Chapter 36: Spilled Milk, Spilled Blood
Wisdom is supreme, therefore get wisdom.
-Proverbs 4:7
It would not take a brilliant mastermind to see that Nikolai- well, in the most literal sense was one of the most obvious and glaring sights in the whole of the Equestrian Wasteland, an ease to pick out of any crowd. His upright bipedal figure, odd mannerisms, and incredibly distinguishable voice made any possibility of becoming a 'grey man' wholly moot. Wastelanders were used to seeing and cooperating with all sorts of weird creatures, so first introductions were never a big issue. Better they ask for his assistance, his name and a conversation, or quietly keep their distance than flee in terror. Of course, this didn't really matter when you're in the middle of nowhere and haven't seen a single soul besides your handful of trusted companions in the last day.
Nikolai had swarmed the ghoul with questions from the moment he seemed coherent enough to talk. His answers were simple and mostly straightforward. His name was Cirro Wisp-Named after a kind of cloud. though his wings looked far too damaged to bring him any further than a few meters. He had been transporting MoAS 'supplies' from Hoofington down south to one of their facilities in Manehatten when a bright flash had filled the cockpit window, the plane lost power moments later, and the last thing he had remembered seeing as flames and the incoming ground-then waking up and noticing Nikolai creeping past him. The strange mare he had found in the back of the plane wreck was silent aside from a few innocent squeaks and noises that sound like they came directly from 2 year old in the body of a 25 year old.
She was a bit smaller than most of the other mares he had met. And her fur, mane, tail, and eyes were all the same shade of dull white, almost glossy in places. Speckled with little stains of red, yellow, green, and a half dozen other colors that seemed to glow in shadows-whenever the mare walked around for too long on her own it would seemingly begin to bother her, and she would roll around and itch herself all over. This continued until Nikolai gave her a bath in a muddy, partially irradiated creek and a half pack of that awful tasting orange liquid to remove any Balefire leftovers. Besides that, he wasn't quite sure how the little mare had survived back there all that time, or how the other thing caged behind that glorified zoo glass hadn't murdered and eaten her. She didn't speak, so Nikolai decided to think of a name for the oddball equine.
"Alabast?" Willow proposed. "Like alabaster, only shortened?"
"You would have her nicknamed Allie then?" Flashpoint mused to his friend. This gave Nikolai a smile and a boost of enthusiasm. They had been walking since Nikolai woken up, and they were now very nearly at the base of the Canterhorn Mountains.
"Real original," Cirro remarked in a mild New England accent that made would've turned heads back in the Exclusion Zone. He was actually from Manehatten, and was worried (As sick as a ghoul could be) about what he would find. He was downtrodden just from overhearing Willow and Nikolai chatting. Neither had the heart to tell him that it was very likely a giant toxic crater by now, although everyone in the trio suspected he already knew that. The massive mountain range came closer and closer, the four equines and one Stalker would pass by several dilapidated mountain homes, all with signs of recent inhabitants. None still present beyond the odd mole rad or rad roach, of course. Flashpoint even claimed he had seen a glowing two headed fox on an adjacent hill. A claim Nikolai was able to substantiate via his binoculars. Though Willow Flashpoint insisted that it wasn't worth checking out.
Odd as it may have been, it was just another mutant. And Nikolai was too busy to investigate.
It was an odd thing for him to say, he didn't particularly like having to be responsible for what amounted to a herd of little mini horses, one of which didn't even have a heartbeat anymore. What a strange turn his life had taken since he had departed from home and made for The Exclusion Zone. Every time it came to mind his brain made it sound like it had been some grand journey from his home town to the edge of the Zone, in reality it was a 45 minute long ride in a crappy van with strings of rust running down the sides. Public transportation would never have let him on with all his equipment. He might have been able to get away with saying he was going camping, but the pistol, glaringly obvious Geiger counter, ballistic vest, and gas mask bag would have all been dead giveaways. If he was caught, getting kicked off a random public bus was the best thing he could hope for-god forbid the authorities got involved.
The next thing on Nikolai's mind was food. He remembered clearly the smell of his mother and grandmothers kitchen as he helped gather the flour and break up the eggs for blinchiki, a sort of thin Slavic pancake that worked wonders when slathered with strawberry jam, cream cheese, or both, and then rolled up into a breakfast burrito. This naturally led him to garner an idea for the name for the little speechless and half mindless equine Nikolai had found:
"Eggshell." He made the suggestion to his friends. And that was that. Cirro didn't seem to object, truth be told after the first set of question he hadn't said a word. Nikiolai supposed he would be in quite a bit of shock as well to wake up as an undead version of yourself with a strange creature peering down at you. The Stalker checked his watch and his PDA more than once ever couple of minutes. It was like his mind kept wanting excitement, and there was none to be found. He wasn't talking about a gunfight or an ambush, heavens no. He wanted something that would stoke his adventurous spirit and break up the monotony of walking. Walking up a steep hill, to be precise. Something only a masochist would ever actually enjoy.
"Eggshell it is." Willow responded, moving to steer the little pale mare away from the guardrail. It was a bit like trying to shepherd a sheep around.
"Cirro, you were transporting her," Nikolai or Flashpoint would ask the distant ghoul, "Who is she and why is she like this?" No response other than, "I don't remember." After a while it turned to shrugs, and then no reply at all. Nikolai was beginning to think he was hiding something. But he said nothing about it. The Stalker was beginning to quietly hate the silence.
"How about radio? Something to break up boredom? Drinking game is right out at moment." Rocky crags sprouted up from the hills in their midst, twisting up into mountains as they walked along the road, passing roadsigns for truck stops and gas stations. They reminded Nikolai that it had been a while since he had gone number one, and he tore off the road and made for a stag that he could do his business behind. Willow and Flashpoint took turns watching Cirro and Eggshell while the uncanny echoes of the song, 'Спокойной ночи' goodnight played over the Stalker's radio and Cirro looked around the parking lot and ruined station in a daze. This was all still very new to him. He may have been a ghoul, but Nikolai had a near three week start on him as far as knowledge of the Wasteland went.
"Hey Willow!?"
"Yeah Nikolai!?"
"You have flown past this Filly-delphia funny horse pun place before, da?" The Stalker asked as he stepped out from behind the building, still in the process of buckling up his belt and fixing his holster.
