I barged into the Neighlem Museum of Witchcraft weighed down by a very heavy zebra and still panicking with no Jade around to heal him. Seriously, was he nothing but solid muscle? It felt like trying to haul a sack of lead potatoes on my back, distracting me from the scenery until a flurry of movement and noise made me yelp.

"MWAHAHAAHA! What brave ponies we must be, to come into my lair for a look see!" I got an impression of a robed, striped, feminine shape popping up from a large cauldron in the center of the room, then whatever it was got obliterated by the Shroud lashing out with my blackened magic.

The sparking, staticky noise and weird mechanical twitching from the... corpse? that was left was as surprising as Zed snickering weakly between rattling coughs. "T-That damn thing... gets everycreature..."

It took a second of blinking curiously at the smoking ruin to figure it out, a fairly crude animatronic zebra had produced a jump scare... that managed to scare the Shroud. The designers would be so proud...

'...Not scared!... Zebra witch!....'

As if agreeing with the spirit's defensive snort, warbling music crackled from speakers overhead in a very familiar voice;

!

As I watched and took stock of the room with the weird song by what sounded suspiciously like Pinkie Pie of all mares playing, I saw the automated zebra witch already starting to repair itself as it clicked its way back in the spooky black cauldron. There wasn't much else to the entry area, beyond a lot of Nightmare Night-esque decorations of creepy skulls and bones (both the plastic and real varieties), a zig zagging line of rotting red velvet ropes leading to the dungeon like arch of stone reading 'Entrance', and a small side room full of junk littering the shelves of what was labeled as the 'Gift Shop'.

"You can put me down Fast, this place remains unoccupied and should be safe enough, frightening ancient robots aside I suppose..." Zed was still snickering, but broke down in another bloody cough as I eased him down to the musty floor with a grumble.

"We'll be pissed at you for not warning about that damn thing later, right now we gotta do something to help you! What's the matter Zed? You didn't seem that hurt before!"

My zebra pal gave a tired sigh as I propped him up against the cauldron, waiting for the annoying song overhead to stop before replying. "I wasn't, I just pushed too far and now I'm paying the price. Fighting both you and Leph without enough rest between was too much, but there was little choice either time."

"What do you mean? I-Is this my fault? Did I hurt you more than you said!? You've never coughed up blood or..."

Zed hushed my jabbering before I really got going, chuckling wearily. "Fast, I told you I knew the risks and don't blame you. This is... just something that happens when I tax my body too much with... well... what is essentially a curse, but one I volunteered for as part of my training to be a Venator Noctis. Sometimes to fight dark spirits and monsters, just my alchemically enhanced strength and training isn't enough. As an ace in the hole, I can use a blood curse and temporarily gain great strength and speed, but doing so costs me. Technically I'm not supposed to do it so soon after using it once already, but Leph... I needed to see it done myself."

"Er... oh... W-Well isn't there anything we can do? I hate that I can't use healing magic, but I could go to town and get help! Yeah! Your people know all about this curse thingy anyway, right? They can fix you and..."

"No." Zed's grey eyes lost all amusement and turned stern, holding a hoof up to make sure he had my attention. "I will be fine. You must not go to Neighlem alone, especially not at night Fast. Promise me!"

"But...!"

"No buts. I wish to bring you there, but at my side. You going alone will not end well, trust me. I assure you, I'll be alright with time and rest, though it will most likely be quite awhile before I'm back in full form again. By morning we can travel though, I'll speak with the healers in Neighlem and be right as rain. For now, the museum is a safe enough port in the storm. We often send outsiders we don't want to stay in the village here, so there are supplies for travelers stashed away. Just don't bother killing any more fancy poniquins, hmm? They repair themselves anyway, a danger of being designed around scaring folks I suppose." Zed shook his head and spoke clearly enough I was a little less worried, but I really, really, reeeeeeeally wished my wife was here...

"Jade would know what to do. Sorry I suck Zed..."

His deep voiced chuckle dissolved into another coughing fit for a moment, then Zed just shrugged and waved my drooping ears aside. "Miss Jade has seen me in this state before and lectured me thoroughly about it. It's not something even she can heal very easily Fast, no reason to feel useless. You each have your own talents. I doubt the Princess could have finished off Leph so.... fittingly. Thank you for that."

I sat down and leaned against the cauldron with him at that, taking off my hat and scratching my mane sheepishly. "You knew that Lefty raider guy, huh? Never thought anybody would thank me for.... ugh...."

Zed raised an eyebrow at the low gurgle my stomach gave as I thought of it again, watching me hold the offending tummy and stick my tongue out before answering. "Leph and I grew up in the village around the same time, yes. He was always a bully and foolish, I must admit some personal satisfaction seeing an old tormentor reaping what he sowed by playing with dark magic he knew to avoid."

"Somebody picked on you!? Like a bully-bully? Wow... I never thought we'd have that in common... You didn't grow up in Hexington with your grandpa though?"

Zed gave me a deadpan snort at my flabbergasted question, shaking his head ruefully. "I wasn't always strong Fast, of course I had a bully. I was born in Neighlem actually, when you met me in Hexington, I had gone with Grandfather and my brother Xelo as a right of passage, to explore the Commonwealth and further my training. Grandfather Zin was once high Elder here, but passed the title down and left on a pilgrimage to Hex, where the previous elder in that community had passed on. There are several smaller zebra settlements like that, each headed by an elder who come from Neighlem. Occasionally they gather here as well, I'm hoping Grandfather got my letters and was able to do so."

Listening attentively, it struck me that this was the most I'd ever heard Zed talk about himself or share with me. He had changed a lot from the brusque and unfriendly zebra whose Grandfather Zin had asked to join me, making me smile and feel good I had managed to do what the old zebra stallion had asked. Zed and I were friends... Even now, when I was possessed by a spirit he should hate and want to destroy, he was sticking with me instead, had come to find me and been nothing but supportive.

Judging by his reaction when I raised the idea of going to Neighlem alone, I had a better idea just how much that really meant for him. I was betting those zebras in town wouldn't look quite so kindly on the infamous 'Shadowknight' coming to visit, meaning Zed was choosing me over what his people would think. It was enough to make the long day and even longer last couple weeks of insanity a little brighter.

Even the Shroud agreed to my surprise, giving a low mutter in my head as I sniffled with the thought. '...Honorable comrade... Good for Yura's spawn... sorry I wanted to kill...'

"Thanks Zed... for everything. I was just thinking, we never really talk like this, but it's really nice. I umm... I'll go find the supplies and build a fire if you wanna take a breather, then we can talk more if you feel up to it? You said you had stuff you wanted to tell me?"

"Many things, yes... That sounds like a good idea Fast, go along, I'll be fine here." Zed smiled back, shooing me off and leaning back to close his eyes with his forelegs crossed on his chest for warmth, giving me incentive to go find stuff for a fire first.

"I swear to the goddesses, I'm gonna find where that shit is playing from and shut it down permanently."

I pinned my ears back as another refrain from the speakers overhead went off, triggered by me wandering the museum exhibits. Only a few more automated poniquins ended up destroyed so far, but that damn song was getting old fast. With Zed getting some much needed rest, taking the tour of the Museum of Witchcraft was just one of the few things to do other than risk sleeping myself.

The room I was currently in had plaster on the walls to make it look like a cavern, or mine more likely, judging by the dummies illustrating the scene. They were shackled to each other in a row parallel to the roped off lane I was trotting down, their heads down and period clothing rags even before 200 years of entropy. It was an equal mix of ponies and zebras from back when, pushing ancient minecarts and carrying pickaxes and shovels. Standing near the door out, with a crazed gleam in her glass eyes and a whip frozen in the act of snapping out at the slaves, was another depiction of Zed's ancestor Yura. Even though I knew this part of the story somewhat, I still couldn't help stopping to read the large placard next to her curiously.

Zed told me a little about that before I left him to get some sleep and started roaming the museum to amuse myself. Explaining why he'd freaked out about Dr. Carrot informing him Yura's Chapel and Kremvh's Bones both had been uncovered in the Sandwich Borer's Excavation I'd seen on the way here. I still wasn't sure about the zebra belief system when it came to the stars being evil omens and bringers of catastrophe, but I knew how dangerous just a little kitchen knife made of starmetal was personally.

The next room was even creepier than the last. The animatronic Yura held an ugly, curved, spiky blade of plastic painted to look like blackened metal out to a wall of dark armor, with black wings and robes fluttering in the rattling breeze of an ancient fan propped up behind it. The designers had been intentionally vague, but even the Shroud felt pleased with the representation of himself.

