Going over the notes and maps Hound had gathered was only making that pounding, red rage pulse in my head louder and louder. I was right, the new wanted poster for Krispy Kellogg wasn't just the Gunners fishing for leads, he had been spotted recently and Hound had apparently tracked him down, I knew where to look for the bastard that killed my Stable...

"Boss look, you don't wanna mess with this guy ok? He's a legend, nobody who screws with Kellogg comes back, he's a founding member of the Gunners for Gawd's sake!" Val actually sounded concerned, hearing her try to talk me out of a fight was a weird bit of role reversal.

"I don't care Val. I'm going to find him and kill him, slowly..." Hound had a long list of sightings documented, all centered on some kind of installation to the west of Manebridge, not all that far south of Sanctuary actually.

"Don't get full of yerself boss! I ain't kiddin' here ok? This pony is what we tell little Gunners about to make em eat their veggies, be good little mercs or big bad Kellogg will come an' getcha! At least let me explain, don't go off half cocked like this, I'm the one that gets in stupid fights remember?!"

Jade and Glitter looked up from their reading with matching looks of wide eyed concern at the griffon pulling me away from the papers showing me where to go. "Fast... what is wrong? Who is this Kellogg pony you are speaking of killing so coldly? I do not like that tone in your voice when it comes out, calm down and explain."

I could feel my red eyes trying to burn even at the mare I loved and clenched them shut tightly, taking in a long, shaky breath and gritting my teeth to speak to the darkness. "You saw it Jade, you saw what he did. You remember back in 111? The freezer in the diner? The foals the owner of my knife died protecting? This is the pony that killed them, this is the merc that worked for the Institute and killed everypony on Shift 4, that kidnapped my family! I know you're right, I know I shouldn't let that part of me take over, but I promised those foals. I am going to find him and I am going to kill him, no matter what. I don't care how tough he is Val, I don't care if it's wrong to want revenge, I am going to do this. I'm.... I'm sorry...."

The alicorn princess grabbing me in a warm embrace made me open my eyes, blinking away the tears trying to collect there. Jade's presence was able to get through to me as always, forcing that dark Shroud in my head to retreat, held in check by her warmth and three little voices up there with it, "Be Kind...", "Be Strong!" and now "Be Unwavering."

"I remember Fast... I remember how that room affected you most of all, it hurts you and that hurts me. We will go and find this evil pony, but you must remain calm. Allow Valkyrie to speak, she seems to know of him better than you do yes? Please continue Valkyrie." Wrapping her wings around me Jade sat down softly, forcing me to sit in front of her, dragged down by her forelegs wrapped around my chest while she nuzzled behind me tenderly.

Glitter trotted over to sit beside me, trying to help comfort me while Val sighed and started flipping through the papers. "Alright... I didn't know he was the one who did that to your Stable boss... bout 80 years ago right? Timing lines up then, who knew. I still don't think it's a good idea though. Here's the deal, once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria, around 100 years ago or so, there was this big, bad raider that damn near took over the wasteland.

Crazy pink bitch, got up to some real nasty business, raised an army, took apart a whole base of Steel Rangers, blew up towns, you name it ok... One of what ya might call her proteges was Kellogg, young buck at the time that joined her crazy raider army. Now, evil pink pony eventually gets taken down, by some fat trader of all things if you believe the stories... Her army falls apart, the wasteland moves on, happy ending all around, or as good as it gets in this world anyway. Kellogg made enough of a name for himself it was in his best interest to get the hell out of Equestria, so he ends up in the Commonwealth, tougher than yer average raider so he becomes a merc.

Fast forward a few years, one thing leads to another and Kellogg helps put together the Gunners, long story there and not really that relevant right now. Main point is, he's one of the toughest of the tough, started the business and helped establish the brand ya know? Gunners get the job done if you got the caps, everything goes peachy for awhile, then Kellogg gets his last contract...

You know how folks keep tellin' ya you ain't the first who's gone after the Institute boss? Well Kellogg is a good example of what they mean. Used to be a pretty fancy town down south at the time called University Point, well there is now too, but it ain't the same one. Anyway, the U.P. a century ago was pretty rich an' fancy, did good for themselves, handled a lot of trade down that way. So one day the Institute pisses off one of the rich ponies down there, who even knows how, maybe they kidnapped somebody, or killed em, or replaced em, whatever. You know pretty well just how bad they can tick folks off right?

Well rich pony has the caps to do somethin' about it they figure, hires the Gunners to go get the Institute, spares no expense. Nobody knows shit about the Institute back then, like even less than they do now. So hot new merc crew figures they'll take on the eggheads, make a name for themselves, send their best after em. Kellogg goes off to bust Institute heads, then Kellogg disappears.

No big deal, everybody figures he's dead, kinda a loss for the company but not so bad since he's a prick and dangerous, probably saved em from tryin' to take him out themselves later. Nobody's that broken up about it, until Kellogg shows back up... Bout a year after they took out the contract on the Institute, University Point gets wiped off the map, rich pony who took out the contract ends up strung up at the gates by his guts. Only survivor of the massacre says big, bald cyber-buck came into town alone, killed em all.

So you see, not only does he not complete his contract, he breaches it in the most spectacular way possible. Kills the employer, not good for business... Gunners are righteously pissed, put out a bounty for Kellogg to save face, 'cept every hit crew that goes after him ends up dead too, messily dead... Send a message dead...

Kellogg starts being a ghost story, he ain't takin' jobs away from the Gunners since he's workin' for the Institute, and goin' after him is gettin' expensive, so the guys in charge say screw it. They leave the posters up, let freelancers get killed and hope the problem goes away. Which it sorta does, Kellogg keeps a low profile, but he does keep showing up so they gotta keep puttin' up posters, hope they get lucky. Cept this just makes him more of a legend cause he never goes away completely, no matter how many years pass Kellogg's still out there, still looks the same an' still leaves a trail of destruction when he shows up.

If Kellogg was the one who took yer Stable boss... well that musta been not long after he started workin' for the Institute, years basically line up anyway. You see what I mean now? 90 years of a bounty that just keeps goin' up and he's still kickin', this ain't a pony you mess with."

"I'm going to mess with him..."

Groaning Val threw her claws up and took a long drink, "Knew you were gonna say that... Don't say I didn't warn ya boss. Oh well, what the hell, if anybody can do it you probably got a good shot boss, ya keep surprisin' me doin' pretty impossible shit. Just don't take this guy lightly alright? If you insist on doin' this I'd rather it be with a freakin' army..."

Jade's worried nuzzling and the anxious stare Glitter gave me made me take her seriously, I couldn't let this go but I had family counting on me. I couldn't lose my head or underestimate what I was determined to do. I really wished I could do as Val joked and go after him at the head of an army, but I couldn't bring that kind of force to bear on this Fort... checking my pip-buck map for the name of the place my eyes lingered on the area. I couldn't bring an army... but maybe I could bring help...

