Good morning Commonwealth! What a beautiful morning it is too huh? Ok maybe it's a little drizzly, and maybe that drizzle is a tad radioactive, and maybe there are a few more explosions than normal with the Brotherhood of Friendship running into our local raiders and gangs, but still it's a beautiful day! Of course I might be seeing things through rose tinted glasses today, seeing how your own DJ pony went and got himself a social life!

That's right folks, hope you'll excuse the extended prerecorded playback last night, but I had an actual date with an amazing mare. Bad news is my loyal listeners may have to put up with me stepping out from the station a bit more, good news is I got a new song from the hot local favorite Magnolia, er... while I was out, to make up for it!

Before I let you listen, I also got a bit of news on my night out. I've heard from some of you talking about the Brotherhood making themselves at home in the Commonwealth, but I saw it myself now too. Seems the armored ponies wanted the 'Bunker' in Bunker Hill and barged right in for it last night.

Luckily the common pony's princess and her dark protector were in the neighborhood and able to lend a hoof. There will be some Brotherhood in the trading hub for a few days, while they clean up the mess that was secretly under their hooves all this time, but Bunker Hill is still independent as ever.

Also in local news I'm highly encouraged to read... seems we'll have to put up with... I mean, get to enjoy a noble wedding soon. Ably taking over his late father's affairs, Diamond City's own Neighson Svengallop announced his engagement to a Miss Fancy Star. I'm sure my listeners here in the great green jewel with me recognize both the bride to be and her pale griffon guard from their... charity work in the city since joining us. We do appreciate those occasional cans of cram and old meds given away to the needy, totally heartfelt and not a transparent PR stunt at all.

Now with that out of the way let's get to what I know you really want, here's our own Magnolia's newest recording!

The very singer coming out of my pip-buck's speaker to fill the damp morning air was flapping along beside us, her lidded gaze cloudy as she hummed along with a wide, delighted smile. The purple alicorn and the DJ had been back in Bunker Hill when we returned, but still spent more time together before reluctantly parting sometime after midnight.

The promise of getting to see each other again had Magnolia in a continual, blissful mood that was garnering a lot of furtive glances from her green sister Ivy. Since purple alicorns could teleport and both of them could fly, Miles and Magnolia shouldn't have any problems meeting up out in the Commonwealth from time to time. Before we left the owner of the inn we had slept at had even given her a schedule of caravans, begging her to schedule any future dates to return to his bar to sing when there were more customers.

As the song finished up Glitter clopped her hooves together in front of me, cheering the oblivious mare beside Jade. "Yay! That's so good Miss Magnolia! They're playin' your songs and Mr. Miles sounds like he reeeeeally likes..."

The questioning look Ivy shot back to her from the lead of our little flock made me stuff a hoof in the foal's mouth hurriedly, whispering innocently to her as she mumbled around it. "Ssssshhh sweetie... That's all our little secret, remember? You don't want to get Magnolia into trouble do you? Besides, I don't think she's listening."

I felt the little filly gasp in my grip and let her go to yelp a reply, sounding like she had nearly ruined a birthday surprise. "Oh! Right! S-Sorry daddy, I forgot... I was just glad for her, she looks so happy! Hey is that a boat!?"

Reminded of the need to keep our encouraging of the alicorns to break the rules their leader put forth quiet, she dashed on to some new distraction with a foal's swiftness. I had to admit though, the sight she was pointing a hoof at to the east past Jade's beating wing was a good distraction. An old fashioned boat was indeed out that way, towards the shore and the sea beyond but not far enough...

"Is it on top of a building?!" I joined Glitter in gaping at the ruined ship, somehow leaning atop a large brick building. The sun had been setting when we arrived at Bunker Hill and the odd sight was lost in the gloom, with it just over the horizon now the leaning and rotten masts were clearly visible against the cloudy sky.

Val swooped closer and chuckled at the weird view, looping upside down over us to muss Glitter's mane. "Oh that thing. Yeah, they say the zebras unleashed a water elemental cause of all the shippin' out of Trotson. Tossed boats around like toys, set off huge waves, totally wrecked a lot of the coast. That one was some fancy schmancy museum boat, got knocked right up there and that's where it stayed."

There was some kind of historical boat that had tours out this way before the end, I vaguely remembered dad taking me out to see it at least once. The topic was a bit too dry for me to remember now though, lots of ancient history stuff about Nightmare Moon fighting Celestia was the best I could pull up. The fact the ship was still around made me glad, even if it was bizarrely perched out of the water, I'd have to go poke around in it if I ever got the chance.

We put the river behind us and our alicorn companions started leading the way down into the edges of downtown Trotson, we were heading in the direction of the tall Trinity Tower, but apparently not landing at the top or even directly in front of it. For some reason we seemed to be coming in for a landing at a barricaded street leading to a large park in front of the building.

The odd message scrawled on the side of a passenger sky carriage mostly blocking off the road had me at a loss and I peered ahead to the park between us and the skyscraper that was our goal. It was a block wide square in front of the entrance, a big pond snaked its way through the middle and under a small hoof bridge leading to an ancient stone gazebo.

There was playground equipment rusting away to ruin, skeletal trees and a few hardy flowers or weeds that managed to grow, a shed with yellow barrels spilling out into the water, but the closest thing to a swan I saw was the funny little swan shaped paddle boats half sunken or smashed on the shore near a two story boat house.

There were also a good number of remains scattered about the area, plenty of ponies, but I saw a Gunner griffon, ghouls and parts of monsters I didn't want to guess about.

"Alright, I give. What's a Swan and why should we beware? Why'd we land here?" I stretched my legs, hopping off Jade's back with Glitter as it seemed we were staying right here and looking around in confusion at the three alicorns who brought us here.

