The world dark and black...My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness from the light of the basement I had just woken up in. Wait...why am I not dead?
Outside Chernobyl
The truck ride with my squad was supposed to only take a few minutes to the inner depths of the Dead Zone. The truck went down the bumpy road as it had for the past five years each time we went it became less and less of a actual mission more of a chore. By this time we all had no hair due to the fact of radiation poisoning. We believe we aren't sterile well the ones that want to continue their blood line anyway, I just want to get away. This place is horrible and being a STALKER is nothing more than a pesky chore. I spend most of my time in the Dead Zone. A social life? Non-existent. Love life? Don't get me started I killed a guy once on that subject. Well he was an insane lunatic at the time I killed him and he was trying to eat my flesh but he still brought it up. That's the past and this is the present focus on what your doing. "Hey Artiom! You ok?" One of the other STALKERs came beside me and put his hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah I'm fine Boris. Just thinking."
"Eh...You think too much...Maybe if you actually drank a little instead of being a little 'babi'. You would be tough!" He flexed his muscles which you could barely see in the darkness and under his suit. The ticking started as they approached the dark buildings. "Alright helmets on!" The squad leader a quiet man by the name of Vladimir told us. We all grabbed our helmets and put them on switching to the filtered air from the filters on either side of the face mask. The suit came to life and two things appeared in my eyesight. My health monitor and my stealth stats. Stealth stats? That's a question many of us are asked. It's two meters one for light and one for sound. How much sound we are currently making and how much light is around us telling us how visible we are.
The truck finally stopped after a painful five minutes of a story from Boris. The stories were all the same but because he was drunk almost twenty four seven they always changed slightly. He finally shut his mouth and we piled out onto the dirt road that led past the final checkpoint and into the city of Chernobyl. "Alright let's go." Vladimir slapped his hand on the side of the truck which backed up and drove off. Two hours till we were due back here for extraction. Everyone was armed with old Soviet AS-Val assault rifles. Everyone had their own special modifications of course everything from a simple laser sight or flashlight to a scope or beyond complex sets of a flashlight a scope and a knife on the side for good measure.
My rifle was simple a PKA scope with a magnification of 3.4 made for mid range combat. Like we ever were in combat of course on occasion there would be a psycho or a mutant out here but nothing warranting any actual threat. We ran towards the objective we were given which was a old apartment building which we were to inspect...In other words, scavenge anything of use, kill anything in their that tried to kill us or if we wanted to kill it for no apparent reason or what not. That was a policy I never went by, "Shoot anything that isn't friendly...and by friendly we mean anything besides you and your fellow STALKERs." That's what they told us back at training. Hell an hour of a lecture and some base weapons training boom you're a STALKER you get paid some money you get to go to the Dead Zone you can kill anyone and get away with it, you get the badass suit which of course just looks badass. Hell the thing would probably fall apart if it wasn't held together by the stitches and duct tape. It's funny they never seem to actually ask us why theirs duct tape on our armor. Probably because they know we might kill them if they do. Nobody smiles anymore...well not around me anyway. Not even my so-called family.
The last of my relatives my uncle even he doesn't smile around me and from what everyone tells me he smiles constantly.
We finally arrived at the apartments the doors were of course wide open suitcases and abandoned items lay strewn across the ground. Some of the squad checked through the cases for anything of use. They all shook their heads. Vladimir rolled his shoulders as we walked into the apartments. The halls were tight and cramped as we filed through them checking every floor ever so slowly. We finally reached the twenty-fourth floor last one of this building it was ten minutes till we had to get back to the pick up point. "Alright let's check these rooms quick." I ran down the hall my gun ready, I went to the last door on the right. I tried the knob and it opened with ease. I stepped inside moon light filtered through the windows. I released my gun letting hand from the strap that was around my shoulder and I reached for my flashlight that was secured on my belt. I clicked it on and the beam illuminated a bed. Cleanly made but dirty. The room itself was actually quite tidy for a place that is now a nuclear wasteland. Well stranger things have happened around here. I saw one last door at the end of the room and he quickly crossed the room and reached for the knob. I turned the knob slowly hoping if anything was inside the room I could catch it unaware. The door creaked and I cringed, waited for a mutant or a psycho to jump out of the room...Nothing...Well my luck seems to be changing. I opened the door more casually and I was surprised to see what I found on the other side. I could feel my entire face just twitch slightly. I was staring at two bodies of...well I don't know how to say it...They were ponies and they were odd colored. One was a hue of purple it's mane a dark violet on two sides and a stripe of purple down the middle. The other was cyan with a rainbow-colored mane. I slightly turned my head and yelled out of the room. "Hey I got something! You guys might wanna see this!" I heard their footsteps as they came running into the room and looked past me. "Fuck are those things?"
