Remnant Shadows

by Merchent343

Chapter 4

“Wake up, Valera!”

That voice instantly brought the mentioned STALKER out of his dreams and into the real world. Stepa seemed to be saying something to him, but in his semi-awake state, it only registered as a mumble.

“What?” He asked, a bit dazed.

“I said that there is something behind the wall of the cave!” The Merc said. He held his GP-37 in his right hand, pointing at the wall with his left. It was directly opposite the entrance to the small chamber. Valera quickly switched on his light in time to notice that the only thing lighting up the cavern were the dying embers of the fire, plus the Merc’s flashlight.

Valera got to his feet and picked up his TRs-301. Months of time in the Zone had trained him in the art of quickly going from sleep to awake, even if he had only had a few hours of it. By the time on his PDA, it had been only six hours of sleep, hardly enough time for a normal man in these conditions, but good enough for him.

Now that he shone his light on it, he could see that the rock of the side of the cavern was a slightly different shade than that around it. It looked completely natural, but…

… So did many areas of the Zone.

“What did you see?” Valera asked.

Stepa shook his head. “I heard what sounded like scuffling behind the rock face, but that doesn’t seem possible.”

“By any chance,” Valera asked. “Do you speak Ukrainian or Russian?”

“I don’t.” Stepa said. “I speak English, Czech and fragments of German.”

“Damn, that would have made this easier on me.” Valera said. “English may be my second language, but it’s not one I use often.”

“You speak it well enough.” Stepa commented.

Valera shook his head. “Focus on the situation.”

With that, they both focused on the wall for a moment, warily waiting for something to happen. Twenty seconds later, when nothing did, Valera relaxed, and so did Stepa.

“Is your name really Stepa? That’s uncommon, even here.” Valera said.

“I had strange parents.” Stepa quipped. “Sometimes, I think they would have been much happier in the Ukraine than in the Czech Republic.”

Suddenly, the rock wall they had so intently studied seemed to shift. A section of the wall six feet tall and four feet wide was sliding backwards, in a perfectly rectangular area. It then slid sideways, revealing a dark cave which Valera and Stepa quickly focused their lights on.

Staring back at them was a small group of blue dots, which, upon further study, were connected to strange, twisted back creatures. They filed out of the hole and to the sides of it, forming a line. Three more stepped forward, regarding the STALKER and the Merc with curious eyes.

“What the fuck is it?” Valera asked, his rifle pointed at the new arrivals.

“I don’t fucking know!” Stepa hissed out, keeping his gun pointed at them as well.

The black thing at the front of them looked for a second further, before they could hear it take a deep breath, apparently doing to say something.

“Greetings.” It said in English, shocking Valera with the precision it delivered the word. “I am Obsidian Cloud, and I would like to extend to you an invitation from our Queen for a… ‘Visit’ would be the best word.”

“Did it just talk?” Stepa said moments later, staring at it.

“It did.” Valera confirmed. “Switch to radio and close off external sound.”

“So, how do we respond?” Stepa asked over the radio.

“How the hell should I know?” Valera demanded.

“You’re better at communication than I am.”

“That is with human beings! And they rarely work out well in the Zone!”

“How about this:” Stepa said. “We follow them, and, if they try to harm us, we start mowing them down.”

A few seconds passed before Valera responded. “That’s actually a good idea. I’ll tell those things.”

They both switched off the radio and Valera turned to the twisted form of the thing. Now that he thought about it, he could recognize some traits from horses on Earth. Maybe these were distant relatives of the ‘Ponies’ that supposedly ruled the land.

“We will follow you. But if you try anything, you will die.” Valera said.

The thing nodded its head. “I understand. Follow us.”

The strange things began to go inside of the hole in the rock and, with some hesitation, Valera and Stepa followed. It led into a tunnel six feet wide and around eight feet tall, thankfully big enough for them. The tunnels were lit with small amounts of green crystals that glowed dimly, emitting light. Valera tensed when he saw them, for seeing that glow reminded him of the highly corrosive chemical Anomalies in the Zone, often called ‘Fruit Punch’.

