Good morning Diamond City! Traveling Miles here with D.C. Radio hoping everyone else had a good night, I did myself and thought I'd tell you all about it a bit. Met a new friend in Mr. Bobrov's fine establishment the Dugout Inn, a pony who helped me figure out it's ok to get knocked down as long as you get back up again, so that's what I'm trying to do now. More exciting for all my listeners out there though is my friend's special somepony... that's right the Princess everyone's talking about, I finally did find her.

Now let me tell you all right off she's a wonderful mare but shy, so even if you want to, try not to go mobbing her in the market if you spot her huh? I know all about feeling like that and it's no fun even if you mean well, try to treat her like anypony else, just a favor for old Miles alright? That said she's real, she's very nice, and does come from that new settlement up north called Sanctuary, where I was told she's their Princess and lives. When she's not roaming around the Commonwealth, spreading good will from her group from Equestria called the Followers of the Apocalypse, that is. The stories about the big changes over in Hexington are looking to be true too and at least partially thanks to her visit to that formerly grim place, I'll cover all that in more detail as I get them so stay tuned.

From what my new friends were saying they may be in D.C. for awhile so try being friendly with anypony you meet, you never know if they're with her, and it's just good manners anyway right? Now I'm hoping to get an interview with the mare herself to play for all of you, it may take some doing but you'll be the first to know when I do. With all that in mind, a princess in our own big city well... Ain't that a kick in the head? I think so and my buddy Dean agrees, let's have him sing it to start the day.

I woke up to a dull headache pounding in my temples and my stomach doing lazy flips. The sweet sound of Jade humming and floating her lab coat on was actually making it worse somehow.... "Owww.... Why do I feel horrible..."

I groaned and buried my head under the pillow as the pretty alicorn nickered at me. "That is what is known as a hangover Fast. It is what you get for overindulging with Valkyrie, perhaps you will not do so in the future."

"Ugh... make it stop... please..." Having an doctor as your special somepony had to help here, she could do anything.

Instead of fixing it with a wave of her horn she just smirked down at me and stuck her nose up, "Maybe I could do so. It will be better for you to learn this lesson properly though. I suggest drinking water Fast, and listening to me concerning your enjoyment of alcohol."

Oh that wasn't fair... she could fix it but was just letting me suffer on purpose. Alright, so I might deserve it, but drinking whiskey had not been my idea or choice. Val needed someone to talk to and finally opened up just a little, I had to be there for her right? I struggled to get my battered brain into giving me some way to convince the blue mare watching me with amusement. I had things to do today here in Diamond City and no desire to go anywhere not under this pillow like this. One of my thoughts I had been kicking around rolled to the front slowly, I had something that would work on her.

"I promise I will... you're always right Jade, I'm a bad pony. Can't you forgive me this time? Is it early? I wanted to go look at that school we saw in town... take Glitter there maybe... all the loud kids though..."

Jade's blue eyes widened and she shook her head, torn between teaching me and the opportunity to see a school. Plus make Glitter go and learn, something she had been trying to do in our free time to little success. "Y-You are not being fair Fast... I could take her myself..."

"She wouldn't like it, I'm her dad right? I get to do stuff like that, you wouldn't take that away from both of us. I remember my first day of school, both my parents went...we should go together..." Yes I am a devious bastard, this hangover thing felt horrible though. Never again... I meant what I promised, just these few minutes were enough to teach the lesson.

Jade grumbled and looked highly conflicted before finally sighing and leaning down, her horn glowed brightly and the worst of my symptoms eased off quite a bit. "There, you still need to drink water and eat. I cannot eliminate the effects entirely, if you end up in this state again you are on your own as well. Agreed? We... we may go?"

Her obvious excitement and anticipation would have been enough to get me moving even without the blessed relief, despite what I said. I crawled up from under the pillow and gave her a grateful kiss, "Of course, I wanted you to go with me when I saw the school sign yesterday. If we're going to stay around Diamond City awhile she should go to a real school with other foals. I know she can read a little, but I don't think she's ever had much education, too busy trying to survive. Let's go break it to her."

That made her pleased and she waited impatiently while I got dressed and tossed my bags on. I put on my Stable barding and cloak for the chill fall morning, my armor seemed unnecessary in the city and Val had been right, it was pretty battered. Ready for the day I followed behind her as the big alicorn practically bounded out the room, spotting Glitter munching away at a bowl of Apple Sugar Bombs sitting at a table in the bar lounge area of the Dugout Inn. The gleaming AssaultJack robot sat behind her watching the few patrons about this early, I didn't see Val up but the ear rattling snores from the room next to ours let me know just where she was.

"Daddy! I was hopin' you'd get up soon! C'mon, eat so I can take you to see all the neat stuff I found waitin' on you guys, this place is huge!" The little filly spotted us coming and yelped across the room, scarfing down her breakfast faster so she could give us the tour.

Following doctors orders I spoke with the daytime bartender, a relative of Mr. Bobrov by the shared accent, getting a bottle of water and some apple chips before sitting with Jade and Glitter. "I did want to go somewhere with you Glitter. Did you see a lot of other fillies and colts your age while you were exploring yesterday?"

"Uh-huh! There's lots here, we played till they had to go home. They asked me if I wanted to today too, but I hafta wait till they're done with something they all had to do during the day. That's ok, I can spend time with you while I wait though!" She nodded happily having already decided on her schedule for the day.

Jade spoke up with interest, "Do you know what it is they all had to do during the day dear?"

"It sounded boring..." Glitter narrowed her pink eyes not trusting the mare's excitement.

