Gooooood morning children! This is DJ Pon3 kicking off another beautiful day in Equestria, fighting the good fight like all my good little ponies out there listening right? Today's a red letter day on that front too let me tell you, I always try to keep my loyal fans up to date on all the heroes out there doing their part to be better, those called to lead the way trying to turn things around, or just live another day and not being a total bastard about it. Ever since the day of Sunshine and Rainbows there's been no shortage of folks doing their part and living up to the example of the Lightbringer, but today I have a brand new story to go along with a bunch of new listeners and even some new songs thanks to a big fan, so let's get started!

Now I know you're all just dyin' to get back to our regular news, find out what the final vote was on the NCR's trade initiative with the Lunar Commonwealth, the proposed tax hike in fabulous Tenpony Tower, you know, regular riveting stuff. But before we get to all that fun, let me tell you a new, old story, a mysterious tempest in a teapot most wastelanders pay little attention to, the Trotson Commonwealth.

That's right, for the first time since the bombs fell, the Commonwealth has lost a bit of its mysterious.. shroud... that keeps it hidden and overlooked by the rest of the wasteland. For all you locals tuning in to the new station on your dial, it's good to be heard and to hear from you! After playing a little catch up thanks to some friends and a surprising colleague in your neck of the woods, let me just say we're with you children!

For my regular audience, I'll just have to give the cliff notes version for now, though some of the stores I've heard could make their own daily series for a year! The Commonwealth, home of mad scientists experimenting on the poor souls living there, sentient robots and cutting edge prewar technology, unique dangers and colorful residents. Another little slice of our wonderful, wild wasteland that's remained isolated a looooong time, until now.

Bear with me loyal listeners, some of this may sound like it's straight out of an old world comic book, but as always I assure you, DJ Pon3 brings you only the truth as we know it. Besides, I promise I have some great new music sprinkled in that you're gonna love! Settle in, sit back, tune in and relax while I tell you a story of intrigue and mystery, danger and death, friendship and romance, Princesses and Heroes...

I clicked off the new radio station chattering happily in my ear with a sigh and returned to the chaotic meeting I had been letting wash over me for a minute. The ruined shell of the Lunar Nocturne Hotel just outside of Eclipse was packed with ponies, a hive of activity filled with blue and tan bedecked Minutemares, Captain Salty Swim and the leading citizens of the small village, as well as those of our own little party still awake.

The gruff leader of Eclipse seemed a little apologetic when we landed in the plaza outside, thanking us for rescuing the poor filly the Gunners had abducted last night, but standing firm on his demand we stay outside of his town. Granted with all the Minutemares trickling into the area, it would be a little crowded anyway, but I could see his main point too.

We came close enough to getting caught when the mercenary company changed their arrangement with the fishing community and sent in a trio of local 'governors' to run roughshod over them, sadistic Gunners whose first order of business had been the attempted rape of another young filly that we had promptly saved with extreme prejudice.

The Captain had to look out for his town first, if they came back and we were plotting together with them inside their town, it would be hard to argue that it was against their will. Judging by the raised voices and back and forth so far, the residents were not united on what to do next, scared and angry, so best to give them some space I guessed.

A sand colored earth pony in battered wet weather gear summed up the view that made us backing off pretty well, shouting over the ongoing argument I had tuned out of for a moment. "They should leave Salty! Appreciate 'em getting back Mint Twist and all too, but the Gunners are gonna come back, if they're here when they do we're all dead! Sucks they changed things and took her to begin with, but better than trying to fight them! T-They would'a let her go eventually I'm sure..."

After what I had seen of the filly's likely fate at Talon's Department Store, that pissed me off and I shook off my lingering tiredness. I had cheated a bit to keep going on returning, ducking aside and turning on the weird radiation trap I had taken from the torture chambers to give me a little energy to work with. Unfortunately it had fizzled out and died before getting much past the green end of my pip-buck's rad counter, but it was enough for now, though I'd have to try to fix it later.

The rest of us needed rest too, but only Witchy was actually doing so somewhat, hanging from the rusting chandiler above the lobby of the ruined hotel, curled up in her leathery wings and flicking her tufted ears as she listened sleepily. Val needed to actually sleep most of all, still recovering from her wounds, but a war council concerning her former comrades was not something she'd sit out of. She and Jade had compromised as far as either was willing to bend, the injured griffon sat in a battered old recliner in the corner, with Glitter attending her as her private nurse so she could listen and run her mouth while taking it easy.

Before I had a chance to set the buck arguing in favor of the status quo straight, Captain Salty did it for me, slamming a hoof to the long table dragged in from the dining area of the resort hotel now strewn with papers and maps. "You heard 'em Trapper! She wasn't comin' back if it weren't for them, that fat griffon and his evil funhouse... Say that it was fine for my niece's filly to wind up there, I dare you... just fucking say it..."

Trapper looked like a fairly tough pony, strong and scarred, but he wilted under the glare from the sea green Captain, weakly trying to make excuses. "N-No Cap'n, course it wouldn't be... T-That's just if they was tellin' the truth though! C-Could be lyin', tryin' to trick us into joining in with their crazy ideas to..."

That was it. I was tired, grumpy and overstressed after dealing with Gunter's horror show, the idea that I'd lie about what I had seen there... I felt my eyes burn as my wings flared and I slammed the weak table between us, leaning up on my hindlegs over the barrier and glaring right at the dissenting voice.

"Don't call me a liar. I will take you right there, right now and then you can tell me I made it all up. Gunter had been doing that a long time, where do you think he kept finding 'tributes' to send through his little maze!? Even putting that aside, have you talked to Mint? She tell you what all they were planning on doing to her that she heard herself!? But it's ok for a filly to go through that, so long as they let her go right?! So long as your own precious ass isn't in the crosshairs!?! TELL ME YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT, PLEASE! MAKE THINGS EASY FOR ME!!"

The big buck that towered over me and looked like he could stomp me into the ground shrank away, his eyes going wide as he crossed himself with that odd gesture I had seen other Eclipser's make with superstitious dread, shaking his head and stammering in fear. He looked immensely relieved when Jade's light touch cut off my snorting angry breaths from my nostrils waiting on him, speaking kindly and reigning me in. I really had to get a handle on all this new aggression, but that was understandable even if I was still normal.

"Calm yourself Fast. I am sure Mr. Trapper meant no such thing, standing up to fight against such a powerful foe is not easy, they live here and we do not. I apologize sir, forgive my Fast but that evil place is indeed real and being exposed to it would leave anypony shaken to their core. If all of your community feels as you do, we will do all we can to keep you out of it.

I assure you however, I have seen tyrants like these before, they will not stop and cannot be trusted, they will take more and more, inch by inch until you are all slaves under their hoof. Allow us to help, please." The beautiful princess had the exact opposite effect on him than I did, his eyes drawn to her sparkling costume tiara and softening at her kindness, a flicker of hope warring against years of conditioned fear.

