A couple hours of my private doctor's tender care, while I listened to her fretting over what she wanted to report, left me feeling much better. Glitter had joined me in the police chief's office and been an additional audience member to listen to the nervous alicorn practicing her speech carefully, she clearly didn't follow much of it, but was enthusiastic and supportive regardless.

Val and Zed had found other things to amuse themselves with somewhere in the police station, I didn't particularly expect the stand offish zebra to hang around, but Val was quickly too bored to be a useful sounding board and I could hear her rummaging around from room to room, looking for anything of interest.

Eventually the Brotherhood scribe Summer Wind came and got me to tinker with the communication system she had cobbled together, whoever she and Paladin Dance were talking to their call was over at last. She barely stuck her head in the office and tried to get my attention unobtrusively, but still wound up in a clashing glare with Jade before I quickly retreated and left the foal with her to try to soothe the irritated alicorn.

Following Scribe Wind up to the roof I got a good view of what I could see of the sunset, it was getting dark a little early with it sinking below that wall of clouds to the west. From my vantage point it looked rather odd actually, it wasn't blowing in toward us and the sky above was fairly clear, but everywhere I looked on the horizon was blocked by that thick blanket of darkness. Viewing it through the sunlight filtering from behind it, I could swear it was swirling in place, moving slowly northeast but not approaching or receding.

Summer had fluttered up to the large dish she had somehow repaired and partially reconstructed up here, fiddling with the blinking deep range transmitter we had retrieved from Watt's what seemed like a lifetime ago. Noticing my stare she spoke softly from above me, "Barrier storm. Big one... you've never seen one? Or just never noticed it was different?"

I shook my head slowly and listened to the thunder rumble in the distance, my horn itching with each flash out there in the dark. "Why's it doing that? It doesn't look right... why do you call it a barrier storm?"

"Not me, the ponies here call them that, it's an accurate term though. Part of what keeps the Commonwealth isolated from the rest of Equestria, I told you I think that S.P.P. tower in the center of Trotson is working. They stir up from time to time, whip around the whole Commonwealth in a big circle, usually pretty harmless on the inside but you don't want to be out on the other side right now.

There was a lighter one not long ago actually, a little before I started hearing weird things on the radio about a dark pony calling himself the Shrouded Stallion actually... I er... l-like the coat and hat Fast, you ever read #291? The crossover issue with Mare do' Well where they fought the Mechanamare?"

Thinking back on the weather made me wonder, "Jade was hit by lightning the first time I saw her, I kinda got hit by another bolt not long after that... maybe it was that kind of storm."

I heard her snort and grumble up at the dish, banging at the adjustment arm before pointing down to me. "Alright, if you can get the realignment settings to cooperate give it a try, I'm pretty sure those coordinates are for the nearest M.A.S.E.B.S. tower outside. So... you really like that... umm... that alicorn?"

I really hoped she hadn't just stopped herself from saying 'that thing' and chose to ignore it, sticking my head in the open panel at the base of the rusting tower and repeatedly feeding it the series of numbers I had been provided. Hissing in frustration I gave the whole metal box a buck and was satisfied by the clunk of gears freeing inside, despite the twinge pain that brought. I took another look and brought out a wrench, "Servos are shot, not gonna move it by itself, hang on and I'll do it manually now that its unfrozen. Yes I really love that alicorn, why? Is that really such a big deal?"

The yellow pegasus above me gave a long sigh, sticking her head down to give me a weary expression. "Well... you didn't know anything about the Enclave and I liked that. I guess you didn't know anything about them either huh? Still, I'm surprised. They're not normal and often they don't care much about regular ponies. E-Easy... I don't mean that as an insult! J-Just... they are odd ok?

I don't like them but I've seen enough of them since the Lightbringer, they're just kind of... off. I guess they've been getting better since then, but I haven't heard of many of them getting... involved romantically you know? Plenty of ponies think they're exotic and want to, but it's infrequent. I knew a pegasus who was infatuated with one and she shot him down cold, said she had no interest in normal ponies, 'couldn't give her what she wanted' whatever that meant, so she saw no point even being friendly. So why's that one different? Or is it you..."

Slowly cranking the gears manually was getting the dish to line up on the target and I could see a signal starting to resolve on the display in front of me, giving me something to focus on and think before answering. "I don't know. She's basically the only one I've ever met and I always thought she was just normal, not really different from anypony else on the inside. Like you said, I didn't know anything when I came out of the Stable, didn't have any reason to think otherwise. I really would like it if you'd give her a chance and get along with each other, it's nice talking to you, she doesn't get technical stuff either you know. It was #292 by the way too..."

Hearing her laugh over the tone the open panel was giving me was a good sign, I'd have to work on Jade too but I didn't see any reason they couldn't be friends. Val had just taken her teasing too far, the alicorn I cared about didn't need much provocation for whatever reason. From what Summer and Jade herself said her kind were new to romantic attachments, plus Jade had issues when it came to being accepted let alone loved, no wonder she'd jealously guard what she had found. I could understand her reaction thanks to whatever nonsense the griffon had told her, but it was silly really, the scribe was just a fellow repair pony with similar interests. Really, the whole idea was...

"Still it's a shame though..." Wait what? That quiet voice above me was hard to make out above the now high pitched tone I had tuned in on, I... couldn't make it out, that's it... I misheard I was sure.