I had to interrupt before Jade dug herself too deep with the foal, her attempts at getting her excited about learning had not gone well thus far and Glitter knew that tone now. "They have to go to School Glitter, somewhere to learn and spend time with other foals. If they'll let you I want you to go too while we're here and can take advantage of it."

"But!" She balked immediately but I cut her off.

"No buts. I went to school, it might be a little boring... but it's good for you and you'll get to go with your new little friends. You have to try to learn a lot if you want to get your cutie mark, how can you find your special talent if you don't try new things?" Jade nodded and patted her hoof soothingly but the little filly didn't look happy.

"Awww no fair! You was gone all night an' left me alone! I wanna stay with you, not go to some dumb school..." She huffed and crossed her small hooves in front of her, pouting.

Finishing my food I floated her from her seat and with me to the door, "I know, but I'm going to be doing lots of boring things today and you need to give it a try. We're going to see about getting you in, you'll probably even like it and we can do stuff when you're done alright?"

She struggled uselessly as we walked out into the busy morning of the city, finally drooping limply and giving up. I set her down and patted her head as the three of us followed by her robotic babysitter made our way towards the sign I had spotted the other day. Following it today led to a tall green metal building near where third base used to be when this was a ball field, a scrap sign read simply "Schoolhouse" and I opened the door to walk in.

Faced with the place she tried to dig her heels in, but the big blue alicorn behind her gave her no escape, shoving her along through the door to a waiting Diamond City guard. That was reassuring, that they'd have a guard posted in the schoolhouse to protect all the kids here made me feel better about leaving her here, though her much deadlier AssaultJack robot was sticking with her. On taking in all of us the guard smiled and nodded up the nearby stairs, towards the sounds of a number of fillies and colts reciting multiplication tables.

Sticking my head up the stairs revealed the familiar scene of a class in session, a dozen small school desks were arranged facing the end of the room in front of me. The teacher leading the current lesson was a bit surprising, a Mr.. no this was a Miss Handy, painted a rich reddish pink with a series of small pink flowers on its case, was leading the class in a pleasing synthetic voice. An older pale grey stallion in a ratty sweater sat behind a large teachers desk to the other side of the chalkboard, so there was a living pony teacher too then.

All eyes turned on me when I crested the stairs and the robot stopped her lesson, hovering over with interest. "Visitors! How lovely, can I help you sir?"

"Er... yeah, I have a foal here I was hoping to have attend your classes? I don't know the deal around here, is it only for residents or does it cost? Are you the teacher here?"

The Miss Handy bobbed in affirmation and waved expansively to the class and the other teacher, "Of course! Every filly and colt in Diamond City is welcome to attend, free of charge. Mr. Zwicky and I share teaching duties, not to worry I am Miss Cyberlee, a Ministry of Image approved teaching unit. And who do we have joining our class today?" The pleasant robot's eyestalks moved to peek around me at the silver maned filly being floated up behind me.

"This is my daughter, Platinum Glitter, she's never been to school before and isn't very excited about it..." I waved to her floating up the stairs but the sudden gasps in the room cut off any further questions.

Jade had followed carrying the grumpy filly ahead of her and stopped short at the sudden attention of everyone in the class. Both the pony and robot teacher tried unsuccessfully for some kind of order as every foal vacated their desks with a screech and rushed forward, crowding around the alicorn suddenly in their midst.

"Wow! The Princess!"

"She's really real!"

"Nuh-uh! My dad says there's others like her around, all... aly... allee"

"Alicorns stupid! But this one's posed ta be a princess, not like the others! I heard on the radio!"

"Hey is this your mom!? Your mom's a princess!?"

Glitter had been set down beside me when Jade was overwhelmed by the sudden crowd and gave a confused and unsure expression at the light green colt asking the last question. She looked back to me and Jade whose eyes softened at the thought but looked equally bewildered, I just shrugged at her and nodded. Whatever they wanted, this was between the two of them, I let her call me dad after all and tried to live up to it, but I took on the job myself.

"Umm... she... s-she's my dad's special somepony so... er... s-sorta?" Glitter looked to simultaneously like the idea and be torn at the thought. I guessed I could understand, she never knew her father so I was just filling a role she didn't know anyway. She had a mother though and missed her along with her sister. I was sure as much as she might be considering the thought now, she didn't want to feel like she was replacing her real mother.

Just admitting that much seemed to satisfy the crowd though, they ooohed and aahed at the both of them flushing and glancing at each other nervously. A young pegasus filly Glitter appeared to have met last night ran up to her and squealed in delight, prancing between the pair, "Glitter why didn't you say you knew the Princess!?"

She was saved by the robot instructor shooing them all back to their seats and guiding Glitter to an empty desk, "Now, now, that's enough of that everypony. We have a new student we must welcome to the class, though it is rare we have such an interesting guest isn't it? Perhaps if we all ask nicely she would be willing to speak to us for a few minutes before we resume the lesson?"

Jade looked nervous but actually came along at the teacher's urging, she was much better around foals than grown ponies and her interest in teaching was too great to resist. She sat in front of the chalkboard between the other teachers and looked anxiously towards me, unsure what to do now.

Struck with a bit of inspiration I flicked through my pip-buck subtly and set it to record an audio file before waving to her supportively, "Why don't you tell them about the Followers? Why you're in the Commonwealth and all? That's interesting."

"Oh! Yes, thank you Fast! I am a member of a group founded by one of the Lightbringer's friends in Equestria, called the Followers of the Apocalyse. Our founder Velvet Remedy was known by my kind as the pony who helps, she is a skilled healer and used her abilities to help everyone she met equally. From good little ponies like all of you to bad ones like slavers and raiders, even hellhounds, zebras, griffons, ghouls, and my own kind, everyone was treated the same.

