//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: A Walk in the Park // Story: Reciprocity: A Metro 2033 and MLP Crossover // by MrSing //------------------------------// A Walk in the Park. Front left leg, right hind leg, front right leg, left hind leg, and then the endless cycle repeated itself again. There was nothing in the world except for the stars in the sky, the eternal snow, and an endless supply of trees and rocks that had the sole purpose of getting in my way. I had long since stopped caring about the burning in my legs or the cold that made my hooves numb. The movement of my legs felt no less natural or less compulsory than breathing. The irrational notion that I could never stop with walking, because I had simply forgotten how to rest my legs after so long entered my mind. ‘You’re going to die here.’ I bit down hard on my cheek, feeling the other wounds on the inside of my mouth flare up once again. The pain did its job and scared away the voices for a moment, but I knew that they would be back again, lingering on the verges of my consciousness, stalking my thoughts like wolves until they found the right moment to strike again. “Just get to the Hive, just get there. It will be alright, just get there.” The mantra left my mouth as little more than a hoarse mumbling, but it helped keep my mind of the hunger and despair, and focused on walking. If I just kept moving I would be out of here before I knew it, back home where I could talk to my real Sisters. Not these hateful imitations that invaded my thoughts like a disease. ‘Look up, a surprise is waiting for you.’ I sighed deeply. The pain was becoming less effective. Before, it had kept my mind safe for minutes, but now it only worked for a mere few seconds. I followed the hateful order for reasons I didn’t really understand. They just reminded me so much of my Sisters, and I felt a familiar, almost instinctual need to do as I was told. It frightened me that I felt a hint of loyalty to these imitations, loyalty that should only be reserved for the Queen. There was, after all, comfort in being told what to do by your betters. Normally I could embrace it as I did what was best for my Hive, but these voices were destructive and useless. Still, I looked up. I wish I hadn’t My old alcove was there to greet me. The air still smelled of the camp fire that had burned in it, and with hollow eyes I could see the prints that I had left in the snow when I left this place so long ago. My tired legs collapsed under me as I buried my face in the cold white blanket. I let out a muffled scream as the voices in my head laughed and taunted me. This forest would be my grave and I would never see my Sisters or Queen again. I felt the shame burning in my stomach as I lay there, unable to stand up again. I just wanted to go home, was that really too much to ask for? I was finally able to stop my embarrassing episode as I heard a noise that I could only describe as… different. It was like nothing I had ever heard before. I could feel it with my being as much as I could hear it with my ears. A strange cracking sound filled the world and the air chilled for a fraction of a moment. But what was more important than that was the wonderful aura that filled the air. Like a fire in the night I could see the energy flowing from close by. I frantically shook the snow from my nose and out of the holes in my legs as I stood up, a hesitant hope filling my heart. Everything was forgotten as I sped to the source of the energy. Even the voices stopped their cruel whispering for a moment. There was a prey in the forest. Death had a way of giving you a new perspective on life. My thoughts drifted off as I lay there, huddled up, waiting for… well, for anything to happen. Now that I looked back on my past I felt a sense of regret. The cynical and weary stalker had been right. I had been content to live my own life in my station as the rest of the world rotted. I had been working day after day in blissful ignorance, cutting and cleaning mushrooms as I talked with friends, tending the farm as music from the market echoed through the halls, drinking and eating with familiar people in the evening as we told each other horror stories around the fire, and of course, standing guard with my friend Sasha as he joked away the oppressive feeling of the darkness. As I turned over I shivered. I hadn’t really believed in an afterlife or purgatory, but I had at least expected that if such places were real there would be no ice cold water seeping through my clothes. The universe apparently felt that it wasn’t necessary to take my hopes and expectations into consideration. My thoughts went on as I finally found a relatively comfortable position. In all of my life I had never really thought that much about other stations. They were just far of places that we traded with and where sometimes terrible things happened. It had seemed so distant and irrelevant in my home. There was nothing I could do about it