Well good afternoon Diamond City, this is Traveling Miles here with a bit of news on this rainy afternoon. But first our illustrious leaders here in the great green jewel have prepared a statement on the recent happenings I've been... encouraged to read for my listeners. Let's just get it out of the way...

Ahem... 'Last night at the grand gala in honor of the so called Princess of Sanctuary, the honorable Haycom Svengallop was brutally murdered in his office, witnessed by Neighson Svengallop's new fiance. The Princess' knight, Fast Times, was arrested at the scene with his griffon bodyguard Valkyrie Bloodtail and taken into custody by Diamond City Security. The prisoner was interviewed briefly by General Stalwart Stone and informed of his rights and upcoming trial, in response Mr. Times announced his intention to escape justice. Later that evening he did just that, mysteriously knocking three guards unconscious and fleeing the city. Both prisoners are wanted criminals in Diamond City, to be arrested or shot on sight and the Princess herself is wanted for questioning.'

Now, with that done let me offer my own opinion, whether the powers that be like it or not. I know Fast, he's a friend of the station so I may be biased, but he's not the kind of pony to do this. You'll notice that while he did escape he didn't hurt any of the guards doing so. I've also talked to our local wizard pony Corona Light, who informs me he could have easily blasted his way free at any time, if he didn't mind incinerating victims with his magic. Hardly the restraint you'd expect from a cold blooded killer huh?

From what I've gathered Princess Jade caused quite a stir before the crime, telling our nobility what she thought of how they acted and what real nobility is supposed to be like. Our leaders are none to happy with her for that and I'll have more info as I get it from us common ponies who were working the event. The whole thing seems fishy to me and I'm not the only one, so I'd ask my loyal listeners to reserve judgement. Personally I believe Fast is a good pony and is innocent, I hope wherever he's at he's safe and well on his way to proving it. But that's just this DJ's opinion.

Now that she was free the odd ghoul from the basement had been a dervish of activity, trotting about the Commonwealth Carousel and putting things in a strange kind of order. She had been nice enough, thanking us and excusing herself for a few minutes before returning from the upstairs bedroom dressed in a mostly intact purple dress, with her mane brushed and makeup applied to her rotting skin.

Currently she moved around the sales floor with us, cleaning up and clucking to herself. "Such a terrible state of affairs, really those customers were quite rude and messy, just because there's an emergency is no excuse! What would Miss Rarity say if she saw her newest outlet in such a state! I am terribly sorry for all this, please give me a few moments and I will attend to your needs directly."

Watching her run about and reorder the chaos with her magic I leaned over to whisper up to Jade, "Is... is she ok? She's acting like it's before the war..."

With a concerned expression Jade followed her progress and answered quietly in my ear, "I do not know, she has been through a trauma. However ghouls can act this way when they are on the verge of going feral... they begin to lose touch with reality. I wish to help her but am unsure how to do so, confronting them with the truth can be dangerous in such a state."

Glitter had been listening to us and quickly trotted after the ghoul mare, yelping brightly behind her. "You ran this place Miss Saddles? Did you make all the pretty dresses?"

That got her to stop her frantic activity and she looked down at the little filly kindly, "Why yes, I tailored many of the examples you see here, all according to Miss Rarity's designs of course! Though she always encouraged me to add my own style and additions to our lineup, were you interested in anything little miss? Shopping ahead for your cute-cenera perhaps?"

Shaking her head rapidly Glitter dug in her pack we had purchased for her time in Diamond City's school, "Oh no thank you! I gots a pretty dress already, see?!"

Pulling the frilly pink and silver garment out captured the ghoul's attention and she floated it up to examine it with an appraising eye. "So I see, this is a lovely dress dear. Well crafted as well, excellent stitching, nice material... familiar... I would be delighted to see you model it if you'd like, we have changing rooms upstairs!"

Well it was drier than her play dress and jacket so I had no objections, the subject seemed to be sinking through the mental haze Sassy Saddles was operating under too. Hoping to try to help her I nodded to Glitter and waved her up to the stairs, "Go ahead, show her how it looks sweetie. Val, why don't you show her yours too?"

"I ain't changing back into that thing boss, never should'a taken my armor off ta begin with..." The griffon gave a flat expression and watched the ghoul warily, but she did dig her slinky black dress from her bags and tossed it over at my urging.

Again Sassy couldn't help her professional interest, inspecting the sleek black garment critically. "Oh very nice, simple yet elegant, I imagine it looked quite lovely on you miss."

Nudging Jade got her to pull her own elaborate gown from her medical box saddlebags and float it over to the mare carefully, making her pale eyes widen as she took it in her own magic. "This... T-This is a Princess Dress! Wherever did you get it?! It is Miss Rarity's design but I never sold one in the Commonwealth! I must say I could sell a thousand of these with you as a model dear, but it was meant to be special. Why I only shared the design with... w-with..."

Thanks to Piper I had a good idea who this mare was and who she had shared it with, treading carefully I walked up to her and supplied the name softly. "Miss Couture? In Diamond City maybe?"

"Y-Yes... little Candy Couture... back in the city, b-before... Oh... oh my, I seem to have gotten a bit confused..." She looked around the shop wide eyed, actually seeing it now I think.

"It's ok Sassy, you were locked up down there for awhile it looked like. Being a little mixed up is understandable, if I'm not wrong you used to be 'Countess' Couture's partner at the Diamond City Carousel?"

