"Hey! Wait up! Drink?! Are you crazy? This place is full of raiders that..." The strange batpony Witching Hour crept along behind me, whispering frantically as I strolled along the catwalks above the Glint Brewery, sticking my head in modular metal offices or rotting wooden doors off to the side.

I didn't really need her telling me there were raiders here, Eyes Forward Sparkle was detecting them at a pretty significant distance... Hmm... usually I had to be closer before the pip-buck detected others, maybe it was benefiting from my enhanced senses too? 'Awareness! It was under E!' Meh, a curiosity for later, drink... that's what I wanted, that's what I was gonna get dammit...

A cluttered office I ducked into looked like it was a sleeping area for the raiders in residence, a few ratty, moldy mattresses tossed to the wood floor, bags by each for their owners, litter strewn about consisting of used drug containers and empty bottles, aha! A full whiskey bottle! I floated it over and stuck it in my muzzle, tilting my head back to swig it down while I walked and Miss Hour jabbered.

"H-How... that's not part of the costume!? How in the name of blessed Luna are thou..." It took me a minute to figure out that wide eyed look, her slitted orange eyes staring right at my glowing horn... whoops...

She saw me flying, I guessed I should have tried to hide my horn... too late now, oh well... More important things to worry about, one bottle wasn't going to do it. "Yeah, yeah, horn and wings both... get it outta yer system... help me find more booze."

I slugged the rest down and pushed past her, back out towards the red on E.F.S. and the drifting voices as she squeaked behind me. "You're... a-are you really Luna's Avenger?! T-The real Shrouded Stallion? L-Like not just a story or comic, f-for real!?"

"Real? I just like the comics... why?" Focusing on her was still way too easy, nothing was very fuzzy at all.

I could make out every detail perfectly, her cute, short purple mane falling into one wide eye, the gleam of those little fangs in her gaping mouth, the adorable little tufts on the tips of her ears as they flicked at every noise. A little taller than me, of course... but lithe and muscular under that blue steel armor, her chest rose and fell rapidly goggling at me looking back to her, a bit of pink lighting her pale, lavender-grey cheeks... STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT DAMMIT!

She flinched when I smacked my head with a hoof and turned back, alcohol... now... Moondancer's version of the I.M.P. she dosed me with was geared all around making a male to control the alicorns of the Commonwealth, apparently she had done a lot more than just get the bugs worked out... All of Jade's sisters viewing me as a breeding stud was bad enough, my new biology actually wanting to fill that role was worse.

"R-Real... like the legends... T-That story came from something older than just a silly foal's comic you know!" She hissed behind me, slinking along a good distance back worriedly as I approached the voices ahead.

The Shrouded Stallion had older roots? That was interesting... I thought I knew everything about the character, I'd have to ask about that later. Drinking now. All the rusty pipes and huge vats surrounding us was a good sign, conveyor belts looped around us in the large open brewery area, bottles were absolutely everywhere on them, brown beer bottles though, not strong enough...

"Whose stupid idea was it to join in that mess!? Gonna flay their hide and hang em off that stupid bottle up top a few days!" A gruff voice called from below, near an exit from the brewery floor leading to some kind of attached restaurant, a wall of broken glass showed a gloomy bar facing the brewery, a place to drink and take a tour, watch the process at work.

"W-Was Slim's idea Crust! H-He's already dead, one of them crazy mares got him!"

"He melted... seen it myself!"

"You were flyin' high on so much Dash and Rampage you prob'ly saw dancin' pink buffalo too!"

"Least we got out in time! Catchin' some of them Kings stragglers been good too, hafta look for more while the gettin's good, this stuff of theirs is great! Thought we were in real trouble from those wounds but I feel good!"

Hmm... the orange buck saying that last was waving around an empty X-Cell container... The odd, round injector was pretty recognizable, even from this distance, taking a look over all of them I noticed what was probably the earliest effects of the drug on several too... The leader apparently, Crust, was a very burly earth pony, muscles straining against his makeshift leather and scrap armor, there was a rather long horned unicorn too...

So, these were raiders who got involved in the attack on Goodneighbor... Probably nudged into it by the dead 'Slim' they spoke of. Synths melted when they died usually, I actually believed the poor mare trying to tell the others what she saw. The biggest issue was solved for me though, these were bad ponies, I felt no problem barging into their home now, or punishing them for the war in Goodneighbor they were part of...

Witching Hour gasped at the booming voice filling the brewery, hey... that was pretty good! My horn was glowing when I did it... the voice spell! I tried soooo long and soooo hard to learn the voice altering spell as a colt to mimic the Shroud, now I could! It was nice and effective too, causing a flurry of activity on E.F.S. as the raiders below scrambled.

"W-What the fuck!? Who is that!?"

"It's him.... oh fuck it's him..."

"Him!? What are you on about!? Who's out there!? Show yourself coward!!"

A couple awkward flaps brought me over to one of the biggest pipes snaking its way around the room and I inched my way along it, watching a pair of raiders searching the cluttered maze of pipes and machinery below and calling back, this spell was awesome! It even made my voice bounce around so much in here they couldn't tell where it came from!

Stepping off my perch into open space was still weird, difficult to just force myself to let go, but worth it to drop right behind this pair of raiders without breaking my legs. A quick flash of Best Served decapitated one, the silver buck beside him splashed with gore and moving just fast enough to trigger the shotgun in his mouth as he spun, screaming until the starmetal knife punctured his chest and tore free.

That noise was enough for the others to come running, but now I could just go up... Flapping my way to the top of a nearby vat leaning precariously, just ahead of several bullets sparking against the steel as I struggled to fly back into the shadows ahead of their shouts.

"Pegasus! It's a fuckin' pegasus! Up!"

"Yer dead you crazy featherhead!"

"S-Shroud's a unicorn though..."

"Shut up an' get up there after him! It's not the damn Shrouded Stallion!!"

My batpony companion had ducked into a small control capsule and stared out the broken window incredulously as I drew my silenced pistol too. Dragging a hoof down her face and shaking her head at my lopsided grin listening to the raiders finding the first victims.

"H-Holy shit... Gravy and Ice both!? Urk! It's really him boss, we gotta get outta here!!"

"Blessed Luna, forgive me my trespasses! I'm sorry! I'll do better, I'm out!"

"Get back here cowards!! All of you spread out! Find him! He's no ghost or spirit! He's a runty little buck that can't do shit if we..." The leader of this little crew shot at the pair running out through the restaurant entrance, hitting one by the sound but not disuading them from beating a hasty retreat.

That just left another 10 or so.... pffft! 9 or so... Hell if they hadn't caught a glimpse of me, I could just lurk up here in the rafters and keep firing the silenced pistol from above, most ponies didn't really think to look straight up often, even these raiders on the lookout and hunting what they thought was a pegasus weren't quite observant enough...

That wasn't any fun though, was it? pfft! 8... ok, maybe it was a little... Seeing them freak out as a pale green mare with a spiky reddish mane running for one of the ramps leading up to the catwalks, just dropped from the silenced pistol was entertaining, better to put on more of a show though...

Gliding over to one of the more intact conveyor belts in the middle of the huge room, I drew the Terrible Shotgun and Vengeance instead and stamped a hoof, making the whole rusting perch shake and spill bottles to the stone floor, flaring my wings out at all the eyes shooting up to see. At least they'd obey doing that, they liked sticking up....

