Considering how many letters I had to go out all over the Commonwealth after my forced break to recover, going to the source of the Red Rocket couriers crossed two things off my list as they were another group to attempt to win as an ally in the area. The day was blustery and cold, according to the foal bundled up on my back anyway, but dry despite the grey clouds and a nice enough trip to work all the kinks out of my wings.

I kept looking to the north as we approached the sea, easily able to spot the dark shape of Castle Equinox perched on its cliffs. We'd have to go back soon, Fancy was waiting there and the moon last night had been waning. Her demand I come help her find Neighson before the new moon still weighed on me, but we still had time and dealing with University Point and all the various groups and problems in the area took precedence for now.

The fortified ruins far to the south I could just make out were the main reason. According to my pip-buck map, the cluster of crumbling buildings in the shadow of a large section of elevated road and railway was the settlement of Whinny. Formerly the home of old friends like Sturges, Mama Xara, Long Jump, Cloudy Sun and their colt Short Stack back in Sanctuary. Whinny was now under the control of the Gunners, a hoofhold in this part of the southern Commonwealth they were spreading their influence from. Also a hidden relay to the Institute if I wasn't wrong... where they were getting more of their weapons and equipment.

University Point being both a powerful and neutral party in this part of the Commonwealth had kept them from coming any further, but I didn't expect that to last. The Gunners would get greedy, or the Institute would rot U.P. from the inside out. The smarty-ponies were between us and them and something would have to give.

From what I had learned about the ruins directly ahead of us, the Arcano-Cats were one of the major hurdles that kept the Gunners back so far. Val filled us in before we left with what she knew, and Witchy was surprisingly knowledgeable about them too, chatting with Jade like it was a topic they had discussed previously as we flew to meet them. The strange group sounded like a cross between one of the gangs of glorified and thematic raiders in the Commonwealth and a company of heroes, depending who you asked. We'd met the elderly Dashite that started both the Arcano-Cats and the Red Rocket couriers and old Burny Jets was a nice enough buck, especially for technically being one of Diamond City's 'nobility', so I had my hopes up anyway.

"Daddy look! Cloud buildings!" Glitter's bright yell focused my attention on our destination, getting a good look at the narrow peninsula of land jutting out into the sea and the settlement on it.

By far the biggest and brightest point of focus was the largest Red Rocket filling station I had ever seen. The eponymous rocket sign was a crimson beacon in the gloom that towered over the sprawling facility. Unlike most we had seen before, it didn't seem very open to the public, surrounded by reinforced fencing that marked it as more of a part of the small skyport stretching out towards the waves.

On that side of the barricades, there were rusty hangars and barracks buildings, bright shipping containers moved and stacked atop each other, a wide aerial training course of loops and flags by the long runways, and just as Glitter pointed out there were quite a few cloud ruins floating over it all.

"How resourceful! They appear to have done much the same as we saw in Diamond City and put all the cloud ruins floating empty in the skies of the Commonwealth to use. Is this solely a pegasus settlement Valkyrie?" Jade flapped sedately along beside us, peering down at the strange town and clopping her forehooves together in excitement.

"Meh, not totally. Lots of other kinds of you ponies and a few griffons, same as with the Cats themselves. The town won't budge without their local heroes' say so neither, so they're who ya gotta impress Blue." Val shrugged as she looped around us lazily.

Witchy kept shooting anxious glances down the shore to the south and the leaning wreck of Dreadnot, keeping Jade between her and it to hide it from her view, or her from it... She did seem to shake off her nerves and chime in at least, nodding along with Val. "Valkyrie is right Princess. The defenders of Rocketburg are strange... but valiant and well loved in their way, as well as very strong. They would make powerful allies with all their wonderful power armor, but will prove difficult to convince."

Putting on a determined expression and adjusting her tiara, Jade whinnied nervously. "We must put our best hoof forward then. If they are deserving of the faith the townsponies put in them, I am sure we will get along marvelously."

"Jade's right, if they're good I'm sure we'll be friends. I hope so anyway, I really need that dish down there..." I agreed with the blue beauty hoping to encourage her and myself, pointing down at the ruined satellite dishes on the roof of one of the larger buildings.

They looked dead and dark, but were just the thing required for Dr. Vigil's weird teleporter plans. Though getting them out of here even if we could convince them would take some doing, making me idly look over to Swan flitting around in the ruins below looking for something to smash. The big filly was still taller than Jade, but had seemed to settle on that being an acceptable size instead of her normal giant state. While I was glad to see her finally getting comfortable closer to normal pony scale, I didn't think she'd mind growing into a super alicorn to carry the big dishes away if I asked, so that was one problem solved.

Eyeing the teleporter components closely as we approached, I was totally taken by surprise by a brilliant crimson blur streaking by, left spinning like a top by the contrail left behind to Glitter's ecstatic squeals of laughter over the dizzying ride. I barely caught a shout of, "Move it slowpoke!" as they shot by, shaking my spinning eyes straight and focusing on the fiery streak.

It was a pegasus, that much was clear even struggling to follow their rocketing course. One wearing a strange suit of Shadowbolt armor too, the standard black finish was red, decorated with flames and the gleam of chrome in the dim light. Though details were too hard to focus on with the way they blasted past us and towards the towering Red Rocket.

The reason for their haste became clear soon enough, the howl of a green Vertibuck piercing the cloud layer above and diving on the settlement drew our eye to the specks moving around on the ground and in the air. Gunners... don't tell me we were too late!

"Jade! Take Glitter, we gotta try to help them!" My shout was enough for the foal to be instantly floated from my back, up to Jade and her blue shield lighting up around her.

With Witchy loyally staying at her side, I flapped forward for all I was worth, still falling behind Swan, Val and Zed taking point ahead of me. As we drew closer, I could make out more details and tried to see where we could help. The Gunner Vertibuck wasn't the only attacker, there was a full squad down on the ground led by power armored ponies, while several griffons and even a few pegasi in Gunner green were engaged with the defenders swarming the airborne vehicle.

Even knowing the Arcano-Cats were renowned for their knowledge of power armor, it was a surprise seeing so many modified suits flying and charging out of the huge garage. None of them were standard, there was a lot of personalization in the souped up suits, at least making them easily distinguishable from the Gunners.

Since I wasn't going to reach the battle before Val and Zed already swooping ahead, let alone Swan whooping and slinging spells, I raised the Last Minute and peered through the scope, trying to line up a shot on the armored pilots compartment of the Vertibuck as the gauss rifle whined to full charge. The old military vehicle moved gracefully, pouring down 5mm rounds and nearly hitting the garage with a battery of missiles fwooshing out, only kept from doing damage by a blue power armored griffon smashing into the bottom of the darting Vertibuck and forcibly shoving it off target.

When it lurched back from the hit, the glass dome of the pilot's harness came into the scope and I fired, spotting the spiderweb of cracks magically appearing in the reinforced glass around the round, dark hole right where the pilot should be. I either got him or hit something vital, the whole machine shuddered and listed in the air, the slow motion crash headed safely for the shore at least.

With the biggest threat out of the air, I dove for the ground where I was actually a threat, abandoning the skies to Val screeching as she lobbed 25mm grenades around with reckless abandon. When my hooves touched the cracked asphalt, my lightning walking spell let me charge into the fray and catch up with Zed, mercilessly pounding enemies with his hooves and clearing the way.

The Terrible Shotgun dropped a pair of combat armored Gunners making a dash for the chainlink gates thanks to S.A.T.S.. Though a stream of blue magical energy beams made me skid and trip trying to avoid the barrage from a Gunner griffon overhead, quickly adjusting to the new combatants and finding me a more desirable target by the shouted orders I could just hear.

Before I righted my pinwheeling course, a brick wall with hooves stopped me. A green power armor suit had followed the griffon's orders and intercepted me, hitting me with an augmented buck of steel hooves that completely stopped all forward momentum and sent me sailing back to smash into a leaning light pole.

The power armored Gunner spun and charged before I got my wind back, bearing down on me wheezing on the ground and shakily trying to aim Vengeance at the tiny eyeports. Just before I got trampled however, a gleaming suit of Steel Ranger armor smashed into the galloping enemy from the side, throwing him off course and grappling with him as flames poured out of his battlesaddle, roasting the Gunner inside the suit with a wild whoop.

Stumbling back to my hooves and finding the strange Arcano-Cats well capable of mopping up the rest, I goggled up to my savior, cataloging the bizarre power armor he wore curiously. It was shinier than most, the silvery steel plates polished to a mirror sheen, augmented with lots of chrome and flames painted up the legs and flanks. There was an odd little patch of a cat on a balefire mushroom cloud bolted to the chest, while completely superfluous exhaust pipes sprouted from the helmet like antlers, puffing smoke and flames. The helmet marked it as a T-55 or so, but the eyeports were covered by a pair of welded on sunglasses.

"Nice shot Daddy-O, but not so hot landing. I think between that big pussycat you brought and us, we got these chumps, don't have a brahmim 'bout it." The weird power armor tromped up and spoke in odd slang, waving out to Swan pouncing on survivors wherever she found them, leaving me to blink up to the chocolate brown earth pony when the helmet slid back.

As things died down, there was a lot of cheering coming from the cloud ruins above, local pegasi fluttering out and doing loops to celebrate like none of this was a big deal. The ground combatants coming out of cover near the gates all wore black leather jackets adorned with the same patch I spotted on the armor, the bucks wore tattered denim and dirty white shirts, while the mares seemed to favor frilly dresses that contrasted with the jackets. Their manes and tails were even styled to match the odd theme, lots of stallion's with manes slicked back with grease and mares with curled and poofy manestyles accented with bows or clips.

The buck that saved me was the same under his helmet, a shiny ducktail of orange mane and a scruffy goatee'd muzzle he popped a cigarette into, lighting the tip with the glowing exhaust pipes on the helmet at his back and grinning at his crew and ours coming together outside their fortress of a Red Rocket garage. Jade landing beside me and Glitter dashing off her back to eagerly introduce us got their attention and the Arcano-Cats began gathering around us with murmurs of interest.

I was glad our little ambassador of cuteness and Princess were up to making manners, goggling at them as Jade held a hoof out to each armored greaser pony coming up to meet her. Most of my attention was taken up by the power armor... Each suit was totally different than the others, lovingly cared for, modified, painted and souped up by very talented techs.

The candy apple red suit of Shadowbolt armor that blasted by us was apparently the leader, a rich red pegasus buck with a slick yellow mane was behind the helmet, drifting down and swishing the scorpion tail of his suit as he trotted up to Jade and took her hoof, planting a smarmy kiss on it that made a jealous flare light up as I watched.

"Oh ho, dig the royal kitten comin' to visit boys, we heard the famous Princess had a classy chassis, but whoooo-wee! Crazy! Please tell me you're here for a little back seat bingo sweetness!" The -grudgingly handsome- stallion fawned over Jade's hoof, turning her cheeks a bright pink while I glared.

Thankfully, a mare wearing a glossy lilac T-45 with a pair of grenade launchers broke them apart before I could, flank checking the lighter pegasus away and shaking her matching mane, hiding the red faced glower on her periwinkle cheeks. "Ay, ay, ay! Quit slobberin' all over her Zeke! Go buzz off and write her a ballad or something flutter bum! Sorry Princess, not all of us have got class or sophistication, but Zeke's hep and the big daddy around here. I'm Rowdy, dig meetin' the famous Princess of the Commonwealth and her crew, who's the lil' ankle biter?"

"O-Oh, a pleasure to meet you as well Miss Rowdy. This is my daughter Platinum Glitter, w-who is obviously very excited to meet you as well. We have heard many good things about the noble Arcano-Cats." Jade returned the smirking earth pony mare's steel clad hoofbump, trying to corral Glitter from dashing between the multicolored suits of armor and climbing on them.

"Woooo! Forget the squirt, cast your peepers on the compact dreamboat Rowdy! It's the Shrouded Stallion guy!" A brilliantly pink pegasus mare zipped overhead and peered down at me adjusting my hat, shaking her ponytailed purple and white mane free from the helmet of her neon pink armor to flutter her long eyelashes at me.

While I was following the crackling pink magical energy tip to her tail (and totally not the gleaming armored flanks it was attached to), Swan landed with a thump behind me, curling a wing over my back and grumbling at the smaller mare flittering around with a playful giggle. "Go away flirty pony... find me more Gunners to smash... Fast look! That pony has horns! I want them..."

