themselves at me in twos and threes, actually wanting to fight hoof to hoof against the 'Shadowknight' they kept whooping about, like there was some kind of glory in their suicidal attack.

Whatever motivated it, the others not part of the circle were attacking the ghouls of the Slog, while the Shroud had basically no interest... It had been challenged and didn't care about anypony else, grinning and floating Best Served out as it dodged and slashed. While it seemed to most enjoy the idiots stupid enough to duel blade to blade against Luna's knight, I kept taking quick and powerful hoof strikes to the face when it answered the those attacks the same way too. It also refused my attempts to draw my guns again, insisting on meeting every attack on equal terms in some pointless bit of twisted honor or pride.

I was somewhat annoyed to find the Shroud could run my body well enough to actually keep up with them at least, even hoof to hoof. It wasn't anything like the graceful martial arts of the zebras, but my hooves bucked in hammering blows that broke bones or locked their limbs up in holds that let my fangs finish them off. If it was me in charge, I'd be getting a worse beating than I did at the Combat Zone. Instead, the trampled snow forming the makeshift arena was quickly stained red as the zebra numbers dwindled.

"Pitiful whelps! The true Caesar's Legion was a worthy foe! Thou art weak yearlings dishonoring their..."

"Would you shut up and quit playing around! They're going after the town!!"

The spirit using my mouth to boast gave me the opportunity to draw the Terrible Shotgun and activate S.A.T.S., the faithful weapon rapidly spinning and blasting the few remaining combatants as I stamped and shouted in frustration. It whined about dishonor and having its prey taken away, but forcing my eyes back to the Slog and the raiders clambering over the rusty fences shamed it back into action at least.

I teleported as a flicker of shadow and reappeared right in front of one puffing zebra stallion just reaching the top of the barrier, another booming shotgun blast throwing him back to the snow with a bloody hole in his studded leather armor. The ghouls defending their home were putting up a good fight, the undead Minutemares bravely right in the thick of things and living up to the ideals of the group they'd joined. Forcing the Shroud into being a proper hero was easier when it spotted a foal in danger too, taking another lurching teleport to appear behind a cackling zebra mare who had him pinned behind a rusty trashcan and beheading her with a flash of starmetal.

"You ok kid!? You shouldn't be out here!"

I yelped at the pale blue ghoul colt poking his head up gratefully, blanching when a lever action rifle popped up in his gold magic matching the wisps of his mane and blowing the brains out of a raider trying to sneak up behind me as he huffed back. "Kid? I'm older than you smoothcoat! But thanks or whatever fucker! Keep slaughtering these assholes!"

He scampered off to a new bit of cover and kept shooting, further confusing the Shroud watching him expertly using the old rifle and shouting curses like a grown pony. Even in the midst of battle, I had to snicker at my brows coming down in puzzlement, the voice in my head giving an offended whinny. 'But... Foal?....'

"A two hundred year old foal stupid. Not really older than either of us, but not a kid. Let's just say Luna's rule about kids still applies, so you don't decide that's a loophole to go be a foalkiller. It must suck for ghouls like him though..."

I reloaded my shotgun as I muttered to myself, following the kid's advice and focusing on the raiders who'd made it to the pool area. I found myself seeking out the higher ranked mare again as I switched to Vengeance and kept shooting, wondering why the Shroud was fixated on her and how she tasted so much. I didn't find her, but she found me apparently, more burning .556 rounds chattered at my hooves, forcing me to lurch up on my wings and dodge with a snarl seeking out the source.

Nothing? The raiders were being pushed back, but I didn't spot the mare among them. Another burst of enchanted bullets from somewhere nearby made me fire blindly towards the sound, baffled as it sounded very close, but I still couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I had to roll away from another burst melting snow and igniting the ratty umbrella of a knocked over table I ducked behind, my nostrils flaring with the scent of crazy filly and my horn lighting up with corrupted magic.