I locked the adjustments I had made in place and backed out of the open panel nervously, waving up to the pegasus hovering up at the dish and beating a hasty retreat. "O-Ok! Umm, should be all set! I gotta get down there, help try to get ahold of who she wants and all. Dispatch room right!? T-Thanks a lot Scribe Wind!"

Choosing to pay no attention to the muffled giggle up there I also couldn't make out, I ran to the roof access door and back downstairs. My whole life with a long string of miserable failures in the Stable, yet I come up to the blasted hellscape above and suddenly have fillies actually interested in me? All I wanted was one, Jade was more than enough for me and I was perfectly content if every other mare in the world continued treating me like I was used to back in 111. Dealing with all this was confusing, I could sympathize with Jade and other alicorns there if that was how they felt that led to their being viewed as odd.

I didn't spot her or Glitter in the chief's office where I left them, moving on to the dispatch room further in the building led me to both of them though. Dance had apparently brought her in to the small room of broadcasting equipment, mostly dark monitors, blinking lights and a large microphone at the front of the console Jade was seated at. The little room was cramped with both a Steel Ranger in power armor along with a big alicorn taking up so much space, forcing me to squeeze past to reach Glitter looking up at all the interesting equipment.

I took the opportunity to explain what all this had been for a long time ago to the foal while Dance was giving his instructions. He was trying to tell her how to broadcast and tune the makeshift system his scribe had wired together in here, oblivious to her confused look and hooves tapping together in front of her anxiously.

I kept an ear flicking that way while I told Glitter about police back before the war, how this was where they'd coordinate and send the ponies in blue out to those who needed their help. The concept was surprisingly hard to get across to her, reminding me again I took a lot of things for granted being her age when all this ended.

"Sooo... ponies in trouble would ask for help... an' these police ponies would just come and help? Wearin' blue uniforms an' with guns? Why? Was it cause the ones askin' were paying protection? Were they like a gang, was this their territory dad?"

"Er... no, because it was their job? They weren't a gang, they wore uniforms so others would know they were the good guys. They got paid of course, but by the city. I think most wanted to help other ponies is all, though there were some bad ones too." Surely the bizarre themed gangs of the Commonwealth weren't the closest thing she could come up with.

She scratched her head and thought, finally gasping when she worked it out. "Oh! Like your Minutemare friends?!"

Actually that was a much better comparison and I nodded to her happily. The Minutemares even wore blue too, I liked the idea of helping build a modern form of police. That was essentially their goal, provide safety and security for the regular ponies of the Commonwealth, be a force for good. I missed the ability to easily communicate when they were needed this room used to provide, and I doubted the things they were asked for were as simple as traffic accidents or burglars anymore, but they really could be wasteland cops in a way.

Looking back on hearing Dance wrapping up I could swear I saw smoke coming out Jade's ears, she was nodding like she understood but her eyes were making slow circles until she spotted me, giving me a pitiful helpless look. I trotted over quickly and thanked Dance, sending him out before joining Jade at the console, stroking her mane and fiddling with controls in my magic.

"Don't worry, I was listening, it's really not that complicated. Summer gave me the basics already anyway, I was surprised ponies out there use the M.A.S.E.B.S. system still, but if it's as cared for as she said this shouldn't be hard. Let's see what we can get."

Her distracting grateful nuzzle made it difficult to focus on the controls in front of me, making me jump with surprise when a burst of static filled the room before it faded away into a Sweetie Belle song issuing from the old speakers. A radio station? A waiting pip-buck port gave me a little more fine control and access to more of the signal I had found, there was actually an amazing amount of data coming off the tower I had locked on to.

A rich, smooth stallion's voice spoke up as the song ended, making Jade whinny happily and shake my shoulder. "That is it! That is coming from Tenpony Tower!"

"Good evening out there all my little ponies! Hope the wasteland's treating you well, or as well as it can be beaten into doing even in these bright days. Things are definitely better nowadays, but don't let your guard down am I right? Thankfully we get stories of heroes following the example the Lightbringer set for us all every day from all over! The wasteland may not stop trying to kill us, but we don't stop fighting back either do we children! Now I seem to have an unexpected guest, so let me leave you with one of those ponies who fights the good fight, a little Velvet Remedy for you all while my assistant and I attend my company."

I was so absorbed going through the feed of information pouring into my pip-buck it took a minute to notice the music that just started suddenly cut out, replaced by a mare's excited voice. What she said captured my full attention though.

"Sweet Celestia... the Commonwealth? Hey, you hearing me? Who is this, how are you broadcasting from that black hole? I've never gotten through before! How are you tapping into my feed too... you're getting into a lot more than just the radio station there buddy."

"Ummm... what? Hello? Is this working right, just a repair-pony here Miss...?" I stared around the room at the speakers that had blared to life with the unknown voice, transmitting back my confused response.

Jade was so excited by the voice she wiggled in her seat, reaching out for the microphone and nervously checking she understood what to press to transmit before speaking. "H-Hello! This is DJ Pon3's assistant? M-Miss Homage? I am sorry to intrude, we are indeed speaking from the Commonwealth which I gather is difficult? I am with the Followers of the Apocalypse, I had hoped to be put in contact with their Tenpony Tower branch if possible? Fast stop fiddling with the good pony's... feed?"