Well I got a few seconds of stunned silence out of that anyway, another raider made a break for it too which was good, 7 now... The rest followed their burly leader's example and started firing wildly at me though, a few .38 rounds and shotgun shells slamming into my magical armor as i dove to the floor and activated S.A.T.S.

Once the sequence was accepted, Vengeance started spinning in my magic, guided by the targeting spell as I fell and booming as the hammer fanned, the full cylinder unloaded and finding targets, three of which fell to twitching heaps while the rest screamed and dove for cover. 4 now...

Dashing straight at the drug enhanced leader, I leapt and flung myself at him insanely, memories of the Combat Zone in my head. I was horrible hoof to hoof, but I had my knife and he had a long super sledge he swung up to meet me, for some reason I had this bizarre need to fight up close, pit myself against the mutating earth pony and assert dominance. He was a cheap knock off, I was the real deal... like Watcher said...

That hammer swung up and bashed me right in the chest, only slightly slowed by the padding Sassy Saddles built into the costume but not knocking me flying for once. Instead I skidded back a few feet, still firmly in contact with the earth and right there for him to follow up with a buck that pushed me back further and filled my muzzle with the taste of blood.

As soon as that taste flooded my mouth, I felt those weird little nubs of teeth ...extend... ick... into fangs and I thought of bacon, able to marvel at the sensation a minute just due to the raiders staring in shock. Crust's remaining crew was awful wary about getting involved in this now...

Spreading out in a rough circle, they were afraid to shoot with me charging right at their musclebound leader, hopefully a little intimidated too... I did just take two hits from the brute and was still standing with a fang enhanced, crazy grin, jumping... slashing.... biting...

Best Served sliced right through the handle of the sledge, suddenly throwing him off balance and giving him a lot less to work with. We tumbled to the cold floor, his hard hooves pistoning into my gut and ribs, distant warnings of pain easily ignored as I fought back, all flapping wings, swinging hooves and snapping fangs.

Out of desperation, the huge bleeding buck kicked me off and scrambled away, trying to draw his shotgun while I recovered and spun around in midair. With us separated, the others had a clear shot and were taking it, forcing me to adjust and deal with one of them who tossed a fire axe spinning through the air, clipping my side in a fan of blood. That should hurt more, shouldn't it?

He ran like a hellhound was chasing him when I spun and clumsily dove at him anyway, the dirty blue stallion screeching until the Terrible Shotgun sent him sailing into a collapsed pile of pipes and fallen catwalks before I ran into a girder and nearly joined him. 3 now... No, 2... Witching Hour finally came out of hiding, a long, curved, gleaming sword in her mouth as she dove from above and slashed down the back of one of the remaining raiders, flitting away from the other yelling in surprise while the leader and I squared off again.

"What the fuck are you!? Why the hell are you buggin' us you fucking lunatic!?!" The bleeding leader shouted as we circled each other in a clear spot on the brewery floor, panting while a vein in his forehead pulsed.

"I'm thirsty..."

I hocked up some of his blood and spit it out, not what I wanted... mostly... Crust threw the remains of his super sledge at me in disgust, forcing me to dodge the spinning hammer and putting myself in position for his combat shotgun, these raiders had better gear than I was used to... I wondered why as a slug slammed into my shoulder and nearly spun me, flapping up with a wince and activating S.A.T.S.. Mr. drug fueled raider wanted to play with shotguns, let's play with shotguns... The Terrible Shotgun barked repeatedly as I recovered and flapped right at him, slug after slug tearing into his chest, blowing a foreleg off, tearing open ragged, bloody wounds the dark Shroud in my head reveled at and falling to a heap.

Panting and bleeding, but somehow happy... I pulled out one of my healing potions and drank, trotting over to where the batpony mare had cornered the last raider. That wicked curved sword of hers had cut some long gashes on him, now trying to duck behind the pipes and junk to get away from it and pleading.

"Stop! I give! Please! M-Mercy!" He stammered and the uncertain mare did as asked, looking up at my approach while the final raider squeaked and tried to hide under his hooves on spotting me.

"Mercy? Like the mercy you offer the innocent you prey on? Are you worthy of true mercy? Luna's mercy?"

"Y-Yes! Please! J-Just lemme go! C-Crust was in charge, he told us what to do! I promise! S-Swear to goddess Luna, I'll be good, t-turn over a new leaf!" Fighting back that weird bloodlust was easier with the pleading stallion, they attacked Goodneighbor and my friends... but I wasn't a monster right?

"Where's the booze?" I growled and lowered my head to his level at the floor, ignoring the flabbergasted huff of the thestral beside me.

"B-B-Bar! C-Casks down there! B-Brewing vat #8 w-works too... w-we sell some sometimes..." The raider, I hoped former raider... whimpered and pointed, clenching his eyes shut and holding a trembling hoof out to indicate where what I wanted was.

"Run..."

That's all it took, the poor purple stallion took off like a shot, right out through the bar and into the night, his orange mane and tail flying behind him. Surveying the destruction for a moment, I stumbled my way towards the casks he mentioned, that sounded like a good start...

Oh the motherload.... how wonderful... Long, dusty shelves stretching to the ceiling of the landings off the stone ramps leading down to the smell of the sea, all held oak casks of alcohol that had been aging a looooong time, whiskey and cider.... excellent. I was a little unsure grabbing one in my magic, but surprised to find I could pick the big barrel up easily, hell I could take two! One of each then!

"Y-You are out of your mind... N-Not what I expected at all... doesn't that hurt!?" Witching Hour was still trailing me, what did she want anyway? She was distressingly attractive and I just wanted a drink, I wasn't crazy...

"Hurt? Oh... yeah..." I glanced down to some of the seeping wounds leaking blood down my coat, they did kind of hurt... the healing potion wasn't quite as effective as it should have been...

Sending my first haul back up these musty ramps, I looked over the bent railing, down the shaft leading to lapping water below and thought. The back end of the building leaned over the sea below, they must have loaded boats and such down there.... This whole cracked and crumbling vertical shaft kind of tilted towards the brackish water seeping in below, that would probably work... I trotted over and dove over the railing, splashing down to the seawater a floor below and washing all the blood off, along with the last stubborn streaks of pink in my mane from my disguise, enjoying the tingle of rads in the water healing my wounds for me.

"W-What are you doing!? That's dirty water! You've got a pip-buck, don't you hear that clicking!?!" Miss Hour yelped from the edge I dove from, aghast as I just frolicked around in the radioactive pool.

Flapping my wings around got the water all the way in there, cleaning all those damn feathers in a frothing swirl of water before lifting me out and up to the fairly solid grating again, shrugging to my strange companion. "It's fine, doesn't bother me, now I'm not hurt, see? Back to booze..."

The bar up front faced the industrial brewing room, a rotting wood affair with a few battered booths and stools facing the long marble bar, a wall of dirty, broken glass instead of a mirror behind it and lots of broken bottles on the shelves. Beyond was a full restaurant, it would have been cozy before the war, booths and tables, ornate wooden columns, lots of rotting, crazy crap on the walls. Peeking through the doors leading that way, I could see the windows facing the street below a landing out there, the street entrance must be downstairs, with the kitchens and such from what I spotted through the holes in the floor. Opting for the bar, I floated my casks of alcohol over and started puzzling over how to open them, I could go find Crust's hammer head and bash the top off, that would take too long though.

