Prologue: By the Bar

Prologue
By the Bar

I was running, alone, leaving the Freedom controlled Army Warehouses behind me.

My name? Let's go with Runner. I’ll let you guess why.

A gentle breeze was sweeping the land, ruffling the brownish grass and refreshing my face. As useful as it is, my helmet is very uncomfortable. Most stalkers wear theirs all the time, I never understood why.

You only put it on when you need it right?

I coughed, causing me to stop. My Geiger counter bleeped. Sighing, I pulled out a flask of vodka from my vest and took a big gulp from it.

Radiation, the stalker’s excuse for alcoholism.

Chuckling at the thought, I screwed the cap back on and decided to check my gear. My pistols were still attached on my thighs and my rifle was slung across my back, its bipod and scope attached at their place. Nothing was missing from my pouches, my armor and overcoat seemed in good shape. Satisfied, I picked up my carbine and resumed running.

My destination was Rostok... a nice place, guarded by Duty stalkers; used to be an industrial area. Freedom stalkers are generally nicer to be around, but Dutiers are much more professional and disciplined, even more than the few Mercs and PMCs I've encountered during my time in the Zone. That and the sheer number of Duty soldiers stationed in Rostok makes it one of the very few secure places in the Zone.

I actually like this place. It doesn't look clean for sure. After all, it is an old, abandoned factory complex. Decrepit hangars and derelict buildings compose the place, ornamented here and there by rusted catwalks, big pipes running along the walls, the occasional pile of rubble on the ground and broken pieces of machinery. Everything had been fixed with Chatterton and make believe but the area is peaceful and safe -well, as much as the Zone will ever get. Most stalkers are polite and welcoming, except for that guy patrolling on the catwalk near the South entrance... I never knew why the guy was so openly hostile.

I came here for the same reasons as any other stalker: to sell the gear and artifacts I had found. The amount of loot one can amass is impressive if he searches well. And I have two qualities: an urge to explore and a keen eye for detail. I’m no master stalker but hey, I manage well enough on my own.

So there I was, heading for the 100 Rads Bar, to sell my stuff.

I don’t know what I’m going to do after that... a bit of R&R can’t hurt for sure. Meh. Surely somebody will have a job to offer.

That’s what is great in the Zone: the outside world may know economic downturns, war can rage... and nobody cares. The Zone is a world of its own. It has its own economy, its own way of life. There was always something to do, some mutants or some artifacts to hunt, some item to retrieve or deliver; some people to kill... feels like another planet, another world.

I always loved it.

I entered the 100 Rads. It’s a peculiar place, arranged in an old underground bunker... almost a cozy place. Most stalkers come here to have a drink, share stories or find some work, exactly what I needed: a bit of friendly human contact before going back to the active life of a stalker; and an opportunity to make some money.

I passed the guy at the entry who greeted me with his usual “Come in! Don’t stand there!” and made my way to the bar.

It was quite crowded. No table was unoccupied. The voices of the stalkers discussing overlapped, creating an indistinct background noise. Smoke from whatever some stalkers smoked was accumulating under the ceiling.

I sighed contentedly and walked to the bar. I always liked this kind of atmosphere. Animated, anonymous yet friendly.

“Greetings stalker,” greeted Barkeep. “What brings you to my humble establishment?”

“Affairs,” I replied. “I’m also looking for a job, but that can wait.”

Barkeep raised an eyebrow. “Affairs, heh? I like the sound of that,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “What have you got?”

“Two AK-74s, two Sunrise armors. Both in mint condition,” I said, pulling the loot from my backpack. “A few common artifacts, and this nasty piece,” I added, producing a FN F2000 with grenade launcher.

Barkeep’s eyes widened at the sight of the rifle. “Whoa. You sure you want to sell that?” he asked.

I smiled. “I prefer mine. A strange thing to be honest. It looks sort of like an M16, only bigger," I replied, showing the barman my black rifle showing 'Mk.11 MOD.0' inscripted on the side of the receiver. "Perfect for long range sniping as I found, though I do lack practice. And for full auto frenzy, I still have my carbine, so I don’t need this assault rifle,” I explained.

“Where did you get these anyway?”

I shrugged. “Picked them up from the corpses of some mercenaries. they spoke German or maybe a northern language, can't be sure. Makes one hell of a replacement for my old AK and shotgun,” I said.

“You are one lucky son of a gun, stalker. Such things don’t happen every day. Now, about that loot...”

After half an hour of harsh negotiations, we finally agreed for a price of 100000 Roubles. Not bad, but I’d rather have more. I sorely needed money to upgrade my armor to something less lightweight.

I turned away from the counter, leaving Barkeep to his occupations and took a look around. Most stalkers had left the bar, going on about their business. Only a couple remained, sprawled on their tables, probably drunk. I was about to leave the bar when I noticed a small group sitting around a table in a corner. Among the group, one was very tall and of a solid build, his imposing form accentuated by a massive exosuit. He also had a well kept beard. The other was much shorter, he seemed even shorter than me though seemed to be also bulkier than me. He had a rough buzz cut and a messy 5-o'clock shadow that let a couple of nasty scars appear beneath it.

But what really struck me was the... strange creature sitting around the table with them. I had never seen such a thing before. It looked equine in global shape, but comparing it to a horse would have been like comparing a human to a chimpanzee or even a gorilla. Its coat was a pristine white -a rare sight in the Zone- its... mane and tail were bright pink out of all colors, it had a long horn protruding from its forehead and... wings. But the strangest thing was that it was wearing what looked like a custom made suit that, despite bearing the colors of the Monolith, had an emblem very similar to the long lost Clear Sky faction, that was sported by its companions too.

The only words coming to my mind to describe it were ‘flying unicorn’... sort of like in the legends.

What the actual fuck?

I scratched my chin, pensive. I didn't really want to leave yet, I had nothing to do at the moment, and I really wanted to know more about this creature. My curiosity naturally won and I walked up to their table.

I walked by Snitch, the ‘information dealer’, always standing near the bar and clad in its black leather long coat.

“My information could very well be of us-”

“Shut up," I rudely interrupted, not even giving the shady-looking stalker a glance.

Damn creep. It’s like he only knows two phrases.

Once I was next to the small group, I cleared my throat. “*Ahem* Howdy, stalkers.”

The buzzed man looked at me, a wary expression on his face. The flying unicorn was peacefully resting its head on his shoulder, eyes closed, as if sleeping. As I leaned closer to it to get a better view, the bald stalker put a protective hand on its shoulder and pulled it closer to him.

The bearded stalker laughed at his friend and gazed at me, a smile on his face.

“Ah, Strider... always overprotective towards her,” he said with a slight German accent. “What brings you here, stalker?”

Huh. English? Good thing I’m fluent in this language too.

I scratched the back of my head, unsure of what to say. “Well, I’ve never seen such a creature as... her,” began. “What is she? Is she really a she? Where does she come from? Can she fly? I’ve seen her wings. They’re really pretty. What’s her name?”

The bald stalker gave me a wary look.

His friend laughed once more. “Whoa, calm down man, have a seat. What’s your name?” he asked.

“Nivek Runov, but my friends just call me Nivek or Runner. Well, those who are still alive, anyway.”

“Nice to meet you Nivek. Name’s Vano,” the tall man began. "Strange thing, to keep your real name in the Zone," he remarked.

"Yeah, well I'm not on the run or in hiding, so why bother?" I shrugged. "And who are you? An escapee from a prison? An ex-mafioso? A lost soul? An idealist adventurer?"

“I think I would fit in the last category," laughed the bearded man in response. "But when my friends and I are out in the field, I am the heavy weapons guy,"

“Ugh, not again,” said a female voice.

I gazed at the unicorn creature.

“He often does that. The first time it’s surprising, then it’s amusing, but after a while it just gets old,” she explained. “This is Strider,” she added, pointing at the scarred stalker next to her, “and my name is Celestia.”

I smiled. “Nice to meet you Cel-”

...wait.

I stared at the equine creature. “You talk.” I turned towards the Vano. “She. Fucking. Talks.” I shook my head. “Slap me, I want to be sure I’m not hallucinating.”

*SLAP*

The bearded stalker slapped me across the face, sending me tumbling to the floor.

“Vano!” called the creature, outraged. “What was that for?”

The big man shrugged. “What?” he asked. “He literally asked for it.”

I held my jaw in my hand. “It’s okay, I’m okay, I did ask for it after all,” I said, shocked and half-laughing. “Man, you slap hard. And she’s still here. Welp. Guess she’s real.”

The buzzed stalker stood up. “I had a similar reaction when I first encountered her,” he told me. “As Celestia said, my name is Strider.”

As he helped me up, I noticed the tattoo on his arm. I had heard stories about a man wearing such a tattoo. Some viewed him as a hero, others looked actively to kill him... the man was well known.

I jumped back in surprise. “Are you the infamous ‘Marked One’?” I asked.

Strider looked at me, a look of incomprehension on his face. The he looked at his arm. “No,” he simply said. “Though I did meet him.”

“What’s your story anyway?” I asked to the group.

“Oh, it’s a long story,” began Strider. “And a not very interesting one at that, though it does have a few interesting developments... are you sure you want to hear it?” he asked.

“You bet,” I replied, taking a seat around the table.

“Then grab something to eat, open a bottle, because we are going to be here for a while.”

Chapter 1: Just Another Day in the Zone

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Chapter 1
Just Another Day in the Zone

It was just another day in the Zone. Vano and I were searching for artifacts at the quarry; that anomalous swamp near Yanov station. The area is quite popular among stalkers for its abundance of artifacts and its lack of dangerous mutants and bandits. It was logical to start our hunt there.

I watched the area through my binoculars, sitting on the cabin of the huge digger/crane contraption overlooking the anomalous swamp, my sniper rifle next to me. Needless to say I was growing concerned. The last couple of hours should have been much more fruitful.

I sighed. “Have you found anything yet?” I asked Vano over the radio.

“Nothing. Just nothing,” he replied. “RAH! It’s frustrating! I told you we should have waited until the next Blowout!”

Artifacts tend to appear in anomalous fields after a Blowout, it is just like that. Blowouts -or emissions- are periodic episodes that just happen: one minute everything is fine, the sun shines and birds fly, the next one a massive storm of radiation and psi-emissions sweep the land.

So there I was, on overwatch duty on the metal behemoth overlooking the anomalies as my friend was risking his life in there just so we could earn money. The Zone is not a safe place, but I like it. I just cannot imagine life out of the Zone. At least my friend had top notch protective gear.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by an outburst from my bearded friend.

“WHOA!” He yelled.

I moved my hand to the radio on my shoulder. “What happened?” I asked, slightly concerned.

“Uh, nothing?... alright, I almost stepped in a Fruit Punch,” he admitted.

“Why do you not throw bolts? Anomalies do not reveal themselves!” I yelled. Not in the radio.

I sighed. Vano is one of the best pathfinders I have ever met, but sometimes he can be really absent-minded. But he was my friend, so I have to accept his flaws and deal with it. Beats being alone; it is boring AND dangerous.

I met Vano thanks to a common friend, Degtyarev, or the Major, as he preferred. The man was mounting an expedition to Pripyat and we all ended up in the same team. The Major and Vano were among the very few who ever considered befriending me... probably because of my background.

I sighed at the memory.

Who am I? A question still left unanswered. Even Pripyat held no answers. Only more danger.

Once again, Vano pulled me from my thoughts.

“It’s a damn Svarog detector I got here!” he shouted, waving the small device around. “Displays the position of all anomalies nearby in real time! I don’t need no fucking bolts!”

Apparently it was not enough. That or he seriously needed rest. I stood up and climbed down the crane.

“Lets us go. We will try again tomorrow,” I said, approaching the anomalous swamp.

Vano did not react. His hooded head were fixed on his artifact detector. “Wait, I got something here,” he began, cautiously walking towards something I did not see. “Almost... almost... THERE! Haha!” he shouted, brandishing a spiked brownish artifact. “Hell yeah, it’s a Kolobok!”

Well, that was unexpected. First time such an artifact is found here.

I facepalmed at what happened next. Right in the middle of the anomalous field, Vano was improvising some sort of victory dance.

“WOOOHOOO!” he shouted. “This baby will make me rich!”

This cannot end well... he will end up walking right into an anomaly.

“Ahem, I mean us,” he said, noticing the disapproving glare I was giving him. “Yeah. This baby will make US ric- OUCH! that hurts!”

Called it.

He did step into a Fruit Punch this time.

His exhilarated personality will kill him someday.

“FUCK!” he yelled. “I hate chemical anomalies!”

I sighed. “You are lucky that your suit protected you! The next time, do not dance in the middle of an anomaly field.”

I do not like to lecture people but sometimes, Vano really needed it.

“Yeah, whatever,” replied my bearded friend. “Let’s get this to our stash and celebrate! I know a lot of people in Yanov station that will be more than happy to chug down a few bottles!”

And so we went. We walked silently through the land, the silence of the moment only disturbed by two blind dogs foolish enough to attack us.

Sometimes I really wonder what happens in the head of these stupid beasts.

Our stash was actually a sort of base camp established in a room at the last floor of the delivery department of the disaffected Jupiter factory. There, we had enough supplies and gear to last a few months: weapons, ammo, artifacts, food, medical supplies, repair kits... you name it. We had even a couple of old couches and a decrepit mattress, salvaged from buildings of the soviet era; five starts comfort for two independent stalkers by the Zone’s standard. It took time and money to gather all that loot, but In the end it was well worth it. Privacy is such a foreign concept in the Zone.

Then we headed to Yanov. The trip once again was relatively uneventful, something I found strange. Usually mutants would jump out of the bushes and attack unaware stalkers... it happened to us a few times.

But at the moment, the Zone seemed peaceful.

I did not like it. It felt like something else had caught its attention.

My vision was flooded by an intense white light and I felt vertigo, as if I was falling. I tried to flap my wings to stabilize myself but too late and landed heavily on my right side, causing a sickening crack followed by intense pain pulsating through my right wing. I was cold... so cold. I suppressed a shiver and tried to stand up, ignoring the pain in my wing. I shakily rose on all fours, trying to get a view of my surroundings.

Where am I?

I was lost. I felt... so weak. I couldn’t even sense my magic. I began to hyperventilate, only to be taken by a fit of coughing.

The wind... it’s so cold.

I shivered and began to shakily walk in a random direction, when I heard a monstrous, predatory, blood-freezing scream, followed by heavy breathing.

I did the first thing my instincts told me: flee. Ignoring the pain, I took off in a random direction, away from the horrible screams.

We had arrived to Yanov station, the haven of peace in Jupiter. Even Duty and Freedom stopped jumping at each other’s throat there.

Surely enough, many stalkers were happy to improvise a party of sorts. Of course, Vano was the leading one. Unlike me, he is like a fish in water around people.

I do not feel at ease with big groups of people. I prefer to sit down and enjoy a moment of solitary peace whenever I can... of course, that was not an option there, so I sat down at a table with my bottle and reluctantly discussed with some people.

The party went on, until Vano decided to provoke a couple of Freedom experts in combat... unsurprisingly, he beat the shit out of them. Who in their right mind would attack a giant well over a hundred kilos?

The two Freedom stalkers were sprawled on the ground and Vano was standing over their unconscious bodies.

“That’ll learn yer!” he shouted, his voice slurred by the amount of alcohol in his bloodstream.

I gave my friend a disapproving glare. “Vano, let's leave, you have had enough,” I said firmly.

“Ahm ferpectly fine, a swear!” replied my drunk friend. “Look,” he began, holding up a finger. “I cun toush mah nose wizou- OW MY EYE!”

Sigh. Definitely wasted.

“Come on, let’s go!” I insisted. “You are only embarrassing yoursel-”

“GET OUT OF HERE STALKERS!”

I turned around and saw Loki -the local Freedom leader- standing behind me, pointing at the door.

Great. Both factions are at it now.

Vano looked at Loki. “Aw, you’s not fun,” he said, before passing out.

I sighed.

Awesome. I am going to have to carry him all the way back to the plant.

“Very well, we are leaving,” I said to Loki with a wary grin.

I did not want to be on bad terms with any faction. Having a force of hundreds of military stalkers as my enemy is definitely not a good asset for one’s survival. They already distrusted me for being ex-Duty... among other things and I didn't want to become their target, that was sure. Agreeing to their terms was the only sensible course of action.

With the help of a couple stalkers, I picked up Vano’s drunk carcass and set him on my back. I grunted under the weight. The son of a bitch is heavy: with all his gear, he must weigh well over a hundred and fifty kilograms.

Without a word, I walked out the door and headed to the Jupiter factory.

The night had fallen already. I checked my PDA: 2AM; It was more than time to hit the sack, and there was a good hour of walking to get to get to our hideout.

And so I walked, making sure I was producing the least amount of sound possible. The night was dark and silent, not even mutants could be heard. That made me uneasy but reassured me at the same time: if a mutant was to enter the area, I would hear it first thanks to my acute hearing. I could also thank the Great Crystal for the night vision module attached to my helmet and its heat scanner; as wandering randomly in the dark only to stumble upon a Chimera or a Bloodsucker is never pleasant.

I followed the road south, then, right before the checkpoint held by Bandits, I turned left towards the Jupiter plant, passing a few hundred meters South of the massive crater of the Bitumen anomaly. The walk was uneventful, and it would have been relaxing if it wasn’t for Vano and his nearly 50 kg of equipment on my right shoulder. Everything was calm.

Too calm.

Usually mutants go out hunting at night... at least I am not their prey.

The breathing sound was coming closer and closer, driving me mad with fear. Beads of sweat matted my coat as I did my best to run away from whatever was chasing me, ignoring the pain in my broken wing. I looked behind me, only to see two pairs of floating yellow dots closing on me. I ran faster, desperately searching for a place where I could disappear.

My lungs were burning. My vision was blurred from the effort and the pain. Through the indistinct haze of colors that was the world around me, I saw the shape of a building in the distance. I ran to it and climbed the stairs, only to come to a dead end.

I turned around, only to see two bipedal monsters standing behind me. Their faces were rotten and deformed, bloody tentacles sprouted out of their maw and their tiny eyes shined with a malevolent yellow gleam. These creatures were nothing short of Eldritch abominations, twisted predators that made the most terrible creatures of the Everfree forest seem pretty and harmless in comparison.

They began to advance, their heavy breathing drowning the silence in the room. I backed off, only to hit a wall. I was cornered. I couldn't do anything to avoid my fate. That was the end. Resigned, I curled up in a ball, tears flowing freely flowing down my cheeks, hoping that at least my death would be swift and painless.

Oh how was I wrong.

One of the monsters pounced at me, pinning me to the floor. It seemed to examine me with its gleaning eyes then raised a paw and slashed at me. I screamed in pain as its sharp claws dug deep in my flesh, sending a hot, burning pulse course through my body. The other one approached me and wrapped its jagged tentacles around my neck.

I felt another blow land on my side. A claw tore at my face. I screamed. Everything went black.

I was almost at the camp when I heard it. A scream. A long, high pitched, blood-freezing scream of pain and desperation. I stopped and decided to set Vano down in a room on the ground floor of the building we had installed our crib in, before taking off, chasing after the source of the scream.

Nobody dies on my watch.

It sounded like the scream had come from the administrative section of the Jupiter complex.

I pumped my legs as fast as I could, doing my best to ignore the exhausted state I was in. Carrying Vano and his equipment had taken its toll on me.

The administrative section of the Jupiter factory - more what is left of it- is a small two stories high building. I entered it, my trusty M1911 firmly held in my hands, carefully watching every corner.

Everything inside was weathered by time and abandon. The walls were stained by humidity, the wallpapers long gone. In a room, a toppled desk had been crushed in half. The door to the next room was blown off its hinges... it seemed recent. I could hear two creatures breathing heavily upstairs.

Bloodsuckers. This might get messy.

I unsheathed my knife, tightened my grip around my pistol and began to slowly climb the stairs, careful to not make any noise. I checked the rooms on the first floor one by one: more torn up furniture, broken doors and the occasional Burnt Fuzz anomaly hanging from the ceiling... nothing unusual. the last room however was void of debris, but there were there.

Two Bloodsuckers, their backs turned away from the entrance, were bent over their victim and were feeding off him.

I crouched, and crept up on them silently. Once I was at arm’s length from the first mutant, I raised my knife in the air and brought it down swiftly on its skull-less head, killing it instantly.

Its companion snapped towards me, cloaked and stood up, roaring in fury. It swept its paw at me, throwing me to the floor. Not bothering to stand up, I aimed my pistol between the two bright yellow dots betraying the eyes of the invisible mutant and fired.

BANG

The two .45 ACP hollow point rounds left the muzzle of my gun at two hundred and seventy meters per second, almost instantyl impacted the Bloodsucker’s face, penetrated it and then expanded, causing a massive cavity as they exited from the back of the mutant’s head; splattering blood, cerebrospinal fluid and brain matter all over the wall behind it.

The beast decloaked and dropped dead instantly.

I turned to get a look at the victim of the Bloodsuckers.

My brain jammed at the sight.

This creature is not from this world.

Black. Everything was black. I could not move. I felt a presence next to me... not like the monsters from before, no. This presence seemed... peaceful.

I don’t want to die. Help me.

I saw a little light grow closer to me. I approached it.

It was not human. But it was not an animal either, and it lacked the rotten, mutated aspect of the beasts roaming the Zone. I am not a zoologist, but the... thing at my feet definitely looked equine in build. It’s white coat was smeared with blood and gore, letting its flesh appear underneath in some places. Its mane and tail were of a bright cyan color stained with blood and it seemed to shimmer slightly in certain spots, in which it was colored indigo, pink and a strange shade of green in addition of cyan like a rainbow.

I could see two big bite marks on its neck and side, evidence of the bloodsuckers’ tentacles, and a sort of branding on its flank. One of its legs was broken, the bone sticking out of the skin. Its facial structure was strange, as if someone had the sick idea of humanizing a horse... yet somehow, it just worked, aesthetically speaking; but what struck me the most were its eyes. They were huge.

Its brain cannot be bigger than a peanut.

The left side of the creature's face was adorned by a large gash, a big chunk of its left ear was missing and the eye seemed to be injured. It had a single, broken horn protruding from its forehead, and, more surprising, wings, though its right one was bent to a strange angle.

Yes, mobile, feathered wings, like a bird’s, only much, much bigger, bringing the total of its functional limbs to six.

Darwin must have been turning in its grave the moment this animal was born.

I noticed that the animal was still breathing and realized the extent of its wounds. A pool of blood was forming underneath it. Knowing the anticoagulant properties of the Bloodsucker saliva, I knew it did not have for long.

I decided to end its suffering. I pressed my pistol to its head and cocked the hammer.

It is over, little one. May you rest in peace.

I was about to squeeze the trigger when the creature suddenly opened its eyes and took a deep, ragged breath.

It weakly raised its head, looked at me and reached to my leg.

“Help-p m-mee...” it begged in a faint voice before passing out.

… What?

Just another day in the Zone, really.

Chapter 2: Playing the Babysitter

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Chapter 2
Playing the Babysitter

'Help me. Help. Me.'

It talked. It. Just. Talked. In perfect English. It is intelligent. It asked for help. It is sapient.

While my brain struggled to assimilate the onslaught of illogical information, my body acted on instinct. I quickly bandaged the creature’s bleeding wounds -apparently it’s a female- picked her up and ran for the hideout.

Why do I always leave my artifacts there?

I knew that moving an injured individual is dangerous and outright stupid but a life was at stake here. A sapient, intelligent life. I had to hurry if I wanted to save her, blood was still pouring out of her numerous open wounds. I did not know how much of it the Bloodsuckers had drained already, I did not even know how much she was supposed to have in the first place!

I felt her heartbeat becoming weaker as I ran. I had to hurry. Fortunately, she was quite light.

After a couple minutes of running, I arrived at the office building of the Jupiter factory complex. I entered the tall, derelict building and climbed the stairs literally four steps at a time. Once on the last floor I ran to the far door on the right of the hallway. Upon entering the camp, I noticed that Vano was already there, sleeping on one of the couches.

At least I won’t have to carry him up the stairs.

I set the still bleeding equine on the mattress on the floor and frantically searched among my artifacts.

My Firefly and Beads, come one, that is all I need!

I finally found the healing artifacts and began with the Beads first, passing it all over her body, stopping the blood loss and sanitizing her wounds. I then picked up the Firefly and attended to her worst injuries.

I started with her foreleg, resetting the open fracture with a crack, then applying the artifact after a rough surgical operation to remove the damaged flesh. The bone mended back into one piece; torn down blood vessels, nerves, muscles, tendons and skin simply grew back and a pristine looking leg was all what was left.

The Zone’s magic never gets old.

I moved on to the twisted wing. I had next to no knowledge about wings and birds in general, but I managed to get it back into what looked like an acceptable position. Once again, I used the artifact, healing the wing almost instantly

There. Nobody can tell it have ever been injured.

After that, I treated her numerous cuts, bruises and other non lethal wounds, each of them leaving nothing but a faint scar after I had used the Firefly. Strangely, her horn took longer to reform, seemingly absorbing the effects of the artifact like a sponge.

Yet another strange thing to add to today’s list.

All that was left was her right ear and eye. While the eye healed perfectly, the ear did not heal fully, and a bit of it was still missing after treatment.

I then used the Beads on her entire body, preventing any infection and finally sat down with a sigh.

Something felt wrong however. A horrible doubt overcame me as I noticed that her chest was not moving: she was not breathing anymore. I pressed an ear to her chest. I heard nothing good. Her heartbeat was way too fast and too weak.

Ugh. fuck.

I had irresponsibly saved this unknown being from the claws of two bloodsuckers, carried her all the way to my camp, healed all of her wounds... all of this to fail in the end... what a waste of time.

...wait.

An insane idea germinated in my mind. Putting two and two together, I remembered what I had heard about artifact interactions. I grabbed my Flash and Vano’s Battery, held them in my hands and brought them down together on the chest of the creature. It resulted in nothing but a small electric spark, not enough to stabilize a heart.

Looking back and forth between the two artifacts, I tried to think of another way.

It should work. One of these artifacts is acts like a cathode, the other is an anode... both are charged. What am I missing?

Then it clicked. I rubbed the artifacts against each other, causing a fountain of electrical sparks and held them in the air.

“YOU ARE NOT DYING ON MY WATCH!” I shouted, before I pressed the artifacts against her chest once more.

BZRT

There was a big flash of electricity accompanied by a short buzzing sound. Every muscle in the creature’s body tensed under the massive discharge of electricity. Including the most important one: her heart.

I listened to her chest again and heard the reassuring, regular if a bit fast thumping of a healthy heart. I smirked at the small victory.

Thank you Noah.

But now my makeshift defibrillator had turned into two heavy, ivory stones.

What in the Zone...?

So there I was, having saved an unknown, possibly dangerous creature from the claws of two deadly mutants. On my own. Destroying two valuable artifacts in the process. So far I had acknowledged that the creature was an intelligent, sapient, equine-ish being, no doubt about that. If I was one to make analogies, I would have called her a mare.

A mare?

I laughed. The ridiculousness of that statement actually made me laugh. I wiped off a tear of laughter before taking a deep breath and relieve myself of the tension I had endured.

This is ridiculous. But then again, it is not every time you come across a sapient being from another world.

Deep in thought, I observed the sleeping creature. Curiously, her mane and tail were rainbow-ish by then. Both looked translucent, immaterial and were waving as if there was wind in the room.

Definitely not from this world. This is insane.

I examined her a last time. She was breathing steadily, her heart rate seemed normal for her size and she was not bleeding anymore, all her wounds had been healed. Blood and gore still caked her fur though: mostly from her, but also from the Bloosuckers too. Some kind of cleaning was in order but that would have to wait. She was unconscious still, its was nighttime and I was exhausted. This episode really had taken its toll on me: carrying Vano all the way from Yanov, then her appearance... I really needed some rest.

I draped the sleeping creature with a blanket and produced a Bubble from my artifact belt before putting it next to her. That way all the residual radiation from the healing artifacts would be absorbed overnight.

Before I went to sleep, I decided to make a note for Vano so he did not freak out at the sight of the creature when he would wake up. I tore a sheet of paper off my notebook and wrote the message, before putting it in his pack of smokes. I put everything back in place and walked back to the sleeping creature.

I made sure she was comfortably installed, then laid down on the second couch and instantly fell into a deep, dreamless slumber, finally succombing to exhaustion. Knowing what to do with the creature could wait until the next day.

I woke up and stretched my legs, before slowly unfolding my wings.

No pain... what a relief! That was a horrible dream.

I noticed the coldness of the air. I opened my eyes. All I saw was a grey, dirty ceiling over me, and sun rays coming from the window, their warm light announcing a beautiful day.

Wait... sun rays? Grey ceiling? I’m not in my chambers!

I shot up and looked around me. There was a broken desk in a corner, an overturned cardboard box in the middle of the room and a lot of equipment which purpose was lost to me.

Where am I?

I looked around again. On each side of the mattress to the dirty mattress I had been laying on, there was a couch. I froze at what I saw on each of them. Bipedal beings, very similar to the beasts in my dream.

I gulped.

It wasn’t a dream. Better get out of here fast.

I slowly backed off towards the door, my eyes locked with the two sleeping creatures, careful not to make any noise.

One of the creatures grunted and slowly sat up.

I froze.

It produced a little cardboard box and a small metal contraption from one of its pockets. It opened the cardboard box and pulled a cylindrical thing from it, before noticing a piece of paper in the box. The creature took the paper and unfolded it, before examining it, as if it was reading.

Then it looked at me.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH”

I woke up, startled by loud screams and instantly pulled out my pistol, whipping it around. The equine creature was staring at a wide eyed, slack jawed Vano. Strangely, her mane and tail both had gone back to being entirely cyan and normal looking.

Oh, and she was screaming.

I sat up, pinching my nose and looked at the screaming creature.

“Please, would you calm down?!” I asked in English.

The creature stopped screaming, turned around and took off, running out the front door.

Should have seen that one coming.

I sighed. “I think you frightened her Vano,” I said.

My bearded friend looked at me with a scowl. “You've got some explaining to do.”

“That will wait. Follow me,” I said, grabbing my sniper rifle and my spare shotgun, walking out the door. “Let’s catch up to her before she gets into trouble again.”

Vano stood up, stirred and picked up his machine gun and shotgun before following me. I was already climbing down the stairs when he caught up.

“Why would you bring some kind of evolved mutant in here?” he asked.

“She’s not a mutant... she actually spoke to me in English,” I explained.

“So what? Some mutants are known to ‘talk’, like Snorks or Controllers,” replied my friend, shrugging.

I stopped in my tracks and looked at Vano. “That was not unintelligible garble, but real, understandable English,” I said, making wide gestures for emphasis. “My best guess? We may have just made First Contact,” I added, climbing down the stairs again.

Vano followed me, wide eyed. “What? First Contact? Aliens are here to destroy us? As in Mars Attack? Independence Day? The War of the Worlds? The Day the Earth Stood Still?”

I chuckled. “No. She just seems lost. When I first found her she was almost dead, half eaten by Bloodsuckers,” I said, cringing as I remembered the dire condition the poor thing had been in.

“So more like E.T. then,” said my friend with a grin. "Like, flying unicorn phone home," he added with a laugh.

I ran as fast as I could.

I’m not letting myself captured and tortured again by these foul creatures!

I ran past a few dogs. They followed me, barking madly. Not even bothering to stop, I tried to cast a sleep spell on them.

It didn’t work.

What’s going on? Why can’t I use my magic?

I kept running. I had to outrun the dogs if I wanted to live.

I looked around. We were on the decrepit road between the two main buildings of the Jupiter factory. Clouds were seen high up in the sky, obscuring the light of the early sunrise... and the creature was nowhere to be seen.

Great.

I could hear multiple dogs barking madly in the distance however. I gestured Vano to follow me as I walked off to investigate what had startled the dogs. The noise seemed to come from the inside of the main factory building. I entered it, double-barrel at the ready, Vano watching my back.

Inside, everything was in ruins: rubble, parts of machinery and broken pipes were scattered everywhere. Old, rusted machines were still at their original place and there was a catwalk leading to the next room above our heads.

We took the catwalk and entered the adjacent room. The scenery was similar to the previous room, except there was a crashed military MI-24 in the middle, sitting in a pile of rubble.

The winged creature was on top of the derelict helicopter, desperately trying to get away from what looked like a very large pack of Pseudodogs. The mutated beasts were jumping at her, barking madly at their prey out of reach.

I raised my shotgun and fired a round in the air.

BANG

That got the attention of the equine creature. Unfortunately, the dogs were looking at me too.

“Uh Vano?” I asked, not looking away from the horde of mutants.

“Yes?”

“Fire at will.”

Vano smirked and squeezed the trigger. His machine gun came to life, its monstrous roaring overpowering the screams of the pack of mutants. I sprayed my shotgun into the fray, reloading every two shots and dropping some dogs but Vano and his machine gun proved much more efficient than me.

Then I noticed that some of the Pseudodogs seemed to just disappear as they were hit by the bullets.

“Psy Dogs!” called Vano. “The three in the back!”

“Got it,” I replied.

I jumped into the melee, ignoring the illusionary mutants created by the Psy Dogs. One of them jumped at me and bit my arm. I headbutted the beast, my steel and Kevlar helmet easily shattering skull of the construct and making it disappear in a flash of light.

Without losing time, I rushed at the helicopter and glided under its tail. Three dogs were there, between the chopper and the wall. Their ragged fur was clearer than one of a normal Pseudodog.

Yep. Psy Dogs indeed.

One of them leapt at me. I sidestepped it and let it fly past me. It hit the body of the downed helicopter and slid down to the ground. Not letting the beast time to recover, I turned around and obliterated it with a volley of lead from my shotgun.

The second one bit my leg, drawing blood. I ignored it and aimed at the third Psy Dog, which was preparing to pounce.

BANG

One more down.

I stomped on the dog that had bitten my leg, breaking its neck and killing it instantly. Taking a deep breath, I emerged from behind the helicopter and looked how Vano was doing.

He was sitting down, smoking a cigarette while curiously observing the creature perched on the helicopter. Upon noticing me, he smiled.

“Glad to see you’re still alive,” he joked.

I chuckled. “Yeah, you too my friend,” I replied, sitting down next to him.

They had slaughtered the dogs with their loud weapons, and now they were observing me. They were tall, taller than I was. Both of them seemed to be clad in garments I didn’t know the utility. I didn’t know what they were, what they were going to do with me …

… I gulped.

Oh, dear sister, where am I?

The silence was interrupted by the creatures talking to each other in a language I didn’t understand. The shortest stood up and walked towards me, then put its weapon down on the ground.

With what little remained of my magic, I tried to defend myself.

We stayed there, silently observing the creature perched on the helicopter.

“So, what do we do?” Vano asked me.

“I do not know,” I admitted, thinking.

She does speak English though... establishing contact should be easy enough.

“I will speak to her,” I finally said, standing up.

Vano chuckled. “Good luck with that pal.”

I approached the helicopter and stopped a few meters away, before laying my weapon down on the ground.

Let’s hope she sees it as a sign of peace.

The winged equine was still on top of it, staring at me... Only this time, her horn was alight. A few fist sized rocks floated in the air, surrounded by a glow similar to that coming from the creature’s horn. I stopped in my tracks in wonder.

Fascinating... some sort of innate telekinesis power. Truly this creature is amazin-

bunk

Something hit my armored head.

Did she just thr-

bunk

Yes. Yes she did.

She was throwing rocks at me, as if trying to drive me away from her. I took my helmet off, unfazed.

“Would you cut it out, please?” I asked in English.

That seemed to break the creature’s concentration. she opened her eyes and all of the rocks fell down to the ground. At this point, she was staring wide eyed. Not in fear, but in total surprise and bewilderment.

“Come over here, we have to talk,” I added, gesturing her to approach.

The creature looked like she was going to faint.

…

Vano grunted. “Do we really have to keep it?” he asked.

I looked at him with a scowl. “We cannot let her get by herself in the Zone!”

“Ugh. I hate playing the babysitter.”

Chapter 3: Breaking the Ice

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Chapter 3
Breaking the Ice

I stood there, on top of the strange, destroyed machine. I couldn’t believe what I just heard. It was illogical. Impossible.

It talked. It just talked. In perfect Equestrian. It’s intelligent. It’s sapient.

I tried to understand the implications of what it had done and said. I gulped and tried to calm down, forcing myself to think.

With the help of its companion, it just killed these dogs without mercy... and now it just wants to talk with me? Can I trust this creatures? At least they haven't been aggressive towards me... yet.

I was going to panic again. I needed to do something else, something rational to calm down.

I examined the creature’s features. It was bipedal, had no tail and its face was flat, with two ears on each side. Its had two tiny grey eyes and a thin nose in the center of its face... but what struck me the most was its baldness. It didn’t have a mane, some hair barely covered its skull, muck like its.. beard? Its deep, slow and monochord voice definitely sounded male. I had never seen such a creature before.

What is this place?

I nearly jumped in the air as the bipedal creature talked again.

The equine creature was staring at me, immobile, her eyes wide as saucers. Literally.

These eyes are huge. How is this even possible? And this color... amethyst? How is that possible? How?

I shook of these thoughts and sat down, waiting for the creature to make a move, and I waited. The silence was deafening, only disturbed by noises from the outside: distant mutant howls, human screams and gunshots. being a trained sniper, I am very patient, so I waited, all senses in full alert. After a good fifteen minutes, the creature moved, uncomfortable.

“What are these beasts?” she asked in a trembling voice, her gaze locked with the corpses of the dogs.

English again.

I took a deep breath. “Psy Dogs,” I answered calmly. “They can create illusionary copy of themselves and use them to overwhelm their prey... in this case, you. Do not worry though, they are dead now, they cannot hurt you anymore.”

That did seem to calm her a bit, but I needed something else to break the ice. I looked at the chopper. I actually wondered how she got up there in the first place. Then I facepalmed.

Of course. Wings.

“Do you need help getting down?” I asked anyway.

The creature’s face lit up with a mixture of relief and surprise and she visibly relaxed, as if this little phrase I said broke whatever doubts she had while throwing out the window her opinion of me.

“I can handle myself,” she replied, unfolding her wings.

Whoa. Her wingspan is huge.

She jumped off the helicopter and gracefully glided down... only to stumble and faceplant as she hit the ground, her wings sprawled at her sides.

Ouch.

I ran towards her immobile form.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

“I’m fine,” she replied, shakily standing up, before falling again.

“Apparently not,” I said, sighing, before opening my backpack. “Let me see... there. Have some bread.”

I turned back towards the winged equine, who had managed to stand up. Only then I noticed how small she was. Her horn barely reached my forehead, and I am not especially tall. Then I noticed how tensed she was. Not out of fear though. It seemed to take a great toll on her just to keep her posture.

“Sit down,” I asked. “You are only hurting yourself, trying to appear stronger than you are.”

At these words, the creature seemed to deflate. Her facial features drooped and she slowly sat down, sighing.

Damn. How can she be so expressive?

“It is normal to feel weak, you are severely malnourished,” I explained. “I had to use multiple healing artifacts to bring you back to life after I pulled you out of the claws of these two Bloodsuckers yesterday. These things do not magically close every wound you know: they actually accelerate the metabolism, so quick sustenance is required after using one. Right now you need rest and food,” I said, handing her the loaf of bread.

She picked up the bread in her telekinesis and hungrily took a bite out of it.

Fascinating... this TK ability is simply astonishing. And she knows what bread is. How Interesting.

“What is your name?” I asked.

“Pr- Celestia,” she replied, taking another mouthful of bread.

Now what is the standard phrase when you meet someone... ‘nice to-’ right.

“Nice to meet you Celestia. My name is Strider. Where do you come from?” I asked. “I’ve never seen a being such as you.”

“A land called Equestria,” she replied, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Equestria? There is no land called like that... not on Earth anyway.

“I do not know if that means something to you, but we are in Ukraine, a country on the planet Earth,” I said, holding my chin pensively.

At these words, her ears drooped and she looked at the ground.

“I’m really lost, huh?”

Vano had cleared the room of corpses and piled them up in the far corner of the hangar. He approached us and started to make a fire.

“Hey cheer up, least we're here and helping you. Believe me, it could be much worse,” he said, before sitting down next to the fire he had created and pulling a guitar out of nowhere.

Celestia sighed. “Yeah. That’s one way of seeing things,” she deadpanned, before wincing. “Ouch.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked, concerned.

“I think I sprained my fetlock,” she said, holding up her right foreleg.

I approached her. “Let me see that.”

She presented her leg hesitantly, letting me examine it. Her ‘fetlock’ -as she described it- was slightly swollen and she winced as I poked it.

“That does not look too bad,” I said as pulled out my Firefly out of my artifact belt.

Celestia backed off, staring at the artifact. “What’s this?” she asked.

“A Firefly, it is a healing artifact. Relax, this is only going to help,” I assured. “Keep eating, you will feel better.”

I applied the artifact to her leg and she instantly relaxed. Her fetlock looked completely normal again -well, like the rest of her leg: without any irregularity, not even a visible hoof.

“That was strange,” she said. “This... artifact seems to be emitting traces of raw magical energy, yet it heals better than any medical spell I know of.”

I chuckled. “You could call it magic, I suppose. But this is just an anomalous formation spawned by the Zone, like many others,” I explained, attaching the artifact to my belt.

“Anomalous? The zone?” asked Celestia, finishing her bread.

“Yeah,” said Vano. “The Chernobyl exclusion Zone, or Zone of Alienation... I’m sure Strider here will be more than happy to explain you everything in great detail.”

I hushed him. “Explanations will wait. Now, we must return to base.”

Vano nodded, pensive. “That would be a good idea. You never know when a mutant is going to show up and tear you in half,” he said, standing up.

“Come, Celestia, let’s go.”

She shakily stood up and took a step. Then another. She did not look steady but could walk apparently.

“I’m right behind you,” she said.

My whole body felt sore, but I could walk. This artifact was a wonder. Not only it did heal my leg but it also leaked raw magic, giving me a source to replenish my energy.

At least now I can use basic telekinesis now. Why is the magic field so weak in this place?

I was following the two ‘stalkers’ as they called themselves, and they were speaking animatedly in a language I didn’t understand. I was about to ask them what they were talking about when I fell to the ground head first, my legs giving up under me.

The stalkers turned around.

“Are you alright?” asked Strider.

I grunted. “I’m fine, I assure you,” I replied, struggling to get back on my hooves.

Vano snorted. “She doesn’t look fine to me.”

Strider knelt next to me. “Let me help you,” he said, before wrapping his arms around me.

I thrashed, trying to escape his grasp. “Wait! What are you doing?”

“Well obviously You cannot walk on your own, so I am going to carry you,” he replied. “Would you prefer to be left alone, outside?”

I nodded negatively.

“Good.”

He lifted me off the ground and installed me on his back. I felt blood rushing to my cheeks as I tried to understand why he was doing such a thing.

“W-why would you carry me like that?” I asked, embarrassed.

“Because I doubt that you would find my shoulder very comfortable,” he stated. “Why do you ask?”

“Nothing,” I replied. “Nothing at all.”

Vano gave me an amused look, as if he knew what was going on in my head. “Is it some kind of innuendo or practice from your world?” he asked.

“No.” I felt my face become even redder. “Yes,” I admitted in a faint voice.

Strider raised an eyebrow. “That is an interesting development."

I bit my lip. “It’s not funny,” I said, my face buried in Strider’s back.

“I think it is,” replied Vano. “What does it mean anyway?” he asked curiously.

“Well,” I began. “It’s an habit stallions have... they carry their mates like that before... you know.”

I looked at Strider. Strider looked at Vano. Vano looked at me. Both stalkers burst out laughing. Strider almost dropped me to the ground, his laughter interrupted by a fit of coughing. He crouched and set me down on the ground.

“Oh, thank you. I needed that my friend,” he said, laughing and ruffling my mane.

Friend? Why would he consider me as a friend? We barely met.

I curled up in a ball and he lifted me off the ground again, this time picking me up in his arms. I looked around, still slightly embarrassed. I wasn't used to be carried around -well, not in such an intimate fashion.

“There. Do you prefer it that way? No sexual innuendos?” he asked.

I nodded, blood coming to my face again.

Vano laughed. “Let’s go then,” he said, before looking at the sky. “It’s going to rain.”

And so we walked. The road was crumbled, its grey surface letting grass pass through. The buildings around us were all ruined. A cold breeze picked up, rustling the leaves of the rotten trees.

I shivered.

Strider looked at me. “Feeling cold?”

“Yes,” I admitted.

“Let’s hurry then. I have a blanket at the camp.”

We entered a tall, decrepit building and made our way up some stairs. Once on the top floor, Strider walked down the hallway and entered a room on the right.

Everything was as I remembered: the cardboard box, the couches, the dirty mattress, everything was at its place.

Is that blood on the mattress?

Strider set me down on one of the couches and wrapped me in a blanket before giving me a strange looking metallic can. There was a picture of vegetables on it, but I didn’t know what it was. I had never seen such a contraption before.

“What is this?” I asked.

My two newfound friends gave me a strange look.

Vano shrugged. “Well duh, it’s a can of food,” he said as if it was obvious.

Strider sat down next to me. “Let me help you.”

He opened the 'can' with a tool and handed it to me, along with a set of flatware.

“Thanks,” I said with a smile.

I examined the contents of the can. It looked like lentils, but the reason why they would be conserved in a metallic can eluded me. I shrugged and picked up the flatware. Every piece had a strange symbol stamped on it. It looked like a wing under a sun, with a strange caption underneath it, reading ‘монолит’.

“What does this symbol mean?” I asked.

Strider’s eyes widened. “Ah bugger, wrong set. Let me-”

“That?” interrupted Vano. “It’s the logo of his old faction, the combat division of the Monolith.”

“The monolith?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“A religious cult composed of brainwashed stalkers, hostile to all but their own. Very nasty fighters... engaging one of them alone in combat, let alone an entire group is suicide,” said the bearded stalker casually.

I gulped and slowly moved away from Strider in fear, who was giving his friend a murderous glare.

Vano brought a hand over his mouth. “Aw shit. I fucked up, didn’t I? ... I’m sorry Strider,” he apologized, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. “Just so you know, Celly, he’s over that now,” he added.

I gave Strider a wary glance. “Over that?”

The bald stalker sighed. “Yes. Somehow I broke free from the whole brainwashing thing, and I found myself with a set of skills completely alien to me,” he said, his face taking a somber expression.

“What do you mean?” I asked, concerned.

“I just woke up one day, this tattoo on my arm,” he began, rolling up his right sleeve, revealing a strange mark on his arm, “I was laying on the ground among other people who, like me, were clad in Monolith armor and had no idea who they were.”

I nodded, pensive. “Oh. I see.”

“No you don't," Vano chimed in.

"The first thing I do whenever I enter a room is catching the sight lines and looking for an exit. I can tell the serial number on a gun I see only once, pick it up and use it as if I had been doing that my whole life; I can sneak up on a Bloodsucker and then punch it to death in one strike. I know on instinct where to aim to hit my target, whatever the conditions, whatever the range; and that with all my gear, I can run flat out for a little over half a kilometer before my hands start shaking. Now why would I know that? How can I know that and not know who I am?" the Strider bitterly asked. "I went back to Pripyat once, hoping to find answers to my questions... there were none. Only brainwashed soldiers." The buzzed man sighed. "I thought of starting my own faction with my former squadmates, but they liked it in the Duty faction and did not want to quit. So there I was, alone and lost,” he added glumly.

Not unlike me actually.

I said nothing. Strider stayed silent, a depressed expression on his face.

Vano sighed. “Jeez, cheer up dude. I was there, and the Major too!”

“I suppose you are right, my friend,” said the bald stalker, laying down on the couch. “At least you guys were there. Having you two helped.”

“And you? What’s your story? Who are you?” I asked to Vano.

"Who am I?" The bearded stalker laughed. “Me? Basically, kind of a big deal.”

What?

Strider facehoov-handed. "Oh boy."

“You listening?” he continued. “Okay. Grass grows, birds fly, sun shines,” he said, counting on his fingers, “and brother, I hurt people. I’m a force of nature!” claimed the tall stalker.

He then picked up his big weapon and put it on the cardboard box we used as a table, collapsing it.

“I am heavy weapons expert and this, is my weapon. She weighs ten point five kilograms unloaded and fires six thousand roubles standard 7.62x54 mmR two hundred rounds belts at eight hundred rounds per minute. It costs five thousand five hundred roubles to fire this weapon, for twelve seconds. The theory goes like this: You pull the trigger on a machine gun until the whole world turns into blood, and it's awesome. You can't argue with that; that's science. I have yet to meet someone who can outsmart a wall of bullets.”

I stared at the giant, not sure what to make of his tirade. “Okay? So you’re the muscle here.”

Vano looked at me, obviously feigning to be offended. “Hey! I’m also the brains too! I’d pay to see Strider navigate inside an anomaly field,” he added, laughing. "It would be hilarious."

Celestia was eating silently, curiously observing Vano who had field stripped his machine gun. The weapon was open: the bolt, his carrier, rod and recoil spring lying next to it. The bearded stalker checked the barrel and the trigger group, replaced the bolt in his carrier, put it back in place, followed by the rod and recoil spring. He then put the feeding tray back into place and loaded the weapon. After closing it, he pulled the bolt back, producing a series of clicks and released it. It came back into place with a metallic clunk, indicating that the weapon was ready to fire. Satisfied, he flicked on the safety and put the weapon on the ground next to him, barrel pointing upwards.

I looked at my friend. “So, what do we do now?” I asked in a low voice. “With her, I mean,” I added, gesturing towards Celestia.

“I do not know,” he answered. “Maybe we should look for a way to send her back to her world... also get to know her. She may be going to stay for a while,” he added.

“Good point,” I approved.

“Why wouldn't you tell us more about you?” vano asked aloud, turning towards Celestia.

The alicorn stared at us, before she shrugged. “As you already know, my name is Celestia. I’m a pony, subspecies alicorn. Back home, I’m one of the princess and diarch of the country known as Equestria.”

Vano snorted. “Whoa really?” he asked, dubious. “I call bullshit.”

“She must be telling the truth you know,” I replied. “Her jewelry seems to be made out of solid gold after all,” I added, examining the dirty and damaged set the alicorn was wearing.

And so she told us pretty much everything about her homeworld: weather control, magic, history, customs and traditions of her country, its inhabitants, government system, folklore... by noon we were experts about her homeworld. It all sounded like a fairy tale... but she seemed so convinced when she talked about it. She was really believing what she was saying.

“And how did you end up here?” I finally asked.

“I don’t really know,” she began. “It all began with strange occurrences coming from a town called Ponyville.”

Ponyville? Seriously?

The alicorn continued. “Ponies had been disappearing in the nearby forest. There were reports of new strange, deadly creatures roaming the forest and a few corpses had been found. These creatures weren’t like anything ponykind had encountered before.”

“So what happened next?” asked Vano, grabbing his shotgun before starting to disassemble it.

“I mounted an expedition to explore, rescue and study. A group consisting of a dozen scientists, no less than a platoon of Royal Guards and myself went in the forest to investigate. Once in the forest we noticed that something was amiss: the wildlife, usually vibrant and obnoxious, was quiet, as if hiding from something. After a while, we arrived in a clearing and made our base of operations there. While the guards were establishing the camp, I decided to take a stroll and visit the old castle ruins, maybe out of nostalgia. There was a disturbance in the magical field of the area though, and a big, shimmering sphere was floating inside of the old throne room. I didn't know what it was, so I cast a probe spell on it. There was a blinding flash of light and found myself lying on the ground... I was so cold, so weak. I thought I was going to die there.”

Vano looked up from his shotgun. “Space Bubble. That was an anomaly was a Space Bubble, known for its rarity and randomness. Sometimes they stay in place for ages, sometimes they change place between Blowouts... sometimes they trap you in a pocket dimension, sometimes they just teleport you, though one Teleport Bubble will always lead to the same place.”

Celestia let out a sigh and turned towards me. “You know the rest: the monsters, everything.”

I nodded. “When I found you, two Bloodsuckers were... well, to put it quite frankly, they were feeding off of you. You were nearly dead,” I said. “Thankfully, I managed to bring you back to the living. You know the rest,” I added.

The alicorn smiled. “I will be eternally thankful for that. My kingdom, my sister would not fare very well without... me.”

Her ears drooped she looked at her hooves. A lone tear made her way down her cheek, tracing a wet line on her fur, before falling to the ground, breaking apart and staining the already dirty floor.

I put a hand on her shoulder. That startled her but she didn’t back away from my hand.

“I’m sure she will be able to cope. Besides she is not alone, you even told us. I’m sure everything will be alright on their side,” I assured her.

“You should worry more about yourself,” added Vano. “The Zone is a dangerous place.”

I could only approve of that. Deciding to cut short this depressing conversation, I looked at my PDA. It was half past noon.

“Okay people, we should move out if we want to do something today,” I announced.

Vano raised an eyebrow. “And we’re going to let her come with us like that? Barefoo-hoofed and without even a weapon?”

“I was going to get to that,” I replied. “did you keep that leather coat you had?”

My friend’s face lit up in realization. “Ohh, I see what you wanna do. It’s gonna be ready in a jiffy,” he said.

“Good. Celestia, come with me,” I added, turning towards her.

I opened my supply chest and pulled out various supplies from it.

“First off: guns,” I began.

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Guns?”

“Yes, guns. Shooters. Firearms. Weapons,” I said. “This is my sniper rifle,” I explained, patting my SVU. “It is very accurate and great for killing targets at long range.”

“But why always killing?”

I shrugged. “For survival. For money. For f-forget that. Mutants and bandits alike don’t hesitate to kill stalkers on sight. This is how the Zone works.” I grabbed my shotgun. “This was my shotgun.”

“Was?”

“Yes. It is yours now,” I said, handing her the weapon. “This particular one is a TOZ-34, a double barrel hunting shotgun. Very accurate, just the way I like my guns. Of course, it is limited by its two-round capacity but it is very easy to use, and it will never jam” I explained. “Ideal for a rookie like you.”

Celestia gave me an odd look and telekinetically picked up the rifle, examining it with a mixture of curiosity and disgust.

I turned around and grabbed some supplies and two messenger bags and put them in front of me. When I raised my gaze back at the alicorn, my blood froze. She was holding her rifle in her telekinesis and looking right down the barrels.

Oh crap.

I swiftly yanked the gun out of her grasp and pointed it at the ceiling.

“Are you crazy?!” I yelled. “Do you want to kill yourself?!”

Celestia’s ears flattened against her head and she cowered from my outburst.

I took a deep breath. “I am sorry. I did not even explain you how a gun works.” Another breath. “So. This is a gun. All guns are kinetic weapons, meaning that they launch a traumatic, high velocity projectile from this end,” I explained, pointing at the muzzle of the shotgun before I showed her a buckshot round. “Never, EVER point a gun at something you do not intend to destroy, got it? Damn."

The alicorn nodded meekly.

“Good. Now, onto these supplies,” I said, showing her everything I had produced from the chest. “Medical supplies, ammo, food, drinks... most of these consumables is pretty basic.”

As much as I despised my weapon, I could not help but feel a certain appeal to it. It seemed so simple yet so complicated... a beautiful and deadly amalgam of wood and metal. Though I felt comfortable with it, as it would protect me, the mere thought that it was such a death machine made me shiver.

Shortly after Strider had explained me how guns and all these supplies worked, Vano came up.

“I’ve finished the coat,” he announced, holding a jury-rigged leather jacket with cloth sewn in some places. “Added a few Kevlar plates to it that had been laying around, should be able to stop a pistol round... I hope.”

I grabbed the jacket, put it on and moved around.

“It’s heavy, but somewhat comfortable at least. I don’t feel the cold anymore,” I announced. “I don’t like the idea of wearing leather though. Animal skin... ugh.”

Vano waved dismissively. “Eh, don’t worry, it’s Chimera hide... a mutant.”

Strider gave him a dubious look. “Chimera? Really?”

The bearded stalker shrugged. “Hey who’s the mutant hunter here? Me. You’re just a sniper.”

Strider chuckled. “Just a sniper? Long range is my territory. People take big detours to avoid me,” he said with a smirk.

“Exactly. You're the pussy hiding in his bush all the time, while I crush my enemies with walls of lead and even my fists if I have to.”

"Excuse me but what's a Chimera?" I asked.

"A very dangerous mutant. Four legged, two headed, can smell you a mile off, even when they're sleeping! They hunt mostly at night, stalking silently their prey then pouncing and pinning it to the ground," Vano explained. "After that, their two heads do the rest. Trust me, two sets of jaws make quick work of any prey very fast."

"Sounds... horrible. Are they commonplace around here?"

My tall friend laughed. "Thankfully no. But you'll find out that a big pack of dogs can be just as deadly. You see, the secret in that case is to find an elevated position..."

I grabbed the two messenger bags and started to fill them with supplies, distractedly listening to Vano's speech about mutants and the best ways to hunt them.

I put the bags down before Celestia. “Twenty-five twelve gauge slugs, about thirty buckshot rounds, three grenades, Five medkits, ten bandages, two antirads and radioprotectant drugs, three antidotes and ah, one Psy-blocker,” I enounced. “three loaves of bread, five energy drinks, two food cans and a bottle of Vodka... You are ready,” I said. “Oh, and I almost forgot: my anomaly detector. Veles model, second to best; and some artifacts: a Flame, a Firefly and a Bubble.” I added, handing her the device. “The Flame and Firefly are healing artifacts while the Bubble absorbs radiation.”

The white alicorn was immobile, staring at the bags before her. I snapped my fingers a couple of times in front of her face, gaining her attention.

Her gaze switched hesitantly between me and the bags. “I don’t know what to say... I can’t accept all of this, I haven’t done anything to deserve it.”

Vano laughed. “Girl, get used to it,” said the tall stalker. “Strider here has this nasty habit to give his supplies away to people in need.”

I rolled my eyes. “This kind of supplies are the bare minimum to survive in the Zone, I could not let her wander around barefoot-hoofed. It is a fate worse than death,” I grumbled.

“Zombies do it.”

“My point exactly.”

“Bleh.”

“Zomb-b-bies?” asked Celestia, visibly frightened.

I sighed. “Stalkers who were unfortunate enough to run into a Controller, a high intensity psy-field or to get hit by a blowout,” I explained. “They are still alive, but become little more than empty husks, driven by their instinct. Some remember how to use weapons... killing them is more an act of mercy than anything else. They are not the most dangerous enemy in the Zone, by very far, even in large groups.”

“Fuck yeah!” exclaimed Vano. “I just mow them down with my PKM and they all drop like flies!” he added, mimicking firing his machine gun. “YA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA POW HA-HA!”

I shook my head at Vano’s antics. “They do not bite or anything like in urban legends. They just attack on sight,” I assured Celestia. "It is pretty sad actually. Sometimes you can hear them moaning and grumbling to themselves. They talk about going home, to their family."

“O-okay.”

“You’ll encounter some soon enough, they are not exactly rare, unfortunately,” added Vano.

I looked at my PDA. Three in the afternoon.

Plenty of time ahead of us.

“We should go to the canal,” I said.

“Good idea,” Vano approved. “Celly needs a bath. She begins to smell like a rotten corpse and she needs some kind of field training anyway.”

Celestia nodded in approbation. “I could really go for a bath now,” she said, examining her stained coat.

“Then let's move,” I concluded.

Chapter 4: The Friendly Zone

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Chapter 4
The Friendly Zone

I stood up, signaling the others to move. Vano was already prepared and went outside while Celestia put on her bags. I have to admit: she’s a clever one. She had tied the straps together and formed some kind of saddlebags. They seemed to hold in place pretty well and did not hinder her wings.

“Nicely done Celestia,” I said, nodding in approbation.

The alicorn froze. “Beg your pardon?” she asked, raising her gaze towards me.

“I was appreciating the way you put on your bags. Very clever.”

“Huh, okay... thanks,” she replied, dumbfounded, before proceeding to check her rifle.

What? Not my style to make compliments?

“I wanted to ask you,” I began, sitting back down. “Are you going to do anything with your jewelry?”

“No,” deadpanned the winged unicorn. “Take it if you want, it’s only a dead weight... I never really liked wearing all that stuff,” she said, sighing. “It’s worthless, just to glint and catch the eye.”

We will see about that.

Once Celestia was done checking her weapon, we headed outside, climbing down the stairs and exited the building. Vano was waiting for us there, sitting on an old decrepit bench. Upon seeing us, he stood up, moved the bolt back, producing a series of clicks before moving it forward. A loud clunk could be heard. Satisfied, the bearded stalker rested his gun on his shoulder, pointing the muzzle in the air.

I chuckled. “Are you done showing off Vano?”

The bearded stalker grinned. “Let’s go.”

Clouds had darkened the sky and the wind had picked up, blowing across the land, whistling through the vegetation and ruffling my feathers. I was thankful for my jacket: it did a good job at stopping the wind and keeping me warm. The two stalkers were walking silently by my side, Strider on my right, Vano next to him.

“Say Strider,” I began, “you teached me how my gun works and how to maintain it properly, but... I still haven’t learned to shoot it. It’s not that I want to use it anytime soon, but I’d like to be prepared, you see?”

The bald stalker stopped in his tracks. “I had thought of it,” he said, producing a few cans and bottles from his backpack. “I think we can stop anyway, we have been walking for a good hour and we should almost be at the canal.”

“What do you want to do with these?” asked Vano, looking at the bottles.

“Target practice,” replied Strider. “Come over here, Celestia. “Let us make a sharpshooter out of you.”

I walked up to him, my shotgun drawn and loaded two shotshells in it, one in each barrel.

Strider scratched his head. “I have never taught how to shoot to someone like you... let’s see how well you can handle the recoil first. Point the weapon at this tree there and shoot it. You loaded buckshot in it, right?”

“Yeah,” I replied, taking aim.

I oriented the gun in the general direction of the tree and fired, both barrels at the same time.

B-BANG

I was not prepared for this. I should have held it with more force. When I pressed the triggers, the gun almost flew off of my magical grasp and sent a volley of pellets flying wildly in the air, completely missing the tree.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” I apologized, standing still, my gun smoking, staring at where I had shot.

Strider put a hand on my shoulder. “No harm done,” he said. “How bad was it?”

“Not that bad. I could have controlled it... I should have,” I replied. “FUCK!” I brought a hoof to my mouth, ashamed by my outburst. “Sorry,” I said weakly.

Vano laughed. “Don’t worry, it’s normal to be angry at that kind of thing. Just remember to hold it tightly: this kind of shotgun kicks like a mule!”

“Close range is quite easy actually: just line up the sights with your target and squeeze the trigger,” said Strider, smiling. “Let me show you.”

He then showed me the correct way to use my shotgun. While I understood quickly the aiming mechanics, It took me a while to remember all the safety procedures. It went like this for at least half an hour, then he decided it was time to practice. The stalkers placed a few metallic cans on a fallen tree trunk a few dozen meters away.

Following Strider’s advice, I rested the buttstock of the shotgun against my shoulder, holding it in my magic, breathed out and lowered my head to see the sights. I aimed at the first can.

I observed Celestia as she breathed out like I told her and aimed at the first can, the rifle held in her telekinesis.

BANG

The first can fell, obliterated by a volley of buckshot lead. She instantly switched to the second can.

BANG

Like its predecessor, it fell off the tree trunk, destroyed. I let out an admirative whistle. Celestia reloaded and took aim again.

BANG

Once again, her aim was true. Two cans flew in the air and hit the ground. She reloaded, smiling.

“Nice,” said Vano. “Let’s try something else. Pull!” he shouted, throwing an empty bottle of vodka in the air.

Celestia instantly spun around and took aim, before squeezing the trigger, effectively breaking the bottle in a multitude of sharp glass bits.

She smiled. “Hey, I’m good at this!... You guys want to challenge me?” she asked.

Vano waved dismissively. “No way, Strider is gonna win again!”

“I can only agree with Vano on this one, not wanting to brag,” I said.

“Aw come on! Please?” asked the alicorn, battling her eyelashes, a small smile on her face.

I stood up, sighing. “Fine.”

Vano laughed. “Beware, dude, she’s got you!”

“Yeah, yeah. THINK FAST!” I yelled, throwing two bottles in the air.

Vano’s eyes widened. Instantly, he grabbed his shotgun, took aim and squeezed the trigger. He hit the first bottle but missed the second one.

“Aw shit,” he said, picking up the intact bottle. “I missed one.”

“That I saw. Good thing you can spray as much as you want with that machine gun of yours,” joked Celestia.

“Blah blah blah pffft.”

I turned towards Strider, raising an eyebrow. “And what about you, Strider? How good is your aim?” I asked, an eyebrow arched.

Vano turned around. “Hah! wait ‘till you see this,” he said, before picking up the last empty bottles before giving them to me. “You throw them in the air when you feel like it, all at once, and without warning, I’d rather not go easy on him if I were you,” he explained with a grin, gesturing towards Strider and winking.

I gave him a hesitant look before glancing at Strider. He was sitting down on the ground, looking at us, his usual deadpan look on his face.

I threw all the bottles in the air. All at once. Without warning.

Instantly, Strider shot up and pulled a L shaped contraption out of a holster on his right thigh.

BANG

I looked incredulously as all the seven bottles exploded in the air in rapid succession, their debris scattering and landing on the ground. I turned around only to see Strider reloading his still smoking weapon.

“W-what was that?” I stuttered.

“I shot the bottles,” Explained Strider, sitting down.

“B-but how?”

“I wished I know,” replied the bald stalker.

I walked up to the him and sat down. “What is that weapon anyway?” I asked, curious.

Strider pulled out his weapon again. “My custom Remington R1 1911 pistol, 45 caliber. A design over a century old,” he explained, showing me the pistol. “Single action. Standard magazine holds seven rounds, extended magazine holds ten. Robust, ergonomic, reliable, and very accurate. Most experienced stalkers shun these pistols because of their low magazine capacity, but I prefer it for its accuracy and durability.”

I examined the weapon. It was ‘L’ shaped, and a box was protruding from the bottom of the grip. It had a multitude of external levers which purpose was lost to me. It looked much more complicated than my shotgun, but curiously, I wanted to learn more about the way it worked.

“Over a hundred years old? Whoa,” I simply said.

Vano laughed. “What can I say? Us humans know how to kill our brethren,” he joked.

Strider grunted. “That is true,” he replied, looking at the sky. “We should move.”

As we moved out, Celestia asked me how my pistol worked. I explained her nearly everything: the single action mechanism, how it feeds from the magazine, the various safeties, the magazine release... She seemed very interested by all technology and mechanics behind the gun.

The alicorn eyed me. “And what are you wearing anyway?” she asked. “Your garments look much more complex than my jacket.”

“Lightened SKAT-9M bulletproof armor. Just as protective as the original model, but lighter thanks to the use of carbon fiber and many other technological innovations I do not even know about.”