"Better than the economy class body you've got nowadays, huh?" I nickered sourly, eyeing the dangerous looking replica and feeling the Shroud's greed, along with a guilty start.

'....No!..... Good body... Agile... Speedy... Er....'

"Don't bother flattering me pal, I can read you as well as you can me, remember? So, this is the sword you want? Bloodmoon something or other?"

'.....Not this thing.... fake.... mine better.... Kill betrayers with... be good!...'

Despite the cheery reassurances, I half hoped the damn thing was buried under a few tons of rock and therefore still out of our reach, but even I had to admit a certain temptation to the idea. It was a blade forged specifically to kill Celestia, the real Celestia no less, surely that was enough to bring down her synth doppelganger too? Zed seemed especially horrified at the idea of going down to the site of his ancestor's crimes against equinity, but maybe it was worth the risk? I could always just slip off while he was recovering, if there was nothing there, no big loss.

Trudging on to the next room, I found it featured a huge portrait of a regal Celestia with the sun at her back, facing Yura and the shadow of the ancient Shrouded Stallion behind her. It was a very busy painting that took up most of one wall, showing throngs of Celestia's guards in their gleaming golden armor fighting in the background with a horde of undead skeletons and the way back when version of what I recognized as raiders. In the sky above it all, the full moon glowed an ominous red, the image of the mare in the moon looking down on it all.

I made to take a closer look, but my legs refused to move, my nostrils flaring and taking in a musty, foul, kind of wet-dog smell the Shroud and 'Awareness!' had caught a whiff of. My ears flicked at the muffled gasp and padding steps retreating from the room and I was suddenly off, slithering through the dark space as a moving shadow and stalking some new bit of prey.

"Wait dammit! Zed said sometimes Neighlem makes folks wait here! What if it's just some random traveler for fuck's sake!"

I yelped aloud when I rematerialized and incinerated several more poniquins dressed up like Mayor Shamrock of Goodneighbor in the next room. Their long coats going up like kindling and their waxy hides melting under the burst of blue flame from my horn, barely illuminating a large, loping shadow that ran off with panicked panting. Whatever it was, it was big... even trying to dash behind cover, it loomed over the life sized pony figures in what looked to be a storage room and scampered towards an unobtrusive set of stairs to the basement.

I caught just a glimpse of a shaggy tail disappearing into the gloomy basement when I hit the top of the stairs, then it was gone again and I was already stalking after it. The Shroud ignored my complaints with a psychotic grin on my face, growling into the darkness lit up by my glowing red eyes and savoring the fear smell leading me on.

"Thou shouldn't have spied brigand! Death has come for you, and I am it's Shroud!" My rumbling voice filled the basement and my horn crackled with lightning, making me actually hope the spirit was right and it was just a Gunner or some other deserving bastard who was about to get murdered.

To both our surprise however, a sudden gasp was followed by a gravelly voice barking back nervously. It was a good thing the first thing the intruder did when it bounded out of the shadows was to hit the ground and bow low with its bushy tail tucked though, the sudden appearance of even a groveling hellhound nearly enough to make me be the one who shot first with a frightened squeak that made the Shroud groan in annoyance over me ruining its image.

"Wait! Shadow-pony no kill! Need help!" The beast held its wickedly curved claws up and kept its face in the dirt, shivering slightly and striking me with the absurdity of it all. I had stalked and terrified a freaking hellhound... me... Just the juxtaposition of the big lump of muscle cowering in front of the runty pony was enough to start snickering, the somewhat crazed sounding laughter not doing much to reassure ...her?... but thankfully it and the hopeful whisper of 'Be Kind...' was enough to shame the Shroud into giving a defensive snort.

'....Shut up!.... Should be afraid!.... Proper respect!....'

"Oh yeah, you're awesome alright nutball. Can we please not kill her though? I mean, this has got to be a fate worse than death if this one's anything like Icepaw." I tittered back to the voice in my head, only making the wary peeks the brown and black hellhound was giving me look even more concerned until I managed to speak to her directly. "S-Sorry, I'm not talking to you. It's ok, don't start any trouble and there won't be any, ok? Sorry to scare you... I'm Fast, and you are...?"

When I stopped laughing like a lunatic and held an apologetic hoof out, the bedraggled looking hellhound sat up warily. Her dark and pointy ears were pinned back and her pale blue eyes were anxious, hesitantly meeting my foreleg with a shaking claw as she spoke. "C-Clara... me no spying, just thought was zebras what chase away from town again. You shadow-pony of legend though! Please, need help from great hero pony!"

I sighed sadly at her hopeful look, ignoring the Shroud puffing my chest up in pride over the flattery. "I'm uh.... not so much of a hero here lately Ma'am, you probably don't want my help. Unless it's to kill a lot of people, which I would think you could handle well on your own. I'm trying to get home to my wife and daughter too, so I can't really..."

"Please! Must ask! Pup taken away, made slave! Shadow-pony serves Princess what hates slavery, helps all creatures, yes? I beg you, please..." The hellhound lady wailed before I could finish lamely trying to find some excuse not to help.

Appealing to my wife's kind nature, mentioning slavery and a foalnapped child, and the prim cough of 'Be Unwavering!' all conspired to instantly break my resolve. I slumped wearily, but if I was going to be the pony Jade and Glitter deserved to come back to them, I couldn't ignore her. Even the eager growl of 'Be Dark...' was behind the idea, maybe out of pride and vanity over being flattered and begged, but I was pretty sure part of the spirit really did want to be a hero again.

Not to mention I got the hints of a crafty idea popping into my head with a purr to the hopeful looking hellhound. "Thou can dig... If I help thee, I have need of your services..."

So much for hoping the sword was buried... Giving a groan and trying to look on the bright side that maybe this would get me back to Jade and Glitter sooner, I shrugged and nodded to the hellhound. "A-Alright, come back and talk to my friend with me then, tell me about your pup and I'll... I'll see what we can do, ok?"

I'd never seen a hellhound cry before, but this one did, big, blubbery tears of gratitude as she shook my foreleg in both padded paws and nodded back. "Thank Shadow-pony! Thanks!"

By the time I led our new hellhound friend back to Zed, I found we had even more company and again, things nearly went to hell. Clara and I made our way to the lobby and the canine lady gave a growl to match the Shroud's just as we hit the doors, her sense of smell as sharp as my own and picking up the same scent of strange ponies, zebras rather...

She ducked back and hid again, though out of annoyance instead of fear this time. Whatever her reasons, the Shroud didn't share them, getting their attention away from tentatively searching the museum with a harsh bark of, "Intruders!"

"They're not intruding, we are, remember!? This is where they live stupid!" I facehoofed at the spirit just looking for a fight at this point, putting on a crooked smile and trying to look friendly when I continued to the surprised crew of zebras in leather armor. "Sorry about that... I'm guessing you guys are from Neighlem? Er, my friend said it was ok to rest here, but we were going there in the morning. Actually, he's hurt right now and could use some help! Any of you guys know Zed, he's a..."

"SHADOWKNIGHT!?!" I sighed when the half dozen zebra fighters practically leapt back to the doors, raising their weapons as one and shouting with guns and blades pointed at me threateningly.

Other than being a mix of zebras, ponies and a zony, they didn't seem all that different than most wastelanders. Their gear was old and worn, but maintained well enough along with their weaponry, a mix of leather and metal armor, hunting rifles, shotguns, spears and blades. The main difference other than the stripes was their immediate terror on seeing me. While I'd gotten used to most folks being understandably nervous when I showed up, these guys were filled with a religious dread, several crossing themselves with odd gestures and muttering prayers under their breath.

The situation was not helped by the shadows in the lobby darkening and writhing around me, a spreading nexus of waving tendrils of blackness that made me look bigger and came with the Shroud's voice oozing out of my mouth with a grin. "Yesssss... Imperator Noctis as the first Caesar knew me.... Dost thou wish to test thine mettle as he did? Please.... I'm quite bored..."

"Nnngh! Shut up! Stop goading them dammit!" I struggled to speak too, probably not making the Neighlem guards feel much better about the whole situation or my sanity, but I had to stop this before it started. "Look, I don't want trouble! My friend and I just needed somewhere to rest, and he really does need help! Let's all just calm down before this gets out of hoof!"

The clatter of junk getting knocked over behind me drew their already panicky attention to the huge hellhound peeking out from the door, only making things worse as one of them in leather armor splashed in a lot of blood pointed a foreleg Clara's way and yelped angrily. "There she is! That's the bitch that killed Kal!"

