The night had already fallen by the time Cait had gotten back. With it came the need for me to use my pipbucks inbuilt flashlight to continue to read, having discovered that the light switches were inoperable. I had at least memorized a spell from both books, one a medical spell that I thought would no doubt come in handy when we ran low on potions or when said liquids were not within range of service. The other however was a conundrum. I resolved to try it later when I had a mass of test subjects to practice it on.

Wait test subjects? I scoured my mind with an imaginary mental version of bleach. What a sick and twisted way to think such a way of others, I had no desire to become the scientists I had so despised. I began to check out the next chapter of the medical book to distract myself of such thoughts but then Cait returned, I heard his voice and unlocked the door for him, unwilling to get out of the warm nest around me that I had made of the blankets of both the bed and the sleeping bag I had. It took a moment for Cait to find me, Scrapyard having rushed to the door excited to greet his friend again, and I smiled from my perch, nestled down and with the medical book perched ever so slightly on the edge of the bed's frame. Giving it enough lift for me to read it comfortably. Cait looked up at my perch and immediately grinned.

"What?" I asked, looking up from my book.

"Oh nothing, mind if I add something to complete the picture?" Cait suggested, his grin never losing an ounce of volume.

"Alright?" my eyes shifted back down to the book, an picture of a ponies inner workings displayed on a diagram, Moments later I felt a pair of what felt like thin sticks slip past my mane and slide into place, a curved bit of it wrapping around the back of my ears and a thin lenses giving the world a slight blur as I blinked. Disorientated by the pair of glasses I was suddenly wearing. I looked back to Cait instead only seeing a mixed blob of his colors, "What?" my confused voice asked.

"too Cute." Cait said with a blissed tone, I lowered the glasses with a hoof so I could see him clearly, "I feel like my heart is melting. You could give Elder Ground Hoof a heart attack with that much adorable."

"Um Who?" I asked, and Cait replied too casually, "Just the commanding leader of this district for my group." he brushed it off I could of sworn I could see flowers coming out of him, but he didn't leave any of them anywhere so I dismissed it as just how powerful his joy was.

I shrunk back into the nest I had made on top of the bunk bed and he made the most unmanly sound I had heard yet from him. This was getting uncomfortable, fast, "Please stop it Cait..."

He merely kept going at it until I gave him his glasses back and buried myself underneath a layer of sleeping bag with only my horn and eyes peeking out to read my book. Occasionally lighting up my magic to turn a page but ignoring him. Eventually however the silence was interrupted again as he came back into the room with his own book and settled himself on the opposite bunk, "Didn't think you read." I commented as Cait put on his glasses.

"Not usually, but since your doing it, might as well join you." Cait muttered, focusing onto his book, the title of it was unreadable from my angle but it wasn't scrawny by any means.

A few minutes passed in a comfortable silence before it was broken again by Cait, "So what's your opinion on the massive amounts of murder we've gone through and done in the last few days?"

I looked up from my book and turned to look at him, "What do you mean?"

"Well all those ponies dead by our hooves I mean, you know all those raiders and slavers I mean. Does it bother you that those were sentient beings we murdered for our own ends Aria?" His playful expression was gone as he returned my glance.

I sighed, "Honestly?" he nodded so I continued, "Before I left my stable I was confident that all ponies were demented and evil. After my first batch of raiders that suspicion only strengthened. Though what really troubles that belief is the fact that there are a few ponies who have their heads on straight."

"Hmm?"

"Well there's you for one." I admitted aloud, "If you hadn't shown up, I'd probably be dead. The only other who I had seen kindness was the same old buck that gave me his families pipbuck." I took a moment to look upon the soft glow of the screen, it was positively glowing in the darkening room, though that was only to be expected with its light on, "As for the raiders and slavers... I don't see them much better than one would a rabid animal. The first..." I thought over the ghastly décor they had in the mall we had met in, "Is completely barbaric, and the slavers I can't help but feel a grudge to."

