Fallout Equestria: Falling Shadows

by Drako Moon

Chapter 16: Seven Things

Welcome to how things work in the Wasteland. You may think to yourself that, hey I found something fun to do, an escape from the pain, the horror, the misery, the death, and destruction you see on a daily basis. Then the wasteland turns around and bitch slaps you right in the face. For example, after a couple days of having fun in New Pegasus, fate decided ‘look at those ponies over there, they look too happy, how about I fix that and fuck with them’.

The golden unicorn laughed a little as I upholstered my combat shotgun and pointed it right at him, “What the fuck do you want?”

“It’s cute you think that toy will be any good against me,” he said as he walked toward me and pressed his forehead right up to the barrel of my combat shotgun, “Go head and try though. I’ll warn you now though, if you fire a gun on the strip, it’ll be the last thing you do.”

“He’s right, put it away Shadow,” Stardust said walking past me and right up to Pride, “What do you want Pride?”

“Dusty, you’re looking good for a runaway. Usually they’ve up and died by now or developed a drug problem because they miss home SOO much, but don’t know how to deal with the feeling. I see you found yourself a few friends too, how adorable,” Pride said looking at my friend.

“Why are you here Pride? You can’t be here to collect on a bounty, Mr. Tops wouldn’t allow it.”

“You got me there Dusty. You’re right, I can’t collect a bounty while I’m on The Strip. As soon as you go back into Freedom though, you’re mine, and there’s nothing you can do about that.”

“Freedom is protected by Mr. Tops just like The Strip, you can’t do anything to me dumbass.”

He started to laugh again, “You see, you’re wrong there. I’m not collecting a bounty. I have orders from the Enclave to bring you in, I’m here on Enclave business. Mr. Tops agrees that he can’t have a rouge pegasus running around his town. The big stallion himself gave us the go ahead on apprehending you, and your little friend there, as long as it’s in Freedom.”

Narrowing my eyes, I asked, “Why would you be after me too?”

“Seems you pissed off the wrong Enclave Officer a couple days back, he wants you dead. The council signed off on it, since you killed most of his team. I think they said something about you possibly being more of a danger than Dusty here is. I don’t know about that though,” Pride said his eyes rolling back to look over at me.

I had a feeling leaving that fucker alive would come back to bite me in the ass, “Why are you even here then? Do you have permission to come after me like you do him? Even if you did, why in Luna’s name would you tell us?”

“It’s no fun killing somepony when she doesn’t know you’re coming. I’m only here to let you know, it’s only fair that way. I may be an assassin, but I have standards. Knowing I could strike at any moment can make you squirm, amuses me.”

“That has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Say what you will, but my conscience will be clear when I take you down,” he said, putting a hoof to his chin looking thoughtful he added, “I wonder if that Radio Pony I keep hearing about will start telling wild tails about me if I killed the Courier Mare. That’d be cool. Maybe he’ll call me the Shadow Buck or something else much cooler.”

Fuck this, I’m gonna shoot him. I don’t give a shit if I’m kicked off the strip. Pride was more full of himself and annoying than Stardust and that’s saying something, “Is there a point to all this, or were you planning on killing us through boring chatter?”

“Am I boring you Courier?”

“You’re annoying me more than anything. You’re like a child that has to brag to the rest of the kids about everything.”

“I see, well then how about we have a little fun,” Shadows seemed to envelop him and he vanished, a moment later he emerged from a shaded spot right next to me with a revolver pointing right at my head, “How’s this, does it make for a more interesting conversation Courier?”

I just looked over at him, ignoring the revolver pointing straight at my eye, “No, it just makes you look like a coward. I mean really? You have to use some creepy shadow magic to go after your target? How big of a pussy are you?”

Pulling the gun back he looked at me thoughtfully, “You think I’m a coward?”

“Uh yeah. If you weren’t, you would’ve already done something. Instead you’re using cheap tricks to intimidate my friends and I, and you’re using Mr. Tops as an excuse for not attacking me here on The Strip. So, either do something, or fuck off. I don’t have time to deal with you right now,” with my most pompous posture I walked away leaving him there staring as if I’d frozen him in time and space.

Stardust followed looking over his shoulder at the slightly stunned look on Prides face, “You sure about this Shadow? How do you know he won’t do something to you?”

“Oh, I’m hoping he does. It’ll be HIS funeral. I just hope this works,” I replied arrogantly.

“Hoping who does what?” Aura asked landing next to me with Wingnut on her back.

“That gold pony over there, he wants Stardust and I dead. He was making all these threats so I called him on his bluff.”

She looked back at him and smiled, “He’s trotting this way Shrimp.”

I smiled, “Good, just keep walking. Looks like this problem is gonna take care of itself.”

As we passed by two securiponies he caught up, “Listen here kid, you can’t just walk away like that. It’s very disrespectful y’know.”

Still ignoring him I said to Aura, “I don’t see what’s so great about this Enclave special ops. From what I can see, they’re just a bunch of blowhard pussies. So far, I’ve seen one with a serious anger problem, another that needs an attitude adjustment to break him from his pseudo-God complex, and one who REALLY needs to get laid. Not at all that impressive.”

This time he stepped in front of me blocking my path, “Don’t ignore me while I’m talking to you.”

“Why? You said you can’t do anything while I’m on The Strip. So why should I care one bit about what you have to say?”

“I am the leader of the Seven Sins of Equinity, and you will show me the proper respect I deserve.”

“Fuck off, and get out of my way,” I said, pushing past him.

(Click) This time I stopped, the sound of a hammer being pulled back was normally a good reason to listen. Turning back to face him, I gave him the biggest smile I could muster, “Aww… did I make you angry, I thought that was Wraths thing?”

“I don’t give two shits what Mr. Tops said, he’s not my boss and the Enclave isn’t scared of him, or his fucking robots.”

“Oh really, would you like to tell THEM that.”

He looked confused for a moment, “Huh?”

“Lower your weapon,” one of the Securiponies said from behind him with one of its guns pointing at Pride.

He looked up at the towering robot, “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Fuck off you cheap excuse for scrap metal, I’m on official Enclave business.”

“Start walking away,” I said to my friends moving back quickly as they did the same.

“The Strip doesn’t recognize the authority of The Grand Pegasus Enclave. Lower your weapon now, or be terminated.”

He looked back at me and smiled, “You ARE a smart one, AREN’T you?” then he turned and shot the Securipony right in its monitor, “You win this round Courier Mare. Next time, I won’t be so nice, just warning you.”

The other Securipony opened fire, and Pride vanished, his form sinking into the shadows of the buildings around us. The Robot stopped its barrage, looking around for a moment, “He got away. Start search subroutine,” then it turned and left.

“Pussy.”

Stardust’s eyes were darting around frantically, “That was really stupid Shadow. He might seem like he has a big ego… well, he does, but he’s a lot tougher than he lets on. Those shadow thingies are no joke. They don’t just help him hide or teleport him err whatever the fuck they do. They’re also his weapon of choice.”

“Weapon of choice? How does he use shadows as a weapon?”

He looked at me like I was an idiot, “Magic, duh. You’re a unicorn, I thought you would’ve figured that out.”

Okay he was starting to piss me off like usual, “Uh, yeah. I get that part moron. What I don’t get is how he uses it like a weapon. C’mon they’re just shadows. What? Is he gonna scare me to death with my own shadow? Pfft… please.”

“At first glance yeah, they’re just shadows, but he can use them to dice you like a vegetable. When they leave whatever surface they’re on they act more like two-dimensional tentacles.”

A shiver ran up my spine, “Tentacles? Creepy!”

“You think everything’s creepy. To be honest they’re more scary than creepy.”

“Pfft, whatever. How do you know so much anyway?”

His eyes looked away from me. It’s like he was trying to come up with a cover story, “Uh… we’ve kinda met before.”

Aura interrupted the two of us before I could chew him out, “Yeah, we figured that out already, but it sounds to me like you’ve been holding out on us with some important details. Like how you survived fighting him without getting maimed. Did you fly away? Did you get a lucky shot? Did you pull a teleporter out of your ass and go poof!? What is it?”

He stammered a bit, “It’s not really that complicated. It was more like dumb luck. Somepony in a hat and trenchcoat stepped in and saved me, told me to make a run for it.”

I perked up at that last part, “You’ve seen him too? He saved me when I was being attacked by The Enclave in the old tool factory around where The Rangers found me.”

“You’ve seen the Stranger?” Wingnut asked, “We hear stories about him all the time from some of the older kids. He’s always popping up and saving random ponies around New Pegasus and other areas around here.”

Here I thought I was special, looking over at him I asked, “You’ve seen him too?”

“No, I’ve never been attacked while I was out and trading with Freedom, but the Mayor said he’s seen him a couple times. He said the Mysterious Pony is always wearing a brown trench coat and a desperado hat, his face and hooves covered in bandages.”

“How does he know when there are ponies in trouble that need his help?”

Aura interrupted him before he could answer, “We’ve heard about him too. No one knows who he is, but some say he’s a unicorn with some kind of spell that lets him know when he’s needed. Personally, I think it’s a load of crap. I haven’t seen him before and if he’s always around to help I figure there’s more than one pony dressing up. Probably a group of goody-goodies that think they can save The Wasteland one pony at a time. Kinda reminds me of the Minutemares. They’ll save you, but as long as you save them first, and do everything for them like you’re their lackey.”

“Okay, let’s get back to the matter at hoof. What’re we gonna do about Pride?” I asked looking back over at Stardust.