"I don't know Forrester." Forrester chuckled.
"How the hell did two mutant ponies get in a fucking apartment building!? And for another matter why are they so small aren't horses even the small ponies about our height?"
"Usually...but as you said mutant." Boris brought his gun up ever so slowly and pushed past me.
"Let's just take care of these fuckers and get out. I want to get back to ma drinkin'" He slurred the last bit. I turned around and he set the barrel of his weapon directly at the purple ones head. "No! Why the hell do we have to kill them!?"
"Those are our orders!" He responded.
"Those aren't orders that's just saying what we can do doesn't mean that we should do it!"
"I don't give a damn I want some action 'babi' so I'm gonna get it!" I brought my gun up and aimed at Boris. The rest of the
squad brought their guns up, "Put the gun down Artiom!"
"Why the fuck do I have to!? Boris ain't a friendly kind of person now is he!?"
"No but he's a STALKER and we don't kill each other that's the code!"
"Fuck the code! He's killing defenseless animals and you say I'm the bad guy!"
"I'm not saying that!"
"Sure you are Vladimir. Sure you are." My finger started to twitch and I depressed the trigger once sending a bullet right into Boris's arm. He yelled in pain and the others fired. I was hit with at least five bullets from the amount of pain I felt. Hell were they that inaccurate? Then I remember we all kept our guns on semi-auto. I lay on the ground my vision darkening, I saw them lead Boris out and leave me for dead. They would come up with a lie. Say they were attacked by mutants or by psychos and Boris got hit and I died. Things like this happen all the time...well I think I might just rest my eyes...
Chapter 1
My eyes split open...a muffled voice filled my ears as I was being dragged. I slowly moved my head and I saw blurry images of humans in gas masks? They were dragging me and the two ponies from what my blurred vision could make out. My eyes closed once more and I lapsed into unconsciousness.
When I awoke I was on a bed in a plain room. No windows a stairwell leading up allowed me to make out that I was in the cellar of someone's home. I cracked my neck as it turned releasing some pent-up tension. I quickly remembered the two ponies and looked for them. I found them curled up in the corner next to each other. They didn't seem to have any wounds from what I could tell. My hand went to my head when I noticed my helmet was still on, quickly I took it off and switched off the filters. "Dammit that can't be good for those." I set the helmet onto the bed next to me as I sat up fully and swung my legs off the bed.I noticed I had bandages over my both my arms and my right leg. I could see dried blood on them and I remembered what happened earlier. I was now betrayed and abandoned by the only people I cared for besides my uncle. I sighed and stood when I heard a quiet yawn from across the room. I looked to the two ponies one had just moved and yawned in its sleep. Thank god I thought to myself. I walked up the stairs and out into the cold air. The world dark and black, my eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness from the light of the basement I had just woken up in. Wait...Why am I not dead? I took five rounds from assault rifles. If anything I should be food for the mutants and not coming out of a person's basement in one fucking piece!
"Well I see your awake." I turned to see a man in a red shirt and a pair of faded jeans. He was holding an old cracked mug. "You got shot up didn't you STALKER?"
"Yeah I did."
"Well want to tell me what happened or are you gonna just head back to your STALKER HQ now?"
"I can't go back I broke the code." Most of the people who have heard of the STALKERs have heard of the code that the STALKERs live by the main rule you can kill or harm anyone but other STALKERs you cannot do anything to.
"Well what happened?" I spent the next ten minutes or so retelling the story up to the part where I fell unconscious on the floor of the apartment.
"Well it's lucky we found you when we did a pack of mutants weren't to far off when we got to you."
"Who's we?"
"My scavenging group and I of course. We go into the Dead Zone and scavenge stuff to sell." It was funny I knew people went into the Dead Zone and a lot of the time we shot those people so standing before one of them is quite ironic in my humor. "Well I'll probably take it you may want to sit down or something of the like before the painkillers wear off."
"What?" Suddenly a wave of searing pain washes over me. My muscles become stiff and the bullet wounds burn like hell. He sees me wince and stiffen so he walks over and helps me back into the basement. He gets me back to the cot I woke up on and I lay back down. He looks over to the two ponies, "You know what the hell those are?"
"No idea."
