"Alright, Miss Harp, you're clean and healthy again. Despite your prolonged radiation exposure, there's no sign of early mutation," Jali informed me as she began taking off sensors that were attached to my leg. The machine she was using to monitor me gave a long and loud beep until she turned it off. "I wish I knew more about your kind's genetics or this treatment they used to make Mirage Ponies. Looking at it, it's like your genetic code is protected by an armor of junk DNA. Though not perfect as far as I can tell, it clearly makes you less likely to mutate compared to the average pony." Jali then frowned as she looked at a clipboard.

"Is there something the matter, Jali?" I asked, feeling a bit worried.

"Not sure." She sighed. "There's just too much I don't know about your genetics or your magical abilities. Other than the chaotic, negative, and necrotic radioactive magic I flooded out of your system, there's also other magics that my instrument can't properly read. Might be residual megaspell magic or your own natural raw magic. However, since I don't have other mirage ponies to compare it too, all I can do is hope it's just nothing to be worried about."

I put my dress back on and stretched my legs out before getting out of bed. I had been here for nearly half a day as the Followers carefully cleaned out my body and ran other checks. I gave the Zebra Ghoul a small smile, hoping it helped put her worries at ease. "Well, since I feel fit as a fiddle thanks to you, I'm sure it's nothing major. Anyways, when I get back home, there will be ponies more than capable of finding out what those magics are."

Jali hoofed over my jacket and my saddlebags as she said, "Well, when you do, be sure to send some of those ponies my way. It would do every creature some good if we got to compare notes.”

She then motions for me to follow her. “Now come with me. I have something to show you at my free clinic."

Putting on my jacket and saddlebags, I then followed Jali through the Followers camp. The place was a collection of old medical tents a bit outside of town which was tended by two green alicorns. Who unlike Prism, had large wings on their back and no scars. There were other ponies in white medical coats but, from what I was told, they were just new recruits getting on the job training by working mainly as nurses. There also happened to be a lot of patents here. They were weak-looking ponies that seemed like they'd barely eaten or slept. Among them, were ponies who were also missing legs, had nasty cuts that looked to be from animals, or were suffering from an illness and kept far from everypony else.

There also happened to be a lot of ponies here who were receiving water transfusions.

"A shame, really," Jali lamented. "We all thought that, with the clouds and radiation gone, life would finally get easier. Turns out we just solved two problems out of who knows how many."

"What happened?" I asked as we left the camp.

"Where to even start? Not to speak ill of Littlepip and Velvet Remedy, there was no way for them in the short time they were out of their stable to understand how deep the problem that is the wasteland goes." Jali stopped to point up at the sun high in the sky. "Ignorance is a huge problem out here, and the Followers had to treat heatstroke victims near daily for the first few summers. The clearing of the radiation helped everypony, including raiders, who then found new hiding spots to attack ponies from. Monsters also began multiplying in greater numbers, causing ponies to ban together in larger settlements which led to diseases to start spreading more prolifically."

"So that means the Followers have been busy then," I said with a more cheerful tone, trying to lighten the mood.

Jali nodded. "We try, but there never seems to be enough of us. That's why we're trying to focus on education in order to get the wastelanders to be a little less ignorant."

As we got into the outskirts of town, several foals ran passed us by. This put a smile on Jali's face.

"At least the Lightbringer Foundation has been more than willing to work with us,” Jali went on, “so even if the adults resist changing their ways, their children will at least come out for the better. Mainly simple things ponies have forgotten, such as hygiene, and germ theory."

I nodded. "Back in the metro, epidemics were always a big worry considering how close everypony was crammed together. It came to the point that vaccinations were required by law, and if a station was found infected, the queen would just have it sealed until a purification team could be put together."

"Purification?" Jali asked, sounding concerned.

I gave a long sigh. "Basically they kill everypony inside then burn the bodies along with anything that could spread a plague. The queen had set up our territory so that such actions would be quick and easy to do, and this was why nopony dared rebel against her or her children."