Even the large earth pony buck who saved me looked intimidated at Swan's pointing hoof focused on his weird antlered helmet. He did manage to give an uneasy grin and nod to her yak horned cutie mark showing under her short pink skirt though, daring to flirt with the big filly greedily eyeing his flaming horns. "N-Name's Moose pussycat, don't mind lettin' you try em out, see you got a thing for horns huh? Not often I meet a filly taller than me sweet stuff..."

Jade looked relieved at her sister shooing away the cute pink mare tinkling laughter, smirking at Swan curiously blinking at this Moose pony and ignoring his advances. She turned back to the group with a warm smile, but was cut off by a large blue griffon in matching armor pushing past her. I hadn't seen a lot of griffon suits of power armor, but I doubted many had so many fins and bits of chrome.

It kept the tank like vibe of a mass of metal too heavy for a pegasus pilot I had seen in a more standard Gunner griffon suit, the wickedly augmented claws dug into the asphalt before retracting with a click as he tromped up to Val. "So, the big, bad traitor... What brings you to Nowheresville red? Interested in a personal fitting? How about you ditch the pony cubed boss and come on in to the passion pit?"

Val's deft claws shot out and hooked in his beaked nostrils before either of us were sure of what happened, the hefty male griffon rapidly backpedaling as she lifted his face with her claws and pushed. "Piss off... Boss ain't no square, might be a nerd, but he's my nerd, got it?"

"Ow, ow, ow, ow! Got it!" The bright griffon, actually named Bluejay by the snickers of the others, backpedaled and nodded as far as Val allowed around her claws.

Witchy surprised me by joining in at Val's side, looking up in thought before chirping in an even more bizarre mix of their slang and her own formal wording. "Thou should all j-just... pump the brakes! Fast is no square, he and the Princess are the most, totally subterranean er... cats thou could hope to meet. Unless thou are cruisin' for a bruisin', put an egg in thine fancy shoes and beat it. Dig?"

"Woooo... batty's got fangs and can wail! What's your tale nightingale?" The hovering pegasus Zeke spoke up while I gaped, giving the flustered batpony a leer she didn't look to interpret properly again.

"Umm... Val? Witchy? You guys speak this language?"

"How fascinating! You speak an entirely different regional dialect Witching dear? Could you perhaps teach me? Wherever did you learn?" Jade was entirely focused on learning something new, prancing beside her blushing royal guard eagerly.

Witchy looked a little bothered, but shrugged with a bashful smile to her Princess. "I... My father taught me your highness. Have no fear, I shall proudly translate and it would be my honor to teach what I remember. As I discussed with you before though, it... has been many years."

Prowling back to my confused question, Val lashed her tail at the griffon rubbing his beak and grimacing at his friends' laughter, giving affectionate noogies while her violet eyes remained narrowed at the bright blue and white griffon, apparently in some kind of claiming gesture going over my head. "I speak a little of the lingo too, yeah boss. I told ya, they're cooler than you. So fair warnin' ya scrubs, nobody gives boss the business or calls him square."

"Easy, easy sugar feathers! We're all friends here, yeah? Great Grandpa gave us the scoop on you cats and figured you'd roll in to our turf eventually. C'mon in to the pad and shoot the breeze huh? After you Princess..." The slick red pegasus Zeke did a bow and swept his foreleg to the Red Rocket garage behind him, grinning up to Jade finally collecting Glitter and giving a pleased little whinny to the invitation.

"Ah, yes, wonderful! Thank you for your gracious hospitality Mr. Zeke. By Great Grandfather, am I to understand you are related to Burny Jets in Diamond City?" At least Jade was oblivious to his flirting, smiling brightly and trotting through the gates beside him, while I trudged and glared at his fancy armored tail.

"Sure am kitty cat, handle's technically Rocket the fifth, but I ain't down for the whole dynasty gig. Just Zeke is fine by me, ain't sellin' out and joinin' the establishment any time soon. Not when we're havin' a gas and a half knockin' these Gunner mooks around, or gettin' bee-E-A-uuuuutiful Princesses droppin' by for a cup of sugar! Come on into our parlor and sit a spell." Zeke kept laying it on, though was at least being informative as we all followed the two leaders inside.

Knowing he was another of Burny Jets' many grandfoals helped in putting up with Zeke's flirting, for awhile anyway... The dismissive wave of an armored wing he gave on our way to a tall, square office building behind the Red Rocket helped understand the layout a bit better too. My pip-buck blinked first with; Location Discovered: Red Rocket Skyport Station, then again with Location Discovered: Red Rocket Headquarters.

By the postal hat and bag wearing pegasi I saw coming and going from the multiple gaps in the walls of office building, I was guessing that was where to go to send out my letters. The station itself was an actual garage as it was originally, and the hangout of the Arcano-Cats gang.

Their invite wasn't exactly a royal summit to speak with the Princess of the Commonwealth. The armored members parked their impressive rigs in a row of power armor workstations lining the garage, grabbing their individual leather jackets as they stepped out and lazily strolling out the back door, grabbing beers from a chugging old Sparkle Cola machine by the door, chatting breezily in their odd slang the whole time.

The junkyard of shacks, workbenches, spare parts, half repaired carriages, wrecked vertibuck husks, private trailers and lawn furniture just outside was their little court apparently. They each plopped down to what looked like well worn seats or perches, all arrayed around the overstuffed Lay-Z-Buck recliner under a bleached beach umbrella that Zeke landed in with a poof of cloudstuffing.

An admitedly awesome toss of an empty bottle behind his head kicked the jukebox in the hangar garage nearby on, blasting out a catchy tune as Zeke leaned back to speak. "So, the rockin' Princess herself... Here to ask us outsiders ta join up with the man. Amiright?"

"Man? I am not a man, what does that word mean? Witching?" Jade blanched as I did at the funny lingo, turning to Witchy with a curious look, always eager to learn a new word.

Zeke answered before Witchy could, tossing his hooves up behind him. "THE man, the fuzz, the establishment! Law and order, paperwork, rules and permits! Now we love having cute guests chickenwing, but us Arcano-Cats ain't joiners, we're rebels man!"

"Again? Am I the man, or man? I do not think I am the man, should that mean what you initially described... While we are for law and order, we do not wish for anything as negative as you make out Mr. Zeke. Wherever did you learn such a malleable term? I am afraid I am a tad slow to follow... you are not making fun, are you?" Jade squinted at the exasperated buck suspiciously.

This time Witchy was allowed to translate proudly. "Two different definitions your highness. He means it in a friendly manner the second time... tis very old slang."

"It's the words of the heppest of cats back in the way back machine fluffy ears, the words of the Dude!" Zeke snorted from his throne proudly, pointing to a faded poster for Letrotski's Lanes and the shaggy stallion pictured there.

"For the love of... Enough with the foreign language! May as well be doing this in old ponish! We're here to be serious dammit, we need your help and want to be allies. And I want that dish up there! And stop looking at my wife's flanks!"

The Arcano-Cat crew blinked at my snorting tantrum, pausing at the Shroud's voice coming out, then rolling in laughter, only making that angry hiss rise up more. Luckily the earth pony mare Rowdy answered first, wiping her eyes and nearly nudging the cackling Zeke out of his seat. "Behave Junior, no reason to piss em off, your granddaddy ain't gonna be happy."

"Yeah, well... he ain't the big daddy around here no more, is he? A-And don't call me Junior!" Zeke huffed back, fluttering his way back in his seat and shrugging with an easy grin. "Alright, alright... Zero perspiration Shroud buddy, didn't know you two was circled. Gettin' back where the rubber meets the road, you want our help and our great big dish thing... Why the hell you want that anyway? I mean, it's not really doing anything, just adds to the vibe little daddy."

"L-Little!?" I was rapidly getting to dislike this smarmy buck...

Zeke leaned over from his perch and tugged his mirrored sunglasses down his muzzle with a smirk, nodding to Glitter cuddling at my side. "Little Daddy... the little monster's yours, right? Ain't no Big Daddy, cause that's me around here, but you can have that handle. Sound like a winner sweetpea?"

In reply, Glitter stamped her hooves and stuck her chest out, shooting down his slick patter and making me glad she wouldn't fall for a buck like that's wiles for a long time. "Nuh-uh! My daddy is a big hero, not little! An' we want your dish thing! An' your neat armor! An' snack cakes! An'... an' your hat!"

Everyone laughed at the little filly together, breaking a bit of the tension in the gloomy lot. I could see fliers from the Red Rocket Couriers zipping by overhead and watching, along with a few more civilian looking pegasi hovering overhead and totally not looking while they meandered off to do nothing. Everything we had been told seemed true, the funny gang of teens held a lot of sway here. Great...

"Ohmigawd she's too cute! Let's keep her as a mascot Zeke! Just look at dose widdle cheeks!" The bubbly pink pegasus in a bright blue dress under her jacket swooped in and scooped Glitter up, holding her in her lap and squeezing the filly's cheeks teasingly.

Tipping the peaked leather hat to my daughter hovering in front of him, Zeke chortled and settled in on his greasy mane firmly. "This is the Big Daddy hat though short stuff, can't let you have it. Does the pint sized shrewd negotiator have anything to offer? Any reason we should hitch our Highwaymare to your star?"

"Rebels!" Jade spoke up firmly, looking up from working through the back and forth so far now that she found an angle to use, continuing in a breathless rush at Zeke's raised eyebrow. "You say you are rebels? You buck authority? Consider yourselves outsiders?"

"Bingo kittycat, the Arcano-Cats are too cool for school, specially that monstrosity over yonder. Like I said, we'll rebel against whatever you got, dig?" Zeke's firm answer and glare towards University Point didn't look to dissuade her in the slightest, somewhat surprising the buck.

Floating Glitter back down in her magic with a huff, Jade continued primly. "Surely such rebels would be against the ultimate in iron hoofed authority in the Commonwealth then? I cannot see you being fans of the Institute? You are obviously at odds with the Gunners as well, who are a mutual enemy."

"We ain't with the egghead spooks, no. Or those wanna-bes up in squaresville. Little birdies tell us good things about you Princess, but all we want is the open road and sky, a little fun and a little action. Scopes and the keepers in town can see about selling you that dish you want I guess, but we ain't joiners, period." I winced at the finality in Zeke's tone, he didn't like Jade outmaneuvering him in front of his gang and seemed tired of playing with her.

While I was glad to hear we could at least see about buying the wrecked dish, I could tell by Glitter's scowl we were already getting a bad deal. It was junk as far as they were concerned, only valuable because I wanted it... I was getting frustrated at encountering setbacks and apparent failure so soon, so I was glad to hear a rusty old croak of a buck's voice drifting down from the sky.

"He's got a point Princess, Arcano-Cats ain't joiners, that's in the by-laws." The elderly, greying red stallion Burny Jets landed in the middle of us, shaking out his battered old leather vest and chuckling at the awed looks of Zeke's gang as he sidled up to Jade with a grin. "Course that's not to say you can't join them. Then the rules are very clear, a scrap against one is a rumble against all. You bein' a princess and what not, that would mean all your subjects. Howdy again by the way, nice to see a pretty filly like you doing so well since ya told off them noble assholes back in D.C. Miss Jade. I told you they was a nest of snakes."

The whispered murmurs of the Arcano-Cats rose in pitch when Jade lunged into a hug with the funny old buck, squeezing the life out of him in her glee at seeing one of few friendly faces back in Diamond City. "Why yes, yes you did, and you were quite correct Mr. Jets! How wonderful to see you as well! So far from the great green jewel no less, how fortuitous! I imagine I would be well served to heed your advice here as well then?"

"I might know a thing or two, yeah..." Burny chuckled and ruffled Glitter's mane on his way to me next, holding out a hoof in greeting with whispers of 'The Leader of the Flock' spoken in hushed tones by Zeke's crew. "And hello again to you too little filly, Mr. Times, glad to see you're both doing well for an escaped murderer and his pint sized partner in crime."

"Nice to see you too Mr. Jets, I hoped to run into you again, but I thought you'd be in Diamond City."

Burny replied with a derisive snort in reference to his cushy home in the big city, reminding me why I liked him so much on first meeting him. "Pfft! Too crowded and busy with all that 'noble wedding' nonsense, had business down this way anyhoo and heard you folks were in the neighborhood, so thought I'd stretch my wings a bit. I see the griffon and zebra members of your entourage are both alive and well too, you've even managed to add a couple new and very pretty faces. One of your sisters Princess?"