"Do you know anything about this Fort Haygone Val? Where Hound says he's hiding?"

Tapping at her own pip-buck Val squinted at the map and thought carefully, "Not much, some old Equestrian Army installation, big place, small town around it. Used to be farmland before the war, threw the place up overnight so town and fort are called Haygone, Hay Gone get it..."

Looking over the path there and what was nearby I started coming up with the basics of an idea, I'd have to keep the overwhelming desire to go directly there in check, but with any luck I could go in somewhat prepared. Thinking on who I meant to visit I felt a little bad, Jade hadn't gotten the chance to get ahold of the I was thinking of yet, I'd be bringing the ire of an alicorn princess with me down on her head...

"Alright, we'll take this slow and be careful, I am going after Kellogg though. First I think we need to sneak out tonight like we planned, but head north to Manebridge. We can split up with Sassy there and point her to Hexington and Sanctuary beyond, you should be safe getting there when we leave you Sassy. We have to go visit some ponies I said I would awhile back, you get to meet those Brotherhood ponies I told you about Jade...."

Any hopes I had that the big alicorn filly had forgotten about the former Enclave pegasus Summer Wind disappeared watching her blue eyes narrow above me as she huffed, "Oh? Good... I still wished to speak with that pegasus you told me about Fast. Valkyrie filled in certain details about your time together you neglected to mention, I am most interested in discussing things with this mare..."

Scowling over at Val I caught her snickering behind her claws, trying to look innocent while she gathered together the strewn papers. She didn't have to take such great delight in tweaking Jade's jealousy, the pegasus had been friendly and didn't deserve what was coming her way.

I still had my doubts Val's appraisal of her interest in me was anything but more of the griffon's teasing anyway. I had been lucky enough to finally find a mare that liked me, such things did not happen repeatedly. My pip-buck at least distracted me from the thought, chiming and scrolling text in my vision, something nice and simple for once, reflecting my thoughts on the subject.

Mission Added-- Reunions

Objective-
--Kill Kellogg

Waiting on the north side of the bridge to Manebridge as the first hints of dawn lit the sky to the east, I checked over my pip-buck map again and all the assorted markers I had accumulated in Diamond City. We'd be passing right by the ruins of the Commonwealth Institute of Arcane Technology on our way, I didn't expect to find much but still wanted to take a look.

Watching the progress of Zed's locator tag along with the new one I had just added, I looked around the wide avenue just off the river and spotted the group of ponies I was hoping for approaching. The newly reopened river crossing was on the list of places Val and I in particular had to avoid being spotted at in fear of Gunner patrols, though hopefully they were thrown off the trail for a little while by Val's ruse back in Hubris Comics. Just in case, Jade and Val had flown Glitter and myself across the river in the dark, leaving Zed and AssaultJack to escort Sassy Saddles across the bridge and rejoin us.

The group was trotting over to us where we kept off the street, in the ruins of a large bank associated with the university in this area. Val had amused herself rummaging around in the vault, picking open ancient safety deposit boxes and searching for any hidden treasures that had survived the centuries. Jade and I stayed at the lobby, waving out of the shattered glass doors silently to allow the foal draped over the alicorn mare's wide back to continue sleeping.

Taking a final cautious look around, Sassy lead the group they had retrieved from the bridge, her new pip-buck glinting on her rotting hoof. The fashionable ghoul had surprised me when I presented the gift to her, holding the arcano-tech device out on her outstretched hoof critically a moment before her horn glowed and the dull green color shifted to a rich purple matching her dress.

Her knowledge of spells relating to creating clothing gave her access to the interesting bit of magic to change the color of the accessory on the spot. She even offered me a copy of it, though I doubted it was within my skillset, even better she agreed happily to change my own to a dark black, blending in with my coat and Shrouded Stallion armor.

Zed and AssaultJack followed close behind, trailed by a trio of Minutemares who were stationed at the bridge, guarding the passage and offering aid to travelers. The new pip-buck and the note I wrote Sassy had helped convince them to follow them here, now that they were in sight I caught the awed stares they were giving Jade beside me. Well, meeting the patron princess of the group they were part of had to be a unique experience for the group of young ponies wearing the blue and tan uniforms, the filly staring at me managed to remind me I was also apparently a big deal thanks to Preston's stories.

"Umm... thanks for coming you guys, I would have met you on the bridge but that's probably not the best idea right now. I appreciate you meeting us here."

The sharp salute the three Minutemares snapped off was a little embarrassing, though I didn't have to deal with the low bows and curtsy Jade received at least. The filly in the middle hurriedly grabbed her tan hat from her head, revealing the flowing orange mane beneath before smacking her two stallion companions into following suit and stammering out a reply.

"N-Not at all sir! It's an h-honor to meet you General! And you Princess Jade! W-We actually won the chance, everypony at the bridge wanted to come! How can we help sir?!"

Digging out the letters I had written at the Commonwealth Carousel from my trenchcoat, I gave one over to the excited light tan mare and floated the others over to Sassy. "This is my good friend Sassy Saddles, she's heading to Sanctuary at Princess Jade's invitation and I was hoping to arrange an escort for her. I know the route is a lot safer thanks to you guys, but she hasn't travelled the Commonwealth in a long time. I also have a letter here for Preston Gardens if you could report to him when you get there? Sassy has some more correspondence for him and a few others, but this is... er.... official Minutemare stuff. Do you think you could help us out here maybe?"

The cute unicorn mare took the offered envelope in her mouth reverently, tucking it in her tan duster and saluting so sharply I was afraid she'd bashed her own head, nearly knocking off her jaunty hat. "Yes sir!! I'll protect Miss Saddles and deliver this vital communique personally! I-It's an honor sir, I c-can't believe I get to help the Shroud himself! Y-You look just like I pictured..." The mare blushed furiously and shuffled on the spot, unknowingly playing with fire as Jade stepped forward and narrowed her blue eyes.

"Hey... who says you get to do it Amber... he asked all of us!" The pale blue stallion beside her instantly took exception to her taking control of the mission and fumbled for the letter with his magic.

"Cause he asked me stupid! An' I'm the highest ranking Minutemare here!" The young pony crossed her hooves over her coat, pinning the letter where it was and sticking her tongue out at her companions.

The green buck beside the grumbling unicorn stallion snorted and stamped his hooves, "Oh big deal, you joined three days earlier than we did! We should flip for it like we did to come out here!"

Jade smiled sweetly and gave a small cough for attention, instantly making the two stallions stop arguing and stare over to her with wide, lovestruck eyes, making me glower at the duo. "Now, now, friends should not fight over doing good should they? You are all Minutemares, those who remain are still doing important work, protecting ponies who need your help here. Your friend already has the letter, there is no reason to complicate things. I am counting on you two to keep this bridge open and safe for everypony. MY Fast and I appreciate your volunteering to escort our friend young miss..."

