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Reciprocity: A Metro 2033 and MLP Crossover

by MrSing

Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Just Like Home

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Just Like Home

There was nothing quite like the feeling of green goop on your tongue. The taste of the meal that was lovingly prepared by the nursing drones back in the Hive was one of the few things that always managed to cheer me up, even in this desolate tundra I found myself in. And as I felt the last bit of my meal slitter its way down to my stomach, I couldn’t help but let out a content sigh.

Though the nostalgic taste did little to ward of the cold wind that swept through the holes in my legs, I was still infinitely thankful for it. The memories of my home were one of the few distractions in this place that consisted of nothing more than the star filled sky and a horizon. Well, that and my prey of course. Who was staring at its meal once again like it was a pool of acid.

“Why is it glowing again?” the human said as it held the goop at a respectful distance.

I stopped myself from telling it to just voice its questions in its mind, having long since grown tired of the futile request and the annoying flood of questions that always followed. If my prey wanted to pretend that we were having a “normal” conversation, I was more than willing to entertain its delusions.

’it’s glowing because it’s filled with nutrients and love. Now eat before it freezes to your plate,’ I responded as neutral as I could, barely holding the mirth out of my voice. After all, the creature’s caution when it came to the green stew might have been partly been my fault after I explained to it in great detail how the nursing drones made the meal, including sound effects. But I was never one to lie when the truth was far more amusing.

The look my prey gave me made it more than clear that it wasn’t satisfied with my answer, but hunger can be a strong motivator. So after an eternity of carefully poking and testing the viscosity of the goop, the creature finally ate some. The sour look on its face that followed told me all I needed to know, but I still asked the obvious question.

’So, how does it taste?’

“Like a sneeze died in my mouth.” Came the answer from between coughs and gagging noises.

I tried to look as sympathetic as possible as it fought to keep the food in its mouth, but there is only so much you can do to hide your amusement when there is a giant grin on your face. And eventually I felt a few giggles break through my façade. A mortal sin for a changeling under normal circumstances, but around this human it didn’t matter.

And instead of angry reprimands and hurt words, I could hear a deep and rumbling laugh coming from my prey. It was so strange, being able to drop the act around others and not having to fear condemnation. But I supposed that it was par for the course to have weird things happen when you were having dinner with what was basically an alien.

After the human had finally managed to finish the meal and keep it down I once again lead the way. The mental map that one of my Brothers had provided was carved in my mind, showing our current destination as clear as the full moon in the sky. Luckily for us the small town was a lot closer than that luminous rock.

And of course it was not five heartbeats later until I felt that familiar nagging tingle of a foreign mind filled with questions focusing its attention on me. The creature had the uncanny skill of always being able to find new things to talk about. But in this empty landscape talking was our only way to pass the time, so I played along.

“Can I ask you something Dozor?” the biped said as I flew up higher to scout the way ahead for potential obstacles.

’Nothing is stopping you,’ I responded as I scanned the tundra. I felt the ghost of a smile creeping on my face as I saw a few specks of light in the distance. My Brothers’ information had been accurate, as expected.

“Are you a princess?”

A question like that was probably the only thing that could have broken my focus and make me look down.’What?’ I replied as I stared into its eyes, searching for any trace of mocking on its face.

“You always keep calling your queen mother,” the human replied as it followed my flying patterns closely. “And I thought that maybe it was like in the fairytales of old.”

’Well, I am sorry to disappoint, but no. I’m just a lowly scout. Always have been and always will be.’I focused back on small village again. Something was off about the way that the lights were shining, but I could not quite see why my instincts told me I should be careful. ’We are all Queen Chrysalis’ children. And if you are born to be a scout, a drone, or a Brother, then that is your fate. No matter if you’re born first or last. Every creature in this world has its own path from birth. Trying to stray from that or wishing that things would be different is useless.’

The human was quiet for a short while after I said that. “So, everything that happens is because of who we are? It’s all just fate and we can’t change it?”

There was something in my prey’s thoughts made me look down. ’It’s only- Watch out!’ But my warning came too late. The human was already toppled over in the snow. As I descended I berated myself harshly. What kind of scout can’t even keep her escortee safe?