after all, I told myself. That opened door in the abandoned station had shattered that illusion. That door could have killed all of us as it let in the surface, and all it took from us was one push of a button to close it again. Worst of all, that door had been left open because of the hunger and despair of men from those very distant stations. Their troubles suddenly seemed a lot closer to my home. Just like the people from the Northern station that had to rely on us, we were connected like a web of interdependent stations. We were all subconsciously counting on every station to protect each other from the horrors of the world. Every time if one of us fell, it could mean the end of mankind. I wish I had realized it sooner so that I could have done… something. Anything, to help the others. Things were always clearer in hindsight. I sighed and for a moment wondered how I was still even breathing in this purgatory. My mind vaguely registered the howling of the wind around me. I grunted in irritation as I turned on my side. If this was truly the afterlife, then it was disappointingly similar to the place I had just left. I heard a strange buzzing noise and felt something prodding my arm. I yelped as my heart jumped up in fear. I quickly opened my eyes and grabbed my assault rifle, ready in case something was under the misconception that I was its dinner. A shadow, obscured by the snow and dirt on my mask, fled away. Maybe I would have been able to catch the thing disappearing out of the corner of my eye as I quickly swiped my visor clean, but what I saw made me freeze. There was no cloud in the sky and a blanket of stars greeted me, infinite and beautiful. A part of me wanted to just sit there, looking up as I for the first time in my live saw the true meaning of space. A larger part of me wanted to look away however. The sight made me slightly dizzy, even more than the clouded sky that I had been looking at mere minutes before. Besides, the sharp light that came from the moon that hung in the sky like some cosmic mercury lamp hurt my eyes. A rustling sound came from beside me. My eyes followed a trail of small and circular footprints, no bigger than a clenched fist, made up a trail of hastily kicked over snow. A pair of large blue eyes floating above a razor sharp smile greeted me as I finally saw the small creature that had fled to the cover of a surprisingly green bush. If it was hiding from me, then it did a poor job. I slowly began to rise as the snow fell of my armor, dropping on the ground with soft thuds. With frantic eyes I scanned my environment, never leaving the creature out of sight for longer than a second. A strange species of slender trees filled the environment. They were not gnarly like the few dead ones I had seen toppled over in the city. They looked alive and healthy, even with their leaves missing it seemed like they were just waiting for the chance to bloom again. Where was I? Had that anomaly in reality somehow carried me to one of the parks in the city? There were no drag marks in the snow around me, like I had just come into existence in this place. I briefly wondered if I should call out for my companions, but I didn’t want to provoke that creature that was staring so intensely at me. The rules of the surface were different than those of the tunnels and I didn’t know what moves would make me end up dead or would get me out of here. Even so, making my position known to everything that lurked up here seemed like one of the poorer choices. Step for step I carefully walked away from the being. I only dared to look in quick glances behind me as I avoided the threes and rocks in my path. For every move I made, the creature mimicked me by slowly and carefully making its way towards me. It kept a respectful distance, for now, as it stuck to the shadows and behind the trees, but I could feel that it wouldn’t last. The small obscured mutant was probably patiently waiting until I messed up and it could plunge it fangs in my throat. A soft click broke the silence of this place as I flicked off the safety of my assault rifle. My heart was beating in excitement and I couldn’t help but feel a grin slowly forming on my face. I could feel the energy in this creature even as I hid behind the bushes. It was there and just ripe for the picking. The being vaguely reminded me of a diamond dog, or a young minotaur. Energy sources that my kind was most familiar with. It let out audible choking breaths as small clouds rose from behind its strange mask. Or maybe it was really its face? It was hard to tell from the quick up-close glance I had gotten. Following the creature would be easy even if it was blatant that it was aware of my presence. The moon gave of just enough light to make its strange mix of dark clothes and small metal plates stand out in the white snow. And, even for a biped, it was incredibly slow. Though the large saddlebag and numerous bulky objects it wore on its back might have had something to