I raised a curious eyebrow back to Clara flinching behind me, then back to the apparent leader of the small crew of guards who took a few shaking steps forward and stamped a hoof to master his fear as he addressed me. "Shadowknight... If you really don't want trouble, we won't offer any. That hellhound has murdered a guard back in Neighlem however, she needs to be brought back in to face justice or driven off."

"Guard smelled of pup! Helped kidnap my child! You stripey ponies wouldn't do anything!" Clara barked back, striding out in the room and lowering into a crouch with her hackles raised in a bushy ridge on her broad back.

Now the crew of guards looked absolutely horrified, not that I could blame them. On one side of the tense standoff were half a dozen so-so equipped guards, on the other was both the legendary Shrouded Stallion and a freaking hellhound... I didn't envy them... especially since I found myself growling along with Clara and flaring my wings, making it clear whose side he was on.

Thankfully, a raspy, tired baritone broke the stalemate. Zed staggered his way in from the giftshop with more blood staining his muzzle from another coughing fit while I'd been out wandering, looking even worse and making me worried for my friend, even while he put his health aside to help everycreature here. "Stop this! All of you, do not start fighting, it will not end well for you... The hellhound says a guard helped take her pup? You all know the Venalitii slave traders pay off those they can corrupt, I highly doubt they haven't at least offered as much to each of you. It sounds like one of your number got caught by the mother of one of their victims, a fitting punishment is it not?"

"V-Venator Zed? Whose side are you on!? He was still a guard of Neighlem and this creature murdered him, accusing the dead of a crime when he can't defend himself, how dishonorable! W-We'll overlook the Shadowknight since he's with you, but the hellhound needs to pay for her crime!" The buck in charge, a middleaged zebra with broad, straight stripes and a square jaw, snorted and harrumphed to Zed, looking relieved to have somezebra else to talk to and still flicking nervous glances my way.

"Methinks thou protests too much.... I smell a crime on you evildoer, perhaps these slavers have paid for the loyalty of more than just the victim, hmmmmmm?" I purred an interruption and prowled a step towards the head guard, satisfied to see him gulp and stumble back a step in response, a cold sweat sprang up on his coat and I stuck my nose up in the air to give a long sniff to the scent of fear that spiked around him as I continued along with the Shroud.

"Oh yeah, think my crazy spirit friend nailed it, didn't he? You really wanna die for a bunch of slavers pal, because I can pretty much guarantee that's what will happen... I don't like slavers and the Shroud reeeeeeeally hates them... taking bribes from them is only one step removed, close enough for him."

He sputtered and started to deny it, but froze when my eyes started glowing and I made to get closer again. Thankfully, Zed interrupted before I got started, experienced enough now to know what triggered the Shroud and trying to prevent it. "Enough, all of you! I think we can all assume the hellhound is under the spirit's protection, placing her out of your reach I assure you. Go back and tell the elders we are here and plan on...kaff! kaff! kaff!"

Zed's stern voice calling for order was broken by another coughing fit, the spray of blood and the strong zebra swaying on his hooves enough for me to take over and rush to his side with a yelp. "Zed! C'mon buddy, you're still in rough shape! You shouldn't be up and dealing with this kinda shit. Actually, you need to go get help, like now! Hey, you! You guys are taking my friend to Neighlem for help, got it!?"

When my head snapped over to the zebras and ponies muttering to each other their whispered conversation dried up instantly, all looking back to me holding Zed up and snarling an order at them. None of them looked to like it, but nobody was in an arguing kind of mood either. Except Zed of course, stilling his coughs and shaking his head weakly. "Fast, no... W-We need to go together, in the morning. I'll be fine...."

"Bullshit! You're not going to stay fucked up when there's help to be had right now! I can't go with you at night, but that doesn't mean you have to stay here and foalsit me either. These guys can carry you there and you can start talking to those zebras in Neighlem now, I'm sure there's gonna be a lot to explain to them. Please Zed, you don't have to be strong all the time. Trust me, I won't do anything horrible. I've got company even!"

Zed gave a flat look to me pointing to Clara as my 'company', clearly not liking the idea of leaving me alone with a vicious hellhound like some kind of all star murderer team up from hell. He sighed at my hopeful look though,"I do trust you Fast, not the spirit or the hellhound though... The slavers here are a powerful faction, acting against them could cause problems..."

"They're slavers!" I snarled back, barely able to master the urge to rant and rave, managing to continue in an angry hiss. "They took a kid Zed... Like Glitter.... I can't turn her away when she's asking for help. Why it's probably a good idea if you're not around, ok? Getting these guys out of here and you to help now is a good thing. Go ahead of me and get better, let the Shroud do his thing against assholes that deserve it and help a mother looking for her pup. I'll be here in the morning and we can... can try to smooth things over in the light of day, alright?"

He bit his lip in thought a moment, but eventually Zed hung his head and gave up, seeing the obsession and hope in my glowing eyes. "Alright... you win Fast. I want your word, both of you... you will be here with the light of dawn. I've noticed the spirit still tries to keep its honor, so swear to it."

"I promise Zed, I'll be here." I answered immediately, then waited a beat for my mouth to finally spit out another sullen reply. "Fine... I so swear zebra."

"Now hold on just a minute! We haven't agreed to..." The head guard interrupted as he saw what was going on without his input, but the words died on his tongue when I turned with my eyes blazing and roared at him.

"Do as you're told! NOW! If any harm befalls my friend, I will hunt you all down...."

That got them moving... I disliked playing up the superstitious fear they had of the evil Shadowknight they were so afraid of, but it was in the interest of caring for my friend, so I let it go this time. Between the threat and the shadows swirling around me shaking the room and knocking junk from the walls, they scampered out in a hurry, leaving me with Zed and the awed looking Clara blinking down at me curiously.

"Be careful Fast... No running off and getting into trouble, your wife would be very disappointed in me..." Zed met my light hoofbump before stumbling out after them, the stern reminder of Jade and what she would think enough to at least make me think twice.

"R-Right, I promised didn't I? I'll behave and be right here when you get back, you just get better Zed."

He gave an unsure look as the doors swung shut again, then it was just me and the hellhound in the museum lobby. I managed to wait all of five minutes at least, turning to the little camp and contained fire we'd made in the gift shop and gesturing for Clara to follow with a giddy growl coming out of my mouth.

"Now then... tell me about these slavers..."

Discovered Location: Libertalia

Snorting at the blinking message in the corner of my vision, I glared down at the place Clara had led me to and brought out the Last Minute for a closer look through the scope. I understood why the hellhound hadn't managed to take her pup back herself anyway, and it wasn't just because the place was a fortress, it was a floating fortress...

On the ground, hellhounds were extreeeeemely dangerous. They could simply burrow right through the earth and pop up wherever they liked, that combined with their insanely sharp claws and teeth, thick, furry hides and all the huge muscles underneath, they could handle most problems on their own. Clara had been stymied from rescuing her pup because the local zebra slavers made their home in a mountain of wrecked ships and shipping containers floating in the waters off the coast however.

There was only one way in, a trail of junk and boards bobbing in the water, lashed together to form a series of bridges from a nearby boathouse. Clara told me the best she could do was 'doggy-paddle', so she couldn't even swim for it without getting picked off in one of the roving spotlights shining down from the tower of scrap, not to mention the many auto turrets ceaselessly looking for threats.

"There, see slaves? In middle! See pup?" Clara tapped my shoulder from where I lay flat on my belly on a ridge overlooking the shore, pointing a claw towards a floating platform in the middle of the vaguely ring shaped outer works of the fortress.

There was a large cage atop it, one of several tied together and surrounded by the crude buildings and rusty ships. The sight of dozens of pony shapes silhouetted by the spotlights there only made the rage in my head pound faster, they stuck them out there on display in the frigid sea air and freezing water, surrounded by turrets. Not only would anypony coming to their rescue be walking into a trap, the captives would be caught in the crossfire too, further discouraging those who'd want to free the slaves.

Taking a closer look through the nightvision scope and with the aid of my own nightvision eyes, I saw some of the captives weren't quite right. A cage here and there had ponies that didn't move with the gentle bobbing of the rafts they were trapped on, remaining stock still like statues. No... not statues, poniquins... They'd filled some cages with simple dummies like the wax figures in the Museum of Witchcraft, further confusing things for any would be rescuer.

After taking in that detail and moving on, I was forced to shake my head and grunt. "I don't see any hellhounds. They probably wouldn't keep your pup with everypony else though, like putting a manticore in a cage of bunnies. No offense..."

"Jewel is not mean pup, would no hurt ponies!" Clara growled back, pacing behind me in frustration.

"Why would they take a hellhound anyway? Doesn't seem like their usual stock."