Taking Swan's big hoof in his and kissing it got Swan to snort laughter at the funny old pegasus, nodding cheerily over his exaggerated flirting. "This is a grandpa type pony? Like yours Fast? I like him, he's funny! I'm Swan Mr. Rocket Pony, I like your letter carrying ponies too, they even brought me a letter from Fast once!"

Ending up at Witchy and giving her the same treatment to her bashful squeak, Burny squinted closely at her face a moment, getting a sly and happy look. "And a batpony too! Almost never see living ones out and about, why... been about 20 years for myself, even with them right down the coast! Not to say you all look alike or anything, but you do look a mite familiar, Miss...?"

"H-Hour, umm... W-Witching Hour sir..." Witchy's voice was so quiet and nervous I had to strain to hear her, looking over to the exchange curiously.

Mr. Jet's beaming reaction just confused me more, the old pegasus gave her a warm hug like an old friend, then let the blushing filly go to wheel on Zeke's throne with a satisfied smirk. "Aha! Thought so! See there Junior, even more of a reason to be nice, this here is a legacy member! My, my, my, little Witching... come in, come in all of you, have something you'll want to see especially dearie, but all of you are welcome guests. This way!"

Wilting under Burny's squint, Zeke drummed his hindlegs and crossed his forelegs over his chest, pouting with a petulant whine as Burny turned to trot off happily with Witchy's hoof in his. "Aw c'mon Great Grandpop! I'm the big boss nowadays!"

Glaring back as he led us further out into the skyport facility, Burny whickered impatiently. "And I'm the bigger boss, so shut yer trap Junior. These are my guests, they've put up with enough of your foalishness. Come along and learn something if you want."

Location Discovered: Rocketburg blinked in the corner of my eye as we followed the spry old pegasus across the cracked runway, weaving our way around an impressive obstacle course built behind the Arcano-Cats garage. It had a ground and an aerial course set up in a big loop, full of hurdles, hoops, flame jets and spring loaded traps I gawked at, barely looking up to the floating cloud town that prompted the message.

The fluffy buildings cast a shadow on the ground we wandered under, letting us get a look at all the guide wires holding them together and keeping them from drifting off on the breeze. They were tattered and grey, but still holding their cohesion and clearly lived in by quite a few pegasi settlers.

"So, this is the famous Red Rocket empire you built when exiled from the Grand Pegasus Enclave Mr. Jets? It is very impressive." Jade kept looking up to the buildings, not nearly as impressed as I was with all the old junk and fancy machines here on the ground.

She waved at passing townsfolk with a bright smile, returning to Burny and nodding to the ugly scar in the shape of Rainbow Dash's cutie mark on his flanks he rubbed at absently as he answered. "The Commonwealth was a good place to hide out from those tight assed ninnies back in those days Princess. I'm embarrassed to say I was as bad as these kids back then, loved old world movies, even though watchin' them got me exiled."

"I started all this greaser pony lingo nonsense and the whole rebel lifestyle after leaving the sky, wasn't near so over gettin' booted and branded by the Enclave back then. Most of this came together after they fell though. That Lightbringer chippy created a whole heap of refugees from upstairs, lot of them weren't too welcome for awhile after everything the Enclave did, so we took 'em in and helped show 'em the ropes down here." The old buck held a gentlecoltly hoof out to her and fluttered up to the large offices of the Red Rocket HQ, leading towards the top.

"That was very kind of you, I imagine there were hard feelings on both sides." Jade replied with a light hoof to his back, soothing the gruff tone the old buck spoke about the past in.

"Yeah, well... Got most of my angst and rebellion outta my system when I was Junior's age Princess. Most of these folks were just regular citizens and didn't know nothin'. No reason to take out old hurts on them. I was in a position to help, so I did. Just like I am with you, though I much prefer a pretty Princess to a bunch of stuck up know nothings like those louts were when they came down." Burny ended on a chuckle as he lightly touched down on a junkyard landing pad bolted to the top floor of the building, waggling his bushy brows at Jade to her hearty giggles.

"Can you help us then Mr. Jets? You said something about us joining the Arcano-Cats to get their help?"

Burny trotted down the roughly repaired halls of the offices, giving silent nods to a number of older pegasi and the few other kinds of ponies working here. He ended at an imposing office door bearing his own name in sloppy paint that opened with a key from his old jacket, revealing a wonderland inside that made me gape as he nodded back. "Yup, Junior's right, I don't run the Cats no more, not for a long time. I can tell 'em what I think, but for the help you're looking for, joining up is the way to go. Once you're part of the crew, you always are, the Arcano-Cats will always come to the defense of another Cat. Ain't that right Junior?"

Zeke's whiny reply of, "Yes grandpa..." was mostly ignored by all of us, the private office Burny led us to was much more interesting.

It had the look of a clubhouse of sorts, much like some of the areas around the garage Zeke and his Cats held court. There was a billiard table and jukebox in much better shape, though the old buck's music selection tended toward the smoother and more melodious when he turned the flickering jukebox on. There were lots of tattered Wonderbolt posters on the walls, cushy cloud seating scattered about, along with a buzzing Sparkle Cola and Sunrise Sarsparilla machine both in the corner by a fridge.

Of most interest to all of us was the trophies... By the way Burny fluttered off to sit in the office chair behind his dinged and heavily laden desk, I was guessing this was his little refuge, eager to take the invitation of his waving hoof to look around with the others. While Burny looked to have a lot of interesting bits of burnt armor, robot parts and even monster skulls on the shelves and walls as trophies of his exploits, the real treasures were the suits of custom power armor set up like gleaming statues.

There were about half a dozen on stands around the room, each had a dusty old leather jacket hung on a nameplate nearby, surrounded by faded instant photos in frames. Some of them put the customization of the Cats' suits to shame, brilliantly polished paintjobs in a rainbow of colors, lots of chrome, racing stripes and other ornamentations festooned them all. The streamlined, cherry red Enclave suit standing sentinel behind him was even styled with fins and nosecones, lending the air of a gleaming red rocket to what I guessed was Burny's personal suit.

The skill wasn't just skin deep either, even a cursory look over a banana yellow and black accented T-51 was enough to show how solid the mechanics were. Even the weapons were custom jobs and made Val cluck in appreciation at what looked like a battlesaddle capable of launching railroad spikes.

"Where did you get all this Mr. Jets? It's amazing..."

Laughing at my open drooling, Burny scratched his bristly muzzle with false modesty. "What, these old things? Oh they're just leftovers from old friends, my museum ya know. This place was a Shadowbolt base, they had all kinds of fun toys hidden under the skyport. Took years ta cut through it all and get 'em out, but it gave us the muscle to survive those early years. That's what the Cats was formed for, our first couriers for the Red Rocket service were too tough to mess with. Then when we had more the Cats kept our routes clear, instead of playing around like fools and waiting for enemies to come to them..."

"Haha! You're in trouble!" Glitter giggled at the flinching Zeke, only making his retort more annoyed.

"Everypony knows not to mess with the couriers nowadays grandpa! Doing patrols is boring and... work! We protect our turf and have fun, that's enough for us." Zeke answered with most of his slang abandoned in deference to the old buck.

That wasn't enough to save him from Burny streaking across the room to start whacking him with the pool cue he had been playing with. "No. It's. Not! How many times I gotta tell you, you can't just keep goofing off Junior! You think those Gunners are playing some kinda game with you, but they ain't! They're feelin' you out! We fought off a lot of threats back in my day to build all this, but none of 'em were anything compared to those merc assholes and the Institute hidin' behind 'em. Only way to survive is to work together, so you're giving the Princess a shot dammit!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Quit it! Alright, we'll give her a go, but no rollin' over for the big blue creampie! Lose all my cred if I do, she's gotta get through the initiation like anypony else if she wants to be a Cat!" Zeke retreated across the room in a red blur, hiding behind Jade for protection as she blinked curiously between them.

"Initiation? Witching dear, is that something you know about as well? Please?" Jade tilted her head at the two smaller pegasi chasing each other in circles around her, looking over to Witchy in the corner hopefully.

The thestral mare seemed transfixed by the odd blue-violet and steel half suit in the corner, squeaking when Jade called again and she spun to jabber back an answer. "Oh! Umm... A race I believe your highness. Petitioners must engage in a power armor race. To prove both skill at repairing a suit and piloting it."

"Ugh... I really dislike using power armor... I guess there's a suit at the castle to use, it's an old unicorn suit though, so a ground race is good right?" I answered with a groan as I trotted over to where Witchy was already turning back to the fancy Enclave suit, eyeing the custom job curiously.

"No. Not the Shroud. The Princess is who's wantin' ta join up, she's the one who races." Zeke paused to give a sly answer, though his smirk was smacked off his muzzle as soon as Burny caught up.

"M-Me!? I-I am no power armor pilot or racer! I c-could not! Besides, there is no suit of such armor that would fit me. My Fast is much better at this kind of thing, so if he may take my place as my brave knight we could..." Jade stammered and cringed back to the corner with us, nearly running into the rack holding the weird armor and getting an anxious chirp from Witchy, stopping her before she knocked the armor stand aside.

I kept getting distracted from her distress on getting a better look at what Witchy was so focused on. Underneath was basically another flying Shadowbolt suit of power armor, but the modifications, styling, color... everything about it screamed 'batpony'. The armor plating matched Witchy's own blue steel armor, it was even missing all the pieces she wore like the breastplate, boots and flank plates, while the wing plates were distinctly bat shaped...

"Hmmm... 'fraid so Princess. Everypony knows you've got the Shroud on your side, but if you wanna lead, sometimes you gotta do it from the front. Cats won't respect no prissy Princess what won't get her hooves dirty. Not sayin' you are! Just that this is one of them things you gotta do yourself, outta my hooves. Although I can still meddle and help as much as I want... I'll loan you a suit to fix up, how's that?" Burny smiled and took Jade's hoof in hers, calming her down while joining Witchy and I by the armor.

"Fer free? Wooo.... What we get? What we get? Gimme!" Val pounced to Jade's side and rubbed her claws together in front of the old buck, clutching them in front of his muzzle greedily.

Whatever he was offering didn't look to make his great grandson very happy, Zeke immediately stamped his hooves and shook his head. "Grandpa!! You can't! The A-01 is..."

"Is just rustin' away ta junk with nopony ta fix it, and mine ta loan out if I want anyway! No offense Junior, you and your crew are ace mechanics, but theoretical, unfinished prototypes are a little outta yer league. From what I hear, the Princess' pit crew here just might be up to the task though. It's just a loaner too, if they fix it, we keep it. Dig? Now go get your egghead and take him down to it, beat hooves Junior!"

Zeke stammered and snorted, but sulked out obediently, leaving silence in the room as we all stood behind Witchy peering closely at all the faded photos near the suit of this... 'Peepers' according to the little placard by the abandoned jacket. The fact Witchy knew so much about the Arcano-Cats before we came here, along with Burny's warm reception as a 'legacy member' and his mysterious smile to her now, made the curious itch I felt waiting quietly nearly maddening.

Witchy's voice was tight and cracked a little when she finally spoke, lightly touching the fancy armor's knight styled helmet. "H-He told me it was destroyed..."

"Witching dear? Are you alright? You know this armor? It does look rather similar to your own now that I look at it. Is it..." Jade tilted her head and approached her royal guard, curling a supportive wing over her shaking back and frowning at the tears trembling on Witchy's cheeks.

"Midnight asked me to hold onto it when he went home little Witchy. Said he'd never be able to explain all the modifications to those stiffs back in Dreadnot. He er... hoped to show it to you someday. I'm glad you finally came to see it, though I wish like hell your folks were here too." Burny spoke up with a tired sigh, joining Jade at the thestral's other side and tilting her muzzle up with an affectionate hoof.

With Jade right there to hug the suddenly crying mare, I shifted on my hooves uncomfortably, looking to the framed and faded photo Burny took down to wipe with his wings. He had a misty eyed, nostalgic look holding it up where we could all see, smiling as he continued in a soft croak.

"O-fficiated that shindig myself you know... Even 20 years back I wasn't runnin' things around here, but marryin' folks is one of the perks of bein' the Leader of the Flock around here and this was a special one... Guess you could even call me gramps too if you wanted little Witch, they made me yer godpony when you was born after all. It's... good to see you again sweetheart." Sure enough, there was a handsome thestral stallion and a young beauty of an earth pony mare in the picture Burny held, proudly posing in front of the same suit of batpony power armor with a younger looking Burny between them.