“Why are we even going along with this, Merc?” Valera asked.

“Because we’re stuck in the middle of a fucking desert, and these things might have something interesting to say.” Stepa responded.

Valera shrugged. “Beats any explanation I have to hell.”

They continued following the clear forms of… Whatever they were down the hall. Valera supposed that nothing made any sense right now. Regardless, he had already set his automatic mapping unit to take a map of the tunnels they were traveling in, along with whatever it could catch of the side tunnels they occasionally passed.

“Stepa, I am going to send you my mapping data. Can you send yours to me?” Valera asked.

The Merc nodded. “Syncing between our PDAs in three… Two… One.”

Instantly, Stepa whistled. “You have some good mapping equipment.”

Valera nodded. “It cost too many Rubles, but would have saved me if I found a lab. I suppose this is another situation much like a lab, although I have never seen an entire world inside of one.”

“Neither have I. Then again, I have never been in a lab, or another world.”

Conversation ceased as they traveled through the cave. Several side passages showed themselves from time to time, and they passed through several other empty chambers, but otherwise nothing much happened. They occasionally passed other creatures in the halls, always of the same type.

They mostly looked alike, with grey-black bodies. They all had insect-like wings, and a jagged horn on the top of their heads. One or two wore a midnight blue armor, and the rest seemed to go around without anything. They all had light blue eyes, and those eyes literally glowed in the dark.

Their legs were riddled with holes that went all the way through, giving them a stick-like appearance. They also had fangs sticking out from their mouths.

In short, they were the strangest things Valera had ever seen, and the Zone had fortified him against seeing strange things. His worst experience had been when a blowout had caused the Apparitions normally seen around the Brain Scorcher to appear almost anywhere past the military cordon. The first one he had seen, rising out of the ground and coming straight at him, had caused him to expend a full clip of NATO rounds into it. And just when he had gotten used to them appearing and scaring the hell out of him, they stopped appearing.

Their group finally emerged into a fairly huge cavern. It stood twenty feet high, and twenty feet wide, and was around sixty feet long. At the end of it, a single, large creature waited for them. It was about twice the size of the normal ones, and sported hair that was some sort of dark shade of aqua. Valera really didn’t know: Life in the Ukrainian military did not prepare you to distinguish specific colors by name.

Most of the creatures spread out, forming into two lines on either side of the hallway. Valera an Stepa continued to walk forward, following the three who were still walking, until they stopped and stepped to the side, leaving the STALKER and the Merc to talk to whoever the large creature was…

… Alone.

“Good day.” The large creature said in a remarkably feminine voice. “I am Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings. You no doubt know that by now.”

“Should we?” Valera interrupted.

“Yes, you should.” The creature said somewhat arrogantly.

Stepa was the next to speak up. “We just arrived here from the Zone, and ‘here’ is definitely not anywhere on Earth I recognize. So, before you go assuming many things, explain to us who – and what – you are.”

The giant creature – Changeling, had it said? – sighed for a moment before continuing.

“As I said, I am Queen Chrysalis. From the moment you entered our territory, we have been watching you, and we have a proposition.”

“What is it?” Stepa asked instantly.

“You are fighters, are you not?” It asked.

Valera nodded. “That is true.”

“We are in need of fighters to preform… Special missions. If you accept, you will go out on small tasks for us.” It said.

“How much does it pay?” Stepa asked.

“Anything you wish.” It answered.

“We need to discuss this. We may come to separate answers.” Valera said, before switching to his radio and cutting off the external sound.

“Stepa, before you say anything else, I need to know what you think: Is it worth it?” Valera asked.

Stepa shrugged. “Do we have any way to get back to the Zone? Moreover, do we want to?”

“We do not.”

“Then I say: Let us do this, and see where it leads.” Stepa said with determination.

“Why are we even working together?” Valera asked.