My heart skipped a beat as I saw the pile of red snow the human was struggling with. The biped rolled away from the pile and got up on its knees as it spat out red drops on the virgin snow. At first I thought that it was hurt, but on closer inspection it was obvious that the blood did not belong to my prey, it was from the other human buried in the snow.

I stared at the still living creature behind me as it feverishly was trying to clean its hands and clothes in the snow. ’Was this a friend of yours?’

“Jesus, Dozor! Give me a minute here!” the human snapped back as it got out a piece of cloth and, with shaking hands, cleaned the last stains of blood from its face.

I stared at the creature in silence with wide eyes. The venom in its voice was not that of the creature that I had led around for days like a meek and blind sheep, it was from the creature that had helped me kill a chimera with practiced ease. Not a prey, but a predator. Or maybe it was simply the rage of a cornered rat.

Either way, as soon as it had shown me its fangs, they disappeared under a quick apology. Silently, the human stood next to me to inspect what was left of its fallen comrade.

’It looks different from you,’ I said as I turned over the corpse with a bit of magic. What was left of the armor had a different color and shape and looked, for lack of a better term, more professional. Despite the brutal injuries, its face was still intact. Glassy eyes looked up into eternity with horror and its mouth was opened in a silent scream.

The human murmured something under its breath as it removed a sort of red, white, and black armband with a 'C' on it from the fallen human. “We’re all equal in our graves, despite what we’ve done.” I raised an eyebrow , but remained silent as my prey covered the corpse’s face with the red stained piece of cloth. Human burial rites were not of my concern, as long as it didn’t take too long.

“Let’s go, Dozor,” the biped said as it nodded to our destination. “I’m sick of this place.”

But as soon as I wanted to take off to the sky again, the ground started to shake violently. We stared at each other for a fraction of a second. “Run!” That was all the motivation that I needed as we both sprinted for our lives.

Not a moment later the ground behind us exploded and covered us with a fine spray of snow. I only dared to quickly glance behind me, and I immediately regretted it. Something was coming out of the ground. Something large, filled with teeth and eyes. Something that should not exist in this world.

With renewed determination I fled as fast as I could, flying up and away as soon as I had enough momentum in a vain attempt to convince myself that that would help against… this thing. ’We’re almost there, keep going! We can make it,’ I lied as I felt the horror behind us rapidly crawling closer.

But before I could feel the hot breath of death on my neck, the human stopped in its tracks and turned as fast as lightning, firing its weapon. The flurry of explosions and fire that came from the nozzle of the creature’s gun was nothing compared to the cry that followed. It was a deep roar that quickly changed into a painfully high pitched scream of agony, accompanied with wet sounding disgusting pops.

The trembling stopped and the monster lay there, as baffled as a manticore that was knocked down by a mouse. The biped stood still as fear for death and disbelief at the success of its plan were struggling for dominance in its emotions.

’Get moving!’ I yelled as I dragged it along its sleeve again. ’We don’t want to be here when it comes to its senses!’

Fear and otherworldly cries guided us quickly to the village, which looked like, well, like it was built right next to the territory of a huge monster. Wooden beams and furniture were lit up against the flickering flames that slowly consumed the broken remains of the houses. If I looked closely I could still see some patches of the light colors that ponies liked to paint their Hives with on the blackened walls. I coughed as the oppressive smoke entered my lungs. But most disturbingly of all was what was once the middle of the town. The earth looked like a miniature earthquake had happened and it seemed that the town hall was missing it’s right half, like an angry demon had taken a bite out of it.

“This is it?” the human said as it made its way over the muddy ground that was saturated with ashes. “Imagine that. An entire village survives the war, only to be destroyed by the senseless rage of a mutant two decades later.” It sighed as it picked up a crudely sewn pegasus doll with buttons for eyes. “There are no words.” The biped wiped the worst of the black mud from the doll, revealing the bright colors and a sewn on smile that were hidden under the filth.

