Order predictably got a few stairs by both the local ponies as well as the ones visiting the town. I thought about having the drone just stay on my back to not draw as much attention, but at this point I didn’t care about keeping up appearances and I rather like the idea of the locals getting a bit jealous of my never seen before robot. My drone also gave me a second pair of eyes which I could view through my pipbuck. Order sent me this information through the E.F.S. Because of that, I saw something of note, of which was mainly a few dirty looks from a few deputies as well one foal that was following Order until their parents grabbed them.

There were a few more ponies selling their wares along the side of the street. It was mainly junk. That which was still useful was also severely rusted or damaged. Food and drink was a hot commodity here as well, but the heavily preserved food being sold didn’t look all that well preserved physically, and some of the packaging had clear signs of mold. As for the drink, it was mainly water stored in old soda bottles, though the prices had clearly gone up a few caps over the last few days.

“Realy, the price went up again? I wish the Lightbringer would work faster on this whole rain situation,” Cloudy Sunrise huffed as she looked at a six pack of water bottles.

“Don’t you have a well or something? The locals don’t seem to have a problem with getting water.” I noticed.

Cloudy pulled out a purse while looking at the water in annoyance. “They do, along with a fucking water talisman, the kind stables have. But because the town is so big now, they ration it out to the residence on this side of town and sell what’s left to us unimportant folk.” She opened her purse and pulled out a bunch of caps. “Is this water clean? I seriously can’t be getting sick right now!” she growled at the merchant.

The merchant was a dirty pony covered in rags. A large saddlebag was placed next to them. “It’s clean, straight from a natural reservoir up north near Ponyville.”

Placing her caps back into her purse, Cloudy snapped it shut. “You mean from the Sweet Apple Acres reservoir. The same water the NCR has repeatedly told ponies not to drink due to chemical contamination!” The merchant shifted his eyes at her words. Cloudy then trotted off to the next vender.

“So water up there is still toxic?” I asked as I followed the pegasus mare.

She sighed as we began looking at the whears of the next merchant. “Unfortunately… My dad knew how to clean food and water of radiation, so he went up north hoping to scavenge anything left behind as he heard that the apple farm was still untouched. Turns out that it was not only radiation that had poisoned the land, but at some point, some ponies used the land to store chemical waste which seeped into the groundwater. Even with the radiation mostly gone, the land is still poisoned, apples and all.” Cloudy picked up another bottle of water. This one was a large clear wine bottle but with little bits floating in it, so she put it back. “Unfortunately some ponies think that just because the radiation is gone that means everything is safe to put in your mouth.”

I cringed a little. “That can't be good.”

Cloudy shook her head. “The Followers had a doozy of a month treating ponies who got severely ill from consuming contaminated food and water after the Elements of Harmony were used.” She found another large bottle. this one was brown and had the engraving of a sun on it. “Oh nice! A one liter of Sunset Sarsaparilla. I’ll take it!” She pulled out a bunch of caps which she passed them to the merchant.

The next merchant was selling several severely rusted guns, a few scrap built blades, and one energy rifle that, other than a piece of scrap metal welded onto the siding, it looked better than most of what sold out here.

“Oh, one of the winged folk. I got a good deal for you, young miss.” A thin and elderly earth pony addressed Cloudy, presenting the energy rifle. “This here is an authentic enclave rifle. It was saved from a fire pit after the enclave fell and repaired to full functionality. For such a pretty mare like you, I’ll sell it to you for a steal.” The merchant gave a wide toothy yellow smile.

“I don’t need a gun right now, but Star has been telling me I do need to protect myself more,” Cloudy said as she looked closer at the rifle.

“Then this is the perfect gun for you! It’s light and powerful. Trust me, you will love it.” The merchant pushed, making me feel a bit uneasy.

I took a closer look, giving the gun a little magic to feel it out. To my disappointment, the rifle's insides felt all wrong with the magic not gathering at the end point to be fired, but cycling back and forth between the gun and the magical energy cell, effectively turning the gun into a bomb. My own knowledge of how this arcano tech worked was limited, but I knew at least that magical energy cells tend to explode if its own magic was forced back into it as it was made to only send magic one way.