The trick of simultaneously speaking as a gracious and kind princess giving her what she wanted, while also looming over the Minutemare filly to stare down her nose at her was pretty impressive. The poor pony gulped nervously when Jade curled a wing over me possessively and let 'MY Fast' toll out in a tightly controlled use of her goddess voice.

The young Minutemare shivered faced with the big alicorn princess smiling at her and retreated to Sassy, giving another nervous salute and curtsy as her companions snickered. The poor mare had really picked the wrong day to even attempt flirting, I had the sinking feeling Jade was just warming up for getting in range of the former Enclave pegasus we were on our way to meet.

Val made her way out of the vault, the pockets of her new leather duster jingling with whatever she had found, joining us in giving Sassy a heartfelt goodbye. A gentle nudge got Glitter to blink sleepily from between Jade's wings, her eyes popping open when I explained the ghoul was leaving. The little filly leapt down from Jade's tall back and scampered over to Sassy, jumping up to hug her neck tightly.

"Bye Miss Sassy! I really liked learnin' stuff from you! I can't wait to see your new store when we get to go home! C-Can I come and learn more when we do? I'll miss you!"

A tear ran down her leathery, pale blue cheek and Sassy gave the foal a warm embrace with her long legs, smiling and sniffling down to her. "Of course! I look forward to it very much Glitter, you can be my little apprentice any time you like."

Patting her silvery mane I stepped forward to join her and gave the old ghoul my own hug, running into her had been a welcome distraction from my problems and I was glad we had been able to help her. I looked forward to seeing her back in Sanctuary when we could return as well, I hoped to see her find a home there and was sure the shop she planned to open would be amazing.

"Be careful Sassy, your escort sounds like she'll get you home safe but I don't want anything to happen to either of you. Thanks again for everything, you helped me a lot more than you know. I can't wait to shop at your new store back home and seeing what all you make for Jade. I umm... I don't think what your old partner did was right, I promise that won't happen in Sanctuary and I... I'm gonna find a way to do something about what Countess Couture did, get back what's rightfully yours somehow."

She favored me with a sad smile and shook her head, "It is all in the past, I appreciate the thought though Fast. Little Candy sounds like she turned out to be a rotten old mare, that makes me sad... we were friends once. Still, I have new friends and a future to look forward to again thanks to you fine folks. I will focus on that and make the new Commonwealth Carousel even better than the last! Just as Miss Rarity would want. Having a real princess to work for is such a treat, I will be sure to craft her a few things I'm sure you'll find to your liking as well hmm?"

Sassy's sly smile and raspy laugh made me blush as Jade joined me, shaking her offered hoof daintily and giving a flushed smile at the ghoul's amusement. "Thank you again for your hard work Sassy, I do love my new coat so. Fast is a great admirer of your other work as well, both his own costume as well as m-mine... I am sure he eagerly anticipates what else you come up with..."

I took one last opportunity to make sure Sassy knew how her new pip-buck worked, taking special care to demonstrate the map and showing her eventual destination. She had been quick to grasp the basics when I presented it to her earlier, explaining Ministry Mare Rarity had her own that she had shown her ages ago. With it in place I could at least keep an eye on her and confirm she made it safely to Sanctuary via her locator tag.

We all watched them go down the cracked streets as the sun slowly crested the horizon, a ghoul from old Equestria who remembered the world as it was and her dear friend Rarity. I sometimes felt a little odd out here, realizing I had more in common with pre-war ghouls than most ponies I met, we were both out of time and finding our way in this world as best we could.

Once Sassy and the Minutemare with her passed out of view we started walking, putting the sunrise at our backs and strolling down the empty streets. Manebridge was a pretty fancy part of town and must have been quite a sight before the war, skeletal trees poked up from the wide sidewalks in front of a variety of shops and housing. Now that I knew it was here I assumed it was all centered around the C.I.A.T. campus ahead of us, there were book stores, coffee shops, bakers, clothing shops with tattered school shirts and jackets in the faded displays, even a number of parks scattered about.

As the sun climbed in the sky it lit the crumbling white edifice ahead of us, a huge, multi winged building, a large dome atop the main structure. The cracked and dry fountain with two once elegant statues on the wide lawn in front of us was familiar, this was where the department heads of the Institute took the picture I had seen.

I took the time to divert our course through the campus, exploring the huge, echoing halls slowly but was met only with disappointment. Everything Piper and others had told me was true, the school had been picked over with a fine toothed comb over the years, leaving nothing of interest behind. Oddly there weren't even any wasteland creatures nesting in any of the buildings or signs of any residents in a long time. I ended my tour in the cavernous library, surprised to find even it was completely emptied of books, would scavengers totally clear every shelf in the huge room?

Exiting a pair of shattered glass double doors into the morning light I gave a sigh and followed the wide walk across the barren yard to where it split into several smaller trails. Skeletal trees and desiccated bushes were everywhere here, it must have been a well manicured grounds. I hadn't held out a lot of hope for finding anything but it was still a shame. Walking beneath the dead canopy I stopped in my tracks when my pip-buck chimed in my ear, flashing text in my vision; "Discovered Location: Moondancer's Cottage" I had?

Looking around slowly I didn't see much and wondered what my pip-buck was being triggered by, how did it even get location tags for places anyway? It seemed to identify pre-war and post-war places with equal ease, so which was this? Some pre-war address that was added to the database for some reason? Peering through the shadows I spotted something covered by a lot of vegetation and ruin, a small building? Well it said cottage...

We weren't on a real tight schedule right now, we'd need to meet Preston once Sassy and her escort delivered their letters, but that would be a couple days from now, so if I wanted to go poking around there wasn't much to stop me. Walking forward through the dead growth slowly I made out the shape of a small hut with a tall, peaked roof, nearly totally covered up and hidden. The place looked mostly ruined, somehow even worse than most wasteland ruins, I got the distinct impression this place wasn't in great shape even before the balefire bombs dropped.

Val stepped up beside me and checked her weapons, raising an eyebrow at the ruin and glancing at me. "Who the hell is Moondancer and why is this wreck worth its own label boss?" Well this function worked on everyone's pip-bucks then, unlike the weird mission tracking system only mine seemed to engage in.

"I don't know... These things don't tend to assign special labels to stuff unless its important though... like my knife, I would have thought it was just a normal cooking knife if it didn't give it a name and a crazy high value. It doesn't look like anybody's ever been in here does it? I wouldn't have found it if my pip-buck didn't know about it, I think we should take a look..."