"Would not happen to be in our way, would it?" Nikolai asked curtly. He walked over to the thestral and let him examine the map on his PDA for a few moments, Willow's slit eyes darted across the orange displays on the screen and then back to Nikolai. "No, never. That'd be suicide. It's about halfway in between the Canterhorn Mountains and the coast- But it's miles and miles to the south-Unless we get really badly turned around on that absolute maze of East Coast highways then at most the closest we'll ever get to seeing that damned fortress city is a couple of glowing orange silhouettes billowing smoke at the edge of the horizon. We're safe. But we'll be passing through Red Eyes territory. His gangs and raider bands control some pretty big swaths of land on that side of the mountains."
"Ok. Then why does PDA say it is 20 kilometers that way?" Nikolai stood up from beside his friend and exhaled a worried breath of skepticism.
"I already take great stride to avoid Unity, I take great stride to avoid White Apples, I take great stride to avoid Enclave-I do not need third-blin, four problem on back." He pinched his fingers together as though he were an angry chef criticizing a meal.
"It isn't. Where did you get that map?" The bat pony flexed his jaw, the orange light of the PDA glinting off the whites of his fangs as he did.
"Salt Cube City?" Nikolai responded. He reached into his rucksack for some water-Which Willow happily accepted. Two minutes of rest later and they were back on the road again. It was no surprise to Nikolai that ponies could walk for so long without growing tired, they were meant for a life of standing up after all. Back in Ukraine it was a common sight to see horses or cows sleeping standing up. Nikolai and his friends would laugh at it some times while they were walking home from school. His siblings and he once tried this fad they had heard about called 'cow tipping' that ended in a very angry farmer shaking his fist at them as the group of young Slav's ran giggling and laughing into the thicket. It had something to do with the muscles in their legs. Nikolai raised his mask and drank in the dry mountain air. It was less stale then the air down towards sea level, but it still smelled a little wrong. There was that smell of death and age that just didn't exist back home. It rained constantly in The Zone, even in the summertime. Everything was always green in spite of the radiation and constant derailment of the laws of physics.
"Hey, Willow-Everyone here. Have you ever seen a train car levitate right off of tracks like it was possessed?" Flashpoint drooped his head and stared at Nikolai in confusion, Cirro raised up one of his fetid hooves. "I have, it was in a rail yard once. But it wasn't doing it on it's own."
"Unicorns?"
"Yeah, unicorns. How'd ya guess?"
"I am not new to this place. Willow, how about you?"
"I saw an alicorn toss a train car through a fire station once, does that count?" Nikolai facepalmed and rubbed his temples through his mask. Up ahead came their first obstacle. The remains of an old landslide had decimated the highway, which had now begun to wrap up around one of the mountainsides, with an almost sheer cliff dropping off to a valley floor some 100 plus meters below. A tangled mess of old cars, crumbling asphalt and guardrail, and dead pine trees lay strewn across the road in an impassible blockade.
"Flashpoint, check your map."
"For another way around?" Nikolai turned left and shifted his eyes down to get a glimpse at the Zebra's PipBuck. "No-For something interesting that we can see while we are up here. I am not the best with elevation, but I am certain there must be something up here to make it all worth it."
"We are not driving anywhere," Nikolai pointed up to an alternate pass which strung itself up and over the mountain, running alongside the bare dirt and rock like a glorified goat path. "It will not take us much longer, and it will spare us having to spend night here." Willow flew off in the direction Nikolai was recommending to check it out for himself for a few moments, then returned with a worried look across his face.
"That path looks well traveled-And there's some awfully deep tire tread marks as well. I'd say someone's probably used it within the last two days."
Just then Nikolai kicked a piece of loose asphalt out of boredom, and nearly jumped right out of his clothes when he noticed the sensor prongs of a landmine underneath- He kept his composure and slowly backed away, Flashpoint and Willow noticed it and did the same, beckoning Cirro away from it as well.
"Hey where did Eggshell go-" The ghoul's reddish eyes went wide and his meager wing remains shifted about, trying to seat themselves on his back in a well fitting position. All six pairs of eyes were now on Eggshell, who was innocently sniffing the ground around the mine without a care in the world.
"I understand not being able to talk-But how can you be that oblivious?" Nikolai ducked down to his knees and patted his thighs ecstatically.
"Here Eggshell, come here!" Her ears twirled around to the sound of Nikolai's voice.
"Coo? Eee?" She inquired. Then, to everyone's distain, she gently fished the mine up out of the hole and began to bring it towards Nikolai in her mouth.
"No. Sudden. Movements." The Stalker told his compatriots. That seemingly lobotomized mare was now bringing him an active land mine, he backed up, and his friends all followed suit. Cirro was probably the most worried, and Nikolai guessed that he if he were still alive he would likely have been sweating buckets while he watched this unfold. Eggshell meanwhile, trotted up to Nikolai and gleefully set it down at his feet, she slumped back on her haunches with her tail wagging and her grey-white eyes staring up at Nikolai as if awaiting her next set of instructions. In his infinite wisdom, Nikolai took the mine in shaking hands and threw it as hard as he could over the guard rail and into the ravine below-where it detonated with a murderous crash that sent echoes off the surrounding mountainsides. He dusted the chipped green paint off his hands and turned to face his compatriots with an emotionless masked face, he glanced back and began to notice more sensor prongs sticking up out of the remnants of the landslide, all packed loosely into the dirt, just waiting for some unfortunate soul to trip and stumble into one.
"So, mountain pass-Or landside full of landmines? You guys decide!" Nikolai chided them merrily. It wouldn't a scholar or a master tactician to figure out which route they ended up taking. While the route up the side of the mountain may have been safer on account of the terrain underfoot and underhoof, that wouldn't be the case for long. Dead rows of pine stags and coarse windswept dirt soon turned to jagged granite, then about a kilometer from the highway the beleaguered group came upon the first small patches of snow. It wasn't really a surprise to Nikolai that they would come across snow up here, he just didn't think it would happen this fast. Come to think of it, since the sun had 'risen' on the horizon today they had gone about 15 kilometers. All the walking and talking just blurred together after a while. Come to think of it, it all had. Getting up in the morning, eating, walking 15 to 20 kilometers and occasionally having to stop to rest or to avoid a passing creature or a band of raiders. Dangerous as it was it was really just busy work. It was life for Willow, Flashpoint, even Cirro and Eggshell. This was their reality, their world. To Nikolai, it was his office.