“Did you ever test fire that rifle?” I asked the merchant.

“Plenty of times! saved my life too, but now I need more caps than guns, you see.” The pony answered smoothly.

“How about you show us?” I pressed, trying to get the merchant to pull out before I call shenanigans.

“Oh no! That put innocent ponies in danger,” the merchant countered, but I had a trick up my sleeve.

“Order, can you use that rifle?” I asked my drone, pointing at the defective rifle.

Flying over it, Order beeped. “Yes, this is possible.”

Good, it was time to make this bitch sweat. If I knew anything about merchants, it was that they hated risking a huge loss. I don’t know why she wanted to sell Cloudy a defective rifle, but I bet she was hoping to skip town before anypony found out. I’ll just add an extra layer of risk to this.

I smiled. “Alright. How about I test fire it in the sky for you? If it works then I’ll buy it for my friend here and add a bit for the trouble.” Looking the merchant in the eyes, I could see some worry. “But if something were to go wrong, well, my robot is one of a kind out here. Doubtlessly worth more than anything you own.”

The merchant physically gulped and put the energy rifle away, avoiding eye contact while mumbling, “Stupid winged ponies!” before starting to pack things up.

We watched as the merchant pony quickly got up and trotted away. Meanwhile, Cloudy looked annoyed at the ponies. “So what was wrong with the gun?”

“I think it was rigged to explode,” I answered.

Cloudy whistled. “And here I thought it was just going to be your normal defective.”

“You knew it was a bad gun?” I asked, a bit shocked.

She nodded. “No pony just gives out a good deal like that, and to a pegasus no less. I thought ponies had at least stopped trying to harm us like that. Then again, what the enclave did was not something ponies can just forgive.”

We turned to trot to the next merchant as I asked. “If you knew it was a defective gun, what were you planning to do with it?”

“Intimidation,” she answered. “Energy guns scare the shit out of a lot of wastlanders, so I was thinking that by just having it, it would keep some of the creepers away. If I did have to use it, I could just hit them with the butt.”

I shook my head, holding back a laugh as I imagined her using a magical energy rifle like a club.

We looked at a few more stalls, but mostly found little of anything of value. Cloudy was mainly looking to stock up on food and water, so old tire irons turned hatchets and dolls made with scavenged cloth were not on the shopping list.

We did find one merchant wagon that was selling some interesting stuff. It was parts for tech, several sets of scrap armor that looked like they actually would stop a bullet or two, and gun attachments like scops and bayonetts. There were also four foals around him with a heavily armed and armored mare next to him who was holding the youngest foal.

The thin scruffy merchant eyed my robot drone from under his dusty wide brim hat while scratching his chin. "Well I'll be! I've seen my share of odd robots, but this is the first I've seen modeled after a twittermight. I don't suppose you're willing to part with it?" He checked with me.

"No no. I'm not, and anyways its value would drop if it was away from me unless you know a pony who can fully reprogram a robot." I warned the merchant.

He chuckled. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't. Got burned by a faulty robot once, literally."

"It would have been your last time if I didn't force you to wear that protective suit," the stern mare spoke up. She was bigger and more muscular built than the merchant. She had a short yellow and orange braided mane that oddly looked like a scorpion stinger at the end.

"Too true, Keep." He then took off his hat and bowed to Cloudy and I before putting it back on. "Names Moody Peddler. May I know who you two fine ladies are?"

The mare Keep, Cloudy, and I cringed a little. But at least he seemed genuine, unlike the murderous merchant from before. So I reciprocated. "I'm Harp Melody, and this is my friend Cloudy." Cloudy gave him a little wave. "Were uhh… just browsing."

"As do we all, but trust me when I say I have something for everypony... usually." Moody then eyed us both, forming a small grin. "Mind me if this sounds a bit rude, but you two seem too clean and soft to be simple wastelanders, so I'm guessing you'd like something more fashionable than functional?"

Cloudy and I looked at each other and shrugged before Cloudy answered, "Well, actually, if you have food or water for selling, my own stock is a bit low."