I sighed and Cait made a calming motion with his hooves, "What of here in the Eternal Flame?"

"That would take time to decide." came my response, "What do you know of this place?"

Cait chuckled, "Ever the history monger I see." he closed his own book and leant back, falling into his pillow, "Where to begin..."

"Factions and this places government perhaps?" I offered.

"Hmm... Not a bad idea." Cait took a moment to compile his thoughts, "There are two major factions within the Eternal Flame, and countless minor ones probably. The first major one is the Cult of the Flame, which are those worshippers you've seen. They believe that their goddess was reincarnated in that giant radioactive fire that they are all praying in front of. Their network stretches from their hometown here, to having at least one chapel in every major settlement in the Vanhoover district and even a few of the smaller ones."

sounded pretty big, "What sort of influence do they have?"

Cait shrugged, gesturing to the air with a hoof as though pointing out this or that, "Well they often offer basic services that makes living in the wasteland much more tolerable. I haven't a clue where they find all of the stuff they have to offer, but there are rumors that the church is only half of the cult. The other half being the occasional small army of mercenaries who are used to take down threats to the local populace. Those guys tend to be from various smaller gang run families however, like the Bravehearts for instance."

My wings unfolded and buzzed slightly in motion, a normal sign of acknowledgement that went disregarded by Cait, I added a nod and he continued, "The other major factions include the NLR and Celestias Army. They're a pair of warring factions who are about as similar as a raider is to a Aqua Light species. The first, the NLR, are a group of ponies trying to respread Luna's ministries as a central form of government and can be described as the 'good' side of the situation."

He scoffed suddenly, "Celestia's Army however, is the complete opposite. No better than an well organized band of slavers and raiders mixed together into one foul concoction. Though by Luna's mercy I do not know how Celestia's army hasn't fallen by now from the NLR's overwhelming numbers and superior technology. While they don't have power armor in any quantities like the Steel Rangers, I can't help but feel a bit awe struck by the sheer amount of artillery and numbers they have in comparison."

That drew in some interest, "The Steel Rangers aren't a large group?" I asked him.

"More private than the love lives of a ministry mare that's for sure. Only accepts members who were born in the Rangers. Great amount of good that did us, considering we are dangerously close to ending up with incest and our elders are more concerned about technology than the oaths that founded them." Cait responded with an annoyed snort.

"Oath's?" I asked, trying to worm a bit more information out of him.

He sighed, "A promise to the original ministry mare who formed the Steel Rangers, Applejack. She's not only their founder but the one who inspired the oath to protect the ponies as best they could. Problem is, after so long a majority of the ponies who run the group now, the elders, consider hoarding technology more important than helping others. A few higher ranking members, mostly an odd elder or star paladin, takes the old oath more seriously, but there are more than enough rangers to dictate the current reputation of the rangers as war time technology hoarders."

I frowned, this was an equivalent of the Equestrian Royal guards turning into mercenaries during peacetime. Though one thing struck me as odd, "How do you know so much about them anyway if they are such a private group?"

I immediately felt the change in mood Cait portrayed, his eyes giving me a look I had only seen once before, the look of somepony holding something back as Cait spoke in a monotonous, "Rumors, mostly... you'd get better tales about the rangers from a street vendor than me. Why do you ask?"

I resisted the urge to sigh, instead putting my book away and repositioning myself to sleep, "Curiosity. New out here remember?"

I shivered as Cait became slightly less tense. Note to self, do not get on his bad side. I tried changing the subject, "So what do you want to accomplish out here in the wastelands? Any personal goals I should note?"

"Sentinel secures justice," Cait replied, "Helping ponies is my primary task though personally? Hmm... I say I would like to find a proper formal suit that's intact."

"A suit? as in barding?"

"No, no." Cait corrected me, "Just formal wear. You know, like how mares have dresses and stallions typically had suits?"