"That is horrifying!" Jali gasped, then gave a long sigh. "But I can understand why it's necessary. In my long life, I've seen my fair share of death. There have been tribes killed off by illnesses that back before the Great War would have been a simple annoyance. It was all too easy to cure then, now it can be a nightmare. I've also seen a town of ponies mutated by parasites which turned them into nothing more into mindless carriers. Even during the War, there was this illness that degraded the mind, turning rational and peaceful zebras into cannibalistic mad jennies. Fortunately, the wasteland is a big place, and such plagues cannot spread far, unlike in your metro."

I opened my mouth to say more but a cold shiver ran up my spine instead which made my mind go blank. I don't know why, but I felt like if I continued, I would remember something I rather suppress.

"Are you okay, Miss Harp?" Jali asked, looking at me with concern.

"I'm fine. It’s just… just hoping everypony back home is doing alright," I said to shake off the cold feeling I just had.

Jali nodded with a smile on her face. "I'm sure they are. If the other mirage ponies are like you, then I'm sure they're resilient enough to get through most problems that may come."

We made our way to and over the railway tracks. Entering the cleaner and better-looking part of town. The local ponies were clearly avoiding us as we passed while the visitors looked on with curiosity. I wasn't all that bothered by it. I had chosen to not be the tool of other ponies. The price of that was a damaged reputation.

Not that it mattered, as I did not plan on staying any longer than necessary. As soon as I have the caps and supplies, I'll join a caravan to go out west.

"So what did you want to show me?" I asked as we entered the free clinic. Prism was already there, tending to an elderly stallion with a beard as long as himself.

"Just give me a moment as I go and get it," Jali told me as she trotted to the back.

It didn't take long for her to then return. On her back was my drone Order. It was patched up with scrap metal that was barely hiding a few loose wires.

"Sorry if I overstep my boundaries, but decided to tinker with this and fix its wing propeller. Its hardware was quite similar to that of a sprite bot, so I had a few spare parts that were compatible. Copper and Roger also helped me a little. Those two love to tinker with tech."

Stepping over, I reached out with my hoof and focused some of my magic to it. "Order, activate!"

The lights of the robot slowly came to life, and though it was jerky at the start, the propellers started spinning nonetheless. After a moment, the drone lifted up into the air, wobbling as it attempted to maintain altitude. Then, with a warped mechanical voice, Order spoke through the drone, "System analysis… too many errors. Advise to have this drones programs cleaned, rebooted, then a defrag, Madam."

This put a smile on my face. "Order, how long will it take?"

Order dipped for a moment before floating back up. "To clean the systems, several hours, but reestablishing rudimentary navigation should take but a few minutes after a reboot. The rest of the system can be done on the move to not burden you, Madam."

"Order, reestablish your navigation, then clean your system on the move," I told Order. In response, the robot beeped as it slowly landed on the floor then powered down.

"How wondrous!" Jali exclaimed as she examined the patched together drone. "Before you told me about how mirage pony magic worked, I was quite confused as to why this robot had such a small spark battery. All robots I have seen had large spark batteries, or small spark reactors keeping them going. But here you are, using yourself as a stand-in for its main battery, thus freeing up room for more sophisticated technology to go into the robot." She then pulled out a device that looked a bit like a hoof held pipbuck, but made out of scrap. "Mind if I study your robot when it reactivates? I just want to see how it's sensors work, and if I can copy it."

"Go for it," I said with a shrug, "but can I give you something for getting Order up and running again? Caps, maybe?"

Jali shook her head. "You need those caps. Anyways, I'm getting what I want by studying this new tech."

I still wanted to repay Jali. She had already done so much already, and for free no less. Now it was making me feel like I was freeloading on her.

"Wait!” I bade. “I remember you saying that Fluttershy was still alive, right?"

"Yes. Velvet Remedy cured her of her curse a few years ago. The poor thing is still quite traumatized by the whole ordeal," Jali informed me.

"Well, I have something that I think once belonged to her." Digging into my bag, I pulled out the statuette of Ministry Mare Fluttershy. "Here, take this."