“And you?” she asked, turning towards Vano.

“Upgraded SEVA suit. Not as much physical protection than Strider’s but second to none when it comes to anomaly protection. I could swim in a pool of acid and not give a shit thanks to the closed cycle respiration system,” he explained, showing Celestia his the inside of his helmet.

“I’m not a fan of this sort of suits,” I said. “Too fragile in my opinion... that is one of the reasons why I did not get any utility upgrade on my armor. These systems tend to break easily.”

“Yeah, I was thinking of changing it. That and I don’t like the idea of my armor pumping me full of antibiotics and shits like that,” added my bearded friend. “Mens sana in corpore sano.”

Celestia looked at him. “What?”

“It’s Latin, a dead language. It means ‘a healthy mind in a healthy body’... and if you’re artificially pumped full of weird drugs, your body is far from healthy, and so is your mind,” explained my bearded friend.

Seeing Celestia’s expression, the tall stalker laughed. “Heheh. I studied, young lady. I have several degrees in history, literature and linguistics. I taught English to Strider you know.”

Celestia looked at him in disbelief. “I never took you for a scholar... oh and by the way, I am well over two thousand years old so I’m far from a ‘young lady’”

Vano pouted. “Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah pfffft.”

I smiled. Despite being older and well educated, Vano he is barely more mature than a teenager.

The rest of our walk to the canal was uneventful. Not even a single mutant bothered us. We were almost arrived to the canal there when I spotted something in the distance. I signaled to the group to stop and get down.

Celestia looked at me, her ears flattened and a look of worry on her face.

“What’s going on?” she whispered.

“Bandits, maybe Renegades, 2 o’clock, eight hundred meters away away. Group of three,” I said as I watched through my binoculars.

Vano snorted and spat on the ground.

Celestia looked at him. “What’s so bad about them?” She asked.

I looked at her. “They are bandits: rude at best, steal loot, gear, and take lives; just for profit. The last two years, they killed more stalkers than mutants did. Back then they had no organization, wandering in small groups, but now... now they are unified, allied in a big syndicate the Russian Mob would find strangely familiar. They are a major threat to stalkers, rookies and experienced alike... and people who are gullible enough to believe them.”

Vano rolled his eyes. “Tell me about it. What are they doing?”

“Nothing. Walking. See for yourself.”

I handed him my binoculars and he watched the group, which was slowly advancing towards us.

“Bullshit!” he exclaimed.

Celestia and I looked at him. “What?”

“It’s Jack!”

“Who?”

“The resident ‘boss’ of the assholes,” he spat. “He took over the bandits in Yanov a while ago. I had been stupid enough to believe him; that got me involved into large interest-laden debt with him, just for my suit! Then Degtyarev showed up... he was kind enough to pay my debts and scare him off, but apparently he’s back.”

I laid down on the ground, extended the bipod of my SVU and put the suppressor on.

“What are you doing?” asked Celestia.

“Preparing my weapon,” I explained, holding the artifact fragment. “My rifle has been modified for higher muzzle velocity and better accuracy, without sacrificing reliability neither increasing recoil, but using the bipod helps achieving maximum stability.”

Her face lit up with wonder. “I see... why are you removing it then?”

“It reduces the velocity of the bullet, allowing the use of a suppressor, custom made.” I explained.

Vano interrupted us. “Enough chit-chat! They’re coming.”

I set the rifle on the ground, loaded it and looked through the scope. “I got them in my sights. Seven hundred and fifty meters, wind: north east at fourteen knots,” I said, adjusting my aim. I flicked the safety off. “I have a shot. Your call, V.”

“Terminate,” he said in a cold voice.

“Very well.”

I lined up my scope with the first bandit’s chest, put my finger on the trigger and-

“WAIT!”

Argh.

“What now, Celestia?” I asked, mildly irritated.

She looked at me with a pleading expression on her face. “Don’t. Let them go.”

I raised an eyebrow in annoyance. “Why? It would be over in a matter of seconds.”

“I know bandits are bad pon-people,” said the alicorn, “but that doesn’t mean you have to kill them.”

Vano frowned. “Oh, they deserve it, trust me,” he muttered.

“That wouldn’t make you any better than them!” Shouted Celestia.

My gaze switched alternatively between Vano and Celestia.

She looked at me with her big, pleading eyes. “Please?”

Oh hhhnnnggg.

I stared at her, trying to keep my composure. “Rah! Fine.”

I put the safety back on and let go of my weapon.

Nobody should be exposed to such levels of... of what? Adorableness? If even I could not resist her powers, who could?

“Thank you,” she said with a warm smile.

Vano was displeased. “Whatever, let them go; but don’t be surprised if that outburst of mercy comes biting us in the ass later.”

I rolled my eyes. “You are overreacting Vano, as always. Let us move, and avoid them. We are not far from the canal anyway.”

After walking down the hill, we arrived at the railway near the canal. A lonely train car was sitting there, overlooking the stretch of water.

“Alright, here we are. Vano, you go down to the canal with Celestia. I will keep watch from the top of that train car, there.”

Vano walked off with Celestia to the canal. I headed towards the abandoned train car. I climbed on the roof of the wagon and sat there, pensive.

What do we do next? I suppose we could look for a way to send Celestia back to her world... we will need the help of the scientists. And besides, they could make her a nice suit... maybe.

I shook off these thoughts and took my binoculars to scout the surroundings. There was nothing around except a group of Loners walking towards us in the distance, Vano was listening to his music and Celestia seemed happy to finally have a bath and a swim. Needless to say it was about time she got rid of the grime covering her.

Nothing seemed out of place, when a metallic flash caught my eye. Something was there, in a vent on the roof of that train car, something that was reflecting the sun rays. I moved to it, to discover it was a SVD. Yes, as in Dragunov SVD. Someone had left a sniper rifle on top of this train car. I pulled it out of the hole, examining it closely. The receiver and barrel had a few scrapes, and the wooden parts were weathered, indicating the old age of the rifle.

I raised my head... the Loners from before were passing by. I greeted them with a nod.

“Howdy ho,” said their leader, before the group walked off.

I turned my attention back to the SVD but before I could examine the weapon any further, I felt a twinge in my right shoulder. I knew too well what was coming.

“Emission, incoming!” I yelled at the group of Loners walking off. “Head for the tunnel!”

Before they could say anything, I jumped off the train car and ran down the hill.

The water wasn’t cold at all surprisingly. Oh yes, that was nice! I could finally refresh myself and relax somewhat. I let out a long, content sigh, when Strider came running down the hill.

“Celestia! Vano! We have to move, quick!" He yelled.

Vano gazed down towards me, removed his earbuds, then gazed at the sky. “Right. Celly?”

“Yes?” I asked.

“We gotta go,” he said, still scrutinizing the sky.

I was worried. A second ago Vano was sitting down calmly, eyes closed, slowly bobbing his head while holding his strange device, and now he looked nervous, fearful even.

I scanned the skies as well. “What’s going on?”

Vano opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a low, distant rumble.

I looked towards the sky, only to freeze in awe at the sight. A massive, threatening, unnatural column of grey clouds was slowly advancing from the North, completely obscuring the sky. We stood still, listening.

A crack of thunder interrupted the silence, and the skies lit up, followed by a continuous loud rumble.

A siren went off in the distance.

Strider looked at me. “Blowout,” he simply said. “Pack your things. We have less than a minute before it hits.”

I managed to gather all of my equipment and looked anxiously at the sky.

It was frighteningly beautiful. The pillar of clouds was still there, except that a bright red glow seemed to shine from behind, while streaks of bright yellow light extended from it like an Aurora Borealis, as if trying to escape.

“What the hell are you doing? Come on, hurry! To the tunnel!” called Vano, waving his arm towards me. I shook my head and realized I had been standing still the whole time, and ran after my two friends, to the tunnel.

I could feel the ground shaking as the rumble intensified; I desperately fought to maintain my balance as I ran behind Strider. My rifle fell on the ground; I picked it up and ran for my life, looking helplessly at my two friends ahead of me.

Vano was already at the entrance of the tunnel, waving his arms like a madman. Strider stopped and looked behind. I turned around, looked at the sky and stopped in fright. It wasn’t beautiful anymore. It was lit by a ferocious, threatening fire. The red glow from before had spread to the entire sky, and I could see an avalanche of orange clouds buzzing with energy speeding towards us, causing an earthquake and rumbling like a the beating of a million drums.

“What are you doing? Run!” Yelled Vano.

I stumbled forward, hopelessly trying to stay on my hooves. I looked backwards again... the wall of clouds was approaching at an alarming speed. I came to an abrupt realization: I wasn’t going to make it.

I saw Celestia struggling to maintain her balance as she stumbled forwards. She wasn’t going to make it. Not on her own. Seeing this, Strider discarded his sniper rifle and backpack before turning around and running back to the alicorn. He swiftly picked her up and tucked her under his arm before dashing to the entrance of the tunnel without looking behind. I picked up his discarded gear and quickly followed.

The tunnel was actually an old underground railway station, built to house the trains serving the Jupiter factory during the Soviet Era. It was closed by two massive, unmovable steel doors, but thankfully a service entrance existed right next to it, and we made it inside just before the blowout hit. I rushed inside first, followed suit by Strider carrying Celly firmly tucked under his arm.

Okay, that is an awkward way to carry a nearly immortal being.

Strider gently put the alicorn back on her hooves.

She looked at him and smiled. “You should really stop saving me sometime,” she said playfully.

Strider smirked. “When you stop putting yourself in danger, I will stop running to your rescue.”

We climbed the stairs to the second floor, leading to the catwalks overlooking the indoor rail yard, where a group of stalkers was already discussing around a bonfire, one of them playing the guitar.

I took a deep breath, smiled and let escape a content sigh. “This is why I love the Zone so much.”

Strider smiled. “Home sweet home, heh?”

“Seems like a friendly atmosphere indeed,” noted Celestia.

“Let’s go meet them then,” I suggested.

“Let’s.”

We climbed down the stairs and headed towards the group of stalkers. Upon noticing Celestia, they froze, stood up and aimed aimed their weapons at her. I facepalmed.

Shit. Three against three, they’re in formation, while we’re unarmed and lined up like fucking retards. Great.

I had rarely dealt with worse odds before, but with an inexperienced rookie at our side to protect, everything would get from bad to worse if the situation was to head South.

The Blowout was roaring outside. The stalkers’ guns were still trained at us. Celestia recoiled, moving closer to me; her eyes wide as saucers, her ears flattened against her head. Vano held his nasal bridge and sighed. Everyone was silent, no one dared to make a move, frozen in fear, expectation or, in my case, calculations. Our odds were not bright in case the situation was to degenerate.

That’s when Vano advanced towards the group of stalkers.

“Wow whoa wait there,” began the bearded stalker. “Calm down and holster your weapons. We just want to avoid the Emission, do you think we’re here for fun? Can’t you see we’re all friends here? Me and my friends have been through a lot, trust me on that. We came here weapons holstered, seeking shelter from the Blowout outside, only to be greeted by the muzzles of your guns? And there I thought it was going to be a friendly meeting.”

The stalkers lowered their weapons but kept them at hand. Vano opened a bottle of vodka and handed it to them. The stalker in the middle holstered his shotgun and took the bottle.

Vano continued. “Have a sip. Now listen here: the Zone is ever changing. It is our home and our battlefield; we never go to sleep without wondering whether we wake up or not. We never take a step without thinking it is our last, but it is our home, and we will accept it however it is. I can understand your nervousness and uncertainty in the face of the unknown, but do you rationally think that our companion here represents any kind of threat to you?”

The stalker one the right lifted his brow. “I thought it was a tamed mutant or something... Noah has a pseudodog after all. Who knows if his ‘pet’ will stay loyal, the guy’s batshit insane. I say someday we’ll find his corpse, devoured by one of his dogs.”

“Seeing its equipment I had my doubts,” said the stalker in the middle.

He was wearing a radiation suit and his helmet hid his face. He put the bottle Vano gave him on the floor and took off his helmet before offering his right hand to Celestia. “Name’s Grizzly, pleased to meet you.”

Celestia looked hesitantly at his hand and then at me. I nodded towards the stalker, inviting her to accept his greeting. She lifted her right foreleg and awkwardly shook his hand.

“My name’s Celestia, and it’s ‘she’, not ‘it’, thank you very much.”

I frowned; Celestia seemed to notice that.

Grizzly raised an eyebrow. “So you talk English. How interesting.”

The stalker on the right grunted in annoyance. “Whatever. You shouldn’t trust people so fast Grizzly.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Torba. Last time I trusted a stalker, he got us Mitay back,” Grizzly objected, gesturing to the last stalker.

“Yeah,” approved the said Loner, “Who knows what these bandits would have done to me?”

He was wearing a hooded Sunrise suit, and a nice-looking rifle was slung across his back.

Vano raised his brow. “What happened?”

Mitay made us a sign to approach. “Come on over, make yourselves comfortable, I’ll tell you.”

The blowout had passed outside, only to be replaced the sound of the wind, rain falling and cracks of thunder. We sat down around the fire. Torba picked up the guitar and began playing.

Mitay took a gulp of vodka. “My friends and I had found a rare artifact. That’s when a group of bandits came to us and threatened to kill us if we didn’t give it to them.. We had been harassed by bandits before, and we drove them off as usual. But this time, they meant business. They attacked me when I was alone, and kidnapped me.”

Grizzly continued. “Torba and I were desperate; I wanted to free Mitay by force. Turned out we had no other choice but to comply with their conditions, except we couldn’t do it ourselves-they said they’d kill us if they were to see us again. That’s when that guy comes up to us, asks us what happened and spontaneously offers his help. He didn’t even ask for the artifact, he just said: ‘Okay, wait here, I’ll sort this out’ and took off. Next thing we know, we got Mitay back at our side thanking his unknown savior.”

“How did he do that?” I asked curiously.

“He negotiated. Gave the bandits a lot of money and they let me go. That guy was quiet, but a damn good bargainer. He even gave me his weapon, saying he didn’t need it. I love this shooter,” Mitay said, patting his AN-94.

Needless to say I was jealous. Such rifles were reputed for their accuracy, their near AK-like reliability and their famous two-round burst mode which allowed it to eat through armor like it was not even there.

But I digress.

The storm was still roaring outside, and we all agreed on staying there for the night. Grizzly was eating, while Mitay proceeded to clean his rifle. Vano had pulled a guitar out of seemingly nowhere and was playing along Torba. They were talking, sharing their adventures and laughing, enjoying each other’s company.

I leaned on a far wall and began to relax, when two stalkers burst into the room. One was wearing a blue and green set of Clear Sky armor while the other one was sporting a Duty exoskeleton out of all things.

“HOLY SHIT! We made it!” said the exosuit guy.

“Not thanks to you,” replied the other one dryly.

Vano and Torba stopped playing the guitar as the newcomers noticed our presence, staring at our group. An awkward silence followed, interrupted by Vano.

“Come in, don’t stand there! We’ve got enough space for everybody!”

The two stalkers removed their helmets and smiled as Grizzly stood up to greet them.

“Name’s Grizzly. Who are you guys?”

“Barin,” said the exoskeleton-wearing man, smiling slightly and mimicking a salute.

”Snag,” muttered the second stalker.

“We’ve been chased by a large pack of boars for a while, but we managed to lose them. We’re just here for the night. Care to present us to your friends?” asked the first stalker.

Grizzly shrugged. “Fine by me. Make yourselves comfortable. The guys playing the guitar are Vano - the bearded one - and Torba; here is Mitay, the bald one in the corner is Strider and this is Celestia,” he said, gesturing towards us.

Snag gazed at the alicorn, surprised. “What is it?”

Barin slapped him the back of the head. “OW! What was that for?” asked Snag, clenching his occiput.

“Buddy, that was just rude.”

Barin seemed very interested by Celestia and spent most of the time talking politely with her. He looked very interested as to how she had ended up in the Zone. I observed the alicorn. She seemed happy to talk about her home but something was off. She seemed to gradually become less enthralled.

Strider had sat down apart from our group and was leaning against the far wall, reading a book. I knew of his social awkwardness so that didn’t bother me.

On the other hand, Snag concerned me. He too was far from us, cleaning his gun.

He looks suspicious... and kind of cute. I’m definitely keeping an eye on him.

Celestia, Vano and the others were sitting around the fire, singing and animatedly talking. They were really loud and distracted me from my book, also I decided to leave the room. I stood up, climbed the stairs and entered the small room on the second floor we first came from. There I sat down and reopened my book.

It was not long before Celestia moved away from the group to join me. Her magical features had disappeared, her ears were flattened and she held her head down, as if she was exhausted.

“I’ve been looking for you,” she said.

“You seem troubled,” I stated, putting my book down.

“I have... quite a lot of things on my mind,” she replied.

She shuffled around before laying next to me and resting her head on my shoulder. The sudden contact surprised me. She seemed so depressed and in need of comfort to a point it was heartbreaking, even for me.

“Hey, are you alright?” I asked the alicorn with concern.

She gave me a bitter look. “Why would I be? Plenty of ponies count on me back home, and I’m stuck here.”

“I am sure they are doing fine,” I reassured her. “Your sister -Luna, right?- can take care of your responsibilities. From what you told me, she has a strong personality, she can deal with you missing,” I said, gently stroking her head.

Her coat was surprisingly soft, even softer than the fur ushankas are usually made of.

“Are you sure?” She asked with tearful eyes.

I nodded. “I know it. For your own sake, worry about yourself for once.”

“Maybe I should,” she deadpanned, sighing sadly.

I tilted my head. “I cannot help but feel that you have something else on your mind... When you were talking about your homeworld, your attitude changed from cheerful to sad, depressed even. I felt there was something more to it... what was on your mind?”

She sighed and looked at the floor. “Something hit me, something that now haunts my mind.”

“Go on, I am listening,” I said softly.

“At first when I talked to the others about Equestria, I thought naturally about the responsibilities I had left, my sister...” She sighed and her ears flattened. “... and then I thought about the others. My niece, my faithful student... and her friends. Hers. I realized I never really have any friends... the curse of being timeless, I suppose.” She paused. “Ponies often see alicorns as immortal, but that’s not true. We just don’t die of old age and happen to be more resilient than normal ponies, that’s all. In result, we are treated with respect, fear even, sometimes, hatred. Nopony never, ever befriends us, let alone truly loves us. My niece has been extremely lucky to find a loving husband... my sister had a mental breakdown once, and I had to banish her for Equestria’s safety, leaving me in charge of the country for a thousand years... I’ve never felt so alone.”

The alabaster alicorn began sobbing quietly, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Oh boy. I’m not good at comforting people. Here goes nothing.

“Hey, you have us now. We will not let you down,” I said softly.

She chuckled bitterly and looked up to me with her big, tearful eyes. “Do you mean it?”

I looked at her in the eyes. “Yes. Vano and I will be at your side no matter what, I promise,” I affirmed, gently wiping off her tears.

She moved closer to me, huddling herself against my side. I smiled and extended an arm over her shoulder.

It must look strange from the outside to say the least: a mythical winged unicorn snuggling the buzzed, scarred ex-Monolithian stalker.

I chuckled at the thought, petting Celestia’s side. We stayed immobile like that for what seemed like hours, before she slowly closed her eyes peacefully, finally relaxing.

I felt the need to talk about something else. I had told him a lot about me, surely he could open up to me too? “You keep staying apart from groups of people,” she said, “Why?”

Strider sighed, a grim expression on his face. “As you know already, I used to be a Monolith fighter. An empty, emotionless, brainwashed husk.” he sighed. “Most people learn this quickly and stay away from me. So in I stay away from them, it avoids ‘complications’. Nobody would trust an ex-Monolithian... except Shulga, maybe.”

I locked my gaze with his. “I trust you.”

“I... you really do?”

“Yes.”

He pulled me in a hug. “Thank you. Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me,” he said, gently caressing my neck.

Hmm... I could stay like that all day...I leaned forward, making myself more comfortable.

“How was it?” I asked.

“The nicest feeling I have ever felt,” replied the bald stalker. “A warm feeling in my chest, I felt... worthy.”

“That’s not what I meant... how did it feel, when you... ‘woke up’?” I asked.

“Ah, that... physically, it felt like waking up every normal morning, except I had no idea how I ended up there. I was lost and without identity. Everytime I try to remember what happened before, there is just nothing,” he explained, sighing. “I have read that some amnesiacs compare their pathology to a white wall blocking all access to their memories, but I do not feel like that. There is nothing but an empty void here,” he said, pointing at his temple.

It must have been terrible... the poor dear. I don’t know how I would cope without knowing who I really am...

I nuzzled his arm gently. “You’re a good person. You’ve been a great friend. Despite everything you say, you’ve been one of the most empathic being I’ve met, and that’s all that matters.”

He smiled weakly. “You are too kind. But I have to admit, human contact helped. Who knows how my squad and I would have ended if we never encountered the Major?” He sighed. “No need to alienate myself with the past. What is done is done. Now let’s speak about the future. Your future.”

“My future?” I asked.

“Yes. Vano and I think that there may be a way back to your world, but we will need the scientist's help to find it; space bubbles are quite rare, not to mention random as well.” He paused, eying me and holding his chin. “Hmm... Maybe we should go to Yanov first. I think the technicians there could also be able to craft you a decent suit of armor, providing we have the materials.”

My ears perked up at the news. “Really? You’d do that? That’s very nice of you.”

“It is the least I can do. I think the scientists would be very interested in studying your ‘magic’ too.”

I shivered. “Studying? I don’t I like the sound of that.”

“Nothing harmful, worry not: a couple of scans and a sample of skin will be enough I am sure,” He assured.

“If you say so... are you sure they can send me back home?” I asked worriedly.

He chuckled. “Hey, these guys managed to pierce the secrets of many anomalies and made several unprecedented breakthroughs in nearly all field of science... I am sure they will come up with something,” he added, twiddling absent-mindedly with my mane.

We stood motionless, enjoying each other’s company. Noises of laughter and discussions could be heard coming from downstairs.

It had been a long time since anyone treated me without distant respect or fear even,a long time since anyone treated me as an equal, as a living, breathing being, with emotions, hopes and aspirations. It was... relieving. Finally I could count on someone else... it felt good, heartwarming. Strider and I stayed huddled against each other, and it was not long before I fell into a deep, peaceful slumber.

Celestia shifted, probably to make herself more comfortable and closed her eyes, a slight smile adorning her features. Her breathing slowed down as she fell asleep on my shoulder. There was something undeniably cute emanating from her, something pure, innocent. She was yet to be tainted by this world, and I swore to myself to keep it that way.

Even though I might fail... The Zone is dangerous, she has no place here...

I shook off the thoughts and looked at my PDA. 0130 hours.

Might as well hit the sack.

I took a blanket from my backpack and covered both Celestia and I with it. I gave her a last glance before moving a bit, closing my eyes and slowly drifting to sleep.

Chapter 5: Big Zoney Life

View Online

Chapter 5
Big Zoney Life

The next day, I woke up slowly to the morning’s first sun rays peeking through the broken windows. A slight breeze was blowing outside. I smiled and let out a content sigh.

Today is going to be a good day.

Celestia was still curled up in a ball, snuggled against me. She stirred before she opened her sleepy eyes and raised her head, observing her surroundings.

I lowered my gaze to her. “Slept well?” I asked.

“Yes,” she answered, “Thanks to you. Thank you for yesterday, I... needed it.”

I nodded negatively. "No. If anything, I should thank you instead. I feel more... human now," I countered. “And you, how do you feel?”

She smiled. “At peace... finally.” She slowly stood up and walked up to the window, stretching her wings, obscuring the light from outside.

Warm golden sun rays went through her fur and her cyan mane, defining a mesmerizing bright white outline aura around her and bathing the room in a strange emerald hue... it was truly an amazing sight.

Beautiful...

The alicorn smiled to the sight of the morning dawn. “It’s a strange feeling, knowing I’m not raising this Sun... and somehow, this dawn is even more beautiful than mine. It’s really humbling.”

She turned towards me and chuckled, bringing a hoof to her muzzle. “Shut your mouth, you look silly!” She said, amused.

I hadn’t realized I was staring at her slack jawed. I hastily closed my mouth. “Sorry, I was lost... thinking,” I said sheepishly.

She gave me a dubious look. “Thinking, absolutely,” she mused. “I think you were staring at my ass.”

I laughed. "Actually, I was admiring the effects of the Sun on your... body," I said, rather awkwardly.

The alicorn chuckled. "Aww... It's adorabl-"

BANG

A shotgun blast coming from the main tunnel interrupted her.

What the fuck is going on down there?

I woke up, lazily stretching my arms. Snag was laying on the ground next to me, snoring peacefully. Careful not to wake him up, I sat up and scratched my beard, I looked around... everybody was still asleep.

I giggled mischievously.

Absolutely perfect.

I grabbed my shotgun, stood up, pointed it to the ceiling and...

BANG

Grizzly, Mitay, Barin , Snag and Torba instantly jolted awake.

“ARGH MY EARS!” yelled Grizzly, clutching his head in his hands.

Mitay frantically looked around, confused. “Huh? What? We’re under attack?”

Barin covered his head with his arms. “AHH YOU GOD DAMNED FUCKING FUCK CUNT MOTHERFUCK-!”

“Shut up, shut up shutupshutup SHUT THE FUCK UP!” yelled Torba as he shot up, pointing his weapon at Barin.

“FOR FUCK’S SAKE, VANO, I WAS TRYING TO SLEEP!” shouted an angry Snag, giving me a disapproving glare before sitting up and searching in his backpack.

I pouted. “Awww, look who’s mad! You're cute when angry you know that?”

Snag blushed. "Shut it."

I let out a laugh.

Strider and I hurriedly made our way back downstairs. I drew my weapon, ready for anything. Anything, except what I saw. Vano was rolling on the floor laughing while the others were glaring at him.

The giant stood up. “BWAHAHAHAHA you should have seen the looks on your faces! Priceless!” he said, wiping a tear of laughter.

Strider walked up to Vano and raised a fist. I thought he was going to punch him, but Vano did the same and they bumped each other’s fist.

Strange customs humans have.

“My friend, that was completely stupid. But I have to admit, it was amusing,” said the bald stalker with a grin. He paused and looked around. “Now, I believe it is time we part ways. We all have our business to do after all.”

Grizzly rolled his eyes.. "Whatever. We gotta go now, shit to do. You know, scavenging, trespassing, adventuring and such. Been nice meeting you guys," he added, before waving his right arm around. "Mitay, Torba, let’s roll!”

With that, the three stalkers headed outside and went their separate ways, leaving Snag, Barin, Vano, Strider and I together.

“Oh well, I’ gonna fly off too,” declared Barin. “I’ve got stuff to do.”

Strider turned towards Snag. “Wait... You are not going with your friend?” He asked.

Snag snorted. “Friend? I barely know him, we randomly met yesterday. He was tailed by a pack of wild boars and ran up to me, forcing me to follow unless I wanted to be stomped on by the mutants. He’s a pretentious and rude, and a coward. I mean, who the fuck sports an exoskeleton and can’t fight a few mutants?”

“Heh, this guy seems fishy if you want my opinion,” said Vano, munching on some sort of cylindrical, pink food.

Is that meat? Ugh.

“Something was off about him," added the giant.

Strider shrugged. “At least he is gone now,” he replied, before heading back upstairs. "Are you coming Celestia?"

I followed him as He began packing up his equipment. I decided to do the same when my stomach emitted a loud growl. I realized I hadn't eaten anything since the day before.

Strider looked at me. ”Hungry?” He asked.

I smiled sheepishly. “Well, yes. I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday... and I don’t have any food on me.”

“Well, I only have this,” He replied, handing me a bread loaf and a can of food.

“Thanks.”

The can contained short, flat beans in a suspicious looking red sauce.

“What are these?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Baked beans, tomato sauce.This is good stuff.”

I looked back at the contents of the tin can.

Beans and tomatoes? Sounds... strange.

I hesitantly took a mouthful of these beans... It was surprising.

Who knew beans would go well with tomato sauce?

I observed Celestia as she ate her beans; I found her reaction very amusing: she was unsure about trying, then at the first bite her eyes widened and she smiled like an idiot, chewing through the rest of the beans with a speed unmatched even by Vano.

I laughed. “Hey, do not eat everything! I need some you know.”

“Aww, what’s the matter bald boy? Afraid that the mean alicorn is going to famish you?” said Celestia, chuckling.

I rolled my eyes as she resumed eating.

While the alabaster alicorn ate, Vano and Snag entered the room. They were animatedly speaking but Vano had a frown on his face.

“You are still worried about that Barin, are you not?” I asked him.

The bearded stalker removed his hand from his chin. “Yes. I have a bad feeling about this guy,” he said, checking the action on his machine gun.

Snag shrugged. “Meh, he’s gone now, let’s worry about moving out.”

“Fair enough,” I said, turning to Celestia. “You ready?”

“Whenever you are,” she replied, smiling through a mouthful of bread.

I chuckled. “Then let's go.”

Snag spoke up. “I’m coming with you guys. That is, if you’ve got nothing against it.”

Vano smiled. “Fine by me!”

We headed out of the tunnel. The sun was now high up in the sky, a fresh breeze was ruffling the vegetation, and no mutants could either be seen or heard. It was the start of a beautiful day in the Zone, a welcome change from the continuous drizzle and the occasional rainstorm. Vano and Snag were walking ahead, side by side and I was closing the formation with Celestia.

The alicorn looked at me. “Where are we going?”

“The anomaly by the parking lot,” answered Vano, turning around. "Deadly radiation and electrical anomalies, you’re gonna love it!”

“We figured it would be the best place to start,” I added. “While you are most certainly under-equipped for anomaly exploring, this anomalous zone is the least dangerous in the area and Vano is a great teacher.”

Celestia nodded. "Makes sense. Besides, radiation seems to strengthen my magic. Should be easy enough."

Vano raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? That's interesting. The scientists at the Bunker would be interested."

The alicorn smiled. "Yeah, I found that out when I was exposed to your artifacts. They all seem to leak raw magic."

"Well rejoice, we're going artifact hunting!" Vano said. “More magics for you!” he added, taking a dramatic pose.

Celestia and I chuckled at his antics.

We made our way to the hill overlooking the old parking lot, nearby the bandit checkpoint. In the distance, there was a derelict car surrounded by two limping bipedal figures.

“Stop,” I ordered. “If we get closer, they will shoot us.”

“Who are they?” asked Celestia.

Snag snorted. “Who were they would be a more appropriate question,” he said.

“Yep. Celly, meet the zombies,” added Vano.

“As I said before, they will attack if we get any closer. Let us dispatch them already.” I raised my rifle and looked through the scope. Surprisingly enough, Celestia did the same. “On the count to three. One, two...”

"YOLOOOOOOOO!!!”

Sigh. Not again.

I facepalmed.

Vano was running down the hill, screaming at the top of his lungs and spraying bullets from his machine gun in the zombies’ general direction. Of course this got their attention.

I sighed, adjusted my scope and aligned it with the first zombie’s head. I pulled the trigger.

BANG

Boom, headshot. One down, two to go.

I aimed at the second zombie, only to see it already lying on the ground, dead. I looked around, wondering who could have killed the last zombie, only to see Snag, holding his scoped SIG-550, smoke pouring from the barrel.

I gave him an appreciative nod. “Nicely done. Now let us get down there,” I said.

We climbed down the hill and walked up to the wrecked car. Vano was waiting for us, visibly annoyed.

“Dude. Not cool,” he began. “Why can’t I have my fun?”

“You had your fun last night,” scowled Snag, making the giant smile awkwardly. “This, right there, was just irresponsible.”

Did Vano just blush?

“Whatever,” he grumbled.

I walked up to the dead zombies. Mine had a small entry hole in the middle of his forehead and half of his occiput was missing from the sheer power of the sniper round while Snag’s had three bloody holes in his chest.

“Nice shooting. Right on the heart.”

I turned towards Celestia. She was trembling, staring wide eyed at the corpses of the zombified stalkers. “T-they’re dead... they’re fucking dead! You killed them!”

I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Hey, remember what I told you?” I asked. “They were lbarely shadows of their former selves, lost in mind and body to the Zone,” I softly said.

She seemed to slightly calm down. Her posture relaxed and her breathing slowed down.

“Yeah,” added Vano, “Zombified stalkers are merely driven by their instincts; some even starve to death. Killing them is not murder, it’s mercy... now loot them, so we can finally advance the plot.”

Dumbfounded, Snag looked at Vano then at me. I shrugged dismissively, as if to say 'He is like that. Do not try to understand.'

I went to 'my' zombie and looked through its things. He was clad in a heavily damaged exoskeleton, had a broken down AK rifle and a strange pistol, which looked like a heavily modified Beretta 92.

This pistol looks in good shape. I should bring it to Cardan so he can give me his thoughts on it, maybe he will be interested.

I stood up and walked to Snag.

"What did you find?" I asked.

“Some stuff. Ammo, supplies and whatnot,” replied the stalker. "And also this nasty piece," he added, showing me a SPAS-12. "I always wanted such a shotgun but simply have never been able to afford one. This one will need repairs though."

I looked at him, surprised. "Never been able to afford one? How is it possible? Your gear looks pretty decent."

Snag smiled slightly. "A guy I tried to scam saved me from... long story short, he got me out of trouble and gave me this rifle,” he explained. “And I worked my ass off for this armor.”

“Scam?”

“It’s a long story.”

I looked at the stalker with suspicion but said nothing.

Strider and the others had gone looting the dead zombies, leaving Vano and I alone.

“Well,” he said, turning towards me. “Time to teach you the basics! You ready?”

I rubbed my forelegs hesitantly and nodded. “As ready as I’ll ever be...”

“Okay. If you want to survive in the Zone, you have to become a real stalker. And that means a few things. First: be aware of your surroundings. You must know what’s happening around you. Second: when shit hits the fan, pull the trigger AND run. In a ‘fight or flight’ situation, there’s no time to waste; don’t think, act: fight AND flight. Third: LOOT EVERYTHING.”

The bearded giant paused, taking his breath.

“Now, artifact hunting. You know already that artifact are anomalous formations spawned by anomalies. Retrieving them implies actually navigating through anomalies and a detector is absolutely indispensable for that,” he said, showing me a small handheld grey contraption.

It looked just like mine, except the screen was slightly different, and it had several buttons mine was missing.

“Some, like mine, display the location of anomalies in real time on a screen. Yours, despite being very advanced... doesn’t. This brings me to the first rule of anomaly exploring: don’t chase after moving artifacts and THROW BOLTS . These small metal objects may seem useless, but they trigger a reaction from any anomaly they pass through, instantly spotting them. Cheap, reliable and life saving. Some anomalies will even act as if you actually walked through it, then they then take some time to recharge, allowing you to pass through it in the meantime. Look.”

Vano raised a hand holding a metal bolt and threw it at an anomaly seemingly made of electricity. It seemed to explode in an intense electric discharge with a zap before seemingly disappearing. The bearded stalker immediately ran through where the anomaly had been.

I winced, bracing for the worst, but nothing happened. He had escaped the anomaly unscathed and was now standing on the other side of it.

“See? Your turn now,” he said, looking at me. The anomaly he had run through was still there buzzing as if nothing happened.

I magically raised a bolt above my head. “Are you sure this is safe?” I asked, unsure.

The bearded stalker smiled. “As sure as Bloodsuckers aren’t vegetarian. Come on, go for it!”

Here goes nothing...

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and threw a bolt at the anomaly before running forward. Next thing I knew I was next to Vano, unharmed.

“See?” he said. “Perfectly safe. Now, for proper artifact hunting. You must asbsol-”

“Hey Vano! Snag and I are going to Yanov," interrupted Strider. "We’ve got loot to sell. Meet you both there around noon!”

“No problem, I'll make sure to be on time,” he replied.

I turned towards Snag. “Come on, let us go.”

As we walked off, Vano resumed his lesson. “As I said: your detector is the most important part: only with it equipped and turned on you’ll be able to detect artifacts, or should I say the ideal conditions for an artifact to form...”

His voice faded as Snag and I walked away side by side. I looked at the sky... not a cloud in sight. This persistent weather was quite unusual for the Zone.

“You weren’t very talkative, yesterday,” observed Snag. “Why?”

I grunted. “I am not comfortable around groups of people, especially people I do not know.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Why is that?”

“You do not want to know,” I grumbled.

The Clear Sky ranger wannabe raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I see. We all have our secrets. I wouldn’t be proud of my past to be honest.” He shrugged. “Shit happens,” he added awkwardly.

“Speaking of which... what was this ‘scam’ thing you were going on about earlier?” I asked, narrowing my gaze.

Snag sighed. “It’s a long story. I was forced to work for Sultan, the bandit leader in Zaton, to pay my gambling debts. Curiously, the ‘interests’ never stopped climbing and I ended up setting up stalkers for him, just to survive. When I simply couldn’t pay anymore, I stole some shit in a lockbox at Yanov station,” he narrated.

I huffed. “Good idea genius.”

Snag shrugged. “I had only two possibilities: either give the bandits all the stuff I had stolen in hopes it would be enough to cover my debts, or disappear with it. I mean, there was some pretty neat stuff in this box. Weapons, armor, supplies, artifacts... I thought I had a chance. Then Sultan sent me one of his goons. Fucker found me and put two rounds in my gut. I was sprawled on the ground, bleeding out, thinking that I was finished. Sultan’s henchman was about to put another one in my head, then the guy I had robbed showed up. He appeared out of nowhere and blasted Sultan's attack dog into oblivion with his rifle.”

“He?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah. Some stalker. Around your height, brown hair, brown eyes, pretty boy face. Never knew his name though. Anyway, he killed Sultan’s goon, patched me up, gave me his rifle and some supplies after I told him where I stashed his stuff. To say I was surprised would be a big understatement. I set up the guy, stole his shit, and after that, he comes back, saves my ass and gives me his rifle. I still don’t get it. Why did he help me? I dunno. I do like the rifle though,” said the stalker, patting his SIG-550.

The weapon seemed familiar.

“After that I looted the dead bandit, took his pistol and legged it,” he finished, patting the Desert Eagle on his hip. “I've sworn to myself to never ever deal with this bandit scum again. Been clean ever since.”

“I see.”

“Why the fuck did I tell you all that anyway?”

I chuckled. “Because I asked nicely. May I?” I asked, pointing at Snag’s rifle.

“Fuck no. Not unless you tell me your story too.”

I groaned. “Fine. Just promise me you will not do anything... drastic.”

Snag raised an eyebrow. “Why would I?” he asked.

“Just do it.”

“Okay, fine! Jeez. I promise I won’t attack you,” said the stalker, exasperated.

“I used to be a Monolith fighter,” I announced, preparing myself for Snag’s reaction.

His response surprised me. He did not jump in fright. He did not freak out and run away. He did not try to kill me. He just kept walking, a look of understanding on his face.

“I knew I heard your name somewhere before,” he said on a deadpan tone. “Ex-Monolith, heh? That must suck.”

I took a deep breath. “Well, except for amnesia and general lack of trust from most people, it is not so bad,” I explained. “At least I am efficient at what I do.”

"Lack of trust, heh? I can understand that. How did you even got close to Yanov? I mean, if you'd been wearing Monolith armor, you would've been fucking shot on sight."

"Well, my squad and I were lucky enough to meet the previous owner of your rifle," I said, smiling.

Snag’s rifle was actually Strelok’s old SIG-550, passed to the Major and then to him when Snag got saved by him. The guy was almost a living legend among Loners. He had helped so many, almost all of us were in his debt. Not that he actually wanted us to repay us.

We kept talking along the way to Yanov. Snag was actually a rather nice person. A bit foul mouthed at times but I enjoyed his company.

Beats walking alone.

Eventually, the big one story building of Yanov station came into view. I entered the main hall after Snag. The technicians occupy most of the northern wing, while the medic is in the southern one. Everything a stalker needs is there, even peace. It is the only real safe area around Jupiter: even Duty and Freedom have a truce there; not that any of these factions are relevant nowadays.

Upon entering the disaffected train station, we were greeted by the local trader. “Aloooohaa!”

Snag walked up to him. “Hey, Hawaiian, how have you been?”

I went my separate way, as I needed to see the technicians, Cardan and Nitro. I have to admit, their workshop is quite the achievement. They have become associates and now have opened a full service repair shop, offering repairs and modification on anything: weapons, suits, electronics... there was a curtain blocking the view of half of the workshop though. Cardan was sitting down, working on what looked like an 7.62 rifle, while Nitro was fiddling with some sort of radio.

Nitro perked up. “Stalker. What brings you here?”

“I was wondering if Cardan could have a look at these,” I said, producing the pistol I had found on the Zombie corpse.

Cardan raised his gaze from his work and examined the guns. “Hmm, nice looking gun. can I?” he asked.

“Yes, of course,” I said, handing him the pistols. “What were you working on?”

“Oh this?” he asked, picking up the AK. “She started her life as a standard heavy barrel 7.62 NATO FAL 50.41 machine gun, but now she’s more of an accurized battle rifle. She had a milled receiver, which is a good basis for an accurate rifle. Heavier, but hey. Can't have everything! She’s got a chrome lined, heavy barrel with polygonal rifling, NATO-spec rails, batter trigger group... she can still go full auto, but that's not her intended purpose. Polished bolt with custom locking lugs, a revised gas system, custom muzzle brake... the whole shabang, tuned for tight groupings and poratbility. I was giving this piece of art the final touches, she’s an old project of mine: the ultimate Zone-proof battle rifle.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Is it not an order?”

The technician waved his hand dismissively. “Nah, I’ve been working on her in my free time, it’s my hobby. I’ve done this kind of thing quite a lot actually. I make unique weapons and from time to time, somebody buys them.”

“So it is for sale?” I asked. While I initially intended to let the technician look over the SVD I had found to give it to Celestia, that rifle gave me question my initial intent.

After all, she deserves something special.

“Yes, if you have the money... very expensive, I'm warning you.” His attention shifted back to the handguns. “But I digress. Concerning your pistol here...”

He checked the action on the handgun, before field stripping it and examining its internals and looking down the sights on the slide.

"...someone got a hard on for the M93R," he commented with a laugh,

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Look at the frame here.”

I moved closer. On the frame, just above the grip, there was a series of small scrapes in the metal, as if it had been slightly cut to accommodate a moving part.

I looked up from the disassembled pistol. “And?” I asked.

Cardan smiled. “And this appears to be traces of machining. Not an original Beretta 93R, that's for sure. I bet its previous owner wanted a replica.”

“And?”

“No difference from the user's standpoint,” said the technician, smirking. “Same caliber as the original, same selective-fire functions, same external appearance, and basically the same mechanical parts... but it's not the original. These mods are illegal, but hey, who cares?” he commented, looking over the gun. "The guy who commissioned that piece really was a connoisseur. Where did you find it?"

“I ran into an exoskeleton wearing zombie at the parking lot anomaly. He had a few supplies, a broken rifle and this pistol on him,” I explained.

“Huh, I see. You got lucky though,” said the technician. “The internals are intact, there’s just a bit of rust going through the finish. The magazines seem usable but you'd be better off using high-cap or even standard M92 mags.”

"I suppose an automatic handgun could be useful for CQB combat. I'll take it. Make it as new! I alos need a few mods to be made on my other pistol," I added, unholstering my M1911 and clearing it.

After explaining what I wanted to the technician, I headed back to the trader. After all, I too had some loot to sell, not to mention equipment to buy for Celestia.

Seeing me approaching, Hawaiian spoke up. “Come on over man. I got all the shit you're ever gonna need.”

I smiled. “I need a few things,” I replied, handing him a list of all the equipment I needed.

The trader looked at the list. “A sleeping bag, a flashlight, a geiger counter, a box of matches, binoculars, a military knife... you’re equipping a rookie or what?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You could say that,” I replied. “Keep going.”

“A toothbrush, a set of flatware... a hairbrush?... veggiefood? Who is that guy?” the trader asked, a confused expression on his face.

I chuckled. “You will know soon enough. Suffice to say... not an ordinary stalker.”

My interlocutor gave me a strange look.

I ignored him and kept talking. “I am also here to sell: I have this SVD rifle I found, and also these,” I said, putting Celestia’s jewelry on the counter.

At the mere sight of the pieces of jewelry, Hawaiian's eyes widened. “These are made out of solid gold! Where in the Zone did you... and these gems! I’ve never heard of let alone seen gemstones that big! They look so pure... clear as water, deep color, flawless cut... I will get them appraised, but you can be sure these gems will be worth a lot!” He exclaimed, before suddenly calming down. “Or maybe not, if these are amethysts. How did you get these pieces again?”

“That is a secret,” I replied. ”How much?”

The trader scratched the back of his head. “Well, it’s a good five kilos... gold pricing is around 15 000 per kilo. That plus the rifle, minus what you’re buying... 65 000 roubles. I’ll get the gems appraised and give you the rest later.”

“Alright, but I will hold on to thi”, I said, picking up the tiara, “I’ll also buy some 9 mil Luger ammo, two high-cap Beretta 92 mags and a sniper scope, with picatinny mount of course. I have also got these to sell,” I added, showing him the two weird stones that resulted from defibrillating Celestia with artifacts.

Hawaiian looked at them and recoiled. “Cobblestone... this is surprising. I wouldn’t dare touching these things, but the scientists will give you a great deal for them. Counting the stuff you’re selling, minus what you’re buying... all I can give you is 57 000,” he announced.

“Alright then.”

With my newly acquired money and equipment, I headed back to the technician’s workshop.

“Ah, stalker, I finished working on the first pistol,” said Cardan, showing me my M1911.

I whistled appreciatively. “You sure work fast. Show me.”

“Every internal part has been cleaned and lubricated, didn’t even need to replace any. The barrel was already threaded, I didn't need to replace it. Longer recoil rod, undercut trigger guard... the grips are as ergonomic as they can get. I added 1911-type night sights on it, I was very glad to learn that these parts fit the gun.”

“Wonderful. How much?”

“9 500 for the 1911, suppressor included, and 6000 for the Beretta, unless you want a custom compensator to go with it.”

"I will take the compensator."

"If I may ask though... why does your 1911 have Monolith markings on it?" asked the technician.

"It's a long story," I began, sighing.

As I summed up my story, I payed up, eyeing the ‘special’ rifle Cardan mentioned before.

“Now, about that special rifle from earlier...”

He looked at me, surprised. “Why would you buy it? The SVU on your back says you're not in need of long eyes.”

I smiled. “Well, it is not for me... Do you have anything to engrave wood... some kind of engraving equipment?” I asked, holding up Celestia’s tiara.

Cardan eyed the piece of jewelry for a moment, gave me a weird look and shrugged, scratching his hair. “Sorry, no can do stalker, we're into practical mods here. What do you need that kind of stuff for, may I ask?”

“I just want to do a bit of cosmetic customization to that rifle, it is for a gift.”

They had nearly killed me. They had taken all of my equipment. But worst of all, they had her. I couldn’t let her at their hands. But I couldn’t do anything.

I was walking. Slowly, but surely, I was making my way to Yanov Station.

I had been working for a while. I looked at my PDA. Two in the afternoon.

Vano and Celestia should have come back now. They must be late. I seriously hope nothing bad happened.

I shrugged off these thoughts and smiled as I examined my engraving work. It was beautiful; a rugged design married to perfection with a flawless ornamentation.

With nothing but my knife, I had carved the buttstock and the handguard of the FN FAL with the same pattern as Celestia's tiara. The curved lines followed the straights of the gun, the fresh wood below uncovered and making them clearer than the rest of the furniture.

It had taken hours, but the end result was well worth it.

I did not know I was this talented. Celly will love it!

I gave the rifle back to the technicians for safe keeping and headed to the hall of the former train station, determined to try out my new pistol. Before I went outside, I bought a few bottles of vodka from Hawaiian for target practice. I wanted to try out my pistols.

My breath was difficult and ragged. It hurt. I was walking. I was wounded heavily. My entire body was aching. My right arm was broken. I felt blood pouring out of the gunshot wounds on my chest. My machine gun was missing. My shotgun was missing. My artifacts were missing. My backpack was missing. My suit was destroyed.

I limped on two legs with difficulty, my head inched forwards, only one goal in mind: warn Strider.

Warn Strider. I have to... warn him... before it’s too late.

As it turned out, the pistol was accurate enough, but had more firepower than my old 1911. Thanks to its folding foregrip, the recoil was manageable, resulting in good groupings at twenty meters, which was well beyond this pistol's intended range.

I was about to turn around and go back to Yanov station when I spotted something in the distance. A limping bipedal figure was approaching.

What in the Zone is a zombie doing here?

Usually, zombies stay away from groups of people. They were rarely sighted anywhere near Yanov station. I frowned, before I took my sniper rifle and aimed at the figure. When I saw who it was through the scope, my heart nearly stopped.

Vano?

He did not look well: all of his equipment was missing and his ruined armor was bloodied. I let my rifle fall to the ground and ran towards my wounded friend.

As I catched up to him he fell to the ground, unconscious. Without thinking, I picked him up and ran to the station.

I slammed the doors open, Vano’s unconscious form in my arms. Everyone’s gaze turned towards me and the stalkers in the station started gathering around.

“MOVE!” I yelled, pushing aside the onlookers

“VANO!” yelled a voice.

Snag appeared among the crowd. “What happened?” he asked in a trembling voice.

“I don’t know,” I replied calmly. “MOVE!” I shouted again at the crowd.

I made my way to the infirmary of the station and laid down Vano on the couch. I checked his pulse... there was none. I put an ear to his bloodied chest. I could hear a beat, insanely fast and way too weak. Without thinking, I got him out of his armor tearing out chunks of the ruined SEVA suit and put my hands on his torso, performing emergency CPR, all the while Snag was observing, teary eyed and breathing heavily.

The medic hurriedly came to Vano’s side. “What’s his status?” he asked.

“Pulseless ventricular tachycardia,” I replied. “He must have lost a lot of blood, likely due to the multiple bullet wounds to the abdomen... no exit wounds,” I observed, moving Vano’s massive form around for examination. “Take my artifacts and close these wounds.”

The medic executed himself, sanitizing and healing Vano’s wounds with my artifacts.

“All external wounds sealed and sanitized. I’ll grab a defibrillator.” With that, the medic left to his infirmary. I kept compressing Vano’s chest.

Again.

And again.

After what seemed like an eternity, the medic came back with the defibrillator, an old paddle electrodes model.

*wwweeeeeEEEEE*

The medic charged the defibrillator, rubbed the paddles together and pressed them firmly on his chest while I kept on performing CPR, alternating between cardiac massage and artificial respiration.

“CLEAR!” he yelled.

I let go of Vano.

*KACHUNK*

His entire body tensed under the massive discharge of electric current. I checked his heartbeat once again. “Nothing!” I resumed CPR while the medic charged the defibrillator once again.

*wwweeeeeEEEEE*

The medic held he paddles against Vano’s chest once again. “CLEAR!”

*KACHUNK*

“Still no response. Back to CPR,” I said.

*wwweeeeeEEEEE*

“CLEAR!”

*KACHUNK*

“Nothing. DAMMIT!”

“Charging to 300!”

*wwweeeeeEEEEE*

“CLEAR!”

*KACHUNK*

…

Everyone in the room was silent as the medic slowly checked Vano’s pulse.

“Asystole,” he said. “Heart restarting. Condition: stable,” he added after a few seconds.

The stalkers gathered around loudly cheered. Relieved, I sat down on the ground and took a deep breath. My hands were covered in blood. I could taste Vano’s bile in my mouth. I felt like throwing up. But my friend was saved. And for that, I felt relieved more than anything else.

Snag wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug. “Thank you thank you thank you,” he said, crying.

“Errr, you are welcome, I suppose,” I awkwardly replied.

I looked at the medic. “Thanks,” I said, wiping my hands.

“Glad to be of assistance. Your friend will be fine, though he’ll need an extensive antirad treatment; he’s literally emitting gamma waves,” he said with a stern expression on his face.

“Would this help?” I said, taking my Bubble from my backpack.

The medic’s eyes lit up. “Yes, most definitely yes... I could also use your healing artifacts too. Your friends will need them to make a faster full recovery,” he said, attending to Vano’s minor wounds.

I took a deep breath. “Anything you need, I will provide,” I replied, handing him the rest of my artifacts. “Now, if you excuse me, I must discover what happened. Where is Cel-”

I turned around and was about to leave the infirmary when I felt a hand grabbing my arm. I looked down, only to see Vano staring at me, eyes wide open and breathing heavily, a look of strain and pain on his face.

“Bandits. They have her. They attacked us. They came from the Checkpoint. Didn’t *cough* didn’t stand a chance against their numbers. They have her. They *cough* they have her,” he stuttered, before falling unconscious again, his hand letting go of my arm and falling limp at his side.

What?... No... This cannot be happening...

The entire world seemed to fade away, the people around turning into indistinct colored blurs, their voices making an incoherent background noise. I leaned against the wall and slided down to the ground.

I have been so careless, I was not there. I let her, I let them both Vano and her down. What good am I if I cannot protect the rare people considering me as a friend?

I felt a tear form at the corner of my eye and make its way down my cheek.

So this is over huh? She’s been kidnapped and will be sent to some lab for some scientists to experiment on... I will not see her ever again... why do I even care?

I let out a sob.

Then I took a deep breath.

No.

I stood up. I narrowed my eyes. I gritted my teeth. I clenched my fists.

I will not let this stand. Whoever did this is a dead man. Whoever thought it was a good idea to fuck with my friends will die. I shall obliterate him... and all his ‘friends’ with him.

I turned around and left the infirmary, heading for Hawaiian’s store.

“Trader, I need ammo,” I said coldly. “Lots of it.”

Chapter 6: Mad World

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Chapter 7
Mad World

“Hawaiian, I need ammo,” I said coldly. “Lots of it.”

The trader raised his gaze to me and backed off, wide eyed. “A-anything you want. It’s on t-the house.”

I snatched a few boxes of 9mm JHP and a few magazines for my SVU without a word, turned around and headed to the technician’s.

“Cardan. Have you finished yet?” I asked.

“Wait a minute, I’m almost done,” he mumbled.

I grunted.

He raised his gaze at me. “I mean, Y-yes, of course. I was just tuning it,” he stuttered, handing me the guns.

I attached the suppressor to the 1911 and loaded it. After checking it for any malfunction, put it in its holster on my chest. I checked my modified Beretta pistol before I holstered it on my right thigh and grabbed my SVU, loaded it, checked its action and slung it over my shoulder. I put as much ammo and magazines as I could in the pouches of my vest. My firearms ready, I checked my knife: its long polymer blade engraved with the words 'Воин Монолита' - Voin Monolita, Warrior of the Monolith - was as sharp as ever. I put it in its sheath and counted my supplies.

I was ready to kill. I slowly stood up, donned my helmet and walked through the exit, slamming both doors open.

There were voices. I could hear Hawaiian talking.

Am I in Yanov Station?

I opened my eyes, only to close them immediately as the light from the ceiling blinded me. After a while, I slowly reopened them and slowly sat up, scratching my beard. I looked around and winced as a dull pain spread all along my back. I was indeed on the couch in the infirmary of Yanov Station.

Damn I feel like shit.

The medic seemed to notice I was awake.

His eyes widened. “You shouldn’t be awake yet! How is this possible?” he asked.

“Not the first time I’ve been told that,” I deadpanned. “Who are you and how long was I out?”

“Ah, where are my manners? Name’s Bonesetter, I’m the medic here. You’ve been brought here unconscious about an hour ago. I managed to save you with the help of a friend of yours. What’s your name?”

“Vano,” I said, offering a hand.

The medic smiled and shook my hand. “Nice to meet you, although I wished it was in other circumstances.”

I groaned and rubbed my temples. “Why? What happened exactly? I can’t remember.”

“Well, you told the guy who brought you here -Strider if I remember right- that ‘the Bandits have her’, as if they had kidnapped one of your friends.”

I shot up. “They have her? Where is Strider? We have to-”

“Calm down now. You’re not in condition to go anywhere,” firmly said the medic, forcing me back on the couch. “Besides, your friend immediately left after learning the news. At first he had a bit of a mental breakdown. He-”

“Wait. Strider? Mental breakdown?” I asked, dubious.

“Well he did look like he was going to faint... after that, he changed. I’ve never seen such a radical change in one’s behaviour. At first he was leaning against the wall, almost crying... then something snapped in him. I felt it. The man was literally emitting such an aura of anger and hatred I instantly felt in danger around him, even if it wasn’t directed towards me,” said the medic, suppressing a shiver.

I scratched my beard. “Strange. That's not the Strider I know. Mental breakdown?... weird.”

The medic sighed. “I don’t know. How is it so unlike him?" he asked.

"Emotional balance," I began. "The sniper must be able to calmly and deliberately kill targets that may not pose an immediate threat to him. It is much easier to kill in self-defense or in the defense of others than it is to kill without apparent provocation. The sniper must not be susceptible to emotions such as anger, anxiety or remorse," I explained.

"Sounds like something out of a field training manual," said Bonesetter, raising an eyebrow.

"That's because it is," I replied. "And Strider is a trained sniper and ex-Monol -forget I said that."

The medic shrugged. "You know him better than I do. I’m just glad he’s gone now,” he replied, suppressing another shiver. “Concerning your equipment... you only had your armor and a few things on you when you've been brought here,” he added, pointing to a table behind him.

“If they hurt Natascha... they’ll wish they’d never been born,” I muttered.

“Who’s Natascha? The one the bandits kidnapped?”

“My gun.”

Without adding anything, I went to the table. My PDA was there and in one piece, meaning I still had all my money: I never liked using cash. My SEVA suit was completely destroyed however, and all the rest of my gear was missing.

I shrugged. “Oh well. Now I know what to do with all my money.”

The medic looked at me, shocked. “You’re not worried about your friends?”

I smirked. “Nah. You said Strider went after the bandits, right? I would be more worried for them if I were you.”

I kept walking, slowly but surely. My destination? The old checkpoint: according to Snag, a lot of bandits like to hang out by this vestige of the soviet era; it is a strategic position or something like that.

So, what is the plan? ... I need information. As much as this checkpoint is well placed, it is not an easily defendable place. Too many points of entry, not a good place to keep a prisoner... guess I’ll ‘ask’ questions.

I was pulled from my thoughts by a beeping, courtesy of the thermal scanner in my helmet. It detected a lot of activity ahead, about thirty thermal signatures. I stopped, assessing the situation.

If I walk in, they might attack me. A lone stalker is an easy prey... what am I thinking? Me? An easy prey?

I smirked under my helmet and chuckled darkly.

Guess I am walking in.

I unslung my SVU from my back and I casually approached the checkpoint. A lot of bandits were patrolling around on the ground or on catwalks. There was three buildings: two on the left a big one on the right, guarded by a bandit.

Their leader must be in there.

Soon enough, the sentinels noticed me. Surprisingly, none of the bandits opened fire. I shrugged and proceeded. The guard at the entrance of the small building blocked me.

“Stop! Where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

Time to bluff.

I took off my helmet and locked my gaze with his. “Let me through, I have got business to discuss with Jack,” I deadpanned.

“Come on in then. To your right, then on the far left,” he said, stepping aside. "And holster that shooter."

I nodded.

What a moron.

I holstered my sniper rifle, entered the building and took a right turn to a corridor. At the end of it on the left, a door was opened. I walked to it and entered the room. A few pieces of furniture were disposed along the walls, various tools scattered on them and an armed bandit was standing on the far side of the room. Jack was on the other side, to my left, sitting on a chair behind a desk, wearing a long leather jacket.

The bandit leader raised his gaze to me. “Well, well, well... what do we have here?” he asked, a smirk on his face. “Who are you and why are you here?” he asked, presenting me a chair in front of his desk.

I put my hands on his desk. “Names are for friends, so I don’t need one,” I replied. “I am here to... negotiate.”

Jack looked at me curiously. “Negociate, heh? About what exactly?” he asked.

“I know for a fact that you and your men have captured a friend of mine. I want her back,” I firmly said.

My interlocutor seemed to be confused for a moment but his expression changed for half a second.

He knows.

“Doesn’t ring any bells. Now piss off, else I’ll blow your head off," he threatened.

Without a word I slowly turned around. I heard Jack stifle a laugh. I froze and snorted.

That’s it.

I suddenly pulled out one of my suppressed M1911 and shot the guard behind me twice in the chest before he could do anything. He instantly dropped his M16 and fell to the ground, dead. Seeing this Jack stood up and tried to raise his shotgun, only to be met by the muzzle of my silenced pistol.

“I do not think so,” I calmly said.

Apparently, the Bandits outside had heard the commotion, as I heard the guard outside tapping on the wall.

"Boss, you okay?"

I ignored him and turned my attention back to Jack.

“Sit down,” I added, before disarming the bandit and tying him to his chair.

He laughed. “You think you have a chance? Look at you, only a pistol. I have thirty five men out there, waiting for you!”

“Thanks for the headcount,” I said, switching to my modified Beretta.

Then the guard from the entrance ran into the room. “What’s going on in ther-” Upon noticing the bodies on the floor, his eyes widened. “ALERT-”

BRTT

I interrupted him with three hollowpoint 9mm bullets between the eyes, nearly splitting his head in half and sending a good chunk of his brain on the wall behind him.

“Thirty-four,” I said, looking at the results of the gunshot.

I heard shouts coming from outside; reinforcements were coming, not for me... fortunately. I really felt like blowing off some steam at the moment.

I picked up Jack’s discarded shotgun: an old and weathered Armsel Striker... a good tool for the task at hand.

Big, cumbersome, heavy and packing a punch.

His shotgun in hand, I went to Jack, held his chin and looked at him in the eyes.

“You are going to stay down and shut up until I am finished with your pathetic friends out there,” I said dryly.

“W-who are you?” he asked, panicked.

I pursed my lips and put my helmet on. “Good question,” I replied, before knocking him out.

This is going to be interesting.

I picked up the M16 the guard I had killed dropped.

The second bandit to burst into the room was greeted by a wall of lead to the gut. The hail hollowpoint high pressure 9mm bullets proved much more effective than my old pistol. They tore through the front of the man’s poor quality Kevlar vest, penetrated his body and expanded before exiting from his back, spraying squirts of blood over the far wall as well as on myself.

Impressive. I really like this gun.

Switching to the shotgun, I went to the corridor. Two bandits were there, aiming hesitantly at me.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

A wall of buckshot splattered them on the far wall before they could react.

Thirty-one.

I peaked outside. I could see two dozens of bandits from where I was.This time, they didn’t think and opened fire. I rushed out of the building and jumped behind a big concrete sewer pipe that was laying on the ground next to the building I just came out of.

Time slowed to a crawl as the as every sound around me faded away. I could sense every bullet hitting the wall I was hiding behind, where all the bandits were, their every movement, even their erratic breathing and the metallic clanking of their weapons' mechanisms... I could feel everything around me. I was not afraid... I felt confidence, peace even.

I stayed behind cover, waiting for an opportunity. After a while, the shooting stopped and I heard the telltale sound of weapons reloading. I shook my head.

Big mistake. Do they even know what ‘strategy’ and ‘suppressing fire’ mean?

I popped up from my cover and fired back, slowly unloading the rest of the shotgun magazine: steady, accurate... deadly. The three closest bandits fell to the ground, their heads annihilated by one well placed slug each. The next three on my right tried to switch to their pistols as I reloaded, only to be interrupted by a wall of... buckshot, this time.

Huh. Should have sorted the ammo I looted from Jack.

I spotted two bandits with shotguns on my left, aiming at me. Two shots later, both hit the ground, clutching their destroyed throat as their life essence left their bodies in the form of crimson, pulsating geysers.

I popped back behind cover and reloaded. One bandit managed to approach from behind, knife drawn.

Oh no you do not.

He raised his knife, preparing to stab me in the back. Letting go of my gun I spun around, blocked his jab with my left arm and promptly thrust my knee in his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. I followed by a hard right hook to the face, sending him stumbling backwards. Before he hit the ground, I recovered, unholstered my Beretta and shot him in the temple.

BRRTT

His head exploded in a shower of blood, brain matter and broken bone pieces, finishing to cover me from head to toe of grime. I grunted and wiped most of it off the visor of my helmet.

I felt a bullet whizz past me. I swiftly spun around and shot the responsible right in the chest. He dropped his AK rifle to the ground, a hand over his heart and fell to his knees.

That was sloppy.

I switched to the M16 I had looted and kept on shooting, hitting target after target. One after another they fell to the ground, dead... until only one remained. As I walked out of cover, he frantically looked around panicked, and turned away, trying to escape. He tripped on a rock and hit the ground with a thud, dropping his gun. I removed my helmet and walked up to him, occasionally putting a bullet in a still live Bandit squirming on the ground.

“P-please don’t kill me,” he begged. I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him to eye level. “Please,” he began. “I’ve got a family, oh God please no!”

BANG

Discarding the now empty M16, I laughed as the wounded man tried to crawl away from me, his terrified gaze locked with my manic one.

“Nice coat,” I said, kneeling down next to the soon-to-be corpse.

I ended the Bandit with my knife, intending to take his cloak.

“Very nice,” I added, adjusting the black leather cloak over my armor.

I let the dead bandit there went back to Jack, who was where I left him, strapped on his chair and unconscious. I proceeded to awaken him, slapping him across the face a few times.

“Wakey wakey,” I gently said as he opened his eyes.

The bandit slowly opened his eyes and looked around, a confused look on his face. Upon spotting me, his expression changed to a mixture of terror and defiance.

Defiance? I did not know why. Terror, maybe because I had half his buddies covering me from head to toe.

“I cannot say that your minions outside put up a real fight,” I taunted. “But it was fun, at least. Well! Now that you are awake, we will play a game. If you answer my questions, you will get out of this room alive.” I narrowed my gaze. “You do not, and... well. It is just a matter of how much you want it to hurt,” I added coldly. “Are we on the same page?”

He nodded, trying to speak through his gag.

“Good! Now,” I added, standing up. “First things first. Your name is Jack, Right?”

Once again, he nodded frantically.

“Good, good. Now where do you keep the... alien prisoner?”

I removed his gag, allowing him to speak. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he firmly said.

I sighed and punched him in the face. His head jerked violently to the left and blood splattered the wall. I punched him again. And again. And again. And again. And again, each impact of my clenched fist against his head resonating in the empty room.

I raised the bandit to eye level. His nose was broken, blood was trickling from his mouth, the whole left side of his face was bruised and battered and a few of his teeth were missing.

“Where is she?” I asked again.

The bandit said nothing and spat in my face, splattering a mixture of blood and saliva on my cheek, adding to what was already there.

“Oh well,” I said. “time to move on to something else.”

I replaced his gag and silently examined the furniture in the room. A few tools were lying around... I decided to crank things up a bit.