"Alright well I'll be upstairs if you need me."
"Could I get some food and you know what get me a shot of vodka."
"Alright." He chuckled as he left the room. When he came back he had a plate with some bread and a bottle of vodka and a shot glass. He set it on the bed and walked out. I poured a shot of vodka and downed it quickly the burn of the alcohol went along my throat but soon I felt its numbing effect and some of the pain disappeared. I ate the bread he left me and I had a few more shots. I'm a light drinker so I passed out not too long after.
When I woke up my vision was again blurry but I heard voices. "What is this thing Twilight?"
"I don't know Rainbow Dash." I started to move and I heard them yelp.
"Ugh..." I put my hand to my forehead protecting my eyes from the light of the room. I shook my head and my vision started to clear some. I saw the two ponies standing in front of me, frightened. "Uh...Hello?" I moved slightly to stand and they moved back. "It's ok I'm not going to hurt you." I stopped moving but reached my free hand out. I winced in pain when I extended the arm I looked to my right shoulder and their was another bandage. "Well that's the fifth bullet accounted for." They must have seen me wince in pain because I heard on speak up, "Are you ok?" I looked to them and the purple one had stepped forward and probably asked the question.
"I should be..." I tried to move my legs but they were too stiff and pain shot up through my legs. I winced again, "Are you sure?"
"Yes!" I yelled at them and they went back to a more scared posture. "I'm sorry I yelled at you it's just taking some bullets does hurt."
"Where are we?" The cyan pony asked more likely than not her name was Rainbow Dash as she seemed to fit the name.
"Your outside of Chernobyl. Also a question I have yet to ask, you two can talk?" They nodded.
"Yes we can...Is that not usual here."
"Of course not you two are ponies! Around her the only animals that talk are the parrots!"
"Parrots?"
"A bird don't worry about that." I waved my hand in expression and laid back resting my head on the pillow.
"So you said were outside of...Chernobyl was it? I never heard of such a place in Equestria."
"I've never heard of Equestria."
"What?"
"This is Earth you're in the Ukraine outside the dead city of Chernobyl."
"Earth?"
"A planet in space." I heard a quick startled squeal and the pattering of their hooves I would guess. "Were not in Equestria anymore!? Those unicorns told us this we would still be in Equestria!"
"Wait you said unicorns?"
"Yes."
"There are unicorns where you're from?"
"Yes of which I am one." Her hair was overly messy probably from laying amongst the ruins of the apartments. She moved her hair and a horn stuck out from her head. I was certainly shocked the other seemed to be stretching when she stretched were those wings?
"You have wings?" I pointed to Rainbow Dash.
"Of course I do I'm a pegasus!" My mind flipped over at this I shook my head.
"There is no fucking way! No this is gotta be a hallucination! We must have gotten attacked by the gas bags!" They looked at me confused, I continued to shake my head till I felt a hand er hoof be placed on my shoulder. "I don't think this is a dream..."
I looked up into the face of Rainbow Dash. "How can you be sure?" Twilight cleared her throat, "Well if this were a dream the pain of either the you being er shot..." She looked to the bandages, "Or the experience of waking up and seeing us would have woken you."
"You know I can't argue with that logic..." I sighed and stood shakily from the hangover I still had. I don't know where I am exactly, I no longer have access to STALKER HQ so I can't get any help but from the friends I have. Friends that's the key word as my social life is non-existent and the only friends I had were STALKERs this might be a little hard. He looked to the two ponies who were still staring at him, "Ok so what do you two want to do?"
"What?"
"Are you going to stay here with whomever these people are or are you going to come with me?" They looked to each other quickly. "I think well go with you."
"Alright well..." I started to walk out of the room as I stopped talking signaling for them to follow. I opened the door to the outside and it was a dreary morning or what you would call morning in the wastes outside Chernobyl. The sky was overcast and gray, and ground a dark brown with bushes everywhere no grass though the trees were all pine. I took a deep breath of air, surprisingly there wasn't too much smell of what the Dead Zone smelt like I looked off in its direction and could barely see it. Holy fuck they dragged me out this far. Damn these people are determined. "Well I see the two mutants are awake." I turned to see the same man from before I stepped forward and held out my hand, "I forgot to introduce myself last time."
"My name is Caville. And I know who you are Artiom. The STALKERs have your face up everywhere when they went to retrieve you and found you gone." He started to laugh then saw my puzzled expression. He jerked his head to the wall of the building which had a message board full of wanted posters. My face was all over it. "Fuck."