Surrounding the round top of the barrel in my blue magic, I focused and tugged, wrenching it free and tossing it aside with a heavenly cloud of ancient cider smell filling my sharpened nostrils.... there we go. I set it down in front of my stool and promptly stuck my muzzle in, slurping away and leaning further as the level dropped.

"You can't really be him... the Shrouded Stallion I'm looking for is supposed to be sweet and civilized... an old world pony... a repair-pony! Are you sure you're..." Witching Hour stared and snorted, watching me drain the cask in numb fascination.

"Zat's me! Repair-pony extraordinaire! Just an old world Mr. Fixit! Whadya want anyway? You wuz lookin' for me?" Ahh... it took a fourth of the barrel, but now I felt like I had a few beers in me. I could still get drunk, it would just take some effort!

She shook her head when I tugged on the whiskey barrel's lid, running over and thumping her hooves to the glowing surface to keep it down and shouting. "Yes! I was sent to find you dammit! I spent all day in that circus of a town looking just when everypony decided to dress up and mess with me! There were FIVE Shrouded Stallions! I finally figured out the real one at the Combat Zone fight, but you ran off and all hell broke loose!!"

Grumbling at her getting in the way, I had a fun idea and started stripping off my coat and hat, still absently tugging on the lid while I fought with my wings, enjoying her turning a pretty red all over. Getting back into this thing was going to be a pain, but I didn't want it soaked... "You found me once... I remembers, then you ran off again. Move, siddown an' talk, lemme drink..."

I accidently sent her off balance and flapping those leathery wings to right herself by wrenching the lid free under her, I didn't mean to use quite that much force, but whatever... it was open. Now, to just carefully hover up a bit... just a little closer... stay on target... SPLASH!

Watching her snort and shake drops of whiskey off herself had me chuckling, sinking to the bottom of the barrel and only letting my head from the nose up peek out, slurping away at the precious liquid displaced by my cannonball and spilling over the lip of the barrel. Finally she tossed her mane and stomped over to a mostly intact booth, thumping down and tapping her hooves together sullenly.

"I know I did... I thought you were him, but when you turned around I thought you were...." She whispered and paused, trying to find a delicate way to say...

"Short... thought I wuz too short ta be the real Shroud huh? Sooooo... what'cha want? Where'd ya come from anyway? Never seen a batpony up close before, it's neat!" I splashed and tittered in the barrel, enjoying my hidey hole of booze and appreciably draining the level in here with me.

"Y-Yes alright! I thought you couldn't be him because you're short! Some colt playing dress up, sorry ok! You looked pretty sickly at the time too! I came from Dreadnot, we need your help so they sent me to find the Shroud we keep hearing about on the radio! Now I think you can't be him because you're out of your mind! You're sure you're..." Witching... that was too long, Witchy! That was better! Witchy shouted from her seat, leaning up to follow my head slowly going down into the barrel.

"Sorry! I'm it! Dreadnot... heard that somewheres before... town? So what'cha need? Evil raiders threatenin' yer town? Institute monsters or experiments messin' with ya? Army of robots or zombies?"

"A repair-pony... We hear you're an amazing repair-pony, we need that kind of help, we take care of ourselves otherwise. Now I'm not so sure about asking you... Why are you doing this? HOW are you doing this... you should be keeled over and in danger of alcohol poisoning at this point!

Sticking my wings up out the top of the barrel and clumsily waggling them in answer, i kept slurping away between answering. "Don't work on me no more... hafta drink more, faster... You caught me at a bad time, I like fixin' stuff though! Fix what?"

"I... I will tell thee when we arrive... a-after you speak with our rulers. I'm just supposed to fetch you ok? Can you finish up and come with me, please?" She asked nice anyway, this barrel was down to my belly now though and I was only a little drunk. Time to investigate the functional brewer...

"Sorry, busy now, will come later... gotta go meet friends in awhile..." I checked my pip-buck for locator tags, noticing the new map marker for a place called Dreadnot down the cost, finding Jade, Glitter and Val arrowing their way towards me from pretty far north, that'd be awhile... though Zed was closer anyway. "Drinkin' till they get closer, need more..."

Crawling back out of the barrel wasn't the best idea, my wings weren't very cooperative lifting me up, tipsy enough to make controlling the new limbs harder now... good! The whole barrel wobbled back and forth as I struggled, flopping my way out and catching the falling barrel before it spilled all the dregs left. Hovering the whole wooden cask up in my magic, I tilted it back and craned my head back to drain it, finishing with a smack of my lips and looking around woozily to the pretty mare stammering at me.

"But! We need help! You can drink later!" She yelped as I sauntered up, only stumbling a little and cantering to the batpony mare shrinking into her seat at my approach.

"Now. Drinkin' now. Fixin' laters... sides, can't go to towns for awhile... bein' looked for... Hafta wait, sorry! Yer reeeeeally pretty though..." I leaned up to the thestral filly stammering and turning red, my ears pointing straight up and eyebrows waggling with a sleepy, sloppy grin. My traitorous wings stiffened awkwardly and my mane itched...

"H-Hey! E-Easy there... ummm... thanks? A-Are thou sure you're ok?" She scooted back down the bench seat from the leer plastered on my face, finally erased with a hoof slapped to my muzzle and a shake of my head, dammit... get drunker... I was going to drown out the demands of Moondancer's stupid potion eventually, on to the vats!

"Sorry, havin' problems lately... Nothin' personal, gots a special somepony already, just... n-nevermind me. Drinks!"

Well she kept right on following me around, despite my behavior apparently she was going to stick to her mission one way or the other. She gave an excited shout in her cute, high pitched voice when I drunkenly wove my way up to the big hatch on the functional brewing vat, mostly full of a small lake of strong smelling whiskey! Swimming! Yay!

Doing a lazy backstroke in a vat of whiskey and spitting up a little fountain as I floated, I saw the batpony fill the small opening I entered in and stare down at me. Her orange eyes darting around in thought until they came up with something. "Y-You say it won't work right? Need more or something stronger? L-Like ghouls! There's a bar back home, makes drinks for ghouls and other tough customers, same thing, regular alcohol isn't enough! If thou will come with me, I'll take you there!"

"Bar? Stronger drinks? Like how strong?" She had my attention now...

"Strong enough to knock a normal pony out! Burn a hole through their guts! Melt their brains! Like getting smacked in the head with a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick! Best booze in the Commonwealth, I promise! Just come with me!" Witchy shouted and held a hoof out into the vat, begging me to come out.

I thought a moment, looking over that muscular foreleg stretching down and the pretty filly attached to it, my head foggy and my wings stuck straight out. Slapping the whiskey bath with my hooves playfully, I finally reached up and took hold of the offered hoof with a grin. "After I finish! Come in an' help if'n ya wanna go faster, play with me!"

The poor batpony gave a shrill 'Eeep!' and was tugged into the vat, splashing down on top of me while I swam and wriggled happily. This would be more fun with Jade, or maybe Jade and Val... or Jade and her sisters... all of her sisters... A batpony was neat though, even sopping wet with whiskey, beads of the amber liquid dripping from those fluffy tufts on her ears as she gasped and shook.

"That's not funny! Why'd you! I- I'm soaked! My mane! Ooooooh! You are..." A lurching kiss cut off her ranting pretty good, wrapping my legs around her neck helped tug me upright a bit more when she pulled back, but that stopped after just a second and she started returning the gesture.