A cracked voice from an old greying yellow unicorn mare in the crowd wasn't nearly so combative, but was wary with years of experience in a brutal world. "Help how? Can yer Minutemares really stand up against the Gunners Princess? No offense, but don't look like it... Don't get me wrong, takin' down the Skybridge was impressive an' all, but that's one itty bitty outpost, there's a whole army with some serious firepower out there, how can ya fight that?"

Questions about fighting were not in Jade's skillset, but luckily she had her own loyal 'Captain of the Guard' for such things. Val gave a rattling cough and sipped her beer before answering for her. "Easy, ya hit em where it hurts, in tha wallet. Make it so expensive to deal with ya they'll find other, more profitable things to get up to. Gunners care about the bottom line an' that's it. 'Sides, defendin' is a helluva lot easier than attackin', you gots a good set up here and a fortress once we take it. The boss already did plenty ta get their panties in a twist and take the blame, ya got time if'n ya don't waste it whinin' like a bunch'a scared sheep."

After fighting back the dark Shroud in my head, 'Be Kind...', I nodded and tried to add in my own rough thoughts on the problem so far. "She's right, there's only one approach here by land and with the castle too they'd pay a high cost to deal with Eclipse. So long as it's the Minutemares they're fighting, you can even just say we ran roughshod over you too and you were just caught in the middle."

I tried to stamp down on the dark thought that what I said wasn't that far off, I was taking Castle Equinox with or without their approval, my pip-buck knew that much already;

Mission Added: Have Fun Storming the Castle!

Objectives----
---Gain entrance to Castle Equinox
---Open the Main Gates
---Eliminate the Miretank Infestation

Preston took over as commander of the Minutemares here, tapping a hoof to the faded map rolled out on the table before him. "It's tactically sound, you're at the end of this peninsula here, only one major approach to use with the remains of the main road in. If we take a page from their own playbook and trap the hell out of it, we can funnel them where we want and fight them on our terms. Thanks to Fast and Val, we just so happen to know where we can lay our hooves on a lot of explosives and other tricks to use too... Peri, go find me Badda Boom and Spinning Gears, we need to send them out to that Talon's place to get to work."

The big blue alicorn at Preston's side whined and adjusted her tan hat, looking from her commander to me repeatedly before nodding slowly. "Alright, Fast may not leave though, he promised..."

Her sedate condition cooled most of my remaining anger anyway, distracted by the conflict of wanting to hide from those fluttering golden eyes while my wings sprang up awkwardly, proof another part of me wanted just the opposite. I thunked a hoof to my head and dragged it down my muzzle, nodding weakly to the odd alicorn. "I know Peri, not going anywhere... just busy right now. Go on, important things first..."

Periwinkle huffed and tossed her long blonde mane, trotting out and muttering softly on her way to find her fellow Minutemares. "This is important too..."

At least Jade just rolled her eyes tiredly, Peri tracked us down sooner than I would have liked, but she was right, I did promise... Thinking rationally about it was still totally different than being faced with actually... doing it. She called after her sister in nervous resignation before turning back to the rest of the gathering. "Yes sister, this is more important however. Patience, please. Now then, we will attempt to keep Eclipse out of any fighting and do all we can to protect you, taking the castle and focusing on defense is the best path to do so. You may help or stay out of it entirely, but we do have work to do and my Fast has only bought a little time. With the help of Eclipse, things will go smoother I am sure, please, help us help you."

She may not entirely like the role, but she was everything a princess should be and just proved it again. Several anxious faces in the crowd of villagers took up that same spark of hope, wanting to believe despite a lifetime of being beaten down by a harsh world. After actually seeing Princess Luna myself in a long ago memory, I was more sure than ever, Jade was a princess and that was what these ponies needed.

In her radiant presence the best of ponies was brought to the surface, her kind words buoyed their spirits and several started reticently adding to the discussion, pointing to the map and adding their local knowledge to the rough plans, helping... This was all in their hooves now, nothing to fix and nopony to kill or scare, I wasn't much use and probably made some things harder after my outburst. The residents of Eclipse lived in the shadow of the ancient castle where the real Shrouded Stallion was sealed away, I got the idea I made them nervous, especially when the character started leaking out in anger.

I leaned up to kiss Jade's cheek in between her addressing the gathered Minutemares and Eclipser's, whispering my intention to take a walk and think. I was better at dealing with groups of ponies now than I had been in Stable 111, but I still did my best thinking alone and we'd need every clever idea I could wring out of my tired brains.

With Witching Hour sleeping back with the others since the sun was up, I actually got to enjoy taking a stroll by myself. Well... mostly by myself, my heightened senses and E.F.S. kept telling me I had a gaggle of followers, but they were doing their best to hide and keep their distance.

I caught a glimpse of a young, light green mare with a mane and tail of twisting dark green and white, peeking out from nearby ruins as I walked, along with a younger apple red filly with an orange mane and several more her age or older. The rescued Mint Twist and the younger filly saved from the local governors, my 'fan club' Jade had complained about...

I could barely hear their breathless whispers, stifled giggles and dares to each other, working up their nerve but remaining hidden and watching. I gave them their space and tried to just ignore them, despite my overeager interest in pretty much anything female lately, several were young enough I had no problem controlling my urges, those that were old enough like Mint herself presented more of a problem, but nothing even approaching the big blue mare galloping down the street after me with none of their subtlety.

"Ok Fast! I brought them to Preston, now we can..." Peri trotted up to my side and spoke fairly rapidly for her, almost up to a regular pace for anypony else. All sparkling eyes and swaying flanks, soft... blue flanks... she looked quite a bit like Jade already... it would be different but not...

I had to slap myself and draw away from her nuzzling reluctantly, I promised and was resigned to giving in eventually, but we really did have more important things to deal with. "N-Not yet Peri, c-calm down ok... Umm.... once we take the castle, then we'll have somewhere safe to... er... d-do what you want..."

She stuck her lip out in a pout, but puzzled over it and nodded, I agreed and that's all she cared about. "Alright, fine... we will just have to take the castle quickly then. I am excited, the others will be so jealous."

The bright tone to her voice did count as excitement for Peri I supposed, practically bouncing off the walls for the ethereal mare smiling and tossing her long, silken blonde mane, catching the morning light in a sparkling cascade that... nnnggh!! Stop! Talk, talking is good, thinking bad... my mane itched and my head kept getting foggy in the presence of an eager, willing female.

"So... how have things been Peri? S-Since I left, are the others taking it ok? A-Are they mad at me?"

Those golden eyes looked up in thought for a moment as we came to the edge of the ruins of the old town and to the beach, a chilly sea breeze blowing her mane back as she nodded and answered. "A little upset yes. They are looking for you all over, wanted me to bring you back when I found you, since you agreed with me first. Several sisters moved to Sanctuary, keeping a watch for you there, though I hear they like it and may live there, I told them Sanctuary was fun. Umbra is the only one really mad... she will be happy when I return after though."

"Y-You're not gonna do what she said right? T-Take me back?"

A slow shake of her head answered and she smiled softly, "No. We are friends yes? You do not want to go? I don't understand why, but as long as you're helping fill the mother's wish, I don't see why you can't take your time. So long as I'm first. You promised..."