My blackened magic spread out in a wide field, the weather related spell creating a swirling wind that lifted snow into a stinging hail of icy shards. I still didn't understand what 'Be Dark...' was doing, but 'Awareness!' chimed in and I spotted the vague, snow spattered outline of a hooded shape matching another burst of flaming rounds. She was invisible!?

The concealment was nearly as perfect as Jade's, only ruined by the creative use of magic to give me a target. I aimed to blow her head off, but found my revolver jerked down at the last second, shredding her foreleg as my wings flared and I pounced on the shimmery outline.

Fighting an invisible foe was weird, it looked like I was straddling empty air that bucked and fought, but enough snarling wrestling tore at some kind of cloak she was wearing, revealing the panicked zebra mare under me. I blinked at the bit of grey fabric snagged on my swinging foreleg, looking over the jeweled clasp and somewhat recognizing zebraish runes and talisman design from my limited exposure through Zed. An invisibility cloak... the zebra version of a stealth-buck I supposed, it did make me wonder again where these 'Legion' raiders got their gear, but was forced to put it aside as my burning eyes turned on the defiant filly still struggling under me.

Her raider friends were in retreat now, I confirmed that much before allowing the Shroud to do whatever it was so interested in. The defenders of the Slog were driving the last away, leaving me and this high ranking mare to our little... chat. She kept right on wriggling and bucking as I wiped a bit of blood from her armor with a hoof and licked it contemplatively, ignoring her zebraish curses and how strong she was for such a slender mare a moment.

"Get off me Shadowknight! I'll kill you! Filthy demon from the spirits! Nightmare tainted! Foul monster! I'll..."

"SILENCE." The Shroud's voice boomed out of my muzzle and I felt my eyes turn dragonish, the glowing red dots reflected in the zebra's shrunken green gaze.

She did shut up anyway, her eyes looking lost and locked on mine as the Shroud interrogated her. He was somewhat better at talking using my mouth than doing so in my head anyway, but relied on a lot of canned phrases and archaic terms like Witchy used, mixed in with bits of comic book dialogue I assumed it borrowed from my brain. Here it paused and licked more blood from my hoof, paying no attention to the wary ghouls of the Slog coming out of cover and surveying the damage.

"You taste of me wench. Why? From where do you derive thine power?"

"What? What the hell are you talking about?"

I was flummoxed, but the hypnotized mare seemed to work out enough to answer in a dreamy voice and fill me in, her struggles stilling as she gestured to battered saddlebag. "Drugs... Asylum caravans... Only for top dogs. Lefty keeps most of it, asshole..."

"Drugs?" I blinked and sent my own blue telekinesis rooting around in the indicated bag, fishing out a strange metal injector. It had a large bulb on top to squeeze in the teeth and a capped needle on the bottom, with a glass window showing a glowing green liquid swirling with inky ribbons of black. Floating it up and squinting at it, even my pip-buck was only so helpful, chiming with new inventory it only identified as 'Mysterious Serum x1'.

I stashed the weird injector away in my own packs, looking up a moment and realizing a bloodied Wisemare being tended by Patch had shuffled up and were watching in confusion, along with a large cluster of ghouls bearing their own wounds. They looked relieved the attack was over and grateful I helped, but Wisemare was... well, wisely keeping them back, eyeing me like a hellhound after witnessing the slaughter so far. I only had a glimpse as my glowing eyes had to remain on the zebra's to keep her so cooperative and the Shroud wasn't quite done, leaning down to glare nose to nose.

"Thou hath stolen from me... Taken mine... I shall have it back now..."

I didn't have a chance to stop myself, my fangs extended and my head darted to her throat, sinking into her jugular as she gave a soft moan, at least not having much time to really feel it as the Shroud's dark hypnotism was released. I was uncomfortable with how much like a sadistic kiss it felt like, grunting and sucking down the rush of her blood filling my mouth locked on her neck. I sat there in the weird embrace, draining her like some kind of vampire-pony until the steady pulse under my tongue faded away.