Moody nodded then whistled at his cart. "Rattle, fetch a ration stock!" He called out. From his cart was a loud hiss like bark. Jumping out of the cart I saw a cyber dog.. snake… monster thing, and in its mouth was a M.o.P. medical case that was painted black with a crude white scorpion painted on the top. The cyber monster, Rattle, placed the case next to Moody. He then opened it up to reveal several sealed jars. Half of them were filled with water, and the other half filled with some sort of food. "Right. In this here box, you have six jars of distilled water spiked with whight scorpion Luna Shine, and six jars of preserved scorpion chilli, all at a fair price."

Cloudy whistles in a surprised and upbeat tone. "White scorpion rations and a pet nightstalker? I thought you guys were banned from doing business here!"

"I'm not a white scorpion mercenary," Moody bragged with a smile, "and I got official merchant documentation with the NCR, so if the sheriff has a problem with who I do business with or with my wife, then she can take it up with the NCR." He then whistled at Rattle again, who, in response, rattled its snake tail. "Go get me the accessory box!" The cyber nightstalker leapt back into the cart then shortly came back out with a much bigger box. Moody opened this one. Inside was several dresses, shoes, glasses, and hats. "Now as you consider buying the rations, how about picking out a new ensemble?"

Well, I had to admit, this fucker was smooth! I had been wanting a new pair of cute slippers, and there was a clean pair of ruby red heels right in the box. I sigh as I realized I had gotten some pay from Hardballer and Waterspout. So, if I wanted to, I could buy this, but I really shouldn't… but the shoes...

We left the merchant with our cap purse much lighter than we would have liked. Cloudy bought two cases of the rations and a few odd accessories, and I had gotten the red heales, along with a red and black dancer dress with a filly mane clip hat. Moody had been relay convincing, something I was keen to remember. I lamented the loss of my hard earned caps, but on the bright side, I had a new dress and shoes.

"Take this." Cloudy passed me a pair of round orange-tinted glasses. "It's thanks for driving away that one merchant and probably saving me from getting my face disintegrated."

"You don't have to. I was just being a friend." I tried to turn down the gift, but she forced them in my hooves.

"And that's why I'm giving you them. Out here a friend is quite rare," she said with a sigh. "Anyways, you might need them if you go on another adventure with Star. The lenses are an anti-glare crystal that makes seeing while the sun is out a lot easier. Dad had a pair of goggles with the same kind of lense. It helped him spot dangers on the ground that are normally hard to see."

I put them on. The world took a light orange tint through them, much like with my advanced gas mask.

"So what was the whole white scorpion thing being banned from town?" I wondered aloud as I then took off the glasses and pulled out my gas mask to compare the two. If found the crystal glass to be identical.

"Not entirely sure other than them being a mercenary clan. A lot of them got picked up by president Gwad to be part of the NCR. My best guess is that they must have at one poit worked for Red Eye for Ashy to have a stick up her ass about them," she answered.

"It all comes back to this Redeye with the Sheriff." I sighed.

"Such a pretty mare has some fun looking toys," the voice of Deputy False Cap caught me off guard, causing me to shove the gas mask back into my bag as I turned around. The chubby stallion eyed us up from within his barely fitting uniform. "You know my offer still stands. No need to live on the dirty side of town."

Holding back the urge to wretch, I put the glasses back on, hoping they'd help hide how greasy he was… it didn't.

"Oh, Deputy False, so kind of you to still keep the offer open," I said in my best cheery tone, being as diplomatic as possible. "But I would never want to damage your reputation by staying at your place. It's better if I worked things out with the mayor first, then consider your offer."

False pouted with fake disappointment. "Oh, that may take a while He is still fuming about how you trotted out on him, and now even Ashy is keeping an eye on you. But, if you let me take care of things, I'll be able to smooth it all out for you." He then offered a hoof, of which I ignored. In response, he huffed as he turned his attention to Cloudy. "And how is the loveliest mare in town? Excited to see me tonight?"

Cloudy put on a clearly fake smile as she addressed False. "As excited as I am to do a dance marathon. But, that aside, you must be busy with so many new ponies passing through. I rather not distract you."