I didn't really understand but I nodded anyway, "That's it?"

He snorted, "You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get a date back where I came from when all you have to wear inside is a molted brown and red robe that just screams, 'I'm in pajamas come shoot me!'", he rolled his eyes, visible from the dim glow of my pipbuck's light, "So ya, besides that I've yet to decide anything else. Unless you suddenly know a time machine we can take to end this post apocalyptic scenario before it became like this. Though what are the odds that ever happens." he chuckled to himself.

I switched my light off, "Nice to know. I'll keep my eyes out for any formal wear or time machines we may run across for you." we shared a laugh, Scrapyard joining in with a bark as well as we settled in for the night. I shut my eyes and relaxed. A few minutes later Cait quietly asked one last question, "What about you? What do you want to accomplish out here?"

I didn't respond. I mulled over it and came up with nothing as the time went on. Eventually I fell into the lull of sleep within the light blankets and the heavenly feel of the old mattress beneath me.

Soon enough we found ourselves traveling back out of the city and collecting the gear we had left at the gate. We bid our adieus to the gate keeper and headed off towards the icon labeled on my pipbuck. The way there was relatively uneventful in consideration to the last few days though we did however run into a traveling caravan in which we got a few more rounds for my sniper rifle as well as a few extra gems for Cait's sword. When we approached the icon I began to feel aware of the smell of death and decay.

The smell only grew stronger as we reached a faded dirty grey building, it was tall to say the least, towering over three floors in height and still standing with a majority of its structure in comparison to it's neighbors, who looked mere skeletons of what they once were. the bold logo called it 'M.M. Industry' though my pipbuck still labeled it as the research facility we were given. The proof only rocketed a bit more skyward as we saw several floating robots with maintained hover talismans wandering around the entrances, a different weapon attached to each of their three long metallic arms consisting of a saw blade, a torch and a grabbing arm as they patrolled passed various mounds of what looked like dirt. I took out my scope and zoomed in.

Correction, dead bodies. All of them either cut and rent to pieces or torched. Several of the corpses looked months old rather than days, though it troubled me that they were oddly all fanned out in front of the entrance. Both machine and dead pony alike. I took a guess that they were also trying to keep something inside the building rather than just keeping everypony else out. Cait prodded me with a hoof, "So what's it like over there?"

"I count half a dozen Mister Handy's right outside the main entrance all armed with buzz saws and flamers." I told him, leveling my scope on the closest of the faded green robots, "What do you want to do?" I asked Cait.

"Hmm..." Cait considered it before smirking, "Your operation. Your decision."

So he was going to be that way. I let out a sigh, "Considering what Geary told us, these guys are a menace to the locals right?

"Yep, more so than a few dozen raiders considering the trader we ran back into had burns and cut marks as though he barely escaped." Cait commented, taking one of his canteens out for a drink, "Reckon we take them out?"

I nodded slightly, "I'll try sniping them from here, though I'll need you and Scrapyard to take out any who get too close."

Cait sniggered, "Just make sure to leave us some and I'll be happy."

His prepped blade emitted a quiet electrical crackle seeming to punctuate his words and I gave a small smile. I waited for it, trying to lead the shot with the default settings of the scope. The robot stopped to turn back in it's route and resume its routine march when I pulled the trigger with my hoof. Ambush gave a quiet 'pew' as the heavy .308 caliber bullet raced away from it's shell and I smiled in satisfaction as the bullet took the bot by surprise. The effect of the bullet was devastating. Lodged between the round dome that stored his internal circuits and the matrix that controlled the Mister Handy's hover systems it flew into a wall and crumpled, it's engines forcing it to continuously jet into the ground as it tried futilely to right itself.

It's fellows however took noticed and charged, yelling at us with lines like, "ALL ZEBRA SYMPHASIZERS MUST DIE!" and, "BURN VERTICALY CHALLENGED BUGS!"

