Fallout Equestria: S.T.A.L.K.E.R

by aegishailstorm

Chapter 16: On The Road Again

Chapter 16: On The Road Again

"Снова в дороге...Я просто не могу дождаться, чтобы снова отправиться в путь! On the Road Again, I just can't wait to get on the road again!"

Nikolai went along singing a poorly adapted version of Willie Nelson's, 'On The Road Again.' As he and his Zebra companion, Flashpoint. Made their way northward and away from the horror's of Splendid Valley in hopes of finding... Well, they weren't sure what they were looking for. Just something better than what they had just been through would be prefreble.

"Nikolai, would you so do me the service so as to cease making that infernal noise?" Nikolai gave a passing shrug.

"Nyet, is good to be alive. Besides, we are out of Splendid Valley." He halted, and pointed to the rocky hills now kilometers behind them. With no large natural formations within a days walking distance of them. They had nothing but to follow the neglected highway until they came to a similarly neglected town. It was tough going, but Nikolai was scarcely happier. His stomach was full, and, for all that he had been through the past few days. He was left with just a few bruises. Pony healing technology- no, magic, was astounding to him. And he secretly found it a bit of an annoyance that he couldn't figure out what made it all work so he could sell it himself.

"We have still got hellhounds to worry about. And Raider- and who knows what else! Stop singing!"

Nikolai glanced around. Aside from a few trees, rocks, and the occasional ruined barn or homestead off in the distance, there was no place from which an ambush could possibly arise. Which was a good thing, except for the fact that it counted as a double edged sword. On one hand, Nikolai was, at his core, lazy. He preferred a straight and wide road to trying to bushwack his way across unknown territory. Plus, any hostile force trying to sneak up on himself and Flashpoint would have an incredibly difficult time doing so. More than enough for them to dive into a ditch or make a break for the hills. But then again, wide open areas meant wide sightlines. And while he doubted the average bandit or raider pony kept their weapons or their own mental fortitude in good enough shape to be able to hit anything past a dozen or so meters. As was the case with the bandits in his own world. However, he also knew never to underestimate them. Even if they were psychopaths' with broken guns and corroded blades- they were still armed, and still very, very much dangerous. Who knows? They could've broken into some armory or simply had more discipline than the average Wastelander.

"I can just look at myself. " Nikolai thought to himself, unslinging his rifle from over his shoulder and tapping the illumination feature on his scope off to save a bit of battery.

"What, did you see something?" Flashpoint asked Nikolai, growing uncertain. The Stalker responded with a quick shake of his head.

"No, no. I am just lost in thought." Flashpoint nudged his leg with a hoof.

"Well keep your eyes open. I know it might be hard to see stuff under that mask, but we both need to be on the lookout. Those alicorn's might be following us." Nikolai chuckled grimly.

"Ok, first of all, it is not all that hard to see out of these things. You get used to it after a while. And second- if those суки were still after us, they would have probably blown us both to ashes by now. They seemed pretty angry at me for even entering into their presence. And lord only knows what they were planning on doing with you!" Flashpoint shuttered, and rolled his still slightly glowing eyes.

"I don't even remember any of it. I was drifting in and out of consciousness the whole time I was being held captive in that accursed place."

"I'd hardly call that captivity. Those creatures had you strung up like a carcass!"

"Yes, and it feels good to be back on all fours again." Flashpoint responded, stretching his forelegs with a small smile on his face.

"So, here is the plan. We are going to walk until we find a civilized town." He stifled back a laugh." Hah! Civilized! In this place, my friend. I have taken to understand that here, 'civilized', means they won't shoot you on sight. Far from what it is in my world. But then again, it isn't really all that much better there." Flashpoint simply nodded in understanding, and the two continued down the desolate road in silence.

After about 3 hours of ceaseless walking, Flashpoint finally spoke up." You know, those clouds off in the distance look angry. We should find a place to stay in case it starts raining."

" Really?" Nikolai was answered with a distant groan of thunder. " Evidently, yes. As a proud Eastern European, I can say with certainty that I am no stranger to bad weather. I lived through a small storm my first day here. Though, you're right. Those clouds look worse than usual. Have I told you about the Psy Storms and Emissions from my home?"

"No, I don't think have." Flashpoint responded. Nikolai paused for a moment as he recollected his past experiences.

"Imagine a thunderstorm, but instead of rain, you have waves of psychic energy, mysterious forces, and radiation that can drive you insane and flay you to a husk with too much exposure." The zebra furrowed his brow.

"The tone in your voice makes it sound like there's more to it all." Nikolai nodded, and pulled his PDA from his pocket.

"Back home, this was much more than just a map. It also provided weather alerts, a camera, digital notepad, and, a bulletin place where people could shell out work to others in exchange for money."

