The world lurched and flashed a bright purple, when gravity reasserted itself we were suddenly outside in the chilly evening.

That was about as much as I was sure of before I fell to what felt like dead grass, holding a hoof to my forehead and losing all the food I had stuffed myself with before leaving. I had braced myself for this and managed to stifle a scream with Glitter watching nearby, barely... There was no real preparing for the tempest of voices and images that slammed into my brain the second we appeared though.

"Daddy!? What's wrong?! M-Mom!! Help!" I distantly heard Glitter's anxious yell, the feeling of her little hooves shoving my side mostly registering due to the twinge from the growths on my sides.

I tried to pull myself together, vaguely aware of Jade galloping over, her healing magic washing over me to little effect. How did they stand this!? How could Jade miss this?! And it was even stronger when her mother was alive!? The sea of thoughts, words and emotions threatened to drown me as it was, and it was just one building of alicorns!

("Fast! Breathe! Focus on your breathing! Listen to my voice, shut out everything else, just listen very, very carefully! Sssh.. that's better... Remember what we discussed, you are in control. Do you need to leave?") Ivy's thought's cut through the forest of voices and I clung to them desperately, obeying her instructions and breathing in and out slowly. "Be Strong!"...

"I'm o-ok... It's alright... just gimme a second, w-wasn't ready for a teleport like that, got a little d-dizzy..." I kept my eyes clenched shut and kept taking long, slow breaths, in... out... in.... out....

Slowly, way too slowly... that wall of noise in my head died down to a roaring, indistinct whisper, a radio turned up waaaaay too loud in the next room, difficult to ignore but possible to tune out somewhat. Jade's pale blue magic was still surrounding me when I cracked my eyes open again cautiously, a field of healing power that couldn't do anything to help.

Her wing curled around me tightly and Glitter squeezed between us, frightened by the poorly explained reaction and obviously not buying it. The little filly was anything but stupid... I had been afraid of the moment when she inevitably found out the truth, please not now... Jade nuzzled at me and tried to soothe her, stroking her mane and giving a weak smile to the foal.

"Y-Your father is just ill dear, er... teleportation can be traumatic to some ponies, especially those whose health is compromised. Give him a moment and I a-am sure it will pass..." My princess' soft voice spoke to her reassuringly, slowly getting her to release her tight grip around my bulging sides. The voice I heard in my head was much less sure of itself though, whimpering silently.

I gritted my teeth and stared up at her, shaking my head in answer and trying hard to remember all of Ivy's lessons, she said answering mentally was a bad idea, the others could hear it and my psychic voice was instantly recognizable as something new. Humming a tune to myself to hide behind, I pushed myself back up and waved off all the concerned looks surrounding me. "Be Unwavering..."

"R-Really, I'm fine! Jade's right sweetie, a-already passing. You know I've had stomach problems b-because of this cold, getting zapped all the way here just made me loose my lunch is all, no biggie... Come on, it's ok."

Swan's large head swung down slowly and nuzzled my mane apologetically, drawing in a long breath through her nostrils and puffing it out again slowly, her eyes lidded as she spoke aloud dreamily. "Sorry Fast, I tried to make it a smooth trip! Will you be alright? Maybe rest? You can come to my boathouse... I can show you my room... t-to rest..." (...Play....)

The big filly drew in another breath and whinnied, a blush creeping up her cheeks as she sucked strands of my mane up her nostrils entirely. Oh come on! I scrubbed myself raw in the shower before we left and dumped a tiny sample bottle of cologne I found hiding in the depths of the bathroom drawers all over myself! I STILL smelled?!

Ivy stepped in and saved me, making me already glad I had confided in her before coming here. Her purple and blue sisters trotted up, both wearing confused expressions but nodding trustingly to the green mare usually in charge of their wing.

Thankfully, teleporting all of us at once even the short distance to Trinity Tower looked like it drained a good bit of power from Swan, she had been small enough to squeeze her way inside our room back in Goodneighbor before leaving, now she could probably come close to standing inside, if she lowered her head and scrunched down a bit... She still dwarfed the trio of her sisters insistently trying to nudge her away towards the pleasant tingle of her pond, but was a little less intimidating and a little more rational at least.

"Why don't you let us take it from here Swan. Recharge a bit if you like for the trip back? You see how sick Fast is, he doesn't need to go back the long way right? Go join the others still recuperating in your pond and listen in from here, Sister Jade and Fast came here despite how he feels to help us, you will want to hear..." Ivy manipulated the big filly easily, letting Peri and Magnolia guide her back to her park and radioactive pond within, only glancing back over her shoulders with that sleepy look hanging on me a couple times...

I wasn't really 'scared' of Swan, even at her largest when I had first met her I mostly found the giant mare interesting and alluring. Hell, I liked it when Jade got that way sometimes... That was before I apparently became a walking alicorn aphrodisiac however... She still wasn't scary, a little forceful and fixated though... "Be Kind..."

Shaking off the blurriness from my vision, I looked around and started off towards the statue at the entrance to Trinity Tower woozily, the others walking sedately to stay down at my pained pace. Taking in the plaza in front of the shattered doors of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences hub, I was surprised and happy to see a familiar set of carts loaded with wares outside, a single bored caravan guard keeping watch, clearly pretty sure of his safety here and watching us pass with interest.

Walking into the cavernous lobby of the M.A.S. hub, I saw the owner of the caravan huddled around a fire set up in a barrel inside with his workers, Dusty Hooves was the first caravaner to make the trip to Sanctuary when it was just starting out, now he was the first to visit Trinity Tower too... That stallion had a nose for business opportunities...

"Well spank my flanks! Princess Jade and Fast Times! Funny meeting you here! Well... I guess not, these gals are your sisters right Princess? Glad that's so lemme tell ya! Heard they were willing to talk finally, mentioning you two helped grease the wheels though! First traders to show up and they've been right hospitable!" Dusty grinned and cantered over, the other members of his crew watching the commotion curiously.

"Hi Dusty, good to see you again. Glad to see you're still opening up new markets huh? How's it going here?" I replied with as much enthusiasm as I could muster, truly happy to see him but distracted keeping the torrent of voices at bay.

The brown earth pony trader beamed and trailed along beside us towards the working elevator, speaking rapidly and with pride. "Great! Still tryin' to hammer out a deal here, kinda difficult figurin' out what these mares want and what they can offer. Been nothin' but nice though Princess, said we can stay inside!

Ground floor only, but that's plenty! Just a safe place to stop out this way is a real boon for us. Been talkin' to em about settin' up a settlement down here while they're at it, could build their own little town down here no problem!"

Jade smiled to the trader adjusting his dirty cap proudly as we reached the elevator and the doors slid open. "That is wonderful Mr. Hooves, a very good idea. My sisters should not rely only on going out to pony towns to interact with others, bringing ponies here as well is very wise, I will offer my encouragement. If you will excuse us..."