do with that. I ducked behind a rock as the creature peered at me from behind one of these wooden and metal devices that it held in its trembling hands. There was no need to provoke my target too much. It would lead me to the rest of its kind eventually. I waited a few moments before I looked out from behind my hiding spot again. The creature had run away as soon as it thought that it could lose me. I let out a soft laugh, prey could be so predictable. I sniffed the air as I could easily smell the energy trail the creature had left behind. It was almost more obvious than the large prints it had left in the snow as it ran. I jumped over the rock and began to follow it with a joy in my heart that I had forgotten I could feel. A roar echoed throughout the forest, followed by a muffled scream of terror and a dozen incredibly loud explosions. My smile died on my face as I sped forwards, hitting branches and tripping over roots as I hastily ran toward the source of the screams. My worst fears were confirmed. Something had found my prey, something familiar. That cursed chimera was licking its paws as blood stained the snow beneath its legs. It looked with a confused, but hungry look on its face at my prey, who was hitting the strange bulky device in its hands as it let out an incomprehensible string of words. I felt my ears droop and my heart sink as I saw the goat head rearing back. ‘No!’ The word rang through my head. This couldn’t be allowed. After all this time in this Tartarus maze I couldn’t let my Hive’s last chance just go up in flames. My body reacted all on its own as my legs started to move. I sped up as my hooves struck the frozen ground with more strength after every step. A scream escaped from my mouth and the chimera looked at me in surprise. I slammed into the monsters side with what was left of my strength. Hot warm blood blinded me as it spilled from where I had struck the creature with my horn. I shrunk back with closed eyes as I waited for the chimera to strike me back. I wished that I could have had some significant last thoughts, or at least have sent on last message to my Sisters. But all that filled my head was fear as I waited for that fatal blow. Instead, all that I got was more blood spatters on my face as ear deafening sounds filled the air again. The mighty and terrible chimera just slumped over. Dead, just like that. I looked at the source of the noise as I rubbed the blood from my eyes. The creature held one of the smaller metal devices with wooden handles in its gloves as smoke rose from its cylindrical end. The dots connected in my head as I realized that this creature had just killed the horror of the forest. And now I had its full attention as it looked at me from behind that expressionless mask. I stared in disbelief at the monster that had attacked me. What manner of radiation had melted three creatures together into that abomination? As nightmarish as it was, it fortunately went down when shot four times in the head. But still, that thing would probably haunt my dreams for years to come. My hands trembled from the adrenaline as I pointed my gun at the shivering small black mutant that was lying next to the grotesque corpse. Aiming down the sights of my revolver I prepared myself to end this whole mess so that I could finally get on my way again. The creature was terribly wounded anyway. Holes riddled it legs and I was frankly amazed that it had been able to charge the bigger mutant with those wounds. Then it opened its eyes. They were large, almost comically so, and in those eyes I saw not the blind rage of a mutant. There was intelligence in there, and it seemed to understand the danger it was in from the revolver that I aimed at it. Doubt filled my mind and I slightly lowered my gun. Why had this mutant not just waited until I had been killed by the bigger mutant? Surely it would have known that it wouldn’t stand a chance against a creature three times its size. It made no sense at all. The creature let out a soft buzzing noise as it stood up and looked me straight into the eyes. A thought made its way into my mind. Maybe it was born out of the shock of my near death experience, or from the fact that I was all alone in an unknown part of the city. But with a strange certainty I knew that the creature must have been watching over me, helping me even. Pointing my gun to the ground I allowed the creature to make the next move in this bizarre game. The creature wiped the fresh blood from its face and stained the snow with small red droplets. It walked on steady legs, seemingly ignoring the holes in them. To my amazement, the creature extended one of its limbs to me as it looked me in the eyes with a sheepish grin. On a hunch, I crouched down and grabbed the ice cold leg, careful not to touch one of the wounds, and shook it gingerly. This seemed to please the creature as another smile formed on its face. The dagger like teeth did little to calm me down, but the look in those large