There was a few moments of silence that made me worry I had lost it, or been shut out somehow. I still wasn't quite sure what all I was looking at, but there was video buried in this signal along with audio, a looooot of video... Finally the voice came back, cautious but intrigued. "You're one of the Followers... in the Commonwealth? You'd have to be part of that expedition then huh? Are... are you the blue?"

"Yes! M-My name is Jade and I am part of the Commonwealth expedition, this is the first chance I've had to communicate! You know about me?"

The speakers warbled with feedback at the whoop pushed through them, flattening both Glitter's and my own ears against the whine that didn't seem to bother Jade as much. "Oh wow! Sure! I'll send a call down right now and have one of them come up, you can talk right to em, hang on just a sec!" There was a clatter, then silence for a few minutes before the mare on the other end returned. "Ok, got somepony coming! You uh... you mind if I listen in when you talk though? Getting any news out of that little corner of Equestria is like pulling Hellhound teeth, best I got is a few rumors... So you are the blue then, but are you THE blue one?"

Jade looked confused and tentatively pushed the button again, "I... I am unsure what you are asking Miss Homage. I am the blue alicorn that was part of the wing dispatched here, my green and purple sisters did not survive the trip I am afraid... What do you mean?"

"Hey, I told you I get rumors, sorry about your sisters... I talked to Velvet before she sent you three out, told her what I knew about the Commonwealth. She was pretty worried sending you out that way, hope she doesn't take it too hard. I kept an eye on you three as long as I could, hadn't had the heart to tell her you were the last I spotted, but at least you made it right? What I mean though is... well... are you THE blue alicorn I keep hearing about out there? My view there is closed, best I got is a couple long range cameras that pick up something interesting every once in awhile. But some of the travelers that come into my more reliable range have been talking about one of your kind, a blue one that's been doing things out that way I think would make Velvet proud. A certain princess?"

Immediately turning bright red and hiding in her wings left me to take over, it seemed the thought of the stories I started spreading back out to Equestria at large was too much for her. "That's her alright! Jade's the princess of our town and has been doing all kinds of good things in the Commonwealth since she got here! She even got her cutie mark for being one and...mmmrrhmm!"

Getting grabbed and having a large blue hoof stuffed in my mouth effectively cut off my glowing endorsement, but the damage had been done. This Homage sounded quite curious when she continued, "Who was that? Wait one of you got a cutie mark? That's possible?! Hey put him back on!"

Jade whimpered before she finally hit the button to cut off the increasing questions I had set off, "T-That was Fast... m-my special somepony... he is the one responsible for starting all those stories. T-though I did eventually accept the role he gave me, that is why I... received my mark yes... He has a flair for theatrics, you should ask him about his own alter ego, he is not simply a Stable repair-pony as he says."

"Repair-pony? From a Stable no less... Does he fix toasters?" Homage's chuckling reply seemed kind of non-sequitur, but she sounded nice anyway and that got the hoof out of my mouth.

"Umm... I guess I can? Toasters aren't all that complicated..."

That just got fresh laughter and she carried on happily. "Toasters may disagree there Mr. Fast... Well color me intrigued, I didn't think you mares could get cutie marks, and a special somepony too... that is still a little rare. Congratulations, of course now you have to let me interview you myself, not just listen in! I wanna talk with your buckfriend there too, if his skills are up to snuff maybe he can help me out and let me finally get through to the Commonwealth! Oh... damn, after you talk to your friends I guess, don't go anywhere! Here they are..."

There was some shuffling and a new mare's voice came from the speakers around us, relief evident in their tone. "Hello? I'm told this is a member of the Commonwealth expedition?! Name and ID please? Just to confirm."

Tears welled up her in big blue eyes as she hoofed the button in excitement, "Yes! I am Jade, Blue 1192. Oh how wonderful, I thought I would not be able to communicate with the Followers at all while I was here. Is this Miss Honey Dew of the Tenpony Tower branch?"

"That's me alright! We're pretty happy too, we've gotten some limited information about your expedition and have been concerned. Watcher confirmed you at least had made it there and were doing what you could, we're sorry about the others... Are you ready to report? We have a lot of questions, oh I wish I could get in contact with Miss Remedy, she'll be thrilled to hear from you, please go ahead and I'll send a recording to her as fast as possible."

Jade gave a little squeal and hugged me tightly before composing herself and replying. Launching into her well practiced report I had already heard several times. She didn't provide many details about the trip to the Commonwealth, focusing on what she had found since arriving in the isolated area. Beginning with when I met her she moved forward smoothly, discussing more mundane topics like radiation levels, pockets of civilization she had seen and managed to help, her clinic which acted as the Followers of the Apocalypse's headquarters here, and her plans to start a school and library with our recent haul.

When she started getting cornered into talking about herself and answering some of the questions they had for her in that regard she got nervous, using me nearby to calm herself and reluctantly explain how she had wound up as a princess in the Commonwealth, eventually ending up recounting how she got her mark for accepting the role.

Silence stretched out for a several minutes after that and I started getting the breath squeezed out of me in her anxiety, finally a new voice spoke up with a shocked tone. "This... this is true? We are capable of receiving a cutie mark again... Be very clear Jade, you know the import of this and I would have no confusion. If I am to tell the others I wish to hear every detail."