The tall ghoul sat down with a thump and wiped a tear from her eye laughing, "Countess? Oh that is funny, she had been getting a bit full of herself but really, Countess? That little filly was a dirty ragamuffin from the wasteland before I taught her everything I knew, well... nearly everything. I feel I should properly introduce myself, Sassy Saddles at your service, thank you ever so much for your help, and you are?"

Giving her daintly held out hoof a gentle shake I smiled up to her, "Fast Times, pleased to meet you Sassy. This is Jade, Val, Zed and the filly upstairs is my daughter Glitter. Are you alright now? You... remember everything?"

"Sadly yes, thank you. Lovely to meet you all, those dreadful raiders have kept me for quite some time and I'm afraid I got lost in my memories for awhile. Oh look, how precious!" Her sad smile turned genuinely happy looking up to Glitter bounding down the stairs in her poofy dress, prancing around and showing it off.

"You like it!? I picked it myself! It looked prettier when we was all done up to go to the party, but I still like it!" The foal swishing around in her dress had done good work, pulling Sassy from her fugue effortlessly, making me proud.

"An excellent choice then my dear, you have quite the discerning eye for fashion, perhaps that is where your special talent will lie hmm? It is wonderful to see that look when a customer is satisfied by a lovingly made dress, that was Miss Rarity's favorite thing about the business. Er... i-if I may Miss Jade... w-would you mind terribly modeling this one? Rarity was quite proud of it and I... I never got the chance to see a pony wear it, let alone a princess. It would be such a treat... just for a moment?" Sassy floated the pale blue dress back to the alicorn with a hopeful look.

Jade took it from her kindly and nodded, "Of course, for all the production they made about it being their original design I should have known it was not. Such a wonderful dress could not be made on the spot in two days, I am happy to let you see it worn by an appreciative customer. You are closer to the true source after all, besides, Fast quite likes it as well don't you dear? Excuse me just a moment and I shall change."

With a flap of her wings she launched herself up to the changing rooms, leaving me with Sassy. "So... I got the basics that Miss Couture used to have a partner and they were pushed out from a reporter friend of mine, but I don't know what the story is. Um.. if it's ok, what happened anyway Sassy?"

The tall ghoul drooped a bit and answered sadly, "It was many years ago, I opened the Diamond City boutique with an eager young filly that was Candy. We provided practicalities of course, armor is much more important in the world today after all. But I wished to introduce a bit of class and sophistication back into the wasteland, make Miss Rarity proud... We did quite well, Diamond City became a large and respected town... then they got big enough they decided they no longer wanted undesirables such as ghouls like myself. After all I did for her Candy just let them push me out... I had nowhere else to go and this was my home, so I returned here."

Alright, now I really didn't like the old mare I met back in Diamond City. Setting herself up as a noble pony, taking credit for Rarity's designs, pushing the ghoul who taught her everything out into the wasteland... If I could find a way to hurt her business and standing, restore what should rightfully belong to Sassy, that's what I wanted to do. My pip-buck chimed in agreement, it had been mostly quiet while we were in the city, simply helping me catalog data, but now that I made a choice it woke up.

Mission Added: Political Leanings----------

Objectives--
--Bring Down Diamond City Nobility
-----Deal with Countess Couture
-----Deal with Bullet Bishop
-----Deal with Silver Seed
-----Deal with Neighson Svengallop

I hadn't thought it through that far but the arcano-tech device was right again, the nobility of Diamond City was wrong. They held their position of power through rotten means, theft, slavery, drugs, gun running... from what Piper said a lot of it was done outside the city and fed their wallets, keeping them in charge. I may not be allowed in the city and was on the run, but if the source of their power was out here with me I might be able to do something about it, weaken all of them and change things. It was a long term goal, but I was out here anyway.

Thinking about what the pip-buck on my hoof suggested and why was cut short by Jade fluttering down from the balcony and landing gently before us, just as gorgeous in the dress as she had been at the ball. Sassy's eyes grew wide and watery taking it in, trotting around the alicorn in slow circles and inspecting the regal garment.

"It is truly marvelous... I had always hoped to see it like this, being worn by a true princess is too perfect. I see they had to make some minor alterations and scale the design up a bit dear. You would be wonderful to tailor clothing for, I imagine you don't find much off the rack that fits hmm? My what I could do with you as a model..."

Jade flushed under the praise but accepted it graciously, "T-Thank you very much Miss Saddles. I do have difficulty finding clothing, though the elements do not bother me much so it is only for personal tastes, something I had not concerned myself with until recently..." She gave a coy smile over to me at that, well what could I say... Jade was beautiful, I liked seeing her in anything.

Sassy looked between us and grinned, "So I see... aren't you two cute. Dressing up for the one we love is fun isn't it? I could make you such wonderful outfits, it is a joy just to think about such work again, I do miss it so. I have been alone here quite some time."

That was just too sad, her treatment by Diamond City was bad enough and I intended to do something about that, but this I could help now. "You know, Jade here is the Princess of a town to the north called Sanctuary. I'm sure we could use a tailor and armor shop... you'd be welcome there Sassy, not have to be alone anymore. We sorta can't go with you right now, but I can write you a note and tell you who to talk to, get you set up right off. There are a lot of good ponies there, I think you'd like it."

The grateful look she gave almost hurt more, "Really? I... I could be with others again? In a town? I wouldn't be kicked out, I could work?"