The group she founded tries to do the same, we help everyone no matter who they are. We do things like healing and making medicine, starting orphanages and even schools like this one, which is just darling by the way. I was sent here to try to spread our beliefs and message to the Commonwealth which is largely cut off from Equestria. It has been very hard, but I try my very best to be better than I was and help others do the same.

We wish to make the world as it was before the horrible war, that means we all have to try to be better. Not doing anything has let the wasteland stay as it was for 200 years. Trying is difficult and can be frustrating, but things will never change if we do not try. Since I have come to the Commonwealth I have seen how bad things are here, but I have also seen good and have tried to help where I could. I have met friends that help and even taught me things about myself I did not know before, I am very grateful to them..."

Jade blushed and gave me a coy smile at that, warming to the subject and looking out at all the raised hooves waiting to ask questions. She carefully considered them all before pointing out a young unicorn filly jumping in her seat.

"You really help ghouls? Aren't they scary monsters?" she shuddered at the thought and waited with wide eyes.

"Yes we help ghouls too. They are not monsters, they may look scary at first but they are ponies like any others. There is a difference between ghouls and feral zombie ponies. Glitter and I have two very good friends from Hexington that are ghouls."

A dubious looking pegasus colt was next to be called and asked his question with a snort, "But they're all gross! An' what about zebras an griffons? Weren't the stripes the bad guys in the war?"

"What they look like does not matter. Zebras were indeed the enemy in the war but that was a long time ago, it is over now and they deserve the same treatment as anyone else. Griffons are the same as well, they all have their own... attitudes about things, but a friend of mine with me in town is a griffon. Besides, variety is a good thing isn't it? If everypony were the same it would be boring wouldn't it, that's why everypony has their own cutie mark showing what makes them special and unique."

"What's Equestria like now? Did all that stuff in the Lightbringer's book really happen?" A small earth pony colt looked disbelieving at the possibility when called on.

"Equestria is doing much better now, the New Canterlot Republic has made great strides since the day of sunshine and rainbows. The things in the book really did happen and the Lightbringer is still up there watching over us, controlling the weather and keeping the sky clear. Things were going so well I was sent on this mission to try to help you all here and spread our good fortune, the Commonwealth is an oddity being cut off as it is. Things here are much closer to how things were before in Equestria."

"A-are you really a princess Miss?" A shy pegasus filly asked the big question, getting the attention of everyone in the class waiting expectantly.

I better butt in here, Jade stammered and wasn't sure what to say at all the glowing, happy faces in front of her. I stepped up with her smoothly and bowed, "Of course she is! She's the Princess of my home Sanctuary, a new town to the north. She's come down to Diamond city to try to bring towns and settlements together, help those who need it and spread her message. Isn't that just what a good princess would do?"

The robot teacher Miss Cyberlee thankfully cut off any other questions as the class nodded along with my assessment reverently, "Excellent point isn't it everypony? On that note we should let our guests go, so their new addition to our class can get used to being with us. Why don't we turn to history and learn about Princesses Celestia and Luna, since the topic is of such interest to everypony here hmm?"

A chorus of groans replied but they all waved us off happily, except for Glitter who watched us leave pouting as I led Jade out gratefully. The guard downstairs looked a little disturbed by AssaultJack taking up her own post nearby, but she wasn't going anywhere. I confirmed her orders to guard Glitter and do as she asked just to put him at ease before we left, walking out into the bright morning sunshine.

"That was most enjoyable Fast, I hope to start a school much like that one someday. Though I still do not like your stories..." Jade glanced around the crowded market nervously, noticing the looks she was attracting as we walked.

I gave her a reassuring nuzzle as we headed towards the Diamond City Surgery Center, seeing Dr. Swab was next on the list. "Aww, you didn't want to disappoint all those foals right? You saw their little faces, it made them happy. You deserve to be treated like a princess anyway."

"Such treatment from you is enough for me Fast... I see your point though, they did seem to like it. I still cannot imagine recording something for that radio station however." She shuddered at the thought making me feel a little guilty.

"Er... about that... I kinda umm recorded what you were saying to them... About the Followers and all..."

"Fast!" she stopped on the spot outside the doctor's office and stared at me incredulously.

I held my hooves up in surrender and smiled up to her, "You talk really well when you're comfortable like you were with all of them, I just thought explaining it to a classroom would be as good as explaining it to anyone over the radio. I don't have to do anything with it if you don't want! It sounded really good though, anyone who heard that would know what you want to spread about the Followers and you weren't nervous at all. Won't you at least listen to it?"

She grumbled at me as we walked in the clinic but seemed to consider it anyway, that was a start. Dr. Swab and her patients distracted us both from the topic when we entered. The three patients back here were victims of the new drugs Dusk and Dawn that had become an epidemic in Diamond City lately. Where they had all been sedate and under the influence before, they were now obviously going through withdrawal. All three sweated and shivered, straining against the straps holding them to the medical cots as the doctor dashed between them trying to care for them and get them through it.

On taking it in Jade immediately floated out the antidote she had taken from Stable 114 and ran over to begin administering it. The doctor watched with interest and gave me a questioning look, not wanting to interfere with Jade's work. "A treatment? This will work?"

"Yeah, we found where it was coming from and put a stop to it, they had a treatment for the effects we brought back. What you were hoping for Cotton?" I handled the talking while Jade worked, noting my pip-buck giving a fanfare;

Mission Completed- Benign Intervention

Objectives-
---Discover the source of Dawn and Dusk
---Investigate Stable 114
---Uncover the drug dealers
--- Return to Dr. Swab

The doctor grinned and grabbed my hoof, shaking it vigorously, "Yes! More than I hoped, thank you Fast! Dr Jade! If you don't mind me asking where did you come up with this? What was the source of these two drugs? Did you find out who was selling it?"