"Oh, be sure I have everything in order." There was a hungry look in his eyes as he stepped closer. In response, Cloudy stepped back, but not enough to put any real distance between the two as he stepped even closer to her. "Actually, it has been a bit boring with all the paperwork. A distraction would be more than welcome." He was practically breathing on her as he spoke.

Annoyed by False, I cleared my throat. I made sure I was loud and clear. "Order, the good deputy seems to need some cooling down. Can you help him with that?"

"Yes madam!" My robot excitedly exclaimed, then flew over to deputy False. Its propellers reved loudly as it blasted him with air as it hovered in place.

False took a few steps back, clearly irritated as he looked at me. "You do know who you're messing with, Missy?" he spoke in a low tone.

I sighed. "I just thought you were looking a bit hot. I wanted to help. That's all. Speaking of which, Order, cool me off." Order flew back to me, hovering overhead, thus providing a light breeze that did help to offset the heat a little.

A huff came from False. After that, he put on a slick smile, the kind that shouted that a pony was very sure of themself. "You know a robot like that can be seen as a public hazard. What if it suddenly malfunctioned? It could fall on somepony or go on a ramage, even blow up. For the public safety, I should hold onto it for you."

There was no doubt he wanted to break it or sell it. Anything but return my drone to me in one piece. I could smell that spitefulness from a mile away.

"I didn't see it that way. Thank you for informing me. Now that I think about it, there's also the danger of somepony trying to damage it or steal it. I'll make sure Order here will stay deactivated and secure while I'm out in the town.”

I looked up at my drone, "Order, I need you to finish your program cleaning in sleep mode, so secure yourself to my saddlebag."

Order beeped then hovered down onto my back. Its underbelly pincers clamped down firmly onto my saddlebag. The green cartoon of Order hovered into my E.F.S. looking a tad annoyed. "If I had my armaments online, I would zap that rude stallion!" Order spoke in my mind.

"Not a bad idea. But don’t do it without my permission." I thought back at my robot before addressing False.

"This should be enough, Deputy. Now, if we may be on our way, I'm sure you have better things to do then chat up two young mares," I informed the deputy.

"No, I don't think that will do," False said with a smile. "For the safety of the town, I require you to hoof over the robot. That is if either of you are willing to convince me to change my mind, I am willing to hear it someplace more private."

Both Cloudy and I had a cold shiver. I was about done with being civil. "Sir deputy, might I remind you of your position? This may reflect badly on yourself."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, I know, and I also know that my reputation is safe and sound, unlike yours. Don't think you two are anything special. You're not the first to think yourselves above me. You’re not going to be the last, either." The sick stallion licked his salivating lips. "As long as I help Ashy maintain order, I'm untouchable."

"Ahem! Aren't you expected to be patrolling over in the old town, False?" Deputy Willow spoke up behind False.

Deputy False sighed. "Right. Gotta make sure the riff-raff aren't getting up to no good." He then glared at me one more time. "That goes for you, too. Don't forget that." He then stomped off, disappearing into the crowd.

Willow tipped his hat at us with a more genuine smile on his face. "Sorry about that. False deals with the more criminal element than most of us. It puts him under a lot of stress at times."

Sure, and it's not that he is also totally corrupt.

"Well thanks for reminding him of his work. He was getting a bit intense." I once again kept up being diplomatic.

"I, for one, am not looking forward to seeing him later tonight." Cloudy sighed.

"Tonight? Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Willow said with a tired tone. "Ashy is having us senior deputies going out on patrol, scouting out any potential raider hiding spots. The price for this freedom is ever vigilance, and if not us, then who?"

Cloudy then gave a sigh of relief and said. "A night out should cool False off and make work a bit easier tonight."

"Again, sorry about him. We're all stressed with the festival still not having a set date. The mayor just refuses to do it until absolutely everything is ready, and Blueskies just keeps giving him more ideas to run with," Willow explained.

"Here, as an apology, how about I treat you over at the saloon?" he then offered kindly.