When I let go and sat up, I grimaced at the terrified look etched on her pale face, her eyes were rolled back in her head and her dark stripes had turned ashy, while her lithe body looked emaciated. Even worse was the horrified expressions of the ghouls taking a collective step back from me blinking up with blood drenching the scruff of fur at my muzzle and dripping to the corpse.

I wiped my face on my sleeve in shame and hid under the brim of my hat, standing up and stretching my wings with a sigh. They saw the monster... Knowing and seeing weren't the same, even kindly Dr. Patch looked afraid, all of them remaining deathly quiet and clearly hoping I'd stop, rather than just keep killing anything nearby.

"I'm sorry... I told you, I'm not safe... I just wanted to help, I'll go now. Sergeant, you said there were more of these Legion raiders around? Where...?"

The Minutemare trooper was tough and had seen a lot, but even she gulped and hesitated when I turned on her, eventually giving a shaky salute and falling back on her military training to report. "Yes sir G-General... Legion is all over these parts, nearest I know for sure is Outpost Zimonja. Old stripe infiltrator base from the war we never found, due north sir."

Map Updated flashed in the corner of my eye as I wearily returned her salute, sighing out to the worried looking ghouls still figuring out what to make of me. "Alright, I'll... Y-You shouldn't have to worry about these raiders again then, I can do that much at least. T-Thank you again, for everything..."

I could hear Posey's rotten throat give an audible click as she gulped and trotted forward, her legs shaking, but head held high as she strode ahead despite the worried gasps of the other ghouls. She visibly mustered her courage as I cringed away and looked to the bloodied ground, surprised when she wrapped her forelegs around my neck and hugged me with a shaky voice whispering in my ear. "It's ok... M-Maybe a little scary, but you're still a good pony in there Fast. You're not feral or evil, I... I know it. Thank you."

That took a lot of courage, her kind words and bravery strengthening the voices of 'Be Kind...' and 'Be Awesome!' to a sweet note that made me shudder against her. I clutched her back for just a moment, grateful and relieved somepony could see the... the thing I'd become, but still care, still see me as a pony and not just a monster...

I was partially one though, no matter her insistence there was something worth saving in me. It wasn't safe for me to be here any more and I could see Wisemare and the ghoulish residents coming to the same conclusion. They didn't want to drive me away with torches and pitchforks, but they all saw how dangerous I was and were clearly hoping I'd just go away.

"You still scared them. We dont help others just to get attention either. Let's just go..." I whispered to myself as I pulled away from the wonderful member of Jade's Followers, flapping my way up quickly and waving down to the relieved looking ghouls I left behind. "T-Thanks again! I'm glad I met you all! You're nice ponies, so I'm glad you joined Jade's Kingdom too! G-Goodbye!"

I soared off at that, only casting one wistful look back as I climbed to the clouds and spotting Wisemare wrapping a foreleg around Dr. Patch in a hug as they both waved. The rest of the ghouls hesitantly joined in, their rotting limbs held up to wave me off together as I flew north and put them behind me with a sniffle.

I spent the morning following the raider's backtrail and killing survivors in a game of cat and mouse the Shroud took its own giggling enjoyment of. The snow may make me easy to spot in the day, but it also gave an easy trail of hoofprints and blood to track through the woods from the air. They abandoned the ruined roads following the river soon enough, marching through the forest trails and hidden paths to try to lose me. They were stealthy and knew the area like the back of their hooves, but were no match for my nose and E.F.S..

Toying with them like the Gunners and whittling them down only lasted so long though, their leaders like the mare I'd.... drained... had fallen in the attack, making them an unruly and panicked mob, easy pickings... So I kept going, trying to console myself by believing wiping out their camp would help the ghouls of The Slog. Lying to myself was only so effective though, I was killing them because they deserved to die and I wanted to do it, or at least felt something while doing so. It was ok to kill raiders, and making them suffer made my own suffering lessen for awhile.