Pulling at what looked like an ivy covered stump next to me with my magic revealed a rusting mailbox, no name was listed here, just a painted symbol of a crescent moon and three stars. Val shrugged and dug out her large, prop broadsword she had taken the time to sharpen, flapping forward to start hacking at all the years of growth covering the tiny building.

Looking around while she worked it all seemed pretty odd, this was part of the C.I.A.T. campus, just a large park on the grounds, a couple blocks back the way we came was only the library building. Somepony lived in this little hut here on the grounds? The symbol on the mailbox looked vaguely familiar too but I couldn't place it.

Jade trotted up beside me and stared up at the cottage slowly being revealed as I asked AssaultJack to help out, the robotic mare instantly clicked her long foreleg blades in place and ran forward, slicing the obstacles to ribbons while Val flew above. Pulling all the dead growth away wasn't improving things much, it was a small cottage with a tall, peaked roof covered in moss, almost slumping in on itself, a broken stone chimney peeked up towards the skeletal branches that had hidden the structure. Zed watched the production with interest, strolling through the dead woods around the building after a few moments.

Whispering to allow the foal sleeping on her back again to continue, Jade cocked her head as the building took shape and AssaultJack cleared the purple wooden door. "This is a strange little cottage is it not Fast? Do you think it is safe?"

Looking at Glitter snoring between the alicorn's wings fitfully I answered quietly, "Probably, let me and Val go take a look first. It'll be a good place to hide if we ever need to around here if nothing else."

Jade gave a trusting nod as I drew my silenced pistol and walked up to the rounded door with a crescent moon window, Val landed beside me while I shoved at the ancient barrier fruitlessly. Lowering her shoulder into it with me got the door to slowly creak open, revealing musty darkness beyond. Shoving it open a little more Val pushed me away and turned on her own light, insisting on doing her bodyguard duties and poking her head in first. Nothing bit it off at least and she squeezed into the open portal silently, leaving me to follow behind her swishing tail, turning on my own pip-buck light.

When my eyes adjusted to the dim light I stood looking up in awe for a moment, idly wondering if somehow all the books from the school's massive library had been moved into this tiny cottage. That was truly all I could make out for several minutes, books upon books upon books, floor to ceiling. Tall stacks of books, piles of dusty scrolls, walls of ancient tomes that must be held up by shelves, books in the shape of tables so presumably covering some kind of furniture, books in heaps nearly burying a cushioned seat, books forming aisles that led deeper into the small building.

E.F.S. showed nothing and this place wasn't big enough for anything to be hiding out of its range, so presumably it was safe, except for the possibility of an avalanche of books.... book-alanche? It actually seemed a possibility in here. Val immediately looked bored not spotting anything else right off, but this was probably quite the treasure trove, just not her preferred form of loot. I knew one mare who would appreciate it though and stuck my head back out of the door, waving Jade forward into the building.

The large alicorn had to force her way through the narrow door which I could now see was blocked by piles of more books on this side, once she was inside she gasped in wonder though. The narrow pathways made her look pretty daunted at the prospect of trying to navigate her big blue body around in here, so she settled on floating up a train of books to clear some room for her to move comfortably, inspecting the tomes as they passed her gaze.

"Many of these are spellbooks Fast... very old ones... Treatises on magic, ancient research and theory, rare spells... you should go through some of them! That is not all there is though... just from what I am seeing here it would seem any subject you may be interested in is probably represented somewhere in this library... Oh! A 1st edition of Principles of Magic! A Canterlot Journal of Internal Medicine I have not read! and a Big Book of Arcane Sciences! Applied Gemstones! I wonder who lived here? They must have dearly loved learning, we must find a way to transport these home somehow, they are far too valuable to remain in this place."

Poking her head up from behind a small mountain of books Val shot the alicorn a greedy look, "Valuable? This stuff? Not like the boss' comics right Blue?"

Floating the books she had set aside into her bags, Jade gave me an indulgent smile and shook her head. "Fast's books were valuable before the war like these, as you pointed out though his have probably not retained their value, these most certainly have. They are not for sale though Valkyrie, we should keep them."

Shrugging at her Val started digging through the piles with fresh interest, "Hording stuff is fine too, long as it's worth somethin'. Hey, those two Minutemare bucks looked like they'd fight each other for the chance to do you a favor Blue, why don'cha go back and have them start shippin' this stuff outta here. Just go give em a little wiggle an' say its a favor fer the princess, they'll jump off that bridge of theirs if you want. If it's good loot we can't leave it sittin' here, we done cleared all the camouflage off this place now. Wooo! Duck an' Cover! They gots books on explosives even!"

Jade looked around at the treasure and gave me a conflicted expression, clearly agreeing with the griffon's assessment on getting these out of here. The thought of ordering ponies around obviously made her uncomfortable though, especially a couple of young bucks Val delighted in pointing out could easily be manipulated to do whatever the beautiful mare wanted. Not that I liked the idea of their naked infatuation either...

Sighing I shoved the green eyed monster down and smiled over to her, floating Glitter from between her wings and over to a tattered armchair I had to uncover. "First of all... my books are to valuable... Seriously though she's right Jade, you are the Minutemare's patron and Princess of Sanctuary, if you ask I'm sure they'll start clearing them out of here and get them home for you. Er... without the wiggling... only I get that.

Getting ponies to do things is kinda part of being a princess I think, you're not demanding anything right? You want this stuff for good reasons too, not to sell and make yourself caps but for your... um... subjects? For regular ponies, to help others, preserve history for them, teach and all that, that's what a good princess does. Why you got your mark right? I think it's ok for you to ask for this, go ahead and fly back real quick, we'll stay here and go through it."

Beaming at the reassurance she carefully picked her way over and gave me a grateful kiss, "T-Thank you Fast, I believe you are right, I will do as you say and return shortly. I will also refrain from any... 'wiggling', you are certainly the only stallion who receives such treatment." With a bright giggle she turned to leave and demonstrated what those bucks didn't get to enjoy, her billowing tail swishing around her, causing my face to heat up.

Calling after her I had to make sure she put on the proper appearance, just to be sure it was clear this was a royal request and not a chance to impress the decidedly unavailable alicorn filly. "You have to wear the crown!"

Jade froze at the door and shrunk into her wings, blushing brightly as she dug in her bags and floated out the only piece of her Alicorn Angel costume anybody else was allowed to see, the delicate golden tiara with the blue jewel settled in her cloudy mane and she tapped her hooves in front of her nervously. "V-Very well... if you insist..." Looking up with her wide blue eyes brought a small smile to her face, seeing me admire how cute she looked bolstered her confidence and she squeezed her way back out the door quickly, launching herself into the air with a gust outside.

That left me with a mountain of books to investigate, though I was actually more curious about what was under all the literature. So far I hadn't seen much of anything beyond books in here, not a single sign of who lived in this place or why all these books were here. The stacks of books covered everything and made it difficult to even make out what were actual doorways to other areas of the cottage and what were just part of the maze of books.