I snapped back towards Jack. “I see you have quite the workshop in here... very good,” I said, picking up a pair of pliers. “These are pliers. Very useful to work on extremities, such as fingers, toes, ears, nose... among others.” I pulled a chair and sat down in front of Jack.

“Stay back!” he yelled, wide eyed.

“Hands,” I began. “Oh so convenient hands. Very useful, they allow humans to grab things in a way no other animal can, enabling fine controls over tools expertly crafted... like these,” I said, twiddling with the pliers. “I will ask again,” I growled, approaching the metallic tool to his thumb. “Where. Is. She?” I slowly asked. “Do not try to be clever with me, even your pawn at the entrance knew of her existence,” I spat. “Tell me everything you know, else I will tear you apart,” I said nonchalantly. “Literally,” I added, yanking out the nail off of his thumb.

Jack’s eyes widened. His body tensed but he did not scream.

Well, that was anticlimactic.

The bandit panted. “I won’t tell you anything!” He shouted, glaring at me, spitting blood in my face once again.

I wiped the blood splatter and sighed firmly grabbing the Bandit's index finger in my hand. “Fuck you," I said, twisting the finger backwards, cracking the bones.“Okay? Fuck you.” I sighed and stood up. “Your goons have her captive. I just want to know where,” I stated. “Guess we are going to use something else,” I stated, picking up a blowtorch and a metal rod laying on a piece of furniture.

I ignited the blowtorch and used it to heat up the rod.

“Heat is an extremely effective torture method, as it cauterizes every wound it causes," I commented, staring at the metal rod as I heated it up. "No pesky bleeding, only pain... and maybe a general infection later if you are unlucky."

Once the rod extremity was red hot, I killed the torch and approached the rod from Jack’s panicked face so he could feel the heat emanating from it, before bringing it closer to his intact hand.

“See that?” I asked mischievously. "Red hot. Shhhhhh goes the flesh. Now where is she?”

“S-STOP! Please, st-top-p,” he stuttered, trembling. “I’ll talk.”

I tilted my head, faking surprise. “What? Already?”

“T-the old container depot, South West from here! That’s where I told them to keep the horse thing!”

“See, that was not so hard,” I said, lowering the metal rod. “How many men are guarding the place?”

“A-a few d-dozens or so, I don’t know...”

“You do not know?” I asked innocently, playing with the reddened metal piece.

“Around Fifty! Fifty men, with automatic weapons and shotguns.”

I said nothing and brought a hand to my chin before searching through the bandit’s pockets. After a while, I had found what I was looking for: his PDA, though it looked more like one of these fancy touch screen phones.

Where in the Zone did he get that? Looks nice though, I'll keep it.

I unlocked the device and browsed through Jack’s mailbox. The last conversation caught my attention. The first message read: ‘Jack, it’s Barin. There’s an alien in the Zone, and you’ll never guess what it is: A fucking winged unicorn pony! Her, yes ‘her’ name is Celestia, and apparently she can do magic. She’s white and colorful, impossible to miss out. She hangs out with two stalkers named Vano and Strider. Get some of your boys and go retrieve her, she’ll be worth the damn jackpot for my clients! Be aware, Vano is a giant armed to the teeth and as rumors say, that Strider is ex-Monolith. Don’t fuck this up. Share goes 40/40 and 20 for your boys, as usual.’

To which Jack had answered: ‘Shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll send my best fighters and it will be over before they even know it. Besides, that Vano still owes me money. The requested package will be delivered in time. A pleasure doing business with you.’

The last message was a reply from Barin. 'A pleasure, yeah, I’ll have some when I’ll get my hands on that fine piece of meat hahaha! I’ll be sure to break her before delivery. Jackal will be pleased with his latest acquisition.'

I took a deep breath.

Fine piece of meat? Break her? Barin, you fucked up.

“Who is this Jackal?” I asked, glaring at Jack.

“I-I don’t know! Some high-ranking Merc! That’s all I know I swear!”

“That is all I wanted to know anyway,” I said, freeing the bandit.

He fell to his knees and hugged my legs “Thank you, thank-”

“Oh, shut up,” I ordered, kicking him in the stomach. “What do you thank me for?”

I put my helmet back on, grabbed him by the collar and dragged him outside. There, I forced him to kneel and raised my Beretta to his head.

He looked at me desperately. “B-but you said-”

“I said that you would get out of this room alive. You did, did you not?” I calmly asked.

“IF YOU KILL ME YOU’RE DEAD YOU HEAR ME! YOU’RE DEAD! YOU’LL HAVE ALL MY DAMN FACTION AFTER YOUR BACK, YOU FUCKING MOR-”

BRRTT

“See if I care.”

The gunshots echoed in the distance. Jack’s body hit the floor, his brain splattered on the ground. A few ravens took flight. A gust of wind swept the land.

Should have switched to semi-auto.

A light rain began to mix with the blood on my garments. I turned around and walked away, to the container depot.

Hold on, Celestia. I am coming.

I jolted awake and groaned in pain. My head was throbbing and my right wing was killing me again. I was taken by a fit of coughing. My whole body felt numb. It was cold and the floor was wet. The scent of... cooking meat came to my nostrils. I gagged in disgust and tried to move. Something was keeping my mouth shut, my legs were tied up and... a leash was attaching me to the wall. There were voices around me...

Where am I?

I observed the room I was in. A few people clad in long black coats were speaking while sitting at a table and playing a card game. I heard voices from the outside... someone was coming.

The door slammed open and five dark figures entered the room. The one clad in mechanical armor ordered the others to go outside, leaving both of us alone.

He approached me. “Hmmm yes... Thanks to you I’ll be rich!” He lowly growled, removing his helmet. “But first...”

I instantly recognized him: it was the man I spoke to the day before, Barin. He moved his hand to touch my muzzle, and began to stroke my neck and my chest, down to my stomach... descending lower and lower... I desperately twisted my whole body, trying to escape from his dreadful touch.

I don’t want this, no no please, I don’t wanna be here, somepony get me out of here!

“Don’t you fucking move, bitch! I own you now!” he shouted.

He punched me in the face and my vision faded for a second, obscured by dancing lights. He punched me again, and everything went black.

I woke up with a gasp, only to hear Barin talking. I was still in the same place but this time, I was strapped to a table, my back forcefully pressed against the cold metal of the piece of furniture. My forelegs were attached together, my wings were restrained, and... my hind legs were forced spread out.

I began to hyperventilate.

I heard my captor chuckle. “You know, when I first saw you, I thought I was crazy, but I quickly realized I could make a profit out of it,” he said. “You are a very valuable item to my clients: you’ve got fucking MAGIC out of all things!” He laughed.

His joyful laugh filled me with fear and dread. This madman seemed to really enjoy what he was doing.

“W-why?...” I asked weakly, a tear of despair rolling down my cheek.

Barin entered my field of view. “But for money of course! Why else?” he asked casually. “You’ll be sold to some scientists and they’ll be very happy to cut you apart, for science of course,” he explained. “But first... I’m gonna have my fun,” he added, grinning maniacally.

I began trembling uncontrollably. “W-what are you doing? get away from me!”I yelled, trying to cast a defensive spell.

The throbbing in my head intensified, forcing me to fall limp.

Barin punched me again and grabbed my horn, almost breaking it in half. “Don’t try anything funny, or I’ll break that horn of yours, then I’ll break every bone in your body,” he growled. “It will reduce your value, and I’d like to keep your worth to a maximum, so don’t... just don’t,” he said, stroking my stomach.

I shuddered in disgust, my vision blurred by the insufferable throbbing in my horn.

Please... someone help... me..

“Look at you, whimpering and trembling. You’re pathetic,” he spat. He punched me one more time. “And so fragile...” he added, before punching me again. “Taking advantage of someone else have never been easier.”

I felt everything spin around me and my vision faded to red.

I don’t want to... no.

I felt myself say one word before I lost consciousness. One word, carried by a powerful voice I didn't know was mine.

“NO.”

I ran through the wasteland. A storm was brewing. The rain had intensified the night was beginning to fall. I ignored it, thankful for my newly acquired coat and kept on running.

Celestia’s sake was at stake, I did not want to lose a single second. Thankfully, the old container depot was not very far from the checkpoint. I stopped on a hill a few hundred meters away and crouched behind a bush to observe the bandit base through my binoculars. I counted the bandits and examined their patterns and equipment. I could see forty nine of them, all standing still or patrolling around. The sentinels, mobile or not, were never alone and seem to be moving in constant circuits.

Clever... but predictable.

I stayed on my vantage point, looking for a point of entry. The left side of the compound seemed like a good option: only two guards near the entrance, a dozen or so past them but a manageable way to the rooftops with the possibility to avoid them all; while the container storage area seemed heavily guarded.

A lone exosuit-wearing stalker approached the compound. Curiously, the bandits let him through.

I snorted. “Must be Barin.”

He made his way through the container storage and entered the main building in the back, two bandits clad in long brown coats following him inside.

Surely where they keep Celestia.

A couple of minutes later, all the bandits got out of the building.

My cue to go in.

I grabbed my SVU and checked it checked before climbing down the hill.

Hold on, I am coming.

I silently crouch walked among the bushes, taking a large detour to the left. After a couple minutes, I saw the two bandits a hundred meters away guarding the left entrance. They were sitting around a campfire and I could hear their conversation over the noise of the rain.

“Fucking rain,” said the first bandit. “I’m soaked to the bone now. Just great.”

“Stop complaining,” retorted the second one.

“Pfft, you can say that, you're the one with a waterproof suit."

"Yeah, whatever. You know what the boss is up to?”

“Last thing I heard, he was going inside to check up on the package.”

“Package?”

The second bandit shrugged. “Yeah, the horse thingy. Apparently, it’s worth a lot... rare animal, or something like that.”

“So the boss is into animal trafficking now. What’s next, slave market? Oh but wait, we already do that!"

The two bandits laughed.

I have the information I need.

I raised my SVU, made sure the suppressor was in place and looked through the scope.

TSHP

The first bandit fell to the ground. His friend made a move to grab his AK.

I don’t think so.

TSHP

He fell backwards, a hole in the windpipe.

Thanking the storm that masked my suppressed gunshots, I approached the campfire and hid the corpses in a shack nearby, which appeared to be an armory of sorts. A multitude of weapons and armors were aligned on the shelves on the walls along with a lot of ammo. I was about to leave when I spotted two piles neatly arranged next to each other: Vano’s guns and Celesta’s equipment. Their stuff seemed in good condition, even Vano’s machine gun was there. I decided to leave all the gear there and headed out.

Two bandits patrolling passed by. I waited until they were out of earshot and exited the armory. The night had fallen. I activated my night vision goggles but I could still not see or hear anybody.

Better take the high ground.

I climbed on the containers. From there I could see all the compound: most bandits were patrolling around, a few were sitting around a campfire and two of them were guarding the door to the far building, weapon in hand. I stealthily hopped from container to container, making my way to the building in the back. Nobody seemed to notice me as I positioned myself above the two guards. I pulled out my suppressed M1911.

I dropped on the first bandit, knife drawn, and drove it into his neck. His friend, seeing this, raised his shotgun...

TSHK

...only to be interrupted by a .45ACP round through the skull.

I heard screams inside the building. My 1911 still in hand, I unholstered my Beretta and slammed the door open, not bothering to hide the bodies.

BOOM

I got blown several meters away by a massive explosion and landed hard against the harsh metallic surface of a container. I tried to get up but couldn’t move. My vision was a blur of colors and my ears were ringing from the blast, I couldn’t hear a thing. When my hearing came back, I was greeted by the sound of gunfire and screams of pain. There was another explosion. I felt something hit my head. Everything faded to black.

Chapter 7: Such is Life in the Zone

View Online

Chapter 7
Such is life in the Zone

I woke up with a start. I was laying on my back. The ground was shaking. A rotten smell was in the air. I could hear an engine. Rain. Thunder.

Where am I?

I opened my eyes. Darkness. Wooden floor. A metal structure was above me covered with a dirty fabric soaked with water. I realized I was in an old military truck. I tried to move.

ARRRGH, THE PAIN!

I gasped silently. I managed to lift my head and take a look at my surroundings. At least half a dozen stalkers were there, laying around immobile. All of them were heavily wounded. One was laying against the back door of the truck. As lightning struck outside, I saw that half of his face was missing, the other half was bloodied beyond recognition.

Is he even alive? What is going on?

I could hear a buzzing sound as my vision started to fade. A dark form hovered above me, muttering something. There was a flash of lightning.

“GUUUUUUUUUUUHH”

I woke up with a gasp and coughed violently. I felt the ferrous taste of blood in my mouth. My whole body was numb. I opened my eyes. Through the cracked visor of my helmet, I could see the crescent moon high up in the sky, partially obscured by dark blue clouds.

I sat up with difficulty, removed my helmet and got a bearing of my surroundings. I was not in that truck anymore. I was back at the container warehouse the bandits occupied.

Fuck, I hate these dreams.

The rain had stopped. My brow was bleeding, probably broken, I was soaked to the bone and covered in mud and ash. The main building of the container depot was reduced to a smoking, charred wreck. The walls had crumbled on themselves and the roof seemed to have simply evaporated. I slowly stood up and walked to the smoldering ruins. There was nothing in there except rubble and molten metal... and I knew Celestia was in there when it happened.

Is she... dead?

She was nowhere to be found. Not a body, not even a pile of ash.

She... she is dead.

I felt a wave of a feeling I didn’t know overcome me. I felt naked, powerless, but worst of all, I felt lonely, abandoned.

I sat down on a pile of rubble, letting the news sink in. I pulled her tiara out a pouch of my vest. I did not know why I kept it, it seemed like a thing I had to do. I silently observed the golden crown, my head void of any thought. It was damaged but really beautiful: the perfectly cut gem in the center seemed to absorb the light of the full moon, reverberating it along the engraved lines ornamenting the tiara.

My hands tensed around the golden crown.

No, No. She cannot be dead.

I shook my head and gazed around me. I could see nothing but rubble, ash and dead bodies. I stood up and angrily kicked a rock sending it flying a few meters away before it hit the ground with a thud.

I said I would help her damn it!... And now... she is gone.

I haggardly walked around, trying to wrap my mind around what happened. The air was filled with the scent of smoke, gunpowder and the sickening stench of blood and burning flesh. Corpses were littered everywhere. I could identify some as bandits, but most were too crippled to be recognized. Some were burnt to a crisp, their charred remains unidentifiable. Others were cut wide open, their internal organs sprouting from their body as if a maniac had begun to gut them but never finished his job. One had his arms torn off from his torso, the missing appendages laying a few meters away, clutched around a metal pole in the ground. One was pinned to the wall by his own weapon, his face crisped in an expression of sheer terror. Another was sitting against a metal container, headless; everything above his shoulders plastered on the wall in a mush of blood, brain matter and broken pieces of bone.

I shivered.

What could have done that?

I suddenly felt light headed... weak. Everything around me was spinning. I felt my legs give up and I fell to my knees, breathing heavily.

What is happening to me?

Something sticky stained my hands when I put them on my thighs. A familiar ferrous taste came to my mouth. I spat blood. I looked at my hands... both of them were bloodied and the red liquid was making its way inside of the fingerless gloves. My thighs were covered in blood too. I patted myself and felt something stuck in my side.

Shit. I am going to bleed out...

I spat blood again and sat down, already resigned to my fate.

So this is it. I failed to protect everyone I managed to befriend and now I am going to slowly die alone...

…what am I saying? The shack! Everything the bandits have is there. If I am lucky Vano’s artifacts will be there too.

My mind solely focused on this new goal, I stood back up with difficulty and limped to the bandits’ armory.

Centimeter by centimeter, I was advancing. My breath was ragged, my step was unsteady, my vision was blurred, my whole body was trembling and my head was spinning, but I advanced. I struggled to walk, fighting against unconsciousness like an exhausted swimmer fights against the water. I had to if I wanted to live. If I fell unconscious I would never wake up again.

I do not have for long...

I arrived at the shack. I entered it and hastily searched through Vano’s gear. I took my friend’s Kolobok and felt around for whatever was impaling me. I got a good grasp on it and yanked it out in one motion. I gagged in disgust, nearly passing out. I may not feel pain because of my Monolith... heritage, but the sensation of having a foreign object being pulled off from my guts was far from pleasant. I sat there, immobile, fighting against the urge to throw up, only to empty the contents of my stomach on the ground half a minute later.

I pressed the healing artifact against my chest, not bothering to clean myself.

After a short while, my wounds began healing and my vision started to clear up. I sighed in relief and wiped most of the blood and vomit off me before examining the object I had pulled out of my side.

A metal pipe? Wait...it looks like th-

I apprehensively grabbed my sniper rifle slung across my back. It was there... or at least, what was left of it. Only half of the barrel was still in place, the other half was on the ground in a puddle of blood. The gas system of the rifle was torn in half, receiver was torn open and the lens of the scope was cracked.

I sat there, staring at the destroyed gun.

First Celestia, now my rifle, my weapon, my loyal companion who helped me out of so many close calls... taken away from me.

Taking deep breaths, I examined the inside of the armory, trying to focus on something. There was a lot of AK-pattern rifles, handguns and ammo on the shelves and even a few soviet WW2 guns. I could even see a Duty Radiation suit and a sort of military-grade battle dress in a corner.

Smuggled by Barin, no doubt about it.

I took everything I could including the suits of armor, leaving only a few handguns and soviet rifles.

These should help me make some money back.

I took Vano’s belongings and stood up. I eyed Celestia’s... I decided to take them too and make her a nice grave somewhere sunny to bury her things there.

Yet another anonymous tomb among so many.

After casting one last glance around me, I equipped myself with an AKS-74u that was laying on a shelf.

Rare thing.

I put a few magazines in the pouches of my vest now stained with puke and blood before taking a few bottles of vodka and smashing them on the ground. I ignited a couple of road flares and threw them in the puddle of alcohol.

I observed the flames as they began to eat up the wooden floor of the small shack, leaving black trails on the walls, before turning around, exiting the building and and leaving the compound, heading to whatever was coming to me. I walked, looking to the ground, my head occupied with thoughts I wanted to banish.

She is dead. I failed. And now what? Go back to the ‘normal’ life of a stalker?...

I let out a long sigh, both angered and saddened at losing her.

...maybe. Why am I so affected by that anyway? It is not the first time someone I know dies.

A distant mutant scream shook me out of my thoughts. I internally sighed and looked up. I could see a million stars shining in the sky and the moon was half hidden by a deep blue cloud. I would have found the sight beautiful in other circumstances. I sighed and lowered my gaze to the road in front of me before resuming my mournful walk.

When I raised my head again, I noticed that there was something ahead, a small speck of white and contrasting against the rotten green of the grass in the distance.

It cannot be...

My heart raced as I hurried to the spot of color. It looked like a quadruped creature lying on its side.

No, it is... It is her, it is really her!

Celestia was there, lying on her side, weakly trying to kick away a lone blind dog curiously sniffing her. I killed the dog with a burst from my rifle and threw its corpse away before and kneeling beside the alicorn. She was covered in blood, the tip of her horn seemed to have burned but she was physically unharmed: no fever, her heartbeat was strong and her breathing was steady. I gently put a hand to her cheek.

She weakly opened her eyes, raised her head and looked at me. “S-Strider? Is that you?” she asked in a raspy voice.

I sighed in relief and smiled. “Yes, it is me. You can rest now, You are not alone," I reassured her.

I cleaned the grime covering Celestia, gently wrapped her in my blanket and picked her up in my arms. I stood up and walked off to Yanov station. I lowered my gaze to her, only to discover that she had fallen asleep.

I thought you dead... how did you end up here, covered in blood?

Another wave of a strange feelings overcame me, but this time, it was not cold and dreadful. It felt warm, peaceful... and relieving. I felt happy.

Why is there a tear making rolling down my cheek then?

A twinge in my shoulder pulled me from my thoughts: a Blowout was incoming. I turned around and ran to the nearest cover, a small underground structure at the feet of the hill near the train tracks leading to Yanov. I hurried my pace and the building came into view soon enough. The characteristic rumble of a brewing Blowout could already be heard in the distance.

Celestia still curled up in my arms, I entered the building and gently laid her down on the ground and covered her with a blanket. I let her rest there and pulled out my pistols to check them. Their metal frame and slide were littered with scratches and the finish was very worn out, but they were still in one piece at least. I decided to take them apart completely. As it turned out, no parts were missing or damaged, and once reassembled, they seemed to function just fine.

Surprising. These pistols are a lot tougher than I thought.

I could hear a few zombies in the adjacent room. I quickly dispatched them and piled their bodies in a corner, before going back to where I had left Celestia. Outside, the blowout was just about to hit. I decided to move the alicorn to a safer place deeper into the structure. I sat next to her, waiting for the Blowout to pass. It seemed like an eternity before I could finally go outside again.

The Zone seemed peaceful on this night. The night sky was partially obscured by white clouds. I shivered and readjusted my scarf. The night was exceptionally cold. I did not like this weather. I sighed and rubbed my temples, thinking about what happened back at the bandit warehouse.

What in the Zone happened back there? How did this building explode? How did Celestia end up on the road?

I had so many questions. Hopefully she could answer them. I went back inside. Concerned, I observed the alabaster alicorn. She moved, thrashed and kicked a lot in her sleep.

“No... leave me alone... don’t...” she mumbled, still asleep.

I sighed and readjusted the blanket covering her, before sitting beside her and putting a hand on forehead. She had a slight fever, nothing worrying though.

Suddenly, she burst her eyes open and she shot up.

“NO!” she yelled.

I recoiled at her outburst, surprised. She frantically looked around before she buried her head in my chest.

“Why?” she asked, sobbing. “Why-y-y...?”

I said nothing and gently wrapped my arms around her. She stayed still and did not make a sound except for her quiet weeping. I did not say a thing stroking her mane. When I lowered my gaze to her she had fallen asleep, tears caking her alabaster fur.

What happened to you? I wished I knew... if only I had been there.

I remained still for a while, Celestia cradled in my arms before deciding to get some rest before sunrise. I laid the alicorn down on the ground and covered her with a blanket before sitting down next to her. I draped myself with my coat and leaned against the wall, closing my eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.

Grunting in pain, I slowly stirred and sat up. My whole body was stiff and aching. I shook my head and scratched my beard.

I was instantly tackled in a hug by Snag. “I was so worried! Are you okay?”

I chuckled. “I’m in one piece,” I said, returning the hug, giving him a peck on the forehead.

Bonesetter turned around and looked at me. “You look better,” he said.

Snag sat down next to me. “How do you feel?” he asked meekly.

“I hardly feel any better,” I deadpanned, standing up. “Ugh. Fuck this, I’m gonna see what Hawaiian’s got in stock.”

Bonesetter frowned. “You shouldn't leave yet, but... I can't keep you here forever,” he said. “Stay out of trouble.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I replied, heading for the exit of the infirmary.. “You coming, dear?” I asked Snag.

“Of course handsome.”

We both left the medic’s and headed for Hawaiian’s hop. He greeted us with his usual catchphrase and we began to do business.

“Watcha got for me?” I asked.

The trader smirked. “I dunno, what do you want?” he asked. “ I got a whole new stock, take a look at this,” he added, showing me the backroom of his shop.

I gazed upon the stockpile of ordnance in the room. I felt like Ali Baba when he first entered the forty thieves’ cavern. Everything a stalker ever dreamed of was there. My eyes stopped upon a shotgun and a very nice set of armor. I giggled like a schoolgirl.

Oh man, I’ve always wanted one of these!

I woke up to the sound of automatic gunfire in the distance. Finally the Zone seemed to be normal again. Celestia was sitting in a corner, distractedly chewing on an old bread loaf.

“How do you feel?” I asked crouching down next to her.

She did not even acknowledge me and kept on eating absent mindedly. I tried to gain her attention, once again to no effect. After a few more tries, I gave up. I sighed and went outside.

I looked at the sky. As far as I could see, it was entirely obscured by white clouds. They were not their usual grey color announcing rain but a pristine, almost blinding shade of white; forming a woolly, surreal moving ceiling.

Strange. Never saw that kind of weather before.

It was very cold as well. Shivering, I readjusted my scarf. My stomach growled.

Fuck. I should have eaten something after using that healing artifact.

Ignoring my hunger, I went back inside. Celestia was sitting in the same corner, only this time she was cleaning her shotgun. The weapon laid disassembled before her and she was in the process of polishing its wooden parts. There was something... off to her. Her movements were mechanical and her gaze was unfocused, as if she was trying not to think. I did not know what happened to her, but I knew she was not well. I had seen rookies being literally broken down by the Zone. I did not want this to happen to her.

I approached her. “Are you alright?” I asked.

“I’m fine,” she replied, not bothering to look up.

I sighed. I am not going to help that way. I stood back up and sat down in the other corner of the room.

After reassembling her rifle, Celestia raised her head and walked up to me. She looked very tired. Her blue mane was a mess, her ears were folded on her head and her eyes had bags under them. Without a word, she laid down next to me and put her head on my lap.

“Are you alright?” I asked again.

“M’fine,” she replied, snuggling against my side.

She did not look fine though... which was understandable considering what she had been through. We stood still for an eternity, the silence disturbed only by the occasional distant gunshot outside.

Staggering under the weight of the supplies I had bought from Hawaiian, I entered the technicians’ workshop, Snag following me suit. I dropped everything on the table Cardan was working at.

The gunsmith looked at me, dumbfounded, before examining what I had bought. His gaze switched back to me, an interrogative expression on his face. I nodded, smirking.

“You sure you want me to modify these Vano?” asked the technician.

I shrugged. “Well, yeah. You’re supposed to be the expert with this kind of stuff.”

The technician sighed. “I suppose I am, but I’ve never worked on this generation of exoskeleton before. And this shotgun! How much did you even pay for it?”

Snag laughed. “Artifact hunting pays well it seems. Hawaiian got new stock recently, and Vano here had a metric fuckton of money to spend.”

“Now are you going to get to work or what?” I asked.

Cardan rubbed his hands together. “Right away!”

Celestia had finished packing her things. She looked left and right repeatedly, pacing back and forth nervously, a concerned look on her face. I hoped she was just making sure she did not forget anything and not observing her surroundings out of paranoia.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

“Where are your weapons?”

I sighed. “I lost my sniper rifle,” I half-lied, waving dismissively. “I have this now,” I added, showing her the AKS-74u I had grabbed from the bandit’s armory. “Nowhere near as useful at longer ranges, but it will have to do for the moment.”

“Oh.”

I gave her a weak smile. “Hey, at least I still have you.”

The alicorn smiled, a light blush on her face, before her sheepish expression changed into a horrified look.

“You still- Did Vano... ?”

I held up a hand. “He will be fine,” I assured her. “He managed to make it to Yanov and warn me. He was badly wounded but now he is fine. When I said ‘I still have you’ I meant... nevermind.” I sighed and shook my head. “I suppose you can have this to complete your arsenal. We are on our own and I cannot allow you to be underarmed," I added, handing her an old SMG I had found in the bandit's armory. "This is an Agram 2000, a Croatian SMG. Very easy to use, shoots fast and extremely reliable. Perfect for stalkers and bandits alike."

“Thanks,” said Celestia, grabbing the gun in her telekinesis. As much as I hate to admit it... I really need more firepower.”

I gave her a small smile. “Indeed you do. Now, can we go?” I asked, doing my best to ignore the growls from my stomach.

Should have scavenged some food from these dead bandits...

“Wait!”

“Is there something the matter?” I asked with a sigh.

“I can feel a disturbance in the magic field around here,” said the alicorn, oblivious to my slight frustration.

“What do you mean?”

“You know, an unicorn horn is merely a channel for magical energies. Alicorn horns are a bit more complicated but the basic idea is the same: I can feel every fluctuation in the magic field around me,” she explained.

I raised an eyebrow. “Like an antenna?”

“It’s simplifying it to the extreme, but... that is the global concept.”

I nodded. “So you want to investigate this disturbance.”

Celestia’s head shot up. She smiled for the first time in a while.

“Yes!” she exclaimed before awkwardly rubbing her forelegs, ashamed at her outburst. “That is, if you want to...”

I smiled. “If you want to, so do I.”

I was not in the mood to explore, but antagonizing her could have disastrous results. I was just glad to see she was over the initial shock. Her behavior seemed to indicate she was on the way to remission... but healing mental scars take time. So many rookies become paranoiac, schizophrenic or depressive after a traumatic event. Some get better after a short time, some... never do.

I hope she will get better.

I pulled my pistols out of their holsters and followed her as she guided me deeper inside the concrete structure. We were underground by now, under the hill... in the next room, the zombies I had killed the day before were still lying on the ground.

Celestia’s gaze anxiously alternated between them and me. “Did you...?”

The sight of the corpses clearly distressed her. I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“Zombies,” I explained. “Just like at the parking lot anomaly yesterday.”

The alicorn gulped nervously and resumed walking, heading deeper underground. It was dark, very dark, and the stench of humidity was overwhelming. I turned on my flashlight. Celestia did the same. We were in a small room with big rusty pipes coming out of the walls.

Must have been some sewers. Or a ventilation complex.

A few meters farther, we attained the bottom of a dark staircase. I signaled Celestia to stop.

“I will take point. Cover my six.”

The alicorn nodded.

I gestured forward with my hand. “Moving,” I announced, raising both my pistols.

We slowly climbed the stairs. Every five meters, a door to the left lead to another tunnel. We decided to explore them later and kept on climbing. Unfortunately, the top of the staircase was obstructed by concrete rubble and metal debris, preventing us to go farther.

That was when a pack of rodents showed up. When I heard the characteristic high pitched screams of Tushkanos, my blood froze.

“Uh-oh," I muttered through my nervously clenched teeth.

Celestia looked at me, a worried expression on her face. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Mutants?”

The rodents swarmed out of the doorways. I squeezed the triggers of my pistols. “Open fire! Open fire!”

Celestia opted for her PPSh, which proved much more efficient than the pistols I was using. While she dispatched all the mutants importuning her with ease, I was quickly overrun by them despite using both of them at the same time.

Should have used the AK...

I backed off, trying to get away from their sharp claws, stumbled backwards and fell to the ground.

Shit. Shit shit shit shitshitshit SHIT!

I opened fire with my new weapon. It roared to life and made short work of the critters attacking me, obliterating them dozens at a time. Soon enough, all of them were... dead. I gulped.

I can’t do it anymore...

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Strider. “Fuck fuck fuck get them off me getthemoffme!” he yelled.

He was sprawled on the ground, thrashing and kicking away the little creatures attacking him. Without thinking, I grabbed all the small critters in my magic, closed my eyes, lifted them in the air and threw them away.

I winced at the sound of their bones crushing under the sheer force of the impact. I opened my eyes again. The mutants had hit with tremendous force the nearest wall, which was splattered with blood and gore. The mangled corpses of the mutants had slipped down the wall and were now piled up on the ground. I felt my legs give up under me.

What have I done?

[

I sat up and incredulously patted myself.

The rodents are gone. I am still alive... What happened?

The wall behind me was splattered with blood and the Tushkanos were piled up under the bloody smear. It looked like they had been forcefully slammed against it.

I looked around. Celestia was sitting on her haunches, her discarded weapon laying next to her. I approached her, only to discover that she was crying silently. I crouched next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, are you alright?” I asked with concern.

The alicorn backed away from my hand. “GET AWAY FROM ME!” she yelled. She was trembling and her eyes were widened, darting to every corner of the room. “I-I don’t want to hurt you."

I was dumbstruck. “W-what? You just saved me!”

Celestia curled up in a ball, holding her hind legs together with her forelegs. “I’m a monster. I’m a monster. I’m a monster,” she hammered, tears flowing from her eyes. “Get away from me. I don’t want to hurt you. Go away.”

“Celestia.”

“I’m a monster.”

“Celestia.”

“I’m a monster.”

“Celestia.”

“I’m a m-.”

“SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME!” I roared.

The alicorn jumped at my outburst and looked at me, her face showing confusion and fear.

"Sorry," I apologized, sighing. “I do not know why you say you are a monster, but one thing is sure: I will NOT abandon you here,” I said firmly, locking my gaze with hers, before I knelt down and gently wiped off her tears. “Now... tell me everything,” I said.

Celestia's weeping slowly quieted and she looked at me, a look of infinite sadness and pain on her face.

“Promise me you won’t hate me.”

I nodded. “I promise.”

The alicorn looked away from me. “I... I killed them.”

It can’t be...

“What do you mean?”

She shivered. “T-the bandits. They held me prisoner. B-Barin t-tried to... I'm didn't witness what happened but I saw the aftermath. I know I snapped, Strider. I went feral. I k-killed them. I’m-I’m a monster!” she stuttered.

Strider looked at me. “Am I a monster?” he asked.

His question took me off guard.

What does he mean?

“N-no. You helped me... you gave me everything I needed to survive in this wretched place, you taught me, you listened to me when I was sad,” I hesitantly replied. “You’re my life buoy,” I added under my breath.

The bald stalker held me by the shoulders and locked his gaze with mine. “Right. Well then know this: I have killed before, and I do not regret it. I will kill again, and I do not fear it. I have done gruesome things to survive and prevail. This is how this place work,” he said. “You are not a monster,” he affirmed. “Just because you killed someone them does not make you a cruel per-pony. These bandits captured you, held you prisoner... I do not know what they did to you but they were the monsters. You did what you had to do. It was not the right thing, but it was needed. You just listened to your survival instinct. You should not feel bad for it, because you could have been killed, or worse...” he trailed off, looking away from me.

I looked at the ground. “I... have been told,” I said.

We stayed silent for a moment.

“I am just glad you made it out alive,” finally said Strider, pulling me into a hug. “I thought you were dead!”

Something broke inside of me. The dam holding repressed feelings had cracked. All the emotions I held back until then... I let it all loose. I needed to. I returned the hug and burst out crying in his arms. I let it all go, tears washing away the tension I had repressed so far. I felt good in his arms. I felt secure, peaceful. I was alive, and I was with him... nothing else mattered. After a while, I broke the hug and looked away.

“Does it get any easier?” I asked.

Strider sighed. “I will not lie to you. I have seen rookies break down after a traumatic event, be it killing someone, being injured or the losing a friend... it never happens with experienced stalkers. The everyday life in this place breaks people, it changes them. The weak die, the strong become stronger. Such is life in the Zone, as we say,” he explained. “I know that you are strong, deep inside,” he said, holding my muzzle. “You will become more resilient to the ‘horrors’ of this place until they do not bother you anymore. I do not think it is a bad thing. Being numb is not a mark of cruelty, it merely shows that you are capable to adapt. Killing is a day to day activity here, it is just a way to prevail. If you do not adapt, you die. You are not a monster, you are simply... adapting.” He made a pause. “I do not know what happened exactly back there, but if you want to talk about it, I will listen,” he added.

“I’m not sure if I'm ready to talk about it yet...” I rubbed my forelegs hesitantly. “... but after that, I know I went feral.” seeing Strider's interrogative expression, I continued. “It’s a defense mechanism alicorns have. After a prolonged period of physical or mental stress, we just... snap. It results in a dramatic increase of magical power and... loss of control.”

“Oh.”

“Did you see... the results?” I nervously asked.

Strider silently nodded.

“Imagine what could have happened if I were at full power,” I said with a shudder.

“What could have happened?” he asked.

“I... could have gone supernova.”

I shuddered.

I entered the workshop, followed closely by Snag.

“Hey Cardan, you done yet?” I asked.

The technician smiled. “Haha yeah, check this out!”

He showed me the armor... it was beautiful. It looked like it had nothing to envy to a tank, really. It seemed to be able to take a RPG to the torso and still protect its wearer.

With Cardan’s help, I put on my power armor. The jumpsuit was the first to come on, followed by the hardened bulletproof vest, the ballistic plates and the proper exoskeleton. I looked down and examined myself.

“I did my best,” began the technician. “I reinforced the jumpsuit: it’s got asbestos yarn inserts and I coated it with my secret beryllium-based mixture so anomalies and radiation shouldn’t pose a problem. The suit's exoskeleton is mostly made of hardened steel but a lot of weight has been dished out thanks to the use of titanium and carbon fiber. The ballistic vest already had a good level of bulletproof protection... I added several hardened steel/Kevlar sandwich plates for good measure. Each of these bad boys is thirty-seven millimeters thick: anything short of an armor piercing rifle round at point blank range won't do so much as scratch the paint. The limbs are protected by the same type of material, only the plates are thinner and smaller in order to avoid chafing: this allow for better for mobility at the cost of overall protection. The joints and servomotors are protected by thick-ass rubber sheaths and each critical hardpoint is covered in solid titanium plates; no need to worry about a mutant clawing off critical components. Main power source is a Flash artifact, backed up by a Sparkler artifact. Both will last forever and are relatively cheap. And the icing on the cake: the fourth generation servomotors. They increase the wearer’s strength without sacrificing his mobility. Meaning? They negate the forty kilograms of the armour and still be able to run all day long waving heavy weapons around like a madman. Perfect for a reckless mutant hunter like you.”

I took a deep breath. “I missed everything you just said,” I told the technician. “Hey, how do I look? Pretty cool, huh?” I asked, turning towards Snag.

Cardan sighed “Any questions?”

I made sure everything was in place and working then powered up the suit, starting its systems from the wrist mounted computer. Immediately the armor felt weightless , sign of the servomotors working as intended.

Cardan examined me. “Alright. Let’s see if this thing works. Move around a bit.”

I stood up and walked around, surprised at the complete silence of the power armor.

“Aren’t servomotors supposed to be noisy?”

The technician shook his head. “Nah, not these ones. Unless they are cold, damaged or you exceed the maximum weight limit they should stay silent. Any noise is a sign of a malfunction.”

“Oh ok,” I said, waving my arms around. “The mobility is better than I expected.”

Cardan shrugged. “As far as I can tell the, it’s a true fourth gen, not a ‘3.5’ like most people have: a lot of design flaws have been resolved. It's got better ergonomics so movements aren't as restricted as before and it should be easier to put on and off alone, too. Here’s your weapons,” he added, handing me my new shotgun and revolver.

I grinned and grabbed the weapons. “Thanks. I’ll be on my way now.”

“I’m coming with you,” said Snag.

Supernova... that would have been ‘rather’ bad. Is she really capable of such a thing? Damn.

Celestia stood up. “Let’s find the source of the disturbance,” she said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

Before I followed her, I quickly examined my armor. The explosions and fire at the bandit warehouse certainly did not do any good to it but the mutants finished the work: the jumpsuit was riddled with holes and many armor plates threatened to fall off. I sighed. I liked my armor. It did not hinder movement, offered balanced protection while having a couple of artifact containers.

I hope Cardan will be able to fix this.

We arrived in a dead end. Apparently, the blocked stairs were the only way to proceed further.

The alabaster alicorn frowned. “I really want to know what’s causing this anomaly... perhaps there is another route,” thought out loud.

I crouched down next to one of the pipes coming out of the wall. “Maybe through those big pipes in the wall there, there is a ladder in one of them. I do not know how to get you to climb it though.”

The alicorn walked up to the pipe and examined the ladder. “Hmmm... maybe if you climb first, you’ll be able to pull me up.”

I shrugged. “Alright, let us try that... tell me, would you happen to have any kind of food on you at the moment? I am starving.”

“No, sorry,” she said with an apologetic expression.

I sighed. “Thanks anyway.”

I walked up to the pipe and climbed the ladder. Once up top, I reached down and grabbed Celestia’s forelegs, helping her up. She felt heavier than usual, sign I was beginning to tire out.

Already? I need sustenance, fast.

“Thanks.”

“Anytime,” I replied with a small nod.

We were now in a concrete corridor. The walls were stained by humidity, the floor was covered with rubble and a lone creaking beacon light was struggling to illuminate the area.

Celestia strode forward. “Follow me.”

We arrived in a large room with multiple rows of concrete pillars. The stench of humidity and mold was overwhelming. The floor was uneven, a puddle of stagnant water here and there and various rusty metal scraps were scattered around. I followed Celestia as she went between the first row of pillars and the wall on the right. On the other side of the room, there was a doorway leading to a corridor not unlike the previous one.

After the corridor, we ended up in the same room. Not a room very similar to the one we left behind, no, the exact. Same. room. Every puddle of water, pile of rubble and rusty metal part was at the exact. Same. Place. We did not change direction and somehow ended up in the same room we just left... through the door we entered it in the first place.

I froze in surprise. “Wait, what?”

Celestia frowned and brought a hoof to her muzzle. “Looks like we found the first disturbance.”

I scratched the back of my head. “The first? What do you mean? What is this ‘disturbance’?”

“Shh. Look.”

There was a loud, strange sound. It sounded like... a parody of what a gust of wind would sound like. With some sort of sparkly sound in the background. Between the first row of pillars and the wall, a... curtain of dancing stars appeared, just like that.

Oookay... no THAT is strange.

“Err, Cel? Mind telling me what is going on?”

“It seems like there is something teleporting us back at the end of this tunnel... as if something didn’t want us to go any further.”

I raised an eyebrow dubiously. “Right.”

“I’m not lying! Between these pillars, I can sense... something. Maybe it’s the key to get past this... anomaly. Just follow me, we’ll see what happens.”

We headed to the exit of the room again, this time walking between the first and second rows of pillars. We ended up in the same tunnel, leading to the same room once again. This time, two ‘curtains of light’ appeared. Celestia lead us through the room between the third row of pillars and the left wall. When we arrived to the room, a fourth sparkly curtain appeared.

Deep in thought, brought a hoof to my muzzle. A strange feeling was tugging at my horn, urging me to walk through the magical passageways between the pillars. I signaled Strider to follow as I headed to the first starry arch.

Strider froze, a wary expression on his face. “Are you sure about this? Usually, walking into an anomaly does not end well.”

I gave him a reassuring smile. “It will be okay, I assure you. Follow me.”

I walked through the first sparkly curtain and sure enough, nothing happened. It just felt like if I passed through a fountain of cold water. I suppressed a shiver and kept on walking. After walking through each light arch, we reached the exit of the room. The corridor had a strange feeling of déjà-vu yet seemed different. Strider in tow, I walked to the end of the dark tunnel.

This time, we were greeted by a new sight. There were broken parts of rusty machinery and rubble scattered everywhere, but the room itself was different. It was circular, a ladder was descending from a metal platform a few meters under the ceiling, and there was a strange looking tree in the middle with a puddle of pristine water at its feet.

Strider took off his helmet and stared at the tree wide eyed. He crouched next to the puddle of clean water and brought his artifact detector a few centimeters above the surface.

After a full minute, he turned towards me, wide eyed. “Do you know what this is?” he asked.

I raised an eyebrow, shrugging.

“You just found the mythical Oasis.”

I raised my other eyebrow, wondering what he meant. “The what now?”

“A place I have heard of in stories. Some people say mutants do not attack there, some claim it is a place with artifacts everywhere. Others believe this place heals all your wounds,” He explained, removing his glove from his left hand.

I cringed at the sight of the burns and deep cuts across his appendage. “You had this the whole time? Why didn’t you use your artifacts?”

“I am starving. In this state, healing artifacts do more bad than good,” he deadpanned.

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"No. Perks of having been a Monolithian, I suppose."

Strider then immersed his hand in the puddle of water. After a few seconds, he pulled it out only to reveal a fully healed hand. Only a few faint scars testified of his previous injuries. He examined his newly healed hand.

“Where does this power come from?” he wondered aloud.

The bald stalker looked up to the tree. Only then I noticed the strange fruit attached to it. its skin was translucent and I could see a moving green... core inside of it. He seemed to notice it too, as he stared at it for a while, wonder and curiosity showing on his weathered face.

“Of course. Hang on...”

My hands were shaking slightly and my stomach was burning.

Fuck. I need to eat right now. Maybe this ‘Oasis’ has more in common to normal regenerative artifacts than I thought after all.

I stood up, grunting at the effort, before picking up the strange artifact from the tree. It was strange, almost alien. Its surface was translucent and it looked like there was an egg shaped goo-like turquoise nucleus floating inside. All artifacts have a resemblance to the original material they come from but this one was way too strange for me to identify what it could have been before transmuting. Noticing the huge amount of radiation it was emitting, I put it in a lead lined pouch of my backpack.

I wonder what other properties this artifact has. Maybe the scientists will want to study it.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of barking coming from the tunnel we came from.

Pseudodogs. I am in no condition to fight and Celestia cannot fly in this tight space... the ladder.

“Celestia!” I called.

The alicorn turned towards me, a surprised expression on her face. Without a word, I snatched her up, earning a startled yelp from her and ran for the ladder. Thankfully I managed to reach it before the mutants could get to us. I quickly climbed it and set foot on the metal platform before letting go of Celestia. I took a deep breath and laid down on the cold metallic surface, panting.

The alicorn looked down towards me. “What the hay was that for?” she shouted, blushing.

“Still bothered by that whole ‘Stallion's habit’ thing?” I asked, catching my breath. “Look down,” I added, not bothering to move.

I stayed there, laying on my back, staring at the concrete ceiling. I heard Celestia walk to the edge of the platform. A few seconds later, she came back staring at me, a dumbfounded look on her face.

“How did you know these mutants were coming?” she asked, impressed.

“I heard them, that is all," I explained, sitting up.

“You heard them? That’s impossible! And why didn’t you fight them off? It’s not your style to just... flee.”

I sighed. “I am starving and overall in no condition to fight,” I said, showing her my ruined and bloodied armor. “There is no point in entering an unneeded combat,” I explained, sighing. “When I woke up, I was heavily wounded. I had to treat myself with Vano’s artifacts the bandits had stolen and thankfully stored in their armory, then I discovered I had nothing to eat. You already know how healing artifacts work.”

Celestia stayed silent, a look of understanding and sympathy on her face.

I stood up. “Let us go, there is a long way to Yanov," I said, stirring. "The faster we go the faster we will be there. Besides, we should bring that artifact we found to the scientists. I am sure they would appreciate the gesture.”

“Let’s go then.”

I smiled. “We still have a ladder to climb, and it is way too cramped in here for you to fly up.”

The alicorn sighed in defeat. I picked her up and set her comfortably on my back. “You ready?” I asked.

She nodded.

I climbed the ladder. Once on top of the concrete structure, I set her down on the floor. Once again, she was blushing furiously and avoided eye contact. I chuckled and observed our surroundings. We were on top of the ventilation complex, near the bandit checkpoint.

I felt blood rushing to my cheeks as Strider gave me yet another piggyback ride. Not from embarrassment though... I actually liked it.

Why am I okay with that?

Strider looked around and approached the edge of the platform. I followed him, only to discover there was a big drop to the ground. After looking down, the stalker just jumped. He landed on his feet unscathed, not even losing his balance.

WHAT? How?

He looked up. “Are you coming or what? We do not have much time until nightfall.”

I backed off from the ledge. “Are you crazy? It’s a good five meters from here to the ground!”

The stalker raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“And I’m going to break all of my legs!” I yelled.

Strider laughed. “Just use these wings of yours and glide down already.”

I facehoofed.

Sigh. I’m an idiot.

I spread my wings and jumped off, gliding down and landing gracefully next to the bald stalker.

“No comment,” I mumbled.

“I said nothing," he replied defensively.

I smiled. “Good. Now can we-”

Suddenly, Strider perked up and glanced around, an apprehensive expression on his face.

I looked at him worriedly. “What? What’s going on?”

“Get to a high point. Now,” he commanded.

I was about to do so when a dog jumped in front of me. Without hesitation, Strider spun around and obliterated the mutant with a round from his carbine. Immediately, at least two dozens more appeared from the bushes, growling menacingly.

“NOW!” he yelled.

“I’m not leaving you alone,” I firmly said.

No time to think. Act fast. Not like last time.

I armed my A2000, aimed at the dogs and opened fire. Strider switched to his rifle and did the same. One after another, the mutants fell to the ground... dead, but they kept on coming. For each one we killed, three took their place. It was hopeless.

Strider turned towards me. “Run-”

He was interrupted when a massive, hairy mutant charging into him, throwing him a few meters away. He didn’t get back up.

“Strider!”

I retaliated and emptied my SMG into the beast, effectively killing it. The dogs retreated. They didn’t seem to want to leave but stayed a few meters away, giving me some respite. I ran up to Strider’s side. His breathing was erratic and heavy. Blood was pouring out of his mouth and nose.

“Fucking Boars... *cough* always there when you d-do not need them.” He spat some blood. “*cough* I think I broke something,” he added, sitting up.

Keeping an eye on the nearby dogs, I examined the stalker. His armor was torn up in multiple places, letting the armored plates and even his skin appear underneath. I winced as I saw how badly his torso was hit. It seemed like none of his ribs wasn’t broken. I readied one of his artifacts to heal him but he grabbed my foreleg.

“No! It will *cough* do more damage than good I need food first.” He coughed violently and spat blood again. “If you try to use that on me in my current state, it will kill me.”

I turned away from Strider as another of these Boars jumped out of the bushes behind me. I instantly grabbed my SMG in my magic, took aim and squeezed the trigger.

*click*

The weapon was empty. I had forgotten to reload it. The mutant charged.

No no no-

It hit me with tremendous force, knocking the wind out of me and sending me tumbling to the ground next to Strider. I tried to stand back up, only to hit the ground again, my right foreleg broken. Then the pain hit me, barely contained by the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I screamed.

The beast turned around and prepared to charge again. I shakily raised my double barrel shotgun with my magic and aimed it at the beast. It charged. I squeezed both triggers at the same time, dropping the creature. I hopped back up on three legs with difficulty. Through my blurred vision I saw the pack of dogs from earlier come out of the bushes, accompanied by a few horribly deformed humanoid mutants I had never seen before, walking on all fours, their spine exposed... and they were wearing gas masks.

Panting, I reloaded both my weapons and opened fire at the crown of mutants all guns blazing. It seemed to be useless. There were so many I couldn’t count them. One of the gas mask wearing mutants tackled me to the ground and clawed at me. It easily went through my leather jacket and would have eviscerated me if it wasn’t for Strider. He kicked the beast off of me and then proceeded to stomp it to death, before throwing me Vano’s shotgun without a word.

I did not lose an instant. I was bleeding heavily, one of my legs was broken and my whole body was aching, but I was still alive. And I wasn’t going to let these beasts kill me. I reloaded my weapons and pumped Vano’s shotgun.

“GO AHEAD AND TRY!” I yelled, firing all my three weapons at the same time in the general direction of the mutants. “YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME? COME AND GET IT!”

The A2000 decimated the smallest critters while the shotguns put in place an effective wall of lead, preventing the beasts from advancing further.

My SMG clicked empty. I searched for another magazine but didn’t have any more. I discarded it and kept firing my shotguns in the direction of the mutants, which were now retreating. I thought we were going to win when a gigantic, four legged, two headed mutant appeared out of the bushes. It snarled at me jumped at me, pinnning me to the ground, only to be hit by a volley of bullets from Strider’s rifle.

“HEY UGLY!”

The mutant let go of me and jumped at Strider, who clenched his teeth and opened fire on it with his rifle. The creature tanked all the bullets without so much as flinching and jumped at Strider, pinning him to the ground this time. He let out a yelp as he fell to the ground under the weight of the massive beast, which opened its maw and-

Another masked mutant came out of the bushes. It jumped on me and tilted its head, as if examining me. I tried to reach for my weapons with my magic but couldn’t lift any of them. They felt so heavy.

The creature on top of me raised a paw, most likely preparing to behead me. I closed my eyes, took a deep, ragged breath and braced for the end.

I only heard the loud roars of two automatic weapons going off.

I opened my eyes. All the mutants were dead. The mutant on top of me was gone and the two headed beast was laying on the ground next to Strider, dead. Through my hazed vision, I could see the shape of a man wearing a black and red mechanical armor was standing between Strider and I.

I felt a tear of despair roll down my cheek.

No. No. No. No. It can’t be. He’s dead! I killed him!

The stalker rested his weapon on his shoulder. I saw another man come up behind him.

“How the fuck did they attract so many mutants? Jeez,” he said.

“My guess? They were already injured and they smelled their blood,” replied the first stalker, resting his weapon on his shoulder. "Looks like we arrived just in time."

Wait. I know this voice... Vano?

Chapter 8: Standing Back Up

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Chapter 8
Standing Back Up

The cold breeze had died out and the air was still. Everything was calm and even the vegetation seemed to have relaxed, though I could hear what sounded like firearms discharging and mutants screaming in the distance.

This place never knows peace, does it?

Vano and Snag had arrived just on time to save us from dying at the claws of the mutants. After that, Snag had taken the high ground on the concrete structure behind us and was watching our surroundings, occasionally looking through the scope of his rifle.

Strider wasn’t laying on the ground anymore, Vano had helped him sit up against a nearby rock. It seemed like none of the bones in his body wasn't broken and he was covered in blood. He was still conscious though, his alert eyes gazing around attentively.

How can he be so calm and stay silent like that when he’s-

*crack*

I screamed in pain when Vano reset my wing in place. It hurt for a bit but the pain quickly numbed as Vano pressed his healing artifact against the wing.

And I thought the leg was painful...

“Are you OK?” asked the giant.

“Yes. Thanks for the help,” I replied, flexing my wing a few times. “How come Strider is so calm?” I asked, giving the bald stalker a worried glance.

“Perk of having been Monolith, I suppose,” Vano replied with a shrug.

Strider coughed violently. “I do not feel pain at all, both a blessing and a curse,” he explained in a raspy voice. “How many times have I almost died because I did not feel that something was wrong with me...”

“That’s... disturbing.”

I felt a lump of worry form in my throat as I examined the bald stalker closer. He had several bloody gashes running along his cheek and across his brow, a bloody bone was sticking out of his right leg and his left arm was bent at an awkward angle, seemingly dislocated. His armor was completely destroyed; some armored plates were missing or cracked in half, his vest was torn to shreds and was stained with blood and what looked like dried puke.

“Are you going to be alright?” I asked apprehensively.

Strider coughed a few times. “I do not *cough* I do not know. Given proper care, yes... maybe,” he croaked. “That *cough* that is... If I do not *cough* bleed out before,” he added grimly.

Vano stood up and silently examined the injured stalker, nodding a few times. I already knew what was going on in his mind.

“You can’t use a artifacts on him in his state,” I despaired. “That would kill him!”

The bearded stalker grunted. “Lady, who’s the expert here?”

“Not really,” I admitted.

“I thought so,” he added. “Using a healing artifact won’t kill him, just make him feel extremely tired, though his wounds need to be reduced before... and that I can’t do. I’m no medical expert,” he concluded. “We do something, fast. He’ll bleed out otherwise.”

“Can’t Snag-”

“No. He’s even worse than me at playing the doctor,” he replied, nervously pacing back and forth.

I closed my eyes and quickly assessed the situation: Strider was heavily wounded and would die if nothing was done and neither Vano or Snag could help him. Transporting a wounded is dangerous and he wouldn’t last long enough, considering the rate at which he was bleeding. That left... only me.

I took a deep breath. “I’ll do it,” I said. “You said I can use healing artifacts; my magic will make the task easier,” I affirmed.

The giant eyed me dubiously. “Really? You have learned in two days how to be a field surgeon or what?”

“I. Will. Do. It. We are losing precious time arguing. Just let me help him, okay?”

I wasn’t looking forward to play the doctor but it was necessary. I didn’t want to lose Strider, and Vano’s indecision was beginning to be unnerving.

“I will *cough* I will help her,” interrupted Strider. “With my help, I am sure she will be more than able to do it,” he affirmed, occasionally coughing, small blood streaks coming out of his nose. “I do not have until we get to Yanov between the blood loss, infection and embolism risks, you know it.”

Vano shook his head. “Go ahead. I’m no use here... so do your best. I’m going to see how Snag is doing,” he grumbled, standing up and walking off.

“So... what now?” I shakily asked, turning towards Strider. “I know it’s hard, but you’ll have to help me, I’m lost here.”

“Before we do anything you will need *cough* need to reduce my *cough* wounds, bandage them and completely treat the ones with the highest risk of infection. Then I will need food to before I will able to heal completely,” Strider explained. “Look in my bag. There should be *cough* food and some medical supplies.”

I sat down next to the bald stalker and opened his bag, quickly finding the needed supplies. I took half a dozen of bandages and sat down next to the bald staker, looking at the open fracture. The leg was caked in half-dried blood and mud, the bone was sticking out of the skin and blood was leaking out of the gaping wound. Shuddering in disgust, I approached my forehooves from the horrendous injury.

I looked at Strider hesitantly.

He gave me a small nod. "Go ahead. *cough* You have to put it back into place," he said, a calm look on his face, before unsheathing his knife with his valid hand. "Take *cough* take this. You will need to dissect the tissue to reset it."

My ears flopped down on my head. “T-tissue?”

Strider gave me a weak nod. “Skin, muscle, bone... anything *cough* anything that looks too damaged to heal properly must be removed. I will guide you if you need.”

I grabbed the knife and gulped both out of apprehension and revulsion before I poked the naked bone. I shuddered in disgust at the contact. Fighting an urge to throw up, I cut the torn jumpsuit of the armor and got his leg out of the clothing layer. Taking long, deep breaths I incised the already infected skin, drawing thin lines of blood. I took a clean bandage and wiped the excessive blood before slowly sliding the knife around the damaged skin, progressively separating it from the muscle and the injured calf.

It was not a pretty sight to behold. The muscle, instead of a normal red color, had become black and purple in the areas damaged by the broken bone; and what looked like pus was beginning to form in some places. Severed blood vessels were cut, freely dripping blood and mud had gotten in the wound.

“Irrigate it,” croaked Strider, snapping me out of my horrified trance.

I looked around and noticed a canteen lying on the ground. I opened it and slowly poured water over the skinned appendage, washing away the blood and dirt off the exposed muscle and hopefully preventing any serious infection.

“Mama’s Beads,” croaked the bald stalker.

I froze, staring at him. “What do you mean?” I asked, looking at him interrogatively.

“Artifact. *cough* Mama’s Beads. Sanitizes wounds.”

I gasped in comprehension and searched through Strider’s backpack. The only artifact I found looked like a double-helix of red, glassy pearls. I held it in the air and Strider nodded weakly. I then took the artifact and pressed it against his leg in my magic.

“Good. That should *cough* that should prevent any infection,” he weakly said. “Now take the *cough* the knife and remove any damaged muscle tissue,” he added. “It will grow back as you use the healing artifac- *cough* artifact.”

I paused, looking hesitantly at Strider. He gave me a small nod and closed his eyes, taking a deep, ragged breath. I carefully examined the naked flesh, deciding which part to remove and which part to keep. I took a deep breath and swallowed hard before I began to work. Slowly, I cut off parts of the muscle that were already necrotic, carefully making my way to the bone, trying not to do more damage.

It was revulsing. From time to time I would have to remove entire chunks of damaged or infected flesh, splattering more blood against my already stained coat. Some of it even got in my eye. I jerked my head back with a yelp, utterly disgusted by the offending liquid.

Strider took a deep breath and looked at me. “What happened?”

I flopped to the ground. “I can’t... I can’t do it,” I shakily said.

“Yes you can. You are doing wonderfully,” he assured. “Just hang on for a *cough* a little more, the most difficult part is almost done.”

“I-I... I can’t.”

Strider coughed. “You *cough* you can. I need you right now,” he said. “You can do it. Breathe. *cough* Slowly. Calmly.”

I took a deep, shaky breath and looked back at the leg with a shudder. I had removed almost half of the muscle mass and was almost at the bone.

I closed my eyes and sighed.

I can do it.

I lowered my head closer to the wound, grabbed the knife again and got back to work. Regularly, I stopped to take a breath, wipe the sweat off my forehead, irrigate the wound and remove some bone splinters damaging intact muscle tissue.

Once that was done, I tried to reset the bone it to reset it with magic but I realized I couldn’t manipulate the bandages, the canteen, the artifact, and the bone at the same time, even if I let go of the knife. I gulped and looked at my forehooves.

There goes nothing...

I gently picked up the broken bone fragment and examined the wound for any bone splinters. I removed the few there were and carefully reset the bone pieces into place, making sure they all were in what looked like their correct place.

Strider smiled weakly. "Excellent. Leave it *cough* leave it as it is, you can use the artifact now. This wound cannot wait. I am starting to feel... *cough* dizzy.”

I hastily took the Kolobok and examined it, remembering what I knew about the healing artifact.

Kolobok. Not as powerful as a Firefly but still an invaluable help to wounded stalkers. The scientists spread some rumors about it but nobody really knew why.

I gulped and pressed the healing artifact against the bald stalker’s calf. The bone started to mend, it was visible to the naked eye. Then, the muscles and tendons grew back, only to be covered by newly grown skin. The leg was bloodied and looked like it had recovered from a severe burn, but nothing showed that it had ever been cut wide open for emergency surgery.

"Very *cough* good. Now you will need to bandage the other wounds, they should be much easier to deal with," said Strider, giving me a small smile.

I took a few bandages and searched for any more wounds and thankfully most of them were superficial. One by one, I bandaged the cuts, gashes and lacerations, undressing Strider as I needed, until he was almost completely out of his armor. In some places, chunks of skin had been ripped off by the mutants’ claws, revealing the naked muscle or the bone underneath.

“Good. You will have to fix my shoulder now.”

I then gently took his dislocated shoulder in my bloodied forehooves.

“Now *cough* twist it clockwise and push,” he ordered.

Following his advice, I twisted the shoulder clockwise and pushed it into its normal place. At first it didn’t budge, so I applied more force.

*crack*

The shoulder suddenly reset into place with a sickening crunch. I felt a slight nausea overcome me as I let go of Strider’s shoulder. I ignored it and opened his bag again to take his canteen. I brought it to my lips and took a gulp from it, hoping to wash the disgusting taste of bile lingering in my mouth. I then gave it to Strider. He took it with his valid arm, gave me a nod and washed his mouth with it, spitting out a red tainted water almost instantly.

“Thanks,” said the stalker. “Could you *cough* hand me an energy drink?”

I searched through the bag again and popped open the one of the cylindrical, metallic cans, before giving it to him. Once again he grasped it with his only valid limb, avidly downing it in seconds. I eyed the rest of the supplies in the bag. There was quite a lot of food and a few more of these ‘energy drinks’ in it.

I opened one of the cans before taking a gulp from it, eyes closed. Almost instantly, a surge of energy coursed through my body. I felt fresher and most importantly, I had a better taste in my mouth. I needed it: playing the role of a surgeon was very tiring, both mentally and physically.

I let out a relieved sigh, the nausea I felt receding slowly.

I reopened my eyes and took a deep breath before I produced a can of food and a set of flatware wrapped in a piece of cloth from Strider's bag. I opened the can and held it in the air in my magic, unwrapped the flatware and took the fork.

Unfortunately, Strider couldn’t move his newly readjusted shoulder just yet since the edema and the inflammation had yet to be treated. I needed to use the Kolobok for that, which was inadvisable at the moment. He needed to eat first, but couldn't feed himself.

I sat down and let out a nervous chuckle before I stabbed the fork into the can's contents and approached it to his lips. Understanding my intent, the bald stalker meekly opened his mouth and hungrily took a bite out of it. With my help, he progressively emptied the can, mouthful after mouthful. I then gave him some bread and another energy drink.

I gave him a warm smile, which he returned.

“Thank *cough* thank you.”

Once we were done I grabbed the Kolobok again, examining the Strider’s bandaged wounds. Most of them were still bleeding and the cloths covering them were tainted red. Not losing time, pressed the healing artifact against the stalker’s chest and waited for it to do its thing.

I heard his ribs emit nasty crunches as they mended back together and healed. The cuts and lacerations all over his body started to close, each one leaving a gruesome scar as it healed. I repeated the operation in several areas of his body, slowly getting him back to a healthy condition.

The healing process was nearly done and I was about to move on to Strider’s face when the artifact suddenly exploded in a multitude of sharp splinters.

I yelped and let go of it as a few of the flying debris flew in all directions, a few of them embedding themselves in Strider's side.

What in name of Tartarus was that?

I used my magic to pull out the artifact fragments from the stalker's arm, wincing as more blood leaked out of the small injuries. Once I made sure I didn’t leave any, I examined the artifact. It had split in two parts and some of its jagged spikes had been blown off the core.

Strider took a deep breath and slowly turned his head towards me. “What was that?” he asked in a tired voice.

“I-I-I don’t know,” I stuttered. “It just exploded, just like...”

I stopped talking as I noticed something impossible: the cuts on Strider’s face were healing themselves! I looked at the Kolobok, lying out of range in several pieces, then back at the stalker. The gashes on his face had closed and now two nasty scars were running along his left cheek, accompanied by one more across his brow. I froze as I let the news sink in. The wounds had closed by themselves.

I shook my head in disbelief. “Wh-wh-wh-wha?”

“What happened?” he asked tiredly.

“You’re healing... by yourself!”

Strider sighed. “Too tired to care.”

I frowned and gathered the bits of the destroyed artifact before putting it in a pouch of the now scarred stalker’s backpack.

Is it dangerous? Oh dear, I hope not.

Strider was fully healed and his breathing wasn’t labored anymore, yet he hadn’t moved. He was sitting down, leaning against a rock and looking at me, his face showing relief and gratitude. He was still miserable to look at though: his armor was filthy and completely torn up, his face was smeared with half-clotted blood and, despite being completely healed, the rest of his body wasn’t pleasant to look at either.

An idea came to my mind. I took a fresh bandage, opened it and soaked it with water. I then carefully used it to carefully clean the stalker’s face of grime. I then got him out of his ruined armor and moved on to his injured appendages; slowly repeating the process, washing away the blood on his body. Once I was done, I took a blanket from his backpack -the same he had used to keep me warm- and gently covered him with it.

“Thank you,” he weakly said.

“You’re welcome,” I replied, nuzzling his good shoulder.

I arranged the used supplies on the ground and stowed away the rest in the bald stalker’s backpack before I laid down of the ground next to him. I took a relieved breath and casted a glance in his direction. He was looking at the sky, a blank expression on his face. He seemed physically fine, but very tired... and I could see he was thinking about something. I felt his hand slowly run down the back of my neck. I sighed contentedly and relaxed.

Hmmm... it never gets old.

I leaned against the rusted rail of the platform, which creaked in protest under my weight. I immediately took a step back, not wanting to fall head first to my death.

I’m stupid. I’m well over a hundred kilos, my exoskeleton weighs more than forty and the rest of my equipment is nearly sixty kilograms. Of course an an old, rusted Soviet-era rail can’t handle my weight.

I shook my head and sat down next to Snag, observing Celestia as she was patching up Strider. So far she had done a great job at it, better than anything I would have been able to do. A few minutes later, she was done. She had even cleaned him of most the blood Both of them were resting, nested against each other. I chuckled.

How cute. Dangerous and irresponsible, but cute.

“Hey Snag,” I called, giving him a nudge. “Look at them.”

He looked out of the scope of his rifle and in direction of the group tenderly cuddling and let out a hearty chuckle.

“Aww, they're adorable!”