Hey, batpony's had fangs too! After running my tongue over my own so much in distraction lately, it was interesting feeling others. Hers were longer and more needle shaped, smooth and sharp with a fruity taste that was very pleasant. Feeling her own agile tongue pausing and running over my short fangs was strange, but she seemed to like it, gasping when they decided to extend on their own.

I found myself fluttering up unconsciously, leaning forward and pushing my uninvited advance to a short little whimper that turned to a moan when we hit the side of the vat. Everything was nice and fuzzy, warm... she was warm too... those tensing muscles in her flanks as she scrambled back before hitching one over me were strong and held me tight, and felt sooooo good....

Suddenly those leathery wings were flapping and she was wrapping her hindlegs around my middle, spinning us around and slamming me against the metal sides. Those sinewy muscles weren't just for show! This filly was strong and forceful, wrestling with me in the vat of alcohol, her breathing growing ragged as I licked the whiskey from her fur. Wrapping my forelegs around her ample rump, my wings flapped excitedly and we were rolling around on the top of the vat together, ignoring gravity entirely in the urgent passion fogging my head. This is what I needed... what I wanted, what my stupid new body kept whining about, I'd just... NO!

With a surge of will, I managed to punch myself, hard... harder than I'd expect actually... Driving a hoof straight up between us and uppercutting myself to splash into the whiskey, stumbling my way to the other side of the vat, banging my head against the metal while she panted in confusion behind me. Why did my mane itch? Why were her orange eyes so sparkly?! Why did I feel so aggressive and... randy... Why did I do that!?!?

"S-S-Sorry.... s-stay away... still getting used to... t-things... I didn't mean to..." I gasped pitifully, bashing my head into the steel with a hollow bong, my horn making and expanding a dent each time.

Thankfully, the victim of my advances didn't seem horribly insulted, actually she looked like she had to get control of herself too... That was good, right? I wasn't trying to force myself on... I needed Jade, now. Since that wasn't happening, I needed to get this under control, I didn't like my new body making me do things I didn't want to... I was in charge dammit!

"Oh my... I-It's alright... t-that was... was n-nice actually... I never... Umm... c-could we please just get out of here and talk a second? I think you need somepony to talk to a lot more than a drink, or... t-that..." She answered breathlessly, holding a hoof to her heart that I could actually hear hammering away under her breastplate.

I nodded sheepishly, waving her on first and trying not to stare at that rump wiggling its way out the hatch. Taking a second to master myself, I realized the pleasant buzz I had was already fading, and I had to piss... a looooot.... sigh... Great, if I didn't keep on drinking fast enough to overcome my metabolism, it would work its way through any progress I made soon enough...

A poorly aimed flap sent me up to thunk into the walls of the tank beside the hatch, reaching a hoof out to the lip and struggling to pull myself over and out. I hung by my belly and looked out at the sopping batpony below, clenching my eyes shut rather than look at a pretty mare stripping off her armor and dripping with whiskey over every shapely inch... Still hanging on those strong flanks and the moon and star cutie mark there despite my efforts.

"S-Stronger drinks you say? Tell me more..."

So that big flash of light in Goodneighbor.... that was you? You got turned into... this?" Witchy sat across from me in one of the booths as I morosely stared out the broken windows to the crumbling streets and buildings outside.

She was still out of her armor, wiping some of the plates clean and carefully oiling each on the table before us, watching me with interest. Both of us sitting here naked was really making it hard to focus, why couldn't she dry off faster? I washed off already anyway, I could try fighting my way into my coat again, but she actually seemed concerned and touched a hoof lightly when I tried to get up.

"That was me... I was just a plain old unicorn... Now I'm... not... I'm really, reeeeally sorry Miss, I... that was bad. I shouldn't have... I'm trying to get used to this, the mare who did this to me had some funny ideas...." Telling a stranger what I went through might not be the best idea, but I supposed she was right, I needed somepony to talk to, an outside opinion...

"What, she made you so flirty and goofy? On purpose?" Well, she smiled when she snorted that answer, somehow I wasn't hated for my behavior, though I must have made a horrible first impression...

"Apparently... kinda... They wanted me a male alicorn to mate with all the normal ones, why I can't go to towns right now. I ran away and they're looking for me, though maybe I shouldn't have... This feels really weird, I'm not usually so... er... f-frisky... I promise, I really am the Shrouded Stallion and I'm not like this usually, I'll help fix whatever you want, I just can't right now ok Witchy?"

She giggled at that, that was better anyway... cocking an eyebrow and giving a sultry look. "Witchy? A-Alright... I like it! Nopony gives me nicknames back home. So.... the Institute made you like that, on purpose huh? To fool around with all those alicorns? Sooooo feeling a little pent up?"

"I guess... I don't... I never feel like this alright? I ran away because I love Jade and just want to be with her, whatever they did to my body though... it doesn't agree. Just uh... if you could get dressed sooner rather than later? You are really pretty Witchy, it's uh... d-distracting... So, what is it you want fixed anyway?"

Alright, those lidded eyes were not moving to put her armor back on... She did answer cautiously though. "Secret... Dreadnot is an old ship though... pre-war Equestrian navy, beached and broken for ages. There's lots to fix and we hear there's nopony better in the Commonwealth that isn't part of the Institute. So you really will come and help?"

"Sure, I think I owe you that much at the very least. Besides, I really do like fixing things, it centers me, probably a good thing right now. I have to meet my friends though, and I can't just come strolling into a big town, the alicorns might... though maybe that wouldn't be bad either..." I fought with my own thoughts, that annoying impulse had latched on to getting caught not being such a bad thing...

Witchy shook her head, her drying purple mane swinging around her head. "No alicorns, well... just one, been around a long time though, not one of those mares from town. Not that we'd bar them from coming in, they just never have before..."

"They will now, trust me. I er... kinda helped convince them to come out of their shell a little anyway, now? Now they're going to be out looking, I guarantee it. Come on, let's get out of here, one of my friends is fairly close, we can meet him anyway. Tell me about batponies, I've never seen one before, just pictures, are there more of you in the Commonwealth?"

Laughing at me rolling in the floor and trying to force my way into my armor, Witchy nodded happily and started attaching the plates of her own blue steel armor. "Yes, quite a few actually. Loyal servants of goddess Luna still, we er... tend to keep to ourselves mostly. Things have been getting difficult back home, they sent me to bring help from the famous Shrouded Stallion, and find out if thou art the real thing..."

Thou? She slipped up into more formal wording here and there, especially when she was flustered. It was annoyingly cute... She looked around nervously when I barged my way out the front of the Glint Brewery, floating whiskey bottles in a swirling cloud around me as I walked right down the cracked streets of this industrial area. For fun I made them spin in wide orbits, faster and faster, up and down, dozens of objects juggled in alicorn telekinesis easily while I gave a warning shout to the empty streets.

Turning to the gasping batpony behind me after playing with the voice spell I wanted so long, I continued in a normal, non-Shroud tone. "Real thing? What'dya mean by that anyway, thought I knews everythin' about the Shrouded Stallion, but it's a comic..."

"Oh no! The comic is just an adaptation Fast, a modernization of a very old legend... One of particular interest to us actually." Witchy piped up behind me, fluttering over fallen streetlights I wove around, following the marker in my vision.