Jali's eyes widened as she took the small figurine, examining it. "To my friend Healing Herbs,’” Jali quoted the writing on the bottom of the statuette, “‘I wish you luck’ - Fluttershy." Jali blinked as she shook her head slightly. "Oh my! I've heard of these. They’re made by Rarity for her friends, if what Velvet said is true. There's only three known full sets as I know of. One with Littlepip, another with the dragon Spike, and the last is owned by Velvet. Then this one. It must have originally been Fluttershy's. Where did you get it?"

"It was a gift to a friend of mine. I can't remember where she got it, but she gave it to me for safekeeping," I explained.

"I see. Then you should hold onto it," Jali advised as she passed it back to me.

I shook my head and pushed it back to her. "It's fine. I have something more important to give back to her." I pointed at the medallion pinned on my hat.

She took a closer look at it then raised an eyebrow at it. "Interesting. My memory is not what it once was, but I think I remember seeing that as part of a bounty back during the War. The royal guard medallions. We were to take alive any pony with one, and drag them to a superior for interrogation. Never actually saw one during the war though, and never heard about a royal guard actually being taken alive." Jali took a step back, placing the figurine into one of her pockets. "You're quite a treasure trove of artifacts and new technology, not to mention that magic of yours as well. It was wise of you not to tell others. I’ve seen far too many creatures be killed for far less."

A beep from Order announced that it had finished rebooting. It then proceeded to float up and hover with full stability, after which it announced, "Navigation is now fully online. Calibrating controls." Order began slowly flying around, bobbing and twisting before flying to me. "Madam, this drone is now capable of smooth navigation, but other systems will need a cleaning before full functionality."

"Order, is it possible to share your sensory data while cleaning your programming?" I asked my drone.

In response, Order bobbed in confirmation. "This is possible, Madam." The green cartoon image of Order floated into my E.F.S. ”Do you want me to make sure she doesn't get access to any other systems and data?” The VI asked in my mind.

"Give her access." I told the drone before thinking at the VI, ”Jali is a good mare. I rather not see her get hurt by learning more than she needs to know.”

Order gave a confirming beep before floating over to Jali who started plugging in a cable into the drone. "Thank you, Miss Harp,” Jali bid gratefully. “Hopefully I might learn something to help me improve my medical tools. Maybe make something like that scanner spell Slowtrot has on his pipbuck."

"You can't just copy it?" I asked.

Jali shook her head. "I first need a device that could even make use of it, then comes unraveling the spell, of which is considerably complex. Whoever made it put a lot of effort into every aspect of the spell. It’s practically flawless, to tell the truth. I'm going to try and remake the spell with the materials I do have, though that means the machine will likely be far bigger than a pipbuck." She then returned to her device that was plugged into Order.

Sitting on one of the beds, I turned my own attention to my pipbuck. I lazily looked through the radio.

"Oh, there you are, Harp," The voice of a mare caught me by surprise. Turning to look, I saw Cloudy Sunrise trotting up to me. "Star was a bit worried about you, but she's a bit busy at the moment, so I promised to check up on you."

Cloudy was quite the cute mare, which was surprising to me with how rough everypony looked here. "I got a clean bill of health. So, what's going on with Star?"

"Got called into work. We got some tourists that want a pretty mare to show them the sights, and Waterspout wanted them to live long enough to spend more caps at the tavern," she answered.

"I see." Hopping off the bed, I trotted over to her. "It's a shame that you both have to work at that tavern. I mean, Star would probably make a better sheriff than Ashy.

Cloudy shrugged. "I doubt that. She sure as Tartarus would be more level headed, but you've never seen her get real mad. There was this one time some asshole was running his mouth and throwing bottles, but had enough caps to keep Waterspout from kicking him out. Well, Star decided to play him up and drain him of his caps. Even after hitting her with a bottle, she kept it up. After he ran out of caps, she took him for a walk, and the next day he was found with all his legs broken and his face so battered that he couldn't see."

"Didn't the sheriff get involved?" I asked, concerned.

"At first, she did," Cloudy explained. "But it turns out all Star did was take him to a known trouble area of town which was full of ponies he had insulted that night. The same ones she had to stop from fighting him, then left him there. The sheriff didn't see that as a crime, and none of the locals were going to snitch on each other, so the stallion was just sent home with an apology."