I smiled. “Yeah.” I added, extending an arm behind his back.

Snag rolled his eyes. “You’re the big guy and you want to snuggle,” he said, smiling. “And you know what? That’s why I love you, you overgrown teddy bear,” he added. “But now is not the time. Get your gear, we’re taking off,” he ordered, standing up. “There are a few Bandits and Mercs passing by Southern side. Let's get the fuck out of here, shit’s gonna go down.”

I stared at him for a moment, taken aback at his sudden change of attitude but quickly shrugged it off and followed him down the ladder, which creaked and protested under my weight. Once I reached the ground, I approached Strider and Celestia. They were laying next to each other: Strider was covered in a blanket, looking up in the air and Celestia had laid down on the ground, snuggled against him.

“You OK?” I asked them.

“Mentally tired. This whole ordeal has taken a lot out of me,” replied the white alicorn. “But yes. I’m fine.”

Strider turned his head towards me. “Exhausted and slightly nauseous,” he announced.

Snag snorted. “Considering what you’ve been through, it’s not a surprise,” he replied. “I’m surprised you’re not in a coma right now.”

Strider gave him a weak smile. “I can only thank Celestia. She did a wonderful job at patching me up,” he said, affectionately stroking her mane.

Celestia’s expression suddenly darkened. “Something strange happened,” she began in a serious tone. “When used the Kolobok on Strider, it worked perfectly at first, but then... it exploded,” she explained, facing me.

“Exploded?”

“It’s in one of the pouches in Strider’s backpack, check it if you don’t believe me.”

Intrigued, I crouched next to my friend’s backpack and opened one of the side pouches. Of course, it wasn’t the good one, so I opened the other and discovered the what looked like long shards of blackened glass and what looked like the remnants of a Kolobok as if it had been curb-stomped by a pseudogiant.

“Well that’s new,” said Snag. “Maybe the scientists will learn something from that. They would also be very interested in studying you, Celly.”

Celestia shook her head. “No.”

“Beg pardon?” Snag asked, eyebrow raised.

“I don’t want to be studied like a lab rat,” affirmed the alicorn. “I just want to be treated like anybody, for once,” she added with a sigh.

“Fair enough,” said the hooded stalker with a nod. “I guess we’re going to Yanov station then-”

*BANG*

*BRATATATATATATATA*

We all perked up as the sounds of automatic gunfire could be heard.

“We need to move,” I announced. “Snag has located possible hostiles nearby, we don’t want to stay in the vicinity.”

“Yeah, I could recognize the sound of an Uzi anywhere,” said Snag. “A gun bandits affectionate,” he clarified, shrugging. “Means we should hurry the fuck up if we want to get out of here safely. I don’t know about you, but I for one fucking hate being caught in the crossfire between two heavily armed factions.”

I nodded. “Yeah. We should move out but I doubt Strider will be able to walk on his own.”

“I can, thank you very much,” grumbled Strider, shakily standing up.

He tried to take a step forwards but stumbled and fell face first to the ground with a heavy thud.

The now scarred stalker rolled on his back. “Shit. It appears that I cannot,” he said, panting. “I feel so tired...”

“Well. How are we going to do that?” asked Snag.

“I can carry him,” Celestia said after a beat, imperceptibly rocking left and right. “If you want me to, that is,” she added, her gaze alternating between Strider and me.

I cocked an eyebrow. “You wouldn’t let anyone else do it, would you?” I asked with a smirk.

She let out a grunt and blushed slightly, gazing way.

“I'd rather be carried around by her than you to be honest,” Strider chimed in.

“Oh, you too? I have to admit, you two look cute together,” I said with a grin. “Don’t worry, nobody’s gonna steal her from you,” I added with a wink, much to the annoyance of my boyfriend.

“Stop being a fucking jerk and do something useful for once,” scowled Snag, giving me a slap behind the head.

“How do we move Strider out of here?” Celestia asked, looking at me.

“Simple. I take his stuff and Snag takes yours while you carry him around,” he explained, picking up Strider’s gear.

So there I was, walking along two stalkers I knew for barely more than a couple of days, headed for a destination I did not know, and Strider literally riding on my back. I cared a lot about him, more than Vano or Snag... strangely. I found the idea... disturbing. Back home, I never really had a relationship with anypony, even friendly, which earned me a godlike reputation of ‘purity’.

I stifled a bitter laugh.

‘Forever alone’ would be a better suited expression.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by none other than Strider.

“Celestia?” he started.

“Mmmh?”

“You're comfy.”

I chuckled and looked towards him. He was laying face down down on my back and his eyes were closed, though he wasn’t sleeping. His armor had been removed and he was wrapped in the same blanket I covered him with earlier. His face was buried in my mane, his arms were wrapped around me and his legs were secured by my saddlebags. He was fairly heavy, nothing I couldn’t handle though.

“Are you feeling alright?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he replied. “Thanks to you. I am so tired though... thanks for carrying me around. Thanks for saving my life,” he added, machinally running his fingers through my fur.

“I... you’re welcome,” I replied with a smile.

“Does it not trouble you anymore?”

“Trouble?” I asked.

“The first time I carried you, you acted all ashamed and embarrassed,” he scarred stalker explained. “And now look at us, in the opposite situation,” he added with a light chuckle.

“I got over that,” I replied with a laugh. “I have more serious problems now, like surviving... and going back home,” I added, sighing.

“We will find a way,” he assured, hugging my neck tighter.

I looked back forwards and sighed contentedly. A light, freezing breeze had picked up and was ruffling my mane; steam was coming out of my nostrils as I breathed... I was thankful for the blanket covering both Strider, doing a good job at keeping the both of us warm.

The sky was completely covered in white wooly clouds too.

Looks like it’s going to snow.

We had been walking for a while now. I had given most of my things to Snag except for my PPSh-41 and my shotgun I kept along with some ammo so I could carry Strider. Vano had taken his weapons back and was leading the way. His machine gun was now hanging from a sling on his left shoulder and his Predator shotgun was slung across his back.

I noticed he had two weapons I hadn’t seen yet. He was currently holding a weapon that looked like an assault rifle, only it had a completely round magazine letting shotgun shells appear. On his thigh was what looked like a handgun but seemed too big to be one. The grip of the weapon was slightly curved, its body had a cylinder seemingly storing ammunition but most surprisingly, there was a scope atop of it. Upon closer examination, I noticed the inscription reading ‘460 S&W Magnum’ on the barrel of the weapon.

“Is that a handgun?” I asked, walking up to the giant’s side.

“This one?” he asked, patting the weapon on his thigh.

“Yes.”

“Yep. A big-ass revolver, useful for accurate shooting at medium ranges and very effective against mutants. I still kept my old Beretta though,” added the bearded stalker, showing the smaller handgun pistol holstered on his other thigh. “Trust me when I say that you wouldn’t want to use this huge revolver in close combat. Besides, you always need a backup,” he explained. “I also got this bad boy,” he said holding up the weapon he was holding in his hands. “Daewoo USAS-12. Twenty rounds of twelve gauge destruction in a rugged package modified for selective-fire. Kicks harder than an enraged mule, but nothing in the Zone has that much stopping power! I can control day and night with this thing!” he added with a grin.

“Why do you keep your other shotgun then?” I asked innocently.

“Predator you mean?” he asked, looking at the pump action shotgun. “Don’t need him anymore,” he added, a hint of sadness in his voice. “Such a shame. He’s been a good companion, but alas I must separate myself from him.”

Strider groaned. “Just give it to her already,” he said, staying immobile.

Vano recoiled as if his friend had insulted him. “Are you crazy? No! I’ll sell him; I’m in debt again, buying all this equipment. Besides, with his reputation, he ought to be worth a lot.”

“Reputation?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

The giant smirked. “Yeah. This shotgun, young lady, has been given to me by Trapper to thank me for killing dangerous mutants in the area. This is ultimate pump-action shotgun in the Zone,” he explained with a smug expression. “Of course, now I have this bad boy,” he added, patting his ‘USAS-12’. “Still, Predator here is a highly-valued item among mutant hunters, I should be able to get a substantial amount of money out of him... such a shame.”

Strider sighed. “Fine, I’ll buy it from you,” he grunted. “Take whatever you want from my loot and hand it over,” he added, rolling his eyes.

Vano’s eyes lit up. “Take care of him, and he’ll take care of you,” he said, handing me the weapon. With that he turned around and walked off, looking through Strider’s backpack.

The bald stalker shook his head. “I swear, that guy does not know the meaning of ‘generosity’,” he said with a sigh. “At least he’s a good friend.”

I looked at him, flabbergasted. “I-I-I did you just...”

“Yes I did,” he replied with a chuckle. “You direly needed a better shotgun anyway,” he added, slowly getting off my back.

I stirred. My whole body felt sore and numb, but at least I could stand upright now. I took a hesitant step, then another. It looked like I could walk now too. Satisfied, I draped the blanket around me like a cape and turned around.

I felt something on my side. When I lowered my gaze I noticed Celestia was there, nuzzling me.

“Thank you,” she said, a wide smile adorning her face.

“It is just a weapon you know,” I replied, affectionately scratching her behind the ear.

“I don’t care,” she whispered. “I’m happy.”

The alicorn broke away and began to examine her new weapon, turning it around and scrutinizing it under all angles.

“Celestia,” I called, switching my gaze to her.

“Hmm?”

“Let’s go. We should not let them take too much of an advance,” I said, gesturing towards Snag and Vano.

The alicorn shook her head and looked at me. “Yes, you’re quite right,” she admitted, standing on all fours. “Are you sure you can walk?”

“Yeah, I feel better now. I have got my boots and this blanket; give me a weapon and I will be good for now,” I replied. “Yanov station should not to be very far anyway.”

Without a word, Celestia took one of her messenger bags in her telekinesis and gave it to me. Intrigued, I opened it. Inside were my modified Beretta, my M1911 along with the AKS-74u I had looted from the Bandit warehouse.

“That’s very considerate of you. Thanks,” I said, smiling.

I equipped both pistols and loaded them. Both of them chambered a round with a satisfying click. I let out a content sigh. Celestia was fine, I was fine... I felt happy.

Strider and I were walking side by side through the forest behind Snag and Vano. The wind was as freezing as ever but the buzzed stalker didn’t seem to mind despite his lack of protection. He was only wearing the blanket from before as a cape draped over a muscle shirt riddled with holes; his old, dirty boots and the half torn, stained lower part of his old armor. Despite having a slight limp, he kept a steady, energetic pace as we walked through the small woods.

I sighed contentedly. Strider was fine, I was fine... I felt happy.

Finally I’ll have a decent suit, finally I’ll be able to rest and temporarily forget about my worries... maybe have some alone time with Strider.

For some reason the thought made me blush. The bald stalker had become my confident, I had opened myself to him more than I could have imagined, not that didn’t want it. I cared a lot about him, but... a romantic relationship would complicate things. By then he had gotten me out of many life-or-death situations, taken care of me, stayed at my side when I needed him... to me he was more than a friend already, but I didn’t want to attach myself too much to anyone here. After all, I had a kingdom to return to.

I don’t know if Strider feels about me the same way I feel about him... even then, I barely know how relationships work for ponies, so humans... I don’t know.

I sighed and shook my head, trying to sort out the thoughts in my head, and brought my attention back to my surroundings. I was still walking with my friends, Vano and Snag were opening the way, talking animatedly and occasionally giving each other a playful nudge while Strider and I were side by side, closing the march. The bald stalker seemed deep in thought, too.

Soon enough, the trees made themselves rarer and, after a few minutes the brush opened up on a plain, starkly contrasting with the previous scenery. In the distance, I could see a what looked like train tracks, and a bridge going over them. A few stalkers were walking along the tracks, slowly making their way to their destination, unknown to me.

Vano looked around. “So, where to?” he asked.

“Up North, to Yanov station,” said Strider, peaking up. “We should go see the scientists but I need to re-equip and to sell the loot I got from the Bandits first. I also have a surprise for you Celestia,” he added, giving me a small smile.

My ears perked up. “A surprise? What is it?”

Strider smiled. “You will like it.”

We resumed walking, following the train tracks leading North. These train tracks seemed fairly conventional, except they were noticeably wider than in Equestria. Something was strange though: on the sides of the tracks, tall posts were regularly placed; each of them seemingly supporting a horizontal structure maintaining a cable suspended high above the train tracks.

“What are these?” I asked out loud, looking at the cables.

“Overhead lines, or catenaries,” answered Snag before anyone could muster a word. “Nearly all trains around here are electric. These lines over our heads -hence the name- used to power up train engines,” he explained. “But now, they bring electricity to Yanov Station. The leaders there struck a deal so we could have some power from the solar panels of the scientists’ bunker. The guys back at the station made lot renovations a few months ago. Now there’s even showers there! With warm water of course,” he added with a smile.

Vano tilted his head. “Whaaaat?”

Strider raised an eyebrow. “Showers? Really?”

“Fuck yeah! I used them a few times,” replied Snag. “Of course, it’s not free, but I’ll be damned if that’s not convenient. At least most Stalkers smell better now,” he added with a laugh.

“So these train tracks lead to Yanov station?” I asked.

“Yeah. Yanov station was the last stop which serviced Pripyat for passenger trains. When the CNPP exploded, most of the population from Pripyat were evacuated from here,” he explained. “After that, they closed the lines and abandoned all the hardware here. You can’t believe how many times my uncle told me the story of the evacuation of Pripyat, it must have been something.”

Strider nodded. “Moving tens of thousands of people in a few days must have been hectic.”

We had been walking for a while now, and we had arrived at this famed ‘Yanov station’. Supposedly it was a base of operations where many stalkers stopped by to rest and re-equip. It looked like a big decrepit house built on the side of the train tracks with barricaded windows and big metal doors, which let the sound of discussions and laughter be heard from the inside. I followed Vano as he opened the rusted double doors and walked in.

The giant cleared his throat. “*Ahem*! Gentlemen? Can I have your attention please?”

Strider opened his mouth and raised a hand. “I don’t think that’s the-”

Instantly, all the conversations died out and all the heads turned towards him, then towards me.

“Yeah. That’s what I wanted to talk about. Her name’s Celestia and she won’t attack you or anything, she’s actually very friendly,” Vano announced out loud. “Come on, say something,” he added, leaning towards me.

“Uh, hi?” I hesitantly said, rubbing my fetlocks awkwardly.

The stalkers present stared at the me for a moment before they shrugged and went back to what they were doing before, whether it was talking, playing the guitar or fiddling with their equipment.

Vano scratched his beard, eyebrows raised. “Well that went better than expected.”

Strider blinked a few times. “I... how? How come none of them flipped out and pulled a gun or something?”

Snag shrugged. “Fucked if I know.”

Strider sighed and scratched the back of his head. “Whatever. At last we have arrived at destination without problems,” he said, scratching the back of his head.

“Yeah, what a fucking relief,” Snag added, stirring.

“Vano, could you please retrieve the supplies I bought for Celestia?” asked Strider.

I raised an eyebrow. “Wait. Supplies?”

The giant shrugged. “Some stuff he bought before your... kidnapping,” he explained. “I’ll do it. Gotta sell some loot anyway,” he added, turning around.

Looking around warily, I examined the main hall of the train station. On the left, there was a man sitting behind a counter with the words ‘KACCA’ written above it. Tables were placed along the walls with stalkers sitting around them, talking, laughing and drinking a clear liquid out of glass bottles. I could also hear the sound of music instruments coming from another room. The air was filled with the constant jabber of the present people and was saturated with an acrid smoke coming from little tubes some stalkers were occasionally taking puffs from.

Smells like if they were smoking pipes.

I followed Strider and Snag as they headed for a table in a corner while Vano walked off to a man behind the counter. After a short talk, he gave the man some items from Strider’s bag and the man gave the bearded stalker a large duffel bag filled to the brim. Vano saluted the man and walked back towards us.

“There you go,” he said.

Strider gave his friend a nod before turning towards me. “Everything a stalker needs apart from weapons and armor,” he added, patting the bag and giving me what looked like a few paper tickets. “Oh, and also, have this. This money is rightfully yours, I got it from selling your jewelry. 75000 roubles... not so worthless, as you can see.”

“I... don’t know what to say,” I stammered, staring at the bag. “You helped me, you gave me all my starting equipment... and now all of this? It’s too much! I can accept-”

“Rah shut up. You actually need this stuff,” affirmed Snag.

I glanced at Strider.

“He is right you know,” he said with a nod. “In the Zone, all of this is a part of any stalker’s survival. All you need now is decent armor.”

Vano smirked. “Speaking of which... look at what I got there!” he announced, producing something from his backpack. “Strider’s old SEVA suit!”

The scarred stalker froze at the sight of his old armor. “This is not a good idea. If anyone sees her wearing that, she will be shot on sight.”

Vano grunted. “Come on, we’ll tear off the Monolith symbols! It’s just splinter urban camouflage, I bet it would look good on her! Besides, it’s not like we have anything else to make a suit.”

“Well there are the two armors I looted,” Strider suggested.

“I already sold one of them to Hawaiian,” the giant replied sheepishly. “You know, you said I could take anything in your loot to compensate for Predator,” he added, seeing his friend’s interrogative glance. “It was a radiation suit anyway, very protective but heavy and impractical; totally not your style. Only stalkers that can’t afford an exoskeleton buy these things.”

Strider sighed. “Fine, you win. I will not wear Monolith armor, that is for sure... not again. I suppose Celestia can have it then,” he said, defeated. “But if anyone harms her because of it, I will hold you for responsible,” he berated.

“It will be alright,” assured Vano, rolling his eyes.

Strider sighed, defeated. “Where is the other suit I had then?”

Vano's eyes lit up and he handed him his backpack. “Oh, yeah. There. All your stuff is in it... well, minus what I sold. The other suit you looted should be in it.”

“Thanks for not selling this one,” Strider replied sarcastically.

“I think he's grumpy,” Vano whispered to Snag.

Snag snorted. “No shit Sherlock.”

Vano clapped his hands. “Anyway! Let's get you to the technician's,” he said. “I'm sure this suit will fit you perfectly once the tech heads get their hands on it.”

Strider stood up. “No. You guys stay here, I will go with her.” he affirmed. “Come with me Celestia, let’s get you some decent gear.”

The scarred stalker walked through an archway to the left, leaving the bar and the hall of the train station. I followed him as he entered a room with a lot of technical equipment. The air in the room smelled like oil, metal, sweat and gunpowder. There were two workbenches on the far side of the room with disassembled weapons lying around and full sets of tools hanging from the walls. Boxes filled to the brim with mechanical parts were sitting neatly arranged on shelves on the walls and a lot of weapons and pieces of equipment were sitting around on racks here and there.

Two men were sitting at a table in the middle of the room, playing what looked like a card game. One of them was fairly bulky and had long hair while the and was much thinner with very short hair and was sporting an earring. The first one was holding many more cars than the second, who was also grinning.

“Attack,” grumbled the long haired man.

“Okay... six of diamonds,” replied the other, putting a card on the table.

“Eight,” said the long-haired one, covering the ‘six of diamonds’ with a card of his own, ornamented with more similar symbols.

“Ten then.”

“Queen!”

The short man grinned. “And two Kings! Booyah!” he laughed, dropping his last two cards on the table.

“Damn it!” exclaimed the long haired man, throwing the rest of his cards in the air. “You win again! I knew I should have dropped the Aces!”

“You just can’t play, durak,” the other replied with a chuckle.

The long haired man shook his head and sighed. “Whatever, I believe we have a customer,” he said, turning towards us. “Strider? You look like shit dude, no offense. What brings you here- ohhh is this who I think it is?” he asked, suddenly noticing my presence.

“Celestia, this is Cardan and Nitro. Cardan, Nitro, this is Celestia.”

“Pleased to meet you,” I said with a nod.

“The pleasure is mine,” replied the technician. “So you are the famed alien who broke out of the Jack's camp.”

What? How does he know?

I backed off eyeing Nitro warily. “Alien? Famed? How do you know?” I asked.

Cardan shrugged. “Rumors spread like wildfire here,” he explained. “Nearly everybody knows that an unusual creature broke out of his HQ, killing every-.”

Strider cleared his throat, interrupting the technician. “To keep it short, she is not from this world and she is lost,” he added.

“Poor thing. Well at least if she’s with a guy like you she’ll be safe,” said Nitro.

“I wished,” muttered Strider. “She has been through a lot already,” he added, stroking my shoulder.

The short haired technician nodded. “Yeah, being held captive by bandits can’t be pleasant. I’ve heard how you went on a rampage after you learned she had been kidnapped. Did you really have to torture-” he said, only to be interrupted by a death glare from Strider.

The scarred stalker sat down on a chair. “Anyway, I am here for several things: These suit,” he began, producing a neatly folded suit of the armor and his old Monolith armor from his backpack, “my new carbine," he added, patting his AKS-74u, "and the rifle, the custom one.”

Cardan’s nodded. “The rifle... gimme a sec,” he said, turning around. “I had just finished the lightweight bolt assembly, you arrive just on time,” he mumbled.

“Show me these suits,” asked Nitro.

“I need your opinion on the green one and the Monolith one is for Celestia,” Strider explained, handing the technician the two armors. “Can you modify it?”

“Of course,” the technician replied with a nod, eyeing the green armor. “Looks like a heavily modified Wind of Freedom and a Bulat armor had a baby... weird idea, but seems balanced and effective.”

Cardan suddenly stood up from his workbench. “And there we go!” he finished, giving the bald stalker a package wrapped in brown paper.

Strider took the package and gave the technician a nod. “Thanks,” he said before whispering a few words and handing Cardan what looked like paper coupons. The bald stalker then crouched in front of me. “I am going to leave now, Cardan and Nitro will take care of your suit,” he explained, bringing a hand to my chin.

I pouted. “Aw, you’re going to leave me alone here?”

“I have got business to do. If you need me, I will be at the bar,” he replied with a small smile. “I will not be far away.”

“Okay,” I replied. “See you later then.”

I slammed my fists down on the counter. “HOW MUCH?” I yelled.

Hawaiian gave me an annoyed glance. “I already told you, 36000.”

“But I sold it to you for barely 16000!”

“And how am I supposed to make a profit? 36000.”

“Go fuck yourself then,” I calmly replied before turning around and walking towards the table Vano and Snag were occupying.

“What happened?” asked Vano. “You look frustrated.”

“Hawaiian wants 36000 roubles for a SVD rifle I sold him 16000,” I grumbled.

Snag snorted. “What a bitch. Lemme try,” he said, standing up.

The hooded stalker walked up to the trader’s counter and began talking to him. After a while he turned around and came back, shaking his head.

“So?” I asked.

Snag snorted. “26000.”

“Why didn’t you buy it then?” Vano asked.

Snag shrugged. “Well because I don’t have the money and Nimble sells better gear for the same price tag anyway,” he explained.

“Nimble?” I asked, casting him an interrogative glance.

“A trader specialized in high-end equipment who lives aboard the Skadovsk.”

“Oh. Guess we’re going to Zaton then,” Vano concluded.

This idea seemed better, but I was still without a sniper rifle for the travel.

“I need a shower,” I said with a grunt.

Strider had left for a while now, and I was in the workshop of the station, alone with the Cardan and Nitro. After the technicians had taken my measurements and studied how my anatomy worked, both of them had begun to adapt Strider’s old Monolith armor to me, leaving me to wait for it to be ready.

From time to time, one of the technicians would come up to me and make me try a piece of the armor, a sleeve here, an armor plate there... but I was bored.

I sat down on the floor and emptied the the duffel bag in front of me. There was a lot ammo, consumables and items, which use were lost to me. I counted five red first-aid kits, two blue ones and a yellow one, a around ten bandages, a few antirads, a little box with different drugs I didn’t know the effect; two cans of food and three loaves of bread, five energy drinks... there was also a bottle containing a clear liquid with several inscriptions and ‘водка’ written in big letters on it.

‘водка’? What is this?

The liquid seemed similar to water but seemed troubled, as there was something in it. Not knowing what it was, I put the bottle back with the rest of the consumables.

The most interesting part were the items I had. I had a toothbrush, toothpaste and all the hygiene supplies, even a hairbrush. I smiled.

Oh Strider... what a nice gesture.

One of the items looked like a bulky pair of goggles but I couldn’t see anything through them. I discarded them and picked up a rectangular object with rounded corners and a black rectangle on one face. It had a few buttons on the face and on the side, which I didn’t know the purpose. The next few items were basic: the anomaly detector Strider already gave me, a device producing light, a set of flatware, a knife, a blanket; everything I would ever need in this place.

I stuffed the medical items and the food in one of my saddlebags, the ammo and equipment in the other. All I had to do was to wait for the technicians to do their job. I laid down on the floor, resting my head on my forelegs, only one thought in my head.

Do I or don’t I?

I liked Strider. A lot. Just when I was around him I felt complete, happy...at peace. I just wanted him to feel the same way for once, if only for his sake. I also craved for an equal to equal relationship but I didn't want to have strong ties here, Equestria was my home. I just didn’t know what to do.

I stood still and relaxed, letting the warm water flow over me, washing away the frustration, tiredness and stress I had been through recently. I felt mentally exhausted, and I knew why... nearly dying twice in less than two days would do that even to the strongest man.

I sighed, scrubbing myself off the dirt and sweat, my mind assaulted by a train of thoughts foreign to me.

Despite having known Celestia for only a few days, I cared a lot for her; no, I was concerned about her. Everything she had been put through, from her sister's downfall to her... 'misadventures' with the bandits would have been enough to break any man. She was strong, and she was the nicest being I ever had the luck to know. That was something I really liked about her.

Whoa there, it almost sounds like you have a crush on her stalker!

I stepped out of the shower, chuckling at the thought. Of course, it was impossible. As long as I remembered, I had never felt remotely attracted to anyone even once, leading me to believe I was emotionally dead. Even my circle of friends was very restricted: Vano, the Major... and that was all. I did not consider Snag as a friend, merely an acquaintance. After all, I had met him only two days ago.

The same is true for Celestia, yet she is already much more than that to you.

I froze at the thought, almost dropping my towel. I had known her for a very short amount of time, that was true... yet I had flown to her rescue when she got kidnapped, without a second thought... and that was definitely not like me.

Hotheaded and reckless... not so ‘emotionally dead’, are we?

I sighed and scratched the back of my head, trying to make sense of my thoughts. I liked being around her. I liked her delicateness yet she was one of the strongest and most people I had ever met. We had been through so much already. I liked her... but not as a friend.

If not as friend, then what? Family? No.

I sighed. It was a strange feeling, really. I shook my head and grabbed my new armor before I put it on.

What is this feeling called? I will have to ask.

After a while, I had grown bored so I picked up a handgun lying around and examined it. the weapon was mostly made of a charcoal grey metal, shaped in a simple design and was fairly small. The slide had a lot of scratches on it and had a few inscriptions on the side: a few numbers and CHINA’... probably the place of manufacture.

I pressed a button on the side, which dropped the magazine. I pulled back the slide and let it go with a click. I pulled it back again and let it go again. And again. And again. Dear Goddess I was bored. I kept playing with the slide for a while and managed to disassemble the weapon in three main parts after fumbling with the trigger guard. The pistol was fairly simple, but very dirty; it looked like somebody had willingly put grease and ash inside of it. I grunted and used a brush lying around to clean the weapon. Some parts were rusty but there were other similar parts laying around, so I just replaced these.

I was about to reassemble the firearm when Cardan turned away from his workbench, a smile on his face. He was holding in his hands a suit, folded in a neat pile.

Nitro leaned back in his chair. “That was a challenge, but we did it! A four-legged, Zone-ready protective suit!” he announced proudly.

My ears perked up at the news. I tore my gaze away from my work, nearly jumped of excitement.

“Gimme gimme!” I impatiently asked.

Nitro handed me the suit. “Go ahead, try it!”

First, I put on what looked like an undergarment bodysuit. It was made of a black, stretchy material, hard to put on but somehow very comfy to wear. Then came the jumpsuit. It looked just like before, except it had been adapted to my anatomy and apparently reinforced with inserts of a hard material at each on my joints. Its camouflage composed of grey, light brown and black triangles and pointy geometric shapes on a white background, just as before. Instead of boots like any stalker, I had some sort of metallic shoes similar to the golden ones I had when I was a princess.

I stifled a bitter chuckle. I was already speaking of Equestria in the past tense, yet it had been only three days I had been in the Zone.

This place really makes you forget your past, it seems.

Once I was done putting on the jumpsuit and made sure every pouch, strap and armored plate was in place, I grabbed the ballistic vest in my magic. It had been extensively modified too: the pouches had been moved around and it covered most of my lower neck down to my upper stomach and even my sides. The whole suit was fairly heavy but didn’t hinder movement.

“So? How do you like it?” asked Cardan.

Did I like it? Yes! It was perfect. I was about to express my gratitude to the technician when I realized all this work could not be for free.

“How much?” I asked.

Cardan waved dismissively. “Heh, don’t worry, your friend already took care of that,” he explained.

Nitro clapped his hands. “Need anything else?”

“Yes, actually. I fumbled with this little pistol,” I began, showing them the handgun I had taken apart. “I quite like it. What is it?”

Cardan raised an eyebrow. “That?” he asked, picking up the slide of the gun. “It’s a just a Chinese made Makarov PMm, and improved version of the PM. So reliable you could fill it with sand and it would still fire, so cheap most rookie Stalkers get their first one for free; courtesy of traders or other stalkers,” he explained. “This one is broken, though. I can’t be arsed to repair it. If you repair it, it’s yours. Good luck with that,” he added with a laugh.

“Strider, you are an imbecile,” Vano said, holding his nose bridge.

“I... I do not understand,” I replied, scratching one of the new scars on my cheek.

Snag sighed. “So you met her like, three fucking days ago and you’re -I quote- not sure about the way you feel about her... I swear, it’s like I’m talking to a young teenager.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, ignoring his jab.

Vano grinned. “That means you looove herrr!” he sang.

“You think? What should I do then?”

Snag frowned. “Kid, this is the Zone.”

“I am aware. And?”

“And you could be fucking dead by tomorrow!” shouted the hooded stalker, throwing his arms in the air. “Hell, even today you almost got stomped to death by mutants! Jeez, take every opportunity you get!”

“Snag is right,” added Vano. “Life is short, you should totally go for it! Sure, it’s weird, given that you’re not the same species, but hey, it’s the Zone, everything is weird here,” he finished with a shrug.

I scratched my head. “So what do I do?”

“Well... you could wait and end up feeling sad and miserable, or you could tell her about your feelings,” Snag replied, shrugging.

Vano laughed. “OR you could french kiss her next time you see her.”

“French kiss her?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

The hooded stalker let out an exasperated sigh. “Let me show you.”

What followed next made me freeze in shock. Snag pulled Vano into a kiss.

The romantic kind. On the lips.

Despite what Cardan had said, I had managed to repair the pistol. It only needed cleaning and a few parts to be replaced, but there was a lot of spare parts in the workshop, making the job a piece of cake. In theory the weapon was fine now, all I had to do was to test fire it to make sure it worked as intended. The barrel had been replaced, I had converted it to handle high-pressure rounds and I had replaced the villainous black grips by much better looking wood panels.

I holstered the pistol, thanked the two technicians and walked out of their workshop before making my way back to the bar where the others were. There was less people than before at the bar and the sound of discussions had mostly died out. Only a guitar could be heard in the background until I heard two people laugh heartily.

What is going on?

I made my way to my friend’s table, only to discover that Strider was sporting a new suit with green camouflage, a bulky vest, pads and plating on the limbs and a hood. He was facing away from me and Vano and Snag were laughing at him. I approached him from behind and cleared my throat, making my presence known.

“What is so funny?” I asked.

Snag wiped a tear of laughter. “Let’s say that that our friend here is surprised to learn that Vano and I are together,” he said.

I raised an eyebrow. “Together? You mean you two are an item? I didn’t know... how did it happen?” I asked.

Vano shrugged. “Just a one-night stand that quickly evolved towards something less casual,” he explained.

I nodded in understanding. Their situation was something new to me but I gained valuable information out of it. It seemed humans were more casual than ponies when it came to relationships, something I found relieving. I looked at Strider. His face was frozen in an expression of shock and surprise and he wasn’t moving... he wasn’t even blinking or breathing.

“Strider?” I asked, waving a hoof in front of him.

The bald stalker snapped out of his trance and shook his head, before taking a gulp from the bottle in front of him and turning towards me.

“Follow me,” he said, standing up.

Strider led me to a quite small room apart from the rest of the station and sat down on one of the bunk beds disposed along the walls. I sat next to him and he produced the package Cardan had given him before.

“For me?” I asked.

The scarred stalker nodded, a slight smile on his lips. I hastily ripped the paper wrap, revealing a peculiar looking weapon. It looked fairly conventional, but what set it apart was its ornamentation: its wooden furniture was finely carved, imitating the lines that decorated my old regalia, the fresh wood revealed by the carvings slightly clearer than the old, darker surface of the furniture. It was frighteningly beautiful, I couldn't help but be transfixed by it. It was unique; a perverse yet exquisite mix between flawless craftsmanship and war engineering, thrown together to create this firearm.

“Cardan did the mechanical job and I did the engraving,” said Strider, pulling me out of my contemplative trance. “This is a fine rifle,” he added. “Take good care of it and it will take good care of you. I do tried to keep the artwork discrete, so it can be used in the field without revealing your position hundreds of meters away. Do you like it?”

“Do I... like it? I-I... You shouldn’t- I don’t deserve-”

“Shush. Stop saying you do not deserve what is given to you,” he replied, running his fingers through my mane, before bringing a hand to my cheek. “Of course you deserve it... you are amazing,” he added, slowly wrapping his arms around me before pulling me in a passionate kiss.

I instantly melted in his tight embrace and closed my eyes, abandoning myself to the warm touch of his lips against mine, to the wet embrace of his tongue and mine. There was something about this kiss, something that made me shiver in delight... he was pent up with energy but composed at the same time, almost commanding. His lips tingled, his movements were slow, serene, romantic. His breath was warm, yet had a cold, tingling aftertaste to it. One of his arms was caressing the back of my neck while his other hand was slowly tracing the contour of my face... it had been so long I didn't experience anything like this I couldn't even remember how the embrace of a lover felt like.

Suddenly, I realized what was going on and I opened my eyes, abruptly breaking the kiss.

“Wh-what are you doing?” I stuttered.

Strider brought a hand to my cheek. “I followed the advice of a friend, I am making the most of my life, for it is short,” he said with a smile, before he made a pause and looked away. “That was strange.”

I rubbed my forelegs, not unsure of what to do next.

Oh, scratch that.

I wasn't in Equestria. I had enough of having to restrain myself, I didn't have to maintain an image, it didn't matter.

I locked my gaze with his. “No it wasn't,” I replied, pulling him in another kiss.

This time I wasn't going to let him stay in control.

Author's Notes:

Closing theme
So this chapter is a pause in the action, a moment of respite before shit goes down.
I tried to make Celestia more assertive as she's been quite coy up to that point, well, except for her 'rampaging goddess of death' episode at the end of chapter 6.

Built a beginning of a character for Snag right there, will he become more important? That's for you to guess, reader.

I wanted to give Vano more 'screen time' but couldn't for some reason. Maybe in the next chapter.
I had this design in mind when I thought of what Strider's new armor looks like. I'll make a drawing sometime. For those who don't know, Celestia now looks like this, only her jumpsuit has a urban camouflage in a splinter pattern. Her new rifle is a FN FAL 50.42 chambered in 7.62 NATO, a widely used hunting/sniper round.

Oh, and if you find any errors, tell me. Proof-reading this was fastidious, I know I missed something.

Chapter 9: On the Road Again

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Chapter 9
On the Road Again

I woke up the next morning to a most wonderful sight: my sunshine, my princess; my newfound soulmate, Celestia, was huddled against me, her head resting on my naked chest. Her breath was slow and steady and tickled my exposed skin; her multicolored mane was behaving as strange as always and a content smile was adorning her beautiful features. I shuffled around, covering us both better with the blanket and kissed her forehead, caressing her long neck. The cuddly alicorn slowly woke up, stirring and moaning sleepily.

I gave her a smile. “Good morning, solnitchka.”

Celestia fluttered her eyelids and raised her gaze to me. “Morning, you,” she replied, planting a kiss on my lips. “Slept well?”

“Best night I ever had,” I answered, running my fingers through her mane.

The radiant alicorn said nothing and hugged me tighter, a slight blush adorning her facial features. We stayed there, laying in the decrepit bed, sharing warmth and comfort.

Celestia traced the blemished outline of an old wound on my chest. “All these scars... how did you get them?” she asked, breaking the silence.

“To be honest I do not remember. Bullets, claws, burns, cuts... Life is hazardous here, and healing artifacts are far from perfect. They always leave scars,” I replied. “You already have experienced it yourself,” I added, scratching her head behind her damaged left ear.

The Zone had already taken a great toll on her. The tip of her left ear was missing and my hand could feel beneath her coat the scars of nearly every past injury she suffered since her arrival here as I stroked her body; even the bloodsucker’s bite marks on her neck. Yet she was still standing and mentally sane, willing to carry on forwards, something I admired in her.

My PDA next to the bed bleeped. I picked up the device and unlocked it. The last message received was from Hawaiian. It read ‘Stalker, I got your gem back and... come over by the shop. It’s interesting, to say the least.’ Another one was from Snag: ‘I know you didn’t exactly sleep last night but could you please get your ass and your fuckbuddy’s in the main hall? Look at the fucking time!’

‘Fuckbuddy’?

I raised an eyebrow then looked at the time. The clock in the upper right corner of the PDA’s screen displayed ‘11:50’.

Oh.

I discarded the device and kissed Celestia on the forehead. “We have to move, dear,” I whispered before I sat up.

She raised her head, a pleading expression on her face. “Why?” she whined.

“It is ten to noon, and we have to go to Zaton. A long walk, and it is not advised to travel by night,” I explained with a smile. “Besides, we cannot stay all day long in this bed, as much as I want to,” I added, bringing a hand to her cheek.

The alicorn sighed. “Alright,” she said, gracefully sitting up. “Why do we even have to go there?”

“I need a new sniper rifle and Snag talked about an affordable retailer specialized in high-end equipment established at the Loner base there,” I explained. “You cannot imagine how naked I feel without my SVU.”

Celestia nodded. “Yeah... weapons really are important here, even I can’t imagine how I would do without one now,” she said before she paused and looked at her gear. “Could you help me dress up? I’m afraid I’m not all that familiar with my armor yet.”

“Of course.”

I picked up the bottom layer of her garments, a bodysuit made of a black, stretchy material that was definitely not part of my old armor. I shrugged and helped my soulmate put it on. I stared in awe as she paced around, making sure she was comfortable.

Damn. That thing looks fiiiiine on her.

I shook my head and grabbed her jumpsuit, camouflaged with the familiar pattern I had been wearing as a Monolith trooper. I helped her put it on, limb after limb. First the forelegs, then the hind legs and the body. After making sure her wings fit correctly through the holes in the fabric, I did the two zippers on her back, careful not to damage the black layer of clothing underneath. Once that was done, I took her ballistic vest and helped her put it on. It was slightly lighter than mine yet seemed as strong and fit her like a glove.

“Thanks,” she said , nuzzling the side of my face.

I replied with a smile and began to dress up, leaving Celestia check her gear.

I put on my green battledress, my boots and my bulletproof vest. After I made sure each pouch was in place and every buckle was secure, I sat down on the bed and put on my knee pads. Once I was done I searched around for my elbow pads, only to find Celestia levitating them over.

I turned around and held up my arms, letting the kind alicorn put the protective joints on. Their straps, surrounded by the familiar golden aura of her telekinesis gently wrapped themselves around my arms and attached themselves. I then stood up, letting Celestia secure the various hardened plates around my limbs and my pistol holsters in the same fashion.

I looked at her over my shoulder as she worked. “Hawaiian has something that belongs to you, I have to retrieve it,” I said, looking over my shoulder to the radiant alicorn.

She raised an eyebrow. “Something belonging to me?”

“Yes, remember your jewelry? I sold it and gave you the money already,” I replied. “But I kept your tiara,” I added with a smile, producing the golden ornament from my backpack and putting it gently on her head. “There was something strange with the gemstones though, and Hawaiian insisted to have one of them appraised.”

Celestia levitated the tiara to her eye level. “Y-you kept it?” she asked, giving it a puzzled look. Suddenly, her face lit up. “Thanks! I felt like I made a mistake giving it away. I wanted something to remind me of Equestria,” she added, pulling me into a kiss.

I broke the kiss and smiled. “You are most welcome. Shall we go then?”

“Yes.”

I checked my weapons and followed Celestia as she stood up and left the room, heading for the main hall of Yanov station. The omnipresent smells of cigarette smoke and cooking food were lingering in the air and I could hear the usual sound of stalkers talking, laughing and playing the guitar. Most tables were occupied and Vano and Snag were already waiting for us by the door leading outside.

“Finally! What took you guys so long?” asked Snag, impatiently tapping his foot on the floor.

Vano put a hand on his shoulder. “You perfectly know,” he whispered with a grin, looking at us. “Anyway, are you ready?”

“Not quite,” I replied, feigning I didn’t hear his previous remark. “I have to see Hawaiian first.”

My bearded friend sighed. “Again?”

I shrugged and went to see the trader, who was leaning on his counter as always.

I sighed contentedly as I watched Strider walk up to the local trader's counter. He had become my pillar, my light in the darkness... my first love in centuries. It seemed so surreal, having someone to look up to, someone to support, someone to care about after all this time. At this point I wasn’t sure of what I was doing, but for the first time in a very, very long while... I didn’t care.

I was pulled out of my reverie by Vano as he turned towards me.

“So, what did you two do last night?” he asked with a grin.

Snag slapped him on the back of the head. “That’s not the kind of thing you fucking ask a lady,” he said with a scowl. “You better damn well behave in the future.”

“To be honest nothing. We cuddled and talked, not much more,” I replied in a neutral tone, doing my best to hide the blood rushing to my cheeks.

Last thing I wanted was someone invading my private life with Strider.

The giant pouted and crossed his arms, a look of disbelief on his face. He was about to say something when Strider came back from Hawaiian’s.

“You have it?” I asked, turning towards him.

He only nodded and opened his hand, revealing the amethyst inside of it. “There you go,” he said, handing me the gem.

I shook my head. “No, keep it,” I replied, closing his hand on the stone with a hoof. “You’ll have something from me that way,” I added with a smile.

Strider stared at me, then raised the gemstone to eye level before looking back at me. He gave me a smile, knelt and without a word, hugged me tightly.

Vano let out a squeal. “Awww, you two are adorable!”

*slap*

A palm met an occiput. Again.

“Way to ruin a moment,” scowled Snag. “Why am I with you again? Ah right, giant, cuddly teddy bear.”

His tall coltfriend-

‘Coltfriend?’ Stallionfr- manfriend?

Vano laughed.

“We should go,” Strider interrupted, giving the pair a deadpan look.

I followed him as he headed to the doors leading outside and opened them. Immediately, I felt the rush of the cold air from the outside assaulting my face. I closed my eyes in discomfort, only to reopen them to a surreal sight. Everything was white. The bushes, the trees and the buildings were frozen in time by the ice and covered in a thick layer of snow, reverberating the early afternoon sun rays peeking through the clouds above in the sky.

It was mesmerizingly beautiful.

I took a hesitant step on the snowy carpet. My hoof dug into the snow as it gave way under my weight with a series of little cracking sounds. I let out a giggle and took another step.

Another.

I stopped.

Vano scratched his beard.

I raised an eyebrow.

Snag cocked his hooded head.

We silently observed Celestia in bewilderment as she joyously bounced around in the snow, giggling and smiling blissfully, seemingly overjoyed at the weather. After a while, she stopped and let out a content breath, looking at us. “You coming, g-”

*poof*

She was interrupted by a snowball hitting her square in the face. I stopped in shock and turned around. Vano was whistling innocently, looking at the sky with his arms crossed behind his back and Snag was giving him a disapproving glare.

Celestia just wiped the snow off her face with a hoof, smiled wickedly and lit up her horn. All the snow in a three meter radius around her hovered in the air to form a single, enormous snowball. With a flick of telekinesis, the ball flew towards a wide eyed Vano who was sent tumbling to the ground under the force of the impact.

Snag burst out laughing and myself couldn't help but crack a smile at the sight. My friend's entire upper body was buried the snow and he had an arm raised in the air, comically piercing the layer of snow covering him.

"Didn't hurt."

Celestia let out a laugh. “So, which direction is ‘Zaton’?” she asked.

“North East,” replied Vano, shaking off the snow. “Follow me, I’ll be your guide.” he added, putting on the helmet of his exosuit.

I walked behind my friend as he and his boyfriend opened the way. Celestia lost no time catching up with us and stayed at my side as we left Yanov station behind us. Despite my insulated suit, I could feel the freezing air and the slight breeze that had picked up certainly did not help.

I looked at Celestia. The poor thing was shivering from the cold. I shook my head and undid my scarf.

“Hey,” I said, catching her attention. “Take this, you will catch a nasty cold otherwise,” I added, handing her the piece of clothing. I tied the scarf around her neck and arranged the collar of her suit to expose as little of her coat as possible. “There you go,” I said, giving my soulmate a quick kiss.

The alicorn looked at me. “What about you?” she asked, a concerned expression on her face.

“I will be fine, worry not,” I assured her, before arranging the hood of my suit around my neck and putting on my helmet.

I pressed a button on the side of the helmet. Instantly, its head up display lit up, indicating the count of heat signatures in the vicinity and the status of the onboard systems. Everything was in the green, the only heat signatures were ours and the visor was clear of any cracks.

Nitro sure did a great job. Hopefully this new sapphire visor will be more durable than the plexiglass one.

“Hey! You two lovebirds are coming or what?” asked Vano in the com, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, hang on.”

I was extremely thankful for Strider and his scarf. At least I could bear the cold, though my naked head was still exposed. We had been walking silently through the snow for nearly an hour and a half. So far we had passed a little train stop and crossed the train tracks. In the distance I could see a derelict, tall structure seemingly made out of metal and a cold grey stone. Every five minutes or so, we would make a turn seemingly at random.

I looked at Strider. “Why do we keep walking making turns?” I asked. “Why can’t we go in a straight line?”

“To minimize the risk of hostile encounters. That way, we cover our flanks, and taking us by surprise would be much more difficult,” he explained. “The area around Yanov station may be relatively secure, but we are pretty far away from it. Besides, we are heading to an uncharted territory. Very few stalkers travel between Yanov and Zaton on their own, most pay the services of a guide..”

I nodded pensively. “I see. Why don’t we use a guide then?”

Vano laughed. “Well... I’m broke, Snag is too and Strider here is going to spend nearly twenty grand on a rifle, not including accessories and ammo,” he explained. “Besides, I’m a pretty good guide,” added the giant, patting his chest.

I pursed my lips, unconvinced.

I could have paid for a guide.

“What about the building in the distance?”

“An old cement factory,” replied Vano, looking over his shoulder.

“Actually, it was a cement factory but was converted at one point to a factory producing electrical appliances, electronics and shit,” corrected Snag. “Stalkers use it as a camp now, it’s right on the border of the explored area around Yanov.”

Vano raised an eyebrow. “You seem to know a lot about the place,” he observed.

Snag gave him a smile. “My aunt worked there. I had family living in Pripyat when I was a child, used to visit them all the time,” said his hooded companion.

“Anyway. We will take a break at this factory. Celestia and I have not eaten anything this morning,” Strider began. “You must be starving dear,” he added, turning towards me.

My stomach grumbled loudly, making me remember that I hadn’t eaten anything since the day before.

“Yeah,” I replied. “Late lunch sounds great.”

We were sitting on the platform on top of the silos at the cement factory. The stairs leading there were rusted but handled Vano’s weight without problem so he deemed them secure. The bearded stalker was playing a guitar he had again pulled out of nowhere and Snag was resting his head on his shoulder, singing along with him. I was distractedly munching on a sandwich, listening to their music and staring off into the distance, pensive.

So we go to Zaton, I purchase a new rifle... and then what?

I looked at Celestia. She had taken a can of food and a bread loaf and was eating distractedly, looking at the two others and imperceptibly bobbing her head in rhythm with their music.

How do we get her back home? How? … I suppose the best way would be to find the right space bubble... even then how do we find it? We cannot ask around at random... maybe we will have to work with the scientists after all.

I sighed. I did not want to be separated from her, but I had to... maybe I could follow her to her home. After all, I had very little to live for in te Zone. Sure, Vano was a good friend, but I knew he could cope without me. I would not be missed by anyone else, really.

I shook my head and took a bite of my sandwich. At least the cold had not frozen it during my pensive pause.

Celestia sat down next to me. “What’s next?” she asked.

Vano stopped playing the guitar. “Next we follow the road,” he said, looking at the old road that passed near the cement factory. “We’ll have to cross the swamps for that, the bridge crossing the canal is broken. Once we pass the bridge, we are officially out of Yanov,” he explained. “After that, we got a more or less uncharted territory, home of mutants, anomalies and radiation so intense that it boils water in some places!”

Snag snorted. “Sure sounds like fun.”

Vano grinned. “Don’t worry sweetie, the big man is here to protect you,” he replied with a chuckle.

“South side, ten o’clock,” announced Strider, looking through his binoculars. “See that bloodsucker in the swamps?”

We were laying prone next to each other on the edge of the platform, silently scanning the swamps North of us. Strider was spotting for me, as he had decided to teach me the basics of marksmanship.

“Give me a second,” I replied, looking for it with my own binoculars. “...there. Got him. Near the big rock, right?”

“Yep. All yours.”

I set the buttstock of my rifle against my shoulder, flipped off the safety and looked through the scope after popping its protective caps open. The beast was idling, crouched next to a rock, seemingly unaffected by the greenish toxic fumes of the swamps. Occasionally it would raise its head and look around, only to stand up and move a few meters. I had a clear shot, all I had to do was to kill it.

There goes nothing.

I lined up my sights with the mutant’s chest, let out a breath and squeezed the trigger.

*BANG*

“Short by a few meters, and two meters too much left,” announced Strider, not looking from behind his binoculars. “Check your windage, two knots should be enough. Remember what I told you about range finding and zeroing.”

I grunted and looked once more at the bloodsucker through the scope.

“Give me an estimation of the range.”

Okay... standing up, this mutant is four mil dots tall... that does, assuming it’s one point eight meters tall... one thousand eight hundred, divided by four...

“Four hundred and fifty meters?” I asked, uncertain.

“Very good.”

I turned the knob on top of my rifle scope until it was set right between four and five, gave the right knob two clicks and looked through the scope again. I once again lined up my shot with the mutant’s chest, let out my breath and squeezed the trigger.

*BANG*

The bloodsucker fell backwards, only to stand back up immediately, an arm hanging limp at its side.

“Nice shot, a bit off-center though,” said Strider. “Look at that, the beast is moving now. You will have to lead your shot to hit.”

I sighed.

Great. As if it wasn’t complicated enough already.

I followed the mutant with my scope, waiting for it to move in a straight line. For a moment, its movements were too erratic, impossible to predict... until I noticed a pattern.

Run, turn, stop, turn, run, walk, run, turn, stop, turn, run, walk, run...

I waited until the mutant walked. As soon as it took off running, I fired.

*BANG*

The bloodsucker collapsed, everything above its shoulders reduced to a mist of blood and chunks of gore.

“Niiiiice. No more head for you, sucker,” said Strider with a grin. “Very well done, Celestia.”

“Did I do good?” I asked.

“Good? That was amazing! Three shots and you nailed it!”

I looked at the sky. I felt conflicted. One less dangerous mutant was on the loose and I was proud of that. I was even proud of what I had achieved, but that went against my principles. In a way, that was one life I had just ended.

“How’s it going?” asked Snag, sitting down next to us.

Strider looked up towards the hooded stalker. “She is already a better marksman than Vano,” he said, comfortingly running his fingers through my mane.

Snag let out a whistle. “Nice. Oh, and Big Guy said we gotta move if we want to be in Zaton by sundown.”

Strider sat up. “Well, I suppose we better be going then,” said my newfound love, looking at the white sky before he turned towards me. “And Celestia... congratulations, you are now our designated marksman,” he added, ruffling my mane. “I can’t wait until I have a decent rifle. We will be able to compete against each other.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Compete?”

“Indeed. Recreational shooting makes the day less boring when you have nothing to do.”

Shooting weapons for sport? Strange.

“Fuck me sideways with a rake and broken glass, I fucking HATE this swamp!”

I rolled my eyes.

Snag, as polite as ever.

“I don’t like it either,” I replied with a sigh. “Just hold on, dear, we’re almost out of here.”

I had to admit though, these swamps were beginning to get on my nerves. It was humid, we were in the mud thigh high and the temperature in there was abnormally elevated. I was even sweating bullets inside my exosuit despite its cooling system... at least it was waterproof, I didn’t have to worry about the water frying any circuits.

Strider was walking ahead, seemingly unaffected by the high temperatures, and Celestia had opted to hover next to him instead of walking, her huge wings flapping at a metronome’s pace. Smart move, at least she didn’t have to walk in the mud. I was impressed that she managed to fly at all, let alone with all the equipment she was carrying.

*splash*

“FUCK! Damn these fucking swamps!”

I turned around. Snag was sprawled face first in the mud.

I ran up to his side and helped him up. “There, there,” I said, gently wiping his face clean. “You okay?”

“I will be as soon as we’re out of these swamps,” retorted Snag, spitting out some mud. “Thanks,” he added with a small smile. “I’d kiss you but I have mud everywhere... yuk.”

“It’s alright,” I replied with a chuckle. “Let’s go, we’re almost out of there,” I added, letting Snag walk in front of me, making sure he wouldn’t fall again.

We had only a few hundred meters until we were out of the swamps and back on the road. I didn’t like these swamps but they were nothing compared to what was waiting for us during this trip, I knew it.

Snag was grumpy. He was covered in dried mud and hadn’t stopped swearing while walking through the swamps. At least we were out of there and advancing somewhat faster.

The air was as cold as ever and the snow seemed to hold up, even under the afternoon sun rays. While it was pretty to look at, the snow was hindering our march, as there was much more there than around Yanov. I was sinking in the white carpet shoulder deep. My wings were useless too, they were aching from all the hovering I did in the swamps. I really needed some exercise.

It was already half past five in the afternoon according to my Vano.

I gave Strider a concerned look. “Have you seen the time?” I asked.

The bald man nodded. “We should be in Zaton in three or four hours, depending on how fast we advance. The night will then begin to fall... I do not like it. We should hurry.”

“You’re right,” said Vano. “I will open the way.”

With that, the giant pulled out his artifact detector and looked at Strider then Snag, giving each of them a nod. Without a word, they all broke into a jog, following the road. Vano took the lead, effortlessly carving a path in the thick layer of snow on the ground despite being in it thigh deep. Snag followed closely, occasionally looking left and right. Strider closed the march, watching their backs. It took me a few seconds to realize what they were doing. I shook my head and followed them, trotting to catch up to Strider.

Walking was pretty boring. Nobody said a word and nothing was happening. At least with the three stalkers walking in front of me I didn’t have to worry about carving my own path through the snow. After nearly an hour at this rhythm, the entrance to a sort of cave came into view.

Vano let out a breath. “So there we are.”

“A tunnel,” I deadpanned.

The bearded stalker shrugged. “Beats jogging in the snow. Besides, it’s the fastest way to Zaton.

We had arrived at the entrance of a tunnel. The road we had been following up to that point seemed to disappear into the darkness inside of the decrepit concrete structure, hiding what awaited us. I did not like it one bit, but I disliked even more the idea of making a detour and being stuck outside in the Zaton swamps by nighttime.

“Alright,” I conceded with a sigh. “We will go through there.

Once again, Vano took the lead, his anomaly detector in one hand, his shotgun sweeping the area ahead in the other.

The inside of the tunnel was pure darkness: we could not see anything five meters ahead and even my helmet’s nightvision barely helped. Occasionally, we came over a pile of rubble and broken junk, some of which nearly obstructing the tunnel, or a wrecked, rusted vehicle, old vestige of the Soviet era. Every two hundred meters there was a big, metallic door on the right, maybe an emergency exit in case something went wrong with the traffic in the tunnel.

We had been in this dark tunnel for nearly half an hour and still couldn’t see the end. I suppressed a shudder. I never liked enclosed spaces.

We stopped. Vano was holding his anomaly detector in the air, waving it around as if looking for something. Strider and Snag had stopped and were scanning the area with their rifles.

I noticed that strange things seemed to happen to the air a few meters ahead: what little light there was in the tunnel seemed to warp. The air was shimmering, as if what was behind it was beneath a rippled water surface. I raised an eyebrow and approached one of these strange phenomenons. I was only a meter away from it when I was interrupted by a voice.

“Whoa there, don’t approach it!”

I turned around, only to see the others staring at me, a tense look on their faces.

“What?” I asked.

Strider crouched in front of the group. “Don’t move. Take a step back and come to me,” he said.

I took a step back. Then another. Another one. I turned around and walked into Strider’s outstretched arms. The buzzed man hugged me tightly, as if he hadn’t seen me in a long time.

“Do not do that ever again, understood?” he asked, voice almost cracking.

“I don’t get it,” I stated, dumbfounded, looking at the others over Strider’s shoulder.

Vano scratched his beard, took a piece of scrap metal lying on the ground and threw it at the shimmer floating in the air. The air seemed to explode,sending a tremendous pressure wave outwards and blowing my mane off my face.

“Very few people who walked into an anomaly walked out of it to tell the tale,” he said.

Snag nodded. “Yeah. That was a gravitational anomaly. While walking into a thermal or electrical one will give you third degree burns, gravitational anomalies will... destroy you, be it by compressing you into a bloody mush or shredding you to pieces. Literally.”

I shuddered at what the hooded stalker had said. If he was right, I had just escaped a gruesome and painful death. I suddenly understood Strider’s reaction and returned his hug.

“Never do that again,” he repeated.

“I’m sorry, I thought it looked strange and-”

“Shh.”

“I found a way,” announced Vano.

I broke the hug and gave Strider a reassuring kiss before turning around and following the giant as he guided us through the field of shimmering anomalies. We turned right, then left and again right, and ended up next to the wall of the tunnel. From there, we walked over a pile of rubble to the center of the tunnel.

We had passed the anomaly field for over half an hour and were almost at the end of the tunnel, I could see a light in the distance. I knew I may have overreacted when Celestia approached the anomaly but I could not have helped it. I did not want her to get hurt, I could not bear to lose her... not anymore.

I was shaken off my thoughts by the sounds of mutant shrieks resonating against the walls of the tunnel, sounding like Tushkanos. There was not just one mutant, it seemed like there were many. Dozens, hundreds of them. I stopped and activated the nightvision goggles attached to my helmet. It barely helped unfortunately: I could not see anything outside of the beam of my flashlight.

Then the thermal signature count on my HUD increased.

Five. Twelve. Thirty. Seventy. One hundred and twenty.

My blood froze at the count. I hit the side of my helmeted head, hoping for a bug from the thermal scanner, but nothing changed.

“What’s wrong?” asked Celestia, sounding concerned.

One hundred and thirty-five thermal signatures, all heading towards us.

“Get to a high point!” I yelled. “NOW!”

With that, I scooped up Celestia and broke into a sprint. I jumped on the roof of a nearby derelict car and sat down there. Celestia looked at me, anxiety all over her features. Vano and Snag opted for a wrecked truck sitting sideways across the tunnel They climbed on the bed of the truck and waited there, crouched low.

Then the Tushkanos arrived. We made ourselves as small as possible as the swarm of hamster-like mutants rushed by. There were hundreds of them, my thermal scanner now displayed ‘ERR’. They were running in a tight pack, forming a moving, living carpet over the clear asphalt of the ground and completely obscuring it; bumping into obstacles and each other alike. The unbearable cacophony of their shrieks and the rumble of their claws hitting the ground completely overwhelmed my eardrums and made me cringe.

I felt Celestia huddle herself against me. I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, trying to keep her calm as much as myself. We had to stay perfectly still if we wanted to remain undetected and stay alive.

After what felt like hours, the swarm of mutants ended. Their shrieks slowly faded off into the distance and the headcount on my thermal scanner came back to four.

Snag let out a relieved sigh. “Whoa. I can’t believe we evaded them,” he began, climbing down the truck.

Vano shook his head. “We didn’t ‘evade’ them, they were fleeing. But from what?”

“I do not know,” I replied. “But whatever it was, I do not want to meet it.”

*thump thump*

I froze I heard some sounds of loud thumping echoing in the tunnel, coming from the opposite direction the Tushkanos had run to. My thermal scanner now indicated seven heat signatures.

I recognized the sound.

I felt my heart skip a beat in my chest.

We were dead.

Strider froze. He was deathly pale and had his eyes trained on the direction the pack of little mutants had come from. His breathing intensified. I began to worry, a drop of sweat made its way down my forehead as I tried to understand what was making him panic.

Suddenly, I heard a sound coming from the direction Strider was staring at.

*thump thump*

Slowly, the bald stalker turned towards Vano, gave him an eloquent look. “Pseudogiants?” he asked.

Vano nodded slowly. “T-three of them, judging by the sound.”

“W-what do we do?” I asked.

“We can’t run,” said Vano. “Not from three of these beasts... but we can hide.”

“But how!?” exclaimed Snag. “We can’t just fucking turn invisible!”

Strider looked around, examining our surroundings. There were a lot of derelict, rusted vehicles and a lot of rubble on the ground, nothing that could hide us however.

I gulped. The sound was growing closer.

“The bus,” finally said the bald stalker, looking at a rusted down vehicle with a lot of openings. “It is our only chance.”

“You heard the man, let’s go!” yelled Vano.

The thumping sounds were a lot closer now. We ran to the derelict vehicle and rushed inside of it. Strider brought a finger to his lips, gesturing us to stay silent.

The Pseudogiants were approaching.

The floor began to shake.

The sound of their step grew from loud to deafening.

The shaking increased into an earthquake, making chunks of concrete fall from the ceiling and rattling the frame of the derelict bus we were hiding in against the hard asphalt of the ground.

Then the hulking beasts came into view. There were three of them, each over two meters tall, occasionally emitting a loud growl. Their enormous legs propelled their deformed, raindrop shaped torsos faster than any stalker could sprint, cracking the hard asphalt under their weight as they hit it with each heavy step.

*THUMP THUMP*

Whenever a vehicle or a pile of junk came into the two ton beasts’ path, they just plowed right through the obstacle, headbutting it and sending it flying or tearing it apart as if it was made of wet cardboard. I prayed that they did not do that to our bus, as it would be our end.

The mutants were very close now. I gestured everyone to get down and laid prone on the rotten floor of the bus.

I felt Celestia tremble at my side. She was rolled in a ball and her ears were flopped down on her head. She looked terrified. I reassuringly wrapped my arms around her, hugged her tightly and waited.

The first two the Pseudogiants passed by without even looking at the bus we were in. The third one however slowed down and approached our hiding place, seemingly taking great interest in it. The beast looked through the broken windows just above Celestia and I. I felt her body tense up as the mutated creature passed its deformed, quasi non-existent head through the broken window above us. The alicorn in my arms let out a squeak of fear. I said nothing and began to slowly stroke her neck, trying to calm her down.

The Pseudogiant froze and sniffed the air, waiting for something to happen. We all held our breath, for any sound we made would be our end. After what seemed like hours, the beast snarled and slowly pulled its head back from the window. It turned around and began to walk away, following its two brethren. We stayed immobile for two more minutes, listening to the fading sound of the mutants’ step echoing in the tunnel as they followed their path, destroying anything hindering their progression.

Without letting go of Celestia, I risked an eye in the direction the mutants had disappeared to. Nothing could be heard, nothing could be seen except the aftermath of their rampage: most of the wrecked vehicles were overturned, some even torn in half and the piles of rubble of the ground were scattered around or smashed into fine debris.

I let out a slow, relieved sigh.

Celestia buried her face in my chest and broke down crying, ears flopped down on her head, her sobs shaking her entire body.

“Shhh, shhh, it is alright, it is over now,” I softly said, gently stroking my soulmate’s mane.

“I know *sob* I know, I can’t help it-t-t-t,” she replied between sobs.

Poor soul has to relieve the stress one way or another.

I said nothing and kept her hugged against me until her sobs quieted out. I let go of her and looked at her in the eyes.

“There. Feeling better?” I asked, gently wiping out her tears.

“Yeah,” the alicorn replied with a weak smile. “Sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

“Do not be. I understand,” I assured her, before giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

Celestia didn’t reply. Instead, she shuffled a bit, making herself more comfortable in my arms.

I chuckled. “You know, we still have a long way to go,” I announced, half amused.

“I know, I know.”

I stood up and gently helped her up. She looked shaken but I was sure she would be able to hold up. After all, she had been through worse already; and even then, I would be there for her.

It had been an hour since the incident with the giant mutants. I took a deep breath. The pressure had the time to settle down I thanks to Strider I had been able to vent the stress caused by the close encounter.

Nothing noteworthy had happened in a while and honestly I was getting bored. We were walking, only this time we were out of the tunnel and back outside, though there was less snow in this area, just enough for my hoof to disappear in the white carpet on the ground.

I let out a breath and ruffled my wings before I fully extended them and took off. I liked my new suit of armor, but it really needed some sort of protection against the cold for my wings. I was more or less forced to hover in place and fly around just to keep them from freezing.

I could see a building profile itself in the distance. It didn’t seem to have any windows and there were some sort of metal superstructures behind it. We followed the road, coming up to a barrier right next to the building. While the others crouched under it, I simply flew over and we continued our way.

We arrived at the feet of the metal superstructures. All of them were very tall with pointed ends and disposed in a regular fashion every few meters. It was like a forest, only this one was made of metal... an iron forest.

On our left was a field of anomalies I recognized as electric ones, and in the distance to our left I could see a crashed vehicle very similar to the one Strider had found me on my second day in the Zone.

“Where are we?” I asked, looking around.

Snag raised his head. “Iron Forest anomaly, South West of the Skadovsk. We shouldn’t be too far from it now, a few kilometers at most,” he announced. “We still got a lot of swamps to cross,” he added with a sigh.

Vano kissed the hood of the stalker. “Don’t be so grumpy. I bet they’ll be completely frozen with this weather.”

“Oh great. Instead of wading around in mud we’ll slip and break all our limbs on it.”

Vano opened his mouth and was about to reply when something bumped his head, making him stumble forwards. He turned away from his hooded companion, clutching his bruised occiput and looked around, confused.

We were in the middle of this ‘Iron Forest’, near a little red brick building with a door and a bolt of lightning drawn on a yellow sign. There was nothing except the anomaly field a few meters away on our right. I watched in awe a few rocks floated in the air.

“Errr, guys?” I called.

“Is that you Celly?” asked Vano.