Dusty waved us off happily as Jade, Glitter, Val, Zed and myself all crammed into the elevator, his eyes betraying a hint of concern as the door slid shut. "Appreciate it Princess! Enjoy your visit with your family ma'am, take care of yourself too Fast, you don't look so hot..."

Jade's hoof hovered over the worn button marking as far as the elevator could take us up the building, the rest of the M.A.S. hub sealed as tightly as the M.O.M. one back in Goodneighbor.

I gulped to myself and put my hoof over her own, gently pressing down and nodding at her anxious look. Staring into her frightened gaze, I smelled rain and blood, cries of pain and anguish rang in my ears, an image of a wet, grey land masked by sheets of rain reflected in her blue eyes and feelings of intense sadness and loneliness echoed from deep inside her.

Feeling a faint taste of the pain she was dealing with, getting an uninvited glimpse into Jade's memories from before I knew her, when she had never spoken much of that time in her life... I hadn't found a lot to like about this whole 'Unity' thing so far and was eager to escape its influence.

The two bottles of Moondancer's compatibility potion clinked in my bags though, weighing me down under the importance they represented for all of Jade's kind. I was going to do this, one way or the other...

I clenched my eyes against the whining drill boring into my skull as the elevator slowly rose, rocking in place and humming the pre-war jingle grimly. Ivy and the others had flown up to meet us, so for now I was on my own dealing with the tempest of thoughts swirling around up here that I could now hear.

Zed groaned with a chuckle behind me, "Not that song... please not again Fast, it wedged in my brain the entire time you were gone last time... How can you like that horrible anthem?"

"It's catchy... got stuck in your head right? Kinda what I need it for... Besides, Sparkle World is fun! Er... was... no idea now I guess... Is it even still around?"

Val snorted and reached out with her claws to scratch my flank where I was clumsily trying to reach. That maddening itch crawling under my skin no match for her dark digits. "Sparkle World's still around boss... dangerous place, crazier than most of the Commonwealth..."

"Oh... guess that means a family vacation is out..." I sighed at my half joke, I barely remembered going to the amusement park as a foal with my parents. I had idly daydreamed about doing the same with Glitter and Jade it someday. I had to blink and rub my eyes to make out 'Map Updated' appearing in the corner of my eye, well... if it still existed maybe there was still a chance...

The little filly sounded interested, not the ecstatic joy a mention of going to Sparkle World would have elicited from me at her age, but that was a different world... "What is that place anyway daddy? Me an' my sister seen old posters and stuff for it before, mommy... m-my mom I mean... she said we couldn't go, it was too far away and dangerous. Was it really for foals like they showed, with games an' rides an' stuff!?"

"For all the moms and pops and kids... yes sweetie, it used to be like the song says, a really fun place for families to go together... Wanna sing it with me?"

Val echoed Zed's exasperated groan, my croaking rendition completely failing to harmonize with the filly's squeaky one. Jade softly joined in with a smile, smoothing out the melody and hugging the two of us to her sides with her wings. Even Val and amazingly Zed too eventually broke down and added their voices to the impromptu sing along, the zebra's a deep bass and my griffon mercenary's more a bawdy squawk.

The trip up passed quickly that way, soothing my soul, helping to steel my resolve and combat the noise in my head. All our voices were raised together, sharing the silly pre-war jingle and filling the elevator car with a circle warmth and caring. Finally the doors dinged and slid open, the voices washing over me ratcheting up in intensity at our arrival.

The reception waiting for us was surprising enough I stood where I was with my mouth agape, my weak mental defenses momentarily abandoned. They had put up a roughly painted banner reading 'Welcome Back!' right in front of the doors, a patchwork mishmash of decorations for every holiday hung everywhere, a small pile of scavenged food and a single amber bottle arranged in a heap by the wall, were they trying to throw a party? Nearly all of them were waiting for us to arrive and cheered when I took a shaky step out.

Jade wrapped a protective wing around me and Ivy pushed her way through the crowd, standing nearby and patting my head as Jade called to her sisters clustered around us. "What a lovely welcome! T-Thank you, for all your help searching for my Fast. He is s-somewhat ill, but thrilled to be back to see you all, i-is that not so Fast?"

"Y-Yeah! Really glad to be back, thanks for trying to find me! A-And for putting on a party! This is great, I appreciate all the effort, r-really, just wish I felt a little better..."

The gaggle of mares cheered and tried to push forward invitingly, offering food and drink they had gotten from somewhere for the occasion. Glitter instantly started accepting anything packed with sugar and preservatives, her muzzle already caked with frosting from all of Jade's sisters doting over the foal, when Umbra stomped forward and loomed over her, coughing for attention and getting silence in return.

Well.. she did more than cough to get everypony to settle down, though her stern expression softened and she wiped a little frosting from Glitter's muzzle gently, smiling to the foal goggling up at her and licking at the concentrated sugar cautiously. Taking a good look at the tall leader of the alicorns, I could swear her dark coat had lightened a little, a tiny streak of gold even ran through her white mane now, had she really changed that much?

By the way she tromped over to glower down at me, I was worried she hadn't... I would be more concerned actually, but the thoughts running behind those golden eyes didn't match her demeanor, light hearted with a thread of shame in the background. Goddesses, getting emotional context directly was weeeeird...

"You... Are you happy now? Gotten everything you want out of us? Forcing us out into the world, making us interact with normal ponies as if you know best! Meddlesome, annoying, foalish little pony..." Umbra growled at me, lowering her head to get right in my face and scowl, her thoughts and eyes dancing with unsure merriment that betrayed her.

"Er..."

The leader of Trinity Tower took a deep, graceful bow, lowering her horn to the floor and speaking softly. "Brave, wonderful, caring and correct little pony too... I owe you a debt and an apology Fast Times, you saved me from my foolish pride and sister Stormy as well. I should not have doubted you, We... I... am very relieved you have returned safe, if you had lost your life to save mine... I could never repay you."

Feelings of... honor? duty? A stream of difficult to grasp memories and emotions were running through her head, the clank of steel and a vague sensation of being surrounded in heavy armor nonsensically transmitted to me. The anxious glance she returned from the floor was full of doubt, that was probably the first joke Umbra had ever tried...

Always eager to encourage Jade's sisters, I wiped a drop of sweat from my brow and tried to smile in fake relief. "Oh... Phew... R-Really had me going for a second there Umbra, that was funny! D-Don't worry about it, I'm glad you and Stormy got out of there safe, I was a little too busy to see if you made it..."

