Metro: Retribution

Chapters

Chapter 1: Last Light
Chapter 2: Visions
Chapter 4: Running Again
Omake: Will Helm
Chapter 5: Who Art Thou?
Chapter 6: To The Point
Chapter 7: Khan
Chapter 8: Finally Moving
Chapter 9: Trust
Chapter 10: Into the Depths
Chapter 11: Nothing to Fear
Chapter 12: David and Goliath
Chapter 14: We Meet Again, So Soon?
Chapter 15: Packed and Ready to Leave
Chapter 16: I'm on a Boat
Chapter 17: Welcome to The Gryphon Empire
Chapter 18: To Sway an Emperor's Mind
Chapter 19: Welcome to The Gryphon Empire Part 2
Chapter 20: Cut-throat Politics
Chapter 21: The Game Begins
Chapter 22: Tread Lightly
Chapter 23: Barn Burning
Chapter 24: Riot Act
Chapter 25: Callous Souls
Chapter 26: That Which was Lost - Part 1
Chapter 27: That Which was Lost - Part 2
Chapter 28: That Which was Lost - Part 3
Chapter 29: That Which was Found
Prologue: D6
Chapter 3: Cellardoor
Chapter 13: The Root of All Evil

Chapter 1: Last Light

Death; a foe that men have feared since the beginning. What comes after death is a mystery to all. After all I have done for the Metro and to the Dark Ones, perhaps the afterlife will be kind to me.I tell this to myself, because I am afraid. Afraid of the consequences of my actions. Afraid of those who I had righted, afraid of those who I wronged, and afraid of what awaits me.
Last Light
Perspective: Artyom

My head, ебать, felt like a train had hit me. Oh wait, it did. Never had my body hurt like that before … I could feel my body again? My eyes felt like they were laden with lead, holding them down from even the slightest of movements. Each attempt to raise them felt like I was trying to lift a train car but I couldn’t quit at something so simple. Finally, using all of my willpower I felt my eyelids lift up. From the one eye I could see some shapes in what seemed like a lifting blackness. I slowly let my eyelid droop back down, a small smirk rose to my face as I realized that I wasn’t dead after all.

That thought shocked me to my core and caused me to overcome my pain as I violently pushed myself off the ground. I wasn’t dead! I hit the detonator though and saw the flames engulf D6! Nothing could have made it out alive, why was I the only exception?

The excruciating pain forced me to stumble onto my feet, shaky legs barely held up my battered body. My entire body felt like I had been thrown off a skyscraper by a ужасный demon. My eyes widened when I felt the pain which brought me back to the reality of the situation. But the pain was the least of my problems. I had no clue where I was.

I looked around me, searching for some sort of familiarity in my surroundings. No concrete. No rusty metal grates, no ghastly white lights or man-made rails. Instead, there was the darkened husks of dead trees. Cold, yet yielding soil underneath sprinkled with blotches of grass. My eyes bugged out as I realized where I was.

Outside.

As the dawning conclusion crashed into my mind like a freight train, the high pitched clicks of my Geiger counter filtered through my ears. My breaths became ragged and sharp as I fumbled around my body by instinct, always leaving my mask on my right-hand side.

It wasn't there.

Whatever breath I had was quickly running out. My lungs heaved, trying to draw in clean air, trying to draw in some sort of oxygen. My chest began to cramp up as my lungs kept working overtime to find clean air. When I wasn't gasping like a fish out of water, I was coughing violently almost to the point of spitting up blood as my eyes darted from side to side, hoping to catch a glimpse of my mask. I turned each and every way. Desperately hoping to find the gas mask. I was almost choking at that point, my hacking fits were intensifying, tears were streaming down my cheeks, the lack of breathable air slowly becoming too much for me to handle. Without that mask I would die.

I turned once more. Eyes searching desperately to find … there it was! Hidden behind the root of a weathered tree. My feet left the ground as I lunged for it. I felt the mask in my grip as my body hit the solid earth.

It seemed luck was on my side for I found a filter still attached to it. Without hesitating I strapped the mask on my face and inhaled deeply. My breathing evened out as the relief of having that mask on washed through me. It was so good that I had apparently forgotten my pain.

I reached into my right breast pocket and withdrew my medicine pack. I flipped it open to find I was down to four syringes of morphine. Without hesitating I withdrew one of those syringes and shoved it into my leg. Finally, the pain subsided and I could actually take stock of my situation, and assess the damages I had sustained.

I slowly sat myself down against what looked like a tree. Once my back was against the tree, a realization struck me. I was outside and that meant mutants, I scurried back to my feet and flipped on my flash-light. The local surroundings reminded me of where I fought that bear mutant. The ground was different though; the rough, unyielding concrete was replaced with soft, malleable

I reached instinctively for one of my weapons. Neither the Kalash nor the Saiga were there. Чёрт возьми, this wasn't good. That became my priority; finding my weapons before I could go anywhere. Luckily, my pistol was still held tightly in my thigh holster. I quickly flicked my flashlight off, since I might as well check my night vision. My hand reached up to flick down my night vision goggles. With them in front of my eyes, I flicked the little switch to power them on.

On the positive side they worked, the downside was that the lenses were nearly completely cracked. I gave a loud sigh of annoyance at my luck. I pushed the night vision goggles back up and flicked the small switch next to the flash-light on my head. A small beam of light shot out, causing me to smile as something finally went my way.

I was breathing a little ragged though and I was on edge. Here I was, in unknown territory without a way to see everything let alone defend myself. I subconsciously tensed my legs a little, ensuring that I would be able to leap out of the way if something jumped at me.

I continued to check the rest of my gear, to see if anything else was missing. In truth, after I made sure my watch was still on my wrist and my battery charger was still hooked to me I stopped checking. That left only two things to find.

My assault rifle and my shotgun. The means to which I would be able to survive. My Kalash 2012 assault rifle was an all around weapon. The looks reminded me of a plastic rectangle with a few holes and a little cylinder out one side. The lightweight aspect of the gun allowed me better movement, while it’s more square body made it seem more... comfortable to handle. A useful weapon against humans, but not so much against mutants. That was what my Saiga was for. A medium barrelled semi-automatic shotgun with a drum magazine and pistol grip, my mutant killer.

I scratched the top of my helmet as my eyes wandered all around small clearing, hoping to catch a glimpse of my weapons. My feet carried me to one side and then to the other, yet still there was no sign. In a defeated gesture I threw my head back, staring up at the canopy of the trees. As my head snapped back to its normal position, my eyes caught something.

A discolouration in one of the branches. Odd at best and probably nothing. I turned my head towards the spot, letting my flashlight illuminate the spot. A larger smile grew under my mask. There, tangled on a branch was both of my guns. How the hell they got there, I would never know, but that mattered little.

The branch, luckily, was low hanging. After positioning myself under it, I jumped up and wrapped my hands around the branch, with all of my weight on it the branch snapped, sending me plummeting back onto the cold dirt. A sore ass was an easy price to pay for having my weapons back.

Picking myself up once again, I slung my Saiga over my shoulder while holding my Kalash in my left hand. I had enough of that one clearing and decided that I had to get moving, lest I run out of air again.

My feet cautiously led me out of the enclosed clearing I was in, my Kalash 2012 drawn. I kept that one out because of the sheer speed I could feed lead into a beast. Sure, my Saiga was the better mutant killer, but those howls before sounded quite numerous and my Kalash had more ammo.

Being on the surface forced me to suppress my fears of being jumped. I was continuously moving my rifle around from one direction to another, making sure that I wasn’t going to be attacked from behind. Those Watchmen came from all sides so I had to keep ready. My watch gave off a quick beep, reminding me that I was indeed on a time limit. I had to find a way back to the Metro before I ran out of air. If I used all of my filters, I had less than fifty minutes now.

My pace quickened as I decided not to test my time limit and get off the surface as quick as possible. Fear began to form in the back of my mind when the environment in which I found myself, as it didn’t look anything like that of Moscow. There were no buildings in sight and I could barely see seven meters in front of me before my light faded into the surrounding darkness, as the further the light travelled from my flashlight. The trees looked like the mangled husks from Moscow, but some had foliage. I blinked in surprise, as whenever I did travel to the surface, the trees were always bare and lifeless skeletons, dead sentinels and memorials of the errors committed by our previous generation, by our old governments. Every step made it more and more possible that I wouldn't be able to get it there in time, if it even existed any more.

There was another howl, but this sounded closer. Дерьмо, those Watchmen must have heard me. These damn tree branches weren't helping my case. I needed to get out of the hellish forest before those Watchers tore me up. I sped up my pace once more into a run; I needed to put distance between me and those mutants. My legs were straining with each step, muscles pushing myself hard. I was used to running at full speed with gear on but this armoured suit wasn’t helping me in the slightest. If I kept up that pace for too long, I would have had my legs collapse under me.

I thought I was in the clear when I heard another howl, farther away than before. My feet slowly came to a halt, kicking up more dirt in the process. I quickly faced myself in the direction I had just come from. Rifle drawn, I waited for something to leap at me.

Seconds ticked by in sheer agony as I stared into the woods in front of me. It was quiet, too quiet; so quiet that I could hear my heart beating. Shadows fled the light shining from my flash-light, hiding behind the ghastly trees. Everything was almost deathly still, it was as if time had come to a stop. The only thing that moved was my flash-light. Another howl surfaced deep within the forest. It was impossible to tell how deep in the forest the mutants were, or how far away they were from me, as the sound seemed to come from one direction, and the next one would be from an entirely different direction. they were for all the sounds just seemed to reverberate back towards me.

A few more seconds past which to my relief brought nothing. No Watchmen leaping at me. Nothing trying to rip my throat out. Nothing. Anxiety slowly drained from my body. I was in the clear. A smirk grew under my mask as I turned myself around again. Maybe I would get out of this forest without harm; that would be a first. I started back down the path but with less urgency this time. No sounds at all this time. Just me and my footsteps. That was until my left foot took a step on a ledge and crumbled right through.

“Фак!”

My feet slid out from under me, forcing myself feet-first down the slope. Each contact with the rocky face caused me to wince in pain. That was all I could do. Of course my fall wouldn't have been complete without spikes at the end. I braced for the coming ground. It was the least I could do. My feet connected with something. Something brittle, as it snapped instantly. The first jab in my legs forced my eyes open. I was moving too fast to see them but I could feel what they were, thorns. As if my entire body didn't hurt enough, those чертовы thorns began to jab my suit. No part of my body was free from the bastards. Each stab felt like a dull knife attempting to pierce my skin, even with the suit it was agonizingly painful. I was lucky that my suit didn't break. These were made to last.

My path through the thorns ended abruptly. My feet connected first with the ground, bending to absorb the impact, keeping me from breaking my legs. It helped but I still found myself lying on my back, my legs having forced me to lay flat on the ground. I groaned in sheer agony as I stared into the sky. Or at least as far as my light would reach. If I didn't break a rib from that impact, I sure as hell bruised it. All of my muscles cried out in agony. Nothing felt broken or sprained, just bruised completely. I needed to relieve the pain, the bruising would heal in time. My left arm moved to the little medicine pouch on the front of my armour. Grunting through the pain I quickly pulled out a syringe and jabbed myself with it. Relief washed over me as I laid there for a little bit longer.

As the pain melted away my body began to cooperate again. I flipped myself over and got my hands under me to push myself to a standing position. My body wobbled briefly before steadying out. After I dusted myself off I noticed I was standing in the middle of a small clearing with two paths leading down each direction of the gorge. It was odd enough to see one path through the brush but two was uncanny. They weren't small either. No, these paths were easily three times my size. What could have made such large paths? Watchmen? No, too small. Demons? They wouldn't be this far down. Nosalis? Same category as Watchmen. Couldn't be a Librarian. There were no buildings behind me. I scratched my covered chin in thought. Maybe it was whatever roared behind me. I froze. That thought struck me again as another roar echoed from behind me. ебать.

Out of sheer instinct I tucked and rolled forward. I had faced enough mutants to know I had to move quick. At the end of my small roll, I sprung to my feet, rifle unslung the moment I stood up, and just as I finished spinning to face whatever was behind me.

What I saw shocked me. The beast looked like a lion from before the war, but extremely mutated. It had some sort of messed up tail with a stinger on the end, almost like a Spiderbug, the tip must have been long enough to impale me and then some.Then there were a pair of massive bat wings attached to it’s back, those were obvious enough in their purpose. The size of the beast alone was terrifying enough; it was definitely larger than a bus, almost nearing train car size.

The beast let out a feral roar. The massive jaws were easily bigger that half my body, teeth glistened with saliva as it hungered for me. It slowly stalked towards me, snarling.

Fear used to be foreign to me, nor did it strike often. But this beast induced crippling fear in me, as my legs were frozen in place. A sense of deja vu encompassed me.

The colossal monster halted that thought for me. It coiled back onto its hind legs as though mimicking a spring. In one smooth motion the beast lunged. Intent on killing me with one move.

“Aww shit!” I shouted as I rolled to my right to just barely avoid the massive beast landing where I once was. The thunderous clap of the monster landing shook me from any footing I had. Being only a few feet away didn't help as I promptly landed on my ass from the aftershock. Another body part to add to my injury list.

The beast quickly spun itself to attack me again. Not only was it massive, but it had speed. It was as if I was dodging a moving car from only a few feet away. Another deafening roar came from its muzzle followed by another, albeit small, leap at me.

I reacted in the only way I knew how, to scramble myself away. My boots barely found enough traction in the soil. One hand gripped my Kalash while the other dug for traction. Thankfully I found enough to get myself clear of the landing zone. I continued to scramble myself farther away.

Another roar sounded from the beast’s direction. It was mad; a seemingly easy meal putting up such a fight. This time it turned to face me slower, more menacingly, with its teeth still barred at me.

Fuck standing. I dropped to one knee and let loose a burst of fire into the face of the creature. The muzzle of the gun gave off a resounding flash and report. Followed by another. And another. The rifle kicked into my shoulder repeatedly. I hardly felt the pressure as I poured a ten round burst into the beast.

Ten rounds did nothing to it. The beast hardly flinched at the rounds, instead it just kept moving towards me. How it reminded me of that bear. That thing had hardly felt the assault rifle rounds. That thought struck me though. My Saiga! The bear couldn't shrug off my shotgun rounds as much. I quickly swung my rifle over my back before attempting to draw my Saiga. I nearly had it pulled out when the beast lunged again.

It was as if time slowed down. My eyes swelled with fear at the monstrosity aiming for me. My body seemed to react on its own, doing the only thing I could. Jumping away. In a last ditch attempt I leapt to the side. Wasn't fast enough though. The сука clipped my legs with its paws.

My body was sent tumbling towards the thorns on the side of the gorge. The sheer impact jarred my filter loose. It was then that I remembered something. Something important. I was on a time limit. The lack of good light prevented me from finding the filter. I needed to get a filter in quick. With the threat of the beast, I couldn't hesitate.

Picking myself up, I kept myself moving. All the while swapping filters. I had done this enough in the Metro. Changing filters on the run while being chased by mutants, I mean. The moment the filter was in though, I reached for my Saiga again. The weapon was still hanging on my arm by sheer luck. With the weapon now in my shaking hands, I spun to face my foe.

Only to find that it was no longer there. The beast was gone. Without a sound. Without a single trace left behind. Where did it go? It wasn't like it could just up and fly away.

Дерьмо.

If it was any faster, I would never have seen it coming. From straight above me it dropped down. The beats of it’s wings buffeting the sides of the gorge. The beast’s jaws opened wide, the sharp, jagged, meat-rending teeth bared at me, making the beast’s intention rather clear. Only one of us would walk away victorious. Only one of us would keep his life that day.

I forced myself to once again leap out of harms way. Albeit slower than before, but still fast enough to dodge the beast’s attempted attack. My body tucked into a roll at the end of the leap. It would be easier to quickly get back on my feet, as mobility would reduce the likelihood of me getting eat, something that I wanted to avoid, if at all possible.

I must have rolled late, because the beast slammed itself straight into the ground. This beast was massive and it was evidenced by how big the resounding shock-wave was. The heavy landing dazed it, however. As the beast wobbled, unsteady on its feet, due to such a punishing landing, I noticed that this momentary reprieve was my opportunity retaliate. I needed to take this opportunity, since I didn’t know if I would get another. The beast swayed slightly. My moment to act was now.

I peered down the sights of my Saiga, focusing fully on the head of the beast. My legs carried me forward, approaching closer to maximize my damage. My hand tightened on the grip. My finger slowly pressed down on the trigger. The recoil of the first shot rippled through my shoulder as the buckshot tore out from the muzzle. My shoulder absorbed the kick as my finger pressed down again, and again, and again. Each shot tore into the beast, pushing it farther back, and closer and closer to the side of the gorge.

Twenty shots and the beast was limp against the wall. Its head had dropped to the ground, resting slightly under a foreleg while the rest of its body was just as limp. Another mutant killed at my hands. I walked up to it as I switched out my now empty drum magazine for another. I warily prodded the side of the beast with the Saiga. No movement. This brought a smile to my face as I turned to walk away.

I was stopped though, as something was wrapped around my leg. A tail … a scorpion tail. My face paled at this. Without a chance to move, the tail gripped tighter. A sudden pull forced me into the air above the beast. It rose from its spot, blood seeping into its fur from open buckshot wounds. The right side of its face was torn to shreds, looking much closer to shredded beef than a lion. I had no time to contemplate on how it was alive, for I was looming over its mouth, completely upside down, with not a shred of hope to escape.

In a last attempt to save myself, I drew my knife. The tail loosened. Once again time seemed to slow. Here I was, about to be eaten alive by a mutant beast. My right hand raised the knife to it in defiance. It must have been luck, for as I fell head first, the knife plunged into the left eye of the beast.

It flung its muzzle to the side, knocking me nearly a couple of meters to the side. I turned to my left and spotted my Saiga, just within arms reach. A howl broke loose from the monster, in a terrifying mix of rage and agony. The knife was still lodged within its eye as it clawed at it, ripping out pieces of torn flesh and buckshot in an effort to remove it. The efforts were all in vain though.

I quickly grabbed my Saiga with my right hand and scooped it into my arms. I pulled the hammer of the gun back. The sights once again fixed on the beast’s head. The first shot leapt out of the gun with a vengeance, quickly followed by a second, and a third. Each shot tore into the good side of its face.

By the time I finished firing ten shots, the beast was still. Its maw was open as it laid sprawled on its side. Dead. No breath, no heartbeat, just one less beast that wanted me dead, my enmity ceased, having been the victor, and also the only one to keep his life, at least from this fight anyway. My opponent was finally dead, the knife still sticking out of its eye. I walked up to the mutant’s face. A thought crossed my mind briefly. My foot collided with the jaw of the beast. There was no reaction to my kick at all. Finally, it was dead.

My hand reached forward and grasped my knife. I must have gotten the sucker deep in there, for the knife was tough to move. I used the dead creature’s head as leverage and ripped the knife from its spot. A small amount of blood squirted out, splashing on my armour. I didn't care though, it wouldn't stain and I had bigger things to worry about. My depleting supply of clean air was the biggest concern, for me, anyway.

I turned to leave the beast there. No need to bury the body of something that no one would miss. My feet raised and lowered as I jogged out of the clearing. One of the paths had to lead out of the gorge, if it didn't I would die there. Not by beasts; not as long as I had my Saiga ready, assuming that I never ran out of ammo. Ha, such a thought was something I couldn’t help but chuckling quickly at, even in the grim situation i was in.

~~~~~

My watch read five minutes for this new filter and I had two other left. I had fifteen minutes until I would die a painful death by radiation. My legs were straining to keep me up at this point. Constantly running for twenty-seven minutes was something few could do with this much gear. It wasn't like I was carrying a ridiculous amount of items on me, but each piece was definitely adding to the feeling of being overburdened at that point. At least I hadn't been attacked since that creature in the gorge.

I leaped over a small downed tree. The forest floor was littered with them. My legs were tiring. I was about to stop for a quick break when a howl broke out from the forest behind me. It was close too. There was no time to stop now, I needed to keep moving.

Something slammed into me from behind. My body flew down the path a little ways. Being airborne was becoming old, fast. I landed on the ground with a hard thud. I kept rolling till the trunk of tree forced me to stop. Once again the pain flared up. It wasn't as bad as before. No need for a syringe, not that I had the time, the Watchmen were going to close fast.

I scrambled to my feet. This time around, my boots got firm footing right away, I readied my Saiga. Drawing it up to my shoulder and aiming at the beasts. Their menacing eyes glowed a radiant green, it gave them away in the shadows. By them I meant the four I could see. Out of the deeper darkness they moved till I could actually shine some light on them. I had dealt with Watchmen before. These though, these weren't Watchmen.

The body shape was similar, but that was the only thing that made them look like Watchmen. The slimmer bodies had no flesh to them, instead there was wood. How? It wasn't just the wood though, a green liquid dripped from their fangs; the liquid was the same hue as the wooden wolf’s eyes, and also glowed like the eyes glowed.

I slowly backed away from the prowling beasts. Each step they took emitted a snarl from their wooden mouths. All too soon I felt myself backed against a tree. Бля, I jumped slightly at the wood behind me.

Each one of the beasts kept moving agonizingly slow towards me. It was if they were gauging me, judging me, trying to find a weakness. I would not give them one to work with. I raised my weapon to fire on the right one. Wrong move. The beast on the far left attacked instead.

I attempted to spin and meet it. My body was almost there when the beast was upon me. My finger reactively squeezed the trigger of the Saiga, letting loose an ear splitting roar from the muzzle. The round or maybe the muzzle fire must have clipped it. The beast leapt from me, kicking with its back legs. One of those kicks slammed directly into my shotgun. I was temporarily defenceless.

The others saw the opportunity to attack. With a combined roar they charged at me, teeth seeking to sink into flesh. Each foot fall, of their wooden bodies, forced the dreaded thought of death upon me. I had faced bigger things than these, I had faced more things bigger than these, there was no way I would let those сукам take my life.

My right hand instinctively reached to draw my revolver, my left moving to my knife. It took a split second to raise my weapon. In another split second, the hammer on my revolver was pulled back and my finger was already squeezing down on the trigger. The three beasts were nearly on top of me. A loud crack roared out from my revolver, followed by another. It was good enough to remove one threat.

The other two though, were already on top of me. A set of jaws went to tear at my throat. My left arm reacted and lodged itself under the powerful jaws, the other beast sought to strike then. The same tactic proved fruitless for it. My right arm had lodged itself under its jaw as well. Now it was a struggle of sheer power, which was something that I couldn't win. I needed to think of a way to remove them from on top of me. An idea struck me. I would probably only get one chance at executing the idea which came to mind

My legs quickly tucked up, almost in a fetal position. How fortunate they were positioned under the bellies of the beasts. I quickly pushed my legs up to meet their torsos. The brunt of my boot met wood hard. A solid thunk resonated from the impact. I was just strong enough, or had surprised it enough, to push the right beast off me fully. This allowed access to my revolver again. The other beast had been shaken off me a little, but not enough to free my arm though. Soon enough though, it wouldn’t matter as I swiftly moved the barrel of the revolver to its head. No catchy one liners were said as I squeezed the trigger.

Wood chips and more of that green slime flew from its head. A hole nearly the size of a bottle cap was blown straight through its skull. The corpse slumped up against me, and just as I had shoved it away from me, another weight pressed into me. The other mutant had attacked me while I was busy. And it was pissed. The thing’s mouth locked onto my right bicep, fangs pressing down into my suit as it lashed back and forth. I was lucky, that my armour was thick enough to keep the fangs from making contact with my skin; the marks would be ever present though. The thrashing of its head was what was hurting, my arm felt like it would be torn straight from the socket. I had to react quickly despite the exhaustion slowly creeping up on me or I would lose my arm.

My left hand plunged the knife into the glowing green eye, forcing the jaws to release my arm. The monster let loose a shriek of pain. The ear splitting howl sounded like a little girl screaming. I pushed myself up, noticing that the beast had staggered back far enough before falling to the ground. Whimpers escaped its broken muzzle, reminiscent to that of a wounded hound. I knew I had to end its misery. Even though it was my enemy, to let it suffer any further than what it already had would have been cruel, and contrary to my very being; as a man, as a human, and as survivor of a post-nuclear radiated planet. I walked slowly to where it laid on the ground, my thumb holding the hammer of the revolver back as I slowly pushed the barrel up to its forehead.

Another life ended with a loud crack of the gun. Another time I had to pull the knife from the eye of a beast. Once the knife was in my hand and out of the mutant, I looked around, warily scanning my environment for the fourth timber wolf. The fourth one had fled it seemed. It might bring back more though, which meant that I had to leave the scene fast. I turned back down my original path, quickly getting up to a full run, no need to linger in this area.

I continued running even as I changed my filter once again, ten minutes left of filters. This was barely enough time back in Moscow to cross the surface. Most of the people venturing up there had at least thirty minutes worth of filters. With only ten minutes on hand, I started to fear the possible outcome. My mind fought back my fears, as they would only hamper in my quest to survive.

I was once told as a child, that the mind is capable of powerful feats. Over the years I had come to realize that this was not just a comforting statement. The Dark Ones showed me the full extent of the mind. It would seem that being connected to them helped me after all. All those times in the Metro, where others had gone mad from the horrors and flashbacks, I had made it out alive and sane.

Perhaps being positive while running through that damnable forest helped me after all, for there it was, an exit. There was no light shining aside from my flashlight, but it had illuminated an empty area where the foliage stopped. I sprinted towards my exit, hoping that it wasn't just another clearing. My hopes soared when I saw the distinct lack of trees around the sides of the exit. Finally, I had reached the end of this miserable forest. I slowed to stop as I broke the borders of the forest, my eyes widened at my sight. It was still night out, but that shouldn't have stopped me from seeing the distinctive shapes of Moscow; no, what stopped me was that there were no distinctive shapes of Moscow, there was no Moscow at all. The sight of a lush green and seemingly endless field under a clear night sky tipped me off to that.

I was instantly drawn to the sky, the stars shone and twinkled in the sky as if they were flash-lights illuminating the ceaseless darkness of the Metro. I hadn't seen stars since I was but a young boy and my mother was still alive. It was a sight to behold, if only I had Anna, or even Khan to share this with. I was so focused on the stars that when I noticed the full moon, my jaw dropped in my mask. The sheer amount of illumination that it gave off took my breath away. It was as if I could seen each little indent and crater on its surface. Its beauty was only helped by the stars around it, adding to the glow of the already beautiful sight. All those years in the Metro, all that time of only seeing a concrete ceiling. Even the surface could barely give me this. I had almost seen the moon once, during my little wrestling match with that bear, but this ... this celestial sight rendered me speechless.

It wasn't ‘til the beep of my watch before i was shaken from my contemplation. I quickly switched my filter, which brought me to the realization that I had only one filter left. Five minutes of life if I could not get underground. That single thought caused me to break into a full sprint across the open field. At that point I cared little for my surroundings or even if there was a monster around, those would not matter if I could not get fresh air.

My feet pounded against the ground heavily, not caring about making a sound. As I ran, I came over the top of a little ridge and into a small valley it seemed. I grinned wildly under my mask as the sight of buildings renewed my chance of survival. I started up into a sprint once again, knowing full well that I had only two minutes left of air. There was no time to attempt to get into one of the buildings within the town, so I changed my course towards a building that was only half the distance. This … cottage, if it could be called that, was in a shape that I had never seen before and damn it was tiny. Who lives here? Now that I think about it, those buildings in the town looked strange as well. Where is this place?

There was no time to ponder, I needed shelter in something underground. Luckily, my approach was from the rear of the house because I spotted a heavy metal door leading to cellar.

“Спасибо, lady luck,” I mumbled under my breath as I proceeded to fling the doors open. I hastily turned around and closed the doors as quick as I could, causing a rather loud thud. Shining my flashlight into the corners of the cellar brought me to a realization, this was a food stash! Whoever placed this down here would be feeding me for awhile because once my filter ran out I would be stuck here till help arrived, if it ever did. I continued to shine the light into other corners in order to find a way to lock the door. A crowbar, that would be my way of locking the door and keeping this place closed. I effortlessly inserted the piece of metal through the handles of the door.

Once the door was barred, I proceeded to take in my surroundings. A windowless cellar left little to the imagination as my flash-light lit up nearly everything in the room. A rather small cellar, maybe about four meters in width and seven in length. The walls on each side had shelves stocked full of various food … no meat though; odd. How did they gather all these fruits and vegetables? Wait, was that a fish? How did they get a fish that looked so normal? I shook my head in disbelief before removing my gas mask. I tentatively sucked in a breath and hoped for the best, nothing burned so I physically relaxed. Safe, I was safe here.

I slowly sat my gear down and removed my helmet placing it alongside my weapons. Being stuck here wasn’t so bad I guess, there was a lot of food in this room and I was safe from the radioactive outside. My mind slowly eased out of its high alert status and allowed me to relax. I sat myself down against the only open space in between the shelves, the cold wall giving me a weird sense of comfort. A smile graced my lips as I closed my eyes and entered a much needed sleep.

Chapter 2: Visions

I awoke in an unknown place, far away from the Metro. Where is this place? What were those creatures I fought? I never saw them before in Moscow. I found shelter for now, hopefully it lasts until I am found by someone. With no filters left I am stuck in this place until rescue arrives. Hopefully sleep will be a peaceful one tonight.
Visions
Perspective: Past Artyom

My eyes opened to the freezing cold of the Moscow night. The snow on the ground crunched under the tires of the armoured truck as it moved through the ruined and empty streets. The night always frightened those who could not defend themselves or those who were caught out in the wrong place. With the plating of the truck between me and the outside, I had no fear; no Spartans feared the night.

“Artyom! We’re almost at Sparta Base, how you doing over there?” Miller kept checking on me during the ride. For some reason he didn’t think I could do what the Rangers did. I rarely replied to him, not out of contempt but just because he would continue talking anyways. Under the mask, no one could see you smirk so shaking my head at his comment probably gave him the wrong idea.

Whoever was in the turret didn’t speak much so I doubt it was Ulman; I liked Ulman though for his comments. He seemed to brighten up the feel of any situation. He kinda reminded me of Khan for that same reason, but damn did Khan speak like a man of the old world. Kahn spoke of mysticism and theology of a world that no longer exists. His ability to show up at will seemed to defy all that I have ever known, but maybe that was just how he was.

The truck approached the building. For a building on the surface, it was in pretty good condition. It was a three story building, with the topmost story being a rather large bell tower. The building itself wasn’t that big compared to the ruins of other buildings. If my memory served me right, it was a church from before the war. Miller spoke up again as we came within a block of the building, “Here we are. It’s the first and so far the only human outpost up here. Sparta’s outdoor base!”

I was in shock. How had they found a place that was secure enough to be a base for longer than a night? Yet here it was, a base fit for anyone at this point. Pristine glass windows covered by boards kept out the poisoned air and the building itself looked untouched; one of the few left in all the city, maybe the world. The outer layer of the building had some scorch marks and the paint covering it was nearly gone, yet somehow that was the only imperfections on it.

Apparently, my thoughts had wandered for too long, as when I came back to reality we had already pulled into the depot. MIller said something about wandering around, which I paid little heed to. I slowly removed myself from the truck, removed my helmet and proceeded to take in the surroundings.

The Rangers really made it a great place to live. The lighting was spectacular, illuminating the entirety of the garage. Not a single spot had more than a shadow of darkness. What amazed me was that it actually felt somewhat warm in the building. Maybe it was the lights giving off heat or there was possibly a generator somewhere around that I couldn’t see. My feet carried me towards the left side of the garage, while my eyes kept darting around the ceiling and the nooks of this place. I refocused my vision to what was in front of me and found something else that warmed me up.

Stowed in the corner of the garage, on a little ledge was the armoury and damn did that armoury have everything. All the types of weapons you could find in the Metro were here, either on the tables or behind the cage.

“Artyom, I’m Vladimir. Pick whatever you like!” His voice startled me, forcing me to snap my head to the left. The man was what Westerners used to call a stereotypical Russian; stocky and slightly large, clothed in a parka and wearing an Ushanka. Some Westerners from the Metro still use that stereotype. His eyes were rather soft for a Ranger, which for standing that close from me was relieving.

I shifted my focus from Vladimir to the actual weapons. I had no need for them at this point; a modded revolver, a semi automatic shotgun, and finally a silenced and scoped Kalash 2012. Such was the ‘heavy’ burden of being a contracted Stalker, searching the ruins of Moscow and clearing tunnels. I got paid well and put more than enough money into beefing up my personal armament.

I looked through the bins of ammo he had out. There must have been enough rounds in those bins to supply a whole army! I shook my head as I gathered what ammo I needed to replace the spent rounds. I set down my used clips, which Vladimir quickly pushed into a box, and took some new ones. I gave a small nod to Vladimir and hopped off the little ledge that his ammo station was on.

I looked to my right and noticed that there were stairs a little farther down. I casually made my way to them only to find Ulman, off to the side, chopping wood. That man continued to amaze me, doing odd things; well odd when compared to anyone but Khan.

Ulman noticed me making my way towards the stairs, “Oh! Hi there Artyom.”

I had learned a while ago that unless I was asked a question, then I should stay silent. Saying the wrong thing tended to get more men killed than those killed by mutants ... at least that was how the saying went. So I kept quiet, knowing that Ulman would continue talking anyway.

“Heh, I’m a- I’m exercising as you can see,” Ulman said with a small chuckle all the while chopping another piece of wood. That was the last thing he said to me before going back to his work. The guy was focused when he wanted to be, I’ll give him that. I decided that it was time to go up the stairs, find Miller, and continue with the mission.

As I came to the top of the stairs my eyes set on Miller across the second floor. He was leaning over an old desk covered in papers. My first movement was towards him but a shadow caught my attention. I slowly turned to the right and my eyes widened at what I saw. Khan was standing in front of some old world tapestries. Where had that man come from? He seemed to always be where I was, no matter what was happening. His back was turned to me, so I hoped for once to approach him and surprise that strange man. That idea fell short though.

He turned as soon as I approached him, “Hello there Artyom. I told you we’d meet again.” He looked around a bit before continuing. “It’s a nice base that the Rangers have. I heard you received no help from Polis, what’s your next move?”

Did Khan talk to the Rangers about this? How much did this guy know about me that I hadn't told him? I was bewildered at what he was saying. His knowledge of my events seemed to be endless. Hoping to have him reveal his hand, I decided to keep silent. He picked up on that quick though.

"Keeping silent? You are turning into a Ranger. Take a close look at the road you follow, Artyom. And be aware of how it might end." Khan looked around at the church for a brief moment before continuing, "You reap what you sow, Artyom. Force answers force, war breeds war, and death only brings death. To break this vicious circle one must do more than just act without any thought or doubt."

He reached a hand out and placed it on my shoulder before speaking again, “Well Artyom, I’ve been chatting here for far too long. It’s time to go.” With that, he gave me a nod and walked off, leaving down the stairs I had just climbed up. Such an odd man he was. How did that pertain to this situation though? Чёрт возьми, how did that even pertain to this world now? Violence is the only way we can survive. Without force, we as a species could not survive on this world. I shook my head and moved to Miller.

As I walked closer to his table something else caught my eye again. I slowly moved to one of the boarded up windows. The window was in fine condition but the boards were more for security than anything. It was expected for them to be rather brittle but this boarding had missed an entire area. The pale shimmer of the moonlight flowed through the opening.

It wasn’t the wood that caught my attention. No, it was the moon itself that drew my weary eyes up to the dark night sky. A full moon; only the third time I had seen one. Yet for some odd reason, it was especially captivating tonight. It was rare to even glimpse the moon at night, for the weather would hide the gleaming orb behind clouds. With this night being so calm, I could not help but glimpse the moon again.

My eyes glossed over while looking at the moon, thoughts focusing on the moon and all that I had heard of it before the war. Luna, the moon was called, such a beautiful name. Few would think much of that name, but a man back in Exhibition told me of the moon's beauty when I was younger. He kept referring to the moon as ‘her’ and ‘she,’ a foreigner would have considered this odd, giving the moon a gender. To him and the rest of us, born in this destroyed country, it was only natural. The old man spoke of times where people would walk on her surface and be able to see earth as we see her, times where she would be surrounded and embellished by the twinkling stars that surrounded her. If it wasn’t for the terrors that came with the night, I would have chosen her over the sun.

I came back into focus, my mind slowly getting back onto the right train of thought. There was something odd about the moon tonight though. There were darker and extremely visible craters or maybe a trick with the light that was covering half of it in an odd way. I swore I had never seen this before, my memory never failing me before. Those odd dark patches made a figure on the right side that seemed to crawl up the front of the moon. Eventually the figure turned towards the middle and produced what could possibly be a snout of something. It was tough to tell from the far away but what was for sure was that there was horn coming from the top of the figured head.

I snorted slightly at this, the air must be making me hallucinate; a unicorn from fairytales was residing on the moon. If I mentioned this to anyone they would probably call me insane and lock me up … well, maybe not Khan. That man would have told me a tale of the old world that speculated something about this.

I turned away from the window and gave a quiet chuckle to this thought. I slowly turned and proceeded to Miller. He finished flipping through the D6 documents before looking up at me.

“Okay, okay, okay. There’s not much useful in here, just hints at the most. Although, it does show the way to D6. So … that’s our destination then.” He gave a slight pause, looking behind me before staring intently at me once again, “Are you ready?”

I hesitated before answering. How does one prepare for something that they don’t know anything about? It was now or never though. If we waited too long we might not be the first ones there. No one knew if D6 was a leaked fact or if only Polis and the Rangers knew of it. One thing was for sure though, we would take it, no matter the cost. I gave him a confident smirk and sharply nodded my head.

Miller returned my smirk and opened his mouth to talk, yet nothing came out. Everything seemed to completely freeze. My eyes raced side to side as I tried to figure out what happened. I spun around to see if anything was behind me, only to be met with a dark void. My heart was racing as I spun once more, trying to see Miller again. Another empty void filled the spot.

It was then that I realized was happening, I was dreaming. Reliving memories of the past. Usually they had a certain topic to them, most of them focused on the Dark Ones, their attempts to contact me or reliving what I did to them. This was just a random snippet of my life though.

The Dark Ones had gifted me this somehow. Given me the power to realize if I was dreaming. I could do little more than just watch the scene, but it still felt almost like a gift. I remember when the Little One had entered my dreams once. It was … pleasant to say the least, but barely memorable.

My train of thought was broken as a new environment materialized in front of me. A river and the supports of a bridge came into view. A fresh memory it would seem. To what relevance this memory would have, escaped me but that didn’t stop me from taking in the entirety of it.

+++++Perspective: Past Artyom

A cacophony of screeches by the demons as well as the splashes of shrimp echoed from the area as I proceeded to slowly walk my way around the edge of the pillar. Those shrimp and that Demon had been annoying to say the least. A great way to waste ammunition, but it wasn’t like I could ask the Little One to help; he was too innocent and I was already corrupting him.

My eyes slowly scanned over the area I was in, something I needed to do more often. The ice on the river had been stable enough but I would be more than relieved to have my feet back on solid earth. The bridge above me was beyond repair, sections missing and rubble hanging limply off the wire frames that held it together. This bridge might have been a landmark once; but now, without a doubt, it was a symbol of a dying city.

A large splash sounded off from the midst of the river. I gazed down just in time to catch a glimpse of a shrimp swimming off. For all I knew, there was a whole colony located within the hull of that wrecked ship. The sheer size of it obscured due to it being lodged into the river floor. Surprisingly enough, the sight was almost calming. I shook my head at that thought; this city could never be calming again.

I began my trek along the dirt path leading around the pillar. I gazed into the ruined buildings along the river bank. All it was, was more concrete just standing among the decaying city. I was about to put my eyes back to the path when something blue appeared on a rooftop.

Blue? There was nothing blue out here, let alone underground. My eyes tried to focus on the item, but it was too far away. I wasn’t carrying anything with a scope so that removed that option. My eyes, burning from concentrating so hard, finally gave way and blinked. When they returned focus on that spot, the blue thing had disappeared. I continued to watch the rooftop for any sign of it. Eventually I shook my head, gave my gas mask a quick wipe and continued on the little path off the ice.

Following the small dirt path, surrounded by piles of concrete rubble, brought me to a ladder which went up the bridge. It was my only way forward and the Little One had guided me here, so my life was as much in his hands as his was in mine. I was reminded of the Little One’s presence when he suddenly spoke up from within my mind.

“Your houses ... so high. You made ... the city? So huge! Why are your people down there now? Why so few?”

I started my climb up the ladder as he asked his questions. I sighed at them, he didn’t have to go through what ‘my’ people had to go through; so he didn’t understand. We, as humans had done much which was considered impossible. Among those feats, were the construction of countless cities like this one. Skyscrapers filling the sky almost endlessly from below them. A modern marvel at one time, now turned wasteland. One could speculate that the rise and fall of mankind could be seen from just looking at the city.

I had once been told by Khan that his people had evolved from us. That they were the next evolution of mankind. He also spoke of them being part of a hive mind once. It seemed so long ago since he told me that, but in reality it could have just been a week ago. If this Little One was part of that hive mind then how did he not know of what we did?

I shook out these thoughts and focused on the ladder. Most of my ladder climbs on the surface ended in something attacking me or even attacking me halfway along. The helpful presence of the Little One eased my nerves about being attacked though, but one could not be too careful. It was when I neared the top of the ladder that the Little One took me off guard.

“You humans killed ... all of your people. Strange. Foolish. Evil.” I slipped slightly on the rail. It was brief and unnoticeable to the Little One, but I was taken aback by this statement. He knew his answer to the previous question, yet it wasn’t that which blindsided me; it was his view on it. From my people’s views, we saw the reasoning as to why the bombs fell. We knew it wasn’t for the better of us all, we knew that we had doomed ourselves yet we still saw a reasoning. This Little One didn’t have that perspective. He knew nothing of the world beforehand. His perspective, one that could be assumed as being born out of innocence, was right though. We were foolish, we were evil, and we had not changed since then.

A snippet of memory surfaced to the front of my mind. The moment when I stood on that tower and watched the Dark Ones die. I had showed them just how evil we were and the Little One bore witness to it. Maybe his perspective was not of innocence, but instead one of experience.

As I climbed over the top of the ladder, I saw the Little One standing there. It was the briefest of moments but the look on his face conveyed meaning. I didn’t know if a Dark One showed emotion on their faces before seeing the Little One. Now though, it was obvious he had a melancholy look to him.

For that brief moment, I actually saw more to him than just a means of achieving what I needed. Even with his thin, stocky figure and blackened skin covering all but his eyes, I could tell that he and I were no different.

The outer appearances were nothing but scattered dust of bad memories to me now. He looked more and more like a lost child who was alone in foreign place; a feeling I knew all too well. Was all that Khan had told me of the Dark Ones true? Was Miller wrong about them?

I could not dwell on those thoughts for long as the Little One soon scurried off into the small passages of the bridge. I followed my guide into the passage before an all encompassing sheet of black encased me.

+++++Perspective: Present Artyom

I soon found myself standing in the middle of the empty void again. Once again there was no surroundings and nothing for me to do but reflect on the memory.

That statement and that moment with Khan ... why were those memories so important? Why was I being shown this? Out of every memory that I could witness, out of every experience that I had, why did those ones show? How was this of importance?

I started to wonder which memory I would view next but, oddly enough, nothing came. I just stood in the black, neverending void before an odd wave of weariness came over me. My hands instinctively went to my head as I fell to my knees. One hand moved to plant itself on whatever I was standing on while the other continued to support my drooping head.

I struggled with all my effort to keep my consciousness as my eyes lids drooped lower and lower, slowly sucuming to the endless feeling of drowziness. With a dull thud, I found myself laying down on my side, my eyes barely staying open. Slowly my eyelids sunk lower and lower until I was sure that they were shut. Without a single moment after, I lost consciousness.

Chapter 4: Running Again

I had took an innocent hostage to further my own goals. In the basement we sat, waiting for her friend to come back with my filters; my only way out of this building. I was running from one of my own problems. My life and this pony’s life, all depend on the choices of her friend. Let’s hope she is as sensible as she seemed.
Running Again
Perspective: Artyom

The crying had stopped shortly after the purple one had left. Now, she was just quietly sobbing under her forelegs. I was sitting across the room from her, closer to the door just in case the purple one came back. A thought crossed my mind, I had never learned their names. It would have seemed pointless for a captor to learn a hostage’s name unless it was about ransom. For me though, I felt horrible for initiating this whole mess.

My conscience was yelling at me for what I had done, telling me to comfort the poor thing. With an audible sigh, I rose from my seated spot and moved to where the pony was laying. As I sat down, I noticed she looked up at me. The moment I made eye contact though, she hid her face and started to shake again. She feared me and what I might do to her. I quietly sat down on the cold concrete flooring, back against the wall, all the while looking at her.

“What’s your name, little pony?” I was, at this point, genuinely curious. Names always gave a little hint as to what the culture might be like.

Of course she didn't respond to me. She instead started to outwardly cringe. I frowned under the now useless gas mask. No matter how hard I tried to convince myself that this wasn’t my intention, I had to look at the facts, I was a menace to these innocent creatures. Maybe I could at least right one wrong, starting with this pony.

“Do not be afraid. I just want to know your name.”

A small squeak of sorts was her response. I inwardly cringed at this. It would take a heart of ice to not feel horrible for making this creature cower. I realized though that this was an improvement. She hadn't spoken in any way or form the previous time I asked.

My hand started to stroke her mane, it seemed instinctual for me to do this. Something deep in my heart told me that I would be able to coax her out if I showed this little bit of empathy. Many times I had doubted my conscious, and instead acted purely on instinct. So, it was a complete shock to me when the pony stopped shaking. She didn't remove her head from under her hooves though, but it was a start.

“Даже имя назвать, и то стесняется,” I mumbled aloud, staring sadly at the creature huddle on the floor. A rather deep sigh escaped my lips, before my eyes softened. I decided to speak up again. “Can you say your name?”

I removed my hand from its place, stroking her hair. She had taken a deep breath which startled me admittedly. She took another deep breath. Her head rose from under her hooves. With excruciatingly slowness, she turned her head so that I could finally see her face. Half of her face was covered by her lengthy, pink mane. Such an unnatural colour for a horse’s mane, but what experience did I have with them? I only had distant memories or a few living ones, while the rest were only pictures.

“Fluttershy,” She squeaked out. It wasn’t as quiet as she thought it was though. I had always been told that my hearing was exceptional; it saved my life multiple times in the past. I decided that her courage deserved her an award. It wasn’t anything special, just her chance to see who she was being held hostage by. To maybe see that I wasn’t a complete monster.

I slowly took my left hand and slid it under the back buckles of the mask. They were tough to take off though. My pistol had already been put away so I decided to just use both hand. With a small tug, I had pulled off both the mask and my headgear alongside it. The Ranger helm slipped from my grasp though, and thudded heavily on the floor to my left.

Apparently, this had frightened the poor girl. She was once again cowering under her hooves, forcing herself to look away from me. My right hand went back to petting her mane.

“It is all right, Fluttershy. I do not mean to scare you.” My words rolled off my tongue with a sincere sound to them. I had no intention to scare this pony by doing something, given her distraught state. I might have seen a lot of horrors on the battlefield, but I wasn't completely heartless. The thought of possibly having to harm her was damaging enough on my soul. “I was removing my mask.”

Her ears had perked up at this. Her head followed suite, showing me her tear laden eyes. “Y- your... m- mask?” She asked while holding back her tears. She must have misunderstood that the mask was not actually apart of me.

“Да, my mask. This is my true face. That was... gear I wear.” Her eyes began to dry up, tears no longer streaming down her face, as they had previously been. There was a small glint of fascination behind her teal eyes. It seemed I had piqued her interest, on what, was the mystery though. It was a lengthy awkward silence, neither of us were speaking, as if we would destroy something fragile. She had pushed herself up into a sitting position, and was fascinated by her hooves apparently.

I needed an answer, I could not just idly sit by and wait for the purple pony to return. What would be my first question? Where I was and what she was were the foremost on my mind though. So I had come to a decision, I needed to end this silence.

I cleared my throat a little before speaking, “I need to ask some questions. Can you answer them?”

She gave a hesitant nod in confirmation.

“Where am I?”

“Y- you’re in Equestria... um... I- I don’t k- know what to call you...” She trailed off, all the while, trying to hide behind her pink mane. Her most visible eye shut in a wince as if I would strike her down right there. I fought back the urge to smack my forehead.

“Конечно! I know your name, but you don’t know mine. Call me Artyom.”

She looked slightly confused upon hearing the name. Her mouth opened and closed multiple times as if trying out the word for itself. Her eyes darted to a fro, looking for something to concentrate on.

“You said...” I moved my mouth up and down a few times, trying to repeat the word. It was one I had never heard before. After a few mumbles in attempt, I finally got it out, “Equestria right? I never heard of this place.”

“You n- never heard of Equestria?!” Her shock wasn’t unexpected. If what I thought was true, then I would cause a multitude of existential crises among the populace. A being not of this world for them, and I might be the first human to visit another planet, let alone inhabited by sentient life forms but that wasn’t the issue though. Her shock still hadn't died down.

“Fluttershy, I am not from here. I am not from this... World.”

She gasped audibly, but it seemed her interest rose with a gasp. “R- really? What’s it like w- where you’re from?”

The sudden spike in interest and courage forced a small chuckle, “In time, Fluttershy, but can you answer my questions first?.”

She visibly shrunk back again, as if thinking she had offended me. What an unusual being she was. I had never met a human like her let alone a pony; something that changed so quickly in personality. “I- I'm sorry! I- I didn't m- mean to of-”

I held up a hand to stop her, “Не волнуйся, you did not offend, Fluttershy. I ask that you answer mine before you ask yours, is all.”

She nodded in agreement.

“Now, is Equestria a nation? Yes?”

Another nod in response.

“Others like you live here, in Equestria?”

“Ponies”

“What?” I was taken off track by her speaking up.

“We are called ponies.” She said with a genuine smile.

And here I thought it would be some strange name. Instead it was simply ponies; I was in a new world comprised of ponies. I'm sure Miller would have had me checked into a psychiatric ward by now. “Your friend there; I... assume there are different types of... ponies? Am I correct?”

“Oh yes, there are all kinds of ponies, but they all fit into three groups. There are the earth ponies, who are good at growing plants and are very strong. Then there are the pegasi, like me, who fly and manipulate weather. Finally, there are unicorns, the ones with horns. They have magic!”

My mind tried to wrap itself around such ideas. Unicorns and pegasi were just story tales, meant to entertain children. Now my reality was shattered, and here I was, having the existential crisis. I was in a whole new world, where things that didn’t exist back home, were now a sentient race. I took a few more seconds to process her answer. It was then, that another thought struck me.

“What about your friend? She had horn and wings.”

A realization crossed over her face, followed by a rather deep blush. “I- I'm sorry. I completely forgot. The last group of ponies are the Princesses! They are known as alicorns but there are o- only four. They rule the land the whole country as well as the Crystal Empire. They have wings and horns and can do what every other pony race can do.”

Such an odd thing. Only four of them, and they look as if they encompass all the other pony types. Something must be special about them, aside from their royal status, but that wasn’t relevant. My mind baulked for a second before I realised that I had threatened not only a friend of a Princess, but a Princess herself. This could be bad if played wrong, so I had to make sure they thought I was the more powerful being between us. For now though, I might as well keep up a friendly facade. “That answers my two main questions. Though, I am curious why you came here.”

She became somewhat skittish at that question though. “W- well you see... um... this is... my house.”

“Uhh..” I trailed off. There was nothing more I could say about this situation. I hadn't felt like a complete asshole before, but I did after she told me that. Not only did I take her hostage in exchange for my filters, I had also broke into that hostage’s house. This whole situation was getting extremely awkward. I could only hope that her friend had started work on those filters.

~~~~~(Moments earlier)Perspective: Spike

I had just finished placing a couple of returned books back on the shelves, when Twilight burst through the front doors. She had a frantic look about her. It was almost akin to when she had feared being late with her letter to Celestia. She didn't even notice me watching as she flung the door closed and bolted for the basement.

As she crossed the library floor, I noticed a large bag in her magic grip. It looked especially worn down, with the dull brown material having multiple badly sewn tears. She had left only to help Fluttershy and now she was back with some strange stuff.

“You all right, Twilight?”

There was no answer from her, as she almost flew down the stairs into her laboratory. What could have gotten her this spooked? I decided to move towards the basement door, in an attempt to see if Twilight was okay.

I barely made it there, when a fuchsia bolt came shooting out of the doorway. Without thinking, I flung myself backwards, just barely avoiding being hit by a frantic Twilight. I picked myself off the ground and dusted myself off before looking for Twilight. She wasn’t in the main lobby, so she must have went up stairs.

I was nearly at the stairs when a shrill scream came from the next floor, “Spike! Where are my quills?!”

The sheer volume and pitch of her voice made me jump in surprise. It wasn’t the first time she had used that voice, but most of the other times were not noteworthy. Just moments of her thinking she was late with something. I gathered myself and sighed before calling back, “right next to the parchments and ink!”

My retort caused a panicked clatter of objects amongst her quick moving hooves. Before I knew it, another fuchsia bolt flew past me again, with its target being the basement. I was worried at this point, if Twilight was in this much of a panic than something big had to have happened.

The basement door was still open and through it I could hear more frantic clattering, such as the sounds of glass being shifted and clinked. When she got into this mode, I knew better than to interject. She would only become more distraught if I tried to calm her down. So I decided to just let this run its course.

I moved back to the bookshelves, my mind still pondering on what Twilight was doing downstairs, and what was in those bags she brought home. I spent several minutes just staring at the shelves, my mind lost in idle thought. My daydreaming was broken by a small shattering of glass, and a resulting yell of anger from Twilight.

At first I was going to go check up on her, but my stomach blind sided me with a growl, signalling for food. I chuckled lightly knowing that there were priorities. A nice jewel sandwich would appease my hunger for now, at least until I needed to cook supper. So with my mind made up, I moved myself into the kitchen. As I prepared my gems and bread, I began to contemplate putting up some directions for Twilight. It’s not that I didn't like cooking, in fact I often enjoyed doing it, but that mare had to learn somehow. I might not always be around when she’s hungry. Maybe I should show her that Cooking for Dummies book Pinkie had mentioned.

With the sandwich prepared, I sat myself down at the table. It should have only taken a few minutes to eat that sandwich, but I found myself lost in thought again; absent-mindedly staring at the wall. I shook my head clear, once again, regathering my thoughts.

After the sandwich was done, I decided to check up on Twilight... Without her knowing, of course. She might blow up the library if not supervised. I put my ear to the door to try and hear what was going on. All that came from below, was the sound of her hooves clopping back and forth on the solid oak flooring. It was obvious that she wasn’t up to as much as I thought. The lack of her cursing out, or calling for me, slowly put me at ease though.

A thought clicked in my head, I had chores and stuff to do. Twilight counted on me to keep things organized, as well as run the Library when she was busy. With her in the basement, doing whatever she was doing, I needed to keep everything in order.

I tapped my claw against my cheek for a few moments, trying to remember the verbal list she gave me. The first thing was... was making sure the books were shelved properly! Luckily, this was one of the less tedious tasks that needed to be done.

Without further thought, I moved the sliding ladder into position and started from the top shelve. It was annoying, having to check each book, but Twilight liked to keep things organized. My mind often ventured back to how frantic Twilight appeared, as she hurried and scurried about in her laboratory. I was definitely curious as to what could have gotten her in such a state. Maybe there was something she forgot to do? That would be possible, sometimes she can be so forgetful, and she does tend to freak out a little when it happens. She was so calm this morning though, why would she freak-out over something little, when last night there were odd sound coming from the Everfree.

Something must have happened! Maybe the Guards got injured or maybe somepony else got injured, because the guards couldn't contain whatever it was! If Twilight was there then that means the others were probably there!

Rarity!

My balance on the ladder gave out, as that thought crossed my mind. I tried to correct myself, as I wobbled on the ladder. My claws reached out to find a grip on the sides, but only grasped air as I tumbled backwards.

A dull thunk sounded, as my back hit the floor. If I didn't have scales, I would have probably hurt something. I quickly pushed myself up to my feet, and bolted to the basement door.

As I neared the door though, I heard her talking. She tended to have a habit of talking to herself. Especially if she was writing a letter to... Celestia. Oh, horseapples.

I hesitantly opened the door, which confirmed my suspicions. Down in the basement, I heard her began speaking, “Dear Princess Celestia...”