“Do what I did, just run away and hope they don’t catch up with you.”

“You think running away is the right thing to do? Come on, you’re a pegasus that’s a great sniper. What do you have to be afraid of? He’s only one Unicorn,” Aura asked.

Stardust gave her a look of shock, “Pride isn’t just one Pony, he’s the leader of the Sins, one of the toughest ponies in The Enclave. When one of them is around, there’s always another. They never work alone, so you always have to be watching your back. They have five pegasi and two unicorns. When I ran into Pride, he almost took me down. Yeah, I could’ve taken him if I was lucky, but he had another pony with him. The one they call Greed. He was able to protect Pride from any of my shots. If it wasn’t for The Stranger, I would’ve been dead. You really think I’m a great sniper?”

“So, you ran away?” I asked, “That’s not like you. Even if the odds are against you like that.”

“You don’t know everything about me Shadow.”

“Yeah, I know that. That’s why I’m trying to find out more.”

“Just drop it!” He yelled, rounding on me, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. The Sins are after me, and now you. That’s all you need to know and all you should worry about.”

“Calm down cloud breath, no need to get pissed at Shadow like that,” Aura said, stepping between both of us.

“Oh yeah? What about you Aura, what’s your full story huh? Have you told Shadow about anything YOU might’ve done to accidentally put her in danger?”

Aura looked taken aback by that. Not wanting to see my friends fight I tried to step in, “Aura’s told me enough about herself Stardust. I’m not saying I don’t trust you or anything like that, but all I know about you is that you had to run away from your Stable. You told me a little about it, but I still don’t understand how you know the things you do or why a Stable like yours was being used to train pegasi like you. Why can’t you just trust us and tell us everything?”

“You don’t need to know everything about me. You talk about trust, then trust me. I’ve done nothing but help you. Why can’t you just see me for who I am now and not the pony I used to be? I’m not that brainwashed poser anymore.”

“I’m not trying to pry, I know you have a lot you don’t wanna tell anypony about. I only want to help. If the Sins are as bad as you say and they’re after us, I want to know more about them.”

“And how does knowing more about the things I did before I met you help you out?”

“It will help me understand.”

He glared at me answering me slowly, “My Stable was an evil place Shadow. They sent the Sins after me because I know too much. The leaders who run the project don’t want their experiments to reach certain ponies ears back at Neighvarro.”

Neighvarro? It must be a pegasus city, “Fine, but what’s the deal with the Sins? I thought the Enclave were only Pegasi.”

Aura surprisingly was the one who answered, “When the Pegasi covered the sky with clouds, a lot of M.O.A. employees who were unicorns were still up there. They all have spells that make it so they can walk on the clouds and all started families up there. They help the Enclave with different experiments and keeping some of their older tech running. You don’t see them very often, but unicorns are a big part of the Enclave’s economy.”

I really wasn’t liking The Enclave the more I learned about them. When I first met Stardust, I didn’t know anything about them, apart from they were the ones keeping the clouds covering the sky. Blocking the sun’s light from shining down on the Wasteland. Now I’d fought some of them, and now The Sins were after my friend and I. There had to be more to this than just a runaway Stallion from a Stable. What did he mean by Brainwashed?

Looking back at my friend, I sighed, “Stardust, I’m sorry I have to ask all of this, but you knowing things seems a little fishy after everything that’s happened.”

“Can you just trust me Shadow, please?” he almost pleaded to me.

“Why can’t you just tell me?”

“Because I want to forget that place, forget what happened. I don’t want to even think about my life before I stepped out into the Wasteland. Everything I knew growing up there was a lie, and because of that lie and what my friend and I found out, he died and I lost my home. This is my life now. To be honest, I love my new life. Even with all the danger that comes with it.”

“Then can you tell me what you know about the Sins and what we need to be on the lookout for? Because I can’t stay in New Pegasus forever hiding from them or even Freedom like you did.”

He looked up at me again, “The Sins are a special team that was put together a long time ago by an old pre-war military Captain. When he went Dashite, The Enclave took over his project and made them into The Seven Sins of Equinity. There are always seven members. Each one is codenamed after whatever crime or trait they have. All of them also have a special gift that makes them as deadly as they are. Pride, is the leader and always has been for some reason, you saw his power. He can use shadows to hide himself in or even as a weapon. Wrath, he’s their sniper. He has a scope on his rifle that can see through almost anything, making his shots extra deadly. He’s also an excellent shot, maybe even better than me. Emphasis on the maybe.”

I remember that quite well, from my brief meeting of him. My ass still hurts a little.

Stardust continued after a moment of thinking to himself, “They’re the only two unicorns they have in the group. Greed, he’s a pegasus. When I ran into him, he had an armor I’d never seen before. It covers his entire body at will, and can deflect most kinds of ammo, even Armor Piercing rounds. He’s a close quarters combat fighter that uses hoofclaws. As for the rest, I haven’t met them before, Lust, Gluttony, Envy, and Sloth are a mystery to me. All I know about them is that they’re all extremely dangerous. I’ve heard Envy is especially dangerous but I don’t know why.”

“Well that isn’t much help,” I said after Stardust finished his explanation.

“I can’t help you much more than that, I’m sorry Shadow.”

“Are you three done fighting yet?” Wingnut asked poking his head out from behind me where he’d been hiding.

“You’d have to ask Shadow that,” Stardust said, looking down at him then back at me, “Are we okay now Shadow?”

“For now, yeah. You’re my friend Stardust, I’m sorry I had to do that.”

“I understand. Can we get going now?”

I didn’t like how he was acting, I could tell something was wrong. He still wasn’t his normal self. Whatever happened with Pride showing up and me asking what I did changed something inside Stardust. But what could I do about it now? I’d just have to hope that he’d open up again, or at the very least, be his old self. I waited for a moment so Aura could come back to my side then we followed the pegasus.

I walked into the Detective Agency and found it much like it was before. Papers piled all over the place, and the (Damn she’s gorgeous) assistant trying to file what she could. I took a moment to watch her as she bent over a filing cabinet, blushing a little as she talked to herself.

Aura nudged me, “Stop staring perv.”

I shook my head, throwing the dirty thoughts into the back of my head to save for…uh…later, “Um…Hello!”

She jumped then looked over her shoulder, “Oh, hi. I didn’t hear you come in.”

“It’s okay, we were here yesterday looking for Detective Lonely Hearts, you told us he should be back today.”

“That’s right. I’m terribly sorry, but he still hasn’t come back yet. I’m starting to get worried about him, he’s never been away from the office for this long before,” the tan unicorn said walking over to a desk to sit down.

“Do you know where he went?” Aura asked.

“He was looking into a case about attacks on some of the caravans. He got a few clues that said the attacks were coming from some Triggerponies that were hiding out in an old Stable near The JetBlue Skyport.”

“That’s not far from here. How long has he been gone?” Stardust asked coming out of his funk a little.

“Three days ago, he started by asking around about the Van Damns thinking they had something to do with it, but he said he’d be going off to the Stable to check things out there to see if there was a connection. I’m really starting to get worried.”

“How dangerous is this Stable?” I asked.

“It used to be abandoned, but recently a gang moved in and started operating out of it, they haven’t caused many problems for the ponies around New Pegasus. Until recently that is.”

“Maybe we could help.” I said, I mean hell, I couldn’t help it, she was too cute and I didn’t like seeing her look so down.

Aura looked over at me and sighed, “Let me guess, you wanna go find him?”

“Well, yeah. He’s the only pony who knows where my mother went,” I replied, then looked back to the cute secretary, “Would you like us to go find him?”

“Oh, I couldn’t ask you to do that, I’m sure he’s okay. Detective Lonely Hearts is a resilient pony. I’m probably worried over nothing, it’s not the first time he’s disappeared for a while, gotten me all worried, then showed up later like it was no big deal. If I didn’t know any better I’d think he was trying to impress me.”

“See, nothing to worry about. Maybe she can answer your question. Then we won’t have to go wandering around trying to find some detective,” Aura said.

I could tell that she was truly worried about Lonely Hearts, but she didn’t want to worry us in turn. I just didn’t like seeing this beautiful mare look so down trodden, “I don’t mind doing it, I need his help. The longer he’s gone, the longer it’ll take for me to finish my quest. Unless you have any information regarding a missing pony that was supposed to be meeting with him a few years ago.”

She brightened up at that, “Well if you really want to, I would appreciate it. I just don’t want you to get hurt just to find out he’s wandering around looking for clues and forgot what day it was.”

“Shadow, come on, you don’t need to go off looking for him,” Aura protested. Then she looked over at the secretary, “Listen, do you have any information on a Stable Mare from a few years ago, one that came here looking for help from Lonely Hearts with some project?”

“Aura, we can’t just leave. What if the Detective is hurt?”

“Then he’s hurt or dead, we can’t fix that. Boo-hoo too bad so sad. Life goes on. It’s the Wasteland, shit happens.”

Seeming to not pay any attention to our conversation, the mare walked over to a cabinet and started to look through the files and pulled one out, “Was this mare’s name Grimoire Spell?”

I froze, “Yes it was.”

She looked through the file, narrowing her brow a little, “Hmmm there is a file in here for a meeting with Grimoire, but he didn’t write down why they were meeting, only saying it had something to do with a pre-war project. I’m sorry, but the only pony who could tell you what happened during this meeting is Lonely Hearts. It’s not like him to not keep notes on something like this, only time he does that is if he wants to keep the content of the meeting secret.”

“See, we have to find him now, he’s the only one who knows what happened.”