The surge of joy and relief I felt washing over me complimented the wide smile on Umbra's face as she stood and nickered. She shuffled nervously for a second, then awkwardly stepped forward and gave me a reticent hug with her wings. I thought of a a filly working herself up to jump in the pool, sticking her hoof in experimentally, probably another first for her...

I stiffened under the embrace, patting her back and gulping as she took a deep breath. Pulling away as politely as I could, I backed towards Jade again, keeping a wary eye on the dark purple mare sniffing in deeply again. Her bright golden eyes grew soft and lidded, tracking me dreamily, slowly clearing and filling with confusion.

Embarrassment... Guilty shame and sudden curiosity were warring in her head as the unsure mare shook it off and answered, her voice husky until she regained her footing. "We were fine, both of us. Stormy could not be here unfortunately, she is attempting to find our wayward sisters and convince them of what happened.

The nest of those evil ponies in the Library may be no more, but the Church of Balefire is not gone yet. She was concerned about you too, hoping the others might know where you were taken. She will be as pleased as the rest of us when she returns, are you sure you are alright however? You seem... different... sister tells us you are unwell?"

Jade nodded and answered for me sharply, stuttering over her words as she tried to change the topic. "H-He will be fine! M-Merely sick, the Ministry of Peace did many amazing things, but still no cure for the c-common cold! L-Lovely as your little party is, he should not stay out long. I allowed it because... Fast has a gift for you... us..."

Ivy sidled next to me and lightly touched my side with her wing, nodding in determination and locking her green eyes on mine. "Yes sisters, Fast has something very important for us. Let's all be quiet and listen carefully..."

That was ominous... At least I was forewarned, taking a few deep breaths to steady myself, I floated out the pair of pink vials from my packs and held them up high in my magic. "Well... It was the Institute that took me, I'm guessing you figured that out if Jade didn't tell you already. It was Moondancer, umm... Dr. Dala, the one who promised some of you that she could make regular ponies able to breed with you? T-Turns out she wasn't totally lying, probably...

She was keeping this a secret from Evergreen because she wanted to work on fixing the I.M.P. instead, thought you guys being able to reproduce with any old pony was boring... and that you wouldn't need her anymore... Before I got away, I made sure to steal it and as much information about it as I could though. This is the compatibility potion ladies... Dr. Dala seemed pretty sure it works, these two are for you."

My pip-buck flashed text in my eyes, overlaying my view of the potions hovering overhead and giving a fanfare in my ear, the only sound in response to my proclamation so far.

Mission Completed!: Here There Be Alicorns

Objectives-
--Investigate Trinity Tower
--Speak with Umbra
--Find a way to help the Trinity Tower alicorns

For a brief moment, there was utter silence. No voices at all, not out loud, not in my head, just stunned silence as every alicorn eye in the room focused on the two bottles shimmering with a faint rainbow sheen. I had just enough time to hope that Ivy was just being overly cautious, then it came...

I reeled under the sudden assault, the precious bottles wobbily floating to the floor before I lost my grip. The quiet before the storm made it hit even harder and my stomach tried to revolt, barely held at bay by biting my tongue and focusing on the jingle in my head for all I was worth.

Umbra finally stomped her hooves and the riotous noise in my head died down to a droning buzz, the alicorn leader glaring around at her charges as they settled and reverently floating the potion vials back up, eyeing them with pure wonder flowing off her.

"T-This... this is amazing Fast... You put yourself at risk to bring this back to us, help our kind... I... I am ashamed, the mistrust and anger I directed at you and still... y-you... you save me... save all of us! Sisters! W-We... we can finally do as the mother wished..." Umbra spoke in a hush, tears welling up and spilling down her cheeks, pure, unadulterated happiness radiating off her to bask in. Maybe getting other pony's feelings wasn't all bad...

Magnolia surprised me by being one of the first to speak, meekly murmuring to the rest. "H-How does it work? How much is there? If I already had a normal pony in mind... h-how will we decide how to use it?"

Jade fluffed her wings and stood straight, speaking clinically about the focus of all their attention and thoughts that were washing over me. "From what I have read, it should work as intended. It is meant to be used on the male, not on us... A stallion properly dosed with the potion will be able to produce offspring with any of us for the remainder of his life. There is only enough for perhaps ten average ponies there. Fast recovered more, but some of that must go to the Followers in Manehatten to share with our sisters in Equestria.

The rest I will hold in reserve, in case the formula Fast was able to steal is insufficient to reproduce it in the future. If it is successful it should be possible to make more, though it is quite complex and difficult. The ponies of Stable 114 have much of the equipment and resources needed already, and the Followers in Manehatten as well as the Angels of Glyphmark should be able to do so as well, eventually...

Also... while it does enable us to breed with any type of normal pony, it... brings us closer to the rest of ponykind again. The children produced have equal chances of taking after either parent, just like anypony else. They may be alicorns like ourselves, or they may be any other type of pony... Though any offspring should be compatible with any type of pony, the next generation will not share our faults."

The jolly song gave me something to hold onto against the flurry of unity going on around me, high speed bursts of not just words or feelings, but fully formed ideas and questions blipped through my head. Catching a couple of the mares around the room humming the same tune worried me, but I was too overwhelmed to risk stopping.

Even more anxiety producing were the occasional long sniffs at the air and dazed looks spreading among them... I took advantage of Jade's wing hiding me to shiver in place against all the voices, please, this would be a reeeeally bad time for another seizure... not now...

Again Umbra mentally called for order and got it, peering down at me and pacing in thought. "So... we have decisions to face sisters. We must find males willing to risk this potion of Dala's to mate with. Males we wish to reproduce with, that have traits we wish to pass on, that we all find acceptable to mate with and are willing to do so. Since we have such a limited amount as well, we need males that will live long lives and be able to mate many times, that can stay here where we can protect them from harm so they may focus on breeding.

We will have to consider our options and discuss this carefully, b-but openly, I do not wish to repeat my mistakes with Evergreen. Deciding on the others to use this gift on will be difficult, but I believe we can all agree on who the first should be... Will you do this for us Fast? Or have you already hmm?"

Umbra smiled kindly at me and waited expectantly, she kind of had me trapped here... I couldn't take another of Moondancer's potions on top of the one still working on me, plus however it turned out, I doubted I'd need one of the precious doses. If I became an alicorn then the compatibility potion was kind of redundant...

How to explain that was made more difficult after taking in what she asked too... "You want me to... what?! A-All of you? M-Many times?! Stay and be protected? You mean... N-No! Umm... S-Sorry.. I... I can't..." Oh yes, brilliant... way to go dumb-dumb...

An audible murmur ran through the crowd and I caught Glitter staring at me suspiciously, giving me further incentive to come up with something better than that while Umbra raised an eyebrow in confusion, a hint of her old annoyance coming out. "What? But you... you have said you wish to mate with sister Jade, produce offspring... this is what you want correct? We have seen the thoughts in your head! Why would you refuse..."