I did feel a little bad thinking how disappointed Jade would be though, I seriously doubted she'd approve of using the lives of zebras and ponies as a distraction. The Shroud wouldn't stop even if I wanted to though, it had become very focused on the Legion and the weird 'mysterious serum' I'd found, barely communicating as we'd flown on and sought out the raider camp.

If it weren't for the helpful arrow displayed on the compass at the bottom of my vision, I would have had trouble finding the place. Even with it, it took a circling flight over the dead forest before I got close enough for; 'Location Discovered: Outpost Zimonja' to blink in the corner of my eye, reaffirming I was in the right place, but still having problems actually finding it.

The reason it was so hard to find was both geography and zebra camoflauge apparently, no wonder the Equestrian Army and MoM hadn't uncovered the zebra base. It was in a secluded valley in the rolling hills of the northern Commonwealth, practically a miniature canyon that had been strategically deepened and the hills around it made rocky and untenable for ground bound ponies. From the air they were covered by vegetation, some of which was still clinging to a few red and orange leaves, plus there were large clusters of sticker bushes and thorny brambles forming a briar patch to further discourage intruders, along with a fairly large willow dusted with snow overhanging the main entrance.

It was built into the roots of the willow, the thick tree somehow coaxed to grow around the barely visible concrete wall and heavy steel door. Scorched and broken rubble nearby spoke of it once being disguised as well, two halves of a boulder just the same size of the door had been shoved to either side of the narrow pinch point. The Legion raiders had somewhat ruined a lot of the subterfuge those old zebras had used though, building rough shacks and spiky clusters of rusty beams used as barriers and ugly decorations, dead ponies skewered on the sharpened stakes. A few campfires burned in the enclosed clearing around the door and zebras bundled in winter gear over their armor kept up a listless guard. They drank, went to yellow MoP medical boxes splattered with blood over the butterfly and cross mark to grab drugs, shoved and wrestled with each others in displays of dominance and martial skill, and basically just sat around waiting for the crew that would never come back.

They never saw the death from above coming for them. My gauss rifle gave a flat crack of only a second's warning as I dove down, the thick striped mane and attached zebra stallion's head exploding as he went to fight with a mare over a tin of Mint-als. I hit the ground while the small cluster of raiders were still wiping gore from their faces and figuring out what happened, slashing out with Best Served like a spinning dervish.

The skeleton crew of raiders didn't last long, those relegated to staying behind had poorer weapons and training, making for unsatisfying kills too drug addled to do much with the badly maintained zebra made combat shotguns and swords. The whole clearing around the door was quickly stained red along with my coat and face, my tongue running out to lap at it thoughtfully before giving a snort and trotting for the entrance.

"What the hell is your problem? You're acting weirder than usual, normal blood suddenly not good enough for your refined pallete?" I grumbled as I stared up at the weird zebra squiggles on the rusty steel door.

The terse reply I got really didn't clear up my confusion as I slipped in the gloomy bunker, but I did feel the rage radiating from my copilot at what the Shroud viewed as some kind of personal violation. It did at least keep me busy tracking down this Legion base anyway, hopefully giving the Minutemare Thistle Thorn time to get to Parsnips Asylum and warn them to clear out of the way before I returned to my course.

The bunker I found myself in was strange too, everything about it just slightly... off somehow. I'd grown up buried underground in a place like this, but it had been built by pony hooves. However the zebra infiltrators of the war managed to put all this together, they used their own materials, technology and aesthetics, which made the whole place creepy and not quite right to my eye.

The entrance door led to as stone locker room of some kind, the rusty cages for holding the gear of zebra agents coming and going were painted in flaking, alternating black and white, sized just a little differently than the same kind of thing found in the Stable's security room, but serving the same purpose. A passage opposite the door in was marked with an odd arch of steel, flickering gems and rusty sprayer nozzles facing in, some kind of decontamination arch or something as my ears flicked at relays clicking in its broken innards as I passed underneath warily, a few drops of foul water dripping down.