I was right, something was wrong, and I had to help. With that, I rushed down the stairs and into the depths of the basement.

~~~~~(Present)Perspective: Artyom

I sat, hunched over with my head on my knees and back against the wall. This whole situation was starting to really make me uncomfortable. Yet, I was supposed to be the one in charge.

“Какого хрена не так со мной?” I mumbled rather loudly. My voice was filled with bitterness. This was not who I was. I helped people in the Metro, righted the wrongs that the corrupt caused. Small snippets of my experiences surfaced, a refused payment for helping a child find his family, giving another child his teddy bear back after finding it, even donating bullets to those in need for food. That was who I was; not this unknown monster to a bunch of innocent beings. Maybe it was the system shock of being alive again, that caused this. Maybe it was the adrenaline that forced me to act irrational, forced me to ensure my survival above all else. Forcing me to hold a yellow pegasus hostage.

“Жёлтый пегас.” I mumbled under my breath, followed by an amused chuckle. This whole world made little sense. Only a mental patient would see something akin to this; yet I was no mental patient. Or maybe I was? Maybe I'm unconscious back in Polis, laying on a hospital bed, waiting to be awoken. This world felt all too real though. How could one’s mind cause such insufferable pain at the hands of creatures never seen before?

My train of thought continued to cascade closer and closer to the brink of an existential crisis, until I felt something solid lay on my shoulder. My head rose from its resting place to find a yellow hoof on my shoulder. Fluttershy was looking at me with a confused look. Her mouth opened to speak, but closed quickly as she backed away from me, stumbling into the opposite corner of the room.

“I- I'm s- so s- sorry, I... eep,” was all she managed, before hiding completely behind her hair once more, shaking as if she were freezing. Such an innocent creature that could melt those hearts that were frozen by war.

I exhaled slowly a few times, before finding my voice again. “Do not be afraid. I was... thinking about... what did you want?”

She continued to shake, as she pushed herself off the floor. I had to hand it to her, she was very courageous in the face of everything that had happened. A few deep breaths later, and her shivering had ceased completely, her confidence returning. “I just want to um... ask a few things... if that is all right with you.” She said before her confidence faltered, causing her words to jumble. They almost sounded more like squeaks, then anything.

“Разумеется, I’ll answer some questions.”

“Ooh, what is your world like? Is it nice? Are there animals there? Are they like the ones here?” She kept throwing questions at me. I could hardly keep up with the complete 180 degree shift in her personality. For a moment I started to tune her out, the questions had evolved into a rambling on something about animals. With a clear shake of my head, I focused back on her.

“Притормози! I can answer only a question at a time,” I gave a small chuckle, “not that many.”

A small eep escaped her mouth, before she shut it quickly, drawing herself back behind her bright pink hair. She gave me a sheepish nod. A few moment passed of what I assumed to be the time it took her to figured out a question to ask me. “Umm...if you don’t mind me a- asking, what were you saying earlier, you know... before I umm... approached you?”

I clued in rather quickly on what she was asking. There were some English speaking people back in Metro, it wasn’t fully needed, but it was good to know. Most of the time people tended to speak Russian, but there were times when they found someone who wasn’t Russian, or didn't know enough of the language. Every now and then, you would find someone who would only speak English, or at least through phrases around casually; I guess it grew on me in a way. I had learned most of what I knew from an American back in Exhibition, but I picked up a few things, through travelling enough. The language was almost a passion of mine for awhile. I had even made it a point to pick up as many English books as possible, just to sate my desire to learn. I had wondered at times why there were so many English books, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind as I read on.

“That is my... native language. Known as Russian, or русский in our language.”

“Then why do you speak Equestrian? I- If you don’t m- mind me asking.” She shied away again. It seems this was a habit of hers.

“Equestrian? To me you are speaking English. Must be the same, oчень странно.” I pondered over that though for a moment, before realizing I hadn't answered her question. I decided to give her the briefest answer though, lest I confuse her more. “I can speak English because I was taught. There are some who speak that back home. Father agreed with my teacher that it would be... useful. I learned more than enough for what I needed.”

She took a little bit of time to take that in, before finding some interest in her hooves. Her face was downcast, as if I had told her that a family member had died. She must have heard the traces of sorrow in my words. An almost inaudible mumble coming from her reached my ears, but could not be picked up. Before my curiosity on what she said could speak up, she decided to speak again. “What is your world like?”

Now that question... that question couldn't be answered easily. My choices were to either avoid the question or tell her the gruesome details about it. I knew that if I chose the latter, I would possibly destroy her innocence, yet the question couldn't be avoided easily enough. It would most likely be the basis for every other question of hers.

So there I sat, nearly rigid in posture, grinding my teeth all the while, while trying to figure out how to answer her question. A deep sigh escaped my lips and my posture was thrown completely out the metaphorical window.

“You really want to know?” She replied with a quick nod and a rather large smile. “Damn. I need you to understand, what I tell you is truth and not make believe. It will not be nice. Do you understand?”

Her eyes bulged slightly, knowing that, whatever she would be told, this likely wouldn't be easy to digest. Just from her fidgeting I knew she was struggling to decide what she should do. She closed her eyes hard, turning her head and held herself like that for a moment.

With all her summoned courage, she looked at me with a steely gaze and nodded sharply. I hope she knew what she would be getting into. Just like I hoped that her friend would hurry up with those filters.

“Give me a moment to gather my thoughts.”

She only nodded in reply, but with a small smile, maybe she is stronger than I predicted her to be. So I sat there for a minute with my hand on my chin, thinking of how I would describe my world to a being that probably knew nothing of war. I was close to having a good method as well. Something though knocked on the cellar door though.

Without thinking at all, my hand had already drawn out my revolver and cocked the firing mechanism back. My eyes drifted towards Fluttershy and proceeded to motion to the door.

A small squeak escaped her before she nodded her head and moved to answer the knocking. “Umm... who is... it?”

“Fluttershy! Are you all right?! I'm... I'm back with the filters.” Ahh, so the purple one was back. Good; this meant I could keep my world a mystery a little longer. Silently, I moved towards my helmet, while holstering my revolver. Years of practice made it easy to put the helmet on with one hand, but knowing the risk of exposure when those doors open, I decided to play it safe.

Once my helmet was on tight, I replaced my two main weapons on my back. Finally I redrew my revolver before nodding once again to Fluttershy. She took a small calming breath before speaking again, “You can, umm... come in, Twilight. You know, if you want to that is...”

I shook my head, once again, at her 180 personality shift. Such an odd thing she was, not that it was a horrible thing though. My inner musings were cut short as the cellar door quickly opened followed quickly by the sound of it closing. This would be the moment of truth, whether or not I was going to get out of this basement. If she had indeed made me more filters, then I knew what I had to do. If not, then I’ll wing it.

The purple alicorn, or Twilight Sparkle as Fluttershy had called her, stepped forward from the entrance way and closer to me. Fluttershy was standing off Twilight’s right so with my weapon drawn I motioned her to move to her friend. I could visibly see her hesitance as she shuffled her way to stand beside her friend. Fluttershy on the other hand had her head visibly cocked to the left. A confused expression had taken her face, no doubt wondering why I was once again being aggressive.

“Filters?” Was all I spoke.

Twilight nodded her head in response and shakily levitated the bag towards me. My eyes widened slightly at seeing her utilize her ‘magic’ in such a way. I hoped that I would never have to get used to such sight. Nonetheless, I needed those filters and the only way was to actually interact with this ‘magic’.

“I will judge,” and with that I quickly snagged my filter filled pouch out of the aura surrounding the strap of the bag. The aura itself disappeared immediately after I had taken hold of the bag. The back of my mind was abuzz with questions on how this ‘magic’ of hers worked. It would seem to have properties that acted like nothing else within Metro.

While I was contemplating that though, my hands were subconsciously lifting the gas mask over my head before quickly screwing in one of the newly outfitted filters. I took a few steps towards the door when a thought struck my mind.

“How you make them?”

“E- excuse me?” It was obvious that the purple alicorn knew who I was talking to.

“I said, how you make them?”

“Oh! Umm,” she grinded her teeth a few times before continuing with a deep breath, “I r- removed the contents and, umm, c- cast a filtering spell into the e- empty canister. Than I, ahem, resealed it with an air locking and repair spell. The spell i- identifies what your l- lungs need and... and filters the a- air to meet t- that n- need. I couldn't c- copy the o- original.”

Under my mask an eyebrow raised up. I had every right to doubt this pony as did she have every right to doubt me. The only way I could know for sure that she was telling the truth was to test it for myself. So with my mind made up I slowly moved to the cellar doors, my right hand still holding my revolver out while the other holding the satchel of filters. All the while holding the satchels, my left hand gripped the door handles.

Without a second thought, I pushed one door open and poked my head out, taking a single deep breath. I held it there for moment. It was followed by another second which preceded another breath. A small smile crept across my face, I could finally get out of the cellar. I moved the satchel over my right shoulder and my head and let it rest across me and against my side. I was ready to leave, but there was one thing that needed to be addressed first though.

“How long?”

This time it seemed that Twilight knew what I was getting at. “Umm, fifteen minutes since y- you didn't s- say a time limit.”

That would work fine. A quick three pushes on my watch and a timer for fifteen minutes was set. The old filters were inefficient, compared to this new one. I gave a brief nod and moved down the steps once more. The crowbar I had originally used to barricade the door was sitting near the bottom of the steps. Quickly grabbing that, I moved back up to the top and swung the other door open, the ponies stood at the bottom of the cellar looking up with eager eyes to finally be done with standing in there.

“I'm sorry but this is only way.” With that I flung the doors closed and ran the crowbar through the handles. I knew it wouldn't take long before they got out out so I had to move quickly. I tore off full sprint away from the house in what my watch was telling me as north.

I made it roughly a couple hundred meters before a voice spoke a little distance behind me; it was distinctively male. “Stop right there, vicious beast!”

“Проклятье.”

Without a second thought, I fired a random shot from my revolver into what seemed to be a group of ten armoured ponies. The head one was adorned in what seemed to be purple armour while the rest were clad in gold. My shot found a mark though, in one of the pony’s legs.

“Aaaiieeeeee!”

“Oh no, it got Will Helm!”

My legs strained as I started sprinting once more. There was no way I was going to go quietly for these ponies. I knew that if they ever caught me, I would be done for. Holding an innocent pony like Fluttershy hostage had to be a capital offence. Well, some places in the Metro would have shot such a person on sight. At least one good reason for being here instead of down there.

My train of thought was broken as a spear was launched past my head and embedded in the ground. Shit they were getting serious. I needed to lose them and open ground would hardly be the best way.

The forest!

I quickly planted my left leg and took an abrupt right, directly into the forest I had once come out of. I guess I was lucky enough to have hid in that one house’s cellar, since it was so close to this forest. That, of course, wasn’t at the front of my mind. No; getting away from these ‘guards’, that was my number one issue.

I continued to duck and weave my way through the dense foliage of the forest, knowing that being on two legs would help me immensely in the brush and hinder my chasers.

Maybe it wasn’t their four legged nature, maybe it was their armour, but either way I began to gain ground, stretching the distance between me and the hunting party. I took a few more drastic turns in order to throw them off the path. In the end, I could no longer see the group behind me and could barely hear them in fact.

I decided I could slow my pace to a jog. A set of thick foliage was up ahead and with a quick burst of power I pushed through it and found myself in another opening in the forest.

“Да их тут дохера.” I thought aloud as I walked cautiously across the clearing.

A mixture of voices started to increase in volume a little ways away. I spun around to face their direction to see if they had found me. If they had found me, then the chase would be on again, but with the density of the forest, I could probably lose them easily once more.

Of course, I was relieved to find that not only was there not a soul behind me, but I couldn't see their bright white coats through the trees either. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I took a few steps back, my focus still being on the tree line I had just broken through. Then, something strange happened.

I felt weightless for the briefest of moments. It was the oddest of feelings, it was almost as if I was being lifted into the air by some... magical... force. I looked down quickly to find that I was encased in a rather blue looking mystic aura and floating above the ground. This was not going to end well at all.

Before I could contemplate my situation any further, my eyes opened wide, as a tree seemed to be hurtling towards me... or I was hurtling towards a tree. It was like being hit by that train again, but with me flying towards the object instead of it coming head on towards me.

As soon as my last bit of snarkiness cleared my head, my body made solid contact with the tree trunk. I was dazed at first but I had no time to struggle before I was slammed again into the tree. Followed by a second time against another tree. Then against another tree, and another. Each tree brought another jarring hit to my body, increasingly more painful than the previous. I was in too much pain to keep track of the amount of times I hit a tree, but eventually it go too much and I blacked out, as simple as turning off a light switch.

Omake: Will Helm

A/N: This entire chapter was thought of when I was rather drunk and chatting to VasQwibQwib, a good buddy of mine. We kinda destroyed all seriousness of this. I am sorry ahead of time, and blame him for all that you are about to read. Feel free to skip this entirely!

Warning: This chapter contains lore breaking content, physics breaking content sexual doubt, rustling of the jimmies, and the overall reason why fanfiction is looked down upon.

Viewer Discretion is Advised
Omake: Will Helm
Perspective: Artyom

“Aaaiieeeeee!”

“Oh no, it shot Will Helm!”

“You bastard!” One pony shouted with a wave of his hoof towards me.

My legs strained as I started sprinting once more. There was no way I was going to go quietly for these ponies...

$$$$$

“Aaaiieeeeee!”

“Oh no, it shot Will Helm!”

“My jimmies! They have been rustled!” The pony shouted as he fell, several more guards rushing towards him.

“Not the jimmies!” One shouted before dropping to his… back knees? Another guard pulled out what seemed to be a walkie talkie.

“This is Sergeant Slaughter, we have a Code Amber Rustling in progress!”

My legs strained as I started sprinting once more. There was no way I was going to go quietly for these ponies...

$$$$$

“Aaaiieeeeee!”

“Oh no, it shot Will Helm!”

“Medics!” A group of three ponies wearing red crosses on their armour came running from out of nowhere. Instantly they were beside the downed pony, yet they didn’t do anything.

“I’m sorry Will Helm, we can’t help you. We require more minerals to researcher healing.” One of the ponies shook its head.

“What about that druid over there?” he asked while pointing to a lean purple female human, with pointy ears. The gear she wore looked like something out of a fairytale.

“I’m sorry,” the medic spoke up, “she is spec'd as a boomkin right now.”

My legs strained as I started sprinting once more. There was no way I was going to go quietly for these ponies…

$$$$$

“Aaaiieeeeee!”

“Oh no, it shot Will Helm!”

The one in purple rushed to his side. His glare aimed directly at me, “Brave Will Helm, you shall not have died in vain!”

The shot pony looked up from his fallen spot, “I’m not quite dead sir.”

The purple armoured pony balked before speaking again while drawing a sword hilted at its side, “well you shall not have been mortally wounded in vain!”

“I- I think I could pull through sir.”

“Oh I see.”

“Actually I think I am alright to come with you!”

The purple armoured pony pushed the other down while standing fully up. “No no sweet Will Helm, stay here! I will send help as soon as I have accomplished a daring and heroic raid in my own particular… umm.”

“Idiom sir?”

“Idiom!”

“No I feel fine actually.”

“Farewell sweet Will Helm!” He yelled before running after me again.

“I’ll umm, I’ll just stay here then shall I sir?”

My legs strained as I started sprinting once more. There was no way I was going to go quietly for these ponies…

$$$$$

“Aaaiieeeeee!”

“Oh no, it shot Will Helm!”

My legs strained as I started sprinting once more. There was no way I was going to go quietly for these ponies.

Wait.

Why am I narrating what I clearly can see? And why is this in past tense? I feel as though there is some other worldly beings, watching… no reading everything I do. That would mean that they knew every single thought I have had up to this point.

Oh sweet mercy!

I didn’t mean to think that one thought! It was something that happened out of the blue! How was I supposed to know that she had a pet monkey! It wasn’t my fault! If only she had disabled the Metal Gear in time, none of that would have happened!

Stop scrutinizing everything I do!

I dropped to the ground and curled up tight in a… oh god I am doing it again! Why am I the subject of your perversions! Why did I deserve to have everything I done looked on by some sadistic beings like this?

Tears began to flow under my m-

Why can’t I stop!

$$$$$

“Aaaiieeeeee!”

“Oh no, it shot Will Helm!”

The cry of medic resounded through the area. The shot pony reached up with one hoof, almost as if he was grasping for something.

“Sergeant, I- I don’t think I’ll make it…” He trailed off with a wheezing cough.

The ‘Sergeant rushed over to him. Grabbing the back of his head and propping him up.”You’ll make it son! Just hang on in there, the medics are on their way!”

Another cough came from the injured pony. “Tell my brother.”

“Tell him what soldier?”

“Tell him to delete my porn folder!”

$$$$$

“Aaaiieeeeee!”

“Oh no, it shot Will Helm!”

Out of nowhere, sad music began to play. A quartet of ponies walked out from behind the tree. Two of them held what looked like portable pianos while another was sitting on a movable... drum set? Finally the last pony carried out a microphone. The music was eerily similar to something from back home.

The other soldiers stopped and circled around the down pony. Each one of them having removed their helmets in respect for their fallen comrade, who had seemingly be only injured. As the ponies completed a circle around the pony, a teal green unicorn with a harp on her flank moved out from behind another tree. In her… magical grasp was a tabled, a box of cereal, a bowl, milk, and a spoon. Only a few meters from the circle of soldiers, who had their heads bowed down in respect for their fallen comrade, the teal green unicorn set the table down and prepared some cereal.

All the while the music rang out, the soldiers kept their heads bowed and the teal green unicorn continued to eat a bowl of cereal and stare at the soldiers.

$$$$$

“Aaaiieeeeee!”

“Oh no, it shot Will Helm!”

Before anyone could react, a massive shark, possibly the size of the manticore from before, sprung up from the ground right under Will Helm. In a swift gulp, the shark ate Will Helm. Yet for some completely unknown reason, the shark continued to fly upwards, not stopping or losing momentum.

The rest of the soldiers stared in complete silence, jaws dropping to the ground as the shark kept flying higher and higher.

As if it just appeared, another shark flew perpendicular to the original land shark and engulfed the first shark whole. As it was, that shark must have been the size of a building. Somehow in the sheer ridiculousness of what was happening, the size of the shark was what caught my attention.

The flying shark continued along it’s path until a pink blue shot completely out of nowhere. This pink blur hit the shark head on, causing the shark to almost disappear… as if it ate it!

All momentum of the pink blur ceased in mid air. The pink blur looked oddly like a pony, with cotton candy like hair. A loud burp emanated from the pony before something came flying out of its mouth.

A loud impact sounded as the object hit the ground at blinding speeds. When the dust settled, the pony named Will Helm lay there, still clutching his leg. His eyes were wide in shock.

“I’ve seen some things,” He said with a shutter.

All of the ponies and me looked back up to the pink pony, as if expecting her to do something else that defied everything that we have ever known. She followed through.

Without a second to lose, the pony produced a board of some sort, kinda like a surfboard. Something that a man from Exhibition once showed me. She stood quickly on the surfboard, looking out onto the sunset.

“Hiho Silver! Away!” The pony yelled before the board suddenly shot off over the forest next to me.

With that I threw my hands up in defeat. I was done.

Done.

Chapter 5: Who Art Thou?

A/N: There is a massive slice of Russian ahead. It has little to do with the plot like I said in the story description.

Things in this new world have gone wrong at every turn. Having to fight mutants on a time limit, taking an innocent hostage, and finally getting knocked out again. I must have hope that something has to go right.
Who art thou?
(Earlier that day)Perspective: Princess Luna

My sister and I sat at her tea table within her room. Normally, I would have been asleep before noon, but today my sister had wanted to spend some time with me. Such times were becoming more common, which was a good thing. I had no issue with spending time with Tia, it helped to make things more interesting around the castle, aside from Discord and his mischievous activities. He wouldn't be a problem for a few more days though. It seemed like yesterday that he told us he wanted to travel the world before having to settle back down in Canterlot; that was nearly two weeks ago and he was due back soon.

It was rather quiet for that moment, both of us were focused more on the tea we had then actual conversation. Well, Tia was more focused on the tea. My mind was centred on the strange being I saw last night. Such an odd looking beast and such a strange landscape. I couldn't tell if it was the dreamer, or merely just a projection from the dreamer. If the latter was to be believed, then somepony truly has a wild imagination. Yet, the former had it’s own appeal to me. It was not a pleasant one, instead it had a ominous overtone. A feeling of darkness and change rolled into a ball of flesh, finally formed into a beast that looked like nothing anypony had ever seen in Equestria before.

At this time of day, it wasn’t my concern though. With Tia’s enormous sun shining rays down among the country, I was pushed into the back seat. A thousand years ago I would have been beyond angry at such a thought, but now everything had changed. I realized my mistake and my foolishness. Tia had forgiven me for what I did, and by her request I had forgiven her for how she had handled me, before the Nightmare took hold. So instead of fighting like we did in the past, we sat quietly and enjoyed our tea and each other’s company.

A small pop from the other side of the table brought me out of my trance-like state. A rolled up piece of parchment was being steadily held within my sister’s golden aura. “What is it, Tia?”

“It seems Twilight has sent another friendship letter! Odd that it is so early too. She usually sends them later in the day.”

I gave a small shrug of my withers before taking another sip of my tea; Jasmine today. “So what does it say, sister? I do enjoy hearing about her new discoveries.”

At first, Tia said nothing, she just had a small smile on her face. Yet, as she continued to read the letter to herself, the smile she held began to fall farther and farther until a look of utter shock was adorned on her muzzle. Wordlessly she rose from the cushion she had been sitting on and moved to her desk. My puzzled expression went unannounced to her as she began to scrawl something on parchment.

My curiosity overtook me, as I grabbed the left behind letter in my own magic and hovered it in front of me. My eyes darted across the page reading the letter in almost blinding speed. Just as my sister’s face did, shock quickly grew on my face. From what she was saying, something akin to the beast from that dream last night had taken her friend Fluttershy hostage! Wait, Fluttershy... I knew that name. She had helped me... lower my voice on Nightmare Night.

Not dear Fluttershy!

I looked up from the letter to find Celestia sending another letter off via her magic. “Tia, something must be done!”

“I know, Luna, I sent a letter to Shining Armor. He will get this sorted out.”

“Why Shining Armor?” I said confused, “he is in the Crystal Empire.”

Tia shook her head, “He came to visit yesterday before heading off to Ponyville. He was supposed to leave this morning to visit my student, when she sent a letter about a disturbance. He offered to lead the guards to investigate the Everfree before visiting Twilight. His investigation into the Everfee will have to wait, this obviously takes precedence. He’ll handle this.”

I rose from my seat and stomped my right front hoof hard against the marble flooring. “That is not good enough! This beast must be dealt with swiftly, before it can enact harm among our subjects!”

Without saying another word, I flung Tia’s balcony doors wide open with my magic, before galloping out them. My sister called out to me, but I mentally blocked her out, stopping her from contacting me telepathically. My entire focus was on saving Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy. A quick spread of wings and leap off the balcony left my gliding across the courtyard below. I had to fly fast if I was to cover the distance from Canterlot to Ponyville. With a quick succession of powerful flaps, I rose high above the city and the cloud line. A jet stream was nearby and that would be my key to rescuing two of the Elements in time.

A couple more beats of my wings and I was engulfed in the jet stream, picking up speed as the air pushed me farther and farther from Canterlot and my sister. My eyes looked ahead, searching for Ponyville through the random cloud breaks. It seemed the Ponyville Weather Teams were slacking a little today. That, though, was the least of my current issues. With each passing moment, my mind began to worry about what the beast did to my new friends. A deep fury began to rise, my anger nearly consuming me, before being forced back down. Now was not the time to let my emotions get the better of me. I had to stay calm and deal with this as a Princess should.

Aha! A break in the cloud cover revealed Ponyville being just a short distance away from me. I flared my wings back to slow me down before dropping from the jet stream. Like a dart, I shot down towards Ponyville. My eyes searching for some clue as to where this creature would be.

A loud bang sounded off near the forest followed by a shrill scream, I snapped my head to peer in that direction. A group of Royal Guards were chasing something; something tall and lanky covered in... it was the creature! A smirk grew on my face as I dived down towards the beast.

Before I could stop it, though, the thing entered the Everfree Forest. Now I needed to be meticulous with my search, I needed to ensure that this thing was caught and subdued.

My wings were outstretched as I glided over the forest, searching for any signs of the beast. It couldn't have gotten far on its two legs, surely it must have been caught by the guard by now.

I did another glide over the beginnings of the forest, ready to turn back when my eyes caught sight of the monster again, stumbling out of the thick brush into a clearing. I smirked at this opportunity, knowing that I needed to act now or lose this thing forever.

I quickly cast a teleportation spell, placing me behind the beast. Whether it heard me or not wasn’t on my mind as I quickly grabbed the beast within my aura. The thing was heavy, but was still of little effort for me as I forced him to levitate off the ground. It seemed confused by what was happening, but I cared little. With a quick flick of my magic, I launched the beast at a nearby tree, hoping to at least wind it so I could subdue it. After the first collision I could feel the beast still wiggling slightly in my aura, so I did what came naturally; I hurled it into more trees. Each impact further injuring the creature until one last throw ended the incident.

I was overly effective on the last tree as it nearly snapped in half when the monster collided with it. The beast didn't move; it just lay there, slumped up against the tree. I instantly assumed it was a trap, yet I needed to move closer to subdue it. I prepared another telekinesis spell as I slowly inched towards the slumped being. My resolve to face down this creature was practically radiating from how I held myself.

Once I had gotten close enough to the monster, I quickly cast a medical reading spell to check if the thing was just pretending. I was quaintly surprised to find out that his little bout with the tree had rendered him briefly unconscious. Making sure to be cautious, I quickly applied a sleep spell to ensure he remained knocked out.

The medical spell also noted that his lungs were struggling to find oxygen. It took me less than a moment to remember Twilight Sparkle’s letter. The beast needed filters apparently. I rolled it over with a hoof, to find that its enclosed helmet had major cracks along the glass eye slots. With another quick flash of my horn, I put a small sealing spell on the glass. Not fixing it but instead stopping it from letting air leak in. The spell wouldn't last and if the helmet were to be used then it needed to be fixed first. With that taken care of, I stepped back a bit, keeping minor distance from the now sleeping being.

I smiled, somewhat gleefully, before looking around the clearing quickly. Finding that I was alone, I quickly gave a pump with my right front leg in victory. A quick and easy victory, but a victory nonetheless. A light blushed encased my cheeks, before I picked the beast up in my magic.

“Princess!”

The voice caught me off guard, as I almost let the beast drop from my magic. I spun my head to where the voice came from to find that Shining Armor and his small contingent of Royal Guards had finally found me. They had all rushed into the clearing rather quickly, except one that seemed to be limping. His face told me all I needed to know as surprise and shock was more than abundant. It seemed that the former Captain of the Guard had forgot his history lessons. I used to deal with matters like this first hoof, back before the Nightmare Moon incident.

“Ah yes, Shining Armor. Thou seems to be a little late. Dost not worry, though. We have subdued thy target. We will take it back to the castle with thine contingent of Royal Guard. Go, find thy sister.”

He was speechless, mouth opening and closing, like a fish out of water, in an attempt to find some sort of reply. Instead, he opted to simply nod and head back the way he had come. I smiled as he ran off to comfort his sister. Once he had left the clearing, I nodded to the rest of the Royal Guards. They quickly closed in on me, as I summoned a teleportation spell again.

A quick snapping sound, and we had reappeared in the dungeons of the castle. My telekinesis spell dropped as a feeling of light-headedness swept through me. The creature landed with a dull thud on the ground beside me, but was quickly lifted back into the air by the two unicorns that were part of the squad with me.

“Place it in a maximum security cell, inform us when it wakes up. Dismissed.” With that I trotted up the stairs leading from the dungeon. A large smile grew on my face as a thought entered my mind. Celestia was going to have a field day with this. When she gets mad, it can be quite funny if she isn't truly angry at least.

~~~~~(Later that day)Perspective: Artyom

I groaned as my mind slowly overcame the darkness that had consumed it earlier. My eyes fluttered open slowly as I started to regain feeling throughout my body. My everything hurt, especially my jaw. I pushed myself up into a seated position, my environment must have changed for all I saw was outlines of four walls. The cold ground beneath me felt like concrete... concrete!

I instantly became more aware of what was going on. There wasn’t concrete where I was before! Did that mean I was back home? Back where I belonged? The ponies then... were just a hallucination! With aching muscles, I gave a small fist pump. My joy overshadowed the pain of the motion luckily.

My celebration was cut short though as a slit of light appeared in front of me, roughly half my height from the ground. Before I could say something to the person on the other side, the slit was closed once again. A muffled voice said something that I couldn't make out. These walls had to be extremely thick for that to be the case. Whoever was outside must have been ordered to tell someone when I was awake, that was what I would have done at least.

No more sounds could be heard through the concrete, so I was left with my thoughts. They drifted towards a grim thought. I quite possibly had been captured by the Red Line. That would mean that I had failed everyone and we lost the Metro to those bastards. That meant... Anna; I lost Anna to those bastards. I lost everything I loved to the sick fucks that couldn't control their greed.

I shook my head violently at those thoughts. I could not let them get to me, the moment they get to me is when they have truly won. I ran my hands over my head, feeling my hair bristle under my gloves. Those bastards had even taken my mask, probably as a trophy. No doubt one of them was claiming he had bested me.

I decided that I might as well see what they had left me with. I reached to check if they had left me with my weapons. Of course, the answer was a resounding no. My pistol holster was gone as well as the my shotgun and assault rifle. After patting down the rest of my body, I came to the conclusion that the only thing they had left me was my under-shirt, pants, socks, and boots. Those would offer me no help if I ever tried to make a break for it. Hopefully the bastards didn't learn from last time and left my gear close by.

My mental check-list was halted, as a nearly blinding light pierced the darkness of the room. I used my right hand to shield my eyes from the light, while my left continued to prop me up. I squinted my eyes to see if I could tell who my captor was, but I couldn't even make an outline out of the overly bright light.

“Get up, beast!” The order was firm and seemed to carry some hatred behind it. Calling me a beast was little much for those Red Line суки, though it might just as well be the Nazis, but I cared little. I closed my eyes hard to stop the light from shining through. I spoke no words, as I forced myself from my propped up position to a standing one. Those pigs were not going to get a word out of me.

They mustn't have wanted me to see where they were since I could feel a bag being pulled over my face. Only then did my eyes open, to my relief I could see some semblance of light shining through, thought I couldn’t see any shapes of anything near me. At least this allowed me to adjust to the light of wherever I was. Before I could reach a hand up to touch the bag over my head, my hands were moved quickly behind my back and locked into place with rather cold feeling cuffs. It was to say the least since the cuffs didn't feel... right. There was something off about them, but that also applied to the Red Line itself.

Something pushed me in the lower back, forcing me to stumble forward slightly. I was lucky to be facing the open door, or I would have smacked right into a wall. I picked up my feet and walked slowly down what I assumed was a prison hall. After maybe two minutes of walking, a pull of something cold forced me to turn right.

After sixty-three steps, and yes I counted, the guards by me forced me to stop by tugging on my handcuffs. Something prodded my side and forced me right again. I was pushed forward again, before being forced to sit on what I assumed was a chair. Being blinded by the bag was getting annoying, as I was more than eager to see what faction had captured me, since a small part of me refused to believe that it was The Red Line; maybe the Nazis instead. At least the Red Line had the courtesy to not make you feel subhuman. Well, most of the time anyway. They still treated prisoners horribly, but at least it was equal. From what I had seen, the whole genetic elitism that the Nazis displayed was barbaric. Those who failed to meet their standards were nothing but vermin, especially commies from The Red Line. That would actually explain the name calling.

Either way, I was forced to sit on a metallic chair. A rather loud scraping noise rose from in front of me, before the top of my thighs brushed against something. My guess was that they moved a table up. It didn't matter at that point, it was just another passing thought.

So, I sat there for what seemed like half an hour before I heard muffled voices again. Probably the interrogator outside talking to the guards. A clack of shoes echoed before another chair was moved on the concrete. This was followed by nothing, an almost maddening silence.

Finally I felt a small pull at the top of the bag over my head. Finally I would get the answer to who my captors were. Maybe it was just Miller playing a prank for all I knew. It didn't matter though, I just needed to see another human face after that horrible hallucination.

In one swift motion the bag was pulled off my head, leaving my eyes squinting under the light again. I shut them tightly, keeping my eyes closed for a few moments before daring to take a look at the bastard that sit across from me.

Instead of the gruff Red Line soldier or shaved head Nazi I saw a dark blue horned pony with wings tucked at its sides, sitting across from me with a deep glare. My first reaction was completely justified.

“Да ладно, блядь!” I yelled in sheer rage. I was ready to slam my head into the table before me, just to end my misery. That would probably only help the pony though, so instead I just visibly seethed at the pony.

So, there I sat, doing my best to glare through the pony as if I could make it explode just from staring, while the pony was, probably, doing the exact same to me. Her eyes were narrowed, staring at me as though to read me like a book. Whatever her hair was, seemed flow in an invisible river off to her left. Her posture was upright and stiff, probably from a stick shoved up her ass. I was more than a little ornery about the whole thing and the sneer I was giving her in response probably spoke for itself. The tension in the air was thick enough to be cut by a chainsaw. In fact, I think a chainsaw would have been a nice weapon choice right then.

More than a few tense moments passed, each of us continuing to stare at the other. Finally, it was broken though as the pony raised a hoof to its mouth and politely coughed into it, all the while maintaining its glare.

“Who art thee?” I forced back a whirlwind of laughter by using my feeling of sheer contempt for this place. The end result of trying to stop laughing so hard was me giving out a small snicker at the way she spoke. This pony was speaking in what could compared to Shakespearean language. The only reason I knew of Shakespeare was because of that same man who told me stories of the moon. He actually taught me a lot when I was growing up. That was beside the issue though.

“Dost thou perceive this as jest?” She had risen a little to place her hooves on top of the table. Her voice came off with a sneer, forcing me to stop my smiling. Of course, this did little to change the actual mood of the conversation. “We ask again. Who art thee?”

The second time she asked snapped the camel’s back, as the old saying went. “Сейчас вся моя жизнь похожа на дурацкую злую шутку! Я лучше сдохну, чем с этими пони дело иметь! Нет, ну пони, пони, блядь!! Что это за ёбнутый на голову мир, что пони говорят на сраном английском? Это же просто дурь, ни в какие рамки! В метро я был хорошим парнем, говорят, мол, герой. Героем, который за других жизнью рисковал! А тут меня в маньяки записали, бляха-муха! Нет, ну, по ладно, зря я того пегаса в заложники брал, и вообще, не подумал я, до сих пор херово от этого, но ведь выбора у меня не было! И вот теперь я тут сижу на жопе смирно, напротив какой-то сраной голубой лошади с каменной мордой! А дальше что? Этот сраный поезд стену протаранит?!”

I huffed a little, slightly winded from nearly yelling my head off during my little breakdown. Probably freaked out my company, yet the pony across from me just looked at me with an odd, almost quizzical look. It was obvious enough that I had confused it by speaking my native tongue. Slowly though, as I waited for a response, my memories caught up to me. The yellow one, Fluttershy, had said that the ones with a horn and wings were Princesses.

I was screwed.

I was sitting only a few feet from one of the highest royalty of the land, a Princess who could probably have me killed on sight. In a way, she had all the cards, but I still had my language to muddle what I tell her. Maybe I could interest her enough for her to spare my life. Of course, if this was my last day alive... again, then maybe I could toy around with her. It all depended on what this Princess did.

What the blue one did next surprised me though. She hopped off whatever seat she was using and trotted to the door. She gently opened the door a slight bit and slowly peaked her out of the door. After a few moments of what I could only assume was hushed whispers, she removed her head from the door and moved back to her seat across from me. A quick flicker of light from her horn appeared and disappeared all in the same moment, which I would have missed, if I didn't make sure to keep a level glare on her.

The Princess leaned forward slightly, scooching her chair closer to the table in the process. How she did it I had no idea but that was beside the point. From the slight frown on her... muzzle, I could tell she wasn’t up for dancing around the subject.

“Listen you... human. Not a soul can hear us now and we won’t be interrupted any time soon. You have been out for many hours and in that time I have learned a few things from your hostages. I’d like to make it clear, I do not have the time or patience to listen to you ramble in your native language. The quicker you answer my questions in Equish, the sooner I can decide whether you need to be hung or thrown off a cliff. So I will ask again, who are you?”

Only two times in my life I had been truly afraid. The first was when I was just a young boy and the bombs fell. I thought I was going to die in that moment, and so I had every right to be afraid. The second time was when I had to defend Exhibition along with my father Alex and Hunter. Never had I needed to be apart of the defence until that day. It was also that same day that I realized that in the end I was going to die somehow, so I might as well do everything I could to take as many evils with me.

Now though, now I could say that I was scared. Her voice had carried a tone that was beyond cold, drifting towards the realm of an unforgiving and ruthless even. I refused to talk when the bastards of the Red Line tortured me, but this pony invoked a true sense of fear and a need to speak. Her stare and frown remained consistent; eyes trying to burrow through my head and into my soul. For all I knew, she was succeeding in doing so and could answer the question for herself. The idea that this pony could read my mind and soul was bone chilling, causing a small shiver to run up my spine.

I worked my mouth a few times, trying to formulate an answer that would appease her. My first few ideas which were thrown aside, as they were were snarky quips in Russian. One of them questioning what happened to her Shakespearean dialect. A few more plots ran through my head before I decided that giving her just enough information to stay alive would be the best route.

“My name is Artyom. You know what I am. Just a human,” I spoke in a slow and steady voice, making sure that my English was less broken than before and my voice didn't show how nervous I was. Hopefully it would appeaser her a little, or at least that was the idea.

“Good. Now, why are you here?” Her voice seemed only slightly less cold this time around, but her glare stayed true. An ominous feeling grew in the pit of my stomach, one that warmed me that she would follow through with her plans if I didn't cooperate. That question though, could quite possibly be the downfall of my extended existence. There was no chance that she would believe my answer, I hardly believed it myself but it was the closest explanation. I had to try though and hope for the best.

“I died.”

The look upon her face did not change. There was not a hint of emotion showing behind that steely gaze and iron tight frown. We sat there for a few minutes, at least felt like it, in complete silence. I was withering slightly under her gaze, but nonetheless keeping my own eyes on her. Her face never shifted as she rose from her chair and moved to the doorway. Never looking back at me, she opened the door and left. The door itself remained open for a little longer, until a small plate of food was pushed in, along with a glass of what looked like water. The moment the food was inside the room, the door closed hard once more.

I sat in the chair for a few moments before slowly making my way to the plate of food. It was weird enough that I was physically fine, but being fed this well as a prisoner was a whole new level of odd for me. These ponies were probably the nicest captors I would ever experience. Even the food itself was not that bad for my situation. There were two pieces of toast and an egg sitting on the plate. I was being served a breakfast only the privileged got in the Metro! Well the privileged and those who owned chickens. So basically the same thing.

With the plate and glass of water in hand, I sat back down and the table. They obviously wouldn't trust me with a knife and the plate was made of a flexible plastic, so the only way I could escape was to maybe invite the guards in for brunch and run when they weren't looking… which sounded just as stupid as when I first thought it out. I started to wonder which Princess I was talking to, and if she would follow through with the death threats. I couldn't make an assumption on her based on a small conversation like that, and I couldn't judge the rest of the country based on three rooms and a forest.

It didn't matter that much right there though. I had toast and eggs to deal with first.

*****Perspective: Princess Luna

The walk to the Royal Archives had been uneventful; that was good. I needed to think more about this human. Maybe I had been abrupt to leave, but my sister did agree that we needed to talk after an answer like that. She had been watching in on the ‘interrogation,’ all the while keeping a mental link to me. Sometimes it was good to be this powerful.

I stopped walking for a second before snickering. It was always good to be this powerful. More so now than a thousand years ago; at least now I wasn’t susceptible to evil entities that corrupted my thoughts and turned me against my sister due to constant jealousy. I finally found ponies who loved what I do every night, subjects who I could smile at and they wouldn't think I was going to banish them for no reason. This new age was something that I could actually enjoy.

I was taken out of my reverie when I heard two guards snap to attention and salute at me. I stared for a moment, a blank look taking my face. I must have spaced out for longer than I thought, since I was now standing in front of the Royal Canterlot Archives, while two Royal Guardsponies stood at attention. Both of the pegasi stood stock still with their right fore-hoof saluting me.

I gave a small nod before proceeding through the doors and into the Archive. The towering shelves of books would be a little intimidating to a normal pony. Centuries of valuable information was stored along each shelf. This place is different then the Library. The Library has all the copied volumes that we let open to those who want to enter. Meanwhile, the Archives sit behind a constant guard rotation and under a magical signature lock. Not a normal magical cast lock spell, but instead one that read it directly from a pony’s body. Tia told me it took her nearly a century to fully develop the locking spell for the door.

Once I was fully inside, the door shut quickly behind me. Another part of the spell, I was told. As I walked down, my eyes gazed at the rows of books and scrolls. The sheer daunting amount of information would make my sister’s pupil go into her little “yes dance” as I liked to call it. I do hope that we still get to go to Ponyville like we planned; it would be nice to see those who I am indebted to, again. As Tia likes to say, “your friends.”

I neared the end of the Archives, where the shelves suddenly stopped and instead gave way to a few desks, chairs, cushions, and cabinets. There sat my sister, staring out a window that was hidden by magic; a window in which only those inside could see through.

Her attention was focused entirely out the window, in fact, if the situation wasn’t as dire as it was now, then I would have taken the opportunity to startle her. I, instead, opted to just walk casually up alongside her and pull a cushion next to her with my magic. Once my rump was settled on the cushion, I followed my sister’s gaze out the window, deciding to mimic her and just stare off into the distance. The sun was on its path to setting but still had four hours to go before it touched the horizon.

We sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Tia spoke up. “Do you believe it?”

I mulled the question over a few times in my mind, recalling the rather short interrogation. Telling the truth, that was my principle from when I was young. It led me to wield the Element of Honesty once before. I still found it wrong to lie and cover up what I truly thought. I turned my head to look at my sister, who was looking back at me already, “Yes.”

“Then what brought it here? Neither you nor I caused its soul and body to be brought through the barriers protecting our world and no pony alive or dead could have done this.”

I wondered if she would realise that she was implying something. Even though Tia always was more knowledgeable beyond anypony, but me, she did have moments of mental lapses. “Are you implying something sister?”

“I hope not, Lulu. I hope that this was some fluke. Something we have overlooked.”

“What if you’re right though? What if this is no fluke?” My eyes widened a little. I didn't like where this was going, even though I already knew the outcome.

“It would mean that our visitor is part of a larger scheme than we thought. It would mean that they have returned.” She stood slowly, moving from the cushion and heading back into the rows of knowledge. I followed suit, staying right next to her. Her emotionless mask was left behind, as a hint of fear was visible on my sister’s face. I, no doubt, had the same look to me.

“What should we do then? Should we remove the human permanently?” I hesitated on the second question; I never truly enjoyed taking a being’s life, yet I would not hesitate to do so if I had to. If it had to be done though, then I would see it carried out.

“Let’s ask it what it intends to do. Maybe it will lead us to them. The worst thing we could do now, though, would be to kill it. We should talk to it in a non-hostile environment, as well as the Elements and Prince Armor. The Archives will be suitable.” She stopped at the doors, turning to face me, a foreleg wrapping around my withers, pulling me into a hug. A few seconds of silence passed as I hugged her, neither of us wanting to break the little moment we were sharing. Eventually she let go of me, with a small smile, “Don’t frighten him too much when you bring him here tomorrow.”

“I’ll try not to, Tia,” I said with a small grin. “I’ll see you again at supper?”

She giggled gently, before opening the door, with me following her out. “Of course, sister.”

Chapter 6: To The Point

Though the meal was nice, the ponies have been rather cold towards me. I was lead back to my cell and left alone, aside from another set of food in what was probably the evening. The soup was good enough. My sleep was dreamless, followed by another breakfast meal of toast and eggs. I wonder how long they plan to let me sit?
To The Point
~~~~~Perspective: Artyom

The ceiling continued to be as bland as when I started staring at it. My bed was comfortable enough; it being the most comfortable I’ve slept on in days… maybe my entire life. It wasn’t like I had much to compare it to; cold flooring was hardly a competitor. The bed though was besides the point, so was the ceiling.

My captors were nice enough to turn on a light, so that I could at least see the four walls that surrounded me. Such a typical shade of concrete, capped off by a small light bulb, bed, and a rather low toilet. Overall, it wasn’t the worst room I had ever seen. Maybe lighten it up with a little bit of furnishings here and there, maybe a desk over in the corner, another light, oh, and a door that wasn’t a meter thick, guarded by ponies dressed as medieval knights! Well it wasn’t a meter thick, obviously, but my point about the guards still stood.

No matter how often I told myself that this was as ridiculous as it could get, I kept coming up with new possibilities. There had to be a way to leave this forsaken planet and get back to the Metro; a place where it was either fight for your life or die. Such a better choice than living in a cell and being fed consistently, right? Now my own mind was contemplating actually giving up. I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

I did not belong in this world. I didn't from the moment I awoke, and as long as I continued to breathe in whatever air this place has, I would not belong. For the most part, I accepted that fact, yet a part of me still clung on to the hope that maybe I could just stop being the soldier I was, and just settle down.

I sighed audibly and continued to stare at the ceiling, hands clasped behind my head. Minutes ticked away in silence, my thoughts stood still, as I was just barely content enough to continue seeing if the ceiling would do something of interest. I was wrong to assume that the ceiling would change of course, but a knock on the cell door was something different. A voice followed quickly after.

“We art here to escort thee to a ‘meeting,’ Artyom. Gather thyself, then proceed to thy door.”

It would seem that Princess Blue had returned to take me to another interrogation. I could almost hear her air quotes on the word meeting. It was odd that they didn't just open the door and bag me then and there. Maybe a show of trust to get more out of me? After the nice meals, I was already willing to answer some more questions, so what was this about?

I threw that question to the back of my mind, as I got up. I had no possessions at the moment to take with me, so I just moved up to the door. These ponies were odd, letting me choose when I would be ready to be interrogated.

“I am ready,” I spoke clearly, and loud enough for them to hear me. Barely a couple of seconds ticked by, before the door opened up, my instincts forcing me to take a couple of steps back. Two armoured guards quickly made their way through the doorway and around me, handcuffing my hands in front of me in the process. A quick push from behind forced me to stumble out of the cell. Finally, they were showing the rougher side I had prepared myself for!

I expected them to bag my head, but it never came; once again, another odd thing for them. Princess Blue was waiting just to the right of the door, her cold stare burrowing into me once more. Her presence also seemed to exude a rather cold feeling. Perhaps she was just continue to try and intimidate me; many had tried before and she was the most successful. Of course the threat of being hung, or thrown off of a cliff was normally not a good way of forcing me to talk but that Princess; there was a feeling about her that made the threat seem much more real.

In mind numbing silence we walked forward, down the long hall of jail cells. Not a single one contained a prisoner, perhaps this wing was isolated for me and me alone. I could only speculate as to if this was the case. I had enough time to think, as I knew that the walk was going to a silent one.

In this world filled with ponies, I was probably the only human to ever set foot. Well, at least that is a safe assumption. Maybe. Either way it wouldn't matter if I couldn't appease this Princess and the others. For all I know, they had made up their mind and sentenced me to death already. Maybe this would be a classic death march; I heard that the Nazis did one of those a few years ago. At least I would go out with a bang, maybe throw a few quips that they couldn't understand before they… killed me. That actually reminded me of a good question; how would they kill me? There were no guns, I could reason that by the spear throwing guard, so that was eliminated. Hanging maybe? That would be possible, but since I was a good foot higher than this Blue Princess, they would probably have to build a platform for me to hang me from… that, or a tall building I guess. One of these towers would do, or they could always just throw me off one. Speaking of falling to my death, the Blue Princess threatened throwing me off of a cliff. Was the city built on a cliff, or maybe near one? Hell, I didn't even know where exactly I was. Fluttershy didn't mention any places aside from her home, so I wonder where the dungeon could be.

My thoughts were halted as I stubbed a toe on the foot of a staircase. I gave a small growl of pain under my breath before stepping onto the raised stair. Now, where was my thought again? Dammit, there went my train of thought. Fucking trains; hated the lot of them. Nothing but pieces of steel out to ruin my life. Maybe this place probably didn't have one if those spears were any indication. Well that was my hope at least. Maybe they at least had a razor I could shave with. The stubble on my chin was starting to itch, and it would only get worse if I ever put my mask back on. It was the one of the reasons why Stalkers and Soldiers rarely kept beards, of course a few defied that and suffered the itching. The gas masks and the full plated helmets made beards feel more than uncomfortable.

That set my mind down a different hole; how was I breathing the air? Now that I thought about it, I did breath the air in the church and the Spartan Base due to it being an enclosed shelter. Maybe that was the case or maybe the air here was… artificial? No, that would make no sense. Possibly it was just the natural environment that gave off the unbreathable air, that would explain how sealed buildings made of concrete somehow allowed one to live in them. I was no scientist, so there would be no way I could tell. Most I could do would be to bounce around some ridiculous ideas.

A small coughing fit arose from me, as we turned down a hall. I stumbled forward a few meters, before collapsing to my knees. My lungs felt like they were drowning in acid, being rotted away from the inside. Each hack brought along a huge dose of pain, shooting from my chest to the rest of my entire body. The guards, with a little help from the Blue Princess hoisted me back to my feet and hurried me along. My head snapped back to the corner we turned. Along the wall, in the adjacent corner, sat a large flower pot with some sort of plant inside. That little bastard was out to kill me; at least I knew the answer to why I couldn't breathe the air outside. Maybe I could fashion a flame-thrower if I ever got out of here. Torch that hell hole of a forest to the ground, then of course the grass. I should probably start small though, maybe lighting that one plant on fire, if I got my lighter back.

A sudden tug on my restraints halted my forward progress, nearly causing me to fall flat on my ass. Once my footing had been restored, I stood straight up all the while constantly glaring at the guard, whom I figured pulled me back. Not a word escaped either of our lips, but he instead decided to incline his head as to nod towards something beside me. Yes I knew it was a male, heard him whisper to his buddy when they subdued me earlier.

I turned my entire body to face whatever was on my right side. There stood a rather large and imposing door, framed in carved artwork. The door gleamed, as though the thing was made out of solid gold, including the doorknob. Either these ponies were rich beyond my wildest dreams, or gold was just common as hell. I leaned towards the former, they were royalty after all. Of course there was still the possibility that the thing was just paint. Who knew, but that door did shine like gold would.

My eyes moved from the door, to the Blue Princess who seemed to be casting something. My jaw instantly clenched, grinding my teeth in the process. If she so much as cast a single thing on me, I would use my last moments to strangle the life from her. Not out of disdain for the Princess, but more out of a show of strength. I came to the assumption last night that she was what caused me to have a one on one conversation with maybe a dozen trees. I felt obliged to show her that her magic wasn’t everything.

I had planned to make a witty comment about her magic doing nothing, but the sudden clicking and grinding of a door’s lock caught my attention. It wasn’t anything quiet either, that door had one loud lock! Without a second thought though, the doors swung inwards, allowing me to view what I had thought to be the room of my death. Instead, it was lined with shelves that must have been nearly fifteen feet high!

A nudge from the guard on my left broke my amazement. I slowly strode through doors, followed swiftly by the Blue Princess. Without a moment of hesitation the Princess shut the doors behind her, leaving the guards outside of the massive library.

I swivelled my head around, looking each way, observing the room. The walls and the ceiling were nothing to marvel at. No intricate designs, unlike the Lenin Library in Moscow. What this place lacked in creative design, it made up for in information, I bet. There had to be nearly ten rows of shelves that seemed to stretch for a hundred meters before being headed off by another bookcase I slowly stepped forward, guided by the Princess.

My head continued to scan the shelves. Books upon books lined them, each varying in length. Some of them were as thick as my forearm, while other barely contained pages. Nestled between these books, held in untouched glass cases, sat parchment scrolls. My mind quickly flash-backed to my journey through the Library in Moscow. I had come across one of these scrolls. It had barely held together as it was, so I did not move it. For some reason, my mind compared it to humanity as it was. Held together by small threads, yet still standing after the worst could have been done to it. So fragile, that a single misplaced touch could collapse it; finally bringing about the demise of the scroll.

I nearly bumped face first into the perpendicular bookcase, yet for some odd reason Blue Princess held me back with a small tug of magic. I frowned deeply at the use of magic, yet I held my tongue. I didn't need to be on the receiving end of another face to face meeting with something made of wood again.

At the end of the perpendicular bookcase, was a small corridor that lead behind the bookcase. With the “guidance” of the Princess, I rounded it to find myself staring at a rather cluttered looking study hall. Now, the tables and chairs were perfectly aligned and in their respective places I think, while the floor cushions were organized together. The reason for it being cluttered, was that in the centre, in a cleared area, sat eight other ponies.

Each of them varied in size, colour, and shape. On the far left side sat an imposing white alicorn. She wore a set of golden regalia that seemed to be the opposite to the Blue Princess’s. She was no doubt, one of the four Princesses. Her mane billowed in an invisible wind, just like Blue’s, but the colouration was more akin to a rainbow, than the starry night sky that Blue’s had. Her face remind rather neutral, which couldn't be said for the rest. Her name, until I learned her proper name, would be White Princess. On her right, sat what looked like that guard in purple armour which chased after me. I hadn't gotten a good look as his face originally, but now, even though he still had his armour, he lacked his helmet. The unicorn had a short mane with what looked like blue highlights. If that wasn’t natural, then he would definitely not meet a human military standard. Heh, like a unicorn could ever do that anyway. His scowl for me was probably the most apparent out of all of the ponies present. His clutch on Twilight was also something that caught my eye. Whatever I did to piss him off, it must have been bad. Maybe the purple one was his girlfriend or something, he was keeping her tight against his body. He was henceforth dubbed Scowly.

Wrapped under Scowly’s left foreleg sat Twilight. She stared at me with extremely wide eyes, which more than revealed her terror for me. Completely justifiable terror as it was. beside her sat Fluttershy who looked more sad than anything. She had every right to; betraying another’s trust like I did would have made me more than little sad. From here onwards, sat four ponies that I had never met… not like I knew that many to start with.

The one sitting right next to Fluttershy was a blue pegasus with… seriously? It had a rainbow coloured mane. Seriously? I had thought White Princess’s hair was fruity, but this pony… she won the fruitiest contest. Well, at least her hair did, since the scowl on her face was nearing the unicorn guard’s in the amount of sheer contempt for me. Her right wing was draped over Fluttershy’s back; probably in a move of comfort. Since she was so fruity, I dubbed her Fruity.

Next to Fruity, sat an orange earth pony wearing a cowboy hat. Couldn't remember the official name for the hat type, so cowboy hat it was. Either way, she held a frown on her face, but it seemed to be the least harsh out of all of them. I also noted that she was sitting on the Fruity’s tail. It was obvious enough by her looks that she was also female, so the name cowboy was out of the question. I noticed though, that on her flank was a trio of apples. I was tempted to refer to her as Fruity the Second, but I knew that it would just be overkill on my little inside joke. So, I named her Pears, in honour of a drunk man I listened to back in Polis. He once stated that “pears are the natural enemy of apples. Their rivalry have gone back millennia!”

I bought him another drink for that statement alone.

Sitting beside Pears was another white colour pony with a purple mane that was probably styled or something. No hair could naturally be set that way. The look on her face was one of disgust. I couldn't tell whether it was at me directly, my actions, or something else. Either way, she had this snooty demeanour that was being exuded so much, that I could have rolled a small piece up into a ball, chucked it at her, and it would have just got clogged down in even more snootiness. Yet it was her white coat and slight chubby look that sealed the deal for her name. I mentally grinned as I dubbed her, Queen Marshmallow.

Finally on the complete end of the line, sat an outrageously pink pony. Everything about her was pink… except her eyes, huh. Her look was tough to decipher, for it was a smile, but not one that was meant to be read as happy. No, there was something odd about the smile; something that was hidden behind it, yet I couldn't figure it out for the life of me. I was going to name her something along the lines of the previous three, but in the back of my head I heard a small voice. I blinked a few times, as if to clear away the voice but something stuck; her name, the one I would call her for now. The name that came to mind was Pinkie Pie.

I must have been standing there staring for a long time, for Blue Princess had taken a seat on Pinkie Pie’s left side. It was only then that I noticed they were all seated on a cushion of sorts. Blue Princess looked at me before motioning to a cushion in front of all of them. “Sit.”

“Chair.” I said back to her, with a small intention to be snarky. A flare of her magic pushed the cushion away, all the while moving a chair forward to the exact same place as where the cushion had been. Without a second thought, I quickly sat myself down on the chair. My bound hands resting on my lap while I sat upright. Good posture, father always told me. It was a habit that I didn't mind, in fact it helped keep my back from getting weak at times.

“So, human,” White Princess started up.

“Artyom.” She looked slightly perplexed at my interruption. Without giving her a moment to ask what I meant, I continued. “My name is Artyom.”

“Yes. Well, Artyom, let me begin by saying that you are lucky. Normally the punishment for holding one of my little ponies hostage is much more severe. In fact, if it wasn’t for the ‘special’ nature of who you are, then we wouldn’t be talking right now.” Was she calling me specially gifted? By the way she said ‘special’ I could almost feel the insult. Maybe she didn’t mean it that way...

“I do not understand what you mean. I am nothing special.” How was I so special? Well, If I was the first human to be in this place then I can understand. Play innocent and find some information, that would be my strategy for dealing with this situation.

“Really now?” White Princess started up, “I beg to differ. Is it not obvious that you are the only one of your kind here? I would argue to say that you are very special indeed.”

I just continued to look at her, trying to give her my best blank look. There was no doubt that she was not buying it. There was a slight upturn at the corner of her… mouth? Mouth would probably be the best to call it. Focusing back on the situation showed that nothing had happened, while I contemplated what to call her mouth.

“How about we get to business then, Artyom?” I gave no response to her query, which allowed her to take my silence as a yes. “Luna?”

“What was thy purpose in taking art subjects prisoner?” Blue Princess spoke quickly, earning a look from White Princess. Well at least I knew one of their names; odd that it was named after the moon no less. Symbolic of something? Maybe, but that was besides the point. Luna cleared her throat before speaking again, “I mean, why did you take two of my… friends hostage?”

“А что вдруг - с языка Шекспира, да на нормальный язык? Знаешь, было как-то веселее когда архаизмы сыпались!” I said with a slight chuckle. Of course the use of a language they couldn't understand gained more than a few annoyed glares. Fruity especially seemed ready to jump me.

“What the hay are you saying, you big monkey?! Speak in motherfucking Equish! Don’t make me beat the hay out of you!” I had to cover my mouth with my still handcuffed hands in order to stifle any laughter. Was that what they called swearing? I’ve heard a little girl swear better than that! Sure, the second one was fine and all but I knew what she meant by ‘hay’ and it was still funny.

“Rainbow Dash!” Surprisingly, that exclamation came from the meek looking Fluttershy. She seemed more than slightly agitated by the statement. Her outburst brought along a few questioning looks from all but the Princesses. From what I could assume, she had only told her story to the Princesses. She almost pushed Fruity off of her, while looking shocked at the rainbow pony. “That was very rude!”

“What the hay, Fluttershy? Why are you standing up for this monster?! It held you hostage!” Fruity looked utterly shocked at Fluttershy for standing up for me. Also, Rainbow Dash was her name. Even with knowing her name, I still decided to nickname this Rainbow Dash, Fruity.

At least their attention was no longer focused solely on me. It gave me time to reconsider my situation. So I decided to zone out a little, while they bickered. Some of my attention though still focused on what they were saying.

“Yes, Fluttershy, darling! This… this beast took you hostage in your own home!” Queen Marshmallow spoke up.

“I ‘ave to agree wit Rares on this one, Flutters. It basically foalnapped ya in ya own home!” Pears chipped in her two cents, still continuing to sit on Fruity’s tail. Twilight still had this horrified look to her. I had no doubt scared her mentally. Scowly was still holding onto Twilight and glaring at me. In fact it seemed that he was trying even harder to pierce me with his gaze. White Princess was looking at me, still having that slight upturn in the corner of her mouth. Blue Princess was staring at Fluttershy with a look of pure astonishment, as if expecting her to literally explode right then and there. Finally there was Pinkie Pie who… who was still smiling at me.

Her smile was weirding me out. My right eyelid twitched a few times while staring at her smile. Dealing with a horde of Watchmen was easier than looking at that smile.

Under the looks of her fellow ponies, Fluttershy seemed to wilt a little bit from her previous stance. She was starting to shake, eyes darting back and forth as her entire body continued to tremble. Finally her gaze settled onto me, eyes pleading for help, for a dose of courage or something to help her push back the instinctual reaction to hide. I met her look with what I hoped was a look of compassion. A few quick moments passed, as she continued to look at me for help, there was little I could do. She had to stand up on her own… four hooves.

She proceeded to do just that. Her slowly eyes closed, followed by a sharp inhale of breath. When her eyes snapped open, I could see that she had found some courage, enough to stand up for herself amongst her friends.

“He isn't like that!” The look of astonishment on Luna’s face seemed to spread to that of all but White Princess and Pinkie Pie. I decided that then would be the perfect time to answer the Blue Pri- I mean Luna’s question.

“Out of need and fear.”

Every ounce of attention that had been focused on Fluttershy had been dropped onto me. It was almost comical to watch their heads slowly turn to face me. Even though I had answered their question, it seemed that they had completely forgot what the actual question had been.

“Your question,” I said pointing to Luna with both hands raised. “That is my answer.”

“Do explain, Artyom.” I was not expecting White Princess to speak up. It nearly took me off guard to hear her have more of an investment into what I was saying than any other.

“I woke up in a forest and nearly died from bad air. I ran and fought my way out of forest. I found shelter in her basement,” I said while pointing to Fluttershy. “Had no filters left, couldn't leave. Fluttershy and… Twilight came in. I reacted because I needed new filters. Was a bad decision, but there was no choice.”

Scowly snorted rather loudly before speaking, “There is always a choice beast.”

I was starting to get a little annoyed at their insistence to call me a beast, well at least all, but the Princesses and Fluttershy. I had no idea on what Twilight would call me, she hadn't spoken a single word. I wouldn't let that statement pass though, for this was a true exception to the point.

“What other choices? Wait for more ponies to discover me, so they freak out, and take me hostage instead? I cannot breathe the air, so leaving was out. Incite fear to get what was needed, so I could leave fast. Less time here, the better.” I had my eyes levelled solely on Scowly, matching his glare constantly. I would not back down from that argument, it was one of the few things I was sure off.

“Wait one applebuckin’ moment thar, partner! Ya sayin’ that ya can’t breath our air? That makes not a lick of sense.”

“I agree with Applejack, if you can not breath our air then how come you are without your… ghoulish mask right now?” Queen Marshmallow spoke up, to back up Pears. Well, her actual name was Applejack it seemed. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, whether or not to continue calling her Pears or not was the true question.

“Your plants.”

Such a simple answer brought along what I thought it would; a general confused look. It was actually one of the few times that White Princess dropped her little smirk. She was unsure what to make of my answer. Yet still, for some odd reason, Pinkie Pie still continued with her knowing and terrifying smile.

I was about to speak up to continue my answer to Queen Marshmallow’s question, but I was cut off by the most unexpected pony.

“Of course! It all makes sense now.” Twilight seemed to just shake off her look of terror. Her pupils which had been mere pinpricks grew to ridiculous proportions, nearly claiming all of her eyes as it was. “He had no mask when he was in the cellar, yet he could breathe properly. That’s because there were no plants in Fluttershy’s basement!”

I was rather happy to see that I had been wrong in mentally scarring Twilight. Her enthusiasm at this discovery seemed to trump all thought of fear. I was also glad that she had chosen to actually say ‘he’ instead of ‘it,’ though I could tell that Scowly and Fruity were more than ready to correct her in that way. Lucky for me, Luna cut off their chance.

“That would explain why he had a coughing fit when we passed one of the ferns on our way here.” Luna spoke all the while holding a hoof to her chin.

“Yes! It explains why he needed for me to replace his filters. Which I could have done if I wasn’t so frantic and rushed. In fact they were remarkably similar to some of the industrial filters that I have read about. The ones at factories that lack Unicorns, of course, for then they would just use a magical filter. No, the ones he gave me were simple in design, so they were probably mass produced. Just a layer of fibreglass followed by some oxidized carbon and finally just a metal screen. Maybe they were made for factories as well? If his species doesn't have magic, then it would make complete sense, but if they did than it would probably be cheaper to use magic. That actually reminds me, do you have magic? If you don’t then maybe you are more similar to Gryphons than ponies. Oh what is your species like? How about your home? What is the Equish word for your language? Would you be able to teach me your language? And what were those things that you carried? I have never-”

Twilight was cut off from her incessant ramblings by a golden aura covering her muzzle, acting to keep it shut. “Slow down, Twilight. Maybe in time Artyom will answer your questions, but right now we have more important issues. Now, Artyom,” White Princess said as she focused her attention back on me, “you said that you didn't want to be be here am I correct?”

“Да.” My answer brought a look of confusion from all the ponies. I had a slight lapse in thought, transitioning back to Russian. “I mean yes.”

“I see, why did you want to leave?”

“Not my home, not where I belong. My place is in Metro... in Polis. Was Exhibition, another station, but things changed. I left for personal reasons.” I said with a hint of sorrow, remembering those Rangers, I barely knew, that were probably dead. Those that lived in Exhibition were probably alive, but that part of my life had come and gone.

“Metro? Polis? Exhibition? Is that where you are from? Is that the name of your country and city?” Twilight spoke up with a hint of eagerness. Before this interrogation, I knew the personality of only one pony; Fluttershy. Now I was starting to see what her friends were like and Twilight… she was obviously a scientist type, eager to learn new things.

“Hardly. Metro is a place, a group of tunnels under true city. Polis is a station in those tunnels. We lived underground, taking trains and tunnels to stations. We had no city.”

Blue Princess looked more intently at me, curiosity nearly burning in her eyes, yet there was also a flicker of confusion amongst them. “Under your true city? What do you mean?”

“Конечно это должно было всплыть.” I said before shuffling in my seat a little bit. “My city was… destroyed. Gone, while I was child. Ruins of buildings stand in shadows of what was, of what we were as society. Some survived the blasts. Hidden in train tunnels known as Metro now. We no longer live on surface. The planet had abandoned us.”

Queen Marshmallow seemed to step off her high pedestal for a moment, looking at Artyom with a slight bit of concern showing in her eyes. “Surely, it wasn’t that bad?”

“I am kind of used to it. Bombs that fell, changed animals. Turned them into mutants, gave them abilities to survive. We were left behind for most part. All that we built, destroyed in blink of eye. We were no longer highest on… stick? Each day was struggle to survive.” I paused to take a deep breath, relishing in the ability to breathe without a gas mask. Over the course of my alone time in the cell, I decided to take stock in the little things in life. When I exhaled, I looked at Fluttershy, “Remember all my items? Remember what I pointed at you? Those are our ways of levelling playing field. They keep us alive.”

Fluttershy reacted in the exact way I predicted she would. Her surprise accumulated to her holding both hooves over her mouth while rearing back. Traces of tears were welling up at the corner of her eyes, threatening to break forward. Queen Marshmallow looked concerned for her friend, almost eager to comfort the disturbed pegasus. So I wasn’t surprised when she did just that, and moved to hold the pegasus close to her. In a way, I could understand what she was going through. Not in the way that I had experienced as pain before, but more that I understood why she was nearly in tears. Everything that she loved was non-existent in my world, so maybe the tears weren't over being scared, but more from pity? Hard to tell, I was no mind-reader and these ponies seemed to never act the same.

“That… I'm so sorry…” Twilight spoke up, breaking whatever silence had fallen over the group. Her head was bowed as to make it seem like she was mourning something, yet I could still see her eyes were wide with shock. There was that innocence again, balled up right in front of me. The Princesses on both sides took on a neutral look, holding back any sort of emotion to be shown while Scowly, not surprisingly, continued to scowl at me. Maybe he couldn't change his face or attitude, sort of like the inverse of Ulman.

“Back in Metro I did what I could. I fought to save many. Now I am here. So… what now?” I wanted to get out of this room and maybe back into the world. There was no way in hell I was going sit in this… place and be subjected to being herded around by ponies. Sooner I could leave, the better it would be for all of us.

“Just like that? You don’t even think twice about this? Just, here is my story, when do I get to leave?” Fruity was visibly upset, for what reasons though I couldn't exactly comprehend. “Who the buck do you think you are?”

“I said, my name is Ar-”

“I know who you are, that wasn’t the p- argh!” She was beyond furious for some odd reason now, both hooves held over her eyes while her teeth were barred. I was more than confused at the whole situation.

“Rainbow Dash, calm yourself,” Luna spoke up.

“No! He just comes here and hurts my friends, then proceeds to tell us a sob story just so he can leave? This isn’t right! There is no trial or anything for this?!”

“I said calm thyself, Rainbow Dash! This outburst is uncalled for!” Luna finally corralled the whole situation. Fruity seemed to continue to exude her furious attitude out towards me, intent on trying to intimidate me. A few passing moments of silence was all that was needed, for Celestia to interject back into the conversation.

“I think a better question is, what you would intend to do if we released you Artyom. You can understand as a ruler that I will not allow somep- someone to hurt my little ponies. So what would you do, Artyom?” She looked at me like a mother would look at a young child, asking them what they wanted to do on that given day. Just like a child’s choices, I was limited to what she would allow me to do.

I had to contemplate this, muse over my choices. There was a part of me that wanted to just stay and maybe settle down. Forget about all the troubles that the Metro held; forget about all the dangers I would face daily. Surely there was little left for me after the Rangers were basically gone; I don’t know how many stayed behind or survived. Then there was Anna, the only woman I could say that I came to love during my time in the Metro. Finally Exhibition… I had started all of what happened, just to save the place. Yet now I found myself, lacking the desire to head back. Maybe it was because I was no longer who I was before I left. It was a hard feeling to describe. Maybe a life among ponies would be fruitful and end up bringing about a new life for me. Yet, a vast majority of my mind screamed for me to leave, to forget the ponies and find a way home. That there had to be some reason for why I was here, for why I had been resurrected from the dead in order to be brought to a land of magical ponies. It also reminded me of Anna, the woman of my dreams despite our initial differences, and Khan, the man who despite everything would most likely live forever.

In the back of my mind, I could swear I heard a higher pitched woman telling me to follow my heart and do what would be best. My glazed over eyes drifted over the looks of each pony present, each one staring back at me. Their expressions differed, ranging from a patient look, to that of a spiteful glare. Somehow, though I found myself looking back at Pinkie Pie though. Her smile had thrown away the creepy look that it once had. It was replaced by a toothless smile that seemed to just fit with that little voice in my head.

“Leave. Leave to find way back.”

There was no hint of surprise among their faces this time. Fruity and Scowly actually looked rather relieved at this idea while Fluttershy and Twilight had a more sad look to both of them. Why those two out of any of them would feel that way was a mystery to me. I had been nothing but a string of miserable events to them, yet they seemed to have the audacity to pity my decision.

“If that is what you intend to do, then I cannot stop you,” White Princess spoke up, “but I must ask that before you depart that you give my… I mean Princess Twilight a chance to learn a little bit about you. You must understand that, since you are a completely new species in our lands, we are curious to learn as much about you and your people as possible. If you agree to this then you can leave tomorrow.”

There was no chance that, with me being this close to leaving, I wanted to piss off the Princesses. “If those are terms then I agree. Can I ask a favour?”

Luna was the one to respond, “Do ask but we do reserve the ability to decline, human.”

“Can I see my gear? I need to check it.”

“That can be arranged, follow me and I will show you to your gear. You will have to remain cuffed though.” I merely nodded in response to Luna’s declaration. She rose from her seat and moved over to me. “Afterwards I will escort you to your meeting with Princess Sparkle.”

I rose from my chair, looking for the last time over the group of ponies sitting intently before me. Not a smile or smirk came to my face, as I followed the Princess out. My feet carried me away, leaving the ponies behind, towards my gear. If all went smoothly I could rest easy without having to worry as to what I will do later on.

My feet must have carried me subconsciously behind Luna, for I found myself walking down a hallway much like the ones on the way to the meeting. I must have zoned out rather deeply, if I made it that far without noticing a single thing around me. It also seemed like Luna had tried to tell me something, for she had stopped to glare slightly at me.

“Did you not listen, human?” That coldness she had portrayed yesterday was edging back into her voice.

“Извини, I… spaced out.” I said with a small shake of my head. It was strange, but that one shake brought me to the realization that I actually had rather long hair. I couldn't even remember when I last had hair that could whip back and forth. There went my train of thought again. Another shake of my head focused me back on Luna, who still had us both stopped.

“You will leave tomorrow morning understood? We will work out a plan for your filters. Just inspect your gear quickly so I can take you to Twilight.” To which I only nodded in response. The conversation was done at that point, since she turned her head up again and proceeded to continue walking down the twists and turns of this ever confusing building. At that point though, I had figured that it was most likely a castle; the decorations giving it away.

I gave little attention to the overall look of the place, for I would not need to remember it. My stint here was due to be over tomorrow, so what was the point in remembering the layout of a place that I never wanted to see again. One rather large spiral staircase though did catch my attention. Hell, it had to be a larger one than the one I had to climb earlier.

Of course I was right in my assumption, that staircase seemed to take nearly half an hour to walked down. I was expecting there to be a rather… magical looking room, filled with antique treasures, or some sort of massive facility in which ponies were working to construct something devious. Yet at the end of the staircase, there was only a compact and bland concrete hallway. It actually reminded me of a few tunnels from the Metro. A dark cramped space, lined with doors along each walls all the while having nothing, but blank concrete to look at.

I felt right at home.

Luna decided to stop abruptly at a door on the right side. I looked backwards, counting the number of doors to the staircase. Six; it was the sixth door down. It gave me something to do while Luna opened the door. I attempted to follow her through the thick cast iron door, but had it abruptly slam in my face. Well, if that wasn’t the rudest thing she… it wasn’t, so I stopped that line of thought. Maybe she was just preparing the room, so she could kill me without anyone noticing. It would be rather simple for her to do so, hell she could probably just throw me against the walls enough times and I would crumble like rotten wood. The fact she left me alone was rather sloppy though, in fact if I wanted to escape I could just start running… and make it outside to suffocate. Such a great idea; maybe staying put would be for the best.

I was proven right in my actions, when the door was gently opened from the inside. Out stepped Luna, who kept her eyes trained on me the entire time she walked out. “Thou may enter, but thou shouldst be wary of our subjects, human.”

I nodded and stepped to the door, as Luna retreated back into the room. Her flowing tail was the last thing I saw before her whole body disappeared into the room. I held back a snicker at hearing her speak in her Shakespearean dialect. After a second to compose myself, I decided it would be best to dawdle and followed after her.

As I stepped into the once shut room, I was beyond surprised at what I saw. Everything that I had seen up to that point suggested that these ponies had nearly no technology and were rather primitive. Yet there I stood in a spacious room lined with electronics and tools that I had seen in the Metro, before as well as those that were brand new to me. What looked like computer towers lined a good portion of the walls, the tables covering what was left. The noises within the room were much akin to what one would expect. Clinking of glass, beeps and whirring noises coming from machines. The sounds of the actual ponies moving in the room though came to an abrupt end, as I stepped through the door. All eyes settled on the new and rather tall being that made itself known right behind the Princess.

Yet for the oddest of reasons, aside from the stares, not a single one of them did anything. It was as if they had frozen in place, watching me like a statue would watch one of its visitors. I pushed the thought of the ponies staring at me to the back of my mind. I was here for a purpose and that was to see my equipment. The Princess took no time in showing me to the table that was holding my gear.

At the far end of the room, nearly dead centre of it too, sat my gear. Every last bit of it was laid out meticulously. The first thought that came to my mind was whether or not the ponies had messed with it. My pace quickened until I came up to the table. Hands wandering the surface or each item, checking for immediate stuff out of place.

“Они что, трогали мою снарягу?”

Luna looked more than a little annoyed at me for speaking in a language she didn't understand. Mentally I sighed for being so complacent with these ponies. I broke out from the Red Line and the Nazis, yet a race that was comprised of magic ponies were holding me prisoner. I shook my head, which the rest of the ponies probably took as a sign I was not going to comply. I didn't give them time to act on that idea though.

Instead I waved my hand, gesturing across the… scientists before asking my question again. “Did they touch?”

“If thou means, have they attempted to disassemble thine gear? No, they haven’t. The most we hast ordered thee to do is look.”

I nodded before mumbling out, “Thank you, Luna.”

She must have been completely blind sided from me saying her name. This made a small bit of sense to me as I had yet to speak out one of the pony’s names. Instead of watching her probably shocked face, I opted to actually look over my gear. My mind brought up a mental check-list in order to make sure that all was actually there.

Armoured suit? Check.

Kalash? Check.

Saiga? Check.

Revolver? Check.

Handheld charger? Check.

Medkit? Surprisingly, check.

Bag of filters? Check.

Headgear and gas mask combination heavy helmet? There but the glass was cracked deeply in multiple sections.

Well shit, I wasn’t going to be able to go anywhere until that was fixed. Of course my first thought was to, how could I fix this myself? I had no access to the necessary tools nor the actual skills needed to do such a procedure. Yet I must have missed something, something painfully obvious…

I actually groaned out loud as the thought hit me. Magical ponies.

They probably had a spell to fix this up. God, this world was starting to get to me. It took me a little bit of contemplation in the basement to actually start believing Twilight when she first said she used magic to light the room. After a full hour of trying to reason that the light was emanating from a light bulb or something similar, I came to the ridiculous idea that, in this messed up place, magic did exist. From there, I actually just let go of all pretence of this world being normal.

“Can you fix it?” I said while holding the helmet up in my left hand and directing my right hand towards the cracks left in my helmet. It was odd that I was not as ticked off with her, especially after coming to the conclusion that she threw me into multiple trees. I was lucky that I didn't die from that, as well as I could actually remember what colour I was glowing before my head became one with the trees. When I saw Luna’s… magic, I just assumed it was her. Never felt the need to ask though, which was odd to say the least.

Luna looked up from her talk with what I assumed was the head researcher, noticing that I was attempting to get her attention. Her eyes moved from looking directly at me, then towards the helmet. “Ahh yes, your… helmet. It shall be fixed upon the morn’.”

Another snicker almost escaped my lips as she turned back towards the other pony. I didn't bother to look at the other ponies in the room, for they had nothing to do with what I needed. It would have been a waste of what precious time I had. Last on my checklist was my ammunition reserves. After the little fight with that first beast and those, snrk, Timberwolves, I needed to take a count of what I had left.

I still had thirty rounds left of a magazine in my Kalash, plus an additional five magazines left in general. So I was still good for Kalash rounds. Now my shotgun had nine shots in a magazine, plus an additional two drums, so forty-nine all together. Not as much as I would have liked, but I would have to make due. I fished out my revolver from the holster; two shots left in that. My hand instinctively reached into another pouch attached to my armour. A small jingling of rounds inside rose up as I grabbed the pouch. A quick peek inside confirmed that I still had a fair amount left. Without the time to count it all, I had to assume that there was probably forty-five rounds left.

I sighed and removed my hands from all of my gear. From what I had observed, I was all set to go. There was little I could do to prepare for the new world aside from some typical mental preparations that I did before each trip. I slowly pushed myself from the table, spinning on my heels in the process. “I'm ready.”

“Good, thou wast out of time anyhow.” Luna says without even so much as a look in my direction. Once more we began our trek back through the castle. Leaving the research room, as I dubbed it, was quick and easy. No hassle from the ponies there, as they cleared out of our way with nearly practised ease. I wondered how long this trip would take.

~~~~~(One hour later)Perspective: Artyom

Why was this trip taking so long? I checked my watch again, finding that we had in fact killed one full hour just by walking silently through the halls of the palace. Not a word out of Luna’s or my mouth, aside from the shallow breaths that I assumed both her and I were taking. This lack of action in general was starting to get to me.

It had been far too long, since I had something to do that actually involved my skill set. This whole idea of playing nice and talking was not normally something I did. Well, mainly the talking. I could be as nice as the next person when it came down to it. So I guess, it was just the amount of me being the centre of attention in terms of talking and being diplomatic that made me bored.

I had since started to keep track of the amount of left turns we had been taking, the current left turn being the seventh. How were we not going in circles at that point? Hell,I was almost sure that the next set of turns would most likely be a left, followed by a set of stairs.