"N-Not refusing! Er... I do want those things yes! I don't think I'm a good choice right now though, I want to have kids with Jade someday, not right now! I do stupid things all the time that could get me killed, the Institute hates me and still has my Stable, my family... I can't give up until I find them... I already have a daughter that needs me, having a new baby in all this? Let alone lots of babies!? I don't know how ponies do it out here, but I want to be there for them all the time, I'm away from Glitter enough as it is."

That at least wiped the appraising stare off the little filly's face, replacing it with a wide smile as she pranced over at my urging and sat in front of me, only giving a mild grumble as I covered her ears. This was rapidly getting into topics of conversation I'd rather not have her listening to...

More high speed telepathy threatened to overwhelm me, thankfully cut off when Umbra spoke again. "But you do wish to do so... Why not simply breed with us now then, have your foals and raise them with sister Jade when you are ready? We do not require you to remain and be a father to all of them.

We would prefer it if you stayed under our protection, but you have earned an exception and we find you to be a nearly perfect mate; healthy, intelligent and brave, all traits we would see spread, albeit a bit short... But we will overlook that! Others of your stature have proven it is of little importance..." A flash of a petite grey mare with a brown mane in Stable barding ran through my head at her words, feelings coming with it of... fear? Respect maybe?

Val burst out in gales of laughter, spewing the contents of the single bottle of alcohol the alicorns had put out for their little party and hooting to the ceiling, addressing one of the biggest things that caught me off guard out of all of that. "Bwahahaha!!! You wanna put the boss out ta stud!? S-Sure! Form a line gals! I can pimp him out for ya!"

"Val..."

"No, no, no! You got work ta get to boss, w-we'll go fill one of these rooms with mattresses an' start sendin' em in till they can't fit no more! C-Chain you up so you can't go runnin' off! I'm sure Blue is fine with it right? I mean it's yer sisters an' all! Ain't you mares posed ta share everything in anyhoo? K-Keep it all in the family! W-We'll work out a schedule! Bring 'im back every few months ta make the rounds!" The griffon laughed hysterically from the floor, rolling around and kicking her paws behind her, this wasn't that funny...

What was really not funny was the way at least a third of the room started forming lines just as she said... Sending her into fresh guffaws as she just kept right on going. "T-That's it gals! M-Make yerselves pretty too, gotta wine and dine em a little first! First the blues, then the purples, then the greens! O-Oh! No, I know! B-Boss likes em tall, s-start linin' up by height! G-Guess you gotta wait fer Swan down there to take first crack at 'im!"

"VAL! That's enough! Not funny!" I winced at the mental shout of Swan from her pond down below, Val might be kidding, but I noticed Jade turning as red as I was and she was coming uncomfortably close to a few topics, making me realize the fillies up here didn't think it was a joke.

A couple of them even slunk off to the windows and flew down towards the park, taking her seriously and going to start drinking in radiation to move up in her proposed order. Others were primping and preening themselves anxiously, adjusting the few scraps of clothing I saw being worn up here and trying awkwardly to be seductive. At least the ones engaging in the oddest responses all shared that cloudy gaze and kept breathing deeply, one or two pointing their noses up and slowly wandering around following them...

"Fast won't mate without sister Jade... I've been trying... he doesn't like sharing..." (You gotta share... you gotta care...) Peri muttered softly to the room, the strange blue mare always had a look of sleepy detachment anyway, with her nostrils flaring like that she was practically hypnotized.

The song from my childhood drifted up from her memories in a warped and crackling rendition that made me feel horrible, despair and pain carried with the happy melody for some reason, a whiff of smoke tickling my nose, the clink of chains ringing in my ears and images of a hellish, ruined city flashing by.

At least Magnolia's light green eyes were clear and bright, her melodious voice ringing out in my defense. "That's not it Peri! W-When you have a special somepony, you only have eyes for them! W-What if sister Jade didn't want to share him? Or one of us had a stallion they felt like that about? Will Evergreen want to share her buck when we find her? M-Mating isn't love!" (Miles...)

The furious back and forth that ensued made me sway, Glitter struggling under my hooves to look up and pull me from her ears at the movement. They were right, this whole thing was a sticky problem... If I wasn't already hopefully on the way to turning into one of them and had actually needed that potion, was it fair to only use it for Jade?

Umbra had laid out the cold, hard facts and I couldn't really dispute them so far. They only had a little of the potion, they had to get as much out of it as possible and they were trying to preserve their species. Any stallion who did end up taking that stuff would need to mate with as many of them as possible, as often as possible... Especially since they weren't guaranteed to produce an alicorn when they did give birth.

Of course I didn't think there was any shortage of bucks who would find that arrangement a little slice of heaven, my old friend Grizzly Sands would probably be first in line... but even they'd start to get tired right? Being clinical about it and trying to use the potion as efficiently as possible, meant that those like Jade and Evergreen who only wanted their special somepony were left out too...

(Now do you see? This is just about mating with normal ponies too Fast... stallions that will be able to choose if they are willing to make that sacrifice. If it were a male alicorn they were discussing instead for example... One that would produce other alicorns only? What do you think they'd do if such a ...hypothetical male just dropped into our laps? How much stronger do you think the reaction would be?) Ivy smiled sadly and waved out to the crowd and the flurry of telepathy and voices raised in argument.

If that were the case... Yeeeeah... I could see this getting a lot more intense alright... If I did become an alicorn properly, a male alicorn, a male that wasn't one of them originally to boot? That would only give them alicorn foals instead of the normal, random chances ponies the world over had?...

I focused on the jingle harder than ever, suddenly very ready to leave and shivering as my heart pounded, hard enough for Glitter to feel it apparently by the surprised look up at me. They'd never want me to leave... Peri and Swan's flirtations would be nothing, a drop in the bucket...

Worse yet they'd have a point, being in that position and only being with Jade would be selfish... from their perspective anyway, much to my chagrin at least partially from my own too... logically speaking they'd be right... If there was only one male alicorn around, they'd be justified in sequestering them away and jealously guarding them, keeping them safe from any possible harm in the interest of their species' future...

I wondered what life was like for that single male back in Equestria... The one who had been a female like all the rest and volunteered to be changed, to dedicate themselves solely to reproducing with their... sisters... (That just sounded weird...) I imagined he... she?... they were well cared for, never wanting for anything or having to do much besides mating, the chafing must be incredible...

What was surely a pampered and easy lifestyle in the wasteland wasn't very tempting for me though... Mechanically breeding with a never ending stream of strange fillies, only focusing on the end result and not enjoying the process, engaging in intimacy with no feelings involved, being kept locked away and out of any potential danger? No... not for me at all...