The leader of the little troupe, Ivy, trotted past the warning and waved us forward soothingly. "Nothing to worry about. We just need to walk on through and let her know you're guests. You may wish to stay back a bit though, right this way."

That was... ominous... but I followed along with everyone else, walking towards the park did at least give a patch of open sky above instead of the narrow canyons of the city streets, which was slightly less claustrophobic. As we moved closer my pip-buck flashed; Discovered Location: Trotson Common and all of our alicorn companions, including Jade, gave a pleased little whinny as the arcano-tech device started chattering slowy. Those barrels in the water were highly radioactive, quite enjoyable for them but not so much for the rest of us, I put myself between Glitter and the source of the invisible danger, nudging her away while they drew closer.

Up on the sidewalk was far enough for the clicking to slow to a safe, lazy rate I deemed good enough after checking Glitter's own rainbow colored rad meter, still safely in the blue. The sight of Jade and her sisters strolling to the arching metal gate to the park, looking like they were basking in a sunny summer day instead of a chilly fall sprinkle, was piquing my curiosity.

Despite her protests I left Glitter safely on the sidewalk with the others and edged a little closer, ratcheting up the clicking from my hoof slightly while a green mark had appeared on E.F.S. out towards the boathouse. Ivy faced that way and called out across the water clearly, "Swan dear, can you see our guests? They are free to come and go, alright?"

"GUESTS... OK..." A rumbling reply shook the old boathouse, making me gulp nervously.

Ivy either spotted or more easily read the concern flashing through my mind at the booming answer, smiling reassuringly as she trotted back. "There we are. She likes it out here, we think she may have been a guard or law-pony before... Swan guards the tower, very, very well... It's also useful to have a purple so charged, she's quite the expert teleporter and can manage amazing distances. A green or a blue may volunteer out here if their skills are needed, but Swan lives out here."

I took a more critical look at some of the damage and bodies out here and shuddered, the furrow gouged out of a nearby building in a perfectly round trench, carts and chariots tossed out of the way or utterly destroyed by signs of powerful magic, those large, deep puddles suspiciously shaped like hoofprints I could easily stand in... Swan was a good guard indeed, judging by the evidence I was glad we made the stop, I had no interest in making what must be a very big alicorn with a talent for violence angry.

Jade and her sisters rejoined us looking refreshed and happy, having a nearby source of such heavy radiation had to come in handy for the alicorns living in the tower. The mention of teleporting reminded me of my own limited success with the difficult spell, prompting a hopeful question to three alicorns.

"Are any of the others good at teleports? I can kinda use that spell, but still not well, anypony I can ask for pointers?"

The blue Peri gave a perplexed look and adjusted her tan Minutemare hat she still refused to part with, pointing a wing back to the boathouse. "Swan is the best at it, just ask her. I will if you like, HEY SWAN!...."

"No, no, no! D-Don't want to bother her, I'll er... ask later, thank you Peri..." I waved my hooves and pleaded, getting the odd blue mare to nod, satisfied she had helped, before turning back to the pond. "NEVERMIND SWAN! HE'LL ASK LATER!"

The boathouse gave a rumble in return, knocking off a stray shingle and putting that idea firmly in the 'highly unlikely' file for me. I'd stick with the magic primers I bought from Corona and keep plugging away at it, Jade gave me the idea her kind could be... unpredictable when they soaked up that much radiation.

I spotted a bronze marker below the arching entrance, just above a splash of color on the street, and put up with the clicking to trot over to inspect it. A round, bronze disc a little smaller than a ponyhole cover, emblazoned with the cloud and lightning bolt design of Rainbow Dash's own cutie mark, was set in the sidewalk below a matching bronze plaque on a post.

"What's it say dad?!" Glitter had kept back as told, minding the radiation detector on her own pip-buck now that she had been reminded about it. Instead of approaching she called from the opposite sidewalk beside Jade and her robot guardian.

I waved to her and walked back to them through the fading crosswalk, keeping my head down and scuffing the pavement with my hooves as I went, uncovering more of the brightly colored bricks that trailed away from the sign. The odd trail was flush with the ground, as much as possible anyway given how uneven it had become in general, a single line of bricks stretching off and disappearing under rubble, only to reappear elsewhere in a splash of color among all the grey.

"Something I heard about back in Bunker Hill, see?" The little filly had followed my progress and started kicking at the ground in excitement, revealing more of the mulitcolored line nearby.

I checked them off as I walked back to her eager work; blue brick, green brick, yellow brick, orange brick, red brick, purple brick, back to blue brick again. I idly wondered if they were enchanted or earth pony made to remain so bright and vibrant, the dirt and rubble that filled the streets could cover them, but they were in perfect shape when wiped off as Glitter was doing.

"Where's it go! Let's follow it!" The foal in the rain slicker was perfectly content to keep uncovering more bricks, but we had other things to do for now. The trail she was uncovering crossed the street again and went straight to the weathered copper statue sitting in front of Trinity Tower, corresponding to the marker in my vision serving as a reminder of that.

Val answered her question well enough for now, "That? Goes all over kiddo, makes a good marker if you ever get lost in all this ruin, can get confusin' in downtown Trotson, even from the air. Even parts of an aerial course up on some of the buildings, though that Dash pony musta been one helluva flier to make some of those dives an' loops. You and yer mom an' sis not get out this way?"

"No... mom always said it was too dangerous, she was scared of monsters. That's neat though! What's this one say?" Glitter had followed the trail to the statue and brushed at the dirty plate just above another round Dash marker at its base, standing on her hind legs to get a look while I read it with her. My pip-buck flashing Discovered Location: Trinity Tower as I hit the sidewalk on this side of the street.