“Great, another adventure into a Stable,” Stardust said, looking gloomy again, “Didn’t you learn from the last Stable we visited? Why can’t they have their HQ in a casino like normal gangsters?”

“That was different, we had no idea what was going on in that Stable. This one we know who’s in it and what to expect,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, it’s still a place where I can’t just fly us out of there if something goes wrong. I don’t like it. There’s a reason the old residents abandoned that place y’know. Did you think about that?”

“I wanna go!” Wingnut threw in.

“I have an idea. Let’s vote on it. All in favor for going into the Stable to find Detective Lonely Hearts,” I said with a smile raising my hoof. Wingnut joined me and so did Aura.

I gave her a funny look, seeing this she sighed and said, “You’ll go no matter what and I go where you do so I might as well make this take less time.”

“Fuck. I hate Stables,” Stardust complained.

With a smile, I walked over and hugged him, “Hey look at this on the bright side, maybe you’ll have a chance to burn away that anger by killing some bad ponies.”

That seemed to brighten him up a little, “You got a point there… I do like killing bad ponies.”

“Are you really gonna go look for him?” The Secretary asked me, looking concerned.

“Looks like it,” I answered.

“Thank you so much!” she responded giving me a smile. (Damn she was so fucking cute when she did that.)

We walked out of the detective agency and left the Strip. I was going to miss it, but I knew I’d be back, it was too nice to only visit once. I just wish it didn’t have to be so soon. Once we were out of the strip, Aura and Stardust took hold of Wingnut and myself and flew us away from New Pegasus.

It didn’t take long to find the Skyport, it wasn’t very far south of the Strip itself. When we landed, we found ourselves being stopped by NLR guards at the gate that lead into the Skyport.

“Can I help you?” a brown buck asked.

“Yes, we’re here looking for somepony. He’s a detective from the Strip, he was last seen passing through here to get into a Stable.”

“Oh yeah that guy, I remember seeing him pass by, he didn’t stop to chat though. If you’re looking for the entrance to Stable 14, it’s just down the road. You can’t miss the entrance, it’s right next to the old Sunrise Sarsaparilla factory.”

“I’d be careful though, some shady ponies have been seen going in and out of it for a few weeks. We were gonna do somethin’ about it but eh y’know,” the other guard said.

“We’ll be fine,” I said turning to walk toward the factory that was visible just down the road.

As we got closer to it, Aura came up next to me, “How do you plan on getting into the Stable if it’s guarded?”

“I’m not sure yet, but I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

“Famous last words,” Stardust threw in, “Your plans don’t always go as well as you hope they will.”

“Haha, you’re sooooo funny.”

As we drew closer to the factory, there was a break in the buildings between the factory and the JetBlue Skyport. The buildings here looked like an explosion had taken them all out, leaving a big gap between the two. One building still had two walls standing, between them the ground seemed to slope down revealing the gear shaped door of a stable, the number 14 in the center.

“I could be wrong, but aren’t Stables supposed to be hidden?” Wingnut asked, looking over at the stable door with his head cocked to one side.

“I think it was hidden at one time from the looks of it,” I added walking toward the door.

“So far so good, nopony’s guarding the door,” Stardust said.

“Yeah, but we don’t know what it’s like inside,” Aura threw in.

Ignoring my friends, I walked over to the control panel and pulled on the lever to open the door. There was a loud screeching noise then the door pulled back and rolled to one side. Still nopony seemed to be on guard, the entrance to the Stable was empty. I pulled my shotgun out and walked inside, my friends following cautiously.

“This is bringing back bad memories Shadow. Find some wood.” Stardust said with his rifle at the ready.

I walked over to the terminal and hooked my Pip-Buck up to it. Doing what I did before in Stable 9, I used it to seal the door, only this time keeping it open, “There, now we won’t get stuck in here.”

“You sure that’ll work?” Aura asked, coming over to look at the terminal.

“It worked in Stable 9. I’m not sure why, but my Pip-Buck seems to be able to override other programs and use itself as some kind of key. Once I seal something with it, like a stable door for example, nothing can undo it unless they use my Pip-Buck.”

“That’s a neat trick,” Wingnut added, then looked around the entrance to the Stable, “This is so COOL!”

Goddesses, I swear if he gets us caught, I’m going to wonderglue his mouth shut, “Shhhh, quiet down Wingnut, we don’t know who’s in here. I don’t feel like getting shot in the ass again by somepony spying on us because he heard us come in and got a chance to hide.”

Quickly shutting his mouth, the colt trotted back over to us. Then a voice echoed from one of the open doors, “Who opened the Stable door?”

Another pony responded, he sounded like a ghoul, “No idea, I thought the boss wasn’t supposed to be back till later tonight.”

“We should go check it out, those NLR bastards haven’t caused us much problems recently, but the boss would kill us if one of them wandered in here.”

“He didn’t kill us when that Detective wandered in here.”

“Yeah, but they used to be friends, from what I heard at least.”

Two shadows came out from the door preceding the two ponies. Thinking quickly, I turned to my companions, “Aura, Stardust, you two get outside and hide, Wingnut, you follow me. We’re small enough that we should be able to hide under the walkway here.”

“We aren’t splitting up,” Aura protested.

“We have to for now. When the coast is clear, come back in. We can’t all fit down there,” I said, pointing down to a small alcove under the walkway.

“Ugh fine, let’s go Dickface,” the two of them flew out the stable door, Wingnut and I jumped down and hid in the alcove.

Luck was on our side; the two ponies came through the door right when we got out of sight. Two stallions walked over the walkway looking at the open stable door. Both were wearing suits and fedoras, and both had submachine guns holstered on their backs. Squeezing in closer to Wingnut, I kept an eye on them through the grate, hoping they wouldn’t look down.

“What the fuck is this? Who opened the door?” the Ghoul pony asked, looking over at his companion.

“It was closed a few minutes ago, we should check the area and make sure everything’s cool,” he said pulling the gun off his back.

The two of them started to walk toward the open stable door. Now was as good a chance as any, “Let’s head inside, Stardust and Aura can catch up.”

“You know Aura’s going to be pissed at you for leaving her behind,” he said following me out of our hiding place and up onto the walkway.

We headed into the room the two stallions came from. Luckily nopony was there, moving quickly we went around a table that had some kind of card game set up on it and into a hallway. Still nopony was on guard. One thing I wasn’t liking was the lack of ponies in here, either this gang was really small, really stupid, or both. I found that hard to believe since they seemed to be the ones attacking caravans, or at least that’s what the Detective thought.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Wingnut asked, as we snuck down the hall and into the atrium.

“A little, this stable is set up differently from mine, but it seems like most of them have a similar setup when it comes to where the atrium should be. Same goes for the Overmare’s office. We should make our way up there first and see if there’s some kind of schematics of this place,” I said, checking my E.F.S.

“I thought a stable would be really cool, but this place is really boring, and smells weird,” Wingnut said, following close behind me.

“Try living in one for most of your life.”

I stopped and pressed Wingnut against the wall, making sure to keep my body pressed close to his as two red bars floated by on my E.F.S. A mare and a stallion were walking by on the upper level of the atrium, I could just make out their silhouettes above.

“Why are we still keeping that Lonely Hearts fella alive, I thought the boss would’ve whacked him by now?” the mare asked.

“No idea, the boss just said to keep him locked up in that big office for now and not to do anything to him until he gets back from his meeting with the Van Damns.”

“I know, but I don’t like having one of those things in here, who knows what it can do.”

“Ah, old Lonely Hearts ain’t much of a threat to us. He doesn’t have it in him to hurt nopony. Plus, from what I’ve heard, he’s The Ministry’s trash. Thrown out like a broken toy.”

“You say that now, but what if he decides he doesn’t want to be locked up anymore? I’ve heard rumors of what those things can do, I don’t really want to find out if they’re true the hard way, if you know what I mean,” she sounded scared of the Detective, I wonder why though. If he was just some pony and they captured him, what harm could he do to them?

“I don’t believe that crap. Lonely Hearts, he’s a good pony, even though he’s a little freaky looking. If he hadn’t gone poking his nose where it doesn’t belong, he wouldn’t be in this predicament. Normally he doesn’t go looking into our business like this, something to do with his old friendship with the boss,” the stallion responded.

“That was before we started working with those Van Damn assholes. What if he told the NLR what we’ve been up to?”

“They won’t do nothing about it unless we go after one of their caravans. We’ve only been hitting the ones that trade with the local towns and the shops in Freedom. Also, if Lonely Hearts was gonna tell the NLR about us, he would’ve wanted proof first, that’s why he came snooping around here. Since we got him now, he can’t go tellin’ nopony nothin’.”

“I hope you’re right, I don’t wanna deal with those New Lunar Republic freaks. It’s bad enough they’re base is right next to this stable.”

“They aren’t a threat. If they wanted to do something about it then they would’ve by now,” the stallion responded.

Wingnut poked me with a hoof, “Hey Shadow, shouldn’t we get moving? I’m not saying I don’t enjoy this whole thing but I’m tired of being pressed against a wall. It’s a bit hard to breathe.”

He had a point, we couldn’t sit around here listening to these ponies talking all day. Looking over to the colt I nodded, “Yeah, let’s get moving, follow me and keep as quiet as you can.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Keeping an eye on my E.F.S. I watched as the two ponies talking above us walked around the upper level of the atrium. We got to the stairs and went up, making sure that our hoof steps didn’t make too much noise as we ascended. Waiting another moment at the top of the steps, I watched as the two guards turned and started walking the other way. Moving quickly, we snuck over to the opposite hall, and through the door.