“Because we might be the only ones who came through.” Stepa remarked. “God knows what happened to the Freedom patrol that got sucked in. We might as well do the best we can with what we have, and I don’t think wandering around a wasteland almost as bad as the Zone will be very beneficial.”

A few moments passed before Valera could think up a reply. “All right, all right, I’ll go along with this.”

They both switched to the external coms and turned off the radio.

“We accept.” Stepa said.

“Perfect.” The creature – Chrysalis, Valera reminded himself – said. “The first assignment that we would have is in one day. Can you travel within four hours?”

“All that we carry is on our backs.” Valera said. “We can start immediately, depending on what type of work it is.”

“Are you familiar with assassinations?” Chrysalis asked.

“Yes,” Stepa said. “I tend to do quite a few of them.”

“They are distasteful.” Valera commented.

“But necessary, in some cases.” It said.

Valera sighed. “I’m ready. When do we leave?”

It smiled, sending a small chill through him. “Whenever you are ready.”

“We are ready now.” Stepa said.

“Then follow the group of three that escorted you here.” It replied. “They will lead you to the team that will get you in. You are now infiltrators of the Changeling Empire.”

“Joy.” Valera deadpanned, before turning to follow the three departing ‘Changelings’.

“Are you ready for this?” Stepa asked Valera while checking over his GP-37 as they walked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” Valera replied.

Stepa smiled. “Then let’s make the best of things while we can. Opportunities like this only come once in a lifetime, or not at all.”

“Let’s just hope we don’t get the short end.” Valera replied as they walked into the darkness, with only their flashlights to keep track of the creatures in front of them.

“I hope not, either.”

Comments

[Lord Of Dorkness]

Interesting. First S.T.A.L.K.E.R/MLP:FIM fic I've read where the S.T.A.L.K.E.R in question meets Changelings first.

You get my up-vote, at least.

Here's hoping for more to come!

[Lord Of Dorkness]

Merchent343, I noticed that you don't seem to be a member of any groups. Have you considered it?

If nothing else, it's a good way to get a bit more exposure for your stories. There's even one for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.crossovers (S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Central) that could use a few more members and stories at the moment.

I know of a few others I could recommend, if your interested.

[Merchent343]

2912172
The franchise is definitely dead, the game never will be.

2912645
I am in quite a few groups, I just choose not to display them.
Among them are the 'Changelings' group and a friend's group.

To everybody else: I hope you enjoyed it so far. I was originally going to release Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 at first, but, sadly, Nazi mods. Apparently, when everybody else can publish a story that had nothing to do with ponies in the first few chapters, or the series for that matter, it's perfectly alright, but whenever my stories include so little as a direct (or several direct) references to it, the mods say "It's not related to the universe."

I hate them sometimes. Third story I've had this happen in.

[Lord Of Dorkness]

2912857

Fair enough, just thought I should ask.

On S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, wasn't the last word that the studio is trying to secure further finances, but pausing all development?

Granted, considering how they hemorrhaged people at that piece of news and how long it has bean, I must admit it seems very unlikely we will see the game finished.

[Merchent343]

2912930

Yep, that's accurate. They had developed it, on their own funding, until they could no longer. Now they are working on a 'spiritual sequel' called Survarium. It's supposed to be a STALKER-like MMO, but I don't really know.

2913000

Thanks.

[shtbird]

CHEEKI BREEKI IV DAMKE!

[PoisonSt]

I like it so far, but there are a few mistakes here and there. Also Stepa isnt an uncommon name. It is short from Stepan which in English is, as you guessed, Stephan. And Valera is short for Valeriy. (Sorry if I am bothering you with stuff you already know.)

[Merchent343]

2914543

I don't think Twilight has glowing blue eyes.

2913640

Eh, for a Czech Merc? It's probably very uncommon. Anyway, I know the name itself is common. And Valera was something that I pulled out of I don't know where. I went through several names for him in the development stages: From Misha, to Popov, and several others. I settled on Valera because it sounded right.

[Merchent343]

2920261

On the way!

[damnaion]

hummmm