As we rounded the next left, called it, things got unusual. The pink pony from earlier was walking down that exact hallway. Not a clue as to why she was, but there was no doubt that this was her.

Once again, that creepy smile was seemingly glue onto Pinkie Pie’s face. I kept my lips sealed tight as we neared her, not wanting to say something that could get me into trouble with the Princess. If I had my weapons that would have been a different matter, but since I was unarmed, I needed to keep my mouth shut, or I would find myself face first into another tree.

Luna came to an abrupt halt, forcing me to do so as well. It would seem that she was going to greet the evil pink pony.

“Hello there, Pinkie Pie, what a surprise seeing you here.”

“Heya, Princess! I was just on my way to the kitchen cause I had this supererific idea for a cupcake and just had to get it out of my head before I forgot about it, because if I forgot it then I wouldn't be able to bake it and if I can’t bake it then how can anypony eat it?” She stopped her rant, with a wide eyed look at the Princess, as if asking for her answer.

“I can’t wait to taste it. The kitchens are back down the hallway.” Luna said with a serene smile on her face. “Now if you can excuse me, I must take our… guest here to see our friend Twilight.”

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” Luna continued to smile as she began to walk, with me starting up as well. I was forced to halt as well, a pink form standing in front of me. I hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether or not to just sidestep the pony and follow the Princess. That was pushed out of my mind as Pinkie stood on her back hooves, her left front one pressed against my body.

“Take a close look at the road you follow, Artyom, and be aware of how it might end.” Her face held a completely serious emotion to it. My eyes widening at the words she spoke. I had told no soul what Khan said to me! How could she know what he told me? I wanted to ask her, to hold her down and question her as to how she knew those words. Yet I felt somehow incapable of acting out those actions. She continued talking though.

“Force answers force Artyom. You know that, silly filly, he taught you that.” She lowered herself slowly until she was back onto her four hooves. She began to trot away before looking over her shoulder back at me, “you have a long way to go Artyom, will the end be what you wanted?”

I could only hang my mouth open at her words. She continued to smile at me for a few more moments before she giggled and continued down the hallway to the kitchen. My entire being was shaken at what this pony did. I… I could barely comprehend what had just happened. My mind was on standby, until I faintly heard Luna calling back at me. I barely registered what she was saying, but my feet knew that I needed to keep up with her. She had her head peaked around a corner up ahead, she must have turned it without noticing I wasn’t following.

She continued to say a few more words, but I continued to tune her out, my mind too focused on the events that had just happened. It wasn’t until a hoof prodded me that I finally snapped back to reality. I would have to process what I was told later, I couldn't afford to keep my mind stuck on the randomness of a single pony.

“We are here, human.” With a quick flicker of magic, she threw the doors in front of us open, revealing a rather bold looking room the likes of which would have been considered impossible to find in the Metro. I was at a lack of words, as the brilliance of the room washed over me. A small crystal chandelier hung above the room, sparkling in the glow of whatever was lighting the room. Each desk and seat was polished to perfection, making them nearly sparkle. Something I never thought that wood would have been capable of doing. Marble flooring of a pristine nature seemed to beckon to be admired, but never touched. It was nearly a mirror placed upon the ground, for I could swear that I saw the chandelier clearly just by looking at the ground beneath it. Finally, sitting at the one desk at the centre of the room was Twilight Sparkle.

The pony that I had thought to be traumatized. The same pony who proved me wrong as well as shocked me by her over-eagerness to learn all about me. The pony who I would be sitting in a room with for a few hours. She couldn't be any worse than Luna. At least she wasn’t giving me a cold look, as well as the occasional death threats.

The seemingly giant doors shut as soon as I stepped through them. My entire body spun around to see what had happened, only to come face to face with a door; soon followed by a click, much akin to a locking mechanism.

My eyes widen, I was being locked in here with her. They had to know something that I didn't! Maybe this was some sort of sick and twisted revenge?! Maybe she was going to get back at me and kill me!

“Oh, hi, Artyom! Glad to see you made it.” Her voice spoke fluently behind me. A cold shudder went down my spine. No matter how cheery and out of place she sounded, I knew deep down that this had to be a lead up for some sort of trap. Her smile seemed too creepy for it not to be. The way she followed each of my movements with her eyes was… well not that out of the ordinary really, but it was beyond creepy. I couldn't let this pony know that this place was starting to get to me.

I quickly turned my back to her, probably eliciting some sort of confusion from the purple pony. I gazed at the wall with increasingly cold and stern eyes, focusing on making my face stern and unreadable for my inquisitor. I sucked in a deep breath of air, slowly letting it out through my nostrils. My feet finally pivoted around, forcing me to face Twilight.

“Are you all right, Artyom?”

“Да.” She looked confused like I expected. She said nothing, as I made my way to the chair that was seated across from her. It kinda made me question why ponies had chairs that could support me. The Princesses were probably the only ones that could even use them. That wasn’t important; getting out of this room in one peace was.

“Okay then, so how about we start with something easy?” She smiled at me, probably hoping to receive one back. “Can you tell me your full name?”

“Ну ты же уже знаешь...” I groaned into my hand. “Artyom.”

“Yes I know that part of your name, but what is your last name?” That question shocked me quite a bit. I made sure to not show it on the outside, but I still somewhat reeled from it. I couldn't even remember my original last name at this point, it had faded from my memory much like my mother’s name. All I could remember was my first name. Sure my step-father’s last name was Sukhoi but I never really felt that it was my name. I had always been introduced, and introduced myself as Artyom. No last name, just Artyom. I should had one at some point. I tried searching my memories in the past for my last name, yet I came up empty every time. It felt as though something was blocking me from knowing, forcing me to just stick with my first name.

“Next question.” I was cold with how I said it. Not to just cover up what I had intended to, but now it was due to my realization over my last name. Of course, Twilight looked more than a little confused at that. Her wings rustled at her side, while her brow began to furrow.

A few tense moments passed before she spoke up, “Fine. I have a feeling you will just do the same with the rest of my general information questions. Let’s skip those then.”

She dabbed her quill in the little ink pot next to her before writing again. After a few lines of writing, she looked back up from the page. “All right, now what was the name of the place you were from?”

“The Metro under Moscow, Russia.” I said in a slight matter of fact tone. It was easier to answer these simple questions. Of course that could have been said for the previous one. “Grew up in VDNKh. Known as Exhibition.”

She scribbled down a few notes, before looking up from her writing. Her face held a perplexed look about it. One eyebrow raised higher than the other while her mouth was slightly open. Maybe it was actually a mix of shock and confusion.

“I thought you said Polis was your home? Was this Polis place where you lived before coming here?”

“Да. Well kind of, I stayed in Polis sometimes but lived in D6. ” I said with little thought being put into my answer. Of course, after Twilight had gotten the English part down, she seemed curious by what the first word was. Maybe it was time to tell someone, a word or two in Russian. “Да means yes.”

“Oh! That’s your language’s word for yes?! How exciting!” She cleared her throat a few times. She seemed to roll the word around in her mouth a few times, as if trying to taste each letter. I was a little confused at her mannerisms though.

“Are you okay?”

A child like grin appeared on her face, followed by a quick nod. “Да!”

I couldn’t help but let out a puff of air, holding back actual laughter. She had actually learned the word just by listening to me say it only a handful of times, though it was a rather simple word. Maybe it was her enthusiasm that she put behind the word that made me force back a smile at her. I had to keep up my façade until I could at least leave this building.

She gave a small giggle and blush. Probably was embarrassed at her little exclamation. Behind her hoof, that covered her mouth, she gave a small cough as to set things straight. “Ahem, back to business. Now I have never heard of these places before and I have studied every single inch of maps that we have for Equis. Maybe you could show me on a map?”

“Equis? What is that name?” My coldness was replaced by confusion. Well, half of it was true confusion. I had already thought that I was from another world, but I needed to confirm it.

“That is the name of the planet. Were you never taught this when you were a foal?”

“Foal… is that name of children?” To which I received a nod from her.

“That’s right! you probably don’t call your children that. Cubs maybe? Doesn't matter at this second, but please finish the first question.” She had jotted down a few notes before looking back at me with curious eyes.

“No, I was never taught of planet named that. My planet was Earth, and, from what I see, I doubt this is my planet.” I finally answered her question.

Her jaw dropped like a rock being tossed from a skyscraper into a river filled with shrimp. How the shrimp fit in with that comparison was lost even on me, but suffice to say, she was blown away at the prospect that I was from another world. The very thought of such an idea must have numbed her, or something because she wasn’t moving and her magic dropped her quill. Admittedly I was enjoying this a little, a pony’s expressions must have been much more vibrant than person’s because there was no way that a person could have the same facial expression as Twilight just had.

“I- I… but… it… there…” She sputtered out, her brain probably trying to comprehend what I had just said to her. I admit that if I were in her… place, I would have probably had the same reaction.

Maybe.

Probably not, but that’s only because I started to get used to all the weird shit I saw in the Metro. Hell, Khan was odd enough as it was. The guy just seemed to pop out of nowhere and sometimes at the oddest of times. If the guy wasn’t constantly trying to help me then I would probably have found it a lot more creepy than it was.

“T- that would mean… that changes everything!” I'm pretty sure that her smile covered more than half of her face. Without so much as a second thought, her magic started up again and a whirlwind of blank paper, maybe parchment, came flying towards the table at terminal velocity. She was practically bouncing on her seat in what I assumed was excitement. “I'm so excited! Not only will I be the first to learn about a new species, but that very same species is from another world!”

If I wasn’t trying to hide my emotions from all the ponies around here, I would have groaned loudly and face palmed. Whatever amount of time I thought this was going to take, was thrown out the window. A good prediction was that it would take a few hours longer than originally expected.

“Let’s get started shall we?!” I had no choice in the matter, “What is the scientific name for your species?”

I had to speak now or else it would get more difficult later. “Listen, Twilight, I was no scientist. I was a soldier. Some questions I can not answer.”

“Okay, but can you answer that one?” Her eyes seemed to be trying to plead to me, their size seemed to grow to impossible sizes.

“Yes. Homo Sapiens I think.” The smile she gave me in return was somewhat heart warming.

“Interesting… now are there any other sentient species on your planet?”

“No, humans were only ones… well were I guess. Beings we nicknamed Dark Ones, some called them Homo Novus, came after world end. Not sure if we Dark Ones are only other species.”

“Dark Ones…” her focus was completely on her notes, probably speculating ideas for questions or maybe on my answers. “Hmm, how many humans lived on your world? For that matter how big was your world?”

I put my cuffed hands to my chin, assuming a restricted thinker’s pose. “I can not answer second one. Never met someone who knew or read book that said. Answer to first question was seven billion I think. Before war though. As of now, I am unsure really.”

“Seven billion you say? That would mean your planet must have been rather vast. Unless your population could deal with more packed quarters… possibly different architecture.” She shook her head, as if to move her thoughts towards something else. “Moving on, I can speculate later.”

It was odd, she just stopped talking abruptly all the while looking at a sheet of parchment. Maybe it was a question list, it was impossible to see through it, so I decided to not guess. She must have came upon an interesting question if she was staring at that paper so intensely. Her once excited smile or thought expression was replaced by a disheartened stare. It was if she was afraid of looking at me and asking the question.

“Валяй, спрашивай.” She looked up at me with that saddened look, but now it contained a hint of confusion, no doubt from me slipping back into Russian. “Ask it.”

A deep sigh escaped her lips as her head drooped down to look at the parchment again. “I- I know you described your world briefly for the group but… could you tell me about it again? Maybe with more detail?”

I stared at her with what I was hoping, was a neutral expression. I was trying to read her face, seeing as to why she was ashamed to ask this. Aside from the two Princesses, ponies, from what I had seen, were very easy to read. Maybe Twilight was fearful or learning what my world was like, or maybe she thought I would feel insulted by such a question. A few more seconds of staring and my answer was a mixture of both. Understandable, especially after their initial reactions.

“I will try.” I brought a hand to my mouth in order to cough and clear my throat. As soon as it lowered I stood up. “Can I walk around?”

She nodded her consent at me. I paced slowly to the only window in the room. It was hardly large enough to get through. It was merely a viewing hole, one for light to shine through. I stared out into the serene beauty that was the sun setting on the distant horizon. How I had forgotten how such thing looked like; being little more than a kid, it was tough to actually remember such seemingly unimportant details in life. I had saw a couple when I scouted out the city but they always seemed marred. For not seeing the untouched thing in all those years, it made me feel somewhat nervous. Not the type in which you would believe something bad would happen, but more akin to how I felt when around Pinkie. It was an uneasy feeling that something else was pulling on the strings. Maybe it was just paranoia that plagued my mind like a nightmare. Too many betrayals in the past had left me scarred, unable to trust, and somewhat broken on the inside. Yet along with that feeling came an odd wave of relief, calming down the fires that told me to make a break for the exit and just leave right then a there.

“Artyom?” I blinked hard, snapping out of my reverie. My entire body spun to look at where the voice came from. Twilight was just staring at me, a mixture of concern on her face. “Are you all right?”

“Да.” I walked back towards my seat, eyes mulling over the chair while the decision to stand or sit came to the forefront of my mind. Sit won the battle. “Where to start… where to start.”

“When I was child, the world fell to war. Not normal war, nuclear war from what I was told. I had no memories of what happened. Probably too young to remember anyway. The world was always divided, according to a friend. Many countries with different ideas, different goals, and different wants. I don’t remember who attacked who, didn't matter at that point, since the world had died. So many died, too many to count. What happened to others is beyond me. In Moscow though, people fled down. Down into the tunnels of the metro. It became our home.” My stop gave Twilight a chance to ask another question.

“What is the metro exactly? You said before, that it was a group of tunnels, but it has to be more than that right?”

“Correct,” I said while standing up again. “The Metro used to be system for trains. Quick way to travel distances without streets getting crowded.”

“An underground train system? That is quite amazing! Your people must have been really intelligent to have come up with such an idea.” I didn't even bother to look at her, my eyes kept getting drawn to that sunset.

“Yes, we were. Anyway, the metro system became Metro when people realized that we had no home above ground. So we stayed, living in what were stations before. They became our homes for over two decades. It wasn’t easy surviving, we had little to eat. Not to mention the mutants that attacked. Each day was struggle to survive. It was common sight to see friends die. By mutants, or by our own hands; things were never peaceful.”

Twilight looked a little flustered. She knew that my world had been bad, but the idea that people dying by unnatural means seemed to throw her for a loop. I waited on her though, I knew that she would have a question regarding what I had just told her. I was starting to like being right.

“Mutants? Were the Dark Ones mutants? And you guys killed your own people?” She didn't stammer out a single word, instead it all came out clear and concise. No matter what her voice was like, her face betrayed what how she was trying to act. Eyes wide in astonishment, a grim looking frown plastered on her face, openly displaying her sorrow at the ideas. Her ears also seemed to respond to how she felt; both laid flat against her head. Submissive posture maybe? Fearful perhaps; I’ll remember that for the future.

“Mutants were once something normal. Changed by effects of bombs. The Dark Ones were something else, not sure. And yes, we killed each other. Never friend or ally, just those who were enemies. Basic conflicts like in war.” My explanations were kept short and simple for my world would take forever to explain and I didn't want to cater to her possibly unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

“It has been a awhile since a war has happened in Equestria, but a few have happened on the international scale. The Gryphons to the east have been in a few conflicts with the Minotaurs, but aside from that there hasn't been a war in over a thousand years.” She continued to write notes while clarifying the reason for her questioning about war.

“Too many wars in human history. Over petty things or things of bigger size.” I had moved away from the window at this point. A painting closer to the door had caught my eye; something about the duller colours when compared to this world was enchanting. It was a picture of Celestia and Luna standing on a ridge overlooking a valley of sorts. Their bodies were clad in armour that suited them, a bright gold that seemed to herald the sun for Celestia while Luna wore a nearly black set. Maybe it was closer to purple, but either way it seemed to be more reserved than that of her sister’s. The sisters looked out from the ridge into a sea of armoured ponies that looked to have gathered in front of them. The transition from day to night hidden among the light that left Celestia’s horn. It was odd to see that on their necks sat a gold coloured necklace while both of their forelegs had golden bands of the same colour.

I sighed out loud. “There was war before I appeared here. One side sought to conquer, the other sought to help. At least that was my view; I sought to help. Maybe it wasn’t war, just a battle. Only one needed to settle it. So many fell protecting what would have saved Metro. The Red Line wanted to control it, so they attacked. Short battle, maybe one hour of time. Hundreds of people died. We eventually lost, суки used train to smash defences. Our last option was destroy what we were protecting. Haven’t had to really think about it. Turned that switch without regret, without remorse. Maybe waiting a little longer would have saved us. At least the Red Line bastards died with us… with my friends. I can only hope Metro is better now.”

I stood looking at that painting for a few minutes, hoping that Twilight would interrupt before I had to continue. If I dared to speak right then and there, I would have probably choked on my words. “I- I… how… how about we move to something lighter. Did you… did you have friends?”

I slowly made my way back to the chair, gently lowering myself. When I was seated, a long sigh escaped my lips before I leaned back in the chair. “Yeah, I had friends. Where to start though is question.”

I smirked, knowing the answer. “I’ll tell you about Khan. Such an odd man, but probably best of friends. One odd character, knew everything about anything. Appeared out of nowhere though.”

“Sounds a little like my friend Pinkie Pie!” Now that couldn't be a coincidence that her actual name was what I dubbed her. “She was the pink Earth Pony. She is so random at times!”

“Heh, sounds like Khan. I remember this one time…”

*****Perspective: Princess Celestia

“Ah, Shining Armor, glad you could make it. I was beginning to wonder if the messenger would ever find you.” I had my back turned to him, yet I knew who it was. Just another one of the benefits of being an Alicorn. Not enough of them to counter immortality. That, of course was neither here, nor there.

He bowed quickly, one leg across his chest. I rolled my eyes at the action. by all rights he was an equal in rank, even if he had no wings to show the position. Years of duty as a guard tended to give some interesting habits. At least I was glad that I convinced Twilight out of bowing before me. “There is no need for that, Prince, we are equals.”

“I'm sorry, Princess, but it is a force of habit.” My eyebrow quirked up at that.

“Do you bow before your wife before getting into bed with her?” That took him off guard completely. Nearly all of the citizens of Equestria saw me as nearly a god or a virgin-like Princess. Only Cadance and Luna knew better, and maybe Twilight would learn in time, but I was still her mentor to her. I had to admit though, it was always fun to toy with some of my closer subjects. They were always more bashful over something like that.

Shining was standing stock still, mouth open in pure surprise, while a nice blush was radiating on his cheeks. He stayed that way for a little while, I couldn't help but let out a little laugh. My horn glowed as I moved a teapot over to my tea table situation by the window of my room. The cups were already set out, planned for me and Luna, but she would be busy for a little while dealing with our guest. So, for now I decided to have a cup of tea. That and the levitation spell concealed the muffling spell I put on the room. Not a soul could hear what I was going to say to Shining. “Sit, Shining, we have something to discuss. Aside from my teasing, of course.”

Without a second thought Shining moved to the other cushion, situated on the opposite side of the tea table. I was not surprised when he refused to take a cup of tea; he was always straight forward and down to business when it came to meetings such as this one.

We sat quietly for maybe a minute, I was staring out on the slowly setting sun while he was staring at me. Most ponies though that the rising and setting of the sun was a big ritual in which we both needed to be there and see our respective celestial bodies. It was hardly even close to that; we usually just gave the bodies a set path and push before going about our business. We only made it look fancy for public image.

“Princess, why did you summon me here? I feel I should be preparing to head back to the Crystal Empire tomorrow, not sitting here while you drink tea. No offence intended, Princess.”

“None taken, Shining Armor.” I said before taking a sip of tea. “I know you are busy but this is important enough to forestall your plans to pack. Now tell me, what did you think of our guest?”

His face grew dark at the mention of Artyom. “You mean the beast who captured my little sister and her friend? The one that is being let free to wander the country tomorrow? I think he should be sent to the moon and he would if I had any say.”

I tittered at the former Captain of my guard. It was unlike him to get so angry at something. Of course he was just being an overprotective big brother but still. “Now, now, Prince Armor, I understand that there is cause to dislike our guest, but that is hardly the reaction I would expect from you.”

Shining looked like he was about to rebuke my statement, before my golden shod hoof shot up to stop him from speaking. “You heard his side for the story and yet you still refuse to accept him as more than a beast. I do not condone what he did, but in the great schemes of things, he barely held the pair at all. There have been worse crimes than what he has committed.”

I stared straight into Shining, knowing full well that I could read him like a book and I had to say, it was an interesting book at that. His love for his sister and country overruled his logic. I had to admit that, we as a species were overly emotional. In that right I was trying to lead by example and show less extensive emotions. Shining had a crucial role to play for me in what was going to happen and I needed to divert this early on. “The magic of friendship as you have seen Shining has cleansed beings more powerful than our human guest. I suggest that you learn to get along with him, for you will be spending more than a little while with him.”

“P- Princess?” He stammered out, completely shocked by my words.

“Artyom will need an escort through his journeys. You are to escort him for a period of one year. If he has not found a place in the world by then, then you are free to return to the Crystal Empire. You might not be my Guard Captain any more, but this mission is something that I think only you can handle. Cadance will be notified when you leave tomorrow. I’ll also want status reports when you figure they are necessary.”

He nodded his head before finding his voice again. “How do I get in contact with you, ma’am?”

“Glad you asked, Shining. I will supply you with a roll of parchment, quill, and ink that should last you awhile.” I levitated a vial that I had placed on my desk across the room. The vial itself was a simple thing, just glass and cork; it contained maybe half a litre. The contents on the other hoof were extremely special. Inside that vial was liquid dragon fire that was specifically tuned to my magical signature. In essence, a small drop could send nearly anything to me. Spike was kind enough to allow me to extract some on a few occasions. “This here, is liquid dragon fire. A single drop will send whatever it touches, straight to me. Use it carefully, for I have very little of the stuff.”

He mutely nodded again, as I placed the vial down on the table. He took the vial in his magic as he stood up. The light clopping of his hooves against the floor, echoed in the quiet room.

“Shining Armor.” He turned his head to look at me, followed by his body. “I’m not asking you to become friends instantly, but I can tell that even with all the foreign blood covering it, his heart is pure.”

With that said, he left the room. Only my thoughts and I were left; even the tea had started to cool.

~~~~~(A few hours later)Perspective: Artyom

“Ебите меня семеро, что за жизнь-то.” Simple as that. Fuck my life.

The ordeal with Twilight wasn’t necessarily bad mind you, but the fact of the matter was that we had spent three hours straight, cooped up in that room. One question led to another, which soon led to five more questions being asked on branching subjects. If I hadn't have had to be cooped up in the same room, constantly asking questions… well I probably would have been cooped up in my cell without anyone to talk to.

I guess it wasn’t so bad.

I actually kind of missed her now that I was indeed sitting in my cell, with no one to talk to. It felt nice to have someone who cared to listen to what you had to say. Back in the Metro I spoke little because everything that was asked of me did little to spark a response. On the occasions that it did, I just kept my mouth shut. The whole idea of being the silent soldier tended to instil an idea of power and fear among others. Here, it was different. Here it was the physical shapes that mattered more; horns and wings in combination gave off the illusion of power.

I was laying flat on my bed, staring once more at the blank ceiling above me. With the amount of time I had been looking at it, I feared that I might have burned it into my mind. That one lucid dream was bad enough, but if I had to see this ceiling in my dreams, I would have probably gone insane.

Sigh, the more I thought about it, the more I actually missed talking to Twilight. I played off the whole no emotion act I was going for. It wasn’t that tough to do any more, years of practice and all that. Her questions had indeed changed after asking about my world and what happened to me, they were more oriented on subjects that could be considered happier. At times I couldn't help, but slip into the melancholy though. One specific question received an answer that surprised me really. I was speaking completely off the top of my mind, so maybe when my parents were brought up, I didn't think much to answer. I just said what I last remembered of her. That being the face I saw in that light before I died.

“Красота.”

I rolled slowly onto my left side, the dim outline of the door stood out in the darkness. For being such an intimidating thing, the light shining through portrayed a sense of weakness, something that could be broken. Not that I would try though, it was too much like me in ways. Hardened by whatever shaped it, yet still it had moments of weakness.

This place was truly starting to get to me.

I closed my eyes, slowly letting the events of the day wash over me before falling to the deep black ocean of my subconscious. From the meeting with a group of rather expressive ponies, to finally seeing my gear. Slowly followed by question after question posed by Twilight, with the slow trek back to my cell in silence next to Luna. I swear I actually saw a hint of emotion on her face. At first I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but I knew she had a small smirk on her face. Whether it was from the day’s events or some knowledge of what was going to happen, was inconsequential.

When I saw that smile, I almost felt… content? It felt weird and unnatural, as if something was twisting me a little in the inside. I flipped around so my back was against the wall, hoping to also fling off any more of those odd thoughts. Childish I know, but at times like these, it was good to take heart in the little things, as well as the naive things.

I sighed outwardly again before going back to laying on my back. My eyes were shut and yet I could still see the ceiling. I was right about burning it into my eyes. How foolish of me to stare at that damnable thing for so long, now it would haunt me in my dreams. As well as that odd laugh.

Wait, odd laugh?

Without a another moment to contemplate what was going on, a face appeared above me. It was too dark to tell and I was beyond surprised to even try. My first instinct was to push myself up and out of bed. That went about as smoothly as it sounded… meaning I was on my feet and ready to fight in seconds.

My hands were curled into fists and raised to strike. They never really got their chance though.

“There is no need to come to blows, Artyom! No need to strike a friend.” That voice… no, it couldn't be.

“W- what?!” My voice hitched at the possibility. The darkened figure rose one of its hands before snapping its fingers.

Illumination spread throughout the room, brightening it much like a lantern would, each nook and cranny of the room was revealed in the rather bright glow that just seemed to start in the middle of the air. That was hardly the surprise though.

Standing in the direct centre of the room was a man I swear I had seen dead, a man that by all means continued to defy what I thought was reality. There he stood, light brown fur jacket with a hood. That signature red beaded necklace matched with a scarf tied around his waist and that red bandanna with gold patterns on it. His grey beard, along with that ponytail, covered his cheeks and chin. All of what I was seeing could not be real, there was no way.

“Khan?” I asked hesitantly.

“Indeed, Artyom, now let’s walk. I have much to show and tell you.” With a wave of his hand, the door to my cell opened slowly. A blinding white light shone from the other side. Not a single thing could be seen through it, and yet he still was able to get me to walk into it.

Chapter 7: Khan

Another dream, but something feels odd about this one. It… it feels more like a vision, like something is making this possible. There has to be a reason for it, and for why I see Khan.
Khan
~~~~~Perspective: Artyom

“So, Artyom, how do you like what I have done with the place?” Khan asked, as he swept his arm out, as if to reveal the hallway. Revealing it was somewhat needed, for it seemed this vision Khan could change the very landscape of my dream.

The hallways, once a grey and depressing stretch of concrete, were now rather vibrant looking. The lights gave off a much greater glow to them, as if they had been replaced with headlights of a train. That extra light only gave way to a mixture of red, white and blue along the walls. The way they had been done reminded me of the old Russian flag; white above blue, which sat on top of the red. Such a simple design stretched along the entire wall, probably beyond the right turn up ahead.

“I don’t understand the symbolism, Khan.” Which was one-hundred percent truth.

“Artyom, I did not expect you to understand why it is here. That, my friend, symbolizes the life of our once great country.The life of our entire race. Walk with me, Artyom.” He motioned his hand forward, as he took a few steps. Hesitantly I followed him, unsure as to what to make of all I was seeing. For more than a few moments we walked in silence, eyes never meeting one another. His were focused ahead, while mine wander to a fro, looking for something that could maybe make sense of this strange dream.

I was about to speak, but Khan got there first. “Have you seen the wall, Artyom?”

I mutely nodded.

“Do you see how the colour changes? Going from a vibrant look to that of a tarnished and worn look?”

I nodded again, not being able to find the words to speak up in between his ramblings.

“How about now, Artyom?” he said with a hand gesture to the wall. The colour had gone from the tricolour to an almost blood red, with a section of yellow in the middle of the wall spaced unevenly down the hallway. It seemed to be on an interval, almost as if the flag had... changed. My eyes widened, as my knowledge of history came flooding back to me. That was the flag of the U.S.S.R., the flag that was involved in so many historical events, back before I was born. A flag shrouded in a jumble of negativity and positives, that were hard to separate. Khan caught on to my understanding.

“It isn't just about the sickle and hammer, Artyom. It makes its appearance, but the red doesn't just portray a flag.” He grinded to a halt in front a certain spot. Right in front of him, the wall seemed be cracked and ready to be torn down. I looked off to the right, gazing at what the rest of the wall looked like. It was nearly devoid of colour, only speckles of red remained. “This colour also symbolizes our humanity, Artyom. It was so stained with blood by this time. Do not get me wrong though, there was good throughout the past century. That was shown by the yellow, but look at how the red has consumed it all. Do you know what the previous colours stood for?”

I shook my head, I wasn’t about to stop him now. His every word sinking deeper and making more sense.

“The former red represented our need for violence. The need to wage war on our own kind, against our own brothers and sisters. The blue represented our love. The love of each other, the love of our nations, the love of our world. Finally the white represented our faith. Not in religion, that is mixed among each colour. The faith I refer to, is our faith in each other. The ability to trust those who we knew little of. The idea that we should have been bonded together to achieve our goals. The way the colours grow and shrink over time is just showing how each one developed. What do you see now, Artyom? What do you see after this one spot?”

Silence reigned for a few moments before I spoke out, “The wall is broken yet the colour remains. Further along, the wall breaks more and the colour fades.” He smiled at me, encouraging me to go on, as if knowing that I would have the answer he was looking for. The answer to what was the meaning of this wall? “This was the last war. Where we all lost in the end. Further down is our future.”

His smirk only increased, fuelled by the knowledge that I was learning. “Exactly, Artyom. I could show you the future, Artyom, but would it be a truth, or a lie? Only the foolish would ask to see farther down the wall, those that desired to see how we would turn out. They are the true monsters of the world. They want to be able to change what is already set in motion, not knowing that they will do more harm than good.”

“That… doesn't make much sense Khan. How would they do worse, if they knew what to change?”

He only smiled brighter, “Because they are the ones who want to only do good… for themselves. Now, let me show you more, Artyom. This wall has served its purpose, and, before you ask what the purpose was, I will not tell you, Artyom. That is for you to decide.”

The moment he was done speaking, the wall in front of us collapsed into ash, not a single chunk of concrete remained. It was perfectly cut, as if someone had taken the time to measure out each aspect, before cutting it through with a laser, or something. Another white light shone through the entrance. Not a single object was visible on the other side, much like the first door I had passed through in this dream. I wonder why my mind loved those type of doors.

“Come now, Artyom, for I still have much to show you, and you only have so long to dream.” He had stepped half way through the doorway of light. Half of his body was hidden behind the blanket of pure white, while the other half still waited in the lit hallway. A grin appeared on his face, before he flicked his head towards the doorway, which soon disappeared in the blinding light, along with the rest of his body.

What reason did I have to not trust my mind’s image of Khan? Little could hurt you in your dreams… Ha, such an obvious lie at this point. At least the horrible excuses gave a reason to gain a swell in courage. Seeing no other reasonable option, I proceeded to follow Khan through the light.

It was an odd feeling to say the least, but I could do little better in describing it. It felt as though my entire being was separated momentarily, only to be formed once again the moment the light was no longer there. No words had ever been created to describe the feeling of being broken down and reassembled, not figuratively, but literally. I don’t know how I knew that was what happened, but no matter how much I tried to argue that it was impossible, I myself instantly rejected it; much like arguing with myself.

“The first time was easier wasn’t it, Artyom?” Khan gave a light chuckle from somewhere, I stayed my curiosity and kept my eyes closed until the nauseous feeling subsided. My entire body stayed doubled over, as if I had been sucker punched in the gut. “The first was merely a door, this time it was a gateway. What is the difference you might ask yourself? Well there truly isn't in the literal terms, but here, it makes all the difference.”

“Sure, Khan.” I groaned, as I straightened up from my previous hunched position, the feeling of nausea vanished instantly, which would have taken me for surprise if I didn't know this was merely a figment of my imagination. “Now where ar-”

No words had to be said, the room I was standing in spoke volumes in answer to my question. We had gone from the dull and bleary hallway made of concrete, to a room that to merely attempt to describe it with mere words, would not do it justice. My jaw hung loosely, my breath held in sheer awe.

An entire room… made of crystal, sculpted and polished to perfection. Invisible rays of light bounced to and fro off the walls of the room, reflecting in every direction. Each side of the room glinted and sparkled with a knowing sense of wonder. From the floor, to the ceiling, the crystal sat, gleaming and revelling in its perfection. The circular room was as close to perfect beauty, as anything could ever get.

I had once been shown a picture of the Amber Room when I was young. The idea of such perfection had stuck in my head, placed as the height of brilliance, the pinnacle of all that could ever be created. Yet, in the moment I saw the crystal room, that original idea of perfection been tossed aside. The amber room had designs adorning its walls, this room just had walls of beautiful crystal. It wasn’t just solid walls either; no, they had been cut in patterns, specific shapes and designs. This wasn’t just some feat of nature, this place had been designed this way. I should have known though, the windows, which were partially concealed with drapes were an obvious give away.

There was more though, for underneath my feet was a carpet. I knelt down to get a better feel, my hands met a fabric that made my eyes widen. I had no idea what it actually was, but the sheer feeling of touching something so soft… so silken, made me regret ever wearing any article of clothing. The pink hue carpet ran on ahead of us, ascending crystal stairs to be met with yet another awe inspiring feat; a throne that was formed from the rising of crystals. Not just a chunk of crystals though, these had grown into that shape, carefully trimmed and edged so that it would seemed completely natural.

“T- this…” I was at a loss for words. After living in the Metro for so long, to come across something so beautiful was breathtaking. Never let it be said that I was a simple man with simple pleasures. A reserved and quiet person tended to be thought of as such. I chose to be looked at, as that type of person. Easier to fool those who could use your personality against you.

“It is quite beautiful, Artyom. Hard to believe something like this exists. Though that also might be said for the race that is currently giving you residence.” Khan began to approach the throne of the crystal room. The way he walked seemed to be nonchalant, as if he cared little of anything.

“What is this place?” I finally managed to gather my words. Khan spun on his heels, arms spread up and wide.

“This, Artyom, is the Crystal Palace! And believe me, when I say that this is just as real as cot you slept on.”

My eyes widened at the statement, what he was implying meant… no. That was not possible at all. I refused to believe such nonsense, I had seen a fair share of unbelievable events, but this was beyond the realm of possibility. I shook my head, not just a quick whip from side to side, either. I shook my head back and forth constantly, as though trying to remove this dream. I had to make it end. I couldn't take any more of this.

“Enough! This is not possible, this just a dream! You are just a figment of my imagination.” I proclaimed to Khan with a shaky voice.

The smile that Khan had once held was gone, replaced with a frown. “It is a lot to take in, Artyom, but this is more than a dream. I am as much a creation of your mind as you are. This vision serves a purpose, Artyom. You have to accept that at this point, things are beyond your control.”

“So what, you have been able to do this all the time Khan? Somehow, you are… projecting yourself into my dream?! That is impossible and you know it Khan! You died with me at D6, I saw you fall with the rest! We fought together and died together, and now you are telling me that you are real and just invading my dreams?! No!” I backed away hastily, keeping my distance from him.

He merely sighed and turned his back to me. As he raised his right arm, a book appeared in his hand. The cover was pulled open, as his head dipped down as if to start reading. “I wish I could explain things, Artyom, but it is more complicated than that. There is a reason for all of this, but I cannot say. I am… restricted, in what I say.”

The small panic attack I had was dying down, rationality slowly coming back to me. I would probably hate myself for asking this. “Prove to me you are truly Khan.”

“How would I go about that, Artyom? If I were to tell you something that you had seen, then you would just dismiss me as being a part of your confused mind. The same could be said for something you didn't know, you could just as easily pass it off as what you had deduced.” He turned to me, still holding the book. “If I were to tell you that I knew you were going to be at Sparta Base because Miller told me that was part of the plan? That I was brought there to give some insight into D6, something I had the same amount of knowledge as you did, if you could not recover the plans? What if I told you that I knew of the River of Fate because I had nearly drowned in it when I was new to being a Stalker? Could you use any of that to prove my existence? Think, Artyom! Use that mind of yours like you should, don’t just follow the easiest path!”

What could I say in response to that? He was right, yet I still couldn't get over the idea that this was actually Khan. It was too outrageous to believe.

Yet only one clear option presented itself. The way that I had done in the past, something that had gotten me in trouble at times, but had also given me friends who helped me through everything.

“Fine.” It was a tough thing to admit I was completely wrong. Sure, I had to come to the conclusion many times, but to admit and give in was a rocky path for me. “I’ll trust you, Khan.”

Holding the book, he walked over to me. As he neared he slung an arm over my shoulders, pressing his left shoulder to my right. “It is tough to do what goes against your gut feeling, but you need to know what I am going to tell you, Artyom. Without this, you will be lost in the world.”

I just nodded my head in response, walking in time with him. The light that was filtering in through the windows of the crystal room had faded away. Each window only showed a black veil, not a single object in sight. Each step forced another change to the room. Gone was the beautiful carpet, the throne and even the window themselves.

The room shimmered, as though I was looking at it through a ripple in water. Crystal walls fading away to nothing, only to reappear. The entire room had changed as Khan and I walked towards where the throne had been.

Whatever book Khan had held in his hand quickly erupted in fire. I nearly reeled back from the sudden lick of flames, but Khan’s arm held me in place. Within a meagre couple of seconds, the flame vanished in a puff of smoke. All that remained was a small pile of ashes. At least that was what I had first thought.

Without hesitation, Khan drew his hand up to face level. A slow intake of breath came before he released it at the pile of ashes. The breath was strong and steady, blowing the ashes out in front of him. The moment the pile was gone, a key was revealed, laying in his hands, as though he had buried it under the ashes.

His arm slowly removed itself from around my shoulder, as he moved forward, not even gesturing for me to follow him. After maybe a dozen steps he stopped abruptly. With the key in his hand, he lifted it up above his head.

What was he trying to open? There was no door there, let alone anything that needed a key! Hell, he was just standing in an open room, that had yet to cease that rippling effect.

With a flick of his hand, the key disappeared for a split second, before reappearing in his hand as a gold plated machete. I could not believe it, but that thing was definitely gold plated if not made of gold. The machete gleamed in an invisible light, making it seem as though he was raising it towards the sun.

“Arrh!” He yelled before plunging the machete forward, stabbing what was not there. Somehow the blade of the machete disappeared, yet Khan held the handle. With careful ease, Khan drew the blade down from it’s original puncture. Trailing behind the machete, was a thin line of white.

He cut a line in the air. Literally.

At that point, my eyes kinda glazed over the rest of his motions. With a few more precision cuts, Khan had shaped a door out of nothing. My jaw hung loose at what I was seeing, eyes that were once glazed, had now focused solely on Khan. With a quick throw he chucked the machete in through the white doorway. He turned around to face me immediately after. “Dreams are rather pliable. If you know how, you can make anything happen, Artyom.”

With that he grabbed my hand and pulled me through the door.

My eyes must have been momentarily blinded, for all I could see was the original white. I rubbed at my eyes with my hands, a futile attempt I knew, but it was more out of reflex. The white continued to permeate my vision entirely, ensuring that nothing of whatever room I was in could be seen.

I stood awkwardly, attempting to keep as stock still as I could, so I wouldn't fall on my face. Whatever had blinded me must have been fucking bright. After what I deemed was a full minute, the white had yet to recede. A deep sigh escaped my lips as my hands went back up to rub my eyes; they were rather pale, but I guess that could have been said about my entire body.

Wait.

I looked down and could actually see my hands. My eyes slowly looked back up, receiving nothing more than just the same annoying white. An endless looking sea of pure white. Where was I now?

“You are in the last place I wanted to visit, Artyom.” My eyes bugged out at Khan’s statement. He could read my mind?! “By that look on your face I know what you are thinking. No, Artyom, I can’t read your mind. You had just muttered the question out loud.”

I hadn't even realized that I had spoken, my entire being was more focused on other things apparently, to even know when my mouth moved. I glanced over my right shoulder, gazing at Khan, who had his back turned to me once more. His head was rested in a raised hand as he gazed at a solid black wall.

“Odd colour, honestly. You always seemed more like a man who liked blue.”

“I do not understand. Does that wall symbolize something?”

“It is merely a wall, Artyom. One that was made by your mind though. That is why it puzzles me as to why it is black. Such a colour usually symbolizes mourning, death, night, evil and so on. So it confuses me as to why you have chosen that colour.” He finished off his little spiel with a quiet ‘hmm’ at the end.

For more than a few moments, we just stood there in silence. Khan looking over the wall, while I was trying to keep myself from having a headache within my own head. Knowing my luck, that would cause me to gain a headache, so I threw the idea straight of my mind. I guess I had been staring off into space for what little time the silence had reigned, for when I looked back Khan had moved.

My head whipped back and forth trying to find the strange man, before I heard a shout. “Behind the wall, Artyom.”

Following where the voice had come from, I found Khan on the other side of the wall. This side was more than just different than the first side. The wall itself was coloured red on one half and blue on the other half. Standing in front of the wall was a pedestal and display case. Under the glass was a book, dark brown covering, with signs that it was beyond ancient. The whole thing was leather bound, with the pages looking like parchment, from what I could tell. The guess was completely based off seeing the stuff Twilight had written on. Odd, considering I had seen paper books in the archive when I walked through, so why was parchment still used?

“I told you that blue was more of your colour. Though the red does somewhat make it fall to the background. Red does have that tendency, much along the lines of someone spotting blood out of anything.” I cared little for the musing on the colours. My mind was more focused on the book that sat in front of the wall.

“What’s in the box?” I cared little for calling the case its actual name.

“Oh you mean the book? That, Artyom, is what this whole walk about has been leading to. That is the reason why you and I are having this conversation.”

I gave him a rather cold and bland look. The intent was to convey to him that after all of this nonsense, he wanted me to read a book. Of course, Khan picked up on my look rather quickly.

“You misunderstand, Artyom. I do not want you to read this ancient piece of literature right now. No, you must find it first. That will be the key to finding out how you are here, instead of being dead in the Metro.”

“And where am I supposed to look? That book could be anywhere!”

He shook his head with a small smile. “Indeed you are right, Artyom, but what kind of friend would I be, without helping you go in the right direction?” To that I simply shrugged. “Now, I cannot explicitly say where you need to go. All that I can say is that, the love of crystals is grand.”

“Because telling me would be too easy right? Stop trying to act mysterious Khan. What is that even supposed to mean?”

He simply smiled again. “That is for you to decipher. Remember that phrase though, to forget it would be to forget your purpose in life at this point.”

He turned his back and started to walk into the empty white void. His footsteps became harder and harder to hear until he was but a speck in the distance. Why did I just stand there as he walked away? Maybe it was because I had a lingering feeling, something holding me back from trailing him. It was obvious that he didn't desire for me to follow him. If he did want me to follow, he would have said something when I didn't follow.

I slowly turned around to face the display case again. The thing glass case did little more than just cover the book and some air inside. The thing would definitely shatter if I chucked it against the wall. Carefully, I extended my arm, before grabbing a corner of the case. Once I had a firm grip on the case, I quickly hefted it off; there was more weight to it than what it looked like.

My eyes instantly darted to the book that had been revealed. Each detail being soaked into my memory. The size, the colouring, the design and especially the title; Accounts of a Bygone Era. Once I was done absorbing as much information I would need to find this forsaken book, I moved to place the glass display box back on the pedestal.

Yet it wasn’t there any more. The glass had disappeared from my grip. I was caught entirely off guard by this sudden change. Before I could regain full composure though, I quickly glanced back at where the book had been. ‘Had’ was the right word since the book and pedestal was no longer there, which could also be said for the wall.

I was left standing in a white void, nothing there for me.

I threw my head back and groaned heavily. What a horrible way to be stuck in one’s own mind. My eyes had been closed during the groan, but the moment I opened them I saw a familiar sight.

That goddamned ceiling from my cell.

Fuck.

Even in the dark, I could see the bastard clearly enough to tell I was once again back in my room. Sitting up quickly, I turned my head to the right, searching for the door. The lack of light kept it hidden for the most part, but the glow of light from the other side had seeped through the bottom crack of the doorway.

I let out a sigh, as I laid back down in the bed. My mind was racing over the messed-up vision. The whole thing was so surreal, that it seemed that it could not have not happened. If that was truly Khan… Well he always did find me, no matter where I was.

My eyes slowly closed, trying their hardest to keep me in the dark, instead of back in that vision. “The love of crystals is grand…“

I was out like a light, before another thought could come up.

Chapter 8: Finally Moving

A/N: I am going to try this chapter without italics for the thoughts of each character. Please tell me what you think of the change (it being smoother, rougher, easier to read, tougher to read, etc.).

It seemed that Khan had been rambling aimlessly in my vision, yet I have a path to follow. The ponies don’t seem to trust me fully, which is fair, given the circumstances. Instead of leaving me to my machinations, it seems that they have sent Scowly along to watch my back… or maybe to stab it.
Finally Moving
~~~~~Perspective: Artyom

Upon waking up this morning, I had expected a few things. I had expected to be leaving the building that had housed me for a few days, this of course meant that I would no doubt see all the ponies I had met at the ‘meeting’ in that library. As well, I had expected to have all of my gear back in prime condition, like the Princess had told me. Finally, I had also expected to have a nice little talk with Twilight about anything related to crystals, or what Khan had called, “The Crystal Palace.” To my surprise, I came to learn that there was an entire place dedicated to crystals; odd.

What I didn’t expect, was to be seated in a locked down and private train car. Even more of a surprise, was that I was sitting right across from Scowly.

Of course, by then he had told me his name, but damned if I would stop calling him that, just to mock him. He most likely was under the orders of the Princesses to not harm me. Hell, he might have even been ordered to protect me. How he could protect me was beyond my understanding.

Well… aside from his ‘magic.’ That stuff is cheating; he probably thinks that he is too good to get his dainty hoofs dirty. He definitely wasn’t impressing me, by any means. I know it is useless to judge someone by their appearance, but at what I had seen, it was kind of tough not to.

Princess Luna had portrayed the tougher, and more strict Princess, which corresponded to her entire look. Princess Celestia, whose name I had learned earlier that morning, had been regal, calm and rather motherly. This was backed up by her appearance, as well. Fruity looked as flamboyant and hot headed as she acted, I could do the same with each pony, except maybe Twilight… she was a little different in personality than her looks gave off. Though the point was still there, the ponies looked exactly like how they acted.

Of course, I rebuked some of my own thoughts, with the reminder that I had spent nearly no time at all around them. As well, the fact I was a foreign entity into their world probably shifted them a little. These were all just musings though.

Not like I could do anything else, what with Scowly continuously staring at me, the other guards in the train car holding their spears across the door and there were nothing, but couches, and chairs in the car. Even the windows were shut with blinds, with the only reprieve being that the blinds were on the inside of the window.

At least the morning was eventful enough to go over again.

~~~~~(That morning)Perspective: Artyom

A knock sounded on my door. I didn’t suddenly jump awake when I heard it. I had been lying in bed, awake, for some time at that point. My mind was constantly going over the dream, analyzing everything that I had been shown. As annoying as it was to be unable to stay asleep, it was good to have some quiet time to contemplate what had happened and what I was going to do.

So after the two hours of just staring at the ceiling, I had come to the conclusion that I needed to get some advice from Twilight preferably. I could ask one of the other Princesses, but they seemed to be interested in little more than just pushing me along. Of course, from my experience with leaders, there was a good chance that at least one of them had some sort of scheme in which I played some part. How they were going to keep track of where I would be headed was beyond me. Maybe, by some miracle, this time I was not part of a twisted game being played by someone. Maybe I could actually go about blazing my own path and finding my way home.

Maybe.

My feet swung off the bed, landing hard on the floor beneath the bed. The cold cement against my feet felt natural, almost as though I had a little piece of home to remind me. I sat at the edge of the bed for a few moments. I basically stared at the door with little thought in mind. That was how I often awoke in the mornings… well at least when I knew that I wouldn’t possibly die when I awoke.

A particularly loud sigh escaped my lips before I pushed off the edge and into a standing position. My body was beyond stiff, and yet the bed was so comfortable; I blamed Khan. I groaned in pleasure as I twisted and stretched my back, eliciting a few satisfying pops, as well as loosening up my muscles. A couple of hamstring stretches as well as loosening up my arms followed shortly after. It was always good to limber up before facing the unknown. The better in shape and prepared you are, the more of a chance you have to survive until the next confrontation.

The moment my body felt loose enough I walked quietly to my boots. They were merely two steps away from where I was standing, the cell itself was probably rather normal for a waist height pony, but for a nearly two meter tall Russian it was barely anything.

I had barely managed to gather what little I had before another knock sounded from the other side of the door.

“Попридержите коней, я почти готов.” I called back, before letting out a small chuckle. Oh, the irony of that statement was not lost on me. Of course they would never understand it, but that just made the comment that much more funny.

“Hurry up!” Was the call back, probably from whatever guard that was stationed outside of my door. That was honestly the first time I had heard one of them speak to me. That idea actually led me to believe that it was not one of the guards.

Why did I have to be right? I could have at least handled having to deal with the guard. The were straight forward, and spoke little.

No, instead I had to be summoned upon by Scowly. That white unicorn with the dual coloured mane was waiting for me the moment the door opened.

“Hurry up, human. The Princesses are being gracious and allow you to breakfast with them. Don’t make me drag you there!” Definitely a prick all the way to the core.

“Lead then, Scowly.” I muttered back, as he started to walk away. He must not have heard, for he just kept on walking with his head held high. Not even a single glance backwards to confirm that I was indeed following him. No, he expected it. He was definitely starting to annoy me.

Luckily, silence followed our little trek from my cell to the dining hall. By little I actually meant another twenty minute walk through a seemingly never ending series of hallways and doors. Like I said, though, luckily I didn’t have to listen to Scowly. I would be more than relieved when I could leave this place, and him, behind. Yet, despite my complete annoyance for the pony, I still felt some inclination to be nice around him. Well, ‘nice’ in a loose term.

Aside from my musings on my dual feelings towards Scowly, the walk to the dining hall was uneventful. We had passed a few guards, but, aside from them, the halls were bare and not a single pony walked by us. With the red carpet beneath us and the many expensive looking furniture, I would have thought that there would have been multiple maids running to and fro, to clean every centimeter of the place.

Yet, as I stated before, there was not a single maid in the halls. Just the endless paintings, and other decorations that lined the halls. As we walked, I did notice one specific painting though. I had little time to truly study it, but the picture was that of a rather large looking crystal… spire. That was probably the best word for it. From the distance the painter had portrayed the scene, it was tough to discern any miniscule detail about the spire, but what was obvious enough was that there were more crystals organized on the ground before it.

And around it, in a specific pattern, as though there were streets in between the crystals. It was hard to determine any more detail than that, due to it being a painting, but otherwise, it was rather magnificent in it’s scope. The more distance I put between it, the more my thoughts drifted from the exact content of the painting to the reason for it being painted.

If there was a little plaque underneath describing what the artist did to create such a scenario, I bet it would have said something about the artist going on a massive ‘trip’. Of course that idea is just me trying to humour myself, to cover up my lack of interest in anything else.

That was how boring the walk was. So, when we finally made it to the breakfast room, I was more than relieved to be out of the presence of Scowly. He went to one side of the rather large dining table, while I went to the other. I didn’t care if I was breaking some sort of cultural law regarding where I sat at the table, I was trying to at least put myself in a spot where I wasn’t looking specifically at Scowly.

So I maneuvered around to one side of the table, while Scowly went to the other side. After pulling out a chair and setting down upon it carefully as though it would break, I took a moment to look around the room.

Let me try and describe this room. The floor was made of a well polished marble… probably. I wouldn’t know since I was a soldier, not a rock enthusiast. This matched the room Twilight and I had done our little Q&A in. That was where the similarities ended though. The hall itself was rather large, probably about twelve meters in length and eight meters wide. The ceiling had to be a good two or three stories up, which made me wonder how big this castle was.

Around the hall there was numerous stain glass windows that varied colours. Not specific patterns to them, but the light that was shining through did come out in an almost hypnotizing fashion. In between the spaced out stain glass windows, various pieces of art was hung. Each one seemed to portray a different pony posed over a certain type of landscape. It was beyond obvious that this was depicting those who had proven themselves to be someone to be remembered.

As my eyes continued to search the halls, I noticed that there were banners hanging off the ceiling of the room. Two rows of about six were hanging. One one side, there was the same mark that was on the white princess’s flank, I think that was the right name for where it was placed. The mark was overtop a golden background colour, embroidered by blue and purple along the edges. Now, the other banners were on a darker shade of blue. The mark of Luna was in the middle of the flag. Only white was embroidered along the edges this time. A little odd, considering the nature of her flag. Aside from being a decorative addition to the room, they were probably symbols to remind every other pony here that the princesses were still in power.

Now, I had skipped over looking around the table for a reason. I had felt the stares on me the moment that I had come into the room. I put them instantly to the back of my mind though, so I could actually focus on other things. Those particular stares would continue to be ignored, while I pondered over what this table was made of.

First I thought it was steel painted with a completely realistic gold look to it. That was without examining it closely and actually touching it. The moment I looked closer, something was off about it. I quickly scratched at the ‘paint’ with the knife given to me, only to find that it was not even close to being paint.

They had a table made of gold.

Solid gold.

Damn. They had a stretch table, probably long enough to fit ten people on each side, as well as one at each end, and it was made out of solid gold.

Now, the moment I began to chip at the table, I was sure more than a few stares intensified, either out of curiosity or anger. I could not exactly confirm that without giving in, to the whim to look at them, but that was counter productive to what I wanted to accomplish. My goal was to prove to them that I was not some being that was at their beck and call. I could ignore them just as easily as they could ignore me.

So, aside from my constant amazement at the golden table, my attention shifted to the actual contents of the food. Every hope of mine was to see some sort of meat on the table, though a small voice in the back of my head said that the chance of such a thing happening was less than one of these ponies jumping at me from across the table.

Also known as Fruity and Scowly.

There are times where I was glad to be wrong. See, the Princess’s waiters were still bringing in food for those at the table. Many of the plates were filled with bread, flowers, hay, and what I assumed was a type of salad. A new waiter came with a covered tray balanced on his front right hoof, which was an amazing feat for me to see, but must have been everyday for the ponies. When the tray was placed down on the table the lid was removed to reveal: a tray of scrambled eggs. The heat was radiating slowly off of them, signaling that they had just come off of the frying pan.

Of course the waiter had been kind enough to set them down right next to me, and whoever was sitting beside me. Yes, I was so absorbed in my own thoughts, and musings that I didn’t even know who was sitting beside me at the table. I would worry about that when I finished gathering the contents of what would be my meal.

A few loaves of bread, a couple ladle scoops of scrambled eggs, what looked like a pancake, a glass of what also appeared to be apple juice. Whether or not it was was going to be based on what it would taste like was what would confirm it as being apple juice. Didn’t want to think about what else it could be.

I was going to start eating when I noticed a lidded tray that had been put on the table almost right next to my plate. Curiosity was going to get the better of me in this situation. A quick glance to the seat on my right found that there was indeed not a single soul next to me, so this tray was more than likely for me. I think there was a smaller version of me in the back of my mind jumping for glee at the thought of what could possibly be under the tray. I was making sure to not to give these ponies anything that they might be able to use against me. Plus, it would be unmanly to squeal like a little girl at the possibility which lay under that dome covered platter.

It was extremely tough though, as the moment I lifted the lid slightly, the smell of that beautiful type of food escaped the enclosure, and went straight up my nostrils. As well as more than a few of the other guests at the table. Whatever conversations that had been going on, there were at least two I think, ground to a complete halt.

Oh, that beautiful smell of sausage.

I didn’t care that the ponies were probably watching in disgust, but the fact that I had been brought a sausage overrode any chance for me to care. It had been a while, since I had tasted sausage. The rations that we had back in D6 were made of mystery meat. It hardly compared to the real deal.

Of course, I still had some semblance of manners, so I lifted the lid a little higher, and maneuvered my fork to stab one of the two pieces in there. The moment it was on my plate, the knife I was given, more like trusted with, was already cutting into the string of sausage. Within seconds, the piece was in my mouth and down my gullet. Never in my life had I enjoyed a single piece of food more than that piece of sausage. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was no longer at home or maybe it was because I was currently living in a palace that was filled with herbivorous ponies. It mattered little, since my entire focus was on the sausage, and eggs that I had dished onto my plate.

About ten minutes of complete silence had passed while I devoured my food. I ate at the rate of a starving man, yet I had been fed very well by these ponies prior to this meal. Either way, I was probably the center of everyone’s attention and had done little to divert their attention away from me. Not like it truly mattered at that point. I had other things on my mind and I would be out of their manes soon enough.

At the exact moment I was finished, I grabbed the small cloth next to me and dabbed at the corners of my mouth. I admit that it was in complete mockery of the whole ‘royal’ situation, but the ponies had taken it completely as a sign that I did have manners, even if it was buried underneath everything else about me. This little bit of etiquette did little to change their reactions to everything though. Even though they had more surprise on their faces, their overall look towards me was still a mixed bag that had barely changed.

Sitting at the head of the table was what I had learned was Celestia. She didn’t even look at me, her eyes closed as another fork-full of eggs was brought to her mouth. I moved my eyes to her left to find that Luna was doing the same but she had her eyes roaming around the room, glancing at me every once in awhile for extended periods. As it seemed, the Princesses cared little for what I did. Next to Luna was Scowly and he had the same look of distaste plastered on his face as before. It wasn’t much of surprise honestly, but Fruity who was sitting next to him had a look of disgust on her face while her plate was pushed away from her.

Queen Marshmallow, and Applejack had rather flat looks, as if they were trying to be neutral in their judgement of me. Fluttershy had a small smile on her face, odd enough considering that I had just eaten meat in front of her. Maybe she had dealt with such things in the past. I didn’t even bother to look at Pinkie for she was probably smiling with that all knowing grin. Besides, after yesterday, I didn’t want to have her read my mind again or whatever she did to know what Khan had said to me.

The only one I didn’t see on that side of the table was Twilight, which meant… she was beside me and I had probably completely ignored her. See, I came to the realization when I did my deep thinking earlier. Twilight and Fluttershy were one hundred percent genuine in their interest and liking of me. Those were the only two that seemed to be willing to give me a chance, aside from the generosity of the princesses of course. I wasn’t being entirely fair, since I had given few opportunities to any of the others but, as I kept reminding myself, I would soon be out of this place and on my own again. Maybe if I ever returned to this place or where they lived I would call upon them to show me around.

If I ever returned.

I actually looked over to Twilight this time, seeing that she had a small smile on her face, her eyes studying my every movement. They probably had been doing the same, during my little scarfing down of my food. A stray thought came into my mind, and I decided to act on it.

“Did you give me the sausage?” I asked Twilight with a raised eyebrow.

She nodded her head enthusiastically, “I asked the chef to prepare a serving of meat that a Gryphon would eat for breakfast. He gave me all sorts of choices, but, from what you told me yesterday, most of them would have been more harmful for you than anything. At least from what you told me.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her. Through all of this, she still showed me kindness and even went out of her way to give me a meal that not a single other in this room would have thought of. Of course they didn’t know what I ate, so how could they?

It was the thought that counted, I guess.

“Thank you, Twilight.” I had a smile on my face, something that I think took her by surprise. It wasn’t that she hadn’t seen me smile, but just the nature of it was different; it was sincere.

From there, silence once again took hold of the breakfast. Not a single soul looked up from their meal. Perhaps they didn’t want to meet my eyes or maybe they truly were too focused on finishing the meal that they had started. Either way, we all sat in silence for a few more minutes.

“Artyom?” Celestia spoke up to rid the room of the silence. I merely looked over to her in a silent gesture to answer her call. “Are you ready to leave?”

I took a second to look back around the table. Emotions were being hidden well for once, which was a surprise since it seemed that most ponies sucked at concealing their true feelings. Well this was aside from the two Princesses, who had unnaturally good poker faces. I guess that was the result of being alive for an ungodly amount of time. That is to say, if Twilight was telling the truth about them last night.

“Да, it is time I believe.” I softly spoke.

“Very well. Luna, and I shall show you to where your gear is held. Shining will be coming to see you off as well.”

“Umm, Princess?” Fluttershy spoke up meekly, “May I, umm… come as well?”

This took me and at least Fruity off guard. I wanted to see where this went, while Fruity was about to speak up against it. Thankfully, Twilight spoke up to cut off Fruity’s new string of insults against me. Well, that was a guess on my part, but I doubt it was to sing praise about how much of a good person I was.

“I would like to come as well, Princess,” Celestia raised an eyebrow at Twilight, while giving her a small smirk which caused Twilight to continue “I mean, Celestia.”

Celestia cleared her throat before any other pony could speak up, “If Artyom is fine with others coming, then I see no problem.”

I simply shrugged at her statement, as if to say that it didn’t matter to me. If more ponies came to say goodbye to me then I wouldn’t complain. Even if I was basically cutting ties with them, I didn’t want to appear rude to them. Celestia just nodded in response before getting up from her chair and, of course, Luna followed shortly. One by one, everyone at the table got up from their chairs, with Celestia and Luna passing behind mine to lead me to wherever they was keeping my gear.

Without so much as a second thought I fell into step behind them. I proceeded to do what I always did during these long walks through this place, zone everything out and contemplate life. Of course, this time was different. The moment that I was truly getting into my thoughts, the Princesses ahead of me stopped in front of a closed room.

“Your stuff is in here, Artyom. We also have to discuss something.” Celestia spoke, while Luna opened the door with her magic. I was still a little shocked at how quickly we had come upon this room. Normally the walks were closer to twenty minutes, yet this time we had walked for barely five minutes.

In a small stupor, I walked through the doors, to find that she was telling the truth. On a table, at the other side of the room, sat all of my gear that I had examined yesterday. Without hesitation I made my way over to it, not caring to see what the others had been doing up to this point.

As I began to make my way through the methodical steps that it took to put my armour on, a pink movement appeared on my right.

No.

I slowly turned my head to the right, hoping that it wasn’t what I thought it was. I was contemplating praying to whatever imaginary deity was worshipped on in this world, but by the time my eyes picked up on the pink body, it was too late. Standing beside me on her hind legs, while her forelegs rested on the table, was Pinkie Pie.

Now, earlier this morning I had tried to understand why I was so freaked out by this pony. I mulled over all of the events that had been revolving around her, yet I found no hints as to her manipulating me personally. So why was it that she came off as completely horrifying? Her smile constantly gave me an unnerving feeling, as though she knew everything that was going to happen to me. That was bad, but it was the little ‘moment’ that we had yesterday that worried me the most. She somehow knew about what Khan had told me back at Sparta Base. If I ever met Khan again in my dreams I would ask him that, before he takes me on another long journey through my mind.

“Yes, pink pony?” I spoke, hoping to get rid of her by helping her quickly.

“You can call me Pinkie Pie, well… you already do, so that isn’t a problem.” My left eye twitched harder than it ever did at that. “So how was your dreams last night?”

My throat felt extremely dry at that statement. First of all, how did she know that I called her Pinkie Pie? Secondly, how the hell was that her name and I instinctually called her that? If those didn’t creep me out enough, was she implying what I think she was, about my dreams last night? I continued to look at her in silence, yet she refused to meet my gaze, instead staring at my gear as if she was inspecting it for faults.

“There was this nice stallion who came to my dreams last night. He was super friendly, and funny! Told me some awesome stories of where he was from, as well as about some of the people he met. We visited some cool places in my dream! I took him to Sugarcube Corner where I work, and then we went to Canterlot, where we are right now! Funny though, he asked to see the Crystal Empire, and I was surprised at how he knew of that place, since he said that he had never heard of Equestria.” Pinkie spoke quickly, leaving no time for her to take a breath.

Utter silence was all I could manage. Pinkie just looked up at me and smiled with that all knowing grin. If what she said was true, then I could only imagine what the hell this pony was. This was beyond insane at this point. I slowly looked behind me to see if the others were paying attention to this insanity.

“They can’t hear us, Artyom. I make sure my dreams are a secret, or else ponies would try and steal my awesome cupcake recipes from me!” My head snapped back to Pinkie, just in time to catch her smile fade to a more serious grin. “Listen, Artyom, I am sorry for scaring you, but I was just hoping to get a message through without being so brazen about it.”

This was freaking me out even more, than the previous mood she had been in. Her tone shift was probably the creepiest out of all, since she just seemed to come off as bubbly before hand. Now though, she was beyond serious, and I swear I could see her mane, or whatever it was starting to straighten out.

“You will not be alone in this, Artyom. Know that if you ever need guidance, just call on me or your friend while you sleep. You are here for a reason, you are alive again for a reason. Take your time to find that reason though, because if you don’t then all of this is in vain. Take care wherever you go, I hope you succeed. Oh, and talk to Twilight about your dream.” She finished with a smile, before removing her forelegs from the table, and walked away.

I didn’t watch her walk away. No, I was too stunned to even think about looking upon the pink pony. Faintly, I heard a few words being spoken, before the door opened, and closed again. She must have left, gone to do whatever she did, when she wasn’t saying fucked up things to me.

So there I stood, all of my armour on, yet the rest of my gear sitting on the table still. I was more than a little stunned and kind of lost at that point. My eyes were glazed over as I stared at my gear in front of me. It took the poking from a certain purple pony to snap me out of my somewhat catatonic state.

“Artyom? Are you alright?” I shook my head a few times back, and forth before looking down at the rather concerned eyes of Twilight.

“Да, I am fine.” She didn’t exactly look convinced.

“Are you sure? I saw Pinkie over here and got a little worried that she would have done something… over the top. I am sorry if she frightened you in any way. She can be quite a, heh, hoof-full at times.”

“She was of no issue,” I stated methodically, since I was trying to convince myself of that as well. “ Thank you though.”

“No problem at all! It is what friends do.” She smiled up at me. Such an innocent smile too.

“Heh, friends.” I mumbled before grabbing my hand charger and hooking it to a notched out spot, on the right side of my armour. I looked back to her quickly, “May I ask question?”

“Sure.”

I picked up my Saiga and slung it onto my back, “I had dream last night. About place made of crystals. Do you know of such place?”

“A place made of crystals? Of course! That is the Crystal Empire to the north. Odd that you had a dream about it though… is there a place like that back where you are from?” Her interest had been piqued.

“No. I saw picture of place on way to breakfast. Must have seen yesterday too.” I dodged her question, all the while finishing suiting up. My gear was fully on, or slung over my shoulder, but I was missing the most important items. My eyes scan the table to find it was indeed missing from my stash. The Princess must have held onto them until I was just about to go, probably as a form of insurance.

I was about to go over, and confront them about the lack of mask, but I was stopped by a butter yellow figure in my way. I looked down to see Fluttershy peering up at me with one eye hidden behind her mane. She had come to say goodbye to me.

“I umm… I just wanted… to say goodbye, if that was alright by you.” She spoke in a soft voice, the words trailing off, as she finished her sentence. Her shy demeanor was once again overpowering any confidence she had built up in the past while.

It mattered little me though.

“Of course, Fluttershy.” I bent at the knees to get to her level, shocking her slightly. She had probably come here, thinking that it would be a quick farewell before I left to my own machinations. I wasn’t going to let that happen though. She had shown me some kindness in a new world, and I felt bound to at least return it her a little. My journeys had taken a lot from me, but I would be damned, if I let them take away what compassion I had.

So, the moment I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a soft hug, she gave a startled eep. I held her in the position for a few seconds, knowing full well that Twilight was probably looking at me with some sort of smirk on her face. The hug though wasn’t a one way thing, as Fluttershy eventually reciprocated it and hugged me back.

When I let go to stand back up, I felt a little resistance from Fluttershy, who, without a doubt, didn’t want me to leave at that point.

“Thank you for kindness, Fluttershy. I hope I see you again.” I said simply while holding a small, yet somewhat sad, smile.

She returned it with her own smile, “I hope you return again too, Artyom. I wish things had been umm… different.”

I continued smiling at her for a few moments longer, until it was assumed that our goodbye was over. She gave one last, and this time large, smile before turning, and walking back towards the entrance to the room.