What remained of the lighting flickering in the ceiling seemed slightly too yellow/orange than the harsh fluorescent bulbs I was used to. Beneath the bloody raider decor and spray painted graffiti here and there were older bits that stuck out too, ancient tribal masks and strange fetishes hung at doorways and intersections the Legion hadn't taken down. The walls were once painted beige instead of the shining steel of Stable-Tec modular construction, more big blocks of zebra squiggles here and there pointing the way to other areas.

I found myself pausing at a tattered poster nearing what seemed to be the barracks area of the small bunker, not particularly surprised to be gaping at a menacing picture of Nightmare Moon, framed by a blood red moon behind her and raining destruction down on fearful and decidedly innocent looking zebra folk in a picturesque city of their slightly different architecture burning in the night. I couldn't read the bold red squiggle-text, but had no problem getting the gist after seeing the Ministry of Morale version of the same thing. Propaganda...

"Oh quit freaking out about it, we did the same with the Caesar. Of course they'd go after Luna, she was the Princess. They're all long dead now anyway. Looks like there's not many left here either for that matter..." I whispered back, rolling my eyes at the faded poster bursting into blue flames with a spark from my horn as I passed and stuck my head in a room full of narrow cots.

Before the Shroud got any ideas about the three raiders my glowing eyes picked out in the dark, I drew Deliverer and fired perfectly silent 10mm rounds to the their heads resting on ratty straw pillows, executing them in their sleep was about as much mercy as they'd get. It also let me keep creeping through the bunker, getting an idea of the layout of the cross shaped installation after finding the living kitchen and bathroom areas near the barracks room empty and returning to the main intersection of hallways. They couldn't have built a big base and flown under the radar, so it wouldn't take long to explore the rest of it anyway.

Pausing to stick my nose up in the air at the four way intersection with the living area behind me and the entrance to my right, I followed a faint scent and perked my ears towards the left hall, catching the familiar sound of tools scraping metal and a low, muttering voice drifting down the hall. I had to assume the block of zebra runes on that hall said something like 'armory' or 'communications' maybe, since I passed one room I had to poke my head in as it was full of blinking terminals and old computer banks of fascinating foreign design.

I had to ignore the Shroud impatiently whining as I took a quick trot in the empty and disused computer room, really wishing I could read zebraish just to get a better idea how it all worked. Even the password decryption screen of the one locked monitor I tapped at curiously was different, displaying a grid of zebra runes meant to be selected with the odd little gadget connected to the sleek terminal, which I figured out actually moved a cursor on the screen around when I played with it a moment. What a smart idea for an interface device! I'd never crack the password in a million years, but I did find the oddly shaped plug for that little treasure and made to swipe the whole thing to take apart later.

Turning it over in my hooves a moment, I realized I was actually interested in something with a tired sigh, the tiny curl of a smile at the corner of my muzzle drooping along with my ears as I just let the gizmo clatter to the floor, where its small casing and long cord trailing behind it made it look like some kind of mechanical mouse. I'd get little moments where I'd forget everything like that, but it all came crashing back in soon enough. I knew Dr. Patch told me to focus on the positives and not wallow in misery and anger, but it felt like I was somehow betraying Glitter's memory by forgetting to be depressed about her and taking pleasure in something, even for even a second.

A flicker on a large, cracked monitor on the wall made my head snap that way with a growl, catching the movement of what I could have sworn was a blue striped zebra face peeking out from the corner at me. It was gone when I looked though, displaying only a bunch of squiggles in varying colors and what looked like the wavy lines of communications equipment. Great... now I was seeing things too.

I grumbled at the Shroud huffing over the delay as I snuck back out to the hall and continued towards what I was guessing was an armory. It had a very thick steel door and a lot of empty, heavy duty shelves I could see from here. They were mostly bare of equipment, letting me see further in the small room to the brighter lights and more familiar looking workbenches a shifting shadow was hidden behind.