Another bar showed up on my E.F.S. as we made it through and both of us ran straight into another pony who was coming out into the atrium. He had a rifle up as soon as the door opened. Before I could think, my shotgun was up and firing. The shot echoed loudly as I peppered him with buckshot right to the chest. The two ponies on the other side of the atrium turned quickly, weapons at the ready.

“The fuck? How’d they get in here?” the mare yelled, firing at both of us.

“Time to run!” I yelled grabbing Wingnut in my magic’s grasp, pulling him into the hallway and closing the door, not before taking a couple bullets to my barding. They hit hard, but didn’t penetrate, only bruising my flesh underneath. Thank old Box Tape for his armor.

Alarms started going off all over the stable. Wingnut looked over at me, still floating in my magic’s grip, “So what’s the plan now?”

“Run for the Overmare’s office and hope we can hide there. Figure it’s the only place they wouldn’t think to look.”

“Oh really? Doll, you really are stupid if you think you can waltz in here uninvited like this,” a voice said from the other side of the hallway.

I turned and saw five stallions all dressed the same, apart from one. The earth pony stallion was wearing a black pin stripped suit and matching hat, his brown coat and black mane complimented it nicely. His goons all had automatic rifles pointed at us.

“I take it you’re the boss around here?” I asked the buck in the black suit.

“That’s right, the name’s Skinny and don’t you forget it. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with? You don’t look like somepony from the NLR, so who are you?” he asked, I wonder why he was called Skinny, because he didn’t look Skinny in any way that I could tell.

“I’m a Courier with Equestrian Express, I heard a client of mine was in this old stable and I came looking for him.”

“I thought we were here to rescue the Detective?” Wingnut asked, looking confused.

“Shut it dumbass,” I hissed at him through my teeth.

Skinny looked at my colt companion then back at me with a grin on his face, “So you’re that mare I’ve been hearing about on the radio. Good job with Stable 9, those freaks that lived under it were really becoming a problem for my organization. Especially that freak Gator.”

“I do aim to please,” I said, with a mocking grin.

“But I ain’t lettin’ you get away with pullin’ that same stunt here,” he turned to his goons, “Kill her, and uh… the little guy too.”

Slipping into S.A.T.S. I fired at the first stallion. One thing I learned, don’t try to use a shotgun at long range. My shot hit, but didn’t do much damage. The pony stumbled a little, but he recovered quickly. His friends started firing wildly in our direction. A bullet tore into my foreleg and another into my flank. The latter was lucky enough to make it through a thin gap in my duster’s armor.

I stumbled then dashed to one side, pulling Wingnut with me, doing my best to keep him protected from the onslaught. The colt however wiggled free of my magic and pulled something from his own saddle bags, “Close your eyes!” then he tossed something toward the ponies who were doing their best to kill us.

Knowing Wingnut would’ve had a good reason to say something like that, I did what he said. There was a loud bang and a bright light, so bright I could see it through my eyelids. The bullets stopped, followed by screams of pain. Opening my eyes again expecting to see ponies ripped apart from what I figured was a grenade. To my surprise, they were only rolling on the ground, holding their hooves to their eyes yelling in pain. Skinny I could see managed to run off while his ponies were attacking us.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Stun grenade, now hurry up, they’ll be fine in a few seconds.”

I nodded and ran down the hallway with him, one of the ponies tried to grab my hoof as we passed. I turned my shotgun on him and fired, the effect was much better pointblank. The shot tore a chunk out of his side, and blasted him back against one of his companions. Not waiting to see what else would happen, and ignoring the pain in my foreleg, we ran on toward the stairs that lead up to the Overmare’s office.

When I got to it the door was locked, and there was a terminal next to the door. I attempted to hack it, only to find out that it was already unlocked. Hitting the command to open the door to the office, I pushed Wingnut inside and followed. In the far corner of the room I saw a pony laying there. He looked up as the door opened.

“Wait, don’t shut the door…” he started to say, but it was too late. I hit the button to close the door as soon as I was past the threshold.

“It’s okay, I can get it back open again, they left the terminal unlocked,” I said as I looked toward the pony, his face was mostly hidden by the shadows in the dark room.

“You idiot, the door can’t be opened from this side. Skinny destroyed the door controls. It only opens from the outside.” the stallion said.

“Wait, What?” I asked in confusion, “What do you mean it can only be opened from the outside? This is the Overmare’s office, it controls the entire stable.”

“Well kid, not THIS Overmare’s office. Trust me, I’ve tried using the terminal to open the door, and I’m still here.” he said as he pulled out a cigarette and popped it into his mouth, then lit it and looked back over at me, “Since we’re roomies, how about you tell me why you were stupid enough to sneak in here.”

Before I could say anything, there was a tap on the window that was next to the door. It was that Triggerpony boss, Skinny, he gave me a smile, “Nice of you to stop in and make hunting you down nice and easy. I’ll admit, I’m impressed you were able to get as far as you did without gettin’ killed. Looks like there’s more truth than I thought about your adventures.”

“Let us out of here,” I demanded.

“Or what?”

“I have friends just outside the stable door, they’ll come in after me. You don’t want to mess with them.”

“Yeah, they’ll fuck your shit up,” Wingnut added.

He laughed, “You mean that pegasus and the griffon? Those two ran off after more of my associates showed up to protect the door. I got twenty ponies protecting the entrance to this stable, they don’t mean shit to me.”

Aura and Stardust ran away? They wouldn’t do that, “You’re lying, the griffon’s my bodyguard and she wouldn’t leave me in here to die, and my pegasus friend…well he’s just too stubborn to let a few lowlifes like yourselves get away with this either.”

“You got a point there, but I ain’t alone either. I got a few friends of my own that are on their way. If your friends even try and get near this place it’ll be the last thing they ever do. So, if I were you, I’d get comfortable, you’ll be here for a while.”

“Why’s that?”

“I heard that some ponies out there are lookin’ for you, some kind of contract through one of the talon companies. I figure there’s a reward in there somewhere for findin’ you. I’ll be keeping you here until they show up to fetch you,” he said then looked over at Wingnut, “The kid though, he’s just a loose end to tie up when were done with you. So, sit tight and relax. That office you’re in has plenty of luxuries to keep you comfortable. You should feel right at home.”

“This is low, even for you Skinny, since when did you start capturing fillies to use them in your business dealings?” Lonely Hearts said, still keeping himself hidden at the back of the office.

The Gangster pony laughed and looked over at the Detective, “I’ll do whatever I have to for caps and reputation around here L.H. you should know that by now.”

“This is still low Skinny. Your gang has always been a bunch of two bit thugs, mugging and threatening for protection caps for years. Why the sudden change? Why go after caravans and this kind of thing? It’s not like you to risk so much for a few extra caps.”

“Don’t start with me L.H. I’m done playing your game. It was fun over the years, but I’m sick of it now. Skinny ain’t no two-bit hood, I’m a pony to be reckoned with. One day I’ll even be bigger than Mr. Tops himself,” Skinny turned and walked away from the window and out of sight.

Fuck, now what was I gonna do? I turned toward Wingnut, “Any bright ideas?”

“This was your stupid plan, I just wanted to see the inside of a stable. Personally, I’m not impressed. It stinks in here and doesn’t have as much cool stuff as I thought it would.”

I looked over at Lonely Hearts, “How did you get caught?”

“Simple, I walked in to talk with Skinny. I wanted to see if he knew more about the recent attacks on the caravans. Skinny may be a snake, but he knows a lot of what’s going on in the criminal underworld. Now tell me, why did you get yourself caught like that?”

“Came here looking for you, your assistant said you came here to track down a lead and never came back.”

“Why are you hiding back there in the dark Mr. Detective?” Wingnut asked. I was wondering the same thing.

“I’m not hiding, I just didn’t want to scare you two that’s all. Most folks have a negative reaction when they first meet me,” he said stepping forward.

The pony that I saw, wasn’t a pony at all, okay, he looked like a pony. He had a tan trench coat on, and a black fedora, they were both patched and looked worse for wear. The rest of him however was something I hadn’t ever seen before, he looked like a pony, but his sandy tan coat was weather beaten, there was a chunk of it missing over the left side of his face. Only instead of bone or muscle under it, there were wires and a metal jaw. His eyes were black orbs with yellow pupils that had a faint glow, his left hoof was missing his coat entirely ending in a metal hoof that was skinner than his other three.

“What the fuck are you?” I asked stepping between him and Wingnut.

“See what I mean? Everypony has a negative reaction whenever they see me. I take it you haven’t met a Synth before, have you kid?” he said taking a puff on his cigarette.

“A what now? And wait a sec, if you’re some kind of robot, how are you smoking and why!?” I mean come on, it was bad enough he was a robot, but did he have to smoke those things too.

“I’ve heard about Synths before, I thought they were only rumors to scare foals and fillies,” Wingnut added.

The robot smiled at my young companion then looked back at me, “Synth is short for Synthetic, it’s a nickname given to artificially created Ponies. A place called The Ministry created us, though I couldn’t tell you why. I’m a prototype, I was created a long time ago then tossed in the trash.”

“So, you’re this Ministry’s garbage, they tossed you out, so you decided to go and start a Detective agency?”

“Kind of, you see when I first woke up in that trash heap, I had no idea I was a Synth. I was uploaded with the memories of an L.P.P.D. Detective called Lonely Hearts from back before the great war ended. Took me a couple years before the truth was revealed, when I took a nasty shot to the face giving me this ugly mug you see now,” he said, pointing up at his face.

