Since Luna was viewed in a more positive light in Vanhoover compared to the rest of Equestria there were no tales of Nightmare Moon coming to take ill behaving foals away. No Nightmare Night, no evil ruler of the night. Yet there was a mare of darkness, a mare so terrifying and so evil that adults shuddered at her name. Even the most resolute of ponies knew better to mock her. For the Undying Sorceress is eternal, and her thirst for souls is never ending. The exact identity of this mare of legend was unclear. In some stories she is an unicorn, in others an alicorn. Back before the war many claimed that she was Celestia herself, deposing her sister in her mad desire for power and majesty. According to my mother she was once a beloved princess who ruled over her people with fairness and justice, until the day she wove a mighty spell. Every one of her subjects fell dead, and she rose above all mortals in power and glory. Whether she was maddened by the transformation or if she had always been twisted was unclear.

I had put little stock in the legends, I was foolish as always. The black mare before me was no ghoul, she was far to beautiful and far far too alien. Her coat wasn't just black, it absorbed the light around it, giving her royal blue dress the appearance of a dark foreboding sea. Her mane glimmered faintly with a blue light, not entirely unlike Starlight's spectacular appearance, and her eyes... They reminded me more of the arcano-alchemical light of our sentinel robots back at the stable than the eyes of a pony. Scratch that, they reminded me of the eyes I had seen within the forest. Then I noticed the tear shaped gem hanging in a necklace, slowly pulsating with the same sapphire glow. This, I knew, was a mare worthy of the legends I had grown up with and I suddenly feared for my very soul.

"When you are done gawking like a group of foals, we have business to discuss."

The ominous mare stated in an irritated voice. I realized that my two companions were both attempting to hide behind me, clearly terrified. The griffins in the room looked skeptically at us, one of them even rolling their eyes. OK, we were clearly embarrassing us.

"Business, business is good. What are we talking about? Salvage? Courier work? Armed Escort?"

Trying to sound more confident than I was. Still, business is better than a firing squad. Business, I can work with. Soul eating monster mare or not.

"Courier work, or head hunting if you prefer the term. One of my citizens recently decided to take a gamble when she was visiting the Black Hoof saloon. A gamble that unfortunately will cost her."

OK, this sounded like a few steps above our pay grade. But then again, working for the administrator of Flood Town is a decent opportunity.

"More specifically she stole an artifact from miss Pear, and these griffins have been hired by her to bring it back. Our culprit ran off straight south into the Wyldwood, which is a problem."

I really didn't like the sound of this, at all.

"And we come into the picture how? Sure we can handle ourselves, but we aren't exactly wasteland survivalists."

More like wandering toaster repair ponies to be honest. We really needed a second gunner in our team now that I think of it.

"That part we are responsible for, one of our best scouts will act as a guide. The griffins will act as the armed escort, whilst you will be responsible for tracking the culprit in question. I assume you are aware of something called a T.A.G.?"

She lifted an eyebrow in a curious look.

"Wait, she has a pipbuck? Huh, well yeah. If you have the T.A.G. we can track her, and I dare say I can fight for the three of us if need be. "

So she didn't need us specifically, she needed someone with a pipbuck. Big trek into a forest filled with predators and ghosts...

"We could use some extra supplies, including whatever you use against the ghosts. And what's the pay?"

She chuckled, hopefully a good sign.

"Lieutenant Morning Dew will arrange for the supplies and how to handle any danger, she has traveled through the forest alone several times. As for monetary compensation, I assume 400 bits would be enough? Not counting the free supplies and whatever miss Pear might decide to offer."

I blinked at that. Some mares got money to throw around evidently. And risking ones life could be very profitable.

"DEAL!"

"Good, do you want the bits now or sent to the Institute in case neither of you makes it back?"

Violette decided to state her opposition to the job very loudly, on the whole elevator ride down. To the griffins great amusement. None the less she stuck with the group and demanded to handle the healing potions and anti toxins we were handed. Comments lack of weaponry from the griffins was met with a fierce glare before their leader was satisfied. Then we discussed fighting styles and party roles whilst we stocked up on ammo and food. The white griffin by the name of Snow Wing that was the spokesgriffin of the group decided to take charge, presumably from a sense of experience and seniority.

"So we have our medic and scout then. Gondul is the best sharpshooter amongst our Talons, whilst Gyda prefers close quarters." The rifle made out of reddish brown wood and black steel suggested that Gondul was the grey and crimson one, whilst the grey and beige one held a large bored shotgun. "Whilst I am the captain of the Snow Talons and if I might suggest it, should handle the plans if we run into any threats that need to be neutralized."

Must say, it will be a nice change of pace to have extra guns on my side.

Not to mention, wings! Wait, she was looking expectantly at me.

"Oh right, I'm a brawler. And dare I say, pretty darn good at it. Amber here is my back up, you should see what he can do with that beam pistol of his."

"Energy weapons, great... Good thing Gilheim isn't here."

And that is apparently how a griffin facehooves. Facetalons? Facepalms? Equine terminology can be quite limited at times.

"Actually, magical weapons might be useful. It scares the ghosts and we don't have a unicorn in our hunting party."

The grey and green earth pony mare told us.

"With a little bit of luck we won't have to deal with the critters in there, ghosts however I can almost guarantee."

Snow Wings shared look with me and then vocalized my thoughts.