I stomped the ground as I spat on one of the burning houses. ’I think that we have bigger problems than some pony Hive burning down! Didn’t you see that thing out there!?’ The human just stared at me blankly as it stuffed the doll in its backpack, like giant abominations were the most normal thing in the world. I groaned as I hid my eyes behind a hoof. ’Fine, fine,’ I conceded. ’We’ll just have to find some way to get out of here, preferably not in the stomach of some Tartarus spawn.’

“Maybe there’s something in there that could help us?” The human pointed at one of the few buildings that were left standing. From the wooden arches and large painted windows it was obvious that it was not a home, but some kind of shop or post office.

’Well, it can’t hurt to check it out.’ I followed the biped up the small staircase as the wooden planks groaned in protest under its weight. I leaned forward to open the door, only to have the human shove its hand in front of my face. ’Hey! What-‘ I tried to protest as I pushed the hand away, but the creature shut me up with a quick hush.

“Do you hear that?” I was sorely tempted to bite its hand just to get back at it, but as we went quiet, I could hear a faint noise coming from inside the building. The human cursed quietly as it leaned in to listen at the door. “Somebody is in there.”

Pulling out the double cylinder weapon that it called a shotgun, the human started to open the door.

’Wait, wait!’ This time it was my turn to stop our progress. ’I’ll need a disguise first. If it’s a pony, well, let’s just say that our species aren’t on the best of terms.’ The human nodded as it started to search for something in its backpack, but I shook my head. ’I’ve got something better.’ I said with a grin.

Closing my eyes, I started the familiar process of picking out a disguise. Somepony from far away would do, and I had plenty of memories from that faithful day in Canterlot. And, as easy as breathing, I found a suitable disguise. Stealing some of the trust from the biped I started visualizing myself as that pony, and as the green flames of magic spread over my body, I became her.

Looking down I saw a pristine white coat where once dark chitin was, and a lock of hair entered my field of vision. I frowned as I blew the purple annoyance out of my face and looked up at my prey. ’So, how does it look?’ I laughed as my question was met with the most sincere look of confusion that I’d ever seen. ’I’ll take that as a ‘looks good’.’

“Any more surprises that I should know about? Can you shoot lasers from that horn?” The prey pointed at my head. I grinned as I promised that that was everything. “I’ll never get used to that,” the creature muttered as it opened the door slowly, shining its flashlight inside.

The beam of light circled around the room, revealing large yellow boards with dates, times, and places neatly set in a schedule. A clock hung over the boards, still working and ticking like it was an ordinary day. In three of the corners were gigantic piles of luggage, some opened with personal possessions and clothes spilling out of them, and in the one remaining corner sat a tiny, shaking pile. It was a filly, with a dark mane and a plain gray coat, not even old enough to bear her cutie mark yet. And she was crying.

“A baby?” the human carefully walked toward it and crouched down in front of the terrified thing, most likely scaring it to death. The small pile of misery was probably so afraid that it couldn’t even talk anymore, as it looked up to the biped with those typical blue puppy eyes. “Don’t be afraid, we’re not going to hurt you.” I rolled my eyes as apparently the humans parental instincts went into overdrive at the sight of that weak little earth pony.

’Stop pestering her, Yuri.’ I pondered how hard it was to convey annoyance, even telepathically, when you were being completely ignored. ’She can’t even understand you. And we’ve got important things to do, remember?’

“We can’t leave her here with that thing outside, she’s all alone!” the human glared as it berated me. “Besides, look at how adorable she is.” As soon as the biped reached out to pick her up, the little thing found her voice back and let out a shriek that was most decidedly not ‘adorable’.

’Now look what you’ve done!’

With a loud crash the door on the other side of the room was kicked open by two powerful hoofs. Before the splinters from the broken door even hit the ground a comet of yellow and blue rushed in faster than anything that I’d ever had seen, and with no time to react at all the human was tackled to the ground. Hooves rained down on the toppled over biped as it screamed in surprise.

Stomping my hoof on the ground I encased the attacker in an aura of green magic and with a swing of my head I slammed her into the wall. Not wasting any time I charged the mare as she fell in the luggage and scrambled her hoofs over the suitcases to get up again. Jumping over the junk, ready to pounce her, my world exploded in a white light of pain as a stray hoof hit me with a sharp crack in the head.

