"Alright mac, yer sure that's it? Sanctuary, Goodneighbor, Eclipse and... Unityville?" The overwhelmed looking grey pegasus stallion in the postal cap shuffled through the hastily written letters before him, tapping the last against the counter of the Jamocha Plains branch of the Red Rocket courier service thoughtfully.

"Er, that's Trinity Tower, there's a new town there called Unityville. The mare I want you to find there is... kind of hard to miss, don't worry. Ask in Goodneighbor if you need to, they know her."

The courier went over all our correspondence again, looking up and humming to himself. I briefly considered giving more warning about who that last letter was going to, but his nod and firm quote of "250 caps" made me stop and suddenly feel less bothered what kind of trouble he ran into.

Even I knew that was a lot just for letters, but the pegasus courier just crossed his forelegs over his chest and held firm behind the counter of the old post office in the Jamocha Plains strip mall when I protested. "Lot of letters, all over the friggin Commonwealth, and you want rush delivery, that's extra. Plus a new town I don't know, no local office means I gotta track em down, service fee."

I glared at the older stallion, grumbling and digging out caps to pay the exorbitant rate. I would go get Glitter and have her haggle the lazy looking buck into submission, but considering who that letter was going to and why, I kept her out of it and forked over the money. The thought of actually calling Swan to me still made me gulp nervously, but we had a army on our hooves and had been coming up empty on strong allies.

I had promised the giant mare anyway, and she did like fighting, if she'd come to help, dealing with an oversized alicorn wasn't too much to ask. After Virescent, Swan was a picture of restraint and gentleness in comparison. I could manage her, let this pony just be surprised when he did track her down, earn his outrageous fees.

The other letters were important enough to warrant paying through the nose too, updates to friends, orders for the Minutemares, and requests to the Followers of the Apocalypse for medical help here in Jamocha Plains for their undertrained doctor and all her new patients. I leaned over to peek in the Helpinghoof Quik-Care next door to check on Jade as a reminder to soothe the sting anyway.

The slaves we saved had been eating Fluffer Batter for who knows how long, Jade was doing all she could for their health and optimistic for now, so long as they weren't exposed to radiation and didn't die, they shouldn't turn into slime zombies for the time being. She had ordered them to be fed well and the cleanest food possible, treated with Rad-Away and observed carefully. The only saving grace to the horrible gunk was unless it got exposed to enough rads or the victim died somehow, it seemed fairly benign. Still not enough to make the beautiful blue alicorn speaking to the grateful slaves happy, but she was willing to relinquish their care to her new Follower of the Apocalypse, Dr. Creme.

"Fine. Just hurry, and hoof deliver the one to Unityville, yourself... she won't be hard to find, probably give you a big tip too..." I shoved the caps over with a hard grin, wishing I could see his face when he tracked Swan down and hoping she'd be in a smashy mood.

Val snickered beside me as the courier turned back to his tiny shop, locking the place and digging out armored barding and a rifle/shotgun battlesaddle for the trip. The griffon was turning a roughly drawn map this way and that on the counter before her, sighing and rolling it up to follow as I walked away. "Writing tons of fun? Hope she sits on 'im boss. Sooo... yer not gonna like this, but bein' Captain o' the Guard an' all, I should probably say it. Don't get mad, but you an' Blue's do-goodery ain't helpin' us much here..."

I looked over the trio of town guards speaking with Cocoa Latte by our stolen school bus, loading it up with equipment and getting ready as well as they were able. Sighing, I turned to Jade's kind face through the dirty glass of the clinic and agreed with her. "I know Val."

"...it's just we gotta war with friggin Gunners comin' and helpin a buncha slaves is nice an all, but it ain't really... Wait... You know?" Val launched into her defense before really taking in what my answer was, sticking under the tattered awning of the Quik-Care with me and blinking in confusion.

"Of course I know, we're supposed to be finding help, instead it's been one fuckup after another. If I had just given the Brotherhood what they wanted, we'd probably have our own power armored army at our back, instead I'm pretty sure I pissed them off. We found a worthless treasure, got there too late to save a lot of slaves... In a fight Jamocha Plains has basically nothing to offer us, what slaves we did help are in no shape to fight, even the ones that want to."

"Hell they need more help than they can give here, and this has been our only success, if we take this Plantation place that is. Which will cost ammo, potions, blood... for little returns. I know we should be doing whatever it takes to win, finding ponies that can actually help fight, but... Jade's right, we can't sink to their level, we have to be better. That means if we see something wrong, we gotta do something if we're able. I am open to suggestions though."

Val gave a lecherous grin and ruffled my mane with a snort, "You won't like them."

"Humor me."

"Ok, write another letter to them mares in Trinity Tower. Tell em you give up, that you'll screw em all silly back at the castle, then just watch the reinforcements roll on in. Anybody tries fuckin' with that castle or you, they'll go nuts. Why just have one Swan when ya could have a whole tower of em! Plenty of rads back home fer em to suck up. Not like yer that opposed to it anyhoo." Val chuckled to herself, her violet eyes gleefully imagining an army of giant alicorns smashing the Gunners under their hooves.

Scratching my suddenly itchy mane, I slumped and floated out an unsent letter in my coat pocket, addressed to Umbra in Trinity Tower. "It had occurred to me Val... I'm trying to hold off on sending it if I can. I'm not going to let modesty cost lives if I can do something about it, even if it's... that... with all of them... but that will tie us down awhile. Plus if they had a castle to lock me up in and defend? I don't think they'll let me go again, no more wacky adventures together, no more trying to find my family, just sitting around and errr, you know. I still don't like the idea of ...bartering with myself either, ok? 'Please come save me and I'll show you all a good time', I just don't like it. Any alternatives?"

"Meh... yeah, that would suck, I like blowin' shit up with you boss, guess them mares wouldn't like that though. Hrrrmm..." Val scrunched her face up in thought, glancing across the park to the odd Minotaur-ess selling meat across from the Jamocha Plains Co-Op and brightening. "Salt Lick!"

"Umm... A salt lick? Where?"

"Nah boss, Salt Lick, the town! Well, camp is more like it, but a town of Minotaurs! They could help kick ass, if they wanted to. They're awesome hunters, live up in the hills west of the swamps. We take this big farm, we could just keep goin' that way and see, then head south to University Point and Batty's Dreadnot." Val rubbed her claws together at the thought of adding muscular minotaur hunters to our ranks, which was an interesting thought, but I knew nothing about them.

"Would they help? We need to look into the Ministry of Peace hub too, it's supposed to be close right? Jade is going to lose it if we just pass it by."

Waggling a dark claw, Val hedged a bit. "Maybe, if you impressed em, or did em a favor. Not a whole lot of them that way, but they stay in one place at least, most roam around in hunting bands, only other place would be way up north in Glen Woods, but one good mino hunter is worth ten regular Gunner grunts. Salt Lick is better, they stick close to that MoP hub fer all the hunting, don't get your hopes up there though, nobody goes in."

"Is it sealed like the other Ministry Hubs? What do you know about it Val?"

"Place is trouble, bout all I know. Gunners tried more than once ta break in, those that made it to the gates couldn't get any further, it does have one of them fancy shields protectin' it. It's all the shit on the way that's the hassle though, yer impressed at some of the critters and plants we run into so far, but you ain't seen nothin' yet. Lousy with Breezidore's, plus lots of other nasty shit, last squads ta try all started crazy talk about gremlins screwin' with all the tech they brought ta break in, equipment failures, gun jams, missing supplies, they all had ta back off before even makin' an attempt at the shield." Val nodded over her shoulder at Jade and Glitter on the other side of the dirty glass behind us, shrugging her belief it was a useless errand.

"We broke into one Ministry Hub, maybe we can do it again, we really do need all the medicine we can get if we're fighting. Maybe..."

"No maybes baby, I know ya wanna try fer Blue, just lettin' ya know it's dangerous and won't really help us win the fight, just heal the injured after. Important yeah, but I deal with the fightin' right? Captain o' the Guard an' all. Tellin' ya what I think, we need guns and bodies, not slaves and meds. Yer the boss though." Val laid out her opinion and sat patiently, lazily swishing her tail and waiting for the word, completely loyal to whatever I said, which felt less like a privilege and more like a heavy responsibility.

"R-Right... I'm the boss..." I groaned at being in the position I hated, in charge. Wishing there was pretty much anypony else that could do it for me. No mom and dad, no Overmare, no Princess Luna or Ministry Mares, I started this mess and I had to deal with it.

I checked over my pip-buck's map and the new map markers, Summerset Plantation was at the western edge of the swamp, on the other side of the main river that snaked around Trotson, a good distance north and west was the newly added empty icon for 'Salt Lick' at the edge of a lake, between the two was the oddly tree shaped icon labeled 'Ministry of Peace Hub'.

Glancing in at Jade smiling and waving as she and Glitter packed medical supplies, I waved back and tucked my hat down, making a decision for good or ill. "Alright, we're leaving here then. After we take the Plantation, we'll stay in Salt Lick and see what we see, poke around the Ministry Hub from there, you know I can't refuse her right? After all it took to break into the one in Goodneighbor, it shouldn't take long to figure out we can't get in, then we'll go, in and out ok?"