Now that Jade had earned her mark and accepted the role, she stepped forward and nodded graciously, "Of course Sassy, I think that is a fine idea. Our town would be lucky to have you and your skills, as you said I can never find proper clothing in my size, I practically need my own tailor don't I?"

The tall ghoul beamed up to the taller alicorn with a sniffle, "Yes! T-That would be wonderful! Why I could take your measurements here and have oodles of time to work, the ideas are practically flying in my head! I've had a great deal of time to fantasize about being able to engage in my craft again during my imprisonment, the opportunity to do so again... Thank you all so much!"

That raised an interesting question I still wondered about, "Why did they keep you locked up Sassy? Raiders like that aren't often the type to keep prisoners unless they're getting something out of it. Just curious, you don't have to answer if its hard or anything."

She gave a guarded look for a moment before sighing and shaking her head, "Such a world to have to think poorly of the ponies who saved me and offered me a home again. They kept me for my secret, you are good ponies though, I will show you if you like. Right this way please!"

Trotting off to the workroom we followed slowly and caught up as she stood by a curtain partitioning the corner, pulling it back in her magic with a flourish to reveal a dress form behind it. The old mannequin was bare except for a rakish black hat with a silver band atop its head, the walls in the corner were covered in patterns and designs for a full outfit. Cursory examination of the hat and papers made me tremble in barely restrained excitement.

"The Shrouded Stallion! That's his hat! These are for the whole costume! You made it?!" Seeing my heroes hat in real life brought the colt out of me, prancing around happily to examine it.

The others all gave me an odd look, like I was slightly mad, but I couldn't help it. The real Shrouded Stallion hat was sitting right there! Jade and Glitter at least giggled at my elation and let me go, Sassy positively beamed and gave a little bow. "Exactly! My, I never expected to see a fan again that would recognize it. Most of the interest these days is because of its nature, not its design. Shoot it."

"What!? I could never...." Before I could finish Val pulled her pistol and blasted the hat right off the wooden head, making me wail in horror. "VAL!!"

"What? She said shoot it, I shot it. Chill out boss." She rolled her violet eyes with a smirk, clearly enjoying my shocked expression.

With a sly grin Sassy floated the hat back up from the floor and in front of me, it was perfectly fine... A ribbon of smoke trailed up from where it was hit but it had sustained no damage at all. "You see? It was meant to be a hero's costume after all, even if it was just for tv. Miss Rarity taught me many of the spells she used in the making of Shadowbolt power armor, to make a proper Shrouded Stallion costume I used some of them. It even has a repair talisman in the hat band for the spells woven throughout.

I still hold the secret to this armoring magic, able to make ordinary clothing as strong as ballistic armor. I never taught it to Miss Couture or anypony else, it was a gift from Rarity after all. Those raiders hoped to make me use it on their behalf but I refused. Here Fast, I think you should wear this, it is going to waste here and should be with a true fan."

To my glee she set the dark hat gently on my head and adjusted it critically, standing back to admire her work. "I can have it? R-Really..."

Tucking the brim down at a jaunty angle she smiled and nodded, "Oh yes, it looks perfect where it is now. You look like the Shroud himself, if only I still had the rest of the costume. I would dearly love to see the complete set together again on a pony that appreciates it as much as you obviously do."

Jade smiled and bowed to the ghoul mare, "Thank you Miss Saddles, Fast is quite the admirer of the character. It looks very handsome on him, I like it very much."

Val groaned and gave a chuckle, "Aw he's gonna be unbearable now, already plays up that Shroud stuff enough. Though it has come in handy or at least funny here and there. Betcha he's gonna want the whole thing now."

"Umm... yeah I do actually. Er... cause if it's as tough as the hat it'd be even better than my armor, r-really that's why... Soooo... you did make it Sassy? Where is it?"

"Well, it was for that Shrouded Stallion television program. The producers insisted on taking the costume for screen tests they said, even though the hat wasn't finished. Very impatient ponies, I tried to tell them to simply give me a little time so they could have the complete costume, but they were anxious to get started. I can only imagine they took it to their studio, Hubris Comics and Entertainment. It's only a few blocks away but I've never been there, they sent a courier to pick it up." Sassy had floated out a measuring tape and was hurriedly zipping it around Jade and jotting down notes distractedly as she answered, floating tools and fabric from the workshop to a pile near the door, already packing apparently.

"Ugh... lemme guess boss..." Val huffed again, already figuring out what I was likely to do.

"Well, it's close... we have to lay low anyway right? Plus this place is on my list of Institute type locations I got from Piper's files..."

"Uh-huh, sure boss. Talk some sense into him Blue, really think we oughta risk it with the heat on just for some silly costume? Excuses aside we got Gunner hit squads out there still, safer layin' low awhile yet."

Jade and Val being in agreement was infrequent but here it was, "She is correct Fast, I know you want this outfit Miss Saddles created, but perhaps some other time? When it is safe to go exploring we can revisit the idea yes?"

"But... It's not far, we can get there easy enough... It's not just cause I want it, Sassy said she always wanted to see the whole thing together again right? Besides it's... l-look this has been a rotten day... From the moment I woke up in a Stable again I felt bad, thinking about things... Then we get attacked leaving to go home, which I thought would make me feel better, just to find out we can't go back now. That I've got price on my head, that we'll be hunted everywhere...