"Ghosts... I have seen my share of weird crap in the wasteland. But what exactly are these 'ghosts', how are they dangerous and how do we deal with them?"

Of all reactions, Morning decided to shrug. Not exactly inspiring.

"Like I said, ghosts. black pony spirits that show up out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. As for what they do, they eat your soul. Not all in one bite, just a little nibble most of the time. Painful and freaky as hell, but usually not lethal. As for what to do, travel in groups if possible. They prefer loners, and if they do show up you can scare them off. Not with bullets though, magic however..."

One loud groan from Violette later.

"IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY! Souls. Do. Not. Work. That. Way. Magic doesn't work that way! Is everyone around here either a killer or an idiot, or both??"

"Ayep, pretty much."

Stated the griffin I assumed to be Gyda.

The good news is that we had a plan, the bad news is that it was a plan that was pretty stupid. Even by my standards, which is saying something (just ask Violette about that part). According to Morning Dew the thief we were hunting was doing the sensible thing and following the road south from the lumber camps, which meant that we would be doing the same thing. Whilst most of the monsters stayed away from the road... the reason to why this was the case is that it was prime haunting territory. Which freaked me out a fair bit, and even unnerved the winged mercenaries.

In due time we would find some cottage deep in the woods that was supposedly safe, and where we would stay the night. Then we would continue and depending on the direction we would either go off east to some old camping lodge or go the whole way to the southern end. If, and I mean a big IF, we were lucky then we wouldn't have to go into the deeper parts of the forest. Fortunately, our guide claimed to know where the dragon lived, the serpents and the really big haunting spots. Unfortunately however, she didn't seem to take the whole venture all that seriously. First example:

"OK, I got to ask. Why do you have a crow roosting on your head??"

"Hm? You never seen a guard crow before? Don't you have them back at the institute?"

"... WHAT? Seriously, what??"

There is something seriously wrong with the ponies in Flood Town, they are all weird and potentially crazy. Only explanation. And why was she looking me like I was stupid? She literally rolled her eyes at me!

"Look, between raiders critters and ghosts there is always something dangerous to look out for. So we have crows to help us look out, they are smart, small and generally helpful. I would never travel through the woods without him, little Soot has saved my life on several occasions."

In case anyone wondered why I love wings this is where I made a double facehoof and kept flying forwards. As on cue the bird started making noise, and the whole party started freaking out. Have you ever seen battle hardened griffins freaking out? They would have burned down the whole forest if they could, fortunately they couldn't (Or perhaps unfortunately). Then we saw the figure, a few meters to the side, sitting underneath a particularly ominous tree. This particular ghost pony was definitely different from the one we faced before. The one we found at the old villa gave off an feeling of hatred and hunger. This one... in comparison it seemed to be mildly irritated and confused at our presence. The tension was killing me, so time to do something stupid.

"Wait, what... windstriker?!"

Violette shouted at me as I did possibly the most sensibly stupid thing in my life. I flew up to the pony shape until I could almost reach it, a mare by the looks of it.

"Heya, I'm windstriker. Who're you?"

I half expected some nightmarish attack, like it spawning tentacles or something. Instead it turned its head, looking curiously at me (which was extra ordinarily creepy as it had no face, not to mention eyes!) before it vanished in thin air. OK, that was anti climactic.

"Eh, this one seems friendly enough. How many of these things are there?"

I asked as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Dunno, a few dozen? A hundred? Never seen more than a few at a time, they seem to have their preferred places. Most of them are like this one, I think? Monsters dislike them either way, like really dislike them!"

Snow flew up, with a cigar in in her beak.

"And that is the reason we are on the road. So they are mostly a creepy annoyance then? Can we safely ignore them as long as they don't attack us first?"

She eyed me for a moment before giving a short approving nod. Is every ferocious lady griffin out there trying to gain my attention, or is that just how they act?

Then the rain started, and night soon followed. And I really began regretting my decision to take this job, The forest during the day was a creepy forest filled with monsters and strange pony ghosts. The forest during the night was a waking nightmare. Sure, we still didn't really run into the wildlife. But we heard them, the serpent trashing in the swamp, the timber wolf howling and I could swear that I saw at least one dragon watching us in the distance. All this was at least somewhat natural and explainable, the nigh constant whispers however weren't. We couldn't really place their direction or source, as if they were carried on the soft wind. I tried figuring out any words in the whispers, and failing terribly. It was definitely not equish, and it wasn't high zebrecian... ancient zebrecian? No idea, I can't speak it.

Wait, where did everyone go?!

Oh damn, how the hell did I lose track of everyone? I was traveling at the front! Fuck the darkness, fuck the rain, fuck the whispers!! E.F.S activate! And it is empty, not a bar anywhere. No red, no white, nothing. HOW??
I can't have gone that far from anyone. Then my head began numbing, bit by bit. I shook my head, trying to clear it and think. Then the noise began fading off, and I realized that the light from my pipbuck was messy. They were was a gap right in front of me, roundish. No, not round... more the shape of a pony head. Well fuck, full panic mode. The adrenaline kicked in, waking up brain and muscles whilst whatever creepy magic was trying to knock me out. Awake enough to do something. Run? Sensible, but buck that. Instead I decided to tackle the intangible being before me, rushing headlong into a tree.

"OK, wide awake now..."

Where the hell did it go? Right, teleportishy thingy.

"First question, how do I get back to the rest?"

Then I realized that I could still see the T.A.G. in the corner of my vision, and if that worked...

