//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: The Foals of Balefire // Story: Fallout Equestria: S.T.A.L.K.E.R // by aegishailstorm //------------------------------// Chapter 6: The Foals of Balefire "There's somethin' happining here... And what it is ain't exactly clear.... There's a man with a gun over there, tellin' me I've got to beware..." Nikolai's radio played in the background as he reached the entrance of The Dome. The glow was clearly getting stronger, as was the reading on his Geiger counter. There were no doors to the structure, rather, there was a massive tunnel that probably led through right to the center. Branching off on either sides were hallways which led to more hallways. He decided to head into the first one he found. Luckily, the doors which had once blocked access had been torn off. "This place reminds me a bit of the Jupiter tunnel on route to southern Pripyat. That was the farthest north I ever went in the zone. Thought it was too dangerous." Nikolai could only laugh at that prospect now. Given where he was. After a while, he came to a map of the complex. He looked around, and saw that he was near the medical ward. In this particular part of the building, the radiation count was slightly lower than the rest. And the green glow which engulfed much of the building wasn't present. Still, he could see why no one ever came here. But, that may be a good thing. Because the supplies in the ward would most likely have remained unlooted. "Alright, this place seems salvageable." His Geiger counter seemed to think otherwise. Nikolai began to think that he should have drank more when he still had the chance. Oh well, it was too late now. He took a look at his watch, and found that night time was approaching. "Once I get to the ward I should read more of Wasteland Survival guide. Perhaps it might have something on this place? " Nikolai murmured to himself as he passed by something suspiciously resembled an equine skeleton. And further more, he found dried blood caking the walls nearby. But with no other information, he just pressed on. There was no natural light this far in. Only the faint green glow and a glint coming off the overhead fluorescent lights. He had taken to holding his AK with one hand and his flashlight with another. "Blyat! What was that?" He turned his head to the sound of something clattering to the ground. Nikolai shinned his flashlight around, but found nothing. He barely even touched the ground on the way to the ward. The external sliding glass doors had long since been destroyed. But even so, the radiation levels seemed to be lower within. Surrounding him was a myriad of rusted and faded medical equipment. He sat down on a gurney and snatched a roll of duct tape from his rucksack. He mounted his flashlight to the side of his rifle, fumbling with it to make sure it was secure. He also noticed something else. A dovetail-picatinny rail mount for an optic. And, an optic to fit it. That being an old PSO-2M 4 times magnification scope. It was useless now, being that he didn't have any immediate way to zero it. " Oh Блин." He grunted as he took a look down at his Geiger counter. The radiation count hadn't reached lethal levels yet, not even close. But it was irking him. Luckily, he thought he had found the perfect place to 'refresh'. The old X ray room. It had to have been lead lined. He made his way over to the grey metal box on the other side of the room, forced the door open, then shut it behind him. Click click. Click. Beep... " Y... Bсе добре! And... everything's good!" He rubbed his forehead. He could feel the perspiration that had built up beneath the mask. He pulled his mask off and reached into his pack. Extracting a packet of Rad-away. He, he tore the top of the packet and downed it without a second though. Immediately, he began to feel better. "It taste like stale oranges! Nyet, this will not do." Nikolai threw the packet to the ground and pulled out a bottle of Vodka. "Salud! Or whatever it is Italian people say when trying to memorize tourists!" He raised the bottle up above his head and took a long swing of it. As soon as the alcohol had settled in his stomach, he began to hear scratching noises coming from down the hall. He fumbled to put his things back in his pack and redon his mask. He slapped himself on the forehead to retain focus. "Eh? Хто там?" Nikolai took up his AK 101 and advanced out of the medical ward. Just in time to watch an equine corpse shamble out from behind a pile of