Picking my way around carefully I still knocked over a tottering stack, waking Glitter up who rubbed her pink eyes slowly before they widened taking in the strange place she found herself in. I trotted over quickly and mussed her mane, "Sorry sweetie, go back to sleep if you want, we just found something interesting is all."

The little filly stared around in wonder and looked up at me, "I didn't know there was this many books in the whole world dad! What is all this?"

Following her as she crawled down from her perch and started cautiously wandering through the maze I scratched my mane sheepishly, "That's a good question, we just ran across the place, Jade had to run out for a minute so we can take all these books home. I'd like to know more about who lived here, but I can barely find my way around here."

Grinning the foal bounded off ahead of me faster than I could follow, I was a smaller pony but the filly could crawl through the maze with an ease I couldn't match. She worried me that one misstep could bury her under a lot of heavy tomes, but she kept talking so I could keep track of her, calling out happily through the gloom and waving off my concern.

"Me an Twinkle used'ta go scavenging in all kinds of places like this daddy! Well not made of books, but little places full of junk ya know! I'm good at findin' stuff like this, oh hey a bathroom, why would anypony have all these books in here? Hang on... Kitchen... nothin' but packages of somethin' called.... Ra-Men? Lots of coffee too! Hey, here's a bedroom! Um... still mostly books, even on the bed? Oh wait, desk... I got it!"

The series of thumps and crashes well past where I could see was making me nervous, thankfully she came squeezing back out of a nearby pile, covered in dust and giving a tiny sneeze around an object in her mouth she set in front of me with a flourish. A small, glowing ball rolled across the floor as she shook herself off and beamed at her prize, pointing over her shoulder excitedly. "The bedroom's that way dad! Um.. there may be other stuff back there you wanna see, I dunno, that was all glowy though, it usually means it's good right?"

Putting a hoof down on the pale lavender memory orb I patted her head gratefully, "Yes, glowy is good Glitter. This is a memory orb, it's... well it's a way to see other pony's memories. I bet it will say something about whoever lived here. In order for me to look at it I have to kinda go to sleep for a little while though ok? I won't wake up till its over, even if you shove me or pour water on me, is that alright?"

She gave me a dubious look, but nodded slowly, more interested in what would happen I imagined. "Ooook... will it hurt dad?"

"Nope, it really is just like going to sleep, er... sorta. I have heard of some of these having security on them.... but that's really rare I promise! Val! Glitter found a memory orb, I'm going to take a look alright? She knows where the other rooms in this place are if you want to clear that way while I'm out?"

One of the griffon's dark claws shot up behind a wall of books and waved dismissively, "Ugh, those things... Sure boss, take yer little nap, leave me to do all the work! C'mon kiddo, show me which way to dig!"

The pale foal sat in front of me waiting, staring at the glowing ball like it may bite and yelling over her shoulder to Val. "Just a minute! I wanna see!"

Sitting next to her I wrapped a hoof around her shoulder to comfort her with a confident smile, reaching out to the orb with my magic. "Here I go!"

Books... Of course, even the memory orb in this place would be full of books...

These were at least organized and broken up by things like furniture, shelves, windows, lights... A library? The C.I.A.T. library, just full of books instead of totally empty. It was hard to get a decent look around as the... mare? Yeah, missing equipment, a mare... as she wasn't really looking up from the huge tome spread open in front of her.

I had to try to take in details through her peripheral vision, which was exceptionally bad and partially blocked by some kind of black border? Oh, glasses... this mare was wearing thick glasses, no wonder everything past that black border was so fuzzy. This was really unfair, I didn't have any problems with my eyes, why shouldn't I be able to take in all the details just because hers were bad.

From what I could puzzle out through the blurry haze it was definitely the school library, rain drummed against the tall glass windows nearby and the long wooden desk she sat at was loaded with books beyond the big one she was reading right now. Whatever this one was it was way too advanced for me, some kind of high level spell book dealing with incredibly difficult magic.

If you weren't interested in the reading material there really wasn't a lot to take in so far, her reading material formed little walls around her. I really hoped this mare hadn't just recorded a memory of her reading her favorite book... Trying to occupy myself waiting for something to happen I took stock of what I could get from the memory. I already instantly gathered it was a mare, she was a unicorn like me too so nothing different there, being an alicorn had been more interesting.

Let's see... her mane wasn't in her face so no idea what color it was, her hooves crossed on the table in front of me were a cream color though. Her sleeves were white and long, though her chest felt kind of scratchy and warm so maybe she was wearing something thicker than they looked underneath. Nothing reflective was nearby so that was all I was going to get appearance wise.

Just when I was starting to get worried this really was the longest memory orb ever of a mare reading a book, a soft cough sounded in front of her, followed by an anxious, gentle voice.

"Um... Heeeey there Moondancer... l-long time no see huh?"

Oh come on! Even with somepony talking to her this mare kept staring at the gibberish book, barely deigning to answer in a bored voice. "Hmm... has it?"

The voice pressed gamely on, trying to sound bright and not nearly as nervous as the mare it belonged to obviously was. "Yeah! Er... not since when we were at Celestia's academy as fillies! Umm... It's me, Twi, don't you remember?"

The bored mare I was in finally had the courtesy to look up, making me gasp in shock at the mare she was ignoring. Sitting right in front of me... of her rather, right there was Twilight Sparkle! This mare was ignoring THE Twilight Sparkle? Maybe she was just so wrapped up in her book she hadn't...

"Of course I know it's you, you are rather famous Ministry Mare Sparkle. I also assumed you're busy as well, don't tell me this is a social call... I have no desire to reminisce."

Alright... so much for that thought, this Moondancer was amazingly rude, I thought I had trouble dealing with ponies but this mare took it to a whole new level. The lavender Ministry Mare in front of her looked sad, squirming in her seat and fidgeting with a dusty red box with a yellow bow held in her lap.

Well even if the mare I was in didn't care I could at least enjoy the company, having Twilight Sparkle sitting right there was amazing, even if it was vicariously. She was wearing a smart suit jacket and skirt, only a shade or two darker than her coat, bringing out the rich color of her sparkling eyes. She wasn't Jade, but she was a pretty mare, younger than I remembered seeing her as a foal but older than me.

Reaching her slender hoof out to touch Moondancer's made me goggle, I got touched by Twilight Sparkle, or knew what it felt like now anyway. This mare was one of the biggest celebrities in Equestria, favored student of Princess Celestia, bearer of the Element of Magic, savior of Princess Luna! The only thing that could top this was if Celestia or Luna themselves came trotting in for a hug.

"Look, Moondancer... I saw your promotion to Department head here and got to thinking... w-well ok, Spike reminded me... but I realize I wasn't a very good friend to you. Fluttershy had to come out to the Commonwealth for her meeting with you over at Mareford Memorial Hospital tomorrow, so I tagged along to try to make things up to you."