Jackpot! I swapped T.A.G.s

"Now to get through the forest itself. Cheating time!"

And I swooped up through the tree tops and flew way faster than ground travel. At least 20% faster I think, that is how percentages work right? A few minutes later I saw the T.A.G. flew past me, so I turned around, circled a bit and dove down. And landed outside a cottage of some sort, old by the looks of it. With a fire burning and several pony and griffin shapes within. And a black void next to me, in the shape of a large hound.

"WHAT NOW??"

I half shouted to it in exhausted frustration and anger.

And then it was gone, of course it was.

Warmth, light and fellow people made out of actual flesh and blood. One of the griffins opened the door, didn't really care which one.

"DON'T. ASK."

To my relief the heavily armed featherbrains respected my request, not my companions however.

"Windstriker, you are the only the individual in all of Equestria who can travel right in front a group and then somehow still get lost and disappear from the rest of us."

I gave Amber an angry glare yet he ignored me.

"I'd even go as far as saying that is physically impossible. Unless there are some weird sorcery going on, wait! There is! And you decided to go poke it in the face."

"... Are you done?"

I asked in a very frustrated tone.

"No. First I need to remind you that you would never had run into the issue if you didn't decide to accept a contract way above our abilities, in the most dangerous place in the whole of Vanhoover. A place where all you know is stuff I had told you before hand, you know the buck you didn't consult before accepting the contract?!"

He stopped to breathe for a few moments.

"Ok, I'm done."

One loud sigh from me later I had to ask.

"So what is this place then?"

I took in the room, it was cozy, cluttered and just a bit creepy (which unfortunately right now counted as an improvement). The cottage had a low roof, and every wall, every corner, and even parts of the roof was filled with... stuff. Books, brooms, pots, bottles, ammo, guns, bits. Yet I got distinct feeling that there was some form of system to the chaos in that place.

Our guide decided to explain that.

"Short answer, shelter. Long story, read the letter on the desk. Who knows how it remained in a pristine in condition for all this time."

The what now? I tried getting my bearings. the building was in a short L shape, by the smell of cooking the kitchen was to the left and I found the office/library/living room to the right. There were quite a lot of books, a respectable desk with a heavy chair that looked expensive enough. And candles all around lighting it up, in a library (were these books magic too?). There was a white envelope lying in the middle of the dark wooden desk in stark contrast, the letter itself was indeed exquisite in quality.

Dear Traveler.

As I write this it has been 19 years since Canterlot fell, and now with Vanhoover the last remnant of the old Kingdom is finally on its last breath. For the first time in ages I see snow outside of my windows, turns out the legends of the windigos are true. I have had to bury my trusted guard dog, old Fenris... After all these years I am growing tired, and will most likely be gone when spring arrives. If it arrives at all. Regardless, I am certain that ponykind will survive and as such I dedicate my legacy to give you a sense of safety, serenity and perhaps even more. In case you happen to be a zebra or otherwise, worry not. You are just as welcome. None of the old revenants can touch you in here, and Fenris will keep the wild beasts far away. I suspect that this cottage of mine will not serve as a permanent homestead. Never mind that, in case you are just after a short shelter for the night, feel free to stay here and take what you need. But no more, and please leave something for future travelers. Please, be safe and do better than the ponies of my time.

Sincerily
Helia Van Hoof

What the? Never mind how short that letter was, it barely explained anything. Hold on, a Van Hoof? Weren't they wiped out, apart from Amethyst? And he killed himself. So who was this Helia and what did she call the things outside, revenants? Wait, was the ghost dog thingy hers? Well at least that explains something, right? Then my stomach growled, so food it was.

And so I entered the kitchen and was welcomed by the smell of popped corn, I lifted my eyebrow at Gyda. And received an odd answer in an odder accent.

"Gout a hunch I might need it, and no. You can't have them, talon privilege."

"Ooooh kay.."

Seeing as no one else had prepared any food for me I started frying up some of my supplies, hot food is a heaven sent around Vanhoover. Despite my exhaustion and recent experience with evil pony magics I was in a good mood when the lead griffin sat down at the table and poured a glass of whiskey.

"So, Windstriker was it? You're native right?"

Then she took a single piece of corn from Gyda's bowl and flinged it into her beak.

"That is a stable barding but from what I hear your tribe has been out in the wasteland for decades."

"Huh? Yeah, you could say that. I mean, our stable is northeast of Black Hoof so technically it is outside the region. But anything north or east is just wilderness and various raider groups. Why?"

The white griffin took a dramatic sip.

"Vanhoover is new to us, and I heard some interesting rumors. Then I thought it could be interesting to hear a local perspective on them, to see what's normal around here and what is just tall tales. Pun, not intended."

I sat down with the two griffins and had to admit, this sounded like a fun discussion.

"OK, I'm game. What rumors are we talking about? And before you ask, no we don't breed changelings back at the Institute. Seriously, why would anyone even do that?"

Both of them blinked for a moment.

"Not heard that one before... Anyways. First one is about this pony princess that showed up out of nowhere and is now a major power player in the region. That old castle of hers used to be a slaver fortress not all that long ago, and the word is that she basically took it on all alone. And let me tell you, as a veteran, that is something that just doesn't happen."

I scratched my chin with my hoof for a moment.

"You know, never thought much about that. I have heard the slaver story but that was just old history. She is pretty popular all around from what I hear, the radios, the caravans..."