The green statue did sit in a declivity collecting rainwater, a lot of pre-war bits gleamed up from below the scum on the water, that Val felt no compunctions over swooping out to pluck free. I supposed it had been a nice fountain once, it was a little warped and melty looking here and there, but the depiction was still clear enough, this building's magical defenses had to have been pretty good.

A trio of stylized fillies in a pyramid, earth pony on the left, unicorn on the right and a pegasus flying up to the sky between them, wings outspread. The six pointed star of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences symbol was held between them.

Empty frames for several wide, shattered glass doors led into the gloomy lobby of Trinity Tower beyond the statue. Steel shutters had blocked off all but one set, the barrier looked to have been peeled away from the center doors, revealing the gloom beyond. Our guides seemed content to sit here in the plaza outside and wait however. I was getting curious as to why we didn't just get out of the rain and about to say so, when a pair of blue alicorns materialized in the shadows of the building.

"You brought outsiders..." The first accused and glowered and Ivy.

"She won't be happy." The second blue continued, pointing back to the lobby, a single elevator in the middle of several was lit and appeared to be moving.

"She's on her way." The first finished and stood patiently at the doors.

These two were darker than either Jade or Peri, a blue heading towards midnight instead of Jade's lighter color, which was a bit strange since I thought they were all supposed to be pretty similar. Their manner of speaking was throwing me off too and I whispered a question about it to Jade as Ivy led us toward them and the mostly dry lobby.

"There is a... limited form of unity here, with a good number of greens in the tower to facilitate it. It is not like before with the goddess, but I can hear many of my sisters in this tower, it is... nostalgic. That is why they speak so, you are missing out on part of the conversation Fast." Jade looked a bit apologetic at the perceived rudeness and turned to Ivy silently.

This had to be more of that telepathy going over my head, as we walked across the echoing marble floor Ivy turned back, kindly speaking aloud to the guards and us. "Of course sister. Yes we have guests, seeing how they are not part of our unity it is rude to leave them out sisters, please speak verbally in their presence Seafoam, Marine."

The pair gave her a dubious look, but huffed and spoke in something closer to full sentences. "Very well sister Ivy... It is good to see you returned safely, I see the stories were true?" The first, Seafoam, had cautiously come forward and was eyeing the heart and crown cutie mark on Jade's flank with naked longing.

"Sister Periwinkle, what are you wearing? Where did you get that?" The second blue, Marine, looked more interested in Peri's hat and sniper rifle, trotting forward and circling her curiously, poking at the accessories with her magic.

"Gifts! I am an honorary Minutemare, they gave me a hat and taught me to shoot this. It is rather enjoyable Marine, I can show..." Peri's excited explanation was cut off by the warbling ding from the somehow functional elevator arriving.

There were seven scattered around the lobby from what I had taken in so far, but all looked either rusted shut or to have fallen to this floor like bombs at the end. Several of the doors were blown out, debris and pony skeletons spilling out in a fan before them. Only the largest elevator, directly in the center of the building had survived intact, the light next to L1 above the doors flickered as the doors opened.

Puzzling over how an elevator could still be in working order was put aside when the regal looking, dark purple mare tromped out. She had to have taken the pre-war conveyance for effect, flying down from above must be faster, but didn't have quite the impact of seeing the big mare filling the small booth and ducking her way out.

She shook her long white mane around her and fluffed her wings, fixing Magnolia with a baleful stare and glaring at Peri's hat before addressing Ivy. "What have you done!? I told you, minimal interaction! How is it I have now heard one of our sisters on the radio, singing!? Did you think I did not know about her hobby? That I wouldn't recognize her voice?"

"Er... t-that was my doing..." I squeaked under the annoyed glare that earned me from the Trinity Tower leader, but couldn't let Ivy or the others take the fall for my meddling.

I got the idea there was a flurry of telepathy going on, rudeness was not a concern for the tall purple that stomped up to loom over me. Jade got a very annoyed look on her face, curling one wing over me and the other down to touch Glitter, who was watching the proceedings with awe.

She puffed up and stuck her chest out at the glowering Umbra, earning her a glare but finally seeming to win the silent confrontation as the leader here sighed and grumbled. "Personal feelings and attachment... madness. So you're the little pony that likes our kind. One of us not enough? Decide to spread out and diversify? One Destroyer wasn't enough, even though we fled here, now the goddesses send another to further agitate things!"

"What!? No! It's not like that... I... I want to help, not make things worse! I'm not a Destroyer!" Hearing Virescent's name for me raised my hackles and my shout echoed in the cavernous lobby.

Umbra narrowed her yellow eyes and growled out a menacing reply, "We shall see..."

Thankfully distracting me from her simmering gaze, my pip-buck threw text in my vision in front of her annoyed face;

Mission Updated: Here There Be Alicorns

Objective-
-Investigate Trinity Tower
-Speak with Umbra

"Wow! Lookit how many there are!" Glitter gasped and watched all the alicorns moving about beyond the doorway of the office we had been sequestered in, her pink eyes wide and sparkling as she took them all in.

The green with a pale yellow-green mane guarding the door gave the little filly at her feet an indulgent look and shuffled a bit out of her way, shaking it off and trying to look imposing when she noticed me watching. Glitter's only complaint was being unable to run around the floor of offices near the top of Trinity Tower freely, while mine were mounting.

A brief but tense argument started as soon as Umbra made it clear only myself and reluctantly the foal were to be allowed to the upper floors of the building. Val was furious at being told to wait in the lobby with Zed and AssaultJack, soothed only when I begged to go along with the order for just a little while.

I had the feeling she had consoled herself by deciding nothing was stopping her from simply flying up and keeping an eye out. Zed had been mildly annoyed, but at least willing to wait in the interest of finding the Church of Balefire, since it was started by a former resident. Glitter had straight out refused being left behind, getting her way through sheer will as far as I could tell, even the mighty Umbra reluctantly conceded eventually.