"Easy Mossy! I know this important to you but she wouldn't lie about something like this right? Let her tell it without scaring her, sorry about that Jade. I brought my local assistant here to talk with you if you needed one of your own to speak with, glad I did now. Go ahead when you're ready."

So there was another alicorn there listening, that was always of interest to me. I had a pretty limited amount of exposure to Jade's kind and hearing from others added to my understanding of the only one I cared about. This one was no nonsense, though probably because of the topic. Hearing from one of her own Jade put on a determined look and carefully explained everything in detail, reciting just what she said at the time that prompted it and explaining what she was feeling when it happened. Filling in backstory with much greater care, despite how she felt about it, she told this other alicorn everything, including about me.

Another long silence followed and the other alicorn eventually broke it. "This is a role you rejected... the mark did not come until you accepted it? You have engaged in a relationship with the pony who first gave it to you, who prompted the series of events that led to it? This is interesting, I will share what you have said with the others and we will decide what to make of it. Whatever the meaning I do offer my congratulations and thanks, proving it is possible... you know what this will mean for our kind, you have done well sister."

Hearing the praise prompted happy tears and got me a long kiss out of it. I knew how important it had been to Jade, the thought that her experience could help her sisters, give them hope even so far away, I was really happy for her. That thought led me back to the other alicorns here in the Commonwealth who still needed to be told, and to everything connected to them here... Breaking off from her celebratory affection was hard, but they needed to know this and I had more information on this topic than Jade did.

"Hi again, sorry to interrupt and I'm really happy for you all Miss Mossy. I'm Fast, um... Jade's buckfriend that pushed her into the whole... princess thing. There's some other stuff you guys should know about your kind and the Commonwealth, stuff about the other thing I understand you all worry about...

I don't know if you know anything about the Institute, but they're a group of... well mad scientist ponies really, they uh.. have a version of the I.M.P. and they're experimenting with it. They're making weird mutant alicorns right now, but they... they tricked some of your sisters here into helping them by saying they're trying to make males for you, or even just make regular ponies compatible. I don't know if that's the truth or not, but it's definitely possible. I know that's as big a deal for you as cutie marks, so I thought you should know..."

That got a long silence that stretched out quite awhile, making me nervous at the reaction it must be causing on the other end. Finally the alicorn replied, a hard edge to her voice. "Someone is... meddling with the holy potion... making more of us? You will explain, we wish to know everything on this subject. Making males has been met with limited success, making normal ponies compatible... that had not been considered. You are the one who cares for our sister? You have entered into a relationship with her? If such a thing were possible for a normal pony like yourself... would you do so?"

Jade barely had time for her eyes to widen anxiously, I answered immediately. "Yes! Er... i-if she wanted, someday... I'll tell you everything I know, I'm after the Institute anyway, but if there's any way to actually get what they promised your kind then that's what I want."

The sharp gasp in my ear and crushing affection that followed made it hard to actually tell them anything, but I pressed on when I could breathe again. Judging by her reaction Jade was suddenly impatient for her long awaited report to be over, but we still had a lot to cover here. At least Glitter was still watching and listening behind us, giving a wide yawn as it got darker outside and our boring talking continued. As long as she was around I figured I could get through what we had to talk about over our connection to the outside world, without the big filly around me making it completely impossible to concentrate.

Several hours later in the privacy of one of the empty offices where we set up for the night she got her way, leaving me sweaty and more sore than when I started, while she was still very affectionate and not looking tired at all. I was apparently still expected to make up for scaring her in whatever way Jade wished, coupled with what I had said to her sister back in Manehatten that was getting exhausting. But at least she was willing to give me a break while she puffed in my ear.

"You make me very happy Fast, when I think I could not be more so you say something like that... You... you really would want to do such a thing with me? If it were possible?"

I nodded wearily under her, "Why do you think that synth was so tempting... not just because of my Stable, though that did nearly get me. I can understand how they tricked the mare in those memories you showed me. Not fair we can't... er.... you know, I mean someday that would be nice right? I heard a lot of your kind don't even think of normal ponies that way, cause you can't do that together. That's wrong though, I love you, that Evergreen has somepony she loves, there's probably lots of your sisters out there that are missing out without even knowing it. Just because you're a little different, if there's a way to fix that... that's what I want to do."

Once her renewed attention tapered off she sighed happily and gave it some thought. "Yes... I admit I was so fixated on our mother's wish to procreate I had not considered anything else before you. Those of us who have engaged in relations with others are usually quickest to regain their individuality and not as focused on what the mother wished. But it is surely a concern they cannot ever have anything more with those they have chosen, even those that prefer mares could have the option for a surrogate. A way to be able to breed with normal ponies, that would be one less barrier between us and the rest of ponykind, it is indeed very tempting. T-Though I do not think you should trust that Institute mare in any way, it is a lovely dream but not worth the risk. We may not let that one wish blind us again as it has before."

There was disappointment she was trying to keep out of her voice, she returned to her idle attention to mask it while I pulled my pip-buck free from her wing. That helped cool off a little and let me go over the various updates that had come from speaking with the rest of Equestria and my slowly developing, vague plans.

Mission: Can you hear me now?