I thought of August Wind.

"Even the tribals from outside the region seems to like her."

"See, that is just the thing. Nobody seems to care as to the how or the why. One day there is a slave lord, the next there is a benevolent princess promising civilization and the sun."

Snow Wing snapped her talons in a freaky fashion.

"This whole thing stinks, big time."

She leaned in closer.

"So I did a bit of digging, talking with the old caravaners, couriers, miss Pear and so on. And the story gets even more suspicious."

"Go on..."

My ears perked with curiosity, and not just because of my princess obsession. I knew there was something strange going on around here!

"You know the big mercenary group in Black Hoof? The 'Daughters of Luna', all in pre war combat armour, with really fancy standardized weaponry and even fancier magical gear? A whole company of them, armed to the teeth and bad ass enough to give the steel rangers a pause? Turns out, they didn't exist a decade and a half ago. Then a certain mare approached the caravans, offering protection. She got permanent contracts with several of them, and in a few years a bunch of rag tag raiders turned into the fiercest sellswords of the region."

She held up a talon, took a sip and waited for me to process the words.

"So I got drinking with one of them, and get this. Starlight not only organized the whole thing. She paid for it. All of it, from her own pocket."

I saw the point. There was being competent, talented even. And then there was whatever this was. Things didn't add up, these were accomplishments that a pony might succeed at in their lifetime if they were one of the things.

"I know she is faking some things, but..."

Thinking back to the things I had seen, heard and adding them together.

"Whatever she is doing, it is following some form of plan. It..."

I thought back at our first contract.

"She hired us to find a raider camp, and when we gave her the coordinates she bombarded it with artillery. Despite having plenty of soldiers to spare by the looks of it. Who does that??"

A smirk.

"Exactly, you are the first one I have found that thinks it is odd. Now, one might wonder where she gets the money for all this? Turns out she used to be a courier, took the most dangerous missions, saved the caps and kept doing it for over a decade. This part of the story is my favourite part, back in the day. Like years before you were even born by the looks of it, she had a bounty on her head. A big one, but the bounty hunters stayed clear of her. One even killed the buck who put up the bounty instead."

She poked my nose with a sharp talon as she continued.

"Now the final bit of juicy stuff I heard from Miss pear's own mouth. She remembers when the supposed princess first showed up in her saloon. Over thirty years ago."

"Uh... what?! I have seen her, she isn't a day over..."

I tried remember her appearance without blushing and realized that I wasn't sure.

"Hold on, just how old is she?"

My brain began working into overdrive.

"And she has been doing all this, for what? To become the princess of Vanhoover?"

"You're with me thus far, good."

She held up a talon, beginning to count something..

"First she shows up and picks a downright suicidal career, survives for decades and saves up money. Let me remind you that a typical courier spends all of their caps on alcohol, ammunition and whatever vice they prefer"

She raised up a second talon.

"Secondly, she uses her massive wealth to fund a private army and get the caravans to work with her specifically. Then she gets thrown out of her own merc company."

Third talon.

"She overthrows a city state anyways, and now everyone is singing her praises."

Her talons clenched into a fist.

"This kind of shit is impossible without some impressive prewar training, and the backing of some major organization. So the question is which group is she from?"

I blinked, oooh. this... I felt like some form of super spy and managed to follow where she was going with this.

"She isn't one of ours, that much I can tell you. We're mostly engineers and scientists, social skills aren't really high on the priority list. And we prefer to be left alone as much as possible, apart from me they are all eggheads back home."

A smile from Gyda when she finally interjected herself into the discussion.

"I'm telling you, steel ranger double agent. Timing is perfect and its the only thing that makes sense. They are setting the whole thing up so that they can swoop in as heroes and take over the whole damn region. Will be a fun war either way."

Hold on, what war?

Turns out I was missing something big. Like, really big. Turns out that the rangers and Flood Town had taken control of nearly every independent farm in the region under the guise of "protection", which was followed by the various raider gangs getting hold of previously unseen levels of firepower. According to Gyda, only Goldstar and the Ironshods down in New Pegasus had the resources to supply so many groups at once, which was a disconcerting thought to say the least. Yet the level of violence in the north escalated even further, when the steel rangers used their wealth in gems and lunar steel to recruit all the mercs they could find just to deal with the raiders. Only to have half of them betray them at the worst possible moments, in part due to the rangers bad reputation in the south.

"Ok, kid. For all the boast of her creepiness in that old skyscraper, the real power in Vanhoover lies with the caravans and the casinos down south. Word on the street is that the fancy old ghoul has been content with hiding behind her walls for centuries, whilst the snobs in the Black Hoof and New Pegasus controlled the economy. Until the rangers suddenly tripled in numbers and moved north, then all Tartaros broke loose."

"Hold on..."

I stopped the griffins for I don't know how many times, struggling with keeping up with politics and all the depth of plots upon plots it meant. As such I had to ask.

"When Starlight and the Daughters shot up raiders and protected civilians, the caravans loved them. But when the rangers did the same thing they got angry at the whole thing?"

"Yeah, but they followed the rules. The daughters are mercs. Solid, contract keeping mercs. The rangers on the other hand are proper military. They show up, shout at everyone else to follow orders and if someone objects they get shot. There is a reason to why the rangers are unpopular everywhere west of Trottingham."

Gyda, to the previous objections to the contrary, actually offered me the popcorn. To my dismay they had gone cold by this point. Then she explained what I had completely missed.