They were all dressed up like the Arcano-Cats, though the mare's dress was fancier than the others and white... while the batpony buck had a clip on bowtie under his leather jacket, while the younger Burny wore a prewar suit under his own jacket. The banner held up by the rowdy crew of past Cats left no doubt, tied to the tail of the power armor along with a lot of tin cans and bottles, reading; 'Just Married'.

While I wanted to be supportive to Witchy, not to mention find out more after learning her parents came from here, were once Arcano-Cats themselves... I wasn't nearly as comforting as Jade was for the poor royal guard, not to mention being a lot more awkward around a crying filly when there wasn't any way I could help. I was surprised and concerned, but forced myself to give her space and left her with Jade, Glitter and Mr. Jets, shooing the others out and leaving them to talk.

Eventually I followed Zeke once he collected his skinny green unicorn friend Scopes and returned, bringing Swan and Val with me to keep them out of trouble and hopefully not too bored. Taking a winding course through the ruined airbase buildings, we wound up at a wall that had been ripped out to clear access to the elevator leading below. The twin symbols for the Ministry of Wartime Technology and the Ministry of Awesome on the sliding doors gave a hint just how secured this path had been originally, the elevator clattered its way down two floors before opening out onto dim steel hallways.

Most of the formerly locked doors passing by had been crudely rewired or torched through over the years, letting us peek in at the leftover scraps of power armor pieces still down here. According to our guides and Burny himself, the old stallion had found all this a few years after being exiled from the sky. A treasure trove that helped him make his mark as one of many bands of adventurers that tried fighting the Institute 50 years ago. When the Night of the Broken Mask ruined any hopes for that, Burny had simply focused on his own little corner of the wasteland, but he had never forgotten.

I guessed that was probably behind his helpful nature where we were concerned, both back in Diamond City and now here. Burny was too old to fight the good fight again, but had been doing what he could to foster others to take up his hopes. The Arcano-Cats were a weird gang, but they knew power armor and how to use it, keeping alive a rare set of skills and acting like wandering knights in this part of the Commonwealth, spreading hope.

Enough years of preparing and the influx of Enclave refugees had bred complacency however. Just from our arrival it was clear the Arcano-Cats were tough, but so far they were all young, idealistic and committed only to guarding the locals for praise and having a good time while doing it.

That attitude was clear enough when Zeke snorted at me pausing to stare into a mostly intact lab, looking over the weird power armor frame still hung from the ceiling and trying to figure out why it only had forelegs, while the hindlegs were part of a long tail of the body. "Hey, pop the clutch buddy, ain't got all day for lollygaggin'. Ain't down here for the old seapony rig."

"Seapony? That's a suit of marine power armor? Neat! Why haven't you done anything with that one?"

"Same reason we ain't messed with the A-01. It's a prototype, not quite ripe yet. Besides, we don't do water races or nothin', so no reason to mess with it." Zeke's dismissive answer and shrug made my eyelid twitch.

"Races!? That's a prototype piece of tech and it's just going to waste down here because you can't RACE IT?"

Reaching the largest door at the end of the long hallway, Zeke leaned against the wall and shook out a cigarette from the pack in his wing, lighting it and blowing a plume of smoke with his answer. "Well, what would you do with it? Paint it black and go scare underwater raiders as the Shrouded Sub? Go looking for legendary Seaquestria?"

Val snickered at Zeke's joke and punched my shoulder. "Don't knock em till ya watched one boss, or joined in. Ain't exactly a lot of entertainment in the wasteland and the Cats put on a good show."

"We do other stuff... The being flashy bit is for street cred too. We have races with those Rust Devil tin cans sometimes for the same reason. It's all about the legend baby, nopony wants to mess with the Cats when we put on a good show to make sure they get why." Zeke shrugged and turned to the green unicorn Scopes working at the door, leaving me to grind my teeth over his casual reply.

Val shoved my hat down with a snort, smirking softly when I looked up from the brim. "Ya know boss, intimidatin' assholes by puttin' on a show? Wearin' costumes and talkin' funny like? Yer right, stupid waste of time, huh buddy?"

"Alright... point taken..." I muttered back and sulked, thinking over her words even though I didn't like them.

She was right, in essence Burny and the Arcano-Cats had done what I did by proclaiming Jade a princess while running around dressed as a comic book character. The outlandish and over the top things stuck with ponies. Who wanted to tell a story around a wasteland campfire about 'generally pretty nice folks who helped out', versus old superheroes or knights in souped up armor saving the day.

Maybe it was just Zeke and the Cats' easygoing attitude that rankled. We were all about the same age and following our ideals, theirs were just largely self absorbed and lazy from what I had seen so far. Not that I was against a good time, but since I left the Stable I had been focused on finding my family, helping Jade, taking care of Glitter and trying to fix things in general. I felt a lot more responsibility than Zeke and his crew seemed to about anything, suddenly making me feel old...

The lab behind the big steel door sliding out of the way lifted my spirits and reignited a bit of my own childish glee however. It was a large space full of fancy equipment, tools and terminals, in the center was a bigger and more complicated power armor workstation, holding together a beautiful bit of armor I ran right for with Swan galloping in at my side.

"Eeeee! A fancy tin can suit for me! I never saw one that would fit before... does it have really awesome guns too? Can I haz it Fast? Oooo! Put those neat horns I tore off that fake yak suit on it for me Fast!" Swan pranced around the suspended suit giddily, standing side by side with it to compare it to herself.

"Whoa! Pump the brakes sweetheart, Grandpa said the blue Princess could borrow it! This is Arcano-Cats property, not a freebie toy to keep!" Zeke yelped trying to cut off the big mare, gulping and backing off when she glared at him for interrupting her fun.

"He's right Swan, this is something special... Sorry, I'll make something out of your horns for you to make up for it though, ok? Just lemme take a look at this thing, maybe you can help test it out while we're fixing it." I whispered quietly trying to soothe her, managing that much before becoming completely consumed by the elegant piece of arcane technology rusting away down here in the dark.

Trotting up to the central workstation in the round room, I did a slow circuit of the armor with her, taking in every detail of the huge suit. Burny was right about that much, looking between a slightly taller Swan and it, I could tell this thing would fit Jade or her alright... Not merely because of the size either, it had both glimmering wings of cobalt blue metal with black, silver and crystalline highlights, along with a hole in the crown shaped helmet for a horn.

It wasn't all put together, I spotted a few more pieces scattered throughout the room in varying stages of completion, but enough was there to figure it out. An alicorn suit of power armor, fit for a princess... The long, somewhat flexible armor plates coming from the flanks even lent it the air of a gown fit for royalty. I'd read of the Institute's contracts to fiddle with power armor back in Fort Haygone and saw a single mention of the A-01 project, but hadn't really thought they'd make the damn thing...

"Pretty sweet huh? We've dug around and figure they were pretty much done, just got hung up on the testing phase. Every few years some wrench jockey like me comes down to play around with it, but without a pilot that can use it, it's a lot of extra trouble than just going with an Enclave or Steel Ranger suit." Zeke's unicorn member Scopes beamed proudly and adjusted his taped together glasses on his muzzle, powering up a few terminals connected to the suit that started providing information I greedily looked over.

"Testing, huh? Ain't never taken this baby up before?" Val poked at the unfinished armor with interest, frowning at the lack of apparent weapons.

In reply, Scopes bucked a whining console into settling out and shrugged with a smile to her. "Well, weren't near as many princesses around way back when, right? Kinda hard to test it out without one of the Goddesses stoppin' on by. They tried with pilots from all three types of ponies and got it mostly worked out, but ain't never run everything at once if you dig it? Ought'a be safe though... I think..."

"Well... Looks like you'll probably get to help test it out with me for sure then Swan. At least I know somepony who has a lot of experience with power armor to help too, just have to get ahold of Summer at the Castle. So umm... one problem at a time I guess. How long do we have to get ready anyway Zeke?"

Having done what his great grandfather ordered, Zeke was already on his way back out, turning back from the door and rolling his eyes. "As long as you need I guess, since Grandpa likes you so much. Normally it would be till the end of the week, we do our big races on the weekends for all the folks in Rocketburg and nearby."

"Alright... The end of the week it is then. I'm sure a few days will be plenty of time to finish and test a prototype piece of arcane technology before sending my pregnant wife out in it... No pressure..."

Since we were originally here to try to win hearts and minds, rather than somehow enter into an insane power armor race, I went through the extra trouble of moving the A-01 and all the gear for it up to the Arcano-Cats garages on the surface, rather than staying in the old Shadowbolt bunkers.

The Cats had plenty of excellent tools to work with and were willing to share space, the process of building a rig to race being part of the application apparently. Once we had a space set up and started going over what we had, I saw the reason for it as individual members would stop by and make suggestions, making me warm up to the strange group. They were a little immature, but they definitely knew their business, teaching me quite a few things about power armor in just a few short exchanges.

Working outside also let the members of our own group wander around and get to know the locals, discretely asking around about University Point and this area of the Commonwealth. Jade took Glitter and a red-eyed, sniffling, but somewhat better looking Witchy up to the cloud town of Rocketburg to introduce herself and make inroads with the small pegasus community. Val ended up taking a bored Swan out touring the obstacle course and other remaining flight training grounds still on the military base with that crazed gleam in her eye, making me shudder at whatever training she was cooking up, while Zed poked around unobtrusively on the grounded portions of the town and the Red Rocket HQ.

Since everyone else was working hard gathering information, I did what I could on that front too while I tinkered. Scopes was a useful font of information once he got talking, he was slow to start and focused on the tech in front of his glasses with a reverence I felt too, but once he got going he said all kinds of interesting things.

The unicorn buck was from University Point itself, the son of a teacher there and grandson of one of the Board of Education. All that pressure to live up to had nearly been too much for him and the freedom of the Cats had opened up his world, putting aside scholarly pursuits to come down here with the 'pegasi punks', much to the chagrin of his family. He offered a unique perspective on the town I listened to attentively, not liking everything I heard.

According to not only Scopes, but the other Cats who wandered by as well, U.P. was not quite the utopia for the enlightened they liked to present. Supporting their eggheaded pursuits took a lot of less skilled labor, just as important as any fancy magic or tech they came up with, but not treated the same. Most of their food came from a place across the bay called Warhorse Homestead for example, a family farm that was used as a test bed for the earth pony agriculture University Point taught. The farmers there were paid, but just enough to get by, taxed for protection from U.P. and for student labor to the point where they were basically beholden to the school town.

Jade, Glitter and Witchy all landed outside just as the lilac earth pony mare named Rowdy was bitterly complaining on the subject, being a former farm hoof and resident there when she was a foal. "Weirdest thing was, the big daddy on the farm Mr. Warhorse never seemed that put out by it, dig? His wife and foals would wag their jaws about the deal, but he always sounded like it was peachy keen."

"The farm across the way there? D-Do thou know much about it Rowdy?" Witchy's hesitant squeak got me to crawl out from under the suspended power armor chassis, noting how curious she seemed about the place.

Jade lightly touched her back in support, giving her a reassuring nod as she spoke. "Ah, yes... We hoped to go visit that farm, anything you could tell us about it would be most helpful Miss Rowdy. Are there many extended families living there over multiple generations?"

Glitter dashed over and landed on my chest before I sat all the way up while Rowdy thought, knocking me back under the huge armor and peering up into the exposed innards as she nuzzled happily, whispering in my ear. "Witchy's family daddy... Her mommy came from that farm place."

When I pushed my way back up and hugged the foal, I was pretty sure her attempt at discretion was appreciated, but ineffective. Witchy's fluffy ears flicked our way and back sharply, her purple mane she hid behind not quite masking her light blush of embarrassment, though she looked up sharply when Rowdy answered the question.

"If I'm pickin' up what you're layin' down Princess, then not many no. The Warhorse's don't go nowhere, but they take in and put out workers as they need 'em. Not so much a town as it is a place to make some caps and catch some Zs for a stretch at a time. Still, they got it a helluva lot better than places like the Whinny Quarries nowadays." Rowdy's reply prompted 'Map Updated' to blink in my vision again.

The new map marker to the south was too close to the larger marker for the town Whinny for comfort, giving me a good idea what she meant before I followed up. "Let me guess... the Gunners?"