That earned me a playful punch on the shoulder and a groan, "Everytime you say 'Oh just in and out Val' ya make my tail stand on end boss, but if that's what we're doin' it oughta be interestin' anyway. Let's deal with this stupid farm, slave owners are almost as fun ta kill as slavers at least. Less that mysterious stranger guy already killed all'a them too."

"Let's hope not..."

An ancient trailer park rusting away into the swamp gave us a good spot to park our sky bus and stare across the river at our target, gaining an appreciation of the difference between a 'farm' and a 'plantation'. I expected a fairly managable farming community like Sunshine and Rainbows Co-op back near home, a few buildings and a lot of fields. That was not the case...

Instead I goggled at the sprawling spread across the river, a three story wooden manor house crudely repaired where the roof had fallen in on one side, three barns in varying states of repair, four mostly intact silos and one tipped on its side in the fields, a lazily spinning windmill patched with scrap cloth and wood, two low wooden longhouse barracks buildings, a pair of dirty and cracked glass greenhouses patched with plastic where panels were missing, and a miniature town worth of tents and shacks.

The dilapidated village had to be where the slaves were kept, the layout was somewhat odd due to the plant life though, there weren't fences keeping them in, just tall shoots of Razorcane which I had already found out lived up to its odd name. The leafy green canes were planted all over, making a pony high barrier of dangerously sharp vegetation around the complex, lining the dirt roads and taking up decent squares of the fields. Other large sections were composed of medium height trees, shorter, shrub looking ones planted in rows, or a profusion of more familiar wasteland crops like mutfruit, a tiny apple orchard of surprisingly healthy looking trees, carrots, oats, etc.

Not that these were the only plants, the swamps were full of plant life and it seemed to be getting more profuse the further west we went. In the far distance beyond the plantation, I could make out the tops of a... a forest... a real forest to the northwest, something I hadn't seen since I was a foal in the old world. The sliver of riotous fall colors made me think of the last running of the leaves I had watched mom participate in, just visible over the hills rising up on the other side of the river in the dying light of sunset, leading towards taller and rockier land beyond.

Interesting, curious even... but a mystery for later, right now there was the massive farming complex to deal with before us and our small band plus a few guards from Jamocha Plains seemed pretty inadequate. There was a muddy dirt road leading off the broken asphalt highway, on that side of a fairly intact bridge that crossed near our hiding spot here, the entrance to the plantation on the ground, heavily fortified and well guarded.

The rest of the grounds looked just as secure, ponies milled about on regular patrols, guard stations and turrets at each pocket of buildings, watchtowers at strategic spots with alert guards keeping an eye on the skies, plenty of guards on the roof of the manor house doing the same. Worse, not just ground ponies... I spotted at least half a dozen pegasi while we watched and two griffons, doing regular flights around the place, just slipping on in from the air wasn't going to work here.

Val peered through her binoculars beside me on the dented roof of one of the trailers and summed up my thoughts fairly well. "Tough nut ta crack boss... Too many fliers fer me ta keep em off yer back, yer gonna hafta fight in the air baby bird, better hope them pegasi ain't top class fliers either."

The sun was finally sinking below the clearing horizon, a wedge barely visible in the drizzle still overhead, as I watched a train of tired looking slaves being led from a field of the taller trees. They each dropped off funny yellow hats in a crate as they filed towards the slave quarters, some shrugging out of very strange harnesses that consisted of wooden poles in a V above their backs, with netting stretched between them.

All of them were being rushed along by their overseers cruelly, whips and kicks to those who didn't move quick enough. The growl of the dark Shroud in my head rose up in volume as the sun finally set, doing something would be much easier in darkness, whatever we could figure out, and it was raring to go now, seeping into my reply. "Then I'll fight in the air, we're not backing down. That place can't be left to keep going as it is, they all deserve to die..."

"Fast..." Jade called softly from below our perch, the rusty old trailer unable to hold any more weight on its roof, let alone a heavy alicorn or two, Ivy was watching closely as well beside her sister as Jade continued primly. "Be better. Our priority must be the slaves first, and we should give even the workers a chance, they are trying to survive as they can, employees of a more deserving evil to be punished."

Watching a dark red earth pony whipping a teenaged filly, I grit my teeth and 'Be Dark...' mentally marked that one. Maybe some were just doing a job and trying to survive, Val said pegasi guards were probably highly paid since they were still a rare commodity, but any who hurt slaves deserved punishment, that stallion got added to the list.

"I know Jade, I'll... try..." 'Be Kind...' joined my Princess' side and I shuffled in place impatiently, going over what we had and what we were facing grimly. "But a lot of them are going to die, just working out how exactly... Ok, slaves first then..."

On the plus side, the slave holding area was isolated and towards the center of the plantation, taking it may be possible before all hell broke loose, but getting them out would require a lot of blood. We had a slaver bus that was expected today, the Jamocha Plains guards could most likely bluff their way in with reinforcements and weaponry we had stocked in the conveyance, that would give us a starting point anyway.

Looking away from the farm, I stared down to our own little group, a beautiful blue and green alicorn, invisibility and shields... but the little filly rooting around the nearby trailer shells for salvage presented a problem. Somepony had to stay with her, keep her away and safe, but as far as I could see so far, we needed everyone to do this.

She caught me staring, her wide pink eyes blinking and turning to look up to me, a wide smile turning to a suspicious little frown. "I know that look daddy! You're tryin' ta figure out how to make me stay behind again! I don't wanna! I wanna help! I gots a gun an' everything!"

Pulling out Righteous Authority in her muzzle and waving it around wasn't helping her argument, she had improved with the boxy magical energy weapon, but she was not going into a fight, period. But I couldn't leave her alone... nnngh... I couldn't leave her in Jamocha Plains either, Cocoa might respect her and be a new ally after this, but it was a rough town that saw Gunners occasionally and we were leaving after this anyway. Being a parent was hard in the wasteland...

"You're not fighting sweetie, end of discussion. I... fuck... I want you to stay with Ivy." She immediately started pouting and whining, cut short by me hanging my head and raising a hoof wearily. "Stay with Ivy because she has the strongest shield, but I'll need her help too, so... so you will get to go in with us. But you ARE staying right on her back the whole time, where it's safe, after we clear the area. You are NOT to go anywhere else or even think of using that thing unless you absolutely have to."

Her squeal of victory and Jade's unhappy whinny were both fortunately cut short by Zed and Witchy appearing out of the shadows, the batpony mare was fairly stealthy and Zed was practically a ghost, returning from scouting around for us with grim looks. That didn't bode well, but better finding out from them than dealing with Jade's frown at our daughter dancing in glee.

"Any good news?" I asked the pair hopefully, shut down by Zed's brutal honesty.

"Very little. There is only one ground entrance not blocked by the razorcane. On the plus side, they appear to have been taxed lately, many corpses of dangerous creatures around the barriers, things not native to the area, from the south. Radscorpions, Hellhounds, Yao Guai and more, the creatures being pushed out of the Glowing Sea are making their way through here, hopefully they've been weakened a bit." The zebra was as optimistic as he got at least, not arguing against this course of action but doing his best to help.

Witching Hour tried harder to be generous anyway, leading with the positives and backing up Zed's assessment. "They do look like they've been fighting a lot lately Fast. There are a few ruined buildings and a powerline tower to snipe from, I think I can take out the guards quietly from a distance, and help with the fliers if it gets bad."

Alright... slaves first, be better... priorities... "Ok, first we do this quiet, then we get loud. We'll try our best Jade, but this is going to get messy. I don't want Glitter anywhere near this either, but we don't have a choice and she can help I think. Do you all trust me?"

The immediate nods and agreement made me feel warm and happy, I hated leading, but they all did believe in me. Now to try to live up to it...

"Alright Jade, you wanted dangerous dates too, here we go."

Slipping past all the aerial patrols with Jade's invisibility was nerve wracking, one grey griffon passed close enough to make me gulp on the way, but we got by and landed safely in the slave quarters. Hiding in a narrow alley between two of the more solid cabin structures, we huddled in the shadows as Jade's magic gave out, making three of us invisible was clearly taxing for her by the sweat on her brow, but she got us in.

Zed immediately dashed off, disappearing into the gloom to start taking out guards with his hooves, leaving me and my princess behind the rotting wooden cabin. We had waited for full dark and all the slaves to be corralled back here, most had fallen immediately to rest and recuperate, making Jade's job easier as she gave a supportive nuzzle and leaned over to one of the broken windows, whispering to the slaves inside.

"Hello? Do not be afraid, please do not make noise either. We are here to help you." Jade fidgeted at the barred window, waiting hopefully for an answer inside while I kept an eye out in the narrow alley between the two rough buildings.

The quiet answer that finally came was a little confusing, but a good start anyway. "I-Is that you fairy? D-Did you come with presents again?"

It sounded like a young filly, calling up from below the window. Jade could easily lean up and peek in to see her, while I was too short to see anything. The gasp that came from a big blue alicorn peering in was understandable, her soft voice kept the sudden spike of noise down nervously as the sound of more hooves approaching the window and awed whispers rose.