Ugh... she had a one track mind, not helping when mine kept wanting to switch to the same track and go full speed ahead. I was glad to hear she had made her own choices on the subject, we were friends and she was willing to ignore her leader's orders in deference to that. She was an odd, eccentric mare, even for the Trinity Tower alicorns, but I did like her, filling my promise wouldn't be too bad with her.

I kept walking the beach with her at my side, allowing her close to nuzzle and sniff at my mane happily as long as she kept it down to just that. Another sign in her favor, I didn't feel uncomfortable letting her close, if we were going to... do that... I was glad it was with a mare I liked and felt relaxed with, she was nice company as I walked and thought, continually sending glances up to the dark castle overhead.

"Peri, do you really want to have a foal? Be a mom? Have you thought about it beyond just the whole... mating thing? I mean if we do and it works... y-you'd be p-p-pregnant... have a baby, m-my baby... I know you guys don't really think that way or care, but it would be partly my kid, I-I'd want to be around for them... Just wondering how far you've thought this through..."

She stopped entirely and sat in the sand with a thump, humming and looking up in thought for a few long minutes, leaving me to sit and wait with her while she worked it out. I tried to ignore the half sunken ruins of boats sticking up at crazy angles and the occasional carcass washing up at the shore, Miretank leavings... Those things aside it was a nice view, and the focus of my concerns loomed right overhead to look at while she thought, craggy grey cliffs jutting up from the waves crashing against the base, the ruined castle of dark stone perched over the sea, rusting weaponry pointing out towards long vanquished enemies.

Finally Peri adjusted her Minutemare hat and furrowed her brow, she wasn't stupid by any means, but she worked at her own pace and I had put a pretty complex question to her, she looked like she was taking it quite seriously anyway. "Yes. I wish to do as the mother wanted, buuut... I want to do so for myself too? I like niece Glitter and Ivy's orphans, I would like a foal of my own, somepony I made and brought into the world, to care and sacrifice for, like the mother did for me. We had no father though, you would wish to be one?"

"Y-Yeah! I mean I want to with Jade anyway, but that's kinda one of the things that freaks me out about all of you wanting me to... t-that's a lot of kids, they'd all be mine too. I really want you to understand this Peri, you're all not just asking me to mate you know, you're asking me to be a father, with all of you, like... a hundred times over... That's kind of a lot to take in."

Peri's golden eyes widened and she stared out at the lapping waves, smoke practically wisping from her cockeyed ears. After a silent pause broken only by the waves and the muffled whispers hiding behind us, she finally blinked down at me curiously. "What do fathers do?"

I had never really considered it as much as Jade and all her sisters loved their mother the Goddess, but they didn't have a father at all, it was a completely foreign concept for them and a difficult question..."Ummm... lot's of stuff? I mean, there's all kinds of fathers so that's hard to answer Peri. I hear a lot don't stick around at all out here in the wasteland, I guess it'd be easier if i was like that, but I'm ...old fashioned.

Hmmm.... dads teach stuff? Help? Protect. Tell stories at bedtimes, play with the kids, the kinda stuff I do with Glitter, just... be there mostly, love them. It's more than just a quick roll in the hay and leaving you to it, I know you guys just think of it as mating and procreation, like I'm just a genetic donor or something, but it means more to me. U-Understand?"

She looked confused at the concept, taking it in slowly and looking me over carefully, for once not fixated on just one thing but honestly appraising me with new eyes. "You.... would do those things? With... with a baby we made together?"

I felt my face heat up as I instantly nodded, shuffling and looking out to the sea again to hide my blush as she blinked at the answer. I enjoyed the comfortable silence as she hummed and thought, sitting side by side in the morning sun at the beach, it was almost like a really weird, really awkward date.

Peri surprised me by eventually shaking her head and leaning over, kissing my cheek with pale roses blooming on her own. I had never seen Peri actually react that way to anything, she was never embarrassed so she never blushed, it was quite pretty with the happy smile and warm yellow eyes as she continued. "That... makes me happy for some reason, how strange. I think I would like that. I don't get it, but if you feel such responsibility... I guess your running away and whining makes some sense. It makes me feel good I am first, if you think it is so important, you must like me then?"

"Of course I like you Peri, if I didn't we wouldn't be having this conversation at all. I told all your sisters I wouldn't do this with mares I didn't know and like, you're the first of all your sisters from the tower I met, though I wish it had been under less embarrassing circumstances... Spying on me and Jade in the shower..."

Reminding her just seemed to put her back on her normal track of thought unfortunately, she gasped and floated a battered notepad from her armored tan Minutemare coat, pulling a pencil from the pocket in her teeth and jotting a note down happily. At my questioning look she grinned and showed the text filled page proudly, "Things I want to try when it is my turn, I had forgotten how fun that looked."

Oh Luna save me, she had a list...

I tore my eyes away from the packed page as my wings sprang up and twitched, groaning and looking out at the water as she hummed and jotted things down with a smile. We had managed to have a somewhat serious conversation anyway, she knew how I felt and took it in, it just had zero impact on her plans. Maybe she'd talk to the rest though, spread the whole concept of dads to the others and explain my reluctance to them better. I was pretty sure they were going to be pouring over the blue Minutemare's memories with a fine toothed comb at some point.

My ears flicked at a rise of noise from my fan club while I rubbed the lingering warmth on my cheek, a few voices raised after Peri's affectionate gesture, culminating in some squeaks and yelps. I peeked back over my shoulder to see Mint Twist being shoved forward by a few of her peers, the younger red unicorn filly peeking from the crumbling beach shack they had been hiding behind. Peri looked up and watched with mild interest, but went back to her notepad with a quiet gasp of some new idea...

I tried to straighten up and look non threatening in front of the nervous fillies, smiling as Mint Twist shook off the others pushing her forward, grabbing a cloth wrapped bundle from them angrily and prancing forward to stand before us. "H-Hi! Umm... M-Mr. Shroud, I dunno if you remember, w-with all the explosions and guns and stuff, but I'm..."

"Mint Twist, I remember very well. Are you ok? Sorry for the rough ride and all, still er... getting used to these things..." My left wing sprang out and stiffened to illustrate my point, getting a gasp and giggle from the cluster of her friends behind her.

She was pretty in a down to earth, no nonsense, earth pony way. Right around my age, but strong and supple from a lot of hard work, her two toned mane and tail done up in a braid, the padded blue windbreaker she wore complimented her coat, turning red as she beamed and stammered out a reply, holding her bundle out nervously. "Y-Yes! Fine! Great! Umm... t-thanks a lot, those Gunners were gonna... b-but then you came out of nowhere and... H-Here! Present! I... I made you a present I mean, t-to say thanks!"

I tipped my hat in thanks and levitated the soggy cloth bundle over while she looked on anxiously, unwrapping it to find a pile of pale, fishy smelling, round.... cakes? I sniffed at them experimentally, meat... different smelling meat, but meat, the little nubs of fangs in my mouth didn't lie, stretching out a bit along with the gush of saliva. "Thank you very much Mint. What are they?"

