"Hey! Wait up dammit! What did you mean by that!? Tell me about Mobius! NOW!"

I shouted after the hurried buck in the labcoat as he burst through the doors of Parsnips Asylum, even the Shroud's voice barking out didn't slow him at all however. To my surprise, the bookish looking stallion was as fast as Zed or myself, aiming and firing his weird looking M.E.W. pistol at the trio of Legion raiders lurking in the ruined lobby in one rapid volley of well placed shots.

Not just well placed either... The oddly cobbled together looking weapon fired a blazing bright, bluish white beam with a strange 'zorch!' sound I'd never heard from any make of magical energy weapon. Each of his shots found the mark and every one resulted in the normally rare phenomenon of turning his victims to sparkling ash on the spot.

I blinked in confusion and tried to focus on the bizarre weapon while the strange stallion just trotted right in like he owned the place, making for a battered old terminal at receptionists desk and tickling the keys rapidly with his magic. It was a very weird gun, the external parts that had been crudely bolted on to allow it to be fired by a pony's mouth were just window dressing the closer I looked. The real gun was hidden underneath and something far beyond anything even the Institute came up with...

Interested as I was in both that mystery and the overall one this Dr. Carrot represented, the Shroud was getting highly annoyed at being ignored, growling low in my throat while the light orange stallion muttered. "Lockdown... they've breached security then, made their way to level two... We don't have long, if they make it through level three they'll reach him. We cannot allow him to escape, one of you is bad enough but..."

"STOP THINE PRATTLING AND SPEAK CUR! THOU ART BORING AND ANNOYING!"

The Shroud's booming voice shook the room, but Dr. Carrot was unperturbed, casually glancing up from behind his glasses and aiming the unique weapon I was still trying to figure out at me, seeming to guess my thoughts. "It's called a star blaster, and it vaporizes its victims like that, Every. Single. Time. Even to creatures such as you, so I suggest you calm down and let your host speak instead, we don't have time."

"A star... are you mad!? Where did you even find such a thing!?" Zed surprised me by shouting too, suddenly prancing back and viewing Dr. Carrot's weapon like it may jump out and bite him. My zebra friend had never seemed that interested in technology before, but he obviously recognized this weird thing I didn't...

The doctor's answer just confused me even more if possible, turning back to the terminal and answering matter of factly. "Archaeological dig in Shire Lanka, dated to 5000 B.E. or so. Took quite a lot to repair it once arcane technology started catching up, so no destroying it out of some misguided zebra superstition please. We'll need it and the demon possessing your friend to stop these raiders, before they release this asylum's sole remaining patient. My father, Professor Ziggurat Carrot."

While I still had no idea why Zed was freaking out, or half of what this madpony was even talking about, that name tickled a memory. It took a minute to drag it to mind with the Shroud still seething, but when I did I was only more lost. "...Ziggy? I read that name before! But he was the one I think I'm here for, he's still alive!? Did he turn into a ghoul or something? What the fuck is even going on here, start talking dammit!! HOW DO YOU KNOW MOBIUS!?!"

All the yelling finally brought some attention before I got an answer, the wide double doors leading away from the lobby were bucked open and half a dozen more zebra raiders charged in with wild war whoops. The already frustrated and furious spirit that made my eyes blaze like red suns when my head snapped their way was enough to make them falter a step however, their eyes widening for a split second with a rushed shout of, "The Shadowknight!?"

They weren't afraid enough to stop, but the misstep and burning rage pounding at my temples just looking for an outlet made it a moot point. I teleported into the midst of them before they'd finished aiming, giving a roar as Best Served sprang from the loop of leather on my bandolier and glimmered under the flickering fluorescent lights. Three went down immediately, two of their heads rolling across the litter strewn ground to come to rest against the corpses of griffon and pony mercenaries they'd killed on their way in.

The other three were quick and slippery, their speed and reaction times admirable. As soon as they knew I was there they ducked and rolled away, trying to bring their weapons to bear in a triangulated burst of fire. Their turkey shoot broke down before more than a few shots peppered my armored trenchcoat when one of them disintegrated with another weird 'Zorch!' from Dr. Carrot. Zed flipped across the room and pounced on a second, snapping his neck with a whistling, pip-buck wearing hindleg swinging in a crescent arc.

Rather than be the only one to do nothing, I drew Vengeance in my blue telekinesis and used a S.A.T.S. assisted headshot to drop the last in the middle of some complicated display of waving hooves when his clip ran dry. 'Be Dark...' hissed at not meeting the apparent challenge, but I was uninterested in the idiotic displays of macho bullshit it wanted to engage in. I wanted answers... turning to Dr. Carrot watching with a detached, clinical look on his face, with my own coated in gore from six zebras dead in an instant, looked to at least make an impression.

Less of one than I'd expect though... The Shroud actually pouted at not smelling any real fear or getting much awed surprise, my mouth hanging open when Dr. Carrot simply nodded like that was that, then trotted right by me and into the room the raiders had entered from. I was sure I looked stupid standing there still frozen in an intimidating pose of flared wings with my head down, my fang filled mouth hanging open and dimming red eyes turning to track the buck in confusion.

"Hey! Would you stop just walking off like that! I want..."

I followed after him, feeling the Shroud seething at being forced to prance after him like a colt trying to get a distracted grownup's attention, but this stallion really was that oblivious. He strode down a short hall with a pair of counter-windows showing ruined offices to either side reading Admission and Security. The windows had been armored and turned into murder holes, fresh blood splashed lots of faded old signs around each displaying rules for entering and interacting with the patients here.

At the end of the short passage, a wide office space beyond spread out in a fan, rotting red carpet was under my hooves and several old and well preserved desks were arrayed about. Three double doors ahead seemed to lead off into the asylum, with two more smaller ones to either side that had the look of fancier offices. I couldn't help but notice the one Dr. Carrot turned towards had a faded old prewar engraving on the rich wood reading, 'Director Carrot' and had quite a few dead Legion raiders arrayed around it.

Before I could ask about that, my ears flicked at a groan behind that door and the Terrible Shotgun floated from my packs towards the shuffling noise I could pick up. Dr. Carrot beat me to it though, speeding his trot up and speaking up like he recognized the voice. "Edward? Edward is that you!?"

"N-No Artifact... i-it's King Grover the Great, who you think it is?" A gravelly cough answered, followed by a barely audible click of a weapon being made safe again as Dr. Carrot just barged right in.

The office inside was the nicest yet, almost prewar in its furnishings and cleanliness. If you overlooked the tasteful furniture that had been kicked over to form a barricade and shot to hell anyway. Behind the heavy oak desk bearing a functional and new looking terminal, there were both the polished doors of an elevator for some strange reason, and a very rough looking griffon ghoul leaning against it in a puddle of blackened blood.

"Edward it is you! Are you alright? How badly are you hurt?" Dr. Carrot rushed forward, stepping over all the bodies of Legion raiders that had apparently tried digging one very stubborn tick out of this room, before giving up and guarding the outer room they'd charged us from.

While it was the first real concern I'd heard from the weird doctor, it was still in that clipped voice without a lot of warmth. The old ghoul looked like he was used to it though, rolling his milky eyes and clucking wearily. "I ain't dead yet Artifact, but I don't think I can get up..."

Hearing that tired sarcasm and understatement, I gave a half smile thinking of Val. This griffon reminded me of her, immediately making me understand these two held a contract together too. My merc was lots prettier though... Edward was a raggedy mess of mottled dove grey feathers and leathery charcoal hide, wearing a worn leather jacket like Zed's with a lot of heavy combat armor over it, thankfully not painted Gunner green. He'd also taken a lot of damage, breathing in slow rasps and holding his feline stomach with his paws spread before him and tail weakly twitching.

Pulling a healing potion tinted green like one of Jade's and a roll of magical bandages out, Dr. Carrot bent to the gaping wound in his friend's gut. I'd be more touched if he didn't also lower his voice to a whisper that held a lot more concern than he showed the hurt griffon though. "You kept them from using the elevator? What happened?"

"Y-Yeah, I sent it down to the basement an' shut it down like you wanted Artifact. Shot quite a few of the bastards 'fore they decided to leave me alone in here. Ain't seen nobody in awhile, I think anyway, been fadin' in an' out here." Displaying the bravery and loyalty to the contract I'd expect from a good griffon merc, the ghoul hacked out a report instantly, ignoring his employer's thoughtlessness.