I... she... raised a fuzzy feeling eyebrow, "To what purpose?"

Twilight Sparkle fidgeted in her seat uncomfortably, looking up with a sad sigh. "Well, I really did feel bad about how I treated you when we were fillies Moondancer. I um.. I did a little studying to prepare too, I'm worried about you, you don't spend time with anypony at all do you? Just work... Don't you have any friends? A special somepony?"

"You're hardly one to talk Ministry Mare Sparkle. I don't know why you're wasting your valuable time coming here to talk to me, you made it clear I wasn't very important a long time ago. Don't you have a war to run? Ponyville friends to bother? As you said, I have my own work to tend to with my recent promotion and an important meeting tomorrow. Unless you really did come here to just spout nonsense about friendship I suggest you get to the point."

I felt mortified just feeling her mouth saying these horrible things to Twilight Sparkle, though the Ministry Mare's face hardened slightly and she moved on. "Alright, I will. I meant what I said but I did come here for more than just that. I've read your work and reports to the Ministry of Peace, I'm thinking about proposing a project I could use your help with, what do you know about stabilizing metamorphic magic? Applications for purified flux in pony biology? I'm working on a certain potion for the war effort..."

That got Moondancer's full attention for the first time, I could feel her eyes widen behind her glasses and she leaned forward. "Changing ponies? Interesting... There's the writings on molecular alteration of the ponies of the ancient Crystal Empire by Morital the Magnificent, Elements of Chaos by Starswirl of course, I read an interesting research proposal through my contacts with M.O.P. from a Dr. Trueblood not long ago as well. What are you thinking of changing them into exactly?"

Twilight gave a bright smile and leaned across the table to whisper her reply, "That's classified. It's something I think can change the course of the war though. I knew you were the pony to talk to Moondancer! I really am sorry for the past, I'm afraid I'm so busy these days I can't spend the time I should trying to fix what I did, but I would love to work with you on this. It would give me a chance to get to know you again, magical research with you... it will be just like back at the academy right? Please Moondancer, at least let us try to move forward together? I promise this is important and will definitely benefit from your skills."

Staring at the Ministry Mare's eager purple gaze the mare I inhabited may as well have been carved from stone, on the outside at least. Stuck in her head like this I could feel her hind legs fidgeting under the table and her stomach knot up, finally she sighed and nodded her head.

"Just from your cryptic comments it sounds intriguing. Don't let your guilt or friendship silliness get in the way of Arcane Science! but... very well, you have piqued my interest."

Clapping her hooves together excitedly Twilight floated the red present she had been holding, along with a sealed manilla folder, up to the table in her bright purple magic, grinning happily and glancing down at the advanced looking pip-buck under her suit's sleeve. "I'm not giving up there! H-Here, Spike found this for you, I... I meant to give it to you a long time ago. Here's the outline and early formulations I've been thinking of, this is all top secret of course, but I trust you ok? Thanks so much Moondancer!"

Grumbling she reached a hoof out to the folder, putting what felt like an unimpressed look on her face at the thin bundle stamped with the seal of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences and TOP SECRET! across the cover. She totally ignored the dusty box on the table with its tattered yellow ribbon, but from the inside I could feel her darting little glances at it.

"Yes, yes... now if that's all I do have to prepare to meet your fellow Ministry Mare at Mareford. I have my own research to present you know."

Scooting back from the table Twilight tapped through her pip-buck rapidly, looking harried at whatever she was reading there. "Of course! I'm so busy I'm being run ragged, I have a dozen meetings here in the Commonwealth after this one. I look forward to coming with Fluttershy tomorrow though, some of what you've reported doing for the traumatic brain injuries and coma victims there is fascinating. I'll see you then ok, can't wait to hear what you think, maybe you can show us somewhere to get lunch in Trotson before we leave? Oh, running late! See you soon!"

In a purple flash the Ministry Mare teleported away, leaving us staring at the folder and glancing around the quiet library. A pale lavender field of her magic finally reached out and snatched the red box to her large, book laden bags as the memory faded away.

I came back to my body with a gasp and sputtered on a snout full of water, jerking upright I shook my soaked mane in surprise to Val's hooting laughter. When I could see straight I spotted Glitter sitting in front of me, holding a hoof up to her muzzle trying to choke back the laughter making her cheeks puff out, her pink eyes wide and apologetic under the brim of my black hat.

"W-What!?" I coughed and hacked, looking around for the tittering griffon somewhere in all these books with a scowl.

Tugging my hat down anxiously Glitter meekly answered, getting herself under control. "Y-You said you wouldn't wake up, even if I dumped water on you... I told Miss Val an'...."

Zed nearly startled me out of my skin, speaking up softly behind me as he sat on a pile of books and read a thick tome in his hooves, the title "Supernaturals" embossed on the leather cover. "She did try to stop the griffon. Young Glitter managed to spare your hat..."

My ire at Val was cut short seeing she had cleared a haphazard path to a door in the back of the cottage, she came out snickering with her claws full of books she dumped to the side in a heap. "What you get for sleepin' while I'm doin' all the heavy liftin' boss. Now get up lazy, found somethin' back here for you to put them skills to work on."

Grabbing my hat with my magic and carefully picking up the pale lavender memory orb in my mouth, I trotted over to the newly cleared area. Very interested in anything else this place could offer up now thanks to the glowing globe I put in my bags. I raised an eyebrow at the heaps of books the griffon had been tossing out of her way carelessly as I followed her into the bedroom.

"You could be a little more careful with this stuff Val, a lot of them are old and valuable... Jade won't be happy when she gets back."

With a snort she shoved me to a freshly excavated desk holding a terminal, "We ain't sittin' here cataloging every little thing in here boss, I ain't no librarian and we can't take forever. Now crack this thing, maybe it'll have a clue for some real loot or somethin'."

The terminal belonging to the head of the Institute Biosciences division did greatly interest me, I wanted a different sort of clue though. "Alright, give me a little time, I'm betting this one is going to be a little trickier than normal Val."

Rolling her eyes Val groaned and left me to it, causing a trail of crashes as she went to start clearing a new path to other areas of the house, hoping for treasures she appreciated more than all the books. Glitter had followed me in and wandered about quietly, able to get to more areas than she had when she was here before. Her squeak behind me made me stop on my third attempt at the password, backing out before the terminal locked and looking back to her stare and pointing hoof.

"Look dad! A poster of the Angels! Can I have it? Why would whoever liked all these boring books want that?" There was indeed a large, glossy color poster of the full crew of Alicorn Angels hung on the wall, partially obscured by stacks of books and scrolls on the covered furniture below it.