I know it's silly ok, but seeing this hat, knowing the suit is out there somewhere... it made me happy. Actually getting out and doing something instead of sitting here hiding from assassins after us because of me, investigating one of my leads and even finding the Shroud's costume Sassy made, that would make me feel a little better about this horrible day. It might be stupid but... but I'd really like to do it, please?" I could feel myself drooping as I explained my reasoning, but I couldn't lie to Jade. When I saw that hat I actually felt good for the first time today, the idea of the rest of it gave me something to focus on.

Her concerned gaze softened and she wrapped me in a warm embrace, "I knew you were letting thoughts weigh on you, I had not considered what waking up in the Stable would be like though. I am sorry, you seemed fine last night and I did not think... If this is important to you it is worth some risk, under the current circumstances I suppose we are in danger regardless. I do not think we should all go however..."

The pointed look she gave Glitter following Sassy around the workroom was helped along by Zed, actually volunteering to speak up for once. "I will remain here with your foal if you like. I am interested in speaking with Miss Saddles, you knew Rarity herself yes? I have many questions if you wouldn't mind discussing her ma'am."

"An' I guess I don't mind this time dad, if it makes ya happy... Plus maybe I can learn stuff from Sassy too! I bet it was neat when this was a real dress shop." Glitter not complaining about being left behind was another oddity, I must really not voice my own issues very often to warrant such understanding.

Sassy looked between all of us, settling on the foal and zebra. "Of course, sharing my knowledge with a cute little filly would be delightful dear. I always enjoy speaking of Miss Rarity as well sir, she was a wonderful pony and I do miss her very much. If you are determined to go I do hope you'll be careful Fast, I can show you where on your map there. I wish you best of luck, seeing the entire ensemble together would be such a treat."

Val groaned and shrugged at all of us, "Alright, alright... if yer all down in the dumps guess I can't say no either. Least it should be good armor, maybe some loot too. Not a horrible idea to draw em away from the kiddo either if we do get caught out there. Some nerd shop shouldn't be that bad, just in an' out right boss?"

"Right, in and out, no problem!" My pip-buck agreed with the simple assessment;

Mission Added: The Shroud's Shroud-----------

Objective--------
--Find the Shrouded Stallion Costume at Hubris Comics

Thanks to Sassy's directions and the maze of alleys between her shop and Hubris Comics, we managed to make it without running into any trouble. Val was pretty on edge, actually more disturbed by the lack of Gunner patrols than if we had needed to hide from any, putting a damper on her reaction to making it to the large brick building before us.

Now that we were here I was sure I had been to this place once before, I never got to go into the city very often before the war and there was so much it was all a blur, but this was very familiar. For all I knew this was where I got my Shroud figure to begin with. I didn't really recognize the surroundings or the tall, four story brick office building, but the bright yellow painted words "Hubris Comics!" tickled a memory.

Pushing open the weathered, red framed glass door made a rusty bell above give a sad jingle as we rushed in to get off the street and out of the drizzle. Taking in the large store triggered that sense of familiarity again, I had definitely been here once before at least. The feeling was probably helped along by having the same reaction then as I did now, gleeful excitement at all the treasures on display as soon as I entered.

Of course the years hadn't been kind to the place, rot and ruin was present like it was everywhere in the wasteland. The things in here were packaged and cared for specifically to counter the effects of aging though, the shelves may have disintegrated around them but the things on them held up far better. The glass counter in front of the door and the cases behind it were in the best shape, making me scramble over the minor obstacle and hurriedly wipe the transparent surface with my hoof, pressing my face against it to peer inside.

"They have a Sword Mare #16! The first appearance of Sir McBiggun! And a limited edition Garbunkle figure from the preorder! Oooh! A Mare do' Well #208! Power Ponies #302-#305, the Mane-iac trilogy! A Big Mac and his Mad Marauders #42! An Unhoofables #28! A gold variant Mechanamare! A boxed set of Daring Do books, signed by A.K. Yearling! A.... OMIGOSH! VAL OPEN THIS! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE!"

Val and Jade had been watching me drool against the locked glass case with amusement, my reaction actually got her attention though and she bounded over the counter to join me. "What boss!? Gold!? Jewels?! Loot!?"

My eyes felt big enough to fall out of my head as I pointed a shaking hoof up to the top of the display, "Better... A... T-They have The Shrouded Stallion #1!!!"

The exasperated look she gave me is not what I'd expect... It was like saying Princess Celestia's crown was sitting right there in front of us! Jade giggling at the door didn't help either, but the griffon grunted and started working her magic on the lock. "This ain't the armored costume we're after boss... you gonna load yourself down with junk before we even find it?"

"Junk!? Do you have any idea how much just that one book is worth?! Like 50,000 bits! It's priceless! How could nopony have looted this place before now?!"

That got her to raise an eyebrow appreciatively a moment before snorting as the lock clicked and I rushed forward, "Alright, maybe it was good loot back when you were around boss. Nowadays it's junk though, nobody's looted here 'cause it's only worth what somebody'd pay for it, an' yer probably the only nut that would pay much of anything."

The original Shroud comic was in a sealed, reinforced case, but I still carefully floated it down and into my waiting hooves. I took a minute to hug it to myself tightly and admire the cover before stashing it in my bags with the Ministry Mare statues. Holding the bag open I started sending everything else in the case in after it, giving the dubious mercenary a tight hug for her work. "Thank you! I can't believe it! I actually own #1!!!"

Jade tittered as she trotted into the room, giving me a sweet, indulgent smile. "I am glad to see you happy Fast, the trip has already been worthwhile wouldn't you agree Valkyrie?"