Jade went up with us in the elevator while the others flew up, giving us a few minutes together before she had been whisked away when we arrived, while Glitter and I had been escorted to an unused office to wait. The trip up gave me a better idea why just that single elevator had survived anyway, the complex terminal and controls inside marked it as special and apparently still partially locked.

I had to resist the temptation to start tinkering with it, my pip-buck patch cable gently pushed aside by Jade when it... flew out on its own... Playing around with a M.A.S. secured elevator terminal in the alicorn's home probably wasn't a great idea, but I was still stewing on it sitting there, waiting to be hacked...

Now I was getting concerned, Jade had gone off with Umbra and the others when we reached this floor and had yet to return. Glitter may be able to amuse herself with the novelty of so many different alicorns, but it was wearing off for me. While I rooted around in the large wooden desk in here with us out of boredom, Glitter asked the only thing I had idly wondered about for me.

"How come some of you are darker than others?" The foal piped up, tracking a blue out in the open area outside that was a dark blue bordering on black. She looked up at the green acting as our... escort (I refused to say guard) expectantly, the innocent curiosity chipping away at her resolve.

I made sure to continue looking through the warped drawers, completely absorbed in moldy old expense reports for gems going to Mass Arcano Fusion. I was apparently suspect for some reason, but our guardian shared a weakness for foals I had seen in others of her kind, eventually cracking and answering her with a soft, sweet voice. "We all used to look that way little one, some have come farther than others since the Goddess fell."

The confused look she gave I caught out of the corner of my eye reflected my own reaction to the cryptic comment. "Even Miss Jade? Why? Why don't you now? You don't Miss...?"

She looked down to where the foal was pointing at her own forest green coat, following Glitter's gaze out to one of her sisters a couple shades darker than herself. "I... My name is Lime little one. Have you ever heard the theory that the soul shapes the container it is in? The state of your spirit being reflected in your form? We believe that is why, when we were all extensions of the Goddess, we were more uniform and shaped by her overwhelming presence. Since she has gone, many of us have changed slightly, the darkness is merely one such change. It varies depending on the... i-individual, but yes I and even sister Jade once looked like that."

"The soul shapes... can that happen? How would you know? Er... other than your case I mean, you'd have to be able to rip out a pony's soul and stick it in somepony or something else." I forgot to try to stay out of the conversation in surprise, the unbidden imagery of Jade with a darker coat was distracting.

Thankfully Lime wasn't that put out at my interruption, though her answer left me a bit chilled. "Ponies and Zebras alike engaged in some very dark magic, during the war and since, there is evidence to support the idea we have run across. Have you never seen attractive raiders that are ugly from the evil within them? Hideous saints that shine with an internal beauty?"

The Ministry Mare statues I carried with me proved her point, I still had a hard time accepting things like necromancy and soul magic had been used during the war by both sides at the end. It was an interesting theory anyway, seeing the darker shades of the three colors was odd too, but I was encouraged that most seemed to be lightening closer to richer primary or even pastel colors. If that really was a sign of separation and growth from the existence they had under the Goddess, many here were coming along well.

"I don't know much about you guys from... before... Jade was the first alicorn I met and that was long after the Goddess was gone, so I've only seen her as she is. I didn't know what kind of changes you've had to go through since then, it must have been hard."

Lime's look softened a bit and she turned away to watch Glitter still avidly staring at the other alicorns peeking in at us. "It was, it is still. You being here is. We never met Evergreen's buck and he caused a great deal of disruption, you'll forgive us if you're viewed with a bit of suspicion. Though since you are here, and we are speaking... you... you truly love sister Jade?"

Well that was an easy question, I bobbed my head rapidly as Glitter tittered to herself. "Yes! More than any mare! I'm here for her, umm... and to try to help the rest of you, since you're sisters and all... I really don't mean any harm, but I do think Jade and even Evergreen are right about one thing, you should deal with others. You are ponies like any other, you shouldn't try to keep yourselves separate and hide."

That declaration brought an unsure frown to Lime's pretty face, but she straightened and shook it off quickly. "We are becoming aware of your thoughts on the subject, thanks to sister Jade. Hush now, they are coming and I... was not supposed to fraternize..."

True to her warning, Ivy and a purple guard with a light orange mane arrived seconds later. The green mare who had been our guest looked tired and worried, waving Lime aside and the two of us out of the room. "Come along, both of you. Umbra will speak with you now."

"Everything ok Ivy?" I whispered up to her as we walked out into the main office floor, weaving our way around large cubicles leading towards the receptionists desk and the big office behind it, most of the glass of its walls in tact and dirty blinds closed to cut off the view.

"Fine Fast, we have merely been listening to sister Jade and her experiences, with a focus on her mark of course." Ivy replied aloud for me, but I also got the unpleasant sensation I last felt from Virescent of her in my head, continuing her answer silently. "Umbra is very unhappy Fast, I hope you are convincing. She views you as an infection, already turning the three of us who went to get you away from unity."

Well fantastic... The mare in charge was already mad at me and I just had to be convincing and charming... no problem at all for a social misfit. Ivy opened the doors to the office with her magic ahead of us, the flaking paint reading "Resource Management Director Shine" still barely legible. That confirmed we were on some kind of accounting level of the M.A.S. hub, not the more interesting areas, making that locked elevator increase its siren call in my head.

The purple escort took up a post at the door and stayed behind, leaving us to enter the well preserved office and walk right into an argument already in progress. Umbra stood inches away from Peri, holding her hoof out expectantly and clearly not liking the insubordination she was getting, while Magnolia cringed in the corner and Jade watched with a dissatisfied frown.