But if all of his experiences in the Equestrian Wasteland could be explained that way, then at least he had some friendly coworkers. The rad meter on Flashpoint's PipBuck and Nikolai's own Geiger counter spiked softly from time to time-The snow up here had to have come from someplace after all. The ash of ruined cities dusted the peaks of these mountains like an apocalyptic cake frosting. His radio played the a quiet acoustic guitar tune as they walked along the path at a slight incline towards and over the pass, Flashpoint and Willow could see their breath now-It was growing colder quickly. Not a problem for Nikolai given his current choice of garment- But he worried for Eggshell, who seemed completely moot to the very concept of frostbite. Up here, the air was thinner, and their path was uphill, making every step more difficult. For a while he even removed his mask just so he could keep breathing the same way he had before. The air up here felt cleaner than the air down in the valley, and he knew that they would find respite within the next few hours-This pass would take them to the more or less 2/3rd point of their expedition across the Canterhorn Mountain Range.
"You think there's anything or anyone that lives up here?" Flashpoint tossed the question out into the conversation for any of them to answer.
"Mutants, probably. There is not much food up here, so I cannot see that as being the case. Maybe something lives in one of the caves around here? A bear? A Cougar? A dragon perhaps?" Nikolai wiggled his fingers to keep the blood flowing and looked around at the snow banks and rocky crags. With the sky above darkening, Nikolai realized that he would have to find a place to spend the night, the air around them was growing colder and colder, and they weren't even halfway through the pass yet. As the sky grew darker and miniscule rays of moonlight began to sparingly poke their way through the clouds.
Something pinged off of Flashpoint's PipBuck. A red dot about 100 meters distant, right on the very edge of it's EFS feature. Willow's ears perked up and swiveled southwards, Flashpoint's, Eggshells, and finally Cirro's followed suit a moment later.
"Sounds like a big cat." Cirro proclaimed anxiously, taking a few steps back as Nikolai scanned the snow banks and rocky crags. The growling-hissing noise grew more noticeable, though no one except Nikolai knew what it meant. He had spent enough time watching alley cats fight in the streets of Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia to know that something was about to pounce out of the snow bank-He spotted a glint of blue light off a feline pupil just in time to bring his rifle up and empty half the magazine, the air around him swelled with the acrid smell of fire and gunpowder. He heard a bank of snow and ice begin to crunch and crack above them.
"Scatter! Run for the end of the pass!" Things escalated so fast that forwardmost parts of the avalanche he had started were already at his boot heels by the time he had broken into a dead sprint through the frozen mud and muck. The noise behind him grew deeper and louder, until it sounded like a freight train was bearing down on them. Nikolai's weapon light bored a glowing tunnel through the darkness, and twenty seconds later they were out of the area of effect-And all looked like they had just emerged from a powdered sugar factory in the wake of nuclear war. The Stalker patted himself down and vigorously rubbed his hands together for warmth.
"I would say that went pretty well!" As the frigid cloud began to thin out, Nikolai realized that most of his compatriots were nowhere to be found.
"Flashpoint? Hey! Eggshell!?" A dumbfounded looking white face poked itself up and out of a snow drift just a few meters off to Nikolai's right. The Stalker ignored her for a moment and called out for his zebra friend. He hollered and stomped around and kicked snow underfoot until he spotted a pair of yellowed eyes and black stripes contrasting against a sparkling white background.
"That was wild!" Cirro commented. "Just like the snowstorms the weather ponies used to pull through my town!" Nikolai's right eyebrow curled up and set his hands on his belt. The Stalker's breath curled up and out of his warm body as frost began to form on the tips of his jacket hood.
"Let's find someplace out of elements. Being tired and falling asleep is fun-Being tired and miserable from cold and hunger-Eh... Not so much! Yes?" He took a knee and pounded Flashpoint on the back. His friend smiled weakly and tried unsuccessfully to return the gesture. Nikolai circled an index finger in midair and pointed eastwards.
"Let's go." He flexed his dry lips and took the lead. His hurried demeanor was part enthusiasm and part drive to get out of the snow as fast as possible. He was plains Slav. Not a mountain Slav.
As they came down from the crest of the pass the snow began to quickly thin out, the pass widened out into a large gully. Nikolai gestured for them to close in on a grove of dead pine trees. They settled in, made camp in the pitch black darkness, and were asleep in a moment before they could even start a fire. They all woke up shivering and miserable-Except Cirro, of course. No dreams, no nightmares. They ate their breakfast cold while Nikolai fooled around with his PDA and tried to work out the way back to the highway.
"Ok. We are kilometer from main road. This is good, yes?" He tapped his watch, and turned back to Flashpoint, then looked over at Willow and slipped his mask on over his head. His zebra friend hacked and coughed. Nikolai noticed the little dark wisps around his friend's ears immediately as being the first early onset symptoms of frostbite. He needed to lead his group to a warmer elevation as quickly as possible. Zebra's naturally had thinner hides meant to ward off heatstroke on the dry savanna grasslands of their home continent to the far south. Nikolai had heard a little bit about it from the Zebra cultists he had met a while back, and African Safari was all he could think about as he and his group winded their way down the east side of the pass back to the highway. The snow turned to a slogging muck, and then a miasma of crumbling granite- before finally turning to firm dirt, and then, at last-solid asphalt. Nikolai redonned his gas mask and stopped to pant and curse the muscles he puled in his legs. He counted his blessings, surveyed the path ahead, and fell into a lazy walking pace beside Flashpoint, who coughed from time to time and chatted sparsely back and forth with Willow.
"I do not know about you, but I love having a full stomach." Nikolai commented. "Willow, you know... I still remember that pork-thing you served me when I first met you." The thestral silently cursed his own hunger. He hadn't had a drop of blood for days now, and he was beginning to feel the shock from it, though he didn't want Nikolai or Flashpoint worrying about him any more than they already did. Cirro examined one of the holes in his side.
"Call it a hunch but I don't think I'm gonna be needing lunch." Nikolai laughed childishly at the rhyme. "Yes, yes. Eating is fun. But I would say that being immortal is probably pretty cool too, yes?"
"I've been awake for two days now, and I haven't felt a single hunger pain. I haven't felt any pain either. I drank some murky water earlier that was making your rad counter-"
"Geiger counter." Nikolai corrected, the road was beginning to slope down again, into a river valley dotted with little dilapidated farmhouses and lines of dead trees. Took a knee in the center of the road and looked around. "This all looks fairly pleasant." He turned back to his compatriots and whispered: "Be on guard, we will walk on side of road from here on out."