"Bingo daddy-o. One reason I'm sure I was right leaving Nowheresville once they took over Whinny. The change in management ain't bothered all the high rollers back home one bit, long as they keep getting their gems." Scopes pulled his head out of a toolbox and scowled in reply, the mention of gems catching even more of my attention.

"Gems? They mine gems there? Like... how many?"

"More than before those military goons took over and started using slave labor to haul em out, that's a fact. U.P. don't care as long as the prices don't change though, all part of 'remaining neutral' blah, blah, blah..." Scopes grumbled back, his angsty tone matching the other cases he had spoken about his hometown.

A source for the gems I needed for Vigil's teleporter was good, but a source I could steal from the Gunners was even better... I only caught myself selfishly focusing on getting what I wanted while making them suffer when Jade gasped, her priorities better centered than the quiet murmur of 'Be Dark...' cajoling me from its sleep in the day.

"Slavery!? T-That is horrible! How could the learned ponies of University Point consort with those who would do such a thing! Continue buying their wares as if nothing was wrong!?" The rare bit of anger in Jade's voice made that angry hiss in my head rise in volume, eager to go do something about it.

"Like Scopes said Princess, Nowheresville don't care how they get the gems they need, long as they get em. They go through a lot too. Was some talk about a rumble when the Gunners took over, worrying about supply and what not. When the green meanies didn't change the prices or terms though, the eggheads suddenly didn't have a problem no more." Rowdy shrugged with a dismissive snort, a look of admiration on her face at Jade's tantrum that was carefully masked.

"Well, we'll see about visiting down that way soon... In the meantime let's focus on nicer ponies around here hon. How's Rocketburg? Did they seem friendly?"

Distracting her helped Jade put aside the clear fury simmering beneath the surface of her blue eyes, shaking her head before sighing and nodding back. "They were, yes Fast. A tad nervous having one of my kind visit after a wing of my sisters showed up some time ago on their hunt for you... but very pleasant. Many were former members of the Arcano-Cats themselves in their youth, while nearly all the foals eagerly look forward to the day they may join your ranks Miss Rowdy. Your gang of knights errant and all of Mr. Jets' work acclimating them to the surface has left them a vibrant and healthy community. T-They are already discussing this ...race... with much anticipation..."

Rowdy laughed heartily at Jade cringing towards the end, giving the big alicorn a friendly shove and smile on her way to a nearby workbench. "Aw, don't sound so yellow Princess, half of bein' in the Cats is all attitude! Gotta be cool and confident! Hey, since you were sayin' you wanna go peep out the Warhorse place, how about you stretch them wings and do me a favor while you're at it? Got this part for their water pump the eggheads ain't bothered to fix for em. Havin' you wing it over to em won't ruin or rep and make us look too much like a charity, dig? Been buggin' Zeke or Roxie to zip it over for a few days already."

Taking in the way Witchy's amber eyes widened hopefully as Jade took the well repaired part from Rowdy, I nudged Glitter up and dusted myself off, floating my armor from the hook on the wall and donning my hat. "That sounds like a great idea actually, gives us a reason to show up and go nosing around, huh hon? There's a couple other places I need to look over too, so we can take a little trip and I'll make sure this pump of theirs is installed right. I'll take Swan with me when we're done there, so we can just teleport back later."

Jade's eyes narrowed for a moment and she tilted her head down at me, sharp enough to catch when I was up to something, but unable to find anything wrong with what I said in this case. She still squinted at my unsteady smile as I fought my wings into my coat, finally sighing with a roll of her eyes and helping me with the uncooperative appendages.

"Very well, so long as you do not push too far Fast... One day of rest is not enough considering the punishment you put your body through. The only thing about this impending race I am happy about is seeing you stop and focus on fixing things again, rather than finding new ways to get hurt. Let us collect the others and make our way there Witching, perhaps we will get lucky and find somepony to help you as well, hmm?" Jade's expression brightened and she trotted out, a beaming and grateful batpony royal guard right on her tail.

If Witchy had roots there, that was one more very good reason to go to the farm and I hoped to find out more myself. As interested as I was in helping the thestral filly though, I had other questions where her people and the other players around here were concerned. Questions I didn't neccessarily want either Jade, Glitter or Witchy herself around for. Taking Swan and Val out for a little snooping was bound to come with less constraints.

Jade might always know when I was up to something, but at least she trusted me to go get into trouble sometimes... The fact she and I could communicate that faith and concern for each other silently made me feel better, even with my darker nature trying to tempt me.

Slavery, gangs like the Rust Devils having free reign, the Gunners on their doorstep without any violence from either side... University Point and this entire area was looking more and more suspect. The kind of answers I needed weren't for a Princess like Jade to dirty her hooves with.

Before we left his domain to explore the area nearby, Burny had one more surprise waiting out on the tarmac of the airfield for our trip. The thestral suit of power armor that belonged to Witchy's father was out of his office and waiting, idly polished by the old buck who waved it to Witchy with a proud grin.

Zeke nearly threw a fit as Burny dragged the surprised batpony over to it, complaining about giving away armor left and right. In this case however, Burny didn't even try to assuage him by saying it was a loaner, instead smacking him upside the head with his hoof and snorting. "Hush up! My museum pieces ain't yours and this one belongs with the filly. Just been holding onto all this time dearie, in you go now, give it a whirl and tell me all about it when you get back, eh?"

I wanted to give Witchy her space and let her discuss both the unique armor and her mother's origins at the farm we were going when she felt like sharing, but I couldn't resist creeping closer as Burny convinced her to step into the armor frame. It was very similar to the insectile black suits of the Enclave I was used to, but different enough to be fascinating. Witchy didn't even have to discard her normal heavy steel armor, it meshed with the gaps in the ancient styled suit perfectly, folding around her and connecting to the pieces she wore seamlessly, like they were made for each other.

After giving gratuitous thanks and blasting off with an overly speedy takeoff, Witchy flew in the lead, occasionally over correcting or lurching as she got used to the armor aiding her flight. Not that I knew anything about the pegasi version of power armor our how to fly in it, but general knowledge of the advanced systems gave me an excuse to stay close and try to help, diagnosing anything that may be wrong with it after sitting in storage for a long time.

The helmet wasn't a bug eyed or steel faced design like other power armor at least, styled more like an ancient suit of Luna's guard, leaving her fluffy ears free and her face visible with the old style visor tilted up. I was glad for those stylistic difference since it let me see her pensive look and darting glances my way as I tried to keep up, filling the silence while she thought with technical jargon.

"It seems like Mr. Jets took good care of that suit anyway Witchy. It sounds like the flight systems are a little out of alignment, but that kind of thing can only be kept up on with regular use I guess. I've never seen a model quite like that one before, how do you like it?"

Banking back and forth with a soft smile, Witchy recognized all the unspoken questions I was holding back on and gave a conflicted sigh. "Tis very nice Fast, thank you. It's called a Knightmare power armor, though I'm not surprised even thou don't know of it. E-Exclusive to the Lunar Guard and not many were ever made..."

"Oh? So it's not just a normal one the Cats fixed up to look like that? That is pretty awesome then Witchy, er... always like learning about new arcano-tech and all... Soooo, do the ponies back in Dreadnot have more of them? You umm... you were saying this one was your dad's?"

Looking back to Jade flying sedately behind us and waving encouragingly with Glitter on her back, Witchy flushed and nodded, pulling a little further ahead of the others and clearly grateful for the privacy and support of her chosen Princess. "T-They have a few back home, yes Fast. Not many though... I... I thought this suit was lost actually... It was my father's, yes..."

Watching her fidget in midair and absently flagging every whine of the armor following her movements, I felt stumped on how to respond. She looked worried and confused, a vulnerable gleam in her wide amber eyes that deepened the longer I just glided along with a stupid look on my face, finally prompting me to blurt something out just to reassure her.

"I guess it's sorta yours then? Isn't it? How'd he get it? And your mom came from this farm too? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I mean we're in your neck of the woods now after all. I umm... s-sorry I never asked too much about your family before Witchy. A-After some of the stuff you said about Dreadnot and you being sworn to secrecy, I figured you'd say if you wanted to... but I should have asked anyway. Sorry... is it anything you can talk about? Or er... want to?"

The sword bladed tail of Witchy's suit swung happily as she perked up, forcing me to dodge back as she gasped and apologized, answering in a somewhat better tone. "I don't mind Fast, tis not a secret I must keep really. It's more... s-shame... or it had been for a long time, now I'm not sure what to think."

"Shame? Is this more about how all those jerks back home treated you Witchy? I swear I'm gonna..."

Interrupting my growl towards the wrecked ship down the southern coast behind us, Witchy reached out with an armored hoof and turned my chin back to her with a grateful smile, shaking her head softly. "A bit yes Fast, but thanks to the Princess and yourself I think I am finally beginning to see past the things I was told to believe blindly. My father was sent out on a mission many years ago in this armor, though he always said it was wrecked and lost. It was one of the few such occasions my people ventured out from their fortress. He told me of his adventure many times, how he met the Arcano-Cats himself and my mother... How they fell in love and I was born... I always enjoyed his stories, tis how I know the Cats' unique manner of speech. Though the others back in Dreadnot viewed his exploits as a mark of dishonor."

"What? Why? He went out when they're all scared to, right? Whatever they wanted him to do, I bet he was the same as you and really brave and honorable. What the hell was their problem with him? Is it more about your mom being an earth pony again?"

I still didn't like that ingrained flinch when I mentioned her mother not being a batpony too, but defending her father as vehemently as I would her looked to help her push it aside. "Partially, yes... Not that they ever met her. My father... after coming out here, he began questioning Dreadnot and our isolation. At first he was stuck and couldn't return, then he went on adventures, made friends, met my mother... He decided he wished to stay out here with her, rather than return and face their recriminations over marrying an outsider."

"So, ummm... what happened? Why would he go back? Take you there to be... be treated like..."

While I started quietly and with concern, every time I thought of how Witchy was treated by her own people a hard edge crept into my voice again. This time it was too closely related to her father though and I caught myself when a sad look crossed her pretty features, clamping down my twitching fangs with a click and waiting hopefully.

"My mother died shortly after I was born Fast. Without her... the outside world wasn't a place he wanted to stay anymore, it all just reminded him of her. He was very sad, but a good father. Dreadnot was a safe place to raise me and he had to do so alone, so he returned home. As descendants of Luna's guard, they couldn't refuse either of us. He tried to protect me from their prejudices and change things from the inside, but he died in an accident when I was still young... so I... made the best of things." Witchy's slitted eyes watered, wiped dry forcefully to focus on the ugly ruins coming up on the shore ahead.

"Oh... I'm really sorry Witchy, he sounds like he loved you a lot. Er... I dunno if it helps or not, but we all love you too. I'm glad you ended up following in his hoofsteps and came out here, became part of our f-family..."

I knew I was making a mess of trying to be comforting, stammering and muttering in the attempt. Witchy had no problem hearing over the wind however, she blinked at me shuffling and tucking my hat low under her surprised and warm look. When she slammed into me and grabbed me in a crushing, power armor assisted midair hug, I yelped and wheezed under the whining servos in her forelegs ratcheting up to excruciating and heading towards lethal.

Thankfully Jade had been unobtrusively listening from behind, catching up and gently pulling me free to Witchy's squeak realizing she was even stronger than normal while wearing her father's armor. "Fast is very right Witching dear. We are all glad to have you as part of this family. With luck perhaps we will find a link to your mother's family as well at the farm below, but even if we do not, you will always have one here."

Glitter cheered giddily from her mother's back in support, beaming at the crimson batpony. "Right Witchy! You're super awesome so I'm happy you gots adopted like I did! All those meanie batponies can just suck it!"

Blushing furiously at the blue alicorn leaning close enough to nuzzle her unarmored cheek after admonishing Glitter for her language, Witchy chirped and lurched in the air in happiness, the armor augmenting her fluttering wings and lighthearted movements. When she settled back into formation for the descent towards the muddy, seaside farm below, she looked much happier and at more at ease. We followed her teary gaze back at everyone else, finding Val, Zed and Swan all nodding their agreement.