“I’ll get you for that,” I hissed between clenched jaws. Shaking my head to get rid of the black spots in my vision I reared up on my back legs. One good hit and our problem would be taken care of.

A sharp shot rang through the building, echoing painfully loud in the enclosed space. “Stop fighting!” Dust and a ray of moonlight fell down from the ceiling through the newly created hole. “Can’t you see she’s terrified?”

With hoofs still raised I looked down at our would-be attacker. Wild blue eyes, like that of a cornered animal, with contracted pupils looked back up at me, pleading. The dark circles under her eyes and the messy mane told me all I needed to know. My prey was right; this was no threat, just a desperate mare. With a sigh I gently let my hooves down and turned away to let her rush to the filly.

As the mare hugged the little thing and buried her under a wave of apologies I gently touched the painfully throbbing left side of my face. You could say what you wanted about earth ponies, but they were strong. I almost jumped up in surprise as I felt a hand on my shoulder. The human was crouching next to me as it examined my face with a strange look on its face. “Hey, are you okay? You took quite the beating back there.”

Pushing away its hand I huffed. ’It takes more than that to keep a changeling down. Don’t let this soft disguise fool you.’ I prodded my hoof accusingly against his chest as I looked into its eyes. ’I could have taken her on easily, you know.’

A small smile formed on the human’s face. ”I don’t doubt that.” The human stood up again as it started to lead us to the two strangers in the corner. ”Thank you for having my back, Dozor.”

I looked away from the biped as I replied, hiding the involuntary grin of pride on my face. ’Yeah, yeah, we’ll throw a party in my honor later. For now, let’s find out what in Mother’s name is going on around here.’ The grown mare was eying us suspiciously as she held the filly in a protective hug, shielding the little thing with her body until only a dark pluck of her mane could be seen.

“Y-you’re al-alive!” The yellow pony was breathing uncontrollably, almost to the point of hyperventilation, as she struggled to get the words out. “I-I heard n-noises outs-outside, are y-you with the g-guards?” My prey started to walk to the terrified earth pony while it spoke softly in its gruff language, maybe to calm her down, but whatever its intention was was lost in the reaction of the mare. “Get th-that thing away from my daughter!” She practically exploded as she snapped at the biped.

The human might not have understood her words, but the message came through loud and clear. With its arms slightly raised it mumbled an apology as it slowly walked backwards. ’Go search through those suitcases for something useful while I talk to her. Another fight would be such a tragedy, wouldn’t it be?’ I thought that last bit with maybe a bit too much sarcasm, but it didn’t seem to care. With slumped shoulders and eyes staring down it went to its task, rummaging through the abandoned stuff.

With her mouth reduced to a thin line the mare kept stealing glances at the human, as if it would gobble them up if she let it escape her sight for too long. With a cough I stole her attention away for a moment. “Do you mind stopping suffocating your daughter for a minute and talk about that warzone outside?”

“Y-yes, of course.” The mother loosened the grasp on her daughter and sat her on the ground with a warning to stay close. As the little thing hid behind the mare she occasionally glanced at me and the human in shy curiosity. “I’m s-sorry for kicking you, Miss…”

’Oh crud.’ The yellow pony let the question hang in the air while I ransacked my brain under the calm pretense of a smile. “Uh Diamond Dust,” I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind as I thought of ‘my’ cutie mark. I never quite got how ponies were able to sometimes name their spawn after their marks when those only appeared later, but then again, the whole concept of names always struck me as odd.