"Yeah Blue, he's cute alright, awful easy to make happy if this crud is all it takes. Now c'mon boss, get off! Gonna go poke around, see if there's anything actually valuable down here, go geek out somewhere else." Peeling me off Val glanced about, picking up a large double headed axe from another case in her claws, swinging it experimentally before tossing it in her own bags.

Joining Jade as the big alicorn squeezed down the ruined aisles of shelves and rooted through the debris, I was rewarded with an affectionate nuzzle before she returned to floating out intact books. "I much prefer to see you this way Fast, Valkyrie is correct, you are quite cute when so obviously thrilled. Hmm... what is this book?"

The thick, hardcover tome she held up was battered and dirty, but still in fairly good shape for being partially buried under bits of caved in ceiling. "Oh, that's Ogres & Oubliettes, 3rd edition rulebook. It was a little too old for me I think, but it's a game! You umm... you sorta make up your own character and stories, roll dice like... aha, here's some!"

A little digging in the detritus turned up a few of the brightly colored, plastic dice of varying sizes and shapes to show her questioning look. "A game? Played with a book and... dice? You never played it yourself though?"

"Not really, I was a little young for it at the time, plus you need others to play with sooooo... not really an option. I read about it though, it always seemed neat and I wanted to try it, but the whole needing friends things kinda got in the way, so I never did."

With an interested little nod she floated the book to her own medical box saddlebags along with the dice I uncovered. "That is no longer an issue then is it? From what you explained it seems to foster creativity and organization, perhaps we may interest Glitter in trying it. I have come to realize I must make some effort to disguise my attempts at educating her, and entertainment we may all engage in would certainly be useful if we are to be roughing it for awhile."

My own personal elation had driven everything else out of my head, but she had an excellent point. I wasn't the only one who may appreciate some of the things in here, a foal needed toys and games. Reminded of the little filly waiting on us I led the way a couple aisles over, working my way past all the rubble and trash to a part of such stores I was never interested in before. Even 200 years of age hadn't completely faded all the pink present over here, following my intent Jade helped me sort through the remnants happily.

"Umm... I'm not as sure about this kinda stuff, think she'd like a toy like this?" A rotting pile of mulch that used to be cardboard boxes disclosed a small number of bright plastic pony toys, their artificial manes dirty but still present and salvageable.

Smiling widely Jade inspected the old doll and looked it over quizzically on making out the features, "Yes these would be wonderful, but... is this an alicorn? From before the war?"

Surprised myself I took a closer look, yes this was a pink alicorn doll... that was strange. No, wait... Sunset liked these I think, I had to play with hers a few times and watch the associated show with her, pay her back for her putting up with my Shrouded Stallion fixation. They were... "A-Alicorn Angels... I sorta remember these now, Sun... er... a f-friend liked them... They were like a filly super team I think, yeah... lemme remember. Umm... like a group of friends who were all regular ponies, but when the bad guy showed up they'd do this... sparkly, transforming thing and turn into the Angels. Let's see, there was this one, Angel Pink, and... well here's the head from an Angel Green, oh here's an Angel Yellow... Come on, please let one be in here... aha! Alicorn Angel Blue! I think she's the best!"

The blushing grin and quick kiss that got from finding the bedraggled blue doll made this trip even better, she examined the toy slowly and smoothed the mane and little blue skirt and white blouse out as best she could. "Alicorn toys... they were good? Superheroes? Little fillies played with these and found them enjoyable, w-wanted to be like them?"

"Well I definitely find my Angel Blue to be good and enjoyable! But yeah, lots of fillies liked these, they were pretty popular. Brand new before the end, here, you should keep this one Jade. We can clean it up and it'll be like you have your own Ministry Mare statue, what would the stand say though? Be Incredible? Be Perfect? Be.."

My enjoyment at watching her turn red and whinny at the praise was interrupted by Val, making exaggerated gagging noises from a newly opened door behind the counter reading 'Manager'. "Aw come on you two, yer sickenin' when you get all sappy like that boss. C'mere, terminal back here still working, we are posed ta be after more than just toys ya know..."

Both of us started guiltily at the teasing, I stumbled over to the impatient griffon leaving Jade to continue looking over the pile for more remnants of the odd toy line. The office Val had unlocked was in excellent condition, sealed up behind a heavy door to protect the personal collection adorning the heavy steel desk and walls inside. Before sitting in the wooden office chair with a creak I grabbed a few of the more interesting posters and a Space Captain Andromeda model ship and figure, along with a replica ray gun!

Rolling her violet eyes, Val left me to tap through the password once she was sure I'd get to work, getting back to her own more practical exploration of the first floor. A little effort cracked the security on the ancient terminal, granting access to a command to open a hidden safe beneath the desk, and a variety of old mail files I perused quickly.

Subject: Re: Shroud Pre-Production
From: Mr. Stamp

Love the notes Silent! The whole effort has benefited from having an in house expert on the Shroud, our writers might grumble a bit but if we're making this show you're right, we ought to do it right. Fans like you will definitely appreciate all your hard work. Convinced Hayrams to let you sit in on the screen test next week. Bolt will be in costume, minus the hat anyway, so look forward to your thoughts seeing them go through the pilot script. Finally get to give that weird system from Vega a real test drive too, see you upstairs then!