When our little goodbye finished, I made my way over to the two princesses, and Scowly who were in a small, and quiet discussion. Fluttershy continued past the princesses, and out the door. The moment that I came close enough to actually hear what they were talking about, they quickly dropped into silence, before turning their attention to me. Scowly with his trademark scowl, and the two princesses holding their neutral looks.

“Ahh, Artyom, are you ready to go?” Celestia spoke.

“Yes, but I am missing my mask, and filters.” I said, as I slowly crossed my arms over my chest. I wanted to be annoyed at the ponies for pulling a stunt like this, but at the same time I just couldn’t bring myself to become anything more than a little impatient.

“Ahh yes, they were actually just finished. The mask was fixed perfectly!” Celestia said, with a smile that seemed a little uncharacteristic of her, as if she knew something I didn’t. “Now, with regards to the filters, I am sorry. We couldn’t enchant them to last longer than twenty minutes. The spell that Twilight used is still relatively new.”

The way she spoke those last words seemed to imply that she was hiding something. There was more to what she was saying, but I knew that she was playing a game that I couldn’t beat her at. If her age was to believed, then she had much practice at being deceptive. “I will not survive long then.”

“No, we know that sad fact, but we do have a solution to that.” Luna spoke up this time, wearing a somewhat mischievous smirk on her face. I knew they had planned for something but what though? Were they going to try, and convince me to stay here? Maybe they would go back on my freedom, and lock me up once again… But that would not explain why they had given my gear back to me. “We have decided that, to not only help solve the air issue but as well help you in your journey, our former Captain of the Guard, Shining Armour will accompany you on your journey.”

I hoped that my face described what I thought of this plan. If it didn’t, then they would be hearing my opinion in the form of some strong words.

“He has the knowledge to cast the air filter spell, as well as combat experience, and knowledge of this world. I think it is a nice little showing of our willingness to back your journey, do you not think so?”

My eye twitched nearly violently. I needed to speak out about this, and tell them that I completely hated their idea, and that was putting it light. I was about to burst, but I felt a compulsion to keep the tone lower, and keep my language in Russian.

“Нет, не думаю! Это совершенно дурацкая идея! Я знаю что вы лжете об этом заклинании! Твайлайт говорила что сделала так только потому что не знала на сколько времени их стоит зарядить! Это абсолютный пиздёжь! И я ненавижу эту свинью которую вы зовёте капитаном, он высокомерный тупой хрен! И вообще, вы и так обращаетесь с мной как с низшим существом, а теперь ещё и это?!”

They all looked at me with confused eyes, but I could sense that the Princesses seemed to get the jist of what I was saying. Yet, they still stared at me as though they were expecting a translation into a language they could understand.

“Yes, I agree.” I choked out. Why did I say that? I didn’t agree at all!

Celestia gave me a rather arrogant smirk at the moment I answered her. “Perfect! Now, there is but one thing that needs to be answered.”

I looked at her, as if expecting her to ask which way I prefered to die.

“Where do you desire to go?” It was a simple question, and one that I could answer without having to force out a false statement. I knew that as soon as I told them where I wanted to go, I would actually get what I desired.

It was what I had expected, and it was what I got. A secure way to travel to where I needed to go. Anything to get out of that place at that point. How I didn’t see their manipulation of me before, was beyond me, but now that I could leave, I would take the first opportunity to break free from it.

~~~~~(Two hours later)Perspective: Artyom

So I sat, opposite of Shining Armour, a.k.a. Scowly, who had not flinched from looking at me with that glare. I knew that if we were going to travel together, which I despised, then we would need to look past any differences. It would be counter productive to be butting heads constantly. Mentally I sighed, as I knew that I would have to be the bigger person… figuratively. I might have just recently broken out of some weird mind control that the princesses put on me, but I would not transfer my new distrust for them unto a pony that I had judged before giving him his chance.

“Ладно, listen, Scow- I mean Shining Armour, we travel together for some time, we should put differences aside. We work better then.” I said with a hint of reluctance in my voice. I wanted to just ditch the pony, but at the same time, he would be beneficial.

“Hmph, the moment you earn my trust is the moment I needn’t have to put anything aside for you.” Well, he sure was stubborn.

“А ты упёртый хрен, да?” I said with a shake of my head. He might refuse to cooperate, but I knew that if we ever got into trouble, we would need to work together. I didn’t want to have to wait till the last second to be able to prove to him that we needed to be a team. Too many idiots had died, because they believed they could survive without any help. “You do not trust me. I understand, but pride is little compared to life. Do not be foolish.”

He simply gave a snort before looking away from me, focusing on the terrain. That was mostly unsuccessful… the fact he looked away being the only positive to our little talk. The pony was a stubborn as I was when I was younger. Thinking I knew what was right and that I was invincible. Heh, that was quickly thrown under a bus when I first experienced the tunnels of the Metro. Just like I did, he would learn fast, if we ever got in trouble. His pride would not be able to hold him in combat.

I sighed out loud, finally feeling the weight of this new change bearing down on me. I had resigned myself to the fact that I was in a new world, without any true clue as to how I would get home. Sure, Khan had shown me that book in my dreams, but that was hardly anything more than a strand to grasp for.

At least I could relax in the train car without having to wear my mask. The lack of any sort of plant causing me to die was a nice gift. I would surely have to start wearing my mask nearly twenty four seven. That did bring up the question of how I was going to sleep if we couldn’t find a location lacking plant life. Bah, that was a good distance away. Well, actually, if all went smoothly, we would be out of this ‘Crystal Empire’ in two days.

I might have been in a hurry to find my way off this world, but I would still accept hospitality when it was offered and, according to the princesses, I was welcome within the place. Of course it could just be a trap. At one point I would have thought myself to be paranoid, but, when I found myself acting in a forced manner, I lost most if not all of my trust for those two.

The moment I appeared on the train, I felt as though a fog had been lifted inside my head. My first thought went to their fucking magic as it would explain a lot of things, including my responses at times to what they said. As to why I had only noticed it this morning, I was clueless. All I know, was that I was beginning to hate magic. Especially teleporting… god that sucked.

Just like walking through that door in my dreams, it was hard to explain, since no words could accurately describe the feeling of dematerializing before being put back together in another location. The most I could say, would be that I never wanted to have it happen again.

I just began to realize that the train ride was tiring me out. Normally I would be wide awake, and constantly on alert, but with the fact that this car was being guarded at both doors by rather gruff looking ponies in armour, I was more at ease than normal.

“How long?” I asked Shining, drawing his eyes from the window.

“At least five hours.” He said quickly, before looking back out of the window. Obviously he was not in the talking mood.

“Wake me up when we arrive.” I said while picking a pillow up. The moment it was pressed against the wall of the car, my head was on it. Eyes quickly closed, while I gave a silent prayer that it would be a dreamless sleep. I had no desire to see Khan right then. Finally, with a small sigh I relaxed and let sleep wash over me.

~~~~~(Five hours later)Perspective: Shining Armour

After my little talk with the four guards I was assigned, I peered out the window on the way back to my seat since the window next to our original seats was drawn closed. The Crystal Empire was appearing off in the distance, soon I would get to see my wife again.

For awhile, I added.

A ticked off sigh escaped my muzzle, as i gazed on the sleeping human. The thing was tall and, now that it had its armour on, bulky, but I knew that under it all he had little mass, compared to any pony. I bet it would be easy to beat it in a hoof to hoof fight, and magic would just make it all too easy.

I needed to stop thinking about that, because I had to work with it now. The more I fight having to do this, the worse it will be. I groaned at that thought though. I was at war with the idea inside my own subconscious, but, as a guard, I knew the benefit of working in tandem and not trying to fight each other. So, it came as a surprise when he brought up that same idea, as if he was trained as well.

I took a seat, not in front of the human this time. I needed to put some space between me, and him for a little bit. Soon enough there would be none of that to speak of. We would be travelling to Celestia knows where, and I would constantly be in the presence him. The thought of such a thing would have been maddening, if I didn’t knew that, by doing this, I was helping the world become a better place.

That was probably the kicker as to why I didn’t tell Celestia off. My status as a Prince meant that I could have easily said no to her, her rank having since lost its dominance over me. The only one who could boss me around would be Cadance… and that was a whole new type of bossing.

Getting back to my original train of thought though; I could have turned this down. Yet Celestia came to me earlier this morning, seemingly knowing that I was about to find her and tell her off. What she told me… it was hard to digest at first, and it still didn’t make a lot of sense, but she had promised thatб by doing this, I would make a better Equis for everyone.

What did she mean, when she said he would lead us to our greatest enemy? I had always thought Discord, and Sombra were the true enemies of the world. They had been ‘defeated’ though, so who or what could be our greatest enemy?

A sharp whistle sounded off from the front of the train, snapping me out of my thoughts. It also seemed to wake up Artyom, as he rose from his slumber, eyes blinking to clear them out. I moved from my seat on the other side of the car to a window overlooking the side that the Crystal Empire was on. I knew what the whistle was for though. We were going to be at the station in five minutes.

Moving from the window, I proceeded to head towards one of the pegasi guards assigned to the train car. I knew her too, well at least as much as a Captain knew his guards. Not really friendship, outside of us working together, but she was a good guard, so it was odd to see her assigned to watch over this train car. “Sergeant Fire, I need you to fly to Princess Cadance and tell her that we will arrive in the train station shortly.”

The blue pegasus saluted swiftly, before heading out through the train car’s door. From there I could only assume that she had headed off towards the Palace. Now, even though I knew she was a blue pegasus, the enchantment on the armour disguised her as a standard white pony with the blue mane. The idea of conformity among the guard’s ranks had gone back hundreds of years. I knew the reason at one time, but it had since slipped my mind.

Once she had left I headed back to my original spot by the human. He would not leave my sight until I was able to put him under the watch of the Crystal Guard. Only then would I actually be able to have some alone time with Cadance. Maybe write a letter to Twilight, apologizing for spending nearly no time with her, when the whole point of my trip to Canterlot and Ponyville was to see her. Also, a letter to Mom and Dad would be beneficial, as it had been awhile since I saw them, let alone contacted them. That is of course assuming that the prior problem was dealt with.

I must have been staring off into space, or something because the human was looking at me with a smirk on his face.

“Thinking about someone?” He asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“What is to you?” I asked to which he simply shrugged. A quick release of a breath through my nose calmed me briefly, taking the edge off my next words. “I was thinking about my wife and sister. If you hadn’t have shown up then, I would have had a nice vacation before returning to my wife.”

“You are not only one who lost something.” A cryptic statement as ever. Maybe he was being literal with that, or maybe it was some reference to something. Either way, he failed to elaborate on it, instead opting to look back out of the window.

For the last few minutes before the train entered the station, we sat in silence, neither of us saying a word or even looking at each other. The silence was a blessing, since the conversations that we had, such as it was, were rather quick and bitter. It would be good to actually talk to someone who didn’t get on my nerves.

The train slowed down, as it came into the station, finally coming to a complete stop once all the cars were aligned to the platforms. For all I knew, ponies were getting off and loading up on the train, but I couldn’t be sure, because we had closed the blinds on the car. There was no need to draw attention to who was in the car, because I knew what they would do. Half of them would stare in awe at the perceived new creature, while the rest would run around screaming their heads off. It seemed to be a natural reaction for any pony, be it Crystal or Equestrian.

For a few moments, we waited in the car in silence, neither the guards, nor the human moving at all. I knew what was going to happen, since Celestia had planned this ahead of time with Cadance. It would be fun to see the human react over being teleported again. His first time was hilarious, though most first timers did have a common reaction to such a thing. Either way, it would be amusing.

Maybe, calling him by his name would be easier than saying ‘the human’ all the time. It wouldn’t mean anything had changed in our little ‘partnership,’ other than a show of convenience.

Whatever thought I was going to have was cut short as a soft glow encased his body, as well as mine. For a second, he didn’t realize anything had happened, but soon enough he took note of the glowing. Watching his pupils dilate was mildly hilarious. Not as much as watching him scramble frantically to grab his mask though, it was priceless to see the horrified look. Of course, that was over quickly, as we popped out of existence before reappearing in a secluded room inside the Crystal Palace.

Every teleport leaves the vision a bit wobbly afterwards, but I had enough practice with it that it hardly changed, well aside from the scenery of course. Surprisingly enough, we were actually in Cadance’s and my chambers. Shelves of books and knick knacks lined the walls, accompanied by two dressers, as well as multiple paintings hanging from small spikes in the crystal walls.

“Shining!” Cadance nearly squealed as she hurried over to me. Her forelegs wrapping around me, before pulling me in a deep kiss. “I missed you.”

“You know it has only been a few days right?” I said with a coy smirk. Her eyes narrowed, as she got a devious looking grin on her face.

“Oh I know, but it has been pretty lonely here without you.” That got my mind swirling at the thought of what we would be doing later tonight. I was going to keep on with our little flirting, but a rather loud cough came from behind us.

Right, we weren’t alone and he had probably heard everything.

Chapter 9: Trust

Trust is a two way deal. It must be given in order to be received. The Princesses did nothing to garner mine, but I of all people should know that things change. It seemed that Cadance had knowledge beyond her years. Knowledge kept in her head … and in the tunnels.
Trust
*****Perspective: Artyom

“Son of a bitch.” I softly muttered as my hands rubbed my eyes. That fucker hadn’t warned me that we would be teleporting once again. The first time was bad enough, but at least I had been prepared for it. This time I was caught unaware, not to mention that I had been sitting down. So I went from a sitting position on a bench to having my ass land hard on what looked like solid crystal. So it seemed that the place Khan had shown me was real.

Believe me, I was stunned to see such a sight, even if it was just a simple bedroom from at first glance. An entire room, at least, was made of crystal. Of course I had seen the place from the train, but I had just thought it to be some sort of design mainly. Now though, my ass was telling my different.

While I was in awe at having just been teleported into a building made of crystal, my companion seemed to be getting a little flirtatious with another alicorn. This one was pink, and from what Twilight had told me, her name was Cadance.

Now, I don’t mind giving a fellow male his chance at scoring, but I didn’t need it to happen while I was sitting merely a few feet away from them. So, while putting my hand up to my mouth, I gave a rather loud cough to get their attention. Without a doubt, it did the trick, as both of them sharply turned their heads to regard me.

I have to say that the look upon Scowly’s face was rather amusing. It wasn’t obvious, but the horror in his eyes was vivid enough. He knew I had overheard each word he had spoken with his wife. He also knew that if there ever came a time, I would use this against him.

Now was not the time though.

“Shining, why haven’t you introduced me to our guest yet?” Cadance had quickly spoken up. It was obvious she wanted to clear the air of any awkward silence. I would have as well if I had ever been caught saying some of the things that they had. Though I guess, in retrospect, they weren’t anywhere close to that bad. Maybe a bit suggestive if anything.

Scowly recovered from the incident rather quickly, as he seemingly wiped his face clean. His expression going from hidden shock to that of a neutral guard again. “This, dear, is Artyom. The human that Princess Celestia had sent word about.”

“It’s good to meet you, Artyom. Twilight also sent a letter to me about you, though it was only recently.” Recently? How fast was their mail service? I had only told Celestia and Luna about where I was going this morning. How did Twilight send a letter this far in such a short time?

That wasn’t important, what was important was that another Princess was in front of me. This morning, I had felt compelled by whatever ‘spell’ the Princesses had cast over me. I could feel it when it changed my answer and even before I had answered her. Now though … now I couldn’t feel anything. I had to try something to test if I was under control.

“Excuse me, Princess. Must test something quick.” I gave a small cough into my hand, ignoring the confused looked on her face. I turned my gaze towards Shining. “Prick.”

Now, aside from my elation that I was possibly longer under control of some sort of mind warping spell, I was also rather happy that the word didn’t carry over into this universe. Of course I still had to test something later, just to be safe that I wasn’t under some spell still. Shining just looked confused at what I had said. In fact he was prepared to speak up, but his wife cut him off.

“May I ask what that was about?” She was definitely a curious type. Twilight had told me that she used to get ‘foalsat’ by Cadance, so it made some sense why Twilight was as curious as she was.

“Just curious about something. Do not worry. Anyway,” I bowed briefly, wanting to show some respect to a Princess who didn’t try to control me. “Is good to meet you, Princess.”

When I straightened out again, Shining was a little shocked, while Cadance just had a pleased smile on her face as if I had just confirmed something for her. It was nice to see that she was sincere and possibly had no desire to subject me to some mind twisting ability. For now, at least..

Maybe she was closer to Twilight in regards to her status. Twilight had been nothing but kind, sincere, and honest with me. Maybe Cadance would be the same? Her husband didn’t seem to be willing to.

“It is nice to meet you as well, Artyom. Now I can only assume that you are here for a reason?” She asked, causing me to raise an eyebrow at her brashness. “Oh, I’m sorry. You just got here and by asking that I must sound like a terrible host.”

I rose a hand to cut her off. “Not at all, Princess. I wonder though, why are you kind to me?”

Once again she smiled at me, it must be a prerequisite to being a Princess. It was probably required of each Princess to be able to maintain a smile no matter their feelings. “Despite what I have been told by Celestia and Twilight, I want to remain neutral in regards to you until I can get a good understanding of your character before deciding how to act towards you.”

“So you are nice by … start? I think that is word.” I can understand what she was trying to do, but that didn’t explain why she was being this openly kind towards me. It took Twilight and Fluttershy a little bit of time to warm up to me, yet it seemed that Cadance didn’t need anytime to be nice.

“I am the Princess of Love, Artyom, which means that I need to show compassion towards all, at least at first. If somepony proves to me that they are deserving of none, then they will get nothing from me. If they prove themselves kind of heart and compassionate, then I will reciprocate those feelings.”

“Umm … .” Came out of Scowly’s mouth nearly immediately after. It was surprising to see him shocked at that. It was understandable that I be at least a little surprised at the depth of her statement, but apparently her husband had not expected something so astute from her.

Once again, Scowly proved himself to be a profound and well spoken pony. How did he not see her pulling something like this? Was their marriage extremely shallow, to the point where they barely knew each other? Maybe Cadance was truly a pony of multiple sides, ones that she showed all who surrounded her, but kept a part of her hidden away?

If the former was to be believed then her and I had a lot in common. For being a Princess who actually ruled a kingdom, she was gaining my respect.

“Well said, Princess.” I said.

“Thank you, Artyom. Now how about we show you to your room?” She asked while motioning her head towards to what I assumed was the door that lead to the hallways.

“I appreciate the … hospitality? Да, but I plan to not stay here long.” It almost felt like my English was getting worse. Why couldn’t these ponies speak русский?

Cadance’s ears visibly drooped at that statement. I was a little surprised that she reacted so negatively to my declaration to leave. Even though the smile had vanished, it returned to her face shortly after. “I’m a little sad to hear that, but if that is what you wish. Though, if you were not planning on staying, may I ask why you came here then?”

For the few seconds it took me to answer her, a small debate went on in my head. A part of me obviously opposed even mentioning my motives for coming to her empire. It was reasonable, considering how much the first two princesses had meddled with me. Though that side was also losing its credibility, due to Cadance showing me respect and at least a form of trust.

That, of course, only helped bolster the argument of my other side. It favoured telling her what she wanted to know, in the hope of her helping me along my path. She could help out in numerous ways. Possibly getting me access to supplies that I might need. Celestia and Luna had neglected some items. One of those being water; though I am sure that Shining had some sort of water in that bag he lugged with him. As well as she could be a lifeline for me if I ever needed a fall back. I would not go back to Equestria if those two Princesses still ruled, but the Crystal Empire seemed nice.

Of course I had only been in it for maybe an half an hour and had yet to leave the sole room I have seen.

With both sides having had their arguments viewed, I decided to take a leap of faith. For those two it seemed like a matter of seconds for the answer to come out, but for me nearly an hour had passed. Of course, time didn’t want to take my side in this situation.

“Following a lead from a dream. More like a vision.” I stated simply.

Shining rolled his eyes at that response, which was not surprising considering his stance on me. Cadance on the other hand … or hoof, felt that my answer was legitimate enough to actually follow it with another question.

“What did the vision say?”

“Caddie! You can’t be serious? You believe that he came here based on a vision? That is a complete load if I have ever heard one.”

Cadance brushed his statement aside, even going as far as to be rather ticked off at him. ”I can’t believe you Shining Armor. Anypony knows that dreams and visions are rooted deep within yourself, or even the world. They hold some truth to them, even if it is only a shred.”

Shining looked completely crestfallen at Cadance scolding him for speaking as he did. Surprise seemed to be a general thing to expect when speaking with her, as even I was a little amazed that she told off her own husband in my defense.

“Now, Artyom, can you please give me some insight into your vision? That is, if you want to, of course.” For a brief moment I saw Fluttershy talking to me, instead of Cadance.

I blinked a few times, trying to see if it was just my imagination. I, of course, saw Cadance in front of me, looking up at me in an inquisitive manner. After imagining seeing Fluttershy instead of Cadance, I decided it would be best to remove my helmet and breathe in the fresh air without it going through an unoccupied filter port.

In a swift pull, the helmet was off and hanging limply from my right hand. I looked back down at Cadance. “May I sit?”

She only nodded her head before motioning to a set of chairs that were also accompanied by those pillows that ponies seemed to sit on. I proceeded to slowly walk over to one of the chairs. It still amazed me that the ponies even had chairs this big, though I guess it would make sense for a ruler to have such a thing. Twilight told me that the minotaurs tended to be over six feet tall and bulkier than me with my armour on.

Either way, the moment I was seated in the chair, I found myself being gazed upon by my two hosts. Both of them had entirely opposite facial expressions, with Cadance being one of curiosity, while Shining held one of skepticism. He even rolled his eyes a few times, but stopped when Cadance jabbed a hoof into his side.

“Right, last night I had vision. A good friend was there, leading me to places. He showed me this place.”

Cadance somehow was able to look even more curious. “He showed you the Crystal Empire? Maybe he had visited here before?”

I chuckled at the thought, “No, he was from back home. Never been in world, let alone here.” I smiled at the thought of Khan visiting this place, before continuing. “Anyway, he showed me a book called, Accounts of a Bygone Era.”

Scowly rolled his eyes again before speaking. “And how do we even know such a book exists. Listen, I’m all for helping you leave this place but this is most likely a wild goose chase.”

My desire to throttle Scowly was growing with each minute that he talked. I might have to travel with this pretentious prick, but, aside from walking and fighting together, I didn’t want much to do with him. Especially with the way he said the word helping. He was no doubt about to continue his little theory on the book, when he was cut off by his wife.

“No, I have seen that book before.”

Luck was once again on my side! Suck it Scowly!

“Really? Somehow he just happened to need a book you know of?” Scowly said, eyebrows furrowed.

Cadance just smiled at him, “That book is older than a good portion of Equestria itself. Whoever wrote it must have had extensive knowledge of the world before Celestia and Luna came to power. The only reason I know of it, is because I wanted to learn more of the Crystal Empire. Even though I am the Princess of this place, I know very little.”

“So you just happened to read this book?” Scowly was still being his prickish self and doubting her.

“Of course not! Stop doubting me Shiny!” Her smiled had quickly vanished from her face, only to be replaced by a look of spite for Scowly’s bitter remarks.

His ears flattened in response, and his body cowered away from his growingly furious wife. I guess he mumbled an apology of sorts for she began to quell her rage. I just sat there, amazed at how quickly it had escalated before deflating just as quickly. These ponies were sure expressive.

Cadance leaned over close to his ear and began to whisper something into it. I might have had good hearing and I might have been close, but I did notice that her horn was glowing and so was his ear. With that bullshit that was magic, I instantly assumed that she had put a dampener of some sort so that whatever they said would remain private. The moment she was finished, her horn’s glow died down and she turned to face me again.

“Now, as I was saying, I wanted to learn more about the Crystal Empire, so I took a venture to the public library. In there they had a lot of records about the place, but barely anything during Sombra’s reign.” She picked up on my confusion over the name, “He was an evil tyrant that ruled the place before making it disappear for a little over a thousand years.”

“Now, when I was at the Library, I did find mention of archive that was located well below the Palace. See, under this Palace is an extensive network of crystal caves. Many old and abandoned rooms are still down there. The archive included.”

“So, book is down there?” I asked, while piecing the puzzle pieces together.

“Exactly!” She beamed.

There was one thing I was confused over though. “Why you telling me? Seems like something to keep secret, no?”

Apparently my confusion gave her some amusement as she gave a rather dainty laugh before speaking again. “Not really, but that is a different issue that we will discuss later. Remember, Artyom, this is me showing you trust. You showed me some by telling me your motive for being here, now I am reciprocating it.”

I simply nodded my head in acceptance. She was intentionally trying to avoid something, I could tell that at least. Well, maybe not avoid, but she was definitely delaying something. Her face still held that smile and gave little away, but I could tell from Shining’s look that she was close to having revealed something important. Something that he didn’t want me to know. Maybe it didn’t concern me and maybe I was being overly paranoid that they were hiding something from me. Tough to say, but it was obvious enough that I wasn’t going to get anything from prying into it.

“So, Artyom, how about I show you to your room? We can talk along the way.” said Cadance while gesturing to the door.

Once again, I simply nodded at what she said. Sometimes it was better to just be silent. Without a moment of hesitation we proceeded out the door, with Shining holding it open for us. The hallways were … well made of crystal. That was all I really could say to something like that. I was basically standing in a hallway that was made of crystal and decorated the same way as the previous palace. Portraits hung along the walls, a red carpet covered the majority of the floor and seemed to continue well past just this hallway. Here and there were scattered ornaments, sitting peacefully on stands.

Luckily, there was not a single plant placed on those stands. Perhaps whatever letter Twilight had sent ahead had warned her of that one incident. If that was true than it was for the best; I would have torched any plant I saw, otherwise.

One thing had me curious though. We had passed down multiple hallways and along the way, had passed numerous guards and maids. The guards kept their stoic demeanour which included a quick salute when Shining passed by them. The maids, on the other hand, were busy rushing around, carrying something, cleaning something, or organizing something. They paid no heed to me, nor the two ponies beside me. This was entirely different from the previous palace.

“Why do others pay no heed to me?” I spoke in almost a whisper, hopefully just loud enough to let Cadance hear me.

“The Crystal Ponies have seen countless oddities and strange occurrences. In fact, this entire kingdom was banished from the physical plane for a thousand years. It was easy to explain to the castle staff and guards that we would be playing host to an unusual being.” She said while focusing nearly all of her attention on me. She hardly paid heed to where she was walking and yet she never deviated from her original path. Of course, that was barely the first thought to my mind.

“A thousand years? How is it possible?” I said in a skeptical tone before realizing that they were just going to answer with magic. It was how Twilight described a lot of things that made little sense to me.

Cadance merely chuckled. “Would you believe me if I said magic?”

I merely gave her a questioning glance before setting my vision down the hall again. There was no need to argue a point that I would no doubt lose. If we were still in the Metro, no such thing could have happened. There was no magic to speak of, the closest thing being the anomalies. It would seem that our worlds were just that different and I would have to get used to this new one. I wouldn’t be surprised if I never had to fire my gun again. The whole world seemed so peaceful … but what did I know? I had only seen a few rooms and a passing countryside from a cracked window shade.

By the time my train of thought had finished moving, we had arrived at the room that I was assigned. Well it was that, or they were leading me somewhere else and I had missed them telling me it.

“Here is your room, Artyom. Now, Shiny and I have a some things to discuss, so we will unfortunately have to say goodbye for now. Dinner will be served in about two hours. Shining will come and get you.” With that being said, she opened the door with her magic before beckoning her husband. They left without another word being said, of course I didn’t think they were going to discuss anything in private anyways.

With the two lovebirds gone, I walked into the room, closing the door behind me. Admittedly the room looked awfully similar to that of Cadance’s. I didn’t really pay much attention to the little details of their room since the fact it was made of crystal drew in most of my attention.

Crystal flooring, ceiling, walls, crystal shelves, and a crystal chandelier. They were definitely not going overboard with the crystal. It wasn’t like a big rock could come a shatter this entire kingdom or something. At least the furniture was made out of something other than crystal. Two dressers set next to each other, right beside a small bookcase… that was carved into the crystal. I sighed outwardly before making my way over to those dressers. Hopefully they were sturdy enough to hold my armour in them.

Roughly five minutes later I had removed every piece of gear that was attached to me. I was just left with just my regular clothing and my boots. Of course, this was a good thing, being in that armour all the time tended to make my muscles sore and stiff. Not to mention that the clothes themselves were probably beyond dirty at this point. Maybe I could ask the Princess to clean my clothes. Of course the image of her actually hand washing my clothes came up which brought out a rather loud chuckle. I would have been beyond amazed if I ever saw such a thing happen. They probably just had some unicorn use his or her magic to power wash any clothes.

That brought up a really interesting question, do ponies even wear clothes? I mean, I saw the Princesses wearing their jewelry or regalia and the guards wore armour. Was that the extent of their clothes? That would mean that at any moment I could possibly be flashed … fuck you brain.

I shuddered in revulsion as I laid myself down on the bed, never again would I allow myself to question such things. It would probably only bring up horrible mental images.

Once my back touched the bed though, any trace of such a thought was replaced by the softness of the bed. For the past few days, I had slept on a hard cot and even though it was the softest thing I had slept on, it hardly compared to what this bed felt like. If I knew what sleeping on a cloud felt like, I would probably think the bed was softer.

My eyes narrowed as one hand reached under the sheets, searching for a mattress in order to assuage my suspicions. Luckily, my hand found one, negating any thoughts that I might have been laying on a cloud. Such a thing wouldn’t even be possible for me anyways, well, at least according to Twilight, but who knew what this messed up world would do to me. I already had two Princesses attempt to mind control me, not to mention that about every living plant on the face of this planet was a part of an active plot to choke me to death.

I rolled onto my left side, fixing my eyes upon the closed door. Maybe a nap would do me some good. I let that thought sink in for a second before chuckling once more. It would only do me good if Khan wasn’t there to take me on another journey of self discovery. I sighed before positioning myself onto my back once more.

I had nothing against Khan and in fact he was probably the closest I had to a friend for a while. Especially after Exhibition… but sometimes the stuff he talked about just seemed to be an endless spiel that always delved into what he called ‘the true nature of things.’

A brief image of Khan, showing me the book I needed, flashed into my mind. I couldn’t fault him on what he did, he had actually shown me the start of the path. Hell, he even offered his help if I should ever ask for it. Though it would probably be only in terms of directional guiding… knowing Khan though, he would probably find a way into this oddball world.