"M-M-Miretank Cakes... s-sorry, we don't have much else here and... t-they're probably not that good, I made them though and..." The pale green mare seemed to wilt at the question, had I been insulting? Or was she just embarrassed at what she made sound like a meager gift?

Whatever the reason, I floated one out and took a big bite, chewing thoughtfully a moment before demolishing the rest. That was good! Miretank or not, it had a rich taste and texture, a pleasant tingle of radiation dancing with the spices on my tongue. Generally we just ate whatever foods we could take around with us, what we found, or what we could buy somewhere when we were lucky, none of us could actually cook anything. Real home cooking was great and Mint was quite a chef!

I scarfed another and grinned like a fool, gulping it down as her expression brightened and her friends laughed, cautiously approaching behind her. I finally choked out a reply around a mouthful of miretank. "Hrmmat's good! Mmm, really, thanks a lot Mint, I'll have to put these away to share with my friends or I'll eat them all, I had no idea those shelled monsters could taste so good!"

The pale green mare turned red right down to her hooves, shuffling and scuffing at the sand with a pleased whinny. "T-Thanks! I'm glad you like it, p-pretty much all we have to cook here, so hafta be creative about it. Trust me, you wouldn't like it as much if you lived here and ate it all the time. miretank Cakes, miretank casserole, miretank hash, miretank soufflé, miretank ala king, miretank kebabs, miretank jerky... y-you get the idea...."

The rest of her friends had clustered around and laughed with her, visibly relaxing and offering up their own small gifts, some of the very dishes Mint had described among them, a smooth segment of Miretank shell on a braided bit of twine for a necklace, a wickedly sharp miretank claw that had been carved with crude but talented engravings. The young filly Val had saved from the Gunners left behind in Eclipse gulped and came out of hiding, holding up a battered and patched stuffed Luna doll with a wince.

"You're sure? Looks like she likes you kiddo... I don't wanna separate good friends, you don't owe me anything." I had to ask, it was a cute doll I'd happily give to Glitter, but I had no desire to take a filly's favorite toy as some kind of payment for doing what was right.

The pigtailed filly nodded her head rapidly and clenched her eyes, floating the toy up to thump against my chest repeatedly until I accepted. Mint patted her head and smiled, shrugging to me and speaking for the shy foal. "Shiny has others, old souvenirs from town, go ahead Mr. Shroud."

Struck with a bit of inspiration, I dug in my packs for my most recent haul of junk from the Shrouded Stallion Gift Shop. After a little digging, a mint in battered, rotting box Shroud figure floated up to meet the stuffed Luna. "Please, just call me Fast, how about a trade then, if you have other Lunas then you need her servant too right?"

The filly gasped and accepted the trade after just a moment's hesitation, the others crowding a little closer to examine her gift jealously. Several venturing questions now that they had worked themselves up into coming out;

"Did'ya really come down in a bolt of lightning and wipe out all them Gunners Mr. Shroud?'

"Are ya gonna stop them from coming anymore?"

"Dad says ya wanna take the castle up there, are ya?"

"A-Are you an' the Princess married?"

"Who's this mare, she's not the Princess!"

"How ya gonna get in?"

I was a little overwhelmed at all the attention, the last question just brought me back to more pressing concerns too and I scratched my mane in thought. "Er... still working that out, don't know what to expect up there besides lots of miretanks or what we're gonna do. You girls have any ideas maybe?"

My hopeful question was actually serious, they were locals and knew much better than I did. Not only about the castle, but about the foes waiting inside, Eclipse hunted Miretanks professionally after all. They chattered back and forth in a huddle at the inquiry, whispering to each other before nudging Mint Twist back to the front as their spokespony.

"Umm... w-well... The front gate is shut and locked tight, nopony can go that way, same with all the doors in off the courtyard. There are holes in the walls an' stuff, but the monsters use those entrances and guard them, and there's the meaner, tougher types inside too... I guess you and your friend here could just fly in though." Mint looked up to the imposing fortress with a shudder as she answered.

"Other types? Different than the ones down here? I really don't know much about Miretanks, you ladies are the pros, can you help me?"

A little flattery sent a giggle through the crowd and several puffed up proudly, speaking over each other to share their expertise until Mint took over again and went through their thoughts. "Yeah Mr. Shro... ummm... F-Fast... There's lots of different kinds of Miretanks, Softshells, Razorclaws, Hunter's, Kings, e-even the Queen in there somewhere.... but nopony's seen her for ages and lived."

"Queen? Like... bees or something? What are the differences, how do you guys deal with them?"

"Nopony messes with the Queen Fast, she's huge, t-the last time anypony saw her she was anyway, probably bigger now. Miretanks live a long time and get bigger and stronger with age. Y-You'd have ta ask the Cap'n more about her, Uncle Salty was the last to actually lay eyes on her. The others are bad too though, well, softshells aren't as bad really. The others though, there are a lotta weird mutations cause of all the goop in the castle dungeons.

Hunter's shells get smaller and harder, they look pretty different and are lots faster and tougher. Razorclaws are all spiky with thicker, heavier shells and bigger claws obviously. Kings lose most of their shell entirely, really fast, really strong, and they make this bad noise that hurts whatever they hit with it. We don't hafta deal with most of those often, but that colony keeps growing and gettin' more aggressive, if you really clear out the castle... that'd help Eclipse a lot."

That gave me a few things to chew on, I hadn't really thought what effect wiping out the infestation in the castle might have on the town below. They made their living off the monsters after all, I was glad to hear following my vague plans wouldn't hurt the residents of Eclipse at least.

Her horror stories of the different types made this a daunting prospect though, we had Minutemare backup now, but there weren't many pegasus recruits yet, let alone other alicorns like Peri. If we couldn't open a path for them to get in, they couldn't help deal with the problem. The mention of 'goop' under the castle caught my interest too, mutation causing goop, Taint?

She nodded when I asked and pointed to the waves crashing against the cliff the castle was built on far above. "Yeah, rainbow colored sludge, the water all around there is bad cause it leaks out through the tunnels. Can't see it now, but there's a big passage underwater, can just see the top of it during low tide, we figure that's how the Queen comes and goes, or did anyway, too big for even that now."

A secret passage? Reeeeeally...

Most of the day passed in a flurry of activity, more Minutemares kept trickling in to the area and joining their fellows, a full squad accompanied the twitchy orange unicorn Badda Boom and her mechanically inclined partner, a silver buck named Spinning Gears, as they left to find Talon's Department Store and start disassembling the evil place. Gunter's traps and mountain of explosives would be put to much better use, though I worried and tried to warn them all what exactly they were walking into.

The Lunar Nocturne Hotel in the ruins of Eclipse Village was hastily cleared and repaired where possible, hopefully temporary accommodations until we took the castle, but even after it wasn't a bad idea to have an outpost down here near Eclipse. Most of us were discouraged from going to the walled ring of resort cabins that made up the living village of fisherponies, but many of the residents came out to watch all the activity and see the Princess they were all talking about.