What Dr. Carrot answered with just pissed me off more if possible, having gotten his answers and at least made a show of helping his friend, he stood and trotted off to the heavy desk to tap at the terminal, giving a distracted huff over his shoulder as he bent to work. "Are you sure you can't get up? I could really use your help here Edward."

"Yeah Artifact... Pretty damn sure alright..." The deadpan answer Edward gave spoke of years of familiarity with his boss's quirks, though it flew completely over Dr. Carrot's head.

"Hmm, a shame. Well then don't worry about it, we'll just have to take care of things ourselves here." Dr. Carrot answered absently and tapped away at his terminal, on what I saw was his actual desk by the matching name placard, muttering to himself as his eyes flicked back and forth across the screen. "They've definitely reached the basement, though I don't understand how they knew to get past the... Doesn't matter now..."

"HEY! Your friend is hurt! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, THOU SELF SERVING CUR!?!"

Even the Shroud's voice booming out and mixing with my angry shout didn't seem to phase the distracted buck, though it did get a tired chuckle from the griffon in response. "Don't mind Artifact, that's how he is... I'll be fine, just needs me a lil' breather. So, you're him huh? The actual Shrouded Stallion..."

Snorting down to the wounded griffon, I stamped a hoof in answer as Dr. Carrot kept right on prattling over his terminal. "It looks like the Abremarelin Field is still operation thank the goddesses, although several of the security door in the basement have already been breached. We'll have to..."

The terminal was surrounded in a crackle of black lightning and exploded on the polished desk as he pulled away, blinking over to my scowl and finishing his sentence like he was just realizing I was upset over something. "...go through the abandoned part of the building. Was that necessary? I had a lot of data on that terminal..."

"Start talking... Explain, about all of this, about Mobius... NOW..."

"I agree with my friend, answer him. Fancy gun or no, if you cannot hit the target it matters little..." Zed huffed into the ringing silence, ending on a casual threat that at least got a nod from Dr. Carrot while the zebra bent finish treating the griffon's wounds.

Dr. Carrot got a very sour and impatient look, but between the growl reverberating in my chest and the smoking remains of his terminal, he finally got the idea he might be in trouble if he didn't cut the shit. Surrounding a plush office chair in his pale green magic, he removed it from the barricade Edward had set up, huffing at the leaking cloudstuff he wiped away as he took a seat and grumbled. He also kept his weird magical energy weapon close and pointed in my general direction, so he had some sense of self preservation anyway... That usually made things easier when it came to the Shroud making creatures cooperate.

He took his glasses off to polish on his labcoat and finally spoke like he was in a rush for an appointment, but did finally answer one question. "We don't have time for this, but fine... I knew Professor Mobius of course, personally."

Amazed that I had to actually prompt the smug looking stallion staring back in the silence that followed like that answered everything, I groaned and held my forelegs out in an exasperated snarl.

"What do you mean, 'you knew him personally'!? How? When? WHERE IS HE..."

"Calm down, I don't know where he is now, it's been quite some time since we collaborated. We were both very vested in solving the conundrum of the Shrouded Stallion and his influence when my father fell under it 210 years ago. You came here because the spirit drew you here, correct? Something here calls to it? That would be him." Dr. Carrot barely looked my way as I gave a dumbfounded stare at his rapid chatter, biting back all the sharp replies the Shroud wanted to use my mouth for to just listen as he kept going. "Mobius said you were a curious sort and would probably figure some things out on your own. Just hurry your questions up, we need to move."

"Artifact... I don't think you should piss this one off, fancy gun or not. I a-ain't exactly in any kinda shape to bodyguard, let alone take on the Shrouded Stallion, eh? I k-know you don't mean it pal, but yer shit gets real old, real fuckin' fast... Yeah buddy, this whole nuthouse is to keep one inmate locked up, his old buck, Ziggurat Carrot. You think Artifact's an asshole, you ought'a go take a listen to that psycho for a shift or two..." His mercenary Edward hacked and winced under Zed's ministrations, adding to his employer's answer and helpfully advising him.

"Wait, that's what you want!? The actual freakin' guy you drove nuts!? THAT'S why you won't let me go to Glitter!?!" Rather than speak to him, I crossed my eyes and smacked my forehead angrily, gritting my teeth at the mutter of a reply only I could hear of, '...Mine... Want... Need back...'

Zed helpfully filled in while I tore at my mane and threw a tantrum over the stubborn spirit, raising an eyebrow and speaking menacingly to rhe doctor. "You seem very oddly knowledgeable about things you should know nothing about. How do you know about the Shrouded Stallion and that it possesses my friend? Let alone its motivations... You knew it would come here and why? This father of yours has been possessed as well and alive all this time?"

"While I theorized about the effects of the core spirit inhabiting a pony and can therefore make some educated guesses, I'm not a psychic. Yes, my father was driven mad by that spirit, but more than that, he was ...changed... Our family has run this asylum for a long time, so it seemed the best place to keep him. That's what called it here. Mobius told me the true Shroud would break the seal and come someday, that I should be ready when it did and trust the pony wielding it." Dr. Carrot shrugged back, distractedly reloading his weapon with the weirdest looking spark cell I'd ever seen.

"Does your gran... does Mobius have the star sight Fast? Could he have seen the future to know this would happen?" Zed actually looked shaken, whispering a question back to me getting my shit together and trying to take all this in.

"No?" Thinking back to how eccentric he was and remembering the Trotson MoM Director Cheese Sandwich leaving behind his bizarrely accurate message and gifts to me, I scratched my head and amended my answer. "I don't think so? Wait, I don't get this... You said he's possessed too? Like me? How? I mean... I'm pretty damn sure I've got the Shroud stuck in my head, how can it be in somepony else too?"

Zed answered before Dr. Carrot could, on firmer hoofing when the subject concerned evil spirits and possession. "This is the pony who was driven insane by touching the creature's prison, right Fast? It was seeking any escape, so it... infected him would be the closest explanation. If I understand this strange doctor correctly, his father has fallen under the influence of a sliver of its power. You said it keeps saying it wants something back?"

"Just as Mobius and I theorized. A way to put my father to rest after these centuries of madness and blood. I do sympathize Mr. Times, I've no idea how you've managed to hold on to any semblance of sanity, but my father did not... Mobius told me this would be the only way to end it all without the spirit escaping to wreak havoc on Equestria and to wait, so wait I have. I don't imagine the Shroud will stop seeking him out regardless, and these raiders stand between us and him, so if we could be on our way?" Dr. Carrot trotted over to the door back out of his office and waited impatiently.

He was right... Already the Shroud was trying to force my hooves into moving, flicking my tail eagerly at the prospect of getting back what it wanted. I had to stamp my hoof down to stop before just charging off towards the distant sounds of gunfire my ears flicked at, narrowing my glowing eyes to hiss as I came up to the older stallion.

"When did he tell you to wait...? When was the last time you saw Mobius?"

Stroking his pencil thin mustache in thought, Dr. Carrot eventually gave a distracted reply. "Hmm... time has a habit of getting away from me anymore, so it's difficult to pin down. I'd say.... 70 years ago or so? Now then, let us be on our way, quickly! We cannot allow father to escape, this world was made for monsters like him and I fear the damage he could do."

I gaped when he simply galloped away, leaving his friend behind to Zed's rushed parting care and forcing me to charge after him again. Whoever this Dr. Carrot was, he was frustratingly cryptic. Not to mention awfully spry for being at least 70, though I suspected he was as prewar a pony as I was... Seventy years ago would put his last sighting of Mobius about ten years after Grandpa's falling out with the Institute and their raid on my Stable. What changed between those two dates to make him sure I was alive and would come here eventually?

I wasn't sure about any of this, but he was right, the Shroud wouldn't give me a choice in the matter. If I couldn't see Glitter until the spirit got what it wanted, then nopony was going to stand in my way.

Asking the Shroud to eliminate a mob of rampaging raiders in a spooky place like Parsnips Asylum was like asking a changeling out for Hearts and Hooves day... It didn't take long to overtake Dr. Carrot in the cramped offices, barely hanging back to follow his directions on a winding course that led through broken walls to the tiny padded cells of the former patients here, slaughtering Legion zebras with a disturbing cackle reverberating down the halls the whole way. The most gruesome display so far had to be animating several straight jackets that lunged from a musty pile towards raider victims to wear them, then tightened down until their bodies simply... snapped... but it had been a running horror show all around thus far.