"No." Peri answered whatever she was being asked by the dark mare, leading to a twitch of one yellow eye and a stamp of hooves.

"Magnolia and her intentional violation is bad enough Periwinkle, I'll not have it from you too! For the last time, give me that hat!" Umbra fumed and thrust her hoof out again, glaring at the tan Minutemare hat clutched to Peri's blonde mane protectively.

"No. It is mine. I like it. I will keep it." Peri was utterly implacable, answering in that frustratingly detached tone that crept in when she didn't understand or agree with something.

Fortunately I gave Umbra a new target for her ire, on noticing me she stomped over and scowled down at me, shaking a hoof at the stubborn blue. "This is your fault! You are a corruption, just like Evergreen's stallion. I'll not have you turning my sisters against the group like he did! A hat! She's willing to disobey, digging her hooves in over a hat!"

"I like it." Peri's quiet reply really wasn't helping me...

The dark purple mare towering over me scowled like she wanted to rip my heart out, breaking off the confrontation when Jade walked up defensively. Whatever talking they had already done, both looked to me to continue and I got the impression whatever I said next was of great interest to both of them, for differing reasons.

"It's a hat, why not let her wear it? She likes it." Copying the thrust of Peri's reasoning sounded a little simple, but I got hung up on the same basic point first, the taboo against pony clothes seemed silly to me.

Umbra's eyes widened then narrowed to dragon like slits as she seethed. "Because we don't need them! We are perfect survivors, we don't need clothes for warmth or weather, we have no reason to wear them! The mother never..."

"Liking it is a reason to wear it. The Goddess didn't let you use pony weapons either right? But Peri's a crack shot, if she had one when the Goddess was around, she would have been a lot better at her job. Your mother wasn't right about everything, besides, she's gone now. Who are you to say she can't do what she wants, or that Magnolia can't sing and... do... other things..."

I gulped at the reaction that outburst brought, and at how close I came to mentioning Magnolia's short date. She might have heard the singing alicorn on the radio, but that didn't mean she knew about what else we got up to and I didn't want to make things worse.

I was very glad I had my own big alicorn on our side, Umbra could be as scary as the unseen Swan, especially when she snorted in those angry puffs from her nostrils at my direction. Jade stuck right at my side and draped her wing over my shoulder, sighing out a patient call for calm. "As I was trying to tell you sister, it is not malicious but he has a point. You are not the mother, you cannot protect our sisters from change, it is natural."

"I am the leader they have! We didn't go whimpering to the Pony Who Helps to tell us what to do, we just wanted to be left alone! To find our own place..." Umbra deflated a bit as she trailed off, being in charge of this little group of her kind must have been difficult, I couldn't blame her if she felt threatened.

Still, she was wrong and I couldn't stop myself from saying so. "I know, but your place is with other ponies, living your life as you want, not how you think you should. That's how Jade got her mark, being true to herself and what she wanted to do, that won't happen if you hide here and keep trying to be what the Goddess wanted."

The mention of Jade's cutie mark focused her attention and she seemed to rally, pacing the room as she spoke. "Yes, the mark... It proves we can regain them, but does that mean we must do as she did? Lower ourselves to serving her Followers of the Apocalypse, engage in relations with puny ponies like yourself? She got it for accepting a role you gave her, perhaps it's you and not her that's responsible. I still fail to see how such a meek, bleeding heart sister could not only claim the title of princess, but be rewarded a cutie mark for it! She is..."

My own simmering anger at the insults she casually tossed Jade's way was actually exceeded by Glitter. Having already bounded around the room and unsuccessfully tried to cheer Magnolia, she charged over and stood between Jade and Umbra, trying to be as intimidating as possible for a little filly in a pink dress.

"You're mean! You made Magnolia unhappy! You're just jealous, you don't got a mark and m-mom does!" Her pink eyes were set in a determined line as she stared up at the surprised Umbra, the purple mare's shock mirrored on Jade's features at her declaration.

"Mom? Y-You would call me... mom?" Jade stammered down the the filly, a slowly dawning look of hopeful joy breaking out on her face as she stared at Glitter, ignoring Umbra and anything else.

Glitter scratched her silver mane and fidgeted, mumbling up to her nervously. "S-Sure... I mean, y-you're not mommy, my mom... my r-real mom... but... Yeah! You're daddy's special somepony, an you're a good mom! My mom! An she don't get to be mean to my mom!"

The tearful, pouncing hug Jade unleashed made me glad for that famous earth pony strength, without it I was worried the filly would crumple like a tin can in that embrace while Jade blubbered. Umbra watched with mild amusement before turning to me with a sarcastic look. "Not precisely the kind of motherhood we are seeking, though... touching."

"Why not? There's lots of orphans out in the Commonwealth that need somepony, it's a rough world out there for foals. Even if you can't have kids for now, you could be mothers. That's one of the things the Followers do, start orphanages and stuff... I've seen how much a lot of you like foals, you could help, care for others, be happy like that!" I pointed to the big blue alicorn currently covering a wheezing, struggling foal in her grip with happy kisses to illustrate my point.

The Trinity Tower leader looked like she actually considered it, humming thoughtfully for a moment before her stern expression returned. "That... may not be so bad. But motherhood is not reproduction, we are left with the driving problem of our species, with the Goddess gone there will never be any more of us than there are now. Each one of us that dies is now irreplaceable. Say I followed your thinking, let my sisters do as they wished. What if they try to make friends and are turned away as a monster, attacked, killed? Or they find normal stallions and mares they wish to be with, to abandon the rest of us for one pony, make us all weaker for a relationship that will never produce a foal? You say we are ponies like any other, but the truth is we are not and never will be. We are all that remains of the mother, the more we scatter and forget that, the more the last of her dies."