"Grrrrr....Hellhound Veal!" Clara snarled back, making me blink in shock as she continued and shoved a blood spattered not in my face. "Fancy pony in Diamond City want! Eat hellhound meat!"

This time I felt fury setting my blood on fire, while the Shroud was the one who was confused and along for the ride. 'What? Hellhound taste good....'

"Nngh! I know you don't see anything wrong with eating pretty much anycreature, but it's a kid too! Some sick, rich asshole in Diamond City wants to eat freaking Hellhound veal! Doesn't that piss you off!? Hell, it could be fucking Synthelestia herself, something for her 'royal' pallet!"

That got through... just mentioning the Institute's fake Celestia was enough to reliably stoke the Shroud's rage, further pointing out it was a kid, even if a hellhound kid, was just icing on the cake. He took his orders from Luna seriously, and kids were not to be harmed under any circumstances. That fact had saved me from going as mad as Ziggurat Carrot when I was a foal apparently, now it was going to help Clara's pup too.

"Thine child will be safe my lady, worry not..." The Shroud's voice growled to Clara, but considering the situation, indiscriminate destruction wasn't going to help and I had to take the lead. "That said, we can't just go charging in there. The place is crawling with slavers and the slaves we can see are in harms way. We need to find your pup and try to get them out of there first, then kill them all... I'm pretty sneaky, so let me handle the first part, ok Clara?"

Before she could do much more than give a grim nod of agreement, a deep voice spoke from the ruined warehouse on the low ridge above the waterline we were hiding on, making me spin with a yelp to see a dreaded shape resolving out of a cloaking field as they he spoke. "An adequate strategy considering the goals. May I suggest a cooperative effort?"

I leapt back with my weapons snapping up and my horn cracking with arcane death, all focused on the familiar type of earth pony stallion staring back placidly. A Courser... He was wearing the pristine black leather duster and blank sunglasses of that model synth, his light chocolate brown face holding a stony expression, his dark mane trimmed short with one matching eyebrow barely quirking up at the threat of eminent death.

Rather than use one of the heavy weapons on the battlesaddle he wore, the synth killer bizarrely just shrugged and held his forelegs up for peace. "Calm yourself 111-3-42, you are not my mission here."

"Calm mYseLF!? I'm gonna kill you asshole! You and every single one of the Institute pricks like you who've made my life hell! Who sent you here!? What do you want!?"

To my frustration, the Courser still didn't look bothered at my roar and struggle not to incinerate him, even when Blue Moon clicked out from under my wing and crackled. Instead, he jerked his muzzle towards the looming fortress of Libertalia and spoke in a clipped voice. "The on site manager of the slavers here is a rogue synth, freed by the Railroad. I've been sent on a retrieval mission by the synth retention department. Considering the damage he's done in his role and our aligned interests, I thought working together may be preferable. Professor Klein sends his regards..."

"KLEIN!?! Is he there!? Is that asshole listening!? FUCK YOU KLEIN! I'm coming for you!"

"Who this pony? He want help get pup? Need help Shadow-pony, maybe we let?" Clara cut off my shouting with a worried claw pressed to her lips in a hushing gesture, giving me a hopeful look that took the edge of my anger anyway.

"Professor Klein approved my proposal to approach, he is not actively monitoring though. He said he wishes to resume efforts to improve your relationship, and that this mission may be educational. The rogue synth in charge here was granted his freedom and this is what he did with it..." The Courser answered and kept on waiting peacefully, making no threatening gesture whatsoever.

"Oh yeah, cause Klein's such a nice guy and all! He's been spying on me, hasn't he!? I've seen all his freaking BIRDS! This is all some kind of setup! I should kill you here and now, then go find Klein and flay him alive!"

"Warning... Harming or threatening to harm a Director of the Institute is a class A offense. Special dispensation has been granted to subject 111-3-42, but do not persist. Professor Klein says of course he's been observing you, for data. He remains impressed at your abilities and awaits your arrival in the Think Tank for your meeting. He hopes you'll bring your... 'daughter' as well and offers a method to repair the unique model." The Courser replied in that same blank tone, but what he said was like a buck to the gut.

"G-Glitter...?" All my anger fizzled out and I hated the needy, hopeful note to my voice, but I couldn't help it either, continuing in a hushed whisper. "H-He can... he'll fix Glitter?"

Giving a curt nod in response, the Courser seemed satisfied I wasn't going to be a problem anymore and turned to observing Libertalia as he answered. "Affirmative. After a period of study of the unique model, Professor Klein is confident she can be restored with the resources the Institute has to offer. Public relations and certain programming errors require the Princess Celestia model to label subject 111-3-42 an enemy for now, but Professor Klein still hopes for an amicable private relationship. Cooperation here is viewed as an important first step..."

"We take help Shadow-pony? Please? Just want pup back, no know about Institute ponies and other things. There lots of slavers there, help sounds good to me..." Clara piled on as I stared back in shock, dragging my attention to her resuming her worried pacing .

The Shroud seethed along with me at the idea, but the fucking Courser had me and it knew it. I'd do anything for Glitter, anything... even work with the Institute. Jade and the Railroad hadn't been able to help my poor daughter, she was still trapped in a coma and unable to wake up. If Discord himself offered a cure in exchange for my soul, I'd probably offer it without blinking. Klein had a point too, Glitter was unique, the best chance for her to recover was with the ponies who'd made the synths and had the best equipment in the Commonwealth, not a ragtag underground group like the Railroad.

"Alright, fine! We'll work together then, but I'm in charge and the goal is getting Clara's pup and those slaves out first, got it? What do you want out of the deal asshole?"

"Designation X6-88, not 'asshole'. Mission goal is recovery of rogue synth, designation B5-92, 'Gabriel', leader of Venalitii slavers. Location, atop the upended cargo ship at the apex of the flotilla, surrounded by his strongest guards in all probability. We may begin assault whenever you're ready subject 111-3-42." The Courser answered in its normal monotone, but I could swear there was a smug tone under it somewhere.

"It's Fast, not subject 111-whatever, Fast Times. Fine, you can have your rogue synth, I don't care if he dies or gets taken in by you. Let me sneak in first and find Clara's pup. Clara, you stay here and only attack if things go bad, be a distraction when things get noisy. Until then, you work in from the edges and take out who you can quiet like X6. Double cross me though, and I shall rip you to pieces slowly ponmunculous..."

My strange new companions agreed to the uneasy truce and hasty plan, X6 giving another sharp nod and turning to the boathouses and shacks along the docks below. "Agreed. If you're ready then?"

Teaming up with a hellhound and a Courser... I missed Zed already, not to mention my other friends I'd much rather do something like this with. Val, Witchy, Swan, Jade... The last missing family member steeled my resolve as soon as I pictured her sweet little sleeping face, wherever she was.

I spread my wings and took off into the night sky with a low mutter drifting behind me. "For Glitter..."

"That runt's looking sick, you sure about that collar of yours Shiv?" One of the zebra slavers guarding the main cage platform was engaged in a conversation with a portly red stallion, idly discussing the poor slave they'd shackled with a heavy iron slave collar chained to a post in the center of the cage.

I seethed from my perch on the broken mast above them, glaring down and looking over the cages closely as the fat asshole answered with a chortle. "Sickly's the point stupid! Trust me, seen this done by the greatest slaver any of you Commonwealth fuckers have ever heard of. Thing's radioactive, just a trickle, but leave it on long enough and keep givin' it a tiny sip o' radaway every now and then, and eventually he'll go ghoul. Turn a worthless little runt into an undead worker and you've got what he liked to call the eternal circle o' slavery, double his value and break him completely!"

Looking down to the poor kid suffering this horrific treatment, I saw the shadows below darkening and tried to calm down. Don't let them know yet... we need the keys first... I couldn't pick locks like my best friend Val, so I had to do this the hard way, slithering down among the junk and crates on the platform as a moving shadow and peering at the packs and gear of each slaver in the little laughing huddle around a fire barrel providing them some heat, while the slaves shivered miserably.

'Key... yes... Want that chain...' I shrugged at the Shroud's answer, but was willing to take it when I found a set of rusty keys hanging from the flank of a dirty pale mare cackling along with the others at the fire. With a dim shadow of blackened magic, the keys were teleported away and to my hooves, letting me slip by and through the bars of the cage as a wisp of shadow.

I had to hush the slaves blinking and murmuring in surprise when I appeared hidden behind the shackled buck, holding a hoof to my lips as I unlocked his collar and unhooked it from the post for some reason. "Shhhh! Quiet guys... I'm getting you out of here, but you have to keep it down."