When we exited through a dilapidated rec room full of rotting copies of old board games, playing cards and scattered scraps of puzzles into a wide courtyard at the center of the asylum, some of the raiders started posing more of a challenge to my surprise. Several used potions creatively to start with, the first four waiting in ambush were surrounded by a pale nimbus of magic from the discarded bottles at their hooves, rendering them immune to my inky black magic reaching out to do... something horrible to them...

Others were sticking to the walls of the three story tall enclosure, sending a hail of 5.56 rounds down and forcing me to take to the air while Zed and Dr. Carrot handled those on the ground. My hooves crackled with black lightning and I was quickly dashing along the walls with them, engaged in a very bizarre firefight where everything was tilted sideways.

Beyond all that however, they were faster and stronger than most of their fellows, actually taxing the Shroud somewhat and forcing me to get involved as well, when I'd mainly retreated into my own head to try putting things together. The obvious leader of this little squad was a unicorn zony who'd apparently embraced his zebra heritage, wearing a tribal mask painted like a windigo over his similarly decorated Legion armor and sending a storm of ice spells after me running through his underlings.

He had a good perch up in the rickety catwalks stretching up over one section of walls apparently being painted before the end, surrounded by lower ranked raiders firing wildly to keep me at bay and chanting weird incantations. When a trio of ghostly white pony shaped spirits of frost and ice coalesced from his magic and started chasing me, I was filled with a foalhood dread of REAL windigos, while the Shroud merely gave a fang filled grin and summoned a swirling torrent of blue flames as we swooped and soared around each other.

'Bah!... Not real... imposters!... Spell... kill caster...' He actually sounded freaking disappointed when one of the windigo wisps evaporated with a wail under a blast of flame magic, dragging my eyes over to the rapidly chanting caster while it dealt with the other two.

"What, are you mad they're not real evil spirits like you!? Just quit with the spinning for half a second so I can line up a shot dammit!" I grumbled and focused on the whining gauss rifle floating by my rocketing course in my own blue magic, choosing to ignore the pout I got in return. That's what he wanted alright... disturbing that anycreature would want to fight windigos, but I supposed they weren't that far removed from the monster in my head.

The flat crack of the Last Minute was slightly off target, even when the Shroud leveled off to give me a shot. That zony witchdoctor was one of the Legion who had those spooky reflexes and speed too, making to flip out of the way and earning a 2mm slug of metal through his ribs instead of his head for his efforts.

It broke his concentration though, the remaining psuedo-windigos he'd summoned and controlled faded away, letting me make another pass at the catwalks. This time the Shroud and I had the same idea, our combined bluish-black magic surrounding the whole rickety structure and tearing it down, raiders and all. Most of them went with it, but the bleeding witchdoctor managed an agile flip to escape the worst of the damage, landing on a crumbling stone fountain at the center of the courtyard.

Zed was there and waiting though, he pounced and engaged in a furious back and forth of zebra martial arts, prancing along the lip of the dried out fountain with his opponent. He seemed pissed, eventually gaining the upper hoof by rolling through the witchdoctor's guard and hammering the large hole I'd already shot in him, driving his hoof straight into his ribcage and snorting when he withdrew it and flicked the remains of whatever organs he'd pulverized from his hoof.

That brought a moment of silence as whatever raiders were left in the area fled or were vaporized by Dr. Carrot's 'Star Blaster' thingy. I landed by the panting zebra in concern, while the Shroud was giddy at the grisly display, wagging my tail as I tried to speak. "Hey, Zed... you alright?"

"Fine Fast... just... taking down fallen shaman are among the more distasteful parts of my job among my people. This oathbreaker has forsaken his master, whoever it was. Somezebra taught him a long time to have this degree of skill at alchemy and magic, but he fell in with the Legion all the same. Hmm... though I doubt he brewed this..." Zed sighed back, rooting through the dead zony's gear and eventually withdrawing a trio of doses of the 'Mysterious Serum' we'd seen a few other of the raiders in possession of.

Come to think of it, they were always in the hooves of the strongest and toughest, empty or full injectors like the ones the Shroud greedily snatched away from my zebra friend. Judging by the way I caught Dr. Carrot flinch from the corner of my eye as he went looting only those same injectors again, I decided that was one more piece of the puzzle he needed to answer for.

"Hey... what's up doc? Why are you so twitchy about these things? After everything else you did tell us, I notice you kinda glazed over the whole weird drug thing that brought these assholes here to begin with. So what's the deal, why does my psycho spirit friend think they belong to him?"

Dr. Carrot's ears pinned back against his head when I started prowling towards him, tugging away the little collection of injectors he'd already accumulated under his labcoat and growling. Brusque and snippy as he was, he'd been fairly honest and straightforward too at least, or he knew enough not to try lying to the Shrouded Stallion. 'Be Dark...' was better than a lie detector and never appreciated being fed bullshit, making even the kinder voice of 'Be Strong!' snort in agreement.

He obviously didn't like it, but Dr. Carrot answered truthfully. "It's a serum I developed over the years. These raiders managed to chance across a shipment to my house in the city, I assume their focus in the area afterwards was due to getting a taste for it. It's... quite dangerous in its undiluted form."

"They reek of dark magic..." Zed joined me with a stone faced scowl, jabbing a hoof to the doctor's chest in accusation. "A very particular scent actually... What have you done?"

"Research! I'll not be shamed by either of you about this, I've spent the last two hundred years trying to find a way to purge that creature's influence, one of my breakthroughs just happened to allow me to ensure my father was kept locked away all this time and continue my work is all! If you think the Commonwealth is bad now, you'd like it even less with him free, I assure you. He went on a killing spree that lasted months just after the bombs fell, set himself as some kind of mad king in Poncord seeking something out. If it weren't for Mobius securing the support of the local Steel Rangers back then, I'd never have captured him again!" Dr. Carrot shouted back defensively, giving a little more info in the process that only piqued my interest.

Every time I got Dr. Carrot to open his mouth, there was more to unpack I filed away for later. In this case, as soon as he said 'Poncord' I felt a shiver run down my tail, his father had been practically overhead when I'd been down in the Stable as a colt... Seeking something out he said... seeking ME out seemed a fair guess... His mention of Grandpa getting the doomed Trotson branch of the Steel Rangers still around back then to end the threat was curious too, especially since it was his little cybreezies that wiped that chapter out. It was a struggle to focus on the serum itself, but I couldn't get distracted when there were some grudging answers to be had.

"This stuff let you live for 200 years!? What is it, like a fountain of youth or something? Why does it make all these Legion assholes stronger and faster too then? How do you even make it? It's related to the Shroud, isn't it? That's why he keeps freaking out about it..."

Giving a long suffering sigh, Dr. Carrot sat back on his haunches and nodded wearily. "I told you, when my father was possessed he was changed as well... Not nearly to the extent you have been, but even a portion of that creature's power had dramatic effects. The serum is derived from his blood, so it contains a tiny bit of the Shroud's essence as well. Properly refined and diluted, the serum provides for so far eternal youth and vitality, without the accompanying psychosis. Provided you keep taking it at least... my mother, my sister and I have used it to survive these centuries and maintain our vigil here. I always paid for the highest security possible, but once the raiders took a taste of the untreated serum, I'm afraid they may have been infected and subconsciously driven to seek out the source and free him."

"Your own father? You use his blood like some kind of vampire-pony? And it causes physical effects like this?" Zed gaped, his knowledge of dark magic and alchemy making him pale at the idea.

I'd wondered in the past how much having the Shroud in my head had changed me, whether it was the reason I survived Moondancer's version of the I.M.P. when all her other subjects turned into twisted mutants. What Dr. Carrot was admitting to seemed to support that idea, leading to another that was even more horrible I was forced to ask about.

"Hey doc... the potion that did this to me, it's never worked before or since on anypony else. If the stuff in this serum is the reason... c-could you make it work?"