Zed appeared from nowhere beside me, whispering over Glitter's head to offer a bit of advice, startling me both by his appearance and by getting involved at all, he really was making an effort now. "Buy time... These are not problems for you to solve for them, or to be solved quickly. I suggest you leave soon as well Fast... They are getting rather stirred up... and your griffon is not helping. You do not appear well either, wipe your nose."

Taking a hoof off Glitter's ears let her wriggle loose and spin around, gasping as I wiped my muzzle and pulled my fetlock back smeared with a trickle of blood. Right! That was enough Unity / telepathy nonsense for one day! I tried to hide the damp streak, thankfully hard to see on my black sleeve, stepping out from Jade's embrace to call out to the room.

"Uh! Z-Zed's right! You're all going way too fast! H-Having kids shouldn't be something anypony rushes into, you can't sit here and try to settle it all right this minute and get down to m-mating ok? I'm flattered, really! Umm... g-give me some time to think about it at least? I don't know if I can help all of you the way you want, but you know I want to help now right? You have things to work out anyway and I r-really ought to get back to bed..."

I nervously glanced around at them staring at me strangely, suddenly realizing I had raised my voice to shout when they weren't really being that loud... with their mouths anyway... Dammit, this was too hard to keep up, I wasn't great at talking to other ponies to begin with, adding on a whole other layer of communication was just giving me more rope to hang myself.

I caught Ivy facehoofing to herself with a grimace behind me, a wave of tension rolling off her as Umbra cocked her head and stared closely, thankfully disregarding it to answer. (Acting strange... Odd... Sick... Blood?... Point though... Listen this time...) "As you wish Fast, I suppose you are right, we are getting ahead of ourselves in our excitement. We will consider what to do together, feel better soon and do the same, we hope you'll agree to help us this way."

After a chorus of goodbyes, we made our way back to the elevator to go down to Swan and return to Goodneighbor. Glitter's normally exuberant parting subdued as she hovered nearby, returning to the habit of making sure some part her remained in contact with some part of me that she had exhibited when I first got back from being separated from her.

My concern over the behavior was forgotten at Umbra's voice, grumbling out as the doors shut and the ancient elevator trundled down. "Stop that humming! Who started this, it will be stuck in our heads for weeks!"

Teleportation was definitely the way to travel, I envied Swan's skill with the difficult spell that instantly brought us back to the Princess Celestia Suite in Goodneighbor. The giant mare's aim was so good she appeared in the cramped quarters without ruffling a feather, though she did fit quite a bit better than last time.

Returning to the deafening silence in my head was a blessed comfort, I had enough voices up there on my own thank you very much. Swan made her farewells happily, nuzzling at me playfully but behaving herself to my relief. I sincerely hoped she and the others would get used to my 'smell' quickly and stop reacting to it, I couldn't be around any of them for long the way that went.

As soon as she disappeared I started shrugging out of my dark armor, oblivious to Val, Zed, Ivy, Peri and Magnolia still in here with me. The big, soft bed was calling to me, that was exhausting... I had seriously been in life and death battles that didn't drain me that much, how could they stand all that all the time? Let alone like it?

I collapsed to the mattress and yawned goodnight to my friends, vaguely aware of the little filly who had quietly jumped up beside me and wrapped her legs around my bandaged middle. Muttering sleepy promises to share my next set of errands tomorrow, I heard the others filing out and Jade approaching the bed. A soft murmuring argument between Jade and Glitter briefly broke out, the alicorn princess trying to pull her away by the movement and the little filly squeezing my bulging sides tighter.

A fuzzy assurance and whine got them to stop moving around, the foal getting her way and remaining where she was silently as Jade left and the lights went out. Glitter wasn't this clingy usually, not since she first came to stay with us anyway. Enough to worry me, but I couldn't think straight, let alone try to talk to her about it. The best I could manage was stroking her mane softly until I passed out.

She was still right there when I woke up, cradled between Jade and I on the spacious bed and keeping in contact even while unconscious. She sounded a little more herself while we got ready for the day at least, never leaving my side but speaking over breakfast happily, joining in the conversation as I outlined the basics of our meeting with Mayor Shamrock we were preparing for.

I tried another shower before leaving the suite, scrubbing myself as hard as I could, trying to mask whatever scent was driving nearly every alicorn I was near crazy. Jade told me even she wasn't immune, though catching her stretching out a hug here and there to bury her muzzle in my mane and breathe contentedly was a good clue...

She at least liked my smell before it changed, the unconscious reaction of her body wasn't quite the shock it was for her sisters and she tried to assure me they would probably get used to it ...eventually.

Finally I had to hope that was good enough, I'd start scraping away my coat if I kept going... I took a moment to stare in the mirror while I dried off, the tumors on my sides were looking more distinctly wing-like every day, lending my reflection the air of a normal pegasus with wings tucked tightly against my ribs, except for the rough, pulsating skin still covering them instead of feathers.

I yanked the towel from my mane and flicked my ears around, I could have sworn I heard a tiny gasp... no one sneaking in like Val had done was hiding at the door though. Just in case, I hurried up and wrapped my chest in fresh bandages, at least I didn't have to use precious magical ones for this, plain old strips of cloth did what I needed just fine.

Shrugging into my Shrouded Stallion trenchcoat, I paused and prodded at the sides in surprise. Were these flaps always here? No... definitely not... Buttoned flaps on either side had shown up somehow, openings for wings? They looked like what you'd find on pegasus clothing anyway, there were a lot of spells woven into the magical armor by Sassy Saddles, it adjusted its fit... maybe that was why?

I checked my pip-buck and stared at the cartoon unicorn on the health status screen, ignoring all the warnings and alerts vying for my attention. The display kept flickering between showing a set of illustrated wings and removing them again, if the arcano-tech computer on my leg recognized them, maybe the armor did too? I chose to take it as a good sign anyway and finished up quickly, joining the others and making our way to Shamrock's office.

The ghoul mayor was anxiously waiting for us, his cluttered office looked like it had been a hive of activity since I came here last, his kindly demeanor somewhat strained. "Morning! Come in, come in! Glad to see you back and get to meet you with again, how's my head technician doing today?"

I took the offered seat in front of the desk strewn with bottles and drug containers with a tired sigh, the wind knocked out of me by Glitter immediately hopping up in my lap and fidgeting silently. "Ooof! Er.. Good to see you too Shamrock, sorry I haven't gotten back to you till now, I've been... busy..."

The mayor snorted a laugh and waved off my apology, "So I've heard... No worries Fast, though I'm glad you came by, I was going to send for you soon. Things have been a bit... tense lately, though we're happy to have all your sisters visitin' Princess! Making some progress with our little project would help quite a bit, I hope that's what you wanted to talk about?"

Jade smiled happily to the ghoul at the mention of her sisters, nodding gratefully as I replied. "Yeah actually, I think I found a way in... It's gonna sound really weird though... You have to throw a party..."