"And yes, that includes bounty hunting. Though, I was never crazy enough to take up a task like that. I am greedy, but I draw the line at trying to track down strangers who I have no affiliation to. But, I have no problem with putting terrible people in the ground, by which I mean, true monsters. But if they just happen to anger wrong mob boss, but are nice person. Then nyet, find someone else to do your dirty work. Because I have better things to risk my life for. "

"Like what?"

"Well... Vodka for one. Pickles for another."

"How about that glowing rock that you used to fend of those alicorns?" Thunder rumbled in the distance, closer than last time.

"The artifact?"

"...Yes? If that's what you call it."

"My friend, I just occurred to me that I have not told you much of my own world. I told you about Psy Storms and what not. But you must know, all these terrible things only apply to a very small portion of my planet. The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. "

"What is it excluded for?" Flashpoint mussed. Nikolai gestured to his mask, and then to the Geiger counter which hung on his belt. "

It used to be Nuclear power plant which provided electricity to most of Northern Ukraine. First time around. Soviet incompetency and arrogance caused lot of damage and radioactive fallout. Bad, but still avoidable. It was only decade or so ago that everything went ary. I can't really explain it, but it was like reality itself within 20 or so kilometers of Plant just... Went blyat crazy! All sorts of mutants and monsters and other awful things started showing up. None friendly in the slightest. Patches of ground, just random places in the zone, became impassible as a result of these things that we call, anomalies. "

"What's so dangerous about them?" Flashpoint asked, now intrigued.

"Really anything. Random spouts of flame, glowing corrosive puddles, bursts of electricity. Inverted Gravity, Distortion of space and time... Completely unpredictable and fun! Do not forget the nice Psy Storms and Emissions from the Power Plant itself. And, of course, all the bandits and crazy violent cultists that worship the Zone like it's holy ground for no apparent reason. The military cordoned the whole place off, but some... Like me, sneak in! I myself went to try and strike it rich, needed to help pay for College and all that stuff." Flashpoint's eyes went wide, and he sighed, and coughed.

"It sounds terrible. But, since I've seen what those artifacts can do. I can partially understand why you and other's would want them so much." Nikolai nodded. "Da, is cool. Only problem is, they originate either after Emissions, or in concentrated clusters of anomalous activity. And, they can take the form of anything!" Flashpoint glanced back at the sky before turning back to Nikolai and urging him to continue his story.

"Anything?"

"Er... Yes, I once heard that some Бідний хлопець found a chunk of bread that burst into flames whenever anyone touched it! But it never disintegrated, it just stayed the same, some moron threw it in radioactive waste pit near rookie village right outside of Sidorovich's bunker, and now they just use it to train new Stalkers. Makes for good laugh before they get thrown out into hell. "

As he ended off his sentence, something cracked behind them, followed by a flash of bright light. Instinctively, Nikolai dove for the ditch on the side of the road, and Flashpoint froze in place.

"What was that?" He pulled himself out of the dirt, and stood up. His eyes moved from Flashpoint, to the hills that marked Splendid Valley. The sky boomed an instant later.

"Lighting, I was right. There's a storm on the way." Another bolt followed. This one was a shimmering green. A cold wind began to blow across the road, scattering it with dust. Nikolai's Geiger counter began to tick.

"Radstorm, at that!" The thunder rolled again a few seconds later.

"That was about 30 seconds out! That storm is about 10 kilometers out from us. We've gotta find some cover!" Another bolt of lighting arced across the sky.

"Where? We're out in the open!| Flashpoint called out to him." Nikolai pointed off the western side of the road. "There's nothing around! The closest small town is another half hour walk from here!"

"A half hour walk is 15 minute run! Can you make it?"

"There's a gas station half that distance! But from here, it doesn't look to be in best shape!"

"It's better than nothing! Let's go!" Flashpoint called back. Nikolai unslung his rifle and took it in his right hand, the two broke into a dead sprint as the storm grew behind them.

After what ended up being an 8 minute dead sprint, the two arrived at the tattered ruins of an old gas station. The fuel pumps outside were rusted away, the paint was peeling, and the windows had been shattered by bullets. The store inside was dark. Nikolai activated his weapon mounted flashlight, and the pair stepped inside.

"Hello?" Nikolai shinned his light around and stepped further in, inspecting the ravaged, dusty isles as he did. Outside, the first drops of rain were beginning to fall.

"Found a skeleton." Flashpoint replied dully, far since jaded to the sight of dead bodies. Nikolai looked over, the pony wore a baseball cap with a cheesy picture of a sky blue pegasus mare with a rainbow mane. Funny, he hadn't actually yet seen what a pegasus looked like without all that armor. Except for the kindly ghoul mare he had met back in Salt Cube city. But she was, in his defense, much too shriveled and... Incomplete to still be counted as a regular pegasus.