Here was a sticky point, I didn't share Jade's automatic trust of other healers, but we did need help and Cotton seemed like a good pony. She sent us to put a stop to this after exhausting her options with local law, she acted as if even asking us had put her at risk too. I didn't know much about the big city but there was apparently corruption and shady deals under the bright surface of the place. If she trusted us at her own peril I would give her the benefit of the doubt and do the same.

"Cotton, I need your help and it's kinda a secret for right now. This stuff and the drugs came from a Stable not far from here. They were taken over when their door was opened and forced to manufacture this stuff, we freed them and they gave us the antidote for it. They've been slaves for months though and have suffered a lot, they need help to try to rejoin the world and get over their ordeal. I sent for some I trust to assist them, but they need medical care too. You promised if I solved your problem you'd help with things, like Jade's hopes for the Followers? Well this is a Follower type of thing, so I'm calling you on your promise."

The wide eyed wonder on her face was a good sign, "A Stable? An unopened Stable near the city? Wow... O-Of course, if they need help I'd be willing anyway, and I did mean what I promised. I've liked everything Dr. Jade explained about her group, now that I don't have to worry about all the addicts in town as much I'd be proud to join and assist in whatever way I can."

With three IVs set up and feeding the antidote to the patients Jade trotted over and gave me a warm hug, "Thank you Fast. I will explain what we found there and the assistance they will need, we have much to discuss. I may take her there later to check on them if that is alright?"

I didn't particularly care for the idea of Jade taking the doctor off on her own, the former Overmare and her guard were still out there. Though Jade could fly and turn them both invisible, there were few better ways to get to 114 safely. "Ok... just be careful. Take Val if you need to, don't put yourselves at risk just cause you're in a hurry to help."

"We will be fine, I promise. Now run along, your friends the detective and the... reporter... are waiting on you are they not?"

My beautiful mare gave a quick peck on the cheek and shooed me off to my next stop, returning her attention to her colleague as I left. As I headed over towards the green shack with the Publik Occurrences sign I noticed Piper's sister in front of their newstand again. A newspaper bag on her flank and an unfurled paper floating by her as she shouted, "Hot off the presses folks! Read it here, Shrouded Stallion opens the bridge to Hex!"

Groaning I gave over a couple caps for a copy before entering the building, it wasn't like Jade was the only one I was using an image of to try to help things. I was reluctant to even read it at the moment, but forced myself before heading inside to meet my best source of information on the Institute so far.

The rumors have been making the rounds here in Diamond City and the Commonwealth at large, that the old character from the comics and radio shows is really out there running around. A dark specter of the past bringing down Luna's vengeance on all those bad ponies who've earned a little retribution but have gone unpunished all this time. So what's the truth? Is it really a ghost from the past or just some crazy pony messing with our heads?

This intrepid reporter once again put herself in harms way to bring you all the truth. On hearing the latest whispers from my sources among those less savory types, I heard the bridge to Hex that has been closed for weeks was given a warning by the Shroud himself. Those forcing anypony wishing to use the bridge to pay a toll were given an ultimatum, open the bridge and change their ways or die. They were given a full day to think on it, told they'd be watched by both goddesses once, then that a pony would come and it would be best for them to let this traveler pass.

Believe it or not the warning actually scared a few of them into abandoning their place, I was present during the night and morning it was due to come true and saw some pretty nervous raiders. Sure enough the next morning I heard a lot of excitement when somepony approached the other side, unfortunately I didn't have a good view even when the bridge lowered seemingly by itself. After that all I can say is the warning turned out true, every raider on that bridge died horribly, torn to shreds by a ghostly blur.

I did meet an interesting couple who made the first crossing with a caravan I hope to do a follow up interview with, big stories coming so keep buying those papers folks! As for if the Shroud is real or not? Hard to say... There is a dark pony out there doing things in his name, and they are a real piece of the past come to life, I can say that much. Real or not it's a nice story for those of us who don't have anything to fear from a pony bringing Luna's wrath, and it is keeping those raider types awake at night, so this reporter is ok with it either way.

Piper definitely had a lot of information on the Institute, which based on my experience thus far was defined by being more than none at all. Over the years she had collected records and newspaper clippings from before the war concerning the school it sprang from, the three of us were going through slowly. We started at her earliest information that was the most verifiable, everything after the war was in the last filing cabinet and a lot sketchier. I apparently had a few pieces of information she was lacking from my limited exposure to them thus far and we were putting together a rudimentary picture.

Running across a battered picture of a familiar mare I paused in my rifling, cream colored unicorn, rose colored mane clipped up, thick black glasses... I thought I saw her before, in the memory Virescent shared with Jade. The representative of the Institute that came to tempt the alicorns in the Commonwealth, only the caption read "Dr. Dancer appointed new head of C.I.A.T. Biosciences department." When I saw her in the memory she spoke like she was working for a Dr. Dala, maybe this was an ancestor?

There were differences, that mare didn't wear glasses, but they could practically be twins. This picture looked younger than the mare I saw and messier. Tape sloppily repaired her thick framed glasses, her wild purple streaked rose mane was held back absently with a clip and no attempt at style or appearance. She wore a thick dark sweater under her lab coat, and didn't look to be paying any attention to the photographer who had taken the picture of her surrounded by books in a library.