Shamrock's milky eyes widened a moment, blinking in surprise before he started guffawing laughter. "A party? Gee I dunno Fast, we don't throw many parties in Goodneighbor... whatever will we do?"

"If it were that easy we would'a done it a long time ago! Even that idiot Fantastic could manage that, you sure 'bout this goofy little pony boss?" Shamrock's surly griffon bodyguard Scarlet sneered, eyeing me suspiciously.

Val gritted her teeth and slammed her claws on the desk, leaning towards the dark red griffon and growling. "Shut up... Listen ta the boss, he knows what he's talkin' about..."

"It is alright Valkyrie, calm down. I realize it sounds strange Mayor Shamrock, from what Fast has been able to explain to me however, I believe you should pay attention. Though I do not understand computers very well, Fast's plan seems reasonable." Jade pushed my angry griffon friend back gently, ever the diplomat and peacemaker.

"I should have said you have to throw a very specific kind of party Shamrock, but that's pretty much the gist of it... This casino never opened see, it's still waiting for the Grand Opening Gala to happen, that's why it hired you to begin with. There's a lot of criteria that have to be met for it to count, but if the computer in here thinks the opening is happening, the M.O.M. hub will open for it too."

The mayor leaned back in his battered old chair, scratching his flaking chin in thought before answering curiously. "What kind of party then? What has to happen that's so special?"

Taking a deep breath, I glanced at my pip-buck and the list it had compiled into one of its 'Missions' as I dug through the code buried in the advanced computer somewhere above us. "First, It has to be big... You get a lot of guests here for Nightmare Night right? I saw the decorations and was hoping to take Glitter out anyway, that should be good enough. It also has to have certain guests and events that happen, celebrities that were supposed to be here for the opening."

"Might be little hard to pull that off Fast... guessin' those celebrities are all long gone, unless they're all as pretty as me!" The ghoul chortled and gestured to his rotting face, I kinda doubted all the guests happened to be ghouls that were still around too, thankfully that wasn't as big a problem as it first seemed.

"Well... that's one area where having such a... smart computer in charge actually helps us. If it was a normal system, it probably wouldn't accept anything but exactly who was supposed to be here. But because it's so clever, it has leeway to adjust things if it needs to. We don't need the exact celebrities scheduled, we just need ponies that it will accept instead. A pre-war singer named Rara was supposed to perform down in your lounge for example, I have a friend that's really good at singing that can fill in though, see?"

Val huffed in confusion and tried to puzzle that out while Shamrock hummed to himself in thought. "Ok hold on boss... yer sayin' if it were a dumb computer, it would be smart enough to not be fooled... But since it's a smart computer... it's dumb? It'll really fall for it?"

"Basically... Computers are only as smart as their programming Val, usually... This one can think though, so yes, we can fool it. Zed, did you find out what I asked?"

The quiet zebra looked away from staring out the windows looking down on the casino floor below and nodded. "Yes, the Combat Zone is still in possession of the gaudy belt you asked about. Rather the current champion is in possession of it, unfortunately it is a truly obnoxious member of the Kings, I do not think he'll cooperate."

"Hmm... Ok... I hate to ask Zed, but you're really good at fighting, do you think you could beat him?"

The flat, bored smirk he returned was a good answer... "I said he was obnoxious, not skilled. Defeating him under the rules that place follows should be simple enough. I assume a 'championship fight' is one of the conditions that must be met?"

"Exactly... If you don't mind doing that, then that's one more thing off the list. That leaves a few more repairs to make around town and some other replacements to line up, but we ought to be able to get everything done in time for Nightmare Night.

There's only one major problem, some of the things I need to fix are in the King's Gambit... I don't think they're going to just let me walk on in and do it, they don't like me very much. Plus I found their weaponry in the Library, they were selling guns to the Church of Balefire, whether directly or through contacts with the Institute I don't know, but they're a problem..."

Shamrock chuckled tersely, the jovial ghoul in the ancient military uniform sounded tired and a little worried.."Ha! That's an understatement! Bullet Bishop himself is coming back to town for our annual Nightmare Night shindig actually. Keep it under your hat, but if those twits are going to pull somethin', that's probably when.

I wouldn't put it past em either, I knew about the gun running to that church, didn't think anything of it until they attacked you folks right in my casino though. They're even more ornery than normal now, trouble is brewin' and I got my hooves full tryin' ta head it off. I'll offer what help I'm able to give with this, but plannin' a big party around a potential war in the streets is a tall order Fast.".

I rubbed my head and tried to think, the fog of Med-X helped stave off the pain roving through my body, but made productive thought difficult. So... one of Diamond City's 'nobility' was going to be here... I hadn't liked the sleazy stallion when I met him briefly, seeing where he got his power and caps from had nurtured that dislike to outright hate.

I still didn't fully understand the complex workings of Goodneighbor, but I had friends to help with that. I had the basics down enough to know what I wanted to happen too. "Then let's talk about all the bad things that could happen to the Kings between now and then..."

Knocking the rust from the access panel on the oversized statue of a young Ministry Mare Pinkie Pie, set off a torrent of coughing that left me light headed for a moment. When it passed I was surprised to find my tough little earth pony filly leaning against me, keeping me from falling over.

Glitter's wide pink eyes stared up at me silently as I caught my breath, the foal remaining in contact with my swollen side in anticipation of another attack. I patted her head weakly and pulled the metal panel free, holding my breath at the shower of rust this time and floating my tools into the exposed innards of the animated statue in front of the Friendly Foals Orphanage.

An awkward silence had settled between us all morning, she stayed right on my tail at all times and watched my every move closely, but the closest she came to her normal happy chatter was when speaking with somepony else, was she mad at me?

I noticed her increasingly strange behavior with worry, trying to arrange things so we'd have some time alone together, relatively anyway... I kept spotting Val peeking down from the rooftops, checking up on us before flapping off to her next errand. Jade had gone to her clinic, still dedicated to finding some treatment for me, despite how little time I had left before the potion ran its course. Zed had volunteered to return to the Combat Zone, finding out how to go about challenging the champion.