"Yup, if it weren't for that Lightbringer bitch, we'd be livin' the high life in Fillydelphia right now I tell ya. Boss was the best of the best, we was gonna take over the place after Redeye got his dumb ass killed. Now a poor slaver can hardly find a place ta ply their trade, damn NCR chased me all the way to this pit. Least I can do is spread the gospel though, teach you stripes a thing or two about real slavin'!" The fat pony laughed uproariously, thankfully covering the noise of the hopeful slaves, but also pissing me off even more.

Turning the heavy iron collar in my hooves and trying to be soothed by the low tingle of radiation it put off, I paused on the crude letters and number scratched into its surface, rubbing at the layer of char and ash on the metal to make them out. 'MN7'... Some other poor slave who'd suffered under this thing, had maybe even been turned into a ghoul against his will by it... A symbol of suffering I could hardly imagine. Jade had told me a little about Fillydelphia and that Redeye pony he mentioned, but I could still barely conceive of the prewar city of Filly being turned into hell on Equis like she described.

"All oF yOu... GeT dOwn aNd sTaY dOWn...."

That was all I could take of this place, I'd held the Shroud and my own fury back as long as I could, slipping through their defenses and silently cutting throats on the various platforms and boats, hacking and shutting down more than half the turrets in the process. Hearing this laughing asshole and being right up close where I could see and smell the abused ponies and zebras trapped here though, it was too much....

The slaves took a wary step back at my growl, obediently laying down and cowering on the rusty floor of the cage, The one I'd freed had a red, raw band of missing fur around his neck, peeking up with a grateful but terrified look in his shimmering pink eyes.

'GREETINGS EVILDOERS...."

The quartet of slavers around the barrel had a bare instant to yelp and peer out into the night at the Shroud's voice booming out, magically thrown in a bit of ventriloquism that had them looking all around them in terror. Then the slave collar I held shot out in a field of blackened telekinesis, slipping through the bars with the chain whipping behind it. It clamped down on the fat slaver's neck with a heavy click and the chain slithered around his body, tying him up in a neat bundle and yanking him right off the edge of the platform, holding his head under the water.

The other three slavers grabbed his hindlegs near the platform edge and pulled for all they were worth, but only distracted themselves trying to save a doomed asshole. I teleported back out of the cage with Best Served in my teeth, bathing in the blood of the two holding a hindleg each. The third jumped back and his striped face paled when I turned on him, taking in a breath to raise the alarm and finding Deliverer shoved in his mouth before he could.

The perfectly silent 10mm fired three quick rounds, blowing his brains out and further fouling the water the fat slaver was still struggling under. I perched at the edge and watched his face through the water, grinning cheerily at the terrified dots of his eyes staring back in horror as the life slowly left them.

When the bubbles stopped, I let him go and brought the chain and collar back up, stashing the mildly radioactive hunk of metal in my packs with a proud nicker. A source of radiation was always useful anyway, and I could already hear the wheels turning in my head as the Shroud started thinking of ways to kill the other slavers with it. Poetic justic...

I turned back to see the slaves warily standing again, looking at me unlocking the cage in both wonder and a healthy amount of fear. The cage door opened with a squeal that made me flinch, but looking around confirmed I still hadn't been noticed. A splash from nearby pointed out another of the slaver guards atop the cabin of a rusty fishing scow falling to the water, explaining my success so far. The Courser really was out there and covering for me, the spotlight that slaver had been manning pointed away from the path back to shore as I focused on the slaves.

"Ok, it's rough, but you guys need to get out of here on your own. The path back is clear, just stay low and quiet and you should be fine. Before that though, have any of you seen a hellhound pup around here?"

The slave I'd unshackled rasped and coughed trying to answer, frantically stuffing a hoof in his own mouth to stifle the noise and settling for pointing towards the main fixture of Libertalia, the giant shipping vessel standing up on end and festooned with wooden shacks and junk additions. I thanked the pale purple earth pony buck as best I could with my eyes slitted like a dragon's and fangs out, floating over a normal purple healing potion with a determined nod.

"Fair warning, there's a hellhound out there, but she's friendly... er, friendly-ish. Tell her you've seen her pup and she'll be happy anyway. You find the Followers of the Apocalypse kid, have them heal you up."

The raft of junk rocked in the water when I took off, flapping up into the night sky and circling the vertical shipping vessel. Coming around the rusty hull pointed up to the stars, I saw where the slaver's den got its name anyway. Libertalia was painted in flaking white on the rust red hull, it looked like it must have been upended and tossed to the shore when the balefire bombs dropped, wedging itself upright in the muck along with what seemed to be hundreds of smaller boats up and down the coast.

The destruction gave the slavers plenty of material to work with, pushing the best together and patching them until it all floated. I could see parts of other ships welded to the vertical deck of the Libertalia, along with weathered wooden shacks, ramps, walkways and sniper's perches, going in and out of the numerous holes in the once proud ship. Topping it all off was what looked like an old pleasure yacht for rich ponies perched right on the peak of the prow, the lair of the slaver leader.

Circling the ship like a hungry vulture filled E.F.S. with red marks, denoting the numerous slavers still obliviously patroling, working, sleeping and at least a couple rutting by the faint sounds my sharp ears flicked at when I passed close to the rusty hull. I caught a glimpse of the Courser dashing across the last bridges and entering the complex at the bottom, so figured I'd get to work and meet him in the middle, gliding my way closer to the nest of shacks silently.

The slave collar whipped out again as I passed over a sniper propped up in an old lawn chair, snapping on his neck and yanking the mustard yellow pony from his seat with a strangled squawk. The end of the chain was wrapped around my foreleg and a few hard flaps bought me more altitude, then I found myself swinging the slaver around like a slingshot in the air, faster and faster in wide circles until the shackle clicked open in my magic and the victim was sent sailing out towards the rocky shore.

I managed to yank away four more slavers like that, flying up each time and flinging them to smash against something hard and unforgiving. It wasn't the most efficient way to kill them, but the Shroud enjoyed his theatrics, killing them with the symbol of the slavery they engaged in was the point. The last light pink mare managed a scream on her way down however, putting the others on alert, several dashing out to peer off the railings and perches towards the distant crash of her breaking the roof of a dilapidated warehouse.

Figuring the quiet assault was just about done, I rocketed by the largest cluster with the chain trailing behind me, surrounded in a blackened field of corrupted magic. At least four were muttering to each other and peering out into the dark towards the puff of dust coming from the warehouse, all leaning on the crude railing on one of the scrap wood platfoorms jutting from the deck, The jingling chain gave them just a second to look up and spot me streaking by, then the heavy iron links swung down like a whip, smashing through the half rotten wood and separating the whole perch from the ship in one strike of splintered boards and screeching metal.

Those four screamed all the way down, fully alerting the rest, but satisfying nonetheless. I swooped back around and landed on the ragged edge of the platform that had taken a header off the side, ducking into a rusty hole in the vertical deck and into the Libertalia herself. The place was disorienting right off the bat, like a prewar funhouse where the furninture was bolted to the walls, only in this case the place really was canted 90 degrees.

There were several rounded hatches leading on, accessible to the ground bound zebras and ponies here by rickety ladders and crude steps, though going through the lower ones on the walls had to be annoying, ducking through the sideways portals that were already pretty small. Up was still the direction I wanted however, my wings carrying me to another hatch in the ceiling. I nearly got my head blown off when it popped up into the next room, a slaver with a hunting rifle was crouched in ambush with several of his comrades all watching the door they heard the commotion from.

I felt the breeze from the .308 round nearly kiss my cheek and was for once glad to disappear as a pool of immaterial shadow. Crazed spirit or not, I was still a pony and still had a physical body that could die, something the Shroud needed reminders about every now and then before it pushed me too hard. He'd been learning not to treat me like a rental carriage at least, but still didn't quite get the pulse pounding fear the near miss caused.

'...Relax!... Easy vermin....' He tried being soothing too, which was different from the uncaring monster all these zebras feared so much. Not that the Shroud wasn't still a psychotic killing machine, as it demonstrated by taking the cluster of slavers apart in a flicker of starmetal and panicked hail of bullets pinging off the metal walls.

He had been changing though... even more than just becoming a little chattier and clearer since reclaiming the sliver of power from Ziggurat. Charging down a short, sideways hallway and hopping over more hatches along the way, the sight of slaves shackled to the walls increased his fury at the whole den of assholes, but also brought out an odd sense of sympathy, Best Served slashed out on the run and parted one chain after another, the Shroud's deep voice rumbling to the cowering slaves. "Thou art free... Escape this place, it will not exist much longer...."