"You are not monsters! You ARE ponies! Only ponies get cutie marks! Just because you're different or can't reproduce doesn't mean you're not. B-Besides... what if you could, with normal ponies?"

Umbra gave a very guarded look and leaned down menacingly, "Now you sound very much like those that tempted Evergreen and her cohorts away. I will not listen to more false promises..."

"It's not! Er.. I'm not like them, the Institute I mean. But how much do you know about what they've been doing? Because I think there are things you should hear..."

Filling Umbra in on what I knew about Evergreen's new 'friends' and what they had been up to improved her mood somewhat. The dark purple leader was disgusted at the idea of the mutant alicorns I described, but interested in my belief that Moondancer may actually be able to deliver what she promised. Informing her of my intent to find out one way or the other and take the knowledge if I could won me some brownie points too I think.

That still wasn't very far into her good graces though, my requests to play with the elevator or look around the M.A.S. hub were all instantly denied. As was asking if Val and Zed could join us, asking to move about freely and talk with the others, and even hinting at staying here any length of time, let alone overnight.

Unfortunately that refusal wasn't the same for all of us, Jade and Umbra were still engaged in some kind of telepathic debate and she was welcome to stay. I could tell whatever she was silently arguing about was important, she looked pained asking to stay for awhile, but did ask. I didn't like the thought of leaving her behind, despite the logical points that she could fly and turn invisible and could therefore take care of herself quite well, or that Goodneighbor wasn't far away and already our next destination, or that Umbra promised she'd be escorted there before full dark.

I couldn't really think of any way to refuse her either though, her sisters were hinky about outsiders and we had exhausted our welcome for today, limited as it was. She had been concerned about this group and plainly had more to say, dealing with them just wasn't going to be a quick fix and she was determined to put in the time.

She did promise we'd return together, Umbra and the others were interested in asking me more as well, but for now they only wanted one of their own around and I needed to respect that. Plus if we didn't leave soon we'd get caught out in the city after sunset, not a prospect I looked forward to.

I didn't have to like it though. After putting up a supportive face when Jade saw us off in front of the tower fountain, I was free to trudge along and pout as we walked down the gentle slopes of downtown Trotson's streets. I kicked more rainbow bricks clear with my hooves as we went, more to take out frustration than reveal the trail in the gathering dark.

"Oh quit bein' pitiful boss! Blue will catch up in no time, 'sides if she's off with the relatives we can have some fun while she's gone huh? Goodneighbor will perk ya right up!" Val padded along the cracked asphalt with us rather than fly, giving me playful nudges to drag me out of my quite comfortable sullen mood.

"You still haven't told me why this Goodneighbor place is so great Val. I don't know anything about it, I know I miss Jade..." I grumbled back and veered off to follow a branch of the brick trail, sticking my head in an old, half collapsed brick building at this intersection, my pip-buck informing me I had found "The Old Corner Bookstore", if the little bronze plaque on the wall, above another round Rainbow Dash marker in the sidewalk wasn't enough.

"We're almost there, can't spoil it now! Let's just say it's not the kinda fun Blue usually approves of boss. Now c'mon! Quit diggin' around in junk and let's gooo alreeeeeady!" The impatient griffon sing-songed the whine at the end, dragging me away from the ruined bookstore with regret.

The place was almost a total loss, wet, coast weather didn't agree with old books and ancient construction. The best I ran across in my brief canter down the rotting shelves was a moldy old copy of 'Principles of Proper Pony Speech'. Not exactly entertaining reading, but if I had to keep talking with the Trinity Tower alicorns it may come in useful, so I stashed it in my bags and rejoined the others at the brick trail marching off down the street.

I had to climb a pile of rubble from a collapsed storefront that covered the bright bricks, peering around in the cloudy daylight further reduced by the tall buildings and elevated roads and rails above us, finally picking out another splash of color in the direction the others had already continued in.

Glitter had pranced ahead slightly, finding a sunken dip in the road as the hilly streets kept gradually going lower towards the sea, she splashed around the puddles and brackish water that had collected in the low intersection. "I don't like it neither dad! I wanted ta stay! Why'd Miss... m-mom.. have to stay and we couldn't? S'not fair! I don't think..."

Her complaints were suddenly cut off, a bursting series of splashes all around her matched the set of red marks E.F.S. lit up with, driving everything from my mind except her when she squealed in terror. I mentally bucked myself for letting her wander ahead even a few feet, everything was moving in slow motion and I could take in every bit of fear in those pink eyes.

The world froze as if I activated S.A.T.S. and I saw no one could make it in time, even her robotic guardian was too far away to protect her... Everything in me raged desperately in denial, along with the strong, kind and unwavering chorus in my head and I screamed with them, pouring every ounce of my being into somehow reaching her.

My ears popped and everything got bright for an instant, then I suddenly found myself past Val, Zed and AssaultJack and between her and... oh what fresh wasteland horror were these things... Turtles?

Giant... turtles... standing up on their hindlegs, of which they had too many... Their forelegs had grown disproportionately larger and ended with wicked claws, the spiky shells were as thick as armor plating and formed the round top of the things silhouette, the head sticking out and facing forward above its chestplate, while those four flipper like hindlegs propelled it along way too fast.

The nearest of the ugly creatures that so cleverly disguised themselves in the muck snapped out at the little filly. It may look vaguely like a turtle, but it was anything but slow, the wrinkly neck shot out from the heavy plated shell, right at her face. Shoving her back frantically with my hoof spared her, the beak clamping down on my foreleg felt like a vice. It couldn't quite get through my armored sleeve, saving me from losing the limb entirely, but I felt a sickening crunching in the bones under that grip and waves of pain rolled over me.