Objective--
--Reach the Commonwealth M.A.S.E.B.S. tower
--Apply the bypass

Mission: Ponykind-Redefined

Objective--
--Find Biosciences I.M.P. research data
--Transmit data to Equestria

Mission: Reunions

Objective--
--Kill Kellogg
Optional Objectives--
----Help Brotherhood at Fort Haygone

The first had come from Homage when she returned to the mic and pressed both of us with a slew of questions, her and Piper could practically be related, they both had a nose for news and passion for the truth. When she was finally satisfied she revealed something Piper didn't have however, a great deal of technical expertise.

From what she explained to me she and her employer, this DJ Pon3 in Manehatten, were able to broadcast and keep an eye on the wasteland through the M.A.S.E.B.S. system I had broken into, that's why there was so much video coming off the tower I found. My surprise at hearing the name DJ Pon3 200 years later took a little back filling, but she took it as a well educated pony asking, not as one who actually remembered the original.

Homage knew the system inside and out, I was impressed at her level of skill and could spend quite some time talking about the equipment she educated me on. The reason for her crash course was the S.P.P. spire here in the Commonwealth though, not just for fun. Each of those spires were festooned with cameras near the middle along with all the M.A.S.E.B.S. broadcasting equipment she used to gather and report the news. As Scribe Wind had told me, the one here was not part of the rest of the network however, it was separate and inaccessible. This didn't seem to be the first time one of the spires had been cut off though.

After getting the basics down from her I was pretty sure I could do what she asked if I ever reached the towering white spire, go into the broadcasting station at the bottom and apply a bypass to whatever was blocking it. I couldn't do anything about the higher functions like the S.P.P. at the top that she seemed highly interested in, but reconnecting the lower security functions shouldn't be impossible. If it worked then DJ Pon3 would be able to see into the Commonwealth and broadcast here, easing communication with the outside across the board as well.

The next mission was more personal, I didn't trust Biosciences or Moondancer and her synth doubles at all, but I wanted it. I wasn't willing to be taken against my will, or just come along quietly, but between that and my initial plan of finding where she was and tearing her lab down around her ears had to be some kind of middle ground right? I could lie and say it was for the good of all of Jade's kind, and it was sort of... but really it was for Jade. I would do anything I could to get that data, one way or another.

The last was what was ahead of me in the morning, I wasn't sure what the Brotherhood pair wanted there and I'd help if I could. But there was a reason helping them had been listed as optional, Kellogg came first...

I continued scrolling down and looked at some of my Miscellaneous mission listings, rechecking the map for our route tomorrow and thinking. I had a little help now and hopefully more on the way, Sassy Saddle's locator tag had left Hexington in the afternoon and she was already approaching Sanctuary, filling me with relief.

Eventually my tapping and clicking was interrupted by Jade's big hoof pushing mine down, insisting I continue working off my reckless actions earlier. We may not be compatible but it certainly wasn't from lack of trying anyway, and it let me take my mind off everything ahead of us which was always welcome.

Fort Haygone was on the edge of the Commonwealth, the closer we got the more the early morning rain was intensifying making for a cold, wet trip west. Sassy seemed to have given Glitter quite the wardrobe while we were at Hubris at least, the little filly happily splashed down the cracked streets that were a minefield of deep puddles in her very own rain slicker and galloshes.

The rest of us were kept somewhat dry by Jade's pale rain shield, a weak and distorted version of her normal shield spell that acted as a canopy, though spreading it out enough for the six of us in the blowing rain wasn't perfect. Val was even wetter as she kept flying off to scout around, causing the occasional explosion or flashes of red M.E.W. fire through the trees before returning.

Coming back from the latest of these excursions and spattering me with water as she shook herself off, she looked over her own pip-buck and grumbled. "Goin' the wrong way boss, getting further away from this fort place. Why you wanna go to this farm instead?"

I sputtered at the added rain water and choked out an answer, "Because of a few things Val. You keep saying Kellogg is such a terror, I don't wanna just stroll up to the front door without trying to take a look number one. This Sunshine and Rainbows Co-op is on my list of places to visit anyway and pretty close, plus it's on high ground. If we're lucky we can convince them to join Sanctuary and the Minutemares, provide some food for home and stuff to make medicine in Stable 114, and have somewhere safe to stay and get ready. Preston's tag is moving that way too so he must have got Sassy's letter and agreed, so we get a little more backup meeting them there. Make sense?"

Glitter came bounding back and pouted at me, "By somewhere safe to stay, you mean somewhere to leave me behind don't ya daddy..."

"Er... yes... among other things. This is way too dangerous for you, Val says it's too dangerous for me already, I'm not letting you go ok? Sorry but that's not up for debate."

She wasn't happy about that, but had learned on certain subjects I wouldn't budge. Going off to storm an Equestrian Army fortress being inhabited by what Val regarded as the ultimate Gunner was right at the top of that list. Hopefully this farm was as nice as Preston had made it sound, offering a little help getting the industrial farming equipment running again would be enough to convince them from what he had explained.

The echoing sound of gunfire through the hills ahead didn't bode well for that plan though. I checked my map just to be sure, but that was definitely in the direction of Sunshine and Rainbows Co-Op... I nodded at Val's questioning look and sped after her when she took off into the air towards the noise, leaving the protection of Jade's shield and getting soaked as I ran.

My legs were still aching from the excess I had put them through yesterday, the gallop up the increasingly steep hills didn't help any either. Cresting a decent rise just off the road as close to the shouts ahead as I dared, I crawled through the mud and peeked over, spotting my destination as Val gently lighted on a branch above me.