"Legend? So.... spill it, what legend, if it's about the Shroud I want to know, tell me a story, keep my mind occupied...."

She landed beside me and looked up in thought, sashaying along and flicking those slitted orange eyes over, a smile curling her soft lips at my uncontrolled stares. Why did they send a batpony mare... couldn't it have been a stallion instead? Even worse this one was warming up to me... "Hmm... Well, the short version then. The Shrouded Stallion was just as the comics say, Luna's Avenger, a shadow from the night delivering her wrath and justice more than 1200 years ago. It is believed he was real, real-ish anyway... A dream brought to the waking world, Luna's dream... A royal defender, a creature of great and terrible power in the shape of a pony, let loose during Luna's night to obey her every command."

Huh... This was a new story... wasn't it? Maybe it was just because the comics adapted it, but it seemed vaguely familiar. Either way she had my interest and I was pleasantly distracted. "If he was real, what happened to him?"

"Nightmare Moon happened... When she took over Princess Luna, she had control over her agent and corrupted him as well... During the fighting between the sisters, he was a monster Fast... a destroyer that obliterated her enemies. Even after she was sealed away in the moon for 1000 years, it took years to track him down and put a stop to him, every night he'd rise again and seek a way to free her. Raged against her sister's forces, brought fear and suffering in a twisted sense of his original purpose..." Witchy softly told what sounded like an old story to her, she believed it...

That... that was hitting a little close to home... That sounded uncomfortably like the dark Shroud in my head actually... So even the real Shrouded Stallion suffered those dark impulses, was corrupted and fallen, like I felt I could be at my worst moments... "W-What happened?" I whispered back, enraptured with the story and now desperate to know how the real thing fared.

"He was defeated of course! The real Shroud was a relentless force of darkness and fury, he had to be stopped. Eventually chased all the way here to the shores of Celestial Sea by goddess Celestia herself. He couldn't be destroyed, but he was sealed away like his master, forgotten... Not by us of course! We have never faltered in our duty to the true Night Princess, we uphold even her fallen servant." The batpony finished her story on a proud note, thestrals were Luna's protectors, they would know everything about her.

Another bottle floated by and I slugged it down, I could at least drink Val under the table now... that might be fun... The best I could manage to maintain was a mellow buzz though, just enough that my thoughts weren't racing. There was a real Shrouded Stallion... It wasn't just a silly story...

"Sealed where? How?"

Witchy blinked a moment, then fluttered up, holding a hoof out to guide me up with her gently and peering into the night. Finally she focused on a dark shape in the far distance, a craggy cliff overlooking the sea and a dark castle atop it crumbling slowly into the waters. "There, can you see it? I know it's dark and really far away but..."

"I see it... perfectly..."

"Oh! R-Right, yonder is Castle Equinox, a former stronghold and autumn palace of Luna's. The real Shroud made his last stand there in a terrible battle with Celestia. When Luna returned, the castle was restored and she vacationed there occasionally. There were rumors she tried to find a way to free and purify her servant, use him in the war somehow... But she never found a way to restore him, he was too dangerous to be let loose upon Equestria again...

An artist visiting on a tour when it was open after the restoration, shortly after Luna returned this was... He stumbled on the story and asked to adapt it, Luna agreed so long as he was a hero and thus the Shrouded Stallion comics you know were born." She finished smartly, drifting slowly back to the ground and trotting along with me while I thought.

I planned to go that castle anyway... Preston mentioned it, it was on my list. Now I was much more interested. Normally I'd just wrack it up to my obsession with the character in general, but that legend... Had I heard that before? A bedtime story maybe? Where would mom or dad hear it? Even I took a tour of that castle once, a pretty boring affair really, long echoing hallways and fancy tapestries with longer histories. But was there something more there? I had to go see for myself...

One more thing then, for now Zed's marker was back across the water, the arrow on the compass at the bottom of my vision pointed near a tall, leaning church steeple nearly hidden by taller buildings nearby, a very old church the city had grown around, then crumbled around, but it still stood.

I beat my wings and climbed over the water, still trailing whiskey with me and letting the empties fall where they may. "Thank you Witchy, that was a cool story... One of my friends is just this way, once we find him I'll ask him to keep an eye on me so I don't er... y-you know... I'm really sorry..."

The shapely thestral giggled and flew upside down ahead of me, holding her hindlegs and swishing her tail as she spun in the air. "It's alright, really! A l-little surprising, but I think I understand thine troubles now. Quite refreshing, nopony ever... w-with me... back home..."

I found that incredibly hard to believe... She was a beautiful young mare, strong and sure, she should have bucks falling all over her. I briefly wondered what home was like if that wasn't the case, but she had turned to looping around me lazily and ignored any questions on the subject.

Finally we were back on the mainland, gliding silently down to an intersection of choked city streets and crumbling towers. Everything across the bay was fairly short and squat, I had gotten used to the tall canyons of rusting buildings in downtown Trotson, now on guard and staying low to avoid the notice of any more bloodwings, as per my companion's advice.

Zed's marker pointed to a newer structure, several floors of pale blue stone, an elevated walkway stretching over the street between the two buildings making up the structure my pip-buck identified for me; Location Discovered: Harborside Hotel. Carts and carriages had been shoved around the plaza like area under the walkway, barricaded and lit with burning barrels, littered with dead raiders...

"So where is this friend of yours anyway? What the hell happened here actually?!" Witchy flapped her way up a couple floors to examine the building I was staring at, giving a high pitched squeal when a raider in heavy metal armor crashed through a window and fell to the street, a spinning black and white blur right behind him.

The brief dash of red on E.F.S. was instantly extinguished when it fell to the hard street, the zebra stallion following up with a powerdive of a kick was really just overkill... messy overkill... Zed panted and looked up, tossing his head back to the looming fortress and the trail of destruction he had already left. "There you are... We were meant to meet at the shore, not across it Fast. I decided to amuse myself here and wait for you to return, who is your new friend?"

Before I could answer, the lithe batpony had shot straight up and perched on a rusty street sign, drawing a gleaming silver rifle and aiming at Zed, yelping around the weapon in her mouth. "Z-Zebra! Look out Fast, I will..."

Lurching up to get between them before things went south, I held a hoof out to each and begged for peace. Zed didn't look that bothered by a batpony, but the opposite was obviously not true, Witching Hour looked terrified...

"Easy! Stop! This is my friend Zed! No shooting!"

"F-Friend?! With a zebra?! They art the enemies of Equestria Fast!! The murderers who destroyed the world! Killed our Princess!!!" Witchy screeched, not moving from her perch or lowering the weapon an inch, trembling with fury. Great...

"Zed didn't... That was a long time ago Witchy, the war is over. Princess Luna wanted peace... can't you try to honor that?"

"B-But..." Those cute tufted ears drooped a bit, that was a good sign at least.

"But nothing. I will help you, but not if you hurt my friend. He is my friend Witchy, like I hope we are too. Please get along? Put the gun down..."

After a tense moment, she finally holstered that beautiful silver weapon. A bejeweled combat rifle of incredible craftsmanship, a match for the gleaming crescent shaped sword I saw her wield before and her immaculate armor. This Dreadnot place must have excellent craftsponies, another good reason to go there.

The threat of imminent violence temporarily abated, I thumped down into a painful 'landing' next to Zed, dusting myself off and clapping him on the shoulder. "Sorry about that Zed! Er... sorry to leave you hanging over here too... I got distracted, having problems actually I was hoping to talk to you about... Soooo, why'd you clear this place out?"