As my eyes closed, I snickered at that thought. Khan in Equestria … he would make these ponies have an existential crisis.

~~~~~(Hour and a half later)Perspective: Artyom

I was woken from my sleep by a few rather loud knocks on the door. Without second thought, I had reached for my revolver on the nightstand beside my bed. It was second nature to always be ready in case something tried to attack you while sleeping in the Metro. Of course that was the Metro; I was not sleeping in an over decorated bed that was a soft as a cloud. Why would I have to fear being attacked while I was sleeping?

Once my hand retreated from its spot next to my pistol, I pushed myself to the edge of the bed that faced the door. For once I was actually able to have a blissful nap. No strange dreams, no memories surfacing, no Dark Ones messing with my head … no Khan. I smiled slightly at that. Somehow that was the biggest relief of all, yet at the same time I was kind of hoping to see him again.

It was a feeling of missed companionship, someone who I enjoyed seeing and working with. Even though I had worked with Miller and Ulman before, it just wasn’t the same. I sighed out loud at the thought of Miller and Ulman.

No doubt they had died along with all of those damnable Red Line soldiers. It wasn’t the first time since I had arrived in Equestria that I found myself regretting all of what happened. There had to have been another method to defeating the Red Line. Maybe we had rushed into battle to quickly, overlooking something that could have helped us.

“Are you coming, Artyom?” A feminine voice came from behind the door. It would seem that Cadance had come to wake me up. I remember that she told me Shining would come and get me, so what made her come instead?

“Да,” I mumbled out. It was instinctive so I didn’t instantly realize that the silence was her not knowing what I said. “Yes, be right out.”

“Do not take too long, dinner will be ready shortly.” There was a brief pause. “Oh and, Artyom? You do not need your gear if you don’t want to wear it.”

That statement made me a little nervous. It was as if she knew I was thinking about that exact quandary. Maybe it was just pure luck, or maybe she was reading my thoughts. This land and its magic was just a simple way to cheat on life. Could be used for anything for all I knew. Mind control, teleportation, controlling stars… I wouldn’t put it past them that they could turn something into an orange. Hell, that would be an awesome thing to have in the Metro. Not enough ways to combat scurvy down there and there were no oranges. Most kids didn’t even know what an orange looked like, or had even tasted orange juice. I could only faintly remember the taste from when I was a kid.

I stopped my thoughts, hoping to limit what Cadance could possibly read, and proceeded to walk towards my bedroom door. It hadn’t even occurred to me to take off my boots when I went to sleep, years of having to wake up and get moving had given me some interesting habits. I had only remembered that I still had them one when my first step on the crystal floor felt like every other step with my boots.

It only took me about six strides to reach the door from the edge of the bed. The room itself was probably made for ponies to live in so it was surprising that it took me that many. Who would need this much room for just a bedroom? I had lived in tight rooms my entire life and I had done fine. Just another difference I could chalk up to this world. Each time that I added a new one, I slowly began to miss the Metro, even if it was hell most of the time.

The moment I reached the door, I grasped the handle slowly and pulled. The door itself moved as if it was the same weight as a feather, yet it was made of solid crystal. I just shook my head at it, which probably came off as me shaking my head at Cadance, who had been standing in front of the door. Her patient waiting had yet to wear off as she just continued to smile at me.

“Did you just wake?” She asked with a knowing smile on her face. I just mutely nodded at her while my eyes looked everywhere but at her. She giggled lightly before continuing, “I figured as much. You still look tired.”

“I look tired, but feel refreshed. Been awhile since sleeping this much.” I said while we proceeded to leave the doorway. She proceeded to lead the way down the hall. This time, I decided that I was not going to tune any conversation out. Maybe I could actually learn something from this one, if she was as trusting as she claimed to be.

“Was it that hard of a life, where you were from?” She glanced up at me while we rounded a corner.

“Yes.” I bit back the reflex to say it in Russian as well as my reflex to give her more than just the simple answer.

She didn’t speak up after it but her face spoke volumes about what she wanted to say. Maybe she was intentionally trying to show me this or maybe her neutral demeanour had finally slipped. No matter the reason, I could tell that she wanted to know more; she knew I was hiding something. We only proceeded a few steps farther before she turned around, stopping me in my tracks.

“Artyom,” she began with a stern look, “I can tell that you are withholding from me. I do not want to intrude on something you do not wish to share, but you have to trust me. It is for the best of both of us and you know that.”

Her face slowly softened, resembling something closer to a nurturing look. “I read what Twilight sent to me. I know some things about your world but I need to know more about you. I need to know that trusting you is the right thing.”

I looked at her for a second then down the hall. At the end of it I could see a pair of doors that were open. On the other side sat a table that seemed to be covered in food. She had to be serious about this since she was bringing this up before we even reached the table.

In the few seconds it took to form a reply, my mind wizzed with the pros and cons to agreeing to tell her more. It was the same issues as when I was in ‘Canterlot.’ Once again I was going to put my trust in these ponies. Why I would even dare, after having my trust betrayed like before, was beyond me. Yet still, I made up my mind.

“After dinner.” She raised an eyebrow at my statement. “After dinner you can ask.”

She just smiled and nodded at me. It seemed that she accepted my delaying tactic. Well even though it did hold truth to it. I would answer whatever questions she could ask. If she was anything like the last pony to ask me questions, I could be retelling my entire life story. At least I, hopefully, would get a nice meal before having to regal another in what my world was like.

The moment we entered the dining hall, I was … underwhelmed. It seemed that I was led to a more private dining hall. Well at least that was the guess since this one was rather plain, crystal walls non-withstanding. The table wasn’t made out of solid gold like the one in ‘Canterlot.’ No, this one was a well furnished and obviously hand crafted wood table. Intricate designs were carved into the legs and the corner pieces; none of them made a bit of sense, following along the lines of being random doodles more than artwork. The fact that the table was made to seat, maybe, six guests was a little odd to me. Maybe I had come to expect a little much from royalty at this rate. Ponies probably were as different as people were, each one had their own little eccentricities to them. Maybe these two were closer to regular ponies than Celestia and Luna were.

The moment my eyes strayed from the table they were met with Scowly’s, that trademark scowl sitting upon his face. Yet somehow, it seemed to be lessened. In fact, he seemed to to be a bit more relaxed and not as tense as he was before. A single thought passed through my mind as a knowing smirk rose on my face. Of course it was instantly banished from my head as a mental image popped into my head. Fuck, I might not be so hungry after that one.

Cadance pulled up a seat on the opposite end of the table. It seemed that even in their private time, they had to abide by the normal rules of sitting at a table. Some families still practiced it in the Metro, so it wasn’t something new to me. The ‘heads’ of the family had to sit in their rightful spots. That of course made it awkward for me, since it meant I was stuck somewhat in the middle of the table. Well at least till Cadance actually sat down, for the moment she sat, Shining moved from his spot at the other end of the table to sit right next to Cadance… across from me. I think I could taste some jealousy, spewing from him, along with the regular hatred. Well, maybe that was too strong a word, but that was besides the point.

The meal arrived, halting the end of all the riveting conversation that we were having or lack thereof. It didn’t matter since the moment the food arrived I changed my focus away from the two ponies, deciding that this fresh looking meal was much more important. Two large vegetable platters were brought out and set in the middle of the table, while single servings of a pasta were set down beside each of us. Once again, it seemed that these ponies wanted to treat me to meat. I had resigned myself to not getting such a thing in a land of herbivores, but I wouldn’t say I wasn’t grateful to them for giving me the meat.

All in all the meal was rather quick, with all of us being focused on the food more than anything else. Of course, I wasn’t looking forward to what would surely come after the meal. Well, since we were done the meal it would no doubt start soon.

“Alright, Artyom.” Cadance spoke out.

Right on time.

She must have been amused by the look on my face, for she let out a little giggle. Here I thought I was holding down a rather solid poker face.

“I can tell that you are not looking forward to this.” There was hitch in her statement, as if she was judging what to say next based on my reaction. “You are an enigma to read, did you know that? It would take some rather powerful mental spells to be able to read you.”

“How you know?” Of course I was beyond skeptical of that statement. I couldn’t tell if she was ignorant to what had happened or she was horrible at being subtle.

“Being the Princess of the Crystal Heart Kingdom as well as the emotion of love, I am tied to emotional magic. This also falls slightly under mental magic. I’m nowhere as powerful in that field as Auntie Luna, but I know when someone has a strong mind and you, Artyom, are as powerful as they come. The only reason I knew you were not looking forward to our talk was because of some dread that was manifesting itself from you.”

I can’t say that I did more than raise an eye. Hopefully it would only take an eyebrow raise to tell her that I thought she was out of her mind when saying that. From what I could tell, she had no idea about how her ‘Aunties’ had hijacked my own mind for awhile. I wasn’t about to tell her, lest I be subjected to similar treatment.

“It’s funny, Artyom, I can almost taste the disbelief. Though from what Twilight wrote, you came from a world where magic was but a figment of one’s imagination.” She looked as though she was holding back a laugh the entire time.

“Cadance, dear, I think we have strayed far enough from our direction.” Scowly spoke up, catching me off guard. I had completely forgotten he was even at the table. If Miller had known I was so careless, he would have chewed my ass out for that.

“Thanks, Shiny.” She rose a hoof to her mouth before giving the typical, small and polite cough. “Now, Artyom, I’m guessing that you were expecting a barrage of questions much like my sister-in-law?”

Sister-in-law? Who could that… wow, I really knew nothing about any of these ponies. I mutely nodded my head in agreement with her statement. I wanted to say as little as possible. hoping that I could still hold onto my own secrets.

“I only have one simple question, Artyom and I ask that you answer it fully and without a shred of anything but the truth.” She paused as if I was supposed to answer, or maybe it was for dramatic effect. “What did you do back on your world?”

I opened my mouth, to tell her the same thing that I told Twilight. To tell her that I was a wanderer of the tunnels, working for money, and barely getting by each day. It was easier to explain that to her and get out of there. Yet Cadance held up her hoof to stop me from speaking.

“I know what you told, Twilight. If that is the truth than I can help you no longer I am afraid. Of course that might be the case even if you tell the truth. It is not out of trust I would refuse you, but out of what I can physically do.” She halted her speech, looking over to Scowly who had a look that spoke volumes about who truly was the dominant one in the relationship. “Artyom, the room holding the book you seek has been overrun. I cannot say much at the moment and I refuse to say more if you cannot help us.”

She looked like she wanted to say more, but I had enough of ponies shutting me up. I put up my hand to stop her from speaking this time, of course receiving a disbelieving look from Scowly. It was beyond obvious that she was dropping a hint at what she wanted in exchange for her husband going on a ‘quest’ with me as well as having access to an ancient book.

“Truth is better covered at times.” I started off, while staring directly at Cadance. “I told lie to move me from castle quicker. If truth came out then I would be there. It is true that I wandered station looking for work, but that was when I was child.”

“Certain events led me from home, search for help in stronger station. I became involved with Rangers, a trained military group. They kept tunnels clear and kept order. A lot happened, but I joined them in end. I worked as a Ranger after, clearing Metro of mutants and searching dead city for important stuff.” I leaned forward, resting my arms on the table, my gaze moving from Cadance to Scowly instead. “I was soldier, one of best, if friends were believed. Now you know, I feel you need a soldier, да?”

Cadance just smiled at me knowingly while Shining had a look of minor disbelief still, but it was also laced with another look. It was one that someone might see among their competition in a sport. One that meant he was sizing me up. Now that he knew, he would probably be looking to prove himself better than me. As long as it didn’t get either of us killed, he could continue with his showboating.

I knew that things were about to get exciting rather quickly. I hardly enjoyed battle, but I knew when it was necessary and now was one of the times. The ponies wanted me to show that they could trust me; I wouldn’t pass up a chance to get them off my back.

“Итак, с чего начнём?”

Chapter 10: Into the Depths

A/N:Please read all of the author's note now. It has information of relevance to the story.

In a way, I am happy that I must delve into the tunnels beneath the palace. It felt like I was back in the Metro, wandering from tunnel to tunnel in search of mutants and gear. The tunnels below the palace, they felt the same yet different. It was tough to explain but it felt like there was something evil about them. Khan would have had a field day with them.
Into the Depths
*****Perspective: Artyom

I was beginning to think that ponies enjoyed walking up and down stairs. Once again I found myself behind a pony, descending down a seemingly endless flight of stairs. Each step just reaffirmed my theory that ponies secretly loved stairs. Only a few times in all of my life before Equestria I had ever climbed this many stairs. At least it was a decent way to warm myself up, to get slightly loose and ready to fight.

No doubt I would have to fight. I hadn’t been briefed on what was needed of me yet, but I knew that it would involve me fighting something. My evidence being the numerous guards that I had seen being carried on stretchers. At least ten injured guards had passed us on the stairwell, the ones who were still conscious had saluted Scowly on their way up. I wasn’t a fool, injured guards meant something was down these stairs.

They had immediately lead me back to my room, once I agreed to help, so I could get equipped and prepared to head below the Crystal Palace. I had been quick and efficient at getting my armour and gear put on. I had even taken the liberty to put on my helmet and the gas mask off the bat, though the mask didn’t have a filter prepared.

Until either Cadance or Scowly told me what was going on, I was stuck pondering what was causing so many guards to be injured. After we left the dining room, Scowly had kept his mouth completely shut. He was most likely more than annoyed at having to outsource help. It was probably only made worse when his wife decided to have me help. Maybe he would stop acting like a prick once he figured that I was no pushover. Of course, this was assuming that there would even be a chance to show him my actual skills. Cadance had been rather tight lipped as well, only telling me that “there are entities beneath the palace.”

Like that did any good in helping to explain why we were descending this endless staircase. We had already passed five floors, each one was separated by at least three flights of stairs. I had started to zone out after that, focusing on the two ponies in front of me was rather boring and the scenery didn’t change either. Continuous crystal walls that seemed to meld into crystal stairs.

Imagine how much this would have bought back in the old world. Khan had told me that true crystals were valuable to many people. Someone could probably sell a single room from this place and make themselves one of the richest people in the world. Of course, that would be after they found a way to come to this world.

I would have continued to drift deeper into that thought if I didn’t bump into Cadance from behind. Hell, I was surprised I didn’t bowl her over. It wasn’t like the ponies were small. Twilight had reached up to my waist, if I remember right. Cadance, Luna, and Scowly had reached my mid section while Celestia was nearly my height. So it surprised me that Cadance hardly moved when I walked into her. In fact, I was almost sure that she hardly noticed if it hadn’t been for a small blush that creeped into her cheeks.

My low light vision had significantly improved during my life in the Metro. Living in the darkness for so long forced my eyes to become used to such a setting and even then they were considered outstanding by Metro standards.

“We are nearly there, Artyom. If you would mind paying attention, I will explain our… situation to you.” Why was I not surprised that she knew I had been nearly daydreaming?

“Go ahead,” I spoke as we started moving again. I hadn’t even realized that we were no longer on a staircase. We had somehow reached the end of that obscenely long monstrosity. Maybe that was overkill on how long it was, since the one in the Canterlot Castle seemed longer. I mentally chuckled again at the name of the place.

Cadance had fallen into step on my left side while Scowly had picked up his pace so that he was on my right. I glanced around the spacious hallway we were walking in. We must have been somewhere that was long abandoned until recently, that was the only way to explain why the crystal walls were hardly uniform to the rest as well as the spires of crystal pointing down from the ceiling. I couldn’t remember the term, but it mattered little since I never studied rocks.

“It was a little more than a week ago that this started up. We had been trying to map out all the caverns that are under the Crystal Palace. There is apparently an extensive network of caves that run under the entirety of the Crystal Empire. Up to when this occurred we had gotten a fair amount done, in fact we had been lucky to find a major cavern which was connected to that old archive that Sombra built.”

I could almost sense where this was going. Of course I was going to ask just what this event was that occured. I was cut off before I could speak though.

“When this started up, a scout group was using the main passageway to what we called the “Main Room”, that was the one that was connected to the archive. The moment they arrived in the Main Room, they were ambushed by creatures that we have never encountered before. The scouts fled the area swiftly but two of the four were trapped behind a cave in along the main path.”

Yeah, I could almost say what was going to happen next. It wasn’t like this was typical, well it was since tunnels can only hold all of that weight for so long and anything could collapse them. It happened in the Metro, but those usually occurred due to explosives or the destruction of support beams… usually. The whole situation as it was, seemed to be something out of a story, but someone had probably said the same thing about what happened to my world.

“Ever since then we have had constant breach attempts being made those monsters. My guard have been on a non-stop rotation in order to make sure those beasts don’t over run our barricade. It is our last stand point before we have to retreat completely from the tunnels.” I was surprised to see Scowly speaking up.

We took a right turn down the hallway, which ended up placing us in a rather large looking cavern. I was a little bewildered by the natural crystal structures in the area. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but some of the spires that descended from the ceiling were beyond large. One could have cut a train in half if it ever fell on one, though I don’t think the ponies would have to worry about that.

Scattered around the cavern were ponies doing various activities. There were not as many as I had expected. Maybe fifty at best, yet this room looked like it could hold five times that number. Most of them looked to be trying to relax, they were probably the latest to be rotated out from the barricade. We walked towards a large tunnel opening, my guess was that that tunnel was the only way to the frontline. There were a few side tunnels, but they seemed too small for it to be of anything truly important.

The few ponies in the cavern that actually cared to look at who just entered gave a sharp salute followed by a bow to their Prince and Princess, before going back to whatever they had previously been doing. Not a single one had paid any heed to me, well, aside from a few glares that had been thrown my way. It seemed that Cadance had picked up on them as well.

“Do not worry about them, they are just jumpy.”

Even though she passed it off, I wasn’t satisfied with that answer though. “Jumpy? They do not like me.”

“According to many of the soldiers, there were taller bipedal shadow beasts. You must look similar.” Scowly said in a nonchalant tone. To him it was something to pass off, but I knew there was more to it than that. I didn’t need to pry more into that path in order to tell that something was off here.

We continued through the rest of the cavern until we were right in the entrance way to the main tunnel. Cadance stopped us, Scowly turned to face her.

“This is as far as I will be going. Now, Artyom, we only need you to scout out the tunnels and hopefully deal with any beasts along the way. Shining will accompany you during this, but he will constantly be under my watch so don’t get into too much trouble. Hopefully you can find out more than we could.”

With that, she gave Scowly a quick kiss before trotting back through the large cavern. Scowly must have had a lot of faith in her and us, for he barely gave Cadance a second look before turning and proceeding down the main tunnel. I followed right on his heels ... did they even have heels?

Anyway, we continued our walk in silence, not even bothering to glance at one another. Nothing had changed, though it had hardly been a full day since I had actually started this journey with him. I had a feeling that much of our journey would involve silence, neither of us willing to speak up. Well I actually was more than willing, but I didn’t want to ‘play a single card from my hand.’ Better to learn as much as you can from someone, then you were the one who held the power. It seemed Scowly knew this as well, at least that was my guess.

It wasn’t that far of a walk before we reached the ‘barricade.’ It honestly looked like something one would have found in the Metro. That was a guess, considering I couldn’t see the front of it. It stood about four meters high which was about half of the tunnel’s height. From behind it seemed to be mainly pieced together from wood and stone. There was a makeshift rampart that was probably just high enough so a pony could see over it. Underneath the makeshift rampart was also a gate, which I found beyond odd. Why would they need a gate if they were trying to keep something out? Probes maybe?

Either way it seemed that most were on constant watch, many ponies wielding crossbows, while the rest had only pikes and swords. It was odd that they had a train, yet their weaponry was medieval.

I grinned at that observation, who knew that those history lessons would pay off. Made it easier to assess what weapons they had because if I didn’t find a way to produce more bullets, I would be forced to utilize those weapons.

“Those not on the rampart report to me now!” Scowly’s booming voice broke me from my thoughts. I didn’t realize it at first, but I had been staring at the ponies on the wall, yet I didn’t notice the glowing half dark blue wall on the other side of the rampart.

I paid it little heed for the moment, instead focusing on the ponies that were moving into formation in front of us. There were more ponies than I thought, since they formed a group of seven deep and seven across. All of them gave a quick salute, before standing at attention.

“Listen up, this is Artyom, a ‘specialist’ in navigating tunnels.” At this, all of them zeroed in on me. Little emotion came to their faces, probably due to Scowly being right there. To think that the ‘Prince’ was also the commander of the forces. I always thought a General would be a better commander.

“Him and I will be making a scouting run through the tunnels along with two select guards. I want you all prepared to give a push up past the point of the auxiliary tunnel.” He continued, all eyes had switched back to him. “Once we are in the tunnels I want a full retreat back to the barrier. Do not risk this position. We move in five!”

All the ponies lined up gave a swift salute before heading back to the barrier. Scowly followed shortly thereafter heading towards two specific ponies. One was a pegasus and the other was an earth pony. My brow furrowed at this, it seemed that most of the ponies I had seen were earth ponies. Why were there so few unicorns and pegasi?

I looked back to Scowly, seeing he was still talking to those two ponies. I decided to utilize what time I had before the push to prep my weapons. I slipped my Kalash off my back, bringing it up to sight level. The thing was still on safety so I removed the magazine before cycling the hammer a few times. Finally I put the magazine back in but kept it on the safety since I still had to add one more thing. I bent down to reach into a pocket near my boots, from it I pulled out two silencers; one for my Kalash and the other for my revolver.

It was always useful to have silencers on those two weapons. You never knew when sneaking was required, especially with the amount of Nosalis lairs that the side tunnels had. The moment I had the silencer on my Kalash, I holstered it and drew my revolver. The chambers were full, so it was just a matter of putting the silencer on which took no time at all. I was cycling the hammer on my Saiga when Scowly returned.

“We are about to move, Specialist Yellow Gleam and Specialist Able Swift are going to be coming with us in case we run anything. You better be ready to go.” He motioned over to the ponies he was referring to, his voice was hardy and stern as if he thought I was one of his soldiers.

“Да, just readying weapons.” I said while putting the drum magazine back into the Saiga.

“That does not look like much of a weapon no matter what you have said about them. I would prefer a sword any day over that.” I honestly didn’t expect anything less considering I told them little about my weapons and that they probably had never seen a gun before. I was feeling lenient at this point.

“You’ll change mind soon enough.” There was a tinge of a laugh connected to that statement, hoping that he would get the light hearted feeling. It was always tougher to convey emotions when I had my helmet on.

He merely snorted at that, before moving up to behind the guard group. They were ready to move out, which meant I had to be ready. I quickly pulled out my hand charger to see my flashlight’s level. A little under three quarters but that was fixed with two quick pumps. I put the charger back into it’s normal place before drawing my Kalash. It only took a few steps to be right next to Scowly and the two guards who were accompanying us.

The earth pony was wearing the typical guard armour which was a darker blue colour. Well, typical for what I had seen in the caverns; the one I had seen in the palace were a very pale blue that glimmered like the crystals as well as their coats were that of a purple crystal nature. Odd, perhaps a ceremonial dress style? Who knew, but I can say that the dusty golden coat of the earth pony helped him to stand out a little. His mane was nearly the same colour as his coat but slightly lighter and was up in the helmet much like what those ‘Spartans’ had from back in ancient times. It was rather short compared to the other ponies, probably to save some individuality. He looked up at me briefly, revealing light blue eyes… nearly white.

The pegasus was going to be the odd one of the group as she was a greyish colour for the most part with her mane being a deeper hue of purple. Much like the earth pony, she was dressed in the same colour of guard armour. I hadn’t noticed at first but both of them had sheaths of some sort on the outside of their fore hooves. There was without a doubt that those probably held swords but how they were drawn was something beyond me. Maybe I would ask one of them later.

“Ten seconds, everypony ready,” was bellowed out from beside me. At that everypony seemed to get lower as if in a position to charge which we were going to do anyways. I could actually see a few of them shaking in what I was guessing at fear. I felt a little bit sympathetic to them since I had once been in their... shoes. Back then I was probably even more of a fresh soldier than them but I had changed since then. I hardly felt my nerves when something happened, maybe resigning myself to death on multiple occasions had dulled any feeling of being frightened or nervous.

“Open the gates!” The moment he yelled that, the gates were surrounded in a blue glow; no doubt there was a unicorn manning them. The wave of ponies surged out through the gates and past a raising shield. I followed swiftly behind them, Shining on my left and the two Specialists on my right. The moment we ran passed the rising shield, it slammed back down onto the ground or at least that was what I thought made the ‘thump’ sound behind me. The tunnels were clear for the first twenty meters that we dashed but, as if we reached some sort of marker, a swarm of dark shadow creatures materialized from the depths of the tunnel, charging headlong towards our own ranks. I hardly could see what they looked like but It was like watching a wave clash with another wave.

The moment the shadow beasts hit the charging ponies the sound of pikes being sunk into flesh could be heard. The shadow beast were obviously made of more than just shadow, but that didn’t mean that they had any intelligence.

The company of ponies pushed slowly ahead, a few unicorns near the back were shooting beams out of their horns, setting the beasts ignite before they promptly vanished. The ponies that held pikes were basically head down with their pikes pushing forward, soft glows of magic encompassing their bodies.

It seemed that there were enough unicorns to provide temporary shielding to them. This didn’t stop everything though, as one of the pike ponies gave a pained cry before falling down. One pony stopped to make sure he wasn’t ran over by the rest but they were both passed as the march kept on. When we passed him, I could see gouges on his back, claws having slashed through flesh. He was still breathing though.

I didn’t dare to waste a shot yet, this company could handle the beasts easily enough. My job was just to be prepared to make a mad dash down the auxiliary tunnel. The fact that they had only had a single casualty against these beasts just proved that they were able to handle them by themselves. Though that did beg the question of why they didn’t push them back entirely?

“Get ready to move!” Scowly had been giving orders during the push but I hadn’t cared until he yelled. Even without being told, I knew that was my cue to get ready to split off from the group.

With a mighty yell, the company of ponies ramped up their moving speed against the continuous shadow beasts. This was the final push that we needed as the auxiliary tunnel came into view beside the ponies. The moment the company in front of us passed the tunnel, I moved in front of Scowly and down the tunnel, followed closely by the two Specialists. I glanced over my shoulder to see if Scowly followed but didn’t see him.

“Keep going, he will meet us!” The pegasus mare shouted as if reading my mind. I didn’t have the time to nod as my feet continued to carry me down the tunnel, a few sharp turns and winding passages before we entered a small clearing. Whatever light the torches along the corridor had given was now gone.

I nearly skidded to a halt in this small natural room. No matter what he ordered, I was stopping the group here to wait on Scowly. I might not like him, but I knew that if something happened to him Cadance would undoubtedly kill me. Luckily, I didn’t have to say anything to the other two as they stopped as well, probably thinking the same thing.

“Now we wait on Scowly.” I slipped by saying my nickname for him, but at least he wasn’t around.

“Who?” Asked the pegasus mare, the earth stallion just opting to looking back down the tunnel we had just ran.

“Nickname for your prince. Don’t tell though.” I didn’t bother explaining it farther than that and, luckily, she didn’t ask further. I only hoped the she didn’t mention it.

I glanced down the dark tunnel, trying to see if anything was coming down there. It was too dark for my eyes so I decided to flip my night vision on. The moment it was over my eyes and on, I saw the everything clearly. That startled me as I had just remembered that they were cracked when I first got to this world. I had forgotten to even check them back in Canterlot, but it seemed that those ponies fixed them. How they did such a thing was beyond me, but I instantly assumed that it was with their magic.

I looked down the hallway for a few seconds before pulling my hand charger and giving a few pumps. I then turned off the night vision and pushed them back up. It would be better if they could see the area as well, so I instead opted to turn on my flashlight, which made both ponies jump in the air before turning to face me.

“A head mounted flashlight?” The earth pony spoke with a little bit of curiosity in his voice.

I merely nodded at them, these Specialists were receptive to say the least. The fact he knew what it was gave me a few more details on just how advanced these ponies were. They had flashlights which meant that they had batteries but why would they even need electricity when unicorns could just create a light source?

“I don’t see a place to insert batteries, or even a running connection… is it hidden? Am I right? Is that it there? That funky device that is attached to you? It is, isn’t it!? This is amazing, and don’t get me started on the brightness of the light itself!” The pegasus mare had nearly shouted that last line. She must have had good eyesight, there was no light illuminating my gear from her position. I merely nodded but an annoyed voice came from down the tunnel.

“No matter how much it amazes you Specialist, keep your bucking voice down!” Scowly had appeared in my flashlight’s range and I had saw him but said nothing. I was going to start playing the silent type, at least after I said something to them all.

Able cowered slightly before nodding. I merely looked over to Scowly who begrudgingly nodded at me.

“Listen, we are going silent. Watch for my signals. This means hold and this means move.” I said as I raised my arm up with a closed fist and then I proceeded to motion my hand forward while the palm was facing me. Next I opened my hand up and motioned the open hand up and down with my palm facing the ground, “this means stay low.”

I went through a few more motions. I showed the hand gestures for saying that I had spotted enemies which involved pointing to my eyes and then to a direction. I also showed them the motions for telling them that an enemy needed to die silently. That one involved bringing a finger to where my lips would be and then drawing the same finger over my throat. Overall they were simple to learn and the ponies easily picked it up.

The moment that we had finished our little group meeting, I flipped the light off and lowered my night vision. Everything took on a green hue which was fine by me since that meant I could at least see everything clearly. I rose my Kalash up to eye level before proceeding to creep down the rest of the tunnel. The ponies followed behind me, the clopping of their hooves died off slowly. I didn’t even need to look to know that Scowly had cast something to damp sounds.

The tunnels system had to be massive, a single straight away seemed to go on forever. Maybe it was just due to the range that my night vision presented. Either way, we all knew that if we were going to scout these tunnels and caverns it would no doubt be slow going. There were only four of us so we couldn’t afford to get into a fight with a major group.

I constantly checked my watch, it was instinct at that point. When we had stopped to wait on Scowly it had read 21:00; now it read 21:30. I mentally sighed at this, it was probably going to be an all nighter down in these tunnels. Wasn’t the first time and, if I could find a way back home, it wouldn’t be the last. I was lucky to have laid down to have a nap earlier in the day. The only downside was that I had no food rations, except that I had filled my canteen with water before leaving my room.

We came to a T-intersection point shortly after. I moved myself to the left side of the tunnel before holding up my right fist. The group stopped dead in their tracks as I slowly crept forward one foot quietly settling in front of the other. I titled my Kalash slightly as I leaned out just enough to peek around the right corner. Not a single beast in sight so I proceeded to lean out and look down the left side.

Not far from the intersection, I saw a pony guard standing there. My first thought that it was a lost guard or something but I soon quelled that idea as I noticed that the fur on its legs was nearly gone and the flesh itself was rotten to hell. My gaze drew upward, eyes nearly bulging as I saw that half of its jaw was limply hanging from a muscle. As well, I noticed that the armour was not that of the guard but instead something that was pure black with designs on the sides, at least that was my guess since the green coloured night vision hampered my perception of colours. The spiked edges of the armour gave me even more clues.

“Other guards down here?” I whispered to Scowly who was a few meters from me. He merely just shook his head in response.

I knew what had to be done. I didn’t even give the group a glance as I quickly switched from the left tunnel wall over to the right one. With my Kalash raised, I set the reflex sight on the undead pony’s head. I exhaled softly before slowly depressing the trigger.

A soft pop resounded from the silencer before the round connected with the back of the undead’s head. The body jerked forward before falling down to the floor. Of course the weapon’s report and the sound of a body hitting the ground got the attention of the three waiting in the tunnel.

“What was that?” Scowly whispered to me, probably trying to take hold of the situation.

“Saw an enemy. Killed it quietly.” I said simply before moving out into the intersection. I looked down the tunnel that the undead was in, not a single thing in sight. I motioned for them to move forward. As the three came into the intersection they saw the body.

They must have thought that it was a comrade as the two Specialists immediately rushed to the body while Scowly proceeded to glare at me with all of his wrath. He was probably about to chew me out for killing a ‘friendly’ but was cut off before he could even begin.

“Umm, sir? You might want to see this.” Specialist Gleam spoke up but still within a whisper range. Scowly continued to glare at me before moving over to the body as well. I just turned my gaze down the empty tunnel, debating on which route to take. I still listened in on what was being said though.

“What is it, Specialist?” Scowly said in an extremely peeved voice.

“Well, sir, it umm… it seems that this pony wasn’t ours.” The Specialist replied.

“What do you me-” Scowly stopped mid sentence. He must have just seen the body.

“It wasn’t even alive, sir,” Able chirped in. “Plus that isn’t our armour. In fact I think that was from Sombra’s reign.”

There was that name again. It was coming up more and more which meant that it was tied to someone that was important. Maybe it was a previous ruler of this place. That was the most likely answer but I would still have to go find out; you can’t live off assumptions.

It seemed that Scowly was slightly speechless at that revelation, since he didn’t speak a word but instead returned to me. He looked at with eyes that said he was willing to bow down to my judgement on the situation. Able and Gleam followed into line behind Scowly. I just simply moved my head to indicated we were going down this tunnel.

Once again we started our way down the tunnel, with only a quick stop for me to charge up the night vision. One of the Specialists was going to speak up, probably on what the charger was but I cut her off.

“Keeps electric charge.” Nothing more was said on the subject. Instead, silence reigned as we continued do the tunnel. Luckily, this one wasn’t as long as the last one, with a crossroads looming up ahead, as well as a few open doorways to our left and right. From what I could see, there was nothing in those rooms and it seemed like they had been carved out and never finished.

For that I was thankful.

It was only two steps past one of those rooms when I felt it. The ground itself trembled just enough to get my attention. It shouldn't have been a big deal since we were underground, but there was a pattern to the tremors.

A dull thud in the distance before a brief pause. Then another dull thud. It repeated and was slowly drawing closer.

My eyes widened at the realization of what it was.

My head spun around to the three behind me, their wide eyes meeting my own. They knew what it was as well. Their terror was painted on their faces, clear as day to my night vision. Even Scowly had a look to match the situation.

With each impact, the sound drew closer and closer to our position. Whatever was making those heavy footsteps, it was headed right our way.

Without sparring another second, I motioned for them to move a room on the right side of the hallway. This was followed by a mad dash by the three, each one acting more like children. I didn’t blame them though since I was doing the same but to a room a little farther ahead and on the opposite side.

The moment I entered the pitch black room, I threw myself into a corner facing the doorway. Even if instinct told me to hide from it’s sight, I knew that I needed to be able to see when it passed my room. With the ponies being down the hall I had to be ready to help them.

If I could.

It only took a few seconds for the source of the tremors to reach my room but each second felt like a day. That was how it always worked. The anticipation for a fight, for pain, for death… it wasn’t something you could get over or just stop. Instead I embraced it, aiming my Kalash at the door while being prepared to draw my Saiga. Plans raced over in my mind on how I would take this thing down; even though I had no idea on what it looked like, or how it could be hurt.

It stopped.

The tremors stopped. They stopped right in front of the doorway.

I had no fear in me, I was ready for the fight, but I wasn’t quite ready for what it looked like. Years spent in the Metro had made me immune to the frightful visage of the many mutants. They started to become such a commonplace that it rarely drew any emotion. This was different.

I couldn’t see it all thanks to my limited view, but from what I could see, it was as tall as the tunnel was. The thing was made completely out of crystal, jagged pieces jutting out from each limb. To put it simply, it looked like a massive human that was made out of razor sharp crystal; by massive I meant that it reminded me of the Bear I fought back in Moscow. Of course such a creature couldn’t look like a normal humanoid shape, it instead had to have four arms with each one ending in a spike of crystal. At least the two that I could see did.

For more than a moment the thing just lingered in the doorway. My mind instantly assumed that I had been caught. My legs tensed in that crouch position, ready to spring in whatever direction necessary to dodge a swipe.

The opportunity never came. Thankfully.

Instead, the monstrosity just start to lumber down the halls again. The trembling thumps along the crystal ground continued far off into the distance. For a moment I just kept crouched, kept staring at the door ahead of me.

Then I laughed. It was only loud enough to be called a chuckle but I still laughed at that. It wasn’t a the erratic laugh of someone trying to cover up their fear. It wasn’t the type of laugh anyone would expect from such a situation. No, it was a laugh that conveyed a message.

Like being home, it spoke. I continued to chuckle as I rose from my feet and proceeded back out the door. The creature was long gone at that point and we needed to continue on.

At the doorway, I peaked around the corners to scan down the halls. With my Night vision I saw not a soul, just the green hued tunnels that seemed to stretch endlessly. A soft beep emitted from the goggles brought a sigh out from my lips. Having to constantly recharge these was perfectly acceptable, but still a little bit tedious.

Just as I put away that hand charger, Scowly poked his head out from the room that the ponies were in. He stared down the path that the crystal monster took, as if expecting it to come back in a dead sprint. When he was sure that it wouldn’t return he turned to look the other way, which included catching a glimpse at me.

I swear that he seemed to visibly relax at the sight of me. That was a first and if he ever knew I saw that, it would also be the last time. His head slipped back inside the room for a brief moment before he slowly walked out from the hiding place. Behind him was both of the Specialists. To my surprise not a single one of them looked phased, but for all I knew they were just covering up their real discontent.

“That was close.” Muttered Scowly as he approached me, “A golem… I haven’t seen one in years let alone one here in the empire.”

“A… golem?” I asked, not entirely sure what he was talking about.

“Right, you aren’t from here,” he stated with a fair amount of maliciousness in his voice. “A golem is basically a magically created being. They are usually created from stone but I supposed crystals work. You would need to be extremely powerful to build one of those and even then it is rare to actually get one to be animate.”

I simply nodded my head at this, there wasn’t too much time for him to explain and we needed to move. If there was one golem then there was a good chance that there was more. Who wouldn’t want to create as many of those things as possible. Something as big as the Bear and made out of crystal… well they would be effective here. If they were in the Metro they would hardly stand a chance. The sheer amount of firepower that each faction had would no doubt decimate what little golems that there was.

That actually brought my mind to a similar, but more pressing thought; could my weapons even harm them?

That was not the moment to be musing over something like that. We needed to move just incase that thing came back or another appeared. With a quick flick of my head, indicating to move, we started back up. The only path we could follow was the way that the golem had come from. It wasn’t ideal because it meant that we were going deeper into the tunnels.

We proceeded with caution, but this time we moved faster. There was no telling what was ahead of us, but I feared more of what would be coming from behind. Our rear wasn’t protected by more than a pony with two blades. Little good that would do if we got attacked from behind or if we got surrounded. There was only so much I could do with my limited ammo, it wasn’t like I would be getting any way to resupply.

I sighed mentally, noting another crossroad that we had passed. It was the second one since the golem incident. These tunnels were maze like and with no markers or map, it was all blind luck that we were going in the right direction. I knew how to get back to the main tunnel but if we took too many turns then it would be tough to remember. I just hoped that Cadance was true to her word in that she would pull us out if things got beyond hairy.

I threw my fist up, signalling for us to stop. We had come to another crossroads and I was not content with going straight any longer. The ponies behind me fanned out slightly so that we weren’t in a perfect line formation. That fact that they were military trained brought a nice feeling of relief to my mind. I wouldn’t need to escort them and hold their hand… hoof.

Scowly slowly made his way up to where I was standing; along the left wall so that I could peer down the tunnel to our right.

“Why did we stop?” He half whispered and half hissed.

“Deciding direction. Straight doesn’t feel right.” I replied while looking around the corner. For some reason the tunnel dead ahead seemed much darker, further down the tunnel, than the rest. I brought my hand up to gently tap the night vision goggles to see if there was some sort of issue. The image didn’t change at all.

“We are lost aren’t we?” His voice almost broke into a sneer.

I shook my head in response, “I remember now. Farther we go will be... issue.”

I wasn’t looking at him but I could tell that he was staring at me with at least some minor contempt for me. It wasn’t a surprise, but at this point I cared little. As long as we could function together, it didn’t matter what our personal feelings for each other would be.

I motioned for them to move forward, of course staying behind me. I carefully moved from my position, each foot in front of the other as if I was walking in a boobytrapped area. Each step was hesitant, my direction set, yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that going right was wrong. I stopped walking, the nagging for me to turn back was nearly painful. I was torn though since left wasn’t any better and straight could lead us nowhere. There was no doubt that my intuition was screaming for me to turn back.

My intuition were rarely wrong. That was something that I hated. Sometimes I just wished I was wrong.

Six meters down the tunnel is when I stopped, my mind was made up to turn back when the shrill, almost feminine, scream of a pony came from behind us. It took me a mere couple of a seconds for me to whip around but far too late to react.

The sight that I was given was a shadow beast, that resembled an extremely large Watchman, gripping one of Gleam’s back hooves in it’s maw. The brief question of why Gleam wasn’t stabbing it flashed through my mind before I finally caught the entire picture.

The beast had nearly bitten his right foreleg completely off. The leg lying limp on the ground while the magled stump that was left spurted blood in a near continuous stream.

My sight went from Gleam’s to that of the beast. It met my gaze evenly and without a single thought it turned around, dashing down the former left tunnel. My reaction was that of pure instinct of having a comrade being dragged off.

“Move! Держите уёбка!” I nearly shouted as I dashed headlong down the path. The sounds of my footsteps were indefinitely reverberating down the halls. I couldn’t hear any clopping of hooves behind me, so it was impossible to tell if they followed my lead.

That blackness from before wasn’t natural. No, it was created by the bodies of various shadow beasts. The very same group that was now running headlong towards me. Each beast looked nearly the same as a Watchman, so they should die just like one. I merely grinned under my helmet, if a pike could kill one of these things, then a bullet would be more then enough.

I didn’t stop running at them, there was no time. Well there was, but only enough to raise my Kalash and press the trigger.

The first shot out of the silencer hardly felt like anything. At least that was my assumption before the rest of the forty round clip followed it, each shot slamming the weapon back into my shoulder, but I cared little. All that mattered to me was the deaths of these creatures and saving that pony’s life.

I would not lose another companion.

The hail of bullets ripped through the air before doing the same to the bodies of the shadow beasts. I didn’t bother to count how many fell to my gun, I didn’t see anything aside from my path to Gleam.

I was told later by Scowly that all of my shots had found vital hits of some sort. The beasts were not even made of shadow, but instead masked by it. Their bodies had to be weak since many of the rounds went clean through.

I was reckless in my charge, too reckless, but I still managed, thanks to luck… and Scowly. Three shadow beasts managed to live through the spray of metal. I was too set on my path to actually be able to defend myself from them, but I didn’t have to.

Three separate beams of what I assumed was magic connected with the bodies of the beasts. Each one was thrown back against the walls, a smoking hole left in their bodies. There was only one unicorn in our group. I would have to thank him later.

My running didn’t falter, I merely stepped on each body as I moved down the path. I would make it to Gleam, even if he was dead I would ensure that the piece of shit shadow beast that did that would die.

The walls of crystal seemed to whiz by, much like riding on a train. It felt like I was running faster than I ever had, adrenaline pumping through me in order to keep me moving forward. I continued to carry my Kalash in my hands yet I didn’t bother to reload it. Doing so would only slow me down.

As I rounded a particularly sharp curve, I found myself in a large cavern. Nothing even close to the size of the main cave that the ponies were stationed in. There, on the other side of the cavern, was Gleam. Blood was flowing slowly from the mangled limb that was left of his right foreleg. He was quietly sobbing, mumbling words that I couldn’t hear clear enough.

That wasn’t all in the cave though. Halfway between him and I and off to the left a little, the shadow beast stood. It’s head was turned to me, those deadly red eyes trying in vain to burrow into me and frighten me. I merely smirked under my helmet, knowing that I had it.

Without a second thought I rose my Kalash up and squeezed the trigger.

Click.

My eyes widened as I just remembered that I forgot to reload, but there was no time now. The beast also noticed that I wasn’t ready to kill it. If it could smirk I swear it would have before turning towards Gleam. He must have noticed as well since a wordless gasp escaped his mouth as the beast started it’s run towards him.

My hand moved without a single thought, as if reacting by itself. The Kalash fell from whatever grip I had on it, my right hand sliding down my side towards the holster my revolver sat in.

If my life had been some sort of tacky movie, time would have slowed down as I flipped the button locked strap off my holster before drawing it. Instead it happened in the blink of an eye. My hand had the revolver halfway up to a firing position as the shadow beast got within a few meters of Gleam.

It must have known it was going to die either way because it swiftly launched into a diving pounce aimed at the pony. It was a last ditch effort that was bound to fail. I had easily brought the revolver to face level by that time and had my sights marked right its head. A single squeeze was all I needed; it was all I would get.

The kick of the revolver was hardly anything but the impact that the bullet had on the head of the beast was the opposite. The counter momentums threw the beast in a mild spin, landing it at the hooves of Gleam, dead and bleeding with a portion of it’s head missing. For a moment I just smirked at this small victory.

A small pricking feeling arose in the back of my head, causing me to briefly keel over. I quickly recovered and looked back up. What I saw sent a chill down my spine.

Anna was in front, leading us down the right hallway since the left had been collapsed. Skeletal bones littered the ground, those which wasn’t covered by some sort of unnatural moss. Each step along the ground made a sickening squelch, like stepping on the head of a dead mutant. It wasn’t the cleanest tunnel I had moved through, but it was hardly the worst. The fact it was so close to the surface probably made it so dank.

I hardly noticed the squeaking of rats but Anna did, “Something alarmed them! Stay sharp.”

She was looking around the corner that the tunnel made, her flashlight attempting to illuminate the dark crevices that the tunnel held. I strode up to right beside her, looking down the same path.

Without a single warning, a Lurker barreled down the tunnel from the other side. The thing must have been scared as well, since it took one look at us and turned tail. I wasn’t going to let that happen though.

I snapped my RPK-74 to my shoulder and fired a quick three round burst at the fleeing Lurker. Two rounds connected with the beast, sending it sprawling to the ground. Its life ended by my shots.

“Shit! That thing’s fast!” Anna said as she proceeded forward, “you got reflexes, I’ll give you that.”

Without hesitation, Anna ran right past the body and continued down the tunnel. I tried to follow but some force held me back. I stopped briefly before shaking my head, everything around me dissolved.

I blinked rapidly as I found myself back in the crystal tunnels, my revolver still drawn and the beast still dead. Scowly and Able had rushed into the cave during my flashback and were now kneeling beside a still sobbing Gleam. His crying wasn’t loud and he seemed to be trying to cover them up with false bravado.

“Hang in there, Gleam. You’ll be alright buddy, everything is going to be fine, you’ll see!” Able was on Gleam’s left, holding his other hoof in hers. She herself looked like she was going to breakdown.

I reached into the pouch that held my medicine. There was two syringes of morphine left in my little orange case. It wasn’t something that was up for debate; this pony needed it at least. I quickly rushed over to him, all the while pulling a syringe out of the case.

“Hold on.” I said as I quickly dropped to my knees, aiming the syringe at his right shoulder. I think Scowly was about to object to what I was doing but the needle found its mark in his shoulder before Scowly could say a word.

The moment the morphine was injected, I could see Gleam visibly relax, the pain being dulled at least. His crying slowly died down to just a mere heavy breathing. His eyelids descended from their fully open position into a more half lidded looked. It was clear that the morphine did its job.

“What did you give him?” Able asked, Scowly would have asked the question had he not been entirely focused on bandaging the stump of a leg.

“Morphine. Pain killer; won’t heal it but will stop pain.” I said simply, my mind was still racing at a hundred kilometers an hour. Constantly trying to find solutions for this situation as well as plans for what we would do next.

I hardly noticed that Scowly had pulled out a gem. The thing looked akin to all the crystals that were surrounding us but this one was finely cut and had an odd green glow to it. My first thought was instantly that there was some sort of magic to it. Once again, magic was indeed the answer.

“FOB Cavern this is Prince Shining Armour, do you read?” He spoke towards the crystal. So this was their form of radios, at least from what I had seen. I would have to ask one of the ponies just how advanced they were.

“We read you, Prince.” Came the reply back. The voice, though it came from the crystal, it seemed to speak from all around us.

“We have wounded here, I repeat we have critically wounded here. We need Princess Cadance to teleport a friendly out.” I had to give Scowly some credit, he did seem to know what he was doing.

“Roger, who is the injured?”

“Specialist Yellow Gleam, he is missing a leg. It will be apart of the package.” Scowly stopped his communication to look over at Able. Her eyes were staring back at his, as if pleading to let her go with him. They must have been really close for her to be acting like this. I had never seen a Ranger hold the same look about another one. Scowly seemed to relent to the silent barrage of pleads. “As well, Specialist Able Swift will be apart of the package. She is not injured.”

“Roger that, wait for the extraction.”

So we sat, not for long mind you but it felt too long. For the first few moments there was silence. It was Gleam who, out of all ponies, broke the silence. “I’m sorry, sir. I… I wasn’t paying attention.”

Scowly’s normal visage softened, something I had yet to see; flirting with Cadance aside. “Don’t fret, soldier. You did fine, nopony could have known. Just relax now, you’re going to make it.”

Gleam attempted to smile but you could tell that it was tough to do such in this situation. I could tell he wanted to say more but a soft glowing started to encase them.

“You’re going to be fine, soldier.”

Shortly after, the glow strengthened until it was impossible for them to be seen through it. It stayed that way for a brief second before the glow expanded, much like a light bulb that was being fed too much power. I closed my eyes hard as the night vision became almost painful to use. I held them close until a pop was heard, only daring to look because I figured that they were gone.

I was right, the only thing left in their spot was the blood that had fell from Gleam’s stump. I sighed in minor relief, the glow was gone and I could actually use my night vision again. I glanced over to Scowly who was standing, his legs quivering slightly.

“You did good.” I said, I had enough silence for the moment.

He just lowered his head, “he might die.”

“If so, then it was for good cause. Everyone dies sometimes; some sooner than others.” I said, walking back towards the path we had come from. I had long since holstered my revolver but my Kalash 2012 was still on the ground and empty.

“A good cause?! What good cause?! If he dies it is because we have been wandering these tunnels aimlessly!”

“I never wander without purpose. Whatever is down here, we will stop it,” I said while picking up my Kalash 2012. After removing the clip and slipping it back into one of the pouches, I pulled another one out. Scowly was silent, too silent honestly. I looked over my shoulder to find he was just sitting there, staring at me in a wordless way.

I walked over to him after reloading. Just by the way he looked at me, I could tell that he thought I was insane or at least crazy. I dropped to a crouch in front of him, looking straight into his eyes.

“I am no wise man, that was my friend, but I can say that shit happens.” I said, while poking a finger into his chest. “It will alway happen. Do not mistake screw ups for such. Now, I didn’t come here for scouting. I want that book and out of here, only way is by helping.”

He looked like he was about to speak up but I cut him off.

“I don’t do thing with half heart. It is only way to fail.” I said as I rose from my position, turning to face the tunnel again. “You saved me and I saved your soldier. We are even but we also work good together. Prove to me that you are not what I thought, Scowly.”

With that I proceeded to walk down the tunnel, with or without him. I was determined to get that book if it meant what Khan implied what it meant. I had blazed a path through the tunnels of the Metro will little assistance and these tunnels were hardly any different. If Scowly decided to come with me then all the better, but I would survive otherwise.

“What did you mean by Scowly?” His voice came from right behind me. I wasn’t surprised though, because I expected him to follow and for him to also question that specific statement.

“Nickname, fit you well.” I said as we continued to walk, I was only realizing that we had run a far distance to get to Gleam. We hadn’t even passed the bodies of the shadow beasts yet.

“Really now? How did it fit me?” He said, his voice coming from directly beside me. I looked down to my right to see he was walking evenly with me … or was trotting a better word?

“When we met, you scowled. From then I saw nothing else. Name fit.” It was simple logic and I don’t think he could even fault me on it. “Was not worst nickname I gave.”

He tilted his head up at me, eyebrow cocked up in interest. “Really now?”

“Yes but is secret. Maybe someday.” What followed, I couldn’t believe. I actually heard a small snicker coming from him. That was something that I never thought I would hear. maybe there was actually some sort of connection being made between us.

We continued to walk down the tunnel, passed the beasts. I didn’t even care to glance at them, their bodies were just stark reminders that I quite possibly got a pony killed by my recklessness. Even with the words I told Scowly, I still felt I had a part in Gleam’s injury.

My train of thought had slowed down at Scowly though. I looked down at him briefly, he didn’t notice but I couldn’t help, but feel that maybe the name didn’t fit him anymore. In this hectic situation, I think he might just have earned my respect and the least I could do would to be calling him by his actual name. The name Scowly wouldn’t be killed though, instead I would save it so I could taunt him later. Just like that little flirting bit with his wife. Stuff like that was a gold mine when there was a situation that needed some sort of humour.

Eventually we arrived back at the Crossroads again. I proceeded to do my usual method of looking down the paths. it was easier this way. No matter if I had done it before, there was no telling what the darkness of the tunnels could hold. We had already learned the hard way that it could conceal just about anything, especially if there were beast that were akin to shadows.

The tunnel that we had attempted to go down was just about the same as every other one. The crystal walls continued to stretch on as far as we could tell. The fact that I couldn’t see that far meant there was something unnatural about the darkness that was consuming this place. Khan and I had seen something like that once, he told me afterwards that it was another thing that happened when there were spirits who were stuck on this world. However, I later learned that their endless cycle of having to relive their last moments wasn’t the worst fate that could befall on them. The ones that the Little One and I saw at Red Square were much worse than just an unnatural darkness.

As we moved down this dark tunnel, the darkness eventually began to let up. It wasn’t like a light had appeared at the end of tunnel, I chuckled lightly at a few sayings involving such a case… it either meant you were dead or safe. Instead it seemed that the darkness was lifting much like a fog would. I smiled slightly under my mask, maybe there was some good that would come out of what had just happened.

There was a bend in the tunnel that was where the darkness was the weakest. Maybe we had found a way into a major cave system, perhaps close to our goal.

We rounded the corner to find something the exact opposite of what I was hoping for. At that point I couldn’t help but groan.

“Ну почему это должны быть именно лестницы?”

Chapter 11: Nothing to Fear

We had hardly gone anywhere and already our group was cut in half. Hopefully, Yellow Gleam survived, but I couldn’t dwell on it. These caves were dangerous enough, our minds didn’t need to be elsewhere. Hopefully, we are on track now, these stairs would be horrible to climb.
Nothing to Fear
*****Perspective: Artyom

To say that my calves were burning was putting it mildly. In my entire life I never was out of shape, the constant need to carry around a pack of some sort always made sure of that. Since the moment I joined Sparta, I only improved. They preached that idea, the idea that staying in shape would keep one alive. If we had no other chance, then we would run — at least that’s what the others did. Running from a foe was not something I enjoyed doing, there was usually another way.

Apparently, that rule did not apply in Equestria though; the only way was down. From what I had seen so far, Equestria was a paradise compared to the Metro, but there was a few things that I would never have wanted in the Metro. One of them was the amount of stairs — the others were the killer plants and being thrown into trees. I would be content to see the plants melt under a flamethrower, as well as being able to actually voice my issues with trees to Luna.

Yeah, my mind really wandered when stairs were involved. I had to focus, luckily I wasn’t the lead this time. Scow- no, Shining, had offered to take point for the time being. At first I wouldn’t have it, until he showed me that his horn could give off a nice controlled light. Much easier than having to drain batteries and pump them charged again.

“What spells you know?” I ask Shining in a hushed voice. Honestly, I never would have thought that those words would come from my mouth.

“I know a lot of spells actually, though not as many as my wife — or my sister, but I still know more than any normal unicorn.” I was honestly a little curious at what spells he knew exactly.

“What spells?” I repeated, hoping he would get the hint as to explain more.

“Well, I know multiple combat spells. Telekinetic Shot, Incendiary Shot, Crippling Effect, and Blinding just off the top of my head.” Damn. “As for defensive, I am well known for my shield spell and Cadance has taught me multiple dispelling ones. I know Teleportation to some effect as well.”

“Good, any else?” I smirked under my helmet, he might just be useful in actual combat. Also this was helping him let out the air that inflated his ego.

“A basic First Aid spell, those are tough to master. As well as the basics for any unicorn: Telekinesis and Illumination.”

I had a feeling he wasn’t saying all of them but I didn’t need to know all of the spells. Just the ones that would be useful and he had provided me with more than enough to pass that little check. Though it did catch me off guard that he had so readily given up this information. Maybe I was giving Shining a little bit too much credit.

“You do know that that information comes at a price. Right, human?” Shining said, cutting off my thoughts.

So, my assumptions got ahead of themselves. “Yes. Call me, Artyom, not human.”

I didn’t even look over to him to see if he nodded his head in consent to my request. I didn’t need to, but that wasn’t why I didn’t look. We were nearing the end of this set of stairs.

The ground floor was nothing special, just a large circular room that was as large as the stairwell itself. That being said, the stairwell was extremely wide and winded down the sides of the walls the entire way. It actually reminded me of the descending tunnel that was D6, only lacking the lifts that moved us between floors.

I was a little surprised at what seemed like a complete anti-climactic build up. All of those stairs and all we had to show for it was a door. One single door with what appeared to be a dark crystal or something above it. To me it was nothing of interest, I had gotten over all of the awe this place created. Shining on the other hand was leering at the door as if it would suddenly open up into a gaping set of teeth.

“Scared of door are you?” I said with a hint of laughter in my voice, maybe ease up his tension by allowing him to retort back.

“A little worried if anything. That looks exactly like the door that Twily had to open to get to the Crystal Heart.” He stated while glaring at the door.

Whatever he had said just sent went right over my head. The only thing I could pick up from that, is that Twilight had a pet name which I might now abuse. I looked over to him, hand on my hip and the rifle resting on my shoulder. Hopefully he would pick up on my posture and realize I had no clue on what he was speaking about.

“Never mind, a story for later perhaps.” He was becoming more and more perceptive of my posture, good on him. “Anyway, the only way to get through this door is to cast a spell that falls into the Light magic category.”

I still continued to fail to understand, maybe it was spells that were based off Celestia? It didn’t matter though, that was not a part of my worries. He was the magic user and he would have to deal with the magic related issues. I simply shrugged and looked towards the door, a faint light grew from the top of his horn as he approached the door.

“Here goes nothing,” he said under his breath, before firing a shot of light off at the gem above the door. For a world that continued to defy what I had learned of physics, I was not surprised that I could actually see the beam travel towards the gem. It connected lamely with the gem before absorbing the light into it.

Shining and I just stared at the gem, expectantly. I had no idea what was going to happen but by the look on his face, I could tell that Shining seemed to look a little disappointed in what had just occurred.

“That was a bust.”

I never did figure out if he was going to say something to me after that statement. Not like it mattered, but I did wonder. Instead, a beam of a black, purple, and green mix shot out of the crystal above the door. In retrospect I could probably have jumped away from it, since it was moving extremely slow but I seemed to be mesmerized as it hit me square in the forehead.

My legs gave out under me, arms falling limply to the side as I toppled forward onto the crystal ground. Darkness had taken me mid-fall so I didn’t feel a thing.

+++++

My head throbbed as though I had been slammed into a tree with some sort of physics defying method. Each second I laid on the ground, my head throbbed harder and harder as if it was trying to explode violently. I groaned in pain because of this, before pushing myself up to my hands and knees, eyes still closed; I think I could even feel my eyeballs. Feeling my own eyeballs is not on my list of experiences I wanted to go through.

Eventually I was kneeling on the ground, one hand still clutching my head in pain, but at least it was dissipating. I kept in that position for a couple of seconds, letting myself get used to it. This feeling was too similar to when I got run over by a train, at least Korbut wasn’t here to gloat at me when my body could only feel pain.

“Ahh, you’re awake. I hope my men weren’t too rough on you.” That voice — for fuck sakes. Why did I have to speak so soon?

I flung my eyes open despite the protests that came from such an act. The lights that were hanging above me were nearly blinding, but I could still make out enough features to at least see what room we were in.

It was the same room that the Little One and I had confronted Moskvin in. It was the same area that all politician gathered to voice their ideas and debate in public. I never knew the name for the room but I couldn’t forget it. Standing along the upper floor of the room were guards, Red Line guards. The entire upper floor was packed with them, each one armed and ready to fire on me, yet all they did was smile at me, not a single one was wearing a mask.

My gaze moved from the upper rows to the stage that was the entire focus of the room. I must have been on the ground level since it was indeed razed, the podium was roughly three meters in front of me. Why that didn’t register in my mind until then was beyond me though. The stage itself didn’t matter as much as who was striding back and forth on the stage itself.

Walking back and forth, all the while looking at me, was the man who had sought to bring the entire Metro under his gloved fist. Korbut had stopped the moment he noticed I was looking at him, an evil smirk rose on his face.

“Well, Artyom, it is good to see that you are once again in the land of the living. Though that will change soon enough.” I was simply speechless at what was going on.

I had killed him! I had turned the switch that ignited the failsafe plan that Miller devised! I had watched as everything blew up around me, not leaving anything more that debris and scorched concrete before I was also consumed in the explosions! How was this man alive?! How was I alive? Nothing made a lick of sense any more.

“It was a good attempt that you and those Ranger made. I have to give you that, but, in the end, victory fell to our side, like it was always destined to. The Red Line holds everything that it needs to unite the Metro under one banner.” He had stopped looking at me with that smirk, instead he seemed to be addressing the soldiers all around us. Cheers rose when he finished that line; it was nearly deafening.

I struggled to hold myself up, but my body felt too weak, unable to pull any more strength. I slumped forward, hands bracing myself as both of my legs were now kneeling on the floor. I didn’t look up to Korbut, how could I look him in the eye now. Рe was right, he had won and everything was lost.

“Giving up now, Artyom? I’m not surprised really, it is the only sensible thing to do. Still though — you were more than a pain in my side and you aren’t one to comply willingly. Instead, it seems that I give you a fitting reward before I put a bullet between your eyes.” He seemed to shudder a little at that statement. “Not something that I would normally do, but I feel as though you have earned that honour.”

I struggled to push myself up a little higher, to stare at him in the eyes. A mangled cough escaped my throat, followed with a little blood. My eyes steeled as I glared at him, I would not give this man any form of enjoyment, I would die on my terms. “Burn you piece of shit.”

It came off a little garbled, but easily enough for him to hear. Though this only seemed to make him smile all that brighter. “Now that! That is the reason why you are here in front of me and not already dead and rotting with the rest of those who were against me. They all begged and pleaded for their lives, asking for a chance to prove themselves. Bah! What good are people who refuse to stand on their own two feet. You, Artyom, are different. You refuse to be held down by anyone. You refuse to change who you are, and that has earned my respect.”

“We are both men of our environment, Artyom. Both men, who have been molded and shaped by the Metro to something that was made to survive. Of course there is never equals in anything. Nature is no different and the two of us proves that. If it wasn’t for me, you would have never been here. You would have lived until death takes away your last breaths while you lay peacefully on your bed. At least, this is a more noble death.”

I wanted to spit at this man, but the pain was only increasing with each breath. I couldn’t verbalize it, or even show it, but I would never agree with what he was saying. Yet I could feel some truth in his words, but that didn’t mean I was going to openly agree with him. A man like that could never be right.

“We, humans, are funny beings. We just go about the same routine each and every day, no matter what it is. That is how we built our society before we tore it down. The constant menial way that we go about our lives is a sad thing to look upon. Maybe that is why those mutants, the Dark Ones, saw us as creatures that needed to be removed. That will change though, Artyom. While our previous leaders were always content to stay stagnate and refuse to move in the only direction that we can, I have a vision for the future of this place. I have a vision that will see the Metro become something grand and desired. No longer will we have to fear the mutants that inhabit the tunnels we don’t dare to traverse.” He had since hopped off the stage and was pacing in front of me instead. I dared to look up at him, only to find that he had couched down in front of me, staring at me with his one good eye.

“Would you believe that people were always meant to follow? That there are only a select few that can truly lead? Of course, you won’t openly admit it, but you know that deep down inside that humans are nothing more than evolved sheep. Just look at your ‘friend’ Pavel! Here you had thought that he was someone you could trust, someone that would help you get home, yet all along he was just following his orders like an obedient sheep. Content in seeing the world as what I wanted him to see it as. It is a shame that you killed him though. He was excellent at following orders too. I think he might have actually thought of you as a friend at one point, Artyom. Such a shame.”

I had been holding my eyes closed, wincing at the pain I was feeling. Yet, when he stated that line, something washed through me. This whole scenario felt wrong, felt as if it wasn’t adding up. I hadn’t killed Pavel back in the Square. No, I had saved him, even going as far as to put the filter for his gas mask back on.

“Ahh, well it seems as if you are ignoring me now. That is not a polite thing to do to your hosts, Artyom. Maybe we should just get on with your punishment, hmm?” He smirked before standing up and proceeding back onto the podium. he waved his hand in a quick circle, probably to signal something.

Without a second thought, two arms reached under my own and hauled me up to a limp standing position. My legs were still reeling in pain, but I could tell that they weren’t hurting as much. Almost as if something had poured a little energy into them.

“Artyom, you see — I don’t merely intend to kill you. No, I intend to break you, before I kill you. That way is much more fun and entertaining to watch. So how about I break you by killing the one that you hold sacred to your heart.” I had no time to question what he was talking about, before two men hauled someone onto the stage.

Not just anyone — no, this person was indeed sacred to me. My eyes widened as I stared at who would be Korbut’s victim.

My mother. My mother was standing up on the stage, two guards holding her arms behind her back. That son of a bitch! How did he get to my mom?! How did he… even… wait. My mom can’t be here, she died a long time ago. Yet she was standing on the stage… it was a dream.

The whole thing was not even real. I started to remember all of the events leading up to the confrontation with Korbut. That door must have done something, something to show me this. I should have known after all those visions from the Dark Ones. Whatever it did though, I would have to ask Shining about it, but that mattered little. The tables were now turned on this figment of my imagination, I would enjoy taunting a little.

“Isn’t this just beautiful, a family reunion just before you both die! Maybe, if you are behaved, Artyom, I will even let you say your goodbyes to her! Wouldn’t that be nice?”

I gave a low chuckle. One that seemed to consume my entire body as it proceeded to grow louder and louder. I had undoubtedly taken them all by surprise. They thought that they would break me then and there but I knew something that they didn’t.

“No.” I whispered. This drew Korbut’s attention. He swiftly walked off the stage and towards me. There was a menacing glare on his face, maybe he had caught on.

“What did you say?” He seethed at me. I just laughed back at him.

“No.” I simply said back, hardly catching him off guard but nonetheless rendering him speechless. I decided that I had to elaborate. “I don’t have to, ‘Korbut.’ I said my goodbyes a long time ago so why should I say goodbye in a mere dream?”

At the single utterance of the word, the whole world dissolved. Every single person and object seemed to melt until just me and Korbut remained, standing in an endless sea of darkness. My entire body felt refreshed and restored back to how I remembered it. How I remembered it when that dark beam had zapped me into unconsciousness.

Clop

My head whipped around quickly, searching for whatever had caused that sound. Was one of the ponies in this dream as well? I quickly looked back to Korbut, not wanting him to realize I wasn’t paying attention to him.

Korbut’s face turned from sheer anger to a lesser version of contempt for me. “Fine, Artyom. You win, this was all just a dream and you are still wherever the hell you were but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to put a bullet through your head.”

I couldn’t even react before invisible arms grabbed me and pushed me down to a kneeling position once more. Another invisible hand pulled my head up until I was once more staring up at Korbut. I struggled with all of my might to break free from the invisible grip but it was useless.

Clop

There was that sound again, yet this time it was louder. Why did my face sting?

Clop

God damn that incessant sound, it was getting a little annoying now. I couldn’t move my head to search for the sound but I didn’t need to, for it was somehow coming from all around us.

As I focused back to Korbut, I noticed he had long since pulled out a revolver, the barrel pressed against my head. I hardly feared what was about to happen, since I knew it was a dream, yet I was still a little afraid of what would happen next.

“Well, Artyom. This is goodbye.” He pulled the hammer back, finger nearly visibly tightening on the trigger. “For now.”

A single loud bang erupted and I was once more thrown into sightless darkness.

+++++

My eyes slowly fluttered open, allowing for a glimmering shade of purple to seep into my sight. They hurt to open, but I was making small progress, only to be shown more purple. At least, until something connected with the side of my face.

Clop

My head was hit to my right side, as if something slapped me with a frying pan. It hardly hurt, but there was still the shock of something hitting me like that. The sound though, reminded me of something — no, someone! That was the sound that a pony’s hoof would make when they walked. That could only mean one thing.

“Stop slapping.” I groaned in a groggy voice. I was still waking up after all.

“Finally, you are awake! Picked a perfect time to go to sleep!” It sounded like he was straining hard.

I was still staring at the purple gleaming above me. It reminded me a little of the glow that came off of Shining’s horn whenever he used magic. I was about to speak up and ask him about the glow before a large piece of crystal came down on top of the glow.

Whatever the crystal was, it hit what looked like an invisible barrier. A shockwave visibly rippled through through the purple glow while a loud thud echoed through the room. All the while the crystal piece removed itself from on top of the barrier before coming back down to crash upon it once more.

“Wha-” I barely managed to get out before the crystal piece hit the barrier once again, causing the loud dull thud to reverberate once more. I glanced over to Shining, who, by the look on his face, was straining hard. His horn was glowing with that purple hue even more brightly than usual.

“You fell unconscious, a golem destroyed the door before attacking. I- hnng, I put up a shield. It hasn’t stopped.”

My eyes flew open, the weight of situation finally dawning on me. No matter how fast I tried to move my body, it felt like I had been asleep for a few days. That numbness that you feel when not enough blood flow reaches a part of your body. Eventually I made my way to a standing position, my head was maybe a third of meter from the shield itself. I had to take control of this situation, not like there was many options. In fact, I could only see one viable way.

“I got plan. Can you expand shield?” I asked, all the while running over the small parts of the plan in my head. Have Shining basically blow the shield outward, fire a Saiga shot or two to it’s face before running like hell towards the only path out of this room which didn’t involve stairs.

“What, like make it bigger? Of - hnng- course I can, but I don’t see how that helps!”

“No, I mean explode out.” I said, all the while swinging my kalash back over my shoulder. My Saiga would pack a better punch here.

“Yeah.” He managed to stammer out before he forced his eyes closed, probably due to mental strain or at least that was what it looked like.

“Good. Prepare to run. On my mark.” I had my Saiga aimed at the golem head, which wasn’t much more than a diamond shaped crystal with a glow emanating from beneath the crystal itself. What did catch my attention though, was a red crystal in the middle of its chest. Probably its heart or something but that mattered little at the moment.

I waited for the right opportunity, the moment that the golem brought it’s arms up to smash down upon the shield. With its weight in an unbalanced stance, it should be easy to topple it. The arms rose up it a very predictable way, there was no way that it wouldn’t try to bring them down upon the shield once more. At least that was my hope... as well as that the golem hardly held onto a single shred of true intellect.

As the arms reached their peaks slightly behind the golem’s head I knew it was then or never. “Now!”

With a bright flare of his magic, Shining forced the shield to expand rapidly before pushing whatever energy that went into the shield straight at the golem. There was hardly a sound from the impact, but there must have been force, for the golem teetered backward, near the point of falling.

I swiftly brought my Saiga to my shoulder before pulling the trigger in two quick successions. My arm absorbed the recoil but the golem’s face took the real force of the shots. I didn’t take time to check if the shots had actually done damaged, I just picked up my feet quickly, beginning to sprint towards the newly created hallway.

“Move!” I yelled at Shining, hoping he figured out the rest of the plan. I didn’t even bother to look over my shoulder, I could hear his hooves behind me.

At least until a massive roar shook the hallway. I was not going to stop and search for the sound, because I already knew where it came from. For having no mouth, that golem was sure loud. That just made me more anxious to dash down the hallway. Wasn’t like there were many more options than following this path, the darkness not helping me see.

Wait — I had night vision. I resisted the urge to facepalm before flicking the night vision down with one hand as I continued to run my ass down the hallway. As we kept running, we passed a turn off, but I didn’t care to follow it, for all I know it could have been a dead end. Of course, that logic also applied to the path we were following.

We didn’t stop to give it a thought, the loud and quickening thumps of the golem’s footsteps were not too far behind us. Must have scared Shining though, for with a burst of speed he launched past me. The glow off of his horn was helping him follow the path, luckily it didn’t affect the night vision too much.

Ahead of us was a sharp bend, forcing us to nearly screech to a halt before sprinting down it. We didn’t have to go very far before a different sight stopped us. By following that hallway, we had ended up in an extremely large cavern. Hell, this one was larger than the one Shining’s troops were stationed in.

“Wow.” I was actually a little bit speechless, this cavern seemed to glimmer more than ever. It even somehow took away my worries of the golem. The place must have been nearly a hundred meters long and half that wide! This was incredible!

“Artyom, over there!” Shining’s hoof prodded my leg before pointing at something. Across the cavern stood one extremely tall arch that contained swirling black and sickly green matter of some sort. The arch itself seemed to be made of large, almost perfectly cut crystals that seemed to float in place. Hell if I knew what it was, but that did not look like it was supposed to be there at all.

“What is it?” I asked as I took a few cautious steps towards it. It might have been all the way across the expansive room, but that didn’t mean I wanted to get close to that thing. Who knows what it could do, especially if a door gave me a weird vision. This whole land was starting to get on my nerves.

“It looks like a portal, not a conventional one though. There is no markings on the floor or any unicorns around to power it. There is no mistaking what it is though. The colour alone shows that.”

I turned my head to look at him, an eyebrow raised. Luckily, the helmet allowed for my eyebrows to just barely be seen. He must have felt me looking at him as his head eventually turned to face me. Shining was learning how to interpret my body language it seemed, as he picked up on what i was implying.

“I’m not as versed in magic as the Princesses or my sister, but I know that portals are only created by a high level unicorn or alicorn. They need one of two ways to power it. One way is a direct cast from said pony, but, since no one is here to power it, that is impossible. Another way is via enchanted items and diagrams on the floor. The pony would only be able to open a temporary door and this is looks like it has been going for awhile. No possible way that is what created the portal.” He stated as he took a few more steps towards the portal.

I was only a few steps behind him, I was getting a little curious myself. “What about colour?”

“Most portals are the same colour as the magic of whoever is casting them. That right there matches only one pony I know of. Sombra.” I just looked at him again, showing my lack of understanding once more. “For all we know we could be looking at a portal to a special place in Tartarus. A place where his ‘mystical army’ was banished to. Maybe this is what has been pumping out those shadow beasts, zombies, and that golem. I don’t know… this isn’t my area of expertise. We need either a scientist or a Princess.”

I smirked at that. We had eventually found our way to the source. I would be damned if I was going to leave without destroying it. I moved even closer, which put me halfway between the portal and the hallway that we had entered from. On my right was another hallway, but that hardly mattered. I was too focused on this portal.

“What are you doing? We need to get back, Cadance needs to know about this.”

“No.” I stated simply before turning around to face Shining.

“No? What do you mean?” He was genuinely confused. He was getting better at being a soldier, but that didn’t mean he understood everything yet.

“We destroy now. Finish this before too late.”

“It won’t matter if we leave and come back though! It will still be there and with more ponies it will be easier to figure out how to take it down!” He spoke fiercely.

“Leave now and might not get ‘nother chance.” I spoke before turning back to the portal. I was still standing there, waiting on his rebuke to that one.

It didn’t come though, instead a loud thud resonated around the cavern. My head turned sharply, searching the cavern for the source of the sound. There was nothing in this place aside from portal and us. There was nothing that could make tha-

THUD — THUD

There it was again, I slowly backed up until I was back to where Shining was. Both of us had our heads on a swivel, constantly searching the cavern for the source of the sound. It was then that the thought struck me. I knew what made that sound, and it was something that was mad at us.

“Back to hallway!” I shouted before turning to dash down the hallway we came from. I didn’t get a chance to enter it though. Without a second of warning, the top of entrance cracked loudly before crashing down.

I felt a tug on the back of my suit before being pulled away from the crashing crystal. I looked up from my position on the floor, to see Shining’s horn glowing, a smirk on his face. “You owe me.”

I simply looked back at the hallway we had come from. The entrance was completely blocked off by the falling crystal. Well, there went our only escape plan. I quickly pushed myself back to my feet, pulling my Saiga up to my shoulder in case something had snuck up behind us.

I wasn’t completely wrong in that thought. From out of the other hallway came that golem. The massive being slowly stepping out, the crystal legs causing those massive thuds again. Something was off though, this one was bigger and hadn’t there been only one head… oh no. Whatever had happened in the little time since we had last seen it, the thing had grown. What was once giant in itself, this thing was now easily taller than the Bear by at least three meters. If the cavern wasn’t the size that it was, this thing would never have been able to fit in here. That made me question just how big that hallway had been.

Not only was the golem larger but it’s two arms had doubled, these ones though were tipped with jagged crystals as if the arms were spears in themselves. Now it could also stab us; great, just great.

The golem moved to the center of the cavern, stopping just in the right position to block our view of the portal. I knew what this was going to be. I had enough, always fighting monstrous beasts that blocked the path to my goal, the things were just becoming tedious at that point Too many in my life and this wasn’t even the first one I had faced in Equestria. It seemed, though, it was Shining’s first.

“Fuck,” he whispered. I needed to ask him about ponies and swears. Fruity had gotten some flak for her swearing.

I put that thought to the back of my mind, now was not the time to bring that up. Instead I just stared ahead at the golem. This was not going to be my last night, there was no way I had come all this way to just die in a dark cavern at the... hands of some crystal thing. A thought popped up in my mind though.

I turned to Shining with a smirk on my face, “At least isn’t stairs.”

Chapter 12: David and Goliath

The tunnels beneath the Crystal Palace were dangerous enough with the minor monsters. Not mentioning the massive golem that blocked our way to the portal. If we had a few more ponies, this would have been easy. Now though…
David and Goliath
*****Perspective: Artyom

A realization was dawning on me, something that I had yet to think of up until that point. In fact, I couldn't believe that something this blatantly obvious went right over my head. If I had the time to, I would slap myself across the cheek for missing this. I wouldn't doubt that Khan would be disappointed that I didn't pick up on something so obvious. How did I not realize this until now?

How did I not realize that large open spaces that were surrounded in some way, always meant something large or numerous was going to attack?

There was the biomass, the giant shrimp, the Rhino, and the Bear which was only back in the Metro. That is of course not mentioning all those times that swarms of mutants attacked me. Or even all the times I fought against large groups of enemy soldiers.

It was as if my life was a sport to someone, constantly leading me in a direction that would get me nearly killed. I was getting tired of all of this. Why couldn't something just go right for once and I wouldn't have to end up facing down a creature that was a few stories larger than me?

I swiftly dived out of the way before a large crystal fist came down on the fallen crystal pillar, smashing it into tiny fragments. At this point, we were just running around the beast, utilizing our speed to our advantage while it constantly swung its enormous fists as us. Given the size of the thing, it was surprisingly quick but we were still quicker.

The cavern lit up as if flood lights were being focused on it. My head snapped to actually see the golem, just in time to catch a few licks of flames dissipating from the thing’s back. It let loose a louder growl than normal before turning away to face Shining.

I had to give it to the unicorn, for a soldier who probably had no true combat experience, he was learning very quickly. He was making sure to draw that beast off of me so to keep it moving around.

I placed myself behind another fallen pillar, still can’t remember the name for the rocks that grew down from ceilings. Either way, from the very start we had somehow agreed that this would be the plan. Maybe it was just instincts that said we couldn't take on something that was nigh invincible.

The golem had lifted it’s arms up in order to smash us almost as soon as I made that comment. Maybe it liked stairs — no matter; Shining and I dodged the smash by lunging in opposite directions. The impact on the ground caused some of the ceiling pillars to fall which is something awesome and extremely terrifying to see. The fact that there was probably tonnes of crystal raining down from the ceiling in spike like formations made my blood run cold.

This was aside from the astounding fact that the pillars somehow split the crystal ground open and lodged themselves upright in position. Somehow, crystal had managed to beat the exact same type of crystal in a death match. I think my eye was twitching at that point.

Fuck. This. Place.

From there on out Shining and I had been separated by not only a golem, but also crystal spikes that were the only thing keeping us alive at that point. We would continuously dodge between them, keeping on the outer edge of its reach, which apparently was nearly the entire room. not because of it’s arms but because it had nearly half of the room to itself.

Shining and I were on the outer ring of the room, while that thing had the inner portion. We could get somewhat close to the portal, but the lack of spires near it would just put us out in the open. The thing would move only a few steps and be able to attack us no matter where we were. If it focused on one of us long enough there was no doubt that it would eventually get us.

That thing barely needed to move yet it had us pinned, as if it was toying with us — my eye widened in realization. It was toying with us! That thing could easily just charge and probably crush us if it wanted to yet it stayed relatively in the centre and just attacked at its leisure with its reach. We needed to get it to move after us and to, in essence, have it move away from the centre.

How we were going to make such a thing angry was beyond me though, my rounds had done nothing and neither had Shining’s magic attacks. We needed to coordinate with each other but that was nearly impossible with us having to constantly run and attack while keeping it from focusing on one of us.

This time I actually slapped my hand over my face. Shining knew a shield spell. All I needed was to get close enough for him to cast that so we could at least talk for a second. The only way to do such a thing was to just run across the damnable cavern and hopefully get him to raise a shield before we could be crushed. With what we were working with, that was probably our best course of action. Shining prided himself over his shield spells so hopefully we could just make our way over there under a nice shield.

I readied my Saiga, holding it close to my chest before leaning my head out from cover again. The beast was still focused on Shining who was constantly on the move between pillars. Now was my chance to move, and I knew just the area to go through.

I pushed myself up from my crouched position as I turned the corner of the pillar. It was all slow motion to me; my Saiga rising to shoulder height as I charged towards the golem. The sheer size of it started to dawn on me as I charged it. I put that into the back of my mind, as there was no time to gawk at its stature.

The moment my Saiga was at my shoulder, I pulled the trigger. The initial shot hit it solidly in the back, forcing it to notice something was attacking it from behind. As it spun I just kept pulling on the trigger, pumping Saiga round after Saiga round into it. The shots were soon hitting it on the head, forcing it to shake itself as if they were merely flies.

Its arms raised up in a defensive manner, that was my chance. I only had a brief window as the arms moved farther up until they were once again in their smashing positions. It didn't matter though, since I had capitalized on my chance.

The arms swung down only to meet hard crystal but barely missing me. I kept up my sprint as I ran between the thing’s massive legs. The golem was large enough to have a three meter high and two meter wide gap between its legs. My gambit had been to hope it would confused at where I had run to.

I was right — for the most part. I glanced over my shoulder as I barrelled headlong towards Shining’s position. The beast had briefly looked around before realizing that I was now behind it. It gave a bone chilling roar that rocked the entire cavern.

Above me, I could hear the cracking of what seemed like ice, but I knew better. That was the crystal of the those spires. Not only did his attacks force them to drop but now his roars were loud enough to shatter crystal. How the entire cavern wasn’t affected I would never know or understand. I just gave it up to the bullshit that was physics of this world.

Shining peeked his out from his cover only to see me running towards him. His eyes widened in surprise — I picked up my pace somehow, already having been in a dead sprint. I knew what he was seeing.

“Shield!” I yelled before diving forward. He didn't even give a response, instead encased his horn in that purple glow of his.

Thank god the crystal flooring was at least slick enough to allow me to slide a little ways. The moment my body hit the floor, a earth shattering fist fell down on my previous position. The moment my momentum stopped, I scrambled on my hands and knees to move the last few meters to Shining.

No doubt it looked hilarious but at that moment all Shining cared about was erecting that shield as I got close enough. At the moment that his shield was in place, the golem’s fists came smashing down on top of it. Shining winced at the contact, it was obvious it created some sort of strain on him.

“We need plan!” I said as I checked over my gear. My eyes darting up to the golem as I did so. “Can you hold shield as we move to portal?”

“No. Too much strain and my magic reserves are low.” He winced as the golem smashed its fists down. “This is tough as it is, but its attacks are slow so I can repair the shield. It won’t last long though.”

He was struggling at that point to keep his horn alight. I needed a plan, something that could be done with minimal magic uses and that would utilize that golem to our own purposes. My eyes roamed over the beast itself before stopping dead centre on its chest.

Somehow I didn't notice this before but underneath the crystal was something swirling around in a tight circle. It was also glowing with the colours of the portal. My eyes widened at this revelation. This thing must have been kept animated via the portal! That was the most obvious answer and after being in Equestria for this long, I had learned it was nearly always the most obvious answer.

If this beast was connected to the portal that meant we would need to take out the portal in order to bring it down. The crystal, though, was nearly impervious to everything. Hell, my weapons were nothing more than a nuisance to the structures and the golem. Even Shining’s spells were just deflected off of them.

An explosion of crystal shards resounded outside of the barrier but was not hampered at all. The golem’s fist smashed into the barrier shortly after destroying the pillar that we were partially behind. It had been slamming into those pillars relentlessly. Crystal pillar after crystal pillar had fallen to the golem’s massive swings, the sheer force behind them must have been ridiculous to actually shatter the — crystal.

My palm hit the front of my mask. Sometimes it was extremely necessary to take the time to properly reacquaint your hand with your face. That was a perfect moment. As I dragged my hand down my face, I groaned outwardly but all the while I was devising a plan to utilize my new knowledge of this golem. The moment my hand had finished its path down my mask, I started smiling in a rather devious manner. My eyes had drifted from the golem to Shining, hoping that he could gain some sort of recognition from my look. I forgot to take into account my mask and that he was too busy keeping us alive. Sometimes my mind was rather slow to gather the obvious.

“We need to make angry.” I simply said as I cocked the hammer of my Saiga.

“What!?” Shining was no doubt exasperated at such an idea. I would have been as well but I knew more than he did.

“That тварь can smash crystal. Also connected to portal. Portal is made of crystal.” I rolled my hand a few times as if to tell him that he needed to connect the dots, which was exactly what I wanted him to do.

Luckily for me, he was becoming a quick study. He smiled back at me before nodding. He was actually willing to listen to a plan of mine for once. As much as I wanted to shove that in his face, I knew that there was a better time and place for such a thing.

“Hopefully, will get angry if attacked right. Aim for centre of chest, where the colours are.” I pointed to the golem’s chest. Shining’s eyes followed briefly before he winced deeply. The strain on the barrier was getting to him. He finally nodded.

“Drop shield and attack when I say.” The golem brought its fist down on top of us once more. The impact rippled along the shield before dispersing along the ground. It pulled its arms off the shield and back up into its attack position. “Now!”

With precise movement I brought my Saiga straight to my shoulder before letting loose a five round volley into the chest of the golem. At the same time I was firing, a massive lance of fire hit the exact same spot. It seemed that Shining still had something left in him.

The golem reared back in anguish, yet the spot we had attacked showed no signs of damage. Wimp; no matter how strong it was, that thing couldn't take a good attack. Yet it could counter-attack with the force of a freight train. Maybe ‘wimp’ was the wrong word.

The moment the golem recovered from the attack, you could see its anger in its non-existent eyes — not really, but its follow up attack proved that it was enraged. The thing roared loud enough to shake the cavern again, bringing down more crystal spires. Without hesitation, both of its arms rose above its head before swing back down on our position.

At least it was our previous position; we were not stupid enough to remain stationary and let its attacks hit us.

Shining and I lunged to our respective sides; him to the left and I to the right. The sheer shock-wave of the beast’s attack made it tough to stand as the ground just seemed to vibrate constantly. I had just enough time to glance at Shining and nod. For once we were completely on the same page. Our silent conversation was ended briefly with a sweeping arm barely missing me, my feet instinctively giving out so I could duck the attack.

A gout of fire hit the back of the golem, drawing its attention away from me. The beast turned with sweeping arms, only to be hit even harder in its weak spot. Shining was drawing its attention away from me, probably to give me room to maneuver to the portal. Which wasn’t the easiest of task.

Apparently, the golem was being kind with how many crystal — stalactites! Finally found the word for them. Either way, they were almost pouring from the ceiling now as the golem chased solely after Shining. The prince was doing everything in his power to not get crushed, much like me.

While he had his shield to deflect attacks every once and awhile, I had nothing but my agility and luck. The stalactites fell at harrowing speeds, forcing me to start panicking underneath my helm.

Luck. Sheer dumb luck was what kept me from being impaled. The type of luck that war survivors had. They couldn't see the bullets and know when to dodge, yet they survived; my luck was hardly different. I could see the crystals, though.

I was in a constant state of duck and weave mixed in with rolls and nearly pissing my pants. I came out of a roll on multiple occasions to find a massive chunk of crystal embedded in the ground barely half a meter from my face. If I wasn’t worried about letting Shining get squished, then I would have just waited out the crystal rain.

No, I had to get to that portal before I lost another team-mate. I would not let Shining down like I let Pavel down, or Ulman, or even Miller. My mind was set on one thing, winning this fight and getting us both out alive. Even if it meant dealing with this pony’s shit for longer.

“Да пошло оно всё к чёрту.” I muttered under my breath before leaping out from behind my temporary cover. The amount of falling stalactites had lessened considerably due to all the ones that had fallen before. Yet the area near the portal was hardly touched by them. It was as if none had even formed above it, which to me was beyond odd but also of little importance at that point.

My legs were burning from how badly I had been overworking them. Maybe the few days spent in the cell had made me weak. I shook my head to clear my idle thoughts before focusing solely on the portal itself.

My feet almost slid to a halt as I finally stopped in front of the thing. To my amazement, the distance from one side of the cave to other made this thing seem almost my height, but once I was beside it it was painfully clear that this thing was massive. I was almost in awe at it, the swirling mix of black, purple, and green was hypnotizing to say the least. The floating, diamond like shaped, crystals that surrounded it twirled slowly and all in tune with the others. in a strange way, the thing was beautiful but I also knew that it was the source of all of these beast. We had no real proof but it was a gut instinct and I had long since decided that my gut was usually right.

I turned away from the portal, spotting the golem on the complete other side of the cavern, still chasing Shining. This wasn’t good at all, I had no ranged weapon powerful enough to draw its attention. I didn't need to be running with my back towards it either. Somehow though, I needed to garner its attention and fast.

My head turned back to the crystals floating around the portal. Maybe if I was lucky they would also be tied to the golem and that weak spot of his. Luck had been with me so far, I only had to pray that it didn't decide to be a cruel mistress at that point.

At first I took my Saiga and aimed directly at one of the crystals, but a fleeting thought stopped me from pulling the trigger. I had two drums of Saiga rounds at my disposal; hardly something to be proud of. I needed to save those and I still had roughly forty rounds of revolver ammo. If I was right in my assumption, I hardly needed to damage the crystal. Just hit it enough to draw attention. So I proceeded to slip the strap of my Saiga over my shoulder.

Behind me, the sound of crystal breaking was quite clear and constant. Somehow, Shining was keeping that thing distracted. Low on reserves — yeah right, well that or I was underestimating him. I’d ask him after we finished with this giant piece of rock. As my mind was made up, I drew the revolver out of the holster, pointing it at a piece of crystal just above my head height.

Crack

The sound echoed through the halls. It wasn’t that loud, but the silence that followed it was deafening. The golem had its arm stopped in mid swing, giving time for Shining to scamper behind a crystal. Slowly but surely the golem turned towards me, forgetting all about the Prince. I knew luck was with me.

I pulled the hammer of the revolver back in an agonizing slow and methodical way. It was as if to say ‘oh yes, I did’ to the golem. The moment the hammer was fully cocked, I squeezed the trigger, my eyes briefly sighting the target as I did.

Once again, the crack of the round leaving the chamber brought that deafening silence. The only sound to follow was an immediate second crack just like the first round. Both of those meant I had hit the crystal and actually did some minor damage; at least that was what my ears told me. For all I knew, it would have been nothing more than a scuff.

The golem let out its deafening roar. That thing sure had a set of lungs on it, despite not even having a mouth. This time, it wasn’t just pissed; it was completely enraged. It was probably just ‘seeing red’ as the metaphor went. The hope was to make this thing unable to think straight and attack me. Of course that hope turned to succeed quite swiftly.

With its long legs, the golem cleared the distance that separated us extremely quickly. My eyes hardly had time to bug out before it was within striking distance. The thing kept coming without any sort of abandon. I had achieved my goal of making the golem charge at me but even I didn't expect that sort of speed from it; it didn't chase us down back in the tunnel!

An unusual yet somewhat familiar feeling encased my arm. I was going to ponder on this feeling as the golem ran me over but a very familiar occurrence changed that plan. I had hardly enough time to even utter a gasp of surprise before I was yanked hard to my left, my arm feeling as if it were about to pop completely out of my socket. Even if it did, I wouldn't have cared that much. It was better than being a pancake.

Somehow, among that simple and rage filled brain, the golem came to a skidding halt in front of the portal. The thing barely stopping in time before running straight into the crystals of the portal like I had planned. It had stopped not even half a meter from the portal, its chest nearly touching one of the crystals.

“Да вы издеваетесь!?” I shouted before my brain could stop me from drawing attention to myself.

Of course, the golem took notice to my words, turning its head to face me. For a being without a face, that golem was capable of giving me one of the dirtiest glares I had ever been on the receiving end of. I scrambled to push myself back, my hands hardly finding any purchase with me being on my back. My feet had more luck, but there was no hope I could move far enough before it attacked.

A lance of fire exploded across the golem’s chest, flames licking over the being before dispersing. It had struck true and hit the heart area. The golem bellowed out once more, arms swiftly being thrown up in what could have been pain. That, though, sealed its fate.

In the golem’s reaction to pain, it didn't realize that its arms smashed completely through four of the crystals that surrounded the portal. The shards of said crystals falling much like a feather to the ground, burst into dark flames before actually making contact with the floor. One by one, the rest of the crystal followed suit. Each one shattering like fragile glass, giving off the same sound that glass would, before falling into flames.

It was a rather beautiful sight to behold, it felt eerily similar to the tales I was told when I was young. The tales of when Moscow burned, countless windows exploding before being nearly melted. I had learned later that such a thing was but a little far fetched, Moscow was still filled with windows that were left standing.

Another sight to behold was that of the golem, though it was hardly beautiful. The thing let loose a shriek of despair, far from the loud roars that it had produced. The pitch of the note tearing at my ears, forcing me to clasp my hands over the sides of my helmet in vain. The golem held the sound as it flung its arms in every direction as if it was trying to ward off a swarm of invisible birds.

It looked like much like how a ballet dance would move — if they were piss drunk. Several seconds passed by, the golem constantly flailing about as it back-pedalled. Without warning, the arms dropped to its sides as if refusing to move any more, its head tilted back and let loose another ear splitting shriek.

It seemed to stop shrieking right in the middle as the golem simply toppled over. The massive body feel like a brick, straight onto its back and nearly through the ground. The crystal around it surged up and out for a few meters, deep and jagged cuts running outwards in each direction followed my smaller but more numerous ones. The golem lay still among its little impact crater, the crystal ground becoming its new home.

Shining walked slowly over to the golem’s head while I made to stand up, brushing my body off for no reason. I felt like I was covered in dust, yet I knew different.

“Is it dead?” I look over to Shining who was nudging it with his hoof. The golem was completely unresponsive, continuing to lay in the self made crater.

I strode slowly over to it, revolver still in my hand. The swirling colours that once inhabited the thing’s chest were gone completely, leaving just an empty shell of crystal. it was dead, simple as that. The portal had apparently animated it and now that it was gone, so was any form of life that the golem once had.

I stood beside Shining for a few moments, each of us looking down at the big beast. I holstered the pistol before proceeding on drawing out my knife. I leaned over the beast, drawing my knife right over where its ‘heart’ used to be. With some slow and steadied movements, I carved the golem’s chest.

“That should do it.” I said before walking around the rest of the golem, a smile christened on my face.

“What did you even do?” He looked over at the chest of the golem. Right where I had started carving, there were faint words reading ‘I am dead’ etched into its chest. Of course the words were in Russian so Shining was more than confused at what I wrote. He just looked between me and the golem before shaking his head. “I don’t want to know what you wrote. Can we just leave now?”

I turned back to where the portal once stood but instead a large doors had taken its place. There was no way that it was a coincidence that the doors and the portal was the same size, which should have caused major warnings to go off in my head. Yet, at that point I was starting to care less and less about being cautious. Nothing had come out of my cautiousness since arriving in Equestria. This place was determined to make me charge head first into my problems.

Shining’s voice sounded off behind me, but I cared little at that point. My decision to open those doors was made the moment I saw it. I had an assumption in mind and it was entirely fact based. Those facts being that Equestria was identical to a fairy-tale universe that handed people their goals on a silver platter. No doubt, behind those doors was the archive that held the book I needed.

I holstered my revolver, making sure to click the clasp into place. Having done that, I rose my hands, each one finding a place on the giant doors. The initial push barely moved them, but I had hardly put any force into it, for some reason all library doors were massive and hard to move. With a bit of strain, I managed to move the doors enough to actually get the hinges working.

I hardly had to push the doors after the first little bit, as they just seemed to fling open at my finger tips. I scanned one of the doors to notice that it had a faint glow around it. I knew what it meant, it meant that Shining was cheating once more. It didn’t matter much to me though, I had better things to focus on.

Such as the fact that this archive was massive and I had to find a single book among it!

Wow, this room was big. It must have been larger than the one in Canterlot. The crystal book shelves rose higher than the ones in Canterlot, I was sure of it, and they seemed to stretch even farther. I glanced left then right, noticing that, aside from the twelve rows of book shelves, there also seemed to be a book on a podium to my right. It looked massive, easily thicker that my arms, maybe even both of them together.

I slowly made my way over it, faintly noticing that there was a clopping noise behind me; most likely Shining was following me despite his earlier protest against it. I focused on the book for a moment, brushing my hand against the cover of it. It came up empty of dust, which wasn’t that big of a surprise to me. Cadance did say that she had visited before so it was possible it had been cleaned rather recently.

I reached up to remove my helmet, deciding that I needed to get the stuffy thing off of me for a while. We were relatively safe so I could at least get an unrestricted breath of air. The moment the helmet was off, I placed it down on the corner of the podium, making sure that I could open up the book without the helmet interfering with it.

My hand once again skimmed the cover of the book, before reaching along the side to open it up. For the oddest of reason I thought it was going to crumble at my touch, so I smirked the moment it didn't. The cover moved easily from its original spot until it was completely open and I was staring at the title page.

“Index.” I read aloud — this library had a book for its index. I couldn't say it was odd since I had only seen one other library, but it just seemed fitting for this world. I noticed that there was tabs along the sides of the pages, just letters indicating where one section ended and another began. I ran a finger under the tab for ‘A,’ quickly flipping it over.

“I have to say, this was bigger than Cadance described it. I bet Twily would have a field day in here.” Shining spoke while continuing to wander around the entrance area.

I instinctively nodded my head, not really caring about the comment. I was too engrossed in scanning the page in search of the book I needed to find. My finger traced up and down a few pages, looking for it. There was a surprising amount of books that started with ‘Ab...’, like an unholy amount of them.

I looked up from the page and down one the rows. I was hardly surprised that it looked to stretch on forever. At that point I was starting to chalk things like that up to the nature of this world. I shook my head slowly before looking back at the book. I knew I was getting close, the page I was on ended with a book starting with ‘Accounts.’

I flipped the page, finally catching a break as the book was listed in the first ten on the next page. Yet, it seemed my good fortune was plagued by some bad luck as well. There was no reference written beside the book’s name. It was here yet it didn't say as to where it was. There had to be a reason for that; my finger tapping on top of the name as I thought.

A black glow started to encompass the book, catching me completely off guard. I withdrew my finger as the glow increased in brightness. How something black could also be bright was beyond me, but I could swear it happened.

I backed slowly from the book, but hardly got a few steps before the book stopped glowing entirely. My eyebrows raised I confusion at the show it put on. I crept forward towards the book, arm slightly extended in hopes that if I touched it again it wouldn't pull that again.

I didn't need to worry though, since, instead of glowing outright, the book just slowly materialised a black beam that snaked it ways across the rows before turning the corner and heading down a specific one. I looked back at Shining to see what he thought of it. I was surprised to find that his eyes were wide and his mouth slightly agape at what just happened. It was if he had never saw anything like this before. Great, we were being led by a completely unknown thing.

I picked up my helmet from the podium before moving past it in order to follow the beam. Shining’s hooves echoed on the crystal flooring, once again falling into step behind me. I made sure to stay away from the black beam, not even wondering what would happen it I came in contact with it.

I was pleased to see that I didn't have to go too far down the row. The beam stopping maybe ten meters after turning the corner. Finally things were looking up and getting easier at that. I looked back and smiled at Shining who only grew confused at me.

“What are you smiling about?” He asked, legitimately confused. I didn't respond for a few seconds at we made our way to where the beam ended.

“Good — ” I rolled my hand in the air, searching for the right word,” — fortune for once.”

He actually nodded, we were truly becoming the best of friends at this point. We had gone all the way from him despising me, to actually agreeing with me during situations which didn't involve fighting to survive.

I crouched down right in front of the book that the beam was pointing at, still refusing to actually come into contact with said beam. The moment my outreached hand touched the top of the book, the beam disappeared into complete nothingness. It was as if it was there one moment and then gone the next. Magic — how does it work?

As I pulled the book from its slot, Shining drew closer to me. He must have been eager to see what came as the result of this frantic delving into a dangerous area of the empire. I did the same thing with this book as I did with the Index book. Come to think of it, that seemed to be the case with nearly every book I had ever opened. There was just something about feeling the book before actually reading it, it just felt natural.

My right hand moved along the outside of the book before a finger hooked into a page around the middle of it. Sure, looking at the beginning of the book would have been the smart move but I figured that I would get information just as easily if I flipped to a random page. The table of contents wouldn't exactly give me a clue as to what I was looking for.

Besides, I would be taking this book around with me for a little bit until I found something that would help me progress — or at least get Khan to visit again. Who knows how long I would have to search through the book to find what I needed to find.

The moment I flipped the book open to that page, my vision blacked out completely.

*****Perspective: Shining Armour

I peered over Artyom’s shoulder as he pulled the book open to a random page. As to why he would do such a thing, I was lost. He would have had better luck using the index at the back or at least the table of contents — it seemed my sister was starting to rub off on me.

I sighed, my eyes somewhat glazed over at the book, or, at least, where the book used to be. I furrowed my brows for a second before realizing the book had fallen completely to the ground, still open to that page. Did he just drop the book completely?

I was about to turn and ask him what was up when I noticed that he had fallen onto his side. That was a little troubling, to say the least. I swiftly leapt over his legs to stand in front of his face. I knelt down to look him the eyes — or at least where his eyes used to be?

Instead of his regular tiny eyes, the sockets looked completely black as if someone had taken a marker to them and filled them in. To say that I was panicking at this was easily an understatement. I wasn’t fond of the human, but I was his charge and Celestia trusted me to watch over him; letting him die was somewhat against my job description.

I just stared at his black eyes for a moment before rising back to my full stature. I circle his entire body once, seeing if there was anything else that was wrong. From what I could see though it didn't look like it; he looked completely fine aside from those black eyes. So I decided to do what anypony would have done in that situation.

“You all right?” I asked as I poked him with my hoof.

Chapter 14: We Meet Again, So Soon?

Equestria made me miss the Metro, there was just a feeling of peacefulness that accompanied my home. You could always rely on the same thing happening each day; having to survive from the moment you wake up. It became easier as time went on, maybe that will be the case with Equestria. I doubt it though, too many variables in play … too many things, and too many unknown things. Stuff that would never have occurred in my home, on my planet. I miss the simple life.
We Meet Again, So Soon?
+++++Perspective: Artyom

I didn't want to say anything and neither did Khan, so instead we opted to walk in silence. Khan led us as usual and I just trailed along in silence, contemplating what he was going to ask and how I was going to respond. Of course, this was Khan that I was following. Not a soul knew what he was going to do next, I don’t think Khan even knew what he would do. Maybe that was how he had learned much of what he taught me, maybe going in blind was a better life lesson than anything.

Our trek took a different path than last time, while I did happen to glimpse down the same hallway we followed last time, we instead opted to take an abrupt left that hadn't been there before. I was actually rather thankful that we were taking a different path, namely because we weren't walking through a concrete hallway.

No, instead we had somehow ended up outside and in the Botanical Gardens. Though it wasn’t the one I was more recently used to, which brought me a little peace. The one we were walking through was closer to how I remembered it as a kid. Surrounding us was the lush green foliage that had been a sight to see long before the war, a few buildings strewn amongst the area. The only thing that was missing were the white noise of people talking amongst themselves.

We were completely alone here; I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Eventually Khan slowed his pace down, nearly causing me to bump into him. I had been so lost in the surroundings and my own thoughts that I had completely forgot about him. I snuck a peek over his shoulder, trying to see why we stopped. It wasn’t what I expected it to be, especially coming from Khan.

I had almost expected some sort of item that held a symbolic meaning, or possibly even something that I would have seen before in Equestria. No, the only thing in front of Khan was a marble table and two wooden chairs.

“Sit, Artyom, for we have much to discuss,” Khan said as he waved his arm as if he was revealing the table and chairs.

I mutely nodded before taking the last few steps to one of the chairs, not a word came from my mouth for I was far too surprised by the simplicity of what Khan had crafted here. No, was it Khan that had crafted this? If this was in my own head then maybe, I had subconsciously made these items and Khan just knew where to look? The whole thing was getting confusing once more.

“So, Artyom, how have you been?”

I arched an eyebrow at that question as if to ask, ‘really, Khan, you started with that?’

He merely chuckled at my display before speaking once more “Don’t be so stiff, Artyom. Small talk is one of the few great arts that is still around though few know anything about it.”

“I wouldn't know, Khan. Most of my conversations are with multicoloured hors- ponies that distrust me … maybe if I had a better group to work with?” I said, deciding to play along with Khan for the time being.

“Distrust can be easily sown and just as easily removed. I could almost bet on you having changed at least one pony’s mind already. Maybe you two will become good friends! It isn't the craziest thing around.”

I sighed out loud. “Just get on with it, Khan. These visions are wreaking havoc on my sanity.”

“Fine, fine, we'll move on.” With a flourish of his hand, Khan summoned a light that blinded me for a brief few seconds before it disappeared. When I could see properly again, I looked over to him to see nothing had changed.

I was going to question what that was about but he held up his left hand, silently telling me to stop. He gently moved it over to his left, using that presenting motion again. I rolled my eyes before looking over to my right. Well, it seemed Khan’s little display did do something.

On a counter to my right was a T.V and not just any T.V. No, this thing was something you would see rich people buying. At least that was how I remembered the thin flat screen T.V. We obviously had no uses for such a piece of tech, but I could still remember seeing those in stores when we had lived on the surface. I had even found a maimed one in one of my trips to the surface. I was almost tempted to take it, despite it uselessness.

“Why is there a T.V., Khan?”

He chuckled at my question before answering. “Why isn't there a T.V.? To you it might seem like a pointless thing but this T.V. is worth more than all of the gold the world used to have. This, allows us to see what you have seen, Artyom. True, reality T.V..”

I didn't know what to say to that; reality T.V.? What did he mean by that? Of course, these questions were just a way for me to cope with the fact he had literally created something to see what I saw. My jaw was slowly opening, as opposed to the fast dropping that most people had when they were surprised.

“You … can see what I see?” I said, moving my open hands up and down as if I was shaking a ball of some sort.

“Not what you see, Artyom, but what you saw,” Khan said as he rested his elbows on the table and his head on top of his joined hands. “We are going to watch every vision that you saw, Artyom.”

I didn't reply to that, instead opting to groan lightly and let my head nearly smash into the table. In no way, shape, or form was I ready to relive those damnable visions. In previous visions I had little control, but this was my dream. Sure, Khan was shaping and moulding aspects of it but that didn't mean he could do something that I didn't want him to do. This was my dream, vision, whatever

“I'm not going to relive those, Khan,” I said, crossing my hands over my chest. “I know you have already seen what I saw, how else could you know?”

“Don’t spoil the fun now, Artyom!” Khan said with a smile, I just continued to frown at him. “Ha, perhaps all of this is making you more clever, Artyom. Fine, we will not view them again.”

“I was clever before, Khan. You just weren't so obvious with your motives.”

“Oh? Maybe age is finally catching up to me, Artyom. Maybe I am merely days away from feeling the cold whisper of death?” Khan was leaning on the back legs of his chair, legs kicked up on the table now.

I didn't go after that line, it wasn’t important to what was going on. There were things happening that had a much higher priority than debating death with Khan. One certain question entered my mind though. “How are you here, Khan? How are you even able to be in my mind? I've accepted that you are not a figment of my mind but that only raises more questions. So I ask you, how are you here?”

“I am here because I was destined to live, Artyom! Destined to become a part of the great adventure that we shared through the Metro. Through trials and tribulations, I live!” Khan said with a flourish, abruptly standing to his feet, which caused his chair to tumble. “That is the why, not the how though. Yet you know the how, Artyom. The how for me is but an extension of the how for you. We are that interconnected to each other.

“We are but two brothers, not bound by the finite rules of blood. No, we are more, more than one could ever hope and dream for! We are bound by the paths we walked and the choices we made, yet you and I follow the same path, Artyom. You and I are so much more than one could dream, but in the end, we are but a cog that must turn like the rest. So, you ask me how, Artyom; my answer to you is simple. I am here because you are there.”

I had been nearly on the edge of my seat during his little speech, hoping to latch onto a single statement that actually gave me an answer. Of course, this was Khan, this was a man that was wrapped in a veil of mysticism so thick, one could write fairy tales based around him. That is assuming he didn't write them first. I should have known he wouldn't give me a straight answer.

“You’re not going to give me a straight answer, are you?” I asked.

“Where would the adventure in that be?” Khan said as he picked up a random pebble. The thing was no bigger than his thumb, that much was obvious as he rolled it in his hand. He continued to roll it over and over in his hand, as though he was rolling it up into a ball of some sort.

“Why would you got straight to the source,” he said, rolling it one last time before pressing down onto the pebble, “when it doesn't show you what you need to know?”

The moment he said that last line, he threw both of his hands into the air. From the hand that held the pebble, a pillar of fire rose. The flames licked and danced over his hand, yet they didn't burn from what I could see, and the pillar just reached higher and higher. The other hand was just as amazing though, as a pillar of water shot out from that one.

For a few moments, he held his head back, hands still reaching for the sky with their respective elemental pillars. Then, just as fast as they had appeared, they were gone with a flick of each hand. He lowered his hands to his sides before picking up the chair and placing it back in its spot.

“I know you are impatient, Artyom. I will never understand why, but we are two entirely different people. On the move to get things done, that was the path you had took and it shaped you to who you are now. I always ventured from said paths, I never stayed on one long enough to be shaped to that way. That is why we work well together; we balance each other out.”

“Yin and Yang?” I offered.

“Hmm?” It seemed I had caught his attention.

“Yin and Yang, two different aspects that need each other to work together. Well, at least that was what my father had said. He used good and evil more often than anything, but it still applied.”

Khan scratched his chin for a brief moment, before snapping the fingers and his right hand. The T.V. that had sat beside our table vanished without so much of a sound. He walked in a small loop before returning back to the table. “That is the most accurate thing to represent us, I suppose. It is not definitive, but still the best answer. I am a little surprised that you or your father knew of such a thing. I met few that did.”

I simply shrugged my shoulders at his response, there was nothing more that could be said. So for a few moments we sat in complete silence, each one of us off in our own little world. I was looking at Khan, and if not him, than the rest of the scenery which had yet to change at all. Khan on the other hand was humming to himself with his eyes closed. His feet were once again kicked up onto the table.

It was much like a staring contest, dwelling on our own thoughts, waiting for one of us to break the stalemate.

“Gryphon Empire,” Khan said.

“Gryphon Empire?” I repeated, understanding the place, but not the context.

“Yes, that is where Alfasia was.”

“How in hell would you know that?” I was stunned at his apparent knowledge of geography from the world I was currently in.

“It was said in your vision, Artyom, well … implied is the better word. Either way that should be your next destination.”

“And here I thought you weren't going to give me straight forward answers, Khan? What changed?”

“Nothing has changed, Artyom,” he said as he rose from his seat. His right hand beckoning me to follow. “Nothing has changed, since there were no rules from the beginning. I never wanted to give you a straightforward answer because I wanted you to learn and deduce it on your own. I know you are capable of easily finding your route, Artyom.”

“Then why help me along? Why offer help in the first place?” I asked. We were walking through the gardens once more, passing nothing more than plants and trees. At least they weren't the shrivelled and dead things from our time.

“I sometimes forget that you don’t appreciate riddles like I do. Sometimes we don’t even think in the same way, Artyom. You tend to be less analytical, less focused on the tiny details while I can’t help but see them as those they were lights pressed up against my face. You operate well under stress when it comes to survival while I can still solve mathematical equations. My expectations of you, Artyom, are not too high; they are simply asking for the wrong things.”

He looked over to me and I simply frowned at him. Wherever he was going, it was getting a little condescending and though I can take some ragging, I was still no fan of being mocked. He obviously figured out what the look was trying to get through and began to speak again.

“It is like I said, with you being more straightforward than me, Artyom. You were a Ranger, a high calibre soldier of the Metro. You had the skill-set and the tools to become one, if not, the best. I would have had no place in such an organization, for I am no soldier. I can hold my own in a fight, Artyom, do not get me wrong, but I am not you. I am a philosopher, a historian, a scientist, and a scholar. That is what I am trying to say, you didn't aim to piece together those little puzzles while I did, simply because that is what I look for.”

I let my anger slip from my face, it wasn’t worthwhile to hold onto anyway. I knew what Khan was saying from the get go, I might have been straightforward, but I could still piece together things if I wanted to. I just wanted to hear what Khan had to say.

“Sometimes I wonder how you became who you are today, Khan,” I said with a small chuckle, “I think everyone wondered that.”

He merely laughed at my statement, yet it sounded a little hollow to it. It almost sounded as though he was masking something with that laugh, but whatever it was, only he could tell me. Only the man, who was an enigma, wrapped inside of riddle and surrounded in mystery, could tell me.

“I became who I am, because I needed to become who I am, it was the only way.” His eyes lost a little focus as he gazed off ahead of him. Whatever he was focusing on, it must have been something intense for when he returned his focus on the present, he shook his head. “I once told Ulman that tale … it was something that he took to his grave.”

“I feel a little insulted, Khan. Ulman, but not me? What did he have that I don’t?” I asked with feigned jealousy.

“A sense of humour,” Khan said, causing us both to laugh. “It only came about because of where we were, Artyom. Nothing more, nothing less. Maybe, if you get back, I will show you the place and you could hear my tale.”

“Not if, Khan. There is no ‘if,’ just ‘when.’”

He simply smiled at that statement, yet I knew what it meant. he had flashed that smile numerous times to me. It seemed almost fatherly in origin, one that you would give a child when they learned something important about life, or if they had accomplished some great task of theirs. Was that what it meant? Was Khan proud of me for showing such determination?

I didn't want to outright ask, who knew what old scars it might have brought up if I did. Sometimes it was just best to leave it be until they brought it up themselves, I know that that was case with me. I hadn't even spoke to my adopted father about my mother, instead I kept it bottled up inside of me for all of my life, finally getting some form of closure before ending up in Equestria.

“I must say, I enjoy this, Artyom.”

“What? Leading me on through my dreams?” I couldn't help but add a little bit of snarkiness to the conversation.

“Among other things,” he said with a smirk. “I meant, this ‘free time,’ if you want to call it that. Moments when we aren't busy running off in search of something and instead just basking in conversation with each other. Hopefully building a friendship that isn't purely centred around navigating through the Metro.”

“Does that mean that you are going to stop saying mysterious things to me? Maybe, stop appearing in random places?” I nudged his side with my elbow.

“Would I still be Khan if I stopped doing that?” he asked, a smirk played across his face in a knowing grin. He knew he was right, and he knew that I knew. It was just a part of who he was, and if he were to change then he would no longer be Khan.

No laughter rose from the amusing conversation, but both of us basked in the small amount of mirth that we had created. It was pleasant to say the least and I was glad that we were having a conversation that didn't follow the regular types that we usually had.

Khan started to slow down as we rounded a corner, which took us … back to where we had started. The table and chairs were still there just as we had left them. Had I become so preoccupied with the conversation that I hadn't notice the route we took? Maybe this was another trick of my mind that Khan was exploiting, not that I minded. The chairs were comfortable after all, and the scenery was as fine as any.

So once more we sat, staring at nothing in particular and hardly doing anything more than letting out a sigh once in a while. The conversation was basically dead at that point, which left me wondering why I was still in the dream. Usually when it came to this type of moments, I would wake up in my bed or wherever I had fallen asleep.

“Sometimes, silence is what is needed more than conversation,” Khan said, beating me to the punch. “A lot of information can be garnered out of paying attention to the silence, Artyom.”

“So … you’re not going to tell me why I am still here are you?”

He laughed briefly, shaking his head, before speaking. “What would the point of that be, Artyom? We are in your mind after all.”

Great, back to the riddles and puzzles, back to typical Khan. Sure, it wasn’t a standard puzzle or even a riddle for that matter, but it still wasn’t straightforward and it hardly gave any insight into my question. Khan probably wanted me to figure it out for myself.

I steepled my fingers as I leaned myself forward onto the table. My eyes focused on a spot in the distance past Khan. Well, focused wasn’t the right word, zoned out would have been a more accurate thing to say. I didn't need to worry about what was happening there though, my focus was on trying to impress Khan with a little problem solving. This was my mind after all, I had infinite power here.

No…

It couldn't be that easy, could it? There was no way that the answer was a simple as that, but there it stood, plain as day. The only way it could get more obvious, was if it had neon signs illuminating it. Khan wasn’t the type to go for that though, no it had to be something much deeper and complex than that.

Yet no matter what, I couldn't get away from that one answer. Each direction of thought led me back to it and each attempt to work a different answer came up with nothing but that. If it truly was the answer then how could I have been so oblivious? I was ready to slap my hand over my face at such a ludicrous idea and yet it had to be right.

“This is my mind and I am the one in control, no one else. All these images, all of these illusions have just been me filling in the gaps right? All that you have shown me, is just a play off my mind, tricking it into working for you to help me? Is it really that simple?” I asked, finally focusing back to where Khan had been sitting.

His seat was empty, devoid of Khan, much like the rest of the surrounding area. I spun my head around, searching for some sign of my friend but alas, he was nowhere to be found. Was he just a figment of my imagination?

I put my head into my hands, shutting my eyes tightly for a moment. Nothing was making sense again and I was nearing the point where I wanted to scream out loud. As my head rose from my hands, I noticed something different. Something that had not been there before and I was sure of that.

Sitting on the table in front of me was a folded piece of paper. Folded in half so that it rested in the style of a tent. I was completely sure that it had not been there before I put my head in my hands.

Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed the piece of paper, opening it up to see if there was something written and much to my, oh so joyous, delight I found that there was indeed writing.

“‘You are correct, Artyom, and with that I take my bow for the night,’” I read out loud before sighing deeply. Oh Khan.

I let the note fall from my hands, not caring about it any more. There was no value to it aside from the words that he wrote. Yet when I focused back on my surroundings, I was surprised once more by a scenery change. This time it was more familiar than anything.

I was sitting on the edge of my bed in the Crystal Palace, or was I?

*****Perspective: Artyom

My eyes slowly blinked open, pushing out of the black dots that hovered over my vision. I continued to blink until my eyesight was normal once more. My right arm reached behind me to push myself up into a sitting position. I quickly glanced over the room to confirm what I had suspected.

I had been dreaming that last part, dreaming of finding myself back in my room. I was learning though, progressing and improving my alertness to dreams and visions. Most of it was unintentional learning, such as that little bit, but it helped nonetheless.

I let my body fall back in my bed, desiring sleep once more. This time I was sure that I was back in the waking world and aiming to get sleep once more. I could tell just by the feeling, reality had an entirely different feel to it than a dream. For that brief moment that I had dreamt I was in the room, it didn't feel right. It just felt off, but actually waking up here removed that feeling. Everything was normal once more; as normal as my life got.

I rolled my head to the side to see the little alarm clock that had been beside my bed. It was a little after ten at night. I sighed, letting my body sink into the bed, I had still a lot of time before I had to even think about waking. Maybe sleep would embrace me once more if I closed my eyes.

I was lucky for it did come back to me.

Chapter 15: Packed and Ready to Leave

My talk with Khan had been enlightening, yet not in the way I wanted. Granted, I wanted a way back home, but I knew that I was far from getting home… for now. How did I know? It was just one of those gut instincts, something which was always nagging in the back of my mind. Instead of looking that far into the future, I needed to focus on the now; the trip to the Gryphon Empire.
Packed and Ready to Leave
~~~~~(Eight in the Morning)Perspective: Artyom