She didn't even spend much time talking to the pair of unicorn colts at the tour guide stand nearby, leaving me to sigh in frustration and check the updates on my pip-buck as a distraction while i tried to work;

Mission: Strike Up the Band

Objectives----

---Trigger the Grand Opening Gala

----Repair all 'Spell in a Box' arrays

----Repair Friendly Foals Daycare event

----Arrange catering from local cuisine

----Find noble Master of Ceremonies

----Stage performance of Equestrian National Anthem and concert

----Stage 'Championship Fight'

----Stage 'Ribbon Cutting Ceremony'

----Meet minimum attendance requirements
----Meet minimum party level (8.9)
---Gain access to Ministry of Morale hub
---Take control of hub maneframe

Mission: Down With the King

Objectives---

---Weaken the King's influence in Goodneighbor
---Reduce the King's wealth
---Reduce the King's weapons trade

Optional Objectives---

---Eliminate the Kings
---Eliminate Bullet Bishop

A twinge between my eyes made me bang my head trying to duck out of the panel, looking around in alarm at the trio of strange alicorns making their way to the rough wooden stand outside of the candy cane fence. The tall statue of Pinkie Pie depicted the young Ministry Mare standing on one of her hind legs, balancing on a brightly colored ball, the other limbs spread wide in grinning invitation.

Balancing on my hindleg to match the pose and press against the cold back of the statue took a lot of effort, how did Zed do this so easily anyway? I held my breath and wobbled in place, listening to the trio of mares chatting as they approached and requested one of Glitter's guides.

"Remember, we are to be on the lookout for candidates now, males that will fit the bill, not just fun."

"There is that Black Cat place... mating for caps? Perhaps we could hire a male..."

"I do not wish to take our guide to that place..."

"Don't worry lady! We know what goes on there, we wait outside if'n it makes ya feel better!"

"T-Thank you little one... That place is difficult to deal with, very confusing... We have little caps, we cannot hire a male permanently. Besides, do we want one that can be so easily bought?"

"No... That would not be a trait to pass on... This is difficult, it will take too long to find acceptable males... Why does sister Jade's mate not simply agree? We could already be trying..."

"He brought it to us... He will agree, he likes us! We will still need other males, he was right anyway, we should not rush, our obsession has cost us before... We will... will... go to the casino place... try to meet worthy males to.... what is that smell?"

"Don't know... good though, smells familiar... kept catching scent yesterday too..."

"W-We will go to the Black Cat place first... To investigate..."

"Can we visit sister later? See if... Fast is there? He still sick?"

"We will see...Later, w-willing to try other things... w-while we look..."

Their voices slowly trailed off, leaving me pressed against the Pinkie statue in the same outstretched pose, my heart pounding and sweat pouring down my face. I stumbled back to all four hooves and smiled sheepishly at Glitter, she had watched the whole production without saying anything or even saying hi to the alicorns. Staying hidden with me and darting those pink eyes from the retreating mares and back to me suspiciously.

"Oy! What're you doin' out there! Anypony say you could just barge in an' start tinkerin' with Filchers stuff ya wanker?!" The accented yell of a colt leaving the faded and weathered gingerbread house orphanage gave me a guilty start, my surprised panic fading away when I saw who it was. Sticky Wicket...

The bratty buck who taught my daughter how to pickpocket, ran his Filchers as a herd of thieves and spies, extorted me for parts he tried to steal and was generally a rotten little shit in the making... Mostly I didn't like the way Glitter had looked at him when she introduced him originally though... seeming infatuated with the older colt despite his many, many, many faults... He sounded full of himself and angry, his private territory intruded on when I passed the red and white striped gates.

For all these things, I took no small satisfaction in flicking his nose and pushing him aside after closing up the repaired Pinkie, walking past him into the chilly gloom of the orphanage, ignoring his shouts of protest. "I'm tinkering with Goodneighbor stuff, not yours, for the Mayor so complain to him. Though you still haven't fixed that boiler have you? Had your chance kid, I'm taking over before it gets any colder, who's in charge here?"

"I am! D-Don't need your help neither! Bout to finish up any day now I am..." The indignant grey earth pony shouted and stamped his hooves, galloping after me and trying to push me back out of the cramped room.

This place was in rough shape... Bunkbeds made of whatever junk they could find were stacked three high, ratty cloth hammocks hung in the corners and filthy mats and mattresses were spread out in what little space remained or rolled up and tucked away for now. The threadbare blankets were dirty and sure to be jumping with fleas by the look, they didn't look like much protection against the chill either, which was even worse considering the cold and silent radiator in the corner.

"Sure you are, you connived all the parts you should have needed out of me already. You've had plenty of time too, I'm tagging in brat. Who's really in charge here? Where's the grown up?"

The brown eyes staring daggers at me from behind his ragged blue mane narrowed and Wicket grumbled angrily. "Granny's out! Not that we need grown ups, Filchers take care of themselves! I-I'll figure it out myself!"

I had to weave my way through the room, carefully picking my way through the minefield of dirty, broken toys strewn across the floor to head for the door he was guarding. "Asking for help isn't weakness kid, swallow that stupid pride and get out of my way. Nopony knows everything the first time they try something, go find this Granny so I can talk to her and come back if you want to learn something. Letting your friends stay cold when they don't have to is stupid..."

The annoying earth pony colt scowled and huffed as I pushed past him, opening the door to a dark basement below and starting down the rickety stairs. The other systems I needed to check in here were probably downstairs too, but that broken boiler had stuck in my craw from the moment I heard about it, fixing the heat for a herd of orphans took priority."

Wicket pouted from the door as I descended shakily, inching my way down with Glitter right behind me. Finally the colt huffed and stamped his hooves, calling down after us petulantly. "Fine! I'm tellin' Granny, she can tell you to buck off! Your dad sucks Glitter!"

I glanced back over my shoulder and froze in shock, Glitter's wide pink eyes narrowed to angry slits, doing a good imitation of my own burning glare when I got angry enough and wheeling on her new friend, her voice trembling with fury as she stomped with all four hooves and clenched her eyes shut to scream. "SHUT UP WICKET!!! MY DADDY DOESN'T SUCK! HE'S THE BEST DAD IN THE WORLD!! L-LEAVE US ALONE AN' DON'T EVER SAY THAT AGAIN!"

Sticky Wicket looked as stunned as I felt, both of our mouths hanging open at the furious outburst as she panted in agitation. After a moment of confusion the colt ran off, leaving us alone in the gloomy basement, lit by the glow of my pip-buck light. I reached out to her uncertainly, Glitter never got mad like that... she got along with nearly everypony she met, often amazing me with her social skills.

I felt her tense at my touch and pulled my hoof away as if burned, simmering anger was practically baking off her and her eyes shimmered wetly. Feeling especially useless and unsure of myself, I spotted the broken boiler and softly tried to nudge her that way, relieved to hear her little hoofsteps follow behind me as I crossed the cluttered basement.

Stacks of boxes and junk filled a lot of the space down here, along with thick, rusting pipes running along the ceiling. Partially exposed wiring criss crossed the space and most of the heavier equipment was clustered around the bulky boiler, sitting dark and silent in the corner with several panels removed and several incomplete repairs visible.