"I know no one named Fairy, I am sorry. I am P-Princess Jade of Sanctuary, we are here to help. May I come inside? Everypony must remain quiet while my k-knight works. We need your help to save you..." Jade implored and got several wary noises of agreement.

With a weary sigh, Jade's horn glowed and we both disappeared, slipping into the first cabin and reappearing in front of a gaggle of beaten and painfully thin slaves inside. The sight of the towering alicorn princess in their midst sent several down in bows, while others looked too broken to even hope, huddling on nests of rags and cardboard, holding hooves to their ears to block out her kind voice.

I shifted on my hooves by the door anxiously, keeping an eye out on the guards patrolling around outside and trying to hurry things along, we wouldn't have much time here... "Ok, listen everypony, we're getting you out of here, believe it. We need your help though, you slaves can walk around and talk to the others here right? So long as you stay in this little area?"

A pale pink unicorn filly answered, dressed in rags and bearing numerous bloody scratches. She peeked from behind her dirty blonde mane and spoke in a frightened whisper, but it was the same voice that answered at the window. "Y-Yes... we can go to the other bunks and stuff. Did the fairy send you mister?"

"Fairy? Er... no? We are here to help though, I need you to go get the other slaves, bring them all here to the biggest cabins and cram together. We're going to make sure you're safe first, but you all have to be in one place ok? Can some of you go get them for me?"

The filly looked disappointed I hadn't been sent by magical fairies, but gave a determined nod and shoved a couple more weary slaves up, ducking back out the door and spreading out quietly. That done and giving them a headstart, I leaned up to Jade and gave her a parting kiss as she worked on healing the injured, frightened for her safety but dedicated to our course of action. I tucked my hat down and slipped out to the shadows, bearing Best Served in my mouth and slinking around after the nearest patrolling guard.

The burly red earth pony I really wanted to kill paused near a rusty water pump and trough, filled with brackish water for the slaves, a short break to light an ancient cigarette he never got to enjoy. One light flap of my wings sent me to his back and my knife slit his throat, my forelegs wrapped around his muzzle to stop any gurgling shout, had to keep this quiet, but unable to stop a hissing whisper in his ear. "This is what you get for whipping kids..."

Being able to communicate with Ivy and the other ponies in range through her helped immensely, no sooner had I thought at the green alicorn hiding nearby with my daughter, one of the guards stationed on a rusty water tower jerked and tumbled to the ground, a .50 anti materiel rifle silently firing from a sniping perch in the ruins nearby. Val and Zed were out of contact this way, but every pony in range could hear her mental voice, giving us an advantage.

Ivy answered with a bit of strain in her mental voice, she was talking to a lot of ponies, coordinating things and messing with some of the guards as well. I couldn't afford to let her overextend herself either.

Good so far, but we had to move fast. I kept grabbing the bodies in my magic and tossing them in the razor sharp vegetation acting as fences, but there was blood and missing guards, they'd notice before long... I caught flashes from Ivy of our stolen bus of Jamocha Plains guards crossing the bridge and heading towards the entrance to the plantation, they were confident they could bluff their way in with Ivy's help, but the deception wouldn't hold up long after that. Worrying about getting this part done quickly, I nearly ran right into a dirty green unicorn mare, swinging a whip in her magic like she wanted to use it.

She managed a short yelp before I dove at her, slamming her to the ground as hard as I could 'Be Strong!' and wrestling in the muddy yard with her. A wickedly curved blade sprang out of her foreleg as we tusseled, slashing and stabbing my side as I fought to keep knocking the air out of her. A synth... they were the only ponies I knew with weapons hidden under their flesh like that, at least I didn't feel bad as my fangs extended and I snapped at her throat, aiming for that visible windpipe and ripping it out.

The Institute spy melted to green goop under me, leaving my dark coat a lot more visible coated in glowing green as I flopped and gasped in the puddle. Just like the one in Hexington, the synth was an expert assassin, aiming for vital spots and doing significant damage. Our muffled struggle had drawn attention by the red marks of Eyes Forward Sparkle moving in my blurry vision.

Giving a weak flap sent me to a rain barrel at the corner of the shack, full of mildly radioactive rainwater from the rusty gutter tacked on to the building. I managed to pull myself over the lip and plunge into the icy water, spilling more out on the muddy ground and sinking to the bottom just ahead of a trio of guards coming to the glowing green puddle that was one of their comrades.

I peeked up as the tingly water started sealing my wounds, breathing was hard but improving, and I had to move quickly. They were clustered around the puddle being washed away by the drizzle and arguing, sure to raise the alarm any second. When a synth died, it looked too much like someone with plasma weaponry going to town, they'd figure it out once they stopped squabbling with each other.

Surging up out of the water, I activated S.A.T.S. using Deliverer, the enchanted 10mm pistol was fast enough to line up a dozen shots, the guards frozen in surprise, turning towards the noise but still unaware of what it was. Once I accepted the sequence the completely silent weapon started firing, jerking from one target to the next rapidly, spreading the punishment around in a flurry of headshots and rounds to the torso.

The sneak attack nearly worked perfectly, two fell into each other and the third was sent stumbling back to the shack, all slipping on the dead synth puddle and only managing a shocked gurgle. The dark blue one managed to trigger his flamer battle saddle though, sending me ducking back into the rain barrel in a hurry and a blast of flame out to light up the dark.

At least soaking in the now scorched barrel did more than try to heal me, washing the glowing green slop off my coat so I was a dark shadow again when I dashed out and away. This was rapidly getting sloppy, more red dashes were moving in, one corresponding to a pegasus landing at the corpses just as I ducked around a tattered tarp tent, spinning back to fire half a dozen more silent 10mm rounds from the flank from behind before he could raise the alarm.

Ivy's calm mental voice showed me the rusty yellow bus being hauled up the dirt trail to the old manor, they were taking their time but we were on a deadline now.

Ivy replied before I could finish, a cool, unbending determination flowing through her thoughts. I hated this, but I believed in her. I didn't see anymore slaves out here, they had all been gathered at the sturdiest cabins Jade occupied, the green alicorn would keep them all safe.

Had to keep going, faster... there was only one way in and out of the slave area on the ground, if I could take it then nopony could go running for help without wings. The aerial patrols meant one way or another word was going to get out eventually, but the bulk of the Silver Seed Agriculture guards were ground bound ponies, much more manageable.

Another pair of red marks of E.F.S. winked out, Zed most likely, ahead and on the left. A third disappeared as well, drawing my attention just in time to see a guard tumbling off a rickety guard tower made of scrap, Witchy taking down another problem from a distance. The noise level was slowly rising to a panicked murmur, but still just in this small area.

Time to step things up a bit then, I summoned my lightning aura spell and blasted forward, the trail of electricity sparking across the puddles and muck in my wake would draw some attention, but made me a flickering blur of death. Best Served slashed as I passed another guard, tearing down her side while I went the direction she had been trying for. The barricaded entrance to the slave pen, two turrets with poor enough targeting software they hadn't noticed me yet, plus four more guards behind sandbags and chunks of scrap.

A tiny shack off to the side of the passage out held the glow of a terminal, a roughly patched cable ran from it to the turrets just beginning to spin my direction as Deliverer fired ahead of me, taking two surprised guards down. The third gave a surprised squawk and fired both barrels of a sawed off shotgun at the dark blur charging them, the buckshot slamming into my armored chest and making me stumble. The fourth lashed out with a set of power hooves as I passed, throwing me off course flapping desperately past both of them and crashing into the small shed with the terminal.

I rolled to a stop against the wooden walls inside and scrambled for cover, both turrets finally targeting the threat I represented and opening up, forcing the wounded pair of guards out of their line of fire as their heavy rounds started chewing through the thin barrier. Flopping my way under the small steel desk for a bit of better cover, I floated my pip-buck patch cable to the terminal and started frantically hacking.

More red dashes were moving in, drawn in by the turrets hammering away, come on faster... The password 'Germinate' finally got me in, just as the wounded brown buck I had peppered with 10mm rounds staggered to the door, his reloaded shotgun swinging down to where I sheltered and meeting Vengeance snapping up in my magic. The gleaming .45 punched a hole through his head, his shotgun blast going wide and just riddling my hindlegs with more buckshot.

Drawing this much attention was a problem, but also worked in my favor when I changed the targeting parameters of the pair of turrets outside. The stream of fire abruptly stopped for a moment, then resumed with a lot of surprised screams and shouts, no longer shredding the shack I sheltered in, but tearing into the guards gathered outside instead.

Before they could recover or try to destroy my new turrets, I sucked down a green tinted healing potion and scrambled back to the door. Silence was abandoned now, so Vengeance and the Terrible Shotgun swung up in my magic, several S.A.T.S. guided blasts from the powerful weapons joining the auto turrets in mopping up the half dozen guards out here.

Panting once the sequence ended and the healing potion kept trying to heal fresh wounds, I looked over to see a huge angular green shield blooming to life in the center of the camp. Ivy was with Jade, sitting completely still like a zen master to make her strongest magical barrier around all the slaves and most importantly, around my daughter. Unless the ponies of Silver Seed agriculture had some seriously heavy firepower, they weren't hurting anypony in there.