When pulling away got me nothing, I drew the Terrible Shotgun and started firing into the monster's midsection, quite concerned when the shotgun barely penetrated the mottled plates there and didn't get it to let go. Val launched herself at the stubborn thing, cramming her huge pistol right into its face and pulling the trigger repeatedly, nearly deafening me from the roar right by my head.

"Gotta hit 'em in the head boss!" The bright griffon screeched above the ringing in my ears, before propelling herself off the slumping corpse and unleashing a stream of red magical energy weapons fire into the swamped intersection.

Judging by not only Val, but Zed and AssaultJack all shooting forward and the red marks in my vision, I could only guess they were dealing with more of these things. I couldn't exactly see as the annoying turtle creature's jaws were still painfully locked on my foreleg, refusing to budge even in death, the bulky shell dragging me down to the ground with it also blocked most of my view ahead.

I could at least see Glitter behind me while I yanked uselessly at the corpse that had latched on to me, the pale foal was terrified but still unharmed. Though the pile of oblong, mottled green objects hidden away in the back of the overturned cart she was backing towards worried me. Especially the way they were rattling at her approach...

"Glitter, stop! Look behind you!" I yelled to her, grinding my teeth against the pain as I tried to pull free.

She was plainly horrified and wanted to get away from the monsters currently dying some messy deaths from the sound of it, but stopped and shakily looked over her shoulder. Her scream sent me into a panic when one of the mottled green eggs chose that damn moment to hatch, spewing out a small, slimy, razor beaked little horror that immediately started flopping its way over the ground towards her.

I saw her fumbling in her rain slicker as she fell over herself escaping the new threat, crawling and stumbling her way back to me. Then my brain finally started thinking of more than pointlessly pulling to reach her, I facehoofed and pulled out Best Served, hacking away with the star metal knife at the monster's neck recessed behind the rim of its shell.

Only a couple of clumsy swipes parted the head from the bulky body, the beak was still locked in a crushing grip, but I could move again! I dashed away from the corpse and back towards the new 'zap' of Glitter's boxy magical energy weapon, Righteous Authority, incinerating one of the tiny turtles swarming out of the cart for every half dozen shots.

The little filly was squealing around the mouth grip of the weapon, but was putting up a brave fight, the nasty slug-like things were nipping at her hooves, drawing blood. I saw the precious red fluid staining her pale coat, then I just saw red, Best Served flew ahead of me and sliced them to ribbons, flashing in a quick series of jerks and turns all around her. The gleaming knife floated back to my side as I tackled her in a protective embrace, trying to keep the head still attached to my hoof away from her.

I could feel her shivering in my grip as I turned back to the intersection, the last clump of red in my vision disappearing with a ringing explosion from Val's grenade machinegun as she swooped back anxiously. When she landed lightly next to us, the griffon bodyguard wasted no time poking at me and the filly frantically, inspecting for damage with worried clucking. "Jeez I hate them things! You alright boss?! Kid?! Aw shit, lemme see where yer bleedin' kiddo! Blue is gonna be so pissed... missin' our medic and you two choose now ta get hurt! Boss, yer gonna have ta cut that ugly mug off, Miretanks don't let go easy."

Val dumped a number of magical bandages and potions from her bags, setting about inexpertly applying them to Glitter's hooves while I started prying at the jaws of the... "Miretank?" I asked curiously as Best Served sliced through the tendons connected to the vice like beak around my leg, "What in the name of Celestia is a Miretank?"

"That is boss, duh. You've never been out by the coast or anywhere wet enough, but they're all over the Commonwealth. Nasty buggers, shell's like steel, sharp beaks and claws, sneaky... Should'a been more on guard... I'm sorry kiddo, you ok?" With clear worry Val shoved another healing potion in Glitter's muzzle and kept mummifying her hooves.

"Right sorry 'bout that little miss! Ah didn't detect no threats till them critters popped up outta nowhere! Updatin' mah threat detection software an' beastiary. Awful ashamed of mahself now..." The gleaming AssaultJack robot shuffled close to her, convincingly embarrassed and covered in Miretank gore, looking to share the blame.

The too pale filly sputtered and pulled the purple potion away, shakily waving off Val's unskilled medical care. "I-I'm ok Auntie Val, it was my fault... I shouldn'ta g-gone ahead playin'... D-Daddy saved me, a-are you ok dad?" She looked over with watery pink eyes still spilling tears, hopefully from the shock and not the wounds Val had gone overboard wrapping.

I gritted my teeth and tried not to wince as the terrible pressure on my fetlock finally fell away, hissing despite myself when I tried to put weight on it and noticing the blood oozing from under my sleeve now that circulation was returning. "I'm fine sweetie, no problem. You two can both stop trying to take the blame too, I'm supposed to be responsible for her, I let her get ahead, just because I was distracted. I'm really sorry Glitter, you alright? Are these things poisonous Val!?" With the adrenaline wearing off a host of self recriminations and worries about her wounds was taking hold.

"Nah, not these, definitely not hatchlings boss. She's fine, right Glitter? Think we can just agree ta share the blame so Blue can't kill all of us, but you saved her boss. Pretty slick, ya said ya learned teleportin' but I didn't think ya were that good yet!" Val's grinning reply beat back a little of the panic that was threatening to take over, replacing some with confusion.

"What? What teleporting?"

The griffon cocked a feathery eyebrow in return, but Glitter answered in a yelp that I was glad to hear was already close to her normal, boisterously happy tone. "You did dad! I-It was awesome! You were all far away an' then FWOOSH! You was right there an' pushed me away, you said you could only do little stuff fibber!"

Zed returned from the sunken streets, wiping ichor from his deadly hooves, I spotted a few more of the creatures with bleeding dents in their shells just that size and shuddered at his skill at hoof to hoof combat. "The little one is correct, most impressive. I believed I could reach her in time, but you appeared ahead of me and removed the need."