Cloudy and I shared a glance, then shrugged in agreement. We were a bit thirsty, after all, so free drinks sounded like a good plan.

The New Appleloosa Saloon was busey with dusty patrons who were drinking beer and other spirits as they played with ancient cards. The bar mares quickly trotted back and forth catering to their customers. Most of them were unicorns who levitated the orders above the mess of ponies. The few earth ponies among them skillfully balanced plates on their heads, but none among them was a pegusus that could fly above it all.

Between the smell of old beer and less than fresh food lingering in the air, I could smell the faint scent of flowers in the air, if a bit chemically. One of the barmaids stopped in front of us. She in a white and red checkered dress. Holding onto a thin plank of wood in her magic as she said, "Oh, Deputy Willow, here to see your wife… I mean the boss?" She spoke in an upbeat tone that was clearly practiced. The chemical smell of flowers drifting off of her.

"Yes, actually," he responded before motioning at us with his head. "I'm also treating these two ladies to some water, so can you bring us a pitcher and four glasses?"

The mare nodded. "Certainly! We have an open booth over in the family side of the saloon," the mare told him as she then passed him the thin plank of wood.

Following Willow, we trotted passed the loud scrapwood bar and into a quieter part of the saloon. I found myself in a literal diner with white and black checkered floor, red puffy seats, and polished chrome. Much of the diner was also filled with ponies, but unlike in the bar part of the saloon, this part had several colts and fillies around, watched over by tired-looking parents. It all made me feel a bit at home as we took a seat. We placed our saddlebags under the table. Cloudy and I next to each other with Willow across from us.

The three of us sat there for a long awkward moment as a mare dropped off a pitre of water and glasses. Since we did not have much to say, we just continued to drink our water. I decided to break the silence by saying, "Did you ponies literally rip up a diner and rebuild it here?"

"They ripped up my diner and rebuilt it here," a yellowish-orange coated unicorn mare spoke up. She was in the same red and white checkered outfit as the other mare, but had a frilly apron on over it and a green curly mane that gave her an aura of class that seemed in short supply around here. "Now, Honey, should I ask why you're sharing drinks with two young mares, moreover one that's working for my main competitor?" she asked Willow, cocking an eyebrow as she lowered a pitcher of water on the table with three glasses.

Deputy Willow gave a long sigh and just said, "False Cap," he explained tiredly.

The mare rolled her eyes and took a seat next to Willow. "Names Apricot Biscuit. This here fools wife." She then flashed me a smile. "You must be the Zony mare from the Followers clinics. A shame that you went to see the mayor first. From what I heard, you got a strong head on your shoulders and a smooth tongue. You would have done well here." She then sighed. "Unfortunately, it looks like you're in the same boat as Cloudy. A real shame."

"Is that why there's no pegasus working here?" I asked.

Apricot nodded. "Espresso has a firm understanding of social optics and knows that the town would suffer if ponies start labeling this town as an Enclave colony or sympathizer. It was heartbreaking to let some of my girls go, but this place did see a lot more business after they left. It would also be nice if Espresso didn't take things so personally all the time. I can't call him out on his bullshit without him throwing a temper tantrum. He always has to get his way. It's why he was asked to leave Tenpony Tower." She then poured us all water. It even had cubes of ice in it. Taking a sip, the water was cool, crisp, and refreshing.

Willow took a light sip before adding to the conversation. "I'm sure the mayor will ease up on the restrictions once the festival is over. The town just needs to get itself more established first, then we can expand our community. No need to worry about business getting hurt because of other ponies' biases if there's a lot of business to go around.”

He then looked at and spoke over at me. "I'm also sure that the mayor will be in a forgiving mood after the festival as well. He did push you onto that stage, after all."

A laugh came from Apricot. "You can say that again! I would have given Espresso a piece of my mind if it had been one of my mares forced on stage with a Deva. I would’ve given it to Ashy, too, for not stopping it. That mare is too old to not know better."

"Honey, lets not." Willow pleaded quietly.