A string of explosions sounded out and the last nearby red dashes of E.F.S. disappeared, the fiery griffon responsible slamming to the muddy ground in front of me and grinning madly. "All done bein' sneaky anyway, right boss!? Let's go fuck some shit up! C'mon! Do it! Do it! Do it!"

Looking up tiredly to her and the dark clouds overhead, I nodded and spread my wings flapping straight up with Val guarding me loyally. She was right, now it was time to be loud, give them a chance... for Jade. 'Be Kind...' I glanced over towards my target, the three story manor house lit up brightly in the night, our battered old school bus of reinforcements just pulling up but thankfully not inspected as ponies ran around in a panic. Now to add to it.

An observant pegasus guard spotted us, easily catching up to my slow climb and firing a twin M.E.W. battlesaddle, bright pink beams alerting the other airborne guards to the conflict above. Val turned to dispatch the threat, but had her prey taken out by a speedy batpony and her chattering silver combat rifle. Witchy joined our steady rise and I saw Zed flying up on his own batwings behind her, all covering for my pitiful flying as I finally reached the clouds and started looping around a sizable clump, tracing a lightning wreathed foreleg across the spongy surface and watching it blacken and rumble.

Without all my friends helping and guarding me, I'd never be able to set this up. Thanks to them I could use the limited amount of pegasus magic I had figured out, I still wasn't great and understanding weather and winds, couldn't stop or start rain, couldn't make a breeze, still felt weird walking on or shoving clouds around, but I knew lightning...

I climbed over my weaponized thundercloud frantically, every other flying guard was racing to catch us up here and I didn't want to fight in the air if I could avoid it. Two griffons and three pegasi were closing in when I finally turned back towards the ground so far below, steeling myself and charging my horn with electricity, I dropped like a stone towards the cloud, streaking past my friends covering me.

Passing directly through the dark mass brought a huge bolt of lightning down in my wake, brightening the huge plantation and illuminating frantic ponies running everywhere. Our bus was stopped in front of my target, only a pair of ponies speaking with the Jamocha Plains guard pretending to be a slaver that was hitched to the vehicle. Good.

The blast of electricity came down as I crashed to the roof of the manor house, blowing a large hole in the roughly repaired top of the building and making all the lights inside flicker and the turrets up here with me sag as they powered down. Stumbling back to my hooves, I ran over to the nearest gable and perched at the edge, flaring my wings and trying to look scary, my horn glowing as the Shrouded Stallion's voice boomed out.

A long pause followed, nearby Silver Seed workers staring up at the dark alicorn glaring down at them. I could have directed the lightning at a better target, blasted a big clump of the slave using farmers to cinders, but that wouldn't be giving them a chance like Jade wanted. Theatrics were sometimes as useful as guns, that and a good reputation sent a wave of fear through the onlookers, several nearby dropping their weapons and running.

Of course more regained their wits and started directing a lot of fire my way, both things I planned for, but running away with that much lead chewing the roof to pieces behind me was still scary. I had tried and some of the guards took the warning to heart at least, that was the best I could do for my princess, now to live through the results.

As I ducked through the hole my lightning had made in the roof, the green dashes on Eyes Forward Sparkle spread out and the gunfire increased. The Jamocha Plains guards were springing out of their trojan horse of a bus, taking the Silver Seed guards so focused on me by surprise as what should be slaves turned out to be heavily armed fighters.

I nearly crashed directly on top of a frantic peach mare tapping away at a terminal, trying to reboot the turrets... just what I wanted too actually. A fairly new looking 12mm pistol sprang up in her dirty yellow magic, staggering me as the heavy round punched through my side and Vengeance came up to meet it. She was a good shot hitting me out of reflex even when surprised by an alicorn just dropping in on her, but she didn't have S.A.T.S. to guide her fire and I did, two .45 rounds vaporized her surprised face and I dove for the desk she had been working at.

I moved to patch my pip-buck in and was confused at the cable already connected to the terminal, following it back to the dead mare's ....hoof? Her left foreleg was metal from the fetlock down... cybernetics? I'd only seen Kellogg with the advanced technology before, but somehow this mare had gotten some too. A curiosity for later, I tore her odd patch cable out and linked my pip-buck to the terminal in its place, propping the Terrible Shotgun over the desk and blasting at anypony ducking their head in to yell for the corpse behind me.

It was a small office at the end of the hall from what I could tell, fancy peeling wallpaper hanging in ragged strips, an ornate wooden desk getting even more dillapidated by the gunfire seeking me out while I worked. A moldy, gold framed painting of a silver stallion with a dark mane and a bit of an underbite looked down at my struggles impassively, unimpressed when I cracked the terminal and went through the turret reboot and reprogramming.

Four new green dashes appeared in my vision, the turrets at each corner of the roof above coming back to life and on our side, increasing the gunfire as they started picking out Silver Seed targets and chattering away. Getting ready to move, I tossed a grenade out into the hallway and huddled under the desk as it shook the old building, two more red dashes winking out in the blast.

Curiosity warred with urgency, there were files on this terminal, old files... I had no doubt the Institute was involved in this place now, I wanted to know why, how the weird crops that shouldn't grow in the Commonwealth did anyway, why they were all so dangerous, anything I could about the Institute while the getting was good. My eyes raced across the text flashing by, quickly downloading anything interesting and playing an audio file as I raced out of my temporary shelter, meeting opposition in the hall with the Terrible Shotgun and Vengeance at my side as a long ago voice played in my ear.

Summerset Manager Gnarled Root's Report----

"Progress report, crops working well, adaptability to the environment working as advertised. Getting concerned about Dr. Swirl's talk about using carny-hoozit zebra biomancy hoodoo, but can't argue with the results. Focusing on most valuable crops, highest profit margins on stuff under shortages and rationing, Vega's ruthless about it and we're raking in the bits. Boss pony and the Flutternuts don't need to know about our little arrangement with C.I.A.T..

Lot of the workers are complaining about them though, sugarcane drawing a lot of scratches for some reason, had to order protective boots, coffee plants are getting kinda thorny, latest cocoa pods are a little gnarled and one dropped right on Greentail's head, week of workpony's comp there. Are the plants adapting funny? All the changes seem a little ...mean."

Greenhouses and all the strange shit there growing well too, don't like it though, most of that stuff is weird or dangerous, or both, but it keeps the Ministry of Peace happy. Did have a run in with our MoP rep Tenderheart, no problem though. Only concerned with preserving and spreading plants, using what they can for medical supplies, feeding the hungry, yada yada... blinded by optimism and idealism, those Flutter followers are really dumb sometimes. Took in the latest cuttings from Everfree they've cultivated and she was happy."

A scarred and angry looking yellow stallion charged up the stairs ahead as the file ended, a pair of light machine guns on his battlesaddle firing away and sending me diving to the floor with fresh holes that were hot glass in my side. Everything still hurt just as much as when I was normal, passing out or going into shock was still a danger.

I rolled to a stop and spun the Terrible Shotgun at the head of the stairs just as he crested them, the heavy slug punching through his thick leather armor and sending him tumbling back as I fumbled for another healing potion. I wasn't dead yet, so that was good... but had been racking up damage with only the mild tingle of the radioactive rain and a couple potions to help. My new alicorn body could take a lot of punishment, but as Jade kept forcefully reminding me, I wasn't invulnerable by any means.

The darkness at the edges of my vision receded a bit as I greedily sucked the potion down and gasped, hoping for a break and not getting it. A pale pegasus mare shot straight up the stairwell and hovered above, her steely teal eyes meeting mine with a sneer. This one was a higher class than the other Silver Seed employees, wearing grey combat armor and a pair of magical energy weapons at her flanks. Her blue and yellow mane spilled down her back and the pair of wings beating there, one of them silver?

"There you are shrimp! Mrs. Seed's gonna pay me a huge bonus for this! Just hold still..." Her foreleg raised to point at me accusingly, also made of gleaming metal that whirred and clicked, a glowing green magical energy weapon popping out and charging.

Shit... more cybernetics, this mare had an artificial leg and wing, with some very sharp pinions I glimpsed as it flapped lazily and her weapons came to bear on me, 'Awareness!'. Where were they getting this stuff!? Desperate and with no other avenue of escape, I lurched up and crashed through the remaining glass of the dirty window at the end of the hall, flapping for all I was worth into the night and hearing her cackles approaching on my tail.

The turrets above tried targeting her, but she was amazingly fast, this mare could have been a Wonderbolt in the old days... Was she part of Summer's Grand Pegasus Enclave before? Fliers with that kind of training were probably able to name their price for work like this, adding to my assessment this was a mare in charge here. A pale white and silver streak shot by and slashed my side, sending blood pattering down to the ground as I tried to climb and was met by a stream of yellow M.E.W. fire that forced me down.

I had struck out in a random direction, now over a field of the tallest plants, straight trees with very little branches, leafy tops and gnarled, spiky brown pods hanging off the rough bark. As I tried again with S.A.T.S. and wasted the spell charge on low odds misses against the speedy pegasus, she swung back and those razor sharp pinions slashed my right wing, losing all my lift on that side as it flopped weakly and I went pinwheeling to the ground.

