Bright streaks of golden-white blaze through the air as tracers fly through the dull, beaten station. Small chunks of material puff up from the ground as bullets strike the ground. Another crack rings out, signifying their failure. A short, sharp grunt is heard along with a wet thap as the bullet hits its target. Fluttershy's eyes wander to the source of the noise, reaching for her first aid kit. Her pulse raises and her heart seizes up, her eyes widen as they fall on the kneeling form of Nikola.

His face is dull, showing no emotion at all. There is a small, fine spray of crimson out of his back, and he stiffens for just a half second, falling to the ground. Panic and rage fill her mind, clouding her thoughts as she rushes to his side, pulling him behind a large concrete block.

No. No, no, no. This can't be happening! she desperately thinks as she pulls his shirt back, exposing the wound and pressing bandages to it. His breathing slows, coming shallower with each passing moment. Come on, Nikola, stay with me damn you! Tears form in her eyes, weighing heavier and heavier, threatening to break loose. I just got you back, you can't die on me again, you just CAN'T! His hoof moves just barely, gripping Fluttershy's shaking hoof lightly. His head moves slightly, and he lets out one last breath.

No. The word calls itself once more in Fluttershy's mind, shaking with dread and sadness. She closes her eyes tightly, forcing the tears to leave her. Her breath picks up, and she opens her eyes, filled with hate. Grabbing her fallen coltfriend's rifle, she rushes into the station, yelling in rage. She sprays the entire tunnel, only stopping when the gun did. Her eyes soften, her breath slowing, and her vision coming back into focus. She looks across at her friends' wide, shocked eyes, and looks down at a torn, chewed up body in a red blotched urban camo suit. Nausea rises in her. She doubles over, heaving her last meal next to the body, catching her breath, shaking on her elbows and knees.

"Wow." One word breaks the shock, and everypony snaps out of their trance-like state. Twilight and Dash rush to their friend with Pinkie bouncing behind. Dash places a comforting hoof on Fluttershy's shaking shoulder.

"H-h-he's… gone," she breaths through her sobs. "I had just gotten him back, and now he's dead again." She breaks into renewed tears.

"'Shy your leg!" Twilight calls attention to Fluttershy's leg. A single, jagged cone had torn its way through her calf. Twilight sets to work stopping the bleeding, plugging it with a bandage as Dash tries to calm their friend down.

"Shh, it's not your fault. The metro is a cold, cynical place. Nothing could have stopped this, and you can't go blaming yourself. It's not your war, it's not his war, but war doesn't differentiate between innocent and guilty." She speaks with a calm, even tone as she gently strokes Fluttershy's mane, letting her cry into her lap.

"Yeah! Turn that evil little frown upside-down!" Pinkie half-shouts in her usual excited voice, earning a swift kick from Dash. 'Cool it,' Dash mouths at Pinkie.

"Okie dokie lokie!"

'That poor colt…' Fluttershy mutters under her breath, looking down at the decimated corpse. Had she really done that? Had she really taken the life of another living thing so brutally?

"Akh, excuze me, but ve are holding ceremony soon." A mare in a grey trench coat says in broken English and a heavy accent. Dash nods acknowledgement and thanks, and she turns away.

"Come on 'Shy, let's go say goodbye. It would mean a lot to 'im."

Twilight looks at the strange rifle on the ground. She had seen it before, used by many defense-ponies in the metro. It's unlike any other weapon she's ever seen; it has very interesting engineering, almost completely stripped down, but incredibly effective. There are spaces in the body through which she can see the innards of it, the springs and the clips and the firing pin, it's quite odd.

"Um, excuse me?" she tries to get one of the guard's attention. "If you wouldn't mind telling, what is this?" she shakes the peculiar rifle at the words 'is this'.

The guard chuckles. "Well there are two answers to that, the technical one and the correct one, which would you like?"

"Um… Both?"

"Well the technical name for it is the ISR-'13 type 7.62, or the Infantry Storm Rifle model 2013 variant that fires the 7.62 round. But the right answer, ask any of us, is the Bastard Rifle."

"I-I-I'm sorry, the what?" Twilight stares at him in shock, cocking a confused eyebrow at the response.

"Well, you need to see your question in a different light than you did," the guard starts, sitting on an overturned box that's see the business end of too many rifles, "What is this gun? You can go into the technicalities, like it's single-pony operated, and has safe, semi-, and fully-automatic settings, and it fires the yakkita yakkita yakkita, but what really IS this gun." He smiles, chuckling, and pats the gun affectionately, pulling out a cloth and absentmindedly wiping the surface clean, "Well, this gun is the bastard child of desperation."

---

Leaving another station, bound but for another still, the monotony starts to weigh in on the group as they continue on to Central. Everypony is rather quiet, seemingly content with the silence. A soft song starts to drift out from Koldan, filling the sound-swallowing air of the dank tunnel. It drifts through the tunnel, and the mood seems to brighten, the downed, defeated posture of the ponies slowly rising. Their backs straighten, their chins raise defiantly against the darkness. The tell-tale sound of tunnel mutants rushing through the tunnel thunders, a rushing sound from dozens upon dozens of creatures. The group stops, but doesn't turn, or run, or break, they stand tall against the yet unseen horde. Koldan's voice drifts into a midrange growl, almost wolf-like, and starts a low chant-like series of barking growls.

"Daaa taa na na, daaa taa na na, daaa taa na na…" A small group of blue sparks appears in the air, growing and intensifying to fill the width of the tunnel and shooting off towards the mutants, leaving a path of carnage in its wake. The air fills with the smell of burnt flesh as the light vanishes as suddenly as it appeared. Koldan's chant quiets and fades into the darkness as the group snaps to reality and looks in shock over the fried mutants.

"Did… did you do that, Koldan?" Fluttershy asks after a moment, turning to face the colt. His eyes are closed peacefully, his head still held high in the charred air, his breathing is steady and slow, in through his nose, out through his mouth. He takes one breath that's longer than the others, and slowly lets it out in a satisfied sigh.

"No," he answers after several seconds, "No I didn't. But anyway, I think we were en route to a new station?"

They travel through the tunnels, comforted by the gentle songs ringing through the throats of their companions and selves. Before they know it, the light of a patrol is on them again. Some questions are asked and answered, and the gates are opened. This station is far larger than most, expanding far on either side, cleaved in half by a trench where the tracks lay in the center. On one side are living quarters, and on the other, the market and other stores and restaurants. There is a large sign hanging over the tracks in front of at the entrance that reads 'From the Will of the Ponies, for the Glory of the Kind'.

"Welcome to Kontsaki station."

---

Hello, again. I think it's getting a bit redundant with the 'they go to a new station and then leave it and then go to a new station and then leave it, repeat forever', so I think we'll get to Central pretty soon. But anywho, I'm starting school again pretty soon, about two or three weeks, I'm pretty sure, so updates will become even less frequent, but I'll try to post at least twice or three times a month at absolute minimum.