Silly question considering I had just brought hell down on another group of raiders just for their booze, but I was interested and any questions helped smooth over that tense little introduction. The zebra stallion grumbled up at the batpony still refusing to come down, but shrugged soon enough and turned his grey eyes on me with a bored expression.

"We need somewhere to rest, a hotel seemed like a good choice. I merely evicted the current tenants while I waited. I could have gone to get you I suppose, but you can take care of yourself. I assumed you may need some time to yourself, though apparently that is not the case..." Zed rolled his eyes up to Witchy still watching anxiously.

I was just grateful to him though, he actually understood I had wanted to be alone... Would the others so easily? It was nice having a stallion friend close to my age, a little rough around the edges and grumpy maybe, but he was another guy... and he was trying now. He scuffed at the street with his hoof and nodded down to the bright bricks he uncovered, red, orange, yellow... The Rainbow Trail... "Besides, I assumed you may be interested in this, it was a mark in this place's favor..."

"Right, awesome job Zed, thanks so much! Let's go on in then, make sure it's all cleared out before Jade and the others get here... You coming Witchy?"

The nervous batpony zipped behind my back and peeked past me, a bigger pony hiding behind me... how hilarious... "I will... J-Just let me keep my distance from that stripe..." I turned and huffed angrily at her, getting her to amend that insult. "S-Sorry! The zebra... g-give me time alright? Thou keeps strange company..."

That made me snort laughter, "You have no idea... Come on, play nice together..."

There were a few stragglers left in the sprawling hotel, of course a shadow of a zebra leaving a bloody trail had them fairly spooked, so it didn't take much to scare off or root out the last. It was a pretty significant downgrade in accommodations after Shamrock's hospitality in the Princess Celestia suite... But it kept most of the drizzle and chill out at least.

The decor left a lot to be desired... raider tastes were not exactly family friendly... Yanking the artfully arranged corpses down and floating them out of the main areas and a few rooms was grisly, disgusting, heart wrenching work that had me wishing more decided to stick around.

The best we could do for them was to tuck them away in the smaller building across the street attached to this one by the walkway, far enough away so the smell wouldn't be a problem and hopefully hidden from wildlife so they could somewhat rest in peace. Zed and Witchy both helped while the locator tags of the others approached slowly.

Witchy was keeping her distance from Zed of course, but they were ok being in the same room if I was there. Currently she was tugging at a hefty corpse, the tatters of the dead buck's jacket clenched in her pointy teeth, her rump stuck up in the air as she pulled and grunted, sweating with the effort... muscles flexing in those strong limbs and shapely flanks...

"Fast, help me with this..." Zed coughed and pointed at a dead orange filly... half of one anyway... immediately short circuiting those bad thoughts.

"Right! G-Got it..." I felt my face heat up and ran over guiltily.

It's not like the burly zebra needed help with the poor, sad little corpse, she was tiny and light, not much older than Glitter... The look of terror still etched on her face doused those warm sensations quite effectively though... I did ask him to keep an eye on me and the observant zebra was watching like a hawk with those grey eyes, arching an eyebrow as I reverently lifted the body off the hooks it hung from and found a tattered curtain to wrap her in.

"Ick... w-why are we doing this? Can't we just leave for Dreadnot as soon as your friends get here? Why do we need to clean up these poor wastelanders? N-Not that I disagree necessarily, but trying to bury all the dead of the Commonwealth... it would take a lifetime..." Witchy groused and wriggled her way under the big buck's corpse, grunting and standing under shaking but powerful legs, warm legs... Stop!

"Because, we've had a long day and need somewhere to hide. When my daughter gets here, I don't want her seeing all... this... if I can avoid it."

That made the batpony mare squeak and look over in surprise. "D-Daughter? You have a... h-how old are you? I thought..."

"Adopted daughter ok... Yes, I'm not old enough to have a foal, she's still my daughter though." I answered and trotted over to help her, surrounding the hefty corpse in my magic and lifting with her.

I would assume having a kid would be a turn off, apparently not here though... She got a warm, appraising look and nodded happily. "Adopted... How kind, that is more like the Shroud I was sent to find, instead of the goofy, flirty buck I found...."

"Sorry! I'm really sorry Witchy, trust me, I'm gonna be in trouble enough soon...."

"Oh? With your special somepony you mentioned? Why? J-Just a little harmless flirting, I don't have to say anything to her... so long as you really do come to Dreadnot." Those orange eyes of hers gave a lidded look as she shook her head, forcing me to look away and think about repairs... spell talisman arrays, matrix adjustments, efficient coding... anything!

"I do though. I er... c-can't lie to her... better to just get it out of the way, I fucked up, I deserve it."

Zed chortled and joined us with another bloody bundle on his broad shoulders, making an effort despite the thestral's reaction to him. "Fast has funny, old world ideas about such things Miss Hour. Really, all that effort to escape Miss Jade's sisters, only to leap at the first filly you run across... a non alicorn filly no less, those mares would be furious Fast. You should have just done as they asked, got it out of your system...."

"I'm starting to wonder if you're right Zed, I'm really not like this Witchy, just dealing with a lot of changes. When Jade gets here I'll..." Thinking of my Princess, I checked for her tag again, excited to see it nearly on top of us and running outside to scan the skies for her.

I didn't see anything, but that didn't mean much with a blue alicorn, she could be invisible and right over my head. I pranced in place, dreading telling her about my aggressive behavior and hoping it wouldn't taint her view of the strange batpony who insisted on sticking around. At the same time impatient and excited, giddy as a foal on Hearth's Warming Eve, Jade was almost here...

"Hey boss! There ya are!" Val streaked from the sky, a fiery orange comet that slammed into me happily and lifted me into a tight hug before pinning me to the ground at the reunion.

Lots of warm griffon pressed against me, my head started getting foggy again and I shook as my wings stretched out. Suddenly Val's constant, playful flirting wasn't so unwanted... She felt good too, long and lithe, strong but soft and feathery, that sinuous tail flicking around, her scarred flanks smooth then rough at each old wound, I could kiss every one to make them better... follow the trail of long past pains over her body and....

"L-Leggo! I C-Can't... Good to see you too Val, just lemme go quick!" I stammered and struggled under her, trying to wriggle free before my stupid body tried taking over again.

She pulled away and looked down at me flopping around on the cracked sidewalk, her violet eyes tracing their way down past my wings splayed under me and shifting where she straddled me. Once she figured out the reaction she was getting, she turned even brighter red than normal, her long tail sticking straight up and the fluff at the end spiked out in surprise.

"W-Well helloooooo there boss! That's a first! You finally ready to gimme my pay?" Val grinned and wiggled where she was, unaware how right she was...

I spotted Jade and Glitter appearing above us and gliding down gently, both snickering at what they thought was normal Val behavior. With a frantic scramble I managed to spin around under Val and get my hooves to the ground, grunting and pushing with new strength I was still getting used to, actually lifting the hefty griffon to a squawk of surprise and dashing free, running directly to Jade and clinging to her neck.

"Oh thank the goddesses you're back... I have to tell you..."

Jade gave a pleased whinny at the affection, but Glitter distracted her with her loud interruption, jumping from her back and running right for Witchy, watching the show from a hiding spot near the hotel entrance with wide eyes. "Ohmigosh! Look mom!! A batpony! Look how pretty! Her wings are different than yours!"