Subject: Re: Prototype Feedback
From: Dr. Vega

Silent, glad to hear the glowing review of the M.I.P. system. I told you taking me on as an investor would have benefits you couldn't imagine and hope I've kept my word as far as minimal interference with the business, you're the expert after all. Remember to have everypony who's associated with the production sign those non disclosure agreements, the system's still hush hush and I'm sure you can appreciate why now. I'll pass your notes and praise along, I must admit I had my doubts when the dreamers over at the Theoretical Imagineering Dept. at C.I.A.T. came up with this baby, but it lives up to the hype doesn't it? Enjoy and can't wait to see how your director uses it for the pilot!

Subject: Re: Alicorn Angels sales figures
From: Ms. Penny

Hey Silent, just a reminder that M.O.I. is pestering us for weekly updates on the Angels figures. Part of the pain of being a test market I guess, those ponies over at Image ought to be happy though right? Gotta admit, clever idea for a filly's show, team of regular ponies magically transforming into beautiful princesses, brilliant! Gonna have every little filly in the Commonwealth pretending they can turn into an alicorn angel with their own plastic pendants, if we can keep them in stock. Don't know why they're so concerned with sales figures at the prices they're having us sell all that stuff at though, they can't be making a profit but hey, we get paid either way. Of course they don't have to worry about getting censored by themselves either do they, would think they'd give our comics a little more leeway since we're helping them out.

The heavy bag of golden bits and jewels, party time mentats, gun and ammo in the safe weren't nearly as interesting as those few mail files I flagged and reread. So Hubris definitely was one of the businesses in the Commonwealth the Institute had meddled with before the war ended... they weren't very clear what this prototype M.I.P. system was, but did give me the name of another department. Theoretical Imagineering wasn't very informative, though if I had to guess and it kept up with the pattern I had been following of each department coinciding with one of the Ministries.... I'd be willing to bet one with a name like that was the Institute version of the Ministry of Awesome, it was equally nonsensical and at least 20% cooler than Advanced Systems, Biosciences or Public Relations after all.

Nearly as curious was the last mail, the Ministry of Image was involved with the Alicorn Angels cartoon and products? If Jade hadn't spotted them and reacted as she had I may have just dismissed it, but now that I was thinking of it that was pretty strange. The letter was right, as far as I knew the M.O.I. was more concerned with censoring or editing things, not making their own new content. It was strange enough I had to bring my own real life alicorn in to read it with me, watching her brow furrow as she ran through it a second time.

"So... weird huh? Thought you might be interested, I hadn't thought of it in forever but why would M.O.I. make a show for fillies?"

Jade looked at the dolls thoughtfully, going over the mail once more before sighing. "I believe it was laying the groundwork for the I.M.P. project... As the sender states, many fillies would be playing make believe at being able to turn into an alicorn yes? Meanwhile another Ministry was in the process of creating a potion that would do exactly that. This show was most likely a way to normalize the idea, make the prospect desirable to a whole generation of ponies."

"That's... that's pretty devious... Would the Ministries really manipulate ponies like that?"

Giving a short 'tsk' she floated the dolls back to her bags and answered kindly, "I am afraid so Fast. To change how society viewed alicorns if nothing else, you are proof enough at the time alicorn meant princess in the minds of the public. If ordinary ponies were to be turned into my kind for the war, that idea would need to change if nothing else. There are still many things you do not understand about how the war corrupted the Ministry Mares and their Ministries, before the end it became very bad..."

"Hey boss! Somethin' you oughta see in here!" Val saved me from having to really consider what the alicorn princess meant by that, I was still ok with ignorance being bliss on certain subjects for now.

Spotting her shouting from a stall beyond the open restroom door only added to the thought, "Do I really want to see whatever's in there Val?"

"Har, har, just get in here boss!"

We joined her with some trepidation, following her stare straight down I was relieved to find it wasn't into a toilet. It was a short lived relief though, where the bowl should be a water rotted hole led down to the musty basement of the building, where a foul, rotting stench was wafting up. I clicked my pip-buck light on to confirm what I was looking at and felt my stomach do a lazy flop, a pile of corpses was down there, apparently dumped in a heap from this hole.

More disturbing was the fact they all looked fairly similar to myself, a lot of dark colored stallions stared back at me. Dark blues, dark purples, dark greens, very dark reds, even a couple shades of my own charcoal coat. It wasn't like seeing a pile of exact doubles, but when you live around predominantly brightly colored ponies seeing that much dark is noticeable.

"So much for nopony ever coming here after all... what do you think..."

A thump and series of growls behind us cut me off, already on edge staring at the mass grave we spun on the spot to the sight of zombies clambering up from the floor and more falling through the holes in the ceiling. E.F.S. hadn't shown anything until they started moving from wherever they had been before, presumably laying around inactive and therefore regarded as dead. Drawing my weapons I joined Val who was already unloading on the sudden horde pressing forward, trying to swarm us now that we were pinned in the small bathroom.

Shoving me ahead of her Val pointed us toward a door in the corner, a rickety set of stairs visible through the holes in its surface. "Move it! Can't let em corner us boss, get goin'!"

Several more zombies were charging down the stairs when we got through and slammed the battered door against the ones we left behind. It wouldn't hold them long, but let us focus on the new threat ahead of us and keep moving to the second floor. Offices were up here from the number of heavy metal desks scattered across the room, between the various holes in the floor more zombies kept falling through.

Dashing up the stairs and blasting away with the Terrible Shotgun I ran around the nearest desk, looking back towards the narrow stairwell and the thumps of more zombies slamming into the door. Frantically I reared back and bucked it for all I was worth, managing to budge the bulky piece of furniture a few inches between firing rounds at the nearest enemies able to navigate the room.

