Author's Note

In case you are confused, this chapter is the same 'meeting' from the last, only from the point of view of the Zoners. I felt it would read better as a different chapter instead of just following on.

A Mediocre Outcome

Zakhar sat down, having recently filled the metal canteen and was trying to set it over the fire so that it would evaporate clean water into another, empty container. He had been doing this for the past five minutes with no useful result.

“This is pointless” he muttered.

“Just put the cap on and boil it, then it will be fine” the Stalker said dismissively

“Whatever”

“So, what do you think to our guest?” He said, attempting to keep the conversation going. “It looks fairly terrified” he mused.

“Well, it is wounded and at the mercy of two aliens. At least we have bright colours in common” chuckled the Russian. “I wonder if it's poisonous”

“Well, I'm not eating it. It looks too… human” he finished. “Though it probably does think it is our dinner”

He stroked its mane, wondering what was going through its head.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. It's not like we hurt it though, is it? If anything we saved its life!” He laughed. “Strange how animals see things”

“Yeah. Speaking of, this is the first mammal I've seen”

“How do you know it's a mammal?”

“Well, it isn't going to lay eggs is it?” laughed the Stalker.

“Fair point. I wonder if-

He was cut off though as five more technicoloued equines jumped into the clearing. Two unicorns, a white one and a purple one took the centre. Looking closely he could see that the purple one had wings too. He guessed that it was some kind of leader. Above, a rainbow haired blue pegasus hovered with its hooves in a boxing stance. The unicorns were flanked by an orange horse thing with no wings or horn, and a white stripy one on the other side. They had a formation and it reminded Grygoriy of a cartoon he saw once. Power rangers! He almost laughed, and the absurdity of the situation put him at ease. They weren't armed or wearing clothes, except the orange one who wore a cowboy hat and the stripy one who had some gold jewellery on its neck and head. Come to think of it, it looks more like a zebra than a horse.

“What the fuck are those!?” Yelped Zakhar, as he grabbed his shotgun.

“I don't know, but don't do anything stupid. Just defend yourself ok? It's first impressions that last” he said calmly. He had been in situations like this before, except the alien horses were other Stalkers. You had to show you were a threat, but not an active one else you were seen as easy prey.

The duo were stood behind the fire, staggered with Grygoriy up front and Zakhar behind on his right side. The purple horse neighed aggressively, and then the blue one threw out a challenging noise as well. The orange horse seemed to whinny to the yellow one in a comforting tone.

‘Hm, they must be sentient to a degree then. I can't see them doing this from instinct’ he thought to himself. ‘Maybe if I show that I mean no harm…

He raised his hand into the air, the intruders following it closely. The unicorns horns shifted to point at his chest, ready to gore him. He noticed that they were glowing slightly too. Simultaneously, Zakhars detector suddenly started going crazy. He pulled it out and spoke alarmingly.

“There is a large Psi reading in this area! It's directed our way, an seems to be coming from the horses!”

The blue Pegasus let out an even louder string of neighs and whinnys, and seemed to point at Grygoriy, who was still waving. He tuned to him and spoke with a trace of fear in his voice.

“Shit, how well protected are you from-“

But Zakhar wasn't listening. He saw that the blue one was going to attack Grygoriy while he was distracted. He had to do something. He had to shoot it.

BLAMF!

The Russian fired his shotgun at the charging rainbow blur, and it caught the full brunt of the shot. It sailed backwards and crashed, rolling to a dramatic stop in front of the invasive equines.

They gasped and started frantically chattering in horse-speak, but Grygoriy didn't notice. He had turned to face his accomplice and was laying into him.

“What the fuck! Are you insane? Reacting with lethal force is NOT a good way to make friends! We will be lucky if we aren't hunted down for posing immense danger! Plus we still have this damn yellow sack of shit on our hands! Want to add murderer to the list of crimes?”

Zakhar said nothing, he simply replaced the spent cartridge and took aim again. Grygoriy realised he should do the same, not wanting the horses to assault him again. Turning back, he noticed with relief that three horses were retreating, leaving only the orange one and the purple one. He pulled the AK off his back and levelled it with the purple Uni-sus thing. It had a sudden look of realisation and then intense focus.

“JESUS FUCK ITS GOT MY GUN! WE ARE BEYOND FUCKED! IT’S A FLESH AND BLOOD POLTERGEIST!” Screamed the Ecologist who was running to hide behind a tree. Grygoriy, meanwhile, was calm and focusing on keeping his gun steady as it visibly glowed and sparked.

“Don't worry, it won't be getting mine” he said confidently, knowing that his artefacts prevented almost all direct Psi attacks on himself. He realised that this could be a problem though and needed to get the two remaining horses away. Thinking quickly he fired three rounds into the tree behind the purple monster, showering it with hopefully harmless splinters of bark. It had the desired effect as its horn stopped glowing and the shotgun fell to the floor with a clatter. He took this opportunity to move up to his now defenceless enemies, hopefully causing them to at least back off. He stepped over the captive and strode directly in front of the purple thing, and pointed the gun at its head even more intensely, only half a meter away now.