Posing a scientific question got Dr. Carrot's attention and distracted him from getting depressed over his admission at least. He hummed thoughtfully, eventually giving a muttering reply. "The I.M.P.? Hmm... possibly... yes, I'd say most likely. Whatever flaw is in the Institute's version could be mitigated with my serum. If I had access to both, it may well be possible to create a functioning I.M.P. without any of the negative side effects."

'...MINE!...'

"If you did... or if they did. What do you think Zed? If Artifact's serum could fix Moondancer's potion, they could create as many true alicorns as they wanted... At least I don't think they know about this dad-juice of yours, otherwise they would have come for you instead of raiders."

Nodding back with a serious expression, Zed finshed wrapping his minor wounds in magical bandages and nickered gruffly. "It must not fall into their hooves either then. Best this kind of ghoulish blood magic is destroyed completely and they never find out. If your father is the source and so dangerous, why have you not simply put him down doctor?"

Dr. Carrot winced at Zed's raised eyebrow, trotting away towards a broken wall and the wing of the asylum the Legion had retreated towards. "He's still my father, it's not so simple as just killing him. Nor is that a simple option for that matter, he's exceptionally strong and difficult to kill. Just keeping him confined requires a specialized magical barrier and reinforced cell below. I... I may have developed something, a way to purge the corruption that would most likely be lethal, but I've never had the courage to test it. If I'm being honest though... mother convinced me to hold out hope for a cure, and to use the serum, to rely on it... possibly become addicted to it. She and my sister have quite enjoyed the eternal youth and beauty, but are less focused on using it towards some positive end. They are all my family though... I suppose I have a weak spot where they are concerned, even when I know better."

That was one of the first things that made me feel some sympathy for Dr. Carrot and I patted his back consolingly, even while the Shroud hissed and seethed at the theft of his power. "We all do. I'd do anything for mine, so I can't really hold doing all you can for them against you. Just... I don't know what my friend will do when he does get to your dad. If Mobius led you to expect a cure... prepare to be disappointed."

The deeper we pushed into the sub-levels of Parsnips Asylum, the harder things got. More than half of the Legion raiders we now faced were hopped up on serum, making them more difficult opponents than the typical raider. The overall dungeon like atmosphere didn't help either, this part of the asylum was ancient and whatever ponies got locked up in those musty, iron barred cells must have been very naughty indeed.

Slowing our manic pace to let our wounds heal at least a little before pushing on, I tried to keep the Shroud on his leash by wondering aloud about that. "How old is this place? What did ponies do to get thrown down here?"

"Since the first century after Nightmare Moon. When the Shroud was finally brought down by Celestia in those days, there were quite a few ponies who'd fallen under his influence or been forced to see and live with horrible things. Murder, torture, death... the ponies back then had never really been exposed to anything like that. Beyond the post traumatic stress, just like now, there were some who took to the darkness like raiders. It was just in a more limited geographic area, rather than all of Equestria." Dr. Carrot answered in a lecturely tone, becoming more animated than usual even as he panted his reply.

"Many zebras in Neighlem suffered or willingly engaged in even worse as well. You seem very educated on the subject though Doctor. You are a non-healing type of doctor, aren't you? History?" Zed replied with a curious tilt to his head, touching the iron bars we passed with a shiver going down his spiky tail.

"Archaeology and arcane engineering, thus this weapon you're so superstitious about. My father and I were in the area studying the Shroud and that age when Mobius asked him to consult at Castle Equinox. The lure of the Shroud's tomb being opened was so much we fought bitterly over who got to go. In the end, I remained here to study Yura's Chapel, I should count myself lucky I suppose. Returning to my work there after father's accident let me stay near home and busy myself with the Sandwich Borer's excavation when not at the asylum. Being in that pit waiting on the expert Rockologist is most likely what saved me from the Balefire." Artifact's answer made Zed freeze midstep, his face paling at the unicorn's casual tone.

I was nearly as stunned, wondering if the only expert Rockologist I knew was the same one whose (I'd just bet hyper rock focused) tardiness down south at the Stable 88 dig had saved Dr. Carrot. Even the Shroud had perked my ears and leaned in curiously, though I couldn't puzzle out why he was interested.

Zed however was shocked, stammering in a hoarse voice. "Y-Yura's Chapel...? They uncovered it!? A-And Kremvh's Bones?"

"Hmm? Ah... the meteorite, of course. Yes, what your people call Kremvh's Bones was down there as well. The Institute came in with authorization from the M.A.S. and M.o.W.T. to go around the ruins and start taking samples of the metal actually, along with that obnoxious stallion House from Robronco who was quite interested in the stuff. They squabbled amongst themselves endlessly over it, all very rude... They did at least dig well away from the Chapel and forge once they worked it out, what I did get to see was fascinating. You know there was..." Artifact blathered on, actually pausing in his so far single minded charge towards his father's prison to pontificate on a subject he obviously enjoyed.

Zed surprised me by interrupting with a shout, slamming Dr. Carrot against the moldy stone walls with a crazed gleam in his steely grey eyes. "Is it still open!? Did your digging in things better left buried remain accessible, or was it swallowed back up where it belonged when the bombs fell!? TELL ME!"

Giving a fairly bored and unconcerned look to the trembling hooves holding him against the wall, Dr. Carrot shrugged back. "You know, I'm not really sure... I've often considered going back, but surviving the wasteland and keeping father locked up has taken up most of my time. It was a rather hectic escape at the time, lots of crumbling stone and such. Nocreature goes near the hole that's left, so I hadn't considered it."

"They don't go near it for a reason! I have to tell the elders about this when we leave here Fast, they need to know. I-It's nothing we need concern ourselves with otherwise though, so there will be no additional delay in reaching Glitter..." I had no idea what Zed was so worked up over, or what the furtive look he gave me was about he tried to cover by releasing the doctor and speaking consolingly to me.

I had a really good idea it was whatever was making the Shroud grin in my head with a low mutter of '....Mine... Good... Go...' though, not liking the greed and delight it felt for some reason. I really didn't like how I got the idea he was going to make me go there either, whether Zed liked it or not...

The Shroud's eagerness to move on now matched Dr. Carrot's anyway. When we came around the next bend in the twisting labyrinth of passages, the Legion raiders waiting in ambush there didn't get much of a chance to spring their trap. I found myself doing that weird, disembodied, shadow teleport the Shroud so loved doing when showing off, reappearing hanging from the ceiling above them like Witchy. Then Best Served slashed out surrounded in a blackened wreath of crackling magic and the blood and screams started.

The end of the passage was so coated in gore by the time the others caught up, I barely recognized the polished steel and terminal lock beside the heavy door until Dr. Carrot made to operate it, coming up short when he wiped the viscera away to find the screen a wreck and the door opening via a pair of twisted together wires.

He barged ahead as soon as the barrier slid open, trotting into a gleaming room that would look at home in the Stable. Banks of terminals and arcano-tech monitoring equipment sat before a barred window looking out on a larger chamber outside, in which there were a final gaggle of raiders doing their best to shoot and bash the humming generators surrounding an isolated chamber surrounded in a flickering pink field of magic.

Artifact gaped and pounded away on the buttons before him, his light orange face paling as they focused on a window on the cell facing his own. Inside was a rather dapper looking older stallion, grinning the most disturbing smile I'd ever seen on a pony... Of course, I'd never seen the Shroud use my mouth to give a fang filled grin, but I had a good idea that's exactly what it looked like and shuddered. That stallion was completely insane...

He was dressed in a natty brown suit over his darker orange hide, his grey mane and beard neatly kept. He wore some kind of odd crown or brace on his head and another on his ribs that seemed locked in place, constructs of gleaming metal with ruby red vials collecting blood that oozed from beneath apparently. Right where wings and a horn would go on the disturbing earth pony stallion... What's more, his eyes were slitted and glowing, a baleful red that bored through the steel, glass and bars separating the two ponies, giving a menacing purr and revealing a mouth full of very sharp looking teeth...

"Hello son... you should have told me you were having guests over, I'd have set up for tea! No matter, I'm sure we'll find some refreshments as soon as I'm free of this blasted prison of yours, they're quite... thirsty. Gotten a real taste for a beverage only I can supply it would seem. You've been careless with my blood my boy, only fair I'm ....careless... with yours too...." The raspy voice he spoke in was worse somehow, I could hear a reflection of my own in there somehow, a tittering tone of restrained violence and glee in equal measure.