Sunshine and Rainbows was a pretty big place, a medium sized barn in the center of a large clearing, surrounded by numerous cabins that were identical before 200 years of ruin gave each their own character. On the other side of the clearing was another larger barn and a couple of towering, rusted silos to the west, overlooking a large field to the south filled with a variety of plants I had never seen along with a few I could recognize. Even with everything else going on I couldn't help but notice the ancient hulk of the industrial harvester I was here for, rotting away in the middle of the field.

Of much greater interest to the non repair-pony part of me was the frantic activity below, a mix of red and green on E.F.S. jittering about. The marks in my compass matched two distinct groups of ponies in the compound, one a number of dirty and tired looking ponies who I'd guess were the resident farmers. The others wore armor of varying quality and carried a great deal of weapons, none of them were without a gun of some kind, but all of them also had some kind of potentially non lethal melee weapon. They were shooting at the residents attempting to resist, but many had been caught and beaten, dragged back to a couple of waiting carts with bars on the path up and being fitted with funny blinking metal collars by a fat purple stallion. They didn't really look quite like raiders... or act like them entirely...

Hissing down at me as I heard the others coming up behind me, Val cleared up my confusion. "Fucking slavers..."

Slavers... ponies who made slaves of other ponies... I had heard of the concept and realized it must happen out here, seeing it was a different story entirely. My eyes started burning in my head and the dark Shroud in my mind took over, without any complaint from anything else up there. I drew the Last Minute and charged it to full power, standing on the top of the hill overlooking the battle and spotting a grey mare drawing back with a long club in her mouth, standing over a cowering colt under her.

The slaver's head getting vaporized focused the attention of the rest nicely, everything stopped down there and a lot of eyes fell on me, scowling down at them in return. My best Shrouded Stallion voice came out in a roar and was even accented by some well timed thunder, times like this I really thought Luna may be on my side out there...

"Greetings Evildoers! Release your prisoners and leave this place, right now, or face Luna's judgement from the Shrouded Stallion..."

"Oh Celestia fuck me... it's him! He's real!!" Well one of the slavers had the proper idea... gibbering up at the sight and backing away. The rest looked rather nervous too, between Jade and the voices of the Ministry Mares in my head I was willing to give them a chance, but the darker part of me was hoping they'd let me kill them all.

A slimy looking green unicorn stallion looked willing to cooperate on that front, stepping forward with a sneer and trying to take control of this situation. "This is none of your business, we're working for Silver Seed Agriculture, these podunk farmers made a deal and haven't paid up, penalty is indentured servitude for a spell is all... They signed the deal, all nice and above board, got a copy right here."

I glanced at the leather folder he floated up in a field of dingy green magic, feigning interest a moment before adjusting my aim with the whining gauss rifle by my head and blowing it to shreds. "I don't care... Your pitiful contract is meaningless, Goddess Luna doesn't like slavery and neither do I. Go back to your masters and let them know, it's no longer a valid business practice."

That got their complete attention and the red marks in my vision were moving about slowly, taking cover and focusing in my direction and away from the farmers hiding in the cabins and small barn. A elderly pink stallion that had just been fitted with a collar but not put in the caged cart took the chance to make a break for cover, a voice from his fellows in one of the cabins surprised me at its frantic scream though.

"Wine NO! That damn thing's!" His warning shout suddenly made sense when the collar started beeping and the old pony's head exploded once he was away from the cart. The other prisoners in those collars wailed in horror and the farmer screeched from his cover, "Oh you sons of bitches! Ya killed him!"

The apparent leader wheeled on him with his rifle, brought up short by another blurring 2mm round blasting a crater in the mud at his hooves and returning his attention to me. "Take those collars off, NOW!"

Sneering back the stallion whistled and gestured with his hoof, three of his more well armed subordinates rounded on the caged carts on the path that held a few prisoners in those blinking collars and readied their battle saddles. The fat purple slaver reached into his leather armor and pulled out some kind of remote with its own blinky red light in his mouth. Once he was sure I got the idea he raised his rifle at me and smirked, "You're the one leavin' whoever you are, or what we got is gonna die messy. Can be from lead or Nitro over there can hit the button and take em all out at once..."

That would be a plan that could work, except for two things... First was the black and white blur of Zed springing from the trees, grabbing the fat purple slaver and snapping his neck with one quick movement. The second was the round blue shield that bloomed to life around the carts, put up by the invisible alicorn suddenly appearing between them.

She had her eyes tightly shut to not see what was going to happen next, but still tried to plead with them. "You may not hurt these ponies! I do not like slavery either! Y-You should have listened, I would run now!"

The unexpected appearance of a princess from thin air and the removal of their trump card got two more to run away, she did that much. The other six had no chance now though, the heavy clomping of steel clad hooves up the trail and the whir of a minigun spinning up was overridden by Val whooping and launching herself above them. "Oh no, too late now Blue! Any o' you fools left shoulda listened!"

With a stream of fire coming from this side and above, and the whining gauss rifle picking off any who made an aggressive move, the remaining slavers ran for their lives. I could still take the two who listened to Jade's warning, and at the moment I reeeeally wanted to... but they had sense enough to listen to my princess, they got to live. The rest were not going to be so lucky.

