It was wonderful to have a name, but it was also very strange. All my life I had been referred to as an experiment, a subject, a result of genetic manipulation by cold scientists. My trust with ponies being force fed to the members of each batch in a way, we were expected to obey and listen to our serial number for a name as a way of identification. After knowing this for so long, it was terrifying yet exhilarating to have something that made me equal to that of those high strung scientists who had controlled us. We had learned in the Stable that ponies had names, while changelings had numbers. For we weren't special enough to have a name when we, by the scientists words, didn't even have souls or cutie-marks.

Because of this I felt an unfamiliar pride and smugness that I had outperformed their expecations and have chosen a name for myself. I couldn't help but let out a quiet squee every time Cait said my name as well. Which was quite often as we traveled throughout the day, as Cait tried to settle for a new nickname. Going from Airy, Webby, Webster, spider-mare, and more as he struck up conversation and pointed out various things as we passed through the wasteland towards a small bright lump in the early morning with the muffled sunrise only seen as a barrage of orange and red glow from the clouds above.

So much had been done in such a little period, how busy I had been since leaving the Stable. I felt lucky, in a way, due to the success so far, I was already a companion to a strong, reliable, if somewhat crazy, stallion and his loyal dog, and from what was going on thus far, it wasn't going to change anytime soon. He did have a certain element of mystery to him as well. Leaving me to wonder just what he had did in the wastelands before we had met each other. I thought about asking him tonight if things went well.

As we approached I became aware of the tall metal walls that surrounded the small village we were going into. It was put together as though a child had taken a smelting welder and scrapped every bit of spare metal they could find to the wall before adding a fresh coat of dark yellow paint to give it a golden appearance in the rising light. At the entrance I could spot a large symbol of a green ball of fire as we approached a pair of heavy wrought gates which had two sets of guards, one guarding either of the two monstrously large doors. All of them were armed to the teeth, though their armor left much to be desired with billowing green robes which bore more medals and pinned scripture than metal armored plates. It violated every military code I knew, they were flamboyant and stuck out like a sore hoof, but their robes outfits gave them the appearance of armed worshippers rather than guards.

I folded my wings into the slits in the back of my security barding as we passed a boulder, pulling at my sleeves in order to better hide the holes in my legs. No point in freaking out whoever I met. While I wanted to hide my horn as well, my hat couldn't simply accept the long jagged member that looked like somepony had taken a few holes out of it. Nervousness filled me as we crossed those final few feet before a guard held a hoof up ordering us to stop. We did.

"Please leave all ammo and melee weapons here as usual Cait." the first guard, also the most heavily decorated, said in a tone that brook no argument. Cait sighed and obliged, taking off his right saddle bag and tossing it to the guard, "All of them." The guard replied.

Cait rolled his eyes and pulled out two more knives from his tail, a pair of police batons from his remaining bags, and what looked like a serrated combat knife from his medical kit. I also watched as the guard kept staring at him before Cait released a final sigh and pulled the shotgun he had from his left saddle, emptying it out pointedly into the bag he had tossed to the guard. Then he looked at me. I meekly placed my own small supply of weapons down on the table. In comparison to Cait's small armory of weaponry mine was more suited to range, a single pistol, varmint rifle, Ambush, and the reliable shotgun I had came to rely on were all emptied in front of the guard as I rearranged my bags to similarly give the guard a bag of my ammo. Though unlike Cait, I didn't have much of a melee weapon besides the hidden S.E.C. function inside the pipbuck that I couldn't detach from my foreleg.

Then came Scrapyards turn. He gave the guard a stick. That was all.

"Is this?" the guard asked Cait, taking a few glances to my horn, carapace, and the small pointy fangs that I had, "The Lovebug?"

I let out a quiet sigh, Cait answered for me, however, before I could respond, "Her name's Aria, though yes, she was called 'Lovebug' on the radio."

The guard smirked,"Ah alright Sir Sentinel whatever you say."

Cait rolled his eyes, "Again with that? Maybe I should try and get that radio pony to do a segment on you, give you some long fancy name as well."