"This is bad! Very bad! They're trying to bring down the generators! If they do, the field fails and he gets out! Please! You have to stop them before it's too late!" Dr. Carrot nearly wailed, pleading with me and pointing frantically to the raiders duct taping bundles of grenades to the generators at each corner of the huge room, barely drawing my attention away from staring transfixed at the glowing red eyes looking back at me.

He obviously recognized me too, tilting his head and continuing with his creepy grin as he spoke. "You've come at last... I'm afraid I've gotten to quite like this power though Shrouded Stallion, I shan't be giving it up. Oh gentlecolts, if you would kindly hurry and keep 'the Shadowknight' as you know him at bay, I assure you the reward will be all the sweeter. After all, I only have a portion, that runty little buck is the main course..."

There was a collective howl from the throng of raiders surrounding his cell at that, the biggest damn zebra I'd ever seen cheering above them all in a voice that made Zed sound like a pubescent colt. "YEEEAAAH!!! You heard him boys, bring down the Shadowknight and you get the first dose after me!"

The stallion was massive and intimidating, roaring over the hoots and jeers of his minions going into a frenzy. The Legion styled armor he wore was gold and leather instead of simple steel, while his striped mane poked up in a mohawk with what looked like a freaking hellhound claw up front on the gilded helmet with swept back dragon horns. He was a good if simple leader too, though I supposed anyone working for a stallion like that would do whatever he said just so he wouldn't crush their spine with one of those clawed powerhooves he wore on all four legs.

Scary as he was, it had absolutely zero effect on the Shroud, even while I was gulping. Actually, it only served to make my face put on a cheery, psychotic grin to match Mr. Carrot in his prison, the shadows in the bunker writhing around me as I paced in front of the heavy door barring my path and snorted to Dr. Carrot impatiently.

"Open it...."

"There's a series of security doors and decontamination rooms ahead, but it circles around to the cell. Go in and stop them before they destroy the generators, please!" Artifact yelped at the Shroud's growl of command and his pale green magic flew across the controls in front of him, finally opening the thick door with a pneumatic hiss.

"Zed... sTaY baCk... I caN't SToP.... WaTcH hIM..."

I managed to growl back a warning, then I was blasting through the door and down a narrow passage, sputtering at the sudden mist raining down from the ceiling, but too focused on the Legion galloping down the corridor to block me. My horn lit up and the fine spray grew dense and grey, turning into an indoor fog that covered my charge, avoiding the streak of a missile by sound.

The explosion just behind me in the confined space still rocked me, I stumble-stepped my way forward and decapitated the grey and white striped zony who'd fired the insane attack, then flapped away from his gurgling death rattle as the Legion's panicked shouts zeroed in on the voice and spray of blood.

'Awareness!' gave a shrill cry just as a zebra styled short sword clanged right by my head, Best Served expertly riposted and skewered the zebra mare who'd made an agile sneak attack from the mist. I could feel the Shroud's meager respect for the surprised looking face with a starmetal blade jabbed through it, if it were another swordspony, she would have taken me out.

I hit the next door hissing open when my hooves touched the pressure plate before it and the mist contracted, seeing as it was only so useful against the highly perceptive drugged up raiders, I didn't think of it as a great loss. It was much more useful condensed down to a dozen icy spears that streaked down the next hall like a shotgun blast, fatally stabbing at least two raiders in the frontline and marking the other two further back by yowls of surprised pain.

Vengeance boomed on the run and dropped those survivors before they recovered, letting me skid through the final door opening with a low grinding noise and flashing warning lights and alarms. I had to give it to Dr. Carrot, he had been very damn serious about keeping his father locked up. Now that I was inside the chamber, I could get a better look at all the complicated arcano-tech equipment centered on Ziggurat's cell glowing with its pink shield and only wish the stasis pod in my head had been this strong.

Before I had time for more than a quick glance as I launched myself into the more open air of the chamber however, a striped mountain smashed me out of the air and flattened me against the nearest wall, skidding down the steel panels with a bloody squeak near one of the smoking generators and cackling raiders turning from still bashing away at it. The Legion leader, Lefty apparently, roared and shook the dense plating under my haunches as he charged like a freight train as I shook off the dizziness.

He must have been taking a lot of that serum... and I had an idea he was a rough customer even before he started, that hit was enough to rattle my brains and even make the Shroud wary. At least the dark spirit and the brighter shout of 'Be Awesome!' got me moving in time, flapping hard and rocketing up just ahead of his horned helmet putting a dent in the wall where I'd been sitting. I gave an agile flip through the air while the huge zebra grunted and struggled to pull his head from the wall, activating S.A.T.S. to fire at the throng of raiders all rushing to back up their leader and tie me up for him.

Even still straining to pull his helmet from the gash the claw up front had torn in the wall, Lefty bucked as S.A.T.S. made my revolver bark repeatedly, ignoring his comrades who didn't get nailed by the barrage of .45s to flail with his hindlegs and smash one of their heads to paste trying to hit me. He only managed a glancing hit against me, but I felt ribs crunch and blood flow instantly, diving aside with a hiss of fury as my blackened magic grabbed the offending limb and yanked it out of socket with barely a grunt from Lefty.

"Nevermind that brute! The generators!!" Dr. Carrot screeching over a P.A. from his window in the other room really wasn't helping... though my bare instant of a look showed Zed wasn't with him.

Looking away wasn't a good idea either, though I couldn't help glancing towards the nearest of the damaged generators and noting the progress the more single minded raiders were making. Lefty was on me in an instant though, even on three legs he was spooky-fast... I was forced to roll across the ground from where I'd landed, dodging one power-hoof assisted strike clanging on the floor after another, too fast for even the Shroud to catch our collective breath and retaliate.

On one spinning roll, a shadow crossed over us I barely caught, then on the next there was a resounding 'bong!' as a spinning hatchet hoof from Zed landed right on top of Lefty's head, cracking the hellhound claw on his helm and at least making him marginally less dangerous. My zebra pall ducked back from the instant response just in time, evading a swinging forehoof that looked like a small tree by only a hair's breath.

It gave me time to get my hooves under me though, my snarl interrupted by Zed's shout to both me and Lefty it seemed. "Look how low you've fallen Leph, you always were an insufferable brat... Fast! Leave him to me, focus on the others as the doctor says!"

"You're still a stuck up asshole too I see Zed... Sure, it'll only take a second to bring down even the great Venator Noctis now! Run away Shadowknight, I'll be right with you..." Lefty growled back and bowed his head with his foreleg brought up to his helm to Zed strangely enough, engaging in some kind of zebra honor thing with my friend that Zed returned.

Zed was breathing weird, his eyes looked bloodshot and a trickle of blood flowed from one nostril as he seemed to... I wasn't even sure how to explain it, he didn't look different, but the Shroud distinctly felt him getting more dangerous with a bit of awed respect. Whatever it was, when Zed charged forward to meet Lefty, he was moving even faster than normal, ducking and dodging the hammerblows the huge stallion was trying to swat him with.

Of course being saved and bought time didn't sit well with the overly proud mutter in my head, grumbling, '....My prey.... no fair...', but the Shroud listened when I tried to do as Zed asked, plus there were still plenty of small fry to terrorize. They were all hopped up on serum too, thus not easy pickings at least. Plus those not hooting and charging at me were busily working away at the generators, their destruction something I really didn't want to see happen. Mr. Carrot had taken to patiently waiting at the sealed door to his chamber, grinning out the small porthole in the door and waiting to join in.

Black lightning flickered at my hooves as I dashed off towards the nearest, barely slowing stride to slash their throats with Best Served and put an end to their crazed supersledge swinging. The red dashes at the bottom of my vision jittered madly in response, trying to cut me off from getting to the others and keeping up with my speed disturbingly well. The dash had bought me time however, which the Shroud used to create a trio of shadowy doubles that went galloping off to sow confusion.

I flew for the next generator around the room, gulping when I saw the explosive package they'd strapped to it just as the tittering raiders there yanked a string tied to the multiple grenade pins. The Shroud didn't get technology well, but understood those things through painful experience riding along with me. What it did was as macabre as anything else it came up with, my horn crackled and suddenly the grenades were gone, leaving me and the raider's blinking in confusion at where they were for about 3...2...1...