Retreating to the north frantically was only possible because both the Steel Ranger and the cackling griffon were exercising careful fire control, not exploding or shredding buildings and cautious about the farmers not under Jade's protection. I saw the leader scrambling away, bleeding from a dozen wounds, but clearing an occupied cabin that would help cover him and I charged down the hill after him, that one was definitely not getting free. Several lines of pink M.E.W. fire from that direction cut short his escape however, clearing the last of the red from my vision as more green was added to it.

I trotted around the cabin to see what happened and was happy to see my suspicions were correct, Preston Garden's magical energy musket steamed in the rain and he tipped his jaunty hat at me, half a dozen Minutemares spreading out behind him and moving into the settlement. "Well hello there Fast, see we managed to get here just in time huh?"

Tinkering with the simple broadcasting device and detonator we recovered in the small barn kept me out of the rain, though even the open barn was a little cramped with all the farmer ponies wearing the blinking collars in here with me. Val was perched over one of the fillies so decorated and cursing under her breath while her claws worked at the lock.

These things were a horrible revelation to me, collars loaded with explosives, able to blow the head off the one wearing it if they got too far from the machine I was trying to disable or at the push of a button. The nerve wracking work was only being attended to by me and Val, I wouldn't allow anyone else in range of these things.

"Any luck boss... disarming these things one atta time like this is a pain in the ass..." Val grumbled over to me while I worked, between her skilled claws and knowledge of explosives she knew how to take care of the collars, but one mistake could be a big problem.

"I'm trying, I don't want to set them all off accidentally. It should be a simple proximity signal, but I don't know if they have anyone clever enough to put in booby traps or anything. Think I just about have it ok?"

The dark blue earth pony farmer who had been the one shouting was watching outside the large doors to the barn, calling over gratefully. "Appreciate your help here, were in real trouble back there when you folks showed up, awful glad you know how to mess with those things too..."

"No problem, glad we could help sir. Thank Zed, he took out the one with the detonator, I'm sorry about the one who... wasn't so lucky... Now cross your hooves, this... should.... be.... it!"

A clip of the right wire caused all the glowing red lights in here with us to go dark at once, letting all of us breathe a shaky sigh of relief and Val start working with less caution. Just from what I had gathered several large families of ponies worked this farm and probably a quarter of them were in here with us, the older stallion was the spokespony and answered as he trotted forward, clapping the others on the back on his way.

"It's alright... he knew better than to run, just couldn't help it I s'pose... Name's Wilted Sprout, everypony just calls me Wilt. Damn good timing son, guess we should'a took these Minutemares up on their offer in the first place eh? Really thought we'd be ok, specially with that harvester workin' again, but them Silver Seed bucks been nothin' but trouble. Made a deal to buy seed stock from that bitch's company and pay come harvest, those fuckers have been out here makin' sure we couldn't make enough ever since. Shot our brahmim, messed with the few machines what still work, tore up crops!"

That just put another mark in favor of screwing with the Diamond City nobility, Piper told me how Silver Seed maintained her fortune, but knowing and seeing were different. This farm was a threat to her monopoly, if the equipment was working it would cut into her profits for sure. Considering how hard things were out here in the wasteland concerning food I'd think there was plenty of room for everyone, but that noble pony was so greedy she didn't care about the suffering she caused. She set these ponies up with her deal just so she could take over this farm and have more slaves to work it...

Preston saw his chance and took over smoothly while I seethed to myself, "The offer is still on the table Wilt, we can have recruits from Sanctuary stationed here in no time. Some of the ones I brought with me if you like, once we take care of a little mission in the area of course. Fast there is quite the repair-pony too, believe he meant to come here just to fix some of your equipment, not get involved in all this."

"He's right sir, I can fix your harvester out there I'm pretty sure, probably anything else around that needs it long as I have the parts. I'm glad we were in the area at the right time, but we just wanted to try to convince you to join Princess Jade's kingdom. We know other communities nearby that will buy what you can produce and even a Stable that could make medicine with your help. The Minutemares being around in case something like this happens again is a bonus too, though I think I'm going to do something about this Silver Seed Agriculture regardless..."

Wilted Sprout looked to the alicorn I mentioned over at a long metal building nearby, some kind of commissary for the co-op from the looks of it. Jade had taken it over and started dispensing medical treatment immediately, helped from being overwhelmed by the foals on the farm with Glitter acting as her assistant.

"So it's true... heard about that Sanctuary place, we been a mite busy lately and ain't been able to check it out. Sounds good to me if that mare there's the one in charge, a real princess... who would'a thought... If you wanna do somethin' bout that old crone that runs Silver Seed I'm all for that too Mr. Fast, been runnin' us farmers outta business or under her hoof for years.

Fine neighbors we used ta have in between us an' you, the Applenathys, had their farm taken over awhile back, could give ya long list of others. Ones she's taken or ones tryin' ta hold out like us, we try to work together to stand up to her but... well ain't been goin' well as ya can see...

Gotta let us talk it over a bit, give everypony the chance to warm up to the idea of joinin' up, an' get to know yer mare there. Let us put out a spread for you folks before you get to work an' whatever it is you an' yer heavily armed friends are up to. Just curious, but anything we should be worried about?"