Explaining it to Piper just got a snort of derision, "One more mystery for the pile Fast, better get used to it. More I've looked into these nuts over the years the weirder it's gotten. Though that is interesting, if one department head is still running around looking the same then maybe the others are, have one of all six, here lemme find it..."

A tornado of papers floated around the small office of her self published paper as she dug through her bizarre filing system, eventually a large glossy black and white photo zipped over to me. Six ponies were shown in front of a fountain with graceful statues of Celestia and Luna, the fountain looked to be a centerpiece of a large carefully tended campus for the huge white edifice behind them. Five were dressed in clean white lab coats, the sixth in an expensive looking suit. One of the ponies in lab coats was Dr. Dancer looking much the same as the previous picture though older, grey tinged that streak in her mane.

Flipping the photo over rewarded me with a list of those pictured from left to right I started matching with the photo. A pale earth pony stallion in the suit on the left was a Dr. Vega, next to him a tall earth pony stallion was Dr. Klein, a striking pale unicorn mare with a streaked mane was listed as Dr. Gleam, then came Dr. Dala? Dancer? It was the same mare but now the name was changed to Dr. Dala... odd. Besides this older version of her was a strange looking dark earth pony stallion, he had a spiky mane and swirling marks to his coat and was listed appropriately as Dr. Swirl. Finally towards the end was an old pegasus stallion, pale coat and wild bushy darker mane, thick cola bottle glasses masked an absent minded expression and he was mostly obscured by the piles of papers and books he carried. Even through the black and white photo he looked oddly familiar but there wasn't enough to go on, the name Dr. Mobius didn't ring any bells.

"Piper, why does this picture say Dr. Dancer and this one say Dr. Dala?" I held both photos to her curiously, it was pretty strange as it was the same mare just separated by years.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, one more thing that makes it hard to track down info on them. They seem to have changed their names over the course of the war, security and such I guess. Was lucky to find that one name, rotting scrap of an old school paper I found in a desk once at the campus. I'd doubt any of those names listed on the photo of all six are real."

Nick looked up from his own pile of papers and shrugged, "Yeah, not a lot of prewar records to go off of to begin with, what's left looks to have been scrubbed pretty well. You might see those fake names here and there, but never the real ones."

Looking over the photo I pulled out a piece of paper from Piper's magic powered printing press and started scribbling, trying to put together what I knew so far. First came what I was sure of based on Watcher's explanations and what I had run across;

Dr. Klein = Advanced Systems = Ministry of Wartime Technologies (Robots)
Dr. Dala/Dancer= Biosciences = Ministry of Peace? (Alicorns)
Dr. ??? = Public Relations = Ministry of Morale? (Drugs/gang)

That left three unknowns for three more Ministries, Image, Magic and Awesome, and a random pick of who belonged to this Public Relations Division the synth in 114 mentioned. It wasn't much but it was more than Piper had apparently, she didn't know about divisions among the Institute and had simply been putting everything she could find together. With the new knowledge she seemed to be resorting her information, splitting things up into six sections to correspond with things the Ministries would be involved in.

Her files on things after the war got a lot looser and more like ghost stories, rumors and gossip she collected from travelers. Reading through these started adding map markers in my pip-buck I figured I'd have to follow up on. Scary tales of a cursed dig site everypony stayed away from called Sandwich Borers, a place to the far north east. An old high school those passing by thought was somehow still operating, ringing bells and shadows in the windows but no one came back from exploring, southeast from Diamond City. The Trotson Public Library was listed as bad luck, any who attempted to settle it over the years were wiped out mysteriously.

The latest grabbed my interest, stories of actual ghosts in a store called Hubris Comics & Entertainment... Hubris made the Shrouded Stallion comics and radio show, they were making a tv show too, they were involved with the Institute? It wasn't all that far away to the east too, I'd have to take a look sometime.

Noticing what I had singled out Piper nickered and shoved a copy of her latest edition in my face. "Read the paper today Fast? Like the story? Thinking of going there, maybe dressing the part a bit better?"

"It was... good. I notice you were kinda vague, thought you were after the truth? Not that I mind, prefer it actually."

"Yeah well that was always part of those old comics and stuff right? Gotta have a secret identity or you'd have them all coming down on you and your pretty mare and foal. Have to protect my sources and all, I did only say the truth. Plus no offense but you're not quite the legend, when the legend becomes fact you print the legend, that's what ponies want." The reporter mare nodded sagely at her own wisdom.

I was a little conflicted there, I did do all this stuff to try to use an image to make things better, image was frequently not the truth. I had to wonder what somepony like Applejack who bore the Element of Honesty would have to say about my ideas though, was letting ponies believe a lie better than telling the whole truth? If it were for a good reason? Jade had once told me the wasteland corrupted everything, even virtues, would this be a form of twisted honesty then? Piper really seemed to care about her readers and telling the truth though, the whole question made me uncomfortable.

Thankfully Nick interrupted my thoughts, "Alright, been at this a good while now. Not that I need to but you two should eat something. None of this stuff is going anywhere, we'll keep working at it Fast, you said you were sticking around town for awhile? Interested in that cyber-buck you mentioned invading your Stable, tickles the old memory crystals up here. I'll follow up on some other leads on that and your zebra pal's Church problem. Now go on, I don't need rest, you do."

I grumbled at the robot shooing us out but had to agree, my stomach rumbled and my pip-buck had been scanning everything I looked at so far, I could peruse it at my leisure later. Shoved out of the office I looked around the market and spotted Val at the giant Sparkle Cola food stand, squawking at the robot angrily.

"No! Not noodles! Why is that the only damn thing you say!" When she spotted me sitting on a stool next to her she grabbed my cloak and shoved me over the counter. "Fix this thing boss! All it says is that nani whatever nonsense and keeps giving me noodles!"