“N-no. Is that bad?”

“Don’t. Move. We may have a Poltergeist in the area. Maybe Burer.”

Strider crouched down and began walking slowly, looking around. Vano and Snag crouched and put their backs to the wall of the brick building.

I lowered my head and regrouped with them.

“What’s a Poltergeist?” I murmured.

“A strange mutant to be honest,” replied Snag. “They kinda look like Tesla anomalies, big balls of electricity floating in the air, moving randomly. They appear here, disappear there... when you kill one, it just disappears, like a ghost. They’re blind as a mole and deaf as Beethoven, but for some reason they can detect movements nearby. Once they have detected an intruder, they lift every fucking item lying around in the air and hurl it towards whoever was unfortunate enough to enter their territory at butt naked speeds.”

“Evading them is actually simple,” added Vano. “Ducking and moving slowly is enough to lose their attention. They are quite weak and a few bullets will suffice to take one down. But if you run around-”

“POLTERGEIST!”

The giant was interrupted by Strider’s yelling, followed by a loud crashing sound. Turning around, I could only watch, powerless, as my love was thrown off his feet and into a wall a few meters farther by an unknown telekinetic force.

“Strider! NO!” I yelled in despair.

Vano stood up. “Motherfucker!”

Shit.

I set my shotgun on full auto and looked around, trying to find the Poltergeist. I was angry at Strider for wandering alone when a dangerous mutant is around, but I was even angrier at myself for letting him

I looked around. The anomaly field to our right was devoid of any perturbation safe for the occasional electro anomaly discharging with a zap, sign that there were some artifacts in there.

But that wasn’t my goal at the moment. I had solely focus on killing this Poltergeist before it reduced Strider to a pile of bloody mush with its telekinetic abilities.

Suddenly I spotted it. There was what looked like a ball of electricity hiding behind the crashed helicopter on the far left. I gestured Snag and Celestia to stay where they were before I slowly got out of cover.

I creeped up on the immobile Poltergeist, silently moving from pillar to pillar, careful as to not attract its attention. That said, it was already focused on pounding Strider with various objects and sneaking up on the mutant proved quite easy. When I was about to come around the chopper I broke into a sprint and dropped to my back, sliding on the ground and popping up just in front of the beast. I then squeezed the trigger on my USAS shotgun.

The buckshot rounds traversed the Poltergeist as if it wasn’t even there but after a few rounds, it disappeared into nothingness with a ghastly scream. Every object floating in the air fell to the ground.

I smirked.

Gotcha.

*BLONG*

The metal barrel floating menacingly over Strider dropped harmlessly to the ground, missing him by mere centimeters. Without a word, my friend stood up and retrieved his carbine, looking around with a surprised expression.

I stood up and stick out my tongue to him, to which he replied with a deadpan look and an outstretched middle finger.

I turned around, facing Snag and Celestia. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Zaton. The temperature outside is freezing, there is snow everywhere and the weather is globally shit,” I said with a grin. “We would like to remind you that there are buttloads of mutants out there to kill us,” I added, giving Strider an amused glance, “so stay on your guard and keep your gun at the ready. We appreciate that you chose Vano tours and wish you an agreeable day.”

Snag rolled his eyes and Celestia let out a chuckle. We regrouped and headed towards the exit of the compound.

‘Only’ an hour and a half of walking.

*CLAC*

*weeee*

*CLAC*

“EVERYBODY, DOWN!” I yelled.

I instantly grabbed Celestia by the collar and forced her to the ground. The alicorn yelped as her head hit the muddy ice of the frozen swamps with a thud.

Sorry.

I dragged her behind a nearby rock, slipping on the cold ice and cursing internally as the bullets whizzed and clacked past us. We had been walking peacefully through the frozen scenery for half an hour, I had let my guard down and because of me we were under attack.

*CLAC*

“GOD DAMN IT! WHERE THE FUCK DOES IT COME FROM?” asked Snag, crawling behind the same rocks as us.

“I don’t know but they seem to know what they are doing,” added Vano under the hail of bullets flying over us.

We stayed behind cover, making ourselves as little as possible as to not get hit. After a while, the firing seemed to stop. I cast a quick glance at our surroundings over the rock we were hiding behind. Seconds after I had perked up, a hail of bullets hit our rock. I instantly dropped back behind cover.

“North-West, two hundred meters,” I began. “Five tangos in the bushes outside the swamp. High-end gear and suppressed automatic weapons, small caliber.”

Vano raised an eyebrow. “Small caliber?” he asked, before he put his helmet on. “Oh well,” he added, standing up and readying his machine gun. “Let’s get to it, shall we?”

“What the fuck are you doing?” yelled Snag.

As soon as my friend stood out of cover he became the target of our enemies. The bullets aiming to kill him just bounced off the solid metal plating of his exosuit, leaving only paint scratches, letting the power armoured stalker retaliate by squeezing the trigger of his machine gun, sending a wall of lead towards our enemies while slowly walking towards them.

I shook my head. Even if Vano’s armor could stop most of the bullets from harming him, it was only a matter of time before one of them got through or found an unprotected spot in the plating.

My instincts kicked in.

“Snag, suppressing fire. Celestia, with me,” I ordered.

Snag readied his rifle, peaked over the rock and opened fire at our enemies, supporting Vano’s slow advance.

I gestured Celestia to follow and crouch walked for a good hundred meters through the rotten vegetation of the frozen swamp. The alicorn in tow, I slowly made my way to a rock to the far right of the group attacking us, our progression hindered by the thick brush and the muddy ice of the swamp on the ground.

From there I got a good view of our attackers. They all were wearing the colors of the Mercenary and were lying prone behind a rock, their hands over their heads as automatic gunfire from Vano and Snag forced them to stop firing and hunker down.

I looked at Celestia over my shoulder. “We are taking them down. You stay here, I will take position fifty meters away,” I instructed her. “Wait for my signal.”

The alicorn nervously nodded, readied her rifle and looked through the scope.

“Moving,” I announced.

I once again moved through the brush and silently exited the swamp. I could see our attackers from behind now, the incessant fire from Vano and Snag were effectively pinning them in place. I stopped behind the trunk of a fallen tree and took aim. I reached at a button on my radio and pressed it.

“Fire.”

Sorry.

I let out a breath and telekinetically squeezed the trigger of my rifle. It emitted a loud crack and jerked backwards into my shoulder. One of the men hiding behind the rocks became limp and his grip on his gun loosened. With a final spasm, the man died.

I took a deep, shaky breath and switched my aim to a man who was standing up.

*BANG*

I heard two gunshots under the constant rattle of Vano’s machine gun, coming from the direction he and Snag were. I could only look through my scope as the man I was observing through my scope brought a hand to his bloody chest, looked at it incredulously before he swayed from side to side, fell to his knees and hit the ground face first.

I felt a lump form in my throat.

Two men tried to stand up, only to be mowed down by a hail of bullets from Vano. They fell to the ground, dead. The last man looked around frantically and took off running, only to be promptly shot down by Strider. He silently fell the the ground, his momentum making his corpse skid forwards several meters.

I stood up.

It was over.

Only the whistle of the wind disturbed the deathly silence that followed. It hadn’t been a fight, it had been a massacre... and I had been a part of it. Every single one of these men... I never knew them, none of us did. But they had attacked us, and for that, they were dead. Strider’s tactics had gotten us out of their merciless attack, showing as little mercy in return... and I had been a part of it.

I stood up from behind my rock and made my way to the corpses of the dead stalkers, rifle at the ready. All the stalkers were dead and lying on the ground, a few meters apart from each other.

I crouched down and examined one of them. He was clad in fairly common combat fatigues and tactical vest sporting the dark blue colors of the Mercenaries and had only one 5.45mm hole in the neck right under the jaw, despite me unloading half my magazine at the man.

ugh. I like having a compact assault rifle but the accuracy is way off.

I crouched and began looting the corpse.

Apart from his suit, the dead Merc’s arsenal was far from standard: a customized Browning Hi-Power and a suppressed M16-type rifle with a foregrip and a scope. While I could salvage the scope and the suppressor, the rifle itself was torn open and had several 7.62mm sized holes in the receiver.

Vano, you imbecile.

I detached the accessories and discarded the weapon, deciding to sell the attachments later. Instead, I interested myself in the contents of the Merc’s pockets: Ammo, medical supplies, some food... and a photo. It depicted a woman in her late twenties smiling at the camera, sitting under a tree by a sunny day and holding a young child in her arms. The child seemed no older than a few months. On the back of the photo, something was written.

“Come back soon my love, I don’t want you to miss our baby’s birthday! I miss you so much. Love, Oleksandra,“ I read aloud.

Damn.

I sighed and looked at the dead Mercenary laying at my feet. I put the photo back into his pocket, closed his eyes and laid his arms on his chest. I unpinned an incendiary grenade and put it in one of the Merc’s pocket.

I heard the grass ruffle behind me. Celestia was there, mixed emotions conflicting on her features. I stood up and walked to the beautiful alicorn, stopping a meter away from her. I knelt down and let her come to me. She took a step forwards and rested her head on my shoulder. Without a word, I wrapped my arms around her and closed my eyes.

*FWOOSH*

The incendiary grenade went off, producing flames of intense heat and quickly consuming the body of the dead Merc. Celestia sighed and broke the hug, before she turned away and headed towards the rock we had been hiding behind in the first place.

I then stood up and turned around, leaving the body of the man to burn, walking to another corpse laying on the ground. This one was clad in a sort of lightened armour with a hood and had more custom equipment: a shortened FN FAL with folding butt stock and some kind of revolver. He had one neat hole in the helmet, undoubtedly Celestia’s work.

Might keep the FAL for replacement parts for Celestia's rifle.

Like before, I searched through his equipment. I salvaged some of his medical supplies and his ammo for Celestia’s rifle... it was not match-grade but would suffice for standard range firefights.

Out of curiosity, I took his PDA and searched through the message logs. Maybe it would contain valuable information I could sell.

I felt my heart skip a beat.

We were dead.

Man, was I glad for my exosuit! I had stood under direct fire and the worst damage I had sustained was paint scratches and a couple of dents on a few armored plates. I checked my machine gun and walked out of the frozen swamp, approaching the stalkers that had the bad idea of attacking us. All of the ones I had killed were dead for good, riddled with bullet holes.

I examined one of them, clad in a cheaply made exoskeleton. I put him onto his back with a foot.

“You’d think being a Merc makes good money,” I said with a sigh.

Snag came up at my side. “Merc?”

“Yep. See this?” I asked, showing Snag the badge with black background and a blue eagle head. “Symbol of the biggest Merc faction around.”

I was about to add something when I spotted Celestia coming up to us. She looked conflicted and confused.

“Something’s bothering you?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I understand we had to kill these men, we had no other choice... I’m over it, mostly... but I feel terrible for it,” she said, awkwardly rubbing a foreleg

Snag nodded. “Trust me, it’s normal,” he replied. “I’d be fucking worried otherwise. It’s just a question of habit. After a while, you learn to block it out. You become numb.”

The alicorn sighed. “Yeah... that’s what Strider told me too. That I would feel nothing eventually.”

“It’s not so hard,” I reassured her. “You’ll just become more resilient in time, you’ll see,” I added with a small smile.

“Yeah. In time... I just hope I can last that long.”

Celestia turned around and sat down, staring blankly in the distance.

I turned around and walked away only to sit down, staring blankly in the distance. I could see the endless swamp, obvious vestige of a river, frozen by the cold wind ruffling the reeds and the brush. There was also what looked like a stranded boat.

Strider came up at my side. I gave him a weak smile that instantly changed to a look of concern as I noticed the expression on his face. The bald stalker was deathly pale and was clutching in his right hand a small device that looked like my PDA.

“Is everything alright?” I asked him, worried.

“I... no.”

I apprehensively followed Strider as he walked up to Vano and Snag. Without a word, he handed them the device he was holding.

Vano gave his friend an interrogative glance, only to change into an expression of worry and fear as he looked at the PDA he was holding. Snag’s expression too changed to one of horror as he glanced at the device.

“That’s for real?” he asked, nervously scratching his chin.

Strider nodded.

“What’s going on?” I asked, my gaze darting between the stalkers.

Strider took a deep breath.

“There is a price on our heads.”

“WHAT?”

Chapter 10: Life Under the Sword of Damocles

View Online

Chapter 10
Life Under the Sword of Damocles

I jolted awake, taken by a fit of coughing. My whole body felt numb, I was cold and the floor was wet. The scent of... cooking meat came to my nostrils, making me gag in disgust.

I tried to move but something was keeping my mouth shut, my legs were tied up and... a leash was attaching me to the wall.

I groaned in pain. My head was throbbing and my right wing was killing me again. There were voices around me...

Where am I?

I observed the room I was in. A few people clad in long black coats were speaking while sitting at a table and playing a card game. I heard voices from the outside. Someone was coming.

The door slammed open and five dark figures entered the room, wearing long coats and one wearing power armor. The one clad in mechanical armor ordered the others to go outside, leaving both of us alone.

“Hmmm yes... Thanks to you I’ll be rich!” He lowly growled, removing his helmet. “But first...”

I instantly recognized him. I recognized where I was.

But that’s impossible! He’s dead! All of this already happened!

The man moved his hand to touch my muzzle, and began to stroke my neck and my chest, down to my stomach... descending lower and lower... I desperately twisted my whole body, trying to escape from his dreadful touch.

I don’t want this, no no please, not again, I don’t wanna be here, somepony get me out of here!

“Don’t you fucking move, bitch! I own you now!” shouted Barin.

He punched me in the face and my vision faded for a second, obscured by dancing lights. I felt his fist hit the side of my face again, and everything went black.

I regained consciousness to hear Barin talking. I was still in the same place, only this time, I was strapped to a table, my back forcefully pressed against the cold metal of the piece of furniture. My forelegs were attached together, my wings were restrained, and... my hind legs were forced spread out.

I began to hyperventilate.

I heard my captor chuckle. “You know, when I first saw you, I thought I was crazy, but I quickly realized you were real... and I decided to make a profit out of it,” he said. “You are a very valuable item to my clients: you’ve got fucking MAGIC out of all things!” He laughed.

His joyful laugh filled me with fear and dread. He seemed to really enjoy what he was doing.

“W-why?...” I asked weakly, a tear of despair rolling down my cheek.

Barin entered my field of view. “But for money of course! Why else?” he asked casually. “You’ll be sold to some scientists and they’ll be very happy to dissect you,” he explained. “But first... I’m gonna have my fun,” he added, grinning maniacally.

I began trembling uncontrollably. “W-what are you doing? get away from me!”I yelled, trying to cast a defensive spell.

The throbbing in my head intensified, forcing me to fall limp.

Barin punched me again and grabbed my horn, almost breaking it in half. “Don’t try anything funny, or I’ll break that horn of yours, then I’ll break every bone in your body,” he growled. “It will reduce your value, and I’d like to keep your worth a maximum, so don’t... just don’t,” he said, stroking my stomach.

I shuddered in disgust.

Please... someone help me! I don’t want to do this!

I felt everything spin around me and my vision faded to red.

I don’t want to... no!

I felt myself say one word.

“NO.”

...

I felt my hearing come back progressively. I could make out the cracks of a burning fire around me and there were several muffled voices, sounding closer and closer by the minute.

“Wha... ...uck... -ppened?”

“Shit! Everythin... -urning!”

I stayed there, waiting for something to happen. Slowly, my vision turned back to normal... everything around me was burned, broken or melted. I could see nothing but piles of rubble, ash and molten metal. The sickening stench of smoke and burned flesh was lingering in the air. I noticed I wasn’t tied up anymore. I slowly rolled on my side, gasping for air as my mind tried to get a grasp on what happened.

I didn’t know what had happened, I didn’t know where I was anymore, I didn’t even know if I was still alive. I saw a dark, tall figure looming over me. I reached towards it and, with all the strength I could muster, called for help.

“H-h-help-p... m-me...”

The figure turned around. “That’s it!” it yelled over its shoulder. “...cking psycho mutant!”

I felt something impact my face. It hurt. A warm liquid coming from my nose made its way down my muzzle. It had a ferrous taste to it.

Blood.

I watched helplessly as the figure over me was joined by others and raised an appendage in the air, only to hit me in brutally in the face. A jolt of pain coursed my head. I could feel a headache coming on. Another dark figure took a step back. something hit me in the stomach. I felt something crack and an acute nausea took hold of me.

Another blow landed, on my side this time. It almost broke one of my wings.

I started to laugh.

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Hahahahaha. Hahahahaha. Ha. Ha. Ha.Ha.”

The blows never stopped, punctuated by my laughter which was slowly becoming hysterical.

“Hahahahahahahaha HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Suddenly, I felt it. A tremendous amount of energy coursed through my body, overloading my senses with pain. I arched my back and open my mouth a in a silent scream of pure sufferance.

Suddenly, as fast as it as it started, it stopped. My vision was blurred and my ears were ringing. I panted, catching my breath as I tried to understand what happened. A jolt of energy coursed through my body. I wasn’t in control anymore.

I felt a huge shockwave harmlessly wash over me, accompanied with a tremendous amount of heat. My hearing went out. My eyesight faded to a blinding shade of white and all my senses faded, overloaded in a haze of incomprehensible information.

I stood up and approached one of the dark figures that was now laying on the ground.

No, my body stood up and approached the dark figure. I didn’t want to move. I only wanted to run away, to flee from this wretched place. I had enough, I wanted to get away, I wanted comfort, not this. Such death and destruction was beyond that of what I was capable... I was only a spectator. I could only watch in horror as my body telekinetically lifted one of the dark forms at eye level and observed it.

It was a fairly young man, clad in a long, dark coat. Slowly, he opened his eyes, seemingly regaining consciousness. I wanted to yell, to tell him to break free and run away, but I couldn’t. Not anymore. My body examined the man, before it snarled, threw him to the ground before it and raised a hoof. The man on the ground raised an arm and began to beg for his life.

“No... No no no no! Please no!”

I wanted to close my eyes. I wanted to run away, but I couldn’t.

“I got a wife and a kid on the outside I’m only here to help them PLEASE N-”

I watched helplessly as my body acted on its own and crushed the skull of the man under its hoof before it raise its gaze to the smoke obscured sky and laughed. It laughed. I... it had just mercilessly killed a man begging for his life and family and it... I laughed.

It laughed.

It... I laughed.

I laughed.

*BANG*

I felt something hit the back of my neck, interrupting my laughter. A jolt of pain coursed through my body and I stumbled forwards. Slowly, I... it... I turned around, only to see another man laying on the ground, shakily holding a still smoking pistol.

I lowered my head and, without hesitating, unleashed a torrent of flames towards the poor soul. I could only listen to his screams as he was incinerated alive, smell his skin melting and his flesh boiling, slowly turning into nothing but a scorched corpse laying on the ground, what was left of his limbs raised defensively over him.

The sight made me want to gag, to throw up and run away, but I couldn’t. I was... forced to snort, turn around and slowly leave the smoldering ruins of the building where I had been kept hostage. Only then I noticed my appearance... my coat was a bright, almost blinding shade of white, my mane and tail were on fire, but not a normal fire. No, this fire was a bright blue.

My mind went blank as I slaughtered each and every one of the men in the compound. One by one, they all fell. Some tried to fight back. Some tried to run away. Some even tried to beg. It didn’t matter. I killed them.

All of them. One by one.

Brutally, gruesomely, without mercy.

…

I must have blacked out at some point during my berzerk state, because I was on an old road. The brutal surge of magic had ended, leaving me in control once again and utterly exhausted. I felt dizzy. The world was spinning round me. I felt my legs buckle under my weight and fell to my side abruptly. I could only lay there, my body shaken with sobs of guilt and sorrow as I was reminded of the terrible things I had just done.

I tried to stand up, only to fall over once more.

My head hit the ground. everything went black.

“GUUUUUUUUUUUHHHH”

I woke up with a start and looked around, panicked. Metallic, rusted walls. A mattress underneath me. Strider sleeping peacefully next to me.

I sighed in relief. I was in the dorms aboard the Skadovsk, the old stranded ship broken in half serving of base to the Loners in the swamps of Zaton. We were many in there, it wasn’t luxurious, but it provided warmth and protection against the weather and the mutants of the Zone.

I suppressed a shudder at the remembrance of the nightmare and snuggled myself against Strider, trying to find sleep once more. Then I felt an arm comfortingly reach around my chest. I relaxed and stopped trembling almost instantly.

“There, there. All over now,” Strider reassuringly said.

“I had that flashback again,” I admitted. “You know which one. Only this time, it was even more vivid. I didn’t think I would ever have to deal with it anymore.”

I sighed.

“Intense stress does that,” softly said Strider, “And the recent events have been quite... troubling.”

What an euphemism.

He wasn’t wrong though. Being stranded in an alien world, captured, held prisoner, tortured and... and... it wasn’t enough apparently. I had to deal with the fact that someone wanted my friends, my companion and I dead too.

“But who? Who could be after us? And why?” I asked.

“The PDA only mentioned one name: Jackal; but no mention was made about who he actually is or why he is after us,” Strider replied, gently stroking my mane. “I do have an idea or two. There may have a connection to the bandits back in Jupiter, but I will have to ask around for someone who could get as much information out of it and help us investigate. Maybe I could ask about space bubbles, too. At least we would know if there is a way for you to get home.”

Home...

There, wrapped in Strider’s arms, I felt secure, yet I felt lost. I knew what I had to do, but I didn’t know if I wanted. On one side, I had to go back to Equestria, it was my duty; but it would mean I’d have to leave Strider... and that, I couldn’t.

“I don’t want to leave you,” I muttered. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Strider replied, hugging me tightly and kissing my neck.

I helped Celestia put on her armored suit. She moved around, making sure her suit was correctly in place before she levitated my elbow pads and helped me put them on.

We had some sort of morning routine by then; we would help each other get in gear and then we would move out after a light breakfast. Nothing special, nothing romantic; but I liked the proximity these simple acts brought.

“So what’s the plan for today?” asked my alicorn as I gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“I will have to order a new sniper rifle from this Nimble merchant,” I replied, pensive. “Should not take long. After that, we will move out, I suppose. Vano wanted to hunt for artifacts, but what we need now is a job. Wanted dead or not, we need to make money, after all.”

That was true. Money is a constant issue in the Zone. I never had to complain, as work is plentiful and I usually managed to save up more than enough but sometimes I had to do a little extra or two. Considering I had spent quite a lot on Celestia’s gear and I was going to spend even more on a new rifle, I could not afford to slack off.

“I’m coming with you,” replied the radiant alicorn.

I gave her a smile and let her exit the dorms before we climbed the stairs to the upper deck of the Skadovsk, where the famous Nimble had established his quarters. I made sure Celestia watched her step as we entered the room where the merchant had set up shop.

It was underwhelming to say the least. There was only an old bed, a chair and an overturned barrel serving as a bench to a man in his thirties clad in a hooded suit very much like Snag’s. The only ‘personal’ touches to the room were a guitar resting against the wall behind the man and a handgun on the chair next to him. Nothing indicated that he was the famous merchant dealing with rare and specialized weaponry.

“Are you Nimble?” I asked the man.

“Indeed, stalker. Came here to place an order?” he replied.

“Yes. I need a sniper weapon. Something semi automatic, accurate, and that hits hard,” I explained.

“Hard hitting, eh?”

I nodded. “Yes. I need it to be able to pierce exoskeleton armor even at long ranges.”

The hooded merchand held his chin, pensive. “I see. Exoskeleton armor eh? That’s a lot of firepower you’re asking for here.”

“How much will it be then?” I asked.

“Twenty thousand, I’ll have to ask you four thousand in advance,” announced Nimble. “Might be a few thousand more if you want some ammo with it.”

“No, take it all,” I replied, handing the merchant ten bills two thousand roubles. “When will it be ready?”

“Tomorrow at the very most. Shouldn’t take much more than a few hours though, you are lucky stalker, one of my contacts recently entered in possession of just what you need,” replied Nimble, standing up. “What name should I put on the order?”

“Strider.”

The merchant nodded and took note. “Allright. I’ll be on my way now. See you later stalker,” he added, grabbing his rifle.

Celestia and I just stood there, watching Nimble walk out of the room, giving me a nod and tapping on his PDA.

“Well, At least he doesn’t lose time faffing about,” stated the radiant alicorn by my side.

I brought a hand to the side of her swanlike neck. “Come, let’s go see what the others are up to,” I said.

I ruffled my wings and walked down the stairs with Strider to the main area where the stalkers regrouped to socialize, the cargo hull of the stranded ship. The bar was installed there, unsurprisingly. The ceiling was very high and everything was made of metal, except for the tables most stalkers were sitting at. Some even sat directly on the floor, playing the guitar or the harmonica while talking in various languages, most of which I didn’t understand.

I sighed contentedly. I had grown to like this atmosphere, filled with smoke, music and voices overlapping. It was anonymous yet welcoming and gave a comfy feeling overall.

I didn’t even have the time to react when I was shoved aside by an angry Snag climbing the stairs Strider and I were coming from. I stumbled backwards, trying to regain my balance but fell to the metallic floor with a thud. Vano stood up from the bar he was sitting at and approached us, distressed expression on his face.

“What in the Zone happened here?” asked Strider, helping me up.

Vano sighed. “Snag’s a coward, that’s what happened.”

“Care to explain?” I asked with an eyebrow raised. “I’m a bit lost here.”

“He’s afraid since the Mercs attacked us yesterday and tried to talk me into leaving you guys alone and stay hidden in here... fuck,” said the giant, disapprovingly shaking his head.

Strange... they seemed to get along more than well.

“But, weren’t you two... you know, an item?”

“Sort of. I just hope he’ll get his head out of his ass sometime. Hiding doesn’t solve problems,” replied Vano with a sigh. “Well, at least he should be safe if he stays here,” he muttered the giant under his breath.

I gave the giant a sympathetic look and nodded. “He will be back, I am sure. But you are right. We can’t stay here all day, I hate sitting idle for too long,” I added.

“We have to find something to do,” started Strider. “I am near broke, Celestia is far from rich and with all the new equipment you bought, I am certain that your wallet is empty too, Vano.”

The giant scratched the back of his head. “Yeah. I’m fairly sure I even owe some money to the tech heads back at Yanov,” he admitted, earling a disapproving glare from his friend. “Better get moving. Maybe Beard will have something.”

“Beard?” I asked.

“Yeah, the barman.”

Strider shrugged. “Allright.”

We walked to the bar, where a bald man with a beard even bigger than Vano’s was behind, cleaning some glasses. Some of the stalkers gave me a wary glance as I passed by, most of them which weren’t present when Strider, Vano, Snag and I arrived at the Skadovsk last evening. I have to say, these people are unsettling: while some freaked out, most of them seemed barely surprised to see me, even in a full set of armor and weapons. Even at first contact they were never afraid, only... wary. Maybe it did have to do with the fact that I was wearing armor and weapons, things they could identify.

Vano was about to greet the barman when I spotted several figures clad in long, dark coats that were all too familiar. My first reaction upon noticing their presence was fear. I wanted to run, to escape, to put as much distance as possible between these men and I. My second reaction was anger, hate, and a primal urge to take my shotgun and blast them all on the spot.

“What are they doing here?” I growled.

Vano snorted. “Ask Beard.”

The bearded barman behind the counter eyed me curiously for a second then shrugged. “Sorry little one, that’s the way it is here: I got nothing against ’em aboard the Skadovsk, so long as they act decent. After all, you don’t meet total douchebags all that often. Some of them are actually former stalkers. who knows, one of them poor bastards might actually decide to give up on the crook business before he catches a bullet... life is full of surprises. Besides, Owl makes a lot of business with them.”

‘You don’t meet total douchebags all that often’? Yeah, right.

“They better keep their distances,” I heard Strider mutter.

I bought some food from Beard and sat down at the bar next to Strider. He was munching on a sandwich, eyeing cautiously the bandits next to us, while Vano was talking with the barman.

“Say Beard, you got any work?” asked the giant.

The barman turned around from his inventory. “Me? Unfortunately no, but you could try your luck with Owl upstairs.”

Strider stood up. “Alright, it beats sitting idle while Nimble gets my new rifle,” he said, before taking a bite of his sandwich. “By the way, Beard, is there anyone good at cracking these?” he asked, holding up two PDAs. “I need somebody to juice out all the info they contain.”

The barman let out a laugh. “Same guy. Owl’s your man for trading equipment, cracking security protocols and dealing information. He’s got quite a wide network of snitches and informers.”

“Thank you old man,” Strider finished before walking out of the room.

Celly watched as Strider walked back upstairs where the merchants were situated. I could see a look on her face, a look I had never seen before. A longing look.

I knelt down next to the alicorn. “Hey, don’t worry, he’s coming back,” I said, ruffling her mane. “He’s only getting us a job,” I added with a laugh.

Celly smiled. “Yeah, I know. It’s complicated.”

“What is?” asked the giant. “You look comfy together.”

“It’s not about that... it’s about our future,” Celly replied. “I mean, I am not from this world, I must return to Equestria, to my subject, my duties... but I don’t want to leave him.”

I pursed my lips. “Well then, that’s simple: he goes with you. Hell even I could go!”, I announced. “We could even mount a scientific expedition and-” I stopped, breathing for air and calming down. “I think it’s a good idea. I mean, we effectively made first contact with an alien species, yours; I’m sure the UN and all these guys would be interested. Also there’s all the cultural exchange bullshit we could put in place... that would give you two an excuse to stay together,” I added, pensive.

Celly looked at me and pulled me into a hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much,” she said, her voice cracking.

“You’re welcome, I guess, I replied. “It’s just a dumb idea you know.”

It was silly, really. Nothing seemed to overjoy the little alicorn more than knowing she would be able to stay with my friend. I guess it gave her hope.

“No it’s not. I really needed something to look forwards to,” muttered the alicorn. “I couldn’t bear the idea of-”

The alicorn suddenly stopped talking and I felt her tense up in my arms. I looked over my shoulder, only to let out a grunt of exasperation at the sight. Three men were there, all clad in long coats and carrying shotguns. The one in the center was short, fat, bald and was eyeing Celestia in a way I didn’t like at all.

Bandits.

“Interesting,” he simply said.

Beard, who was standing behind his bar, snorted. “Sultan, what a displeasure to see you,” he contemptuously said.

“Shut up,” snapped the thug. “And you,” he growled, turning towards Celestia. “I know what you’ve done. I know of your sins, and all the good men you killed,” spat the bald bandit. “Though I should thank you for getting rid of Jack, now I’ll be able to take over his business.”

“There’s literally nothing left to take over,” coldly answered Celestia. “Nothing.”

Sultan shrugged. “I know, makes the job even easier.”

Beard laughed from behind his counter. “You must be insane. You didn’t have the balls to go after the Major despite him spoiling your operations and you couldn’t even drive me out of business no matter how hard you tried, what makes you think you still hold any kind of power?” he asked aloud. “That’s right. You’re nothing, and currently you’re using my patience,” he added at Sultan’s lack of reply, before turning around. “So get off my ship,” he finished, not even bothering to look at the bandits.

“Oh I’ll show you. Boys,” he said, raising a hand and switching his gaze to Celestia.

Immediately, the two men by his side raised their weapons. Beard froze at the sound of the shotgun’s pumps. He turned around, disbelief on his face.

The whole bar fell silent.

“What are you going to do? Shoot me down in front of everyone?” he yelled. “You always tried to fuck the Loners over, you think anyone here will let this slip?”

“What the Hell is going on here?” asked a familiar voice.

I watched my step as I entered the room where the trader had set up shop. It was a fairly bland place, with only decoration a bare counter, rust on the walls and various items and guns on the shelves behind a half bald middle aged man clad in a coat bandits would find to their taste.

“Are you Owl?” I asked.

“What does it look like? Of course I am,” retorted the man, bemused. “If you've got something spill the beans; if not, take a hike,” he said with a strange accent.

“I have this,” I replied, holding up the PDAs originally belonging to Jack and the leader of the Merc squad that had attacked us.

“Show me.”

I handed the PDAs to the information dealer, who instantly snatched them off my grasp and examined them. After fumbling with the device for a while, he smiled.

“Very, very interesting, stalker,” the trader began. “I think I can give you... let’s say five thousand roubles for each.”

“Keep your money,” I replied, to Owl’s surprise. “I need you to look for information. Everything there is in these PDAs is yours to keep, but I want to know a few things: who the owner of these devices worked for, everything you can find on them, their contacts, everything. Oh, and also the location of all the space bubbles you can find. All of them.”

Owl scrutinized me. “I see. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

I scratched my head. “Do you need anything done?” I asked. “My squad and I are looking for a job.”

“No. No jobs available.”

I sighed and nodded to the trader, turned around and headed for the exit of the room.

“Don’t let the door hit you,” Owl snickered.

I rolled my eyes. The man was an ass but at least he seemed professional and without ties, good points for someone in his line of work. At least things were in motion now. All we had to do was wait and/or find something to do.

I climbed down the stairs and entered bar.

“What are you going to do? Shoot me down in front of everyone?” I heard the local barman yell. “You always tried to fuck the Loners over, you think anyone here will let this slip?”

Beard was there, held at gunpoint by two thugs in dark coat while another one was looking avidly at my alicorn, my sunshine, my princess; and I did not like that at all. I did not exactly know what was going on, but putting two and two together was not hard.

Bandits. Middle one is their leader; might have some information about who Jack worked for. His intentions are clear enough.

I decided to intervene. “What the hell is going on here?” I asked aloud.

Instantly, one of the bandits pointed his shotgun at me. I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow, gazing at Beard and Vano, before I gave the bandit a disappointed look.

*click*

*clack*

*thaclick*

*ka-clack*

Suddenly, the thug threatening me found himself looking down the barrels of a custom Mossberg 88, an accurized FN FAL, an A2000 SMG and even a small Makarov pistol, all surrounded by the familiar glow of Celestia’s telekinesis.

“Point that away from him,” growled my alicorn.

*click*

*tha-clack*

I swiftly drew my modified Beretta and my M1911 and trained them at the bald bandit in the middle while Vano raised his automatic shotgun and aimed it at the other one. The thugs took a step back, their leader’s gaze darting between us nervously. By then he and his men were held at gunpoint by Celestia, Vano and I. We completely outgunned them, not to mention the stalkers around us looked ready to take action if the situation degenerated.

The bald thug grunted. “Let’s go boys,” he said, standing up.

With that, the three men slowly turned around and walked out the door on the far side of the cargo hull leading to the outside of the stranded ship.

“Good riddance,” said Vano with a snort, lowering his shotgun.

Beard rolled his eyes. “Don’t you worry, they’ll be back. Like cockroaches, they are VERY hard to get rid of.”

“A bullet to the brain does the job very well,” I muttered with a frown.

Beard looked at me, as if he had heard what I said. He scratched his chin, looked at Vano, then Celestia, then back at me. “You guys look like you mean business. You’re still looking for a job, eh?” he asked.

“Yeah,” confirmed Vano, eyebrow raised.

“Ever since the Major drove them out, Sultan and his thugs tried to come back. I tried to be nice to them, but they’re generally a pain in the ass to everyone on this ship. He crossed one too many times and had to be dealt with. I need you to track them down, locate their hideout, and if you can, kill them all,” explained the barman. “Without their leaders, the local bandits will be disorganized and the loners will have some breathing room.”

Celestia shuffled back and forth hesitantly. “I do not kn-”

“We will do it,” I interrupted.

My alicorn looked at me, surprised. “Are you sure you-”

“Yes,” I simply said. "At this point, we are doing community service."

The weather was just as freezing as the day before. The sun was high up in the sky, a cold wind blew the land, snow covered everything and the vegetation was mostly frozen solid, just like the swamps of Zaton. According to the local stalkers, it had been a river used back and forth by freight boats at some point. How did it dry up and became the stinking swamp that it is today was beyond their knowledge however.

But I digress. We weren't there to admire the nonexistent sight, we were walking. So far the bandits we were tracking didn’t notice us, even if they were constantly checking if they weren’t followed. Of course, Strider’s knowledge helped. While Vano was good at hunting down the wildlife of the Zone, Strider was far better at being stealthy and staying out of sight of his targets. We stayed a few hundred meters back from our targets, constantly evolving between bushes and taking cover in the relief of the terrain.

“Why were you so adamant to take Beard’s job?” I asked Strider, a concerned look on my face. “It’s strange, even coming from you.”

“I saw how that ‘Sultan’ was looking at you,” he replied. “I know that look; I have seen it before. I do not want another play of what happened with Barin.”

I flinched and looked away at the mention of the name. Even after having destroyed him, even with all this behind me, I couldn’t bear to hear the name of the man who held me prisoner and nearly abused of me. I could feel my lover’s concerned gaze on me. To my relief, he didn’t push the issue further.

He did have a point though. He was only trying to protect me, and we would make money in the meantime.

Making money out of killing, how far down have you fallen, Celestia?

I sighed.

Not that far to be honest; but pretty hard and most likely on the head. At least we are doing a favor to the people of the Skadovsk.

I shook my head and looked in the distance. We were heading East, and I could see in the distance some kind of flat-hull boat with a barge next to it in a pond surrounded by the shimmer of many gravitational anomalies. The bandits we were following were already approaching the boat.

Vano stopped and looked through his binoculars. “The old dredge station, eh?”

Strider nodded. “Of course they would settle there. Lots of anomalies around and only one secure point of entry, makes for good protection against mutants... not so much against a well organized squad. If we put a sniper on the hill directly South of here and send heavy firepower down the choke point, we will be able to wipe out the entire place in a matter of minutes, maybe even less with a few well placed grenades. This place is literally a dead end for them.”

We sat there, on a hill a few hundred meters from the bandit camp, observing their movements. There was a well-equipped guy standing on top of what looked like a small crane, looking at his surroundings through the scope of a bolt action scoped rifle. Some of them were inside, I could see them through the windows of the barge, handling equipment and weapons. The rest were outside, either standing still or walking around, weapons in hand. A few were sitting around a campfire on the barge.

“I spotted their sniper,” Strider announced.

“On the crane thingy facing North?” I asked.

“Correct. I count fourteen outside,” he added. “Celestia?”

“Yes?”

“You are on sniper detail. Your callsign is White.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Callsign?”

“Names so we don’t get confused on radio and nobody knows who we actually are if our transmissions were intercepted,” explained Vano. “A fad of his,” added the giant, rolling his eyes.

“Seems a bit complicated... can I pick yours?” I asked innocently.

“But we already have callsigns!” Strider protested.

Vano crossed his arms. “I’d rather hear the lady first, I’m sure it’s better than whatever you came up with,” he argued.

“So... you’re Tallman,” I said, pointing at Vano, “And you’re Cuddles,” added with a smirk.

Vano laughed. “See? I told you! Way better!”

Strider sighed. “In this case, your callsign is Snowball. Take care love,” he quipped, stealing a quick kiss on my lips. “Cuddles, moving out,” he added, walking in the direction of the bandit camp.

“Tallman, Oscar Mike,” Vano added mockingly before he followed Strider.

The area around the dredge was way completely flat with little to no cover, only a few thick bushes to hide behind but that was it. The sun was high up in the sky too. Stealth was out of question this time.

“Ugh. I do not like this terrain,” I told Vano, putting on my helmet.

“Tell me about it. The second we open fire we’ll get lit up like we stepped into a Burner,” replied my friend, imitating me.

I nodded and grabbed my radio on my shoulder. “Snowball, this is Cuddles. I need you to engage their sniper unit and lay down long range suppressing fire before we engage, how copy?”

There was a moment of silence.

“What does ‘how copy’ mean?” asked Celestia’s voice over the radio.

Vano facepalmed.

“Uh, it means ‘do you understand, and implies that I you to repeat dear,” I deadpanned.

“Oh. I copy Cuddles. Take out the sniper and shoot everywhere.”

I sighed. “Also, call your name on the radio and warn us before you shoot. Cuddles, out.”

I let go of the radio and crouched behind a bush next to Vano.

“First time us three get into actual trouble together,” noticed my friend.

I chuckled. “You are right, actually.”

“Cuddles this is Snowball. Firing,” came Celestia’s voice through the radio.

The bandit on the dredge let go of his rifle and fell down.

*BANG*

Right as the body of the sniper hit the muddy ice of the frozen swamp, her shot resonated in the distance. Immediately, the whole compound was on high alert. Most of the bandits stood up, took their weapons and dived behind the nearest crate, metal barrier or wall.

Vano nodded in appreciation. “Nice shot.”

“Fire in the hole,” I called, throwing two F1 grenades and two RGD-5 grenades in quick succession.

I laid down on the ground, bracing for the explosions.

“Vnimaniye! Granata!!”

A bandit tried to warn his associates, only he was way too late. One after another, each grenade exploded, sending lethal shockwaves and hot shrapnel everywhere, killing or wounding everybody who did not take cover in a thirty meter radius.

The handful of bandits that had survived the grenades were laying on the ground, wounded and completely disoriented. A few of them began to stood up.

“Snowball, put the rest of them down.”

“On it,” Celestia replied over the radio.

All the survivors fell limp one after another, each followed by a crack resonating in the distance. Vano opened fire in the general direction of the dredge boat, not even bothering to aim, riddling the metal walls with holes and forcing the bandits inside to stay behind cover while I stood up and advanced towards the boat. With their only escape route blocked by us, they were trapped aboard the boat and couldn’t move.

“Snowball, this is Cuddles, Tallman and I are going in,” Strider announced over the radio.

All the bandits that were outside the dredger were now dead. I switched to my USAS-12 and ran to the door of the lower deck of the boat, while Strider forced the ones inside to stay in cover, spraying his rifle in automatic bursts through the now broken windows of the boat as he advanced.

“Pest control motherfuckers, you rats got any lasts words?” I yelled before I kicked down the already crippled door with a mighty kick.

My already herculean strength, multiplied by my exosuit, tore off the metal door from its hinges and sent it flying with tremendous force to the other side of the room, crushing the bandit standing there. The others opened fire on me, leaving only scratches on the black paint of the titanium plates composing my armor. I raised my shotgun and squeezed the trigger. They were instantly splattered on the walls by a hail of buckshot, their leather coats doing next to nothing in terms of stopping the wall of lead coming towards them at high velocities.

“Clear!” I yelled.

Strider entered the room, pistols drawn, checked his corners and quickly climbed the stairs to the upper deck of the dredger. I followed him, only to notice that there was nobody there and that a window was broken. Through the smashed opening, I saw our target, Sultan, legging it towards the hill Southbound, in Celly’s general direction. I pulled out my scoped revolver, but he was too far away for me.

“Damn, fatty can be fast when he wants to,” I observed, leaning on the broken window the bandit had jumped through. “So now what?”

Strider put a hand to the radio on his shoulder. “Snowball, this is Cuddles, how copy?”

“Snowball here, I hear you Cuddles.”

“Tango primary is running South-South West in your direction. I-”

“What do you- oh. I see the fat bastard.”

“You are to pursue and disable with extreme prejudice, over.”

“Snowball here, understood. I’m in pursuit.”

I could see the bandit leader from where I was. Surely enough, the fat man was running in my general direction, not even looking behind him as he fled from the camp now decimated by Strider and Vano. I stood up, secured my rifle on my back and pulled out my A2000. With a powerful flap of my wings, took flight.

The pursuit didn’t last long. I soared through the air, circling around my objective like a bird of prey, careful as to not hit any stray anomaly floating in the air. Suddenly, I dived towards the running bandit and landed with all four legs on his back, pinning him to the ground.

I forced man onto his back. It was Sultan alright. He tried to break free, only to receive a hoof on the side of his face for his trouble.

“Please, no, I’ll do anything you want I beg you please don’t...”

The bandit’s panicked begging faded to nothing as I felt a sharp throbbing pain in the side of my head. I closed my head and grunted in discomfort. When I reopened my eyes, I was back at the bandit camp where I had been held prisoner. There was a man clad in a leather jacket laying on the ground before, begging for his life.

“I got a wife and a kid on the outside I’m only here to help them PLEASE N-”

I raised a hoof in the air with the intent to crush the man’s skull on the spot. Another throb of pain coursed through my skull, making me stumble and fall to the ground. I felt a weight pin me down to the ground.

Felt another surge of pain course through my skull, forcing me to close my eyes. When I reopened them, Sultan was over me, a demented look in his eyes, holding a knife to my throat. Without thinking, I used my magic to retrieve my A2000, swiftly pressed it next to the bandit’s head and fired.

I wished I didn’t.

The SMG roared to life at its usual very high rate of fire, causing my ears to ring and sending half a dozen bullets out of its barrel in less than half a second, obliterating a good half of the man’s skull, splattering blood and brain matter all over me. I let go of the gun and fell limp, breathing heavily, feeling slightly nauseous.

“Celestia!” I heard Strider yell.

I heard the grass to my right rustle. The corpse of the bandit was thrown off me. Two hands grabbed me and lifted me off the ground. I looked up, only to see Strider’s worried face. I gave him a weak smile and curled up in a ball in his arms, resting my head on his shoulder.

It was over.

For now.

Celestia in my arms, I headed back to the dredger now devoid of life except for Vano, currently looting the many corpses of the bandits littered around.

As I was walking, I looked at my alicorn. “What happened?”

My soulmate looked at me, feigning confusion. “W-what do you mean?” she asked.

I looked at her with a frown. “You know what I mean. When you caught up with Sultan, you had him, but somehow he got the upper hand. What happened?”

We were arrived at what was left of the bandit camp. Vano was looting the corpses and forming a pile with them, whistling a cheery tune. I sat down on a crate on the barge next to the dredger and gently laid Celestia on my lap.

“I-I let my guard down for a moment, t-that’s all.”

“Do not lie to me,” I replied with a sigh. “Something happened, I know it.”

Celestia looked at the ground. “I had a flashback. That flashback.”

Back in Jupiter...

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked, producing a piece of cloth and a canteen from my backpack.

I soaked the piece of cloth in water and used it to gently clean off the blood and gore off my alicorn’s coat.

“I had him. Then my head hurt, and I saw that poor man. I will never forget his face. He was terrified, begging for his life, for his family outside the Zone, and I killed him. Like it was nothing, I crushed his head,” she admitted, huddling herself against me. “Next thing I knew, Sultan was there, holding a knife to my throat.”

I nodded in understanding. “I see. It seems like intense stress makes the traumatic memory resurface. Unfortunately, the Zone is like this. Horrible things happen -well, people do horrible things to other people mainly- and there is no way to avoid that. It just happens. But do not worry, in time you will be hardened against such things,” I replied as I cleaned her coat of the blood from the bandit. “I should not have left you alone on this hill. I am sorry,” I added with a sigh.

“Don’t be, you couldn't know. I’m just lucky to have you by my side,” she replied, giving me a quick kiss.

I smiled and caressed her now pristine coat. “Me too... my little snowball.”

“Hey Strider! catch!” Vano called, walking up to us.

Damn it Vano. Always there to interrupt a moment.

I turned my head, only to see a little grey device fly in the air towards me. In a reflex, I swiftly extended and arm and caught it before it hit the ground.

“I looted the bodies and piled them up inside. Nothing noteworthy apart from a bolt action rifle and a M16 with a grenade launcher,” said my friend. “Something’s weird though. They were all equipped with Svarog detectors just like the one you’re holding and one of the rooms in there was full of anomaly scanners, measuring equipment and high-end gear. Also their sniper, well... he wasn’t a Bandit,” he added uncomfortably.

I frowned. “What do you mean?” I asked, fearing to know where this was going.

Without a word, Vano threw me a piece of cloth. I catched it in the air and brought it to eye level. It was a square shaped grey patch with a blue, stylized eagle head embroidered on it. I knew what this little piece of cloth represented.

I closed my fist on the patch of cloth. “Shit.”

Vano sighed. “Yeah. I think I begin to understand why we were attacked by these Mercs yesterday.”

“Interesting,” simply said the bald trader in front of Strider. “There’s clearly a connection between Sultan and these two other phones you gave me this morning.”

“Phones?” I asked.

“PDAs. Smartphones. Phones. Whatever,” shrugged the trader. “Same purpose.”

We were once again aboard the Skadovsk, the broken ship stranded in the swamps of Zaton serving of homebase to most stalkers there. The walk had been uneventful; though a few dogs attacked us, only to be ripped to shreds by automatic fire from our weapons. Beard had paid us well for wiping out the bandits and we wouldn’t have to worry about food for the moment.

We were at Owl’s, the trader and snitch there. Vano was sitting on a bench next to me while Strider was leaning on the trader’s counter, taking in the information the bald man was giving.

“All of them seemed to know this Jackal guy,” Owl continued. “He’s actually an expert Merc well known for being ruthless, greedy and extremely ambitious. God knows who he’s working for right now, I’ll have to look into that.”

“Just send me everything you find on the matter,” interrupted Strider, handing the trader a piece of paper.

Owl snorted. “Right. Anyways... Jackal is definitely the one who’s after you, from the looks of it he personally put a price on your heads. What are his motivations? I don’t fucking know.”

Strider tapped the counter. “Look into the other PDA. The one I gave you with Sultan’s.”

Owl gave my lover a weird look, before he picked up the other device and fumbled with it for a while, tapping at the screen and mumbling to himself.

Suddenly, the trader’s eyes widened. “Okay. So they’re after you because-”

“Because we killed their employees,” I finished.

“And after what happened today, I’m afraid it’s gonna get even worse,” Vano added with a sigh. “But hey, we’re still alive and breathing, so they can bring it on, I’m prepared!”

Strider eyed Owl suspiciously. “But if they aren’t happy with us killing bandits, why are you helping us?” he asked. “From what Beard said, you work with them.”

The bald trader shrugged. “I buy and sell information. Everyone is a source of info to me. I couldn’t care less if you provoked the wrong person, got eaten by a mutant or walked in an anomaly. You give me intel, I give you money. You give me money, I give you intel. It’s that simple. I’m not helping you, I’m doing my job.”

“Then what guarantees us that you will not stab us in the back in return and tell this Jackal what we’re up to?” asked Strider in return.

Vano’s eyes widened in surprise. “He wouldn’t.”

“Well, the big price is for the guy who actually kills you, and I’m not going to grab a gun and chase after you three in the wilderness,” admitted Owl. “I could however strike a deal with anyone looking for you and have a part of the bounty,” he added with a smirk.

“You double-timing, backstabbing motherfucker!” Vano angrily yelled, standing up from the bench and throwing me off balance to the metallic floor in doing so.

“It’s how business works, son,” deadpanned Owl, giving the giant an unimpressed look. “But for, let’s say five thousand per head, I can guarantee your secrecy.”

Strider knelt next to me. “Then again, what guarantees that you will not betray us?” he asked, helping me back up.

Owl gave my lover an offended look. “I am a professional. You pay me for something, you get what you paid for. If anyone asks me about you, you never existed. Any information about you that I come to know of will disappear. If I hear someone talking about you, I’ll let you know and or investigate.”

Strider handed the trader a few bills. “Then we have a deal.” he said.

Owl raised an eyebrow. “That’s enough for two of you, but you’re three.”

“Four. For Snag,” Vano quipped, a pleading look on his face. “He’s got nothing to do with all this mess, I don’t want him to be hurt or killed because of us. Because of me.”

I shot the giant a smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll help.”

I produced ten bills of a thousand rubles from a pouch on my chest and put them on the counter in front of the expecting trader who eagerly took the money and counted it.

Seemingly satisfied with the count, Owl spoke up. “So. Celestia, Vano, Strider, and who’s that Snag?”

“A... friend of mine,” hesitantly replied Vano. “The blue hooded stalker drowning himself in booze upstairs,” he clarified with a sigh.

“Very well. I’ll be sure to make any info about him I come across disappear.”

Vano stood up. “Thank you,” he said, giving me a smile.

Strider let out a breath and looked at his PDA. “Only four in the afternoon.”

“Fuck it, I vote for staying here,” said Vano, stretching his arms.

“I’ll have to agree with him,” I added. “I’m too tired to do anything else today. Besides, Nimble should be back soon, shouldn’t he?”

“He should.”

Owl coughed and looked up from the PDA he had in his hand. “One last thing... this Jackal, according to the message logs, was looking for rare artifacts, high-end anti-anomaly gear and, strangely enough... asked for measurements from anomalous areas, which confuses me to no end.”

Vano scratched his beard. “He’d be working for the Ecologists then?” he asked, a pensive expression on his face. “These bandits did have quite a lot of scientific equipment in stock.”

“That would make sense,” replied Owl, his usual scowl back on his face, “Kruglov is out of the equation, he prefers hiring Duty fighters. Maybe Hermann, but it doesn’t fit him. He’s a ‘by the book’ kind of guy, Novikov and Ozersky can testify of that. Hell, I bet even the Major would. Hiring ruthless Mercs like Jackal, let alone bandits, just isn’t his style; that said, he did hire Black before and now he’s working with Hatchet.”

“Hatchet? But he’s a bro!” exclaimed Vano a surprised expression on his face.

“Still a Merc,” Owl countered.

Strider frowned. “Looks like we will pay Hermann and his colleagues a visit,” he announced. “They better have answers.”

Chapter 10 1/2: Big Fucking Gun

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Chapter 10 1/2
Big Fucking Gun

WARNING: MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF GUN PORN.

I ruffled my wings in delight. Naps are the best thing ever. Especially under a nice blanket. Especially in the middle of the afternoon. Especially when you are alone with your loved one cuddling you.

I let out a satisfied sigh and fluttered my eyes open. The dorms of the Skadovsk were mostly empty at this time of the day except for a group of ‘nocturnals’ sleeping soundly. These nocturnals, according to local stalkers, are groups of veterans specialized in hunting mutants and prefer to go out at night.

I felt my lover’s hand wrap around me and pull me closer to him. “Wakey wakey my little snowball ,” he said.

“Shut up,” I replied before I turned around and gave him a forceful kiss on the lips.

Strider smirked. “Hmmm, I like where this is going. We-”

My lover was interrupted by a beeping coming from his PDA. With a sigh, he sat up in the decrepit bed we were sharing and grabbed the device.

“Well, looks like the romantic nap is over, Celestia,” he announced.

“Awww, but why?” I whined.

Strider chuckled. “Nimble is done with my order and will be back in a few minutes. So get up and gear up, love,” he replied, planting a kiss on my cheek.

“But I don’t want to! Come back, please!”

My lover shook his head. “I swear, sometimes I forget you are over two thousand years old. Come on, we will take back where we left off this evening.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” Strider replied, approaching his head from mine.

I pulled him into a long kiss. “Hmmm, okay then.” I said as I pulled away.

I flashed him a stood up, stretching my limbs and sighed. I already missed my lover’s body heat.

As always, I helped Celestia suit up, gently adjusting each part of her protective apparel on her frail form, careful as to not hurt her or damage her equipment. She was much smaller than the average human, and the Zone knows if she needs her suit. Of course, her telekinesis and flight abilities were a plus. I could tell she appreciated the moment by the way she beamed at me once I was done.

I stood up and turned around, to see my equipment floating towards me, surrounded by the familiar glow of my alicorn’s telekinesis. I donned my jumpsuit over my undergarments and let her put on my armored vest and the various polycarbonate protective plates all over my body.

“Now that I think of it, we’ll be able to snipe together once you’ll have your new toy,” playfully said Celestia.

“I feel all giddy,” I admitted. “I cannot wait!”

My alicorn chuckled. “You’re like a foal on Hearth’s Warming morning.”

“I will take your word for it,” I replied as I turned around and picked up my weapons, giving Celestia a confused glance.

“A holiday during winter. Ponies give gifts to each other to celebrate the foundation of Equestria, amongst other things,” she explained.

I raised an eyebrow. “Strange. I do not think we have something like that here. I’ll have to talk to Vano about it, seems like a good idea,” I said as we walked out of the room, heading for the stairs to Nimble’s office.

To our surprise, the merchant was already there, in the same spot he was before. Nothing in the room seemed to have changed, except for a massive, long object wrapped in cloth leaning on the rusted wall next to the hooded man.

I smiled.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

“You arrive just in time, stalker! Your order is complete!” greeted the merchant.

I rubbed my hands together. “Great! What is it?” I asked eagerly, to Celestia’s obvious amusement.

Nimble lifted the package wrapped in cloth and rested it vertically on the ground before him. I was surprised at the ease he managed to move it around considering the bulkiness of it.

“Nobody really know how such a rifle ended up in the Zone. While most basic gear comes from old Soviet arsenals or forgotten US depots, the top-notch stuff gets in with expert Mercs mostly... I’m not too sure where this weapon came from. Only a few things are sure: it’s reliable, accurate and will pierce any armor it comes across. My contact actually had several different guns that fitted your needs and I already had another rifle in mind but when I told my guy who made the order, he just smirked and gave me this one instead, saying that you’d like the latest modification that had been made to it, didn’t tell me what it was though,” explained the merchant.

I froze. “Who was your contact?” I asked worriedly

“Tsk tsk. Professional secret,” scowled the merchant. “All I can say is that it’s a friend of yours, I suspect this rifle to be worth much more than twenty grand but I wasn’t charged more and still made a profit, so I won’t complain.”

“Argh, come on! show us already!” impatiently exclaimed Celestia.

Nimble smirked. “Alright then. This, is Big Fucking Gun,” he announced proudly, pulling the cloth off the rifle.

“That’s appropriate,” commented Celestia before letting out an impressed whistle.

“I mean it, the name of this gun is literally BFG,” laughed Nimble. “BFG-50A to be exact.”

I examined the weapon. It was bulky, long and of a deep black color. I could see the tube of a gas system above the fluted barrel, which was fitted with a surprisingly small muzzle brake. On the whole length of top of the receiver ran a long rail system, where a big scope equipped with a small electronic device was attached. The pistol grip of the weapon seemed custom made and it had a piece of cloth wrapped on its rear part, forming a makeshift cheek pad. Under the receiver a heavy duty bipod was attached.

Good. These will come in handy in the future.

“A simple gas operated design with a dedicated expansion chamber along with a massive bolt assembly and flawless craftsmanship make this thing reliable and very accurate. At least 1 MOA, no buckshot patterns like with a M107,” continued Nimble. “An internal recoil buffer, an amortizing buttstock and a discreet but very efficient muzzle brake makes this thing easy to shoot for its size, even while standing, though I doubt you’d be very accurate then. All of this and the comfy two-stage trigger makes it a pure pleasure to unload down range, just be careful you use cheap MG ammo when you do so or your wallet will be hurting,” he added with a laugh. “You can remove the brake to install a suppressor I threw in along with three magazines. This particular rifle has seen quite a lot of use, but each of its preceding owners took good care of it and even added their own touches to it. The variable zoom scope with its targeting computer, the makeshift cheek piece and the spring loaded bipod are good examples of these customizations. All in all, it’s accurate, reliable, lightweight and perfect for rapid deployment and maneuver warfare that is everyday occurrence in the Zone’s.”

“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.

Nimble grinned. “It is, isn’t it? All yours now,” he said, handing me the weapon.

I leaned forwards and eagerly took the rifle from the merchant’s hands. The first thing that surprised me was its lightness. I expected such a rifle to weigh much more than this. It was even lighter than Vano’s machine gun though much heavier than my regretted SVU. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the wear in the finish and the numerous little scratches in the metal of the rifle, indicating it indeed had seen many owners and on the right side of the receiver, a caption reading ‘BFG-50A CAL. .50BMG SERBU FIREARMS TAMPA, FLORIDA SER. NO. A0035’ was stamped next to a stick figure exploding in a stylized scope.

“At least 1 MOA, you say?” I asked. “That makes... less than 2.5 cm deviation at 100 meters... impressive from a semi-automatic platform,” I commented, before frowning in realization. “Where could I get ammo for it anyway? I doubt any trader in the Zone sells high powered sniper ammunition.”

Nimble smirked. “That’s why I have this,” he replied, patting the crate next to him. “All kinds of match ammo just for you: FMJ, armor piercing, tracer and even Raufoss rounds. Also bear in mind that just because a trader doesn’t offer something doesn’t mean they don’t have it,” he replied. “Resuppliers in the Zone sell military and civilian stuff alike that they stole. Most of the time, they force traders to buy what they have to get rid of any evidence; I wouldn’t be surprised if Owl has some rounds for your rifle even though I think it would mostly be cheap machine gun ammo.”

“That’s a strange practice,” piped in Celestia.

“Heh. That’s why I established myself as a rare equipment dealer. Instead of sitting all day long behind my counter, I actually go on some adventures and I don’t have to deal with those damn resuppliers,” said the hooded merchant with a shrug. “By the way, all the mags I provided you are loaded, stalker, should be enough for your short-term needs. But if you need more, feel free to buy ammo from me, I’ll always have some.”

I scratched the back of my head. “I would like too; unfortunately, I am short on money so I will pass. For now.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it for you,” said Celestia, rolling her eyes.

“Aww, you are too sweet.”

My alicorn smiled. “It’s the least I can do,” she softly replied, handing Nimble the money and raising the crate with her telekinesis.

I smiled and stood up. “I must thank you for everything, Nimble. I will make sure to recommend your services to my friends,” I announced. “You coming, love? Let’s see what Vano is up too,” I asked my alicorn, gently laying a hand to the side of her swanlike neck, making one of her wings twitch slightly.

“Right behind you,” she replied, nuzzling my side.

I sighed and climbed down the stairs to the bar. Strider and Celestia were enjoying their time alone together, God knows what they were doing. Well, I did have an idea or two.

But that wasn’t what was on my mind. I wanted to confront Snag about this morning. I had tried to rest in this afternoon but couldn’t bring myself to it. I didn’t know why he had reacted that way, why he tried to talk me into leaving Strider alone. That’s what was on my mind. I wanted to know.

Why?

“You know where Snag is?” I asked Beard as I sat at the bar. “I need to talk to him.”

The barman gave me a concerned look and pointed with his head to a table in a dark corner of the room. Snag was there, joyously talking and drinking with several other stalkers as if nothing was wrong.

I gave Beard a nod and headed for his table with a frown.

“Snag,” I simply said.

The whole group fell silent.

Snag took a sip of his drink before he set it down on the table before him. “Well well well, look who’s there. The ex-fuckbuddy!”

“What?”

“You heard me. It was fun, and you weren’t bad in bed, but since you preferred to stay with your friends... which, by the way, have a bounty on their heads...” he trailed off.

I felt a twinge in my chest.

So this is it? It’s over?

“B-but I thought we had something going!” I stammered.

“Well, think again. I had my fun, you had yours! What’s so complicated with that? We never had ‘anything going’ as you put it... it was merely a trial period,” he retorted with a shrug, to the amusement of the stalkers around the table.

I felt like if a truck launched at full speed had slammed into my face. I stood there, completely still as I tried to recover from Snag’s figurative punch, my brain working overdrive as I tried to wrap my mind around what had just happened.

What the- what? How- why?... wait.

“Then what was that act concerning the Mercs, huh? What did you try to achieve with that? If I had followed you, would you have thrown me away after a while like a used toy?” I angrily asked.

“Yeah. Eventually, yeah. To be honest, it only was an excuse, and a fucking poor one at that. Should have dumped you before,” Snag deadpanned. “So now hush, go away, you’re importuning me.”

I stood still for a few seconds before I turned around and walked back to Beard’s counter, shoulders slumped.

“Beard, I’m gonna need a lot of alcohol,” I stated.

My beloved in tow and a few boxes of ammunition I had freshly acquired for him in my magical grasp, I climbed down the stairs to the bar aboard the Skadovsk. The crate was fairly heavy but I managed to keep it afloat without too many problems.

Strider smiled. “That went well. At least this ammunition was not too expensive.”

I nodded. “Such a shame I don’t have access to my full power though, I could just have used a duplication spell and make tons of it already,” I replied. “I could even enchant your magazines with it: no need to reload!”

“You could do that?”

“Yes. While I am not the most... refined magic user, I make up with raw power,” I admitted. “Well, that’s what I usually do. Here, it’s another story. I just don’t know why the ambient magic field is so weak, I have no thaumatic energy to use!”

We walked to Vano, who was sitting on a stool, drinking at the bar. I gave the giant a smile but instantly noticed that something was off. His shoulders were slumped and he was staring at the bottom of his glass, an aloof and depressed expression on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing. M’fine,” mumbled the giant.

“You are most likely not fine,” retorted Strider. “What happened?”

Vano let out a long sigh. “Let’s say that I’ve been a fool, once again.”

“Want to talk about it?” I asked, sitting down next to my giant friend.

“Not really, no,” he grunted in response. “Go away,” he added, taking another drink.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Strider, nodding his head negatively.

“If you feel that you need to talk, we will be on the roof,” softly said my lover. “Come, Celestia. Leave him alone for a while.”

I stood up and followed Strider to the stairs, giving Vano a last glance before I sighed and reluctantly walked out the room.

“Why did you insist on leaving him alone?” I asked as we climbed the stairs to the upper decks of the Skadovsk.

Strider pushed open the door to the outside. “It is his way of coping. He will come back to us, worry not.”

“Are you sure?” I asked worriedly. “He seemed very distressed to me. He’s always so jovial but there he was almost... crying.”

“Yes I am,” assured my lover. “It happened before. You should have seen his reaction when he came to Pripyat for the second time. He went back to Yanov, with Garry, only to find that the Major and all his military friends were gone and had been evacuated. He was heartbroken,” he lectured, climbing the stairs on the outer deck of the stranded ship before stopping at the bottom of a ladder leading to the snow covered roof of the ship. “Even I was downtrodden when I had found their former base, empty and devoid of life. I remember worrying quite a lot, imagining they had been raided by Monolith forces and wiped out.”

I took flight as Strider began to climb. “Did Vano have any... you know, romantic interests with any of them?” I asked.

“No. He is very loyal though, the Major was a very good friend of him, and even mine. Well, he still is but we have not seen him in months, not since that day actually,” my buzzed stalker explained. “I know for a fact that he would have preferred going with them and help out,” he added, pulling himself on the roof of the Skadovsk.

I touched down on my four hooves. “Was his reaction that bad though?”

“No, but it was similar. At first he was sad and closed himself to others, but then he got over it, progressively. We were only four people in Pripyat, excluding Mercs and Monolith forces: Vano, Gary the guide and an old man named Uncle Yar,” my lover narrated. “We were more or less forced to help each other to survive and eventually became friends. It was not as bad as I feared it.”

“So all he needs is being alone for the moment,” I muttered, nodding in understanding.

“Yes. He will come to us if he needs to,” assured Strider, sitting down on the roof of the cargo boat and preparing his new rifle after having cleared the snow for both of us, giving us a space to sit.

“I hope you’re right,” I sighed. “What are you doing?” I asked, seeing Strider fumbling around with his rifle.

“I am learning how this weapon is made and how to disassemble it, then I will take a few shots to get used to it and get a good feeling of its potential,” he answered. “I do not like this idea of that ‘latest modification. Call me paranoid but I prefer to make sure that my equipment is always working like a swiss watch. Besides, I have never seen this weapon before and even my brainwashed brain has nothing on it.”