blue eyes seemed strangely genuine. The creature seemed rejuvenated as it shook my hand, its dull hard skin even started to shine a bit. My gun almost dropped out of my hand as the creature began to speak. Of course I didn’t understand one bit of the strange songlike language, but it was undoubtedly talking. It looked at me expectantly, waiting for a reply I suppose. “I… I’m sorry. I don’t understand you.” I felt incredibly awkward as those words left my mouth. I was actually talking to a mutant. I wondered what Stepan and Sergei would have had to say about this creature. In all the stories of the metro this kind of mutant had never even been imagined. Sasha would probably have gotten a heart attack out of excitement from seeing a creature as strange as this. Maybe my mask had broken and I was just hallucinating as I breathed in the gasses of the surface. Still, this creature felt real, and it hadn’t attacked me. What had the radiation and bombs done to create a sentient creature with intelligence and its own language in just twenty years? Darwin would have been rolling in his grave if it hadn’t been vaporized by the nuclear bombs. The creature spouted more words at me, every sentence seemed to be in a slightly different accent, but none of them seemed familiar. I could only shake my head as the creature became more frustrated with each word that I couldn’t respond to. The mutant finally stomped the ground with one of its legs and let out a sigh. The creature prodded my chest two times with its leg and then pointed at the ground in front of me. Did it- did it just order me to stay here? The mutant kept a careful watch over me as it walked to the monstrous corpse that was lying in a growing puddle of blood. I could feel the satisfying rip of flesh as warm blood dripped down my jaws. I felt fantastic! Four months ago I would have scoffed at the energy I had stolen from the small bit of trust that the creature had given me, but now it felt more precious than all the love in Equestria. I strained as I ripped out a particularly large piece of meat from the lion part and I took some pleasure in stomping on the snake head that had caused me so much trouble before. Protests, muffled by the food in my mouth, rang out as I saw the creature standing up again. It just held out its hand in a pacifying gesture as it walked to the device that it had dropped in the fight with the chimera. With mild interest I watched it taking the deadly chunk of metal and wood apart and fidget with the small parts on the inside. It was unexpected that the creature couldn’t understand me. I had tried Equestrian, Taurus, Griffon, Diamond Dog, and even a bit of Dragon, but the creature just replied in its gruff language and with shrugs of confusion. Its species must have been completely isolated, but maybe that could work to my Hive’s advantage. If they didn’t knew about us, than they would have no way to prevent us from infiltrating them. It was perfect. My attention shifted from my meal to the creature once again as it let out a frustrated groan. I couldn’t quite see it in the dim shine of the moonlight, but it seemed to be turning a mangled piece of metal around in its hands. A small cloud escaped from its mask as it let out a harsh sounding sound and threw away the object of its irritation. With surprising dexterity, even for a creature with hands, the being started to push back the dozen of pieces it had pulled from its device. Like by magic the metal and wood had taken on its previous shape again. The creature stood up again and started to walk away from me. I let out a muffled cry as I quickly swallowed down a large chunk of flesh. The biped looked behind him and gave me a small wave before he continued to march on again. Quickly I took one more bite and jumped over the dead monster to follow the more important prey again. The masked creature looked at me as it said another foreign word, shrugged, and walked alongside me. I threw one last mournful glance at the corpse of the chimera. It was a shame to waste so much food, but this wasn’t the time to be selfish. I looked at the creature as it sometimes stared at me for a moment or said a word to me. It felt wrong to walk next to a prey while being myself. Like I had just been caught by a thrall’s family member and I would have to flee soon. I repressed the urge to disguise myself, it wasn’t like I had enough magic to do that anyway, and it would probably only make the invasion of this creature’s species more difficult if it knew of that particular ability. I jumped a bit in joy as I followed the biped’s lead. I couldn’t wait until I was finally out of this forest. I looked up at the sky again for the dozenth time since I had started to wander in this place with my mutated companion. The moon had already moved halfway past the sky and was about to slowly sink into the horizon. The initial wonder and dizziness the stars had caused me had started to slowly fade as there seemed to always be another