rubble. "Zombie? Nyet, nyet, is Ghoul." He stopped for a moment to stare at it. It's mane had fallen out, and it's fur had turned a sickly green. Alongside that, parts of the pony had fallen away entirely, giving Nikolai a good view of it's innards. And, it's eyes glowed the same green as the environment around him. He stared at it, not knowing what to thing of it. It looked back at him, and began to drag itself forward. Baring it's teeth and lowing it's head. "Идиот! You look like batch of Babushka's Borsch gone wrong!" He walked up to it and smacked it over the head with the stock of his rifle. It growled, and pounced at him. It was more like a stumble. He put one bullet right between it's eyes. And it slumped to the ground, dead. More dead than it was before, at least. "Da, you don't think I've seen your kind before? " He slurred. Kicking the corpse, the Vodka had just started to take effect. "Some of us have feelings, you know!" Nikolai swiveled his head around. And came face to face with another ghoul. However, this one wore a crude robe with saddlebags, a fire axe sat in a scabbard by her side. "Eh? Oh, yes, yes. You must be friend. Привет, name is Nikolai." The creature stared blankly at him. " We don't usually get visitors. What are you doing here?" Nikolai coughed behind his mask. "I am hiding- from... Dishonest employer. You know how it is, right?" He emphasized the last portion. The creature gave him a crocked scowl. " You shouldn't be here." But then, as she looked him over, her glowing eyes widened. "That symbol on your shoulder." Nikolai looked over at it. It was the symbol for radiation. It was what identified the majority of Stalkers back in the Zone. And clearly, it also meant something here. "Da, what about it?" She turned her shoulder. Revealing the same insignia which had been stitched on. "Welcome to the Dome, Mr..." Nikolai looked around skeptically. Then back at the suddenly enthusiastic ghoul. "Nikolai, I would presume that you would like me to follow you?" "Well... Yes. My name is Peach Blossom." Nikolai, not having anything better to do decided to go with her. Still somewhat suffering from the effects of Vodka. The mare led Nikolai back down the hallway's he had come from. As they went along, she asked him a few questions. Obviously, most would expect that a slightly drunken Stalker and a ghoul wouldn't have a lot to chat about. They would be wrong. "What are you supposed to be?" The walking, talking corpse asked him. "I am a human. I come from far away land. As for my clothing, I am what they call a Stalker. I... How do I summarize this quickly? I go into dangerous places and look for valuable things." She nodded. "You just described most of Equestia's post war population. " Nikolai shrugged. "But, I am not from around here, yes?" He chuckled. The ghoul beckoned him out of the inside of the building and back into the main tunnel which led into the core of the building. Then, something odd began to happen. His anomaly detector began to beep furiously. At the same time, a blue glow joined the green one around Nikolai. "What's over there?" "The salt cube which this place is named after. The glow is a result of the radiation it absorbed when the megaspell hit this place. You should really stay away from it." The center of the dome was as vast as an American football stadium. Just without the rows of seats. At it's center was a massive cube of well... Salt. His Geiger counter really did not like this place. However, the beeping from his anomaly detector piqued his interest. He thought back to the artefact sitting within the lead lined container in his pack. "Fascinating." He followed her into the wide open space. Surrounding the strange obelisk of salt were a few tents. As well as dozens more ghouls, most clad in the same style of robes as the mare he was following. They looked at Nikolai with expressions that ranged from indifference to worry. "Emm... Привет?" He waved to them. Peach Blossom looked up at him with renewed skepticism. "What does that mean?" "It means hello in my native language." She nodded, as if implying that she understood. Peach led him into one of the tents, this one, like all the others, was faded yellow, and marked by 3 pink butterflies. "I've seen the logo before. On medical equipment in one of the merchants shops. What does it mean?" "I think I'll let him give the explanation. " A ghoul wearing a lab coat and a pair of glasses was fumbling over a stack of papers. "What is it-" His eyes widened