“So, why become a detective?”

“It was the only thing I knew how to do, and I was good at it. I started in Freedom, but later Mr. Tops himself asked me to help him with a case. I did and he let me move to The Strip. I’ve been there ever since. Mr. Tops lets me stay as long as I make sure to keep an eye on things going on around Freedom. That’s what got me into this mess,”

“I don’t know about YOU Shadow, but I think he’s kinda cool, I trust him.”

“You trust him after a quick story like that, but you wouldn’t trust my friend or me when we were trying to save you from Cazadores?” I asked the colt in shock.

“You barged in with guns blazing with a griffon and pegasus following you. What was I supposed to think?”

“That I was there to save your life.”

“Or to rob us, it wouldn’t be the first-time adults have done that to us kids,” he said simply.

I wasn’t doing this right now. Huffing for a moment then letting out a long breath I sighed and walked past Wingnut and over to the Synth. I couldn’t get something out of my head about him, “Okay, so your story seems like it could have some truth to it, and I did come all this way to find you, so I’ll trust you. I have to know one thing first though.”

“Not like we’re going anywhere kid, what’s on your mind?”

“You’re the same pony who saved me back at F & F Tools, I understand now why you covered your face and hooves in bandages, but why did you help me?”

Lonely Hearts looked utterly confused for a long moment then something seemed to click in his head, “I’ve never met you before now kid, but this pony you say saved you, did he have a black desperado hat on, used a revolver, and could fight like no pony you’d ever seen before?”

Taken aback for a moment, I looked just as confused as Lonely Hearts did, “Um…yeah. You mean that wasn’t you?”

“Nope, I don’t go far from New Pegasus unless I’m on a job, and the jobs I’ve had over the past few weeks have kept me around the Strip and Freedom. The pony who saved you though, I’ve been trying to track him down for years now. No pony knows who he is, but they always give the same description.”

“If he’s out helping ponies, then why do you want to find him?” I asked.

“He’s going around killing other ponies saying he’s trying to help, but he always hides who he is, and he’s always gone in a flash, almost like he was never there. A pony like that worries me, I wanna find out who he is and why he’s supposedly helping ponies like he does. Honestly if you know more about him I’d really like to know.”

“Do we really have time for this?”

“We have a lot of time to kill right now kid, if I know Skinny like think I do, he’ll be out talking with his goons, checking the Stable, keeping the door safe, and pumping up his ego.”

Wingnut went over to a corner, laying down to watch us. Sighing I relented, “He was using something to mask his voice, but I’m sure he’s a Stallion, I also noticed wings under his trenchcoat when he was fighting.”

Lonely Hearts rubbed his chin with a hoof, puffing on this cigarette a little before saying, “That’s a detail I hadn’t heard before, he’s never spoken to anypony before and I’ve never heard about him having wings. I’ll have to add this to my file when I get back to the agency.”

“Add it to your file? Do you have a plan to get us out of this predicament?”

“No not really, I was hoping you had a plan since you were the one who decided to brave your way past the guards and into this office.”

Of course it was up to me, why did I have to figure a way out of this? I didn’t really think I was going to get stuck in an Overmare’s office…fuck, I’m not a smart pony. I’ve been sitting here wondering how I was going to get out of this, and not even thinking to myself, that I was in an Overmare’s office. There should be an escape tunnel, just like in my stable and stable 9.

“Hey, Lonely Hearts, you said you were able to get into the Overmare’s terminal, right?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t too hard to be honest, why do you ask?”

I trotted over to the terminal and took a look at it, “Because, Stables have escape tunnels. It’s a last resort for the stable in case it ever needs to be evacuated and the way through the atrium is blocked.”

I started looking through the files that were on the terminal. Damn this Overmare had loads of crap on here, journals, notes, research projects, names of residents, and other things too. Finally, at the bottom I saw what I was looking for.

Overseer’s Personal Escape Tunnel.

I clicked on it and watched as a message came up.

Escape Tunnel Requires Overseer’s Personal Password to Open,
Please provide password now.

“What the fuck is this? And what is this about an Overseer?” I asked, looking at the terminal as if it personally insulted me.

Lonely Hearts walked over and looked over my shoulder, he really didn’t seem to understand personal space too much, “Looks to me like a protection algorithm. For some reason, this terminal was set up to only let the Overmare or Overseer I guess, use this tunnel. Let me see if I can get past the security and overwrite the program,” he pushed me aside and started working with the terminal, “Hmmm, that’s an odd setup, this may take a little while.”

“So, what should we do while we wait for you to hack into that thing?”

“Figure something out,” he said, working on the terminal and ignoring us.

“I’m gonna take a nap, maybe you should do the same thing. It’s not like we’re going anywhere anytime soon, unless we’re lucky and Stardust or Aura fly in and save us,” Wingnut said as he curled up and closed his eyes.

“Go head, I’ll figure something out I guess while you do.”

I hated being bored, I looked at my Pip-Buck and started looking through the files I started to accumulate while on my travels. All the way on the bottom I noticed an audio file. It was the one from the first terminal I’d found when I was hiding from Blade and the Boss. I’d meant to get back to it when I had time, and forgotten all about it. Pulling out the earbloom from my Pip-Buck I selected the file and started to listen.

At first there was just a bunch of static and the sounds of movement, then a mare’s voice came onto the recording, “Tonight’s the night, I know I said in my last message that it was my last, and it was. I’m making this recording just because, I wanted to leave something behind, something that was more of who I was before I left home. Leaving my diary like I did was part of it, but it’s so impersonal leaving things down in writing alone. I was accepted into the military, I’ll be on my way to meet with Silver Hooves as soon as I’m done here. He’ll be taking me to meet with his commanding officer so I can be sent in for training. I’m so excited and a little scared. At first, I did this so I could get out of this house and this life of being scared of what was going on in the war, without being able to do anything about it. Now, I want to be able to help fight back, to protect my homeland from the Zebras. I’m going to make something of myself, and prove to my parents that they were wrong about me.”

There was the sound of something banging from overhead, followed by a stallion’s voice, “Pink Rose, are you down there?”

“Yes daddy, I’m just writing in my diary.”

“You’re not sending messages to that solider buck, are you?”

“No Daddy, you know this terminal can’t send messages out to anypony,” she said, sounding annoyed, “Can you leave me alone so I can finish?”

There was a sound of hooves moving down a ladder, then the buck’s voice sounded closer, “I don’t believe you Pink Rose, let me see what you’re doing.”

“It’s my diary daddy, it’s private!” she yelled.

“We don’t keep secrets in this family, you know the rules. Now show me what you’re doing.”

“GO away, I’m not showing you anything!”

There was a loud smack, like a hoof hitting flesh, “I told you to show me now!”

“What the fuck Dad, get away from me!” Pink Rose yelled.

“What’s going on down there?” another mare’s voice said, sounding far away.

“Mom, daddies lost it, he just hit me.”

“You’re making a recording? So, you were lying to me, what are you doing with this, leaving a message for us for when you run away with that fucking Solider. You can’t trust them Pink Rose, he just wants to use you, then toss you aside like a sack of trash,” her father said, sounding like he was right next to the terminal now.

The older mare’s voice came again, this time sounding closer too, “Honey, what did you do to her?”

“I can’t believe you did that Dad, I’m sick of how you act toward any stallion who likes me, or how you’re treating this war. You act like nothing will happen to us just because you have this shitty house and a bunker to hide in. Well I’m sick of hiding, I’m going out there and helping Equestria, so is Silver Hooves,” Pink Rose protested.

“You’ll do no such thing, no daughter of mine is going to go out and die for this senseless war, it will all blow over soon, and I won’t lose my daughter over it.”

“Honey, you heard about what happened at Luna’s school right? The Zebras killed a lot of children, that wasn’t that long ago. The war will get worse, you know that. Maybe we should let Pink Rose go,” her mother said, sounding like she was pleading with the buck.

“I won’t let her, she’s my daughter, she will do as I say.”

“I hate you daddy, I’m leaving and you can’t stop me! I was going to send you a letter when I got to my training camp, but now I don’t care! You can die down in this shithole bunker of yours! I’m not your daughter anymore!” Pink Rose yelled, then the sound of a pony climbing the ladder came over the recording.

“No Pink Rose, please don’t go like this,” her mother pleaded, sobs racking her voice.

“You say that now, but we’ll see what happens when you come back in a few months, after that buck leaves you. See if I’ll let you back in then, you stupid slut!”

There was a click, and the audio message ended…

Wow, so she really did do it, she left her parents behind, and I’m sure from the sound of it, that she never intended to come back. Of course, she probably would’ve been court marshalled for deserting. I wonder what ever happened to her, or her parents. I guess it didn’t matter, they were all dead now. How could anypony treat their daughter like that? Her other Diary was much less depressing than this was.

Deciding I didn’t want go look through my notes and recordings, I figured I’d look through my inventory, right at the top under the miscellaneous tab was a memory orb, I clicked on it making it come to the top of my saddle bags. Reaching in I pulled it out and looked at it. It was one of the two I’d found at F & F Tools. The black orb with a silvery shine to it. I was scared to look into it before, something about the black orb was creepy.

I looked up at Lonely Hearts, “Do you think I’ll have time to look into this orb while you work on that?”

“I don’t see why not, like I said, I’m sure they won’t be back for a while to check on us, but don’t blame me if something happens while you’re in there,” he replied.

“Don’t worry Shadow, I’ll keep an eye on you while you’re in there,” Wingnut said, looking up at me with one eye.