Taking a moment to wrap the poster in my magic and carefully pull it from the wall I answered the excited little filly, "There's a reason... I'll explain later if you're interested, when Jade gets back ok?" Here you are sweetie, all yours." I snaked the poster out from behind all the books and rolled it up, adding a nearby bound collection of the comics full run and lowering them to her eager hooves. Looking up from smiling at her hugging the presents to herself happily, I stared at the bright gap on the wall, the comic poster had concealed a wall safe... "Val! Something for you..."

I heard the griffon charge back into the room and give a whoop while I returned to the stubborn terminal, her claws immediately clicking against metal while I tapped away through the high end security, cracking it with a relieved sigh. The safe didn't sound like it was any easier than the terminal from Val's quiet curses under her breath behind me, giving me time to read what looked like a series of journal entries focused on various projects by the titles.

I.M.P. Entry #3--
Twilight teleported in again, interrupting my reading with her continued attempts at friendship before she finally got to more interesting discussion. Hearing my own name is the only part of the visits I enjoy, security concerns don't make being called 'Dala' any easier. I wish she'd give up already on her misplaced concern, my subjects provide me all the pony interaction I require and they're quiet. I wish I had access to the resources at her command through her Ministry however, her plans for the facility in the desert are impressive and should serve quite well. I do find the prospect rather exciting, the thought of transforming into the body she has planned is tempting, perhaps when the process is complete and well tested.

T.B.I.R. Entry # 19--
Results continue to improve at Mareford, one of our long term subjects was able to complete the basic cognitive test at last. Helping these veterans and civil servant ponies is good press and keeps the funding from M.O.P. rolling in, but I am becoming more intrigued at applying the results to our more hopeless cases, taking the idea further... They signed the waivers after all, Robronco's Brain-bots showed the pony-machine interface can work one way, why not in the other direction?

Sharing my subjects with the other divisions is bothersome however, Swirl from Reverse Engineering keeps coming around and testing out his magical hoodoo, as if cutie marks are that significant. I have isolated my favorite subjects and declared them off limits, most have no family anyway and are easy to claim. #18 especially is to remain mine, such a body just going to waste is a shame, I enjoy tending to it privately, it's not something for Swirl to play with.

S.P.F. Entry #7--
Working with Klein is so tiresome, he demands perfection when the nuances of the flesh are lost on him and his robots. It isn't like slapping on some metal plating! Mobius had some helpful ideas once I was able to get the dottering pegasus to focus on the subject, the materials his creative types have sent over seemed to placate Klein and I have begun working with Theoretical Imagineering to make a suitable synthetic.

I am well aware of where these requests are coming from, despite the potential in other avenues I simply cannot see how this idiot Watts could consider false flesh acceptable versus the warmth of the real thing. Though if the two could be combined... Living flesh with their little project? That is a thought even I find myself warming up to... Far too advanced a project to even mention now, and expensive. I can cover their synthetic if I pitch it to M.O.P. as something to use in prosthetics for wounded vets, this idea will have to remain a personal daydream for now.

I.M.P. Entry #9--
I find myself warming to Twilight's visits, distracting as she insists on making them. Her concern over my personal life or lack thereof takes up valuable time better spent elsewhere. I have noticed she is most insistent when returning from Hoofington trips, determined to force me into dealing with other ponies, go out socially, engage in meaningless courtship rituals. Perhaps her constant advocating for the positives of being with others is not completely without merit however.

Renewing our... friendship... and our work together has made me consider how I have spent the years since Canterlot. I am becoming an old mare now and find myself occasionally regretting the absence of certain... pleasures... others engage in. Klein's project and its focus due to that stalker Watts' involvement force me to give thoughts to their more base desires I fear may be rubbing off on me, I concern myself with the flesh without truly knowing it.

Perhaps when Twilight's project is completed the I.M.P. could hold the potential of another chance, a new body to put to more exciting uses... For now I will content myself with what I have available to me, my excursions with Twilight are far too social and unlikely to yield any results at this late date, but I do have other avenues to explore.

T.B.I.R. Entry #27--
Moving my private stock of subjects out of the hospital has provided me new and exciting research opportunities best engaged in the privacy of my labs. The excavation of my facility has progressed far enough to make the location preferable for certain work like this, I should have pushed for construction sooner but it was not a priority before, and Klein, Gleam and Swirl were obnoxiously insistent their research facilities were more important. Granted with the work those three get up to they have a point, not things the outside needs to be made aware of, no amount of Vega's slick words would cover some of that up.

When the relay system is working properly I will be able to visit my little teddy bears any time I wish though, a prospect made much more tempting after my recent experiments. Only a few unfortunate accidents were needed before I worked most of the kinks out, the first subjects are now obedient little puppets, providing a discrete work force to help expand my new lab and prepare for the work I have planned.

I'll have to continue at Mareford Memorial, prove I am making progress and take advantage of my department's gifted ponies to improve the programming. Vega has been pestering me for a positive public relations story at the hospital as well, perhaps that police pony that was brought in, his wounds from that gangster have made him quite the hero to Trotson but he will never wake up. His mind should still be intact however, a scan will preserve it for the future goals of the project and seeing him up and about will be a media coup for C.I.A.T. even if he won't be that chatty. We can simply say he has a long road to recovery ahead of him.

S.P.F. Entry #15--
Now both Swirl and Gleam are pestering me over the first production run! Klein asked me to make it feel real, how am I supposed to know if it can hold a mark? Gleam at least finds the whole thing tiresome as well, but it is her spell even if she has lost interest in it. Swirl is just creepy about it, I keep telling him this project is not really something for Biosciences at this point and I have no idea how the synthetic will react. He was very excited when I let my theories for the future slip, at least that work would be more my domain as it would be biological matter. For now though I had to disappoint the weird stallion, they'll just have to try it out themselves and leave me out of it.

I.M.P. Entry #17--
Package from Manehatten today, hardly scientific materials but still interesting. That little project Twilight and I discussed she forwarded to the Ministry of Image is ready to move on to the test market here in Trotson. Silly stories for foals, but it should plant the seed of the idea in a whole generation of fillies nicely, smooth the way forward as the I.M.P. nears the test phase.

Looking over the artist depictions and Twilight's little joking present did put another vote in favor of undergoing the finished process. The stories are filled with morality tales and friendship, but the character design is most appealing and supposedly based on the notes Twilight provided, trying to be as accurate as possible. I only mentioned my willingness to volunteer for the transformation in passing, but her little toy she gave me is quite alluring, if it works that well I do think I could quite enjoy it.

T.B.I.R. Entry #32--
Success! My... private research has yielded very enjoyable results. I'm glad I worked most of the kinks out with the less pleasing subjects, leaving Subject #18 alone has been a struggle as the process has improved. He was well worth the wait however, all that warm stallion flesh withering away without a brain was a terrible waste. Intimacy is not nearly so daunting when the other pony is perfectly compliant, that burly body and its significant... assets... are up and about again, happy to do whatever I wish without a word.