All four raider's at that generator exploded into a fine mist... I just shook my head at the giddy cackle of laughter in my head, replaying it in my mind and realizing yes... for a bare instant, I saw their stomachs distend sickeningly. "Really!? You teleported them into their freaking stomachs!?"

'...Heeheehee!... Worked....'

"Alright, points for muffling the explosion, but come on, ick..." I stuck my tongue out and flew on from the spreading puddle, going for the last generator before winding up full circle at Zed and Lefty's brutal duel.

The raiders stationed at that one seemed to have figured out their friends were dropping like flies, they'd finished their attack on the piece of already ruined arcano-tech to form up in a tense huddle facing my streaking flight, opening up with a storm of automatic fire as soon as I was in range. Unfortunately, the Shroud had learned that much about guns too, and how to deal with them when it was ready it seemed. For the second time ever, I managed to produce an alicorn shield, though like last time, this one was weirder than Jade and her sister's colored bubbles.

At least I could see through this one, a crackling sphere of black lightning and shadowy force that didn't repel the wall of lead I was flying into, but caught them in a magnetic grip and held them in a growing cloud conforming to the bubble shape around me. When they finally realized their attack wasn't working and paused in confusion, I felt a weird kind of inversion of the magic flowing through my horn and every bullet was fired right back. It was pretty indiscriminate with them all pinging off the walls and floors in a rough cone shape, but it shredded the surprised attackers and let me round the corner without much delay.

I hadn't been gone long, but Zed and Lefty had done an impressive amount of damage to each other in that time. Both were bleeding and bruised heavily, Zed's right eye was purple and puffed nearly shut, while Lefty's fancy helmet and breastplate looked like they got in a wreck with an auto carriage, dented and ruined around his square head and barrel in some very disturbing hoof shapes.

If it weren't for the armor though, I had an idea Zed already would have won. The clearly enchanted protection it offered was the only thing that let Lefty stay ahead of the speedy zebra, flicking his eyes towards my approach and managing to buck a weakened Zed away when he leapt forward to finish things first. My ears flicked at the crunch of bone coming from Zed flopping to the ground and I roared along with the Shroud, a black contrail stretching out behind me as I poured on a burst of speed that surprised even Lefty and slammed directly into the wall of muscle, returning the favor of getting smashed into a wall by adding a new dent in the shape of his broad back.

"Nnngh... stronger than ya look, ain't ya shorty!? Still outta yer weight class Shadowknight!" Lefty sneered as I just kept right on pushing against him, thinking roughly the same thing and yelping to the Shroud to stop his bullshit and kill him already, quit wrestling with the massive zebra!

My hindlegs were dug in and not moving though, earth pony strength and the holler of 'Be Strong!' rising up to pin the huge bastard and drive him deeper into the wall with a surprised snort. "Thou art weak, even this meager body is more than enough.... Fatass..."

I just gaped in my own head, stunned at the Shroud rifling around in my mind just to find a contemporary insult to fling at the sputtering stallion looming over me. Lefty's face grew red and his forelegs stopped grappling with mine, rising above his head and coming together to come down like a hammer, which seemed to be exactly what 'Be Dark...' had wanted by what happened next.

As soon as Lefty's forelegs rose above his head, his now ill fitting breastplate rose up away from his leather skirts, revealing a heavily muscled barrel of bare striped fur. My head darted to his exposed side and my fangs extended, then I bit down and tore a significant chunk of flesh right out of his guts. His hooves still came down, but where thrown off by my head now being buried in his abdoment instead of where it had been. The glancing blow still hurt like hell and definitely broke the wing on that side, but the shock was transmitted through my hooves and to the earth I was planted firmly on. Just like Glitter taught me...

The taste of what I was nauseously aware had to be liver flooded my mouth as I kept right on biting, rich and bloody with the taste of the strange smelling serum as a pungent flavoring. Lefty kept bashing my back, but his hooves became weaker and weaker as I snorted and smacked, ripping out more of the important bits that should be inside. When he skidded down the wall entirely I finally stopped to my great relief, flaring my half broken wings and looming over the gurgling stallion.

"That zebra has true strength thief... Thou art nothing more than a striped cow to devour, deserving not even an honorable death..." I was surprised to find my foreleg pointing to Zed stumbling his way back up and over, a look mirrored on his bruised face at the Shroud's voice actually complimenting him.

Silence followed when the Legion leader fell, broken only by a few sparks and shorts from the remaining chugging generators at first, but then a slow hoofclap that drew our attention to the cell and its occupant. If anything, Mr. Carrot was grinning wider, drooling as I wiped my muzzle of gore and giggling madly. "Oh excellent! Truly wonderful! The liver is always scrumptious, isn't it?"

"S-Shut up.."

"You did it! Excellent, just let me stabilize the field and we'll be alright again, don't listen to anything father says either, he has a way of getting under ponies' skin and..." Artifact interrupted with a squawk over the P.A., cheering from his window view on the slaughterhouse his father's prison had become.

Ziggurat turned mildly to his son, then back to the porthole window with a false sad look, comically turning his mouth and brows down with a sigh. "You see how cruel my own boy is to me Shrouded Stallion? Just for doing what you do as well? He's kept me locked away here for centuries, feeding off my blood with no sense of irony whatsoever. It breaks a father's heart..."

"Be quiet father! This incident has proved I was wrong on both those counts at minimum, mistakes I don't plan on repeating. I'm going to end this..." Artifact shouted back, then turned to other sets of controls in his booth, flipping switches and causing a rising hum to fill the room, coming from the complicated looking coils and field generators situated atop his father's cell.

"You hear that? Patricide! The horror!" Ziggurat mock swooned back, still looking sly and unperturbed at the ominous humming over his head, even as he addressed it. "I suppose my son may have grown some balls and decided to actually do it. He forced me to help with the theory you know, so he really might. He's had the device ready for ages, a way to purge my 'corruption' forcibly, one I've no doubt he'd turn on you too you know... Isn't that bothersome Shroud? A machine that could exorcise you and kill your host? Why side with such a devious, self serving pony and let him kill a kindred soul? We're both blessed by your power, we should work together! We would be unstoppa..."

He was interrupted by the hum rising in intensity to a high pitched whine that made my tail bristle, the coils atop his cage crackling as the cell was filled with an eye aching red light that drove him from the window screaming. Even at this distance and safely outside the cell, I could feel it too... whether through sympathy or actually picking up a hint of what Artifact was doing, my skin tingled and burned uncomfortably as I listened to him scream and turned on Dr. Carrot.

"Stop... what are you doing...?"

"What I should have as soon as I completed this device. Your zebra friend was right, I should have put him down myself. Because I didn't, all this happened! All those mercenaries I employed, Edward.... all of it! I see why Mobius believed in you, you do have the spirit under greater control than father, but I see it's still the same darkness after that. Better I put him to rest myself than letting that creature have him."

"NO... MINE..." Before I had time to even catch up, a bolt of lightning crackled from my horn and fried one of the two remaining generators as I scowled at Dr. Carrot, weakening that awful buzz in the air a bit.

"Stop! The generators are still powering the field! If you destroy them before this purges him, he'll escape and...!" Dr. Carrot wailed back, panicking as I casually strolled towards the last remaining generator with my horn crackling.

"Doc.. I'd StOp wHaT yOU're dOiNg.... dOn'T pISs hiM oFf mOrE..." I struggled to speak over the red rage pounding away in my head in time with the pulses of Artifact's equipment, blasting the last generator to a smoking ruin and ending it completely to my relief.

I understood where Artifact was coming from, but the Shroud came here for a reason and nopony was going to get in his way. At least Zed understood that much, swaying on his hooves and making no move to stop me as I walked by and made for the steps up to the hatch to Ziggurat's cell as the pink shield faded away and alarms started blaring.

The sirens ratcheted up to deafening when I spun the wheel on the door and opened it, nearly matching Dr. Carrot's screeches as I strolled on in to the elderly stallion gasping on the floor. His red eyes glowed and he struggled up, but a fan of blackened magic lashed out and knocked him over again in his weakened state, letting me prowl over him and pin him to the floor with a menacing purr.

"Thou failed to free me and hath abused my power, I shall have it back now..."

"No please! Master Shroud don't..." was all Ziggurat got out, real fear tinging his voice and getting through the madness for the first time, then I was on him.