“Let me see that,” I inquired, sitting down in front of him.

Strider froze, then smiled and handed me the rifle. Returning his smile, I took it in my magic, unloaded the weapon and examined it. After a minute of closely looking at it from all angles, I took a bullet from one of my magazines and began to work, under the attentive gaze of my lover.

The rear of the buttstock was the first to go after I took off the pin retaining it in place. I carefully stored them away. Then, the recoil rod and its spring were removed from the now opened butt of the rifle. I was about to take care of the bolt assembly pull it out of the rifle in the same way when I noticed I had forgotten to take off the charging handle from the assembly, preventing it to slide out.

I shook my head.

Derp.

After taking off the bolt assembly, I took it apart, careful as to not lose anything and neatly arranged the individual parts around the now disassembled rifle.

Strider looked at the weapon with a flabbergasted expression on his face, then at me. I walked to his side and sat down next to him.

“What do you think of this?” I asked, nuzzling his neck.

“Impressive, love,” he replied, pulling me in a short kiss. “Positively impressive. You managed to figure out how it worked and took it apart in less than five minutes.”

“Don’t be so impressed, this is a very simple design,” I modestly stated.

Strider chuckled and proceeded to reassemble the rifle: first the bolt assembly, the rod and recoil spring, the buttsotck and then the pin taking everything in place.

I was impressed. Celestia had less problems taking the rifle apart than me putting it back together. She really was smart, but also full of life, beautiful, unique, adorable and wonderful.

I really, really am in love am I?

That I was. And I loved it. I extended a hand and scratched my alicorn behind the ear, eliciting a relaxed moan from her. She twitched her ear and relaxed, leaning against me and nuzzling my neck.

We stayed there on the roof of the, observing the sun in the clear sky slowly descending towards the white horizon, enjoying the moment we shared. After a while, Celestia pulled back before she gave me a quick kiss.

“Let’s see how this weapon shoots, shall we?” she asked with a smile.

“Let’s.”

I laid prone on the roof, popped open the caps protecting the scope, loaded a magazine into the magwell and racked the bolt, chambering a round.

“Let’s see what this thing can do,” I said as I flipped the rifle onto fire.

I looked through the scope and aligned it onto a boulder resting next to a tree frozen by the cold not far away from the abandoned Shevchenko. I zeroed in, let out a breath and squeezed the trigger.

*BOOM*

With an ear-splitting crack of thunder, the anti-materiel rifle gently nudged my shoulder, letting out a massive blast wave, hot gas making the dust around us fly in the air and a 12.7 mm caliber tracer round speeding up over 800 meters per second towards the inanimate object. A little under a second later, the red trail hit the rock and died as the round disintegrated and tore off a chunk of the mineral, producing a visible report of dust.

Celestia let out a breath. “I wasn't expecting the shockwave,” she commented.

I let out a breath.

*BOOM*

Once again, the tracer trail ended as the round hit the rock, but something was wrong. The visual report had been in the very same place as the previous one.I frowned, let out a breath and sqeezed the trigger once more. I knew I may have been wrong, but I needed to make sure.

*BOOM*

Still dead on.

*BOOM*

After five rounds, I could not believe it. I reached for my binoculars and incredulously examined the surface of the big rock I had been shooting at. There was indeed only one, sizeable hole in the surface of the mineral and a good chunk of it had been torn off.

“I cannot believe it!” I exclaimed.

“Something’s wrong?” Celestia asked worriedly.

“No, far from it! This rifle is dead on at six hundred meters! Nimble said 1 MOA, I’m calling bullshit. It’s even approaching .5 MOA,” I stated. “Now I know what that ‘latest modification’ was for. Whoever tinkered with this weapon knew what he was doing.”

My alicorn shrugged. “It’s a good thing, don’t worry about it.”

“You are right. Well, this weapon is definitely my best investment so far,” I said with a grin. “The recoil is almost nonexistent too. I am surprised at how easy it is easy to shoot.”

I put the rifle on safe, and removed muzzle brake, intending to try the suppressor next. Once the brake was off, I took the big cylinder and screwed it on the threads of the barrel. It added quite a bit of length to the rifle but seemed perfectly in its place. I laid the rifle on its bipod once again, flipped off the safety and aimed at the rock once more.

When Strider squeezed the trigger, the rifle let out a sharp clack sound not unlike a whipcrack accompanied by a big metallic clunk as the action moved back and forth as it chambered a new round; but what was the most impressive was the noise that followed. It sounded like that sound that happens just after the boom of a thunderstrike.

“Hear that?” asked Strider. “It is the noise the bullet makes while going supersonic through the air.”

I blinked twice. “Impressive. I mistook it for the gunshot reverberating around when you shot unsuppressed.”

My lover chuckled and focused on his target once again before he unloaded the rifle with quick follow-up shots. Once the magazine was empty, he racked the action, squeezed the trigger and pulled the magazine out of the weapon.

He then took an ammo box from his backpack and proceeded to reload the magazine. Round after round, the box was emptied and the magazine filled. Once that was done, my lover inserted the magazine back into the rifle, set it on safe, unscrewed the suppressor and put the muzzle brake back into place before standing up and chucking the weapon on his shoulder.

“Let’s go back inside, yes?”

I smiled and nodded. “Yeah. As much as I like the current weather, the cold is beginning to get to me.”

Strider gave me a sly smile. “I know a way or two we could get warm,” he said in a suggestive tone before he jumped off the roof of the boat.

“Like what?” I asked innocently, perfectly knowing what he was implying.

My lover turned around and cocked his brow as he reached the door leading inside. “I have a few positions in mind, I wonder how they would adapt to your anatomy.”

I smirked and nuzzled his side. “That sounds very kink-”

I was interrupted as the door we were standing in front of opened, revealing a tired looking Vano. His facial features were almost back to normal, except for his usual cheery smile, which was missing.

“Hey,” simply said the giant.

“Damn. You look like shit,” commented Strider.

“I feel like shit. What have you guys been doing?” asked Vano in a raspy voice, closing the door behind him.

“We were testing the rifle, and we’re going inside now,” I replied.

The giant sighed. “Oh ok. You guys do that,” he said in a defeated tone.

“Ah Hell, come here brother,” cursed Strider, opening his arms and pulling his tall friend into a hug.

Vano returned the hug and a lonely tear escaped his eye.

“Shh, shh. All over now,” soothed Strider.

I awkwardly broke the hug, took a step backwards and sighed, wiping the tear that was now halfway to my beard.

“Thanks, man. I really needed that,” I said in a raspy voice.

“Don’t mention it,” replied my friend. “Now, let’s go back inside.”

“Yeah. You-”

I was interrupted by a terrified voice yelling over the noises from the outdoor. “GIANTS!”

What?

A flare was launched in the sky, illuminating the surrounding area in a faint red glow and an alarm blared, but it was different of the usual air raid alarm.

In the weak light of the setting sun, I saw a sight that made my heart skip a beat.

My blood froze.

Three pseudogiants were heading towards the Skadovsk, their oversized legs propelling their grotesque forms way faster than I could hope to sprint and shaking the ground under their massive weight.

Oh God.

The sound of the alarm was deafening. Stalkers came up on the deck of the ship to see what was going on. Some panicked and started leaving the ship, jumping over the guardrail as if it were sinking. Some broke down crying, persuaded that their end was coming. Some haggardly looked around while standing still, too stunned to react. Others, rarer, kept their calm and readied their weapons for the fight that was coming.

“VANO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?” I heard a familiar voice yell.

I shook my head and rushed to the guardrail, incredulously looking at the hulking mutants speeding towards our stranded ship.

“SNAP OUT OF IT!” shouted Strider.

“What do we do?” asked Celestia.

“KEEP THEM AWAY FROM THE SHIP!” yelled a voice.

I turned around. Beard was there, standing in the middle of the deck, barking orders to the rare stalkers that were preparing for the oncoming fight.

“IF THEY REACH THE SHIP THEY’LL COME RIGHT THROUGH THE HULL! KEEP THEM AT BAY, THAT’S OUR ONLY CHANCE!”

I gulped and grabbed my machine gun, racked the bolt and rested it on the guardrail. Strider and Celestia did the same, respectively readying their LR-300 and Saiga DMR.

The beasts were closing in fast. At this rate, they would be under 200 meters of the ship in less than a minute. The deafening silence was only disturbed by the sound the massive beasts made as they ran towards us.

“FIRE!” came Beard’s voice.

Instantly, the air exploded in a fury of continuous gunfire. Automatic rifles, machine guns, shotguns came to life in a deafening thunder of lead, brass and gunpowder.

That didn’t change a thing. The giants kept running, unfazed by the wall of lead thrown at them. Most of the bullets didn’t even penetrate their thick hide and harmlessly bounced off or stopped at the first layer of skin instead. Even the rare bullets that seemed to penetrate had no effect on the beasts’ advance.

The fire stopped. We all looked apprehensively as the beasts soldiered on towards us, destroying everything in their path.

“I know! I’ll go and lure them away!” proposed Celestia.

Not even waiting for a moment, the small alicorn switched to her A2000 and took flight towards the beasts. Once she reached them, she opened fire with her SMG, harassing the mutants with strafing runs while progressively going away from the Skadovsk.

I turned towards Strider. I imagined he would be proud of his mate but instead his hand was over his mouth and his brow was frozen in an expression of untold horror

“What is she doing...” he muttered.

“What are you on about? She’s doing great!” I joyously said. “Look at her go!”

Her tactics were dangerous, nearly suicidal even, but she managed to keep the giants at bay while driving them away from us. The stalkers present on the deck of the ship cheered at the alicorn, invigorated by her success.

Then everything went wrong.

Celestia did one too many strafing maneuver right as one of the pseudogiants stood on one leg, raising the other in the air and bringing it down with enough force to destroy a concrete bunker. The resulting shockwave threw the little alicorn off course and she brutally crashed down on the ground.

Right as another giant began approached her immobile form, Strider sprang into action.

“OH NO YOU DON’T, MOTHERFUCKER!” he angrily yelled, grabbing his carbine and jumping over the guardrail.

God damn it.

I jumped over the guardrail and dropped to the ground below, breaking the ice of the frozen swamp under my weight. The glacial water submerged my feet but I had other concerns at the moment. I was not going to let my princess, my sunshine, Celestia, getting stomped to death by these abominations.

Immediately, I began to take short, accurate bursts of small caliber fire towards the giants. Unsurprisingly, the armor piercing bullets merely bounced off the mutants’ thick hide. I switched to full auto and unloaded in the general direction of the beasts. Despite being as ineffective, that managed to catch their attention. The mutants had stopped to approach my alicorn and were now turning towards me.

“COME AT ME YOU OVERSIZED PIGS!”

My assault rifle was useless against the pseudogiants, and my pistols were not going to help either. Grenades were out of option considering how close Celestia was and I could not risk running away, fearing that the giants might find her more interesting than me if I fled.

I switched to my newly acquired sniper rifle. I unslung it from my back, stashed away the magazine full of tracer rounds and inserted one loaded with green-over-white tipped Raufoss rounds instead. I did not bother to look through the scope or to even aim. Instead, I spammed the trigger from the hip while moving towards the beasts.

*BOOM*

With a thunderous roar, the rifle came to life. The Armor-Piercing Incendiary High-Explosive rounds left the barrel of my rifle one after the other, speeding up towards the first pseudogiant. Upon impact, the explosive contained in the rounds detonated, producing a miniature shockwave, igniting the incendiary mix at the tip of the bullet and propulsing the tungsten-carbide penetrator further down the giant’s head, spraying it with hot bits of phosphorous fire and stunning it.

Three rounds was all it took to tire out the first mutant. After one more shot it collapsed, dead. I then turned to the second one and once again unleashed hell fire upon it. After four more rounds, it was dead.

The last mutant, infuriated by the death of his brethren, roared and stood on one leg. Instantly, I crouched to the ground and turned around, letting the brunt of his shockwave attack wash over me. Right after, I stood up and fired again.

*BOOM*

To my surprise, my magazine had four more rounds in stock instead of the usual two. After that, my rifle clicked.

The giant fell dead right before my feet.

“Yeah...” I muttered.

I loaded a magazine of ball ammunition inside my rifle.

*BOOM*

I did not want to take any risks. I put two more rounds in each of the mutants’ heads at point blank range, making sure they were dead for good. Once that was done, I wasted no time and rushed to Celestia’s side, who was shakily standing back up. I noticed she was shivering. She had broken the ice where she had crashed and was soaked in water.

I wrapped my arms around her. “Hey. All over now. Let’s get you warmed up.”

“Warm up, eh?”

I scooped her up in my arms. “You know it,” I replied with a sly smile.

I couldn’t believe he did it! We climbed back up to the upper deck of the Skadovsk under the cheers of the stalkers present. Strider had single handedly killed not one, but three hulking mutants. All by himself.

“That was impressive,” I commented, my teeth clacking against each other as I shivered from the cold. “Thanks, I don’t know why I stupidly ran into the fray.”

“What you did was stupid, but very courageous and you lasted longer than anyone would have managed against these mutants,” comforted my lover. “Interesting technique, I think I have found your role in this squad.”

“And that would be?”

“Air support. Your wings are your greatest advantage in here: One second, you can be on the ground, providing sniper fire and the next, you can be in the air, making strafing runs or providing fire support,” I explained. “Of course, we will have to develop a proper team strategy but with you, the three of us can be unstoppable.”

Celestia smirked for some reason. “I was the missing element then.”

“If only you knew,” I replied, pulling my princess into a loving kiss.

As we walked inside, the cheers of victory became louder and music began to play. I gently set Celestia back on her hooves. The stalkers present there had improvised a party and the alcohol was already flowing. Just as we entered the bar everyone present burst into a massive congratulatory ovation.

I awkwardly smiled and joined the crowd, occasionally shaking a hand or nodding as the stalkers congratulated me.

“Make a speech!” nagged Vano.

I frowned. “No.”

“Cmon dude!”

“No. I just want to be alone with Celestia for now.”

“I can only second that,” added the beautiful alicorn by my side.

“You’ll get your romantic time together later, you have to make a speech!” he insisted. “You just saved the entire base! When you’re done, just walk out discreetly and I’ll take care of keeping this party running, don’t worry.”

I sighed. “The party is the least of my worries, trust me.”

Finally, I climbed on a table and raised my hands, signaling the crowd to stay silent.

“I know we are all relieved that these pseudogiants are dead and you all want to thank me for helping out. But first, I wanted to thank my friend Vano,” I announced to the stalkers present. “For being a great friend and a major pain in the ass, you deserve recognition brother.”

My bearded friend, whose head was protruding from the crowd, raised a fist in the air and grinned. Once again, the crowd erupted in cheers.

“I would also like to thank Celestia,” I added, motioning my alicorn to climb on the table with me, to which she obliged with a beaming smile. I picked her up in my arms. “If it were not for her, I would not have dared jumping into the fray. For being an inspiration and so much more, she deserves your praise,” I declared before planting a firm, long kiss on her lips.

The crowd instantly shut up and all that could be heard was the sound of silence.

Then someone yelled.

“YEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”

The stalkers began applauding and cheering all at the same time, a few of them whistling loudly over the noise.

I let out a chuckle. “And lastly, I would like to thank Nimble who got me this rifle,” I finished, patting my weapon slung across my back. “This is one fine gun he got me that can put down pseudogiants and his prices are actually not that steep. Go check him out!” I advised. “Now, if you will excuse us, Celestia and I have some personal business to attend to.”

The crowd erupted in a thunder of laughs, applause, cheers and whistles just as the music restarted. Still carrying my alicorn in my arms, I walked out of the room under the noise of a party already in motion.

I climbed up the stairs to the floor where the dorms were located.

Celestia gave me a sultry smile. “Personal business, huh?”

“It was the best I could come up with at the moment,” I sheepishly replied. “But you know what I meant.”

My alicorn laughed. “Everybody knows now... 'positions', eh? Sounds kinky.”

“Glad to oblige if you want to.”

“Are you kidding? Of course I want to,” came the response. “Come here,” ordered my princess, telekinetically throwing me onto a bed. “Show me what you got, big boy.”

“Gladly,” I whispered in her ear, before lovingly nibbling on the appendage.

Chapter 11: Angel of Death

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Chapter 11
Angel of Death

“Ooowwww....”

I woke up in a haze, a headache pounding at all the sides of my poor head and slowly, slowly cracked an eyelid open.

I immediately regretted it.

The yellow electric light from the lamps on the walls flooded my haggard eyes, sending more signals of pain to my brain already feeling like it was clamped in a vice. I felt like I had just been run over by a herd of enraged boars.

At some point, my brain managed to start up its lower cognitive functions, allowing me to feel the state my body was in. I let out a breath, letting myself emerge slowly from the alcohol induced fog my body currently was in. My tongue was dry, it felt like it as made of cardboard, my throat was drier than the Kalahari desert and my head felt like an anvil had fell on it. To top it all, my limbs felt like they weighed a ton and I had an acidic taste lingering in my mouth.

Then my brain managed to fully start up and I frowned in disgust.

Don’t tell me I puked on myself.

I pushed myself up, holding my forehead with a hand. I slowly opened my eyes and examined myself. Apparently I had puked on someone else since my armor looked pristine. Relieved, I looked around, scratching my beard.

I was in the bar of the Skadovsk. A man I didn’t know was huddled against me, though I was still wearing all my armor. Multiple bodies were littered around, unconscious for the most part. The huge room was in an indescribable mess. I slowly stood up, only to stumble and nearly fall down, my fall only stopped when I managed to grab a nearby table and lean against it, causing it to protest under my weight.

I looked at my PDA: nine in the morning. It wasn’t exactly late, but it wasn’t early either. I sighed, grabbed my canteen of water from my backpack under the table, popped open a box of painkillers and downed half of both.

Ugh. Won’t be enough. I’m gonna need Celestia’s artifacts and a bit of cleaning up.

I shook my head, put the consumables away and took a step towards the stairs leading to the upper decks of the stranded ship.

For some reason I felt heavy, moving was harder than usual, much more harder than it should be with a hangover. Taken with a doubt, I put a hand to my belt, only to notice that my exosuit power source was absent.

Great.

I darted around the room, trying to find the artifact-powered batteries. After a few minutes of searching, I managed to find them, under a sleeping stalker I didn’t know. I unceremoniously shoved the man off the battery and slapped the power block in its place on my belt before hitting the startup sequence of my exosuit.

The powered exoskeleton responded to my command and its functions started up. With a whirr, the fans of the microclimate system spooled up, accompanied by multiple electric whines of cold servomotors being actioned as I moved. I put on my helmet, checking the systems of the suit. Everything was in the green except for the energy levels of the battery.

I’ll have to buy some from Owl I guess.

With a grunt, I stretched my sore limbs and gathered my equipment before I walked up the stairs, intending to visit the local trader.

Ugh. Sleeping in armor and being hung over isn’t great.

I slowly woke up, feeling more rested than ever. On my chest, my sunshine’s head was resting. She was already awake, giving my naked skin small kisses.

I gently caressed her mane. “Awake already?” I asked with a chuckle.

“Hmmm,” came her only response.

I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her closer to me. “Come here,” I said, before pulling her into a kiss.

Her eyes completely opened and her wings flared open, pushing the blanket down her back; she was awake for good this time. Fortunately we were in a remote corner of the dorms and nobody was there.

My alicorn shook her head, blinked a few times and smiled. “Good morning,” she purred.

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“Rested. Alive. Sexy,” she replied, nuzzling my neck. “A bit sore though.”

“As if you did not like it,” I snarked.

“I didn’t say that,” Celestia replied, nuzzling my chest. “I’m a mess though.”

“Bah. Easily fixed,” I shrugged, giving her mane a glance, “but a few of your feathers are messed up too,” I observed, watching her huge wings.

“I know. It’s been a long time I haven’t preened,” admitted my alicorn.

“Preened?”

“Yeah. Plucking out old and damaged feathers so new ones can grow and grooming the ones that can be salvaged,” she clarified.

I nodded. “I see. Want me to help you then?”

Instantly, my soulmate’s face lit up. “Of course! Oh, it’s going to be so romantic!” she exclaimed.

I raised my brow. “Romantic?”

“For pegasi and subsequently alicorns, preening is something very personal. The only ones we let approach our wings are someone in who we have complete and blind trust, like a close parent or...”

“A lover,” I concluded.

My alicorn beamed. “Yes. A lover,” she confirmed, giving me a kiss.

“Let’s do it then,” I announced with a smile.

Celestia moved around, laying down next to me and extended a wing, resting her head on my shoulder. With one arm, I reached around her swanlike neck and pulled her closer, giving me a better access to her back. Without a word, she extended her right wing and presented it to me.

I began examining the appendage, gently passing the palm of my hand across its surface. After a careful choice, I pinched a large feather bent out of alignment with two fingers and pulled on it firmly. It came free without any resistance but I felt Celestia tense up as I removed the feather.

My alicorn winced. “Ouch.”

“Sorry,” I apologized, genuinely downtrodden at her distress.

“It’s alright, the big ones always hurt a little,” she assured. “Show me,” she added, recoiling to face me.

I took the feather in my other hand and presented it to my alicorn, giving her a good look. The feather was a good thirty centimeters long and was colored in the same perfect shade of white as my alicorn’s coat.

“Yes, it’s a big one,” commented Celestia.

“What do I do with it?” I asked, unsure of what to do.

My alicorn smiled. “Keep it.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a sort of tradition among winged ponies: while loose feathers are useless, the first one a lover plucks out from the wings of their other half is a symbol of a blooming relationship that grows stronger, it’s almost sacred even,” she explained.

I stared at the big feather still in my grasp, slowly understanding what it represented to Celestia, to me, to us. “I see.”

I grabbed my helmet and tucked the feather in an elastic strap running around the metallic surface of the camouflaged piece of headgear. Once that was done, I put it down and resuming taking care of my beloved’s wings.

One by one, all the bent, damaged or loose feathers came out, before I took care of the ruffled ones. Once that was done, I was left with a very relaxed alicorn pressed against me and a small pile of white feathers. I picked one, slightly smaller than the one I already had ornamented my helmet with and reunited it with its bigger cousin.

Once that was done, I gave Celestia a kiss on the neck and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a loving embrace.

Strider and I were huddled against each other, enjoying the moment we shared when I heard a knock at the door. Seconds later, Vano barged in the room, stumbling on the doorstep and almost falling to the ground.

“Ompf! Damn boat doors, can’t they be like any other doors?” cursed the giant.

“You seem upset,” Strider observed.

“Yeah well try to wake up with a splitting headache and half of your memories from the night before missing and then we’ll speak,” he angrily retorted.

“Go fuck yourself with a rake and a pile of broken glass.”

“Sorry,” he apologized with a sigh. “Celly, you got your artifacts right?” he pleaded more than asked.

I hesitantly gazed at Strider and Vano. “Yes, but why would you-”

“Healing artifacts accelerate the metabolism. In short, they make you hungry and get rid of hangovers in seconds,” interrupted my beloved.

“Give me that artifact pleaaaase,” urged Vano in an agonizing tone.

“It’s in one of my saddlebags right next to you,” I replied with a frown.

I watched with a mix of curiosity and disapproval as Vano figuratively dove into my bags, eagerly searching for my artifacts, unceremoniously throwing behind him everything that didn’t interest him. Finally, he produced the Firefly Strider had given me with a shout of victory. Instantly, the giant pressed it against the side of his head, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Does it just heal the headache?” I asked.

“Nope, it get rids of the hangover in its entirety,” replied Vano. “All the nasty chemicals coming from metabolized ethanol, poof! They disappear, either degraded or evacuated. All I need now is a good sip of water, a little clean-up and a piss,” he said, tidying up my equipment he had previously scattered. “Sorry for bursting in unannounced by the way.”

I stared in wonder at the giant, taken aback at his sudden change of attitude. He had gone from grumpy and irritable to jovial and affable in a few seconds.

“Whoa. It’s fast,” was the only comeback I could mutter.

“That’s partly because it’s a Firefly you got there young lady,” spoke up Vano, tossing me the artifact. “Had it been a Soul, It would have lasted a couple of minutes. A Kolobok, a minute or so,” he explained with a shrug. “Speaking of which, what did we do to the remnants of the Kolobok that exploded when you healed buzz cut right there?”

“It’s in one of the pouches of my backpack. We’ll give it to the scientists so they can toy with it when we give them a visit,” replied Strider.

“The scientists... you guys thing Hermann would be working with mercs like Jackal?” asked Vano.

My lover frowned. “I doubt it. Not willingly. One way or another, we will get to the bottom of this mess,” he growled.

“Don’t worry dude, as long as we’re together we can do anything, no sweat,” assured Vano, sitting on the bed in front of us.

“I suppose you are right,” admitted Strider as he began to help me gear up. “Things could be worse. At least we know where to go.”

Vano stood up. “That’s the spirit!” he cheered. “Come on man, get your ass in gear and let’s get some breakfast. Can’t travel on an empty stomach,” added the giant, standing up.

With that, our tall friend walked out of the room, heading downstairs where the bar was. I shook my head and grabbed Strider’s equipment, helping him put it on.

The bar was a mess. Most stalkers were sitting down on the very ground, all clutching their heads and moaning in pain. The rare few to have healing artifacts were faring better and were already sitting around the tables, eating breakfast and discussing; their voices and the sound of the silverware hitting dishes mixing in an unintelligible background noise. The air was permeated with the usual scents of alcohol, cooking food; smoke, sweat and gunpowder but there was another odor I could not quite place.

“What’s that smell?” I asked Vano, approaching the bar where he was sitting.

“That would be puke, my good friend,” replied my bearded friend with a laugh.

I looked around the bar. “What happened here anyway?”

“A party happened. With lots of alcohol.”

“What’s alcohol?” came Celestia’s voice.

“Ethanol in aqueous solution,” answered Vano with a smirk. “Can be made from raisin, various fruits, malt, or in this case, potato,” he added, producing a bottle of vodka from his backpack and putting it on the counter.

I shook my head and chose to ignore him. “Beard, have you got anything good for a breakfast?” I asked to the barman in the back room of his bar.

The barman turned away from what he was working on, revealing a cooking pan with something frying inside, judging by the sound of it. “Imported cereal, bread and some local made Flesh bacon,” he replied, pointing at his pan. “I could make sandwiches with it if you want.”

I shrugged. “Alright. Make three then. I will also take some cereal and lots of coffee for my friends and I.”

I turned back towards Celestia and Vano, only to find my alicorn examining my friend’s bottle with a judging gaze.

“And that’s what gave you that headache?” she asked, eyebrow cocked.

Vano cringed. “Yeah, the aftermath is painful when you drink a lot. But it’s fun, you should try some!”

“I’ll consider it,” replied Celestia in a wary tone.

The breakfast in itself was pretty quick. We ate, occasionally exchanging a few words and planning the day that was coming. Traveling back to Yanov was the main objective, but we had agreed to stop around noon for lunch and then and look for artifacts at the Oakpine anomaly then at the Iron Forest anomaly if we had the time before resuming our travel.

I took a last sip of coffee and stood up, tilting my head as to make my neck pop. With a sigh, I moved my arms around, shaking off the remaining sleepiness from my body. Nothing good ever comes from being half asleep in the field.

Celestia stood up, moved her wings a bit and turned back towards Vano, who was still eating like a pig. “Come on tall man, we have to go!” she nagged.

“Yeah yeah,” dismissively replied my bearded friend, not giving her any attention.

My alicorn sighed and walked up to me.

“We will wait for him by the door,” I offered.

Celestia shrugged, then nuzzled my side and walked to the door, where she sat down. I followed her and was about to sit down next to her when I catched a conversation going on at the table next to us. Instead of sitting down, I leaned against the wall next to my soulmate, back against the metal wall. Pretending to glare at Vano -who was still eating- I listened to the conversation.

“...and you know where the Oasis is? Whoa. That’s so cool!” enthusiastically exclaimed a rookie in a leather jacket.

“Eh, it’s not very impressive, but there are artifacts everywhere in that place, you literally stumble on them!” another stalker clad in an olive armored suit laughed.

“That sounds like a fairy tale to me,” a third one with a long, black trenchcoat dubiously interrupted. “I’ll believe it only when I see it.”

“Fine! I’ll guide you there if you want,” sighed the second stalker.

“Can I come too? asked the rookie.

The olive-clad stalker looked at him, then shrugged. “As long as you don’t slow us down, you can follow.”

I shrugged and began towards Vano, who had finally finished his breakfast. I was about to leave the men to their business and engage a discussion with my bearded friend when I caught a glimpse of something that made me freeze: the olive stalker gave the trench-coated one a wink, to which he was answered with a slight nod. Meanwhile, the leather-clad rookie was oblivious to the secret exchange between the two others, staring dreamily at the ceiling.

“So, we’re going?” asked Vano.

I frowned. “Yeah.”

My bearded friend tilted his head. “What’s the matter, dude?”

“Let’s go outside, I will tell you.”

I reached the door wheel and turned it, unlocking it and opening it. After letting Celestia and Vano step outside, I rejoined them and closed the door after casting one last glance at the three men I had been spying upon.

“What was that all about?” asked Celestia worriedly as I locked the door shut.

I frowned and looked back at the door. “I am afraid that a poor rookie will have a very bad day if we do nothing.”

The weather outside was somewhat warm, which was surprising considering how cold the preceding few days had been. I could see a blue sky through the broken remnants of the Skadovsk hull, only obscured by a few clouds here and there. A gentle breeze was blowing the land, rustling the reeds and the bushes of the swamps.

I ruffled my wings and looked back in my binoculars. We were on a hill overlooking the Skadovsk, waiting for the three men Strider had talked us about. Apparently, they were going to rob a rookie of all his possessions after being lured away from the stranded ship by two other stalkers.

“Are you sure of what you’re saying?” I asked my buzzed stalker.

“Absolutely. It would not even be the first time Vano and I stopped a mugging,” he replied with a nod.

“Yeah. There’s always this legend about the Oasis and many people are quick to take advantage of gullible rookies,” acquiesced Vano. “I of all people should know,” he added bitterly. “At least Jack won’t be a danger to anyone anym-”

“There they are,” interrupted Strider.

I looked through my binoculars and saw three men exiting the Skadovsk: one clad in a olive suit of armor, another with a long, black trench coat, both well armed; followed by a third one with only a clear jacket, a sawn-off shotgun and, more surprisingly, a long bolt-action rifle with a scope on it.

“Are they the guys you were talking about?” asked Vano.

Strider nodded. “Affirmative. The one with the scoped rifle is their soon-to-be victim.”

“Let’s make sure he doesn’t become it then,” I finished.

“I can only agree with that,” nodded Strider. “Snowball, take to the skies, you are on overwatch duty; Vano and I will walk a hundred meters apart. Move from cover to cover. Don’t let them see you.”

Strider and Vano stood up from our position and spread out while I took off and flew to a cloud where I hid, following the group of stalkers from the sky.

“Heh, they’re going where we’re supposed to go,” came Vano’s voice through the radio.

“I saw that. Fortunate coincidence,” replied Strider.

I stayed up in the sky, moving the cloud I was hiding in as we advanced. I sat down, prepped my sniper rifle and held it in my magic, stabilizing it with my forelegs; ready to fire on anything that could be a threat to my friend and my beloved.

I was glad I didn’t have to walk: the melting snow had added even more gunk to the mud of the swamps and my friends seemed to have trouble walking, especially Strider. Vano, on the one hoof, was helped by his exosuit and managed to keep a reasonable pace. I on the other hoof only had to occasionally flap my wings to advance, stop or stabilize my cloud against the gentle breeze.

After a two hours of silent stalking, the group of men we were following stopped near an anomaly field sitting under a deformed oak tree: it was like if several trees had joined together, forming a dome over the pit where the anomalous field was.

Suddenly, the olive-clad stalker and the trench coated one raised their weapons threateningly at their victim. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but it was clear that they had finally decided to rob him of his stuff. The leather-clad stalker raised his sawn-off in self defense, only to be hit with the shotgun buttstock of his attacker, sending his weapon in the anomalous field behind.

“Snowball, this is Cuddles,” came Strider’s voice through the radio. “We have a situation here, requesting immediate intervention, do you copy?”

“Affirmative Cuddles. Orders?”

I looked through the scope of my marksman rifle, held against my shoulder with my magic and stabilized on my forelegs and focused on estimating the environmental conditions.

“Engage and disable the two hostiles with extreme prejudice. Leave the third one live, over.”

“Understood, Cuddles. Fire in the hole.”

I let out a breath and-

*BANG*

I heard two gunshots crack in the distance. The two hostiles fell to the ground, leaving only the their victim standing, looking around in panic. Seconds after, he too collapsed to the ground.

“Awesome shooting Snowball!” cheered Vano in the radio. “Good effect on target.”

“That wasn't me,” I deadpanned.

“Shit. Everybody, stay low. Snowball, look for unknown contacts in the area,” ordered Strider.

“On it.”

I slung my rifle across my back, took my binoculars and began scanning the area. Strider was laying prone next to a boulder, assault rifle at the ready and Vano was crouched behind a bush approximately a hundred meters away. Other than them I couldn’t see anyone else nor anything special except for a few mutants wandering around.

“No visual,” I announced. “I don’t know where the shots came fr- wait a second.”

“What?”

“Contact South-West of the dome tree. Blue and green armor; long rifle,” I announced in the radio.

“Copy that Snowball. I see him,” replied Strider. “... wait a minute, I know who this is... Snag?”

“What the fuck it this asshole doing here alone?” angrily asked Vano.

“Let’s just observe what he is doing,” ordered my partner.

I stayed on my cloud, spying on the hooded stalker as he approached the three downed men. First, he knelt next to the olive-clad man, patted him down and looted his gear. He did the same to the man in black before he brought his attention to the last man. After a short examination, he turned around and walked away.

I couldn’t believe it.

“What the fuck just happened?” came Vano’s stunned voice through my radio.

“Good question,” replied Strider. “All units, regroup, let’s examine these bodies.”

I packed my gear and took off, silently gliding to the ground below where were laying the bodies of an unconscious and two dead men.

“OY! WAKE UP!” I yelled as I backhanded the unconscious rookie.

After a quick examination, I deduced that nothing was wrong with him: no external bleeding, no broken bones and vital sign in the norms. All I had to do was wake him up as if he was in a deep sleep.

“So let me get that clear,” began Vano as I continued my attempts at awakening the unconscious stalker. “Snag is gone. He looted the two muggers but left their victim alone after checking up on him. What is he, some kind of vigilante?”

“I must admit that I fail to grasp what he means to accomplish,” Celestia added.

“Me too. Me too,” I said, pausing in my reanimation attempts.

*SLAP*

“Ugh. It is not working,” I grunted. “I suppose nobody has any smelling salts?”

“I have some ammonia,” proposed Celestia, producing a white plastic bottle from her backpack.

“This is a brilliant idea!” I exclaimed. “Hand me the bottle.”

“Why would you carry that nasty stuff around?” asked Vano with a half disgusted, half surprised frown.

“To clean and degrease my guns,” replied my alicorn. “I like taking care of them. Helps me vent stress and keeps me focused on one thing,” she shrugged.

“Fair enough.”

I took the bottle, opened it up and smelled it, bringing my nose to its neck. Instantly, I jerked my head back at the pungent smell of the clear liquid inside the plastic bottle, almost dropping it.

I shook my head. “This should do the trick.”

I supported the head of the unconscious man so it stayed upright and brought the bottle containing the foul-smelling right in front of his face, underneath his nose.

The effect was immediate. The stalker let out a breath, opened his eyes and his head jerked backwards, away from the bottle I was holding. Satisfied with the results, I let him go and closed the bottle before I gave it back to my alicorn.

The rookie backed off, his panicked gaze darting between us.

Vano clapped his hands once. “Well, good luck with him, I’m going in the anomaly.”

With that, my bearded friend turned around and walked to the pit of chemical anomaly laying on the ground, leaving Celestia and I to deal with the frightened rookie.

“W-who are you?” asked the young stalker.

“We are a group of free stalkers passing by. We happened to see how you got attacked. My name is Strider, the big one is Vano and this is Celestia,” I calmly announced, pointing at each of us.

The young stalker brought a hand to his chin, not even looking up. “Attacked? I remember… they said they would show me the Oasis but they... tried to rob me,” recalled the rookie in a shaky voice. “I thought I was going to die when I heard the shots. The two bandits collapsed and I panicked. I… I think I passed out just after.”

“That is pretty much what happened. Some other stalker killed your two attackers, looted them and checked up on you before leaving you alone,” I explained. “Something tell me that he did not intend to leave you for dead.”

“I suppose I owe him a thanks then,” sighed the rookie. “And to you guys too,” he added, looking up, only to freeze in surprise.

“Is everything okay?” asked Celestia in a motherly tone.

“You… what. You talk,” observed the rookie, dumbfounded.

“I’m not from around here,” shrugged my alicorn.

“You… you talk,” repeated the man. “You’re actually real.”

Celestia grunted and facehooved.

I sighed in slight annoyance. “Yes. She is real. Tell me, if she is is the most surprising thing you’ve seen, you must be new in the Zone, am I wrong?”

“No. I just entered the Zone a few days ago. Some veterans guided me to the Skadovsk and now here I am,” replied the rookie.

“Speeding up to the center of the Zone is not a good idea,” I scowled, helping the young stalker up. “What is your name?”

The rookie scratched the back of his head. “Everybody calls me Rookie, I guess it’s a name as good as any.”

“You may want to be more cautious around people the next time, Rookie,” I advised, walking to where Vano was, followed by Celestia and him.

Instead of going in the chemical anomaly in the pit below as he had previously announced, my friend was in the dome tree above it. How did he get there and how did the tree not crack under the combined weight of him and his equipment was lost on me. His artifact detector in one hand, he was making his way to the top of the tree, balancing himself with his other arm.

“What are you doing up there?” I half-yelled, half-asked.

“There’s something here!” replied my bearded friend. “I’m sure there’s artifact! My screen said it was in the middle of the anomaly below but it wasn’t, so it can only be up here or underground!”

“Okay,” I deadpanned, eyebrow raised in incomprehension.

I did not really know how artifact detectors worked and did not want to question my friend’s action. when he has an idea in his head, nothing can stop him.

I shrugged and turned around, walking to the bodies laying on the ground. Both of them had a small caliber sized hole in the side of their head where the bullet hit them and a massive cavity where the it exited, taking away half of their brains with it. I whistled in appreciation of the marksmanship and crouched next to the olive-clad dead stalker, intending to loot him.

After a quick check, I only discovered a few consumables and basic gear, but no guns or ammo.

Snag must have taken them already.

I walked up to Strider’s side, the rookie almost literally on my tail. I sort of pitied the young stalker. He was gullible, frail and weak, not unlike myself, only... a few days ago.

This place radically changes who you are.

I grunted in disgust at the sight of the corpse Strider was inspecting: it had been shot once in the head, taking away its face and identity in a mess of blood, brain matter and spinal fluid. The other had met a similar fate, only the back of his head was obliterated, letting appear an expression of surprise on the dead man’s face. I could not deny that it was good marksmanship, but was appalled at the brutal display. Chests shots are just as efficient at disabling targets, offer better hit probabilities and are less messy.

While I was ‘only’ disgusted at the sight before me and was ‘only’ taken by a slight nausea, the rookie already had thrown up. He was bent over, leaning on a tree, trembling and coughing.

I walked up to him. “Are you alright?” I asked.

“Not really, no,” replied the trembling man. “I’ll get better. I’m not used to see…”

“Brutally murdered corpses?” I finished for him.

“Yeah.”

“You’ll get used to it,” I stated matter-of-factly.

The young stalker sighed. “I don’t think I’ll ever-”

“No. Believe me, you will,” I cut him off. “I’m speaking of experience.”

That seemed to leave the young man speechless. He did not try to argue or reply and instead followed I silently as I walked back to Strider, who was done with the first corpse. He had looted all the consumables and gear off it and even stripped it of his armor, something I found slightly unsettling but had no objections against. After all, he did not like it anymore.

“So, what have you got?” I asked, not wanting to confront my lover about his actions.

“A decent amount of food, and medicine along with basic supplies and a good suit,” replied Strider.

“Why did you do that?” asked the rookie, horrified.

“What?”

“You.. you took his armor!” he exclaimed, disgusted.

“This armor is not his anymore, it is yours,” countered Strider, handing him the suit.

The young man backed off from the offered suit. “But that’s wrong! You took it from a dead man!”

“No, and yes. It would have been wrong it I took it from him while he was alive. It would have been theft,” countered my other half in a neutral tone. “Now, it may seem wrong, but he will not need it anymore. Besides, this looks to be a good suit, clean and in quite good condition. If nobody takes it, it will only go to waste so if you do not take it, I will. Would you prefer to keep your half destroyed jacket then?” he asked, pointing at the young stalker’s damaged outfit.

I myself was slightly disturbed by the idea of stealing from the dead but stayed silent. After all, Strider’s logic was sound and it would serve the young stalker in the end.

The rookie deflated in defeat and wordlessly took the suit from Strider’s hand before he walked away, hiding in the bushes. When he came back a minute later, he was clad in the same olive suit Strider had given him.

“There, see? This is better, is it not?” asked Strider.

“I have to admit… yes,” replied the rookie, examining himself.

His new armor looked a lot like these handmade suits many stalkers wore: it was entirely olive green with a hood and reinforced pads were integrated to the jumpsuit on the shoulders, knees and elbows. However, the resemblance stopped there. The rookie’s suit had a bulkier armored vest and padding on the limbs, probably to avoid bite injuries from small mutants while the boots appeared to be armored too.

“I’ll just need my shotgun back, but it’s in the anomalies and I’m not too confident about going in there,” he added, hesitating.

“I’m not going either,” I remarked. “I don’t have a helmet and I don’t want to have my lungs melted by acidic vapors.”

Strider let out a sigh. “Great. I will go then.”

Accompanied by Celestia, I walked to the edge of the anomalous pit, readying my helmet and my artifact detector. I had not used it in so long that I could barely remember how it worked. Fortunately, I managed to start up the device and get it to work.

I cautiously walked down the stiff slope in the anomalous pit, throwing a bolt at every step to avoid anomalies. Despite being exceedingly careful, I almost managed to walk right into an anomaly on several occasions. Throwing bolts proved to be trickier than it seemed as a bolt only spotted anomalies where it landed and a Zone-spawned death trap could be mere centimeters from it.

I could see Rookie’s sawn-off shotgun from where I was, but running towards it would have been a bad idea as Gas and Fruit Punch anomalies are known to be able to eat through anything short of a SEVA suit and then attack the wearer, causing chemical poisoning and horrendous chemical burns. Such wounds were said to be excruciatingly painful and I was not eager to try despite not being able to feel pain.

Suddenly, a spot lit up on the screen of my artifact detector: an artifact was moving about nearby. I fought the urge to follow it and instead slowly placed myself in what I estimated to be its path, waiting for it to come back around its loop. I watched as the spot got closer to me, to a point where it was almost in the center of my screen.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a blue-ish sphere the size of a fist materialized and rolled towards me, rolling under the remaining effects of the momentum it had in its immaterial state. I crouched down and carefully took the small sphere before I raised it in the air.

“Hey Vano!” I called. “Look what I found!”

My friend looked down from the tree above where he was perched. “Nice find… but what are you doing down there anyway?” he asked on an incredulous tone, his voice distorted by his helmet.

“I was going to retrieve Rookie’s gun when I stumbled on this artifact,” I explained.

“Why didn’t you let Celly get it?”

I shrugged. “She does not have a helmet, I was not going to-”

“But she’s got TK, right?”

I stood there like an idiot, realization dawning upon me: my alicorn could have simply retrieved the gun with her telekinesis from a safe distance and I would not have had to wander in the anomalous field.

I groaned in exasperation and facepalmed. Well, gasmaskpalmed.

When I looked up again I saw Vano looking at me from the branch he was standing on in the tree, his helmet masking the shit-eating grin he was undoubtedly bearing. Meanwhile, Celestia was smiling awkwardly from the edge of the anomalous field and Rookie was looking up in the air, whistling innocently while pacing around.

“Let’s do it then,” I deadpanned. “I am coming back,” I added, beginning to carefully climb back up the stiff slope of the anomalous pit.

Once I was finally out of the pit, Celestia had her horn lit up and was hovering Rookie’s shotgun to his owner. I sighed, annoyed at myself.

Well, at least the young one has got his weapon back. I wonder how good he is with his rifle though. He may be useful in the squ-

“Hey! Look what I found!” Vano yelled, interrupting my train of thoughts.

“What?” Celestia and I asked in the same voice.

“A Kolobok!” replied my bearded friend, holding up a familiar-looking spiked artifact for us to see.

“Whoaaaa,” my alicorn deadpanned.

I raised an eyebrow. “Again?”

Vano shrugged. “Yeah. It was in the deformed tree above the anomalous pit,” he explained. “I finally found a replacement for the one you destroyed,” he added, glaring daggers at my soulmate.

“Hey, she did not do it in purpose,” I countered, putting a hand on Celestia’s shoulder. “Besides, she saved me in the process.”

“Wait,” came the rookie’s voice. “You just found a rare artifact just like that?” he asked, flabbergasted.

“Hell yeah I did! I’m the expert when it comes to anomalous fields,” boasted Vano, bumping his armored chest with his closed fist.

I rolled my eyes. “We know that. Could you please loot the other corpse so that we can finally eat lunch?”

“Good idea,” agreed Rookie. “I’m starving.”

“By the way Rookie, catch!” I said, throwing him the artifact I had found a few minutes earlier.

The young stalker caught the blue sphere in flight and examined it incredulously. “You- you’re giving it to me?” he stuttered. “What is it?”

“A Soul if I am not mistaken. Low level healing artifact. Still, quite a useful thing,” I explained.

“But don’t you need it?”

“Not really,” replied Celestia before I could. “Vano found himself a Kolobok, I have a Firefly and Strider... has a condition.”

The young man raised an eyebrow. “A condition?

I unsheathed my knife. “Watch.”

I took the tactical glove off my left hand, holding the knife with the other and discarded it, only to cut a deep gash in the palm of the hand. Some blood came out, but it quickly clotted and the wound closed even faster, leaving nothing but a pale scar in place of the cut that was there mere seconds before.

Rookie stared at my hand, an expression of shock and awe on his face. “That- you- how?”

I shrugged, cleaning my hand off the clotted blood staining its skin.

“He’s got a healing factor ever since I destroyed an artifact while healing him,” deadpanned Celestia. “I don’t know how it’s possible either… just go with it. Maybe the scientists in Yanov will have an answer.”

“But doesn’t it hurt?”

“I do not feel pain,” I shrugged,

“How is that possible?”

“I always was like that,” I replied, not wanting to elaborate on the matter. “As far as I rememb-”

“Son of a bitch!” came Vano’s voice, interrupting my beloved half-sentence.

We turned around, only to see Vano running off in a random direction and a paper slowly falling on the other corpse he had been looting.

“What the fuck?” came Rookie’s voice.

Strider watched as Vano ran off in the distance, before he walked over to the corpse the giant had been looting and picked up the paper that fell on it. After giving it a quick glance, my beloved took off without a word, running after Vano.

The rookie and I stayed there, dumbfounded as we watched the two of them running off into the distance. Intrigued, I used my magic to grab the paper, which was covered in writing. I couldn’t read it, it was written in a language I didn’t understand.

“Erm, could you read that for me please?” I asked the rookie beside me.

The young stalker took the paper from my telekinesis and held it at eye level. “Huh. It’s in Russian. I’ll translate the best I can,” he said, before clearing his throat and reading it aloud. “I’m sorry for yesterday… blah blah. I know, I know I’m a coward, but there’s no other... way. I’ve been running into a lot of trouble with the Bandits pretty much everywhere... now there’s something about -I quote- being a life buoy in the sinking wreck that is my life -end of quote-. I am a hunted man and so are you, and I cannot deal with that. For both our sakes, it is better if we each go our separate ways- blah blah blah- sorry- blah blah blah… and it’s signed ‘Snag’,” finished the rookie. “Who the fuck is that guy?” he asked.

“Long story,” I hurriedly replied. “Follow me!” I called, spreading my wings and taking flight after Strider who had almost disappeared in the bushes of the forest surrounding the area Southeast of Zaton.

“You brain dead moron!”

“You fucking asshole!”

I had finally caught up with my friend, who had caught up with Snag too. Both of them were too preoccupied to yell at each other to even notice me, despite trying to make myself known in the loudest way my voice could. I had tried talking, yelling, I even had shot my rifle in the air a few times but it changed nothing to the verbal war going on between the two of them.

I heard a bush rustle behind me. Instinctively, I drew my AKS-74u and pointed it in the direction where the sound had came from, only to have an out of breath Rookie look down the barrel of my rifle.

“Fuck! Point that away from me, I’ve had enough of being held at gunpoint today,” he said in a breath.

“Fair enough,” I replied, lowering my rifle. “Where is Celest-”

“I’m here,” interrupted my alicorn, landing next to me. “Why did you run after Vano like that?”

“I could ask him the same question,” I grumbled.

“But he did have a good reason. You could have just used the trackers we have in our PDAs instead of starting a wild goose chase,” she countered.

I sat down next to Celestia. “I was worried about Vano running into something less than friendly more than anything. I know you can take care of yourself, love,” I answered, lovingly running a hand through her mane. “You are right though, that was inconsiderate of me.”

Rookie looked at me then at my alicorn. “Wait, ‘love’? You two are- fooooooo!”

“Yes.” Celestia and I replied in unison.

“But that’s… that’s… fooo!”

Celestia gave the young stalker a flat look. “I do not expect you to understand,” she deadpanned.

“That’s… outright deranging.”

“All I can say is that it happened,” I added with a chuckle, before leaning closer to the young man, intending to mess with him a little. “Plus, she’s a beast in bed,” I whispered.

“YA ne khochu znat'! LALALALALALA YA NE SLUSHAU!” yelled Rookie, blanching before he shook his head. “Seriously, stop that!”

“Are you two finished already?” came Celestia’s voice. “Because these two are,” she added, pointing to Vano and Snag.

The two of them were standing where they previously were, only they were not yelling at each other anymore. Instead, they were in the middle of a heated make out session.

Rookie threw his hands in the air. “Der’mo! You all are couples or what?” he, sighed, obviously exasperated.

“Celestia and I? Yes. These two are more complicated,” I commented.

Celestia sighed. “Tell me about it.”

“NUU! YOU TWO DONE OR WHAT?” yelled Rookie, interrupting the two stalkers.

“Rookie has a point. We are in the middle of nowhere, exposed from every angle. We must move,” I ordered.

“Alright, alright,” grumbled Vano. “We’re coming.”

“So, what’s the deal with you two anyway?” asked the rookie, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

I stretched my wings sore from so much flight and laid down next to Strider. “I’m curious as to what’s going on too,” I added.

“A bunch of misunderstandings and a lot of dead people,” deadpanned Snag, who was sitting next to Vano.

“Also you behaved like a complete and utter jerk,” scowled his giant companion.

Snag smirked. “Don’t act as if you don’t like it rough,” he replied, giving him a nudge.

“But seriously, what was that all about?” asked the rookie. “I’m lost here.”

Snag sighed. “Long story short, I ran into trouble with Bandits, got rescued by a common friend of ours,” he began, pointing at Strider, Vano and himself, “then I ran into more trouble by trying to sabotage their operations: raid a stash here, kill a patrol there… I attracted attention to myself. Shit was bad.”

“And that’s where Strider, Celestia and myself enter into the fray,” added Vano. “Apparently a high-ranking Merc wants our little alicorn here present for himself. But here’s the catch: nearly all the Bandits around here work for that Merc one way or another. So when we wiped them all out, he started sending highly trained, well equipped squads to kill us.”

The young stalker’s eyes widened. “Okay… I think I’ll just go away now.”

Vano laughed. “Don’t worry young man, you’re safer with us than alone, even if some Merc wants us dead!”

“Indeed. Last time we were attacked we managed to dispatch them easily enough. Besides, we have air support now,” added Strider, running a hand across my neck.

Vano nodded. “Our safety is not our main concern anymore. We even bought Owl’s services so he makes any information about us disappear.”

“And this is why I’m a massive moron,” sighed Snag. “I didn’t know the Bandits weren’t a problem anymore and that they dealt with my own problems inadvertently… more or less,” he said, ashamed.

“Next time, talk to me instead of being a douche,” grumbled Vano.

Snag sighed and snuggled himself against the giant. “Yeah. I will.”

The rookie scratched his head. “I still have a question though. Why are we speaking English?”

“For her,” answered Strider, wrapping an arm around my back. “She does not speak either Russian or Ukrainian. Besides, most stalkers can speak English and some chose to do all the time.”

“Oh.”

“Enough talk, let’s eat!” interrupted Vano.

“Good idea,” approved Strider. “I bought some sandwiches from Beard this morning,” he added, distributing the goods to Vano and I before he hit his forehead with his palm. “Am I really this dumb?” he said aloud, examining the contents of his sandwich. “Guess I am. Sorry love, but no sandwich for you,” sighed my beloved.

I arched an eyebrow, half worried half lost. “Why? What’s the matter?”

“He’s been a moron and bought bacon sandwiches, that’s why,” answered Vano, the mouth full of food. “Can’t say I don’t like em though,” he added, taking another bite.

I frowned. “I still fail to grasp the problem.”

“Bacon’s meat,” explained Snag. “Fuckin’good meat at that, even when made out of mutated pigs. I'll take her sandwich, I have a vegetarian MRE here,” he offered.

“Could be worse,” replied Strider, throwing the tinfoil-wrapped sandwich he had to Snag.

“So you’re vegetarian, eh?” asked the rookie. “Weird for someone in the Zone.”

“Herbivore, actually, though I can eat eggs, milk and baked products too,” I clarified, opening Snag’s ‘MRE’.

‘Vegetable lasagna’? huh.

The whole thing was wrapped in a brown plastic, which in turn contained more brown bags and a ‘flameless ration heater’. Using the instructions on the plastic wrapping, I used it to heat up my meal, giving the thing a wary glance.

“She also arrived in the Zone by accident,” pointed out Strider.

Not bothering with silverware, I levitated the whole ‘lasagna’ thing and took a bite out of it. It looked strange but I was too hungry to care about the aesthetics of my meal.

Meh. Not what I expected but could be worse.

“That I did,” I nodded. “I still remember that episode with the dogs and the chopper… feels like ages but it was only a few days ago.”

Strider put a hand on my shoulder. “You have been through much in the meantime.”

I took another bite of lasagna. “We all have.”

“So she’s vegetarian,” affirmed the rookie.

“Herbivore,” countered Strider.

“Vegetarian.”

“Herbivore.”

“Vegetarian.”

“Herbivore.”

“Herbivore that can digest -I quote- eggs, milk and baked goods too -end of quote,” stated the young stalker, “which imply that you can digest proteins, degrade animal cells -cytoplasm, organelles and cytoplasmic walls- and have all the necessary enzymes to be an omnivore. Meaning? Not eating meat is purely a cultural thing or a personal choice. So... vegetarian.”

Snag stopped munching on his sandwich and paused. “Well, fuck.”

Vano stopped eating as well. “Flawless logic,” he admitted. “What did you study to know that kind of stuff anyway?”

“Basic biology, eleventh grade,” replied the young stalker with a laugh. “I just happen to have a good memory.”

“Huh. I was more versed into literature and History.”

I just sat there, lasagna held up in my telekinesis, pondering at the rookie’s affirmations. His logic was sound, but there was one thing that didn’t fit with his explanation.

“How come she lacks a proper omnivorous dentition then?” asked Strider, catching up on my thinking.

“You tell me,” shrugged the rookie. “She’s got an equine body structure but much more human body language, six functional limbs that allow her to run on four legs around AND fly, telekinesis and eyes way too big to leave any room for her brain in her skull. A big ‘fuck you’ to science and logic in a nutshell.”

“I know, right?” asked Snag. “First time I saw her I thought I was hallucinating.”

Vano rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and you assumed she was a mutant.”

“What else could she have been? An alien from outer space?”

“Well yes,” replied Strider with a chuckle. “We were going to get the scientists at Yanov trying to decipher her mystery but some… events happened and we had to take a detour to here.”

“That’s where we’re headed now,” I added. “They do owe us a few answers.”

“I am willing to bet they have nothing to do with this whole mess,” sighed Strider, “which will leave us with even less answers. We just have to kill this Jackal Merc and his henchmen before they do.”

“Well, we did get rid of quite a lot of their minions and we’re still standing so I’d say we’re not doing too bad,” replied Vano with a smile.

I like walking, I really do. When I walk I feel like I never want to stop, always moving forward. I always check all angles, enjoying every sight in the meantime. The Zone may not be the prettiest place in the world as I have been told, but it does have its moments.

I also never seem to tire. While Snag and Rookie were showing signs of fatigue after several hours of trekking, neither Vano or me were winded in the slightest. Vano could thank his exosuit for carrying its own weight, his gear and even his own body weight but I did not have power armor. Instead, I was carrying over twenty kilograms just in weapons and ammo, along with a suit of armor weighing about fifteen kilograms and over five more kilos of other miscellaneous gear. I have to admit though, I could feel my new sniper rifle on my back.

I was not worried about Celestia, she had proved to be stronger than she looked, in every sense of the term -I still had marks from the night before, despite my recently acquired healing factor- and she was flying her cloud anyway, governing it like a flying boat with her giant wings.

We had crossed the tunnel to the area around Jupiter already and were almost to the Yanov station, I could see Zulu’s deserted tower in the distance, the red of its bricks contrasting sharply against the grey, cloudy sky. Yanov station was not our goal, however. We had agreed that we would go directly to the scientists’ bunker where we could hopefully spend the night.

The walk had been fairly peaceful, only interrupted by a few mutants occasionally attacking us in small groups, nothing hard to deal with considering our numbers.

I reached to my radio. “Snowball this is Cuddles. Anything to report?”

“Nothing. The sky is grey, there’s a bit of wind and thank you again for the scarf,” replied my alicorn over the radio.

I chuckled. “You’re welcome.”

“Wait a second… who are these guys?” came her voice through the radio.

“Where?”

“South South-West, on the ridge of the hill.”

I took my binoculars and scanned the designated area, searching for any trace of stalkers. I found nothing except for trees, bushes and stakes delimiting an old road, invisible since it was on top of the hill.

Then I saw something peak over the hill a few hundred meters away. A black shape contrasting on the bright grey background of the sky. It was a man wearing an exoskeleton, walking in our general direction. It was soon followed by another well equipped stalker, then another, then three others, spread out in an arrow formation.

I was about to put my binoculars away when I saw something that made my blood freeze.

One of them had pulled out a rocket launcher and was aiming it in our direction.

“RPG! GET DOWN!” I yelled, laying flat on the ground.

*pomf shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*

*KABOOM*

Seconds later, the report of a rocket being fired came to my ears, instantly followed by a huge explosion much too close to us for comfort; thankfully only showering us with dirt and mud instead of heat, over pressurized air and shrapnel.

*clac* *clac*

*clac*

*clac* *weeeeee*

It was instantly followed by a hail of bullets cracking as they flew around us, establishing that this rocket was not a misfire and was obviously aimed at us, intending to takes us out.

“I’M HIT! I’M HIT!” came Rookie’s distressed voice.

I crawled through the muddy, melted snow to the young stalker, who was squirming on the ground. Once I reached him, I put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him behind a bush, out of sight of our attackers.

I knelt over him. “Where are you hit?” I half-yelled half-asked over the sound of cracking bullets and automatic gunfire.

Rookie coughed blood, moaning in pain. “M-my chest-t it hurts, it hurts! O-ostanovi krov'! YA ne khochyu umiraaat'!!!”

I examined his chest, only to find a bullet, flattened on a part in the lower chest area of the young man’s ballistic vest. A thorough examination revealed a broken rib and possible internal bleeding and lung injury, which of which being confirmed by his ragged breath and the amount of blood he was coughing.

From my kneeling position, I put a hand on his shoulder. “Okay Rookie, I want you to do three things: do not panic, use your healing artifact and RETURN FIRE!” I yelled, trying to cover the sounds of gunfire.

The young stalker looked at me, a glint of panic and doubt in his eyes before he coughed again and produced his artifact from a pouch in his pants. He placed it against his chest and gave a relieved sigh, sat up and gave me a nod.

I turned around.

Not bothering to try to find solid cover that was nowhere near our position, I unslung my anti material rifle and took a knee, hoping that the bullets now whizzing past us would miss their mark.

Suddenly, the oncoming gunfire stopped for some reason.

Profiting of the occasion, I reached towards my radio. “OPEN FIRE!” I yelled, before returning fire with quick squeezes of the trigger.

Two shots later, the exoskeleton-clad grenadier hit the ground, two fifty caliber holes in the armor plating on his chest.

A few seconds later, my fire was joined by Vano’s machine gun and Snag’s rifle going full auto along with Rookie’s bolt action rifle. In the corner of my eye, I saw Celestia shooting her marksman rifle from her cloud.

Our quick response and combined fire drew our attackers to back off over the ridge of the hill they had attacked us from.

“All units, move forward!” I ordered. “Snowball, dish them out! I want a line of sight on these fuckers! Do not let them retreat!”

“Copy,” replied my alicorn.

In the corner of my eye, I saw her take off from her cloud, A2000 SMG held aloft in the glow of her telekinesis. At the same time, the others began advancing, spread a few meters apart in a line.

I stayed in my post, only advancing once the others were a hundred meters ahead of me. Keeping my sniper rifle leveled, I moved forward, covering my friend’s advance while Celestia was busy doing strafing runs, pushing our attackers back at us.

She was doing a wonderful job. She flew in a eight-shaped loop pattern, descending and firing on her target then climbing up, hiding in the clouds while she turned around; then descended again, flying in the opposite direction while unleashing automatic gunfire. The rich colors of her mane and tail, her white wings and her Monolith-like camouflage blended in perfectly with the colors of the sky, making her hard to spot among the grey/white clouds. pierced by sunlight here and there. In less than half a dozen runs, she managed to get our attackers back away from her and right into Snag, Vano and Rookie’s fire.

Less than a minute later, it was all over.

I reached at my radio. “Cease fire.”

Instantly, the loud reports of automatic weapons ceased.

I stood up and rejoined the others, who were already looting the dead bodies on the ground. I was halfway there when Celestia flew past me, making me stumble and almost fall to the ground. She then did a few loops in the air, before she folded her wings, engaging in a free falling corkscrew.

At the last moment, she opened her wings and pulled up, skidding to a halt on the muddy ground, skillfully balancing herself as not to tip over.

“Dibs on the exoskeleton!” she announced.

I raised an eyebrow at her remark. It was strange to see her out of all people say that. I shrugged it off and walked past another lifeless corpse when the rifle laying next to it catched my attention.

I held a breath and knelt next to the body.

Oh goodie!

I examined the exoskeleton-clad corpse, trying to figure out a way to get it out of the armor. It seemed to be a lighter version of Vano’s power armor; the armor and the actual powered exosuit apparently were two separate parts: the metal skeleton seemed to be attached on a special chassis integrated to the armored suit, which meant that with some work, it could be fitted to another suit.

I turned around, and gave Strider a scrutinizing look, while he was absorbed in examining a rifle he had found on the corpse he was looting to notice. I knew he didn’t want to show it but his new sniper rifle visibly weighed him down.

I smirked, pulled a screwdriver out of my backpack and got to work.

We were almost to the scientists’ bunker, the weather had cleared up somewhat, no sign of hostiles could be seen anywhere nearby and we had gathered outstandingly good loot from the Mercs that had attacked us.

I smiled and examined my new rifle. Its finish was scraped in many places and it looked like it had seen better days but I knew better. Its internals were pristine and a few tests shots had revealed that it was just way more accurate than my previous carbine.

But one thing set it apart from other rifles: its unique two-round burst mode. It also was a very rare weapon, only issued to Spetsnaz experts... like my previous carbine.

I grinned.

Finally my very own ‘armor killer’.

Vano had added a RPG-7 to his collection of ordnance, strengthening his position as the heavy hitter of our group. The hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher was slung across his back, keeping company to his shotgun. Snag had a new pistol, a Glock by the looks of it and Rookie had inherited of my old AKS-74u along with the Micro Uzi he had found.

Celestia had put away her shotgun and abandoned her SMG for a Minimi machine gun -paratrooper version, something that made me chuckle at how fitting it was. She also was carrying a heavy load on her back, smiling and giggling to herself like Vano does when he is drunk or scheming something. Or both.

I suppose I will learn what she has in mind soon enough.

We were finally arrived at the bunker. It was big, angular and grey, with a camouflage net spread over the top superstructures. A few Mercs were patrolling around it, occasionally chatting with a group of well-equipped stalkers sitting around a campfire a few meters from the main door and a couple of the mercenaries were on the roof too.

“So, what do we do?” asked Snag.

“We go in,” I simply replied, lowering my newly acquired AN-94.

“Fair enough,” shrugged Celestia. “Let’s see what happens.”

We walked out of the bushes and slowly approached the door of the bunker. The Mercs instantly spotted us but showed no signs of hostility, allowing us to walk right up to the door.

“Stalkers! You must holster your weapons by the entrance to the research facility!” came a voice in the door interphone.

“Do what he says,” I announced.

We put our guns away and I looked up at the camera over the door. Seconds later, it opened with a creak, letting us in a pressurized airlock. Why a bunker inside the Zone needed such a thing eluded me, but I shrugged and walked inside, closely followed by Celestia and the others.

Once we were all in, the door to the outside closed, leaving us trapped in the airlock. It was a tight fit in there, with all five of us. To my relief, the other door opened a few seconds later, revealing a dull interior mostly made out of metal: floor, walls, ceiling, everything was made out of metal, lit by neon tubes on the ceiling. I walked out of the airlock and into a contorted corridor with doorways on the left. At the end of the corridor, a man wearing a high-end exoskeleton was leaning on a counter, discussing with whoever was on the other side.

I cleared my throat, making our presence known.

The man at the counter turned towards us and took off his helmet. “Vano! Strider! What is my favorite imbecile and his bitter friend doing here?”

“Alexander?” came Vano’s voice.

“Alex?” Asked Snag.

I could not believe my eyes. “Major?”

“Who’s that guy?” asked Rookie.

“Strider, who is he?” I worriedly asked my beloved.

The man in front of us laughed. Not a dreadful laugh, but a genuinely amused laugh, as if what I said was an enormous idiocy.

“You may know me as The Major, the Pripyat Dweller, the Lone Wanderer, the Friend of Stalkers, the Courier of Justice, the Diplomat, the Pioneer, but that would be The Colonel now,” he said. “You must be the famous Angel of Death everyone has been talking about lately.”

I opened my mouth and raised an eyebrow. “Angel of Death?”