I had been awake since six, staring up at the ceiling, my mind racing, but not for the reason I would have thought. After everything that had happened, I should have been thinking about where I was going next and everything which Khan had said. Not only that, my mind should have been more focused on the dreams or memories, whichever they were. That was where my mind should have been, but it wasn’t focused there.

No, I was too focused on something from back home. Well, actually someone was a better way of saying it. I had been focused completely on Anna for the better part of two hours. After everything that we had been through, I had grown more than a little fond of her. Our rocky start was nothing more than the prelude to something special, even if it was only for one night. I never got the chance to talk to her the day after, and had regretted it ever since I left for the last stand at D6, leaving her standing on that platform.

I closed my eyes once more, though this time it wasn’t with the intention of finding sleep. No, I was more focused on Anna, every aspect to her… every aspect. My thoughts strayed back to that night and the lack of sleep that we both got. I envisioned us lying there, just about to go to sleep when the scene changed, on purpose mind you. Now, instead of thinking about the past, my mind was focused on what I hoped would happen in the future. Her being overly surprised to see me, in fact it was closer to being completely ecstatic. Though that was followed by a few slaps from her, maybe going as far as a punch, yet it would end the moment I pulled her tight and kissed her.

My eyes opened once more, not being able to keep the fantasy any longer. With a sigh, I rolled over to glance at the clock again. A little after eight and there was no hope of sleeping a bit longer. My body didn’t mind if I was up though, I had slept enough in the past few days. It almost threw my entire cycle out of order, I was well acquainted to dealing with little sleep.

Knock, knock.

Someone was at the door; at least that would give me a reason to actually get out of bed. Maybe a reason to push the thoughts of home to the back of my mind. I didn’t mind them, but I was getting ahead of myself with the positive thinking.

“Yeah?” I called out.

“Artyom, you awake?” Cadance responded with her own question, hopefully a rhetorical one at that.

“No,” I mumbled before pulling myself out of my bed. Cadance entered shortly, most likely picking up on the sounds of my boots hitting the floor. It was funny that the ponies didn’t even think to remove them from my feet.

“Ahh, good you’re awake. How are you feeling?” she asked as she trotted over to me, looking up at me with a slightly inquisitive face.

“Better, hungry though,” I answered simply, I wasn’t one to talk much in the mornings.

“Good! Shining is already waiting for us in the dining room. Come, let’s go grab some food.” Cadance on the other hand was a morning pers- pony it seemed. She had to be, unless she was an amazing actor.

“Fine,” I said as I motioned for her to lead to which she promptly stepped in front of me and began to trot out the door.

I followed behind her, twisting my back as I walked to try and get the kinks out of it. No matter how comfy the beds were, I would always wake up with a little bit of a stiff back. Being knocked down and around often enough did that to a person. Maybe the ponies knew how to fix a back, might be something to ask if I ever find myself with some free time.

The walk to the dining hall was a little bland as there were no crises or drama to entertain, or otherwise engage my attention, no winding staircases to shake my fist at or even a plant to make me choke. Maybe it was better that way though; for once it gave me a chance to stroll more leisurely. I don’t even remember when I had the chance to actually relax and walk at a normal pace. There was usually a place I had to be or something I had to do.

All in all, the stroll was nice, though quiet. Cadance just wore that rather serene smile that she had by default. I, on the other hand, kept my neutral expression. There was still a part of me that wanted to keep a stony militant appearance for the ponies. However, Shining was starting to grow on me and I couldn’t hold the same expression all the time. He would eventually see it falter and see a more truthful version of me.

“Artyom?” Cadance spoke up, breaking me from my thoughts. “You all right?”

“Hmm. Yes, just thinking,” I replied. “Are we there already?”

She giggled slightly, holding a wing to her mouth since her hooves were busy, before answering my question. “Not yet, you were just staring rather blankly.”

“Oh. Usually thinking makes trip faster. Odd we are not there.”

“You know, talking also passes trips around the Palace,” she said, adding in a small wink to get her point across.

I let out a small grumble, not answering her right away. I had to admit that it was true that talking did make time seem to fly past. Though, I hadn’t had the best conversation partners lately. The Princesses back in Canterlot had hardly been that welcoming and willing to talk with me, not to forget my travelling companion. Shining was obviously getting better, but he still was hardly the person, or pony in this case, that I wanted to talk to.

Khan was not included in my little list, since he was a completely different case. Back in the Metro, he was actually my favourite person to talk to, though they were often enough a rather one-sided conversations. He loved to talk and I often enough just enjoyed listening to him give out free information. Now though, I could tell that he was more than a little troubled. He acted close enough to his regular self, but, at the same time, there was something off about him. It wasn’t something that he was trying to hide either, in fact I think he was making it rather obvious that something was bothering him.

I would have to ask him next time.

“You know, I was trying to tell you that you can talk to me, right?”

Somehow, I had sidetracked my thoughts and forgot about Cadance. “Sorry,” I said, “was thinking again.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she was at least sincere in asking me, she made it obvious enough in her tone.

“No, of little important.”

“Importance.”

“What?” I asked, a little confused by what she said.

“Importance, that was the word you should have used instead of important,” she said, correcting me, yet never losing her smile. “For it not being your native language, you speak in rather well.”

“Oh,” I said, blushing slightly which confused me as to why I should blush at being corrected in a tongue not native to me, “thank you.”

She dismissed my gratitude with a hoof, not in a demeaning way, but more in a way that spoke ‘you didn’t need to thank me.’ We walked a few more steps before she tapped my leg as if to get my attention. So, I halted my walking and turned to face her.

“May I ask you a question, Artyom?”

“Don’t see why not,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

“Why do you want to go home?” She asked, and I almost regretted giving her permission to ask the question, yet she actually continued. “I read a copy of the interview that Twilight had with you. Your world, it seems to be something that only the most twisted being could think up of. Not only that, but you died there Artyom. If you decided to settle down here, you know that we would help you.”

“Would you help me?” I asked, genuinely curious due to the treatment I had received, so far, on this world. That and I wanted to shift away from the question if possible.

“I know my family would help you, Artyom. Twilight, probably, already considers you a friend, I know that I do. Her parents have always been the most accepting and welcoming ponies that I have ever known. I hate to tell you without him allowing me to … but Shining is still reeling from the incident with Twilight when you first arrived. He has always vowed to keep her safe whenever possible and he undoubtedly thinks that he failed. Give him some time and he will warm up, I promise.” Her words sounded completely genuine, not sugar coated like Celestia’s had.

“Good to know, good to have friends.” I said, hoping to end the conversation there, but Cadance didn’t give up that easily.

“You still didn’t answer the question, Artyom,” she said while giving me a small smirk. Oh, she was clever and I didn’t have a good way to shift the conversation. I could have just ended it but she had given me insight into something private, not replying would have been a good way to earn her scorn.

“Fine, I’ll answer,” I said with a sigh, “What Metro is, does not mean I can leave for good. I left lots behind, too much. Feel a little oblige- obligated to return. Left behind, Anna, my father, my comrades.”

“That isn’t all is it?”

“No, guess not. I wanted to change Metro, to help build. I learnt much when in Rangers. Collected books to help our future,” I sighed out loud, looking away from her for a moment before speaking. “Мне не хватает моих книг, мне нравилось их читать, жаль что так много не успел”.

I shook my head briefly, forcing myself to focus back in Cadance. With another sigh I spoke to her, “Guess it was big dreams, ended short.”

Cadance just nodded, not making eye contact with me. We were still facing each other though. It looked like she was contemplating something, as to what, I had no clue but eventually she spoke.

“You wanted to make a difference in your world, to help everyone rise above the horrors of such a destroyed world. I can’t find any other word to describe that, other than noble.” I was a little surprised at how poetic that was, though Cadance did seem like one of those ponies which wore many masks.

I was about to speak, up but she cut me off with a raised hoof. “I feel a little foolish now, Artyom. I know that I couldn’t have known what the Metro meant to you, but yet I still feel foolish for even thinking it.”

“Don’t understand, what do you mean?” I said and I meant it. I was confused as to what she was referring to, it was if she had started a new conversation.

She muttered something, yet I couldn’t hear it, no matter how good my hearing was, her muttered utterance was far too quiet for my ears to decipher clearly. She sighed once more before finding her voice, “I was going to try and convince you to stay. I would have done all that I could to help you start a life here, but looking back I should have realised that I was being haughty and presumptuous, thinking that you wanted to return to your world, because you felt like you didn’t belong here, or because you thought that ponies wouldn’t care about a non-pony or want to be friends with such and alien looking stallion. I never thought that you wanted to go back because you had a purpose. I feel foolish.”

I didn’t know what to say at that. For the first time in a long while, I was completely speechless. Usually I would at least be able to make a small quip to myself, about the situation, but not here. I was at a loss for words because I couldn’t make up my mind on how I felt about the revelation. The only thing I could rule out was anger: I was far from angry at her since at least her reason for wanting me to stay wasn’t selfish.

“I … can’t respond. Too much to think on,” I finally say. My arm rose up to indicate for her to continue leading us to the dining room. Of course, this time was in silence.

As it turned out, we were actually just around the corner from the dining room; she had probably known that we were so close. For all I knew, she had planned to escape to her husband if I had an adverse reaction to her confession.

I would never have reacted in that way though, I might have been rash at times but lashing out against something like that was a little crazy, even for me. In fact, I was lost as to how I hadn’t made up my mind on what she had told me. It wasn’t that big of a revelation in hindsight, it didn’t even make my list of top most shocking things. So how was it that I couldn’t respond to that?

Both of us entered the dining hall in silence, not even looking at one another. I had noticed that after telling me her secret, Cadance’s ears had splayed back on top of her head. I think that was a sign of worry or of being frightened. I wasn’t sure, but one thing that I did know was that she could hide her emotions rather well, for the moment that we entered the dining hall, her serene smile came back and her ears went upright once more.

“Hope we didn’t keep you waiting too long, Shiny,” she said as though nothing had just happened. To be honest, I was impressed at how well she acted despite her reaction just before.

“Hardly, I got here just a moment ago. It was nice to just stroll around the palace for once,” Shining replied.

I didn’t say anything, instead opting to just grab a seat on the opposite side of the table from Shining. Cadance was seated at the head of the table while Shining sat on her left. The dining room was similar to the one that I had sat at during my stay in the Canterlot Castle. This one though was much smaller in size, most likely only for these two and maybe a few other select guests.

The crystal hall was still rather large in height, measuring about two, to maybe three stories while it was at least twenty meters long and a little over half of that in width. To be honest, I wasn’t that interested in viewing the room let alone anything else that decorated. Normally I would have taken in my surroundings in order to develop some sort of plan in case something went wrong, but I had something more important to worry about.

Namely, the delicious food that these ponies made. That was one thing that I couldn’t deny these ponies, no matter what faults they had. The cooks here were amazing at their craft, though they did have access to ingredients that those back in the Metro could only dream of. So, instead of taking in designs and colours of the many pieces of furniture and decorations, I was digging into a pair of eggs that were apparently made ‘sunny side up’.

At least that was what the name tag beside it said, which confused me until I saw that every other dish also had a little name tag. I honestly did not care, since all I knew is that it went good with toast, though that wasn’t where I stopped. A massive fresh fruit platter, a tray of pancakes which I had had before but only once, more types of eggs that I didn’t recognize, and what I assumed were dishes that were made for just ponies since they weren’t anywhere near my part of the table. I didn’t pay much mind to it, for I had a large amount of delicious food to dig into.

~~~~~(Thirty minutes later)Perspective: Artyom

I was sitting on the edge of my bed with my gear strewn about on top of it. The breakfast had been rather quick and sweet considering that not a single soul talked the entire time. It was a little unnerving to just sit there in silence and eat … who was I kidding, it wasn’t unnerving at all. I actually preferred the silence over anything, mainly because that meant no awkward questions or statements. Though I did let Scowly know where we needed to go, which brought up an odd reaction at best. He had simply told me to get suited up and leave the planning to him. That was fine by me, for that meant I didn’t have to divulge any more information than necessary for us to work together.

In my eyes, they hadn’t earned the right to know everything about me. Even in my talk with Twilight I had been rather restrictive of what I told her, dodging around questions often and not giving her the full story in some cases. Looking back though, maybe it was unfair to treat her the same as I would treat the Princesses, for she was good natured compared to them. It was like being in the same room as Korbut whenever I was sitting with them, just a feeling that they were hiding something from everyone.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts, it wasn’t the time to ponder, for at the moment I needed to get suited up. We were going to head out and I needed to be ready, for this time I wasn’t operating under a plan that I actually had input on. No, I was at Scowly’s mercy in a way, though I could just feel the love for me radiating off of him.

I chuckled out loud as I finished buckling up the last of my body armour, all that was left was my helmet, weapons, and an equipment check. I opted out to hold onto my helmet until we were actually going to head outside, since I actually liked the fact I wasn’t confined under that metal cage, known to most of our soldiers as a pot, for once. So, setting my helmet down, I instead decided to move onto my equipment and weapons check.

It took me hardly five minutes, which had been the perfect amount of time apparently, since, just as I was finishing shoving the magazine back into my Kalash, a knock came from my door.

“Enter,” I said simply, slinging my weapon over my shoulder in the process. I had expected Shining or Cadance to come and retrieve me from my room, but instead I was greeted by an unfamiliar crystal pony guard. This one wasn’t like the ones I had seen down in the caverns, no, he was obviously a show guard. One of those ‘guards’ that were only there to look good. Each spec of the armour glistened as brightly as his crystal coat, having no signs of any sort of true wear, while the rest of him was just as untouched. I’d seen enough true soldiers to spot those subtle difference. Sure the guard probably had the same training, and possibly the same abilities as a normal soldier but all his job was was to look good unless there was an actual threat. No patrols or hunting parties for him… did ponies even have hunting parties?

I had seen some back in the Metro but they weren’t common, since we hardly had need to actually show off those good values. They were used instead to help recruit young men into the army of whatever faction. The whole idea was probably something carried down from before the war.

“The Prince is ready for departure. I am to escort you where he and the Princess are.”

No emotions, a true professional in the face of odd circumstances. No doubt if it were any other pony aside from a guard they would have been more than a little scared when talking to me. Why my mind had even been drawn to this idea was lost on me, maybe it was because I was a little bored, still being in the Palace.

So, instead of actually replying to the guard, I just opted to extend my open hand, beckoning for him to lead. He looked at me oddly for a moment before turning and heading out of the room with me in tow. I grinned slightly at my little mistake, how could I assume that the guard would even know what that meant? Human mannerisms were probably not a part of basic training.

Despite feeling like I was being lead with a leash, I followed the guard out of my room and down the many hallways that the palace held. For once, I opted to not actually occupy my time with daydreaming or thinking about the very meaning of life, this would hopefully be the last time that I would ever need to see the Palace so why not enjoy the view that pieces of art and decorations provide?

We had cleared our third full hallway before I came to a realization; no matter how much I tried to take in the sight of what was spaced throughout the Palace, I was completely uninterested. After only being in the castle for a day and a bit, I was completely over the fascination of the crystal walls. If it had been a set of crystal walls then maybe my interest would have lasted longer but it seemed that I got used to them. It was unfortunate too, since it slightly dulled my desire to see the sights around the empire, not that I would be allowed to. Even though my world had gone through an apocalypse, I still wanted to visit some of the places in the hope that they might still have been standing. That didn’t exactly translate to this world but maybe that was because I was so determined on returning home. What if I stayed a little longer, just to see what this world had to offer?

That thought was filed into the back of my mind as my eyes picked up something, something that I could occupy my mind with once more: wondering why did ponies enjoy stairs so much. Sure, it was the first stairwell that we had come upon but that didn’t mean I had to enjoy it. The many staircases in the Metro were nothing compared to what these ponies put into their buildings, for at least in the Metro it was maybe a flight or two of stairs. Here, in Equestria, ponies apparently had never thought about removing some of the staircases and instead constructing buildings that had fewer floors.

There was a small part of me that wished that they would just invent the elevator and be done with the copious amount of stairs, of course such hopes were not something that was reasonable. So, instead of riding in the convenience of an elevator, I instead had to take each annoying step down those stairs. Ah, the joys of being stranded in a world that was not my own, truly something to enjoy.

To my amazement, I was greeted at the bottom of the stairs by Shining, which was amazing at that, I couldn’t stress that enough. Why was it amazing? Because he actually had a smile on his face and his wife was not in the current area. So, that meant he was either in an extremely good mood or was happy to see me. The second idea was one that I was not hoping for because that could mean anything and most likely it wasn’t something that was going to turn out in my favour. Maybe I was being paranoid though, maybe it was something that would actually be good in general.

“What a great morning, Artyom, isn’t it?” he asked with a devious smile, yeah, something was up.

“Sure,” I answered, my eyes staying as neutral as possible, even knowing that he most likely had something up.

His smile turned to a frown quickly, apparently, my expression had betrayed me somehow, and here I thought I had it down flat. “You know, you take the fun out of things at times.”

“Может просто у тебя такие идеи о том что весело,” I said with a small smirk before switching back to English, “I try.”

“I can tell you enjoy it, right, so I guess we might as well get down to business,” he said as he turned around to start walking down the hall. The other guard turned around and headed back up the stairs, so I figured it was time to follow Shining. “Since you’ve brought light to where you need to go, we needed to make a plan as to how we are going to get there because you just had to choose one of the hardest places to smuggle you into.”

The Gryphon Empire. Now, I wasn’t given much information on them since I didn’t inquire much about the Gryphons. What knowledge I had was given to me during that interview with Twilight and, even then, it was hardly more than a brief overview. So, here I needed follow Shining and his every move or we could be screwed quite easily. I needed to pick his brain for info on the Gryphon Empire, but then and there wasn’t the time. What I needed to know was how he planned to get me out of the country.

“Listen, Artyom, what needs to happen is that you need to trust Cadance and me. The only way we are getting to the Gryphon Empire is by boat and we are in no place to launch a boat. The nearest port city is Baltimare, which is only about the same distance from Canterlot to here. That means we are going to have to take a train but you cannot be seen no matter what since the media would have a field day upon hearing of a new race, not to mention how the public might react. We got lucky that the Princesses could easily teleport us into their private train car. We wouldn’t be this lucky again, simple as that.”

I had a bad feeling about this, I knew that this plan would involve me being smuggled in some way that would cause major inconvenience for me. I just knew it, and that nagging in the back of my mind just kept pushing that idea on me.

“We’re going to need to smuggle you to the boat,” he said, just as I called it. “Our plan is to ‘ship’ you there in the cargo carriage since that will draw much less attention than moving you via the normal train cars.”

I held a rather unimpressed stare at him since, as the stare showed, I was not impressed with the plan in any way. Based upon what I heard, he was going to smuggle me to the ship by stuffing me into a massive box, yeah that was not going to happen.

“Нет.”

“Huh?” Of course he was confused, I should have realized that.

“That mean no,” I clarified for him.

He simply stared at me for a second with a rather blank face, which was a small surprise considering that I was expecting him to be in shock at me refusing to go with his idea. His eyes narrowed for the briefest of seconds before he spoke up, “Right, I guess I’ll have to think up a new plan. Oh, and Cadance wanted to talk to you.”

With that, he walked away, down the hall before entering a door on the right. Of course before he left he forgot to tell me where his wife even was. I was more than a little ticked at this whole thing, not just him leaving but his ‘plan’ as well.

“Конечно, уходи даже не сказав мне где её найти. Отличная идея, головожоп,” I said out loud, figuring the hall was empty.

“Oh, there you are, Artyom!”

“Ну конечно же он не пуст,” I said before turning around to find a smiling Cadance. It seems that she found me instead of the reverse.

“It’s too bad that I cannot understand your native language, it seems like such a beautiful dialect,” she said, that serene smile seeming to gleam even brighter.

“Sure …” I said, not wanting to argue at the moment, she obviously has never heard a an Officer speak to his recruits. “You want to speak to me?”

“Yes, though how about we go into the room over here, I don’t really want guards to hear this,” she stated before leading me over to one of the rooms.

As we entered, I noted that this room was … bland. There was hardly anything more than a large meeting table and some chairs. Not a single bit of art or furniture beyond the already mentioned items. It sure was a different sight, since the rest of the Palace seemed to be keen on upholding a certain amount of decoration. I simply waved this room off as a place to actually get down to business or something to that extent, it was tough to figure out the motives of these ponies.

Cadance didn’t move to take a seat, in fact she didn’t even close the door, but from the new look on her face I could tell that the door was hardly her first priority. Her ears were once again splayed on top of her head and there was a small frown growing at the corners of her mouth. If I had to guess, this was going to be about her question that she asked me earlier.

“Artyom …” she began but stopped to bite her lip briefly, “Listen, Artyom, I’m sorry for attempting to, convince you to stay here, against your will. I just thought it would be better, especially after hearing about your world. So I thou-”

“Stop,” I said, cutting her off in the midst of her apologies, “do not apologize. No need to say sorry. You did nothing, period.”

“But I-” she tried to speak up once again, but I held my hand up to stop her. I walked around her and put myself between the door and her before bending down to meet her face to face.

“You did nothing. There was no attempt so you did nothing. Not mad at you, simple as that. We are fine, no problem,” I punctuated each sentence, hoping that it would get through to her.

Which, luckily it seemed to. Her frown had changed to a slightly sad smile. Her ears had begun to rise up slightly off her head. She had shown me more hospitality than the other two princesses and had even come out and apologized to me. It was tough to be mad at her for something that didn’t even make me mad in the first place, besides … it was good to have a friend on the inside of the royalty group. I didn’t know Twilight enough to consider her one, though that could also have been said about Cadance.

She sniffed once more before looking directly into my eyes, “I’m sorry, Artyom.”

“Don’t be s-” I didn’t get to finish my sentence before the lights went out and by lights, I meant my consciousness.

*****Perspective: Shining Armour

“Well, that went better than expected,” I said as I looked down at the now unconscious form of my travelling companion.

“We could have found a different way, Shiny. I don’t like tricking people and you know that,” Cadance said with a small pout. I knew she wouldn’t like the idea, but it was the best chance we had to actually move Artyom without drawing any attention.

“I know, dear, but it is for the best. Otherwise, we could have had a predicament on our hooves. Princess Celestia even agreed that it was for the best,” I said, hopefully using a decent enough argument.

Cadance just sighed before looking down at Artyom. It seemed she was actually growing a little fond of him, though considering who she was that wasn’t that far of a stretch. To be honest with myself, I had also grown a little closer to him, though that was more out of convenience than anything.

Cadance walked closer to me before planting a kiss on my cheek, “Be careful, hon, you know how ruthless those griffons can be. Even if you are going to try and stay out of the ports, be careful.”

“I will, dear,” I said before she walked out of the door. Shortly after, a pair of unicorn guards carrying a large wooden crate, with some air holes cut out, came into the room. “Alright, get him inside and comfortable enough, don’t need to injure him in transport. Be quick about it since our train leaves in an hour. I will meet you at the station.”

The pair snapped a salute before moving over to Artyom, horns glowing in preparation for lifting him. I, on the other hoof, walked out of the door, looking forward to having the entire train car to myself, maybe actually being able to get a drink this time; Celestia knew I needed some hard cider at least.

Chapter 16: I'm on a Boat

I hadn’t expected Shining to actually go through with such a plan… maybe I didn’t give him enough credit. In a way, he gained some amount of respect from me, despite my urge to throw him off the boat. No matter how tempted I was, he held knowledge and experience that I needed, for there was no way into the Gryphon Empire except through a port city. Hopefully, he had a plan for that.I’m on a Boat
~~~~~(A little after six in the evening)Perspective: Artyom

My eyes fluttered open briefly before shutting closed again, they felt as though there were weights attached to the eyelids. I had such a peaceful sleep too, and it came so easily for the first time in ages. No dream Khan there, no visions to annoy me, and best of all no mutants attacking me as I slept. That last one was less frequent, but probably the most annoying of them all.

Wait … a peaceful and easy sleep? That wasn’t right, I never slept so soundly, or deeply; at least not since I left Exhibition. I forced my eyes open once more, pushing past the feeling of the being weighted down. It was a little blurry at first, but once my sight cleared up I saw where I was, or at least where I wasn’t.

The ceiling was completely made of wood, which was my first hint that I was not in the Crystal Palace or even on the train. The train at least had some sort of artistic styling covering the ceiling, while this was literally a wooden ceiling. A brown wooden ceiling that led to wooden walls. As my eyes continued to look around, there was something else I noticed, a sensation which came from my entire body, the feeling of still being in my armour, minus the weapons on my back.

I never slept in a room with my armour on, except when I was outside of a station.

It was at that thought that everything started to rush back to me. The first conversation with Cadance, that wasn’t surprising and yet had left me speechless, followed by the quiet and slightly awkward breakfast. Then the memory of Shining coming up to me with his plan to smuggle me out of Equestria via a large packing crate. Finally, my final conversation with Cadance which had ended abruptly with me passing ou-

“Ах ты ублюдок...” I said in a voice hardly above a whisper. That bastard had knocked me out back in the Palace. The moment I saw him, there would be hell to pay, and he would pay.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed, forcing myself up into a sitting position. My entire body ached, which made sense since I was laying in one position for who knows how long. I still couldn’t get over the audacity that those ponies had to pack me into a crate. Yet at the same time, I couldn’t help but smirk at their creativity.

Despite how creative they were, Scowly was going to have a bad day the moment he showed his face around me. I grit my teeth in frustration, the audacity of what Shining had done was truly getting to me. Yet there was still a small feeling of being impressed with him, the pony had some brains, even if he didn’t use them right.

I was grimacing externally at that thought of being impressed with him, but I couldn’t help it. He had baited me with his wife in order to get me to drop my guard and let him do whatever he did to knock me out. Not to mention the fact that he had somehow snuck up behind me even with my good hearing, though I wouldn’t put it past him to have used his cheating abilities to do so. By cheating, I meant his magic, and whatever other bullshit that ponies had hide up their… sleeves?

Whatever, it wasn’t important. What was important was -

Knock Knock

My eyes bugged out briefly, head snapping to look at the door. If it was who I thought it was, I had to move quickly. It didn’t matter who it was, either way I was going to hide near the door. If it was a regular guard then I would let them pass, but if it was Shining …

Without a moment to hesitate, I leaped silently to my feet, crossing the room in a handful of strides. I was lucky that the wood underneath me was solid, not a sound was made as my feet deftly hit the floor, propelling me forward to my spot on the side where the door would open towards.

Knock Knock

“Artyom? You awake?” Shining called out from the other side of the door. I smiled almost maniacally, the anticipation of knocking him senseless filling my mind. Though… I couldn’t beat him up too bad, for I needed him in the Gryphon Empire … maybe just a choke hold and some body shots.

“Yes, come in.” I said, trying to make my voice as distant as possible. Hopefully he would buy it and come in, guard down and ready to be taught a lesson.

The door opened slowly, at first making me jump to the conclusion that he was being cautious. That of course was dismissed when he trotted through the door, head held slightly up. He was looking much more chipper today, or at least now. I didn’t know how long I was knocked out for after all.

The moment he cleared the door, I lunged. My arms wrapping around his neck and dragging him down with my momentum. The poor fucker must have been startled beyond a doubt for he wasn’t even able to coordinate himself right. There wasn’t much of a chance for that though, since the moment he was down, I rolled him on top of me to minimize his leverage, arms hooking around his neck in a tight chokehold while my legs wrapped around the lower half of his body, keeping him rather still.

My right arm was the one wrapped around his neck, gripping my bicep with all of my strength, while my left arm was hooked upwards to hold his horn. Now, I didn’t know if it would work, but I assumed that contact with the horn would cause a unicorn to be unable to cast spells. I was lucky that the gambit had paid off and Shining was unable to just magic himself away.

I don’t think the former guard pony had ever had training for such a situation, that or he just couldn’t react right, for all he did was flail about in my hold. It was rather humorous, to see Shining being beaten so easily, as well as seeing the fur on his face start to deepen in colour a little. That, to me, was beyond odd, since it would hardly make sense for his fur to change colour when it would only be his skin showing signs of asphyxiation.

Was his fur connected to his skin or something? Or was there even skin underneath the fur? Of course, that idea was scrapped for just being plain creepy. After a few more seconds of thought, I just chalked it up to another unexplainable feat that these ponies could pull off.

That line reminded me to check on how Shining was doing. Well, that, and the fact I could feel one of his forelegs tapping my side in a show of submission. Good, the bastard was starting to learn that even though he was my only support here, he couldn’t just do whatever he wanted with me.

After holding for a split second more, I let go of him in one shot. I didn’t ease him out of the choke hold, instead I just let go and pushed him off of me. The hacking and coughing coming from him didn’t deter me in using the heel of my boot to push him down, before giving a small and surprisingly gentle kick to the gut. After the chokehold though, the kick must have felt much harder to him.

“Never. Box. Me. Up. Again,” I stated, punctuating every word with a poke to his nose so that even his oxygen deprived brain could understand me. His head nodded up and down as he continued to gasp for breath, while his forelegs clutched his stomach.

My eyes didn’t move off of him, and for a good reason too. His horn gained a soft glow to it, which forced me to act quickly. There was no way that I would let him retaliate now, and not with his magic. So, once more, I quickly reached for his horn, wrapping my hand around it and cutting off his flow of magic.

“No magic. Agree and I let you up. Deal?” That was my offer and if he refused then he would just lay there, with my hand wrapped around his horn.

“Fine,” he choked out. Apparently, it took a long time for him to catch his breath, and here I didn’t think I choked him that hard. I was kind enough to actually let go of his horn, allowing him to get a soft glow to his horn. Oh no, he wasn’t going to go back on his word that quickly.

With a quick step as well as a quick arm action, Shining’s head reeled to the side with the residual force of my slap. He at first looked as mad as a drunk having his alcohol taken away, but when he got my glare and the sole finger pointing towards his horn, he calmed down. He must have realised that he went back on his word. I stepped back, giving him some space to which he utilized to sit down on his haunches and rub his neck gently with his hooves.

I, on the other hand, decided to pull a chair into the middle of the room. Yes, the room had a small table and two chairs to sit at. They were just like the rest of the room, made of wood. They were slightly varnished… or maybe polished, not sure, but either way they were not straight wood.

I spun around, to sit backwards on the chair, arms crossed over the back while my chin rested on them. I had no reason to fear retaliation, he even knew that he deserved it. Hell, I could have done much worse to him and hopefully that also was a thought in his mind.

“That … is a strong grip,” he said, rubbing his throat with his right forehoof. “Did you really have to hold the choke that tightly?”

I laughed out loud at his response, he had some set of balls on him. Once I stopped my small fit of laughter, my face hardened as I look back at him, “Could have gone harder. But then you would be on floor still.”

“Right, point taken,” he said as his forehoof now moved to rubbing the back of his neck while he looked away in a sheepish manner. “So, no hard feelings? Ya know… about the whole, me putting you in a box?”

“No, there is hard feelings, but we have more important task.” Yeah, I wasn’t going to let this slip away like that. I could see that there was a bit of defeat seeping into Shining’s face. I think it was only now that he was realizing the stupidity of his actions, as well as realizing that he wasn’t in direct control of me.

He was slowly getting wiser and less hot-headed, even if he didn’t show it then.

“Where are we?” I asked, genuinely curious as to what was outside this wooden room.

Shining’s ears perked up at my question; he was undoubtedly glad to get away from the previous topic. “We are currently crossing over the Eastern Sea, also known as the Hoof-Claw Sea. Not really original, but I’m not one to argue with history and peace treaties.”

“So, we are on boat? A big boat?” I was a little confused, as I had never been on more than one of those small fishing boats from Tretyakovskaya station, otherwise known as Venice. Those were tiny boats in comparison to the one I was in, though that was just an assumption as I hadn’t seen anything more than the room I awoke in.

“Quite! This is actually a commercial passenger boat for the most part, but it is currently being, ahem, ‘utilized’ by the Royal and Crystal Guard,” he said, adding air quotations around utilized. That in itself was slightly humorous to see, as he had to sit on his haunches to mimic the action.

“I will have to see, later,” I said, rubbing my chin in thought before turning back to look Shining in the eyes. “How did you get me here?”

“That was actually pretty simple believe it or not,” he said with a chuckle but stopped when he looked upon my unamused face. “See, once you were carefully loaded into the train, we took off straight to Baltimare, I mentioned that city, right? Anyway, I had gotten in contact with the Royal guard battalion there earlier and they provided us with a cargo carriage to move you to the shipyards. I had to make sure that your respirator kept going though, since we were constantly prone to vegetation contact. From there it was just loading you up again before unpacking you in this room. Simple and efficient huh?”

“Quite,” I said lamely, deflating his little attempt at ego boosting.

“You truly do take the fun out of things, though I guess I can see why. Did I mention I was sorry for doing that? I was hoping you would just cooperate since then it would have just been easier, but either way I guess you were going to get magically knocked out. We didn’t have much choice, you have to realize that,” he said, trying to take a firm stand on the events.

“Still doesn’t earn trust,” I said in response. This was obviously an argument that wasn’t going to be won by either sides and we had more important things to worry about. “How long was I sleep?”

“Asleep? Not too long, just short of twenty four hours,” he said sheepishly, once more. I glared at him in response. “Hey, at least it killed a portion of the trip! We only have two more days till we end up in Ostia, which is the Gryphon capital by the way.”

I nodded simply, before standing up from my chair, moving to the door shortly after. I was not going to be cooped up in this room all day and if the guard had indeed commandeered the boat, I should have been able to walk around. Shining seemed to pick up quickly on what I wanted to do, moving to my side but not stopping me from going out the door.

“When I said ‘utilized,’ I meant that a whole crew of the Equestrian Navy have taken to crewing the boat. The ones who have any chance of meeting you, have been briefed on who you are, though I don’t expect you to run into them much, as it is. The deck is mainly clear except for a select few. Most of what the crew does now is below deck. Of course things were different when we were just using sails, but these new steam engines are a blessing.”

“Right, anything else?” I asked, hoping he wouldn’t forget something important.

“Not really, you are somewhat free to roam around but under guard supervision, mainly to help keep you out of areas that would be prone to having ponies that aren’t sworn to secrecy. Though I doubt you will be using either one of the guards outside much, since I’m just the next door over. We got the only two VIP rooms on this boat, which also means we have access to the Captains and VIP dining room. It isn’t an impressive considering no matter what ship we used, we would have gotten the same thing.” Shining tapped his chin briefly before seeming to remember something as his entire being perked up slightly.

“I’m also going to need to brief you on the Gryphon Empire, just in case something happens,” he said as he rolled his hoof in a dismissive manner.

“What you mean? Are we not sneaking in?” I had assumed that was the only way to get me into the Gryphon Lands.

“That is the hope, but we should prepare just in case things go completely south,” he said, to which I nodded my head.

I grabbed the door knob, twisting then pulling open. I didn’t even realise that it somehow closed mid fight, but that didn’t matter anymore. The moment the door was open, Shining trotted through, with me in tow. The only reason I followed behind was because he at least knew where to go to get onto the deck of the ship.

I was a little surprised that there were no guards outside of my door, though I put it off as Shining not having assigned them yet. He probably wanted to wake me first, which wasn’t that good of an idea for him. Though he wasn’t exactly full of ‘good’ ideas lately, considering that he had done some pretty stupid stuff in the past few days.

The route to the deck was actually quick and simple, as all we did was turn right out of my room, turn left to walk up a small flight of stairs, and open a door. In all honesty, that had been the most enjoyable walk I ever had, short and hardly any stairs. Though of course there were some, I just accepted that if I were ever going to travel anywhere, there would be stairs to greet me. So why would a boat be any different?

I would have loved to ponder that question, but the smell of sea water hit my nostrils as Shining opened the door. How did I know that the smell was seawater, since I had never smelt it? Honestly, I just assumed it was, since the smell of salt was heavy in the air. It was a different scent than the rivers back home, the radiation though changed a fair amount of the smell, but I still remembered the fresh smell of water from when I was a child.

The next thing that hit me, when Shining opened the door, was the sheer brightness of the sun. I didn’t take my helmet, so there weren’t any sort of glass to potentially reflect the sunlight, no, I was taking the full brunt of the sun’s light straight into my eyes. It was momentarily blinding, forcing my hand to reach up and attempt to stop the light from entering my eyes. It felt weird not to see the outside in so long, even though most of my life was spent underground.

Of course, the direct sunlight back in Moscow was almost non-existent, except for a few rays seeping through the clouds every once and awhile. Here though, the sun was nearly blinding, so much in fact, that it made me wish I had kept a pair of sunglasses on my person. Though they would have been pointless except for right now.

“You look as though you’ve never seen the sun before!” spoke a voice that I didn’t recognize. I turned my head around to face where I had heard the voice coming from, squinting my eyes in the process to hopefully get rid of some of the glare.

It took a few seconds but when my vision cleared, I saw myself looking down at a pony who was wearing a white cap which had a black belt or something wrapped around it, and a black bill. On the hat was an embroidered picture of what appeared to be a sun and moon colliding. On this pony’s shoulders were a set of officer stripes laden on a small shoulder pad, but instead of there being stripes, they were stitched with with four alternating suns and moons. Yeah, this pony obviously was part of the Equestrian Navy, the symbolism was not lost on me.

The pony himself was a darker blue in colour, but not as deep as Luna’s coat colour. The pony’s mane was a bit grey in colour, making it seem as though he was a rather old stallion but with all the different colours that these ponies could take, I wasn’t too confident in that assumption. His fetlocks were much like Shining’s in that they were not perfectly trimmed, or maybe that was just how they were. Either way, this pony looked a little more gruff than Shining did, and that was apparent by the fact he has a moustache and beard.

My mind completely blanked at the thought, not able to comprehend how a pony, who had fur in the first place, would have been able to grow a brown coloured moustache and beard, let alone facial hair! This wasn’t a choppy or scraggly looking beard either, this thing was full groomed and covered the entire bottom half of his face, which included along the sides of his muzzle. This was the type of beard that men aspired to have, and this stallion was defying nature by having it in the first place.

“No, I have seen sun. Just not so bright,” I said, finally finding my voice after the whole beard thing.

“Well it ain’t going to get any dimmer out here! The middle of the Hoof-Claw sea isn’t known for clouds unless a hurricane sweeps through, but we’re expecting clear skies the entire trip,” he said, beaming slightly. Without hesitation, the moment he finished talking, he reached up under the embroidered pads on his shoulders and fished out a pipe. As he plopped it into his mouth, he tilted his head to Shining. As if on instinct, Shining’s horn began to glow softly which caught my attention until the smell of tobacco hit my nostrils. I moved my gaze back upon the pony with the hat to see him taking small puffs out of his pipe.

“Name’s Admiral Galleon, and this boat that we have underneath us, is named The Fair Mare of Baltimare,” he said proudly, even though Shining had told me it was a commercial ship.

Somehow, the absolute silliness of the name was completely lost on him and Shining, while I was groaning heavily within my head. I dearly hoped the Gryphons didn’t have the same type of pun issue.

“Now, Artyom, I am assuming that Prince Shining Armor here has explained what is going on. Now, the deck here will only be of use to those who know of you and are sworn into secrecy so don’t go worrying your pretty little head off. All the crew that you see here and those below deck are completely out of uniform, since we are trying to pass as a commercial vessel, but that doesn’t mean they won’t give you a licking if you stir up trouble.” I couldn’t say that I was surprised that he would give me a speech like that, of course I should have been more surprised that he was so calm about what I was. I took a deep breath and inhaled more of that tobacco, but noticed there was a second smell hidden in there; a smell I knew all too well and explained why he was so calm.

“Right, well I have to be off. First Mate ain’t got a clue on how to navigate this thing, he’s a replacement after all,” Galleon said before turning and walking through a set of doors just behind us. They weren’t the ones which led down to our rooms, but instead they were right next to those ones. Probably a command area or something to that extent, but all of that was beside the point.

I turned my head back from Galleon and gazed upon the rest of the boat and the seemingly never-ending blue that surrounded it. While I didn’t show it outwardly, I was amazed by what I was seeing. Never in my life had I seen so much water, so much pure, clean water. It seemed to roll with the boat, parting slightly and continuing on. The sun reflected off the almost mirror like sea, making everything even more brighter. To see such a thing … it made me feel like a child again; first seeing the Garden’s in Moscow, or taking a ferry ride along the river.

“Hey, you going to just stand there all day? We’ve got some stuff to talk about,” I heard Shining’s voice ring out to my left which would have been the starboard side, if I remembered my ship terms correctly.

I turned around to find him sitting down at a table, one of many in the middle of the deck. They were probably built there so the passengers could eat outside or something, either way I made my way over to him. He was right after all, we did have a lot to talk about. Wasting no time, I walked over to the table, sitting myself down across from him. I noticed out of the corner of my eyes that ponies were looking at us, and Shining apparently noticed as well. He turned his gaze upon each one, forcing them to look away in a small show of defeat. Eventually the ponies went back to whatever they were doing, leaving me and Shining to have our conversation without being eavesdropped upon.

“As I said earlier, though we plan to sneak you in, I would also like to give you some knowledge about the Gryphons. If things go south, we will have to move you through the city in public,” Shining said.

“How will public react?” I asked, that being my first thought when Shining mentioned moving me through the public.

“Well, we’re a little bit lucky that the Gryphons are more accepting of beings that are not commonly seen. They don’t exactly fear anything, so as long as you don’t pose a threat to anyone the most attention you’ll get is a few glances or glares. Just keep by me and we can play it off as you being a member of my guard or something, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

“Now, from what you told us, the place you are looking for is basically in the heartland of the Gryphon Empire, though at the same time far enough away from civilization that we will not be intruded upon by any unwanted gryphons. Once we get outside of Ostia, we will be moving by hoof the entire way. There are pockets of badlands spread through the Empire, we will be sticking close to those to ensure that you can actually get sleep without worrying about running out of air.”

“Nice of you, Shining,” I said, a little surprised that he took that into account.

“Does it make up for the boxing issue?” Ah, there was the reason.

“No.”

He turned his head down and mumbled something that I couldn’t hear, but it was most likely some sort of curse at me. After he was finished with his mumbling, he looked back up. “Right, so, either way, the whole trip should be simple enough, get in, get out and no issues. I’ve been in contact with Cadance and she told me that the Ambassador in Ostia said that Alfasia was abandoned long ago when an earthquake struck the place. The city, for the most part, was pulled underground, leaving only a handful of destroyed buildings above ground.

“I don’t know who we can get in, but we also don’t know exactly what the place looks like. So when we get to Alfasia, we will most likely be staying for some time until you either find what you’re looking for or we give up. Because of this, we will be picking up a food drop halfway to Alfasia. We’re lucky that the Ambassador can pull some strings.”

“He knows about me?” I asked, slightly hesitant on having more and more know about my presence.

“No, he is in the dark with regards to the reason as to why we are is going to be sneaking into the Gryphon Empire. He’s also not been informed with regard to your species or psychological and historical profile, not that we have much in terms of that anyways. All he knows is that I and a small party are conducting an archaeological expedition into Alfasia. For the most part, Artyom I want you to trust me and let me handle the situations. Once we get to Alfasia, you can take over, since you’re the expert at being underground,” Shining stated.

“Flattery goes nowhere, Scowly.”

“Damn… and you even brought back the nickname. Come on, was it really that bad?”

“How did you put me asleep,” I countered his question with my own.

“It’s ‘to sleep,’ and I did it with a simple sleep spell. Learned it when Cadance was having nightmares after our wedding,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

I merely perked a brow in interest, as well as a show of mocking whatever had happened. If she got nightmares after their wedding, then the wedding must have been a massive screw-up. Of course I had no idea what the truth was, so for all I knew it could have been something truly gruesome.

“I’ll… I’ll explain later. Anyway, I just used that spell but with a small difference. Since you’re bigger than Cadance and we had no clue as to your magical resistance, I cranked the spell’s intensity up a fair amount and that is saying something considering that Cadance is an alicorn. Either way, I might have gone overboard and that was why you were asleep for so long,” he said, once more rubbing the back of his neck. If he didn’t stop soon, he could possibly lose all the fur from that spot.

I was about to reply, but was interrupted as the food finally arrived. It wasn’t much more than some pasta, but it had to be better than the attempts at pasta back in the Metro. That was from cans that had nearly expired or had been baked in radiation.

The moment the pony set the plates down and the utensils, I was digging into the pasta. I was hungry, so hungry, in fact, that I almost hadn’t noticed him shakily put a glass of water in front of me before backing away. It was weird that the pony was still afraid of me, yet he was most likely briefed on everything. It made me wonder what the difference was between that sole pony and the Admiral. At first I thought that maybe this ship did have some sort of civilian presence on it, but looking up from my pasta told me otherwise, as the pony who served us was dressed in a naval uniform.

I simply shrugged, not really caring about that thought. It wasn’t something important to what was going on, nor was it worthwhile thinking about. Maybe I would ask Shining or maybe I wouldn’t, either way, the pasta was a more important issue. I never considered myself one to indulge in exquisite culinary cuisine… mainly because the Metro lacked anything truly remarkable in terms of food. Now though, it was tough to think of eating anything else but Equestrian food. I had nibbled at the forbidden fruit before indulging in the entire orchard.

It took me a little under ten minutes to fully finish the food, which ended up being more than just the pasta. Apparently, during my all out feast on that dish, that ‘waiter’ brought out baked potatoes. At first, I was at a loss as to what it was, other than being a potato, but eventually I remembered that my mom had cooked them a few times. Once I realized just what they were and how to eat them, I dug in eagerly. They even had real butter!

Once the potatoes were eaten, I leaned back slightly on my seat, not to far though since it didn’t have a back rest. That meal hit the spot, and I was blissfully content with everything so far, but that feeling was ruined a little when Shining spoke up.

“Good meal huh? Despite what they have to work with, the cooks are good. Though we might have just gotten lucky with who was cooking,” he said, still nibbling on a baked potato. He took another bite and swallowed before speaking again. “So, we only have an hour left up here before the rest of the crew are given time up on deck. Anything else you want to know?”

I cocked an eyebrow at him before speaking. “You are nicer. Why?”

He looked confused at my question, not sure how to answer. He was about to counter my question with another, I was sure, but I stopped him by holding up my hand. He had picked up fast on what that gesture meant or maybe the Equestrians had a similar gesture with their hooves.

“Let me re state. You are… more open… friendlier? Speak more willing, and so on.”

He looked at me for a second, though that confused look had faded from his face. No, instead he was looking a little sheepish, as if he had forgotten to tell me something. Once more, his hoof was rubbing the back of his neck, probably encouraging the balding of that area.

“You see…” he coughed into his hoof briefly, “Cadance had a ‘little’ talk with me before we met up and before I boarded the train. I might have gotten the brunt force of a backlash from her.”

I glared slightly at him, if that was true than I was mightily disappointed in my travelling companion for bowing down so easily as well as that being the only reason to treat me better. I folded my arms as I continued to glare at him.

In return, his eyes hardened a little as he took a stand. “While she might have given me a verbal thrashing, that doesn’t mean that you should expect this all of the time. I’m only trying to be nicer so that we aren’t at each other's throats but I swear, if you do something to make me regret giving you a chance…”

Ahh, there was the Scowly I had grown to love… not really, but it sounded funnier. I folded my arms, a smirk replacing my frown as my eyes also lessened. It was hardly more than a second later before I gave a hearty chuckle at this. To be honest, I was glad that he wasn’t going soft on me, that just meant his reactions would be more hilarious when I proved to him what I could do.

“Good,” I said. Nothing more, since it seemed to deflate his little speech.

“Whatever…” he mumbled just barely loud enough for me to hear. He then proceeded to lean back a bit, lifting his gaze to the sky before taking a single deep breath. When he levelled his gaze back on me, I was greeted by his normal look that constantly lacked enthusiasm. “Listen, I need to explain a little bit about the gryphons. Not much, mind you, but just enough so that if we do have to go with the more public approach, you won’t be gawking constantly. Ever seen one? Rhetorical question, I know but trust me when I ask you this,”

I just shook my head in response, keeping my mouth closed until it really called for it. If he had to give me a fair amount of information then I wanted to absorb it all before interrupting him. Maybe it would teach him a thing or two about manners… heh.

“Much like ponies, little is known about how they came to be, thanks to Discord mind you, but that is a different topic. Anyway, they are basically half bird and half lion, though if you were to simplify it to that they would most likely kill you out of having their honor disgraced. Their front half is of avian descent while the back is lion, and if you ever ask one what bird their front half is of, Celestia forbid you do that in the first place, ask if they are eagle or falcon for good measure. Actually, just don’t ask in general… in fact, you should just let me do the speaking.”

To that, I just rolled my eyes before doing the same with my right hand, that gesture was to encourage him to divulge more information for me to work with. I was lucky that I was rather well read or else his explanation of what a gryphon was, would have went right over my head. A mixture of stories, Greek myths, and even a faint memory of a lion from the zoo helped piece together what he described them as.

“Right, now according to all of our history books, the Gryphon Empire has been around roughly as long as ours, but not longer than the dragons, but that is just speculation considering more than enough knowledge was destroyed by Discord. It matters little, since the most important thing that you remember about the Gryphon Empire is that, while Equestria has a fair sized military, the gryphons are a militaristic society, focusing on developing soldiers. Each gryphon, upon reaching the age of sixteen, must enlist within one of the branches of the military, navy, or air force. After a three year service, they may leave and find another occupation. So, assuming you put the pieces together, it should be obvious what I am trying to tell you.”

“Gryphons know their shit,” I said with a smirk. I couldn’t have chosen a better answer based on Shining’s reaction. He froze in place for a few seconds before his head smacked the table, well it was his muzzle that made it to the table first, followed by his horn and forehead. Either way, it was a glorious thing to watch, mainly because I was still ticked at him for the box incident, but also because it was fun to tease him.

Once more he mumbled something under his breath… or maybe it was out loud, I couldn’t exactly tell since I was pretty sure the table was currently in his mouth partially. Either way, it took him a few seconds of wallowing in shame for him to raise his head to look at me. When he did, his eyes were once again in that unamused look that he seemed to always have.

“Right, moving on…” he said before coughing into his hoof. “The plan to smuggle you through is much like how we moved you to Baltimare, except you will need to be awake since it is a quick trip. The ambassador has an estate, given to him by the Emperor, outside of the city so that will be our staging area. Our cover story is that the crate contains sensitive material that the ambassador will need to look through before handing it over to the Emperor. We’ve done something like this before, though I wasn’t leading the operation.”

“So… for sure fail then?” I snickered at his expense. He just groaned before continuing.

“Either way, the guards are not allowed to open the crate due to multiple security clauses in our recent addendum to our peace treaty with the gryphons. From there everything becomes easy. When we get near the gates, we will stop for a moment in which I will speak to the guards who are carrying you, regarding if they are tired or not. That will be your cue to put your mask on, if you haven’t before hoof, since there will be vegetation outside of the city. Overall, everything should go smoothly.”

“I am amazed. Simple, yet covers bases. I approve,” I said, genuinely honest with my response. Shining had indeed come up with a good plan, but I still had one issue. “When will I go in box? Guards can search ship in port or not?”

“They can only do a ship sweep once the captain registers with the docks. Most of the time the guards will meet the ship at the exact port but thanks to our relations with the Empire, they are usually a little more lax and tend to allow the captain to do it himself. They keep watch, mind you, but that should mean that we have time to stuff you in a box, awake this time like I said before.”

“Ahh…” I said, before moving my hand to scratch my chin. “Good plan, see you later.”

The quick exit must have caught him completely off guard, since his eyes bugged out slightly. Why he did that at me leaving so quickly was a mystery to me. It wasn’t like I had just thrown a sailor over the side of the ship or anything.

“W-what? That’s it?”

I simply smiled at him for a moment before replying. “Yes, that is it. Нельзя же постоянно над тобой прикалываться.”

With that, I walked back to the door to the stairs, leaving Shining sitting at the table. It was getting dark anyways and we were nearing the time for the other sailors to get their time on the deck. Even though it didn’t seem like it, time had flown by and the sun was on its course to set. I had honestly lost track of time slightly, the whole being knocked unconscious thing had really screwed my sense of time.

It was a little test of perceptiveness, keeping my attention focused on Shining’s speech and lesson while also noticing where the sun was and how long we had ‘til the rest of the crew was allowed on the deck. I had been caught too unaware in the past little bit and I needed to get back on top of my game. Little exercises like that were always a good way, though it was something that I came up with. Though the Rangers from Sparta were amazing soldiers, there was always one thing that Miller told me I had over them; that was my awareness of my surroundings.

This also helped me to identify that the guards that were now posted outside of my door were the same one that had guarded me back in Canterlot. How curious… though I didn’t say anything about it nor show any physical signs that I had picked up on something. I knew in my mind that there was something else going on here and it involved Celestia and Luna somehow. For the moment though, I needed to keep it to myself as any one of these ponies could be in on this… or I was being paranoid again.

I simply shrugged at it, now was not the time to deal with it. Despite me being knocked unconscious for nearly a full day, I was actually feeling rather tired. Maybe it was the fact that the sleep wasn’t natural, or maybe that little bit of wrestling with Shining was more exhausting than what I thought, though I couldn’t see that being the case.

I froze momentarily, contemplating if maybe I had a concussion of some sort, but dismissed it quickly since I hadn’t shown any other signs, and I knew them all too well. Mainly from treating others, but I definitely had smacked my head enough times to get a concussion or two. Eventually I figured that worrying about the ‘why’ wasn’t worth it, all that mattered was that the bed looked comfy and my entire being really desired to lay in it. That desire was soon fulfilled as I flopped down on the bed, though not in my gear, which was actually lying on top of the sole table in the room. I had stripped down to my under clothing during my process of contemplating why I was so tired. It was usually easier to get it off then put it on, but wasn’t that normally the case?

I was lying face down on my bed, head just off to the side of my pillow; I had found out a long time ago that lying face down on your pillow would often spur lower back problems. I definitely did not need to be out due to a lower back problem.

I laid that way for what felt like an hour before flipping over onto my back, staring up at the wooden ceiling. I usually thought the best when I laid in my bed, it felt like a safe haven, a port in the storm of whatever I was currently dealing with. This time though, I had nothing to really contemplate… well, that wasn’t exactly true. There was many things that I could think about.

Be it the possible ulterior motives of the Princesses, or even the cause for the skittishness of the crew on the ship. Maybe I could have thought about why I was assigned the same guards as I got when I was at the castle, or maybe my mind could have drifted towards what would happen when we docked in Ostia. Those were all possibilities yet none of them could hold my attention long, maybe I underestimated how tired I was.

I sighed out loud before rolling onto my side, my eyes closing in an attempt to fall asleep. I calmed my breathing and focused on keeping my mind clear of any thoughts, a practice I had been doing back in D6 so I could actually get some sleep.