“Thanks Wingnut,” I focused on the orb, and the world melted away.

I was in a room I knew all too well, the office of Falafel at the F&F Tool company. I was in a stallion, he was sitting at his desk looking over paper work when Lily walked into the office, “Sir, a Ms. Minuette is here to see you.”

My host looked up from his paperwork and smiling at Lily, “Good, I’ve been wondering when she would show up. Show her in.”

“Right away sir,” Lily said, turning and walking back out of the office, a moment later she returned.

Following behind Lily was the mare I’d seen before in Lightning Dust’s memory. The blue unicorn smiled her big smile at my host, “Sorry I’m running late Falafel, I got held up by an old friend of mine.”

Lily left the room leaving my host alone with the blue unicorn. He smiled back at her, “It’s quite alright, I was busy with paperwork and only just now finished up. I thought I was going to be meeting with your boss, I wasn’t expecting it to just be you.”

“Oh, you are,” she turned, her horn glowing casting a spell on the door. When she was done she looked back at my host still smiling wide, “Had to make sure your secretary couldn’t overhear us.”

“My door is enchanted to prevent eavesdropping,” my host said.

“Whoever told you that is a liar. Now everything is good,” her horn glowed again, concentration written on her face. A moment later, there was a bright blue flash and standing next to Minuette, was her Captain, “Sorry it took so long sir, I haven’t tried to do a reverse teleportation spell like that before.”

The grey stallion was wearing the bug-like power armor I’d seen before on the Enclave solider Winter Frost, only his looked different, it had different colored gems imbedded in different parts of the suit. The edges of his wings where the armor covered them, I could see a silver glow, just like the swords he’d used while with Big Mac. His helmet was belted to his side, next to two slender looking disintegration rifles. He looked over toward Minuette, “Thank you Minuette, are we secure?”

“Yes, I’ve enchanted the door, added protection against eavesdropping.”

“What about M.O.M. bugs?”

Her horn glowed and a blue light filled the room, a moment later she smiled again, “Nope, were all good Captain.”

“Where’s Babs?”

“Keeping watch outside, she’ll radio in if anypony is on their way.”

“Good,” Night Stalker looked back toward my host again, walking over to the desk, “Do you know who I am?”

I could feel my host growing nervous as the armored stallion walked over towering over my him, “You’re Princess Luna’s personal guard, Night Stalker.”

A smile came to his face, “That I am, but I’m so much more than that, I’m also the Captain of a certain group, dedicated to helping Equestria win this war. We work under the directive of only Princess Luna and the Ministry of Awesome. My cover is as Luna’s personal guard. Tell me Falafel, do you know why I’m here today?”

I could feel my host’s knees shaking a little as the tall buck spoke to him. I could understand his fear, his deep voice and commanding demeanor oozed danger, “I couldn’t say, all I got from your message is that you wanted to meet with my brother and I to discuss some new project for the war effort. Though I thought it was something for the Ministry of Arcane Sciences.”

“It is in a way. You see, I’ve been good friends with Rainbow Dash for years, and through her Twilight Sparkle. They’re the only two ponies apart from my team and Princess Luna who knows anything about what I’m here to talk to you about. You see, Luna wants my team stationed out in Las Pegasus. The problem is, we don’t have a proper base to work from, that’s where you come in.”

“I don’t think I’m following,” my host said sounding worried.

“See. I told you he wouldn’t be much help. We should’ve talked to his brother first,” Minuette said.

“No, Flapjack’s gotten himself in bed with Applejack’s Ministry,” Night Stalker said, “What I need from you Falafel, is help with building a new casino on The Strip. Since I can’t have ties to it myself, I need a company to do it, or somepony with money. Your Company has done well for itself over the years, and with your new ties to the Ministry of Wartime Technology your company will grow even more. We have plans drawn up for this casino, you’ll be allowed to run it however you see fit, and all the profits will be yours. All I want is for you to leave a few floors off-limits to civilians as well as employees.”

“And what would they be used for?”

“Nothing of concern to you of your brother, part of them will be an M.A.S. hub, the rest will be for my team, that’s all you need to know.”

I felt my host get a little ruffled, “Why come to me with this? Flapjack is the one who wants to expand the company and find new ways of making a profit. I’m perfectly happy with running the tool company and being left in peace.”

“Because we can’t trust your brother to keep this secret, he’s too close to ponies I don’t need finding out about what we do. Honestly, talking to you like this is already too much of a risk right now, but it has to be done.”

“And how do you know you can trust me any more than my brother?”

Minuette answered, “Because you’re a good pony that doesn’t like to get involved in things, and we have dirt on you that’ll keep you quiet,” It was kinda scary how she could threaten a pony and still smile like it was just another day for her.

“So, if I don’t agree to this, you’ll blackmail me?” my host responded angrily.

“Yes, that’s what’ll happen. Though I’d rather you agree to this so I won’t have to resort to that kind of thing,” Night Stalker said.

Falafel shrank back, “I don’t know the first thing about running a casino.”

“You didn’t know anything about running a company when you first opened F&F Tools either, now you’re one of the biggest companies in Equestria. Don’t worry, you’ll learn.”

“Can I at least see what you’re planning on building?”

“Minuette, show him the blueprints.” Night Stalker said, moving out of the way.

Minuette trotted over, pulling a scroll out from her saddle bags and unrolling it on the desk. My host looked over the blueprints in awe. I couldn’t tell what most of it meant, but I could tell by the shape, that it was the Lucky Horseshoe, the same casino Mr. Tops supposedly lived in.

“This almost looks like a fortress, and what are those robots I see on the bottom of the page?”

“A pony at Robronco called them Securiponies, it’s a new robot they’re working on, they’ll be put into the Casino as guards.”

My host seemed to be getting a little more excited as he looked over the plans, “You know, you might have something here.”

“All I care about is hearing that you agree,” Night Stalker said.

My host looked back at him, “If I don’t, what would you do?”

In a flash, Night Stalker was next to my host, one of his wings pressing a sharp edge against his throat, “I don’t play games Falafel, if you don’t agree then your brother will find out about your little affair with his wife. I’m sure that’s not something you’d want him finding out about, or I could just slit your throat here and now, both options work for me.”

My host sounded shocked when he responded, “You wouldn’t do anything like that!”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to do my job. I’ll admit that losing your help would be a setback, but one I can fix. I’d rather not work with your brother, he’s nowhere near as smart as you are, and I can’t trust him. I will though, if I have to. So, will you help us in this project?”

My host looked down at the blueprints taking a long moment to look over the plans, “One more question. What’s this other part of the building for, the spire reaching up from the sub-basement all the way to the top of the tower?”

“None of your concern,” Night Stalker said reaching over and taking the blueprints.

“And here I thought the M.O.A. didn’t do anything.”

“For all you know, they don’t.”

I felt my host smile, “Hell why not, I’m getting bored here anyway. Who knows? Running a casino might be fun. I do have one condition though.”

“You’re not really in the best place to make demands Falafel, but considering the circumstances I’ll hear you out.”

“I want Lily to work there, her father used run things at one of the casinos on the strip, she knows a lot about the business.”

A grin came to Night Stalker’s face, “I’m sure we can arrange that. If that’s all, then welcome to the team. You’ll be keeping in contact with Minuette, she’s my head spellcaster and one of my most trusted agents. She’ll keep you up to date on what’s going on, also you’ll be hearing from a Stable-Tec representative soon. They’ll be going over the plans and funds for building the tower.”

“There was another question I had, how do you expect me to pay for this?”

“Easy, you’ll have funding in your account tomorrow. The project is being fully covered by an investor, of whom you’ll know nothing about, but who sees the possibilities with working with you,” Minuette said.

“I see. Well then, I guess I should start to get things set up, what do you expect me to tell Flapjack?”

“Something he’ll believe,” Night Stalker replied.

“That’ll be difficult, but with how busy he is with the M.W.T. I’m sure I can manage.”

“Good,” he said turning back toward Minuette, “Make sure you give him the talisman.”

“Yes sir, I’ll get right on it. Will you be heading back to base?”

“No, I need to go check on things with my sister. Would you mind sending me to her?”

“Sure thing Captain,” Minuette’s horn glowed, her magical aura surrounding Night Stalker. In a flash he was gone.

My host spoke up when the Captain left, “What did he mean by giving me a talisman?”

“I’ll explain everything in a moment, but first the boss want’s insurance that you’ll keep up with your end of the bargain,” Minuette said as her horn started glowing again, “I’ll be taking a couple memories of yours. When we know we can trust you we’ll give them back.”

She moved closer, her magic flowing over my host…

I came out of the orb blinking slowly as the dull lights of the Overseer’s office came into focus. A second later, I looked around. Wingnut was still lying next to me with his eyes closed, but I could tell he was still awake. Lonely Hearts was still working on the terminal.

“Any luck?” I asked as I got back to my hooves.

He looked over at me, “Uh, well… not so much. I was able to get into the program just fine. The problem is, I can’t seem to find anything to open up an escape tunnel. The terminal references it a few times, but nothing seems to show where it is or how it’s opened.”

I walked over and looked at the terminal screen, “There has to be something in here.”

“There’s lots of things here, but nothing about the escape tunnel. I’m sorry kid, but I don’t think this is our best way out. There are a few notes from the Overseer in here. It might have more insight on it, though I couldn’t make any sense out of it.”

“Let me look them over,” I said, taking his place at the terminal.

Overseer’s Personal Logs.