I was forced to do a bit of er... research into subjects I had ignored most of my life, I knew ponies produced a wealth of such materials through print and holotape productions, but I had no idea there was so much! Using my personal funds became rather expensive at that lurid little shop, and I'm rather embarassed to discover I seem to be a bit of a voyeur, I suddenly found I had been sitting in front of my monitor straight through to dawn! But it was vital to the programming and the results... oh my the results...

I feel rather cheated I never engaged in such pursuits as a younger mare, the idea of the body the I.M.P. project could provide has become a good deal more exciting. When the potion is working I look forward to the prospect of being young and powerful, free to explore some of the things I watched and read about during my research. If it gives the flesh I expect it to I am sure confidence will be much easier, surrounded by cute little teddy bears like some of the stallions and mares I saw on holotape. Though I think I will keep subject #18 nearby still, my personal plaything when I don't feel like gracing the common ponies with my new body and brilliant mind.

I.M.P. Entry #22--
Twilight visited again, she seemed very tired and worried, but ready for the coming test. It ended up being more a social visit, which she looked to need, her obvious exhaustion didn't dull her wits however. That mare is very observant, noticing a change in me quickly that I had to speak around carefully. The truth that I had engaged in new social behavior and intimacy with another pony had her congratulating me happily, asking to meet the stallion I only gave vague details about, eventually excusing as a one night stand.

The best lies are often the truth, though I don't think she'll be meeting subject #18 or getting any more than that. Still, she was honestly happy for me, elicting a tinge of guilt... No matter, she need not know what I do to advance Arcane Science! She was the one who insisted on making me explore these aspects of myself I had been content to ignore. How I chose to do so is none of her business, and the end result is all that matters isn't it? #18's programming has improved as I added more to my collection, allowing me to fully educate myself without all the messy details of trying to engage in a relationship first.

Her first test subject apparently catered to other ponies doing the very same thing at one point. I didn't pay for the experience at least, I solved it myself! Now that I have learned what I like and that Twilight's nattering about friendship and love were with merit, I will continue and follow her advice. I discussed my hopes for her potion in regards to that and was met with an encouraging reception, she insists it is thoroughly tested first just as I do, but eventually accepted my reasoning. Offering a great deal of understanding and compassion when I explained becoming what she is about to create represents a new chance for me.

Hopefully I don't have long to wait, the first trial run is in only a few days on this Trixie, made even better as she's a mare my age and of similar health. With luck between the I.M.P. and her bypass research she hinted at having a breakthrough on, by this time next year the war will be over and I'll be in a new, young body with my very own wings! The future is looking bright, maybe I truly can forgive her and move on, live a real life with friends. Perhaps I will even return to Canterlot when I can fly there myself, look up Minuet, Twinkleshy and Lemonheart, get away from the Institute... That guilt I feel when she visits is not just over my own dalliances, I am beginning to think we have gone too far using the war as an excuse, maybe Mobius is right... With an end to the fighting in sight and the chance at a new body, I should change and make a new life.

I stared at the flickering screen, ignoring Val's triumphant yelp as she beat the hidden wall safe and the groan that followed when I heard it open with a squeal. "Are you kiddin' me! All that for junk?!"

I knew the Institute ponies were crazy and twisted, but reading about Moondancer's own brand of madness left me conflicted. She was friends with Twilight Sparkle, she couldn't have been all bad right? How could she have turned out like this, how had the world gotten to such a state?

Her clear issues with social interaction made me sympathize with one of the ponies in charge of the evil group I was determined to destroy. How she dealt with it though... that was right in line with everything I had learned about the Institute, that they didn't think if things were right or wrong, just did them if they thought they were interesting. Her entries on the assorted projects were kind of vague, but she worked in a hospital and experimented on her patients, using this Subject #18 as a plaything somehow to explore her personal desires.

She even seemed to realize her actions were wrong at the end and planned to change, made sadder by the knowledge Jade had provided me about the Goddess. The balefire bombs dropped during the first test she had been looking forward to, she wrote that last entry just days before the world ended. Maybe realizing her mistakes and having hope for the future, only to have it taken away in fire had made her go completely crazy and turned her into the Dr. Dala I had heard of.

I pushed away from the cluttered desk and looked up to the open safe Val was scowling at, floating out the contents that so disappointed her. A little Angel doll like Glitter's collection she instantly spotted and held her hooves out for, this one cream colored with a flowing rose mane streaked with purple, Moondancer's own cutie mark showing under the pristine charcoal skirt. Behind it was a tattered stuffed teddy bear and a framed picture I brought closer to examine while I let the foal have the bear and doll, she didn't need to know why it wasn't like the others.

The picture showed a group of five young unicorn fillies around a desk, a very young Twilight Sparkle and Moondancer had their heads buried in books, ignoring the camera the others posed for. A light blue filly with a blue and white mane, a pale pink with a darker mane of the same color, and a bright yellow with a blue mane smiled back at me. Her friends, before whatever happened to change her put her on the path to becoming Dr. Dala of the Institute.

Well... I had a new map marker for Mareford Memorial Hospital, downloaded her terminal entries to go over that gave me the names of more divisions of the Institute, and I had Kellogg waiting for me to direct my anger at in the immediate future. I wasn't sure I wanted to know more about the other division heads after what I learned, viewing this one as more than just a villain like Kellogg I felt no problem with finding and killing was an uncomfortable thought. Things were easier in comics like the Shrouded Stallion or the glossy Alicorn Angels collection Glitter was excitedly flipping through, bad guys were supposed to just be bad...

The sound of creaking carts outside and Jade's sweet voice calling from the door let me shake off my thoughts thankfully, "Fast!? I have returned, where are you hiding? I seem to have found more Minutemare volunteers than just the two we met earlier, could you join me please?"

Right, following the foal bounding out to the ringing voice I tucked the picture away in my bags and turned off the terminal. Talking with Jade would help, but this was stuff that related to her own creation, not something to casually mention. We had other things to do as always, helping her with something like claiming this treasure trove of books would make me feel better and her happy. Plus the sooner we got started the sooner we could get moving again, I had a cyber-pony to kill.

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

Organizer-------
-You are efficient at arranging your inventory in general. This makes it much easier to carry that little extra you’ve always needed and all the junk you insist on picking up. Items with a weight of two or less are considered to weigh half as much for you. Good thing stuff like toys, comics, books, costumes and knick-knacks all fall under that limit!

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

Alicorn Angel Moondancer----
A little of the previous owner seems to have rubbed off on this little toy of the Institute Biosciences Division head. It's no Ministry Mare statuette, but taking possession of the one of a kind action figure grants a boost of +10 to the science skill!