Jade played the role perfectly, the more she came to accept it, the more naturally it seemed to come. She was a princess, all her rejection just got in the way of being what she truly was. She even kept her costume tiara on while acting as the patron leader of the Minutemares, her own troops as awed as the villagers and taking heart in her presence.

Zed was working with the Minutemares in fortifying the path to the end of the peninsula, his experience crawling the ruins around Hexington helped in manipulating the waterlogged maze of crumbling homes that filled the middle of the spit of land. Shoving old carriages around and selectively dropping sagging structures across certain avenues made a twisting labyrinth between us and the rest of Gunner territory, with the addition of a variety of Gunter's surprises, it would be a death trap for any who didn't know the way.

Witching Hour kept finding shady spots to sleep, blearily looking about every once in awhile to keep an eye on the progress being made and making sure I hadn't disappeared. She looked wistful and worried at the work going on, ponies preparing to stand up and fight the toughest mercs in the Commonwealth. I was looking forward to her waking up with the dark, one thing both the Minutemares and the villagers needed was weapons, her town of Dreadnot apparently had some excellent weaponsmiths judging by her gear and things I had heard, when we did get there, I wanted to see about getting them to share.

I caught Sassy Saddles before she was taken out of the line of fire, she had traveled with Preston and the Minutemares this far, but shouldn't stick around and was eager to get back to Sanctuary. Though she did mention making a short layover back in Goodneighbor, as far as Preston's pegasus recruit could take her and get back quickly. It seemed she and the ghoulish mayor of the party town had hit it off during Nightmare Night, before the whole... war in the streets, death and destruction thing...

Glitter saw her off with me happily, giving her a squishy hug as she assured us she'd be fine. Sassy had become one of the Trinity Tower alicorn's favorite ponies, she made clothes that fit them and was generous before they could really pay her. Once she was back in Goodneighbor and finished with her interrupted date with Mayor Shamrock, she was quite sure it would be no problem getting one of them to give her a ride back to Sanctuary.

She finished up my reticent request before she left too, sounding disappointed in the rushed work, even though it was simple. Her magnificent Shrouded Stallion armor couldn't really be altered easily, too many spells woven into it to change now. Asking for a basic bit of matching cloth to hang off my shoulders and hide my wings was beneath her skills, plus she fretted that while it would do what I wanted, the short, clip on cape would not self repair like the armor.

Eventually she accepted my reassurances that it was great, all I wanted was a way to try to blend in and not draw attention. She grudgingly took the praise, but promised once she returned to her boutique in Sanctuary, she would create better options for me, only grousing mildly that she'd prefer to make things that accentuated my new nature, rather than hide it. A 'waste of a wonderful and unique model' according to her, delighted at the thought of breaking new fashion ground designing for a male alicorn.

Val looked better and better as the day passed, taking frequent naps and regularly checked by Jade. She had shed most of her bandages now and only had a mild limp, lubricated into padding along fairly well with liberal application of Wild Pegasus. She wasn't totally behind my vague ideas concerning the castle attack, but was looking forward to a good fight and impatiently waiting for me to repair her gear, rooting around in several Ministry of Morale stamped boxes that had arrived on a cart from Goodneighbor, drawn by an exhausted looking earth pony stallion.

We were together in a rotting shell of an old carriage repair garage, the big door open and facing the circular, moon decorated plaza and the hotel down the street. Absently watching the buzz of activity while I dug the last bits of shrapnel from her riot armor and worked on fixing the damage, using pieces of the dead Gunner's armor from the village to patch the gaps.

"How 'bout a missile launcher boss? Big kabooms!" Val tittered and pulled a long, pink painted tube of the heavy weapon in question from the crate she had cracked open and waved it temptingly.

"No heavy weapons Val, that thing looks like it weighs more than I do, it'd knock me around worse than my lightning does..." I grunted and kept working, shooting down another offering from her haul.

My fiery griffon friend pouted and tossed it aside, going back to her loot and digging for more. "Ya gotta be a little more flexible boss, if'n we're pickin' a fight with the Gunners, ya better bring a bigger dog ta the fight. How 'bout a heavy M.E.W.? No recoil! Meltin' stuff comes in handy sometimes."

I gave the massive multi gem magic gatling gun a flat stare and shook my head, I understood she had a point, but big guns just weren't my style, let alone magical energy weapons. "I'll get by with what I have for now. Maybe we'll find something I can handle with enough practice, don't want to try throwing something else new into the mix right now, already dealing with getting used to enough new stuff already...."

"Yer no fun boss. Gots all this cool crap an' ya keep turnin' yer nose up at it!" She grumbled back and kept looking, lovingly inspecting each new toy and stacking them to the side for the Minutemares.

A little spell work and sanding had her breastplate back in perfect condition and I nodded in satisfaction, floating it over to her and working on the shoulderpads as I replied. "I'll think about it ok? After we deal with the castle."

"Don't like yer idea boss... you and that goofy mare goin' in alone, I'm fine! Lemme come too an'..." Val returned to her constant complaints since I had told her what my 'fan club' had explained to me, but I was holding firm on this one.

"No. You're still hurt and need rest, be glad I'm letting you lead the attack from outside once it starts. Besides, there's taint and radiation under the castle, a lot of it... Other than Jade nopony else can use that passage safely. I'm pretty sneaky you know, plus with Peri making us invisible, we'll be fine. If we can't find a way to open the main gates, we'll slip out and change our plans, if we can then you'll still get plenty of action Val."

She huffed and drummed her paws around the crate she had sitting between them in a tantrum, finally sulkily agreeing. "Bah! S'no fair... ya better keep yer head straight, no foolin' around an' hanky panky alone in there... Don't like you goin' wheres I can't follow an bodyguard right. Right in a nest of freakin' miretanks no less, 'nother one of yer bad ideas that...."

Whatever her latest complaint, Glitter effectively ended it by galloping in the open room from the street, waving to a waiting gaggle of foals her own age all brimming with excitement as well. "Daddy! You gotta come see! The grown ups are freakin' out but I tried ta tell em it was probably yours!"

I raised an eyebrow at my filly bouncing in place and pointing out across the cracked and weedy expanse of the plaza, towards the road leading in to the ruins of Eclipse from the rest of the Commonwealth. Trouble? It didn't seem like it when I snatched her up in my magic and flew out, enjoying her happy squeal at the lurching flight and looking around.

Everypony was fairly stirred up, the Minutemares taking defensive positions while the Eclipse villagers started melting into the scenery, E.F.S. didn't show anything hostile the direction they were all worried about though. Just one lonely green dash making its way closer, a clattering, squealing rattle thumping its way down the ruined highway that had yet to be mined. My eyes focused down the long road at the misshapen, greenish hunk of metal shuddering towards us... a robot?

"Sweet Celestia... it's the Sentry-bot!" I yelped from my looping flight and started down towards the poor hunk of junk.