Skidding to a halt and stumbling face first into one of the thick trees, I groaned at my limp wing and glanced up fearfully to the skies, why wasn't she finishing me? I could see the pale blur up above the ragged leaves, but she wasn't coming down... Taking the break she was giving me for whatever reason, I chugged another healing potion and jabbed myself with Med-X, slackening the escalating pain and gasping at the relief.

I just managed to reload my weapons and stretch my slowly healing wing, when something hard and spiky bashed into my head, sending me reeling when it exploded in a brown puff. I staggered away woozily and another thumped into my flank, the soft blast of dust sending sharp shards of shrapnel into my hindleg and other wing. What the fuck!? There was no red on Eyes Forward Sparkle expect the blur of the pegasus stalking me, where were these attacks coming from?!

A flicker of motion made me dodge immediately, barely catching sight of one of the spiky brown pods on a nearby tree coming down to the mud and exploding in a brown puff. Cocoa Bomber trees... now the name made sense, so did the hardhats and netted harnesses the slaves working these fields wore. More of the brown pods kept raining down faster now, forcing me to summon my lightning aura and run for it, dashing through the forest of trees as fast as I dared.

The pegasus in charge wouldn't come down here where she sent her slaves... afraid of the crops and hoping they finished me off while she kept me pinned. So it was ok for slaves to come out here to be bait and harvest these insane plants, but not for her to put her rear on the line to get me? Oh no... that just wouldn't do at all... 'Be Dark...' growled and I started catching the spiky pods as I could, gathering a cloud of dangerous chocolate producing crops that trailed behind me.

If the nets were to catch these things, I reasoned they wouldn't blow up unless they hit something hard enough, glad to see I was apparently right. I managed more than a dozen of the deadly produce in my blue telekinesis and called it good, surging up on mostly healed wings to the pegasus waiting for me.

As soon as I broke through the canopy, she was on me, Diving straight forward with that cybernetic wing in the lead. The cloud of cocoa bomber pods behind me flew up in my magic as she closed in, rustling the foliage and propelled upward with a flick of my horn. The aerial minefield worked, she was dedicated to her course and couldn't back out. A trio of the nasty pods blew up in her face, sending her sailing sideways and into more, jerking in the air while I drew a bead on her with the Terrible shotgun.

A rifle round threw my aim off, the shotgun slug blasting a significant hole in her flank, but the young pale tan griffon diving on me was suddenly a bigger problem. I gasped and wheezed as I fell into a tailspin, the diving griffon cocking the lever action rifle for another shot on top of the one lodged in my chest that felt like a white hot ingot in my lungs.

A stream of red M.E.W. fire disuaded him from taking his next shot, Val screeching in fury and slamming into him in midair, occupying the enemy griffon as I crashed at the edge of the clear muddy patch of ground holding the pair of greenhouses. Shrubby plants were growing here, thankfully only a couple rows of them before the clear spot ahead. I stumbled forward through them, hoping to get moving before they did anything deadly like the trees.

Unfortunately these must be Twitch Trees, thorny shrubs laden with small beans. The name must come from the way they twitched right out with their spiky branches as I passed, scratching my exposed coat and making my heart start hammering in my chest. I felt like I just drank ten pots of coffee suddenly, blood pressure rising and pounding in my temples, everything getting dizzy as my breathing grew ragged.

Come on body, poison's no big deal right... nevermind the alerts my pip-buck was throwing up in my spinning vision, just deal with it... 'Be Unwavering!' rose up and I dragged myself towards the greenhouses, looking for a place to hide and let my mutated biology process the poison.

The scrap door to the mostly glass enclosure covered in rusty chickenwire for some reason, moved aside under my shaky hoof, letting me fall on my face to the floor, swinging a jittery Vengeance in my unsteady magic towards the blurry purple form of a surprised pony. Whoever the buck was, he made a threatening movement I could make out, reaching for a sharp looking sickle off the plant laden table before him. The silver revolver crashed repeatedly, emptying the cylinder with two out of six rounds managing to put him down.

I clutched my pounding heart and crawled forward, shutting the door with a hindleg and panting on the floor. Looking around blearily at where I cowered, a dirty glass greenhouse, filled with a riot of colorful plants on every surface, hanging from the rusty poles making up the angled ceiling. The audio file was right, there were a lot of really strange looking plants in here I couldn't focus on, along with several corroded gilt birdcages?

My eyelids felt like they were weighted with sandbags and I sweated and bled on the rough wooden floor, blinking dizzily at the rustle of movement in here, E.F.S. saying there were at least three green marks in here, but I didn't see anypony... Squeaky whispers accompanied the movement as I struggled against unconsciousness, chattering noise along with a sudden flurry of bright color.

The little slave filly's words came back to me as I tried to focus on the bright purple, diaphanous wings suddenly approaching as I lost the fight and slipped down into the black, croaking weakly at whatever blurry thing closed in. "F-Fairy?..."

"Mekir nun aifa neir!"

"Nalik mugata pipel na Shroud!"

"Lun atta mir sha!"

Squeaky voices slowly drifted down and brought me back to the world of the living, something bitter was stuffed in my mouth and a delicate grip grabbed my muzzle, forcing it to chew as I blinked at... a fairy? No... a Breezie... a real Breezie, not a Breezidore. The tiny pony shaped creature gasped as my head moved and stumbled back, brilliant purple butterfly wings flaring as it stumbled back warily.

It wasn't quite like Breezies I vaguely remembered from the old world, the wings were still too big, sending it fluttering back on its own power instead of riding the breeze. By its light grip on my muzzle, it seemed a lot stronger than Breezies should be too. The tiny pony was dressed in rags, a pale lilac with a wavy blue mane, big blue eyes widening under her long antenna that lit up in alarm. A long wire was soldered to a tiny clamp around its hindleg, stretching up to the center of the roof of the greenhouse, meeting two more stretching off to another pair of the creatures, one light green with a glowing mushroom as a cap, the other pale pink with a spiky red mane.

I blinked again, but the tiny magical creatures didn't go away. Still staring at me in fear and hope, the one that had been forcing me to chew shuffled in front of me anxiously, miming chewing with its forelegs until I did as instructed. Whatever they had me eating, it tasted foul but made me feel better. My little fairy savior shoved a few purple leaves forward and waved invitingly, pacing around me in a wide circle with a long green frond in her teeth, closing in on my flank to slap the leaf to my bleeding haunches.

Moving very, very slowly, I stretched my tongue out to eat another of the offered leaves, trying to look friendly and harmless, while worrying about the gunfire outside still popping off. I rolled an eye back to the little lilac Breezie brave enough to touch me and tend my wounds, gently bowing my head and whispering, remembering dad's excited recitation of Breezie facts from his membership in the Society for the Preservation of Magical Creatures. Breezies didn't like loud noises...

"Er... T-Thank you? You're helping me right? Thank you very much, what are you guys doing here?"

The Breezie slapping another frond to my leg skittered back as far as the wire binding her would allow, peeking out from behind a orange ceramic pot with an exotic golden flower with blue leaves growing from it. It was the bravest too, the other two disappeared, only the wires from the ceiling gave away where they must be hiding, while the lilac ...mare? slowly came out of hiding again. They were pony shaped, best to consider them very small ponies, I could empathize with that.

"Yuuu are dee Shrouded Stallion yes? Frum de radio?" The nervous little mare came out another step while the other two peeked from their hiding places in the verdant foliage, chattering to each other in their own odd language at this one speaking pony with the funny accent.

She pointed to a battered old radio playing classical music, nearly hidden with all the plants growing in here, waiting hopefully for me to answer. Slowly raising my head made her cringe back, but she didn't disappear again, letting me whisper an answer. "That's me alright. I'm here to free the slaves here, put a stop to this place. A-Are you guys slaves too? You kinda look like it..."

A shamed glance down to the tiny shackle around her hindleg brought out a weary nod and she approached closer, digging a hoof in her tiny saddlebags of woven reeds, pulling it out dusted with golden color and nervously coming close to my muzzle again. The appendage shook fearfully as she held it out and nodded, "Y-Yes, ve are slaves toooo, h-here, for de poison, p-please don't eat me tooo."

She clenched her eyes shut after I gave a grateful smile and stretched my tongue out, lightly brushing her hoof and licking off the sweet tasting powder. Nectar... just like Breezidores, oh sweet Celestia I loved this stuff, a good chunk of the remaining pain slacked off immediately as everything got nice and loopy. Resisting the urge to suck on the tiny foreleg, I smacked my lips and cautiously started trying to get my hooves under me.

"Ok, you're slaves too, we're freeing you. H-However you got here. I can cut your err... chains... if you trust me, ok? My name's Fast by the way, nice to meet you." I groaned and weakly stood, towering over the cringing little creature and holding a hoof out patiently.

After a long minute, she cracked one bright blue eye open and shakily returned the hoofbump, the light touch of her leg barely registering. She was really no bigger than one of my toys, this had to be terrifying for her. The other two yelped warnings as she reached out, but I didn't stomp her flat or anything and she seemed to brighten.