"Give the caravans a few more decades and they might have formed a government of their own, but now the Equestria's Finest are working on steamrolling all of them. If they can maintain control over the farmland and start rebuilding the old city center, then everyone else will either have to fall in line or..."

She drew her talon across her throat.

"The only thing that worries me... Is that damn princess."

Her white feathered comrade interjected.

"She is NOT a wasteland pony, that I can tell you. If Gyda is right and she is a Steel Ranger agent, then she can cut off New Pegasus from the rest of the region, and all of the munitions supply with it. The raiders and mercs would be down to pistols and pointy sticks within a week."

Oh that felt all too convenient to be a coincidence, so it made sense. All too much sense, it was even too obvious for the enchanting mare I met.

"Tempting theory, sure. But I have met this would be princess, and she didn't strike me as a military type. At all. I don't think she would take kindly to anypony attempting to order her around."

"Yeah, I don't think so either. But it is a scary scenario if it is true. So let's say she works for someone else? Like Red Eye for instance."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Doesn't matter who, just some group that is biding its time? If that was the case then they would want the rangers, the militia and all the gangs and mercs to slaughter each other like a bunch of ponies and zebras. And then they would wipe out every group in one quick swoop."

For the first time in my adventure, it was my time to facehoof.

"... Did either of you think that she just might working for her own interests? The whole benevolent princess act has started rubbing me the wrong way. Her main hall, for example, she has banners for Celestia, Luna and herself. As if she was destined to be the next ruler of Equestria as a whole."

The two griffins shared a look before Snow commented.

"You mean, like the next Red Eye?"

She lighted a cigar and took a few puffs.

"Then you better pray to your princesses that the Steel Rangers have a balefire bomb ready. Because in that scenario... everyone loses."

Turns out late night talks about present day politics might not be all that good for your sleep routine. I was in the worst mood ever when the others were ready to leave. Me, I hadn't even had any breakfast. So at most I grumbled as we left the highly suspicious cottage where we had stayed the night. The forest looked very different yet equally creepy when I looked around. The thick twisted trees were just as oppressive as before, but the undergrowth looked green. Not just green, it looked healthy, with droplets on every leaf and a sensation of life all around. Then we had the mist, it didn't feel all that thick but it gave the distinct impression that the world ended two dozen meters away in any direction. If we didn't have the road to follow or pipbucks. It was easy to see how a group of ponies might wander around in here for days on end, as ghosts and monsters picked them off one by one.

"Yeah, maybe traveling into this forest might not have been that bright idea."

I pointed out as I scratched my neck. Which got a unified reaction from my two companions.

"YA THINK?!"

"No need to shout..."

Ouch, my poor ears. The white griffin had a look of epiphany at our quarreling.

"That is a good point... Why would our fugitive run into this place, knowing all the dangers?"

She looked at our guide whom had ran ahead of the group.

"There is something wrong with this picture... HEY, Dew! You got any idea why the thief would run here? It isn't exactly safe."

"Uh? What?"

She trotted back the main group.

"The what with the what now?"

"The thief, this forest. WHY?"

I looked at this griffin with a newfound sense of appreciation after the last night, she was cool, confident, intelligent. Wonder if she was into ponies?

"Don't ask me, this place is a death trap to anypony short of a dedicated survivalist."

She rubbed her chin.

"The only thing I can think of is that you could smuggle things to Goldstar or New Pegasus without anypony noticing if you know what you are doing."

Goldstar again. I swear, everything kept pointing back to that place. The Snow Wing and Gyda exchanged a look with me. OK, time to act like the idiot.

"I forgot to ask, what did this thief steal in the first place? It got to be something important for the administrator to get personally involved."

Morning Dew shrugged, the griffins observed me for a few moments before the griffin Captain answered.

"A piece of jewelry, some diamond in the shape of a tear drop. Supposedly an old family heirloom, got the bartender really riled up. If she figures out who is responsible, then every merc, head hunter and raider is going to gun for them. Miss Pear is probably the only individual more respected by the locals than Starlight."

"Huh, I can see that."

Thinking back of the mare I met back in Black Hoof, I remembered being fondly distracted by her. She had quite a charm, without the creepy double talk and schemes of the supposed princess. Wait a minute!

"Hold on, did you say a tear drop??"

"Yeah, what about it?"

Snow didn't know it seems. So I began explaining the meaning behind the three stones, the history, and the so called prophecy. In that moment I realized that it was possible for griffin feathers to stand on end.

Fortunately the forest was clear of phantasms, there was some sweet celestial rays falling through the foliage. Although we did run into a pack of timber wolves and saw a serpent in the distance, none them wanted to come too close to the road. Either they didn't know the ghosts only showed up at night, or they knew something we didn't. A shiver in my spine told me that it was probably the latter. All in all it took little more than five hours before we reached a fork in the road. The main path split in three, with one diagonally to the left (east I think), a small trail to the west and the main one continuing south. There was some other safe place to the east from here right?

"So what now?"

I asked.

The lead griffin decided she was very much in charge.

"I have thought about it, this place to the east. Anyone living there and how far is it from the edge of the forest?"

"Not at the present I think, but raiders show up and take it over from time to time. It is that close to the road if you know what you are doing."

Our guide pointed out.

"As a rule we send a party of hunters to clear it out, although these days Goldstar does it from time to time."

"...Windstriker, which way is the thief going?"