They chuckled together, drawing more than a few smirks from the rest, "Go right on in." he said to Cait, patting him once on the shoulder before beckoning for us to pass.

I felt overwhelmed as we entered the vastly dirty main street of the city. I could see down the long rows of ramshackle huts lining a wide gravel street that stunk of the smell of burning materials. Further on, in the center of the town, was an upraised platform bearing a brazier that was bigger than the three of us combined. Inside it was a large green flame which reached meters into the air as it glowed, around it's base several robed figures, these ones more decorated with head dresses that had been designed around fire as they knelt their heads in a form of obvious reverence towards the flame.

My senses stretched, tasting the surrounding area and feeling an overwhelming mixture of calmness and cold sincerity coming from them. I spread to the more surrounding areas feeling a mixture of giddiness, happiness, and excitement as well as small bits of anger from a rather larger building which had music coming from it, and to the right was the general neutral emotions of ponies going on to their day to day. So many... Too many...

I was suddenly glad for my wide brimmed hat and long hair, hiding behind both as much as possible as we trotted on, An unfamiliar scent of something... pungent... striking my nose as Cait lead us toward the...Tavern? That's what the faded sign said. What in the world did that mean? I drew a blank. Cait merely gestured to the small wooden porch to the side, "Wait outside for a few minutes, just getting us a room for when night falls." He nodded to another building labeled 'Geary's Generals', "If you want, you can check out the store once we're done here." I nodded in agreement and we waited as he went inside. I got a peek at the ponies inside drinking some sort of liquid and laughing merrily. All the while playing a game of some sort.

That was as far as I could examine before the door swung shut again behind Cait, there we waited as Cait's voice was barely audible above the din, my eyes shifting from the tavern towards the street, while I watched others passed by, some with wagons, others without. A majority of them were unarmed. Though if it was the town rules or just a normal thing was a mystery. A slight tug on my barding drew my interest downward to the young colt who was now in front of me. His mane and coat a pair of dirty browns and several patches of dried grime rippling down him like spots. He spoke quietly, a voice far too eye wincingly scratchy for a foal, "Spare a cap for some advice?"

His expression was heartbreaking, so I gave him something better, a can of carrots. The Foal nodded his thanks and spoke up to me, "Geary has had a hard time finding something as of late, ask him about it for some details." The foal struggled with the can, trying to open it, I used my magic to help him open it, he began eating while talking, in avertedly spilling bits of prewar chopped carrots in which he caught before shoving them back into his mouth, "Also, If you see a mare in an orange and black Nightmare Night costume, it's best for adults to stay as far away as possible."

"Why's that?" I asked quietly to him while the young foal finished up his can.

He replied simply between the last few bites, "She's meaner than a rad scorpion."

That piqued my interest, "Oh?"

"Mhm," The foal nodded, "Thanks for the food lady."

I nodded as he scurried off, and when I looked around I saw many disapproving stares. I shrank back, did I do something wrong? I looked away and at the suddenly very interesting floorboards as I waited for Cait to come out. He came out after a minute, by then the stares had collasped into just a few mean looks every now and then, Cait's mood however, was very satisfied, if slightly amused by something. "Got us a room and our rewards for those places we cleared out." he announced to me, passing a brown bag that clinked ever so slightly as it shifted, "Here's your share for the efforts anyway. Not much, but It's a start."

That was when I learned about the currency of the Wasteland. Bottle Caps. How should I of guessed. I should of guessed it, with bit's being worthless and no longer in production after all the time the wasteland had taken from Equestria. Though it still came to me as a surprise that the number one currency in the Wasteland belonged to a currency found on every soda bottle of Sparkle Cola or Sarsaparilla ever made. Credits to me though, for resisting the indomitable urge to face hoof at that. Now that I thought about it, what else would there be that both came in massive quantities, and wouldn't degrade over time besides those small easily carried bits of metal?

Cait gestured for Geary's shop and together we went in, the smell of grease, oil, and slightly rusting metal seemingly amplied inside the small room we went in. All along Geary's walls were various bits of Prewar technology, guns of all sizes, toys, armor hung from the walls attached to hangers while their centerpiece of armor, A large well metal and leather reinforced Combat armor was put on a worn mannequin and posed to make it look as though it was about to charge into battle. It even had a battle-saddle on it with a mini-gun and it's feed attached to it. A truly daunting appearance to say the least.