Yet as they crossed the valley, no raiders or monsters rose from the ditches or structures, no snipers made a move to pick them off, and no mines threatened to permanently sever their legs from the rest of their bodies. They walked in silence, even Eggshell seemed to be in a lull, her ears were poised directly ahead of her in their usual resting position.
"These mountains used to be beautiful." Cirro remarked. Nikolai pointed at the ash crested peaks. "It is a different kind of beauty now. You must adapt Cirro, as I did back in my own world. Otherwise, you will not make it very far. But what does that matter!?" The valley was beginning to narrow in again for the final crest over the Canterhorn mountain. Just this one more pass and they'd be home free for the coast. So of course the resident Stalker had to go and shoot himself in the foot. His attempt at caution failed, hard.
*Crack!* A bullet from an unseen source zipped through Cirro's nice, and the ghoul stood there in shock for a moment, another shot stuck him in the shoulder. The ghoul stumbled in a daze, before Nikolai scooped the walking corpse up in his arms and jumped into a ditch that wouldn't offer them much of any protection unless they squeezed right up against the dirt. Willow and Flashpoint both turned their guns on the sniper, hidden partially by a rocky crag about 150 meters away from them up on a crest. A beeping noise ran up and down the drainage ditch.
"Other ditch! Other ditch!" Nikolai cried, he rolled out of the hole in the ground just as a series of mines threw plumes of dirt up into the air.
"Hey, quit it-Will ya!?" A voice shouted. "You'll get yourselves killed! Everypony! Stop. Shooting!" The voice demanded again. Dirty unicorn mare clad in a jumbled mess of homemade metal armor, a pump action shotgun lay slung around her neck on a sling, and she wore an ammunition bandolier that looked almost brand new. Nikolai turned his gun on her, panting heavily. Flashpoint, Willow, Cirro all looked around, completely bewildered as to why their foes had stopped shooting so quickly. Nikolai stepped forward to greet the stranger, his heart rate shot up. Willow could hear it in his ears. It made the primal part of his brain furious. But he kept his emotions and hunger from boiling over, he bit his own lip and sighed shakily.
"Hello! Name is Nikolai!" The Stalker offered his name, keeping the muzzle of his gun just inches off the mare as he gripped it in one hand, and used the other to gesticulate to the stranger with the shotgun that they meant no harm. It was a lie, of course. The Stalker was certain that Cirro would have some pretty strong feelings when it came to Nikolai trying to make peace all of a sudden.
Nikolai did not want to make concessions with this random thug who had just gone soft on them, but ammunition cost money, and friends were irreplaceable. He was after money, not body bags. If this random pony wanted to call off an ambush to talk with him, that was completely fine by him.
"Who are you?"
"Achromatic Reins." Nikolai scratched his chin and glared back at Flashpoint then turned back to Achromatic, "You wouldn't happen to be related to a unicorn named Amber Reins, would you?" Flashpoint asked her. The mare toyed with the dirt underhoof. "Amber?" The mare asked Flashpoint. "You know her?"
"Know her!?" Nikolai exclaimed, throwing up his hands. "She abused my kindness and then tried to kill him. Is she your sister... Your daughter?" Achromatic furrowed her brow and paced around them, Nikolai turned to meet her her every time, his eyes focused on that shotgun. Willow's ears darted from direction to direction. They weren't alone. He could sense-And smell, warm bodies in the fields around them, as far out as the treeline. Achromatic was clearly being generous in coming forward and offering to stop shooting first.
"Look," Nikolai changed the subject. "We do not mean you any ill-Our ghoul friend will pull through. If you leave us be, we will go away in peace! No more shoot!"
"Honest mistake." She said quickly. "Some of my band aren't quite as welcoming as I am. A few of the meaner ones are right out of Filly." Achromatic lowered her head and trotted forwards towards Flashpoint. Nikolai stepped in between him and her and crossed his arms. "Do you mean Fillydelphia?" The Stalker urged Achromatic to answer his question.
"Whatdaya-Ah..." She smiled wickedly." I understand-It's just that we's was a lil' hard pressed for some new farmhooves. Pony's gotta do what a pony's gotta do." Nikolai shrugged. "Ok... So, can we go? And you no try shoot us in back?" Throughout the conversation, Nikolai's stance had eased into a posture not unlike a bored Ukrainian GI guarding some remote supply depot. He cradled his rifle in his arms like a little puppy, shifting his feet back and forth and whistling to himself in the meantime.
"No, no!" You look tired! Come stay with us! We're just down the road! It'd be no problem!" Nikolai was evidentially skeptical. His mind raced as he weighed his two options. They could walk away right now and risk being shot in the back, or they could go with Achromatic and follow her side by side. Whist the former was far from a good idea, it seemed to Nikolai that it was their best shot-pun not intended, at a peaceful resolution. Flashpoint was left to try and keep Eggshell and Cirro under control as best as he could, Cirro still couldn't believe he had been shot twice in normally lethal spots and didn't feel a thing, and Eggshell was whining from the loud noise, she wasn't accustomed to hearing gunfire.
"Are you guys ok with this?" Willow looked distant, and Flashpoint turned his eyes on him and gave Nikolai his best strained look. Cirro looked a bit out of it, Nikolai walked over and edged his left index finger towards him until the ghoul reacted.
"Yeah! Yeah! I'm just fine! Don't worry Nikolai, these folks sound like they've got their stuff in order-let's hear them out." The Stalker stuffed his hands in his pockets and waved everyone forward. "Ok, I suppose we can go on this little 'side quest'! Davay, we go!" They were off and away as quickly as they had arrived.
The air was all quiet as they forded the final mountain highway pass and came to the eastern crest of The Canterhorn Mountains. To Nikolai, it was like a drearier version of the Carpathians in wintertime. Shades of grey and brown and sickly yellow everywhere. Winding roads snaked their way through the wilderness like little dead snakes, devoid of any life. Power plants stood beside the decaying hulks of shattered skyscrapers and seemingly endless towns that stretched out all the way to the far horizon.
To their southwest, the pink glow of Canterlot was still barely visible through the haze, along with dozens-nigh, hundreds of other craters across the landscape. Ever present was that magically wound overcast sky. Nikolai fixed the brow of his coat hood. He had still somehow managed to outpace every single pony there. Which was odd, because he really hadn't tried too.