when he saw Nikolai. "Oh, so we're turning this hell hole into a hotel are we? Just letting whoever inside!" Nikolai cleared his throat. "Sir, this is Nikolai, he came here intentionally." Nikolai looked down. "You look like good friend of mine, Professor Sakharov. Как дела?" Nikolai stuck out a gloved hand. The ghoul furrowed what was left of his eyebrows. " Yeah, he tends to do that." Peach Blossom muttered. The ghoul doctor chuckled. "My name is Sand Box. You do seem like an eccentric fellow." "Well, at least he's not like our last visitor. You remember that little filly... Puppysmiles, right?" Nikolai felt as though he was being left out of something. But decided not to question it. "So anyway. Why did you bring me here?" Peach chuckled. "The insignia on your shoulder. You belong to the Foal's of Balefire, do you not?" Nikolai shook his head. "No, but just out of curiosity. What is that?" "The Foal's of Balefire?" Sand Box said. " Oh, it's just a collection of Ghouls that have fervent obsession with Balefire Radiation. And not an unwarranted one either. You see, because of our nature. Radiation is actually beneficial to us Ghouls. Being that it's what created us." Nikolai nodded. "I suppose it makes sense." Nikolai responded with a shrug. In truth, it didn't make sense, and his mind was too muddled with alcohol to care. "Radiation insignia, Because that is what all Stalkers are united by. I bear no relation to your Foals of Balefire. Now, if you mind, I really must get out of here before I turn into human Shashlik and perish of radiation poisoning." "Ok, if you really must go..." Nikolai's gaze shifted past them and over a glowing object on a table. "That wouldn't happen to be piece of Salt Cube from over there, would it?" He cracked his neck and checked the time on his watch. Then looked through the massive hole in the Dome's roof. His first whole day in this place was drawing to a close. "Yes. And it's not for sale." Sand Box insisted. Nikolai turned his radio back on. "Ok, be seeing you! He waved to both of them, and left the tent. Then made a bee line for the Salt Cube. His anomaly detector beeping faster and faster. " Hello Stalkers, This is Zone FM. Up next, we have DJ Blyatman with... Well, a hardbass song which he ironically named Stalker." Nikolai laughed insanely as he approached the salt cube. He ran up to it, and, driving his knife into the side, broke off a small piece of the anomalous material. "Oi blyat! Hot potato!" He yelped as he tossed the specimen into his last leaded container. He had heard stories of the Liquidators who had gone up onto the roof of the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant to clear off radioactive material during the first disaster. How they were given just 45 seconds to complete their task before getting off the roof as fast as they possibly could. Nikolai felt a bit like that. "What are you doing!?" A ghoul cried. Nikolai twitched. " I don't know. I shall be borrowing the glowing rock for a while. Give back maybe, maybe never." He turned and bolted for the exit. "That doesn't make any sense!" The ghoul retorted. But Nikolai was gone. He only had one goal now, to get as far away from the radioactive hellhole that was the Dome as quickly as possible. It wasn't long before Nikolai had reached the end of the tunnel that led out of the core of the dome. As soon as he was clear of the worst of the radioactive fallout. He tore off his mask and vomited. Radiation poisoning is not fun. He would've been fine given his gear. He just got a little too close to that giant radioactive pillar. "Oi blyat! Ah, is fun, is fun." He said with a morbid chuckle. Nikolai wiped the vomit off of his face and downed another packet of Rad-away. "Uh... what did I accomplish here?" He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "So much for my hiding place." Nikolai could see that the sky was darkening. So he swiftly found himself an abandoned pharmacy to bed down in for the night. Making sure there was nothing in there which wanted to eat him first. He barricaded a door behind himself and lit a small fire. He took off his mask and gloves and held his hands close to the fire, once he had warmed up he pulled out an MRE and peeled the top off. The contents consisted of, Beans, buckwheat, crackers, chocolate and something that resembles meat. After his day, it looked like a feast. Nikolai smiled and began to eat. At the same time, he reopened his copy of the Wasteland Survival guide and began to read.