I panted as we skidded through a turn back out through the deck and to more wooden catwalks that shook under my thundering hooves, woofing at the impact of a rapid chatter of assault rifle rounds and auto-turret fire impacting my armored trenchcoat. Rather than turn to the ramps leading up and into the wild gunfire from high ground, I kept running right off the edge of the walks with black lightning arcing around me, spreading my wings to make a fancy loop de loop and send a thunderous blast of more lightning from my horn to the slavers racing around and yelling frantically.

The pesky turret exploded and scattered the group huddled around it. Two slavers jittered and spasmed on the weather worn boards with electricity arcing around them, allowing me to finish them off with S.A.T.S. assisted shots from the Terrible Shotgun as I landed, while a third was torched to a pile of ashes like she had been hit by a lucky shot from a magical energy weapon.

The large square hatch they had been guarding was bigger than the pony sized doorways, with a rather substantial scrap shack built around it. Rather than go up the next set of stairs, the Shroud surprised me by flaring my nostrils at a sour, rank odor I caught a whiff of, then grabbing the thick hatchway in my magic and ripping it off the complicated looking mechanical hinges. While I thought of pointing out the nearby lever on the wall probably opened it easier than that, one look inside was enough for my muzzle to clamp shut and an awful pain to freeze my heart.

The hatch led to the ship's hold, or one compartment of it anyway. While the multicolored shipping containers within had been strewn about like matchsticks when the ship was tossed here, several had been righted and haphazardly stacked again, repurposed as crude living quarters. A couple dozen more filthy, thin and broken slaves blinked at even the dim light spilling in from the night sky, the waxing crescent moon like a blazing sun at my back to the poor captives who'd been kept here in total darkness.

My wings flared and made the shadow spilling down on them spread, enough for them to squint up to the door and recognize I wasn't one of their tormentors. Several got down and bowed, but for once the Shroud didn't get a swelled head at the worshipful whispers, instead giving a muted and restrained growl, trying to sound kind in its own weird way.

"Free... All of thou, escape this stygian pit. Those who have tortured you so will face justice from the Shrouded Stallion! Their suffering will be great..." The Shroud's snarl reverberated off the steel walls of the hold, echoing and sounding even more menacing with the restrained fury in it.

My face frowned when now all the slaves bowed and shivered, expecting more brutal treatment that the scars and wounds I could see attested to. They were broken, or so traumatized by their suffering there was little difference. Even hoofing their freedom over to them, they were scared I was just some new monster to torment them, so they stayed put, making the Shroud cede control with a worried huff that surprised me.

'You tell... You better at being nice...'

'Be Kind...' sang in a triumphant, swelling note that harmonized with the reticent spirit, winning a rare victory of agreement that shocked me as I couldn't help answering in a mutter. "You... you know how it feels being chained up and locked away in the dark, huh? Your thing about slavery isn't just because Luna said it was bad, is it? You actually feel... sympathy for them?"

'Help them, please...'

"R-Right... It's gonna be ok everypony, you're free now. No one is going to hurt you anymore, especially not me, ok? Umm... P-Princess Jade sent me to save you, Here, you need to get moving on your own, but I'll make sure you're safe, alright? Come on out guys... Here..."

I shook off my slack jawed expression to do as asked, speaking in my own softer voice and floating out purple healing potions and magical bandages I'd been looting from the Gunners, bottles of purified water, a few Sparkle Colas and a pile of Fancy Buck snack cakes I'd been hoarding for Glitter from my saddlebags. Looking over the frightened but awed looks of a few colts and fillies peeking from the legs of the grownups, I thought my daughter would understand.

Mentioning my wife got them moving a lot better than my scruffy, bloody and still slightly crazed countenance did. A few slaves whispered to each other and hesitantly took the offered supplies, several digging in and wrestling over the meager food like they hadn't eaten in weeks, which may well be true by the look of them. Seeing them fighting over my charity wasn't helpful though, a wave of blackened telekinetic force shot from my horn and tossed the fighting groups apart with a snarl. "Cease thine squabbling! LEAVE! NOW!"

"Nnngh! Shut up! You wanted me to handle this, I'm handling it!"

"D-Did... Did the Princess really send you mister?" A frightened adolescent filly trotted forward and raised a wary eyebrow at me bashing my own head and arguing with myself as they others all flinched back from the crazy pony. She was braver than most of them, a bedraggled white filly with a green and blue mane matted with blood and dirt, reminding me painfully of when I met my daughter.

"Y-Yeahhhhh, I mean yes! Yes she did! Sorta... Look, Princess Jade is my wife and she hates slavery almost as much as.... as my friend and me, so we're really here to help you. Just... you have to go, quickly! Bad things are going to happen here and you shouldn't be anywhere nearby when they do..."

"Heard o'er the radio 'fore I got took you went bonkers sonny, sure look nuttier than a fruitcake too. You really are the Shadowknight those zebras been freakin' out about... ain't ya? Why should we trust you of all ponies?" An older stallion huffed and licked the remaining carroty frosting from a Fancy Buck cake that had gotten smashed on the floor off his hoof, squinting his old brown eyes at me suspiciously.

"Because we don't have time for this! Look, I'm trying alright... I really am trying to be a hero here, to do the right thing, but I am pretty fucking crazy, yes! Just... please, believe in me, give me a chance to help. Run away for yourselves if nothing else!"

I could feel the Shroud giving a frustrated tantrum in my head, trying to do the right thing for once and not getting obedience and praise for it. I had to squash the idea of just killing the pony arguing with me to motivate the others, pulled away from the internal argument by the sound of hooves galloping down the ramps outside. A hard flap sent me over the slaves rushing to hide from their approaching masters at the back of the hold again, snarling in agravation at my progress being undone and landing at the hatch to meet the half dozen slavers thundering down.

The burly zebra slavemaster in the lead was shouting loudly on the way down with a furious look on his striped face, threatening his charges back in submission in the chaos that had engulfed the Libertalia. "All you slaves better be right where you belong dammit, or I swear there will be lashes for each an' every one of..."

"Where they belong is free..." I growled at the bottom of the ramp the slavers were suddenly skidding to a halt on when they spotted me, grinning as my horn crackled with flames that lit their frightened faces in baleful blue light.

Their screams only made the slaves cower more behind me, loud and long as they were roasted alive along with a good portion of the wooden walks that caught and started burning in normal, orange flames immediately. A couple slavers took running dives off the edge just for the hope of hitting the water and dousing themselves, the hollow 'bong!' noise of one of these smashing through an old tugboat hull making me cackle laughter that really wasn't improving the slaves' impression of their savior.

I used Deliverer to finish off the few who'd hit the deck and started rolling around trying to put themselves out, facehoofing and muttering to myself at the spreading flames already starting to lick at the scrap tinderbox and spread. "Way to go asshole, lighting the whole fucking thing on fire is just what we needed here...."

'...Incentive...'

I blanched until my gaze was forcibly drawn back to the terrified slaves huddled in the hold, the flickering flames lighting the dark hold up in oranges and reds only made it look more like hell and them like the damned. Their eyes were shrunk to pinpricks staring back at me backlit by the fire and glaring at them, but several were starting to cough on the smoke and panic looked likely to spread. I supposed the Shroud had a point in a horrible kind of way, every creature in the forest would instinctively run from a fire together after all.

"Grrr... There's better ways to motivate ponies, but too fucking late now I guess. Look, trust me or not, get the hell out of here before this place burns down! The way is clear and I'll be keeping them busy, just mind the hellhound below!"

I glanced down to the ring of floating junk to check on Clara, finding her going on a rampage, having crossed the bridge in all the chaos and ripping through slavers running around down there. Warning the slaves about the potentially berserk hellhound lady made them give a collective moan of fear, but the filly who'd spoke surprised me by trotting forward and peeking from behind me. "Hellhound? Is... Is it Jewel's mom?"

"Jewel... you know her pup? You've seen her?"

She still looked scared of me, but her coming close to nod eagerly helped get the other slaves moving behind her, galloping off down the ramps around us to escape the fire while I held the hatch to guard their escape. It gave a few scarce seconds to speak to the brave filly who had seen Clara's pup. "Ya-huh, I got taken with Lady Xiayou, I'm her retainer... umm, assistant. They kept us together awhile and she was another... ugh... 'prize catch' they said, so we saw the hellhound. She was really nice actually!"

"That's what her mom said. Thanks kiddo, where is she...."