An arcano-flux generator hummed roughly nearby, supplying power to the building even after all this time. It bore the marks of other makeshift repairs, but even the know it all Wicket knew better than to start taking panels off the radiation producing power supply. There was a small steel door I could barely pick out by holding my pip-buck high, obscured by piles of junk, broken cradles and strollers, smashed remnants of old toys and assorted moldy cardboard boxes. A closet maybe, it didn't look used often and the basement wasn't that big.

With a sigh, I sat in front of the scattered junk and tools before the boiler and started floating my tools out, investigating whatever problem had Wicket stumped. There was a cot crammed into the corner nearby, partially hidden by a wall of boxes and near a battered old workbench covered in more parts and junk. Wicket must stay down here...

From what I could tell he wasn't a bad little repair-pony in the making, only a few miswired connections and improperly seated talismans were holding him up, easy to miss stuff if you didn't have much experience. The dogeared copy of 'TLC Squared- Tender Loving Care for Totally Lost Causes' I spotted on the dirty mattress had taken him far, just his foalish pride was holding him back.

My magical grip was a little unsteady, but still up to the simple task before me, a field of blue telekinetic force floating parts and tools around in a busy cloud while I tried to think, opening my mouth to say something and snapping it shut repeatedly when words failed. Should I just wait and let her tell me what was on her mind when she was ready? That seemed easiest, but also laziest... parents were supposed to do something in situations like this... I just had no idea what.

She had returned to silence and snuggled against my side while I worked, still anxiously demanding constant contact. That was good right? If she was mad at me she wouldn't be hanging off me like that... Finally I gulped to myself and ventured a question as soothingly as I could. "Sweetie... is something..."

Before I could finish, her lip quivered and big tears spilled down her cheeks, her forelegs flew out and wrapped around my chest as she buried her face against my throbbing side, blubbering as she broke down. "W-What's wrong with you daddy!? D-Don't lie an' just say your sick either! Something's w-w-wrong!! M-Mom keeps cryin' when she thinks I can't hear! Auntie Val keeps fake smiling an' watchin' you really hard!"

"Glitter... I... I'm ok, r-really..."

"No you're not!! Y-You're even actin' weird around mom's sisters! I... I c-could'a ended up like Wicket an' the o-others here, a-all alone! B-But you took me in, m-made me your daughter! I b-been s-scared... if you could have a baby with mom then... m-maybe you'd love it more than me... It'd r-really be y-yours..."

She only stiffened a moment when I enveloped her in a hug, patting her back while she hiccuped into my chest. "Sweetie... you are really mine, nothing will change that. I wouldn't love you any less or a little brother or sister for you any more, why didn't you tell me you were getting yourself worked up over that?"

"B-Because! Y-You found that potion s-stuff an' I wanted to be h-happy for you an' mommy, b-but I was really worried, and n-neither of you were h-happy when you should be... which made it w-worse! T-Then you just said you d-didn't want it anymore last night... an' I got really scared... S-Somethin' must be wrong! Y-You look so sick! I-I'm not d-d-dumb!" Her sobbing was tapering down to thick sniffles, rocking and making wordless, reassuring sounds was calming the shaking filly in my hooves at least.

"I... I am sick Glitter, it's j-just a s-stomach bug... I'm sure I'll..."

"I SAW!! I... I p-peeked in the bathroom... I saw t-these things... That's not a b-bug!!" She pulled away to yell at me, her pink eyes shrunk to pinpricks and bloodshot from crying, her forelegs giving a painful squeeze to the growths on my sides she was clinging to.

Dammit... It was a good run anyway, the truth was bound to come out eventually, I guessed trying for one more day was too much... "G-Glitter... I wish you hadn't done that... I... I am sick, and you're right, it's not a bug. It's.... c-complicated, I'll explain it all to you if you want. I'm sorry for hiding it from you, I just wanted... time...

I didn't want to scare you, I wanted us to have fun together without you worrying about things you can't do anything about... I hope... I believe I'll be ok now, that e-everything will work out somehow. It's ok to have faith sometimes sweetie, that's what I want you to do for me. I'm not going anywhere alright?"

"I'm afraid I must disagree Mr. Times..."

I had a split second to react to the familiar voice behind me, using it to pull Glitter tight and try to shield her as three soft 'pfft!' sounds were followed immediately by three sharp pinches at my neck. My muscles spasmed and locked up instantly, sending me crashing to the floor with her.

I could barely hiss instructions to her, practically frozen in place, to the point the foal had to wriggle out of my locked embrace to scurry up to my face and shove at me desperately. "Run! Hide!"

Her ears flattened and she clenched her eyes shut, shaking her head against my pained whisper as the clop of slow hoofsteps approached behind us. The effort just to get out another try was enormous, whatever I had just been hit with was a lot stronger than the tranquilizers I had been riddled with at the Trotson Public Library.

"NOW GLITTER! HIDE!"

A terrified look of despair crossed her face, her pink eyes shimmering in front of me and darting up to the source of the ringing hoofsteps. Finally, thankfully, she did as told, giving an anxious whinny and darting off into the piles of junk and boxes littering the basement, the agile little scavenger disappearing where she couldn't be easily followed.

I rolled an eye back to the sound of the steps stopping next to me, an ornate green cloaked pony resolving out of the blurry shadows. The same dart gun that knocked me out before floated in a field of pale lavender magic by the gold trimmed hood. A spent stealth-buck clattered to the floor from one voluminous sleeve and a cream colored hoof reached up to pull the hood away.

'Confessor' Moondancer didn't look so good... A corrupting blast of magic had scorched one side of her sneering face and the synth's healing talisman seemed unable to repair the damage. Her purple eyes danced with madness as she stood over me, kicking at my throbbing sides and getting a whimper of pain that looked to make her happy.

"Hello again, naughty little test subject 111-3-42... Funny meeting you here..."

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

Math Wrath------------
----You're a regular computer whiz! Sparring with the advanced maneframe in charge of the M.O.M. hub has sharpened your already considerable skills! You are able to optimize your Pip-Buck’s targeting spell logic. S.A.T.S. is now 20% cooler!

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

Trinity Tower---Idolized
---You managed to achieve your goals where the mares of Trinity Tower are concerned. Saving their leader and bringing them the Institute's compatibility potion has made you a hero to the alicorns of the Commonwealth! Now instead of being difficult to interact with, they may be a little too friendly! Thanks to your efforts the ladies of the tower are going to join the rest of ponykind in new and exciting ways, changing the balance of power throughout the Commonwealth! Not everypony is happy about that however...

Goodneighbor--- Smiling Troublemaker
---Things are getting tense in the party town and you've become a known entity. Thanks to your role in bringing the alicorns in contact with Goodneighbor, most of the residents view you favorably. You receive better prices in stores that will deal with you and even gain access to additional stock at some establishments! Everypony smells trouble on the way though, some residents may refuse to do business with you and may be quicker to hostility.