"This place is brown. Like rest of Wasteland. Just with more stuff to break up brown, seriously-I go through Everfree forest like last week. Absolute хаос chaos, let me tell you! But! Nice and clean and green!" The members of Achomatic's entourage drew up facial expressions consistent with both amusement among some, apathy among others, inquiry with some, and silent terror among a few. Achromatic pushed her way through the crowd of bloodshot eyed, disgruntled thugs.
They were led down the other side of the mountain, Achromatic gestured to a raised freeway on ramp about a kilometer away. No one chatted with anyone else, and besides a small mutated mole, no commotion arose on their way to Achomatic's not so humbled walled in ranch compound. Nikolai spotted the plume of smoke and the guard towers long before he saw the actual compound. It was the biggest structure around, with it's front gates facing westwards. And low walls that fenced in multiple sad looking pastures teeming with long dead grass.
"Is quite impressive operation you have here." Nikolai told Achomatic, who grunted in agreement. "Built it all up from the ground up, glad ya like it... I guess." Nikolai studied the walls, and caught a stomach rumble from Willow.
"Hungry?" He asked the thestral, spinning back around on one heel so fast he startled one of the tried earth ponies who'd been with their 'guide'. "How so? Do you need b-"Willow stuttered suddenly, tugging the portions of his cloak around his wings.
"Breakfest!" He replied loudly. "No thanks Nikolai, I already ate, I'm not hungry, don't you go worrying about me-You take care of yourself first-You're bigger, I'm sure you need more calories." The Stalker laughed heartedly and tugged on the belt loops of his pants. "Hoho! I not fat, I not overweight! I dig potato in summer for cry out loud!" He dramatically threw his hands up in the air and shook his fists at the heavens, then laughed cordially at the thought. A unicorn off to his right twitched, and Nikolai ushered Eggshell closer to himself as they approached the front gates of Achomatic's ranch.
"Willow? Flashpoint? Cirro? Try not to lag behind." Nikolai's radio played out the opening tunes of, "Rocky Mountain High". To no reaction from anyone around him, as they passed the gates, they were met by about a dozen burly and unsavory looking earth ponies milling about in cattle runs, a few of them were shuffling about with cages in various stages of disrepair hooked up to carts made from the bodies of wrecked cars.
"Want a snack? We've got plenty to eat." Achromatic insisted. Nikolai waved the inquiry away.
"So Nikolai? You're the leader of your little group?" The Stalker thought about it for a moment. He kicked up a bit of reddish dust as he whistled along to the tune coming from his radio. "Da- I mean yes, I am. Why would you need to ask this? I thought it was apparent. My mother never pegged me as natural leader, but I take on role anyhow!"
"Hmm-Well, I reckon then we've gotta get you all situated and the like up in the big house. Follow me- I've got someone who might like to meet you. Nikolai tossed his rifle into his right hand and rolled his shoulders to readjust the straps of his rucksack.
The Stalker thought back to the 'grey man' talk he had had in his head the other day, he most certainly did not blend in with the average resident of this world. Though none of the ponies who had led them to this random farm seemed to care. None of them had bothered to ask. It was like they just thought he was some kind of mutant. Which to be fair, was a common occurrence upon first contact. It seemed to him that there were now only two ways ponies would react to him on first sight. Well, more like four. One, he would be pegged as a monster or some kind of belligerent, or perhaps an easy victim and be attacked on sight, two, ponies would flee in terror. Three, he would be greeted with nonchalant neutrality, or, his favorite one: He would be perceived as the 'hero of the day' or a fellow comrade in arms. The Stalker slung his rifle on his shoulder.
"Wait Achomatic, everyone?" He gestured to his friends. "Stay together, no go missing. Find safe spot outside ranch house and wait for me." He crept up to Willow and added quietly, "If you hear the eh... Gunfire, you are free to go all 'crazy horse murder machine', yes?" He gave the thestral a firm thumbs up and a pat on the head.
The house was a low, single story brick structure with a tarnished tile roof. A non discrete unicorn with a long gun sat atop it, smoking a cigarette. It struck Nikolai just how similar the stallion looked to the one he had shot back in Grass Valley. They passed through gate in a high fence topped with barbed wire. He looked off in the distance, east, across one of the pastures. He noticed a half dozen downtrodden ponies being led behind a red barn by a pair of fellows that seemed to fit the profile of 'raider' better than almost anyone else here. The ground here was moist in places. He lifted his boot out of curiosity to examine the sole, and noticed the red-yellow puss-like goop dripping from it. Saying nothing, he wiped it off on an overturned tractor wheel and kept walking. Achromatic seemed to give no fret to any of it. Though Nikolai noticed that she was more up and alert than she had been out on the open road.
Then off to their right a shrill scream of terror rose up for a split second before it was silenced by a loud 'thud' noise. It made the hairs on the back of The Stalker's neck stand up and his knees stiffen. But he said nothing. Nikolai kept on walking. This group of fellows out here on this ranch seemed a bit more brutal than those in the other settlements he had passed through to be sure. But given that they had abruptly stopped shooting at them and even allowed them to accompany them to what Nikolai presumed was their homestead. He desired to at least hear them out. The same was he had done back in Salt Cube City with it's glorified mafia, the same way he had done with the Zebra Zealots, the same way he had talked though things with Willow and then The ghouls in Canterlot. He was good at this in spite of his accent and loud demeanor. Even though every fiber in his being was screaming that this place looked like a wild west version of a World War 2 concentration camp.
He could do this. He could turn this into a good thing, he only needed to try, and these little equines would listen to him. Or it would devolve into a shout match. Either way, he would get some kind of decent response. Once he was behind closed doors with Achromatic and her associates, he could strike up a real conversation and pressure her for whatever information he needed. They passed through the threshold of the house and turned into the dinning room, there, at the end of a long table, with stools arrayed along either side- The wall paper seemed to be in surprisingly good shape, a far cry from the carpet underfoot which held dozens of stains.
"Is nice place you have." The Stalker commented. Achromatic took a seat ahead of Nikolai and motioned for him to sit down as well, he examined his chair for a moment, then took a seat and examined the table space around himself. Achromatic stomped her right hind hoof against the floor twice, and two mares hurried out, one with platters of food, and the other with various bottles of alcohol. Nikolai heard a gunshot outside, and one of the 'servant' mares quickly rushed to close the window shutters. Nikolai examined the meal, prodding it with a fork.