“I-I’m Steam Trail and this is my daughter: Silver Spring,” she moved away to reveal the tiny mare behind her that gave me a nervous wave before hiding behind her mother’s back again. I smiled back like I cared. “It’s good to finally s-see a friendly face again. It- it’s been…” the mare trailed of as she looked at the floor. I found it very hard not to gnash my teeth as the mare apparently found it appropriate to exchange pleasantries in a town that was on fire. “Oh I-I’m sorry, you want to know what happened, of course. I uhm I set the buildings on fire.” She must have caught the look of surprise that managed to slip by my mask, because she hastily started to blubber out an explanation. “I had to! Y-you see, first this cursed winter started and the few pegasi in our village started to, you know, t-talk. They said it was wrong, it shouldn’t be like this. The s-sky didn’t listen as well, and the snow just k-kept appearing, even if the sun shone. S-so they flew off to Cloudsdale, to talk about the weather, you know? But they d-didn’t come back.” The mare pawed the hard floorboards. “And then t-the earth started to feel different. Colder, wilder, like it d-didn’t want to connect with us anymore.” She gave the floor a small stomp. “And then our mayor wanted to hold a big speech to tell, I d-don’t know, to tell us to stay positive? I didn’t go, because I had to work in the train station and watch Spring. If I hadn’t than I would be…” She stared out the window, avoiding my gaze as she started to shake lightly. With a strained voice she continued. “T-the ground started to rumble and I-I heard the screams from ponies and those things. It w-was so incredibly loud, like the w-world was ending. A-after a f-f-few minutes th-the n-noises stopped and w-when I fin-finally looked outside-” The mare stopped as she hid her face behind her hoofs, small sobs escaped from her as she laid down on the ground.

“Mommy, please don’t cry.” The grey filly spoke softly as she hugged her mother’s neck. The grown mare reciprocated the gesture before she continued. Under normal circumstances I would have been overjoyed to leach from this display of love, feeling it on my face like the comforting sunrays. But there was one thing in the mare’s speech that chilled my blood and gave me that unpleasant nagging tingle in my stomach. Things, she had said. Plural.

“Sorry honey, mommy is just a bit tired.” The mare took a few breaths as she calmed herself down a bit more. “While they were… eating I saw one of the homes catching fire. Maybe the shaking had caused a candle to fall over or something like that, I don’t know. But the monsters didn’t like it. They started screeching like crazy and burrowed underground as fast as they could, taking the remains with them. So when the coast was clear I just started to burn as many houses as I could. Anypony would have done the same, right?”

As she looked up at me, waiting for some sign of conformation that never came, I became lost in my thoughts. We had to get out of here; those houses wouldn’t burn forever, but how? A dozen scenarios flew through my mind, but each one was discarded as soon as it came up. Flying, running, hiding, fighting, all of them would end up with at least one of us eventually being devoured by the horrors that hid beneath the earth. I felt that nagging feeling growing in my heart as the situation truly seemed hopeless, until I remembered one thing the yellow mare had said. “This is a station?”


Leaving Dozor and the small mutant family behind, I took a closer look at the building we were in. As I trailed my hand across one of the boards on the wall a single thought ran through my mind. ’It’s a station’. Times and destinations were written in a strange language that seemed more like elegant scribbles than coherent words. Still, the baggage, the clock, and just the general feeling of the place made it obvious. No matter how different it was, it was a station, like my home.

But how could anyone live here? It was too small and exposed, not to mention right on the surface. That eroding feeling of doubt crept up in my mind again. How far was I away from Moscow? Was I even still in the same continent? Why was everything so alien!?

I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts, like they were just pesky spiders that I could ignore. Supplies, I had to find supplies. Kneeling down on the surprisingly clean wooden floor I opened up one of the cheerfully colored bags that filled up the corners. With a small ‘click’ I flipped open the bronze locks to reveal any hidden treasures inside.

And treasure there was. Clothes, brand new clean clothes. I picked up what looked like a bright blue vest, it was way too small for me, but it was of finer make and cleaner than, well, anything that I’d ever seen. Carefully laying it to the side I dug further in the suitcase. I almost gasped as I saw a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste, I didn’t even think that any of it still existed. It must have been the suitcase of some wealthy specialty merchant; no one else would carry around, or be able to afford this, any other way. And on the bottom was the greatest treasure of all. Five books! More than I’d ever held in my life before. It was in that strange gibberish language again, but the paper was clean and the illustrations were beautiful, grassy fields, quaint little villages, and beautiful blue skies. If I took these back home I would be rich, I- My thoughts were interrupted as I heard that yellow mutant behind me sob in a disturbingly human way. She was crying.