Blinked, then checked my E.F.S. and compared the T.A.G. to the navigational indicators.

"South, almost directly south from here."

So it was either go east and lose up to a day of a travel time, or go south and find out that she had already dropped off the goods for someone else to pick up. It was a gamble, with nothing to gain by winning but a lot to loose.

"We'll go east. Check if anyone is there, look through it. If our mark travels to the road east we'll intercept them, and if they continue down south then we got plenty of wild lands before New Pegasus. Any questions?"

Clearly a rhetorical question but something was bugging me.

"Yeah, where does the road west lead?"

The whole group turned and looked at me with varying expressions. Lieutenant Dew shrugged once more and answered.

"Nothing. There are some inbred fishers, some violent ghouls, cragadiles and the occasional hydra. A total shit hole, almost impossible to travel safely through and not worth it. Honestly, nobody but us trackers know of it. She wouldn't have gone that way."

The bird cawed loudly, supposedly in confirmation. But things were already convoluted enough so I could swear that someone was hiding something in that direction. No idea who, but somepony or other creature was doing it. Was this how paranoia started?

Well, who could have guessed? The place was inhabited, by raiders according to Gondul. Rag tag outfits, spikes, hoods and a random assortment of firearms and pointy sticks. I got a half decent look at the place from behind the mound were we hid, a trio of large prewar cabins by the look of things. Unlike our previous building these had been patched up several times, there was a glade cleared out around it in about a hundred meters in all directions. Then our winged sniper noticed something else.

"Hold on, the place is mined. Can't tell how many or where with all this grass in the way."

"How many hostiles can you see?"

The rest of us stayed as quiet as could be whilst Snow worked out a plan, everyone except for Violette of course.

"Wait a minute, how can you be sure they are hostile?! Can't we just go over there and ask them?"

"Bloody medics with their pacifism... Look, if they are working with our target then they are part of the contract and our enemies. If not, then they are just another raider group and nobody will miss them. There might even be a reward for their leader."

"Ooor they could just be an extended family and we barge in guns blazing like a bunch of... of raiders!"

"Dew, help me out here. Can you identify them?"

Then Snow gave an over dramatic sigh.

"Huh, sure. Just let me borrow that scope."

A few moments later she was visibly shaken.

"Those aren't raiders... They are flame seekers! But they have never been this far north before!"

"Elaborate."

The griffin commanded.

"They are slavers, cultists. They got this weird religion about becoming dragons. And they enslave ponies to feed to the dragons they raise, nopony has managed to root them out as a result. They usually deal with traders and are willing to sell dragon eggs as they see it as a way expanding their influence."

A few moments of silence.

"So no more objections I hope? Good. Can I get back to the point then? How many of the cultists are there?"

Gondul hesitated.

"I can see two on patrol around the perimeter, three by the left building and one by the right building. No idea how many inside."

I checked my E.F.S and could only see four red bars.

"Assuming my pipbuck can only trace movement, there are at least two more inside."

I pointed out.

"And probably a whole lot more... No matter, I have a plan. Flashfire maneuver. Gondul, Dew, you two are our sniper support and will hit them from here, wait until the signal. Medic stays here, shorty protects the medic. Windstriker, Gyda, you're with me."

Then she handed me a grenade.

"We land on the roofs from the above, throw one grenade into each building. Make sure you are in cover when they blow. Equipment check up then we fly."

Amber helped me check my machine guns, Gyda pointed out how a grenade worked. Pull the stem, throw, then cover. Seemed simple enough. Maybe we should get a bunch if they were as effective as they seemed. Then we flapped our wings flew up through the tree cover, I could have sworn the trees were offended by the indignity. But we were unhindered as we gently flew across the minefield and hovered above the site. Then we noticed the chimneys, shared a grin and figured out the easy way to do this. We spread out and calmly flew down to the old brick constructs, removed the pin and down it went. I decided to huddle down next to the chimney in case shrapnel flew back up.

3...

2...

1...

The sound was somewhere between a boom and fwoosh, a 'bwoomsh' if you will. I could feel the heat and see the fire burst out of the windows below.

By the screams it sounded like the ponies on the porch got caught in the blast wave as well, darn this was effective. Then I heard a series of rifle shots, and all the bad ponies outside went silent. I had a grin on my face when we heard a sound signaling that something inside the building below me was very much still alive. A roar that no pony could make, rather it was more like what I imagined a dragon to sound like. Then it half flew, half jumped out through a window and yep. That was probably a dragon. Going straight towards my friends, oh stars no. Not going to happen. I went into S.A.T.S. gave it a hard look and decided, nah. Can probably not kill it in one shot, we got fliers however. So cripple and distract it is, and I locked on one burst for each wing.

RATATAT RATATAT

And to my satisfaction the bullets ripped through the relatively thin wings. It screamed in pain and rage and turned its head to me, and started running up a wooden pillar to the roof faster than I could react. Not fair! I heard a gunshot ring out, hitting it yet it kept going towards me. And despite my attempts to get into the air it jumped at me, fangs bared. And we crashed into the ground behind the building, meaning no fire support. It was on its clawed appendages quickly and jumped at me again, trying to keep me pinned whilst I tried to kick it off. If only I could kick it into the minefield... It raised its head and breathed in.

Nononononno!!