Nodding at the filly running circles around the batpony, Jade trotted over with me still clinging to her, nice and warm, big and familiar... silky blue fur... wonderful, strawberry scented cloudy mane and tail... Come on, keep it together stupid. I had to let go or... Jumping away from her, I shook my head and caught what she was actually saying that had been a distant buzz. "So I see Glitter, how interesting! I was unaware there were thestrals in the Commonwealth, very infrequent outside of Blackpony Mountain. Pleased to meet you Miss...?"

"W-Witching Hour... T-This is your special somepony Fast? The Princess?" Witchy gaped at the alicorn towering over her, holding a hoof out kindly to the nervous batpony while Glitter raced around her, tugging her leathery wings and jumping up to look at her cute ears.

"That's her, this is Princess Jade, my daughter Platinum Glitter and my friend Valkyrie, we're all together again now."

I managed to give Glitter a warm hug and pull her away from Witchy, the foal was ecstatic at some new curiosity and wanted to climb on the poor mare like playground equipment. Phew... at least having the filly in my hooves calmed me down, if the same unbidden reaction came up because of my own daughter.... I'd have to stay away from her completely.

Thankfully that wasn't the case, she squeezed back to no unwanted reaction and clambered to my back, tugging my mane asking to go up and squealing with delight when I hovered up a bit awkwardly. "You should'a come dad! You were right, ridin' in that Verti-thingy was fun! The Brotherhood ponies were pretty nice, tha pegasuses... pegasi pilots did loops for me!"

"Yes, it was a long and interesting trip Fast... My sisters are rather frantic, they followed us halfway to Sanctuary before I had an opportunity to cloak us and escape. The Brotherhood said they would continue on to Hexington, then Sanctuary, that may throw them off the trail awhile, but they will be looking... So where did you find your new friend? I was watching your marker on the map thanks to Glitter's help, where did you wander off to?" Jade joined in the filly's recounting, tilting her head curiously at the nervous batpony.

"L-Long story... Look there are rooms all cleared out here for everybody to get some rest in and lay low. Why don't we all head in, er.. l-lemme talk to Jade alone a minute... I have to tell her something."

Dumping Glitter back to the ground in a clumsy landing, I picked her up in my magic and dusted her off, swatting her flank to go play with the batpony inside. Granted it was pretty rude to just run off as soon as they got here, but I had to get this off my chest right now, then hopefully do something about it...

Val squawked and tossed her overloaded bags into the lobby, opening her beak to complain but cut off by Zed, leaning over to whisper to her while I flew up through the open lobby area, towards the rooms at the top and furthest away from the others. I was tugging Jade by the hoof with me as she followed in confusion, trying to ask questions while I cleared the railing at the top floor and started running to the room I had cleared for when she got back.

Once we were in the spacious if moldy suite, I slammed the door and locked it, sliding to my rump against it and sitting up straight, forcing myself to look into Jade's kind blue eyes. "Ok... I fucked up.. s-something's wrong with me. I um... I k-kissed that batpony... w-wanted to do more... I'm sorry!"

I winced and waited for the storm, peeking up from behind my hooves and seeing that shocked face hurt. She got red, her eyes taking on a dragonish appearance and growing slitted like the batpony herself downstairs. If I wasn't sitting right in front of the door, I believed she would have just charged right through the obstacle.

"Why?!" Was the only word she managed to choke out after a minute, her suddenly sharper teeth gritting in frustration, she wanted to go get to poor Witchy.... but it was my fault, not hers.

"I don't know!!! I feel really strange! E-Every female I run into now... w-when Val was hugging me I.... and now you're here... My stupid body keeps going crazy around any mare, like I want to... but I don't!! I love you! I'm soooo, so sorry! I c-can't do this! Whatever Moondancer did to that potion, she had her own ideas for it and I don't like them!"

My screaming, sobbing tantrum cut off some of her anger at least. Her expression softened as I slumped against the door and whimpered, eyes downcast so I couldn't see that long, graceful neck just begging for... no! After a few minutes, she huffed and paced the room, kicking junk out of her way in frustration and glaring back at me occasionally.

"I said I would c-consider sharing you Fast! With my sisters! Not some strange batpony mare! There would be no point! No reason, no excuse!" She grumbled and bucked a broken table out the window, stamping her hoof and waiting for a response.

"I know... I'm sorry... If you hate me I understand, I didn't mean to... I don't like this Jade..." I whimpered under her sadly, still afraid to look up to that beautiful face looking down at me.

I was surprised at the pale blue-white glow of her magic surrounding me, lifting me up and setting me on the bed as she stuck her nose up and huffed. "I do not hate you Fast... I cannot. I am upset, but more at Moondancer at the moment... and that batpony... I suppose that explains why you smell so strongly again... You truly are trying aren't you? Such behavior is far too out of character for you, I know you that well and trust you, love you...

If her version of the I.M.P. has made you feel this way... Hmm.... Medically there are things I could do I suppose... Curtail your impulses... I think it would be better if you learned self control though, you will have to deal with your new biology eventually Fast. I will forgive certain dalliances in light of your situation, but it would seem you need more than flight training hmm? Take off your armor..."

"Er... ok!" I yelped, confused but happy, we were alone together and she wanted me to strip, that was good right?

She was taking off her own lab coat and medical box saddlebags too, so this was going well actually! Seeing her in all her glory, pacing around the musty old mattress I sat on, I was practically bouncing in place, finally... with Jade again! What she said as one big blue wing lightly traced down my side brought my excitement to a screeching halt though.

"You will remain still and not do anything Fast... You will learn control first, then we will see about sating your urges.... When I am satisfied you can master them yourself. Do. Not. Move." Her sweet voice was warm and caring, but had an unbending iron to it too, this was an order and I better obey...

What followed was absolute torture... Amazing, wonderful torture... Every light touch, kiss and nuzzle drove me right to the edge and I had to grit my teeth and bear it, shaking in place and trying not to move for what felt like hours. After awhile I started to wonder if she was enjoying this... prancing around in a seductive dance in front of me, just out of reach, wiggling her rump in front of my face, swishing her tail and flapping her wings coquettishly, tossing that cloudy mane around with a tinkling laugh and hearts in her eyes... Don't move, don't move, don't move...

Finally, she seemed as flustered as I was, her cheeks rosy and her breast heaving with each ragged breath, a light sheen of sweat already worked up from her antics just driving me further up the wall. She fluttered up and sat on the bed with me, tapping a hoof against her chin and looking up in thought, murmuring to herself playfully in front of me.

"That was enjoyable... you are trying are you not? That makes me happy.... trying so hard, behaving yourself quite well. Alright, I suppose you may go ahead and mo...." The second the words started passing her soft lips, I was up and flying, tackling her to the floor and planting desperate kisses everywhere I could reach to her giggles. "F-Fast! Oh my! S-Shouldn't we go back to the bed and... OH!"

"N-No more... E-Eight is enough Fast... r-rest...." Jade panted beside me, draped over the tilted bed and half of me like a wet noodle, speaking in a weak, delighted tone as her wings fluffed and wiped a bit of sweat from her sides and she cooed happily.