"Is something wrong?" Nikolai laughed, and removed his mask. Drinking in for the first time the dusty acrid smell of the place.
"Yes, do you have any salt?" Nikolai rapped his knuckles on the table.
"Yes, I do." Achromatic beamed at him. The Stalker moved to grab the salt shaker while his host began to ask him questions, Nikolai folded his hands and tapped his foot along to the music rising up from his radio.
"What are ya? Because ya sure aren't a pony." The Stalker cleared his throat. "I am a... Well, look at me."
"Some kind of mutant monkey then? Because you look like a monkey." Nikolai's brow curled downwards, and snatched away the salt shaker.
"And you look like a horse!" The drunken gunman in his mind shouted. Thankfully none of those words left Nikolai's mouth. He rested his head on the palm of his right hand and tapped his foot. "Human, I am a human. And no! Do not say 'ho-man' I have heard enough of that crap to last whole lifetime!" Achromatic snickered.
"I might be the only one in this whole operation with any kind of phonics skills. Some ol' stallion taught me how to read 'n right just fine." Nikolai's eyes crisscrossed the room, examining every facet of it. The walls were arrayed with old china cabinets-All lacking china, of course. "What happened to him?"
"He's dead. Radsnake tore him in half." Nikolai held up a gloved hand. "Hold on, back up! Rad-Snake? You're telling me there is big mutant rattlesnake out there as well? Add to list!" He made the mock motion of checking something off on an imaginary clipboard.
"Can I-May I kick my feet up on other chair?" Achromatic scowled, then grinned smugly. "Why the hell not? We're the only ones here. You've got better manners than any-fucking one else here." She laughed obcenely. "So you're a human? Not some kinda mutant? What the hell were you doing passing over the Canterhorn Mountains? That's some of the most dangerous ground this side of the Everfree forest." Nikolai poked again at the meal the mare sitting across from him had provided him with, she had already taken several bites of hers, and she seemed to be enjoying it.
"You broken? I'll ask you again, whatcha doing out here?" Nikolai twiddled his thumbs, and he gave her an honest response. "I want to become cap emperor of whole Wasteland!" At this declaration he stood upright and aggressively pointed up at the ceiling. Reins fell silent, and her face became difficult to read.
"You've got big ambitions then, huh?" Nikolai nodded vitally. Achromatic didn't add anything more. "Where'd you meet Amber?" She changed the subject. Nikolai scooted closer to the table. "A little ways outside of eh... Whiskey Springs, have you ever been there?" She shrugged. "Eh, once. Never much liked it. Though I did meet this bartending stallion who invited me up to his ro-" Nikolai held up both hands and urged her to stop. "I no need detail! I get it, we move on, yes?" She laughed deviously as she finished her main course and moved onto the 'appetizer'. It was only then that she realized Nikolai hadn't taken a single bite of his food.
"Is something wrong with it? I'll take it if you don't want it." Nikolai examined it again. "Sorry, I did not mean to portray self as rude or-ungrateful, but what is this?" Nikolai began to slowly disect it, and came to a little piece of white fluff. His eyes darted from Achromatic to the plate and back again. "No seriously what the month old pelmeni is this?"
"Oh..." Her voice trailed off, remaining cheerful. "That right there, is Blank." Nikolai's right eyebrow curled upwards. "Blank? What exactly is it?" She nearly choked on her meal. "You don't know what a blank is!? You're traveling with one! All white? Dumber than a rock?" Nikolai stared at the pile of meat.
"You... You are being serious? That-That right there," He gestured to his 'meal' again. "That is chopped up and grilled pony?" His eyes widened, he could hardly believe it, The SOB in front of him... Was a genuine cannibal.
"That thing you just ate-Was that also pony?" Her sunken, bloodshot eyes cajoled him warmly in spite of the situation. "Yes, of course! Gotta get our food from someplace-and there ain't a grain to be found for miles-Why not? It's really an underappreciated taste- so full of nutrients too!" Nikolai's hands dropped down from the table, hovering just above the release buckle of his Makarov.
"That is...interesting-" He paused, he had never actually met a cannibal of any kind, and he would have been happy to keep it that way. Cannibalism was a thing from horror movies and old grandparents tales, it was nigh unheard of in the Exclusion Zone." Back to Blanks, tell me more about them." His stomach was beginning to churn with worry, but he wanted to get more information out of Achromatic first before he did anything.
"Blanks? They're like base model ponies, I don't know where the hell they came from." Nikolai had formed a crude hypothesis in his mind that he was determined to have an explanation for. "Why do you eat your fellow ponies? How would you feel if somepony-"
At this she threw her empty plate against the wall, shattering it. "You might as well get used to it because I'm not gonna let you leave.... You know... I've never had bat pony before, and Zebra! What an exotic flavor!" Nikolai jumped up from his seat and balled his fists. The servant standing by the dining room entrance watched as Nikolai hurled himself up over the table and right into Achromatic, holding her up by her shirt collar. "You piece of crap, you think you eat my friends!? What is wrong with you!?" The mares horn flared alight, but before she could make another move Nikolai socked her in the muzzle as hard as he could and pinned her up against the wall. He jabbed a finger at her. "Is that why you act so friendly!? Because you thought we would make easier prey you осел?" He dropped her on the floor and cracked his knuckles.
"You see Eggshell and think; 'ohoh! Vegas buffet!' You are sick! I no care if you starve, you not betray fellow folks trust like that!" It was then that a surprising reaction arose from Achromatic. "Go on then! Kill me! I was just trying to feed my friends. Wouldn't you do the same?" Nikolai shook his head and threatened her with his fist once more.
"Not like this!" He sneered. "Not like this! Now listen close, we are going to walk out there, make sure my compatriots are ok! Then, you will free other ponies and creatures here! Then, you will pay me 500 caps in reparations for dragging me here!"
"What? You're gonna rob me now?" Achromatic mused. Nikolai exhaled heavily and redonned his mask with one hand while holding her down with the other. "No, is reparations. You will give it voluntarily. And then, you and your group of fiends can go and kick rocks."
"And what if I don't?" Nikolai snatched up the mares shotgun and checked the chamber for a loaded shell. "Then... Hmm... How about I offer those degenerates out there you to eat!? No, no. Too cruel-I not like you, you see. I have better idea..." He took his hands off of Achromatic and held her hostage with her own gun.