That was where the muttering and grinding was coming from, an older, scarred and potbellied red zony stallion, with horizontal violet stripes and an artificial hindleg of rusty, spiky metal. His back was to the door and he was absorbed in sharpening a barrel of waiting blades and other weapons on the pedal powered grindstone he was using, making my stealth so far unnecessary and allowing me to casually stroll up behind him to listen in a moment.

"...get em all sharpened Zan, don't need you slowin' us down.... See how ya like it when yer blade breaks next hard swing Lyn, dumb bitch... Been reavin' an' rapin' longer than most of em been alive... Give me a lil' of that gunk... show you some real raidin' then Lefty...." I watched and raised my eyebrows as I spotted the flaw he'd subtly worked into the thin, flexible longsword with what looked like braided pony manes as a tassel. Nearly as upset over intentionally doing a bad repair job as the Shroud was on hearing the name Lefty again.

The blade in his hooves jerked upwards and out of his grip, floating up along with every other sharp and spiky bit of steel in the room in a field of corrupted magic, hovering in a cloud around the surprised older stallion menacingly as my rumbling voice spoke. "Greetings Evildoer... Where is this Lefty thou whines about..."

His dark violet eye rolled back when his head was prevented from turning by several spear tips, daggers and swords darting to his neck and pressing hard enough to draw blood as his jaw fell open. He recognized me like the other Legion raiders had, making this a little easier as he obviously got older than most of them by being a survivor first, stammering cooperatively back. "N-Not here... Parsnips... The Creamery... B-Been main camp while he's focusing on that asylum place... Y-You're the... look, I'm cooperatin' right Mr. Hero? T-Tell ya whatever ya wanna know, I'm just the old prick they make fix shit."

"Not very well..."

Prowling around to the front of the frozen raider, the blade he'd been working on floated down from the lazily spinning cloud of weapons surrounding him in my own blue telekinesis, shoved up under his muzzle and snapped along the flaw he'd poorly disguised as I smirked and sneered back. 'Map Updated' blinked in the display overlaid on his guilty face, a quick check of the map showing a new icon near the one for Parsnips Asylum I was heading for anyway, seeming to satisfy the Shroud.

The two jagged halves of sword I was holding spun and pointed towards the jabbering buck's face, my annoyance only more pronounced after being reminded by the ghouls of the Slog who I was a little. "Being a repair-pony is an important, noble job... people count on you to do a good work that they can't, even asshole raiders like your friends... but you did a bad job on purpose... I take offense to that..."

For a moment he just looked flabbergasted, forgetting the very real threat in surprise at being called out over something so trivial. "F-Fuck you! That cunt Lyn has it comin'! Fuckin' her way in with Lefty to get the best of the old gear! That I'm posed to take care of! Cloak and magic gun ain't enough, has to hog all the drugs her buckfriend's stealin too! She's a greedy fuckin' whore that..."

"That I killed already." I interrupted with a growl, giving the raider a beat to gape in surprise, before continuing to myself. "You're done with this one now, right? Found out what you wanted?"

"Good... We don't need him anymore then." I answered just as the stammering raider found his voice with a string of 'No! No! No!' and the two broken halves of once well crafted zebra steel shot forward, skewering both the zony's eyes in a spray of blood as I turned away.

He only bucked and thrashed around the armory in screaming agony for a minute, the rest of the floating weaponry darting in from every angle to make him look quite a bit like a metal quilled puck-bloody as I trotted off. The Shroud even nickered its approval of the punishment, encouraging me to pass judgement on a repair-pony who'd disgrace the name.

It was late afternoon when I came trotting back out of the Outpost Zimonja bunker, finding nothing more of interest really, but coming out with a fair amount of pilfered loot. The sun was sinking below the rocky hills disguising the place, casting the narrow valley in shadow. I still wasn't sure what the deal was with the weird serum and these Legion raiders, but it all came back to where I was heading anyway, so I supposed I'd find out. One way or the other...

I stood in the slushy raider camp a moment and flexed my wings, shrugging and putting aside the mystery for now. My nostrils flared and suddenly I was moving however, a burst of blue flames spewing from my horn and roasting a large chunk of the briar patch maze that helped hide the camp.