What was I doing? Riffling through people’s possessions like a heartless bandit while someone’s life had just been destroyed. It was all just stuff, nothing that could help me or my people, nothing that I needed to survive. With a burning red face I put everything back in the suitcase and closed it again.

Not really sure what to do with myself I just sat there until I saw Dozor suddenly perk up from the corner of my eye. ”Come on, human, we’re getting out of here!” She said something in that song like language of her to the other small horse. With a nod the yellow thing stood up and guided us to the door on the other side of the station as her daughter rode on her back.

With a small push of her hoofs the wooden door opened, letting in a wave of cool night air and revealing a sight that I should have expected, but which still took me by surprise. There stood a train. It was nothing like the sleek and silver ones that laid on the old track of the metro, stripped for parts like skeletons of great beasts. No, it was an old model with a great iron steam pipe on top, kind of like an old grandfather train. Happy and light colors brightened up the wooden parts of the train as moonlight was reflected from the great metal wheels and front of the locomotive. There was only a single car attached to it, filled to the brim with little black stones.

“I don’t know how to drive this, Dozor,” I said as I laid a hand on the old fossil of a vehicle. “I know I said that I live in a metro, but I haven’t seen a working train in years.”

’Not you, stupid,’ she said as she gave me a small slap against my sides. ’Her,’ she pointed at the little yellow horse that was putting on a blue and white striped hat as she hopped inside the vehicle. ’She’s been driving this thing all her life. So she’s our ticket out of here, now get in!’

I hoisted myself into the locomotive, ducking as I entered through the small door. As I stepped in I had to hold up a hand against the intense heat that came from the front. There was a large stove like machine standing there with countless valves, unreadable gauges, and pipes leading everywhere. And inside of it raged a fire to power it all. Our mutant train driver was the next one to enter the train with her daughter, she took an as wide as possible path around me and eyed me suspiciously all the way to the stove. Almost spitting out a few words she pointed at me and the corner that was the farthest away from her. I didn’t need to wait for Dozor’s translation to know that she wanted me to stay there for the rest of the ride. With a sigh I sat myself down on the largest pile of coals that I’d ever seen. Mutants living in our old villages, somehow managing to operate human trains, and being afraid of us like we were the invaders to their little world. Still, I couldn’t find in my heart to get angry with her. I knew what it was like to be afraid.

Somehow the blue and yellow horse managed to take a shovel in her mouth and actually managed to feed the fire some more coals with relative ease. An impressive feat for a creature without hands. But before I could ponder more on this she was already pulling levers and various cables that hung from the ceiling. And with an almost imperceptible shove the train started moving, building in noise and speed as we went on.

We all waited there in the awkward silence and oppressive heat as the locomotive sped across the tracks. The young grey horse just kept staring at me with those wide blue eyes like I was one of those misfortunate people with a second head, she shied away behind a pile of coal when I gave her a small wave and a smile.

Wrapping my arms around my knees I stared at the ground, watching the dark charcoal stains on the metal and wood as the rhythmic noise of the wheels on tracks brought me closer to sleep like some mechanical lullaby. Slowly I felt myself nod off as the temporary oblivion of unconsciousness tried to calm down my confused mind for a few hours. I was so tired of it all.

A terrible scream rang out in the night, overwhelming the noise of the fire and steel and turning my insides into ice. Dozor was the first one to break the momentary paralyses that followed in the car, her horn glowed green as she unfurled my backpack and floated out the assault rifle. With furrowed eyebrows and cold blue eyes she pushed the weapon in my chest and nodded to the coal cart. ’Let’s check it out.’ Apparently not caring about her disguise she climbed up the cart, grime and charcoal staining her white coat and rags. Feeling cold sweat pouring down my back I followed her example, looking back one last time as the mother started shoveling like crazy and the daughter did her best to help her with a shovel that was way too big for her. It would have been cute if we weren’t fearing for our lives.