"T-Thank you your highness! Fast! E-Everyone... I am very happy as well! For such a long time, I was taught what he did was a dishonor. I even began to think they were right and he was wrong, that he allowed himself to be corrupted by the outside, that I deserved... e-everything, because I was a reminder of his failure... Every time they looked at me, e-every time I saw myself in a mirror, I saw that dishonor and shame... T-To think I even set out to prove myself to Dreadnot and not repeat his mistakes, only to do exactly as he did and finally see why he did so! You are all w-wonderful friends, a wonderful f-family... When I return to Dreadnot, my mission will be complete and I will put it behind me once and for all." Witchy chirped and looped around us, her voice finally rising to her normal squeaky and cheery level as she put some of her sadness behind her.

Making sure I kept up a wide and supportive smile along with all our other friends, I masked the worrisome whispers of 'Be Dark...' making its unwelcome contributions to my thoughts. It was bad enough how the thestrals of Dreadnot had abused Witchy, somehow even worse after seeing her parents wedding photo and the life she might have led out here instead, but that suspicious, angry voice had a nose for foul deeds and planted a very unpleasant thought on hearing more from my batpony friend.

Witchy's life in Dreadnot probably wouldn't have been as bad if she had her father around at least, but her mention of him dying in an 'accident' when she was young stuck in my craw. Maybe it was just unreasonable bias against ponies I'd never met personally, but I somehow doubted it. For once I was willing to listen to that shadowy grumble and added new questions to the long list of things I had to say to the rulers of Dreadnot.

"Ewwwww... this place stinks Daddy..."

Glitter's appraisal of Warhorse Homestead when we touched down to the muddy shore stuck with me, even after we got used to the smell and the little filly wandered off with Jade and Witchy to ask questions.

It was a small farm built in the ruins of an Aegean Waste Management Industries sewage treatment plant by the rusty signs still hanging near the entrance, thus the actual stink that made me curse my heightened alicorn sense of smell. Not exactly pleasant, but good for the crops so pretty smart actually. Even with the stench of 200 year old shit fouling the air however, more about this place didn't smell right that I thought on as I installed the repaired water pump in the old greywater reservoir.

Beyond the four members of the Warhorse family we met on making an entrance by landing in the middle of the farm, there were about half a dozen farmhooves working in the fields. Plus another half a dozen earth pony 'students' of University Point's agricultural courses and their instructor Mr. String Bean, an older, lanky earth pony who seemed gruff and not nearly as interested in a visiting Princess as his students.

A quick look over the seaside farm was enough to both rouse suspicion and add to the unease I had been feeling about this whole area of the Commonwealth. Sludge Barrel and too many of the new settlers back at Redheart had been thin and malnourished, just like our flock of young griffons from Magpie Roost, making me think food must just be much harder to grow on the coast or under the hoof of the Gunners in general. Flying over the lush crops growing here put that theory to bed however. Even knowing they supplied most of the food for the big town of U.P., there should still be surplus based on just what had yet to be harvested this late in the year.

Not that I was an earth pony farming expert or anything. It really could be the sewage soaked soil, or the seeds, or the expertise of University Point like the family patriarch Roper Warhorse proudly explained as he gave us the gushing tour. I hadn't seen plant life growing so big and healthy outside of the Institute mutated specimens closer to the Flutter Forest though, a fact the paranoid little pony in my head kept pointing out.

I was glad Zed was able to communicate his agreement so well with just a raised eyebrow and jerk of his muzzle, slipping off to go investigate while the rest of us made our introductions. Zed had spent a lot of time with the Flora-Tribe breezies and their gardens back at the Ministry of Peace, making him our expert on the subject. I'd trust whatever he came back to report after pulling his ninja-zebra act and snooping, letting him work in the shadows while we kept the attention on ourselves.

Beyond the amazing crops, the pink mote of 'Awareness!' kept piping up too, cheerily adding to my unease. The Warhorse family was pleasant enough, though Mr. Warhorse seemed slightly off in his proud good humor, especially compared to the rest of his family and the other residents. None of them were unfriendly really, but his family had a habit of nervous laughter in response to us showing up and asking questions, while the workers and students kept their heads down and mouths shut.

Normally a visit from the famous Princess of Sanctuary inspired a more positive reaction, especially from the poor and downtrodden like the workers. While Jade still got a lot of awed looks and starstruck questions, many muttered about not getting involved in 'politics' when she tried to ask for a local perspective on things like University Point, the Gunners and the Arcano-Cats.

Since Jade was mainly focused on helping Witchy however, she paid little mind to the pensive looks and shifting glances I caught. With her rightly concentrating on asking around about the batpony's maternal family, that left me to work on prying information out of Mr. Warhorse's wife June, a practical pale tan mare with a vibrant orange mane and kind yellow eyes, currently trotting back from the family's living quarters in the offices of the complex with a delicious smelling bundle balanced on her back.

Anything other than the stink in the air everypony kept assuring us 'you get used to' was a welcome breath of fresh air, getting me to pull my head out from the pumping station equipment and sniff in her direction curiously. "Almost done Mrs. Warhorse, that smells great!"

The older mare gave a pleased nicker at the compliment, sitting behind me and peering over my shoulder in the small shed. "Thank you Mr. Times, my famous Mutfruit pie is usually a hit. I know those Arcano-Cats like it and it's the least I can do for all their help. You make sure they share with you and that cute filly of yours for doing this little chore now. I would'a made more if I knew they'd rope you folks into it."

"I'm pretty sure Glitter would find a way to get her hooves on a piece no matter what ma'am, but thanks a lot, I'm sure she'll be thrilled. So, the Cats do this kinda thing for you folks a lot? I would think University Point would handle fixes like this instead."

There was a momentary flicker of annoyance that crossed Mrs. Warhorse's face at my probing question, giving a huff and rolling her eyes as she responded. "If it ain't needed to supply their food, those eggheads don't do nothin' for free. Those kids across the bay act like a bunch of selfish layabouts, but they're actually very sweet. A little too concerned about their image, but they're always doing things like this for us."

"They are... a little strange, yeah. I'm glad to hear they're actually so generous, though is the school really that selfish? You sound like you don't care for them too much..."

Another one of those darting glances came when I tried asking about University Point, in this case however, between Val and Swan being bored and lazing around outside the door, there wasn't much chance of June being overheard and she actually answered. "Don't let my husband know, but no... I don't rightly like most of those smarty-pants ponies and their nosing around here. Acting like they own the family farm, instead of just being pushy customers."

"Pushy?"

I tried to keep my voice light and unconcerned, flicking my ear behind me as she sighed and bit her lip. "Roper won't hear anything bad about U.P. Mr. Times, but between them and those kids, I'd take the kids any day. They send their snobby professor out here to tell us how to do our business, force their students to work here and claim that should give them a discount that cuts right to the bone, that Roper happily agreed to I might add... They supply the seeds every season and insist we only use them, which we kinda have to since the pest control potions and plant food they brew up kills any other plants. I mean... the stuff does work, but it all means more discounts. The way those math whizzes figure things, we're lucky we don't end up owing them caps by harvest, and that's only with practically everything going to them. So we don't get ahead and a lot of ponies in these parts go hungry, while that school lives high on the hog..."

Tightening down the last bolts to the water pump, I turned to take in June's frowning face. She sounded like she had things she wanted to get off her chest, getting caught up in her complaining just as soon as somepony gave her a little nudge and listened. Looking back to my curious expression, she seemed to realize she had gone on a rant and over-corrected, stammering in embarrassment tinged with just a glimmer of fear in her eyes.

"Oh! Oh, excuse me Mr. Times, didn't mean to talk your ear off. Roper always says I shouldn't be ungrateful. We do live a comfortable life after all, our foals are safe and fed, raiders don't dare come this way for the most part and monsters are few and far between. I just... remember when things were different around these parts, wish we could do more... Hearing about your Princess out there on the radio got me thinking about looking out for each other, being better and what not. I'm sure Roper and those smart ponies at the school have good reasons... I must sound like such a nag." Mrs. Warhorse gave a nervous laugh and unconvincing smile, shuffling to herself under my serious and interested stare.

Giving the water pump housing a buck to bring it chugging to life eased her anxiety a bit at least, letting me give a bow with my hat to my chest at her clapping hooves and more genuine grin. "No reason to apologize ma'am, I asked didn't I? I'm sure Jade would be really proud to know she's making ponies think, which is never a bad thing. Definitely not something folks should stop doing just because they think other ponies are smarter. You sound pretty damn sharp to me and I'm glad somepony around here is willing to give their unvarnished opinion."

June smiled warmly with a blushing whinny, waving her hoof at my bow. "Aren't you a flatterer Mr. Times. I bet that silver tongue helped woo the Princess!"

"Silver? More like lead ma'am, I'm not sure how I wound up with somepony as wonderful as Jade with the way I usually trip all over it. I just hope we have a marriage as strong as yours. Just out of curiosity, you said things used to be different around here, when did it change? We're trying to make friends and allies in the area, so anything I can learn from such a smart mare would probably help a lot."

June walked back out of the pump house and past Val's protective guard at the doors, looking up to the two large processing tanks to either side and the dribbling leaks springing from the pipes running to the fields and the stone complex. She got that uncertain look again when I spoke about her seemingly happy family, glancing over to Glitter playing with her two foals. The colt Wooly Warhorse was almost my daughter's age, while her filly Janey was a few years older.

Her gaze lingered on her grinning husband guiding Jade and Witchy around and a shadow of doubt flickered in her eyes, quickly shook off when she answered with a shrug. "When that Lightbringer filly opened the sky I s'pose Mr. Times, though pretty much everything changed for everypony then of course. With regular sunshine, we started being able to grow a lot more food. Then those University Point ponies started comin' around and expanding. Though I guess things really took a bad turn when the Gunners took Whinny, lot of folks nervous since then..."

"Hmm... But they haven't attacked University Point or your farm, have they? Any idea why that is?"

"Guess they don't wanna mess with U.P. Mr. Times. They might be stuck up and annoying, but they are pretty powerful and we do supply their food. I might gripe about that arrangement, but I ain't too upset about us being under their protection with those goons around. Of course after they took over Whinny Quarries I started worrying again. Those eggheads figure the gems they mine are just as important as the food we grow, but weren't all that put out when the Gunners took over there. Those folks used to be like neighbors, now they're slaves, just like that... I was very sorry to have to point the Princess and her batpony friend that way I'll tell you." June gave it some thought and answered, ending on a tired sigh and sad look following Jade, Witchy and her husband.

"You did? You knew something about Witchy's mom or her family Mrs. Warhorse?"

She cheered only slightly at the subject, nodding and giving a conflicted smile. "I remember Amethyst Shard, yes Mr. Times. Amy was my age, she worked here a few years when we were both teens and my pa ran the place. We got into all kinds of trouble together before she joined the Cats and tried to keep in touch, one reason I still have a good relationship with those kids. It was so nice seeing her filly and how much she looks like her mother... I felt just awful telling her any family she might have was probably under the hoof of those Gunners in the Quarries.... Amy talked about a sister she always squabbled with, but if she's alive, she's most likely a slave now."

'Slavery... Let me...'

I winced at the stab of pain between my eyes, shaking it off under Mrs. Warhorse's worried look and trying to reassure her. "That is bad ma'am... but at least it's something. Witchy didn't know anything about her mom, so even bad news is news anyway. Thanks for telling her what you could, I bet she'd really like hearing any happy stories you have before we go. We'll just have to see if we can't do anything about those Gunners and the ponies they're using like that. Neither my wife or I exactly approve of slavery or the Gunners anyway."

"Neither do we Mr. Times, glad to hear it. I only hope the Princess and you folks can do something about it, those Gunners are a menace and getting worse. I thank the Goddesses for the Cats just across the bay keepin' them busy and away from us. The Princess' Minutemares up the coast in the castle probably make them think twice too, so I also thank you folks." Mrs. Warhorse nattered worriedly in reply, darting her golden eyes between the visible monuments of University Point to the west, Rocketburg across the water to the southeast and the unseen fortress of Whinny beyond the dark shadow of Dreadnot to the south, then Castle Equinox to the north, showing how in the middle of things they were here.

That explained some of her anxiety when I realized she and her family really were at the mercy of bigger powers around them, but not all of it. The Gunners weren't shy about attacking the Arcano-Cats and Burny's pegasi settlement, but for some reason had left University Point and their holdings alone. Considering the neutral town stood between Castle Equinox and the Gunners base in Whinny, that behavior was pretty suspicious.