"W-Whoa! What are you doing!? You're not going after another freaking mutant hedgehog, are you!?" I yelped as I was dragged along with my body surging forward, barely catching a flicker striped movement through the trees that made E.F.S. flicker weakly trying to track the creature.

I couldn't keep up any better than the arcano-tech device, but the Shroud had launched us into the air and was chasing whatever it was with a roar, scythes of black magical force shearing through the trees after the flash of stripes blending in with the scorched branches and white snow of the woods we were barreling through. Did we miss one of the Legion? One came back? They had to be pretty skilled to sneak up on us like that, I wondered why they hadn't attacked...

"GRRRAAHHH!! COME OUT YURA'S SPAWN! QUIT SKULKING!" The Shroud's voice boomed out as I darted through the trees after the spinning blur bouncing from branch to branch and back to the ground, speaking from both sides of my muzzle in a confused yelp as I caught another blink from E.F.S. showing a green dash for an instant.

"Yura's...? What!? Hey! It's green! Remember what I taught Swan!? Green is good dammit! Red is dead! Just slow down!!"

I was ignored in favor of sending an inky black beam of magic from my horn after the darting shape, scorching a long scar in the hills and knocking trees down in pursuit of the agile stranger. I was still struggling to catch up when a familiar voice called out breathlessly, risking revealing himself to try talking and making me gasp, even as my horn kept right on slinging arcane death out after him. "Fast! Stop! If you're in there, please! I'm not here to..."

"EXORCISE ME!? BANISH ME!? KILL ME!?" The Shroud roared, punctuating each shout with another blast of magic that tore swaths out of the woods, taking away places to hide as I tried to yelp back in shock.

"Z-Zed!?" It was... I saw him for just a second, then he was forced to flip through the air away from a rain of fallen trees picked up from the ground in corrupted telekinesis and lobbed at him. "Shit! Zed RUN! I don't know why he's... STOP IT! It's Zed dammit!! My friend!"

Zed was as amazing as always, bouncing off the storm of lumber and running up one long trunk as it crashed to the ground. The incredible display of agility and grace slowed him down and exposed him though, allowing the Shroud to dive after him and close in. Best Served glimmered in the fading light of winter sunset coming early, dancing around his frantic dodges and parries to the handle as my fangs snapped after him. The Shroud really wanted to kill him... viewed him as a threat...

Zed knocked the starmetal blade from my blackened magic to go quivering into a tree trunk nearby, but paid for eliminating the deadly weapon from the fight by getting tackled and rolling down the snowy hills in a tangle with me. We kept smacking the ground and wrestling as we tumbled, the quick zebra saving himself from getting his throat ripped out by ducking back, then shooting his head forward in a headbutt that interrupted the spell glowing at my horn.

My forelegs kept twining with his, trying to keep him from slithering free and hammering my guts in rushed blows that still felt numbing. I cracked my head on a stump when we landed with him on top, but the next bounce down the hill was the last, my wings flaring and catching enough air to ensure I was on top.

'Be Strong!' shouted out and I took control of my foreleg, punching myself in the face as my fangs made to dart forward again. It was enough of an interruption for the other Ministry Mares to rise up in swelling song behind Applejack's lead, letting me clench my eyes as I straddled the zebra and screamed out to the sky.

"NNNGH!! NO!!! I WON'T LET YOU!" My head hurt and my left side was moving independent of my wishes, but it was enough of an opening to think desperately, bashing at my horn and hissing angrily. "I-If you kill Zed... w-we're... I... I won't help you anymore! I won't do anything! We won't be friends anymore dammit!"

It stopped fighting... I was as shocked as Zed looked when I cracked an eye open and fluttered away from him in a hurry, but that threat actually got through... The spirit of destruction was my friend and didn't want to lose that... It actually listened...

"Y-Yes... alright? Yes we're friends... just like Zed's my... er... our friend too... Riiiight Zed?" I gave a shaky sigh and pranced further back as Zed got to his hooves, giving a pleading look with the leading question.