"Er... I was told they like it that way here and not to fix it Val," I was still confused about that but Piper took a seat nearby and saved me.

"Takahashi's always been that way, say yes then tell it what you want. We keep a menu up there behind him after all. He's a local fixture, watch Yes! Carrot Ramen please my good robot." At her request the weird ponitron put together a noodle dish with some spindly cooked carrots and gave it over, waiting for payment.

Val looked disgusted at the whole process, "Local fixture my rump, it's broken is what it is. Boss can fix it. Whatever, Yes, beer an' a bacon sammich... now."

The robot complied again and I just floated one of the orders of noodles it had unsuccessfully been trying to give Val, asking for a regular Sparkle Cola and paying for both. Leaving it broken like that rankled but if that's how the locals liked it oh well, I couldn't afford to tick everypony off just because it was sitting there... broken... taunting me....

Munching away at her meal Val nudged me and pointed out to the market, "Eat fast boss, gots shoppin' to do. Embarrassed wearin' this hunk a' junk now but feel naked without it." She gestured down to her green combat armor, several patches of her bright red-orange hide showing through all the large holes.

I sped up my noodle slurping and nodded, answering her impatient chewing between mouthfuls. "Alright, we can do that for awhile. Jade made me promise to go... umm... go take magic lessons though..."

The griffon's cheeks puffed at that and I thought she was going to lose her hard won beer, sputtering when she managed to swallow. "Magic lessons! Ha! Like some unicorn foal or somethin'? Thought you guys learned all that stuff early, you can do magic boss? Like besides the whole kaboom trick?"

"Supposedly... I'm supposed to learn to try to control that, maybe I can learn other stuff, dunno. It is for foals though... annoying. But I promised, besides Glitter had to go to school, I guess it's fair I do too."

"That's where the kid is? Figured she was with Blue, bummer, gotta be bored ta tears. Hmm... you learnin' other magic... that could be useful. Definitely makes you more valuable, I'm for it, long as I get to watch and make fun." Val nodded to herself, pleased with her upcoming entertainment and shoved me into hurrying up.

I really wasn't looking forward to remedial magic lessons...

Having a laughing griffon watching from the stands really didn't help getting through the beginner's class on magic. Corona was patient and nice enough, the opening lessons involving a bit of clay and basic exercises changing the shape of it which was easy enough, moving on to trying to change the color or substance with transformation magic quickly went south though. After exploding the third lump to uproarious hoots from the peanut gallery she thankfully moved on.

I surprised myself managing to actually get a bottlecap to teleport in a sparking flash of magic two inches across the table to my tutor's praise. Whatever else the lightning did though it seemed to have seeped into my attempts, I caught the flickering arc during the teleport and when I admitted I could once do the cloudwalking spell it showed up there as well. Corona insisted on trying it out again, trotting up the stairs and ramps to the cloud section of Diamond City and waiting at the end of the metal ramp for me to make the attempt.

It took awhile to remember it but when I managed there was the familiar glow around my hooves again, though it now arced with electricity for some reason. That got a puzzled look from my teacher but she waved me on to the cloud to try it, as soon as my foreleg made contact with the spongy surface I knew something wasn't right though. It did offer resistance instead of sinking straight through, however the cloud under my hoof immediately darkened and rumbled at the touch and I yanked the offending limb back nervously.

Walking around with it active on the ramp I did feel exceptionally light on my hooves, it should work right anyway and I was curious what it would be like running in this state. Every attempt for plain old cloudwalking ended with the same result though, finally convincing Corona getting the lightning spell under control was probably the best first step. I tried to warn her when she asked for a demonstration, settling on moving as far into the outfield stands as possible and having Val clear the sky away from the city before unleashing it.

Walking back down to the market later I felt bad seeing all the pegasi nervously peeking out of their cloud homes above, and all the ponies on the ground looking up at the skies in confusion, expecting rain and seeing clear skies. Corona had a better appreciation for what I had been dealing with though, actually excited by the demonstration and promising to research and adjust her curriculum.

Afterwards I shopped with Val for a bit, she settled for splitting up perusing the market for what we needed over time since we'd be here awhile, as it helped get the best deals. For today I did get some 2mm EC ammo for Freya's old gauss rifle, along with ammo for everything else and watched patiently as she went over armors debating her replacement, eventually paying more than she wanted for a set of darker green heavy riot armor that she assured me was an improvement.

I kept an eye out for Zed but didn't spot the surly zebra anywhere in town, giving up I returned to Piper's office and was surprised to see him talking with Nick. Once he got over his reservations about dealing with a robot Zed seemed to enjoy their discussion and the two had several leads to follow. Nick agreed to take him out of the city with him on his investigations into the subject, starting with local churches in Trotson nearby. I did extract a promise from both of them to only scout around and to let me know if they found anything on their trips.

I went back to going through Piper's files with her as she sorted them, slowly adding more map markers to investigate eventually. The work was slow and tedious so Val left quickly, off to find her own amusements until Glitter's classes were over. When the time came around I left to go get her, meeting Jade leaving the doctor's office after returning from their excursion to 114 as she left to do the same. The happy foal saying goodbye to her new friends was practically unrecognizable from the pouting one we left there.

The three of us walked about for a bit, letting her go over her day and show us the sights she found interesting in the city, or her friends told her about, before she spotted a gaggle of them asking her to play. With the lethal robot following her, in what at least appeared to be a safe bastion of civilization, I felt comfortable enough letting her go on the promise of coming back when AssaultJack's internal clock said to return to the Inn for dinner.