Unlike with the zebra mare who'd been taking serum, this time I held Ziggurat's struggling head in my hooves and leaned close, making me worried I was going to kiss the frantically bucking stallion. Almost thankfully, my mouth opened wide inches from his muzzle and I ...inhaled? Sort of anyway, I drew in breath, but that wasn't all...

Ziggurat's eyes rolled back in his head and went blank, while a stream of inky black shadow-stuff came pouring out of his mouth and directly into mine. I could feel the power suffusing me, better than any radiation I'd ever absorbed, but dark and terrible at the same time. I watched helplessly as the older stallion aged in front of my eyes, his orange coat paling and his grey mane thinning, even while his beard grew longer and ragged. His hide withered and body wasted away, becoming easier and easier to hold in place as the awful draining went on and on.

When it finally ended, I was standing over a mummy-pony... There wasn't much left but a dusty and emaciated corpse that looked centuries old, while I was brimming with power, flinching at the pleased rumble of the Shroud's now clearer voice speaking in my head.

'Much better... Now for the whelp...'

Finding my glowing eyes dragged up to Dr. Carrot gaping through the windows separating us, I shook my head and fought. "NO! He doesn't deserve... You got what you wanted! Just leave it at that! Please! Artifact! You might wanna leave! Like now!"

The stunned looking stallion didn't move, staring back as the Shroud replied with a frustrated snort trying to argue back aloud. "He made this technology thing!... It can hurt me!... Must be destroyed..."

"I know what kind of tech he used to do it dammit! It's not like he can just whip another together or carry a big damn room around in his pocket! Hell, that gun of his is more dangerous! You don't have to kill him! I DON'T WANT TO! I won't let him hurt you, just don't! Please, don't..."

'...But!....'

"Nnngh! I said NO! I'm putting my hoof down dammit! I didn't say anything about the old guy coming to Poncord before, but he was there to do to me what you just did to him, wasn't he!? When I was a foal! So long as you got out, you were fine with it I bet! Well if we're friends now, then you fucking owe me! Artifact has been his father's keeper like I've been yours, leave him alone, for me!"

The Shroud gnashed my fangs and stamped my hooves in response, but eventually retreated again with a sullen pout. "Fine... Trust you, not him... Now to get sword... then find Princess...'

Breathing a sigh of relief, it took a minute to absorb the more verbose answer as I trudged back out of Ziggurat's rather tastefully decorated cell to find Zed waiting with a pensive look. I winced as the pain from all the wounds I'd taken came rushing in, some kind of petty punishment since the Shroud decided to stop holding it back. It didn't stop me from yelping aloud once I ran over it all in my head again.

"Wait, what sword!? That wasn't the deal!!"

As soon as I said it, Zed's bloodied face paled and he hung his head, groaning weakly. "Damn... I hoped it wouldn't realize... Come Fast, I'll explain. Let's... let's say goodbye to the bereaved doctor and be on our way to Neighlem first..."

For awhile, we merely sat in Artifact's control room in silence, Zed and the doctor taking our remaining potions and healing supplies, while I curled up in a corner with the soothing tingle of a balefire apple in my hooves. Artifact didn't say anything, making me worried and ashamed over what I'd done again, but really... that was what the Shroud had intended the whole time, there was nothing I could have done to stop it. I counted keeping him alive as a victory as it was.

He knew it too at least, he even managed to eventually croak out that much. His more practical and clipped demeanor was slowly coming back when he spoke at more length, getting Zed and I's attention with a soft murmur. "At least it's over..."

"I umm... I really am sorry Artifact... Are you, er... ok? Will you be?"

"Fine... well enough anyway, I just need some time. I suppose I'll have to tell mother and Emoji, though I fear they'll be more upset at no longer having any more serum than I managed to recover from these ruffians. If the creature will allow me that much that is..." He raised an eyebrow in return, gesturing to the pocket full of injectors he had accumulated again, then my saddlebags holding the rest.

I had to put up with a very angry pout in my head, but nodded and hoofed them over weakly. "Sure, can't let them get in anypony else's hooves I guess. Will uh... when this stuff runs out, will you die Artifact?"

"Eventually I'm sure, though perhaps not unlike anypony else rather than immediately. This is undiluted serum though, enough to last the three of us more than long enough. We've had very long lives already Mr. Times, an ending may be a relief once they accept it. Either way, it's done now. I don't know why Mobius would have wanted the Shroud to regain its full power, but can only assume he had his reasons and accept it. I wish you the best in dealing with it." Artifact took the offered gift with a grateful nod, then trotted over to an unobtrusive elevator door he unlocked with an attached terminal, the one leading back up to his office and Edward I was fairly certain.

"Wait but... You really trust Mobius had an actual, sane reason for... for that!? Your dad... I... I just killed your dad! Aren't you mad!?"

"I'm upset at the loss, but I don't blame you or him. Technically, one could say my father died as soon as he was infected more than 200 years ago. Had he escaped, I assure you he would have killed me and the rest of the family without batting an eye. However you're able to survive with that spirit attached to you, it is not a common trait Mr. Times. I'd be fascinated to study you with the time I have left actually, feel free to stop by my home in Beacon Hill sometime if you like. I could tell you why I do in fact trust Mobius as well, though I couldn't neccessarily say he had sane reasons, he probably has some good ones."

I ignored the beep of 'Map Updated' in the corner of my eye to whinny incredulously, "HOW!? How can you trust him like that!? He's a LIAR! He lied to all of us, he hasn't helped me, he hasn't done anything at all! He had you watching your insane dad for the last 200 years, just so I could come along and kill him!? Is that what you think!?"

Making a sweeping gesture to invite Zed and I into the elevator, Dr. Carrot waited until I mastered my temper and we were underway to fill the trip with his answer. "That's precisely what I think. I don't need to know to believe in my old friend. Don't you have anypony you trust like that Mr. Times?"

"I..." I made to give an angry retort, then stopped and thought of Jade and Glitter, of Val, of Witchy and the ragged looking Zed beside me giving a curious look. If any of them had done horrible, crazy shit, I'd still believe in them... I had faith they believed in me too, even after the terrible things I'd done. I hoped..."Alright... yes, of course I do. I still don't know if Mobius is deserving of that kind of faith though."

"He is, to me at least. I've never doubted the Professor's good intentions, he makes mistakes, but he always tried to put them right. I'm actually glad things worked out this way now that I think on it. Father needed to be put out of his misery, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Now things have ended with the spirit that started it, neither of us are to blame, so don't think I hold it against you either. I'm just very tired and ready to put this place and my duty here behind me..." Artifact displayed one of his rare bits of symapthy and basic equinity, patting my back as the doors dinged open, then trotting back out with his normal mask back in place as he nearly tripped over the groaning griffon still leaning against the doors. "Ah, Edward! Still lazing about I see? Not to worry, we've resolved the crisis. Come along my good griff, let's get you taken care of."

"Yeah, Artifact... pay a little attention fer fuck's sake, these power armored ponies already helped out on that score." Edward coughed from where he reclined, but I noticed his wounds were better tended and he managed to drag himself up under his own power with a roll of his eyes.

The reason for his improved condition was obvious to anycreature not as oblivious as Dr. Carrot, the office and lobby areas of the asylum were now swarming with Brotherhood ponies. A very nervous looking unicorn scribe had scampered away from tending his patient when the doors opened and his eyes met mine, the rest of the room full of soldiers had tracked Artifact trotting out into the room and me growling in the elevator with their weapons, while Dr. Carrot had never been the wiser.

"Sweet Celes... Er... For Luna's sake Fast, can you not go somewhere without it turning into a bloodbath!? What the hell happened in here!? At least you managed not to blow the building up or turn it against me I guess, but seriously?" My snarl softened to a tired smile to Lt. Dawn folding her bug eyed helmet back to smirk, helpfully putting her soldiers at ease as I prowled out to greet her.

"It was mostly like this when I got here? Ask the griffon, he took most of these raiders out. Umm... not downstairs so much, but they had it coming? I take it you got your orders Dawn? Let me guess, Macson wants you to come save the day without asking for anything in return, being valiant knights and paladins, right?"

Lt. Dawn gave me my weary joking a flat look, answering before chasing down Artifact before he wandered off again. "Har, har, har... Yes, I got word and moved in. Dr. Carrot, we've helped what members of your crew we could, but considering we had to do so at all seems to prove this facility isn't under your control anymore. I'm afraid I have to insist on taking it for..."