"That appears to be Rainbow Dash. The head mare of the so called, 'ministry of Awesome.' Part of the Equestrian government from before the war. A stunt performer, I think. But I don't know all that much more than that about her."

"Not alive anymore, I take it?"

"You are correct. No one's seen or heard from her in two hundred years. She might be just another pile of bones in the rubble of a bombed out building somewhere, or she might just be a ghoul. No one knows."

"Ah, well... I do not know her. And I have better ways to spend life then chasing ghosts-" A flash of thunder and lighting outside interrupted him. He could see wisps of green mixed in with it. Balefire radiation which the clouds had soaked up, and were now bringing along for the metaphorical ride.

"Is the weather here always like this?"

"Since as long as me, my parents, and my parents parents have known... Yes. Maybe even longer." Nikolai sighed and shook his head. "Oh well... Makes for pretty scene, da?"

"Yes, that I can agree with you on. Even if it is dangerous." A wave of sheet lighting arced across the sky. Lighting up the landscape in front of the gas station all the way to the horizon.

"I've actually had to camp out in weather like this before. But key word there is, 'like' only thing this bad is emissions. Or maybe EF 5 tornado on Oklahoma prairie!" Flashpoint's ears perked up, as he and Nikolai sat down on a bench at the far end of the isles. Just 5 meters from the carnage unfolding outside. In the distance, up in the clouds, between bolts of lighting, he swore he could just barely make out the silhouette of an armored pegasus. Just like the one he had seen watching him back in Old Olneigh.

"Oh blyat! Did you see that!?" Nikolai pointed up, Flashpoint furrowed his brow. "No, are you sure you aren't seeing things?" The stalker shook his head, and when he blinked, the shadow in the sky was gone. He had heard stories of Stalkers that had gone insane after they had left the Zone back home, permanently traumatized by the things they had seen there. Other's, strangely enough. Claimed they enjoyed the carnage, and returned time and time again with a massive smile on their face. He never really understood it. But in truth, he himself tended to lean towards the later end of the spectrum. The Zone, no matter how terrifying and complex, was still much more interesting than boring life in a former Soviet Apartment block that hasn't been renovated since the 1970s, if that. Going to work every day on some factory line, or some other menial task. Nikolai had it better than most, he had merely come to the zone to pay for college, but he was just one of many hopping to strike it rich in a place that, for lack of a better word, flat out hated humans- and any other living thing that wasn't an irradiated, mutated, mind controlled husk.

"There it is again!" Flashpoint shook his head.

"No, there I don't see anything." Nikolai tore open a packet of hardtack Saltine Crackers." Want one?" The Zebra tilted his head up.

"What? Oh, sure. Thanks." He took the crackers from Nikolai and began to ravenously devour them. Nikolai smiled, " Don't go so fast. You'll hurt yourself. When's the last time you ate a proper meal?" Flashpoint stared back at him.

"Dodge City. But that was interrupted when those mercenaries showed up." Nikolai raised his rifle, and peered through it's scope, staring out into the darkness of the still early morning.

"When do you think it'll stop?"

"It's hard to say out here. Sometimes its a few minutes, other times, these storms can go on for day's on end." Another line of sheet lighting rolled across the horizon.

"You know," Flashpoint started," I've been told by other's the Equestria wasn't always like this." This statement resulted in an uproar from Nikolai. Who snarkily replied with;

"Oh really, that is so difficult to tell." Flashpoint rolled his glowing eyes.

"No, I'm being serious. I've heard from other's that Equestria used to be a paradise, fields of green grass and flowers, lush forests, and clear skies as far as your eye could see. Ponies and all creatures lived happily. Believe it or not, I've actually been told that the pegasi controlled the weather and build cites in the sky made out of clouds!" Nikolai laughed again.

"Sounds like nice place. I wish I could have visited there instead of this земля лайна.Land of shit." He pulled out his copy of the 'Wasteland Survival Guide', and began to read again from where he had left off.

"Small guns: and where to find them." The Chapter title read.

"Why would not use proper nomenclature? Is good to show people that you know a lot about what you are talking about. But then again, I can understand the need for simple words when your average pony in this place is more concerned with getting their next meal than reading complicated weapon manuals." All at once, it was like a switch was flipped in the sky. And the rain and lighting stopped. Nikolai cautiously stepped out towards the window and tapped the ground with his Geiger counter.

"It is dispersing. Lets go. There's nothing of any worth here." Flashpoint began to turn away, but then paused, and snatched the cap off the salespony's skull.