"S-Spring Gale Meeester Fast Shroud, friends is Glowy Gust and Warm Wind, dey no speak pony doh, yuu vould reeeally free us?" The tiny pony looked up hopefully, only flinching a bit as I drew Best Served from my bags and floated it a safe distance away from myself, stabbing the starmetal blade into the boards of the floor and waving to it.

"That's what I do, no matter for who. K-Kinda crazy seeing Breezies, but you guys helped me and I appreciate it. Umm here, I'll leave my knife right there and you can cut the wires yourself on the edge. Just be really, reeeeeally careful ok? That thing is crazy sharp, don't hurt yourselves. I'd do it, but guessing you don't want me swinging a knife around that close huh?"

Spring Gale actually smiled as I backed away and gave them space, squeaking in that oddly lyrical language to her companions and walking over to the giant glittering blade. She did as instructed, very cautiously stretching her hindleg towards the gleaming edge and giving a cheer as the wire parted like hot butter on the metal. Flapping up and flittering around the room in joy, she convinced the other two to do the same, cutting their bonds and fluttering in a cheering circle above my head.

Their large wings lightly brushed my head as they circled and looped, cheering happily and bringing up a familiar sensation. I wasn't sure why, but I felt like I had done this before, felt the gentle touch of glittery, brightly colored wings just like this. It was nostalgic, but I couldn't dredge up any memory, just a feeling.

Gale was actually brave enough to flutter right up and hug my face, adding to the weird feeling and chirping brightly. "Thank yuu! Vee can go? For true?"

The sound of more gunfire and red marks moving around made me rush an answer, drawing my knife back to my packs and reloading my weapons as non threateningly as possible. "Of course, nopony should be a slave, no matter who. Umm... I'm still kinda in the middle of trying to free everyone else, there's lots of fighting still going on and I have to get back to it. Will you guys be ok? If you wait I can come back and help you, but you're free to go if you want. Just worried if you'll be safe?"

All three zipped off to corners of the greenhouse, disappearing under all the varied plant life and returning with tiny wooden spears clenched in their teeth, thorny barbs at the ends dripping yellow-green liquid as they nodded back bravely. "Vee will be fine, vee go home to Breezie nation, yuu big hero like radio say. Dey lets us listen for plantys, but vee listen to Traveling Miles vhen dey not here. Vee trust Shrouded Stallion, owe debt."

Before I could answer that they didn't owe me anything, the opposite door from the one I stumbled through opened, a wild eyed and bloody Zed charging in and brought up short by Vengeance jerking up at the movement. The Breezies disappeared completely, off of E.F.S. and nowhere to be found like magic. Leaving just me sitting in an empty greenhouse as the battle kept going outside and Zed gave me a worried once over.

"There you are, Miss Ivy was frantic, she said you vanished from her sight. Are you alright Fast? What are you doing in... here..." Zed slowed as he took in all the exotic plants, pacing the long room and touching a few purple leafed specimens I had been munching on by the matching leaves. "F-Fast... these are... none of these things belongs here. Agaloosh, Piripa Fronds, Ghost Orchids... this is an alchemists dream! There are species from the Everfree forest, the forbidden jungles and the zebra lands! How are they growing here?"

Choosing not to elaborate about fairy gardeners while fighting was still going on, I shrugged mysteriously and stumbled over to the door, heading for the other greenhouse as I spoke. "Magic Zed, I'll try to explain later. Come on, there are still ponies... people that need help."

Ducking into the second greenhouse, I spotted another pair of wires trailing from the ceiling down to the equally thick vegetation. In a rush, I sent Best Served whickering up and slashed both lines at once. "Umm... it's safe ok? You're free, Spring Gale and the others are too, we're leaving you alone, so get out of here safe ok!"

Only silence answered and Zed was giving me a puzzled look, still not getting an answer with more red marks closing in. "I promise, later Zed. Let's go!"

Flapping up on mostly healed wings, I headed for the biggest clumps of activity wearily, noting the employee barracks across the field burning merrily in the drizzle, Val had been busy... Hopefully this was just mop up now, my magical little saviors had actually done a lot to get me going again and everything was nice and fuzzily warm from their Nectar, but I didn't have much left in the tank. Hopefully there was something highly radioactive nearby if I was really lucky.

"I am interested in hearing it Fast, and in those plants. If I could send some back to grandfather... the potions he could make!" Zed answered right on my tail, looking back at the greenhouses with naked longing.

Apparently, sugar, cocoa and coffee weren't the only things growing here that shouldn't be able to. Another mark of weirdness associated with the Institute then... stuff to look into once we were done...

The four of us fighting and our Jamocha Plains backup had worked together well, taking the Silver Seed farm by surprise and coordinated by Ivy, with our own fallback point perfectly protected and staffed by a medical expert alicorn and an Ambassador of Cuteness tending the slaves. We had sowed enough chaos among the slave using farmers to break them and send them falling back to the tattered windmill as a last resort.

There were only half a dozen or so red marks left, all centered on the tall, rickety structure I was tiredly standing in front of. My wings felt like lead and I had more than enough combat flying already, I really just wanted this over, but that cyborg pegasus had rallied what she had left and dug in like a tick. A remaining griffon helped her repel Val repeatedly from the slowly turning blades of the windmill, while several earth and unicorn ponies fought back any direct assault.

Witchy returned from another scouting flight around the structure, making that high pitched whine repeatedly and landing light at my side, shaking her head. "No easy way in Fast, getting them out will be messy..."

"Shit..." I groaned and rubbed my aching head, still a little loopy to think of anything clever and hoping Val had something better. By her grunt and grumble as she paced, that didn't look likely though.

"Batty's right, lemme just burn the fucking thing down boss, that'll take care of em!" Pyromania danced in her violet eyes as she pranced in place, hoping I'd let her go on a spree of explosive destruction.

Staring up at the cobbled together and roughly repaired windmill, I gave it a repair-pony's appraisal and shook my head. "I'd rather not Val... I think that thing provides most of the power here, I don't have time to fix it or cobble something else together before we leave and they'll need power to hold on to the place once we're gone. Nnnn... this sucks...."

A large blue hoof reached out and stopped my dark one from thunking my battered head any more, Jade's soft nicker in my ear relaxing me immediately, even as I yelped with her out of her safe shelter behind Ivy's shield. "Perhaps I should try then, there has been enough bloodshed. Sister Ivy has kept me appraised, allow me to speak with them dear."

I gulped nervously and ran at her side to match her long, stately strides forward, standing straight and proud before the windmill, unafraid as gunfire started digging in the dirt nearby. She stuck her nose up and shouted in her clear, ringing goddess voice, carrying all the way up to the spinning blades and that freaking cyber-mare up top.

"PARDON ME! I AM PRINCESS JADE OF SANCTUARY, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK FOR YOUR SURRENDER IF YOU PLEASE! THERE HAS BEEN ENOUGH FIGHTING, LET US NOT PLAY THIS OUT TO THE BITTER END? PLEASE STOP, THROW DOWN YOUR ARMS AND LEAVE THIS PLACE, YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED. NOPONY ELSE NEEDS TO DIE, LEAVE AND BE BETTER, PLEASE?" Jade's kind words rang out in the lessening drizzle, a few more stray shots dug in the mud near her hooves, but she didn't flinch and they tapered off before I had a chance to blast whoever dared shoot near my princess.

I heard arguing inside the rickety structure, the cyber-pegasus and the griffon disappearing through the upper windows to add to the noise my twitching ears could just make out. Jade sat in the mud waiting, ignoring my impatience and worry, looking serene and patient as the drizzle soaked her cloudy mane.

Finally the battered wooden door creaked open, the pale mare's face peeking out with a scowl as she replied. "Sure! Just let us go after slaughtering all my workers!? With your bloody little lunatic waiting right at your side no less!"

"Hmm... P-Perhaps you could give us a bit of space Fast? You do look a bit frightening..." Jade smiled kindly, taking in the gore and blood coating me, only partially washed away by the slackening weather. She ignored my protests and gently shoved me back a few steps with her wing, waving for more space and trying the pegasus again. "There we are. My Fast will not attack, please come out and leave, I wish for no more fighting, I promise!"

Jade held a hoof out invitingly, waiting for the cyber-pony to trudge across the space between them and hesitantly return the gesture once I had backed off enough. I reeeeally didn't like this... I wanted her to be happy, to try and succeed for peace like she always hoped for, but I did not trust that mare. By her fancy cybernetics and station in the manor house where I first saw her, plus the way the other remaining Silver Seed workers watched from the windmill, I was sure she was in charge here.

Her insistent encouragement I move back with Val and the others surrounding the last stronghold of opposition was making me nervous, leaving her alone and out of range. She just continued holding her foreleg out and smiling beautifully as the pegasus mare approached to return the gesture with her metal appendage...

"There we are, I am P-Princess Jade and I guarantee you may leave freely if you surrender, a pleasure to meet you Miss...?" Jade spoke softly and stretched forward, reaching out to the pegasus mare's cybernetic foreleg as I snorted and stamped at the mud next to Val.