"Hmm? Oh, that. Yes, yes, it's all yours. There's a few knick knacks in my office I'd like to take home and I'll need to do a final sweep to clean up my father's remains and any more serum still rolling around, but otherwise feel free to move in." Artifact interrupted and brushed her off, leaving the poor Brotherhood mare to blink in surprise with her mouth hanging open.

"Wait.... you... We can... Fast, you didn't screw me over for once!?" I could do without her accusatory hoof, but was too amused watching Dawn's head snap back and forth in shock between us to really care.

What Artifact eventually replied with once Edward pointed things out for him was more somber, but a fuller explanation at any rate. "This place has served its purpose, I have no use nor desire to keep it now. I was listening to the arguments you previously made in favor of its use and considered allowing you use of the upper floors as additional security Lieutenant. Thanks to your friend here however, you may have complete run of the place. Life's too short for me to waste any more time here."

At that Lt. Dawn whooped and shook the doctor's hoof, then nearly tackled me in a giddy hug at getting her way for once in one of our run ins. I had to struggle and squirm against her power armor assisted death grip and my own wings standing up, but managed to escape without much other issue afterwards. I even told her to make the Brotherhood give her credit for being one of the few of their order I liked and make them send her to the MoWT hub in the future, if she wanted to risk teaming up again at any rate.

Her instant acceptance was heartwarming, even as she joked about how she came out looking good every time we ran into each other, so of course she'd use me to keep climbing the ranks. Once she'd escorted us back outside under the afternoon sky and trotted away from all the hustle of her fellow troops though, she turned serious and gave me a worried frown before we parted again. "I'd be disciplined for saying this, but maybe you should forget about the hub and just go home Fast."

"Oh I plan on it. I was supposed to just stop for a rest in Neighlem and go back to Jade and the others tomorrow, though apparently there's some other mystery freaking errand I have to run up here first. Don't worry though, I'm not running away anymore."

"Why not you idiot!?" Dawn cried back and I saw real caring behind her angry snort as she continued, struggling to keep her voice down when a few overly cautious Brotherhood knights checked on her from a distance. "Why aren't you running away for fuck's sake!? Why stay here!? Just get your family and leave the damn Commonwealth entirely! You've done enough! The Brotherhood's here at this asylum because the big boys are going to come in and start handling shit, you don't have to take it all on your own shoulders! Hell, it's probably best if you're not here on general principles, whoever comes out on top!"

"Ah.... you mean what Macson said, about the NCR and other places coming here to take over? Well, again, it's not like I have a lot of choice in some of the things I do anymore. Besides, this is home, this is where my family is somewhere, I have to find them... all of them... and settle things. I thought the NCR were the good guys though, why do you sound worried?"

"Because, war never changes Fast, and it's not the only thing. Politicians are worse and an army of them will be behind the plain old army they send first. They'll loot and pillage the Commonwealth for all they can, viewing you and the Princess as a local annoyance at best, or a threat at worst... Take your family, go find some quiet corner of Equestria and just take a well earned rest!" Dawn pleaded with me and made a good argument, frowning with shimmery blue eyes when I held a foreleg out with a smile to the Brotherhood mare.

"Thanks for caring Dawn, I wish things were that simple. Whoever comes, so long as there's at least a few good ponies like you mixed in, we'll be ok somehow. I'll think on it though."

Dawn smiled back and met my hoofbump, her red face turning a little pink in the cheeks at the compliment. "No you won't... big dummy... Go on then, get out of my mane and be stupid, at least you'll listen to the Princess."

Dawn snorted and spread her wings to rejoin the rest of the Brotherhood then, having delivered her friendly warning and gotten in the last word. With nothing else keeping us at Parsnips Asylum, if not the area in general, I shrugged to a very tired and still woozy looking Zed, rising up to the patchy clouds and flying the opposite direction, towards the east and arrow on my compass pointing towards Neighlem Village and the coast.

It was a fairly slow flight that took most of the afternoon, making me worry both over arriving anywhere near civilization once night fell, and over my zebra companion slowing us down to the Shroud's increasing annoyance. Zed puffed along behind me at a pained pace, still looking pretty rough, despite the potions and medical care we'd managed to get him before leaving.

His eye was swollen pretty much shut and sweat stood out on his coat, despite the chilly weather that let the increasing blankets of snow on the ground remain for our shadows to race over behind us. I kept asking if he was ok and he kept waving me off however, focusing on making the best time we could and being too strong for his own good.

My eyes scanning the horizon and flicking back to him repeatedly were eventually dragged to a rocky patch of ground south of our course when we got close however. It was distant and I had to focus to make it out, but it looked like a massive hole had just been driven straight down into the earth in this part of the Commonwealth. Some kind of quarry or something? We weren't close enough for my pip-buck to helpfully ding with the name, but just overhearing it had apparently put an empty icon I was able to check and bring it up. 'Sandwich Borer's Excavation'

"Hey Zed, is that the place you freaked out about on Dr. Carrot? What's the deal anyway? Why's..." I turned back to finally insist on some more answers, whether from the zebra or the spirit who was still assuring me there was 'just one more thing' it wanted here, then I yelped on seeing how Zed sagged in the air and fluttered back to him in a rush. "Hey! You're bleeding again! What the fuck Zed?"

"It's nothing... I..." Zed started trying to deny it, hurriedly wiping his muzzle on his sleeve to clear away the rill of blood running from one nostril. He gave it up with I huffed at him anxiously though, sighing and pointing ahead. "Another thing I suppose I owe you an explanation about. We're nearly there though, see? It will wait until then, I need to discuss a few things with you anyway."

Giving an uncovinced whinny with the worried whisper of 'Be Kind...' fretting away in my head, I turned to follow the gesture and saw ruins perched on the shoreline ahead, focusing on those as we lost altitude. Even crumbling and rebuilt with junk, the village of Neighlem looked out of place on Equestrian shores. From this distance I could only make out generalities, lots of dirty white stone architecture, columns and squat, square buildings, broken up by a few rounded shapes and sprawling pools glinting in the afternoon light.

There were docks on the rocky shore with a few actual boats that weren't ancient wrecks half submerged in the icy water. Along with some kind of fenced compound in the dense and creepy looking woods on the outskirts of the town I didn't like the looks of. Overall though, it seemed like a fairly prosperous little settlement, electric lights glowed in the early evening gloom and lots of warm firelight supplemented them.

Zed stumbled to a landing still some distance away however, landing at an isolated brick building on a hillside with a wide parking lot around it. 'Discovered Location: Neighlem Museum of Witchcraft' chimed in my vision as soon as I followed, blinking up to the cartoonishly evil looking zebra mare in the pointy hat that loomed over the doors. The bit of sculpture coming out of the sign with its forelegs held up menacingly and what were obviously once light up green eyes drawn down in a cackling sneer.

"There really is a museum, huh? You think we should stop for a tour though Zed? You don't look so good and..." I murmured looking over the ticket booth at the doors, then froze on seeing a familiar enough image on one of the posters nearby.

It was an enslaved blacksmith in shackles working a red hot bar of metal, the fires of the forge casting flickering, ominous shadows in reds, oranges and blacks behind him to define the shadow in a demonic alicorn shape, the corrupted Shrouded Stallion of ancient times. Even in its glass case, the poster was faded and tattered, but enough survived to make out the large font words advertising the exhibit meant to draw curious ponies in.

'....Mine....'

That was one mystery solved... That's what the Shroud wanted now, the sword from the legend I'd read Glitter... A pegasus hero had kept it from his grasp back then, but now there was nothing to stop him from seeking out his lost property. A goddessslayer...

My mouth dried up at the concept of claiming a weapon that would make the spirit of destruction even MORE dangerous and I turned back to Zed for confirmation, then yelped when he hit the snowy lot with a soft 'fwump!' and groaned. I rushed to his side, biting my lip over how pale and exhausted he looked. When he weakly coughed, the fan of blood staining the snow made me panic completely.

"Shit! Zed!"

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

Super Slam!-------------
---Using earth pony strength to get up close and personal has taught you a thing or two! All melee and unarmed attacks now have a chance of knocking your target down. 15% for Unarmed or light melee, 30% for heavy melee.