"And what the fuck? Just tell me and be done with it."
"Is your whole family like this? You know... Quick lesson was all I need to turn Amber's life around." She rolled her eyes, "Fuckin' softie-" Nikolai facepalmed. "Watch language miss! Please, I try to help you out, yes? We make deal now that tables are turned?" Achromatic was a brave and violent mare, but even she was susceptible to buckshot from a meter away. If Nikolai truly desired to kill her, she'd have been mincemeat by now.
"What do you want?"
"For you to make a better life for yourself. You already have respect of your-Eh... Thugs, so why not teach them to be positive force in world?" She snickered and crossed her forehooves. "No thanks, I ain't no softie goodie four hooves. "Here is idea, instead of eat random ponies-You offer services to them to protect them and escort them- Make bunch of caps-Then boom! All the healthy food... Whatever that is like out here, you want! Good idea! Yes? Plus... Make allies and dependable customers in process!"
"You sound just like Mr. Salt, you know that-Right?"
"Yes-But I no give out magic bombs for free." Achromatic stumbled back up to her hooves and touched her muzzle, grunting in pain from the bruise Nikolai had left on it. "Why couldn't we just take their money and enslave them, wise ass?"
"Because that does not get you reliable customers!" He made a finger gun in her direction. "Look, you do not really have choice here-" The two were interrupted by the sounds of inconsistent hoofsteps and vulgar shouting outside on the porch. A second later a fetid forehoof poked itself inside.
"Hey Nikolai-" Cirros eyes went wild at the eloquently prepared equine remains on the table, they flickered and fluttered rapidly. "Hey Nikolai-" He began again. The pegaus ghoul would never be able to finish his sentence.
*Boom!*
One moment, the chipper cadaver was standing in the doorway and the next-his head was a mess on the walls, ceiling, and floor. The .30 Caliber round had spared nothing. The Stalker stood there for a moment in complete silence. The ghoul was gone... Just like that. Achromatic's servant was gone now.
"You want meal to feed friends with?" Nikolai said coldly, "Go on." His legs felt like rubber, he slumped backwards into Achromatic's seat. It was like the world had gone silent. Except for his damned radio, which had begun to play Bandit Radio. The Stalker found a loose Vodka bottle in his rucksack and downed a whole third of it, wiping his dry lips with his jacket sleeve. "Ah, Achromatic, Cirro!" He proclaimed loudly, setting the bottle down.
"You did not even know one another, you could have been friends! Pally pals! But no! Asshole sniper outside have to ruin occasion!" He muttered a quick prayer under his breath and stuffed the bottle back into his pack, he stood up, and began to walk away. He realized that he was still carrying Achromatic's shotgun. He turned back to look at the mare one last time.
"One star!" He shouted at her, raising his middle finger. "For killing friend and eating potential friends, cyka!" He edged his way around Cirro's lifeless body and stomped out onto the front porch, he unslung his rifle nearly overrode the safety selector. There was no more time left for anger or melancholy, those would come later. Right now, he needed to get to his friends and get them as far away from this place as possible.
"Willow!? Flashpoint!? Eggshell!?" He got no response in turn. He turned and looked up at the rooftop. His arms and legs passively throbbed from days of walking, he found an improvise staircase and climbed his way up to the ranch house's roof. The pony top finished his cigarettes and turned tail just in time to get a good look down the barrel of Nikolai's rifle, and the coppery sheen of the 5.56 round within.
"Sh..." Nikolai hushed him. "I need to borrow perch for moment, you no mind-I take it?" Nikolai paused for a moment, then crawled on his hands and knees over to the parapet. "Who shot that ghoul? Did you see? Did you do it?"
"Wait-Who are you?"
"A tipsy Slav with a gun." Nikolai replied, "I am borrowing this spot. You may have it," Nikolai tore the stallion's rifle away in one fell swoop, "And this, when I am done." The pony was admirably angered, but at the very least he seemed to understand that any attempt to retrieve his weapon would be met with a bullet to the head and a very bad day. Nikolai restrained him, and went back to scanning the ranch for any sign of his friends.
Willow was nearing his breaking point. He had gone for days without any nutrition. His bone dry fangs craved any equine blood he could sink his fangs into. He and Flashpoint had led Eggshell into a small barn adjacent of one of the cow runs near the ranch entrance. Cirro had ventured out to check on Nikolai not four minutes earlier, they had heard gunfire less than a minute later. Willow winced in pain again as little beads of sweat ran down his furry face. Thestral hunger was not like the starvation of a regular pony, being deprived of nutrition for any other creature is painful, to be sure, but it's a whole different level with bat ponies. They depend on the blood of others to keep themselves alive, he could feel the life slowly beginning to leave his body, and Flashpoint-and even Eggshell noticed it.
"Are you ok? Willow?" Flashpoint cast a worried look over his friend's shoulder. "No-Yes! I'm fine!" He growled, his wings twitched and spasmed slightly. He shut his eyes and did his best not to quiver. "Where is Nikolai? Where's Cirro? What are they up to? Are they alright?" He tried to distract himself the way he had done only once before in his life. The supersonic crack of a suppressed gunshot broke the silence and his ears snapped to the instantly recognizable sound of his Stalker friend's rifle. Two more shots followed quickly after, and the squelching noise of his worn boots as they dashed their way through the muck outside and into the barn were almost enough to bring tears to Willow's eyes.
"Nikolai." He croaked. Flashpoint smiled grimly at his friend as he galloped up to him and asked him about Achromatic, then about Cirro Wisp.
"He-" The Stalker spotted the silhouette of a pony standing in the doorway at the opposite end of the barn. He heard a bang and saw a flash as he brought up his rifle up and swept the general area of the silhouette with bullets, sending it tumbling over. Just above the radiation trefoil patch on his left arm, he felt something wet and warm trickle down his sleeve. Nikolai's adrenaline had shot through the roof after he had consumed all that Vodka back up in the ranch house. The wound had opened up a portion of his old .44 scar that he had received back in Whiskey Springs.
"Ow." He said absentmindedly, staring down at the little bits of red coating his jacket arm as he dropped his gun on it's sling and began to quickly apply a tourniquet.
"Oh no..."