It didn’t take too long before I was out cold, my mind slipping into a comforting void, and not surrounded by a makeshift dream and Khan.

Chapter 17: Welcome to The Gryphon Empire

Three days on a boat with nothing to do but watch the scenery and talk with Shining Armour … not the best time ever spent, but useful in itself. We didn’t talk much about the gryphons after that one conversation but instead indulged in what could be called, recounting old war stories. Despite a fair amount of contempt for his actions, he was growing on me. Hopefully he would continue to, once in Ostia.Welcome to The Gryphon Empire
~~~~~(Seven in the morning)Perspective: Artyom

A rather forceful knock on the door aroused me out of a rather blissful sleep, one that I would normally be all too willing to cling on to. The only thing that kept me from falling asleep was the rushed voice that was coming from the pony that was knocking.

“Artyom! Hurry up and get dressed! We are getting ready to enter the port!” Shining’s voice sounded a little rushed, meaning this was indeed happening and not just a joke.

“Чёрт побери,” I muttered as I hauled myself out of my bed with almost a tumble. We must have made great time overnight. Admiral Galleon had told us that we would most likely reach port around midday, not this early in the morning. The cursory glance out of the small window in my room confirmed that the sun was hardly in the sky, so it must have still been morning, which my watch somewhat confirmed, but I wasn’t completely sure if it was indeed six fifty.

With a little bit of a spring in my step, I moved around the room to gather each piece of my equipment, all the while trying to drag my armour onto my body. I was more than used to having to rush into my armour like I was doing, which gave me the upper hand in not falling face first on the floor as I hopped around pulling my boot on. Sure, I could have sat down but that was only an option because ‘hindsight is always twenty twenty.’

I think the moment Shining heard me thumping around in my room, he left to gather his stuff or prepare his ponies … who knew really? But, either way, I was certain he wasn’t on the other side of the door. That being a good thing since I nearly busted it down the moment my armour was on. There was a moment of hesitation to my movements, a brief moment in which I contemplated the reasoning as to why I was in such an incredulous rush that I just missed running through a door.

No good reasons came to mind at first, but when the first one did, it was the only answer I cared for. I was in such a rush because there was no room for errors in this plan; no room for me or any of those ponies to fuck up. Despite Shining’s word that the Gryphons would be more accepting of seeing such a unique person as I, there was still a large amount of doubt in the back of my mind. A nagging voice that told me to stick to the plan and not deviate for even a moment. Of course, I had it a little easier than the others who had to actually carry me.

It wasn’t a long run till I was at the stairs to take me up to the deck. In fact, I don’t think it could be called a run since I only had to take seven quick strides. That put me right at the bottom of the stairs, and only a few moments until I could get my first, and possibly only, glimpse at the gryphon port city.

The steps were taken in groups of two, leaving me right in front of the doors in a meagre few seconds. As my hand started to grasp to pull open the door, the weight of the action decreased dramatically and in that split second I knew what was about to happen. Even with the fraction of warning that I felt, I only had time for my eyes to widen in realization.

With a sudden exertion of force, Shining barrelled through the door with his own moment, slamming into me in that fraction of a second. We were lucky the stairs weren’t that long, for both of us were sent flying down them, slamming into each other as well as the wooden platforms, all the way down. The moment we collided with the floor, the wind was pushed momentarily from my lungs, forcing me to cough briefly. A second cough emanated from the white Prince, as he must have had his breath knocked out of him as well.

“Ну ты и идиот...” I mumbled out loud before pushing myself back up into a seated position and looking over at Shining. “Why in such rush?”

He simply groaned at first, still recovering from the tumble. Sure, it wasn’t much of a tumble but it was the complete lack of readiness that made it so bad. Who would have expected to be thrown down a set of stairs on a boat? I, for one, was not expecting it, and apparently, neither was Shining.

A few seconds passed with only the sound of the floorboards creaking under our movement to fill that time. Eventually though, Shining had brought himself back up to a standing position while I was temporarily crouching.

“I was on my way to get you and apparently you were on your way to find me … that is sure one way to start a day,” Shining said, trailing off a little at the end.

I simply nodded in agreement, a fine way to start the day indeed. I finally removed myself from the crouching position, dusting myself off as I stood. I wasn’t sure if there was actually any dust on me, but it just felt like the right thing to do after being knocked down. After the quick pat down, I started to move back towards the door that Shining had so casually barged through.

“Wait!”

I stopped in my tracks, looking back over my shoulder, hoping Shining would have a good reason for holding me up from getting some fresh air.

“You can’t go outside, we’re too close to port for that to happen. Usually a very small gryphon party will come out to direct us to a dock. We’ll have to prepare you for being moved,” he said, nodding towards the hallway I just came from. I didn’t say anything, instead looking down the hallway, remembering that, aside from Shining’s room and mine, there was also another door. That must have been another stairway down to the lower decks.

I looked at him with a puzzled expression, hopefully conveying what I was thinking without having to actually speak my mind. He would have to get used to that if he was going to work with me, many of my travelling partners had learned to read my looks. For once, I was in luck and Shining did in fact figure out what I was trying to silently tell him.

“The crew has all been called onto the top deck for inspection, though of course there will be a hoof full down below. We can easily bypass them though. There is a direct route to the cargo hold on the second deck. I’ll go a little ahead of you and make sure it is clear,” he said before trotting down the hall, opening the door and descending down the stairs.

I simply shrugged my shoulder, waited a few seconds and then proceeded to follow his path. I had to crouch a little though to actually fit down those stairs, because, for the oddest of reasons, the stairway had a lower ceiling than all of the other ones. Maybe it was due to it being a ship, or maybe the ponies were just a completely weird bunch in how they designed stuff. I was leaning a little towards the second option though.

The spiralling staircase eventually placed me on the second deck of the ship, which honestly wasn’t much to view. The reason for that was that the stairway was in a different room, go figure. At least I could hide momentarily if a pony came into the room. Which, as soon as I had thought that, happened. Fortunately, it was Shining who had appeared from the doorway.

“Come on, the stairs to the cargo deck are clear,” he said, motioning with a hoof for me to follow him. The funny thing about Shining’s plan was that despite all of the meticulous planning that he had probably invested into it, he looked over the really small things.

Such as the fact that the stairs to the cargo deck were right across from the stairs that I had descended. He had, literally, gone through all of that recon for absolutely nothing. Even if a pony had caught the briefest of glimpses of me passing in between the rooms, they wouldn’t have seen me for long enough even to decide if they were hallucinating or not. Oh well, at least he was being cautious for once.

As we moved quickly across the hallway and down the other set of stairs, a thought came to mind, one that I hoped Shining had an answer for.

“Why smuggle me if Gryphons more open with other… spec-... species?” I asked as we continued to descend down the stairs.

That question actually caused Shining to pause mid stride and hold there for a moment. I think his brain was trying to work around the fact that he had told me that and yet he was trying to smuggle me into the country. Eventually, he lowered his hoof, and continued to move down the stairs.

“Despite them being more open… you could cause some interesting backlash, especially with your gadgets and weapons. The fact that I would be escorting you could bring up some interesting conversation topics next summit,” he said, his voice giving off a little feeling of weariness. It was as if he wasn’t a hundred percent sure of his own answer.

“Huh …” I said lamely, not having anything to really add to that reply. Maybe sometimes it was just best left alone, even if I wasn’t sure that Shining was being truthful. Maybe it was one of those times that, despite all prior instances, I needed to trust him. It would be interesting to see how that would work out.

As we reached the bottom of the stairs, I heard a few shuffles from above or at least on the deck above this one. It didn’t explicitly sound like hoofs but I didn’t really know all the sounds that those could make, so I could probably just chalk it up to inexperience. Either way, I shrugged it off and instead looked around the massive space.

It was… well it basically was a large room with a rather surprising amount of boxes stacked around them. I walked curiously over to one that seemed to be half my height. I gave it a tentative push only to find it move with ease. They must keep these boxes after each use, if possible. It would make it easier on resources than constantly building new ones, though I didn’t expect all of them to be empty.

I mean, the room was completely full of boxes, stacked nearly to the ceiling with them. There was boxes larger than me, boxes my size, boxes half my size, and so on. I felt sorry for the pony that would have had to take inventory of the place.

“You coming or are you going to make love with the boxes?” Shining called back to me from his position far ahead.

I actually chuckled slightly at the comment, it looked like he was finally learning how to make a joke! The pony was too serious all the time and it was a little bit heartwarming to see him crack a joke, mainly because that meant I was influencing him more and more. Maybe one day he would be less of a tool and more of a decent person… pony… whatever. Though I still had to get him back for the boxing incident.

As I proceeded to walk to his position, I noticed that he was currently standing beside a box of impressive size. The front of it had been removed via… a crowbar? Shining was currently holding a crowbar in his magic, which honestly worried me. I hesitated, while staring at it but was able to breathe a sigh of relief as he let it fall from his magic. Yeah, I wouldn’t be trusting magic anytime soon.

“Alright, this is the box that we will be shipping you in. As you can see, there are multiple holes drilled into it, so that you can actually breathe. As well, it has a little bit of packing on the bottom of it, so you’re not too uncomfortable,” he said, motioning to each part.

“Did you worry about comfort last time?” I asked him with a raised eyebrow.

“Shut up …” was all he replied.

I simply smirked at him before turning my head to look over the massive wooden box again. I reached down to my side, pulling my helmet up before slipping it on my head, securing the face mask portion in the process but still focusing my attention on the box. It would work for what we needed to do but there was a sinking in my gut nonetheless. I knew that feeling for I had felt it before, it was a feeling that said one thing and one thing only; something was going to go wrong. I looked briefly at Shining, snapping my fingers to draw his attention to me.

“Something wrong … we shoul-” I was cut off by a loud yell.

“Subdue the human!”

I spun to face the entrance way that we had originally come from, and to my surprise, the door way was completely blocked off by four armoured gryphons. Each one of them looking exactly the same, yellow hawk like legs in the front and goldish-brown lion legs in the back. I couldn’t tell anything more for all of them were wearing a silvery grey armour on every part of their body. Their wings weren’t flared out so I couldn’t see them but I figured they weren’t covered. In retrospect, I don’t know how I didn’t hear them coming down the stairs… something was up.

The armour was rather familiar in how it looked, the overlapped plates of what looked like steel along with tassels at set intervals and designs, as well as what looked like a red undershirt really made me wonder why it was so familiar. Moving to their helmets, it looked closer to a complete steel facemask with only their lower beak not concealed. That meant that ever their neck was protected by plates, while a few feathers were sticking out of the top in what looked like a mohawk.

In my short moment of assessing what the gryphon soldiers looked like, I had completely neglected the sounds from behind me, and that was a big mistake on my part. Even a Ranger can slip up, and this was one of them. As a result I was currently face down on the wooden flooring, all the while thanking my luck that I had remembered to put helmet and face mask on. I couldn’t see them because a claw or hand … whatever, was shoving the back of my head straight down with enough force to prevent me from turning it sideways. I could only assume that there was currently a gryphon or two sitting on me because it felt like my ribs were going to break, what with all the weight pushing down on me.

“What is this outrage! You have no right barging in and tackling him to the ground like that!” Shining was yelling above the commotion, trying to reason with the gryphons I figured.

“Actually, Prince Armor, we have every right to do what we are currently doing,” a second voice replied to Shining, and I could tell immediately I didn’t like whoever that was. They sounded too close to Korbut in how they spoke, and may whatever their god was help them if they tried to pull the same stunts as Korbut.

“Quintus,” Shining said with all but a sneer, “I didn’t realize that the King ordered the bordering of an Equestrian ship!”

“He didn’t, Prince Armor, we have stepped up our security detail in a major way, but this is not the place to speak about such things. Instead, may I inquire as to why you were trying to smuggle a human into The Gryphon Empire?”

“How do you know what Artyom is?” Shining said, with nothing but confusion in his voice.

“Is that what it calls itself or did you name it, Prince Armor?” Quintus said before a moment of silence came about. Whatever happened during that time was out of my sight, since all I could see was wooden floor, but Shining must have conveyed something to him for he started speaking again, “I apologize, Prince Armor, I didn’t mean to insult, but this is a rather interesting situation that we find ourselves in.”

“‘Interesting’ doesn’t begin to describe it Quintus,” Shining said before a brief pause. “Am I correct in assuming that you won’t be letting him go anytime soon?”

“Unfortunately for your ‘friend’ that is correct. At the moment he is considered an enemy of the Empire and as such will answer for his crimes,” Quintus said, much to my disbelief. What crimes had I ever committed in a land that I had never been in? That bird was a quack if you asked me.

There was a long pause before Shining spoke again, “I will be taking this up with the Emperor and Artyom will be released, Quintus.”

“If Emperor Galba deems it so, then who am I to question, Prince Armor? In fact, how about I escort you to him. We wouldn’t want your friend to be executed before you can appeal, now would we?”

With a snapping sound, I was hauled quickly from my face down position and before I could ever get a single glimpse on what ‘Quintus’ looked like, a blindfold was wrapped around my helmet. At first I didn’t care too much since I still had access to all of my weapons if need me, at least that was the truth for a few seconds.

The moment that the blindfold finished being tied, a multitude of things happened in quick succession. First of all, my hands were bound together, behind my back, by what seemed to be rope, at least based upon the feeling of it tightening against my wrists. Secondly, I felt each of my weapons being pulled from their spots, leaving me completely weaponless. That even included the shoulder straps which, based upon the two clicking sounds, were unhooked before being taken from me. I suppressed my urge to fight back, my life was in Shining’s hooves, since we couldn’t afford to cause an international debacle… or at least that was how he put it.

Whatever caused those Gryphons to subdue me had to be linked with the fact that they also knew what my weapons looked like. Of course, the deep thought could be saved for later, especially when I could get in some good name calling.

“Может сейчас преимущество у вас, курицы, но вы погодите, придёт время и вы у меня попляшите...”

“I’ve been wondering what that language was …” Quintus said, trailing off at the end. I was going to continue but his words struck a chord in me. Something was completely off here, and Quintus knew about it. Lucky for me, Shining also seemed to pick up on the slip up by Quintus.

“You know more than you are letting on, Quintus,” Shining said.

“Guards, move him to the castle dungeon and keep him separated from the rest of the prisoners. Try to be discreet, and lay off on the beatings this time, he was with a foreign Prince after all,” Quintus said, ignoring Shining’s statement.

Without a moment of hesitation, I felt arms wrap around my own bound ones as my captors began to drag me off. That also meant that they were going to drag me up a few flights of stairs … oh joy.

“Don’t worry, Artyom, I will fix this mess,” Shining called from behind me, and for once I was actually hoping that he would keep his word.

*****Perspective: Shining Armour

As I watched Artyom being dragged up the stairs, a thought arose in my head. He was way too calm for what had just happened, which meant he either knew a way to escape or he was actually trusting me. I had no clue which one was a scarier thought.

“Aren’t we going to leave, Prince Armor?” Quintus asked.

I turned to regard the gryphon, gazing sharply at him. He wasn’t anything special in terms of gryphons. His armour covered up the majority of his bird half, but that didn’t mean much. I had learned much from the multiple talks with the Gryphon Empire that I had attended. One of the things that I had learned was the different breeds of the important gryphons. Quintus was an eagle mix, much like the Emperor, but his feather colouration was less pure in terms of the whiteness. The brown coat of his lion half was also darker in colour, as was his beak. It could be said that Quintus just got more sun than the Emperor, but that would be a tasteless and offensive racist joke.

“I need to grab my stuff …” I said, trailing off as I was slightly lost in thought.

“No need, Prince. We will have it delivered to the royal suite as soon as possible. In the mean time, we should go meet with the Emperor while he has free time,” Quintus replied, moving towards the rear entrance of the cargo deck, the same entrance that the Gryphons used to sneak up on Artyom and I.

“Yes, let’s go see Emperor Galba and get Artyom out of the dungeons,” I said as I shifted my focus back to Quintus. “Maybe while we are walking, you can explain to me a few key points you are holding back.”

“I do not have the authority to explain to you what you so desire, Prince,” Quintus said in his trademark even voice. That gryphon could keep a steady tone no matter what he was doing, and I had to admit it was an admirable skill. “I have to say, Prince Armor, you are keeping a rather calm temperament despite your friend’s incarceration. I would think that most beings in your place would be furious by now.”

We had cleared the stairs that left the cargo deck and were about to climb the stairs up to the main deck. Just like the other side of the ship, there was a set of stairs that bypassed the other two floors and instead went straight to the cargo deck; why a pony would design a ship with such a thing, I had no clue.

“It’s taken some practice, but I have learned how to contain my emotions, a skill that few have. In fact, I am currently utilizing it to keep me from teleporting you to the bottom of the port,” I said, holding back a snarl.

“It is admirable that you are showing such great restraint,” chuckled Quintus, an obvious jab at my character.

I let my vision move from the slightly obnoxious gryphon to the rest of the ship and the docks as we departed. Most of the ponies were doing a duty of some sort while the passengers just lazed around. Those lucky guards must have won a lottery or something to be able to play the passenger role. The one thing I did notice out of everything was the lack of care that the guards gave about what had just happened. There was no chance in Tartarus that they didn’t see Artyom being dragged, or flown, off the ship so why were they so nonchalant about all of that? I would have to start a little inquiry into the Admiral’s crew and see if there was a leak in information. Of course, that was something to do when we weren't currently holed up in Ostia.

It was silent for a little bit as we moved across the recently placed bridging, allowing us to move onto one of the actual docks. I had been to Ostia before, and had seen the many splendors the place had but there was always one thing that got to me. Where did they find all of the stone to make everything? And by everything, I literally meant every single building and piece of infrastructure, minus the odd cart and stand. Sure the mountain must have provided a good portion of the stone but even then, there was far too much for, such a vast city, it to have come out of one mountain.

The dock we were standing on? Made completely out of stone, and it wasn’t a small dock either. It had to be at least a hundred meters in length if not more, and that was just one of the docks! The port city was massive and contained eight dual sided docks, so whoever thought up the plan to build this, must have been slightly crazy. I mean, Baltimare had more docks, roughly twelve, but they were made out of wood. Extremely sturdy wood mind you, but wood nonetheless.

I shook my head to get my thoughts focused, I had to stay on task and get Artyom back. If he died, my task would end, but that would be something I would never live down, whether it be from Celestia, Twilight, Cadance, or … sigh … even myself.

“Since you won’t willingly tell me anything regarding what just went down, you might as well tell me how everything else is going,” I said, not bothering to look at him, instead opting to gryphon watch instead.

“Is that an order, Prince?” Quintus said, sarcasm lacing each word.

I merely rolled my eyes at him, I knew full well that he was trying to get me to say something stupid to him or even force something upon him. The bastard was sneaky and he knew it, but at the same time, when not being a total dick, he could be your best friend and most valuable asset.

“Aside from what I can’t tell you, Prince, The Empire is doing rather well for itself, all things considered. Of course, it hasn’t been long since we last had a global meeting so nothing much has changed since then. Though I’m pretty sure your Princesses’ spy network could probably tell you more than I could,” he said, rolling his left claw at the same time.

“Don’t toss me in with that, Quintus. You know I am always straight up with you. I respect the Princesses and their word is law but I’ve never been a fan of shadow warfare,” I said, a deep frown crossing my face. “The Crystal Empire tries to stay out of that, as we are still establishing ourselves properly, even after two years.”

He simply nodded at my response, he knew I couldn’t feed him a lie about such things. I might be a ruler and still a Captain under Celestia, but I had a personal honour code to abide by. Part of that code was to forgo ‘shadow’ acts or stuff of subterfuge … I was an honourable pony!

The moment I brought up my honour code though, I began thinking. Wasn’t what I was doing for Celestia a ‘shadow’ act? I was working behind the back of Artyom by giving reports to Celestia and trying to guide him along paths that she saw fit … great, now I felt sick just thinking of myself.

“Some Senators have been getting more and more restless lately. A little bit of it is due to the recent developments, but most just want Galba’s head. They see him unfit for rule and wish to impose a Senate oriented government, no head of the snake per say,” Quintus said, his voice dropping to hardly above a whisper.

“Really? I always knew them to be aggressive, but to be so outspoken lately? How can they think Galba is unfit?”

Quintus shook his head, “Senator Lucius is leading the ones against him. They want the nation to expand, grab land to the north as well as expand towards Zebra territories. It’s a shame that they are actually getting a rather intense backing from the people … well at least the idiots.”

“It’s always those who do not know much …” I started, trailing off at the end. “Celestia actually had a rather large opposition for a while, way before we were born though. They often called her unfit to rule, always delegating task, so on and so forth. She patiently waited them out in the end …”

“Sounds like you are losing confidence in her, starting to question as well,” Quintus offered, yet continuing to look ahead.

“Maybe … but that is neither here nor there. For now, let us focus on getting to the palace in one piece,” I replied. I wasn’t that worried about something happening, really. Ostia was one of the safest places to live in the world, mainly due to the major military presence, but something could be said for security. Surprisingly enough, they didn’t lack any freedoms either, unlike the minotaurs who sacrificed freedoms for security.

“Well, that won’t be much of a problem since the palace is right ahead,” Quintus said, motioning his right foreleg towards the massive structure in front of me.

I was certain that, I had paid attention, I would have noticed every aspect of the roads we walked. The vendors on the side, the random people passing by, and nearly all of the stone houses that were decorated in some sort of fashion. I had also noticed the lone undercover bodyguard that was following us roughly eight meters back and to my right. Yet, somehow I had missed turning into the grand square in front of the palace.

The place was … well massive would have been the right word. The front of it was a massive open building that had to have stood over thirty meters high, if not more. The roof was of a simple triangle shape but, once more, the size of it made the thing seem marvelous. Ionic pillars lined the front of the palace, eighteen in total with at least four meters in between each one. I had studied some architecture back in post-secondary, so I knew a little bit about structures.

If the docks had captivated my attention, this palace have stolen it completely. That, of course, was just the main hall to the palace. The rest of it was built into the side of the sole mountain in the area. In fact, it was eerily similar to how Canterlot was made. Here and there you could spot towers built into the mountain, one could most likely assume that the majority of the palace was in the mountain, and they would be right.

That was another odd thing, considering the gryphons are a species that are dedicated to flight. Why would they built inside the mountain was beyond me, and I couldn’t even get a straight answer from Quintus. I swear he would purposely feed me wrong answers just to get a little laugh at my expense.

“Well, Prince Armor, shall we go see the king?” Quintus had stopped a little in front of me.

I simply looked back down to him before nodding my head. I needed to carefully plan my words out or the whole journey would be at risk. Lines were starting to connect, all I needed to do was see the whole picture and I could make something out of it… maybe Artyom could help me persuade them. That human could be an important key in his own freedom.

Chapter 18: To Sway an Emperor's Mind

I’ve seen Artyom writing in what looked like a journal on the ship, which made me think. How long had he been keeping it? What was he writing about? Was it even a journal? Maybe … maybe I should keep one, just so somepony would actually believe this crazy story. Though I doubt that they would believe my writing any more than what I say. Though, if swaying the Emperor’s mind is possible, which Quintus said it is, than maybe there might be others who would believe this adventure.To Sway an Emperor’s Mind
~~~~~(Thirty minutes after Entering the Palace)Perspective: Shining Armor

“Currently the Emperor is in a meeting with a local merchant who has brought forth an interesting proposal to his attention, though you don’t want to hear about that, do you Prince Armor?” Quintus asked his usual rhetoric question, and I didn’t even bother to answer as he continued on anyway. “He’ll be ready to receive you in a few minutes. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable on one of the fine couches here?”

The moment Quintus finished gesturing to the couches behind me, he turned on his back paws sharply before heading through the large doors to the throne room. They shut as soon as his tail cleared the doorway. I wonder how many times a tail had gotten caught thanks to the guards who closed the doors.

It was a slightly humorous thought and I couldn’t help but lightly chuckle at the possible absurdity of such a thing happening to Quintus. That gryphon would chew the guards out shortly after his cries for help were heeded.

Sometimes I didn’t give Quintus enough credit, and I knew that too. He had worked hard to become an advisor to the Emperor, and not through shady political means either. Despite his natural affinity for playing the political undertaker role, Quintus was once much like me, a soldier in their nation's Legion. We had even been stationed at a joint outpost for roughly a year before the outpost was shut down, and it was there that we had become friends quickly.

Back then though, he had shown much less honour and tact than he did now, but even gryphons have to change for the better. Celestia knew, I was much more different now than when I was fresh out of Officer’s training. I was eager, excited to change the world, a true go getter, and a pony that would have never been so wary of new ideas…

That was a cruel joke to play, mind. Yet the truth would always hit like a train, and it would always leave one full of emotions. Guilt was the only one, and I couldn’t deny how big it was. I had treated Artyom like complete shit for the first little bit, and no matter my reasoning, I was stepping far past the line of being wary, and into the territory of downright hostility.

My ears drooped as I continued to contemplate how I had acted for the most part. Sure there was moments of me shining a more positive light towards him, but overall the message I had been sending was quite clear; I didn’t like him. But that wasn’t right anymore … now that I had actually taken the time to get to know him, despite it being a ‘suggestion from Cadance.’ Maybe, if I returned to my true roots, I could come to think of Artyom in a truly positive way, and maybe earn the right to say that I understand the magic of friendship.

“You still alive, Prince?” Quintus’ voice spoke up from beside me, stirring me from my thoughts.

“Yeah … just thinking about something,” I said, trailing off at the end, which Quintus picked up on.

“You sounded wistful there, something on your mind?” He asked, a concerned look on his face which caught me a little off guard. I didn’t vocally respond, instead shaking my head to answer ‘no.’ “Despite what you might think, Shining, I do care for those who I consider friends, so, if you need to talk, you know where to find me.”

That, was not something I expected from Quintus, but then again could I even say that I expected something from Quintus in the first place? His calm demeanor hid his true personality, and he was a wild card at best; always unpredictable.

“Thank you, Quintus. Now let’s go see the Emperor,” I said, hopping off my seat, and proceeding to walk past Quintus. He just nodded his head, for once not having anything to say in return. I didn’t care though, for I had more important things to worry about.

I had to steel my mind for what was about to happen, since the next few moment would be the deciding factor in what happens with Artyom, as well as general relations between the Gryphon Empire and the Crystal Empire. Emperor Galba was a cunning Gryphon and would undoubtedly have ways to try and influence my stance on what would happen to Artyom, so I needed to plan ahead of him. My first step had to be to find out what the hell was happening that the Gryphons even knew what Artyom was.

My thoughts were halted as what looked like the ‘merchant’ from before hoof walked through the doors to the throne room, the look on his face a curious one at that. It was a mixture between a scowl of displeasure and a cowering face filled with fear. Whatever happened during the meeting wasn’t something I wanted to see in pony, whatever it was that happened.

I noticed that Quintus had a small smirk on his beak while watching the merchant make his methodical retreat from the palace. Undoubtedly Quintus knew what had happened, or even had a part in the result of the little discussion.

“Your turn, Prince Armor,” Quintus said before stepping into the great hall. “Announcing Prince Armor, Co-regent of the Crystal Empire.”

I had done this enough with Cadance, that I knew what should happen after being announced. My legs moved without having to add in a second thought, propelling me forward at a nice even pace until I was at the foot of the throne. I swept my right foreleg across my left one, forcing me into a deep bow as a sign of respect for the Emperor, though I wasn’t done yet. To finish the little show of respect, I gave him a sharp salute before lowering myself into a sitting position in front of the throne. It was a show of submission to the Emperor, one that made sense, yet was a degrading thing to do for me.

“Ahh, Shining Armor, it is nice to see you again,” Galba started, speaking in a rather elated tone. “How is your wife doing? Not worried about her precious husband, galavanting across the world?”

Galba sound very amused today, and perhaps that was a good thing for me … or perhaps not. As per the status quo with Gryphon Emperors, Galba was the standard by which gryphons were judged. His feathers were the purest of white or the perfect colour of brown, with neither of them having any sort of discolouration or odd tinge to them. His feline half was a exact mix of gold and brown, while his talons had an almost shimmering yellow hue to them. His steely golden eyes watched over the room like a bird of prey, which happened to be the perfect descriptor for the Emperor.

Now, despite his pristine look to him, the Emperor was not one of those elitist types that was brought up with a silver spoon in his beak. No, he had come from a line of Emperors that had only gained their throne via proving themselves worthy of succession. To do that, they always served in the military, starting from the lowliest of ranks which forced themselves to prove to others that they should be a leader. Galba was no different, and though he served before my time, I had heard many stories speaking about some of the acts he had done while in duty.

Galba though, had not been the successor of the throne originally. His brother Altair had passed suddenly, leaving Galba as the next successor in line for the throne. A rumour had been spread around that Altair had been murder by Galba, but their was no definitive proof of that ever having happened, so it was shortly dismissed, even though a few of Celestia’s ‘inside’ sources had adamantly stated it was the truth.

That was the past though, and I had more than a few things that needed to be dealt with in the present.

“Emperor Galba, it is a pleasure to speak with you again, even if it is under undesirable circumstances,” I said evenly, not showing much emotion aside from a false smile. “Cadance trusts me to return home safely, and hopefully with company.”

Galba smirked slightly before leaning his head on his right talon, that was balled up, while the rest of his arm was positioned on the throne’s arm rests. “Now, now Shining Armor, we are both of a common status, why not drop the honorific? Though you may keep trying to flatter me if you wish.”

Oh, he knew why I was here, but he wanted me to show my hoof first and I refused to fall so easily into his trap. “So, Galba … I assume Quintus has informed you as to why I wished to have a meeting with you.”

“Aww, so direct, Shining. Whatever happened to the small talk? Has it truly become a forgotten art?” he asked, feigning displeasure for a moment before a smug grin grew on his beak once more. “Well, Shining, your assumptions are indeed correct, though I fail to see as to what importance the human is to you.”

I was going to interject, but Galba had only started, and I knew that he was going to come down hard with his next statement.

“It’s not like a valued ally brought an enemy of state into our lands, and trying to smuggle it in no less. Now, if you were perhaps unaware of such a thing aboard the ship, than maybe we could just leave it be and have the human executed for both of our pleasures but that is not the case no is it?”

My right ear flicked at that, as I refused to let him gain any significant ground against me. “Galba, while you are right that the human was in under my presence, I fail to see how he is classified as an ‘enemy of the state.’ In fact, he has never set foot outside of Equestrian borders until this day.”

Galba just proceeded to roll his eyes at me, lifting his head off of his talon and proceeding to stretch upwards slightly. As he finished his little stretch, he slowly descended from his throne, proceeding to walk down the carpeted steps before stopping right in front of me. After a few more seconds of silence, he spoke.

“You are trying to say that your Princesses have not heard of what has been happening in my lands?” he said, raising a claw to his chest.

Being this close to Galba, I only began to realize that during his tour in the Gryphon Legion, he had gotten more than a few scars. Multiple cracked lines traced his beak but also seemed to be downplayed a little, probably through some sort of makeup. The leg leading to the talon he had on his chest was cut up in many different ways, scars zig zagging up and down the leg. Undoubtedly there was more covering his body but I stopped focusing on his appearance, instead being forced to listen to his words.

“How dare you blatantly lie to my face, pony!” Galba shouted nearly at the top of his lungs, which, luckily, didn’t have the same capacity as Princess Luna’s. Now, proper protocol dictated that if one party started shouting, the other party could shout as well. “How dare you walk into my home and start demanding things, when all of this time, you and your Princesses have been keeping a tighter watch on us than your own country!”

“I’m not part of that anymore, Galba! I rule the Crystal Empire with Cadance and you know it, so don’t loop me in with Equestria’s spy network. I was a soldier like you, I don’t deal with that shadow crap and you know it! I respect my Princesses’ wishes, but I don’t get involved in whatever they do! I have my own Empire to run! You took my companion and now I want answers, Galba!”

“You, want answers? You, the hardly experienced Prince, want answers? You expect to walk in here and start demanding answers for things you don’t even understand?” he asked, raising his eyebrow in the process. The minute he finished speaking, silence fell across the room for a few extremely tense moments, which was quickly broken by a loud guffaw coming from Galba himself. “You have some gall to demand such things from me, Prince, but I can see that this one human means a lot to you, in whatever fucked up way. While I am a cruel hearted bastard, I do honour comradery and the bond that is formed.”

One thing that most others didn’t know was that Galba was known to have a rather … distasteful vocabulary. His crude language was one which was handed down from his old days in the Gryphon Legion, and fostered by his love to confront others. I would easily admit to using swears in my daily life but Galba went straight from ‘tasteful’ swears, down to the bottom of the barrel in a split second.

“Now, you said that this human has been with you inside Equestrian borders the entire time … hmm, and armed as well. Maybe this can work to my advantage indeed,” Galba said as he walked over to the guard stationed on the right side of the throne, in front of one of the three doors in the room. He spoke briefly in a hushed whisper before the guard saluted and proceeded to hustle out the door he was standing in front of.

“While your Princess’ policy of sticking her nose in other beings business is only a small step away from committing an act of war, I think your presence here might actually stop one, let us walk,” he said, motioning me to follow him. Despite the arguing that had just transpired, I dared not to refuse his ‘offer,’ another one of the many cultural standards of the Gryphon Empire.

“You see, Shining, while the Gryphon Legion is proud to bolsterer the most talented troops on all of Equis, we can be outmatched; though not by weak ponies, no offense,” he said in his arrogant tone, looking to get a rise out of me once more. Galba was a gryphon after a gryphon’s own heart: direct, blunt, and always looking to pick a fight.

“Offense taken,” I deadpanned.

“Aside from your princesses, there is currently only one other race that has bested our Legion, and that is how your friend ties into this play. Your friend’s race has decided to take it upon themselves to annex one of our towns, a town that is of rather large significance to us,” he said, continuing down the hall. Just like Canterlot, the halls of this palace were decorated similarly, with intricate murals, paintings, and statues but those weren’t as peaceful as Canterlot’s.

“Woah, woah, woah,” I said, halting in my steps. “His race? Galba, are you sure you aren’t going senile? Artyom told us that he wasn’t even from anywhere we knew of, let alone this world! How could his race have invaded?”

“While I have many answers, I do not presume to know all of them, including whether or not you have been lied to,” he said with a casual flick of his claw. He was trying to force me to turn on Artyom, I just knew it. “Either way, others that look remarkably like your friend have taken a town of ours.”

“You said an important town?” I asked, pondering for a moment what types of towns would be that important, then it struck me, “A foundry town.”

“Rather astute, Shining,” he said, glancing back at me with a smirk on his beak. “The town of Usaaly is the one currently under … occupation. While one factory is usually not the biggest of deals for us, this one is especially special, you see,” he said, rolling his claw, hoping that I would pick up on it.

“Gunpowder,” I said in a mere whisper.

“Exactly. That town is the only one that currently can produce the stuff, what with a nice little mine being right next to it. Of course you already know that don’t you?”

“Cut to the chase, Galba. We’ve already established that we both have sources from within,” I said, a snarl threatening to break free from my lips.

He merely rolled his eyes at me, before stopping in front of a specific door, and from my guess, either it had something to do with what was going on, or Artyom was behind that door. Though that second idea was banished quickly, for the room behind the door looked to be more of a strategy room, but far from the one his Legion actually used. How could I tell? Aside from a map, a few drawings attached to a bulletin board, and two guards, there was nothing else in the room. Hardly an operations center, more like a room for visitors.

“Of course, we can’t allow you inside the Legion’s headquarters can we, Shining. No, that would be bad form for a gryphon of my position,” he said as he moved to one side of the map that was situated on the lone table in the room. Dear Celestia, the room was completely barren, the Gryphons really didn’t care much for making their ‘guests’ feel comfortable. “Now, Shining, while I would love to have your ‘friend’s’ head on a pike to give a nice rallying cry for the soldiers, I think there is a better solution to this. One that hardly involves Gryphon lives in fact.”

Yeah, that wasn’t a good sign.

“Now, it would be unfair if I was to disclose my ideas prior to going over it with my generals, but I figure I can leave you to view this information here. Just, imagine, Shining, you will be helping the Gryphon Empire kept its sovereignty intact, and strengthen the bonds between our nations. Of course, that is if this doesn’t kill you!” Galba said with a laugh before walking out of the doors, the guards following behind him before taking their positions outside the door. Hardly a moment passed before he looked back in, “oh, and when you are done, the guards will escort you to the guest room prepared for you. Feel free to take those copies by the way, we have better ones.”

I didn’t even have time to nod or get in another word before he disappeared once more, off to do whatever crazy work he had to do. Seriously, that gryphon was a psycho on good days; I couldn’t fathom what he would be like if he was ever truly mad. I shook my head slowly, trying not to go too deep into trying to figure out a being more mad than Discord.

I turned around, focusing on collecting the tidbits of information that Galba had left me, which from the look of it was hardly anything. First was the map, that would be my starting point.

The map was a complete representation of Usaaly from above, though the houses were nothing more than black shapes that most likely depicted general size. The town was surprisingly large, and would be closer to being labeled a city than anything. On the western side, the town was made up entirely of houses or stores, it wasn’t clear on what they were. There was a few larger buildings but they were most likely warehouses or something for storage. It was surprisingly close to how Ponyville was made up though, with each building having a small back alley road in between and behind them.

The town wasn’t extremely spread out but the spacing would be a problem for infiltration since there was so many opportunities for ambushes. The town would be tough to take, even with an army. All one would need to do was put in some key roadblocks and an entire unit could be boxed in easily. That of course was the west side; the east side was entirely different in how it was comprised.

The entirety of the east portion was made up of buildings that connected to a massive factory building. A massive rectangle, roughly five times larger than any other building, took up the middle of the complex. Connecting rectangular buildings surrounded it much like a parapet surrounding the top of a tower. The map showed lines connecting these buildings to larger one, maybe walkways, it would be tough to tell without actually seeing it.

After gaining a general understanding of the layout of the town, my focus shifted to multiple red circles and X’s that were scattered around the map. There was notes beside them written in Common, which was a written language that every nation used in order to keep common ground, despite most nations being able to speak Equestrian. The notes mentioned ambush points, encounters with the enemy as well as…

I felt a little bit of my breakfast coming back up, as I read one notes that was next to a circled X. My god, how could these other humans do such a thing?!

“‘Encountered completely burned bodies of civilians, burned alive,’” I read the first line of the note out loud before moving to the next line underneath it, “‘Civilians with dismembered body parts … hatchlings included.’”

I shuddered visibly, withholding the bile coming back up out of my stomach. What these humans did was beyond despicable, and these were the same that Artyom came from? I shuddered a few more times imagining the sheer barbarism that he must have saw each day. Was he like that? Was there a chance that maybe he would be capable of such things?

As much as I hated to admit it, I was starting to actually see him in a good light, the man not doing anything to keep my original hate. This though … no I couldn’t jump to conclusions, I had to find out the truth. Cadance had asked me to keep an open mind with Artyom and not be so headstrong regarding him, I would abide by her wishes.

I tore my eyes away from the map, using my magic to roll it up without even looking at it. I kept it hovering in my magic as I looked over to the portraits that were on a pinned on the bulletin board. They were sketches made up from who knows what, but they were nearly perfect representation of what others of Artyom’s kind would look like, at least that was my guess. Besides the three drawings of the human, there was a couple sheets that also had rough drawings of different types of gear. I somewhat recognised most of them but the one that stood out was a near perfect drawing of the weapon that Artyom had used back in the tunnels.

My face paled at that, maybe Galba was telling the truth after all. I needed to talk to Galba again, and Artyom as well. My mind was starting to piece together the idea that Galba had, and the direction it was headed was not a pretty one. I needed to think, but not here; but rather back in the room I had been given.

I took the pictures with me before walking out of the doors. The guards instantly flanked me and directed me down a hallway towards what I knew was the guest side of the castle. Things were horrifically wrong here, and I only hoped that Artyom could survive till I had a chance to confront Galba again.

Chapter 19: Welcome to The Gryphon Empire Part 2

Normally I wouldn’t go without a fight, but this was a situation that was a little too delicate for me to instigate some sort of international crisis, since I needed the help of the ponies for now. I didn’t need to be told by Shining that I needed to present myself as non-violent around the gryphons, but in the end it didn’t matter. As I sat in a cell, waiting for my fate, I could only hope that Shining had proven his worth and was on his way to free me. Though, if it came down to it, I could always improvise.Welcome to The Gryphon Empire Part 2
~~~~~(Ten Minutes after Shining’s Meeting)Perspective: Artyom

For what it was worth, I wasn’t overly surprised that this happened. Maybe it was a lack of confidence in Shining but if that was true then why would I be hoping for him to find a way to bail me out? No, I think it was due to how similar the Gryphon Empire sounded when compared to the Red Line, except adding a little bit of xenophobia to the mix. Either way, I just had to keep calm and have my nerves under control. If it truly came down to it, I could easily bust my way out, for these guards looked like they had hardly seen any true combat.

The cell they put me in greatly contrasted the one that the ponies put me in. That cell was rather well kept, a decent bed, and even had good room service. The cell that the Gryphons gave me was battered pretty badly, yet somehow it still looked sturdy enough, but I was not a demolitions expert so maybe I was wrong. Either way, the cell was a veritable hell hole that really could have used a cleaning; there was still blood splatter left over from whoever was in the cell last time.

My stomach growled lightly, begging for a little food seeing as I missed breakfast instead being dragged off the ship and straight to prison cell. Though I could easily hold the hunger back for a little longer, for I had gone through longer periods without food. Maybe my stomach was starting to get spoiled, what with all the normal meals I had been having over the past… week? Yeah, it had to be close to a week now.

One full week spent in this completely upside down, backwards, inverted, and all the other words that had similar meaning, world that was something straight out of a kids’ book; kind of. Yet, it only took a week for me to just start accepting things are routine. Was that a sign of me being adaptable, or was it a sign of me having gone completely off the deep end? It was such a tough question to answer, truly.

Speaking of which … there was something of importance that I was forgetting, something that had to do with questions. I thought deep and hard for a second before dismissing it, whatever it was, it was obviously not important enough for me to remember off the top of my head.

One thing that was important, was how the Gryphons somehow knew what a human was. They didn’t arrest me because I was some unknown species that they thought was a danger, no. There was something else going on; they had specifically called me a human. Perhaps there were actual humans living on this planet that Twilight didn’t know about? Something that the Gryphons wanted covered up for some reason? Would they even be sentient, or maybe they were something like that one western film about apes. So many questions, and yet so little time to ponder them.

There was that nagging feeling again, the feeling as though I was completely missing something obvious, but once again I dismissed it casually.

If I ever got out of this place, would I at least be given my gear back? Who knows what ridiculous laws this place had. Maybe they would claim them and try to reverse engineer them? Now that would be a nightmare for the entire world, especially considering how warlike these beings are. Not to mention the fact that they can fly! Jeeze, that would be one hell of a combination as long as they weren’t on the other side though. Of course, even with reverse engineering, it would still take a while to actually be able to perfectly manufacture a weapon up to the same precision as the ones I was carrying.

Though, I was kind of regretting carrying a Kalash 2012. I mean, it was a great gun and probably one of the best assault rifles in the Metro, but there was one gun that just suited me better. I could fight face to face, just as well, if not better than most people, but I preferred to keep it stealthy. The less people who see me, the less that can call for reinforcements. I had seen the VSV-94 used by a few Spartans but never thought much of it till I actually got my hands on one, from the body of a dead Red Line soldier. That was my perfect weapon, without a shadow of a doubt.

A weapon that was already silenced, not to mention there was attachments to add to it, as well as the sheer precision of each shot. It was as if the bullet flew in a perfect path each time I depressed the trigger. I was pretty sure a happy grin was growing on my face from just remembering how that weapon handled. If by some luck I ever got my hands on one again, I would never let it go, having already given one up right before D6. Of course that would entail me getting out of this strange world first, but how? That was the key question.

Gah, there was that word again and the nagging feeling it brought with it. Why did it keep bringing up the feeling of me forgetting something.

Then it hit me, as if a light had been flicked on inside my head, or as if I had just been granted the answer to life. I let out a soft ‘oh’ out loud in realization of what I had been forgetting. It was so painfully obvious and yet I was oblivious to it entirely.

“Could you repeat question?” I asked, a smirk crossing my face.

“You know what the fucking question is!” roared the gryphon in front of me. His claw backhanded me in the face, attempting to persuade me via beating me senseless.

While I wish I could have said that he hit like a little girl, that gryphon could actually hit hard and unfortunately they had been smart enough to take off my body armour before. So, in the end, I was sitting in a blank, grey room that only contained a few items: a chair, a light bulb swaying from it’s cord, this unnamed gryphon, and me.

Now, normally I wouldn’t taunt my ‘torturers,’ but it was funny to watch him rage at me, and I had grown tough enough since that one ‘minor’ beating while being held captive under the Red Line, that his hits weren’t hurting too badly. Key emphasis being on ‘too badly.’ Besides, I wouldn’t have the answers to his questions anyways, and in the end he would just keep beating me until I was just a bloody pulp. Though his questions were giving me a nice insight into what was happening.

His first question had been ‘why was I on that ship?’ Of course I answered truthfully but it wasn’t the answer he was looking for, it would never be the correct answer. After that he tried to find out why I was in Equestria in the first place, throwing around the accusation that the, and I quote, ‘ponies were working with the motherfucking apes at the factory.’ Of course I had no clue what he was talking about, and my answer of why I had been there was not sufficient enough for him. From there he tried to get troop numbers, weapon specs, and intel that went straight over my head since he never gave me any context to work with.

The gryphon walked behind me for a second, fading out of my field of vision for a moment before he suddenly returned. The reason for his return to my field of view was because he yanked my hair back and down, forcing my head back until I was looking upside down at him.

“Answer. The. Fucking. Question,” he growled, punctuating each word. “What do you need the factory for, and how are the ponies involved?”

I tightened my face for a brief moment before spitting into his face, followed by a brief answer, “I don’t know what you speak of, курица.”

He looked at me for a brief second before letting my head snap back into a more normal position, though somewhat lolling around the front. I looked up just in time to see him pulling a fist back to strike me, but thankfully was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. His head turned backwards before lowering. He fully turned his back to me, looking over his shoulder at me one more time before proceeding to walk to the door.

If my hands and feet weren’t bound in rope as well as being cuffed together, I would have tried something; even if they were just bound in rope I could have tried something. Yet, unfortunately, I was completely immobile aside from my head and some small wiggling around that I could do.

The moment that the gryphon opened a door, I heard some faint whispering but nothing I could really make out, I think there might have been a little blood dripping into one of my ears. It felt a little painful and I knew the gryphon had used his claws to cut me a little on the side of my head earlier. The faint whispering ended swiftly with the gryphon, who had been beating me, walking out of the room and the door closing behind him.

So, I was left to me own devices until he came to try and beat me even further, which I figured wasn’t very long since the door opened up again, and rather swiftly might I add. Though this time, it wasn’t my interrogator that walked through. Instead it was two different guards, and they seemed to pay no direct attention to me. It took me completely by surprise that they were slowly undoing my ropes, and even unlocking the cuffs that were around my ankles. Though, while one did that, the other held a sword to my throat to ensure I didn’t try anything.

“Walk, human and don’t stall,” the one with the sword at my throat said before shifting to a position behind me, though the sword remained pressed up against my body. Being stabbed in the back was not something I wanted to experience, so I listened and began to follow the other guard out of the room.

The moment I got out of the room, a bag was thrown over my head, ensuring that I couldn’t see where we were going. Great. I got to stumble and walk awkwardly to the next place where I would be beaten. This country was just a bag of fun that was dropped into a pit of spikes. Now, the only thing that could make it worse would be having to walk blindly up a set… of… stairs. My train of thought slowly came to a halt as my foot bumped up against a ledge before the bag over my head was temporarily removed, revealing the only way my day could get worse.

“Я ненавижу этот мир,” I muttered before begrudgingly taking the first of many upward steps.

*****Perspective: Emperor Galba

“Now, now, Maximus, you must keep yourself calm,” I said, my neutral face giving no indication to the small amount of glee I was feeling from seeing my brother all flustered from the human. “You mustn’t let him get to you like that.”

“That’s easy for you to say, Galba! You weren’t trying to get answers out of him! Let’s see you try to open a safe that won’t crack!” Only in private company, guards were fine as well, I would allow my brother to speak to me without the honorific in front of my name. He was my brother after all, despite how often we were at each other's throats.

“Perhaps you are using the wrong tool, younger brother,” I said, as I looked through the enchanted glass, watching the guards sit ‘Artyom’ down on his seat, facing the mirror and the table in front of him. The guards then proceeded to put another chair down in front of the empty spot on the table, adjacent from Artyom. After the eventful meeting with Prince Armour, I figured that it was high time to see how correct he was in the events that transpired prior to their arrival. Of course, a human corroborating a story to save their own necks was expected.

Maybe, the right approach was to see what he knew of the other humans first, before moving onto his own story. I was no interrogator, never trained in an art that was lost among the Legion, but that didn’t mean I didn’t pick up on methods that could be used to get prisoners to talk. Maximus used the most crude method, but, in the end, it would get results. There was something about this human though, something that indicated that he wouldn’t let a little beating break his spirit.

He didn’t fight back when the guards attached shackles, that were connected to the table, onto his wrists instead of the cuffs he had been previously using. There was no worry of him going anywhere, the table was built into the floor of the room and the shackles were made of pure steel; I was told that for a typical prisoner they were quite heavy.

“Take a rest, Maximus, you are looking awfully tired. The bags under your eyes are starting to show. Maybe you should catch up on you sleep,” I suggested to him, without even glancing his way. I knew my brother was still at my side, it was his tendency to get close to me, whether it be from his job or because of some ulterior reason, I didn’t put much thought into it.

“I’m not leaving you to deal with human by yourself, brother,” he said with almost as sneer as if he was upset at me for taking away his prisoner. “I’ll come in an-”

“It wasn’t a suggestion, Maximus,” I said, still keeping my eyes off of him. he and I both knew that my word was final in the end. With a sharp salute he walked off, most likely muttering curses under his breath. I did eventually give a glance to my brother before he fully disappeared from the hallway. It was once said that he and I were basically twins, except I showed an age which he had yet to acquire. If I was to fall before my rightful time, he would be able to sit himself on the throne without much backlash, and it would be easier on the populace for he looked so much like me … of course those were also reasons to keep him closer than any enemy or friend.

I continued to stare at the human, who seemed to be staring right back at me, for a few moments before letting off a small laugh. I turned and slowly walked to the door before giving a small tilt of my head to the guard. He simply saluted before opening the door and moving out of the way.

I strolled in without a care, not even bothering to look at the human, before taking my place on the chair across from him. I continued to avoid eye contact of any sort, instead shuffling myself a little in order to get myself comfy.

“It probably hasn’t been said yet, but welcome to the Gryphon Empire, human. I can’t say that I am sorry for how you were brought in, it is how we deal with enemies of the Empire, after all,” I said, finally looking up at him though with a cocky grin spread across my beak.

“Much like Red Line, ” he replied. I didn’t show it visibly but I felt a nice wave of euphoria pass over me at his mention of these ‘Red Line’ humans. One of the humans, from the group who were currently occupying Usaaly, had said those two lines as well. Perhaps Shining was right, and if he was then one of my many plans was going to go off without a single hitch.

“Red Line, you say? Now, why does that sound oh so familiar … .” I pretended to think about that statement for a few seconds, taping my beak with a single talon. “Ah, yes, I remember now. There was a human, different from you, lankier by all means and missing and eye, that had said that line but he spoke our common language much more fluently. Of course his words were nothing more than daggers coated in honey. Can you tell me, Artyom, do you know this man I speak of?”

He simply looked at me in shock for a few moments, which admittedly set me back a little. I liked to believe that only two beings could read faces better than me, and both of those were near god-like. The face that Artyom was showing displayed true shock that could only come from a being that had been given a revelation that would rearrange their entire outlook on something.

Of course, at the same time, it helped answer my question of whether or not Artyom had any connection to these other humans. I could, almost without a doubt, rule out that Artyom knew about these other humans being here, let alone had any dealings with them since their arrival and takeover. The fact he knew of them meant something else entirely. While it didn’t fully take away the option of scapegoating him for the masses, it made another option that much more appealing.

“Red Line is here?” he asked, sounding almost out of breath.

“From what they claim, it must be true. Though … it sounds like you know of them. Please do go on, explain to me how you know of the humans that have attacked my people,” I said, my voice growing colder, which was nothing more than an act.

One thing Maximus had been right on, was that this human was rather tough to crack, but beating and threatening death were two entirely different things. So when he refused to tell me, instead choosing silence, I knew that I could bring out something to put a little shock into him.

“Of course, you could always be silent and instead rot in here for months before we finally decide to remove you head for crimes that you may, or may not, have committed. You see, Artyom, I am the one who makes the rules around here, the one who has the power over your life right now,” I said with an extremely cocky but also sadistic grin. I slowly rose from my seat, leaning over the table slightly before speaking again, “Wherever you are from, you might be free to do as you wish, to pretend to fly freely like a little hatchling, but here … here you are my bitch. At this moment, and until you leave the Gryphon Empire, whether it be on foot or through your soul, you will be at my mercy. So you can either decide to enlighten me on your little activities with these other shit eating humans, or you can continue to be my bitch until death takes you.”

The human looked thoughtful for a second, his eyes never leaving me, and the glare that he had picked up halfway through my little speech, didn’t fade either. For a brief moment, I was ready to remove myself from the chair and walk out of the room, leaving him to waste away in there. That chance was quickly removed as he finally decided to speak.

“Knew before I come here … before Equ-Equestria,” he said, stumbling over that word. “Not from here, here as in planet. From different planet, far unlike this … far darker. They try to conquer place I live in, try but fail. Others and I fought them, killed them … killed ‘selves to protect.”

“Killed yourself? Now how is that possible if you are right here, talking to me in the very room?”

He simply shrugged his shoulders, keeping his own emotions in check. He rolled his hand a few times, as if trying to find something, before deciding to speak, “Unsure, pulled lever to blow up D6, saw life before eyes, felt nothing. Woke up in forest in Equestria … not much more to say.”

I stroke my claw across my chin a few times, taking in the information that Artyom had told me. There wasn’t much to be said about his arrival, but it was almost eerily similar to what that Red Line soldier told us. Of course that specific soldier didn’t give us anymore information after that; his head was too attached to a pike overlooking Usaaly. If this was indeed all that Artyom knew, and if his hate for the Red Line was strong enough, he could be a formidable asset. A light went off in my head, a plan forming as I continued to look at Artyom, oh yes, he would be useful.

“Now, Artyom, your compatriot, Prince Armor, hasn’t deemed to tell us why you are even in my lands. Perhaps you can enlighten me?”

“Not until free,” he replied, crossing his arms over his chest. A daring move on his part, but I couldn’t help but commend his skills at negotiating. Most of the others that sat in his position would be forthcoming with the info, which would negate their usefulness shortly afterwards.

No, this human would be an invaluable asset to me in reclaiming Usaaly. His knowledge of the faction there, let alone his own armaments would be just a fraction of his use. The other parts would be something he couldn’t understand, something he didn’t need to know, though maybe a small hint of it couldn’t hurt. In fact, that was what I intended to do, and it would play out perfectly in my favour.

“I can see that you are much more well-read than the others that have been in your position, Artyom. Because of this, I am going to be a little more straightforward with you,” I said to which he simply nodded in response. “You dislike this Red Line as much, if not more, than I do, and I think that we can help each other out.”

“How so?” he simply asked, his left eyebrow perked up in interest.

“If you perform a small task for me, than you shall be allowed to go about your business in the Empire, as long as my subjects are not at risk of being brought to harm, which I assume they will not be. Am I correct in this assumption?”

He simply nodded at me before moving as to speak, but paused shortly after as if he was reorganizing his thoughts. “Once I see Shining, we will tell reason.”

I gave a small smirk at that. “I’ll hold you to that. Now, we will discuss the specific details in depth once we meet once again with Prince Armor, but for now, I think after the treatment you have received from my brother you deserve to know a little bit of the plan. You see, Artyom, I need someone who can infiltrate into the city and provide a little bit of intel for our forces.”

He frowned visibly at that. “How could I do better than gryphons?”

I proceeded to rise from my seat, moving to the door as if I hadn’t heard his question. I looked back over my shoulder as I prepared to exit the room. “That, Artyom, is for you to figure out. Now, the guards outside here will show you to Prince Armor’s chamber once they unlock your restraints.”

As I exited the door, I nodded to the guards who gave a look of reluctance before moving back into the room. They had heard some of the stories that came back from the numerous probes into the Red Line , and were most likely hesitant to even let a human walk without being chained. In a way it was a little bit commendable, but if they went against my orders, they would find the punishment to be worse than letting Artyom walk around.

I laughed silently to myself, it was amazing when a plan could form together so seamlessly. It would be oh so easy for me to sit back and watch as everything played out, and best of all, it would kill two birds with one stone no matter what happened. If the human and Prince Shining die, than I get Equestria’s backing to wipe out the Red Line. If they succeed and the Red Line is wiped out in the end, they are out of my feathers and I will soon be more powerful among the senate than ever before.

I held my knowing smirk during my entire walk back to my chambers, I had to get ready for the Senate meeting in a few hours. Actually … so did Shining and Artyom, they would learn about the exact details with Usaaly one way or another, and this way I wouldn’t have to brief them myself! I made myself a mental note to write down instructions for them once I got back to my chambers. Shining had attended a senate meeting before, but the sight of Artyom would spark a lot of hate and unneeded misdirection. No, there were better ways to involve him, and I knew of one that would work the best, including testing a new enchantment!

Oh this was becoming such a great week!

Chapter 20: Cut-throat Politics

The Emperor … he acts much like Korbut did, concealing his true desires behind a mask. To let me go so easily and then invite Shining and us to see their ‘Senate’ in work … it makes me question everything about him. His actions and motives are not what worries me though, it is the presence of the Red Line. Why are they holding the town? Who is leading them? The most important question, though, is how did they get here?Cut-throat Politics
~~~~~(Three Hours Later)Perspective: Artyom

“Как такое возможно? Это же должно быть невозможно?” I muttered to myself under my breath as I walked right behind Shining, who was also following someone. The guard led us to the area which was marked for exclusive guests. Thus, it was safe to assume that there were multiple occasions where a diplomat, or some other being of importance, would attend a senate meeting.

Of course, I don’t think it was common for a diplomat to be followed around by a seemingly invisible escort, that if seen would scare countless unexpecting gryphons. Yeah, it was a safe assumption that this would be a first among gryphon history. I know it was a first among my own personal history … at least, the first time to be the follower. Perhaps it could even be considered ironic that I was now the follower instead of the one being followed.

Maybe I just missed the Little One.

Either way, no matter how much I tried to reason it out, there was no explanation for this, except for the one that Shining gave; “enchantments.” He explained them briefly to me, along with the ‘enchanter’ who gave us the amulets. The ones that we wore were prototypes that the Empire had been developing in collusion with the Equestrians. It was an, and I quote, “invisibility matrix that allowed light to bend around the target in a perfect manner so as to present the illusion that there is nothing there.”

The reasoning behind that was sound but at the same time, light didn’t work in a such a way and it would have adversely affected the user, at least that was what my basic knowledge in biology and science told me. When I had looked at him with a look of complete disbelief, he instead used the lamest excuse, “it’s magic.”

That was my amulet at least; the one that Shining wore was an amulet that actually revealed any beings that were trying to use the amulet I had on. Of course, only he could see me while I still remained completely invisible to everyone else. Yeah, it was like I was reading a story completely full of convenient plot items and holes. Now though… now I was living in it.

I sighed inwardly, giving up on trying to make sense of this world once more … why did I even bother to try? I should have given up long ago, when I first met the talking ponies. Life would have been so much easier on my sanity to just have gone with the flow and not give a care to what was happening. If only I had taken that path … maybe then I wouldn’t have ended up following a grey gryphon guard and a white pony prince to a seat to watch nearly a hundred gryphons shouting at eachother. Maybe I should have just stayed in bed that day, instead of following Khan to meet Miller about the Little One.

So we sat, separate from the rest of the senate, patiently waiting for Galba to finish this so we could converse on more important issues; namely the Red Line. I frowned at the thought of those bastards taking over an entire city for their own gain or the possibility of them committing atrocities. At least in the Metro we had adequate means to make the fight even, here though …

“Ah, Prince Armor! I didn’t expect you to be joining us for our senate meeting,” a new voice spoke up from in front of us. I didn’t miss this Gryphon turning the corner right in front of us, I was just surprised that he would even address Shining. Of course, based upon his looks, there was a chance he was a gryphon of some importance. His feathers were a dark grey, nearly black in colour, while the fur of the rest of his body was a brown that was teetering on the edge of being red. He wore interwoven fabrics, much like the Roman Senate would have worn, but his was pure white aside from a few badges strewn along it. “It is a rare thing for the ponies to be willing to partake in our affairs. Perhaps Galba’s showing his weakness, hmm, and reaching out for help.”

“Lucius,” Shining stated with a little bit of venom to his words. He didn’t even try to keep up the small talk, instead trying to walk around the already obnoxious-looking gryphon. It seemed the gryphon wanted to converse more, though.

“Oh, don’t be so hostile, Prince Armor. Don’t tell me you don’t have some essence of friendship in you?”

Shining just glared harder at Lucius, not wanting to make an attempt at a rebuttal or speaking in general. From this I could tell that Shining didn’t like Lucius in any way shape or form, even more so than what I originally figured when Shining did in fact spoke to him.

“Quiet, today, hmm? Well, I must be going Prince. It has been wonderful to converse with you, even if it was for such a short time. Perhaps we can discuss more pressing issues over tea?” It was as if the gryphon had a smirk glued to his beak. The smirk never left, not even when he started to walk away.

While he walked past us, Shining gave a brief look back, along with a rather nasty scowl to him. Normally I would have just asked him my questions right away, but since we were trying to be stealthy and not seen or heard by others, I kept my mouth shut. Though it seemed Shining was rather willing to keep his mouth closed as well, not bothering to even say a word about Lucius.

The guard that was leading Shining eventually turned left into a secluded hallway, before leading us up some more stairs … what a freaking joy it was. Finally he stopped before a door, raising his right claw to make as though he was ushering us into the room. Thankfully, the guard knew I was behind Shining or he might have closed the door in front of me. Shining moved to the left taking up one of the two seats in the booth, forcing me into the one on the right side of the booth. Not that I was complaining, for the seat was surprisingly comfy. I didn’t really get much time to speculate on the chair though for a deep bellow rose from the floor in front of us.

“Stand and bow before Emperor Galba Alexius!” The unseen gryphon called out.

I looked around the senate floor first, taking in what it looked like. Aside from almost all of the structural; aspects being of stone, it was a semi circle in design. There was a second balcony that seemed to mirror the one that we were currently sitting on, but aside from that there was really no second floor to the senate. The now standing gryphons sat among sections of two desks wide and about ten back; twelve sections in total made for a rather large amount of gryphons. There were carpeted pathways separating each section which led to a podium in front of all the sections, so I assumed that they must take turns on going to the front to speak.

The tables in front of each Senator was surprisingly made of wood and so was the massive concave like table that sat in front of the podium. There were three chairs there, so maybe they were advisors or something to Galba. It was tough to assume their true purpose aside from just basing it off nations from my own world.

Now I quickly glanced over to Shining to see if we needed to stand, not like it mattered to me since I couldn’t be seen. He continued to sit patiently in his seat, eyes focused forward but his head slowly leaned towards me. He paused for a second, as if he was waiting for something.

“All Hail The Emperor!” Came a loud chant from the entire Senate.

In that split second, Shining spoke up. “We’ll discuss later. Focus on this, Artyom.”

“Ладно,” I said in brief reply. he nodded his head before returning to his previous stoic position.

In those few seconds that I had paid attention to Shining, I missed seeing where the Emperor entered from. Instead, I was treated to him standing in front of a rather simple, yet large throne. If I had to guess, he most likely had a more public looking throne. Of course, this was an assumption that medieval perceptions could be used in this land. One throne for the masses and diplomats to see, the other intended more for practical uses.

In front of the Emperor sat three gryphons, all of them looked of closer stature to Galba than the rest; advisors maybe. Off to Galba’s right silently stood the same gryphon that had tried to force information out of me. It would seem that he was someone important … that just spitting in his face even more worth it. A little off to the side, yet in between the senate and Emperor, sat two more gryphons who had quill and parchment ready. Huh … note takers of some kind, I couldn’t remember the exact word for them.

“Be seated,” Galba said, his voice resounding louder and far clearer than I would have thought … the answer was probably magic though given the design of this place, he could just be using some good acoustics.. “Let it be known that despite Prince Armor sitting in attendance, the Senate will not be restricted in matters. Quintus, who is first?”

There were a few rather loud mumblings that took place after Galba announced Shining’s presence but soon settled down. The gryphon who was sitting in the middle of the three that were positioned in front of Galba looked through a list in front of him before clearing his thought. “Markis Breaker of Highmain has the floor.”

A white coloured gryphon made his way to the podium rather quickly, perhaps the issue was of actual urgency. The moment the gryphon reached the podium, he put his claws on the marble looking furniture before he began speaking in an amplified volume. “Thank you, your highness. The town of Highmain would like to bring attention to the recent proposal to construct a second marble mine. The original mine is showing signs of instability as well as running low on marble and a second one is needed to help supply the empire.”

Galba’s wings ruffled slightly before he spoke up. “Yes, I have looked at the proposal and so have my advisors. You have one week to bring about a plan for the mine, in which you will present it to us once again. Clear?”

“Yes, your highness,” the gryphon said before stepping back and bowing. He made his way back to his original seat. Galba looked down at Quintus who had been waiting for approval to move forward.

“Clara Pontis of …” Quintus’s voice drowned out as I tuned out this pointlessness. I never really dealt with politics and if what was happening was anything like politics from back home, than I had no reason to try and get involved. In fact, I remembered something that Khan had told me a while ago, regarding politics.

He said: “A representative of the people is necessary for their voices to be heard. Unfortunately, more often than not, their voices are drowned out by the bureaucratic nightmare that is backroom politics. What people see is a show, while the real deals are made in private. Deals that benefited those of power more than those who worked to keep a normal life. Of course, that was in the old world, Artyom. Here in the Metro there is no room for bureaucrats, for guns and strength are the only real players in a political game. While the system hasn’t improved, I must say that the Metro’s way is better.”

I asked him why, and he just smirked before replying. “Because now … we have the guns as well.”

My reminiscing was cut short as I felt a little nudge against my leg. I looked over to Shining who was still staring ahead, but he seemed to sense that I was looking at him. He didn’t even look at me before speaking in a hushed whisper, “I know you were not paying attention, Artyom. If I didn’t have a rather large stake in such things, I would be in your position as well.”

“What did I miss?” I asked.

“Not much. Clara brought up the idea of possible expansion in sport funding. Jalak Sharp inquired about the release of their national budget, and finally Pol Lop gave a brief report about a Gryphon and Pony colony that was settled on a newly discovered landmass to the south,” he said. It was actually a rather impressive feat that he conveyed all of that with barely moving his lips. It seemed that Shining could play the secrecy game as well.

I was about to say something when a particular topic was brought forth from a red gryphon that seemed a little bit worse for wear when compared to the others; possibly a former soldier. “Emperor, I would have addressed the growing situation in Usaaly but with the pony Prince here, I wil-”

“No, you will speak what you intended to say,” Galba said as he sat up a bit straighter in his chair.

“As you wish, your highness,” he said with a little bow. “Emperor, may I inquire as to what your plans are to deal with this ‘human’ acquisition of our town? It has been over two weeks since they invaded Usaaly by surprise, and so far there has only been a few weak hearted attempts at taking back the town. So, I restate my question, what are you plans to deal with the situation?”

“My plans, Senator, are going ahead as scheduled. The Legion will have the town back in Gryphon claws soon. So how about you sit your pretty feathers down and turn you attention away from something that isn’t of your position.”

Now, at first I thought the gryphon would turn tail and run back to his seat. Galba was making it clear that going down that path of questioning would not be healthy for the current senator. That thought was soon proven wrong as things got very interesting.

“Oh, give it up, Galba! We all know that you have no plan!” A familiar voice spoke above the mumblings. The identity of the specific gryphon was confirmed when Lucius stood up and made his way to podium, a handful of fellow senators following him up there. “Every single gryphon in this room knows that as long as you sit on the throne, Usaaly will still be in the beast’s grubby paws!”

“This is out of-” Quintus rose from his seat to quell Lucius.

“Shut up, Quintus,” Lucius said, “you are a pathetic excuse for a gryphon, allying yourself with such a feeble hen.”