Chapter 12: We All Are Monsters

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Chapter 12
We all are Monsters

Strider scratched the back of his buzz-shaven head. “The Colonel? Angel of Death?” asked my beloved, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t really like that nickname,” I added.

Vano cringed. “Me neither, considering that was a Nazi zealot who bore it first.”

“Well we’re not all history buffs like you big guy, I think that's alright,” shrugged Degtyarev, walking up to Vano, arms open. “How are you doing my friend?” he jovially asked, hugging my tall friend, giving him a pat on the back in the process.

“Got new gear, a new friend and a somewhat chaotic relationship with Snag over there; I managed to stay alive, so by the Zone’s standards I’m great!” replied Vano, returning the gesture. “But how about you my good friend?”

“I’ve been promoted to Colonel but I still get to wander the Zone as a ‘military observer’, and I also get to test neat new weapons the guys in Kiev come up with.”

“New weapons?” I asked, excited at the prospect of more technological wonders.

Degtyarev let out a chuckle. “Ohohoho, yes. Look at that,” he said, producing a strange-looking rifle from his back the gun looked like it was made in two parts: a sleek looking barrel attached to a normal-looking bullpup rifle. “The IMR, or Infantry Marksman Railgun mark 3,” he announced, kneeling in front me and letting me have a good look on it. “You remember my Gauss rifle you were dying to try, Strider?”

“How could I have forgotten the accuracy and the power of that thing,” replied my lover with a chuckle. “Even my new rifle pales in comparison. It had it’s issues though.”

Degtyarev nodded. “Yeah, the ammo was fuckexpensive, it was bulky because of the electronics needed to control the coils and the barrel had to be changed every ten or so reloads because of the wear from friction and heat,” he recalled with a dreamy expression, before grinning. “So they dropped the whole ‘coil’ thing and went in another direction, choosing to develop antigrav railguns instead. All the electrical bits are powered by Flash-powered batteries, just like the ones used to power exosuits,” he explained, holding up a what looked like a standard exoskeleton battery.

“How did they get past the barrel wear then?” I asked with a doubtful frown.

“By getting rid of the bloody thing,” laughed Degtyarev.

“How?”

“That’s where the ‘antigrav’ part comes into play: Gravi,” simply answered Degtyarev. “Carefully cut fragments of the artifact are disposed all around the silicon carbide rails of the gun so the bullets never makes contact with any of them but the space is so small that the air turns into ionised plasma and conducts the electricity. Anti-gravity artifacts are pretty nifty.”

I oohed in appreciation. “And what does it shoot?”

Degtyarev laughed. “You’ll never believe it.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Go on,” I insisted.

“7.62x39mm,” announced the Colonel, holding up a decent-sized bullet with a steel casing. “The engineers of the Kiev polytechnic institute needed a reliable enough launching mechanism in a compact platform and a big enough bullet to benefit from the explosive effect impacts at hyper velocities have. So they took an old AKM from the closet, made it bullpup and modified it so it can fit all the electronic gizmos,” he explained, showing the exoskeleton-type battery in its slot under what looked like the barrel not of the rifle, but of the railgun. “After being launched by the conventional rifle, the bullet is stabilized by the artifact fragments, keeping it at equal distance between the two electromagnetic rails that then propel it. Ain’t that cool?”

“Whoa. That’s incredible,” I gawked. “And all of this, without magic…”

“Did I hear magic?” came a new voice.

We turned in the direction from which the voice had come from. A lean, middle aged man with a brown mane- hair, a thin face, a goatee, rectangular glasses and a lab coat was standing in the doorway, holding what looked like a notepad in his hands.

“My name’s Hermann,” said the man, offering his hand to me, “Scientist for the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and researcher in anomalous phenomenons. I have heard of your abilities and suffice to say that I am very curious.”

“Strider, stalker and freelance assassin.” answered my lover with a frown, putting himself between the scientist and myself before I could reply, grabbing the man’s hand. “And very curious about who you heard of her from and who the Mercs guarding this bunker work for,” he added.

“What do you mean?” asked the scientist. “They work for me and are only here to protect the bunker".

After a short moment, Strider let go of the scientist’s hand and slowly took a step back. “Are you sure about that?” he suspiciously asked, leaning against the wall next to him.

“I can vouch for them,” interrupted Degtyarev.

Strider seemed to deflate at that. “Oh. Okay.”

"What’s the story anyway?” asked the Colonel. "I know that most Mercs aren't nice to stalkers, but I feel there's something else at play here."

“We’re wanted dead by some Mercs,” deadpanned Snag. “Shit’s hit the fan.”

Degtyarev brought a hand to his chin, a pensive expression on his face. “I see. At the very least, you won’t have to worry about the Mercs guarding the bunker. As I said, I can vouch for them, they are good guys and I hired them personally. They don’t want anything to do with other groups of Mercenaries roaming the Zone,” he explained.

Hermann huffed. “Indeed, Hatchet and his group are polite and quite nice, unlike his predecessors.”

The Colonel rolled his eyes. “Tell me about it, they were even working for Jackal. Should have killed the bastard instead of Serbin.”

“Wait, Jackal?!” Strider, Vano and I asked in unison.

“Yeah, a Merc at the head of a large and powerful Mercenary force,” explained the Colonel. “He’s the reason why Stalkers avoid Pripyat.”

“Then that’s where we’re headed,” growled Strider. “We have to end this once and for all.”

“Are you out of your mind?!” asked the Colonel. “His faction have almost completely driven the Monolithians out of the dead city!” yelled the Colonel.

Strider stood up, a scowl on his face. “If it were only for me, I would let them come and kill me. I was alone before, it would not have mattered in the end. But now anymore. I have friends, I even found someone to love in this shithole. I care for them and thanks to them, believe I stand a chance. I am not going to give up or run away!”

The Colonel raised his hands in the air, clearly exasperated. “But you’d need your own private army to face his might!”

Strider pursed his lips. “I shall make one then.”

There was a moment of silence.

The Colonel and the rookie stood there, slack-jawed. Snag tilted his head to the side. Herman’s notepad clattered on the metallic floor with a thud.

"What!?"

Vano scratched his beard. “That’s actually a very good idea. With that little stunt you pulled with the pseudogiants, you two should have enough cred to gather a few followers,” he analyzed. “Besides, we wiped out the bandits from Zaton, I bet we could earn a little following easily enough. From there, we could strengthen and expand. We will have some logistics problems in the beginning though.”

“Problems like?” I merely asked, trying to steer the conversation towards calmer pastures.

The giant shrugged. “Finding a suitable homebase, for starters.”

“That- that would be easy enough. Our hideout in the Jupiter factory can be enlarged and we could even take over the whole compound. First drive off the mutants, then make the buildings liveable,” proposed Strider, still recovering from his outburst.

“Sounds reasonable enough,” Vano admitted. “But we’ll have other problems, like resupplying.”

“Wait wait wait,” interrupted Snag. “Are you guys for real? I mean, the Colonel and you were ready to jump at each other’s throat and then…? Don’t tell me you guys are seriously considering this option. I mean, really? A fucking faction?”

“We will see,” replied Strider. “All in due time. Right now we have others things to do.”

“Such as?” asked Hermann, picking up his notepad. “I have to say, the reason for your appearance here eludes me. Are you looking for a job or have business with Novikov perhaps?”

“Well, you said you were curious about my abilities,” I replied with a smirk.

I was sitting next to Celestia, idly petting her cyan mane, thinking about what I had said earlier. Both of us had taken off our amors and we were sitting on an old operating table in the main lab of the bunker, waiting for Hermann to come back with his colleagues.

In the meantime, Vano, Degtyarev and the others had taken off for Yanov station, saying they would pass rumors about my intent to found a faction, though I suspected they had left primarily because they knew they were going to be bored.

I, on the other hand, was too preoccupied to be bored.

First step: establish a base in Jupiter, recruit some followers... already in motion. No doubt Vano and Rookie will accept. Maybe Snag too. I will have to ask Celestia if she wants to be part of that project… but what would be her place though?

After that, resupply. I will have to ask Degtyarev if he can help us out. Yeah, I guess it is possible. Now how about a name for that faction?

“Strider?” called my alicorn, a hint of worry in her voice. “Are you alright? You’ve been staring at this wall the whole time.”

“I am quite well,” I assured her with a smile. “I was thinking about this whole faction business.”

“I sounds like it’s something you always wanted to do,” she observed.

I sighed. “You have no idea. A few months ago, I tried to start my own thing with my former squadmates but it did not work. They preferred to stay in Duty instead.”

The metal door to the lab opened and Hermann entered the room, followed by two other men clad in lab coats I had not seen before.

“Sorry for making you wait,” apologized Hermann. “My colleagues took a while to convince that a talking equine was in the Zone, let alone in our bunker. This is Ozersky,” he said, gesturing towards a balding man with round glasses.

“Pleased to meet you,” said Ozersky.

“...and this is Novikov,” finished Hermann, pointing at another man, burlier than them and sporting a beard that could almost rival Vano’s.

“You can call me Grey,” he said in a gravelly voice. “I’m the technician here.”

Celestia and silently I nodded to each of them in acknowledgement.

“So, how about these tests?” joyously asked Hermann, rubbing his hands together.

“Yeah, how about them?” responded Celestia in an apprehensive tone. “Please tell me it won’t be painful.”

“Oh nononono, do not worry little one,” assured Ozersky. “A few blood samples, electrocardiograms, electroencephalograms and some other tests while you use your ‘magic’ will be enough to begin with. Of course, we might need tissue sample, but you’re the one calling the shots here, we’re not barbarians,” added the scientist.

“And we will follow protocol,” said Hermann. “Judging by how long you stayed in the Zone already, I suppose your immune system is already on par with ours and besides, the airlock at the entry exposed you to a small dose of ultraviolet light and radiation. Any germs you had on you have been neutralized.”

Celestia nodded. “Okay! Let’s get this over with.”

I observed silently as Hermann and Ozersky then proceeded to fit my alicorn with a lot of electrodes, each one wired to machines of unknown purpose that Novikov kept bringing in the lab, one by one. The last machines were some sort of boxes, with a small parabolic antenna on top and a lot of dials which use was unknown to me. I watched curiously as six of them were disposed in pairs around Celestia.

I am sure I saw these devices before… the bandit base in Zaton!

“What are those?” I asked, pointing at the devices.

Novikov smiled. “Three anomaly scanners and three mutant activity scanners,” he explained. “Top of the line scientific equipment, very hard to come by, they are made outside the Zone. I tweaked these ones myself so they are even more sensitive.”

Celestia’s ears perked up. “Can you show me your workshop after that?” she asked, eyes gleaming.

Novikov laughed. “Of course.”

I brought a hand to my chin. “Interesting. What happens next?”

“We ask your… friend here to use her magic, we collect data and we get to work on it after collecting a blood sample from her,” said Hermann, looking up from the machine the electrodes were plugged in.

“I cannot wait to uncover any scientific mysteries she represents!” Ozersky excitedly added.

“We get it Ozersky, you’re excited, but let’s not get ahead of us here,” scowled Hermann. “No tricks like last time.”

The bald scientist awkwardly cleared his throat.

Herman turned towards me. “By the way stalker, I understand you also wanted to be examined?”

I nodded. “Yes. I have a… condition. But it can wait.”

“If you say so,” conceded the scientist. “Gentlemen! are we ready?” he asked his colleagues.

“All’s good for me,” answered Ozersky.

“All the hardware is up and running, waiting for input,” added Novikov.

“Alright! standby for test number Zero Zero One on subject Charlie Papa Alpha!” called Hermann.

Celestia gave me a worried glance. I smiled and replied with a nod, followed by a mouthed kiss. My alicorn took a breath and looked forwards.

“Alright, Celestia. care to pick up this pen?” asked Hermann, placing the object on the floor in front of my alicorn. “Use your... magic.”

Celestia wordlessly nodded and lit up her horn ,the same glow encompassing the pen. Immediately, the scientists turned towards the screens of the monitoring equipment, save for Novikov who was taking photos of the experiment.

“Fascinating…” muttered Ozersky.

“It’s coming from outside…” nodded Hermann.

My alicorn maintained the pen in the air and moved it around before she put the object back on the metallic floor of the room.

I pursed my lips.

Well, that went better than I feared it would.

Hermann picked up the pen and put it in a plastic bag.

“Why are you doing that?” asked Celestia. “My magic is harmless.”

“I want to analyze this pen to see if there is any residual ‘magic’ on it,” replied the scientist. “It could be useful.”

“Fair enough.”

I jumped off the table and knelt next to Celestia. “You did great,” I softly said, petting her mane.

My alicorn gave me a quick kiss. “Thanks.”

“Alright! Subject Charlie Papa Alpha, experiment Zero Zero One is finished,” announced Hermann. “What else can you do?” he asked, turning towards Celestia.

“Back home? Pretty much anything,” replied my alicorn. “Telekinesis, shields, offensive spells, matter manipulation, enchantments… here, I don’t know why but the magical field is much weaker. I can only do basic telekinesis. Even the weight I can lift is drastically reduced.”

Hermann scratched his goatee. “I see. That furthers the theory we extrapolated from the results of this preliminary test. It seems that you use external energy for your magic. This energy is of unknown source yet, but we also measured a drop in natural radiation.”

“Natural radiation?” I asked.

Ozersky turned away from his computer. “Yes. Literally everything emits radiation. Thing is though, when your… partner here called upon her ‘magic’, this residual radiation completely vanished around her, kind of like light vanishes around a black hole.”

Celestia tilted her head to the side. “Interesting.”

Herman placed an old computer screen on the floor in front of Celestia.

“Standby for test Zero Zero One dash One! Load limit test!” he called.

The rest of the testing was fairly similar from this point. Hermann would put something in front of Celestia for her to lift, take measurements and stop the test. The object would be stored away then replaced by something heavier.

So far, my alicorn had managed to lift a desk, a bowling ball, the corpse of a Bloodsucker, bent several spoons, a couple of metal chairs and dented a metal plate by throwing a golf ball at it. She had even managed to lift herself after a lot of concentration.

“See, the way telekinesis works is that you need an anchor and a point of application”, she explained to a very attentive team of scientists. “The easiest way for unicorns is to make themselves the anchor and the object they want to lift the point of application. But if they wanted to lift themselves, they would have to reverse everything, making themselves the point of application and anchor their magic to the ground or something stable from their point of vue. Doing that is much harder and requires both power and practice. I think that’s the most complicated thing I can do here. I don’t want to strain myself, that would have dire consequences, especially in this magic-deprived environment,” she lectured.

“Interesting,” muttered Hermann, avidly taking notes. “Very interesting. Well. I suppose that will be all,” he announced, looking up from his notepad. “I wished we had an X-ray machine or something along those lines to study your anatomy more in detail but we don’t have one, so we just need a blood sample before you go.”

“How do we do this?” asked Celestia.

Ozersky sat down on a chair next to my alicorn and extended a hand. “Show me your leg,” he said. “I’ll shave a small area of hair behind your knee, sanitize and use these,” he explained, showing us a needle and several empty vials. “Don’t worry, they are hospital-grade equipment, never been used.”

I knelt down next to Celestia who nuzzled my arm. “Go for it then.”

Ozersky nodded and proceeded to shave a bit of my alicorn’s coat on her leg, showing the bright pink skin underneath. Once he sanitized the skin with a piece of gauze damped with what smelled like an alcoholic solution, he searched for a vein and inserted the needle once he found one before attaching a first vial to the needle. After three vials, he withdrew the needle and instantly put another piece of gauze on the small hole in the skin that was left and used an adhesive bandage to keep it in place.

“All done,” announced the bearded scientist. “You can go now.”

Celestia shot up and looked at Novikov. “Can you show me your workshop, please?” she asked, fluttering her eyelids.

The technician laughed. “Of course you can. Follow me.”

I could only stare as Celestia walked out of the room, following Novikov and Ozersky. Just before she exited the door, she turned around and winked at me, leaving me perplex.

Okay. What does that mean?

“Alright!” said Hermann, pulling me out of my thoughts, “Your turn. What is the problem?”

I shook my head. “Right. A few days ago, I was injured and Celestia treated me with an artifact. Everything was normal, but then the artifact she was using exploded,” I recalled, producing the remnants of the artifact from my backpack.

Hermann adjusted his glasses and examined one of the blackened shards. “Interesting. It looks similar to specimens that have been drained of their power…” he muttered. “...that happens sometimes. It’s not common but I studied quite a few drained artifacts. I still fail to comprehend what is the problem.”

“Well, I developed a healing factor after I was exposed to the destroyed artifact,” I explained. “I do not know how you intend to get a blood sample from me but it is going to be complicated,” I admitted. I raised a finger. “Oh, also Celestia was holding it in her telekinesis when it exploded.”

“Fascinating,” said the scientist. “Maybe her ‘magic’ interfered with the artifact, overloading it and then draining it of its properties… fascinating. Do you mind if I keep it?” he asked. “You will be paid accordingly of course.”

“Not at all,” I replied. “I also have what Hawaiian called ‘Cobblestone’, two artifacts that apparently lost their power too.”

Hermann nodded. “More drained artifacts? More specimens are always welcome,” he stated. “It’s not uncommon that a stalker drops by with an unknown artifact, most people around here know that we pay a good price for oddities,” he added with a chuckle.

“You are not the only ones,” I growled under my breath.

“Beg pardon?”

I sighed. “We ran into some problems. Some Mercs apparently working for other scientists in the Zone came after us to capture Celestia. They almost succeeded. I shiver just at the idea of what they could have done to her.”

“I see. Whoever they were, these Mercs were not working for us,” assured Hermann. “I have a profound respect for science and ethics. Never would I consider to study a subject against his, her or its will,” he added with disdain. “While Ozersky likes to ignore the rules from time to time, he is a good man. Besides, I would have heard of it if he had. I can vouch for Sakharov and Kruglov too. Like us in this bunker, they are serious researchers and official employees of the Ukrainian ministry of education.”

“So I am looking for a clandestine group?” I asked.

“Most likely.”

I sighed, bumping my head on the wall behind me. “Well, shit. At least I know they must be in Pripyat.”

Hermann frowned. “Pripyat? I would advise you to mount a big group of highly trained stalkers, as it is a deathtrap, home to Mercs and Monolith forces alike,” he warned.

I waved dismissively. “I know. That is precisely why I want to start a faction,” I replied. “I always wanted to do so actually, but never had the occasion… speaking of which, do you know any people I could recruit in this perspective?”

Hermann scratched his goatee. “Well, usually, most people who weren’t Loners were among the ranks of Freedom or Duty,” explained the scientist. “As far as I know, the situation changed recently. Duty and Freedom alike are losing members every day, most of them tired of the pointless struggle the two factions’ conflicting ideologies cause.”

I nodded. “And that means… an opportunity to enroll a lot of stalkers.”

Hermann raised his brow and smirked. “And well trained ones at that,” he agreed. “I would advise you to contact your former squadmates you spoke of to begin with, maybe they would be more inclined to leave Duty now,” he added with a wink.

“Thanks for the advice.”

Novikov leaned over my shoulder, taking a good look at my work. “Whoa,” he commented. “That’s impressive.”

“I know, right?” I asked. “I had this idea when I saw how Strider struggled to keep his new sniper rifle level sometimes. With that, his life will be a whole lot easier.”

“That idea to use an amovible chassis to fit an exoskeleton over a normal suit of armor is pure genius!” praised the technician. “But what’s the most stunning is the fact that you made it work!”

I shrugged. “I’m good with this kind of stuff and I like fiddling with tools and moving parts.”

“Don’t be so modest. Even I would have trouble mixing together these kinds of tech.”

I looked at my ouvrage. It was truly beautiful. I had managed to adapt the exoskeleton I had found on Strider’s armor by modifying the backplate of his armor and mounting the chassis of the power armor on a harness over it, which I took from a parachute. I had replaced the polycarbonate plates and pads protecting the limbs and joints by ones cut out from a sheet of laminated steel intended as spare parts for the bunker itself, allowing me to weld the exoskeleton on them. Suffice to say that adjusting them to prevent any form of chaffing was arduous, but with the right tools and Novikov’s help I was able to perfect the task.

I had also wanted to replace the lightweight armored plates of the bulletproof vest by thicker, heavier titanium plates to increase physical protection, but unfortunately Novikov -while being an expert technician and being able to reprogram the HUD on Strider’s helmet- lacked the materials. Such modifications would have to wait.

“Are you done with the helmet?” I asked.

“Yes, it is completely integrated within the exoskeleton systems, which I updated most of the software, by the way,” replied Novikov. “You would be surprised how better code can make a computerized system more energy-efficient. I also added a wrist-mounted control module wired to the exosuit to monitor its functions with greater detail. After all, a bloated HUD is most detestable.”

“Fair enough,” I conceded. “I think we did a great job,” examining the helmet.

It didn’t appear to have been modified, the feathers I had given to my lover were still at the same place than before, secured by an elastic strap running around the helmet crown. However, upon powering up the piece of headgear, I noticed that the HUD illuminating the eyepiece was slightly different in appearance. It seemed to have additional gauges, most of which were flashing red.

“Why does it looks like it’s malfunctioning?” I asked with a frown.

“Because it’s not connected to the suit,” answered Novikov. “As far as this thing knows, the suit has been destroyed and its user is dead.”

I nodded. “I see. That’s an impressive job.”

The bearded technician smiled. “That it is, little one.”

I laughed. “Believe me, I am far too old for that nickname.”

Novikov raised an eyebrow. “How far exactly?” he curiously asked.

I shrugged. “Somewhere over two thousand years,” I replied, getting back to my work.

I still needed to finish mounting the exoskeleton on my lover’s armor. While the most difficult part -the upper body and the arms- was done, the lower body still had to be attended to. I grabbed an allen key and a Philips screwdriver and got to work

“You cannot be serious,” came Novikov’s voice.

I grunted, looking up from my work. “I am… unfortunately.”

“Over two thousand years old? Do you realize what that means?” asked the technician. “That means you could have been around when the Egyptians were busy building pyramids! Wait, that's not right. More like when Cleopatra... That’s still not possibl-”

Novikov was interrupted by the a commotion coming from the lab. A minute later, the door opened, revealing a disheveled and out of breath Strider.

“Okay… what happened?,” finally asked Novikov.

Strider sat down next to me. “Your guess is as good as mine,” he deadpanned, letting his hand wander through my mane. “After Hermann had finished examining me, he went to see his colleague, leaving me alone. He came back around five minutes later, almost delirious and yelling that you were logically impossible. I managed to calm him down but almost right after that, Ozersky barged into the lab in the same state Hermann was, only this time it’s me he was blabbering about. They were saying things I did not like and were getting agitated so I had to knock out the both of them before anything serious happened.”

I sighed. “Did you really have to do that?” I asked.

My beloved silently nodded and hugged me closer to him, a worried expression on his face.

I sighed and looked at the two unconscious scientists, wondering how I could have let that happen.

After a brief discussion, Novikov and I had dragged them on couches in the room adjacent to the technician’s workshop.

At least they are comfortable now.

“Go back to your friend,” advised Novikov. “She has something for you.”

I raised an eyebrow at the technician’s remark, turned around and went back to the technician’s workshop, where I had seen Celestia fiddling with my suit. At first, I did not like her idea at all, but after seeing her ouvrage, I had to admit I was wrong. She was crafty and resourceful enough to turn a high-quality combat gear into a high-tech, rugged power armor.

I entered the silent workshop. Unsurprisingly, Celestia was holding my modified suit in her telekinesis, examining it with a critical eye, as if she had finished it.

I decided to break the silence. “So?”

My alicorn turned towards me and smiled. “Oh, you’re back!” she joyously exclaimed. “I just finished it. I triple-checked all the welds and circuits. The software has been updated by Novikov and all that’s left is for you to try it out!”

I let out a chuckle. “Alright, dear. Let’s get to it.”

I was presented with what looked like my old suit, only the plates and pads on the limbs had been replaced and there was more bulk to it because of the exoskeleton armature. Celestia then opened the cover of a device on the suit’s left forearm, tapped a sequence on it and the armature opened up with a click before it fell to the ground. My alicorn then unplugged a wire from the same device, which in turn emitted three bips.

“How are Hermann and Ozersky?” she worriedly asked.

“They will have a nasty headache when they wake up,” I replied with a shrug, “which should be in fifteen minutes or so. I know what I am doing.”

The ballistic vest was then taken off of the suit. Instantly, I spotted a few differences. The belt had been modified and now housed a battery along with new artifact containers, and the back had several mounting points sprouting out of the cloth.

I held up the vest and examined it. “Did you… did you use the armored plate as a chassis?” I asked.

Celestia nodded. “Sort of. I modified so I could fit the exoskeleton frame over it and a harness for it, ensuring a tight fit on your torso. The legs use the belt and a hip harness as mounting point and there are several hydraulic actuators linking it to the chassis on your back, making a sort of flexible, powered spine,” she explained. “I know how you like to be mobile and did not want to compromise your movements with a more rigid structure… I just hope that it will be tough enough.”

I whistled in admiratively and put down the armored vest then grabbed the jumpsuit forming the bottom layer of the suit. It looked no different than before except it had some slight padding in some places, probably to be more comfortable with the exoskeleton on.

I nodded in appreciation and quickly put on the jumpsuit: first the legs, then the arms. I zipped it up and took the vest back. After I slipped it on, I put on my boots and turned towards Celestia.

My alicorn was grinning, holding up the exoskeleton itself in her telekinesis. I gave her a smile, shrugged and turned once again, presenting her my back. I felt something being pushed against it, followed by a few clicks and a sudden feeling of heaviness.

I heard Celestia mumble to herself as she secured the belt around my waist, followed by several straps that kept the thing in place. once that was done, my alicorn came around and face me. She gave me a serene smile and focused on gearing me up once again. She started with the legs, using her hooves and mouth instead of her magic much to my surprise. She fastened a strap around each of my boots and a metallic lock welded on the plates above my ankles and the upper part of my calves, securing the bottom part of the legs. Another lock secured my thighs, along with a strap she fastened by pulling it with her mouth, before she stopped briefly at my midsection, only to look up to me and flash me a devious smile.

Nope. Neither the place or the moment.

I awkwardly cleared my throat and shook my head negatively, causing Celestia to pout and flare up her magic, simultaneously fastening all the remaining straps and securing my arms to the exoskeleton armature.

I suddenly felt my left arm being pulled by my alicorn’s telekinesis. When I regained control over the limb, it sported the same device it had seen before, wires plugged in and everything.

I sighed. “Look, this is not the place for this kind of activities, and neither is it the place for that matter,” I softly said, flexing my wrist and checking it for any injuries.

“I know, know, I just need to vent some pressure one way or another. Sex... is just a medium,” sighed my alicorn, looking at the floor. “Ugh. I think I’ll go flying after that.”

I crouched in front of her and put my hand under her muzzle. “We could always make a detour through Kopachy on our way back to Yanov station,” I offered.

“Kopachy?”

“A bunch or ruined houses near Yanov station. Lots of radiation and zombies at every corner. A deathtrap for a Rookie, but a fun shooting gallery for us,” I explained with a grin. “Besides, we could always have our way later.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Celestia replied with a small smile, getting back to her work.

After we triple checked we had not forgotten anything, we decided it was time to try out the power armor. Following my alicorn’s advice, I put the battery in its place on my belt and locked it in place, eliciting a long beeping sound from the suit. I then flicked open the device on my left forearm, only to discover a touch screen with only one button next to it, displaying lines of text that scrolled faster than I could read. After a short while, the screen turned black, only to lit up again, this time showing a sliding button of sorts and a background image picturing a bitten apple.

I recognized that display.

“Wait… did you take Jack’s old PDA?” I asked, incredulous.

“I might have,” innocently replied Celestia. “It’s not like you were going to do anything with it,” she added, rolling her eyes. “You can still use its old functions too, you know. Completely integrated with the suit!”

I let out an impressed whistle. “Very ingenious,” I admitted. “And you did all that in.. what? An hour and a half, maybe two?”

My alicorn pursed her lips. “I had Novikov’s help; he is a very skilled technician. I still have so much to learn!” she beamed. “To think even I thought of myself as the all-knowing princess of Equestria,” she added, somehow punctuating her words with air quotes. “Anyways! Time to start it up!”

I nodded. “Right. What do I have to do?”

“Just unlock the device and launch the application named ‘Control Panel’ then flick the switch from zero to one.”

I did what I was told to, using the ungloved tip of my fingers to browse through the device’s library of applications. Finally, I found the one I needed and started it up, only to flick the quite literal switch the screen displayed then.

Immediately, there was a reaction from my suit. It emitted a loud beep and I heard the electric whine of servomotors coming to life. I moved my arms around and decided to take a step or two. After a few tests, I was pleased with the mobility. Despite being slightly bulkier, this modified suit did not restrain my movements any more than before but this time, I did not even feel weighed down by it.

“Do you like it?” meekly asked Celestia.

“I love it!” I exclaimed, scooping her up and pulling her into a spinning hug. “Thank you so much!”

When I looked at my alicorn, her face was red and her eyes were bulging. “C-c-can’t breathe… exosk-k-” she said in a hacked voice.

I let go of her in surprise, causing her to fall to the ground. When I realized what I had done, I deactivated my power armor and knelt down next to her, worried to death.

“Are you alright?” I anxiously asked.

Celestia cleared her throat. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“I am sorry,” I apologized. “I am not used to power armor.”

“It’s all good,” reassured my alicorn, pulling me into another hug.

I carefully wrapped her in my arms and let out a relieved sigh. “You are the best thing to ever happen to me, you know that?”

She pulled back and smirked. “Show me then.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Err, I don’t know… here would not be the best idea-”

My alicorn rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant, you stupid bald head!” she exasperatedly exclaimed, pulling me into a deep, loving kiss.

I returned the kiss, letting my alicorn dominate for a moment before I gently pushed forwards, as if asking for the permission to take over.

Unfortunately, our makeout session was interrupted as I heard someone clearing his throat. Celestia and I turned towards the source of the disturbance, only to find Novikov standing in the doorway, awkwardly scratching his head.

“Stalker… they are waking up,” he announced.

“Oww… I feel like I’ve been run over by a Pseudogiant,” muttered Hermann, scratching his goatee. “My head hurts… where are my glasses?” he asked, slowly sitting up.

“Screw your glasses, where are mine?” whined Ozersky, holding his balding head.

Novikov shook his head and produced his friends’ glasses from his pockets. “There you go guys,” he said, handing each of them their respective eyewear. “I’m going back to my workshop now, just try to sort out your disputes peacefully.”

The two scientists took the glasses and adjusted them over their noses, before they looked around, before they noticed my beloved, their angry gaze finally stopping on Strider.

There was a pregnant pause where the two scientists looked ready to lunge at my beloved, who kept a neutral expression save for nervously scratching his stubble. Novikov’s gaze kept alternating between each of us, visibly uncertain as to what to make of the situation.

Finally, Ozersky spoke up, pointing an accusatory finger at Strider.

“You… get out of this bunker,” he growled heinously.

My lover recoiled at the statement, visibly struck by the tone of the otherwise polite man. “What?! You- you… why?”

“You know very well why,” retorted the bald scientist. “You barge unannounced into our lab, you threaten my friend, you knock out the both of us and now you have the audacity to ask WHY?”

Hermann grunted and raised a hand...

*slap*

Only to backhand Ozersky square in the face.

The scientist scoffed. “What my colleague is trying to explain is that we went out of our schedule for you, we bore with your rudeness, helped you out and you were more than ungrateful in return. I am afraid you are treading on thin ice, stalker.”

Strider opened his mouth and stared at both of the scientists, a look of disbelief on his face. “Thin ice?!” he half-yelled half-asked, outraged. “You were rambling madly about my l and myself, loved one, talking about -and I quote- taking more samples of that unique specimen, and then you asked Ozersky for a fucking angle grinder!”

Once again, silence reigned. The scientists looked at eachother, then at Novikov and Strider.

Hermann facepalmed.

Ozersky let out a heavy sigh and closed his eyes.

After another moment of silence, the first scientist tore his face from his palms.

“That grinder was not for you, but for the destroyed artifacts you provided us,” he sighed. “It’s standard procedure for these kind of things: they are so hard we need industrial tools to take any samples for study.”

We let the information sink in, letting another moment of silence pass by, getting more awkward by the second.

Strider let out breath and rested his head on the metal wall behind him, burying his face in his palms.

“I screwed up, did I not?” he asked.

“That’s putting it mildly,” scowled Ozersky.

After another long, awkward pause, I decided to break the silence.

“So, what got you guys so spooked?” I asked, trying to unwind the mood.

Hermann shook his head and took a breath.

“You two... are not normal,” began the scientist. “First: you, my quadrupedal acquaintance, you somehow managed your way around the laws of physics with your telekinesis. While antigravity artifact ‘just’ create a force in a certain direction that can cancel out gravity if used right, you just suppress it completely around the object you levitate and your horn apparently acts as a dampener, absorbing the effects of gravity. It’s… mind boggling, but surprisingly in accord with the ‘anchor and application’ description you gave us.”

“But wait, there’s more!” interrupted Ozersky. “That levitation process needs energy, and guess what’s her main power source besides ambient radiation?” the bald scientist asked.

“Well, the global thaumic field of course!” I interrupted. “Everypony knows that. For some reason here it’s much weaker though.”

Hermann scratched his goatee. “Call it what you want, here on Earth we call it the Noosphere. Its existence has been proven scientifically a while ago though it was a secret well guarded and uncovered only very recently thanks to a stalker. I think he’s the one working as a consultant to the newly formed SIRCAA, Scientific Institute for Research on the Chernobyl Anomalous Area if you will.”

“That is a mouthful,” commented my lover.

I raised an eyebrow, curious at this new development. “The Noosphere? How did you discover it, if you don’t have magic?”

“As you may know, the Noosphere is a field surrounding the planet, much like its magnetic field; only that it is caused by, linked by and affected by and affecting conscious minds and thought. The more people on the planet, the stronger the field is,” explained the bearded scientist.

I just stood there, staring slack-jawed at the scientists as I let the implications of their explications sink in.

Conscious thought… these humans discovered not only what the global thaumic field is but also how it is made, despite not being able to perform magic. That would even explain why it is much stronger in Equestria than on Earth… the only sapient species are humans and a handful of mammals, according to Vano… whoa.

“Celestia! Are you alright?” I heard Strider ask worriedly.

“Yes, I’m quite alright, love” I replied, snapping back to attention. “Just… whoa. You scientists managed to solve in a few hours an enigma that has been eluding the best magii of Equestria for centuries.”

“The Noosphere is still a grey zone to science as of now,” noted Hermann, eyebrow raised, “even though discovery dates from a few decades actually, nothing very new about it. The most surprising thing is that you manage to tap in it without any disturbance.”

“Disturbance?” I asked.

“Last time anyone tried to twiddle intentionally with the Noosphere, it didn’t go so well,” deadpanned Ozersky. “It caused blowouts, killed everyone in the Zone and transformed it into the anomaly-ridden, mutant infested hellhole that it is today.”

“Anyways,” Hermann cut in, “we’re still not finished analyzing with the measurements we’ve taken and besides, your… friend is an interesting case as well.”

Strider pointed a finger to himself. “Me?”

“Indeed,” nodded the scientist. “At first it seemed that you have a healing factor but nooo, no no no no no hohohoho... you are the healing factor. I observed that exposition of your cells to foreign living tissues caused exponentially increased cell meiose to foreign damaged tissues. In short, you can heal as if you were under the influence of an artifact and you can heal others just like you were an artifact.”

I looked at Strider. He was looking at the scientist, a neutral look on his face.

“You’re taking this surprisingly well,” observed Hermann. “I expected you to-”

“To freak out?” asked my lover. “No. I do not ‘freak out’. Please continue.”

Ozersky scoffed. “If you say so… anyways! We had discovered that your body acted literally like a healing artifact, so we put some of your cells in culture, you know, the skin sample Hermann took from your ear,” recounted the bald scientist. “Now let me get back to the lab,” he mumbled, walking in the room next door.

After a minute or two, the scientist came back, holding in his right hand a small, circular box made of a transparent material, probably glass. He lowered it so Strider and I could observe it and, to our surprise, it contained… an ear. But not any ear, it was an exact copy of Strider’s left ear.

I recoiled in disgust. “Ewww, what the fuck?”

Ozersky scoffed. “I couldn’t say it better, little one. What was a sample of skin minutes before evolved into a fully-sized, genetically perfect adult ear. I ran some tests myself: the cellular structure of the thing is absolutely flawless: no signs of cancer, not a single random mutation and not even the slightest sign that they aged. They just stopped multiplying simply because they ran out of nutrients,” he explained. “I tried feeding them more and they started growing again: regularly, methodically, flawlessly. This ear formed in fifteen minutes and is still alive, meaning it survived for nearly an hour on its own!”

Hermann raised his hands in the air, as if grasping a big invisible ball of front of him. “Understand this: by studying your cells, we just might discover a way to farm organs in vitro and maybe even the secret to immortality!”

Strider blinked several times, before he opened his mouth to talk. “You must be joking,” he finally said after a pause.

“No,” firmly replied Ozersky. “We do not ‘joke’,” he added, mocking my Strider’s previous line.

Hermann nodded. “I’m afraid that you are as near as immortal as it is physically possible, stalker. Short of being literally ripped to shreds - and even then I think you could recover - you should always heal, and your cellular regeneration is completely flawless. Your cells do not age, do not mutate and do not multiply anarchically,” he summarized. “Your metabolism is also off the charts, which means you will need to eat a lot more than before and… you cannot get drunk anymore.”

I felt my heart jump in my chest.

Immortal?

This new development both filled me with joy and worry.

That means that I will never be separated of my Strider! But… sapient beings able to endure the burden of timelessness without growing mad are exceedingly rare; and besides… our relationship may not last forever.

Ugh. I hate that idea.

There was a moment of silence, only interrupted as Strider sighed.

“Well, shit.”

“What you said, stalker,” agreed Ozersky. “I’m gonna need something strong now,” he added, standing up. “Too much weird shit for today.”

“For me too,” said Strider.

Ozersky stood up once more and exited the room, only to return a short while later with three bottles containing a clear liquid and four glasses.

“What are these?” I asked, picking up one of the bottles in my telekinesis. “I saw similar beverages before here, but was never told why so many people seem to enjoy it.”

Ozersky chuckled. “This, my quadrupedal friend, is vodka. Go ahead, try it!” he said, offering me a glass almost full of the clear liquid. “It gets rid of radiation and clears your mind.”

Strider raised a finger. “I am not sure this is a good idea,” he hesitantly countered.

Hermann shrugged. “While its mind-clearing abilities are yet to be proven, the presence of alcohol in the bloodstream does stimulate kidney activity, quickening the elimination of fluids and radiation poisoning.”

“I still disapprove,” deadpanned Strider, defeated. “But who am I to prevent her? She’s more than old enough to make her own decisions,” he added, producing a bottle of his own from his backpack. “Let’s try that accelerated metabolism then,” he shrugged, before downing half the bottle in mere seconds.

I gave him a wary glance before I took the glass Ozersky was handing me. I lifted it to eye level in my magic, careful as to not spill any of the liquid. It was almost as clear as water, just like the bottle marked ‘водка’ I had in one of my bags. I hesitantly sniffed the liquid. Its smell was neutral and fresh, maybe too much… the scent was almost aggressive.

I shook my head and downed the glass I was holding.

Big mistake.

I felt like my mouth was overwhelmed by an intense coldness so strong it felt like it was burning. I felt tears come to my eyes as I desperately fought to keep the liquid in my mouth until I gathered enough courage to swallow.

Bigger mistake.

My throat felt like it was burning as the liquid made its way to my stomach, leaving my oesophagus in no better state and causing my eyes to well up with tears and forcing me to close them. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes, slack jawed, panting for a good minute or two.

I raised my head, swallowing hard. “I-I don’t feel so good…”

I felt the world move around me from side to side and everything looked like it was in slow motion. My peripheral vision faded away and I began to lose my focus as my sight was progressively blurred. The last thing I saw was Strider letting go of the bottle he was holding and turning towards me.

Something wrapped around my neck. Panicked, I tried to break free, to no avail.

Everything slowly turned to black.

Before I blacked out, I felt my vision return progressively, as if I was slowly waking up. My head suddenly ached, my mouth felt dry and my tongue heavy. I shook my head, trying to regain my senses.

“Whoa. I really am a healing artifact,” came Strider’s voice.

My lover had wrapped his arms around me and was keeping my head against his chest, a hand on my neck. He looked down towards me, a relieved smile on his face.

He let out a sigh. “I told you that was not a good idea,” he whispered, pulling me into a hug.

“I’m sorry,” I meekly replied.

“It is okay. All is okay,” he shushed, hugging me closer.

“Awwww, aren’t you two adorable?” came Ozersky’s voice.

Hermann rolled his eyes. “With all due respect colleague, shut the fuck up.”

Booze. There was so much booze. It dripped from the ceiling, forming giant, sparkling waterfalls of- wait, shouldn't that be vodkafalls or something?

Anyway. Basically, I was dreaming about alcohol. Oh, and there was Snag too, only wearing a kind of white toga while eating grapes, occasionally flashing me a devious smile.

Things were gonna get interesting when I was woken up by Rookie.

“Come on! Wake up big guy,” I heard the young stalker’s voice call.

I opened my eyes and let out a breath. “Ah, buzz off! I’m up, I’m up,” I groaned, sitting up and rubbing my groggy face.

I stood up from the bed I was laying in and stirred before I exited the dorms of the repurposed train station, acknowledging the various stalkers saluting me with a wave and walked out the double doors of Yanov station, holding my automatic shotgun, PKM and my RPG by their straps in one hand, scratching my beard with the other.

Snag, Alexander and Rookie were already there, talking to each other as they waited for me. Degtyarev had his railgun slung on his back and his shotgun was resting on his lap. Snag’s SG-550 was resting on his shoulder and Rookie was holding his bolt action sniper rifle tucked under his armpit, smoking a cigarette with his free hand.

“I think that went well,” remarked the young stalker.

“Indeed the terrain seems favorable,” replied Alexander. “Seems like most stalkers want a bit of change around these parts.”

“True. Most people can’t even stop talking about ‘Bane of Giants’ too,” added Snag, making quotes in the air at each word.

“Watch’u talkin’ about?” I asked.

Snag turned around, a smile on his face. “Well, well well, looks like the cuddly bear is done hibernating!” he snarked, putting a hand under my chin.

I let out a chuckle. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” I said, planting a quick kiss on his lips. “But seriously, what were you guys talking about?”

“Strider’s intention to form a faction.”

“Oh. Yeah. Right. So how did it go?” I asked.

“Well, since you were too busy sleeping, I took charge of everything,” scowled Alexander. “Which went better than expected though. General unrest and good rumors about our friends are just the right soil you need.”

Rookie nodded. “Yes. Something new is bound to happen, might as well be us provoking it, right?”

“Us?” I asked, eyebrow raised.

“Yeah we’re all aboard this adventure!” cheered the young stalker. “I mean, this is big! This is awesome!”

I waved my hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah. I get it.”

Snag put a hand on my armored chest. “You worry me sometimes. It’s like you aren’t interested in any of this.”

I grunted, securing my PKM and RPG on my back. “It’s not that, I just… I feel like I didn’t have a say in all this.”

My boyfriend chuckled. “If you didn’t sleep through most of Alexander’s speech, you could have had a say in all this,” he scolded, an almost condescending expression on his face. “Besides, your ideas for a home base and start-up strategies were sound. It was your idea to come here and spread the word about your friend’s project!”

I raised a finger and opened my mouth, ready to let out a sarcastic reply, when I realized that he was right. “I just hate speeches,” I lamely muttered. “Look, can we just go back to the bunker?”

Alexander shrugged. “Alright then. Let’s move,” he ordered, putting on his helmet.

We began to journey back to the Ecologists’ bunker, the silence only interrupted by the sound of the wind blowing through the vegetation of the fields of Jupiter. The snow from two days ago was long melted, causing the ground to be muddy and slippery in some places. Our progress knew little hindrance from this however, and we managed to keep a fairly fast pace as we walked in formation.

Degtyarev was in front of the column, his railgun clanking on his power armor as he moved. He was followed by myself and Rookie, watching our sides, weapons at the ready; while Snag was securing our six.

We were making good progress when suddenly we heard gunfire in the distance. In itself, that was nothing out of the ordinary: there’s always a stalker fighting of mutants or gunfight between hostile factions going on in the Zone. We redoubled attention and resumed walking more cautiously when something new could be heard among the sounds of gun reports.

*BOOM*

That sounds halfway between a gunshot, halfway between and explosion…

*BOOM*

...more like a large-caliber rifle.

I cleared my throat, gaining the attention of the others. “That must be Strider,” I commented.

Alex shrugged. “Let’s go investigate then,” he offered.

The sounds of firefight seemed to come from Kopachy, an abandoned village half-buried under tons of earth to prevent it from irradiating all the area. Go figure why, but that place in particular was almost as irradiated as the interior of reactor four in the CNPP. It’s also teeming with zombified stalkers and there’s practically nothing of interest there. These factors alone cause most stalkers to avoid the area.

We climbed a small hill hiding the village from us and were greeted by the sight of dozens of zombified stalkers limping towards a house overlooking the main street of the small village.

On the roof of said house, Celly and Strider were there, unloading on the horde of zombies. Celly was laying down, unloading her newly acquired FN Minimi in long bursts of automatic fire while Strider was standing, spraying his anti-materiel rifle at the zombies as if his weapon weighed nothing.

Well, he was shooting as fast as the rifle would go, but each one of his bullet seemed to hit a different target. So it was less ‘spray and pray’ and more ‘improbable aiming skills’.

I turned towards the others. “Shall we?” I asked with a grin.

Degtyarev nodded, Rookie smiled from ear to ear and Snag simply pumped his SPAS-12.

“We’re going in then,” I said.

I unslung my RPG from my back and dropped to a knee. The zombie horde being about two hundred meters away, I took careful aim, compensating for the distance. I cocked the lever behind the front pistol grip with my thumb.

“WATCH THE BACKBLAST!” I yelled. “FIRE IN THE HOLE!”

With that, I squeezed the trigger.

The handheld antitank grenade launcher gently nudged my shoulder, releasing its high-explosive payload at over a hundred meters per second.

Less than two seconds later, the rocket propelled grenade hit the large group of zombies square in the middle, taking out a good half of them.

Not bothering to reload, I slung my empty rocket launcher on my back along with my automatic shotgun and took my machine gun instead. Followed by the others, we charged into the village, flanking the zombified stalkers. While Alexander and I rushed forwards, Rookie and Snag stayed behind, making good use of their accurate assault rifles.

I entered the village, checking my corners with my PKM and ignoring my Geiger counter as it clicked to life. The device panicked when I took cover in a heavily irradiated house, followed by Degtyarev. I grunted, took a couple of antirads and put my helmet back on.

I peaked through a window, getting a good look of my surroundings.

The big group of zombies had been almost halved by my rocket and their fate was made even worse by Snag and Rookie picking off random stragglers and the constant onslaught by Strider and his girlfriend on their roof.

Or would it be ‘marefriend’? Eh. Whatever.

I shrugged and switched to my USAS-12, preparing for a CQB firefight.

With the help of my power armor, I took some speed and plowed head first through the ruined wall of the house I was hiding in, just for the hell of it. I instantly spun around and opened fire on the zombified stalkers, emptying all its twenty rounds into the fray.

Of course, some of the zombified stalkers reacted to this and sluggishly turned towards me, retaliating with poorly aimed short bursts from their weapons. I paid them no mind and reloaded, before I resumed shooting as the few bullets that hit me harmlessly bounced off my power armor.

I was left with only a few zombies remaining. Instead of reloading my shotgun once again, I drew my Beretta, letting my shotgun hang by its strap. I casually dispatched half of them with carefully aimed shots while the others took care of the ones I didn’t bother with.

All of a sudden, everything was silent. I looked around, taking a good feeling of my surroundings. All the zombies were dead or convulsing on the ground and bleeding out.

I took off my helmet and threw my arms in the air.

“WOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!”

I looked out of my scope and in the street below, where Vano was cheering and exchanging high-fives with the others. I tilted my head and looked at my alicorn besides me, who just shrugged and opened her wings.

She flashed me a smile and planted a kiss on my gas mask. “Let’s go,” she simply said, before taking off towards our group of friends.

I put my weapon on safe and switched to my AN-94 as I walked to the edge of the roof, only to jump to the ground, two stories down.

I impacted the dirt with a thud and dusted myself off, walking towards the others.

Vano turned towards me, a smile on his face.

I took off my helmet. “You walked in my line of fire,” I scowled, eliciting a downtrodden expression from my friend. “But that was cool,” I added, holding up my fist. “Nice shooting.”

My bearded friend beamed. “Yeah, demolishing a wall by running through it is cool,” he laughed, bumping my fist with his in return. “But why were you using your anti-materiel rifle at such a close range?”

“Because it is cool,” I snarked. “In all seriousness, I wanted to see if cheap machine gun ammo was viable under three hundred meters.”

“And?”

“It is, as you can see,” I deadpanned, looking over a zombie missing the upper part of his cranium.

Snag stood up from one of the zombie corpses and approached us. “Shiiiit, you got an exoskeleton all of your own!” he noticed, looking at my power armor. “I thought you didn’t like them?”

“Usually yes, though this has three very compelling features.” I replied before I raised three fingers. “First, Celestia made it. Second, it has a very clever quick-release system, also designed by Celestia. Thanks to it, I am not at the mercy of a systemic malfunction. And third, with it I can swing my BFG around as if it weighed nothing,” I added, holding up the anti-materiel rifle in one hand for emphasis.

Snag observed my armor and let out an admirative whistle. “She made it? Damn, girl. You good.”

My alicorn rubbed her forelegs awardly. “I adapted it. Also I had Novikov’s help,” she admitted. “He helped me with a few electronic problems and did the programming.”

Snag shrugged. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, that’s impressive. I couldn’t even tell he was wearing power armor from a distance,” he countered.

I pointed at the hooded stalker. “And that is what pleases me the most: have tactical advantage of having a smaller silhouette with enhanced mobility.”

Degtyarev walked up to us, encumbered with loot he most likely had gathered from the dead zombies. “Enhanced mobility? Is that one of these models with servomotor boosters?” he asked.

“It is,” answered Celestia. “Novikov was surprised at first, but yes. Boosting the servos will make them noisy but also faster and stronger.”

I nodded. “Yes, and thanks to my new PDA I can control if I want to boost them or not,” I said, tapping on my left forearm. “I really like that function.”

“That’s badass,” commented Vano. “Now you too will be able to burst through walls!” laughed my tall friend.

I let out a chuckle. “This place is ideal for urban warfare training drills. It is fairly small, meaning it can be easily made into a controlled environment; and it provides lots of cover and dead angles,” I analyzed. “So try not to bring every house down, please.”

Vano awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, I’ll pay more attention next time. I promise not to demolish a whole village by mistake,” he replied, eliciting a laugh from everyone.

“I see you’re always thinking about your idea to make a faction then,” noted Degtyarev.

I nodded. “I am. It is a dream I had for as long as I can remember!” I dreamily said. “How did it go in Yanov?”

“Vano slept during the whole thing, but besides that everything went smooth as fucking silk,” replied Snag. “You wouldn’t believe the amount of stalkers with nothing better to do than twiddle their thumbs and play cards.”

“Good.”

“Yeah, but what happens to us?” asked Vano.

I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

My bearded friend sighed. “Well… you start your own thing and what am I supposed to do?”

“You think I hadn’t thought of it? You’ll be the head of your own group, of course,” I reassured him.

“And what? You thought I’d be okay with- wait, what?”

“You heard me. Your own division of the faction, and you’re the one to decide what to do with it,” I explained.

Vano looked at me, babbling incoherently for a minute.

“You’d really do that?” he asked uncertainly.

I smiled. “Of course.”

My bearded friend wrapped his arms around my midsection and I was lifted in the air. “Thank you thankyouthankyou!” he joyously exclaimed, hugging me.

“You are most welcome,” I replied with a chuckle. “Now, can you put me back down?”

“Oh. yeah.”

I was dropped and I landed on my feet with a thud.

Degtyarev brought a hand to his chin. “That’s all good, but who would be the real head of the faction?” he asked. “Don’t get me wrong, you are a great tactical leader, Strider… but being ‘the guy in charge’? I doubt you’d be able to do it alone.”

“You are right,” I conceded. “That is why I plan to make Celestia the co-leader of our would-be faction.”

Celestia’s eyes widened and she took a step back. “M-me?” she incredulously asked.

“Of course, who else? You are the one with actual experience of running things by yourself, being the diarch of a whole country,” I recalled. “Zone be damned, you were even in charge of it by yourself for a thousand years!”

My alicorn blinked a few times. “W-well, yes, but I-I don’t… I didn’t-” she stuttered.

I scratched the back of my head. “Oh. I thought you would be excited about it.”

Celestia shook her head. “No! that’s not it! I mean, I like your idea actually, but you should have told me. That’s not a decision one makes lightly!”

“I know… I am sorry I did not tell you but... you were the best choice,” I replied. “Besides, there is nobody I trust more than you,” I added, caressing her muzzle with my hand.

There was a moment of silence, broken by Vano.

“Awww, you two are adorable!” he exclaimed, holding his hands together.

*slap*

Snag’s palm met my friend’s occiput. Again.

I laughed. “I know we are,” I said, giving my alicorn a kiss. “Now, maybe we should-”

*BRATATATATATATATA*

I was interrupted by a very close gunshot.

We all turned around, only to see Rookie, holding his AKS-74u, smoke pouring from the handguards, aimed at a zombie who was missing half of his head.

“He-he wasn’t dead!” cried the young stalker. “I swear! I turned around and he was standing up!”

Degtyarev put a hand on the stalker’s shoulder. “They often do that. You did good kid,” the Colonel approved.

I coughed, catching everyone’s attention. “And that brings us back to what I wanted to say: maybe we should move. The area is not safe.”

“I can only second that,” approved Celestia.

Of a common accord, we decided it was time to go back to Yanov station. It was time face the music and start something new.

After half an hour of walking, the overpopulated train station of Yanov was in view in the distance, partially hidden by the many bushes and the few trees around it.

Degtyarev and Vano had been opening the march, discussing animatedly with each other while Snag and Rookie were in the middle, checking our blind angles and Strider and I were in the back, keeping the rear.

We couldn’t back down now, we were closer than ever to start a new page of our lives. Maybe it would work. Maybe it wouldn’t. Either way, we would be changed by this new experience.

Hell, I was changed already. Killing these zombies in Kopachy hadn’t even upset me, no. I found it useful. It was a good way of practicing my skills with firearms, which I had grown to love shooting. I had had fun killing. I had just found killing fun.

I stopped walking, suppressed a shiver and ruffled my wings in discomfort.

I felt a hand on my neck. I looked at Strider, who had stopped too and taken off his helmet. His face showed nothing but concern and worry and I knew he knew something was up.

“Something bothering you, love?” he asked.

“I… yeah,” I sighed. “I was overthinking.”

My beloved put a hand under my muzzle. “Overthinking what?”

“Back in the village… I had fun,” I confessed. “I found killing those zombified stalkers… fun.”

“...oh.”

“I’m a monster,” I muttered distressedly.

I didn’t know what I had expected, I wanted my lover to reassure me, to tell me I wasn’t, to tell me that everything would be okay and that he would help me, protect me, prevent me from turning into what I feared the most.

That didn’t happen.

Instead, he knelt down, took me in his arms and hugged me tightly.

“We all are,” he whispered. “We all are.”

I let out a breath, leaning into the hug and burying my face in his chest.

“This world is not black and white, but made entirely of various shades of grey,” he said sternly. “There is a large yet very thin line separating good and evil, where both overlap in a confusing mess. In the Zone, that limit is even more blurred,” he added, staring into my eyes, “but you have to be careful to never cross it, ever.”

“I don't know if I can do it,” I muttered.

“You are so much stronger than you think. You managed to stay alive and sane so far, after experiencing what could have driven any average stalker crazy. Do I need to remind you that you even endured a thousand years of loneliness!” exclaimed Strider, holding me by the shoulders. “But, you are not alone. I will follow you, help you so you stay on the right side of the threshold,” he promised.

I buried my face in his chest. “Thank you,” I whispered. “I needed that. Oh, goddesses, why am I dependent of you?”

I felt my lover's hand rest on the back of my neck. “Shh... it's okay. I promise I will not let you turn. In the Zone, we may all be monsters but it is how we keep that monster in check that defines us,” he soothed, his forehead against mine.

We stayed in each other's embrace for a while, before we separated and gave each other a kiss.

I gave Strider a nod and we resumed walking, catching up with our friends, heading towards something new.

Interlude: Back to the Present

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Interlude
Back to the Present

It was now around four in the morning and the 100 Rads Bar was now empty save for us four sitting around our table, and a few drunkards passed out on their benches. Even Barkeep had left for his quarters in the backroom a few hours ago, when the stalkers I was sitting with were attacking the second half of their story.

Everyone knows Barkeep doesn't have to worry about anyone breaking or stealing in his bar, since he is the main source of employment for us stalkers. If anything of his went missing, he would just have to offer a job to search and kill the responsible, and many stalkers would be happy to fulfill the task for a good reward.

The threat of such a possibility alone proved enough to dissuade any malicious intents.

“And that is how I met her,” Strider concluded, giving Celestia a kiss on the lips.

I looked with an almost avid fascination as the two lovers shared the kiss, curious as to how their anatomies matched to allow such an act.

I shook my head and looked away from the pair. “Now that is a story you don’t hear everyday,” I stated with a whistle, leaning back in my seat and gazing at the ceiling.

Vano let out a laugh and leaned in his seat. “A new faction appearing, under the command of an alien equine nonetheless… you could say that,” he commented.

“We did run into our share of issues at first though,” recalled Strider.

“Like?” I asked.

“Organization issues, budget, hardware shortages,” Celestia summed up, “but in the end, we prevailed.”

“You did a great job sorting everything out,” complimented Strider, giving his girlfriend a kiss on the forehead.

Marefriend, maybe? hehe.

Vano nodded. “That she did,” he added. “And Degtyarev was kind enough to not only get us in touch with his and Nimble’s contacts on the grey market, but also lend us enough money to start up. I swear, the guy is always richer than Rothschild, I never understood how he did it,” wondered the tall stalker.

“From what I heard from you all, he is quite productive,” I observed.

“Like you wouldn't believe,” replied Vano.

“But how did you get it to work?” I asked, before taking a gulp from my bottle. “I mean, having money is great to start up but that’s obviously not enough.”

Strider shrugged. “We started small, but organized. At first, we created two branches: an exploration team, the Rangers, led by Vano,” he began, eliciting a nod from his bearded friend. “They venture into anomalous or unknown areas and bring back artifacts or mutants. I, on the other hand, am at the head of the Spartans, a fighting force whose sole purpose is to fight and kill. Brute force, infiltration, long range engagements, whatever. I have specialized units for almost any task possible. We even take outside contracts from time to time when the faction needs an increase of income, that earned us the title of 'the other Mercs',” explained the buzz-headed man. “Most of the Rangers come from Freedom, a handful of them were stalkers and I think there are a few ex-Ecologists too now. Most of my Spartans were ex-Duty, seasoned fighters. My old squadmates joined too.”

“Eventually, our numbers started to grow,” Celestia chimed in. “Some of our recruits, mostly ex-ecologists, even created a third division of our faction. Most of them analyze field reports and samples brought by the Rangers andwhile others take care of our equipment. Our faction never would have been able to develop that well without them,” she recounted. “We also had to find lieutenants. To nobody’s surprise, Vano chose Snag and my cuddle buddy took Rookie under his wing, which kind of shocked his old partners.”

Strider leaned on his seat. “Thankfully they stopped there, unlike some ex-Dutiers and ex-Freedomers,” he sighed. “I swear, these guys had left their faction but still couldn't stand each other! Our divisions have been quite secluded in the past.”

Celestia shook her head. “I even had to intervene personally to stop them from jumping at each other’s throat. I swear, they were no better than the spoiled nobles of Canterlot, bickering about unimportant rubbish and only thinking about themselves,” she spat. “Only this time, they were going to kill each others for real if I hadn't intervened.”

“And how did you ‘intervene’?” I curiously asked the alicorn.

“Magic, Royal Canterlot Voice and implied threats,” she simply answered. “I was tired of these nonsensical quarrels, and I gave up being subtle. Suffice to say one outburst was enough.”

Vano cringed. “You should have heard her! It was as loud as a grenade going off, and it was indoors!” he remembered with a shiver. “Everyone in the faction respected her and, if they didn’t, they learned to the hard way.”

Strider smirked. “Yes, my alicorn can be scary when she wants, a far cry from where she started,” he said, ruffling Celestia’s mane, much to her annoyance.

“Whatever,” muttered the jaded alicorn.

I let out a chuckle when a loud noise made me almost jump out of my seat in fright.

I turned to the source of the sound and huffed.

One of the drunk stalkers had, during his alcohol-induced stupor, slipped off the table he was slouched on and hit the ground with a thud. He just stayed there, slumped on the floor, unmoving and snoring as loud as a eighteen-wheeler.

Celestia looked at the unconscious man and sighed, before she nuzzled Strider, stood up from her seat and stirred her wings, revealing her full wingspan.

Whoa. Impressive.

“We better hit the sack,” said the alicorn in a commanding tone. “We leave at eight in the morning.”

Vano merely saluted and stood up, before he turned towards me, hand extended.

“It was nice knowing you, Runner, but I’m afraid we must part ways now,” he announced with a yawn. “We got a busy schedule, as you can guess.”

I scratched my head “Well, I mean… I don’t want to impose, but would you guys mind if I tagged along?” I hopefully asked.

Vano raised his eyebrows and looked at his friend Strider, who just shrugged and gave Celestia an interrogative gaze.

“Try to keep up,” simply said the alicorn, turning around and walking towards the exit of the underground bunker that was the 100 Rads Bar. “We have a long day tomorrow. We regroup with the rest of the faction in Cordon and our taxi to get us there won’t wait any longer than eight hundred and thirty hours.”

I stood up and jogged towards the exit, catching up to Vano who was closing the march behind his friend and the alicorn.

“Taxi?” I asked, eyebrow raised. “What does she mean by taxi?”

The bearded stalker in front of me chuckled. “You’ll see,” he replied over his shoulder, climbing the stairs to the surface. “You’ll see.”

I stayed silent and walked behind the small group of stalkers, wondering what they meant. The word ‘taxi’ meant a vehicle, and rare were the ones in working order in the Zone. I knew there were quite a lot in various degrees of abandon; ranging from jeeps to gunships, tanks, troop carriers… and the only factions to have successfully repaired a few of them were Freedom and Duty.

Meh. I’ll see.

Once on at the surface, I entered a derelict brick building right next to the exit of the 100 Rads Bar and put down my stuff in a corner, near a campfire where the others were already setting up for the night. Celestia and Strider had already taken off most of their equipment and kept only their tracksuits on, their armors laying on the ground next to the big sleeping bag they seemed to be sharing. Vano, in the meantime, had opted to keep his exoskeleton.

I looked at the big stalker. “You sure you want to keep that on for the night?” I asked incredulously.

“Padding, my friend, padding and climate control. My suit’s got it all!” he replied with a smirk.

I shrugged, took off my long leather coat and light bulletproof vest before I laid down a folded blanket on the ground and tucked my bulletproof vest under it, using its bulk as a pillow. I sat down on the makeshift mattress and took off my combat boots before I laid down and used my coat to cover myself.

I was used to sleep in such a manner. It may not be very comfortable, but at least I didn’t have to drag around a bulky sleeping bag. That left more room for supplies for my long trips within the unknown depths of the Zone.

And if these stalkers are to be believed, I am in for a big trip.

With that thought, I closed my eyes and fell into Morpheus’s arms.

“OI! Wake up!”

I woke up with a start, barely rested at all and still in the fog of tiredness induced by the long night of storytelling. I sat up and shook my head, before I looked towards the source of the voice that had woken me up.

Strider was standing there, sitting with his full height, one hand on his hip and the other clasping his big sniper rifle. He had already donned his armor and so had Celestia, who was turned away from me, busy packing her things.

I groaned and sat up, rubbing my head to try and shake off the last remnants of sleepiness.

“Come on, get prepped up,” I heard Vano’s gruff voice prompt me.

The bearded stalker was already fully equipped, which was to be expected since he had slept with his armor on that night. I let out a grunt and put on my boots.

“Give me five minutes,” I asked.

Celestia levitated her sleeping bag and secured it on Strider’s back. “Very well. We leave in five minutes.”

I nodded and took a loaf of bread from my backpack, taking a bite out of it before I began packing up. I put on my armored vest and my leather trenchcoat. I rolled my blanket, attached it to the top part of my rucksack and slid it on my back. Once that was done, I checked my P-99’s and my sniper rifle before I secured each of them in their place: my pistols in their holsters and my rifle slung behind me, between my back and my bag.

Satisfied with my getup, I took my carbine, checked its action and stood up, ready to go.

I gave the others a nod and we wordlessly left the small brick building. We headed towards a disused warehouse leading to the South exit of the Duty-controlled town wannabe. The guy on the catwalk greeted us with his usual grumpiness, we ignored him and got out of the building, as he advised.

I looked at the sky. It was grey, as usual, and the Sun barely pierced the thick layer of clouds of this cold October morning. A gentle breeze had picked up, ruffling the brownish grass bordering the road ahead of us. In the distance, I could see the last Duty checkpoint before the wilderness of the Zone leading to the Garbage.

“Where are they?” asked Celestia to noone. “They should already be here.”

I was about to ask her what she was talking about when I heard a noise coming from up the road. It sounded like a big diesel engine.

The guards up ahead at the Duty checkpoint seemed to have heard it too as they tensed up and readied their rifles, aiming towards the crest of the hill the noise was coming from.

The rumbling noise continued, increasing in intensity, seemingly getting closer and closer by the minute. Finally, a shape emerged from behind the hill.

It was a BTR. An old BTR-70, desperately outdated compared to nowadays military tech but in seemingly pristine condition, running with all eight wheels, turret, cannon and all.

Waiiiiit… hahahahaha what?

The armored troop carrier descended the hill at full speed, watched over by the guns of the Duty guards at the checkpoint we had reached by then. The vehicle began to decelerate before it cautiously halted, stopping about fifty meters from the checkpoint. The turret of the BTR then turned away from us and looked up the road it had come from.

“It’s alright, he’s with us,” Celestia informed the guards, walking up to them.

The red and black wearing stalkers gave the alicorn a wary glance before they slowly lowered their weapons, not taking their eyes off the armored vehicle in front of them.