Shoved in the back left corner of the shop was a counter whoses front displays had broken their glass cases long ago, but still held various small books and food supplies as well as an example caliber of each type of bullet that was in stock. Cait hit the bell that was, what it looked like, wonder-glued to the counter.

Cling! No response. He hit it again.

CLING! Again no response. Cait grinned I covered my ears as he began mashing it.

CLING CLING CLING CLING!

CLING CLING CLING!

CLING!

A younger voice yelled out from the back, "Hold your horses I'm co-"

He was interrupted as Cait stomped the poor bell one last time, sending the buzzer into one squawking muffled Clang before silencing it, "Cling." he finished with what he probably thought was a clever smile as the shop owner came out of the backroom door that was behind the counter.

The Owner was a steel grey stallion with enough oil and soot on his face to make it look like he was wearing a black mask. His messy green mane was kept from falling into his eyes by a pair of goggles that rested on his forehead, The yellow pupiless orbs that was his eyes however drew the most interest of his appearance as he glared at Cait, "I heard you the first time." his voice rang out again.

"Had to make sure it still worked." Cait made the lame excuse, causing Geary to Facehoof, "How's it hanging Geary?"

"Worse than usual." Geary replied cryptically, "Are you here to do business or what?"

I wanted to question him about his problem but Cait beat me to it, "Actually yes, need some new armor for both myself and Aria here."

Geary's expression was unreadable as he frowned at me, "One Unicorn and one..." he peered at me, "Subject Aria not of an identifiable race. Chitin present, Result of identification is of insect origin, secondary guess work with subjects shape is Changeling in origin. Correct?"

Cait nodded, "Will that be a problem?"

"Depends, does she have a soul?", Geary asked, a slight buzz overtaking his voice. Though from curiosity or disdain, I couldn't tell.

"Of course. Just like you or I Gears." Cait joked, his emotions however strayed into the cautious side. How curious, "And yes Geary, I don't want to spend another two days arguing with you about that particular subject."

"Of course Cait, however this is the fourth suit of armor you've gone through this month. Customary markup now taking designation for abandoning my past warnings." Geary replied formally, though I noticed his stare never left me.

"What do you recommend for us?"

Geary eyed me over, this time quite visibly as he considered, "Besides customary self execution? I would recommend power armor, though neither of us have the caps or merchandise to sell such equipment. Nor do I believe Combat Armor is suitably in your price range." He pulled a suit of metal armor from underneath the counter, it looked worn, but intact and judging from the absence of dents, either very reliable or hadn't seen much combat yet, "Three hundred caps for metal armor, reinforced." he droned, "What type of specialist is your... Changeling...? Espionage? "

"Sniper of course, though she has shown herself an adept at midrange." Cait remarked, "Make sure what you choose allows her to traverse midrange without weighing her down too much."

"Agility over protection then." Geary replied in turn, simplifying what Cait said, "Needs a pair of slits for wings presumably based on knowledge gathered from prewar posters and horror genre books. Please hold for one moment while I do some necessary modifications to a suit for medium armor instead of heavy or light."

Geary vanished once again underneath his counter, the sounds of something thick and sturdy being torn following right before it, I gave Cait a puzzled stare as he peeked over the counter and shrugged. Shortly afterwards Geary erupted back up from behind his counter. This time a suit of black painted, thick leather barding in his mouth, he spat it onto the counter next to the metal suit, "Reinforced Scout Leather Barding. Got it in stock yesterday by a new Balefire worshipper."

"How much?" Cait asked in turn.

"Got it from the sap for fifty caps, so for her, a hundred should do."

Cait took out the suits we had collected from the slavers as well as the deactivated components of the bomb collars (The ones the slavers didn't kill themselves with anyway), and some... spider venom glands... Ew, "and together after all of this?"

"Hmm. C4. Small doses but two together could make a standard pack each... I say you have enough here to actually earn a few hundred caps instead of spending them along with gaining the armor... Say, 578 caps?"