I shook my head and held a hoof out to the farmer pony, "That sounds great sir, we'd love to take advantage of your hospitality and hang around a bit. We're not up to anything that will hurt you, but having somewhere close by to hang out at will help a lot. Maybe you could help out a little too, you know anything about Fort Haygone? It's not far from here."

Wilt returned the gesture with a grin, pulling at his faded overall straps in thought. "That place? Sorry, not much. No one ever goes there on account of all the damn Manticores...."

"Manticores?"

Manticores... Why did it have to be manticores...

Val, Preston and Steel Dance came with me to scout out Fort Haygone and the surrounding town while the others helped the farmers of Sunshine and Rainbows Co-Op. I took a look at the machines waiting for me and they'd at least give me something to work on when we got back and think over... What I was looking at now made me look forward to the calm, meditative peace I got fixing things.

Haygone wasn't a big town, Val's description looked correct, it seemed as if the whole village had sprung up around the huge Fort at the center of it. Sitting up on the hillside above it at a nice, safe... distance, I could take it all in fairly well. It even followed the basic design of the Fort, both the town and the complex were essentially large rectangles going north to south.

Just below us I was surprised to see the familiar Red Rocket decoration from one of the charging stations, this one definitely wasn't part of the courier network though, unless manticores got a lot of mail. Beyond that there were a lot of functional looking buildings rotting in the town, several barracks and administration looking offices, a medical building on the south side of town that was hard to make out even through the scope on the Last Minute, to the west were a trio of very large satellite dishes barely visible in the growing storm.

The fort itself was in much better shape than any building around it, two to three stories tall and built of concrete and steel. Every window was covered in steel shutters that looked like they had slammed down when the bombs fell and rusted in place, rickety looking metal catwalks went around and up the roofs, leading to a good number of turrets and spotlights sweeping back and forth in the rain. A larger square structure attached to the main fort looked like some kind of garage maybe? Ramps led down from the street into it and there were a lot of different sized heavy doors on the first and second levels.

All of this was secondary to the inhabitants though, the place was crawling with manticores. I knew what they were, I read about them in a book from the Society for the Preservation of Magical Creatures a long time ago, the faded picture did not do them justice however... Huge, feline monsters with big bat wings and a wicked looking scorpion tail prowled the streets, sometime snapping at each other just for getting too close. Not exactly friendly looking...

Val broke my shocked silence with no attempt at consolation, "Oh this is just fucking great boss... Worst Gunner in history isn't enough, oh no... no you gotta go storm a fortress surrounded by freaking manticores! Are you ready to give this up now?!"

"N-No..."

Preston joined the griffon after staring at it all long enough, "I think she's right Fast. We're willing to do anything we can to help, but we simply don't have the firepower for something like this..."

Even Dance sounded pretty dubious, and I knew he wanted something in there. "This is an untenable position Fast, I see no way to manage this assault. From what I know of the complex you may be able to sneak in through the motor pool, if you can reach it, but that is unlikely even with Miss Jade's abilities. They will sniff you out, visible or not... I'm not saying to give up, but we need to regroup and strategize, maybe they'll move on or become less active?"

The only concession I or my pip-buck were willing to make flashed in my vision while I scowled down at the waiting fortress, and the objective marker it displayed directly ahead;

Mission Updated: Reunions

Objective--
--Find a way into Fort Haygone
--Kill Kellogg
Optional Objectives--
----Help Brotherhood at Fort Haygone

"I am not going anywhere. He's down there, right now, in there somewhere... He stormed into my Stable and killed everything in his way, if I have to do the same then that's what I'll do."

Grabbing me by the shoulders Val lifted me up on her hind legs and hissed in my face, "From what you said he had a freaking army of robots! We got help sure, but we ain't got enough boss! You can't do it! I'm sorry, I really am, but you don't get to go on suicide missions and we ain't got many more friends to ask for help do we?!"

"No... we don't...."

"Zactly! So just give this up for now, he ain't gone nowhere for 100 years, he'll be around again! We got enough problems already!" She seemed relieved she was making some kind of progress getting me to admit that, but all she did was give me an thought.

"We don't have enough friends to help..."

"Yeah! What I said! W-wait... you got that look boss... no, no, no, whatever it is no!" She started shaking me in front of her but it was too late, the idea that definitely seemed like a suggestion from the dark Shroud in my head was taking root and making me smile.

"But we have more than enough enemies..."

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

Silent Gallop--
--You have mastered silent movement, allowing you to move quickly and still remain quiet. You can Sneak at full speed with no penalties.

Reputation Change!--------------------

Tenpony Tower- Neutral
You have friends in high places out in the world beyond the Commonwealth! Not that it's likely to ever come up, but if you ever found yourself in Manehatten you'd have an in when it comes to entering fabulous Tenpony Tower. More useful to you however is having a name to drop when communicating with the rest of Equestria, which seems much more probable.

DJ Pon3- Accepted
--The voice of the Equestrian Wasteland is aware of you now and friendly. Funny since you really only talked to his assistant, but she was nice and took a shine to you. At least she's not her boss talking on the radio to all of Equestria, after all her questions that would be embarrassing!

Silver Seed Agriculture- Hated
--Well you figured on doing something about the nobility of Diamond City anyway, now you've further ticked them off and started your campaign of terror. Sparing some of them may be what's right and what Jade wants, but the story is going to get out now.