Entry One,

Another day in this stupid stable. I know they were set up to save us from a Megaspell attack, but I don’t get the point behind still being locked up in this place for so long. I’ve been the Overseer for a couple years now, and honestly, it’s a boring ass job. It sucks trying to watch over so many griffons and get them to follow the rules laid down by former Overseers.

Griffons weren’t ever supposed to be trapped in a cage like this, even one with so many things to keep us distracted. Stable-Tec said we couldn’t leave until it was safe to go back outside. Fuck that, if we ever leave here while I’m alive, I’m going to find work that puts my talents to better use.

My mother always said that one day when we could leave she wanted to do what she could to help any other griffons that were still alive out there. She died with that idea, and she had a point. Personally, I’d like to go back to the way things were when griffons worked for a living. Making money using their talents to help fight and keep others safe. Living by the contract and sometimes dying by it, that’s how a griffon should live.

One day, I’ll make sure we can go back to that life. The free life of a griffon...

Entry Two,

So, today I got a transmission from somepony calling himself, Mr. Tops. He somehow got access through the Stable-Tec mainframe, and saw that our stable was still operational. He then goes on to ask me why we’re still hiding in here. I told him that we hadn’t gotten the okay from Stable-Tec to open the door. He then tells me that Stable-Tec is dead and gone and the world outside is safe enough to live in. It’s not perfect, but livable.

It’s like a dream come true. I’m also worried that this might be some kind of trap. I don’t know this Mr. Tops from boo, I’ll have to think about this more, and talk to my department heads. If we can trust him, we might be able to finally leave this stupid place and be free. All I know is that I don’t want to spend another year being the Overseer.

Entry Three,

Talked it over with the others, and they agree with me. We need to look into this more. So, we sent a message to Mr. Tops. We asked him what to expect if we were to leave the stable. He told us about a lot of the dangers around the area and in Equestria in a whole. It doesn’t sound promising, but it’s still better than being stuck here. What caught my interest was something about griffons that started something called Talon companies. They’re mercenaries out in the Wasteland, they fight for money. Now that sounds like my kind of griffons to meet. I just got to convince the others that leaving is the best thing for us.

I know they won’t like it, but really, if we don’t do something soon, the stable will be in danger of inbreeding. I’m not gonna go down as the Overseer who failed her stable, it’s been over a century since the war ended. It’s time to leave the stable, it’s time for Stable 14 to go back into the world and help.

Entry Four,

We’re leaving the stable. I’m about to head down and open the door, Mr. Tops said he’ll have someone there to meet with us and help us once we’re out. Some of the griffons here wanna stay, my husband is one of them. I told him I’m leaving and I’m taking our daughter with us. If he wants to stay in this metal coffin then so be it, but I won’t let my daughter stay in here any longer. I know he’s gonna try and stop me, but I won’t let him.

If we can’t leave then I’ll use the Emergency escape tunnel, or that’s what I’ll make him think. He has no idea what’s really down there. The tunnel leads to a room, and that’s where every Overseer’s gone to die for the past few decades. No one’s ever come back from it, and they never left the stable. I’m going to take my daughter out the safe way. I’ve rigged this place so that if anyone tries to enter my office and use my terminal, it will blow the terminal to the door. After that, the only way out is if someone lets them out from the other side, or if they go into the escape tunnel.

I really don’t want to do this to him, but he has a temper. If he truly wants to stay and keep me here too, he’ll get violent. This is the safest way for us to get away and most of the stable. He can rot in this hole in the ground for all I care, I’ll make a new life up in the real world. Maybe I’ll go find one of those Talon companies and see if I can join.

This is Overseer Gail Windrider, and we are free, like true griffons, we are free...

I looked at the entries from this overseer. It made sense now, why this stable seemed so different. No Overmare, because there wasn’t a mare in this stable. Stable-Tec hadn’t been trying to just save ponies, they were saving everyone they could. But why would they have a room in here that was made to look like an escape tunnel, but instead kill the griffon who was leading the stable? What was the point of that? What did it accomplish?

Lonely Hearts walked around the desk and sighed deeply (How did he do that, he’s a robot?) he looked over at me, “I’m not sure what you were expecting, but there isn’t a way out of here from what I can see.”

“There has to be another way out of this situation,” I said walking over toward the window and looking out into the atrium, “I wonder if there’s a way we could break the glass.”

Wingnut walked over to me and looked through the window, “Fat chance. It looks too thick for our guns to do much damage. If we had a few grenades then maybe, but I think Stardust sold the few you had.”

“Why would he do that?”

“He said we didn’t have any need for them.”

Lonely Hearts walked over, “Do you have a spell that could help us get out?”

“Teleportation, but I’m not so sure it’ll work in here. Stables normally have wards against spells like that.”

“Maybe, but seeing how this was a griffon stable, maybe it’ll work. If you can get out and unlock the door from the other side, we’d be home free.”

He had a point, I looked over at the door and started to draw on my magic. In a flash, I was outside the door. (Why didn’t I think about this before?) The spell hardly took any energy or effort, I barely had to think about it and I was out. If I had the time, I would’ve been amazed. Instead I ran over to the terminal and opened the door.

“Why didn’t we try that in the beginning?” Wingnut asked.

“Shut it kid, we’re out of there, let’s get the fuck out of the stable.” I said walking back toward the atrium.

When we reached the door, a few red bars showed up on my E.F.S. I put a hoof out stopping my companions, “Hold up, let’s do this smart and try and see if we can sneak past whoever’s out there.”

“Hey kid, you got us this far, I’ll follow your lead,” Lonely Hearts said.

I opened the door intending on assessing our situation, but what I saw in the atrium stopped me dead on my hooves. Skinny was standing in the middle of the atrium, his Triggerponies standing around him. In front of him was a big pegasus in armor similar to what Wrath had been wearing. His coat was dirt brown with a red and orange striped mane. Just like Wrath and Pride, he had a mark on his armor right where his cutie mark would be. This one looked like a bear, drawn out in a tribal design like the others.

He looked bored, his expression was that of a pony who looked like he was doing something he hated. He spoke to Skinny in a slow monotone voice, “So, we’re here to collect on the bounty you called us about.”

“Yeah, I heard the Enclave’s been looking for this mare, and they’re willing to pay a lot for her capture,” Skinny said, sounding excited.

The Pegasus gave off a sigh that made my own seem like a yawn, “The Enclave has been looking for a unicorn mare. I don’t know where you got your information, but we haven’t put out any bounty on her yet. If you have this mare, you are to turn her over to us.”

“I was told that there would be a reward for her capture, and how do I know you’re with the Enclave anyhow?”

“Eh, why do I have to do this?” He sighed again, “Listen, I’m Sloth, a member of the Seven Sins of Equinity, we speak for the Enclave. A reward was never mentioned, but if you want one then fine. Your reward will be that we won’t kill all of you for wasting our time.”

“Fuck that. If you want us to turn her over to you, then you have to pay us in caps. The Triggerponies, don’t do anything for free, you hear me?”

“I won’t ask you again. Hand over the courier mare before I decide to kill you and find her myself. I really don’t wanna do that, it sounds like a lot of work, and I hate doing anything that requires me to work that hard,” that had to be the most board sounding threat I’d ever heard.

“Really? You and what army?” a pony next to Skinny asked.

Another Pegasus walked in as the other pony spoke. He wasn’t as tall as Sloth, but he was twice as wide. His armor looked like he was about to pop out of it. He was an orange pony, with a striking blue mane, and he looked like he wasn’t all there. His armor had a Bore on it, styled just like Sloths.

He walked up next to Sloth with his head cocked to one side. Then he spoke in a foalish and whiney voice, “Why are you taking so long Sloth? I’m hungry, I need to eat.”

“I’ve only been in here for a few minutes, and you just ate,” Sloth replied looking over at his companion.

“But I’m still hungry,” he complained then looked back at the Triggerponies, “Can I eat them?”

“Not yet, we’re still working on getting the unicorn from them, now be quiet,” Sloth said.

“Who the fuck is that?” Skinny asked.

“Eh, this is Gluttony. Now you were saying something about what army? Well we don’t need an army to take you imbeciles down. I could do it easily, same for Gluttony here. Now turn her over to us, I won’t ask again,” Sloth replied.

“Like I said, if you don’t have caps for her, then you don’t get her. I heard the Red Talon’s have a contract on her, they’ll pay caps. Now get out of my Stable before I have my associates pump you full of lead.”

The pony next to Skinny spoke up again, “Yeah, get the fuck out of here until you’re ready to make us a real deal.”

“Can I eat them now?” Gluttony asked.

“Hold on one more second Gluttony,” Sloth said, an instant later Sloth was in front of the pony who spoke up. He moved so fast, it was almost like he teleported. But he wasn’t a unicorn? How the fuck did he do that? His hoof came up and stomped down. The ponies head slammed to the ground and exploded into paste. Then Sloth kicked the body away into the far wall, painting it red with his blood. His guts slowly ran down the wall. His body practically vanished in the explosion of gore.

Skinny barely moved before Sloth was in his face, inches away from his muzzle. Skinny started to stutter, “Th…The fuck was that, what the fuck are you?”

“I’m nothing more than a solider doing what he’s told,” he looked back at Gluttony, “Go head, I’m tired of these assholes. I’ll wait for you outside. Remember; if you find the Unicorn with a Pip-Buck, you can’t eat her.”

“Aw, not even a little?”

“No, but do what you want with the rest. I’ll be waiting outside, I need a nap.” Sloth slowly walked away, back toward the Stable door.