BLAM

It fell flat on me, spasming a bit, bleeding a lot but clearly dead. Half of the head was gone and I was more than a bit squicked out, and finally kicked it off me. Struggling to raise to my hooves, I struggled breathing. Half coughed with every attempt and fell on my side again. Wow, must have hit something hard. As my eyes began focusing I saw Snow Wing with a large revolver in her talons, barrel smoking. She was standing on her rear... hooves? Since when did she have hooves? Since when did griffins in general have hooves?

I tried sitting up again, with more success this time.

"Hooves..."

Was all I could muster to point out. Which was subsequently misunderstood. Additional words in a sentence bring context, who knew?

"Yeah. That thing isn't a regular dragon, that's for sure. It had pony ears as well."

Huh, what now? I looked at the dragon thing, and yep those were a pair of rear hooves. What the heck.

"OK, that's it. I give up, can't be bothered to care anymore."

Not sure how she did it but Gyda flew around the place and picked up well over a dozen land mines without any accident, bringing the rest of our large party inside. Turns out I was the only causality, and despite my insistence that I was fine Violette was adamant that I wasn't.

"A definite concussion, what did you do this time? Wrestle a dragon?"

"Yeah, you saw that?"

From the expression, she hadn't.

"Wuh... Dizzy.... By the way, I need more power to my kicks. Got any ideas?"

"Do I look like someone who deals in weapons??"

I suppose she didn't.

"Don't answer that! Isch, in an optimal situation I would recommend plenty of rest. How far are we from your stable?"

"Ask Amber, I am busy trying to not fall over."

I turned to look at him and he had turned pale, which is a really odd thing for a crystal pony to do.

"OK, what now?"

I struggled to my hoof to see what he was looking at, oh the corpses. I supposed the looked a tad bit gruesome with all that fire, bleeding, the smell. OK, throwing up now. Our trio decided that we needed a break whilst the griffins went through the place, searching for the gem and anything else that might be usable Morning Dew decided to drag the bodies to the edge of the glade and then kept watch. We got about an hour of rest before Snow Wing threw a bag of caps and bits our way.

"Your share, kids. What calibre do you use for those guns anyways? 10 mm?"

"huh? thirty eights, found any?" I was vaguely aware of Violette collecting the bag. When I tried focusing on the white griffin another one of them dumped an ammo container in front of me. Well, jackpot! I began reloading, and messed up a few times before Violette helped put the cartridges into the magazines. Maybe a concussion was a bad thing after all.

"So about the stable. A few days northeast of the Black Hoof."

Then I realized that she had probably never been there before.

"Black Hoof lies east of the Steel Ranger outpost, which is a day or so north of Goldstar."

"... So close to a week? That's bad. The best treatment for a concussion is rest, preferably in a calm environment with no strong lights. And I rather get out of this place sooner rather than later, this is not a good place to rest."

"How are we on supplies anyways? We might find someplace decent to rest up for a day or two if we get the time."

I was probably not in any state to travel, but we still had a job to do. And from our starting position the mare we were hunting was to the southwest. We took the road back west and then south, for several hours into the afternoon until I suddenly realized that the bar was slowly moving to my right as we went further south. She had went off-road, in this place of all things. And in a few more hours night would fall.

"I got good news, bad news and more bad news."

I stated in my disgruntled voice.

"We have caught up to her, but she is off west somewhere..."

Snow Wing evidently followed my line of thinking.

"And that means probably running into the local wildlife, and getting caught outside during the night. Morning Dew, what can we expect in this direction? Anything unusual?"

The earth pony mare looked around for a few moment, then looked deadly serious.

"Oh this is bad. We aren't quite as close to the border as I hoped, we are close to the swamp with the old ruins. Unusual? Yeah, basilisks. Highly territorial, proud, and freaky as heck."

"Is fine, is like cockatrice. Shoot before stone and you are fine."

Gondul shrugged before stating with a heavy accent.

"yeah, right! Except there is no way to break the whole statue magic, and basilisks are a lot more intelligent. They are more like dragons than cockatrices."

"... OK, guns out, tight group with me and Dew in front. Gyda and Gondul holding the rear. If anything moves, shoot it. If it keeps moving, shoot it until it stops!"

Snow Wing roared, then realized that our guide still had something to say.

"What else?"

"Ghosts, this is the place they all are coming from. Even if we were to kill every single basilisk we would probably not survive the night if we stayed past midnight. There are two places in this damned forest that the militia avoids like the winter. The first is the dragon lair, the second is this place. We HAVE TO get out from there before they start showing up."

Then we left the road. Morning Dew looked downright paranoid, which wasn't helped by her pet bird flying up into a tree and refusing to follow. The griffins were deadly serious, even more so than back during the skirmish. Finally there was my two companions and me, they looked on the verge of a synchronized panic attack and I wasn't feeling much more confident. I was half zoned out and was moving into the single most dangerous place of my life to that point. All in all, we were definitely doomed. In my defense, my head wasn't functioning after that concussion.

It barely took a few minutes until we wouldn't have found our way back to the road without pipbuck support. With all the gigantic tree roots, random carved stones and hidden water filled holes, traveling went exceedingly slow. No idea how this mare could travel through this area with apparent ease. Who in Tartaros was she? Come to think of it, we had barely gotten any info from our client. Wouldn't it make more sense to give us all the info to improve our odds of succeeding?