Val found us at the Inn and when Glitter returned we shared a meal before both her and I were forced to our respective homework at Jade's urging and Val's tittering. I'd much rather be doing the work the little filly was happily scribbling at on the table, rather than sitting in my room going over cantrip primers for unicorn foals and trying not to blow things up. After enough of that for both of us Glitter was sent to bed and I got to spend a little time with Miles when he came in on an evening break, he seemed more sure of himself and even nervously spoke to the pretty waitress. Apparently if I could manage to wrangle a princess as my special somepony he was willing to take a chance, he explained when I went to join her for bed.

That basically became the routine for awhile, it was almost prewar in its serenity and predictability. I could see the allure to living here if you had the caps for it, no wonder Preston had complained about how complacent the citizens here were about the rest of the wasteland around them. Behind the towering walls and guards it was a little piece of the old world almost.

On the third day when I was beginning to wonder about my letters Preston and some of his new Minutemares showed up at the Dugout Inn early in the morning, adjusting the routine a little. He had brought what I asked for from Sanctuary and filled us in on how things were going up there, all of my first shipment of parts, robots and the robot workstation were waiting for me in my workshop, making me anxious to get back sometime soon.

He also informed us of how the community was growing by leaps and bounds, wasteland ponies drawn by stories of a safe haven in the north with a real life princess had been trickling in steadily. That made Jade whine in embarrassment, but went a long way towards convincing her to let me give Miles the recording I had made of her. She listened to it critically every night and kept finding something wrong, but I was wearing her down, the Minutemare's glowing approval helped immensely when he gave it a listen.

As far as Preston was concerned he wholeheartedly endorsed the idea and had already been using it, informing everypony who asked that yes, there was a real princess that lived in Sanctuary and she was the patron of the reformed Minutemares. I smiled a bit watching her shrink in her seat at the news, until Preston went on to explain how he had been using stories of the Shroud too. The princess' knight protector who was a free agent and high ranking Minutemare. I joined in Jade's flush at the attention from the gaggle of ponies wearing blue and tan Minutemare uniforms watching us speak with awe.

Looking for a way out I led the way to the gates to meet the others Preston had brought, Rusty had traveled with them from Hex along with Oblige who waited impatiently. She had made the trip out from her city because I asked, but was still a busy mare, the gift of a pip-buck for each of them helped soothe her desire to return immediately. I had requested one be left with Elder Zin in Hex for me to put on him the next time we were that way, at least one of the town's new leaders should remain there, he seemed uninterested in the device however. Once we got on our way out from Diamond City and towards Stable 114, giving me a chance to explain what I hoped for by bringing her to the Stable ponies, she brightened considerably.

The question of the ingredients required to begin making medicine in the Stable instead of drugs was added to by Preston, 111's stores and what the ponies in Sanctuary could hunt or grow would only go so far, so food was going to be an issue soon. He had made contact with a few local farms in need of assistance that were added to my growing list of map markers. One of which, not far from Sanctuary called Sunshine and Rainbows Co-op piqued my interest, mainly because he said they had industrial farming equipment needing repairs standing in the way of joining our growing network of communities.

One more thing on my to do list then, we wouldn't be able to live a comfortable life here in the big city forever, Val was rapidly growing bored if nothing else. The trip to the Stable had her flitting about looking for raiders or zombies to explode with her new ammo and test her new armor on. I had settled on a slightly better version of my old armor, better crafted and reinforced but basically the same so I left her to her experiments. I did put in a little practice with the "Last Minute" gauss rifle, though not a lot as the rounds for the weapon were hard to come by and expensive.

We were on guard when we approached the park entrance to the subway and the Stable beyond, but Jade told us she had seen no signs of ambush or the Trigger Jewels in the area on her forays to the Stable with Dr. Swab. I didn't doubt Fancy and Freya were out there somewhere but they looked to have abandoned their claim on the Stable. I felt bad having to tell Rusty to stay back before I opened the great gear door but I wanted them to be exposed to the idea of ghouls in a controlled manner, I remembered what I felt like on seeing my first one.

Oblige and Preston were very personable with the new Overmare Crystal Petal, relaxing the Stable dwellers about their fears over rejoining the world. Preston's recruits mingled with the dwellers and told stories of the outside, eliciting fearful gasps along with excited whispers. The Minutemare's promised their support for securing the new community from outside threats and training for the Stable ponies with their captured gang weapons, some of the dwellers even seemed taken with the idea of joining the Minutemares at some point. Oblige was a shrewd negotiator but fair, Jade and Cotton's work here over the last few days made them prepared for the questions she asked and they hammered out a good deal for radiation medications in return for caps and parts.

After a lot of preparation and cajoling I cautiously brought Crystal out from the doorway as we left and introduced her to Rusty. She managed to handle it pretty well considering, she at least had the benefit of foreknowledge I hadn't, still being faced with the existence of undead ponies up here was a shock for Stable ponies. That was a major reason I wanted Rusty to come, he had been my first and a wonderful stallion to start with. He wasn't insulted when I explained my reasoning and asked him to wait, and was patient with the frightened mare. It would be up to her to try to prepare her ponies in 114 for the same shock and she took her job seriously, forcing herself to put aside his appearance at Jade and my own urging and deal with him normally.

Preston and his recruits were staying in the Stable while Rusty and Oblige needed to return to Hexington, now a much shorter trip they were both thankful for. A small group of Minutemares had been stationed at the bridge to make sure it didn't revert to its former state, following my advice I tried to give the raiders that guarding and helping those making the crossing would be as rewarded as trying to extort caps.