What did he mean by eat them? Was this fat pegasus seriously going to eat the dozen ponies standing around him?

Gluttony smiled wide showing his teeth, his very sharp teeth, “You all look so yummy, I can’t wait to try every single one of you.”

“Die fatty!” Skinny yelled, all of them started to fire. The bullets however never hit their mark. Every single one seemed to arch away from his body flying in another direction as if there was an invisible barrier around him.

Gluttony’s smile grew wider as he slowly walked toward Skinny, “I think I’ll eat you first.”

“Fuck that,” he said running away past the others, “Kill that thing!”

Before anyone else could move, Gluttony jumped onto one of them sinking his teeth into the neck of the stallion ripping out muscle and bone. The pony screamed as his blood pooled under him. He swallowed the chunk he'd pulled out and jumped on another pony doing the same thing to him. Gluttony started to giggle like a child as he started to mutilate each of the Triggerponies ripping chunks of flesh from their screaming bodies.

I watched in horror as they all died, leaving pools of blood that flooded the lower floor of the atrium. I slowly backed away from the edge of the balcony and looked back at Lonely Hearts and Wingnut, “How the fuck do we get past that thing?”

“He doesn’t seem to be very smart, more like a child or a dumb animal. I say we try and sneak past him. Once we’re out of the stable, we can make a run for the JetBlue Skyport,” Lonely Hearts said looking past me at the winged blob who was looking around confused.

“And what if he catches us?”

“Well I don’t think he can do much to me. My body is made of something stronger than pony flesh. If it comes to that, I’ll just have to fight him off until you can escape.”

“No way. We don’t know what that thing can do…you know what, I think I have an idea,” I said with a grin spreading on my face.

“Oh yeah, and what’s that?” Wingnut asked.

“He was told not to kill me, I’ll distract him. You two try and sneak out, watch out for Sloth when you get out there, but Aura and Stardust should be out there too. They can help. We just need to get out of the stable.”

“I don’t like that plan. That thing might just kill you and not care one bit,” Wingnut protested.

My smile grew wider as I checked through my Pip-Buck inventory sorter finding what I figured was there. I pulled out a stealth buck I’d found while shopping in new Pegasus, “I’ll just use this to escape once you two are out.”

Before my companions could protest any longer I jumped off the balcony pulling my shot gun out and pointed it at Gluttony, “Hey big guy, heard you’re looking for me.”

Gluttony turned toward me, “You has a Pip-Buck, that means I can’t eat you. You have to come with me, Sloth and Pride said so.”

“Yeah, I can’t do that lard for brains. How about you try me next week, I think my schedule should be freed up by then.”

“Is the little pony calling me stupid?”

“Wow figured that one out on your first try, I’m impressed.”

He scowled at me, “I don’t like being called Stupid, you better say you’re sorry.”

In answer, I fired my shotgun at him. Just like before, the buck shot fired around him, hitting the far wall. “Huh, how do you do that?”

He smiled again and pulled up one of his folds of fat, showing me a yellow gem, “Pride said it keeps me safe.”

“Did he now? Did he tell you anything else about it?”

“Yes he did…wait, you can’t tricks me into telling you what else he said,” Gluttony said.

“Figured it was worth a try, well if you want to bring me to your boss, then you’ll have to catch me,” I ran back to the stairs and started to ascend.

“No fair.”

I made it to the top of the stairs and onto the upper balcony before looking back. Gluttony was flapping his wings, flying up toward me. Not fast, but fast enough to catch up. Great, so even the fatass could fly too, I was hoping he was too large to do that.

Oh well, guess I’ll give him a workout. I ran down the hallway that lead back toward the Overseer’s office. Once there I ducked behind the wall just inside the office, pulling the Stealth buck out. I connected it to my Pip-Buck and activated it. Something shimmered, I looked down at my hoof and saw it fade away.

Peeking around the corner I saw Gluttony flying down the hall, “Where did you go? No fair playing hide and seek.”

When he flew into the office and landed to look around I moved past him and back into the hallway. Then I used the terminal to shut the door. It slammed shut behind me, trapping Gluttony inside. Without looking back, I ran for the exit, ignoring the screams of outrage from the fat blob trapped inside the office.

When I got to the stable entrance I found Lonely Hearts and Wingnut waiting for me. I deactivated the Stealth Buck and smiled at them, “He won’t be a problem for a while, used the same trick Skinny used on us.”

“Good idea. Can we get out of here now? I haven’t seen any sign of the other one yet,” Lonely Hearts said.

“Yeah let’s get out of here.”

We ran on, through the stable door and back into the gloomy Wasteland. We almost ran right into a sleeping Sloth. He was laying against a piece of rubble snoring quietly. Slowing our run into a slow trot, we snuck past him and made our way back down the road. Thanking the Goddesses, I started looking around for our friends.

It didn’t really take long; a few dead Triggerponies were lying in a pile near an old building. My E.F.S. picked up two white bars, so I walked over to it and pushed the door open slowly, I poked my head inside. Aura and Stardust were sitting there talking quietly with their backs to the door.

“We can’t wait any longer, those two Sins went in there and we haven’t seen them come back out. She’s been in there for hours,” Aura was saying.

“I know, but what do you expect me to do? I can’t just barge in and demand them to hand over our friends.”

“There has to be something we can do, those ponies we killed a while ago won’t go unnoticed for long. I’m supposed to protect Shadow, and I ran away. What kind of bodyguard am I?”

I pushed the door open the rest of the way, “One that does what she’s told when she has to.”

They both twisted around weapons ready, until they saw my face. They both sighed in relief seeing me safe and Aura said, “Do you know how much you had me worried, that was a really stupid plan you know. How did you get out of there? Did you manage to kill those two Sins that went in after you?”

“I’ll tell you about it later. For now, let’s get back to the Strip, I found Lonely Hearts and I think it’s better for him to get back to his office,” I said walking in followed by Wingnut and Lonely Hearts.

“Wow kid, you travel with some strange friends, don’t you?” Lonely Hearts said.

“Holy shit, no one said he was a synth,” Aura protested.

“Yes, he is, but we don’t have time to talk this over. I’ll explain everything on the way back to The Strip. Alright?”

Stardust just shrugged, “It’s cool with me.”

Aura rolled her eyes, “Whatever you say Shrimp, you’re the boss.”

So, we started on our way back to New Pegasus. As we walked, I told Aura and Stardust about what happened once we got split up. I explained about the memory orb, and what happened with Skinny and the Sins. By the time I finished, we were just getting to Lonely Hearts’ office.

“Next time you have a plan like that, don’t make us fly away like you did. You’re really lucky you didn’t end up getting killed,” Aura scolded me as we walked through the door.

I hung back and looked up at my feathered friend, “I know it was stupid, but it was all I could think of at the time. Next time, I’ll make sure you stay by my side. I realized something when I got trapped in there.”

“What’s that?”

“I need my friends, Wingnut is a good kid and helpful too, but he isn’t the fighter like Stardust or you are. I was also lost on what I should do when I saw what Gluttony could do, same for Sloth. There’s something off about these Seven Sins of Equinity. I’ve seen five of them so far, and only got away by sheer luck alone. I can’t always rely on luck to save me.”

She sighed and put a talon on my shoulder, “There was more than luck involved when you got yourself out of there. Yes, part of it was luck, but you also used your head. You’re smarter than you know Shadow, you make stupid decisions sometimes, but you’re not stupid yourself. Next time just try and think before you act. Okay?”

“I will, I promise.”

I could hear Lonely Hearts’ secretary talking to him, telling him how glad she was that he was okay. Walking in I saw the Detective was sitting at his desk looking at one of his old files. He looked up as I came in, “Thank you again Shadow Star, I’m glad you did what you did to get me out of there. Is there any way I can repay you for your kindness?”

I sat down in the other chair across from him, “There is, I didn’t go looking for you just to save you from those Triggerponies. I was sent here by the Steel Rangers, they said you might have information that could help me out on my quest.”

The look on the synth’s face grew serious and he lit another cigarette, “Hmmm, kinda weird that the Rangers would send you to find me, they don’t take kindly to synths. They call us abominations. What information would a poor detective have for a young mare like yourself?”

“I’m looking for my mother, five years ago or so, she came here to New Pegasus looking for you. Her name is Grimoire Spell, I don’t know why she came here, all I know is she was searching for you.”

“Hmmm, I see. Well I do know who you’re talking about, she even said one day a pony would come looking for her that matched your description. She also told me not to help you if you did. I had no idea she had a daughter, let alone one that would go searching for her.”

Of course she would tell him not to help me, she said in her recording that she wanted me to go to a safe place back east, not to look for her. I sighed, “I don’t care what she told you, I need to find her.”

He smiled and leaned back in his chair, “Lucky for you I owe you, so I’ll help you, but I need to know something first.”

“Anything.”

“Why would you want to find a pony like her?”

Okay that was a stupid question, and I told him as much, “She’s my mother. Why wouldn’t I want to find her?”

“It’s been many years since you last saw her. Am I right?” I nodded and he continued, “Your mother, she isn’t a good pony. When I last saw her she was working on some kind of project, one that she said would fix Equestria, but she was working with some questionable ponies. She’s a mare who will do anything to see her project completed, I think that’s why she didn’t want you to look for her.”

I sat there with an expression of shock on my face. I took a moment, closed my eyes and said, “Tell me everything you know.”

“Are you sure you want to know?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m sure. I want to know everything…”

Inspirational Mare: Because you lead by example, your companions do more damage in combat and are less likely to hurt you while in a fight.