I took aim at one of the approaching targets, too easy considering how they were heading straight for us, and fired again, the second shot clipping the base of one of their compatriots cameras causing it to crack and drive the robot blind from the front. I loaded the next round, the last one I'd be able to fire before they got within range. I took aim and used S.A.T.S. to line up a shot on a third's flamethrower. Letting the bullet speed off as I released the spell and fired. Sadly it went wide missing all of them entirely and burying itself in the abused research building. I swapped to my shotgun as Cait and Scrapyard surged forward, meeting the front most Mister Handy with fang and sword against his saw blade, "ONLY WE CAN PREVENT CORPERATE ESPIONAGE!" one of them shouted as I moved to flank the mass and fired off a scattering of buckshot which only ringed or minor denting to their shells in comparison to the high caliber bullets of Ambush.

I spread my wings and took off in order to dodge several flamers as they were turned in my direction and fired off, nearly turning me into the roasted equivalent of the Spider legs that Cait and Scrapyard had been eating not too long ago. A few of them pushed towards me but in comparison to a changeling in flight they were balloons floating around. I flew by one unloading the buckshot at a closer range and disabling it as Cait and Scrapyard finished the first one they had engaged with a mixture of shredding from Cait's sword and another having it's flamer ripped off by an overly eager Scrapyard pinning one down and biting it off.

My wings buzzed forcing my momentum to a stop in order not to dive headlong within a flamers path as another of the Mister Handy's cut me off, screaming, "WE MAY SEEM ANGRY BUT THAT'S BECAUSE WE ARE PROGRAMED LIKE THAT!" and then it tried to incinerate my face.

I dived, barely in time to escape becoming a Changeling barbeque, though my tail wasn't so fortunate. I hissed as the edge was ablaze and forced myself to land in order to put it out while being forced to hold the one responsible off with a wildly aimed pair of shotgun shots as I stomped on the tip of my tail. When it came down however Cait Lunged from behind it and stabbed his sword through the metal as though it was paper before cleaving the blade out with a yank downwards causing the robot to jerk and hit the ground with it's circuits severed. I focused on putting the last few embers in my tail out, "Thanks Cait."

"No problem Aria." Cait replied as though it was nothing. I'll admit that I felt a good kind of shiver go down my spine as he said my name. Wait do Changelings even have spines? I mentally shrugged, the saying was good enough I guess, Cait grinned at me, "So what now oh fearless leader?"

My eyebrow rose as that before I appraised the building. The front entrance was now open, but the scuffle we had was far from quiet. I would easily bet there would be an entrance of some sort on the roof but it was no secret that Cait and Scrapyard couldn't fly, nor could I lift them up that high without being exhausted extremely quickly. If it was lowering Cait I could do it, considering going down was a lot easier than up. That left the front entrance... I shivered at the thought that there was more of those robots in a close confined corridors of a building. This wasn't going to be pleasant, "Stick together and go through the front." I said resigned, it irked me that Cait immediately cheered for that plan of action, his sword letting out a loud cackle as it swung through the air, far from done expending it's charge.

Scrapyard merely wagged his tail and grinned in the wolfish manners that wolves did... Well of course he'd grin like a wolf he was a wolf, I shook my head and Cait's joyous bouncing quieted down to just excited fidgeting as he asked, "What?"

"It occur to you that there are going to be more of these robots in a confined series of corridors all armed with flame throwers?" I interrogated him dryly, my voice a bit higher than a whisper, but still lower than average.

"That's half the fun." Cait stated with a stoic smile.

My hoof wanted to hit myself in the face, however my mind made it resist the urge, "What's the other half?" I asked rhetorically not expecting a serious reply from the ever cheerful stallion.

"Don't you remember what Geary said?" Cait's smile went ear to ear with glee, "Ghouls!"

Xp footnote: 50% until next level.

Next Chapter: Chapter 12: Robots, Ghouls, Pumpkins, Experiments, and Us. Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 31 Minutes