Puzzling over all the pieces of information about the area we had learned so far, I nearly missed Mrs. Warhorse waving goodbye as she trotted out to corral the muddy foals. I returned the gesture with a guilty smile, sitting at the edge of the cracked concrete walkways surrounding the waste treatment plant when she left and tapping my chin in thought.

"All done boss? When we gettin' goin'? You said ya wanna go paint the town with me and big stuff? What're we doin'? Please tell me it involves a lil' action, me and Swanny both are gettin' bored..." Val padded up beside me and popped open a beer, slugging it back and asking in hopeful drawl.

"Probably Val, don't worry, I promise we'll find something for you to shoot soon. In the meantime, I need your advice Miss Captain of the Guard and royal military adviser. Would the Gunners really leave University Point alone because they're neutral?"

Val's dismissive snort was enough of an answer to the mostly rhetorical question, though she did puff up her feathers with pride on using the titles she had claimed for herself and elaborated. "Pfft! No boss. Neutral just means weak ta them assholes. They'll roll right over those eggheads ta get to us if they want."

Swan landing beside me and leaning down to nuzzle distracted me from the expected answer, picking up on the tail end of the conversation. "What about those Gunner ponies? Are there some coming? I'm booooooored Fast!"

I gave her a kiss on her nose that made her nicker happily, scratching my chin in thought and realizing it was getting a little bristly. "Apparently not Swan, that's just what I was thinking about. If the Gunners aren't behaving themselves out of respect for U.P.'s neutrality, then why are they Val? Why only attack the Arcano-Cats?"

Val squelched through the mud at my side when I got up to walk and talk, scratching her plumage as she made an educated guess. "They was sendin' crews out ta go after all that power armor and hardware since my day, but never could crack that nut. Course they didn't have Institute help back then. If'n they worked a deal with U.P., then the Cats would be the only speedbump in the neighborhood. "

The former Gunner mercenary's opinion fell in line with my own thoughts, making me gnash my fangs as we trotted through the fields to find Jade as the sun set to the west. The Gunners had been expanding this way for awhile, growing stronger and bolder by the day, but had yet to bring the hammer down on University Point.

Meanwhile the fairly powerful community didn't seem all that bothered by an army gathering on their doorstep, even engaging in trade with a settlement they had enslaved without any compunctions. That alone was enough to make that angry mutter in my head start focusing on our upcoming meeting with the Board of Education, thinking of all the things I wanted to yell in their faces, before driving a hoof through them.

"We'll add the quarries to the list of places to go snoop around once Jade gets going then Val... Maybe we'll pay them a visit, ask some questions for Witchy..."

Val grinned at the growl in my voice, checking her weapons eagerly as we walked through the fields. "Awwwright! 'Bout time we wrecked some more of their shit boss. Was hopin' you wantin' ta sneak off without Blue meant a little of the ol' ultra violence!"

Swan's ears perked up at the covert conversation, bouncing along and burbling happily. "Smashing! Yay!! Finally! Will there be lots? Will they have more of those stupid tanks or verti-thingys Fast? What's a quarry anyway? Can we go now? Let's tell sister to go already so we can have fun! I wanna..."

A gunshot echoing down the shore interrupted her, instantly blowing away my brooding thoughts as I lurched up in the air, looking around for both where it came from and where Jade was. The realization they were in the same direction sent me soaring that way in a panic, flying over the heads of the farm workers running away from the commotion.

There was still a small crowd where I crashed to a landing in front of Jade, joining Witchy trying to guard her from the muddy brown stallion holding a shaking shotgun in his mouth. At least the weapon wasn't pointed at the kind Princess holding her hooves up for peace, but she was trying to defuse the situation by getting between the pony I recognized as the farm forebuck Till Soil I briefly met and a nervous looking Mr. Warhorse.

"Calm down sir... it is alright, there is no need for violence..." Jade spoke soothingly, hiding her clear anxiety and momentary look of relief when I stumbled to a halt at her hooves with Val and Swan right behind me.

Mr. Soil looked strangely happy to see me too, especially odd as I immediately drew Vengeance and aimed it at him as the only pony with a gun. His voice still sounded a little manic and understandably concerned at all the firepower aimed his way between me, Val, Witchy and Swan pawing the muddy ground with her horn glowing. He kept his double barreled shotgun aimed at Mr. Warhorse however, trying to circle around Jade to get a clear shot.

Taking in the frightened looks of Mrs. Warhorse shielding her terrified foals and Glitter from the crazed buck, I was glad his attention immediately focused on me. With Jade right here softly calling for peace, I had to fight back the growling urge to simply blow his brains out however, joining her efforts with the quiet whisper of 'Be Kind...' helping keep it in check.

"Easy... Just take it easy buddy, nopony needs to get hurt here. Listen to the nice Princess and put the gun down, now..."

Till Soil's dark green eyes were hard dots, flicking between me and the cringing Mr. Warhorse and blazing in response. "There you are! The real Roper is already dead! This ...thing... ain't him! It's a fuckin' synth! the Shroud hates these things, right!? Been biding my time, but with you here I can finally call the bastard out!"

My instantly suspicious glance at Mr. Warhorse found nothing but fear on the buck's face, though I couldn't distinguish between a synth spy afraid of being found out, or an innocent pony with a shotgun aimed at his head. The closer Jade inched towards the cringing stallion to protect him, the louder the rising snarl of 'Be Dark...' howled to just shoot the frantic Mr. Soil though, whatever the case.

"W-We talked about this Till! He's not a synth! H-He just changed a little, just like everypony around here! Stepping up to run this place better and provide for all of us isn't proof of anything but being a good husband and father! Please... don't do this!" Mrs. Warhorse wailed, waving Glitter and her own children back with her tail as she pleaded with the forebuck.

I wasn't the only one to catch the waver of uncertainty in her defense though, Till's shotgun remained trained on Mr. Warhorse as his crazed eyes flicked between his wife and I. "You know it's true June! If I could prove it I would'a handled it before now, but can't pass up the chance with the Shroud here. Y-You can tell, right? That thing isn't my friend! I know it!"

Jade raised her wing to block Mr. Warhorse from view when she sidled her way in front of him, speaking softly with a sad shake of her head. "I am afraid you overestimate our abilities sir. There is no reliable way to tell if somepony is a synth Mr. Soil... Not without killing them anyway, which is not a step to take without more concrete evidence. I do not know why you are convinced Mr. Warhorse is one, though I am quite willing to hear you out if you like. Please lower your weapon and we may discuss it. You are scaring the children..."

At the kind princess' urging, Mr. Soil wavered and looked to Glitter and the Warhorse children peeking from behind their mother. Their wide eyed fear staring back finally made his shotgun dip down and tremble, the older buck turning a pained look to Jade. "I... I didn't mean to... I was so sure you folks could tell, prove I was right... But I... I'm sorr...."

Just when it looked like Jade had talked him down, everything went to hell in the blink of an eye. A bright pink beam of magical energy weaponry zapped out from the small crowd keeping their distance, the poorly aimed shot scorching Till's tail. In response he flinched, his yelp of pain and jerk of his head setting off the shotgun in his mouth.

Jade hadn't raised her shield, trying to calm the situation and soothe the crazed buck by not pulling out fancy magic that might set him off. As a result, she was right in the line of fire and unprotected... Witchy was right at her side and moved fast, diving in front of her and taking most of the buckshot harmlessly pinging off her fancy power armor. She couldn't take it all however, Jade threw her foreleg up to cry for peace and the shapely limb was peppered by the blast, the flash of her bright red blood on the blue limb drove a blinding spike of pain between my eyes as I saw red.

Shaking off the furious roar in my head that surged forward, I turned my head with a stiff creak, finding the smoking barrel of Vengeance still floating in my magic. Following where it pointed, I watched Till Soil fall to the shit soaked ground in slow motion with a large, round hole in his neck, the silence broken when the gleaming revolver fell from my grip and the shouting started.

I didn't mean to, I never moved to pull the trigger... The satisfied nicker of 'Be Dark...' retreating to its prison now that the threat to Jade was gone did. Mr. Soil wasn't a raider or a Gunner, just a frightened pony looking for help, and I ...killed him...

Turning to Jade with my mouth hanging open, I wilted under the sad, disappointed look I found staring back in the instant before she limped forward, that haunting expression wiped away by serious professionalism. Her horn blazed and medical supplies started flying from her packs, frantically working on stabilizing the gurgling buck I cringed away from. My relief he was still alive and worry if he'd stay that way drowned out by self recrimination.

Witchy was already worriedly trying to tend Jade's leg, a painful and bloody looking wound, but not life threatening or even a big deal for the brilliant healer. If she wasn't furiously trying to save Till, she could heal it easily, making me feel even worse for the lethal response it earned. One look at Glitter's shocked little face creeping out with the other kids doubled the misery I felt. She looked confused instead of mirroring the horrible disappointment of her mother she galloped towards, and scared... of me...?

Mrs. Warhorse ran to her husband with her two foals right behind her, the family coming together in a relieved, teary embrace. Val holstered her 12mm pistol and gave me a disinterested shrug, pushing the interested Swan back with her horn still glowing with an attack she didn't get to launch, while Zed's penetrating grey gaze caught mine and he gave a curt nod.

I could tell they all had mixed feelings over what I had done, but at least none of my friends looked as horrified as Jade had looked and I still felt. The annoyingly untouched grumble of the shadowy Shroud in my head deciding to be chatty wasn't helping either, forcing me to hold my aching head in my hooves as I argued with it.

'Protect... Princess... Hurt her... die...'

It was an accident! You stupid, insane voice! He was afraid! He got surprised, he didn't mean to hurt her! If that stupid fuck hadn't shot him then...

My heart was pounding and I was trembling on my hooves, my breathing growing ragged as I started getting dizzy and panicky. The faces of the crowd coming closer swam in my vision, finally focusing on the light green face of the older stallion with the magical energy weapon being tucked away under his tattered black robes. The mortar board cocked on his wispy grey mane shadowing his cold brown eyes enough to easily identify him as the professor from University Point.

He gave me and the schizophrenic voice in my head something to focus on though. All the shame and fear I felt crystallized into blazing anger and I launched myself at him, flying over the crowd between us and tackling the older buck to the ground. I snarled around my lengthening fangs and surrendered myself to that angry voice still lurking in my head, bloodying his muzzle with my hooves.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?! He was listening!! He was going to stop! It was under control and you... you fucked it all up! You stupid bastard! WHY!?!" You... you..."

"FAST! STOP!" Jade's pained cry made it through the red rage I felt, her pale blue magic surrounding me and dragging me off the Professor and to her side.

She had to restrain me from charging right back at him as he got back to his hooves and spit out a copious amount of blood, sneering at me around a broken nose. "I saw a shod ad took it, he bas crazy and so are you! You shod him too!"

Panting back at the angry stallion, I didn't have an answer to that. His stupidity may have set everything in motion, but he was right. I shot him without hesitation, without even intending to. Meaning I probably was crazy too... My mouth worked and nothing but strangled noises came out, I shot him... I might have killed him...

"D-Daddy? Are you ok?"

Glitter's anxious little nuzzle at my neck broke me out of the horrible thoughts, giving me a warm, worried little rock to cling to in the form of my loving daughter. She didn't understand what had happened, but had no problem grasping the pain I felt, returning the desperate hug I squeezed her in.

We both looked up at Jade's stern orders, spotting the gauze she pressed to her patient's neck quickly turning red under her injured hoof. If he was still pumping blood out, he was still alive... Jade sounded determined to keep him that way too, shouting to the Warhorse family and nearby lookie-loos. "He can be moved now and we must do so. Mrs. Warhorse, I must request the cleanest cloth and water you can spare, he needs a bed and will need somepony to donate blood, quickly! Fast, I must have light to work by, please help ensure it is adequate. Zed! Witching! I would appreciate your assistance with the surgery. Let us hurry!"

Even with as panicked and terrible I felt, I admired Jade's ability to take command and remain calm. Her skills as a healer with the Followers the same ones that made her such a wonderful Princess. Mr. Soil may have just been threatening to kill the patriarch of the farm, but the Warhorses and everypony else nearby immediately followed her lead, galloping for the sewage treatment plant with her patient hovering in a field of her telekinesis holding him aloft.

The speed at which the residents of Warhorse Homestead recovered from all the excitement was disturbing... By the time the moon was rising in the night sky, everything was back to normal. Actually they seemed cheery and held a minor celebration I fled from, flying up to the high roofs and smokestacks of the treatment plant to hide. I felt bad enough as it was, without so many of the farm ponies clapping my back or shaking my hoof as some kind of hero for shooting one of their friends.