Instantly, the door on the side of the troop carrier opened, letting out three men wearing the red and black colors of the Duty faction. They said something I didn’t understand and approached the checkpoint, greetings their colleagues as they passed by them. When they reached us, they saluted and the one who looked to be their leader walked up to Strider.

“Stalker, I cannot tell you how grateful I am towards you and your faction!” he began, shaking the buzzed stalker’s hand. “We got ambushed by Bandits and thought we were done for when your men came out of nowhere and blasted them all with their vehicle! Me and my men are forever in your debt, sir.”

Strider return the handshake. “Acknowledged,” he simply replied in a neutral tone. “Have a good day, officer.”

The Duty squad leader gave him a surprised glance and let go of his hand, before he turned around after saluting once more and went back to his men.

“So that’s why they are late,” commented Celestia, looking at the BTR with an eyebrow raised. “I’ll have a talk with them,” she added, walking towards the vehicle.

Strider, Vano and I followed her.

As I reached the APC, I put examined its paintjob and passed a hand on its hull. The angled surface was cold, it felt solid and smooth as glass. This BTR had just been put in service, judging from its state.

I turned towards the others. Celestia was nowhere to be seen, probably already in the vehicle, Vano was struggling to make his fit through the small opening on the side of the APC and Strider was looking around, his AN-94 at the ready.

I glanced back to the BTR. “Are you kidding me?” I asked incredulously. “A fucking BTR-70? That’s our taxi?” I added, looking back at Strider.

The stalker raised an eyebrow. “BTR-70K to be exact, the mobile command version. But yes.”

“You guys actually managed to restore an old military vehicle,” I stated, stunned. “And in full working condition with ammo, too, judging by the black residue on the cannon.”

Vano’s head peaked outside the APC. “HAH! One? You are in for a shock when we get to our rally point!” he exclaimed with a laugh. “This is not the only one we have, far from it.”

I stared at the bearded stalker in shock. “You… you mean you have several of these?”

“A few conventional vehicles, BTR-70’s, BMP-2’s, T-80’s, a T-64, MI-24’s and a few MI-26S’s converted for load and troop transport,” Strider stated matter-of-factly. “Most of which are used by my division of the faction. The entire central building of the Jupiter Factory has been repurposed as a vehicle hangar, full with workshop and maintenance bay,” he added. “We are bringing this BTR on operation Homecoming, along with most our vehicles, my car and all our airborne units.”

Vano laughed. “We would have taken more but then we ran out of choppers to transport everything.”

I let out a whistle. “Whoa. You sure that bringing that much troops and equipment is necessary?" I asked.

"Yes," replied Strider.

"From what we know, there are predators in Equestria that could give the Zone's mutants a run for their money, giant fucking bears and we haven't resolved the Merc problem we had back in the day," explained Vano.

Celestia appeared at the top of the APC. "When we managed to trace back Jackal and reach Pripyat, he and his men were already gone, all of them. A whole operation, a hundred men mobilized for nothing," she grunted.

Strider nodded. "I wish we wouldn't have to worry about them anymore."

"Worrying? You guys are the most heavily equipped faction in the Zone and you're telling me that a group of Mercs worries you?" I asked incredulous.

"That's when you stop worrying that you get thrown to the ground," bitterly replied Celestia, before gliding to the ground. "I learned it the hard way a long time ago."

"Still, you guys should take it easy, I mean you do have a lot to lose but that lot packs a punch!" I could only say, impressed. “You have to tell me how you ended up having that kind of hardware.”

“We stumbled upon an old Soviet vehicle yard,” explained Strider, climbing aboard the APC. “We also have a lot of very skilled technicians and good connections with the Ukrainian military. Give them enough money or a few artifacts and they will be more than happy to give up a few spare parts.”

I followed the others inside the armored vehicle. The inside was cramped, but there was enough room for all of us and three three more seats were unoccupied.

Celestia raised a hoof and tapped the steel wall separating our compartiment from the front of the vehicle.

A moment later, the engine rumbled to life and we began to move.

“Where are we going anyway?” I asked.

“To the Cordon,” replied Celestia. “We have two hundred and fifty troops on standby for operation Homecoming along with a platoon of the USS special forces lead by Colonel Degtyarev and two Ecologist labs and their crew. They even brought along a few helicopters, courtesy of the Ukrainian government so we can airlift everything to destination.”

“Wait, why would we bring that much stuff with us?” I asked. “What could interest the government so much they chose to support a Zone-based faction and help-”

“Because we’re going to Equestria,” interrupted Vano.

There was a moment where nobody spoke, the silence only filled by the rumbling if the diesel engine behind us.

“WHAT?!”

“You heard me. We’re venturing into an alien world.”

I opened my mouth and stared at the bearded stalker. “You guys found a way back?”

“Yes.”

“You gotta tell me the story behind that!”

Strider looked at Celestia, who silently nodded.

“Whatever, we have the time after all. That was two months ago,” began the buzzed stalker. “Our faction had already taken a certain scale when we were contacted by Hermann and his colleagues...”

Chapter 13: Fuck You, Murphy

View Online

Chapter 13
Fuck You, Murphy

That was two months ago, a good few months after we had started the faction. I have to say, we were doing pretty well: our faction was growing, we had just found a goldmine of ordnance in what looked like an old Soviet vehicle yard and to top it all, the Mercs that had been attacking our HQ from time to time had finally given up.

That did not mean the situation was resolved. As far as I know, they still are plotting to bring us down as of today.

But I digress.

Paperwork had been piling up on my desk and I was working on it in my office, on the top floor of the recently renovated administrative section of the former Jupiter factory. Vano was out in the fields, taking measurements with his team for our small research unit, Celestia was supervising the arriving shipments of spare parts for our vehicles and Snag and Rookie were occupied with the recruits of the week.

Never I could have expected how things would have turned. In my head, starting a faction had meant a new adventure, an occasion to start anew and do thing I could not before. Instead, I ended up leading hundreds of men and having all the responsibilities coming with such a burden.

Complaining was futile and unneeded though: thanks to Celestia’s ingenuity and command prowess, our troops were well trained, respectful and disciplined, we had top-of-the-line hardware, several armed vehicles and our future was bright.

My thoughts were interrupted by one of the long range radios sitting on my desk coming to life. I used these radios to occasionally ask for status reports of units deployed in the field or assign tasks to them. Of course, we had a HQ specifically for such a task, but I preferred being able to be in direct contact with my soldiers.

But on that day, someone was trying to contact me, instead of the opposite.

“Does this thing work?” a voice asked, before there was a moment of static. “One two, one two, do you hear me?”

I heard this voice before… but where?

With a frown, I put down the pen I was holding and took the radio.

“This is Colonel Strider, of the Dawn faction,” I began. “Identify yourself and explain how you found this channel,” I ordered.

“This is professor Hermann,” came the reply. “Your friend Vano gave me this frequency.”

I blinked and stared at the radio in my hand.

“Roger that, Hermann. Why are you calling?”

“Could you come over to the bunker as soon as you can?” Hermann asked. “And bring your quadruped friend too.”

“What is it about?” I asked with a frown. “I cannot afford to waste time I am afraid, and neither can Celestia.”

“I think I know how to find a way for her to go back to her world.”

The room stayed silent for a moment, neither of me or Hermann speaking and I stared at the radio, not really sure what to make of the scientist’s sayings.

“Are you sure of what you are advancing?” I asked, doubtful. “Even our scientific division has yet to come up with a solution.”

“Your scientific division?” asked the scientist, a hint of disdain in his voice. “Look, I respect your guys, but they just lack synthesis logic.”

“You are saying you know something they do not,” I stated. “What are you hiding?” I asked in the radio.

“Nothing. I just have a theory and I want to test it.”

Leaning back in my chair, I let out a breath. “Alright then. I will swing by your lab as soon as possible. Strider out.”

With a frown, I put the radio down on my desk and leaned forwards on my desk, scratching my stubble. After a short reflexion, I deemed that Celestia had to be made aware of this as soon as possible, and I had done enough paperwork anyway.

Stirring in my chair, I turned around, facing my gear. As always, all of my equipment was neatly stored, my exoskeleton sat on a stand and my collection of guns displayed on the wall.

I walked to the stand and grabbed my bulletproof vest. In one fluid motion, I put on the protective piece of gear and secured it tightly on my torso, before I took the exoskeleton frame and put it on too, securing it to its various mounting points with its belts and buckles. After I hit the start-up sequence of the power armor and closed the lid of the wrist-mounted PDA, I let the systems boot, which only took about thirty seconds. Once that was done, I looked at my weapons.

During the past year, I had amassed quite the collection of firearms. Of course, I never used some of them and they were purely decorative, yet I always had at least one magazine loaded for most of them hidden in my office… better safe than sorry.

I had kept my old 1911 pistol, my only piece of equipment from my Monolith days. As always, it was in flawless working condition, despite the scratches on its frame, slide and suppressor.

That gun represented something to me, it was the last reminder of where I had come from, and I felt strange just by staring at it. Even my knife had been lost to a mutant few weeks prior. Of course, it had been replaced shortly with a multi-purpose bowie knife, smitten with the logo of our faction, but it was yet another piece of my past I had lost. It may not have been a bright past, but it was a part of what made me after all.

Funnily enough, I had found out I could mount my new combat blade as a bayonet on most of my assault rifles.

Dismissing the thoughts, I looked over the rest of my gun collection. My old 1911 was surrounded by several similar others of various makes, materials, colors or calibers, most of which I had looted from dead bodies during my numerous patrols in the Zone. A few pieces did stand out however, like one that was chambered in 10mm auto or another in 357 magnum. Of course, these were highly impractical so I had kept my heavily modified Beretta 92, the one that resembled a M93R. Its accuracy was good enough, its magazines could ramp up to thirty-two rounds and its burst-fire capability was a priceless feature.

Oh, and also I had a few Glocks, too, in various calibers, but I preferred my old 1911 for its sentimental value and my Beretta because it was practical and looked wicked at the same time.

Dismissing most of the handguns, I seized my old Monolith-marked pistol and holstered it on my right thigh, followed by the previously mentioned Bowie knife on my left shoulder. I then took my Beretta, racked its slide several times, needlessly checking for any hint of a malfunction. Assured that the pistol would not let me down in battle, I holstered it, both neatly tucked under my left armpit. Under the other armpit, I stashed the magazines for the pistols.

Before taking my semi-automatic anti-material rifle, I loaded it and looked it over for any malfunction. I did have large caliber rifle, a French PGM Hecate II, but I found out that I did not like bolt-action rifles. Too slow.

At least Rookie had been happy to get try out a new toy.

I had not stopped to collecting pistols and sniper rifles however, as I had also several assault rifles: my old AN-94, which was accurate but for which spare parts were extremely rare, a few AK variants, all looted from dead bodies; a G36C, and finally, my pride and joy: a recently manufactured FN FAL, rifle Celestia had spent a considerable amount of time modifying and tuning, just for me.

I remembered how I had liked the AKS-74u I put my hands on, which I had since given it to Rookie. I had liked its compact size and powerful cartridge, but its accuracy was... less than stellar, which is why the AN-94 was better.

This rifle was different.

With a smile, I grasped the rifle with both hands and brought it to eye level. Its matte dark grey finish may have seen better days, but mechanically that thing was a beast: a special handguard, a custom, shortened, free-floating barrel and a variable zoom scope, courtesy of Degtyarev, which allowed for easy engagements at any ranges from five to five hundred meters. Its pistol grip had been customized by Celestia, specifically engineered for my hand and its folding buttstock was custom too. It had rails everywhere, meaning I could mount pretty much anything I wanted on it.

Vano, in a fit of humor had once even fitted it with several sights, a fifty rounds drum magazine, a laser pointer, three vertical grips mounted sideways; an angled grip, on of these vertical grips with a bipod in it, another bipod, two mag holders, a suppressor and no less than five flashlights, all just for laughs and because it was ‘tacticool’.

Of course, I got rid of all that crap, though I did keep the magazine, the suppressor and the bipod.

Chuckling at the thought of Vano’s antics, I left my office while I checked my FAL walking through the corridors of what had been the administrative section of the Jupiter factory.

The buildings of the Jupiter factory were a far cry from what they were only a few months ago. Ever since my friends, Celestia and I had created our faction, we had committed ourselves to renovate our new quarters. The barracks building -which used to house the delivery department of the factory- did have it’s ground floor infested with anomalies, and the level had been blocked off and deemed off-limits. Everybody knew why of course, as we had decided that transparency was the best option.

As the faction grew up, we had to create some kind of administration, and the building had been renovated. By then, we had even repaired the giant hole a military MI-24 had made in the roof of the factory itself when crashing and the big hangar-like building had been converted into a huge workshop and hangar, providing us with the means to fix up and store various vehicles.

Of course, the buildings were old and far from new, the paint still peeled from the walls inside and some windows were barred with planks, but at least they were livable and had doors and windows.

I descended the stairs to the newly ‘renovated’ building, occasionally passing by groups of my stalkers discussing or a few busy NCOs surveying some paperwork, not even looking where they were going.

Once I attained the second floor I exited the staircase, took the walkway over the street, which joined the administrative building and the building next to workshop; and descended the first stairs I encountered, leading me out the back of the building and into the main workshop.

The air was permeated with the heavy scents of oil, diesel and hot metal, and the sounds of voices, laughs, engines revving and power tools reverberated against the walls and the tall ceiling, along with the constant grumbling of our generator which provided electricity for the whole base. Many workers were walking around and a full team of mechanics was working on a tank, the first of our captured T-80’s. The chassis of the tank was sitting on elevated rails, its treads had been taken off and the engine, a medium-sized turbine, had been pulled out of the frame. The turret of the tank itself was suspended in mid-air by a big ceiling crane and had been stripped out of all its components.

Next to the disassembled tank, two others were sitting, in various states of disrepair, all of which were waiting to be repaired and modernized with the latest electronics our contacts with Nimble’s associates had managed to find.

Leaving the workshop behind, I climbed on a catwalk passing over the big vehicle-sized door leading to the hangar where we stored spare equipment, consumables and the vehicles in operational condition.

Right next to an array of crates, several vehicles were parked, all in mint condition. Celestia was standing top of one of our BMP’s, clad in full combat gear. The only things she did not have were her guns and her headgear, which she had made herself from a military helmet, some electronics and an adapted rubber gas mask. She was holding a notepad and a pen in her telekinesis and giving orders to the stalkers organizing the stock.

As she spotted me, she smiled, opened her wings and took off, only to land gracefully right in front of me on the catwalk.

I straightened up and saluted. “General,” I greeted her.

Celestia rolled her eyes and grunted. “Drop the act, technically I’m not on duty right now.”

I stared at her and relaxed. “Oh.”

“Paperwork bored you?”asked my princess with a grin.

“I couldn’t stay away from you any longer,” I confessed with a smirk, wrapping my arms around her swanlike neck and pulling her closer to me.

My alicorn raised an eyebrow. “Already? Aww, ain’t that cute,” she chuckled, giving me a kiss. “But you’re lying.”

“Alright, alright. I was contacted by Hermann, from the scientist team we had visited a few months ago, remember?” I asked, giving Celestia an apologetic smile.

“Yes, I remember,” she nodded. “Why did he call you?”

I took a breath and knelt in front of my princess. “He found… he thinks he knows a way for you to go home,” I announced in a soft voice, bringing a hand to her muzzle.

“…”

The pen and notepad Celestia had been holding in her telekinesis both clattered on the floor with a clear noise.

Next thing I knew, the alicorn was already on the ground floor, galloping towards the exit of the hangar. Cursing under my breath, I stood up and gave chase, determined to catch up with her.

I put a hand on the catwalk railing and jumped off, landing with thud a floor below. Not wasting any time, I took off running after Celestia. I did not know her destination but I had a pretty good idea.

As soon as I exited the building, I headed for the armory. There was a good chance Celestia was there, seeing as she did not have her guns when I met her and that she was off-duty at the time.

The armory of our faction had been located in the ground floor of old administration department of the Jupiter factory, almost right under my office actually. There, several technicians worked full-time to repair, maintain and modify most of the small arms used in our faction. I said most, because some of my stalkers had kept their personal weapons and still prefer referring to the services of independent technicians, like Cardan or Nitro.

I hurried and ran towards the building, my natural endurance and speed enhanced by my power armor, occasionally passing by a patrol freshly returned to base, closely dodging some that were not looking where they went.

When I reached the armory, I was hit by a white and camo colored blur who immediately took off to the skies.

Ah, shit. What now? I cannot keep up with her on foot… but if I take a vehicle, I just might.

With a grunt, I turned around and ran back towards the vehicle depot.

Once in the large hangar, I lost no time and rushed towards the few bikes we had -multi-fuel Kawasaki KLR650’s, bought or probably stolen from the USMC- and mounted the first I came across, which was sitting next to a very different vehicle covered in tarpaulin, a pet project Celestia and I shared. I put on my modified tactical helmet, linked it to my exosuit and turned the ignition knob of the motorcycle.

The engine came to life with a cough, before it began rumbling docilely. It’s peaceful growl was short lived however as I gunned the gas and released the clutch, causing the rear wheel to spin and the bike to surge forwards, through the exit of the building.

Honking like a madman, I tore through the main street of the base in this cold October morning, slaloming between the few groups of stalkers that hung out outside and cursing the daytime units that preferred to hang out in the street rather than stay in their barracks.

When I finally made my way to the main gate of the base, I had to slow down. Without a word, I nodded to the leader of the men guarding the checkpoint who checked my insignia on my left arm. I was given clearance to leave and was about to hit the gas again when I recognized a voice among the crowd.

“Yeah, I tell you, I can’t wait to see the new recruits get their asses chewed by Snag! I mean, he’s a damn good drill instructor, scary and all, even if that’s technically way below his rank.”

On my nine o’clock, I saw a patrol of Rangers approaching the checkpoint I had just crossed, who were led by no other than Vano, who was talking with his squad, his helmet tucked under the arm.

“OI! Vano!” I called, waving an arm “Over here!”

Not waiting for a response from my friend, I got off my motorcycle and ran towards the group.

Vano tilted his head to the side. “Strider?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. “Aren’t you supposed to be with-”

“That’s just the problem,” I interrupted. “No time to explain. Celestia left the base abruptly and I have to catch her before anything happens to her!”

“Come on now, she’s more than capable of fending by herself, you know it!” countered by tall friend.

“I am more worried about how she reacted!” I yelled, walking backwards to my still running bike.

“Hold on.. reacted to what?!”

“You are in charge of everything here until I get back, understood major?” I ordered, jumping on the bike and revving the engine, taking off towards the scientists’ bunker near Yanov station.

I could still see Celestia’s speck in the sky and was not about to let it disappear.

I stared in disbelief as Strider disappeared on the horizon in a cloud of dust, the engine of the motorbike he rode revving to the redline. In less than a minute, I went from off-duty to being in charge of the whole faction while he and Celly were gone, doing the Zone knew what.

With a grunt, I gestured my squad to follow. We passed the checkpoint and entered the base, where we stopped after a few meters.

I took off my exosuit helmet. “Alright people, dismissed,” I announced, turning towards the men I had been responsible for during the night.

The group of Rangers saluted and broke apart, some going on their own while others grouped together, heading towards the big building where we had amenaged the living quarters for most troops. Of course, I didn’t live there. Along with Strider and Celly, we had refurbished what had been the directional department of the jupiter factory. I had taken the first floor, which I sometimes shared with Snag, and Celly and Strider had opted for the second floor.

But I wasn’t heading there. Instead, I had to refer to our scientific division, which were in charge of our medical antenna but also regularly tasked my Rangers to retrieve samples from anomalous areas. Of course, sometimes we did more exciting stuff, such as hunting for artifacts or exploring unknown areas and the like. Sometimes, we even had to team up with some of Strider’s Spartans when we had to exterminate mutant lairs.

I have to say, they are good at tracking and killing.

Anyway, I was heading towards the scientific department of the base, located in a separate building across the vehicle workshop. I made my way through the fairly crowded main street of the base, entered the medical building through the double doors and headed down the first corridor that I came across, passing another set of double doors. Finally, I turned right and entered an airlock which closed behind me, waited for the pressure to stabilize and walked through the door that opened itself subsequently.

I ended up in a lab, where about a dozen men clad in lab coats were working on various experiments, some of them mixing stuff in test tubes, observing sciencey stuff with a microscope, others taking notes all the while observing machines which purpose was unknown to me. The lab had that caustic smell all hospitals have and it was almost completely silent, not a word was uttered. The only sounds I could hear came from the machines functioning and the pens of the scientists scratching against their notepads.

Without a word, I produced several test tubes from an armored pouch on my vest. Each of them was labelled with the date, number of expedition and what it contained, in this case, samples of vegetation that had been living exposed to chemical anomalies: grass blades, leaves, moss; we had been tasked by the scientists to take whatever we could find and bring it back to them.

To this purpose, I left the labelled test tubes in a box bearing the inscription ‘FIELD SAMPLES’, before I turned around and headed for the airlock once again.

I let the door open in front of me then close itself behind. Once again, I had to wait until the pressure was even. Then the door opened and I was free from this lair of eggheadery.

Ugh. They are even creepier than Strider’s Anvil Spartans on the job.

Suppressing a shiver, I walked along the same corridor I had taken on my way in, passed the same set of double doors before I could finally reach the main hall of the building and finally, the outside.

I greeted the cloudy sky of this cold October morning with a smile, thankful to be out of this place where nobody talked to each other and barely acknowledged their visitors. No matter how many times I go there, I have that feeling of dread and I want to get out of there as fast as possible.

Shaking my head, I chased the thoughts away and began walking towards my living quarters, which were in a two-story building somewhat separated from the base.

Suddenly, I stopped, remembering what had transpired not even ten minutes earlier: Strider had left the base, blazing off on a bike as he was giving chase to Celestia.

My face met my palms as I massaged my eyes, trying to come up with a plan of action. With my two superiors gone, I was in charge of the entire faction for the time being on my own… which was a first, thinking about it.

I made a quick list in my head: the patrol schedules had been made, the deliveries had arrived the day prior, all units on duty were assigned at their posts -in theory, though I knew there were always a few of my Rangers slacking off- and everything seemed to be in order. With a mental shrug, I decided to go visit Snag before he started to drill the recruits of the week.

The training fields were just outside the big building of the barracks, and actually outside what had been the Jupiter factory. They were still within the base though, as we had erected a big fence with barbed wire and watchtowers all along the perimeter. If I wanted to find Snag before he began his shift, this was the place I had to check.

Alas, the morning drills had begun. Snag was there, walking back and forth in front of a dozen of terrified recruits all ordered in two rows of six, most of them seemingly younger than him.

“I don’t give a fuck where you came from, who you are and how good of a fighter you think you are,” I could hear my boyfriend’s voice shout authoritatively. "If you ladies survive my training, you will be a weapon. You will be a minister of death praying for war. But until that day you are pukes. You are the lowest form of life on Earth. You are not even human fucking beings! You are nothing but unorganized, grabastic pieces of amphibian shit! Because I am hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me the more you will learn," he growled.

With a sigh, I turned around. There was no point to bother Snag when he was on duty, and quite frankly it could even be dangerous to do so. Even if I technically outranked him. His training grounds were his lair, his sanctuary where he was the indisputable master.

Wondering what I would do next, I walked away from the training fields, only to be struck by an idea: if Snag had begun working with the rookies, so would have Rookie! In all honesty, I just wanted to talk to someone, if only to get my head straight after a long night in patrol.

The new idea in my head, I exited the base through the main gate and walked along the outside of the perimeter wall towards the shooting range, which resonated with sounds of gun reports. I knew Rookie was supposed to train some of my Rangers in marksmanship that morning.

Maybe I could get a lesson or two while I was at it. One thing was sure, as soon as I was done with my mandatory duties, I’d jump into a bed and take a long, well deserved nap.

Turning around the corner of the perimeter wall, I ended up in the gun range, which had once been some kind of water retention basin. The bridge crossing the basin in it’s middle had been repurposed as shooting area, with the targets below in the basin itself, facing South.

I raised an eyebrow as I took notice of what was going on: Rookie was laying prone, letting out a shot every so often with his big anti-material rifle he inherited from Strider, while several others were observing the range where he was aiming at through spotting scopes.

I approached the group. “Hey guys, what are you doing?” I asked, eyebrow raised, making my presence known.

Immediately, my Rangers snapped to attention and saluted me, some waving, others giving me a nod. With a nod of acknowledgement, I signaled them to return to what they were doing and turned towards Rookie, who had not looked out from his scope.

“Always informal, eh?” he asked with a bit mirth in his voice.

“You know me, ‘lieutenant’,” I replied with a chuckle, sitting down next to him. “What are you guys doing?”

“Let’s just say that your Rangers are terrible shots, ‘commander’,” he deadpanned, letting out a breath. “They can’t use a gun properly and use way too much ammo. Your guys have almost the same budget as Strider’s Spartans who are the ones with nearly all the vehicles.”

*BOOM*

With a thunderous crack, Rookie’s rifle let out a shot.

Damn. We should invest in hearing protection.

“These guys here are the top of the class though, most of them know how to use a gun. Some of your Rangers can’t even control their trigger,” added Rookie. “And don’t get me started on breathing control. The vertical stringing sometimes… tsk tsk tsk. So, I’m teaching them to shoot, maybe they’ll be worth a damn.”

“Then why are YOU shooting?” I asked, perplexed.

“They are learning,” simply answered Rookie, not even looking away from his scope. “Any sniper or marksman must be able to pick up the vapor trail of a shot and make corrections for an eventual follow-up,” he added, racking the action on his rifle. “How was I?”

“A bit low, and to the left,” replied a Ranger to Rookie’s left, eye glued to his spotting scope. “Give me two clicks of elevation and plus three of windage.”

“Roger. Plus two elevation, plus three windage,” repeated Rookie, fumbling with the knobs on his scope, before he let out another breath.

I took my binoculars and observed the range below.

*BOOM*

Another bullet was let loose. A second later, we heard the characteristic sound of a hit on the metal plate that was the target. Of course, I didn’t see the vapor trail in question.

“Good estimation,” commented Rookie, once again racking the bolt of his rifle. “What brings you here, Vano?” he asked.

I waved my hand dismissively. “Oh, you know. Stuff.”

“You’re bored.”

I put down my binoculars. “Kind of,” I sighed, massaging my nasal bridge. “I just want to get my head straight. I’ve been out in the field the whole night and now I’m in charge of the whole base!”

“Huh? What do you mean?” asked Rookie, aiming towards the left of the range, before he scrambled the knobs on his scope. “Viktor, your turn.”

*BOOM*

“Well get this: just as I was getting back to base, Strider comes blazing on a dirtbike, telling me that Celly left without warning and he just runs after her!” I exasperatedly shouted, throwing my hands in the air. “And I still don’t know why!”

“High, dead center,” commented the Ranger Rookie had solicited.

“Damn. That sucks,” breathed Rookie, racking the bolt of his rifle once again. “Have you tried contacting him?” he asked, looking at me for the first time. “Damn, you look like shit.”

“I feel like shit,” I retorted without a pause. “And no, I haven’t tried,” I sighed, realizing I should have done so a while ago.

Rookie sat up. “Tell you what, I’ll take command, you go sleep,” he offered. “Just remember to change the name and info of the responsible on the schedule board… now that I think about it, making an announcement would be a good idea,” he thought aloud, unloading his rifle.

“You’d do that?” I asked? “You’re the best, Rook!”

“Think nothing of it, dude, just go get some rest, you need it,” Rookie debunked, before he turned towards the others. “Alright, men, load your rifles and get to work! Show me what you learned!”

The single cylinder bike engine roared and sputtered, pushed to it’s limit as I zoomed on a derelict road, plowing through the greenish fields of Yanov. I had lost sight of Celestia by then, but I was sure of where she was going: the bunker/lab of Hermann and his scientific team.

I was not worried about her being alone in the Zone, no, I was worried about her reaction when I had said there may be a way back to her world. It was not like her to act on an impulse, without thoroughly thinking through the causes and the consequences of her actions. After all, it was her rational thinking, leadership abilities and knack for organization that had made of the Dawn faction what it was at that day.

My princess, she was usually so calm, collected and then she acted completely out of character. She had not even thought twice before taking off towards the scientists’.

Without me.

Would she really leave me alone for her home?

Forcefully repressing the thought, I kept riding. The greenish fields had been replaced by a forest, with tall trees and lots of brushes, which meant I was not far away from the scientists’ bunker.

Disregarding the scenery, I kept gunning the engine, going as fast as the Zone’s derelict roads would allow me.

I felt a tear make it’s way down my cheek, between my skin and my gasmask.

I had to make it. I had to. I pumped my wings as hard as I can, dodging and weaving between the few airborne anomalies, only one thought in my head.

Home.

If what that scientist had told strider was right, it meant that I had a way back to my world. A way back to my Luna, my Twilight… to my... lack of friends.

A way away from my friends, and from my love, my Strider.

I stopped dead in my tracks, took off my helmet and hovered in place, the cold autumn wind blowing against my face. With many conflicting thoughts in my head, I glided back towards the ground.

What am I supposed to do?

For the first time ever since I had founded the Dawn faction with Strider and my friends, I felt lost. This role of leader had set me into a comfortable routine I knew, something I needed after my destabilizing first weeks in the Zone. And now, everything was shattered again.

As I touched down on the ground, I realized that, for the first time in a long while, I really didn’t know what to do. It was a new thing to me. While I had felt lost before, I always had someone to rely on. A political matter? I always had an army of advisors ready to help me steer Equestria in the right path. A personal grief or doubt? I had Luna… most of the time. More recently, I had my human friends, and most importantly, Strider.

That man was everything to me. During my first weeks in the Zone, he had provided me with food, shelter, warmth, protection, weapons, and training. I would be eternally grateful for all that, but he had dismissed my thanks, saying I needed it… and to be fair, I did. But instead of letting me fend on my own, he had helped me. He had been a great friend and he had become so much more, so fast. He wasn’t interested in anything I could offer, he was just interested in… me. He was my love, my other half, and in a way, my life buoy... I couldn’t imagine being separated from him.

I couldn’t imagine myself going back to Equestria and leaving him behind.

Yet, I had to, I wanted to. But at the same time, I didn’t. Pondering about what I should do, I sat down and stayed in place, as if waiting for inspiration from the Zone itself.

I have been too hasty with my actions, I should have thought it out… I should have asked Strider.

And just like that, my feeling of distress was gone, only to be replaced by anger. I was angry at myself because I had slipped. I had let my emotions take over my rational thinking and had rushed head first into a dead end, making a selfish decision.

Finally realizing that I couldn’t make the choice whether to go back or not alone, I sighed and turned around, unfurling my wings with the intent to go back to base.

Strider must be worried sick.

Before I could take off, I heard the noise of an engine in the distance, growing closer by the second. It was the exact same noise as our dirtbikes some of our recon units and snipers use from time to time to get to places faster than on foot; and judging by the sound of it, whoever was riding it was in a hurry.

But what put me off not the noise itself, but that none of our bikes were scheduled to be in this area at this moment. Curious as to what was going on, I folded my wings and approached the road nearby, where the noise seemed to come from, readying my M249 just in case.

The engine sound was growing closer by the second, and after half a minute, a silhouette profiled itself on the horizon: it was a man on a bike, wearing a combat helmet and what looked like a high-end armor. His head was lowered, as if he was trying to offer as little resistance to the wind as possible. On his back was a big rifle, he was actually wearing what looked like a custom made exoskeleton and… his helmet was adorned with two big, white feathers.

My feathers.

Strider?

My magical grip on my machine gun broke apart and I ran in the direction where he was coming from, my weapon clattering on the ground behind me. Instantly, he seemed to take notice of me and slammed the brakes, screeching to a halt only a few meters from me.

We looked at each other for a moment, not muttering a word, the silence only disturbed by the engine idling and the wind blowing through the vegetation, rustling the brownish bushes that bordered the old ruined road we were on.

Slowly, Strider raised his hands and took off his helmet, revealing a face bearing such an expression of worry and despair that I felt a lump form in my throat, just by seeing him in such a state.

I rubbed my forelegs awkwardly. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have ran off like that,” I whispered, giving him an apologetic look. “I know I shouldn’t have reacted like that and, to be honest, I didn’t think,” I added, going back to stare at the ground. “I just realized that-”

A heavy thud interrupted me mid-sentence, and a pair of arms wrapped themselves around me. Looking back up, I noticed that the dirtbike was laying on the ground, still running, and Strider had pulled me into a tight hug, his face stained with tears.

“Do not leave me please do not leave me please do not,” he repeated, his voice cracking.

“I won’t, don’t worry,” I softly replied, returning the hug. “I’m sorry I ran off.”

At that, Strider burst into tears. “Thank-k y-you,” he stammered, hugging me tighter. “I do not want you to go. I love you.”

I let out a breath and pulled away from the hug, my lover’s grasp trying to refrain me from doing so, as if afraid that interrupting physical contact would cause me to disappear.

“I love you too,” I replied, looking at my lover in the eyes, before I gave him a loving kiss.

We stayed like that in each other’s embrace for what felt like an eternity, mutually calming our minds and soothing our hearts. As I pulled away, I gave my Strider a reassuring smile.

“So, what do we do now?” he asked, cleaning his face off the tears stains.

“We go back to base. I cannot choose whether to leave this world alone,” I replied. “It’s a decision I have to make with my friends, and most importantly, you,” I added, poking his chest with a hoof.

Strider let out a breath, and looked at me in the eyes. “Thank you,” he simply said, pulling me closer and kissing my head. “I just… I just cannot imagine life without you, not anymore.”

I let out a tranquil sigh. “Me neither,” I admitted, before I pulled away and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Shall we go then?” I asked.

“We shall,” replied my lover with a weak smile. “Wanna ride?” he offered, gesturing his head towards the bike laying on the ground a few meters from us.

I smiled slyly. “I’d love to,” I replied.

Strider returned my smile and walked back to the still running motorcycle laying sideways on the ground. Thanks to his exosuit, he lifted the one hundred and thirty kilograms two wheeled vehicle back up with no effort and climbed onto it, before he removed his rifle from his back and slung it in front of him, where his assault rifle was. Turning around, he flashed me a smile, gesturing me to join him.

I unfurled my wings and slowly lifted myself off the ground, hovering above the bike behind Strider and lowered myself onto the seat, sitting on it a bit awkwardly. Confident of my seating, I put my back hooves on the passenger foot pegs and wrapped my forelegs around Strider, resting my head on his shoulder. My anatomy did make the whole ordeal a bit awkward but I didn’t care.

We were together, and together, we can do anything.

“You what?” I asked with a disbelieving frown, tiredly scratching my beard. “Dude, I just want to sleep, don’t you get it? I’ve been on patrol all night long, only for the eggheads to give my squad a last minute assignment, I’ve been trying to find sleep for the past hour and it’s ten in the morning!” I shouted, the lack of sleep making me irritated. “You left precipitously after your girlfriend threw a temper tantrum and now you need me to… to what, anyway?”

Strider and Celly, who just came back from… wherever they had been, had come right to me in my quarters and pulled me out of my bed, only to ask me to help them make an ‘important decision’. Suffice to say I was pissed off. At least, my outburst had shut them up and apparently they had realized what state I was in.

Celly was staring at the ground, awkwardly rubbing her forelegs, her ears folded down on her head, while Strider was staring at me, mouth half open and an expression of shock on his face.

I closed my eyes and sighed, rubbing my nasal bridge. “Look, just keep it short. What do you want from me?” I asked as calmly as I could.

Celly looked up. “Well, how to put it?...” she pondered aloud.

“Hermann and his group have found a way for her to go back to Equestria,” interrupted Strider.

“Yes,” sighed his girlfriend, going back to stare at the ground. “But I don’t know if I should, I don’t know if I can anymore.”

As, I looked alternatively between my two friends, my tired mind understood what it was all about. Celly and Strider loved each other dearly, that was obvious. After all, they had been in a stable relationship for nearly a year by then. And now, they were thinking that something was about to end that.

Upon piecing everything together and understanding my friends’ concerns, I facepalmed.

When I pulled my face out of my hand, I sighed. “Don’t you remember what I told you the first time you confessed your fears about this exact same situation Celly?” I asked the alicorn.

Said alicorn only stared at me, a look of incomprehension on her face.

I shook my head, looking at the imaginary sky that was blocked by the ceiling of the room we were in.

“I said that we could mount an expedition to your homeworld,” I stated, looking at Celly in the eyes. “You get to go back to your world, we follow you and stay a little while, and even then, Strider could stay with you indefinitely. I can manage the faction on my own with Rookie and Snag’s help,” I offered with a smile.

Celly opened her mouth and stayed silent, staring at me wide eyed.

Strider put a hand under his chin. “An expedition, eh? That may be feasible,” he said, scratching his stubble. “Very clever.”

I sat back down onto my bed. “You know me, I’m the guy with ideas,” I stated with a shrug. “Don’t count on me to help organize all that stuff though, I’m horrible with tha-”

I was interrupted mid-sentence by a white and camo blur who tackled me and knocked me flat on my bed.

“Thank you thank you thank you thank you!” cried Celly, hugging my bare chest with a force I didn’t know she had. “You’re the best Vano!”

I chuckled. “I know you’re grateful, but I wasn’t expecting that,” I said with a smirk, “tackling me half naked onto my bed and all. Now, this armor you’re wearing looks mighty uncomfortable, need help taking it off my sweet four legged marshmallow?”

Instead of being aggravated, Celly burst out laughing, and so did Strider.

“You were almost credible,” commented Strider between laughs.

“Thanks, I’m working on my acting skills,” I replied from under Celly. “Seriously though, get offa me.”

Celly let out a chuckle and finally climbed off my bed.

“Good,” I said, standing up. “Now you two get out AND LET ME SLEEP!” I shouted, pushing the both of them towards the door and slamming it behind them.

With a sigh, I walked to my bed and tucked myself under the covers. Enjoying the silence and the warmth the covers provided, I shifted around, making myself comfortable.

Nothing could prevent me from enjoying several hours of well deserved sleep.

That was when I heard the noises, coming from upstairs… right above my room.

I raised my head from my pillow and blinked several times, pricking up my ear.

It began with the sound of a door slamming, followed by several thumps on the ceiling, as if some heavy objects had been dropped on the floor above. Then, I heard a bed creaking, followed by slamming noises against the walls, and occasional high pitched screams and guttural groans, both male and female.

Strider and Celly were at it… again.

I let out a long sigh.

My head hit my pillow and my hands covered my face.

After a few seconds, I slid my hands down my face, taking a deep breath.

“FUUUUUCK YOU, MURPHYYYY!!!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, raising my balled fists towards the ceiling.

Chapter 14: That Was Going to Be Boring

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Chapter 14
That was going to be Boring

I groaned and shifted in my bed, causing the sheets to ruffle, troubling the silence of my bedroom. Turning around, I noticed I was alone on this morning… once again. Snag was missing and his gear had disappeared from where it was before, next to mine against the nearest wall to the exit.

With a sigh, I sat up, scratching my beard, knowing he was at his duties already. To be frank, I found that he took his job of Warrant Officer way too seriously, we rarely shared any moments together anymore… he was always working, giving orders to his troops or doing paperwork.

I scratched my back and stood up. There was no need for self-pity, I would just have to talk to him whenever he got the time.

Chasing these gloomy thoughts out of my head, I grabbed my equipment and proceeded to gear up.

When I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the usual sight of my Celestia, her head rested against my chest, still asleep. I would always wake up before her, I had noticed, the only few exceptions being when I had been up most of the night prior. In these occasions, she’d been the one waking me up, usually by nuzzling my face.

Smiling at the thought, I brought a hand to my princess’s neck and began stroking her soft coat tenderly.

“Wakey wakey, my little snowball,” I softly whispered in her ear, playing with the appendage with my fingers.

Celestia let out a groan, fluttered her eyelids and stirred, causing the sheets covering the both of us to ruffle.

“Stop that,” she muttered, flicking her ears back and forth, trying to escape my fingers.

I let out a laugh. “Tsk tsk tsk. I know you love it.”

My alicorn said nothing and moved closer to me, bringing her muzzle right under my chin. With a smile, I raised a hand and plunged it into her flowing mane, only to slowly massage the back of her head.

We were interrupted a few minutes later when someone knocked at our door.

“Hey come out you two! It’s eight in the morning, the sun’s already up and we gotta be to Hermann’s in an hour!” came Vano’s voice.

I gave Celestia’s head one last stroke and let my arm fell limp with a sigh. “We are coming,” I replied aloud. “Just let us time to prepare.”

“You two are still in bed, aren’t you?” asked Vano from the other side of the door.

“...”

“Maybe?”

I heard a grunt of exasperation from my friend in the corridor. “Move your asses, I’m getting this show on the road.”

After that, I heard the sound of footsteps moving away from our door. Once the sound had faded out, I turned towards Celestia.

“It looks like the snuggles are over,” I stated, kissing my princess’s forehead.

Celestia stirred and groaned. “Yeah… today is a big day,” she recalled, nuzzling my neck.

Letting out a breath, I sat up. “Come on, let’s get cleaned up,” I offered, patting my alicorn’s side.

My helmet under my arm and my machine gun in hand, I headed for the hangar of our factory turned base. I knew that if we were to make the trip to the scientists’ bunker in less than an hour, we had to go faster than on foot.

Also, the ice that still persisted in some places would hinder our progress, and to be honest, I didn’t want to trek halfway across the Zone -which was as dangerous as usual- while buried ankle-deep into a cold, wet layer of half-melted ice mixed with mud.

So of course, we had to prepare a means of transportation. Fortunately, I had gathered some experience by leading an entire section of the Dawn faction by myself. You could say I had changed… I noticed that, lately: I now have some… sense of duty. So, I went ahead and prepared everything for our trip before waking up the two lovebirds, albeit reluctantly.

A few months before, I would have ditched everything for him. Maybe I should.

With a sigh and a half- hearted smile, I entered the vehicle workshop. The usual smells of oil, gasoline and heated metal met my nostrils and my ears where assaulted by the constant noise of tools banging, whirring, clicking and the revving of big diesel engines being tested.

I headed for a BTR, on which three men clad in blue jumpsuits were working.

“Viktor! Dmitrii! Anton! Is our taxi ready?” I shouted over the cacophony that reigned in the place.

The three men snapped at attention and saluted.

I raised an appeasing hand. “At ease, men. Is everything ready?”

Dmitri, our pilot, nodded. “Pochti, Mayor! Only need to load ammunition!”

I scratched my beard. “Good. Get back to work, we’re departing in ten minutes!” I announced, turning around and walking towards a small wooden crate laying on the ground.

“Ser, tak totchno!”

I sat down on the crate, laid my machine gun next to me and opened a pack of cigarettes, before I took one and lit it up with a lighter I produced from a pouch on my chest. From my position, I observed the men work on the BTR, barking orders at each other, drowned in the noise of the place.

To be honest I don’t like these vehicles. They are noisy, the inside is small and cramped and they are costly to maintain, especially ammunition-wise. 14.5 mm rounds are difficult to get by - even with the huge soviet stockpiles our resuppliers get them from - and each of these BTRs have five hundred of them as standard load, which costed us a pretty penny when we had to equip our IFVs for combat. And that’s not even counting the rest of the armament and the electronics.

And to think we still had to arm out tanks.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the arrival of Strider and Celly, who entered the room the very moment I flicked away the still smoking butt of my cigarette. Both were geared up and walked at a hastened pace.

I stood up and saluted. “Colonel. General.”

“At ease, Major,” ordered Celly. “Is everything ready?” she half-asked, half yelled over the noise of the workshop.

“A small team of my Rangers will be escorting us, they are waiting for us at the main gate and…” I held up a finger. “...one moment,” I uttered, before turning towards the BTR and crouching next to the small door on the left side. “Gospoda! Vse li gatova?” I asked, sticking my head inside the armored vehicle.

The pilot, who was sitting in his seat next to his navigator, glanced back towards me and the engine of the BTR started with a loud diesel growl. The gunner, seated sideways behind the both of them, shook a joystick on the console that was suspended from the ceiling in front of him, eliciting a hydraulic hiss from the gun turret above.

“Vse gotovo,” he replied with a smile.

I gave the BTR crew a nod and stood up from the vehicle. “Everything’s ready!” I announced to Strider and Celly, turning towards them. “We can get in, our escort is waiting for us.”

With that, leaned forwards and entered the armored vehicle.

Well, not as much entered as pried my way in, you get the image. These vehicles, as I said, are quite small inside, and so are their openings. While most people had little to no trouble passing through the small doors, I almost had to wriggle my way in, getting stuck on several occasions.

By the time I managed to get inside, Strider and Celly had used the door on the other side of the BTR and were already seated, looking at me with amused expressions.

I stared at the both of them. “No comment,” I sighed, sitting down with difficulty next to the gunner.

I’d like to amend my previous statement: I don’t just ‘dislike’ BTRs, I loathe them.

The armored vehicle grumbled forwards, leaving the hangar.

I yawned and looked my alicorn, who had preferred to lay down on the floor of the cabin. She had crossed her forelegs and rested her head on them, as if sleeping. I sighed and smiled tenderly at the sight, before I looked at Vano, who was seated in front of me on the other side of the cabin.

Well, he was almost folded in half, but he was in a seat, at least. His face bore a contrite expression, his arms were crossed on his lap and his chin almost rested on them, while the top of his head occasionally hit the ceiling when our ride hit a bump in the road.

“You look glum,” I observed, leaning forwards.

My tall friend stared at the floor, sighed and scratched his beard, before he looked at me. “First off, I’m not comfortable, you can see. Then… then there’s a more personal matter.”

I nodded, unsure of what was coming. “I see. Go on.”

Vano sighed. “Later,” was his only answer.

I gave my friend a concerned glance before I leaned back and gathered my guns vertically in front of me.

The BTR stopped abruptly, causing Celestia to shoot up in surprise. The doors on the sides opened and four men, bearing the insignia of Vano’s Rangers, entered the armored vehicle one after another from both openings. In less than a minute, all of them were in their seats, and the BTR rumbled forwards once again.

On my right, the gunner tapped on the radioman’s shoulder, who nodded and took a microphone from the dashboard in front of him.

“Dawn Control, Dawn Control, this is Tortoise One; over” he spoke with a thick accent in the device.

“Tortoise One, this is Control; come in,” came the reply.

“Control, Tortoise One; We have Whiskey Sierra, Lima Echo, Papa Bravo and four Romeos onboard, how copy?”

“Tortoise One, Control; I copy: White Swan, Long Eyes, Papa Bear and four Rangers onboard. Over.”

“Control, from Tortoise one; Correct. Requesting permission to leave the base, over.”

“Tortoise One, Control; permission granted. Don’t die out there, over.”

“Control, this is Tortoise one; Wilco. Out.”

After this exchange, the radio operator put the microphone back down and signaled the driver to get going. The BTR engine growled and we began to roll forwards once again, this time leaving the homebase of our faction.

The trip to our destination took somewhere between thirty and forty five minutes, I couldn’t remember exactly, seeing as I nodded off barely five minutes in. The metallic floor may not have been exactly comfortable, but the peaceful -albeit very loud- growl of the diesel engine and the bumps in the road proved enough to lull me into a slumber from which I only woke up when I felt a hand pat my side.

I raised my head and fluttered my eyelids, getting rid of the sleepiness I felt. The cabin was empty save for Strider, who was crouched right next to me, and Vano who was comically trying to fit through the exit of the BTR.

“We have arrived,” announced Strider, a slight smile on his face.

I stood up, keeping my head low as not to hit the ceiling of the cramped armored vehicle, and returned my boyfriend’s smile, before I gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Nobody could see us, I could allow myself to such an act. To be fair, him being my direct subordinate in the faction hierarchy could make our public relationship quite awkward at times.

Without a word, we parted and I followed him outside the vehicle.

The air in this morning was rather warm, considering the season, I could have gone without my scarf. I shrugged and readjusted the article of clothing around my neck. I liked it. Its beige color complimented nicely my coat and my uniform and besides, it was a gift from my love.

I made sure I still had all my gear before I gave the scientists’ bunker a glance. A few Mercs were patrolling around, on the ground level and their leader -who I grew to know by the name of Hatchet- was standing atop of the structure, scanning the surrounding area with his binoculars. before I made sure I headed towards the group of Rangers that had accompanied us to our destination, only to notice that Vano was missing.

I stopped in my tracks. “Wait a second.”

Strider readjusted his big sniper rifle on his back, looking around. “Where is the Major?” he asked to nobody else in particular.

“I’m here!” came Vano’s voice from behind the BTR we just came out of. “I’m here,” the giant repeated, this time appearing from behind the vehicle. “One thing’s sure, I’m not riding it back. We should really enlarge these doors one way or another,” he grumbled, eliciting a laugh from the Rangers besides us.

I snorted and turned around, facing the laughing men. “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” I yelled, causing the Dawn fighters to shut up at once and snap at attention. “That’s better.”

Vano turned towards his men. “Talk to the Mercs who guard the bunker, set up a defensive perimeter,” he ordered “The General, the Colonel and I are going inside.”

The Rangers saluted before they dispersed, their squad leader climbing atop the bunker.

I looked at Strider, who nodded silently.

“Let’s go.”

I opened the way, walking first towards the heavy armored door of the bunker. As soon as we reached it, Strider lowered his rifle pressed a button on the interphone.

“Who is this?” asked Hermann’s voice.

“Brigadier General Everfree, Colonel Strider, Major Novovich, Dawn Faction,” announced my boyfriend. “You wanted to see us.”

The heavy metal door opened with a creak. “Oh, of course. Come in,” instantaneously came the answer.

I took the lead and entered the airlock, followed by Strider and Vano. Once the giant had crossed, the door closed behind us.

“So, what do you have for us professor?” I asked to Hermann as I sat down of an empty workbench, next to Celestia.

The brown haired scientist raised a finger. “Many, many things, Colonel,” he enigmatically replied, walking towards a projector which was linked to a computer on a desk right next to us.

That’s when Ozersky entered the room, carrying a lot of devices in his arms. “A lot of info about you, Celestia,” he announced, “and maybe a way home for you.”

At these words, my alicorn’s ears twitched. “Maybe?” she asked with a sigh.

“We are not too sure yet, little one,” came a new voice from the door, where Novikov appeared, carrying a toolbox and an anomaly scanner. “We didn’t detect it, Kruglov and his team in Yantar did,” the bald technician added, sitting down at a table on the other side of the room where he put down his load. “We just need more data.”

Following the technician-slash-scientist with my gaze, I noticed a jar full of a greenish liquid on a shelf above the table. While the liquid was bland -if suspect- in appearance, what set me off was what was inside.

It was a human head.

My head.

It was incomplete and had a beginning of a spine dangling from its neck, lacked the stubby beard and the skull was completely barren of any hair, but that was my skull, my jaw, my face, my eyes in there.

“What the fuck is this?” I asked, my horrified gaze locked onto the disgusting sight.

“Oh yeah, about that,” Novikov began sheepishly. “Remember how the skin sample we took from you grew into an ear in a matter of hours? We decided to dip the inert piece of skin and cartilage into a jar full of a nutritious compound and put it in a closet. This is what we got when we checked up on it a few days later. It had used nearly everything it could to grow and went back to a vegetative state. As it stands, it’s a perfectly healthy human head, only it’s… sleeping.”

“At that point, I decided to stop the experiment,” added Hermann. “I didn’t dare meddle with it, that thing is… too…”

“Creepy,” interrupted Vano.

I felt Celestia huddle herself closer to me. “Put that thing away, please,” she pleaded, her face buried in my side.

“You heard the lady, get rid of that thing,” ordered Vano.

Without a word, Hermann nodded to Novikov who silently carried the jar out of the room, only to come back almost immediately.

“That was… interesting,” I broke in. “You alright?” I asked Celestia, gently stroking her soft coat.

My alicorn gazed up to me, eyes wet with repressed tears. “I’ve been through worse,” she shakily replied, “but I don’t want to see that thing ever again. I prefer your head on your body.”

I gave her a small smile, trying to comfort her. “Trust me, so do I.”

“What’s the deal with it anyway?” asked Vano, who had opted for sitting on the floor.

“Your friend’s healing… anomaly is more potent that we thought,” explained Ozersky, resetting his glasses. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we could grow an entire body out of it. We cannot just get rid of it, it would be woefully difficult and it also holds many scientific advances,” the bald scientist exposed.

“It also raises a pressing ethical issue,” Hermann chimed in. “Since this… thing has a technically functional brain, are we obliged to treat it like a normal human being? If it… ‘wakes up’, are we supposed to treat it like we would treat you?”

Novikov and Ozersky nodded.

“Man… that’s weird,” concluded Vano after an awkward silence. “So! About that anomaly?” he asked, thankfully putting the conversation back on its rails.

Ozersky shook his head, cleared his throat, readjusted his glasses and spoke up. “We know that the anomaly itself is located in the Cordon, I shit you not. And it’s huge.”

“Indeed,” approved Hermann. “It has been sitting there for nearly a week since it’s been detected, and blowouts seem to have no effect on it. In itself, it’s not very strange, space bubble anomalies are known for their unpredictable nature: some act as pocket dimensions, others are one-way teleporters… or even two-way.”

“That’s when we started making standard tests on it: energy levels, radiation, space-time inflation... but then we started comparing its energy signature to other anomalous data readings that we knew of, and we have found a match.”

“Hold your horses,” interrupted Vano, “a match with what?”

“That’s why we contacted you in the first place, lady and gentlemen,” replied the scientist, pausing to adjust his glasses. “A match with your… ‘magic’, General,” he finished, turning towards Celestia.

There was a moment of silence.

“What.”

“And our Noosphere.”

“What.”

“The latent energy signature emitted by the anomaly is a 89% match with our Noosphere, and a 100% match with the energy signature of your telekinesis, little one,” answered Novikov. “We think it’s… leaking.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Leaking?”

“Yes,” began Hermann, perking up from the computer he was sitting at. “Allow us to demonstrate.”

At these words, the lighting in the room dimmed, letting appear an image projected on the far wall of the room. the image depicted a schematic view of our planet from space, surrounded by a sort of spheric field made up of many, many lines, many of them coming from the biggest population centers.

“As you all know, our planet is surrounded by the Noosphere, an energy field which is a byproduct of the humanity's sapience,” began Hermann.

“We have also established that in your world, miss Everfree, the Noosphere is much, much stronger,” added Ozersky. “Given that the energy signature is virtually identical to the energy residue of your psychic powers, we thought your presence had… altered the Zone, that you involuntarily caused a disturbance that spawned the anomaly,” he explained. “That’s when we found another match. A match with our own Noosphere… which lead us to rerun our numbers. The results are clear: there’s another Noosphere on the other side of that bubble, one that matches your energy readings, Celestia. There’s another world there, populated with many, many sapient creatures.”

“And a lot of them at that,” added Novikov. “Kruglov’s data shows that the energy flows only in our direction, meaning whatever is on the other side, it’s stronger,” the technician said, scratching his beard. “The flow is steady, but minor though. Nothing preoccupating.”

“Hence, a leak,” finished Hermann, the picture on the wall now having changed to display a sort of wormhole through which arrows went.

I turned to Celestia, who was staring at the image, frozen and speechless. I wrapped an arm around her and began to gently stroke her mane, slowly massaging the back of her head. The effect was immediate: she instantly relaxed and she let out the breath she was holding, her ears folded against her head and she leaned against me, slowly relaxing.

“So we have a two-way portal, basically,” came Vano’s voice.

Hermann readjusted his glasses. “Exactly. The energy and matter flow demonstrates that there is an opening in both that other world and ours.”

“What are we waiting for then, let’s go!” exclaimed my bearded friend, standing up in a hurry.

Ozersky sighed, holding up an appeasing hand. “It’s not that simple.”

“It’s a big discovery,” admitted Novikov, looking up from his work, “but not big enough to grant us founding from the Ministry. That’s why I’m putting together a probe of sorts: if the portal works as expected, we should get a transmission from it: mainly data about the weather and atmospheric conditions. Even if chemical readings show that the gases coming from the bubble are virtually identical to our atmosphere, we don’t want to take risks. The government won’t spend money on the Zone when it’s still deciding whether or not they want to join the european union.”

“Even in the case we manage to prove we can safely go between the two worlds, we would barely have more than a small military escort and little funding, we couldn’t mount a successful expedition,” Hermann sighed, before he turned towards my alicorn. “We are not sure it is a way back to your world, but there is a great possibility that it is. We are stuck, as we are. we need your support.”

“You have it,” she instantly replied. “Most of our assets are used growing and solidifying our resources, but we will spare everything we can to help you,” she added, standing up. “I made my choice: if there is a chance I can go home once again, I’ll take it.”

Hermann clapped his hands together. “Excellent! there is still on problem though: we need to stabilize it and make sure it won’t close on us if we ever go through.”

Novikov sniffed; “I’ll come up with something. We still need to know how we’ll go through however.”

“Helicopters,” offered Vano. “We found a vehicle yard, we’re getting some of them repaired. So far we got a few BTR’s, a couple of tanks and there’s a chopper that’s getting towed to base as we speak.”

I nodded. “We could also ask Degtyarev. He’s got contacts in the USS and a civilian fleet where one of his friends went after he left the military.”

“That’s a very good idea,” approved Hermann. “Anyways. I know this is big news, but what we have in stock is quite interesting too.”

“Whatcha got?” curiously asked Vano.

“Information about our little magic user,” chuckled Novikov.

“Indeed,” added Hermann. “We have processed all the information we got during our examinations, and came up with some interesting results.”

“Such as?” asked Celestia.

“Your bones are hollow, that’s for sure,” began Ozersky. “Your body weight is too low for a standard bone structure. Your hooves are covered with a multitude of little hairs, like a gecko’s feet. That must be what allows you to pick up objects with them. Your horn is… well, a mystery. As long as we can’t get a sample, we won’t be able to understand how it works.”

My alicorn nodded. “Unicorn horns are… delicate. They can heal just like the rest of the body, but they are extremely sensitive and any sort of tissue sampling would cause debilitating pain,” she explained. “Unless you have access to extremely strong anesthetics or a fresh corpse, you won’t be able to take a sample.”

“A shame,” Hermann deplored. “We don’t have surgical equipment, no corpses at hand… and I’m opposed to making one.”

Novikov humphed. “We’re not barbarians.”

“That’ll have to wait until we get better equipment or until we go through that bubble,” shrugged Ozersky. “But we’re digressing here. One of the most surprising things about you, miss Everfree, is your eyes.”

I smiled, looking at my princess's stunning eyes. “I know, they are beautiful, but they are… not logical.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” rebutted Ozersky. “These eyes baffled us for a while, until one of our Mercs suggested they weren’t round.”

“Huh.”

“Yes, our theory is that they are human-like, but much, much flatter, like a shark or a bird’s eye. Also, he irises can change size. Go figure.”

Novikov turned away from his work, looking at my alicorn. “How do you manage to have such a mobility range with those is still beyond us, but there is no other way that there is any room left in your skull for a brain, little one.”

Celestia shrugged her wings. “My ponies never even tried to study anatomy, most of our medicine comes from magic and old traditions. Even today, we’re still barely scratching the surface of what medicine can do.”

“And there’s a very good reason for that,” Ozersky almost interrupted. “Your immune system is… fascinating: your white blood cell count is literally off the charts, we had to make new ones to represent your analysis,” he said, as the projected picture changed once again, showing a graph with two curve, one dwarfing the other by several times. “We have it here, compared to a healthy human’s. Your immune system is ten times as efficient as a human’s, while your wound healing rate is nearly five times faster.”

“That’s because I’m an alicorn, though I wouldn’t doubt that ponies in general are more resilient that humans, health-wise; even more so Earth ponies.”

Hermann stood up from behind the computer. “Yes, that is why we are so interested in studying your world. While the Zone can lead to breakthroughs in the domains of physics and chemistry, nothing compares to what we could do for medicine if we could harness the prowess of your kind’s immune system.”

“But what could you offer to my ponies?” asked Celestia with an unreadable expression I didn’t know she could make.

“Agricultural advancement, medicine, surgery… antibiotics. I fear these gifts will be limited, due to obvious reasons though. After all, if you don’t know your own anatomy, there’s only so much you help you with surgery,” Hermann argued. “Maybe we’ll be able to bring new ideas, new manufacturing methods. No weapons though.”

Celestia pursed her lips. “I wasn't planning on developing warfare, though I suppose you could help us with industry. My ponies are so backwards compared to other countries in that domain.”

Vano sighed. “Can we leave the manigances? I mean, we’re faced with a big problem: we’ll have to make first contact,” he reminded.

“We’ll cross that bridge when it comes to it,” shrugged Ozersky. “Just gotta make sure we appear as peaceful, right?”

“Of course,” approved Celestia, “though we’ll have to bring backup. I don’t know what happened during this year, and Equestria, though peaceful, has its enemies. With me gone, who knows what might have happened.”

I took a deep breath, resuming to stroke my princess’s neck. “Everything will be alright, I am sure,” I whispered, leaning to give her a kiss behind her damaged ear.

“I hope so.”

The discussion continued on for a good half hour, mostly about scientific discoveries that very much interested Celestia but held little interest to me. I stayed silent, idly petting my love’s mane, lost in thought.

We had a more-than-likely way to Celestia’s world… unexpected, but not unwelcome. We had thought about mounting an expedition there, but now we were more or less forced to work with the scientists… unwelcomed, but not necessarily a bad thing. After all, our scientific division could not simply compare to what these government-mandated scholars knew and could do.

After a while, the conversation dwindled down and we saluted the scientists, before leaving their lab.

“So what are we supposed to do now?” I asked as we got out of the bunker, the metal door slamming shut behind us with a creak.

“We wait,” simply answered Vano, adjusting his helmet. “We keep developing our faction, we need to be strong if we are to organize a trip to another world. After all, we will have to leave some troops here so our operation keeps running smoothly.”

I nodded and turned around, signaling my Rangers to regroup around our BTR, before I headed for the roof of the bunker, my helmet under my arm and my balaclava in it. There, I headed for the merc wearing an exoskeleton, who I knew was the head of the group in charge of security detail.

“Hatchet, right?” I asked, extending a hand in greetings “You are in charge of the security detail here?”

The power-armoured Merc turned towards me, holstered his weapon and took off his helmet, tucking it under his arm. “Security detail is pushing it,” he replied with a chuckle. “All we do is guarding the bunker against the occasional threat. Boring, but well paid so the boys don’t complain,” he added, shaking my hand. “And you are?”

“Colonel Strider, Dawn faction.”

“Colonel, eh?” asked the Merc, eyebrow raised. “Fancy.”

I shrugged, letting go of the man’s hand. “We had to put a hierarchy in place when our faction grew in size,” I deadpanned. “I figured that Colonel had a nice ring to it, without being too pretentious,” I added with a smirk. “Still, I’m technically under Celestia’s orders despite-”

“Despite you banging her?” mirthfully interrupted Hatchet.

I blinked a few times in surprise. “I would not have put it like that, but yes,” I replied, looking at the Merc commander. “Is it common knowledge around here?”

The mercenary let go of his rifle and rummaged a pouch on his vest, producing a pack of smokes from it. “Pretty much, yeah. Your Celestia is famous, even more so than you,” he answered. “Mostly because she’s… not human, she’s also got a few nicknames like Lead from Above, The White Reaper or the Angel of Death, but I’d wager you already know that.”

I nodded wordlessly, only half-surprised at my princess's notoriety.

“There’s that,” Hatchet continued, “and well, she’s a she. Pussy is the only real anomaly here,” he added with a laugh. “Smoke?” he asked, offering me a cigarette. “Brown tobacco. Imported, not the half-weed-half-tobacco-half-dried-grass crap Hawaiian sells.”

“Yeah,” I replied, taking the cylindrical object from the Merc’s hand. “Been a long time I have not smoked,” I recalled, sitting down on a metal crate that was lying around on the top of the bunker.

Hatchet sat down on the floor. “Tell me about it, this smuggled shit is expensive,” he grumbled, lighting up his cigarette, before he offered me his lighter. “I consider stopping, myself. Been smoking for nearly twenty years, too.” I lit up my cigarette and gave it back to the Merc, who put it back in its pouch, looking down at the BTR where the others had regrouped. “You are a lucky man, stalker.”

I breathed out a long puff of smoke. “Yeah, she is intelligent, funny, adorable, always willing to carry on forwards,” I absent-mindedly said, “and so beautiful.”

There was a moment of silence. I drew a large breath from my cigarette and held it, before releasing a cloud of smoke.

Then I noticed Hatchet’s amused expression. “I was talking about your faction.”

“Oh, right. How were they?” I asked, looking down at my troops embarking aboard the BTR.

“Professional, yet not as stuck up as those Duty bastards,” the Merc summed up. “Surprisingly organized.”

“They are well trained,” I commented.

“That they are, I’ll give you that. What were you guys here for, anyway?”

“Are you aware of Hermann’s latest discovery?” I asked. “Hermann wanted to tell us about it.”

“The portal thing? Of course,” replied the Merc.

“Now you know. If the scientists were to go on an expedition through the anomaly, would you follow them?”

Hatchet chuckled. “You know, Hermann asked me the same question. And I’ll give you the same answer: We are paid to do a job. That job is protecting the eggheads. Wherever they go, we go, no questions asked.”

“A merc’s life in a nutshell,” I commented, drawing another puff from my cigarette.

The Merc leader winced. “I prefer the term ‘private contractor’,” he grumbled.

I let out a laugh, blowing away more smoke.

Waiting. Have I mentioned how much I hated waiting? I know for a fact that Strider doesn't mind, after all, he’s a trained sniper. Celestia was busy directing the faction, but me? nah, I was bored out of my mind when we got back to base.

What we learned was big news, that was for sure, but that was all they were: news. We couldn’t do a damn thing about it. After Hermann came up with that info, we owed him big time, and they needed us if the government didn’t feel like giving them a decent escort. Security detail is boring, but it pays.

With a sigh, I leaned back in my seat, my eyes fixed on the far wall of my office.

All we had to do was keep doing what we were doing, and wait for the scientists’ greenlight.

I scratched my beard.

That was going to be boring.

See the Zone and Survive

by RoadRunneR

Disclaimer A.K.A. readme.txt

Prologue: By the Bar

Chapter 1: Just Another Day in the Zone

Chapter 2: Playing the Babysitter

Chapter 3: Breaking the Ice

Chapter 4: The Friendly Zone

Chapter 5: Big Zoney Life

Chapter 6: Mad World

Chapter 7: Such is Life in the Zone

Chapter 8: Standing Back Up

Chapter 9: On the Road Again

Chapter 10: Life Under the Sword of Damocles

Chapter 10 1/2: Big Fucking Gun

Chapter 11: Angel of Death

Chapter 12: We All Are Monsters

Interlude: Back to the Present

Chapter 13: Fuck You, Murphy

Chapter 14: That Was Going to Be Boring

Epilogue: We Leave Tomorrow At Dawn