Apricot gave her husband a stern look. "Don't ‘Honey’ me! You and I both know Ashy is too smart to be acting like this, being so brahmin headed about everything. I respect the old mare, and if she was with the steel rangers, she would easily be promoted to elder with all the shit she had fixed. I'd be supporting her all the way if she didn't start to act a lot like elder Cottage Cheese.

The mare huffed as she looked over at us. "The way she's acting right now, it's just how my chapter did back then, and why my troop didn't return to our base during the scizim. Always, they stick to the rules they made up themselves, not caring about who they hurt." She took a sip of her water and put her head on Willow's shoulder. "I just don't want to see you get hurt. If she keeps going on like she is, she's going to tear herself apart, and you're going to tear yourself apart trying to save her."

Willow sighed, sounding a bit defeated. "I know, but False Cap and Stopped Clock are always there, pushing their own ideals."

"I understand, and frankly, it's like Spritz Cookie all over again." Apricot nuzzled Willow as she spoke.

"Sorry for interrupting, but I'm a tad lost now," I spoke up.

Apricot slowly sat up straight, "Sorry, sugar. I'll give you the short story."

"Back before I met Willow and moved here, I was a young scribe in the steel rangers. Think of them as an order of power-armored knights. The troop I belonged to was in charge of a supply depot for our chapter. This diner, in fact,” she clarified. “Well, during the whole Stable Dweller incident, there was a civil war within the steel rangers. Our troop was no exception, and leader Star Paladin Spritz Cookie lost her mind because of all the fighting."

"We followed her at first, but she was the kind of ranger that thought that most technology was too dangerous to fall into anyone's hooves, even our own. We tried to keep to the steel ranger code, but when Spritz murdered a young stable dweller for her pipbuck, even we couldn't abided by that. It got ugly. Real ugly. I lost the friends I had since I was a foal in the fight with Spritz. Even after that, the bitch still got away. The few of us that were left drifted apart. I stayed in the diner until Willow found me. Now I'm here."

"So you're worried about that happening again?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yes, but not in the same fashion. In the steel rangers, ponies like Spritz Cookie were fairly common, though she was a more extreme case. The scizim was inevitable as ponies like her applied pressure on every pony around them until something broke. First the steel rangers snapped apart, then Spritz lost her mind, and eventually the NCR will lose patients with the rangers as well. If Ashy keeps applying pressure just like the rangers, if the NCR does not come down on her, somepony else will. I do pray it won't come to that."

There was a quiet pause before Apricot put on a cheery smile and poured us more water. "Enough about all this depressing talk. Tell me more about yourself, and wear did you get that fancy robot, if it's not too much to ask?"

"Who? You mean Order? It was a gift from my father. He's an important pony back home, and well, I do hope I see him again." I said, hoping he was alright, as he might be the only family I still have, or at least the only family that I want to still be alive.

"Tell me more about him. He's got to be quite the stallion to raise a mare like you, not to mention to be able to give a robot out as a gift like that," Apricot said softly.

"Well, I only found out he was my father recently, and well…" I paused for a moment, still wondering how much I should say. Since it would be easy to omit anything I didn't want to share, and that's what I did.

We all chatted. I told them about the metro, Cloudy about her life in the sky, Apricot about growing up as a ranger scribe, and Willow on about how Ashy protected him when they were slaves. He didn't say all that much, but it was clear that, to Willow, Ashy was a very important pony to him. Before long, Willow had to return to his duty, and Apricot to manage the saloon, but she gave the two of us a free dinner as a friendly gift. We stayed a bit longer, but when we saw the sun was getting low, it was time for Cloudy to head to work and I joined her.

I had been helping Waterspout with organizing his finances. He had been quite insistent I come over tonight, though with the caps I was earning from the Gunrunners, I didn't need to work there. But, after what I spent today, I could use the extra caps, so I might as well help out tonight in order to see if there's anything I can help with.

So, to the Ruffled Feathers we trotted.

-Unique Item Obtained- (Groovy Sheik Spectacles) " Now Introducing the Groovy Sheik line from the Carousel Boutique made by the Ministry mare of Image, Rarity. In these dark times, a little splash of color will not do, so why not wear the rainbow and do it in style?!"-Coco Pommel