Mr. Soil would live... I stuck around long enough to be sure of that. It was a close call requiring a lot of skilled spells and surgery from Jade, along with a blood donation from June Warhorse herself, but I didn't kill him. Hiding out here alone gave me plenty of time to think on how close I came to doing so however.

The petulant grumble of the dark voice that pulled the trigger didn't seem to understand why I was so upset, matching the reaction of my more violent friends like Val and Swan, along with a good number of the farm ponies below my perch. I could hear them talking about the confrontation from here, already twisting the story around to just another tale of the Shrouded Stallion's heroic exploits. Knowing it would probably spread and mutate further just made me sick to my stomach.

Despite what the loyal griffon taking advantage of free celebratory drinks or confused purple mare trotting around looking for me below thought, hurting Mr. Soil was different than the hordes of nameless raiders, gangsters and Gunners I had grown so comfortable slaughtering. He was an innocent... or closer to one anyway. He was afraid of the Institute and their synths, totally convinced his friend Mr. Warhorse had been replaced and living with that fear and anger for years in silence. Then I came along and he thought the famous hero of the Commonwealth could do something about it. He believed in us, in me... and I shot him for it.

Worse yet, the more I thought on it and the few clues we managed to find, the more I suspected Till might have been right...

Zed's explorations of the fields and botanical education thanks to the Flora-Tribe of breezies, turned up mutated crops similar to those spreading from the Flutter Forest. I didn't have his knowledge of plants and he admitted it may be the work of the earth pony agricultural department of University Point, that the shooty stallion Professor String Bean who I had pummeled was head of, but Zed put his caps on more advanced genetic meddling than the ponies of U.P. were probably capable of.

The trigger happy teacher was another suspicious aspect of the whole fiasco himself. He and his students had boarded a rickety looking old tour boat and rowed across the bay towards University Point after things died down. The old buck still complaining loudly about his nose and promising problems when we met with the rest of the Board of Education there.

The more I thought on his hasty actions here however, the less I cared and the more I wondered about how such a smarty-pants pony could be so stupid. Either the elderly stallion really was a moron as well as a bad shot, or he wanted Mr. Soil dead and intentionally ruined Jade's succeeding attempt to calm him down. But why?

Focusing on my paranoid doubts and questions was only a poor distraction however. Right or wrong, I shot him. As soon as he hurt Jade, intentionally or not, I saw red and shot him...

Before the thought started really obsessively chasing itself in my mind, a flying tackle by a squealing little filly knocked me across the cracked roof, away from the literal and figurative edge. Glitter's warm, unreserved, earth pony strength hug was one of the few things that could get through the depression and shame threatening to overwhelm me, happily nuzzling and babbling as she sat on my chest in her victorious pin.

"Daddy! There you are, I knew you'd be hidin' somewheres high up, so you could be all mopey and perch like in your comics! You should come down, Mrs. Warhorse made dinner for us and it was really yummy, even the yucky veggies. Here, I saved you some, did you know you could make pies for dinner!?" Glitter beamed and dug a hankerchief wrapped bundle from her little backpack, pushing the savory smelling package to my muzzle with an amazed expression, wriggling to my side to let me sit up and unwrap it.

"A pot pie, yes Glitter. Thanks sweetie, it looks really good. If you like it, maybe I'll ask Mrs. Warhorse for the recipe, umm... not that any of us can cook it, but I'm trying to learn. Anything to get you to eat a little healthier... So, is... is everything ok down there?"

Wiggling her way against my side and under my wing, Glitter set to unwrapping a Fancy Buck snack cake for dessert and nodded reassuringly, mumbling around a mouthful of the carroty treat. "Ya-huh! Mr. Soil's gonna be fine, mommy wants auntie Swan to teleport her back to Redheart an' all the Followers there with him, but she won't go nowhere till she finds you, so I got sent out on a mission! I knew I'd win, I know where you like ta hide when you feel sad. Umm... a-are you still sad daddy? Everything's ok now..."

Ruffling her mane as I munched on a bite of the smashed but still delicious take out she brought me, I sighed and tried to put on a smile, though lying to my daughter was as difficult as lying to Jade. "I'm always less sad with you nearby sweetie, but yeah... a little bit. I messed up and I feel bad about it, I'm just glad Mr. Soil's alright."

"But it was an accident daddy! You didn't mean to hurt him, just like he didn't mean to hurt mommy, right? You never get mad at me when I have an accident. Everypony makes mistakes, nopony's perfect. That's what you tell me." Glitter's confused and concerned pink eyes blinked up at me, fidgeting anxiously in her attempt to console me.

That made me feel a little worse and I managed a more genuine smile back, kids weren't supposed to worry about making their upset parents feel better, it was supposed to be the other way around. At least it was only concern over what she viewed as an innocent screw up. I was willing to be honest with Jade and our friends, but had kept any talk about her father potentially being insane from the earnest little filly and planned to keep it that way.

"It was an... accident, yeah sweetie. Having an accident with guns is a little different than making a mess or breaking something though. I really screwed up today..."

I worried a little at her dismissive shrug, concerned at how desensitized to violence wandering around with me was making her. "Most everypony down there doesn't think so dad. Mr. Soil was nice when he was showin' us around, but he started it, he wanted to hurt Mr. Warhorse, he hurt mommy... I'm glad he's ok too, but if he wasn't it would be his fault, not yours. Woolly and Janey were happy an' made me promise ta say thanks for them even! They said their daddy acted a little funny sometimes, but even if he really was a synth, he's a good dad an' they love him like I love you! They was scared for him, but we saved him and did good! S-So... so don't be sad daddy."

Hearing her relieved giggles at being squeezed in a grateful hug and given a sloppy kiss to her forehead helped me stop moping. The bright laughter that made the giddy whisper of 'Awareness!' resonate pushed away the clouds hanging over my head and filled me with hope. I tossed the cheery foal up in my hooves and caught her, holding her up and giving a determined nod back.

"Right. I'll try baby, ok? You're a smart filly sweetie, thanks for cheering me up. I'm lucky to have such a wonderful daughter and thank the goddesses for you every day. Let's go back down and find your mom so we can go and make sure Mr. Soil is taken care of, clean up my mess. Actually, how'd you get up here to begin with? We're pretty high up here, I thought I was being sneaky and safe from anybody finding me."

Glitter's brilliant smile stretched wide at the praise and thanks, giving a whinny of happiness as we stood and I straightened my hat, looking down over the edge of the roof and back to her curiously. Her pink eyes sparkled as she answered, pointing a hoof to the smokestack over my shoulder. "I told you daddy, I know where you like to hide! I wish I could just fly up here myself... but Witchy brought me when I asked! She was worried too, see?"

My ears flicked at the high pitched squeak from the tall perch behind us, looking up to find Witchy peeking up from the top sheepishly. "Sorry! I didn't mean to lurk and eavesdrop Fast... I-I was merely waiting in case she required a ride back down..."

I felt my face heat up as the batpony fluttered down to join us, feeling somewhat assuaged at being taken by surprise when she landed and I saw she wasn't wearing her father's power armor at the moment. Watching her scuff the roof with her hooves in embarrassment helped put my own aside with a crooked grin, shrugging to her gratefully.

"It's ok Witchy, thanks for helping her come get my head straight. I can handle taking her back down. Is uh.... is Jade mad?"

The forceful shake of her rosy face was comforting, the royal guard immediately encouraging and unbothered by what happened. "Oh, no! Not at all Fast! Er... p-perhaps a bit upset and worried... Thine insightful daughter is correct though, thou have little to be ashamed of. T'was an accident, the Princess understands that. I nearly did the same when he attacked her, thou merely beat me to it."

Glitter hopped on my back and we glided back down together, the filly instantly jumping down when we touched the ground and galloping off to find Jade and report her success. Ignoring the whispers of the gossiping farm ponies still milling around, I took advantage of the moment alone with Witchy, putting a grateful hoof to her shoulder and bowing my head.

"You jumped right in to protect her though Witchy, that's more important than shooting the threat. Thank you... I'm glad you're there for Jade and care about her so much, and that you had your dad's armor so you weren't hurt either. It's sorta like he was there to protect both of you, huh?"

Witchy's slitted amber eyes shimmered before she closed them in a smile and nodded, walking along with me towards the light and noise spilling out of the old treatment plant. "Y-Yes! It was, wasn't it? I have learned a lot about him and my mother today, but that much I never had any doubt of. My father always tried to protect me, it... it makes me happy to think he still is."

I paused at the door and turned back when I realized Witchy had stopped, quickly trotting back and prancing in place anxiously on seeing the tears glistening on her cheeks. "S-Sorry! Shit! P-Please don't cry Witchy, I didn't mean to..."

My jabbering over making the thestral mare cry was hushed when she lunged into a hug, burrowing into my mane to wipe her tears and chirping softly. "Tis a-alright Fast, these are m-mostly happy tears. It's been some time since I thought of him, a-after all the things the ponies back home said... I'm ashamed I let them get to me and make me doubt him, even for an instant. I-I'm also very happy to have found a new family with all of you. I am sure he would approve, e-especially of a noble and kind stallion like you, so do not doubt yourself so much. As young Glitter said, everypony makes mistakes, I shall try to forgive mine if thou does the same."

After the trying day Witchy had, I felt a little ashamed of sulking to myself when she had been holding herself together so well. The tears soaking my mane were clear evidence of just how much she had been holding back. All I could really do for her was be here to cling to for a moment, stroking her back and cooing into her fluffy ears, trying to be comforting and ignoring the frisky growl waking up and making my wings twitch.

"Deal Witchy... Umm... I'm sorry we didn't find out much about your mom or her family, but I'll do whatever I can to help. I promise."

Witchy finally pulled away from the embrace, wiping her eyes and giving me a penetrating stare. "I do not doubt it Fast, thank you. I... I couldn't help overhearing you speaking to Valkyrie earlier, er... I tend to wind up eavesdropping whether I wish to or not..."

I had to laugh at her cute ears tilting and turning in multiple directions like little radar dishes, eventually laying back as she gave a helpless shrug. After having my own hearing cranked up to levels not that far behind hers, I could sympathize with overhearing things normal ponies thought private and gave her a supportive nudge to continue.

"A-Anyway, thou plans to go to the Whinny Quarries with her and Swan, do you not? I know you are trying to keep it from the Princess and I... but the Gunners are keeping slaves there, which upsets her highness greatly. They have the gems you need for your teleporter thing you told me of too..."

I flinched at Jade's royal guard already figuring out my plans for a little nighttime raid in the Gunners territory, sighing in defeat and nodding. "Your mom had a sister there too, right? Mrs. Warhorse told me, so that was one more reason to pay them a visit. I umm... I didn't want to get your hopes up... W-We were just gonna scout around a little, that's all! I wasn't trying to lie to Jade, I just..."

"I wish to go too." Witchy pressed a hoof to my lips to stop my jabbering, giving me a determined look as she kept going in a rush. "I must tell the Princess, but once she is safely in Redheart and able to tend to her patient, I would ask you take me as well. If thou are truly scouting then I am able to listen to thine enemies and sound out their position and numbers. If thou are plotting to do more... I do have my father's armor..."

Looking into her pretty, hopeful gaze, I couldn't really refuse. There were things I wanted out of Whinny Quarries, not to mention the desire to put the rising growl of 'Be Dark...' to better use than shooting innocent ponies. If it wouldn't shut up, it may as well be aimed at Gunners who deserved it and be useful. Witchy had a personal reason to be involved though, she had always been giving with going along on all my personal vendettas and adventures, it was only fair I repay her.

"Alright Witchy, if it's ok with Jade then you're with our little strike force. Er... just don't call it that in front of her. Scouting mission, right?"

Trotting at my side wearing a secretive smile with her pretty fangs, Witchy bobbed her head happily as we entered the warmth and light of the Warhorse home. "Y-Yes. A scouting mission it is Fast, nothing more..."

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

Power Armor Training (Rank 1)-------------
---Just a little time with the Arcano-Cats has taught you the basics of power armor. They might be pretty user friendly, but knowing what you're doing makes a big difference! You are now able to move 20% faster while wearing any suit of power armor, using 10% less power while doing so and gaining 10% accuracy with any attached weapon systems.