The two touched in a light hoofbump as the pale mare answered, flipping back her sopping blue and gold mane with a gleam in her eye I especially didn't like. "Hail Mary... Princess... Thanks for the privacy... awful trusting when so many rich ponies want you gone."

"Of course, we do not wish to intimidate away from peace if we can... we must trust others to gain it in return." Jade beamed and nodded, a look of confusion crossing her face when she moved to pull her foreleg away and was brought up short.

Four weird slats and opened and floated out of the metal limb, making the cybernetic hoof look strangely like one of Val's claws clenching the mud beside me, three aligned one way, a fourth acting as a kind of... thumb? That must be convenient... the odd metal 'fingers' had gripped Jade's hoof in a tight hoofshake anyway, but she wasn't letting go.

I caught that sneer towards me from Hail Mary and started moving like the air was full of molasses, she had me move too far back... more than enough time for that razor sharp metal wing to slash out at the immobilized alicorn. Jade reared back and dragged the bitch with her, but got a long, deep gash across her chest anyway, though at least not across her throat like the pegasus had aimed for.

I barely saw that magical energy weapon clicking out of Hail's leg, glowing green as she attempted for a point blank blast. Most of my attention was taken by the spray of blood, Jade's blood... my Princess' blood spattering that sneering cunt's face as she cackled and I shot forward with Val and Zed, too far... not enough time... Jade's precious blood, red blood, red... red... I saw red, I saw only red, a dull pounding in my temples coming with the dark roar in my head of 'Be Dark...' howling for blood and...

"F-FAST! STOP!!"

Jade's weakened goddess voice sank down to the dark depths, pulling me back out and bringing me to awareness, pausing in mid snap of long, coppery tasting fangs towards the bloody bundle under me...

I blinked and tried to get my bearings, a feebly struggling pony was under me, a white and red mass of fur and feathers, a pegasus missing some bits somehow. Hail Mary's foreleg ended in a stub, a crumpled and smashed metal hoof discarded in the mud nearby, her metal wing was tossed aside and smoking on her other side.

She was bleeding from a number of crescent shaped wounds all over, her face a bruising, bloody mass that was rapidly swelling, closing off the view of one pinprick sized teal eye frantically flicking around in terror, avoiding my own confused gaze down at her. One of my forelegs pinned her whole one, while the other was frozen above her face, stinging and smeared in blood. My fangs ached and my mouth was full of that coppery tang of blood, her blood... what? Had I?...

I staggered off the beaten mare, releasing the hold my hindlegs had wrapped around her barrel, holding my pounding head as I lurched away and spit out that foul yet sweet taste in my mouth. Weakly turning my head towards where the call of my princess had come from, spotting her lying on her side and holding her head up tiredly, Witching Hour was at her side and frantically wrapping her chest in magical bandages that soaked with ...red... but held.

Jade's horn flickered and I was dragged away in her soft blue white magic, deposited at her side and hugged with a shaking wing as I clenched my eyes shut, what happened? Did I do all that? How...? The warm alicorn surrounding me jerked and her voice rose sharply, prompting me to open my still burning eyes and follow her shout to Val, holding her huge pistol to the pegasus bitch's head.

"Valkyrie! D-Do not! Please do not kill her!" Jade implored weakly, releasing her tight hold on me as she stumbled up and towards the furious griffon and her soon to be victim.

Val glared back, her violet gaze flicking from Jade to me, she didn't take orders from Jade unless she wanted to, I was the boss. I was also still staring in shock at the pegasus Hail Mary, flopping her way through the muck with two missing appendages, leaving a bloody trail as she went and jabbered in a raspy, fear filled voice. "M-Monster... s-stay away! I'm sorry! K-Keep it away!!"

How had her silver combat armor been blackened and torn away? Her formerly well kept Enclave military shirt ripped to shreds? Her cybernetics weren't cut off by my knife, they looked like they were ripped off.... I thunked my head with my hoof and rubbed at the spike between my eyes, croaking hoarsely at Val still waiting. "Val... d-don't... enough..."

"Fuck that boss! Bitch tried ta kill Blue! Under an offer of fuckin' peace even! Ya had the right idea, kill her! Be nice with the rest if'n ya want, if you hadn'ta did that cheatin' teleport shit Blue'd be fried! Tell me ya don't want her dead for that!" Val growled and dragged the mare back by her hindleg, struggling and digging her forelegs into the mud, trying desperately to stay as far from ...me... as possible. I teleported?

Despite Witchy's protests, Jade stood and trudged forward, her magic reaching out and healing the bleeding and broken pegasus, answering in a weak, soft voice. "She did not succeed Valkyrie. Nor do I think she wants to try again, does she?"

Hail mary flattened her ears and hid under her hooves, well, one hoof and one stub of a foreleg anyway, covering her head protectively as she whimpered. "NO! Nonononono! Just keep it away! We give up, whatever you want! Just send your attack dog away please!"

A teal stare peeked from a very puffy black eye nearly sealing it shut, flinching closed as soon as I stretched a shaky hoof out to take a step towards her. Her hindlegs started scrabbling in the mud, her terrified progress stopped by Val's claw clenching her two tone tail. Jade's healing magic and gentle touch to the shivering mare was enough to convince the rest at least, the remaining red dashes on E.F.S. started turning green as guns and other weapons were thrown from the rough windows and doors of the windmill, nervous looking guards shuffling out and directed by our Jamocha Plains allies.

Jade gave me a look of warm concern and regret, waving a wing as her magic kept sealing the seeping wounds all over the mare. "F-Fast... maybe it would be best if you... took a rest perhaps? I... I will be fine, please... I do not think your presence is helping at the moment. Thank you for p-protecting me. I will find you shortly..."

Still tasting the blood in my mouth, I nodded weakly, trembling as I took in all the wounds that were slowly healing on her patient, wounds I inflicted somehow... Did I lose control? Why couldn't I remember? What had I done? She was right, I had to go... get away, quickly... stop that pounding growl in my head demanding I finish her, that kept the targeting reticule of Blue Moon trained on the broken mare wherever she moved.

I gave an unsteady flap and shot off, wiping a confused tear away and aiming for the manor house. Away from everyone else, somewhere to hide and stop my racing heart. "O-Ok! Just... be alright Jade, d-don't get close like that! Val, protect her for me! Help her! I h-have to go!"

Even our new allies dealing with the prisoners watched me go warily, a look of fear on their faces as I sped off, nervous expressions even on my friends like Witchy still trying to tend Jade's wounds. I ran... ran and hid, trying desperately to ignore the dark Shroud in my head and focus on the soft voices of the Ministry Mares rising up and trying to soothe it.

I wasn't a monster... I wasn't! S-She was just former Enclave... of course she'd say that... But I wasn't... I just lost control, I'd hide and get it back. Be better...

Tenderheart's Research Report 4202 == Adaptability Experments ver. 4.5

Making good progress, large scale trials on our first crops are coming along nicely. Southern climate plants are growing well even out of their normal environment. Everything should be a go for Ministry Mare Fluttershy's visit, though I suggest making a patrol ahead of her. We keep finding dead bunnies and other critters near the plants, some of their odd mutations in adapting are annoying for ponies, but deadly for smaller creatures. They act as fertilizer for the plants, which I can only assume is the point, but the poor bunnies... she'd never understand, danger in using Flux I suppose, the results can be... chaotic. We'll help them once we move up to Stage 2, if it helps her little friends in the hub during Stage 3, it will all be worth it. Circle of life and all, they're really not much different than some of the more dangerous samples from Everfree they've been sending anyway.

Need resupply-------

Still can't erase that one damn message from this muckdweller piece of ancient junk, but using this terminal after clearing the rest of the crap. Attrition rate on slaves is high, even with protective gear, need metal shoes and muzzle guards for the Razorcane workers, full leather barding for the Twitch Trees, better helmets and more netting for the Cocoa Bombers... Really need more netting period, after next harvest, want to send in a crew to string them between the trees instead of the few we've got on harnesses. More gear or more slaves, whatever's cheaper, but we're running through them fast, foals are fast enough to dodge at least, ordering more.

Fucking Svengallop----

Sent another of his crew for his shipment, fucking spooky bastard, doesn't seem quite right. Waited around like a statue while we got it together, dunno how a couple saddlebags worth of weird shit is so valuable, but it's hard enough to grow it. Still hoping to catch more little gardeners, the pair he brought manage that stuff better than any of us and keep the shipments up on time. More are slipping in, trying to free the little bugs, reinforced the greenhouses and got my staff on high alert, carrying friggin butterfly nets on em at all times, maybe we'll get lucky.

Bugs!-------

Caught three more! Rescue squad apparently, nasty little fuckers. Really hard to catch without killing, but cornered them and got lucky. Weird little bastards won't talk either, but stickin' em in the greenhouses and bringin' out the flyswatter gets the idea across. They understand, just all speak that gibberish shit instead of proper pony. Doubled our output, but now we get new orders and increased demand for some of the other stuff in there, some new drug Svengallop's selling, whatever... doubled our income too!