"Deal." Cait agreed, and Geary squirreled the mass away underneath his counter and passed out a bag of caps to us, Cait neatly halving the amount and tossing it to me as well as the black barding, both of which I put away in my bag, the armor could wait.

I remembered what the young colt had said, "A young colt said you had a problem?"

Both Cait and Geary looked at me with mild surprise that I had spoken, "One of the Parasprites?" the slight glare in Geary's eyes seemed to lessen before he shifted his stare to Cait, "I shouldn't bother a customer with this, though they are right. Despite everything an associate of mine needs something from a place no one wants to bother to go to for the parts needed."

"Well where is it?" Cait asked before I could speak, his face suddenly weary.

"Ministry of Magic Research Facility #43." Geary sighed, turning away from us, "Go ahead and refuse, the last three who accepted didn't return."

Cait whistled, though to himself or one of us I couldn't say, "Dangerous facility. Not as Dangerous as 42, but still remarkable. What's there that you need?"

Geary's look turned somber, "There's a project within the depths of the experimental development labs that I need parts from to complete an side project of an associate's. It's labeled 'Massive Minds in Small Spaces'. Project MISS for short."

"Why does he need it?" Cait asked cautiously, my gaze swapping between the two as they conversed.

"It is a necessary part for an construction project of a new frame." Geary replied cryptically, "This platform knows no more about it, and that is all you need to know. You will be rewarded with a thousand caps each for it's delivery and be allowed to keep any other devices you manage to scavenge from the place. I of course will compensate you for any devices you don't wish to keep with caps in replacement."

Cait looked at me, "Your call."

Cait was answered by my shrug as I forced myself to raise my voice, "As long as it isn't another Radspid nest... Where's the building?"

"Southwest two miles, should be easily recognizable by it's heavy robotic security and Ghouls."

I nodded as the icon appeared on my pipbuck's map. How it knew was a mystery to me, though at the moment I didn't care, "alright, we'll get on it as soon as possible."

"Thank you. Now if you don't mind I have something to attend to." Geary replied monotonously, his ever present frown lessening by a mere fraction as he went back through the door behind the counter, I caught a peak at a large amount of metal behind the door before it slammed shut.

"What's his problem?" I asked Cait when we left the shop, heading down the road, as we drew closer to the ever present giant fireball that lit up the center of the town, the main plaza of the Eternal flame was a giant gravel road circling the bright flame's base as the worshippers stood as close as they dared in a circle around us, praying silently presumably to the giant fireball. Several buildings faced the flame and more activity could be felt within each of the partially restored prewar buildings. The biggest of which, must of once been the town hall as dozens of similarly robed ponies went in and out of it in a hurry.

Cait guided us to a smaller building, a large crude cross of a health station pinned above it, "Geary is just being himself, the dang most depressed robot in the Wasteland." Cait conversationally added, "Luckily we caught him on a good day, Once saw him make a Mister Gutsy commit suicide with a story of his about Muffins and their dangers on a bad one."

My jaw dropped slightly, "What? That doesn't seem possible."

He chuckled, "That's what I said afterwards. Though I note him more on his loyalty to his customers. Word of advice, if he says he's going to get something done, he's going to get it done. whether either you or him likes it or not." he stopped as we arrived in front of the medical building, up close I could see it looked far more crude and dirty than I had originally thought, the front of the store's window was filled with various mushrooms and mosses of all sorts and sizes. The door instead of being made of wood, was simply a few layers of beads attached to strings. Whoever lived here was either very trusting, or didn't have much to fear. Cait remarked, "Want to stay out here or head in with me?"

"This is a medical center?" I asked, eyeing a particularly vibrant mushroom that was locked in a small glass jar. To my shock it opened an insect like eye and stared back at me, revealing that it was actually just a frog covered in fungus. My mind screamed though I managed not to let out anything more than a squeak at it.

Cait chuckled, "Yep." He looked to scrapyard, who had resumed following us after we had left Geary's store, "Come on Scrap, we're goin' to be here a while I bet."

Xp footnote: 75% until next level.

Next Chapter: Chapter 10: Medical Shopping Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 56 Minutes