Popping my head over the car I was almost smacked down again by the force of the wind. With some quick reflexes and a bit of help from Dozor I stood on the dangerously shaking car. Wildly looking around for the source of the sound all I managed to get was smoke in my eyes and a blurry vision of the burning town we’d just escaped. ’There.‘ Dozor was standing perfectly still as she pointed somewhere in the distance, not unlike a blood dog that had just picked up a trail.

Crouching down next to Dozor I scanned the darkness. “I can’t see anything.”

With a grunt and a stomp that crushed one of the coals beneath her hoofs Dozor’s horn started to glow. Feeling a small tingle in the back of my head I suddenly knew where to look. Trying not to think too hard about what just had happened I nodded at Dozor.

There were three of them. One I could recognize as our ‘old friend’ from earlier as it kept a few of its many eyes closed, with red and yellow fluids leaking between the thick armored eyelids. The two others of its kind were in front of it, crawling towards us at a terrifying speed. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears as they undeniably gained on us, roaring and screeching like a gruesome pack of wolves.

’Get ready.’ The weapon in my hand felt like it weight a million tons as I waited for the beasts to come within range. Dozor yelled something behind us at our temporary companions; her apparent command was rewarded with a slight increase in speed and sparks flying from the rails beneath us. I felt my stomach turn as the wagon began to shake even harder, rattling my teeth. But the giants just doubled their efforts, slowly coming closer and closer until I could distinguish every individual eye and tooth.

Now, more than ever, I wished I wasn’t alone. If I closed my eyes I could almost see my friends. Sergei with a hand on my shoulder as he said that everything would be alright if I followed my training and stayed calm, Sasha as he made a stupid joke to break the tension, laughing at a world that lashed out at us in every way, and even Stepan, the cold and hard man, that stared in the face of oblivion with tranquility. But all I had was Yuri, scared and clumsy Yuri, outmatched and misplaced. I suddenly felt a hoof shaking my shoulder. ”Hey, stop feeling sorry for yourself and pay attention. Unless they really dislike the taste of pity, they aren’t going to spare us. I tightened my hands around my gun. That was Dozor alright. As practical and comforting as a steel nail. But at that moment I couldn’t be more thankful for her, compliments weren’t going to save us, only violence and unthinking resolve would give us a chance.

Soon, way too soon, they were within range, taking one last deep breath I aimed my gun up and squeezed the trigger. I was quickly rewarded with a cry of pain ringing out in the night and the left most mutant quickly burrowing underground again. Losing an eye or two made it decide that we weren’t worth the effort. But unfortunately the monsters had some semblance of intelligence buried in their primitive minds, as they started to swerve left and right, making it that much harder to hit them. My heart beat like it was a machinegun of its own as adrenaline surged through my veins, making my hands shake even more. Fight or flee instincts tried to override my conscious thoughts as I tried to make the next shot. I fired and missed, three bullets harmlessly flying away in the darkness as the great worms got closer. Cursing under my breath I aimed again. And missed again, the bullets ricocheting of the mutant’s armor, doing nothing more than making it flinch.

Dozor wasn’t helping, as she hissed besides me with her ears flat on her head at the nightmares that were coming for us. Her eyes glowed green and blue as her fangs had grown back in some vain attempt to intimidate that thing. Taking a second to calm myself I aimed again, carefully leading the target. This time I was rewarded with another shriek as the already wounded giant followed its cowardly friend’s example and also burrowed itself to safety.

’One more. Don’t screw up, you can’t afford to screw up this time.’ Bringing that last horror in my sights I squeezed the trigger again. Nothing happened; all that came from the gun was the loudest click that I’d ever heard. Empty. The most terrible of all words.

Feeling all the blood rushing from my face I turned to my companion. “I’m out!”

’What? Just keep shooting!’

“I can’t!” I shouted over the noise. “My gun is empty, it won’t work anymore!”

She let out a scream between grinding teeth as she turned to me with a glowing horn. Suddenly I felt like a giant hand dragged me over the coal and floated me down to hard wooden floor of the front part of the train, my ill fitting helmet falling over my eyes. Dazed I wrestled with the straps as I threw the blinding head protection away. Looking up I saw a purple mane and blue eyes filled with purpose looking over the edge of the coal cart. ’Detach the cart, now!’