Gunner Visit------

Full company come strolling right through the gates today... Would'a made my asshole pucker if the higher ups weren't working all this crap out above our pay grade. Still pretty nerve wracking letting a heavily armed group of Gunners in, but they make good guard dogs, keep those love and happiness nutters up north away. Promised a lot more slaves on the market soon too, and easier access buying them in Jamocha Plains instead of waiting on shipments from Sapphire Sparkles. We keep our head down, we'll be rolling in caps soon!

Hiding in what was Hail Mary's office in the manor house let me peruse the terminal at my leisure, reading over her cruel entries and trying not to think on the broken pony who wrote them, focusing on my breathing instead and getting that headache to slacken. I was still riddled with oozing wounds that stung and burned, but I wasn't using my last potion on them, after what I did, maybe I deserved a little pain for awhile...

I heard no gunfire anymore, there were no more red dashes on Eyes Forward Sparkle, Summerset Plantation was ours at least. The slaves were free and being cared for, the guards from Jamocha Plains were taking over the defenses and their fastest runner had been sent back to Cocoa Latte to report our success. With the Minutemares help, this place would be producing food for the Commonwealth and no longer benefiting the factions we were fighting. I should be happy about that... but I lost control, I kept seeing Hail's terrified face, surrounded by armed enemies but only trying to drag herself away from me. What did I do?

Best I just stay alone and calm down, the others had this well in hoof, they didn't need me, Jade actually needed me to go away to make progress, so I did. I was still seeing that fan of blood from her perfect chest, marred by that bitch's wingblade and... and that dark pulse in my head kept rising at the memory, she hurt Jade, she dared harm my Princess, she deserved... STOP!

Bashing my head to the desk repeatedly got a wry, deep chuckle that sent me scrambling back up, looking into Zed's grey eyes raised curiously from the door. "I didn't mean to interrupt, please, continue headbutting the desk if it makes you feel better. Just checking on you Fast."

I wiped my watery eyes and tried to put myself together, slumping in the creaking chair behind the desk and noticing the significant dent my horn had made, alicorn strength still got away from me sometimes... "No, sorry Zed, I'm ok. Is everything alright? Is Jade..."

"She is fine, that pegasus has absolutely no interest in trying to harm her again. You were... very convincing..." The zebra raised an interested eyebrow and trotted in, sitting on the other side of the desk and watching me closely, like I might start raving or attacking.

That guarded look just made me feel worse, flopping to my forelegs crossed on the desk and looking up to the stern zebra. "W-What did I do Zed? I... I don't remember anything after... a-after she hurt Jade, I just saw red and..."

I was surprised when Zed placed a comforting hoof on my hitching shoulder, clearly not good at being nice and soothing crazy ponies, but trying his best as he answered softly in that deep voice of his. "You teleported between them, the lightning surrounding you flickered and grew dark, then you were just there. Your magic crushed her weaponized false foreleg and tore it off, then the wing when it slashed at you, that cut there on your flank I believe... Then you started beating her with your hooves and biting, really if you could fight hoof to hoof like that back in the Combat Zone, things would have gone much smoother. You were talking while you were doing it, I couldn't hear, but you were apparently very persuasive. Are you alright?"

"I... I think so... I haven't lost control like that in awhile, but usually I remember what I do. I was really that scary?"

Zed nodded slowly and dug in his packs, pulling out a thick ceramic vial of some kind of pale potion and shoving it across the desk. "Yes, it was impressive. Here, drink. Fast... do you remember when I told you darkness surrounds you? That I thought it was because you came from a Stable?"

Thinking back, I did remember the gruff zebra when we first met, finding out I came from 111 and saying all Stables were dark places. He said I wasn't evil, but darkness surrounded me. I disregarded it at the time, but Zed really seemed to have a nose for dark magic, literally actually, his sniffing the air just making me more nervous as I answered. "Yeah... I remember. How do you know all that stuff anyway Zed?"

He kept waving for me to drink the spicy smelling potion wisping white smoke from the lip. Not answering until I started drinking, relaxing immediately as the tangy potion slid down my throat and warmed me from the inside out, everything growing a little fuzzy and loopy. I sighed in relief and looked at the bottle and Zed appreciatively, giving him a questioning look as he took the empty bottle back.

"One of Grandfather's potions. A purifying draught, powerful magic, with a bit of Nectar mixed in... I'm not much of an alchemist and certainly no Shaman, but you seemed like you need it. I know things because I'm a Venator Noctis Fast, a... Shadow Hunter I believe the translation would be. I specialize in dealing with dark magic, the scent of it around you is getting stronger... You are a good pony Fast, but every hero can fall... break, be consumed by darkness. If it were to corrupt you, you truly may become a monster."

"I'm NOT a MONSTER!!" I screamed back, my voice cracking as the zebra calmly laid out one of my biggest fears.

He shrugged and waggled the empty potion as he stashed it away in his decorated packs. "No, you are not. But you could be. What if your mare were killed? Your daughter? Such things can happen, especially with the enemies you are accumulating. What would you do then?"

The dark growl in my head strained against its bonds at just the thought, my eyes burning as I slammed my hooves to the desk and leaned over it, glaring at the zebra for voicing something so horrible. "I'd kill them... all of them.. everyone who dared, everypony who deserved vengeance or got in my way! ALL OF THEM WOULD DIE SLOWLY!"

'Be Kind...' whispered up, dragging the raging shadow that kept leaking into my voice back to its prison with the help of its fellows, as I shuddered and panted over the desk. Zed simply stared back implacably, waiting for it to pass and watching carefully. At least he didn't look scared, I wasn't sure I could handle that right now.

"And then? Killing them wouldn't bring them back and they would not want to see you fall like that. You are not consumed with darkness, or that potion would have had a... very different reaction, but your mare and Miss Ivy are not the only ones concerned for you. You present an interesting puzzle actually, I still have no idea how you created a soul jar, how such darkness can swirl around you like that but still not taint you. I have never seen the like, and I do deal in this kind of thing. It makes me sure meeting you was fate, thus I continue to follow your path. When we are able, I would like to go to Neighlem Village and the zebras there. A proper shaman may be able to help you more than Miss Ivy's mental prodding. Well... that and I have a request..." Zed answered, never raising his voice to match my outburst, just speaking in his normal, soothing tone.

Slumping back to the desk, I tried to enjoy the mild euphoria from Zed's nectar laced potion. The spicy brew was still a warm ball in my stomach, spreading out to my trembling limbs and relaxing tense, aching muscles. "What kind of request? You almost never ask for anything Zed."

"The greenhouses... they have many rare and exotic plants. Many are things most ponies wouldn't know what to do with, but Grandfather or other knowledgeable zebras like your Mama Xara and others could do wondrous things with them. I would like to write Grandfather, make sure their care is continued, allow him to use them. I don't know how they grow here, but many should be delicate or potentially dangerous in the wrong hooves. Did you find the slaves who tended them? I would like to speak with them." Zed's stern grey eyes lit up as much as I had ever seen, he had seen something his people could truly benefit from.

After all his patience and help, I could hardly refuse him. Though I had to disappoint him on his last question. "They're yours Zed, write home to Hexington, have them send zebras who know what they're doing and I'll tell Cocoa's guards they're part of the deal. I think she just wants the cash crops anyway. No help on the tenders though... I let them go and I don't think they'll be back. They were.... umm... fairies... sorta."

Zed's eyes narrowed in confusion, looking for a joke and seeing just the truth. Explaining they were tended by Breezies just seemed exhausting at the moment, I let them go and they were long gone most likely. I was very curious where real... well, mostly real Breezies even came from. They weren't like prewar ones I remembered, but they weren't bloodthirsty Breeziedore's either.

Finally he snorted a laugh and shrugged, coming around the desk to pat my back amiably and a tad forcefully, shoving me from the chair and nudging me up to my hooves. "Thank you Fast, a shame if they're already gone but I understand. I would have liked to meet your 'fairies' though. Come, stop brooding and join the others, have your mare heal those wounds, stop your daughter and the griffon from ransacking everything for valuables. Being alone is a sure way to slip further into the shadows, lighten up... literally."

"Thanks Zed... Umm... you're sure I'm not... e-evil? What's a Shadow Hunter do anyway? Do you really know?"

Zed gave one long sniff at my horn, closing his eyes and humming in thought or meditation for a long time. Finally his grey gaze opened and looked back passively. "Just as always, darkness surrounds you but does not penetrate somehow. Star magic... most likely from your blade. Shadow Hunters do... many things Fast. Consider me a cleaner-upper of things that should not be loose in the world, dangerous, dark things my kind unleashed over our history. I'll tell you sometime, in Neighlem perhaps. Trust me for now, I do know. You are not evil."

Despite curiosity on learning a little more about my gruff zebra companion, I did trust him. His face spoke of only the truth, he wasn't placating me, he meant it. I breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed his foreleg in a jittery hoofshake, gushing as I shook the zebra stallion in place. "R-Really, thanks a lot Zed, that helps! I appreciate it!"

Zed extracted his leg and chuckled, turning back at the door with a hard look. "You're welcome. Just remember, every hero can fall... Even your Lightbringer."

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

The Professional Pony----
----So long as things stay quiet, you're one sneaky agent of death! Your sneak attack criticals with revolvers, pistols, and submachine guns (guns and energy weapons) all inflict an additional 20% damage.