"I knew it was yours dad! Green is good an' it's a robot, so had to be! What happened to it?" Glitter called from my back happily, the Minutemares and wastelanders below didn't have a pip-buck on their hooves to tell them it was non-hostile like she did, but it was a good guess.

"Er... I dropped a highway on it... Jeez I knew they were tough, but what the hell did they make these things out of, stubbornonium?!" I landed near the crippled robot and just goggled at it a moment. The last thing I told it as it was falling to what I presumed was a fate of many a tin can, was to go to Eclipse if it survived. I just never seriously thought it would...

"BZZRATTT MISSSSSSSION OB-OB-OBJECTIVZZZZZZ REEEEEEACHRRRRRZZZZ"

Glitter hopped off my back and circled the poor killer robot while I waved back to the nervous audience in town and tried to call them off. Taking a critical look over what was left of the Sentry-bot, I was just more impressed, it had made it all the way here, like this? One of its rear wheeled legs was smashed to a crimped and ragged bit of junk dragging behind it, a knobby front wheel wobbled with every inch it moved, the small squarish head had been crunched down even further into its torso, which was dented and bent at a non factory angle...

Wow.... Still functional and trying to do what I told it to, the remains of the green Gunner paint job would have to go, but we had another asset. Not as good as still having AssaultJack with us, but the deadly robot babysitter had been too heavy to fly and escape Goodneighbor, I had no doubt she would return safely to Sanctuary at least, this poor sentry would just have to do.

I ruffled Glitter's mane and smiled, looking up to the sun overhead and judging how long I had till the villagers said low tide would be. Just enough to work with... I may have to cannibalize some of Val's M.O.M. haul, but I felt better having the rolling tank on our side before going in on my own.

"C'mon sweetie, lots of fun fixing to do!" I grinned and ignored my daughter rolling her eyes in a bored huff, she just didn't appreciate the finer things.

Several hours later, we were as ready as we could be. Without access to all my parts and robot workstation back home, the Sentry-bot the Minutemare's had taken to calling 'Sarge' would never be 100%, but it was good enough for now. Jade had mixed up several of her greenish-purple radioactive healing potions, guaranteeing they'd work as I was used to. I had plenty of ammo, a good stock of grenades and mines, all my weapons had been serviced along with Peri's sniper rifle, which I had taken the opportunity to improve with some of the fancy parts from Val's horde while I was at it. I even had the pale blue flare gun that had taken the life of the director of the Trotson M.O.M. hub, Val had snatched it up and made me take it. My pip-buck labeled it as the 'Hootnanny Hoof Cannon', but a flare gun to signal the others with once we were in and opened the castle. We were good to go...

I was still nervous saying goodbye at the beach, eyeing the dark maw of the cavern just over the waterline, ribbons of rainbow tinted water ran in and out with each surge of the waves, our way in. I looked away and returned to reassuring Jade and Glitter hugged between us, lavishing attention on her and trying to soothe them both.

"Don't worry, no problem alright? Me and Peri will be like ghosts, we'll look around, try to get up into the castle itself and open the gates, if we can't then we'll bail. All we have to do is go back out the way we came, or find a way to get to the sky, right? The whole flying thing makes quick escapes a whoooole lot easier, I promise, first sign of trouble we can't handle, we're gone."

Jade nuzzled back anxiously and gave the dark castle above a fearful look. "I do not like it even so Fast... From what your.... admirers.... explained, these miretanks sound very dangerous, an old colony on top of a source of taint and radiation... who knows what you may run into! I could come with you as well, the entrance will not bother me and I can become invisible as well, that would be best..."

Leaning up to plant a kiss on her unhappy little frown, I booped her nose and shook my head. "Much as I'd like you with me, they need you out here too Princess. All these Minutemares are here to win you a castle, a lot of frightened Eclipser's believe in you too. If this goes smooth and those gates open, they need to see you out here with the troops. I'll be fine, your knight works best in the shadows right? Take care of Glitter and I'll be right back!"

Reluctantly I broke off the embrace with the two fillies I loved, Glitter dashing past me to join my small 'fan club' on the beach with Peri and several other Minutemares and Eclipse residents. Mint Twist was standing on her hindlegs against the alicorn Minutemare, squeezing some slimy thing in her mouth and spraying her with foul smelling slime. Nothing seemed to bother Periwinkle, but even she looked discomforted by the stink.

Seeing the green filly nod in satisfaction and come running over, pulling out a fresh bit of pinkish meat from a bucket held by Captain Salty with a grin and aiming for me, I clenched my eyes shut in resignation and waited. "S-Sorry Fast, this stuff is pretty nasty. D-Don't worry, it washes off... eventually...."

Captain Salty Swim chuckled gruffly and clapped my on the back, "Don't be a big baby, hunting trick we use here, don't want them things smellin' a fresh meal while yer sneaking around right? Remember, go fer the heads and mind the beaks, damn things never let go if they get a bite!"

Ugh... Mint's warning was coming from a fisherpony who grew up doing this and was used to it, a normal pony too... not one with a heightened sense of smell... I struggled to hold on to my lunch as the gunk washed over me, concentrated miretank stink... Once I was sure I wasn't going to barf into the ocean, I tried to get used to it quickly and mockingly lurched after Glitter for a hug.

"What?! Don't you love me sweetie? I just wanna huuuuuug!" Hearing her squeal in play fright and dash away lifted my spirits and I was relieved to see a smile on Jade's muzzle watching, just safely observing like she wasn't in danger too... "Maaaaybe I'll hug mom instead! C'mere Jade! I luuuuuv you! Let's cuddle!"

Jade backed away as I fluttered after her, stretching my forelegs out and giving chase as her backpedaling escalated. "Y-Yes very funny Fast... w-what are you doing, no! S-Stay away! I do not wish to be covered in... S-Stop! No! Eeek!!" Watching her turn to nimbly prance away from my weaving progress had Glitter, Val and several of the Eclipse villagers and Minutemares laughing out loud, breaking a lot of the tension everyone had been operating under. Even Zed cracked a smile and chuckled as I thumped back to the sand and threw a foreleg up over my eyes, "Nopony loves me I guess, how sad... Guess it's just me and Peri as the stinky squad, you guys be careful ok? We'll be back soon."

It was worth the time to fool around just to see them smiling as I flew up and over the waters, awkwardly flapping to skim just over the waves and make my way towards the dark cavern ahead. Witching Hour flew at my side, waking up now that the sun was setting and with a grumpy frown on her face, nearly matching Val's expression as she followed as far as she could go.

"This is unfair, thou are going where I can't follow Fast, my mission..." Witchy grumbled as we closed in on the rainbow sheen twisting through the churning waters, getting sucked under the cliffs holding Castle Equinox up high overhead.

"I know, don't worry so much Witchy, I'll be back before you know it. If you're that concerned you can help Val when the fighting starts I guess, sooner this is done, sooner I can go to Dreadnot for you. If it helps I've got things I want to talk to your town about too, try to relax a little, me and schedules don't work very well."