I could hear the door below shudder and splinter in its frame over the sound of Val's and my own weapons. Jade landed beside me and her own buck sent the steel desk tumbling down the stairs, wedging against the remains of the door. It was easy to forget how much stronger the gentle alicorn was than me until she did things like that, she'd be a real terror if she wasn't a pacifist.

That cut off the ones below anyway, several more joined them trying to get to us through the minefield of gaps in the wooden floor as well. Luckily zombies weren't all that coordinated or observant, making clearing what remained on this floor a great deal easier. My silenced pistol dropped the last pair trapped behind a U shaped trio of desks while Val grabbed another nearby, tossing it down the stairs to join the first.

Staring down to make sure the barricade would hold she nodded to herself, quietly crossing the office to the front windows and whispering over her shoulder. "That oughta keep em busy, get to lookin' around boss. Hope we didn't attract too much attention with all of that noise..."

Jade and I split up and started searching this floor, the offices weren't nearly as interesting as all the cool stuff in the store, but I had already ransacked the first floor before we were driven out. There were other things up here that were of concern to all of us, least of which was the employee break room I found to the side.

We had gotten to rely on the easy living in Diamond City, where you could just go purchase a meal from any number of eateries when you got hungry. Back out in the wasteland we'd need to replenish our own supplies and the small kitchenette fit the bill nicely. The comic shop workers seemed to have a real affinity for preservative laden junk foods that survived 200 years up here disturbingly well. Lots of Glitter's favorite Fancy Buck snack cakes, bags of apple and carrot chips, cans of Cram and sweet potatoes, dried Instamash and oats, and half a dozen tins of coffee.

The rusting fridge was stuffed with nothing but Sparkle Cola. Carefully divided up between the regular orange carrot flavor and Jade's prefered red Rad variety, along with a new type I had never seen. The small number of bright golden bottles labeled "Sparkle Cola Victory" showed a manically happy looking Fluttershy and advertised "Delicious cider taste! Twice the caffeine!"

Rifling through the desks yielded a number of caps scattered in the drawers, strange for prewar ponies to hold on to them, but I had noticed a variety of containers in the wasteland often held a few here and there. Maybe they got stashed there by later scavengers, or Val's joke she told me when I once asked about Discord wandering the world hiding caps randomly was true.

A small side office looked to have belong to writing staff and had some real treasure, for me anyway. Unfinished, half inked comic pages were clipped to angled drafting tables and piled in out trays, a couple desks facing each other each held old fashioned typewriters and their owners wrote the scripts for new comics and other books as well. One drawer on this pair held a bound script for the Shrouded Stallion TV Pilot I flipped through greedily and dumped in my bags.

Even the growls and groans drifting up from the first floor faded away as I scanned my new reading material, happily distracted until Val hissed by the window, dodging away from the glass and waving us both down and quiet. "Shit... was worried bout this boss. Stay quiet you two, we got company. Let's get movin' upstairs guys, sneaky like ok? Fuckin' Hound and a real hit squad trackin' us now, those advance squads were small fry compared to this one. Ssssh!"

The tired jingle of the bell above the door downstairs got all the zombies attention, the new red marks on E.F.S. were swarmed by the old ones surging away from the stairwell after them. The three of us crept towards the stairs up to the third floor under the cover of a lot of shouting and gunfire below, we reached them as the shooting trailed off and my compass displayed a lot less red.

"Damn ferals! Ya sure about this Hound? Weird place for them to hunker down don't ya think?" A gravelly voice panted below us, a ghoul Gunner presumably.

There was a moment of silence while one red mark moved slowly around below us, a few fleeting glimpses through the gaps in the floor showed what looked like a light brown, vaguely hawk-like griffon inspecting the sales room. Finally the red dash stopped near the blocked stairs and a quiet, masculine voice answered. "They were here alright, three of em anyway, includin' both targets. Big tracks too, probably the alicorn... dunno and don't care why they came here, I just track em. Looks like they looted the place for whatever damn reason, everybody stay frosty, get to work clearin' that crap from the stairs."

Val scowled down at the marks on my compass moving as directed, the metal desks squalled and shifted as they got to work. At least 10 were down there, half had clumped up clearing the makeshift barrier while the rest spread out. Following their movement I floated several of my limited stock of grenades from my bags and raised an eyebrow to Val, gesturing to the assorted holes leading down. If the zombies could come thumping down from the ceiling while we were in there, a few grenades could too.

Grinning Val took a couple in her dark claws and nodded towards the hole nearest the street entrance, I gestured to the stairs and the rest of the room with the other four, mouthing a countdown from 3 silently. On 1 we pulled the pins and tossed the explosives down, Jade winced and laid her ears down against her head as we ran up the stairs, seconds ahead of an excited shout and the series of roaring detonations.

Fleeing to the third floor I could make out at least half of the marks on E.F.S. scrambling around below us, more explosions rang out at the stairwell along with a screech from the griffon in charge. "Oh you are so fucking dead! Move it! They're upstairs, don't let em get away!!"

"Went better than I figured boss, good thinkin'! Hound's no pushover, thinnin' out his crew helps. Just be ready for hell when he catches up!" Whoever this griffon was Val seemed to respect his skills, I was surprised he had been able to effectively track us here.

Jade gave a determined nod, thinking along the same lines with me. "It seems you were right Valkyrie, it is a good thing we left the Commonwealth Carousel and Glitter behind for a bit if this former associate of yours was able to find us. Hopefully we have adequately led them away and she is safe."