"Owch, but I bet that taught him a lesson," I said, and Cloudy nodded. "But how would that make her a bad sheriff?"

Cloudy sighed. "As long as I have known her, Star has never respected the idea of law and order, she has a might makes right mindset. Not to say she is like a raider. She really cares about her friends and family, and she knows that if she gets into serious trouble, we all will be hurt by it. But, if you give her the same authority as Ashy, then all that restraint she has will go out the window. She would likely just smash through any problem that comes her way until somepony shoots her dead."

I sighed. "I guess I just don't know her enough yet. Maybe I'm just comparing her to other ponies I know."

"Why don't you tell me about them?" Cloudy bumped her hip on mine and fluttered her eyes a little. "I love to hear more about your home."

I felt my face flush a little from the attention. "Well two ponies come to mind. One was my former caretaker, Stratus Dancer, who was like a big sister to me. When I was growing up, she was always there for me. She never let my siblings get away with trying to pick on me. She later became the Captain of the Guard. Even if she didn't have the time she used to, she still checked up on me. "

"Well she sounds like an amazing mare. She must be really worried about you." Cloudy’s words felt like a stab in my heart.

Taking a deep breath, I continued. "She… she died not long ago trying to protect me. If I was not around, she could have easily flown to safety, maybe save more lives. I miss her so much, but I know she wouldn't want me to just sulk about it."

I felt Cloudy rest her shoulder on mine, "Ya. I get that. Lost my dad a few years ago. We came here after leaving our enclave compound, all over stupid political bullshit. He figured it was better if we try and live in the wasteland then to rot in the compound. Ponies still didn't trust us pegasus, so dad and I couldn't find work in town. He had to go out in the wasteland to make caps."

She then sighed. "Each time he went out, it took him longer to come back. Eventually he just didn't return. I waited for him as long as I could. Stretched out my food and water as long as I could, then one day woke up in the Followers camp. Turns out I had become delirious due to dehydration and wandered outside before collapsing."

A smile formed on Cloudy's face. "That's where I met Star. After hearing about my situation, she helped me get a job at the Ruffled Feathers as part of the cleaning crew." Cloudy looked off out the window. "I know my dad died out there, but some days I wake up, hoping he will be there with a big grin on his face and apologizing about taking so long."

"This world is just too cruel. Makes me wonder if the old Equestria was ever so peaceful. Maybe we've mistaken it with a fantasy," I lamented.

Cloudy bumped me with her shoulder. "Ah, don't be that way. I mean, Celestia ruled for a thousand years without a major war or internal conflicts.”

“So, now what about this other pony y’all was talken about?" Cloudy reminded.

"Right. She was a mercenary sent out to find me when I had become… lost. It’s a long story, but her name is Vibraphone Echo, and she pushed me forward whenever I felt like giving up. She helped me to stay strong when I started to crumble. She and her friend suffered so much for me that I could never repay them." I reached up and took off my hat… her hat, and her medallion. "If anything, I should return home only to give this back to her. I owe her at least that much." I returned the hat back on my head.

"Sounds like an adventure! Care to tell me about it?" Cloudy pressed hopefully.

"Well, it's a bit of a long one. Also so much had happened that I don't know where to start." I said with a sigh just as my drone flew over us.

"I'm finished gathering the data, Miss Melody," Jali announced as she put her device in another pocket. "It's going to take me a long time to study this data, but before that, I have other more important work to do.”

“Speaking of which, as a doctor, I suggest you go and get some more fresh air and sunlight. It's not going to do you any good staying inside longer than you already have today." She advised.

I chuckled a little before replying, "Back home, following such advice would get a pony killed, but ya, some more fresh air would be nice."

Cloudy nudged me again with her shoulder as she said invitingly. "How about you help me with my shopping today? I need to pick a few things up before work."

It did sound interesting. I never got to have a girls day out, and shopping did sound fun.

"Alright,” I agreed. “Sounds fun.”

“ Order, follow me." I commanded the drone.

"Yes Madam." The drone spoke as Cloudy and I trotted out of the free clinic.