Wiping blood from his muzzle and goggling as I gave a crooked, nervous smile and held my hooves out in a twirling, 'c'mon...' gesture to him hopefullly, Zed's eyelid twitched and he looked very irritated, but did nod slowly and go along. "Yes.... I'm not your enemy spirit. I am Fast's friend."

"Phew.... T-Thank you..." I shuddered and wiped the cold sweat from my brow when my psychotic partner decided to sullenly agree and settle down, slumping as the tension ran out of me and continuing for Zed's benefit, who had an eyebrow raised curiously at the internal conversation. "I-It's ok, for now anyway... just... s-stay back. He doesn't like you.... I think because you kept trying to get rid of him and telling me not to mess with spirits. Why are you here?"

Zed trotted forward after me cringing away, his stern grey eyes drawn down to a flat line and his soothing baritone replying. "To find you obviously. I thought it wisest to watch and see if I could spot any sign of you actually in there again. I'm glad you are... You continue to surprise me Fast, I would not have believed it possible for any shred of your soul to remain intact after..."

"W-What happened to Glitter... That's why I've been staying away, I shouldn't be around anypony, it's not safe... You just saw, I'm sorry for trying to kill you, but... I can't..."

I had to give it to the zebra, even coming that close to death and clearly wounded, he fearlessly limped his way after me trying trudge away through the snow with my head hanging. Anypony else would get the fuck away as fast as possible, but Zed just kept talking in that implacable, deep voice. "You are still you though Fast. That was what I had to confirm first. Your wife asked me to and I swore to do all I could. Since there's still a Fast Times to save, I must help you and bring you back, you must face what happened and deal with it."

"I can't... Glitter... she..."

"You must. I don't know how or why you are able to coexist with that... creature... but anyone who can is an exceptionally strong soul. One who has earned my respect and friendship Fast. You are not so weak as to run from the truth and abandon her simply because she is..."

"DEAD! I kNoW aLriGht!?! I KnOw! I'm nOt tHaT sTrONg, OK!? I cAn'T fAcE..."

Tears blurred my vision as I roared back, feeling the cajoling, hopeful hiss of 'Be Dark...' offering a way to shut him up and avoid admitting the truth. I stamped my hooves and rubbed at my eyes forcefully, biting my lip and weeping as Zed merely tilted his head curiously and squinted at the shadowy magic swirling around my hooves.

"I was going to say 'because she is a synth'..." Zed eventually spoke, holding his forelegs up in a peaceful gesture and cautiously coming closer again when my ragged breathing calmed down.

My ears drooped and I sobbed, shaking my head hanging miserably to the ground and croaking back. "I d-don't care about that... She was my little filly and I loved her.... n-no matter what she was..."

Zed walked right up at that, giving a soft sigh and placing one strong hoof on my shoulder, forcing me to peek up from under the brim of my hat to see the kind smile on his square muzzle. "I didn't think you would, I just couldn't think of any other reason you'd stay away... I didn't know you thought..."

He paused awkwardly, blowing his spiky mane from his face and giving a half hearted, tired chuckle that just made me more confused as I sniffled. Zed looked up to the twilight skies a moment and breathed slowly, wincing at the wounds I noticed guiltily, then shaking his head and looking back down, speaking in a whisper like he was trying to soften the blow.

"Fast... Your daughter... Glitter... Glitter is not dead."

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

Miss Sandmare-------------
---As an agent of death and loyal servant of Luna, you bring more than just dreams and can instantly kill a sleeping pony. Your silenced weapons also do an additional 20% sneak attack damage.

Faction Change!------------

The Slog = Dark Hero
---The Ghouls of the slog are a friendly lot and sympathize with you, but they've also seen firsthoof how dangerous you are, so understandably have mixed feelings. You retain an overall positive relationship with the recently added Kingdom of Sanctuary settlement, recieving a discount for goods and services, but also a clear hope you'll move on before it gets dark...