“Ahem. Fuck off” he commanded.

Stupidly, it just stood there and chattered to its sole remaining crew member, the orange horse with the hat. ‘Jesus I take it back, no such thing as intelligent life in this place’ he mused. He fired a shot directly at the equines hooves, kicking a bit of dust and dirt into each of their faces. This got them moving as they galloped away, neighing loudly. Their captive was wailing now, tears streaking down its’ sorry face

Grygoriy, having dealt with the bigger and immediate problem, now turned to deal with Zakhar who was slowly approaching.

“WHAT THE FUCKING SHIT WERE YOU THINKING? WE ARE ALONE, OUTGUNNED AND OUTNUMBERED AND YOU WANT TO MAKE MORE ENEMIES?” He strode up to the flinching Ecologist and gave him a hefty shove. “Fucking think next time!”

Zakhar didn't appreciate this. “What the hell was I supposed to do, let it ram you? Knock you to the floor? Kill you?”

“I don't fucking know, but I've got a feeling we are going to wish we were dead” he said sadly. He smiled at the yellow Pegasus, before realising it hadn't actually seen his face. Understanding that they were somewhat intelligent, he had to say hello properly. “How rude of me, let me introduce myself” With that he took his helmet off and smiled half heartedly they yellow animal who promptly laid back, apparently unconscious.

“Even the aliens think you are ugly” muttered Zakhar. The Ukrainian just laughed at the genuinely funny remark.

“Anyway, we should move. Don't fancy doing that again, at least without tilting the odds in our favour” the Stalker grinned. “Grab your shotgun, I'll carry this yellow lump. My ugliness came in useful for once it seems!” He laughed.

Zakhar looked at the equine. The Stalker couldn't see his expression, but he he was frowning at the fact they were taking the pegasus.

“It's more trouble than its worth but at the same time it's our only bargaining chip” he explained.

With that, he slung the AK on his back and picked up the horse thing, draping its legs around his neck.

“What do we call these things anyway?” He asked the Ecologist, who likely knew the answer.

“Well, small horses are called ponies, so I guess that would be the most fitting name”

“Ok, so Ponies, Pegasi and Unicorns. What the fuck is this place. What about the purple one?”

“Well, that had wings and a horn so I suggest we call it a... multipony”

“Eh, good enough. What about those stick wolf things? Oh wait, what about Logdogs! Ahahahaa!”

“Well, it's no better than multipony”

“True. Anyway, let's get going”

They both turned to walk back the way that they came when they saw another pony. This one was pink. Completely pink. It made the Ukrainian want to vomit. He held back his initial feelings and studied it a little more. It stood in the path, obviously trying to intercept them. It had a large smile on its… muzzle? Face? Whatever. It was smiling. It also had a tattoo of three balloons on its ass. But most importantly, once it had his full attention, it waved at him.

“Maybe you should wave back?” Suggested Zakhar.

He acknowledged by doing exactly that, the smile on the pony’s face grew in intensity. It started bouncing in place in a bizarre, happy fashion.

“Well, aren't you a strange little thing?” the stalker grinned. “What are you doing here?”

The pink equine stopped bouncing and cocked its head sideways like a dog would, its smile fading and replaced with a look of confusion.

“Well, we have to get going, see you later!” He said, waving at the bubblegum beast.

The creature just smiled again, and waved back.

“I don't think it understands, maybe you should scare it off?”

Grygoriy thought for a few seconds. “Nah, if it wants to hang out let it, its not exactly going to shank us in our sleep is it?” He briefly wondered if it could shank them in their sleep, but concluded it probably wouldn't. They had rotors where they watched each other anyway so they could keep an eye on it. If anything then it could calm the yellow one, and if the others see us being friendly and getting on they may not try to attack again. “If they see us getting along with this taffy equine, we might be able to have some friendly negotiations” he explained to his comrade. The pony in question had sat down and was listening intently to their conversation. Grygoriy began walking and soon Zakhar followed. The pink pony followed their movements with its head, smile beginning to fade. When they had walked passed it, Grygoriy turned to look at the equine. It's once poofy mane had de-poofed and it was walking away slowly, head hanging low. He briefly considered letting it go, but thought ‘ah fuck it’ and put his fingers to his mouth and let out a loud whistle. The pony turned around inquisitively, looking at the alien Ukrainian. The man grinned and motioned for it to ‘come here’. The effects were instantaneous. It's mane re-poofed and it began bounding towards the group, squealing with glee and smiling intensely. He gave it a good pat on the head when it got nearby. “Good dog!” He said loudly, and laughed at his own joke. Strangely the equine also laughed, perhaps trying to fit in. Or maybe jokes were the universal language. He didn't know, but this was going to be one heck of a story when he got back to the Skadovsk.