My agreement with the alicorn beauty dried up in my throat as we crested the stairs and reached the third floor. This area was some kind of backstage for the filming that took place on the fourth floor it would seem, a long wooden hallway stretched ahead of us to the last set of stairs. On either side of the passage were a series of doors with stars and faded name plates, dressing rooms from the looks of it. The hall itself was cluttered with racks for tattered costumes and a wide variety of props and rotting boxes. What was truly jarring however was the pirate pony standing in the middle of the hall staring at us...

A pirate ghost? Ghost pirate? Piper's files had rumors this place was haunted, putting it on her list of possible Institute locations, I still never expected to really run into a ghost though. Or had we? The pirate ahead of us had a faint glow at the edges, but seemed alive and solid enough. It was wearing a perfect stereotypical costume, ratty red coat trimmed in gold, eyepatch, black pirate hat with the skull and crossbones, hind peg-leg, the complete package.

I skidded to a halt faced with the sudden insanity, Jade faltered with me as well, Val however didn't care what it was in our way, just that it was there. She instantly sent lances of red magical energy weapon fire at the obstacle, only pausing when they passed through the pony harmlessly.

"Aha finally! Our actors have arrived, we're terribly behind schedule! I see you've brought the hat as well Bolt baby, great work! Now to just get you in costume and we can get started at last!" The hoarse voice coming from the pirate seemed right, but the words and accent were definitely not accurate.

The sound of pounding hooves and claws behind us added another wrinkle to this bizarre exchange. "Oh what the fuck is this nonsense! Move it, quick!" The fiery griffon scooped me up easily and blasted through the air, veering off halfway to the weird pirate and slamming through one of the dressing room doors with Jade flying in behind us.

Drawing the Last Minute I crawled back to the open doorway to join Val, who was lying in wait as the Gunner crew charged into the hall behind us. The dressing room she had picked was empty and safe at a glance anyway, a pony skeleton occupying the seat before the dirty makeup station. Jade waited behind us anxiously, her horn already glowing in preparation to cast a heal or her blue shield if needed.

The activity in the hall drew my attention, Val hadn't given our position away yet as the Gunners had also stopped when confronted with the glowing pirate. The apparition's reaction to them wasn't nearly as benign as it had been to our entrance, "What's all this then? We're not filming a war movie! All you extras get out of here, I have no need of you today!"

"What the hell?! Waste that thing and find those little bastards! I want the traitor's head!" The singed griffon Hound hadn't escaped unscathed from the fireworks downstairs and sounded like he was in a foul mood for it. He and the bloodied remaining ponies in his crew poured a stream of death down the hall at the pirate, to the same effect Val's M.E.W. had. As I watched hundreds of rounds from Hound's minigun, blasts from a couple riot shotguns, assault rifle fire, magical energy weapon bolts and even a missile sailed right through the ghost.

"You union players are getting awfully pushy aren't you? Well if you won't take the hint I'll just have to insist, as you can see I don't need anyone besides my stars! Time to go!" The pirate scowled at the spooked Gunners and demonstrated his point when a dozen more ghosts suddenly appeared up and down the hall, all of them sending beams of bright cyan energy at the mercenaries.

This had to be the strangest sight I had ever seen, made more surreal by the very real death the ghosts were dishing out with those beams they were sending out. Just from what I could make out through the flashes and smoke the Gunners were being torched alive by... a ninja, an Appaloosan Sheriff, an astronaut pony, an escaped criminal in black and white stripes wearing a black mask, an armored knight, a changeling and of course the pirate.

When the screams and flashes died down the three of us cautiously poked our heads out in the hall, watching the strange cluster of ghosts flicker away, leaving only the pirate and a lot of dead, smoking Gunners.

"Whoa... what the hell was that boss... That goofy pirate's kinda makin' me nervous now, maybe we oughta..."

Val's concern was well founded as the ghostly pirate turned on all of us, its eyes glowing brightly. "Are you three still just standing around? Come on, we're running late enough already, rewrites to concern ourselves with thanks to our special guest stars Bolt baby. No time to waste, afraid I'll just have to move this along!"

The weird light in the pirate's eyes started flashing rythmically, fast then slow, fast then faster then slow. The pulsing effect seemed to spread to the walls and ceiling, making strange afterimages and circles float in my vision as the room seemed to spin. Jade shook her head and stumbled, landing on top of me with all of her considerable bulk and groaning above me. "F-Fast... this is w-wrong.... don't... d-don't..."

Val reached out to help and promptly fell against the door frame, sliding down the wall even while gripping it in her claws, leaving long marks in the plaster. Pinned under a lot of alicorn as I was, I could only weakly reach toward the griffon as she collapsed in a heap nearby. Jade's blue eyes were clenched tightly shut and she gave one more attempt at getting off of me before she passed out, her pale blue mane enveloping my face before everything went dark.

The rough voice of the ghost followed me down into the abyss as I lost consciousness, "Makeup!"

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

Book Worm----
--You pay much closer attention to the smaller details when reading! With the Comprehension perk, you gain double the bonus from reading magazines and 50% more skill points when reading books. Sure to come in useful now that you've got some new reading material!

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

Alicorn Angel Blue-----
--It's not a Ministry Mare statue and doesn't have a soul attached to it, it's technically not even for you... But having a little toy version of your favorite alicorn makes you think of her any time you see it. You gain a boost of +10 to the Medicine skill!