hundred trees behind the ones I had passed. Behind the endless fence of wooden giants and rocks I still couldn’t see buildings, paths, or any sign of the city. There was no tunnel, train track, ceiling, or map, and I was free to choose wherever I wanted to go. I had never been more lost or in want of a clear direction. Desperately trying to suppress the thought that the anomaly had transported me further out of Moscow than I had thought, I turned my attention to the creature next to me. Anything was better than thinking about how my breaths slowly became more labored, and how empty the pouches that had once contained my spare filters felt. The creature was grinding its teeth and swishing its tail violently as it trotted through the snow. The frowning stares that the mutant was throwing at me with an increasing frequency were enough to make my hand move slightly to my revolver again. Maybe this was a good time to break the ice and distract my unusual companion from any murderous thoughts it might have. “Hey you.” The creature immediately stopped its frantic scanning of the woods as it stared at me with an intense questioning gaze. I felt silly for talking to something that obviously couldn’t understand me, and I almost wanted to stop and brush of the conversation as an accident. The almost human irritation in those blue eyes made that impossible. I needed to know how smart this mutant precisely was. And to be fair, I wouldn’t mind something to talk to in this empty place. “My name is Yuri.” I pointed at my chest as I slowly repeated my name again. The creature almost looked bemused as it stretched out its wafer thin, tattered wings. How would it even fly with those? I had to repeat myself five times before the creature made an attempt. “Yuri,” it said as it rolled its eyes. I was so stunned that for a moment I forgot to walk and stood still, staring at the mutant. It had said my name in a perfect imitation of my voice. The creature actually laughed as it looked at me and gave a small nod in the direction of the trees ahead of us. I shook my head in confusion as I walked ahead and the mutant followed me again. For my own sanity I decided to not think too hard about what had just happened. But still, I felt compelled to ask the obvious follow-up question. “Your name?” I questioned the small mutant as I pointed at it. My companion scoffed as it let out a melodious string of words with an annoyed undertone. Seeing the confusion on my face the creature rolled its eyes again and simply shook its head. It didn’t have one? I mentally chastised myself as I used the word “it” again. This creature was obviously intelligent, it would be wrong to call him an “it”. But still, he should at least have a name if we were going to travel together. My companion seemed to insist on that as he followed me no matter how many senseless turns I made. I kicked up some snow as I struggled to take a deep breath again. The mutant had been following me, like he was watching over me. I put my fist into my open hand with a small gasp as an idea formed in my head. “Dozor! That’s a good name for you.” I pointed to the creature again as I repeated the name slowly. “Dozor. How do you like that name?” The creature looked to the side as he sighed and somehow managed to shrug while on four legs. Unless he would come up with a better name, it would have to do as a sign of his approval. A sigh escaped from my mask as we walked on in silence again. In a small way I was actually glad that it was me that had gotten lost. Sergei and Stepan would be more than capable in negotiating with the Southern station, and I would never wish it on Sasha to get lost on the surface. It was all my own stupid fault after all. What kind of idiot just wanders around the surface without keeping his fellow travelers in sight? I kicked a rock away in frustration, watching it as it disappeared in a heap of snow. Still, even as the odds of me returning home got smaller with every breath I took, there was a small hope inside me that I would see the entrance of a metro station behind the next tree. Why was it getting so bright outside? The voices insistent whispers were clouding my mind again. Taunting and laughing as they tried to confuse me. It didn’t matter now; soon everything would be all right again. I followed my prey closely as we made our way forward, to wherever it was leading us. Or, Yuri, as it seemed to call itself. I found myself smiling at the foolish sentiment of this Yuri. I wasn’t even in disguise and still this creature had found it necessary to give me a name. I laughed softly as I looked at the prints the biped made in the snow. It was just another one of those senseless non-changeling things, I guessed. Names were mostly irrelevant for us when we weren’t hunting. You were who, or what, the Hive needed you to be. Your job was your name and if you were imitating a prey’s loved one, then their name would become yours for as long as it was necessary. On my many