Shaking my head slowly I stared back. “Get down here! You’re going to kill yourself!”

’I have a plan, but I need you to trust me, Yuri.’

“I-“ My protests were overwhelmed by another roar from our pursuer. It was so close that its foul breath filled the cart like a wave. “Okay, okay, just… be careful.” With a swift kick I removed the safety mechanism from the steel pin that connected the two parts. Grabbing the handle on the pin I started pulling with all my strength, the metal almost cutting my hand even through my gloves. Just when it felt like my arms were going to be dislodged the pin flew free, making me almost fall between the carts before I regained my balance.

The cart was loose, slowly drifting away from us with its sole passenger. My hand covered my mouth, hiding my expression subconsciously. The giant mutant had almost reached the cart and opened its maw, drool flying out to the sides as it got ready to snuff out another life. And then there was a single point of green fire on top of the cart, like it was dozed in kerosene the flames spread until there was only a gigantic inferno left.

Screeching and thrashing like mad the monster turned away, toppling over the ball of fire in its struggle to get underground again. A small spark escaped from the wreckage as the flames went out in an instant and coals spilled on the snow. Searching the tracks like mad for any sign of my companion I narrowed my eyes at the green spark that was heading to us. There.

Wasting no time I grabbed of the side of the train on leaned out as far as I could. “Grab my hand!” I shouted as loud as I could over the roar of the wind. My heart skipped a few beats as I saw my dark guide again, she had burned away her disguise, revealing her translucent wings that fought for every centimeter that brought her closer to us again. After what seemed like an eternity I finally grabbed her outstretched hoof and dragged her into the carriage and into a tight embrace. “That was insane! You’re insane!”

It took several wheezing breaths before my tiny savior was even able to answer me. Somehow managing a smile as she gasped for more air she looked up to me with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. ’It worked, didn’t it? She snorted as she looked back at the mess left behind by the monster ’Stupid creature, all that power and a simple trick makes it run like a scared dog.’ Freeing herself from my embrace she hopped onto a small stack of coals. ’Remember that, Yuri, lies will bring you everything you want on a silver platter.’ Suddenly the changeling bit her lip as she avoided my gaze, like she was a child that had been caught stealing food by her parents. ’Anyway, let’s rest for now, I’m exhausted.’ As if to emphasize her point she lay down on the coals, using her hoofs as an improvised pillow. Anyplace could be a bed if you were tired enough, I guessed.

Looking back outside I could only just see the ever shrinking shape of the sacrificed carriage. Though we were safe for the moment, a sense of dread crept up inside my mind. We had fended of the monsters, barely, but they were still there, chewing their way through the earth, building their own metro. My mind went back to my own home, how come we had never heard of these creatures? Did they not exist where we lived, or were they simply intimidated by our own tunnels, fearing that they had been made by some powerful rival? Would they one day just burst into our home and take us all by surprise? Putting back up my helmet I did my best to dismiss those thoughts. They were just one of the many threats to my people’s survival, just another notch on our list of enemies that we knew about. If they weren’t a direct problem they could wait, we had enough problems to deal with already.

Watching the flat landscape making place for rolling hills I felt my mind unwind. We had survived another day and I was that closer to fulfilling my mission. Maybe someday soon we could leave this dark nightmare behind and just live like people again.

A sound behind me killed the smile that was growing on my face. I couldn’t understand it, but the hate that coated that word was undeniable. Turning around I saw my guide and the yellow coated horse staring at each other, both searching for the smallest hint of provocation to start a fight. Of course, it was always the same way, wasn’t it?

Author's Notes:

First of all, remember when I joked about the new chapter being up in 10 weeks? Yeah... I'm extremely sorry for taking so long to post something new and there is really no excuse. I hope to publish the next chapter sooner. Sorry for being the worst author.
Second, I'd like to thank kalash93 for pre-reading and giving me general advice with this fic. Thanks buddy.

Next Chapter: Chapter 8: One-Way Track Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 31 Minutes
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