I winced at the Shroud's voice mixing with mine when I asked, hating the shiver running down the filly's tail, but admiring her bravery again as the last slaves staggered out and she remained a moment to reply with a hoof pointing up to the yacht perched atop Libertalia. "T-There! The jerk in charge keeps all the 'special stock' close. Umm... I-I'm Willow Bark, Mr. Shroud... s-sir... c-could you... I mean if you're going there anyway... P-Please, please save Lady Xiayou too!"

The way she bowed her head and begged in a trembling little huddle made my heart ache, both over her being so scared of me and the way she put her fear aside to plead for her friend. Feeling a little like the Shrouded Stallion from the comics again, instead of a psychopathic ancient spirit for once, I flared my wings and nudged her chin up with my hoof, giving a firm nod to her wary blue eyes.

"I'll try to save anybody I find up there, I promise. Rescuing the damsel in distress is supposed to be what the Shrouded Stallion is all about after all. Now you go Willow! Run!"

For a moment, she gave me a look of such awed gratitude in made my chest puff up with pride and both I and the Shroud remembered what it was to be a hero ponies looked up to. She even surprised me by lunging into a grateful hug that warmed the tired, hurt part of my heart that once foalishly believed I could be a pony like that. Then she was off, prancing through the spreading flames and down the convoluted path back down to the shore.

I flew out into the night sky after her, feeling lighter as I swooped back around and climbed around the now burning wreck and whispered to myself. "Well, way to go jerk, you just gave us a time limit. Still, good job on... on wanting to help again. Let's not disappoint the filly, huh?"

'...Slavery wrong... feels good.... want try... Now, kill all slavers....'

"Right... Let's go."

A warren of thick dock timbers and weathered planking surrounded the yacht on top of the Libertalia, a landing pad that had been cleared by the intimidating Courser placidly waiting among the carnage and smoke when my hooves touched down. His black leather coat had been scorched and as I watched I saw him finish regenerating a few burns, but otherwise he looked unbothered by the assault, raising an eyebrow behind his dark glasses at me still struggling with not trying to kill him.

"Lighting the fire was a tactically sound decision, estimating 75% of the forces here have either fled or been eliminated. B5-92 and his remaining guards are ahead, though we must move quickly before they attempt escape as well." I hated the deadpan voice the Courser used, so good of a fake pony he sounded like one pretending to be a robot instead of the other way around.

"You don't seem that concerned about getting crispy crittered. So how do you want to do this, taking your rogue synth I mean. You better be really clear now, otherwise he's going to die after the things I've seen here."

The Courser, X6-88 as he called himself, barely paused a beat to spin and fire a gleaming 12mm pistol that snapped up from his coat, dropping a crazed slaver charging down the steps from the yacht without realizing we were there. He barely even looked when he did it, answering as the gunshot echoed away. "Use of shutdown code will disable target, verbal input is sufficient."

A flash of poor Glitter and a gleeful Vega popped into my head when he said it, the evil asshole had rattled off an Override Code and Glitter had been helpless to disobey him... I assumed this was like that and immediately felt sick to my stomach, fighting the more intense desire to rip the Courser into bloody chunks for reminding me and not liking the disapproving notes of the Ministry Mares in my head.

'Be Kind...' wailed the loudest, but the others were right behind it and back to full strength. I was going to help the Institute do what Vega had done to her... But it was to help her! This synth ahead had apparently been given his freedom by the Railroad and this is what he did with it, he didn't deserve it anymore! Surely being reprogrammed as less of a slaving asshole was better than me just finding some creative way to kill him, right?

All I got was the quiet reproach of 'Be Strong!' for lying to myself and the prim huff of 'Be Unwavering!' for taking away the freedom of a synth like my daughter.

"Shut up! I'm doing this dammit! It's to help Glitter!" I clenched my eyes shut and shouted, my voice joined by the Shroud's roaring for silence in the skull they shared. "Silence nagging fillies! Begone pestering spirits, the die is cast!"

"You are extremely psychologically unsound subject 111-3..." The Courser remarked casually, but even he shut up when I snarled at the name he kept using. X6 was quick on the uptake though, shrugging and continuing in the same tone. "Apologies, Mr. Times... Professor Klein wanted my observations on you, just thinking aloud for my report. You will keep to the agreement and allow B5-92 to be retrieved? Prior intelligence suggests an irrational animosity towards the Institute and willingness to sympathize with groups like the Railroad."

"Me hating the Institute is the most rational thing about me right now... I'd turn myself into the demon everycreature thinks I am to help my daughter though. Don't worry, you'll get what you want. I better get what I want though.... tell Klein that in your report. He saw what happened to the last Director that fucked with my daughter... even if he wanted it to happen."

"Director Vega had gone mad, misappropriated resources and engaged in personal vendettas contrary to the Institute's goals. His removal was in the best interest of the Institute and Equestria. Professor Klein believes you and your mate will be much better as Director of Public Relations. Jobs you may find distasteful are part of the position however, if we may proceed?" I gaped at the Courser's answer, treating this like some insane kind of job interview...

I really didn't like I couldn't find much fault in his reply either. Vega was a crazy prick and had to die. From Klein's perspective, I was better at manipulating public opinion with theatrics too. All of the Commonwealth adored their Princess Jade and feared the Shrouded Stallion anyway. Of course that was all before I lost my mind, but if it was to help Glitter.... if it was for her, I really would do all kinds of 'distasteful' things, including working with the devil.

"Ok, just remember, any slaves up there are NOT disposable since they're not your mission. You hurt anypony else, I end you, got it?"

Charging up the series of rickety stairs together, X6 gave a curt nod just before we hit the deck of the yacht I could now see labeled as 'Do Sea Do'. "Captives are your responsibility, I will adjust tactics to leave them to you. B5-92 is my only focus."

I expected a hardened last stand by the toughest of the slavers left, but instead the Courser and I slowed when met by a slow clap of claws from above as we stepped to the deck of the yacht. I noticed the rogue synth's guards were indeed nervously holding their higher class weaponry on us, a couple huddling behind a rusty iron cage in the center of the deck holding a chained and muzzled grey hellhound pup they huddled behind for cover. They hadn't started firing yet however, following the lead of the griffon atop the cabin of the old pleasure boat doing the sarcastic applause.

He was a fairly large and well muscled tan griffon, surprising me as I expected a pony and had never knowingly seen a griffon model synth, though it was as perfect as any other. His blonde plumage was swept back and bushy, his wings a slightly darker shade of the same, though that may be just need of a good preening. He wore combat armor and held a long, straight zebra sword in his orange claws, pressed to the neck of a beautiful and frantically squirming gagged zebra filly he had pressed against him as a hostage.

"The Shrouded Stallion! Along with some other random spook with similar fashion sense... And I thought all my minions here were exagerrating about the dreaded Shadowknight! You've fucked things up here righteously you little prick, Dominus Batia is going to be piiiiiisssed... If you thought you were taking me down with the ship though, you got another thing coming. I heard about you on the radio, unlike my striped friends here, I don't think you're some ancient spirit, you're just a pony playing dress up like those old comics! Think you're a hero or something, right? Little advice kid, heroes lose in the real world, cause you're always worrying about things like protecting the innocent hostages..." The head slaver sneered and tightened his hold on the zebra filly whose struggles had increased when she spotted me, her bright teal eyes going wide and the frightened noises she made behind her gag growing louder.

"Your zebra friends are more right than you are... Before I did want to be a hero, but now there's a really good chance I'll just kill you all if you annoy me, hostages or not. Of course if you hurt them, that chance goes up to 'absolute certainty'... so I'd think really hard about holding that sword so close to her." I growled back, glad to hear several of the more superstious zebra slavers gulp audibly.

"We told you Gabe! The Shroud isn't just some comic! This is the real demon, just give him what he wants if it gets us outta here! Batia will fix it all later!" One of the slavers hiding behind the hellhound Jewel yelped back in frustration, apparently still trying to convince the griffon in charge their beliefs about me were accurate.

He wasn't hearing them though, smirking back and treating his captive rougher to make her settle down, only pissing me off more. It didn't help his chances she was a very attractive filly... already I could catch glimpses of the Shroud's absent little fantasies popping into my head about rescuing the pretty damsel and being... 'thanked'. She had very thin stripes, almost making her look like a pale pony mare, her mane was long and flowing, held up behind her head in two long pigtails tied with feathers and crystalline ringlets, matching the blue stone bangles above her dark hooves. Her sky blue dress was dirty and torn, but she'd obviously been treated better than most of the slaves below at least.

The Courser quirked an eyebrow at me questioningly, but I gave a short shake of my head for the moment. The synth slaver in charge here had mentioned a boss higher than him for one thing, somezebra the Shroud was intensely interested in finding. Beyond that, even if X6 used his shutdown code thing, I doubted the other slavers would react well to their leader just falling to the ground.