The scent his Willow's senses like a storm. AB Positive Blood, it was the most wonderful thing he had ever smelled his whole life. He eyed Nikolai with envy as the bat pony's self control drained from his body. "How dare he keep it from me!" He thought. He stood up and bared his fangs suddenly, hissing at Nikolai as his wings snapped outwards.
"Willow? Nikolai glanced at his friend, he looked down at his wound, then back at the glinting white fangs of his batish friend. Willow's eyes shrunk to pinpricks as the awful realization sank through Nikolai's skull.
"AB Positive Blood..." Willow bolted for The Stalker so fast that all he could do was drop to the ground in the hopes that that Willow would miss his target and end up careening into the dirt behind him, the leathery wings came within millimeters of Nikolai's head. "Oh shit!" He scrambled up to his feet and tried to run when the full force of a full grown stallion smashed into his back, knocking him off balance and sending them both hurdling to the ground, Flashpoint's expression turned to one of sudden rage, and he swarmed over Nikolai, trying to pull his friend off.
Willow hissed at Flashpoint as Nikolai held onto Willow's head with both hands to keep him from sinking his fangs into his neck. The barbs on his wings tore at Nikolai's jacket like little grappling hooks as the wounded Stalker. He grabbed ahold of the trigger of Willow's shotgun and fired off a round just centimeters from his right ear, Willow screeched in pain and doubled back.
"Let's go!" The Stalker shouted at Flashpoint and Eggshell, scrambling to his feet while Willow writhed on the ground, it wouldn't be long before the poor desperate bat pony came to his senses. The trio bolted for the barn entrance, and were met with an armed mob of two dozen ponies, all looking every bit as furious as Achromatic had been. And, speaking of Achromatic-She was in the crowd as well, carrying a pistol in her maw. As the mob advanced on them, Nikolai swapped the fire selector level all the way down to full auto, and Flashpoint raised the guns on his battle saddle while Eggshell simply went and cowered behind the biggest friendly creature there, which just happened to be Nikolai.
All of a sudden the atmosphere in the barn grew dead silent, Flashpoint had felt little bits of wind blowing through the cavernous space before, but now it felt like it had just dropped a whole 10 degrees in temperature. It may have been the result of blood loss, but Nikolai could swear that he could watch the shadows growing longer, reaching out over every surface like a mass of inky tentacles that consumed the environment around them. Out of the darkness a figure rose above the crowd, the crests of two leathery wings complimenting a pair of piecing yellow eyes glowing with ravenous hunger, the feline pupils were trained exclusively on Nikolai, completely ignoring the crowd and the body of the sentry beside him.
"Is that..." Shocked murmurs bubbled up from the crowd, and they all collectively backed away, one of them, a younger stallion, threw himself on the ground and began to whimper. Someone grabbed him by his leather armor and pulled him back into the crowd. This group of jaded cannibals' had gone from a witch lynching mob to a flock of scared sheep, The thestral curled downwards in a deadly arch towards Nikolai. The Stalker bended his knees and raised a pair of open hands in a wrestling stance. In half the time it took for him to blink the shadowy figure of his friend was at his arm, he sunk his fangs into Nikolai's forearm.
"Agh!" Nikolai almost collapsed from the pain. He didn't know what he could do. Willow was right there, wetting his fangs in pure ecstasy. Nikolai struck his friend across the chin, which only seemed to make his predatory instinct kick in all the more. What else could he do? He couldn't shoot his friend, he couldn't let anyone else shoot him either. He had only known Willow for a few weeks, but yet-He almost couldn't imagine life without him. The thestral would all to likely unashamedly and enthusiastically murder anyone who got in his way. Nikolai remembered his winged friend's odd behavior over the past half week. He knew enough about Willow to know that he was a tough nut to crack, he would not have snapped simply from the smell of Nikolai's blood, or would he?
All these thoughts sprinted through Nikolai's mind in the span of a half second, Nikolai threw down his rucksack and dove for the floor, he shook off his right handed glove as Willow hissed and snarled in violent joy. Nikolai fumbled around in his backpack until he came to the thing he was after, a hefty lead lined and sealed cylinder. He opened the top, and, not thinking, pried it out and swung it across his torso and into his left arm with all the force he could muster, just above Willow's muzzle.
The necromantic crystal sparkled and hummed patiently with magic. The little rock froze in place less than a millimeter from the Stalker's bare skin. The harsh pink glow caused the shadows in the room to retreat and arc up towards the heavens. Flashpoint backed up with Eggshell in tow as every single pony there watched with amazement. Nikolai's body went into shock for a moment, whether from blood loss or from the magical crystal he couldn't tell. His Anomaly detector spiked and beeped. Nikolai's vision wandered and blurred.
He snapped to attention at the sound of a sudden spike in the volume of a song that had been playing on his radio, slowly swelling with emotion and volume;
"He spoke to me with a voice so sweet, I thought I heard the shuffle of an angel's feet...
he called my name and my heart stood still,
when he said 'John go do my will'...."
Nikolai's mind snapped back into focus, he looked over and saw the crystal, sitting on the ground beside him, and Willow, blood dripping from his fangs. The Stalker picked his head up off the ground, everything sounded compressed in his head. Willow's face was... Difficult to look at. "Willow?" . He waited two seconds that felt like a whole minute. "Willow?" He asked again grabbing the Pink Cloud crystal with his left hand.
"Willow...?"
Willow couldn't answer, he couldn't even bring himself to look at Nikolai, or Flashpoint or anyone else. He dropped eyes and began to sob uncontrollably. He wanted to crawl into a corner of some cave somewhere and die.
Then, he felt something on his side, he gulped and swallowed and gagged, something heavy was pressing down on his mane. It pulled him foreword, and he didn't fight it. Tears ran down his face in little, pitiful rivulets. He couldn't stop them, he couldn't. He sat there, curled up in the fetal position. He didn't to dare move or look up. After an eternity, he finally worked up the courage to crack open one of this eyelids to get a look at whatever it was.
And there he saw Nikolai's face, smiling at him weakly. The bat pony shut his eyes again, Nikolai wiped Willow's tears as more came to take their place.
"It's ok Willow, I forgive you." Willow didn't answer. And Nikolai didn't ask him for one, he just pulled his nocturnal friend in closer and tucked his narrow equine face up against his dirty plate carrier. "It's ok. It's ok." He repeated over and over again as Flashpoint joined in.
"I've got you."
"We've got you."