I was pretty worn myself, but apparently not enough... Sweet Celestia, what was it going to take? Jade and I had never... like this... I surveyed the room as she flopped her way closer and curled up around me, we had done some serious damage in here... The bed we were stretched out on had been shattered to tinders on one side, making everything kind of cockeyed in here. Long cracks ran up the wall behind the headboard, most of what wasn't already destroyed in the ruined room was now...

Let's see... the ratty old armchair in the corner was utterly demolished during number 3... The half bar counter leading to the kitchenette of what had been a business suite was smashed, unable to hold up an alicorn gripping it and stretching up to the ceiling during number 7. Surprisingly a weak trickle of water still came out of the shower head of the tiny bathroom when we tried in there, cramming ourselves into the cramped stall before a few misplaced hooves shattered the remaining glass and tore the fixture free in a tingly spray of radiation that just made number 5 better. Number 1 had been so frantic and forceful, we left several dents and cracks in every wall.

All that, and still I could keep going... This was insane, I was exhausted and could barely move, but my body kept demanding getting up and going again. Thankfully Jade's 'training' helped me push those impulses down and just enjoy being with the mare I loved, I was in control dammit, not Moondancer's potion...

Staring at the drooping ceiling, I idly missed the Celestia Suite, it was a hell of a lot more soundproof than this swiss cheese building, we had been very loud...

"W-Well... that is certainly a mark in favor of sharing you I suppose... with my sisters only... I do not like what was done to you either Fast, but I do understand. I guess I now have a use for birth control spells, if we do not wish to start a family immediately that is... which er... m-may be a possibility after all that... Though it feels very strange contemplating it, using magic to not get pregnant... just like normal mares!

That was very enjoyable, after a performance like that... I guess there is enough of you to share... With my sisters here in the Commonwealth, slowly... a-as I warm up to the idea, p-perhaps Valkyrie if the need is i-insatiable... I do care for her after all, she may be a-acceptable... put that insistent lasciviousness to good use... I still do not like it. But you love me yes? Only me?" Jade whispered beside me, nibbling my ear and in danger of number 9.

"Only you... I promise. I'll behave Jade, or try to... this is a lot to get used to, all the regular alicorn stuff is hard enough, but this... ugh... And if the rest of your sisters find out..."

Hugging me tight with a frightened shiver, Jade shook her head against me. "That would be a problem... Not all of my sisters are Followers Fast, if this were to spread beyond the Commonwealth... They would descend on this place like locusts... tear it apart to find you..."

That made me gulp nervously, effectively dousing any leftover ardor. "Yeeeeeah.... about that... Umm... T-The rest of Equestria might have an idea already..."

Having a lot of blue alicorn suddenly shoot up to the ceiling sent me flying off the bed, groaning from the floor as she squeaked an apology. I hadn't exactly told her about what Watcher showed me, the view from the S.P.P. towers outside the Commonwealth, catching the climactic final pulse of light during my 'ascension' in Goodneighbor. Once I explained it, her blue face turned a few shades paler and she curled in on herself, hiding in her wings and tapping her forehooves.

"Oh no... oh no... If they know... if that's all they saw... They may view it as a threat Fast! Ask my sisters what they know, send scouts from the New Canterlot Republic, the Followers, everypony! They will come... t-they will all come!" She whimpered nervously, her breathing getting faster in fright while her blue eyes darted around.

I crawled back to the bed and leaned up to kiss her neck, calming her and managing to keep it down to just that bit of affection, stroking her mane soothingly. "It's alright, Watcher's trying to help. We have to get to the S.P.P. tower though, or back to Manebridge, somewhere we can communicate with Miss Homage and DJ Pon3 again, try to explain it..."

Mission Updated!: Can You Hear Me Now

Objectives-----------
---Reach the Commonwealth M.A.S.E.B.S. tower
---Communicate with Homage and Equestria
---Apply the bypass

Flashed in my vision as soon as I said it, I needed to get to the needle thin white spire in the center of the Commonwealth anyway, now I had a more pressing reason. After making sure Jade was calmed and reassured, I had to excuse myself before I tried to ravish her again. Walking down the gloomy halls outside and back to the mezzanine overlooking the lobby below.

All the other rooms and areas we cleared were below, I still had to gulp and force myself over the railing into all that empty space below, but glided down to the ground floor without much incident. I almost managed to land properly before stumbling and falling into a rotting couch in the lobby.

Hoots, whistles and catcalls rose up at my clumsy entrance and my head shot up, seeking out the taunting and finding Val... of course... snickering laughter at the small lobby bar, a variety of excellent weapons spread out on the wooden surface and Witchy beside her, an impressive shade of crimson and gaping with wide eyes at me.

"S-Seven..." She managed to stammer out, instantly making me match her color and hide behind my wings, awkwardly trying to flap up and make me invisible like I wanted. At least Glitter was already in bed... and Zed was probably resting from his slaughter here, so it was just them...

"Eight! Lil' harder to tell when she stuffs that big hoof in her gob tryin' ta be subtle! Impressive boss! Now I reeeeeally wanna ride!" Val chortled and kicked her paws hanging off the stool she sat at, giving me a leering grin and absently poking at some of Witchy's impressive weaponry. "So, made all this stuff back home huh? Good work... Never had much business down in Dreadnot, should'a poked around a little more! So they gots more like this there? When we goin' boss!?" Val giggled to the poor batpony just gaping at me, shuffling in her seat anxiously and looking me over with those exotic slitted orange eyes.

It took a nudge from the griffon and a snap of her dark claws in front of her face for Witchy to shake it off, stuttering and shaking her head. "Y-Yes! Yes we make weapons and armor of excellent quality, w-we're selective about our customers though... you may not have been able to purchase any when you were there anyway. When are we going F-Fast? I would very much like to return with you as soon as possible..."

"Soon ok? I promise, we have some other things to do on the way, some more urgent than others... But we will start working our way there alright? For now, I could use a drink..."

Val lit up at that, perking up in her seat and waving around bottles from behind the bar. "There's my lil' drinkin' buddy! That's more like it mopey! Replenish them fluids! Get over here an' drink lightweight!"

Lightweight huh? Well we could just see about that... It was just past midnight, more than enough time considering how much sleep I seemed to actually need now. I strolled over to the bar with a knowing smile, raising an eyebrow as I tried to flap my way up to the stool and only missing by a little, I slammed a hoof to the bar and leaned towards the goofy griffon.

"Sure Val... Why don't we have a little drinking contest actually... That'll be fun right?"

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

Party Colt! (Rank 2)--------------

-----Nopony can out-drink you now! You now have incredible resistance to alcohol, requiring a great deal more to become inebriated at all and quickly sobering. On the plus side, you suffer no negative effects from alcohol and the positive effects are doubled. Alicorn metabolism may be a bit annoying, but there are perks too! You also now gain +3 luck while under the effects of alcohol.

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

Pony Sutra-------
------The side effects of your transformation are more significant than you thought! Moondancer's version of the I.M.P. was focused on creating a breeding stud and your new body wants to fill that role, whether you do or not. You are experienced and now amazingly enduring in the art of giving and receiving physical pleasure. You are now much more likely to have sexual encounters with specific characters.

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

Dreadnot-- Neutral
-----The mysterious settlement to the south calls! Batponies and a big boat, fun! You know nothing about where you're going, but they know you apparently and are waiting. If your new friend is any indication, maybe the scary sounding place will be a nice town! It's a direction to go anyway!