“Now, Lucius, I wouldn’t be going around throwing insults that you yourself are a prime example of,” Galba retorted back, not willing to let Lucius get to him.

“Then grow some fucking balls and take charge, Galba! Of course ... we know you won’t; that seat has made you grow soft! You were indecisive when the ‘humans’ just suddenly appeared and attacked Usaaly. You sat back and watched as civilians died, refusing to act swiftly enough to save one of our most important towns! Then you had the gall to claim you had everything under control shortly before sending a pathetic excuse for a counter attack! You have blood on your claws, Galba, the blood of innocents!”

“Don’t speak of blood with me, Lucius!” Galba roared as he rose to his feet, standing up on his throne. “I have fought and bled for this country, before taking my rightful place and leading it to become one of the largest superpowers on this planet! I did everything for the people while you, Lucius, have murdered your way to get to where you are, and don’t play the innocent act.”

“We do what we must, Galba, but at least the lives I took, made this empire better! I took action when it was called for, unlike you! Our so called, ‘ruler’ who can’t even protect one town from a group of beasts. No, instead you must bring in those who you grovel before, you sun worshipper!”

A collective gasp went around, much to my surprise. I glanced over to Shining, who just had an eyebrow raised in curiosity. It would seem that even he was intrigued by why they gasped at that statement.

“You have no idea what game you are playing, Lucius. Step out of those robes that you think are too small, and you will be crushed. Mark my words, Lucius, each step you take now could very well be your last!”

“I’m not going to try and convince you that you’re weak. How about I bring in a survivor of the attacks,” Lucius said, giving a sharp whistle. From the pair of doors that were directly connected to the middle isle, limped a wounded gryphon. Some bandages were wrapped here and there, while some were darkened by blood. The coat of grey was tattered and unkempt, which would suggest that he hadn’t groomed in a while … at least that was a good assumption.

“This is Caldus, a member of the guard stationed at Usaaly. He fought the humans, killing a clawful before being forced to retreat with his squad as the beasts pushed them out of the village. The rest of his squad was wiped out while Caldus barely managed to escape,” Lucius said, bringing up a fair amount of mumbling from the rest of the senators. “Tell the senate your story, Caldus.”

“M-My contubernium was taken surprise by the beasts, coming from out of nowhere. They attacked hard and fast, killing many Legionaries as well as civilians with those small cannons of theirs! My Decanus was hit in the first wave, so it was up to me to rally the rest and lead the assault.” he said before taking a pause to let loose a small coughing fit.

This had me focus a little closer on the gryphon, as I just felt that something wasn’t right with that gryphon. The coughs just didn’t make a lot of sense and sounded fake. There was something else though … I was sure that I had seen him before.

“We managed to take down about five of them before they focused their attack on us. All we could do was to stand our ground but they overran us. We all tried to retreat but they caught the rest of the Legionaries. I was lucky that they overlooked my hiding spot … but I can’t forget how they just walked up to the gryphons they captured and just cut their throats. it was horrible!” The gryphon quickly broke down crying, and he was a decent actor at that, I was positive.

“You see, Gryphons and Gryphonesses, this brave gryphon had more guts than our leader! If I could, I would make this gryphon our leader and rid our country of this impure lineage! With a cowardly Emperor and an impure heiress, we need a new leader,” Lucius shouted, gaining a few nods from the senate.

I don’t know if the rest of assembly picked up on it, but I almost see Galba’s eye twitch at what Lucius just said. His wings ruffled a little more before he hopped down from his throne, taking his time to walk around the places of his advisors. He stopped right at the front of the advisors wooden bench, eyeing up Caldus for a second.

“What was your rank Caldus?”

“Optio, y-your highness,” he said meekly, I couldn’t see his eyes from my position but I was almost sure they were looking away from the Emperor.

“Ahh yes, and because you were an officer, I take it you knew the chain of command in Usaaly?”

“Yes, sir …”

“Can you tell me who was in charge, Caldus?” I think I saw Lucius visibly shrink a little at this question. Yeah, there was something up.

“Imperial Legate Varstag, sir,” Caldus answered without hesitation. From this answer, Lucius stopped trying to be smaller and instead seemed to make himself larger as if he thought he won something. Galba, on the other hand, turned around and went about sritching or something at a panel on the concave desk. He fiddled with it for a little bit before speaking.

“Ah, Varstag. You see, Caldus, I have known Varstag for quite some time. Such an honourable gryphon. A true being of integrity and loyalty, but his back was always bad. He fought through the pain for a long time until it was time for him to stop trying to be a field commander. A desk job here at the castle was always open for him, though no longer is,” Galba said as he stopped fiddling with the panel.

In a sudden burst of speed, the Emperor turned around, a miniature crossbow in his claw. There was no time to react as he drew the crossbow up to eye level with Caldus and pulled the trigger. The arrow shot quickly off the wooden stock and met the center of Caldus’ right eye before the gryphon could flinch. The split second after the bolt went through the gryphon’s eye and subsequently his skull and brain, the gryphon slumped over much to the panic of every single gryphon in the room.

“I guess you didn’t see that one coming, Caldus,” Galba said coolly, as he leaned towards the now dead gryphon.

“Galba are you out of your mind! Now you’re killi-”

“I’ve had enough of you, Lucius! Varstag was replaced shortly before the attack but stayed with the Legion that is monitoring the town! His replacement was killed in the fight! Don’t you fucking dare try to pull the wool over my eyes and try to fake a survivor, let alone with a representative of your house!” Galba said, pulling another bolt into the crossbow before aiming it at Lucius. “This assembly is over! Unless you all want to see Lucius take a bolt to his empty skull, get the fuck out! I’d better not see you in this building for a long time, Lucius.”

The entire senate hustled out of the massive doors, yet it wasn’t in the form of panic. Instead, it looked more like they were all just glad to get out of the building, though Lucius was in a full blown sprint. Galba, on the other hand, watched the senators leave before looking down at the body of Caldus and the blood pooling. He looked up to where we were sitting, a manic grin on his face, before turning around to one of the guards that were starting to gather. “Clean up the body, everyone else is dismissed. Quintus, go fetch our guests.”

As I watched two guards slowly pick up the dead body, it hit me where I had seen that gryphon before. On the way to the assembly we had pass numerous doors that were a mix of open and closed. One of the ones that was open, had a gryphon that looked exactly the same as Caldus except he didn’t look as tattered then. Well, I couldn’t help but smirk at what just happened.

I don’t approve of killing unarmed men, but trying to usurp your own leader by the way of falsifying evidence deserved to be handled in a harsh way. My smirk faded quickly though ... this was too harsh though. No, there were better ways of dealing with this. I wouldn’t bring it up, for it wasn’t my place to question another culture’s methods, but that didn’t mean I would accept it as the right thing.

I only stayed in my seat because Shining was still there; yet my mind wandered as I was still trying wrap my head around the sheer amount of crazy that just exuded from this entire world. So why was Shining still sitting there? Well he was beyond shock at seeing such an event happen right in front of him. His jaw was still a little slack, and threatening to fall even further to the floor if he leaned any further forward on his seat.

“If I’m not interrupting anything, I think you both know why I am here,” a somewhat familiar voice said from behind us. I turned my head to see the gryphon who was sitting in the middle seat of the concave table. His voice though, I had heard it before.

“You were on boat?” I asked, causing him to look in my general direction since he couldn’t see me.

“Indeed, but this is not the time for pleasantries,” he said as he rolled his claw. “As you can see, things have moved forward and Galba would like to see you with regards to a certain proposition.”

This seemed to snap Shining out of his stupor, as his head whipped around at a speed that made me cringe a little. His eyes narrowed for a second at Quintus, who didn’t seem to notice, before they relaxed.

“Let us go then,” he said, a little too calmly. There was a thought that came to mind all too quickly, was there a possibility that this was more common than I thought?

“What is happening?” I asked, still trailing behind Shining as we walked along an unfamiliar corridor.

“That is for Emperor Galba to inform you,” Quintus said without looking back to either of us. I couldn’t tell if he was in shock at what happened or that he had a perfectly neutral demeanour to everything. “I hope, for both of your sakes, that it isn’t as drastic as I think it is.”

Did he really have to say that? Didn’t he realize he was tempting luck and fate at the same time. Great, thanks to this foolish gryphon anything could happen and it would undoubtedly be the worst case scenario. If my assumptions were correct, at least based upon the info from Galba, then we were going to have to fight.

Not that I was complaining, mind you. There were enough reasons to kill more Red Line soldiers ... especially if they were Korbut's.

Chapter 21: The Game Begins

The tides are moving quickly, and if I don’t move with them, I might not get what I need. The emperor has a plan, and like a pawn on a board, or a player on stage, so too shall I see what role I must play.The Game Beings
~~~~~(Five Minutes after the Senate)Perspective: Artyom

The gryphon known as Quintus had been leading us down multiple corridors, turning corners every little bit. It made me wonder just where we were exactly and how big this palace was since I had never seen the outside of it. Though that was hardly my fault, what with me being more of a victim of circumstance. At least I gained my freedom in the end instead of finding my death at the claws of some cat-bird nature remix.

Unfortunately I had to tail right behind Shining the entire time due the invisibility thing still being active, as Quintus put it, ‘for my own protection.’ I silently scoffed at that remark, if anything this was for their protection. Sure I didn’t have my weapons on hand at the time, but all I needed was a knife, and they would not stand a chance. The Reich and the Red Line found out how deadly I was with a knife.

It seemed that we had finally entered the last hallway since Quintus was slowing down as he approached a door that looked just like every other door in this palace. By that I meant they were all made of wood and carved with certain emblems that probably had some sort of cultural significance that was lost on me.

“Right, you can take off that necklace now, human,” Quintus said as he turned to Shining and presumably me.

I reached up to feel the necklace around my neck, and yes I couldn’t see it. Despite what a lot of fiction writers liked to think, I found out that invisibility made you completely invisible to everyone; that included myself. I didn’t pay it much thought after the initial shock, mainly due to there being more pressing issues, but it was a very … out of body experience to see right through my own hand among other things.

I was getting off track though, so I pulled the necklace over my head and eventually letting it hang in my hand. The moment it had slipped over my head, the ‘magic’ dissipated and I was now looking at the necklace being held in my once again visible hand. It was a nice feeling to be able to actually see myself, though at the same time I missed the feeling of being able to sneak anywhere and not have to worry about being spotted. In retrospect, though, it was amazing that not a single being that we encountered had noticed my footsteps.

I looked at Quintus who had his claw outstretched, as if expecting something. It took me a second before I realized he was silently asking for the amulet. I was almost tempted not to hand it over to him, since it would such an invaluable tool to use in the field. Of course that would have been a stupid move on my part, and most likely end with me being killed or something close to that.

“Good, now I would like you both to remember that Emperor Galba is likely in no mood for funny business,” Quintus said, glancing at me first before proceeding to Shining.

“Yeah, and that is most likely because he killed a gryphon in cold blood, but we’ll try to behave,” Shining stated bitterly, drawing my gaze at him. For a fleeting moment I was actually proud of his sarcasm.

“It is a rare occurrence I must admit, but not something that hasn’t happened before, Prince Armor. I’m not sure how well you know gryphon law, but lying to the Emperor is a crime that is punished at his discretion, and sometimes it goes as far as the death penalty. I’m sure that Galba could tell you more, but that is at your own risk,” Quintus said before moving right up to the door. With a smooth pull, the right side of the dual door opened up, letting us gaze upon what was inside.

Simply put, Galba was standing over top of table that seemed to have what looked like a map on it, though I wasn’t completely sure because the room wasn’t exactly well lit. Aside from the possibility of a map, there also seemed to be a few small stacks of papers along with a necklace of some sort. Something was going on, and it was becoming slowly obvious that not only were we going to play a part in it, but it probably had something to do with the Red Line.

“Guards, out of the room. Quintus you may stay,” Galba quick said, without looking up. The guards quickly complied with his order, pushing past us, while Quintus slowly walked into the room. Shining followed his lead and I followed Shining, before closing the door behind me because I reasoned that if he was asking his guards to leave him, then he wouldn’t want anyone to overhear what was going to be said and that with that conjecture he was going to say something if one of us didn’t.

Quintus and Shining had already gotten next to the table, gazing upon the contents, so I figured that I should do so as well. Of course when I got to the table, my suspicion of what was on it was confirmed. There was a map of what I assumed was the Gryphon Empire, though it was like I could read the weird chicken scratch that they had for writing. Alongside the map was indeed a stack of papers that held the same type of writing, and finally the necklace that I had seen.

“Now, let us begin,” Galba said first, finally looking up at us. “You don’t have to say a word to let me know that what happened in the Senate was more than a little shocking for you. You ponies have hardly had to deal with death outside of natural causes, so I’m actually surprised you didn’t up-chuck, Prince Armor.”

“I might not have seen as much ‘death’ as you, Galba, but that doesn’t make me soft,” Shining bitterly replied to Galba’s jab.

“Ha! And what about you, Artyom? You’re face is tough to read,” he said, turning all the attention on me.

“Caused more death than you seen,” I said emotionlessly. While that statement couldn’t be verified, I was indeed the reason behind a lot of lost lives. It at times plagued my consciousness more than anything else, but over time I had began to push it to the back of my mind.

“Oh? Well perhaps you can recount some of these tales of fighting when we don’t have more pressing matters,” Galba said, his voice going from a curious tone to one of dead seriousness. “Now first off, let us review what is currently known, Quintus.”

“Currently occupying the town of Usaaly, is a group of humans who are called the Red Line. They have unknown numbers and their weapons far exceed anything we can match. They have been holding the town for the past week yet have made no intentions to actually do anything with it. We have a containing regiment in place but no hostile contact has been initiated since the original take over.” Quintus said, standing at attention and speaking as though he was reading from a sheet. “There are also numerous civilians being held hostage in an unknown location, roughly half of the town is the recent estimate. That includes casualties, and missing.”

“Casualties?” I asked, my brow arching as I asked the question.

“Bodies of murdered, mutilated, and scorched civilians have been reported by the local containing army,” Galba answered for me, not a single emotion coming to his face.

I didn’t respond and neither did Shining to that statement, but I knew that there was something he was not telling us. It hardly made sense that the regiment was able to report civilian casualties in the town yet have not made contact with the Red Line since the initial invasion. Of course there was also the chance that I was just overlooking the given facts, or that Quintus had simply neglected to give us all the information regarding contact.

“Why are you telling us this, Galba? In fact, why are you informing Artyom and I specifically? Do you think we are going to participate in the removal of this ‘Red Line’?” Shining said, voice cold and bitter. It was actually amazing that he had such a tone of voice for this long.

At this response, Galba and Quintus shared a knowing look that also had a small glance towards me. I’m pretty sure that Galba had figured out that I knew what was going on and he most likely shared the little bit of information with Quintus. Honestly I was surprised that Shining hadn’t picked up on it yet, which means he was either as stupid as I was starting to think, or he was in denial.

“I’m truly shocked, Prince Armor,” Galba started, “that you haven-”

“Do you really think I am that dense to not figure out your plan, Galba? I’m simply amazed that you think I will willingly risk my life and Artyom’s, who I might add is under my protection, for something that the Gryphon Empire should be able to handle by themselves!” Shining roared while slamming his hooves on the table.

“Simply put, outside of using your friend as a bargaining tool, we can also give access to wherever you desire to go and supply you with whatever you require with regards to the reason you are here. Don’t believe us to be naive in knowing you didn’t come here for a vacation. We might not know the specific reason, however, nevertheless we are aware that there is a purpose,” Galba said calmly, yet with a sharp snap at the end.

“Deal,” I said quickly, cutting off whatever Shining was going to say as well as bringing a shocked looked to his face.

“Come again?” Galba said, a smirk splaying across his beak.

“Short of frontal attack, we will help to get help,” I said simply.

“Artyom! What are you doing?!” Shining barked.

“Shut it. My life and fate hangs here, so is my choice to make,” I replied back to him.

At first he looked to make a rebuttal to my statement but whatever he was going to say died in his throat and he seemed to stifle any further objection. Instead he backed down from his position on the table to a more restrained and demure looking seat on the floor. To this, Galba actually looked to have gained a victory or something over the Prince.

“Ahem,” Quintus said, attempting to get the meeting back on track.

“Heh, right,” Galba muttered before coughing into his claw. “The task I require of you, Artyom is to infiltrate the city through whatever means necessary. Once you have successfully infiltrated the city, there are two main objectives. The most important is to sabotage their means to fight back, whether that be via weapon destruction or assassination, we do not care. The second objective is more optional than anything but still of importance. We need you to locate where the Red Line are keeping the people of Usaaly hostage.”

“Sounds simple,” I said.

“Quite,” Quintus said. “From there you are requested to exit the city in preparation for the assault.”

“What assault?“ Shining said, his entire body perking up at that single word.

“That is not something you are privy to, Prince Armor,” Galba said. “Now that we have come to an understanding, and so quickly I might add, Quintus and I have more pressing issues. Your mission will begin tomorrow, with departure time being at four in the afternoon. From there you will meet up at the fiftieth regiment’s camp and proceed into Usaaly with a select couple of soldiers. Quintus will retrieve you tomorrow and bring you to your stuff.”

With that said Galba walked to the door, pulled one side open and walked out. Quintus was at least nice enough to give Shining and curt nod before exiting behind Galba, closing the door behind him. That left Shining and I alone in the room, total silence reigning as we just stared at the contents that were left in the room. Hell, Galba didn’t even explain the importance of the necklace.

“Are you really willing to do this, Artyom?” Shining asked, not even looking at me.

“Да,” I replied.

“There is the distinct possibility that your little journey could end tomorrow and yet you are still sure that you want to do this?”

“Да.”

“Buuuuuck,” Shining said, dragging a hoof down his face. “Right, if we are going to do this, we need a plan. We can’t just wing this and expect to come out alive, especially if they have weapons like yours.”

I simply nodded my head, knowing full well that he was looking at me. I think he was expecting me to break out some unbelievably strategic plan but in reality, I had been winging things for nearly my entire life. It wasn’t like I couldn’t form a plan, I just knew that all plans followed a certain quote.

“No plan survives first contact with the enemy,” I said to no one specific, but with Shining being the only one in the room with me, it came off as being directed at him.

“What?” he asked, his ears perking up at something that actually sounded like a well spoken English sentence.

“Shortened quote by Moltke The Elder,” I answered simply. Prior to my last adventure in the Metro, I had taken up reading with regards to war philosophies. With my life revolving around fighting, I tried to keep my personal time separate from my on-duty hours, but I guess in the end they started to bleed together.

“So does this mean we aren’t coming up with a plan?” he asked, eyebrow raising in suspicion.

“No. We are,” I said, leaning over the map on the table, “just don’t rely on plan.”

“Right.”

I studied the map carefully, noting that there was not much in terms of a terrain advantage, so the best bet we would have would be to hit an open spot in the patrols, or create one ourselves. From there, we had a couple of options, though each one posed a serious threat.

The first option would be to move straight to the factory, thus putting us in, most likely, the heart of the Red Line’s forces. The positive would be that we could easily disrupt and distract their forces with a nice explosion in that factory. Of course that was based on the assumption we could find something to blow up. The downsides, aside from a possible mass of Red Line soldiers, would be that the explosions would make it tougher to escape and we would have to coordinate with the gryphons which wasn’t likely going to happen.

Now the second option was to do a specific house selection and clear process, that aimed to search certain buildings that were suspicious. Whether that was from extra guards, or something else. This method would be tedious and more focused on finding those civilians but would also probably be the easiest to perform with regards to less risks. The only obvious risk was being spotted by patrols.

Finally the last option was a house by house search, which was already crossed off the list. Despite my oxygen supply being limited in ways, yet at the same time I could get it refilled from my companion, the biggest issue was time. Most likely the gryphons would have an agenda already in motion and we would be forced to operate within those specific regulations.

Damn, this whole task required way too much luck to make it reasonable. Of course Shining wouldn’t buy into any plan that was along the lines of ‘wing it’ so I had to make myself rather convincing in order for him to agree to anything.

“We circle around side of town, here,” I said pointing to the eastern side of the town. “Looks like hilly section so can use for cover. Must find gap in any patrol, if no patrol is there than we move quick to houses.”

Shining simply nodded his head.

“We need tall house for scout,” I said, as I stroked my chin.

“This building here, on the same side of the city Galba’s intel says that loud bangs were coming from there when they tried probing the town earlier. It is a vantage point and can see nearly the entire city, save for the few buildings on the other side of the factory,” Shining said as he leafed through a few pages of intel.

“Good, we get there and work from there,” I said.

“That’s it?”

“For now,” I replied as I rubbed my eyes. It was probably nearing nine at night, but I couldn’t exactly tell what with the lack of windows. It wasn’t particularly late but I had been feeling tired ever since I got here. Nothing that a little adrenaline couldn’t stop but it was odd that this feeling of tiredness was more apparent here than back home.

I threw the thought of my tiredness to the back of my head, I would be able to go to sleep soon enough, just as soon as we left the room. Though, that was also dependant on if Shining was satisfied enough to not question what I was doing. I would hate for him to think that I just winged most of my plans back home … nah, I wouldn’t care if he knew about that. I’ll just wait till after the raid to tell him.

“Fine, that is a good enough start ... I guess,” he mumbled, rolling up the intel in his magic. I decided not to question him on whether or not we could actually take any of the intel, just because it was easier to believe the answer was yes.

We proceeded to walk over to the doors and since I was first, I had the honour of holding the door open for the Prince. I almost snickered at that thought, instead stifling it just for good measure. Shining walked out the door after adding a small nod in thanks to me. I followed suit, shutting the doors behind me all the while noticing that Shining was waiting in the hallway, as were two guards.

“Follow us to your room,” one of the gryphons said, not exactly indicating whose room we were going to but I had a faint idea of what was in store for us.

So we walked in silence.

Followed by more silence.

Topped off with just a hint of silence.

I think at some point I was trying to make a little marching song out of the sounds of our boots hitting; I never said I didn’t like the silence. Luckily the best part about the silent walk was that not once did we have to come across a flight of stairs. Perhaps my views of the gryphons and stairs were more unfounded then I originally thought. I mean, they all had wings so why would they even need stairs? Couldn’t they just fly from ledge to ledge? Though in retrospect that would hamper non-gryphon relations and visits so I guess stairs were just a necessary thing among all cultures.

Yep, it was to a point that I was beginning to think that stairs were a cultural aspect of ponies. It was funnier to think of it that way.

“Here is your room, Prince and guest. We will be outside until shift change. If you need to go somewhere you need one of us to come along with you,” said the one gryphon guard who had more black styled feathers. The other one was more of a light brown mixed with flecks of gold.

“Thank you,” Shining said simply before pushing open the doors. I simply followed suit, not giving a single piece of eye contact to the guards.

As I stepped through the door, I noticed something about this room that I should have noticed about the other rooms. They were all made of stone. Yes, they were all made of stone and I had no clue why for you see, I had not seen anything of the Gryphon Empire aside from some hallways, a massive court like area, and a few cells.

Though it wasn’t like the room wasn’t made to look all stylized for a royal visit. There were paintings hung on the walls of random places or random gryphons and ponies. A few pieces of well made furniture compliment the paintings by being meticulously cared for and polished so that the little pieces of decorations could shine alongside in a way that it would catch someone’s eye. The stone was furnished to look as though it had just been waxed and cared for by a whole crew that had done it their entire lives. Yes, the room was something to behold.

And yet there was only one bed.

I didn’t see Shining’s face but I could tell the direction he was looking in, and that was towards the bed. No doubt he was thinking the same thing as I was, there was no way in hell we would be sharing a bed. I wouldn’t care if the world was at stake or if our lives hung in the balance and the only way to save us was to sleep together.

“I will take couch,” I said before moving to my new sleeping arrangements.

“Really?” Shining said, finally turning to look at me. I think he was in disbelief that I would actually sacrifice myself to the single, rather small looking couch that was sitting across from the foot of the bed. It was rather stylish in that the structure looked like a golden-esque wood that only complimented a red cushion that look extremely soft. No doubt I would have a nice and stiff back in the morning from sleeping on that.

“Да,” I said as I flopped down on the couch, revelling in the softness of it initially. It was truly the softest thing I had ever felt and I was a little tempted to cut a swath out of the couch just so I could keep it on hand for future reference. Of course if I did that it would be right before we left.

“I’m a little surprised …” Shining said, trailing off as though to imply that I wasn’t generous. Well, honestly I wouldn’t have minded taking the bed but I figured that I couldn’t let myself get too soft with all the luxuries I was getting thrown at me. Of course this couch wasn’t exactly the best way to re-toughen myself, damn was it ever comfortable.

I just lazily waved my hand before rolling onto my side, facing away from the bed. I closed my eyes but for the briefest of moments before opening them again, trying to force myself to stay awake a little longer. That wave of sleepiness that had crept through me earlier was finally starting to take hold as I laid on the remarkably soft couch.

My eyes fluttered slowly closed, the embrace of sleep slowly creeping over me.

In what felt like an instant, my eyes shot open, my body still facing the back of the couch so my initial sight was just a red couch. For a brief moment a foreign concept came to mind. Perhaps I had just had a beautiful sleep and I was waking up from it? I instantly denied such a thing, putting it off as perhaps the most insane thing I had ever thought of. When I awoke from a sleep it would always be a bit groggy at first, I never snapped awake. So that left only one thing, I was dreaming.

I confirmed this when I felt something nudge my shoulder, undoubtedly it was a certain person’s hand that was trying to get me up so that we could talk. Well you know what? I just didn’t feel in the mood to talk to Khan, what with the events of the previous day. SO I figured if I tried to sleep longer he would just go away.

I was wrong. No, he kept on nudging me without a word, probably to irritate me.

“Отвали, Хан,” I said wearily, “дай мне поспать.”

“Wake up,” came a hazy voice in English followed by another nudge.

“Soak your head, Khan,” I said once more, replying in English this time.

“See, I would let you sleep but we have to get up and get going, or we are going to miss out on breakfast,” the ‘person’ nudging me said.

Wait .. what?

I slowly turned myself over until I could finally see who was nudging me, and lo and behold it was a white pony that had a smug grin on his muzzle. For a brief moment I wanted to hurt him for waking me from my sleep, but at the same time I could now see all the lights were on and he was most likely speaking the truth.

I should have known I wasn’t dreaming when I heard English and instantly switched languages. In both visions, Khan and I had spoken Russian and not a single line went by where I would accidentally start in English. It was my head after all and in my head we spoke Russian. Yet, I digress, for there were more important things to focus on.

“Where’s breakfast?” I mumbled, still debating on whether or not I should go right back to sleep.

“Well since the sight of a human freely wandering the palace halls would most likely cause mass panic among those that know what a human looks like … we are having breakfast delivered here,” Shining said as he rolled his hoof.

“Right, wake me when here,” I mumbled before turning to face the couch once more.

“No can do, Artyom,” Shining said, and I could almost hear the smug grin on his face, “for you see … .”

Knock Knock

Oh, that was smooth.

“Fuck you,” I grumbled as I rolled back over. No matter how much I wanted to deny it, that was a pretty smooth thing that he had just pulled. Also I wasn’t exactly mad that he brought me breakfast, for there was a good chance that the meat eating gryphons would have some sort of meat to compliment such a meal.

He didn’t reply to my statement, instead going over to the gryphon guards who were carrying two steaming plates that were covered by a metal top. Whatever was under there was fresh, and hopefully Shining wouldn’t screw me over and get me something that was absolutely fucking hilarious.

So using his magic, Shining took the plates from the guards who simply bowed before exiting the door and closing it behind them. He proceeded to move back towards the couch, while pulling a table over as well as the sole chair from the desk that also resided in the room. One thing I had to admit, after seeing that display, was that magic made a pers … a pony, one hell of a multitasker. I couldn’t even imagine all the time they probably saved by utilizing magic in their everyday life. Imagine what the Metro could benefit from such things?

Now, despite my pondering of such things, and a plate of food in front of me, I still hadn’t forgotten what the Princesses did, or at least what I thought they did. I couldn’t exactly prove that they were affecting me mentally but at the same time I knew that some of those answers were not the first thing that would have come to mind. So, even with my temporary fascination with the possibilities of magic, I made sure to remember that it could also do things that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Such a double edged sword, it would be beyond tempting to find a way for anyone to use it.

But that wasn’t important now, what was important was the fact that the breakfast plate in front of me was holding two very delicious items.

Bacon.

Bacon and sausage.

Well, those were two of the items, what with toast and pancakes being the other two. It didn’t surprise me that eggs were not there, since that would be rather disturbing to see from a culture that was half bird.

Long story short, I devoured my meal with gusto while Shining stared and picked at his food. Now, I don’t think he was staring at the meat, but more at the fact I acted like I hadn’t had a meal in days, despite having been fed rather well on the ship.

Either way, when it was all over, I was lying back on the couch feeling quite pleased with myself, while Shining chuckled and put everything back.

“So, who is Khan?”

The moment he said that, I realized that I had told Khan to fuck off despite it actually being Shining. That left me in a dilemma of whether or not to take the time to explain the enigma that was that man. Of course that would hardly be of issue, except for the fact that it just might tie into my dreams if he pursued the right course.

So I was torn. On one hand, I needed to strengthen whatever bond Shining and I had so that our future endeavours wouldn’t run into issues of fraying our partnership. On the other hand, he had more often than not, fucked me over in some way shape or form. Though … so had Pavel.

So had Pavel.

“A friend from the Metro,” I said, sighing slowly as I tried to recall a way to describe Khan. “Taught me many things … saved my life. Look back, he was my best friend in Metro, even if I did not believe him.”

“He seemed like a good friend then,” Shining said, having taken up a seat on the edge of the bed across from me.

“Да,” I mumbled briefly, not wanting to say much more.

“What happened to him?”

“Don’t know, since I died at D6. I think he lived, though not sure.”

“Right ... sorry,” Shining said, rubbing the back of his neck after apparently remembering that I died and came here. I didn’t blame him, really. A couple of times I had woken up and instantly thought that everything had been a bad dream. We all forgot stuff time to time.

“Do not worry,” I said dismissively. I had more or less reconciled with the fact I was most likely dead back home.

It went silent after that, neither of us talking though my reason was probably not the same as his. I just didn’t like talking all the much, be it in Russian or broken English, I instead prefered the silence. Shining was most likely trying to find a way to bypass his little mistake, and move onto a different topic. At least, that was what his face looked like it was portraying.

Umm … we should probably get ready to leave,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck before standing and moving about the room. I watched him for a few minutes, seeing what he was gathering, and honestly it didn’t look like much. In fact it looked like it was more focused on him organizing what was already here instead of gathering up his stuff.

“I assume gear is not here?” I asked, just loud enough to gain his attention.

“No, the gryphons are … a cautious race, and tend to keep that stuff separate from the bedrooms,” he replied, still organizing the various items that were strewn around the room. He was the only one with actual luggage but it seemed to be rather minimal; at least I assumed it was.

“Can we go to gear then?”

“Yeah,” he said, stepping back from the sorting he had done before letting loose a small burst of magic. I reacted instinctively, reaching at the spot on the side of my leg that would normally hold my holster. Of course I grabbed nothing but air, but instantly realized that I didn't need to worry in the first place, as the magic was not aimed at me.

“That should do it,” he said with a small smirk before turning to look at me. “Security spells.”

“Ahh,” I said simply. “Warn me when I have weapon.”

He nodded before proceeding to walk to the doors, to which I followed close behind, lest I be forgotten by him. Immediately after opening the doors with his magic, and stepping outside, he looked to his right. A simple head nod to the guard he was looking at was all it took for them to understand each other, apparently. The guard made a motion with his claw for them to follow before walking down the halls.

At first I was a little worried since I had no necklace to keep others from seeing me, but Shining apparently picked up on that.

“The halls were ordered clear this morning, as Galba has been a little cautious after yesterday. Don’t worry about anyone spotting you other than us,” he said, which surprisingly calmed me a little. Maybe I just didn’t like to be feared for something that I couldn’t control.

His statement did rouse a thought, and something I had more or less been neglecting. In the Metro it was tough to keep track of time without a watch, which was no problem for me. Though, since I had arrived on this planet, I had neglected my watch more than I normally would. So I gave it a quick glance to find out that it was later than I thought it would be, in fact breakfast seemed to be more like lunch now. Twelve thirty; I must have had one really good sleep.

It was a surprisingly short walk, to which I was thankful, that brought us to what I was going to guess was the room where all my gear was currently being held. Luckily I was correct in my assumption, as I was also leaning towards this being a trap for us.

The guards merely opened the door for us, before taking up positions on the outside of the door like they always seemed to do. I took a moment to look around the room, which honestly was much closer to a storeroom that had enough room for both of us and a few tables. My gear was laid out on the right side of the room while I assumed that the table on the left side held what Shining would need. I didn’t care much what he wore as long as he could survive.

My gear on the other hand, that was very important to me. It had been out of my reach twice now, and at least the Princesses had the decency to ensure none of it was harmed. I didn’t know if the gryphons would hold the same regard for my stuff.

Thus, I began the meticulous inspection of everything before I even thought of putting it in it’s place.

Each section of my body armour and suit went under scrutiny before I decide to finally don it. This was the same for each of my weapons, magazines, silencers, and so on. Honestly, by the time I had finally assembled all of my gear, Shining had been sitting on the floor while looking of the map that he had been given. I was going to ask where he stowed the but decided it was better not to worry myself about the little things.

More importantly, I was a little ticked that the trigger on my Kalash seemed a little looser than when I had last inspected it on the ship. Now this could be due to any number of reasons but one explanation kept moving it’s way to the forefront of my mind. The gryphons had been examining my weapons. Now, while it was the most likely explanation, since it took longer than a day or two to loosen the trigger, I didn’t start fretting over the possibilities of them reverse engineering it. They would have needed a lot more time to make it work right.

Besides, they didn’t dismantle a single round. Each slug, fmj, and cartridge was intact, and the only way they could have reloaded one was to use crimpers on the metal housing to keep the round snug in the cartridge. That was another reason I took so long, I inspected each round to make sure that this didn’t happen, especially once I found out my Kalash had a loose trigger.

I had quickly looked to Shining, who wasn’t paying attention to me, after entertaining the thought that the gryphons were trying to copy my weapon. It would have been interesting to bring such an idea forward but I also realized that there was a chance I was wrong. A false accusation could go a long way … in the wrong direction mind you. Instead I just kept quiet.

So when I did finally finish, much to Shining’s delight, we simply walked to the door and got the guard to lead us onward. I think the guard might have been more than a little scared, since his legs seemed to be shaking; perhaps it was something Shining said and not the six foot one human armed to the teeth.

During the walk I actually looked Shining over to see what he had gotten, and honestly I was a little surprised. When we assaulted the tunnels he had worn this purple armour that seemed to be used more for formality than function. Now though … now he was wearing a nearly black armour that definitely was designed to be in combat. He didn’t have his helm on his head yet, as it was attached to some little hook or something beside him, but he could possibly look fierce for being a talking pony.

One thing I had to stifle a laugh at was the sword he had sheathed on his right side. It probably wasn’t a bad sword, in fact he probably had some sort of enchanted sword. No, what made me laugh was that he actually thought he might be able to use that against someone. That thing would be useless shortly but I didn’t want to spoil his fun in thinking it was going to kill someone.

Perhaps I could find him a nice Kalash to use.

“Where next?” was all I said.

“Well, it seems the only place to go now is to Usaaly,” he said with a bit of apprehension in his voice. Nervousness was something I would expect out of anyone going someone they didn’t want to.

Hell, I didn’t want to.

“Ладно, let us go.”

He nodded his head before looking over to the gryphon guard that had been with us as we moved through the halls. The guard gave a quick nod in response before making us take an abrupt left turn in order to follow him. I could only assume that we weren’t going to be heading out into the city in order to catch a ride. No doubt they would have some sort of secret escape route planned, or even just a way out in case of a threat in the castle.

Perhaps something on the other side of the mountain unless the mountain was in the middle of the city… then the only ways would be down or up. Perhaps underground tunnels that lead out of the city? They could fly but that would be easy to counter if the attacker actually had any sense. So that truly left going underground as the only option.

Not that I minded; in fact I was somewhat looking forward to it. There was a sense of peace when I was in the crystal caverns, a nice reminder of where I grew up. Of course I hadn’t actually been able to look out a window since arriving in the Gryphon Empire so for all I knew we were already under the city’s level.

After a couple of more sharp and quick turns, we arrived at another set of large doors, though these were far from the normal large doors that I had seen so far. The others had been ornate in ways, decorated in ways to make them stand out but these doors … they served a militaristic purpose.

It wasn’t tough to tell the doors apart, no gold or jewels adorning them, instead there was a metal that looked closer to iron, or perhaps titanium. I really couldn’t tell but it was obvious that whatever was behind those doors, they needed to protect or perhaps keep out of the palace.

A pair of guards were stationed on either side, each looking much more armoured than any guard that I had seen patrolling the hall. Beside the guard on the left hand side of the door was a smaller and singular version of the massive dual doors. Our escort simply nodded at the large dual doors, to which a curt salute was given in return by the gryphon closest to the smaller door.

A guard post embedded in the linings of the walls, smart and easy to seal off. These gryphons were much smarter when it came to tactics in designing places that needed to be protected.

A few seconds after the guard disappeared, the massive doors let loose a loud creaking sound before singing inwards at an incredibly slower rate. Well it made sense since the doors were probably three times my height at least, and more than seven meters apart. At least that was what I was estimating it to be.

When the doors had opened enough for me to see through, I was able to finally figure out how we were going to get to the town … and I wanted no part of it.

“No.”

“No?” Shining asked, the guard also turning to look at me.

“No flying,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Wait, how did you-”

“When being hauled away. I have good sense of surrounding,” I said, not moving my eyes from one of the many carriages that were placed in the room. The moment I saw an enclosed carriage being suited up with flyers as well as being inspected, I knew what the plan was. No matter how much Shining underestimated my reasoning capabilities, I could easily piece two and two together.

“Now, now, Artyom, I can assure you that those flyers are the best we have. Besides, it is the quickest way to reach Usaaly,” Quintus spoke from behind us. Of course he would sneak up on us at just the right time. A small tingle went down my spine, the only reaction I gave nowadays to being surprised in non-hostile areas. A lot of training went into that, and I was proud of it.

“Listen, Artyom, I know your hang-ups but if we are going to get on our mission we need to do this,” Shining said in a slightly dismissive voice. Of course he had no qualms about travelling that way, he probably had years of experience in being flown around.

I merely grumbled as I moved to the carriage, and not so subtly named Qunitus and Scowly as many things as I could think of in my native language. Nothing pleasant either, with most of them revolving around swears as the base name.

If I was going to fly in this physics breaking vehicle, I was going to get it over with a quickly as possible. So instead of waiting for instructions to be given I just marched my way inside of the, smaller than needed, carriage. Yeah, much smaller than what required me to be comfortable. There were seats on either side of the widened aisle but those were more fitted for those under five foot. So instead of trying to squeeze myself, with a hunched back, onto the seats I just decided to plop myself down at the end of the aisle. It took our ancestors years to figure out how to make heavier than air flight possible, and these beings just attached a veritable cart to themselves and would fly. No doubt there was more to it than that but I honestly did not care enough to inquire. I just wanted this to be over with so I could feel the ground beneath my feet again.

Shining hoped on board slightly after, followed by Quintus which surprised me since I assumed he would be staying in the castle. He was the right hand of the Emperor I assumed, so to see him come with us meant that there was more going on than expected. No one else followed him on as a gate was shut over the opening immediately afterwards, covering most of the only exit.

“Quintus, I didn’t realize you were coming along,” Shining said with a bit of surprise.

“The Emperor has deemed me your … handler, let’s say. I won’t be coming with you on your mission but it will make it a lot easier at the Legion camp to see you being led by a face of authority. Not all gryphons are as accepting as I am,” the bird said with a sly smirk. Honestly, this gryphon was probably holding more up his proverbial sleeve than he let on to. This whole government was probably built on lies and secrets for all I knew.

I merely pulled my gas mask from the hook on my side before slipping it over my face. We were going to be flying outside, and that meant plants and the like. So of course I wanted to breathe but apparently not everyone on board the carriage knew that.

“What is he doing? Is that a gas mask?” Quintus asked, though there was no way I would indulge him. I wasn’t here to buddy up to any gryphon, so I let Shining explain while I just closed my eyes.

“Yeah. He wears it because the air is … toxic per say. Plants apparently do something to the air that they can’t breath,” Shining explained, and by the curious humming that Quintus gave off, I knew he was thinking of something devious.

“Can’t breath the air … .”

“Don’t even think about it, Quintus. We might not like each other much but I’m here to keep him alive no matter who tries to take his life,” came the quick reply. How noble of the white pony.

“Don’t worry, Prince Armor, no harm will come of Artyom but that does make me wonder how the soldiers wander about the streets constantly. Surely they must run out of air,” Quintus pondered.

“They probably refill the cartridges using the same spells all factories do. I feel sorry for the poor chum that is forced to do that,” Shining said with a sad sigh.

“Indeed, but if that is true, then these soldiers are not as simple minded as we have previously thought.”

Now, I had a pretty decent idea why that was the case. No offence to the average Red Line soldier but there was most likely some sort of mastermind behind their operation and only one fit the bill of being psychotic enough to harm civilians. If he was there, I would make sure he was finally dead.

A loud whistle came shortly after my thought, snapping my eyes open briefly before the sudden momentum of the carriage moving pulled me back. Apparently these flier could pull some weight, since it felt akin to the starting up of the tram. After the initial jerk though, things became surprisingly smooth and I was able to lay my head back in peace.

As I closed my eyes, I realised three things. One; I wouldn’t be able to sleep since I needed to change my gas mask's filter every fifteen minutes. Two; they never told me how long the flight would be. Finally, three; I would actually have to rely on Shining more than I wanted to. He would literally be my life-line in this mission until we found ourselves in some sort of sealed shelter.

What a perfect, fucking, night this would be.

Chapter 22: Tread Lightly

So far everything has gone according to how I planned it. No major hitches yet, but how long until we finally come across something that won’t go along with what we have planned?Tread Lightly
~~~~~(Six hours after leaving Ostia)Perspective: Artyom

So in the end, I caught roughly a few hours worth of sleep, but most of the flight was just the three of us sitting in a mostly enclosed box while we flew above the ground. I was lucky that I didn’t need my filters, but that didn’t mean I liked the flying … Though, honestly it wasn’t as bad as it seemed at first, or compared to the one time a Demon picked me up. That was horrifying to experience, while this was calm and rather easy to enjoy. Thankfully I hadn’t been cursed with a fear of heights, like many of those in the Metro.

Instead I was cursed with living in a unknown and completely crazy world. Honestly, I think I would have taken a fear of heights over this any day.

For the rest of the trip that didn’t involve me sleeping, I sat at the end of the carriage, listening to the silent whistling of the air rushing by. I had been keeping track of how long it had been since we left, mainly because I had nothing else to do and I really didn’t feel like talking. One thing that I did do, during the trip was get Shining to recharge the empty filter I had used right off the bat. When that one had run out, in between switching filters I realised that I could actually breathe a little bit normally. Sure I gave a cough here and there, and I took deeper breaths then normal but it was easier to suffer through that small bit of discomfort than having Shining constantly refill filters.

As we approached the six hour mark of the trip, the I watched the sun slowly sink below the horizon, even though I couldn’t directly see it. It was at this moment that Quintus decided to speak for the first time the entire trip. Yeah, it had been that quiet.

“We are almost there, Prince Armor and Artyom. When we land, I will exit first and talk to Legate Varstag who should be meeting us at the landing zone. From there, please try to stay close. The Legionnaires will most likely not look towards you with kindness, Artyom,” Quintus informed.

I just nodded my head, while Shining just gave a casual, “Okay.” Quintus smiled at that, and probably had the first honest smile since I saw him. Not like I could tell, mind you, but it still seemed genuine compared to all the others.

“Legate Varstag will brief us on the current situation, and then give you two your gryphon detail to take into Usaaly,” Quintus continued at first but was stopped by Shining.

“Detail? You’re going to send more troops with us?”

“Indeed, Prince Armor,” Quintus said with a smirk, “we can’t risk you running away or doing something as foolish as joining the enemy.”

I think Shining’s brain broke at that accusation and instead of coming up with a quick reply, all he did was stare and Quintus with a look of complete shock on his face. At first it was comical to watch but eventually something needed to be said to Quintus.

“If enemy is who you say, then no need to worry.” My first words of the trip actually broke Shining out of his shock. He didn’t immediately say anything, instead opting to glare at Quintus for his suggestion.

“I only kid!” Quintus exclaimed with an added chuckle. “Though we always meant to send escorts with you, they are meant to be backup and not your guards.”

Neither Shining or I replied to that statement. I honestly cared little as long as they didn’t deviate from my methods. Shining on the other hand … I couldn’t tell what he was thinking but from the glare that his eyes were giving Quintus, I could tell that he didn’t like the idea of having others come with us. More numbers do slow down a small infiltration group, but four tends to be a reasonable amount. Of course I had never worked in a scouting group larger than two, especially when moving through enemy territory as part of a recon operation.

Either way, as long as things went like I expected them to, then I wouldn’t have to worry about a Major, or whatever they called that rank, coming down on me for getting his soldier killed. Honestly, I had seen multiple Rangers die during a routine mission, but not once did I have to do the explaining. No, I was just the expert assigned to a group, never the commanding officer of one.

I think Quintus was about to add something, when the flying carriage slowly shifted its front down towards the ground. It would seem that we were approaching the town, or the outskirts, at least. Six hours … hmm, not bad at all. Though for the life of me, I couldn’t help but think that there were quicker ways. Perhaps a train like the one I rode to the Crystal Empire. That didn’t matter. In fact, I hardly cared past the minor thought. All that mattered was that we were finally nearing Usaaly and I could actually stretch out my legs.

So we continued to descend, and descend, and descend. I guess we weren’t that close to the town after all. I couldn’t really be the judge of that though, since I had never flown, nor could I fly myself. According to Quintus, these flyers were some of the best, so I actually placed a little trust that they knew what they were doing.

After what felt like an hour of going slowly downwards, the carriage finally bounced a small bit as it touched the sweet, sweet ground. I wouldn’t go as far to say that I missed it but one thing was for sure: flying was not for me. I couldn’t directly control what was happening up in the air, so hopefully I wouldn’t need to do that again.

It didn’t matter. The moment that the carriage wheels were on the ground, I was already muttering my thanks for finally being allowed to stand on solid ground again. Although, I wasn’t let out right away. I was made to wait as the carriage proceeded to move in the way it was designed for … with its wheels on the ground.

So I patiently waited for the carriage to finally stop, eager to exit the forsaken vehicle. Once more I was denied my immediate exit. Instead, Quintus told both of us to stay in the carriage until he said we could exit. Probably had to pull rank on more than a few gryphons that would prefer to watch me burn instead of letting me help them. Not something I could blame them for.

On the descent, I made sure to have my mask on and a filter ready, as well as my watch set for five minutes. So Shining and I sat in the carriage, waiting for Quintus’ word that we could leave. He looked calm, which was good. I couldn’t have a nervous wreck on this type of mission; it would only lead to his death. He looked over to me, but I didn’t reply in anyway; I already had my quiet demeanor set and ready for my exit―one I had perfected so as to not give anything away to those I couldn’t trust.

“Prince Armor, you and Artyom may exit now,” Quintus said as he poked his head into the carriage to inform us. I didn’t hear him speaking to anyone before that, which either meant he was up to his sneaky ways or they had walked a distance from the carriage.

Shining nodded before getting up from his seat and casually walking to the edge of the carriage before hopping off, all in a single moment. He probably had disembarked such a vehicle before. I on the other hand took a little bit to get on my feet and slowly move to the gap. I knew that the moment I hopped out of the carriage, all eyes would be on me. I would have to stow my trigger finger for now, and instead opt to not put a bullet into anyone that raised a weapon to me.

I was right about being the center of the spotlight among the camp. Whatever conversations that had been happening, prior to my departure from the enclosed carriage, had ceased and everyone was looking at me. Fun, fun, fun. Gryphons giving me evil looks all over the place, a few with open mouths and even some that were nearly shaking in rage.

Honestly I didn’t care too much, it wasn’t the first time. Instead of paying attention to them, I surveyed what I could with the fading light. Which was not much, as the light was nearly gone behind the mountain that was apart of Ostia. I saw a few dozen rows of tents as well as gryphons moving among them. There was probably more, but I didn’t feel like taking out my Night Vision Goggles just to see them, it would just be a waste of time.

“Follow me,” Quintus said before marching off in the opposite direction of the setting sun. I turned to follow them, spying the city that was a few kilometers away. I couldn’t see too much from here, but there was no doubt that a sniper was in that tower. He would need to die.

“I’m going to brief you on the go,” Quintus said just as two guards sidled up beside Shining and I, who were walking side by side as it was. I glanced over the one on my left and I was a little impressed. He didn’t look like a typical guard, instead having an air of specialty around him. Perhaps he could be of some use.

I took a moment to look at our two added companions, and they looked like a typical gryphon to me. Dark feathers, and almost grey fur from what I could actually see of both of them. Their armor covered most of their bodies, and thankfully it looked closer to Shining’s dark armor that he had worn and was still wearing. It wouldn’t do any good against a bullet but at least it wasn’t going to give off our positions, the metal looked the farthest thing from shiny.

“You’ll have free reign of the operation when you exit the camp but your ‘escort’ will make sure you don’t leave. Learn their names or don’t, it isn’t my job,” Quintus said nonchalantly all the while leading us towards a section that was guarded by wooden towers, most likely the exit. “Once you have successfully scouted the defenses, make your way back and we will take you back to Ostia. Understood?”

“Да,” I replied, causing a few gryphons to turn to my voice. They’ve probably heard a few things in Russian. Who knows …

“Well then, here you go,” Quintus said as he waved his arm forward towards the exit. The exit that was flanked by those towers and a wall of wooden spikes, a nice touch if I had to say so.

I simply nodded at him before unslinging my weapon and walking towards the hills to the north of the city. The others joined behind me, probably a little curious as to where I was going. I was a little worried myself, though I noticed a nice little foothill maybe a hundred meters ahead that seemed to stretch around the entire city, and even lead to the small hill to the east of the city. Hopefully we could follow that hill all the way to the city.

I picked up my speed a little bit, to a light jog until we actually reached the base of the small foothill, and hoped we couldn’t see the city from behind it. Not always did the saying ‘if I can’t see you, you can’t see me’ work but in this case it did, and it would work to our advantage. I noticed one thing, though. One of the gryphons that was tagging along with us was hovering in the air―that had to stop.

“No flying,” I said as I turned to them. They looked confused at first, but I answered their question before they asked it. “Using hill as cover.”

They nodded in response to my answer, the one that was hovering touched down shortly after. Well for now, everything was going according to my, completely made up on the run, plan. As long as things kept looking positive, we would be able to get in and out of the city without a single issue. Of course, I’m not going to invoke bad luck by jinxing us. Too many failed to heed that in the Metro and never returned.

We kept low and made sure as hell we were under the crest of the hill. It would do us no good to have the top of our heads sticking out. The speed of our movement wasn’t the quickest I could hope for, but I had to make sure that they kept up without drawing our attention. Shining was the one I was most worried about, what with his hooves but if he could stay quiet in the crystal tunnels than we would be just fine along grass.

By the time we reached the part of the city that looked the most promising to access, night had fallen and we would have a much easier time sneaking. If my guess was right, not every soldier would have night vision, and that could only work in my favour.

The biggest problem would be dealing with patrols, and whether or not we should take them out. Normally it would be all too easy to remove remove a small patrol, placing the bodies in a hidden nook before moving on. Here though it would be beyond tough, too much open space and carrying them would be the biggest factors. As well as the heightened security but that was always factored in.

As I peaked above the ridge with the small scope on my Kalash, I could see a few patrols around outskirts, staying closer to houses than anything. They would most likely have the same issue as I did: clean, breathable air.

The sniper, that I figured was up in that taller building which only had a single window facing us, was not looking our way as best as I could tell. It almost made me want to dash across the open field at that moment, not giving them time to correct that mistake.

At the same time, I knew I was leading a small group so they had to be in on the plan. The burden of leadership.

“Move across field when I say,” I said as I crouched in front of them. “Stay low and tight. Silent kill if need to, hide body quickly. No trail left behind.”

They nodded silently, Shining shivering a little. Don’t pussy out on me now, you would be no good to me dead. I peeked over the ridge slowly before quickly ducking down, hiding once more behind the hill. The sniper apparently had a sixth sense, and just knew when to look our way.

My heart was beating almost out of my chest, though that was more likely due to the fact I was running out of air on this filter. So I took the brief moment to switch out filters, depositing them in second compartment of the sack I usually held them in. It was always good to keep everything sorted well; you never knew when you could fuck up because you rushed.

I counted to thirty in my head―which was how long I would take to survey a direction before switching―then peaked back over the ridge. The window was empty and the guards were moving away from their houses and our path; go time.

I quickly scrambled up the base of the hill, making hardly a sound on the grass. Oh how I would have loved to have that for sneaking around back in the Metro.

A dead sprint was something I hadn’t done in a while, and my lungs would pay for my neglect, but right now, I just had to get to the dirt path and past the guard post. I didn’t even look back to see if the other three were still with me, and I wouldn’t until I either heard their voices or gunfire open up.

I simply kept running straight up to the first house before a bend in the road, making my way up the small steps. I paused briefly to ensure I didn’t bowl over the door, instead openning it quietly, Kalash drawn in my other hand.

The moment I knew that the entrance room was clear, I spun around hoping to find the other three following in my footsteps. For once I was actually right in assuming the best. All three of them had stayed almost on my heels, and thus were in the door almost as quickly as I could turn around. Thus, without hesitation, I closed the door as quietly as I opened it.

So far we were off to a good start, and we would be able to utilize this house as a base of operations, more or less. Hopefully, we wouldn’t be too long. By that I meant more than a day or so.

During the flight over here, I mentioned to Quintus that a recon mission like that would possibly need multiple days as to ensure we didn’t get caught, and could scout out every aspect of the town. So far tonight, we had navigated only a small portion and found out a few key things.

First, the Reds―and yes, they were indeed of the Red Line―were restricted to houses so they could conserve filters.

Secondly, there was in fact a sniper in that building, and if we were going to do anything, we would need to remove him.

As the other three cleared the rest of the rooms, and ensured we were alone, I started to move to the basement, which there―thankfully―was. Once down there, I removed my mask and took a few gulps of air, just to test if we were sealed off.

Continuing on my string of luckiness, the house was sealed and I could breath without my mask again. This also allowed me to think even clearer, for there was something about all that filtered air that made me a little hasty in my planning.

It didn’t take the other three long before they found me in the basement, eyes closed as I stood in the center. A single light bulb was hanging from the ceiling, and no windows out … it felt like home.

“So, what next?” Shining asked, approaching me and tapping my side.

“Next we scout,” I said anticlimactically. They wanted something devious but we weren’t going to those lengths. Our mission was not to go above and beyond and destroy the Red Line. No, we were simply here to scout positions and weaknesses.

A small thud echoed upstairs before I could continue with what we were going to do. Instantly the group froze, while I pulled my mask on and yanked the string that would turn the light bulb on and off. A split second after we were shrouded in darkness, a faint figure appeared at the top of the stairs; leaning this way and that before eventually moving on. This was my chance to get some sort of information. I gave a small shush to the three before proceeding to move to the stairs. They tried to follow, but I immediately told them to stay.

I crept up the stairs, thankful that they were made of concrete or stone … at least they weren’t wood. The faint light that shone in through all the windows was just enough for me to utilize to my advantage. As I cleared the hallways of the door, I focused more on listening to the surrounding noises, especially the sound of two pairs of footsteps climbing up the stairs to the second floor.

I paused, checking to see if there was more than two, but no third set came so I at least knew what I was dealing with.

As I made my way to the stairs, creeping as silently as I could, voices spoke up from above.

“Вы слышали? Сергей удалены другого, что пытался летать мимо,” One voice said.

“Ублюдок, повезло в башне. Он получить все хорошие шансы! Они даже дали ему пайки и охранников у дверей. Только Корбут допускается в видимо ...” came the reply.

“Наша шанс приходит, не волнуйтесь! Мы будем двигаться, как только проклятые птицы начинают делать нам больше боеприпасов. Не волнуйтесь, они могут быть пронумерованы, но мы Красной Линии! Если Рейнджерс не может остановить нас тогда ничего не может!”

Well at least my suspicions were indeed confirmed. The two took a minute break in the conversation but all the racket they were creating from searching the rooms gave me leeway in my movement speed. The wood underneath me thankfully failed to groan as I stepped slowly onto the landing of the second floor.

I could have nearly laughed at how well they were covering my movement. They even started up another conversation!

“Я думаю что мы должны остановиться на ночь, это место даже имеет кровать.”

“Как заманчиво, как это, и, хотя мы не должны сообщать в течение еще нескольких часов ... почему я спорил?”

A loud boisterous laugh came from both of them, allowing me to move just outside of the room they were in. I peeked around the corner, allowing me to see the shape of two surprisingly average guys. After seeing some of the detail that Pavel had, I expected some giant of a man. Though in reality, they were as human as Khan and I was. They were just on the wrong side.

They both removed their masks and put them on the small table in the room. They must have sealed off each room’s windows because they seemed to breath easily.

“Вы можете иметь первые часы,” called one of them as they began to lie on the bed. “Разбуди меня в час ...“

“Хорошо, просто не храпеть, как вы делали прошлой ночью, товарищ.”

I slowly slid myself back a little bit, enough to be out of the faint light shining through the window. I almost didn’t hide in time for the soldier to walk past and place himself at the top of the stairs. I got lucky there, and this just made him my prime target. First though … the sleeping one.

With practised ease, I slid silently into the next room, feet making almost no noise on the floor. I slowly shouldered my Kalash, instead opting to go with my knife. It felt like it took me a few minutes to cross the room, and perhaps it did but it was all in the name of stealth.

The moment I was beside the bed, I slowly placed my hands over top of him, knife in the right hand while the left was poised to shush him up.

Both hands fell quickly and quietly on him, just as I planned. The left over his mouth just as quick as the knife that went through his skull. I kept the knife extremely sharp for a reason. His eyes bulged briefly, voice trying to call out but the death was near instantaneous. Only enough to get off the smallest of reactions.

I left the knife there before moving back to the guard at the top of the stairs.

The moment I was behind him, I jumped up and wrapped my arm around his neck, one hand covering his mouth. Deprive him of his much needed air.

I slowly counted down the seconds in my head, constantly watching him struggle with my grip. I patiently waited until I felt his body slowly slump into mine. The moment I felt his struggles stop, I held for a few seconds more before letting go. He’d be out cold for a few minutes at least. That would gives us enough time to get him tied down with some rope in the basement. Assuming we could even find rope, and if not then Shining has magic.

Either way, I would get some info out of him.

I had to get Shining upstairs, to help me move him down to the basement, while I took my bloody knife back. If it wasn’t for all of his gear, and the fact we were up a flight of stairs, i would have carried him myself. instead, I figured it was good to get Shining in on the fun.

It took a few minutes, but we eventually got the unconscious Red Line soldier downstairs, and into the basement, where, thankfully, one of the gryphons had already set up a chair and some rope. I guess they were more useful than I gave them credit for. Unfortunately they wouldn’t be any use in interrogation, aside from maybe beating the soldier. No doubt there were few soldiers that actually knew any English, especially in the Red Line.

When they got him tied up, I plopped another chair down, across from him. Since there was no table I flipped the chair around and straddled it, using the back to lean on. I didn’t normally smoke, but just sitting here brought up a feeling that i should have a cigarette or something. I eventually shoke that feeling off as the soldier came too, groggily moving his head back and forth.

“Добро пожаловать в мир живых,” I said cooly.

“Кто ... что … ” he stuttered out, probably still trying to shake off the induced dream state.

“Не важны для вашего выживания,” I said. “Что важно так это что вы ответите на мои вопросы.”

He didn’t answer at first, but instead slowly raised his head to look at me. He mustn’t have been able to see very well for a few moments since his eyes narrowed for a few seconds before blinking rapidly. Eventually his eyes refocused for a split second before going wide.

“Р-Рейнджерс! Это невозможно!” He nearly yelled. Did I forget to mention that Shining had experience in interrogation, and apparently knew a silencing spell? Well according to him that is true. Whether or not it worked, was on his head.

“Вполне возможно,” I said before standing and moving but a few inches from his face. “Теперь, скажите мне что Красная Линия делает здесь?”

“Я простосолдат! Я не знаю как мы даже получили здесь!” he said nervously. I was actually a little stunned, by the way most of these soldiers acted, and even by the way he spoke earlier, I expected him to be defiant and not cower.

I simply motioned for him to go on, by rolling my hand.

“T-Товарищ Корбут просто приказал нам взять город! Честное слово! Мы не знаем , почему, или даже то, что мы были c-сталкиваются ... мы просто напали ...” he said trailing off.

“Interesting,” I muttered in English before going back to Russian. “Ты убить граждан?”

“Что?! Нет! Красная Линия никогда не будет делать этого!” Clueless prick. “Товарищ Корбут положить их в один из складов, клянусь!”

“А где Tоварищ Корбут сейчас?” I asked, a little venom dripping from my voice.

“В-вероятно в главном заводе, я не видел его после нападения на Д6!”

I wanted to attack him, at least to make him bleed for bringing that up so casually. Yet I restrained myself, my knuckles curling inwards, almost painfully, in order to suppress my rage. This soldier was nothing more than a frontline grunt, and probably did the same as Shining; took orders from his superiors. Yet, despite my logic, I still felt hate for him and everything he had done.

In the end he earned his life.

“Это все?” he asked hesitantly. “Я получаю чтобы жить, точный?”

I nodded at him before turning my back to him and beginning to walk back up the stairs. “По моим руках, вы получаете возможность жить. Я не могу сказатьто же самое для их.”

On cue, the two gryphon escorts slowly moved out of the shadows that were behind the captured soldier. When the look of horror on his face started to appear, I no longer desired to watch what was going to happen. Letting my head return to straight forward, I made my way up the stairs and out of the little magically bubble that encased the room.

As I said, he earned his right to live. Only, I was not the judge in this case.

“So? What next?” Shining asked, as i closed the door to the basement. When the gryphons finished whatever they decided to do, they could easily walk out. I’m not stupid enough to screw over the deal just because I work better without added weight.

“One Warehouse has civilians,” I said, as I withdrew my Kalash. “When they finish below we move for tall building. Then warehouse.”

“Remind me again why we are going to that building? We were only told to scout the area ...”

“Mission changed when civilians are involved,” I said. I would personally see to it that not a single one of those civilians got caught. “Will send one guard back to let know. Create distraction for assault.”

“Wait, what?! We’re going to attack them?!” Shining almost broke out yelling before dropping his voice down to a harsh whisper.

“When time is right we distract, not attack,” I said slowly. I doubt he would understand the difference in what I was saying. All I needed was a set of explosives and I could create one hell of a distraction.

Shining was about to retort to what I was saying, but was cut off when our other party members returned from their sentencing of our prisoner. I didn’t want to know what happened down there. Without a doubt they had killed him, for crimes he probably didn’t even commit. For that I felt a small twinge of guilt well inside me, but I quelled it. This was not my business.

“Right. One of you return. Tell that we found civilians. Will rescue and create distraction for attack. Wait on distraction.” One of them tried to rebuke what I was saying, but I held up my hand to stop them immediately. “You don’t listen, innocents die. You listen, they live. Simple?”

That earned a glare from the one I had dubbed guard number two. The only difference in him was the lack of scar that ran underneath his eye. Guard one didn’t give me a glare, he was probably more experienced in battlefield logic, and knew an opportunity when he saw one. Guard One looked briefly at Guard Two before moving his head, staying silent the entire time, to indicate it was his duty to warn the camp.

No complaint came from the guard. Instead, he made his way to the back door of the house, before moving out of it. I didn’t care how he did it, he just needed to get back to the camp as quick as possible.

I motioned for the others to follow me to a window that had a great view of one of the walls on the house next door. Without a single thought, I slipped my gas mask back on, opened the window up, and climbed out. Somehow, and I don’t exactly know how, but Shining wiggled his way through the window and onto his hooves without making a single sound. I blame magic.

I motioned for them to follow me, and we slowly made our way down the various alleyways that the city had. Sticking to the back alleys and the shadows was our best bet, plus we could easily duck into any house that we needed to, if we needed to.

The slow moving was playing havoc on my nerves, and even though I was used to it in the Metro, this whole extremely open space and having to watch every corner was getting to me. Of course, I also used that to my advantage. The Reds would probably be in the same situation, in that they weren’t used to all of the possible directions that an enemy could come from.

To sum it up, we moved maybe a hundred meters every ten minutes, way too slow for my liking, but it wouldn’t be good if we were to wind up dead, right?

Eventually, and by eventually I meant that we took nearly two hours of sneaking, we had placed ourselves right next to that tall building, yet there was a major problem. Actually, there were multiple problems.

The first was that the building was across an open street and there was no way around that.

Secondly, there were two armed guards outside of the door, and a lock on the door. It seems that rumour from the two soldiers was correct. Actually … this could work to our advantage. I just needed the right tools for the job, namely a scope of some sort, though I could probably have hit him with what I had. The two guards only had typical Kalashes―no sights or anything.

I froze in the middle of my thoughts as a set of footsteps sounded off behind us. my first thought was that we were dead, but as I slowly turned my head around, I saw that the soldier, whose footsteps I heard, walked right past us and moved to the corner of the building opposite us.

He was taking a fucking piss.

I let out a quiet sigh of relief, before motioning to our lone gryphon to cut his throat. The gryphon smirked before slinking backwards, and behind the pissing Red. With a small flutter of his wings, the gryphon grabbed the Red by his mouth and slid the sword across his throat. He continued to struggle for a few moments before the blood loss set in, and he slipped away.

I knew that there had to be a second in that patrol, and waited patiently for the second one to come and check what was going on. I kept my Kalash up at head level, before nodding to the gryphon. he waited patiently behind the corner of the building opposite of me.

I was correct in my assumption, as not too long after, the second guard came towards the alley, telling his friend to knock it off and get back to duty. He walked too slowly for my liking but when he did appear in view, I slowly depressed the trigger, allowing a single, suppressed round to go through his head.

Thankfully, the gryphon was strong enough that when the body fell, he caught it with ease before gently placing it on the ground. The guard took the bodies and began to move them into the closest house, but something very important caught my eye.

I whispered stop to him, which resulted in a strange look before I slowly moved over to one of the soldier’s lifeless body. If what I saw was correct, then luck was not only on my side, it was actively helping me out.

I was correct.

That Red Line soldier was carrying the one thing I treasured most and sought after in the Metro, when it came to guns. I had one, but was forced to ditch it before D6. Now though … now I could use it once more, to its full capacity. Use it as it was meant to be used: infiltration and target elimination.

A silenced, two times optic enhanced, VSV.

Without hesitation, I unslung the strap of my Kalash before handing it to Shining, who was curious as to what was going on. He grabbed it in his magic, still attempting to peer over my shoulder at what I was doing. Almost immediately after, I shoved my entire set of magazines over to him in a bag.

You know how I knew that luck was with me? Whoever this guard was, he was stocked full with magazines. Eight of them to be exact. Sure that gave me roughly thirty rounds less than if I stuck with my Kalash, but this weapon not only held a personal value to me, it also had a strategic advantage.

I knew the weight of the gun like the back of my hand, and it was the only sniper rifle I would ever need. That sniper up in the building was now good as dead.

“I’ll instruct you later,” I whispered to Shining before moving silently back a couple dozen meters in the alley. If I was right, I could hit him from this alley, I just needed the right timing and angle.

Once I was in what I thought was the perfect position, which was laying back against a wall, all I needed was that sniper to make a mistake. I peered down the scope, and saw a much nicer view of the tall building, that I was starting to refer to as a tower. One specific window was open on our side, and that sniper was just stupid enough to stick himself almost fully out the window.

Honestly, it made me wonder if just about anyone could join the Red Line.

The moment my crosshairs were lined up, just above his head to account for distance and angle, his head appeared in my sight. I once more depressed the trigger, allowing for that lovely silent pop to sound off.

His head disappeared with a small jerk, his gun falling back into the window with him.

Perfect.

I slowly got up from my sitting position, and looked over to my two companions before gesturing that we should keep moving.

After all, we still had hostages to rescue, and something to blow up. I smirked at that thought; it’s just like being back home.

Chapter 23: Barn Burning