"I rather like it." Flashpoint touted, wrestling with it's straps to get it to fit on his head.

"It suits you." Nikolai whispered, waving him along. The two continued towards the town that Nikolai had spotted.

Nikolai and Flashpoint had been about 200 meters from the main street of town, when they began taking sporadic fire from a couple of unknowns firing from windows and defilades across the town front. The two ducked down into a drainage ditch. Nikolai rummaged around in his rucksack, then sighed and simply pulled out a hunting knife, handing it to Flashpoint, who reluctantly took it in his jaws.

"If anything comes down here other than me, stab them until they stop moving." He fumbled around in one of the pouches in his pantlegs, and pulled out a little pocket mirror, which he used to survey the town without having to expose any more than the tips of his fingers.

"We come in peace!" He called out, " We are just passing through!" A bullet wizzed by overhead. Nikolai flipped his rifle's safety selector lever down one position to fully automatic.

"That sounded painful. We should circle back behind town rather that charge into pointless death, let us follow this ditch and see where it leads. Full on attack is bad idea since I am only one with gun." Flashpoint silently nodded in agreement, and the two headed out.

"Agh! Wha-" As they left the ditch and began to advance across the dry river bed underneath the bridge, they were spotted by a unicorn stallion who had just been shooting at them just a moment ago, but for some inexplicable reason had stopped to go and relive himself right in the middle of a combat zone, as soon as he spotted them, he went for his gun. Nikolai raised his rifle and fired off two rounds, which stuck his opponent in the chest, sending him tumbling to the ground in a bloody mess.

"You'll pay for that!" A voice called from up above them. Nikolai didn't bother to find where the string of angry and insane curses was coming from. He was too busy trying to get himself and Flashpoint to safety. He heard more cracks behind him. Praying that these ponies were just as bad a shot as the others. Luckily for him, they were. He made it up the opposite embankment and up again the eastward stone exterior wall of the nearest house.

"Alright, new plan. I'm going to see if I can get you a-" Before he could finish his sentence, a raider galloped out right in front of them, just a few meters away, Nikolai aimed down his iron sights and accurately fired off two rounds into his side, piercing through the pony's pitiful street sign armor and laying him out on the ground, bleeding out and screaming in pain. Nikolai walked over, ignoring the raider whom he had just shot. And pulled his bulky autoloading pistol from his jaw. He fiddled around with it until he found the magazine ejection button, then hit it, inspected the number of rounds left in the magazine, then reinserted it and handed it to Flashpoint. Who gladly took it over the knife he had been given by Nikolai.

"Eight rounds. Make them count." He fished into the raider's pouch and pulled a second, fully loaded magazine. Then realizing that his friend would need a place to store said spare magazine. And considering he could now hear hoof steps from the other side of the structure, he didn't want to waste time.

"Stay here. I will be back in a moment." Nikolai swapped magazines on his AK 101, then whipped around the corner and instantly began taking fire from the raiders in the street.

"You're insane!" Flashpoint called out to Nikolai. But he went unheard among the booming of gunfire. And so, he was left to wait there, clutching his gun while his friend made an effort to 'clear out' the village. Nikolai bolted out around the corner and blindly dumped half of his magazine in an effort to keep the heads of the raiders down. It worked out, just not in the way he had intended. In their fury to murder the person who had just killed two of their friends, 3 more of the idiots had rushed into the fatal funnel in between the two ruined houses. And the ponies behind them, similarly enraged, wildly fired down the corridor with no regard for those in front of them. The end result was three more corpses, and one slightly humored Stalker.

"Hey, hey. Wait just one moment!" Nikolai took cover behind the northern side of the building.

"Are you by any chance from Salt Cube City!?" The continued sporadic gunfire told him that either they didn't care, or that they had something to say but would rather tell it to his rotting corpse then him right then and there. He sprinted past the next building and out it the street, catching two more raiders off guard. They didn't even have the chance to turn their submachine guns before Nikolai ended them with shots to their thorax and heads. He ran to the other side of the street and began to advance down along the road. Examining houses as he went along, but not going into them. Clearing them out would take too much time. Rather, he went running and gunning from cover to cover until the small town was silent. And all that was left was a dozen bloody equine raider bodies. And one extremely stratified Stalker.

"It is almost funny, you fired off hundreds of rounds of ammunition to try and kill me and my friend all because you wanted my things. And now, you have paid ultimate price. And all for the cost of just one magazine of my own 5.56!" Flashpoint slowly crept out, and examined the devastation with a look of admiration for his friend.

"Back to your own self?" Nikolai nodded.

"Yes, I think I am. Now get over here, let us put these raiders' trinkets to good use."

Comments

[ponyreaper1]

Efficient