The smug asshole Gabe answering his underlings and trying to get some kind of hold on the situation gave some time to think at least. "Shut up! I told ya, that's all a bunch of zebra hooey! It's funny watchin' you all get worked up about it, but this here is a fucking pony! One that's gonna do just what I say unless he wants to see our little Priestess' brains splattered to the deck. Now then shrimpy, since you set my base on fire, it looks like I gotta evacuate. I'm takin' our top cap merchandise here with me, while you and the chickenshits here wait with the pup. Once I'm away, they'll let you have the mutt without putting her down first, you cowards are on yer own gettin' out after that though, fraidy-cat tax."

"Thine comrades are right to fear me... I AM the Shrouded Stallion of yore and I WILL kill those who defy me slowly. Let thine prisoners go and I MAY allow you to attempt to escape the conflagration on your own however." The Shroud answered first, growling to the terrified zebras holding Jewel and trying to pick them apart. Following his lead, I found a better angle of attack to drive a wedge between Gabe and his crew however.

"You guys know that your boss is a synth by chance?"

"W-What!? What the hell you talkin about crazy! I ain't one of those fakers! I'm..." Gabe gave a surprised squawk back, loosening his hold on who I assumed to be the 'Lady Xiayou' I was supposed to rescue for Willow.

The uncertain muttering of the other slavers gave me my opening though, zebras, ponies or griffons, everycreature in the Commonwealth knew what synths were and feared them. The accusation of being one such a taboo they forgot their fear of me in their paranoia that I just exploited.

"Oh yes you are asshole, I know it for sure. Matter of fact, I can prove it... You slavers really want to die for a synth pretending to be one of you? Not that he seems to give much of a shit about you anyway, but I guarantee he's just a spy that will leave you to burn here so long as he slips away. Give me the pup and the filly and I shall allow thou to live..."

Playing up their divisions had the desired effect on a number of fronts. The wary zebra slavers' guns pointed away from Jewel as they considered the offer, while Gabe became crazed, his sword coming away from the filly's throat to point at me as he shouted and raged. "S-Shut up! I ain't no synth! I AIN'T!! I know I ain't! I'm real! I'm real!"

His fit was the opening I wanted, a quick nod to the Courser was all he needed to get my meaning and speak in a rapid monotone. "Unit B5-92, Initialize factory reset, authorization Gamma-7-1-Epsilon."

The effect was instant and brought another pang to my heart thinking of Glitter... Gabriel's panicked yellow eyes shrank away to dots as his lids came down, his whole body slumping in place and freezing. The bound zebra filly bucked her way loose as soon as his hold became boneless, flopping to the deck as Gabe crashed on top of her.

Gabe's crew of slavers were so stunned they never saw it coming. They kept staring at their fallen leader in shock, even as I cackled and drew Best Served, only starting to move when I evicserated the first one whose assault rifle was sagging but still pointed in the general direction of the caged hellhound. The others started trying to move when the yacht's weathered planks and their faces were splashed with his blood, but S.A.T.S. reliably froze them in place as Deliverer sprang from my coat.

At essentially point blank range and the tiny amount of spell charge the enchanted 10mm used, there was no way to miss with the rapid series of headshots I selected. The dark pistol floated and spun to fire bullet after bullet while they were still trying to scatter, only prevented from taking the last out by the Courser moving just as quickly with his own black, Institute made pip-buck selecting shots from his white cased Institute magical energy weapon that vaporized the last into a pile of glittering blue ash.

The silence that followed was only broken by the frantic, muffled yells of the zebra filly, and X6's slow hoofsteps casually strolling up to Gabe's still body sprawled over her. He gave a gruff buck to release the filly, but I assumed that was mainly just for space as he turned to me and snorted. "Mission complete. I will now return to the Institute and deliver my target, along with my report to Professor Klein. Not a very efficient mission, but successful. You are as powerful and dangerous as advised Subject... Mr. Times."

I turned away from trying to soothe the frightened hellhound pup and wrenching at the bars of her cage to reply, giving an uncertain look to the unconscious synth. "What... what's going to happen to him?"

X6-88 paused from fiddling with his pip-buck to answer with a cold and merciless blank stare. "He will be reformatted and repurposed. Griffon model synths are rarer, non-standard models, a new function will be assigned somewhere. You needn't think of it."

So there it was... I'd condemned Gabe to slavery as bad as what I'd freed so many ponies and zebras from tonight. Sure he was an asshole and a synth, but Glitter was a synth too. She wasn't less valuable than a natural pony to me, so Gabe had equal worth in the eyes of the Goddesses too. Worth I'd disregarded to allow the Institute to shackle him again...

I felt a bittery misery take hold when X6 merely shrugged at my dilemma, glancing out to the thickening smoke rising overhead, then plucking a set of keys away from Gabe's prone form to toss my way as he spoke. "Goodbye Mr. Times. I suggest you escape with your own targets, structural integrity of this installation is rapidly decreasing. Perhaps I will see you again in the Think Tank should you arrive."

At that, he pressed a final button on his pip-buck and disappeared in a bright blue flash, teleported away with Gabe to Luna only knew where and leaving me alone with Jewel and Xiayou struggling against their bonds. I stared down at the keys a moment and felt sick to my stomach, but the low groans and crashes below illustrated his point and got me moving again. No matter how I or the persistantly disapproving Ministry Mares in my head felt about it, I was willing to do anything for Glitter and suffer the consequences. Though I was sure Jade would be very disappointed in me right now...

Floating the keys to the cage and opening it, my starmetal knife bobbed close and sliced neatly through the chains binding Jewel's claws tightly together, allowing the hellhound pup to slash her remaining chains loose herself and tear away the rusty iron muzzle silencing her. "H-Holy shit... You save Jewel? Can go free? No hurt me too?"

I coughed on the smoke as I trotted over the zebra making like an inchworm trying to get away, shaking my head wearily to the anxious hellhound and pointing out to the sound of distant screams below. "Nope, I'm not going to hurt you kid. That's probably your mom down there, she asked me to save you, so that's what I'm doing. You'll have to trust me to get down to her quick, but I promise, I don't hurt kids. Now, for you..."

Any hopes for gratitude the Shroud had from the pretty filly were dashed with I tugged the gag from her mouth, laying my ears back at the screeches that followed. "G-Get away Shadowknight! Don't touch me! You'll taint me! Curse me! Befoul my soul! The spirits will..."

"Alright, that's enough of that... You're lucky Willow Bark asked me to save you too." I growled back and put the gag right back in place, ignoring her surprised scowl and floating the lithe zebra to my back. I turned back to Jewel to find her peering over the edge of the yacht and shifting on her paws, giving a short yelp when my own blue telekinesis surrounded her bulky body and lifted her flailing legs from the deck. "Ready to get down there to her kid?"

She was afraid too, which was still surprising from an intimidating hellhound, even a pup. Considering her fur was coated in the blood of her captors and she'd just seen me tear through Libertalia with one of the Insititute's dreaded Coursers though, I couldn't really blame her. She wasn't rude like the zebra anyway, giving a brave nod and clenching her eyes shut as I flapped away from the deck and she rose higher. "G-Go back to mom? Y-Yes great Shadow-pony of legend... p-please? Me be good like wise Smartyfang from story momma told me."

For a moment I saw a flash of a scrawny hellhound from the Shroud's memory and felt a warm, wistful smile curl my muzzle as he used my mouth to speak before flying away. "Thou art courageous as he was child... Worry not, thou art free and soon to be reunited. I swear."

Flying clear of the smoke and circling back around to find Clara to do as promised, I reflected again that the Shroud had been changing a little. He wasn't completely crazed and destructive anymore. When it came to certain, very select subjects, he was even somewhat kind... in his own way at least. As much as he'd encouraged me to be violent and angry, I'd been wearing him down it seemed and taught him to care about others, to do good and help where we could, to be a hero again, even if it was a dark one.

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

Great Emancipator------

---Your disdain of slavery has spread far and wide, giving all slavers something to think about. You now do +20% damage to characters and groups that deal in slaves, along with gaining +2 DT against such foes. Faction with any such groups takes an automatic hit however, along with granting you an increased chance to make Terrifying Presence and certain speech checks.

Quest Perk Added!-----------------

The Unbroken Chain-------

---You're not sure who 'MN7' was, but he must have and been a sneaky pony too. The Shrouded Stallion was drawn to the faint trace of their spirit imbued in the relic of Fillydelphia by wearing it a long time, granting you +10 to the Sneak skill!