Val's smile at her squeak of indignation was short lived, she flew almost as weakly as I did at the moment, but she was airborne again and checked over her weapons with an unhappy snort. "6 hours boss, that's all you get... You ain't out or fired off that flare by then, I'm findin' me a way in, one way or the other..."

Considering the last time Val had to rescue me from an imposing stone fortress, she had blown a large hole through the nearest wall to do so, I had no doubt in the griffon's ability to follow through on her threat. I didn't want to put her in that position with her so hurt though, this would work, this would be fine... nevermind my track record with vague plans like this...

"Don't worry Val, what could go wrong?!" I called over my shoulder and dove down, my hooves skimming the tingly seawater leading into the dark, Peri right behind me and turning us both invisible in the blackness, down into the heart of Luna's own castle.

---------------------------------------------------

I was really glad I could see in total darkness now, the long cavern leading to the roots of the castle twisted and was full of flotsam and other obstacles we had to dodge, each wave sent foamy spray up into the limited space to fly in and the deeper we went, more so with the signs of the monsters infesting this place.

Mud, bones and junk had been packed into ugly constructs for unknown purposes, several held the slimy green eggs I had seen vicious little hatchings pop out of before, but others blocked off side passages or seemed to make new ones. Thankfully between Peri's invisibility and the slime we were coated with, nothing moved or even showed up on Eyes Forward Sparkle.

Finally, the passage we were following started opening up, the rough stone walls began showing signs of pony hooves, dark grey bricks were making up the expanding walls and eventually led to an ancient dock and set of crumbling stairs leading up, arched stone hallways branched off to the sides, rusty barred enclosures faced out to the chamber we were in. An ancient dungeon... all a little difficult to see under the muck the miretanks had spattered over everything in their weird nests.

Rainbow sludge dripped down the walls too, along with the rising, angry chattering from my pip-buck's geiger counter I had to mute so we didn't alert any of the mutant turtles that could be hiding anywhere among all this. I glanced at the radiation meter display on my HUD as I felt the welcome charge of power coursing through me, other than a catnap here and there, I was basically running on empty. My rad meter quickly climbing from blue up past yellow helped me shake off the lack of sleep and feel ready to take on whatever we found.

I made a subtle 'psst' sound and glided over to one of the upper hallways, landing in front of one of the cells for long ago prisoners and peeking in. No dead occupants chained to the walls at least, just a whoooole lot of yellow barrels leaking taint down to the sea below. Stark but rusting signs showing pony skulls and plenty of other pictographic warnings made it very clear they were dangerous, even if you couldn't read the faded text below them.

I felt Peri land beside me and reach out to make sure I was there, giving a soft sigh when her hoof made contact with my flank and purring in my ear at a whisper. "This is very nice Fast... I feel good, do you as well now? I should be able to keep us invisible quite awhile safely, longer the more we stay here."

The alicorn Minutemare didn't sound as excited as Jade did under radiation this heavy, but she definitely enjoyed it. I was glad it was providing a boost for us both on our mission, just concerned one or the other of us may end up feeling a little too frisky in a dangerous situation.

"Er... that's great Peri, let's get to work and keep it down ok? Miretanks are really good at hiding from what I've seen and heard, sometimes they burrow in the ground and come popping up right..." I froze as a muck covered chunk of wall moved and skittered up the damp bricks, illustrating my point and giving me my first taste of different types of miretanks.

By the descriptions I was given, this had to be a hunter... It had a smaller, segmented shell that followed the sinewy, muscular lines of the creature normally hidden beneath, mud and muck was stuck all over it, effectively camouflaging it among all the additions the creatures had made to the dungeons. The four hindlegs were longer and more developed than the stubby limbs I had seen on normal miretanks, all ending with long, clawed toes that gripped the stone walls easily. The larger pair of forelegs branching off its chest were even bigger than normal, the claws wicked scythes that dug long gouges right in the rock. The tiny head was still low on its shoulders, with a more developed beak and beady eyes, but not nearly as armored as the bulky shelled types.

The speed it skittered up the wall was disconcerting, miretanks in general were fast enough to make it hard to believe they were twisted turtles, but this thing... It was mottled green greased lightning that zipped up several floors and disappeared down a muck disguised tunnel as I released my held in breath.

I shakily brought up my pip-buck's map and took a look at what the automapping spell could tell me, a long, straight shaft up for several floors, the unsteady looking stone steps wound their way up past the dungeons and up to the bowels of the castle itself. I took a nervous look around and started noticing buried shells of standard miretanks all over, some crawling up and click-clacking their way down the corridors. The stink we were covered in was horrible, but better than being found out by all these shelled horrors.

Stretching a wing out let me find Peri and I whispered towards where I guessed her head was, interrupting her sleepy enjoyment of all the radiation and really wishing we could use unity together and just be totally quiet. "Ok... up, there should be a door up there somewhere, hopefully they haven't covered it with this muck... Let's go Peri."

I heard a soft gust behind me as I lifted off and presumed she was with me. I had no idea how Jade or Peri either one could navigate so well while invisble, but they almost seemed able to keep track of anyone they were including in the spell. Though I supposed they should be able to, it was their magic making us transparent to begin with.

We wove our way up the long vertical shaft, some of the signs I spotted on the ancient brick walls made me gulp to myself. Claw marks... claw marks longer than I was, and that was the pinky claw... large sections of the spiraling stairs had been knocked down and fallen to the water below, rough dents and scrapes tumbled some of the open archways of the dungeon, collapsing a few cells and oozing even more taint down. Something very big had climbed up and down this shaft in the past, the marks weren't fresh at least, but very deep and very big... the queen...

When we reached as high as the stairs went, I looked up at the uneven, muck covered ceiling, more than enough detail provided by my night vision eyes. Bones, lots and lots of bones were cemented together in the extruded building sludge, along with big chunks of boats, bricks, carriages, doors and pieces of buildings, there was a hole the queen must have used before, but now it was sealed by the thick barrier of junk. Well, that left the slime covered steel door ahead of us then, a weak flicker of a terminal nearly covered in more mud.

I had to chip away at the brittle gunk with the butt of the Terrible Shotgun to find the access port, wincing at each echoing noise and all the red on E.F.S. skittering around. Sure enough hordes of the miretanks were detaching from the walls, like a magic illusion picture or something, lumpy wall? no it's a turtle monster! Surprise!

I patched into the barely functional terminal and started hacking, squinting at the dirty screen and relying on my pip-buck's interface to see what I was doing. I noticed the steady jiggle of the rad meter needle while I worked to go along with the stronger tingle, the radiation increased the higher we went... Must be a semi functional reactor for the castle somewhere above, it had to be badly damaged to be pouring out this much radiation though.

The password 'Apogee' opened the high grade security door with a echoing click that just sent the swarm in here into a more determined hunt. Time to open up and get out of here, this chamber needed explosives, lots and lots of explosives floated in on a raft or something. Right now we just needed to put it behind us and move on. I pushed on the corroded steel door with a hoof and was brought up short, stuck? No not stuck! Open dammit!