Looking at my pip-buck map I was surprised to find a new setting showing travel and trade lines between the places I had been now. A jagged line ran from Sanctuary in the northwest, down to Hexington, across the bridge to Diamond City and now east from there to Stable 114. I really had to figure out how it did some of the things it managed someday, it was eerie, though this new function made me a little proud. It showed my path since leaving Stable 111 and things I had managed to accomplish out here, I hadn't made any real progress towards finding my family yet, but I had done something worthwhile.

When we got back to Diamond City it was nearing time for Glitter to leave school so all of us headed that direction, as we closed on the schoolhouse and the swarm of foals being released, I was distracted by a shout from above and a red streak landing nearby. The courier Rocket from the Red Rocket service had been looking for us apparently, rummaging in his messenger bag as Glitter ran up to join us.

"Dunno why those hoity toity types hired me to deliver this, you're right here in town Fast, Princess. They like fancy nonsense though. Oh thanks for the tip, talked to grandpa about it and we're expanding up by your kingdom! Got a crew up that way now refitting the place so stop by next time your around. Now where was it.. aha here we go!" Now that he was totally awake Rocket spoke quickly while he found the gilded envelope addressed to "Princess of Sanctuary and/or Her Knight"

His delivery completed he sped off with a wave leaving me to puzzle over the expensive looking message, I looked to Jade as it was technically addressed to her first but she shook her head and nudged me on into opening it. Inside was equally expensive looking stationary with flowing script and gilt edges.

"To the Princess of Sanctuary, her Knight or retinue,

We hope you have enjoyed our hospitality in our fine city and have not wished to intrude on your visit. Now that you have become acclimated however as a visiting dignitary we would like to take this opportunity to invite you to a gala in your honor. We noble ponies of Diamond City are most interested in having an elegant evening with a Princess as our guest in the beautiful upper decks.

This event will be held in two days, to allow adequate time necessary to prepare for such a formal affair. The Diamond City Carousel and the Mane Event both eagerly anticipate your patronage and have offered a significant discount to aid in your preparation to attend. Please simply present this invitation at the lift to the upper decks, near the main entrance to our fair city in the evening two days hence. We look forward to your attendance and R.S.V.P.

Sincerely,
Governor Slim McDonut & The Nobility of Diamond City"

Jade immediately shrank behind her wings as I read the letter, only encouraged back out at Glitter's eager prancing at the prospect of shopping for pretty dresses with her and Val and attending a fancy party. Val herself looked to have a mixed reaction, 'significant discount' got her attention but 'nobility' turned her right off.

"Buncha fancy, stuck up, know nothings living it up in their gilded cage.... still free stuff..." She grumbled and pointed a claw up to the glass enclosed upper decks, brightly lit and definitely of higher quality than the housing down here.

"Yay! Fancy party! We can all go shoppin' together, I wanna see Auntie Val in a dress! She always wears that ugly armor! Oh an we can make Miss Jade all pretty again, an daddy, you never wear anything nice..." Glitter was not conflicted at all at least.

Her reaction and that last point actually got the blue alicorn to seem to consider it seriously, "Hmm... you are correct Glitter, Fast never wears anything but his Stable barding or armor, and that ratty cloak of his. I would like to see him wearing something different, I imagine it would be quite handsome, we will do that." I started to protest at the thought of getting some stuffy suit but she leaned over to whisper low in my ear before I could start. "I could also purchase different attire... things you may like yes? Such thoughts you have... I have not forgotten..."

"R-Right! We'll do that, whatever Jade says! I was thinking we'd need to leave soon anyway, we can wait for this party thing before we do. Seems like a good h-high point to leave on." I stammered out in a rush feeling my face heat up.

The thin walls and cramped quarters of the Dugout Inn hadn't left a lot of room for more fun leisure activities with Jade. If that demure look she was giving me was any indication she felt the absence too. Imagining what she had gotten from Virescent showing her what I thought about on the subject was enough to make me not complain about clothes shopping.

A couple days gave us time to wrap up our doings in the city, for me to plan my next course of action and for us to leave after a fun night. It all seemed good to me. The peaceful life of the city was nice and somewhat reminded me of home, but maybe too much of the wasteland had rubbed off on me, even I was feeling a bit bored with the routine. There were new places to go and leads to follow, I still had missions to accomplish as my pip-buck reminded me at every opportunity. Just the amount of map markers and miscellaneous objectives waiting in its list would fill a lot of time and traveling.

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

Local Leader Rank 2--
---Establishing trade lines and a network of communities has fostered commerce in the area. Trade routes are safer to travel and you can now attract and build new businesses in Sanctuary. You also have a higher chance of success when it comes to convincing new settlements into joining your collective effort.

Quest Perk Added!---------------------

Jigawhat? Rank 2--
--All the remedial lessons might be annoying but they are helping. Your magic is still sort of wonky, but you have access to new spells and abilities that will only improve with time. Though everything seems to have been tinged with that lightning bolt's influence.

Reputation Change!-----------------

Minutemares- Idolized
---You are essentially a legend among the new crop of Minutemares thanks to Preston and your own exploits. Any Minutemare you run across will defer to you as a higher authority if they know who you are or you can convince them you're the real deal.

Diamond City- Liked
---You've been making friends and accomplishing goals for the residents of Diamond City. You now get better prices at merchants in the market and treated as a local.

Diamond City Nobility- Neutral
--- The nobility of the city has been an unknown to you before now, but you've attracted their attention. The invitation to their fancy party will serve as your introduction to this group ruling the great green jewel of the Commonwealth.

Red Rocket Courier Service- Accepted
--- Rocket and his family appreciated the tip and have expanded their operation into your neck of the woods. Now you have a local port for the courier service near Sanctuary.