hunts it had always amazed me how different my prey was in that regard. Still, I found a strange joy in repeating the name over and over in my head. Dozor actually sounded kind of good, even if it was weird to have a name for myself. It must have been the boredom from following this creature as it seemed to make twists and turns that lead to nowhere in this place. My ears turned to the biped as it let out another choking cough and leaned against a tree, catching its breath. Maybe it was ill? It would explain why it was breathing so loudly. I nudged the creature softly to get it moving again. If it thought that it could just sit down and die, then it was sadly mistaken. I had not risked my life for nothing, it would just have to grin and bear it like I had to these last months. As it stumbled forward again, the sun finally began to rise. A small sigh of content escaped from my mouth as I stretched my wings out. The sun did only a little to drive away the intense cold, but it was better than nothing. At least the more dangerous predators stayed in their homes at day. My eyes trailed off to the numerous devices that hung from my prey’s saddlebags. I hadn’t sensed any magic in our fight with the chimera. Still, this fragile creature had mowed the horror down with almost no help. It must have build in some powerful enchantment in these strange weapons. It was tempting to reach out and steal one of them for the Hive to study, but it was probably better not to get on the bad side of this creature. I still needed its help after all. I heard a loud crash behind me as an ice cold blanket robbed me from my sight. Spitting out the frozen water in my mouth I screeched and shook the snow from myself. I was prepared to give the clumsy creature a dead stare that it would never forget, but concern filled me as I heard its muffled words and saw how it was shielding its face with one arm. Like it was blind, it stood up again after its crash with the tree. It swung its free arm around as it tried to get a grip on anything. More concerning however, were its increasingly loud and hysteric breaths. My teeth buried itself in my cheeks as a frown formed on my face. That mask was obviously choking it, why didn’t it take it off? As the creature fell over and started to claw at its throat, I made a decision. I plunged forward and bit down on the mask, being careful not to puncture it. An awful and unnatural taste filled my mouth, much worse than dirt or tree bark. A few strong punches landed in my side, and what could be nothing else than curse words escaped from the creature. Ignoring its protests, I yanked the choking thing from Yuri’s face. A raspy gasp filled the air as the creatures chest began to rise heavily. Between numerous coughs, the crumpled up creature rolled to its side, away from the sunlight. I recoiled in disgust as I saw its face. Most of its hair had fallen out, revealing the sickly pale and almost grey skin under it. Only a short bit of messy blonde hair was sticking out from under its helmet, and its cheeks were fallen in, like those of creatures that knew extreme hunger. The creature slowly rose again as it took in deep and greedy breaths. It’s small and sunken eyes were still closed, as it started to wildly slash around itself with a knife that it had somehow conjured up. ‘No need to thank me or anything.’ Ignoring the sour thought, I waited for a bit until the biped finally calmed down. “Yuri,” I called out to it in my best comforting voice. The biped immediately turned its knife to me, as it started to breath nervously again. “Yuri”, I almost pleaded to the creature, hoping that my voice would somehow help the situation. Resolving to violence would only make things worse I feared, this was the time for false reassurance. After a few minutes of this standoff, the biped finally sheathed its knife again, and stretched its shaking hand out. I softly bit down on its sleeve as I started to lead the creature around, hearing it mutter some words that were probably apologies. At least, it sent down another small and welcome wave of trust. “Yeah, yeah, it’s okay,” I said through a mouthful of clothing that tasted like sweat, dirt, and things I didn’t even wanted to know of what they were. Of course, nothing was okay. If my prey was trusting on me to lead it out of this place, than I didn’t know whether I should laugh or cry. If only the Queen was here, she would surely know what to do. I almost hit myself in the head as I realized how stupid I had been. I had magic again! I could just contact my Sisters and take this creature to my Queen. She would certainly be able get the information we needed from this creature. A smile formed on my face as I started to focus my mind. Slowly the voices of my Sisters, my real Sister, filled my head again. Finally I would know how to get out of my place, and more importantly, I could bring hope to my Hive again. I laughed as I pulled the clumsy biped forward again, soon we would be home.