My pondering was interrupted by a shriek from Violette, which caused a slight panic throughout our group. Me, I checked my E.F.S. for red bars, and utterly failed to notice anything. All seven of our white bars were present. As such I turned to look at what had scared her so utterly. A rock. All of this for a rock?? Then I squinted and say the eye, and the ear. Oh, a severed pony head. Made out of stone. In a forest with monsters that petrify ponies? Well, buck. That meant we were officially in basilisk territory. Which was confirmed several times over as we encountered more and more of them. Not all ponies, a serpent, a few timber wolves and even a full grown dragon. The last one was concerning, really worrying in fact.

Hold on...

"Wait up! I think she's around here somewhere?"

I turned around and yep, T.A.G. was moving. Slowly I navigated us up to a statue of a mare in a dust coat and desperado hat with a look of terror permanently engraved into her face. I could barely make out a stylized "9" on her collar. Just to make sure I checked my E.F.S one more time, yep only seven white bars. Good, means it is just us around here.

"Well, that is a problem."

Our pale earth pony guide stated flatly.

"According to our Intel, not really."

Snow Wing answered in an equally flat voice.

"Get ready to fight, this will most likely attract the locals."

Then she proceeded to draw her revolver, aimed it to one of the petrified mare's saddle bags.

BLAM

Wait WHAT??

Fragments of stone flew off the stone mare, cracks showed all over her body.

BLAM

And her body shattered into little more than grey dust. Out of the cloud fell a single beautifully crafted diamond, in the shape of a tear and of a faint bluish hue. Which was promptly caught in the air by the white griffin.

To my confusion one of the white bars turned red, then the creature rose out of the water. It was big, huge even. I had expected some slender snake, not this monstrosity. Its body was wider than a pony was long, its fangs large enough to gulp down said pony in short order. The head was adorned with a crimson crest and its talons (dear Celestia those were huge) gripped the ancient trees to steady itself. I froze in place, waiting for it to lunge down on us.

I could faintly hear the repeated sound of gunfire from around me, saw its scales being battered. A rupture in its foreleg, it roared in defiance. Only for a second and a third bullet to rip through the same leg. I could barely move out of the way as it came crashing down among us. What I didn't hear was a rifle being reloaded, but I noticed the white griffin landing on the monster's head. Rifle aimed downward.

RATATATATATAT

I blinked as the blood spurted over us. Head severed from the rest of the body, and this wasn't a hydra. It wouldn't get up from this.

I fell down on a rock I really hoped wasn't a pony and began shivering. My mind replayed the scene over and over again, trying to figure out why I wasn't dead. The were sounds around me but I couldn't identify them, I could but stare at the dead monster in front of me. Barely even reacted as shape of grey and beige feathers and fur moved in front of me and the sharp talons that grabbed me.

***

When I came to it all felt like a horrid nightmare, apart from the ominous trees all around me. I checked the time, 11.38. My head hurt, and so did the rest of me all things considered. But I was alive, which was more than expected. First thing I checked was my E.F.S., nothing. I looked around me and saw Amber and Violette lying unconscious next to me. Breathing. OK, that was good. I sat up, trying to get my head to function. Evidently we weren't in any immediate danger, and could possibly travel back the road if need be. Speaking of which, map. Ancient Ruin, Camping Lodge, Helia's Cottage. Huh, maybe I could sell the coordinates to someone, a prospector or... The gorgeous smiling face of a certain princess flashed before me, along with the phantom sounds of giant artillery guns firing. Maybe not.

"Hold on..."

We were almost at the southern border, remarkably far west actually.

"That is new..."

I noticed a new location added to it. Conference Midnight Resort & Observatory,

"Sounds like the sort of place I could use right about now. And where's the rest of us?"

After few minutes I realized that it was probably either Morning Dew or one of the griffins that had entered the location on the pipbuck, and they might have added something else. And what did you know, a message, perhaps it could explain our current situation. Not to mention what the hell we were supposed to do now.

Assuming that you survived and have some wits about you still... Not sure how much you remember but, Morning Dew is dead, turned to stone within seconds. Gave us enough time to retaliate, we managed to bring down the basilisk. Got the target, all in all a success. Sorry for leaving you in the middle of the forest, but the contract comes first. And you should be able to find your way out, with or without your companions. We gave them some first aid and they should come to, expect them to be traumatized and not all that much use unfortunately. A word of wisdom from your elder in the wasteland, SURVIVE. In a worst case scenario you can fly through the tree cover and fly straight to Black Hoof within the day. If you have to let old friends go, then that is just the way of the wasteland. But I don't think you would listen, so here's the other two alternatives if you want them back safe and sound. The simplest one if your head is still messed up is to follow the road back north, rest at the same places and go all the way to Flood Town. Honestly, place give me the creeps and I suggest you avoid it if possible. There is an old building southwest of the forest that most people avoid, should be safe for resting if you need it. Couldn't make out entirely why, some talk about "Van Hoofs" or some such nonsense. Others mentioned a relative to miss Pear, either way folks don't like disturbing it. Good luck.

Snow Wing, captain of the Snow Talons

PS. If you make it back to Black Hoof, first round is on me.

Level Up
Skill Note: Survival 50%

Perk Added: Terrifying Presence

You are a certified bad ass, and everypony knows it. Your wrath can give even a manticore pause, and raiders have second thoughts about their choice of career when your name comes up.

Condition Added: Concussion

You were literally dropped on your head, and feel the results of it. Your intelligence and agility are both reduced by 2 until fully recuperated, repeat incidents result in permanent brain damage.