I grunted and shoved at the obstacle, trying to quietly push it free of the muck sealing it shut. Great... it was unlocked, but still closed to us. "Peri! It's stuck! Umm... I think we'll have to buck it open or something, but that's gonna be loud... If you can kick it free, I'll cover you ok? Think you can get through it?"

A soft moan of an answer beside me in the dark replied, shuffling towards the door and answering in a dreamy voice. "That will not be a problem Fast. I will open it, be ready."

Right, I flapped off the small landing of the broken stairs and looked about, tossing a few mines down likely avenues of approach and drawing Vengeance along with the Terrible Shotgun. Stopping power, that's what I wanted for these things. "Go for it Peri, I'm ready."

At my word there was a resounding clang of strong hooves on thick metal, I looked back to see the heavy door shake in place and the muck holding it closed cracking, but it still held and there was an immediate response from the swarm around us. They couldn't see or smell us, but they heard that and came skittering up, the domed shells of half a dozen miretanks detaching from the walls and popping up from the slimy floors, angry screeches and clicking claws all heading right for the door.

Another titantic buck shook the door and put a decent dent in the middle of the heavy gauge steel while the horde was closing in. A few well placed mines went off and blew three or four off the open hallways and down the pit below, while more surged forward to take their places. I had to use S.A.T.S. to effectively aim without being able to see my own weapon, but the targeting spell didn't have any problems and Vengeance started blasting the weak heads off any that got too close to the door.

A third buck sent more cracks down the walls and through the miretank muck, but the dented door still held firm despite Peri's annoyed snort. Her invisibility was still masking us, but it didn't cover the flash of fire from the barrel of my silver revolver, enough to draw the attention of all these monsters in the dark, including the blur of the Miretank Hunter crawling up the walls as fast as I could run.

The horrible thing gave a raspy screech that echoed down the pit and a jet of hissing slime spewed from its beak, spraying out in an arc at where the gunfire came from and splashing against my flank. Acid... it had to be, wherever it touched was instant agony, horrible burning, melting sensations and a nasty smell of cooking fur under my trenchcoat that was trying to repair the damage. Taking an attack seemed to disrupt Peri's invisibility and I reappeared, frightened to suddenly be a visible target, but relieved to see myself again since this thing was determined to fight and fast.

The Terrible Shotgun barked repeatedly, but the lithe bundle of muscle dodged in a crazy, zig zagging course up the wall, looping around a crumbling column that ate a few more shells, leaping out from behind it and flying through the air in an arc right at me. One vicious claw swept out and cut a long gash across my chest as I tried to flap backwards away from the vicious attack.

I vaguely heard another hollow bong of a buck to the door and darted a anxious glance that way, it gave a little that time, though several nearby miretanks were ignoring the visible target being effectively handled by the hunter, choosing to go after the ground bound noise they could reach.

Another swipe of those overgrown claws raked down my side in a ragged line of fire, spattering blood down the pit as the horrible thing tackled me out of the air, slamming me to a lower hallway and snapping out with that long beak. I caught a glimpse of a bright blue shield lighting the darkness along with the sound of the door cracking and giving a little more. Peri was almost through but E.F.S. was filling with red, echoing clicks and screeches and a lot of clattering movement climbing the walls while I struggled with the snapping thing on me.

One of its scrambling hindlegs grabbed my side as tightly as it had the stone walls, the sharp claws puncturing me while it kept snapping out, trying to bite off a limb or get to my throat. If it weren't for the heavy radiation pushing my rainbow colored gauge up into the orange/red boundary, I would be in serious trouble already. As it was as soon as the claws were removed from my tender flesh, it started healing immediately, leaving me in an enormous amount of pain and losing too much blood, but continually regenerating so the next slice was fresh and just as painful.

My foreleg braced under the hunter's jaw and pushed with every ounce of earth pony strength I could muster. I had a regular miretank latch onto my leg and not let go, I had no interest in letting this thing repeat the experience. Even with her blazingly bright shield protecting her, Peri was in trouble too, focusing on the door and ignoring the horde pressing against the crackling barrier.

The miretank hunter snapped out again, missing tearing off my face by inches and getting a good chunk of my ear instead, ripping it away with a wet, tearing wall of pain and torn cartilage. I screamed and shoved Vengeance right under the thing's slobbering maw, emptying the cylinder and blowing its small brains out the top of its skull.

Peri gave a grunt of victory when her last Big Mac-worthy buck broke the muck cementing the steel door closed and it swung free with a rusty squall of long unused hinges. "Fast! Come!" She cried out and her sniper rifle started softly blasting the closest of her attackers while she filled the doorway, making sure none got past her impressive bulk.

One forceful buck of my own tossed the hunter down the shaft and I stumbled back to my hooves, shaking my head with a fan of blood spatter from my ragged but regenerating ear. I ran on instinct, trying not to let thinking get in the way and just leaping to the open air separating us. As I closed in I floated out several grenades and activated S.A.T.S., using the full charge on low odds shots on as many of the snapping, snarling miretanks as I could spread it out to and accepting.

Time resumed and the Terrible Shotgun spun rapidly, eating through the drum of shells and obliterating the tiny heads of three or four closest to Peri. I took a flying dive to the door and screamed on the way, pulling the pins on the grenades still circling my head and tossing them out as Peri and I leapt through the now open door.

Skidding to a halt on the damp floors beyond, I jumped back and slammed the door shut, thankful for all of Peri's weight shoved against it with me giving me a bare second to patch my pip-buck to the controls on this side, trying to keep the shuddering door in place long enough for the lock command to be accepted.

The rusty security door's heavy locks clicked back in place seconds ahead of the rumbling detonations knocking dust down from the ceiling, along with big chunks of the ruins on the other side by the sound. Several of the remaining red dashes beyond the door winked out as we both slid to the stone floor against the door and gasped for breath. The amount of radiation on this side dropped quite a bit, leaving my remaining wounds to knit together slowly while we shakily recovered while text flashed in my vision;

Mission Updated: Have Fun Storming the Castle!

Objectives----
---Gain entrance to Castle Equinox
---Open the Main Gates
---Eliminate the Miretank Infestation

My ragged ear itched horribly and I had to stop myself from reaching up to feel the torn edge growing back. The sensation and thought filled me with a kind of morbid fascination, but I didn't think my stomach could take it on top of the smell we were both covered in. At least this side seemed empty and quiet for the moment, a long, dark hallway stretching off deep into the cliffs below Castle Equinox.

Periwinkle sighed and reloaded her sniper rifle, looking down from near the top of the door... Was she taller? That was a lot of rads, a good thing too, just enough to keep us alive and make it. The big blue mare didn't sound that put out at least, though she never did. "That went well..."

"Y-Yeah... super duper alright... Thank you Peri. I-I'm sure that's as bad as it'll get..."

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

Tribal Wisdom---------------
----Spending a little time with the tribe of fisherponies in Eclipse and your new fan club was well worth it. Listening and learning from those wiser than you often is, you now take -50% limb damage from animals, mutated animals, and mutated insects, +20% to Poison resistance, as well as an appreciation for the delicacies they can be turned into.