"Yeah boss, was all... lightning-y... but you blipped right over there! You holdin' out on me, thought you said only small stuff too!" Val's agreement with the others was sincere, but news to me.

"I teleported? Er... ok, if you guys say so. I wasn't trying to... or I was just trying to get there as fast as possible, not to teleport to do it. I guess that magic test thingy was right about me being able to, but I doubt I could again intentionally. I am glad it decided to work now, let's uh... stick a little closer together, alright sweetie?" Well... that explained the massive drain on my magic I noticed now that my heart wasn't racing. Hopefully the headache between my eyes would go away soon.

The tight little hug she gave was agreement enough, I grabbed her in a field of my blue magic and floated her to my back to spare her hooves. Standing to leave with her small weight brought on a sharp jab of pain from my foreleg, making me stumble and wince to Val's displeasure. She still looked bothered at the close call, transfering Glitter to her own back and rolling my sleeve up with an unhappy frown at the mangled limb beneath.

"Gawd she is gonna kill me... This is lookin' like a healin' potion just ain't enough for it boss, shoulda said somethin'! Lucky we ain't far now an' I might know a doctor that'll look at ya, think ya can make it a little further or want me ta fly ya boss?" The clear worry in her and Glitter's faces helped me smile and limp forward, the potion shoved in my mouth and vial of Med-X the griffon jabbed me with helped too of course.

"I'll be fine, not far right? Let's just take it slow and careful ok?" Neither looked all that convinced as they watched me hobble off, I wasn't going to add to either ones worries though. A little further on three hooves wouldn't be all that bad right?

By the time we reached the imposing metal gates of Goodneighbor, I had come to realize I was spoiled having a doctor alicorn around all the time...

My leg was a burning agony the Med-X thankfully dulled down to bearable, the few short blocks we had to travel to get here had been rough going. It was bad enough nowhere in Trotson seemed built on level ground to begin with, the added piles of trash and debris from centuries of ruin, blocked streets and shortcuts through choked alleys or crumbling buildings all just added to it. The last block had at least been fairly clear and flat, signs that this area was patrolled and regularly traveled, giving me enough of a break to think straight and read the plaque above another dirty rainbow trail marker.

The multicolored bricks led off into the ruins of the city, but at the moment I had no interest in following them further. I looked up to the arching, somehow functional, neon letters above the gates reading "Welcome to Goodneighbor!" A fading bit of sculpture depicted the head and hooves of Ministry Mare Pinkie Pie peeking over it, the chipped paint of her manic blue eyes staring down at anyone entering the bright and raucous town past her. The smaller continuation of the sign, "Where every day's a party! Forever!", just made it creepy.

A couple of guards in pink security barding patrolled around the entrance, but the gates were open for the rowdy crowd within to come and go as they pleased. From my first impression the place was like a bizarre mix of the best of Diamond City and the worst of Hexington. The cobblestone streets were brightly lit by old fashioned streetlamps with modern lightbulbs, a great number of ghouls among all the ponies wandered about, even a few griffons and pegasi looped overhead, many of them obviously drunk or otherwise inebriated, swaying to the lively music filling the area.

There were beggars at the gates, prostitutes on the corners and drug dealers in the alleys, next to ponies hawking all manner of salvage, foods, weapons, armor, "clean" drugs, games and gambling for the local establishments. The town was in decent shape, though still dirty and a little squallid in the corners, but for the most part all the residents looked to be having a grand time.

I could see a theater and several old restaurants were occupied and doing a brisk business, the clear center of town however was a glowing tower in the center of town, a tall skyscraper that was surprisingly intact and unsullied. A lot of traffic was going that way, several guards in more of the weird pink barding were all over it. I was shocked to see an old Pinkie Pie balloon hanging in the air nearby several floors up, the tattered and patched inflatable Pinkie Pie head obscured by the building from our approach, in the basket I could make out three more guards with very long rifles mounted to the edges.

It was built to be the focus of the area, right smack in the middle with multiple entrances facing all sides. The brightly colored, circus themed decor I could make out was a little jarring after the gloomy streets of Trotson. More working neon adorned the doors of the edifice facing us, glowing pink letters and marching bulbs spelling out "Wingding Circus Casino".

Gaping at all the spectacle, I limped forward a few steps and leaned against an old noticeboard. A tattered Ministry of Morale poster matching the sculpture above the gates ensured me Pinkie Pie was watching me, forever... While a slightly newer one under all the posted notices and lewd limericks from the last 200 years, showed a stylized version of the tower and town around it before the war.

Happy, clean ponies drinking from glasses with little umbrellas, whooping it up to brightly colored musical notes, even the buildings looked to be dancing. This poster filled me in a bit on what this part of Trotson was before with the legend, "Sparkle World's for the foals, Goodneighbor's for the grown ups! Fun for the whole family in the Commonwealth!"

I shot a questioning glance at Val who broke into a wide grin, "See, my kinda town huh boss? Like it? C'mon, let's see about gettin' that leg looked at an' get a drink!"

Even with the shooting pain at every step as I hobbled after her, I was just a little glad Jade wasn't here. Despite the fact she'd have long ago healed my leg, I doubted she'd like this place...

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

Eye for an eye---
--Misery loves company! For each crippled limb you have, you gain +10% damage!

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

Trinity Tower-- Mixed
You're allowed to get to the front door of the reclusive alicorns without being torn to shreds, that's a start! Gaining entry to the tower and your reactions from the residents is still a toss up though, some may view you with suspicion while others with interest. Getting to know these mares won't be easy.

Goodneighbor-- Neutral
You made it to Goodneighbor and from the looks of things they take anypony in for a good time. Val knows this town at least, though keeping her focused on business with all the fun may be difficult...