Next chapter.

---

None of them can concentrate on the scream, or even register that it happens. They're too caught up in trying to beat back the stream of mutants. The deafening chatter of automatic fire is interrupted by two metallic clinks as Dash and Bourbon let their expended clips fall to the ground, quickly loading and readying another.

But just as they are ready to fire again, the mutants just stop. They turn and run back the way they came, leaving the tunnel silenced again, save for two ponies panting with adrenaline, and the fading echo of 7.62 rounds discharging. Dash and Bourbon are still in their fire-ready position, as if frozen by the engagement. Then, slowly and cautiously, Dash crouches down to pick up her empty clip, an action soon imitated by Bourbon.

"So vat ze hell vas ZAT about?" calls the question that everypony was silently asking. A light shines at them from the end of the tunnel, bright and clear, making all of the ponies reflexively look to its source.

"Bourbon? Bourbon is that you?" a calming voice calls.

"Koldan? Svatoye dyermo, it's Koldan!" Bourbon's rough voice is the happiest any of them have ever heard as he steps forward to bro-hoof/ shoulder bash the pony. He has a dark blue mane with a few unnatural crimson splotches and streaks of blood in it. His coat is a ghostly white. His hair is even more unkempt than Bourbon's, giving him an overall sloppy appearance. Dash notices that he isn't carrying a gun, but he has knives of all different sizes in sheathes in orderly rows and squares across his form.

"So who are these lovely ladies?" he asks, regarding the mares with a sweeping gesture.

"Some ponies from Outreach that agreed to accompany me to Rathaus." Koldan's eyebrows rise at mention of the station, "You know how ze guard forces are vis zeir 'it's dangerous to go alone' bullshit." Bourbon answers with a chuckle, smiling in happiness, rather than cockiness, for the first time since any of them had met him.

Looking his friend over, Bourbon notices a slight gleam on his leg. Looking closer, he sees Koldan's leg with several running crimson streams of blood.

"Koldan, vhat happened to your leg?" he asks in surprise, pulling a roll of gauze out of his rucksack and wrapping the injury.

"Eh, you know how the bitches are. Those teeth of theirs are sharper than I remember."

"Vell, zat should hold it for now. But ve aren't getting any closer to Rathaus just standing here, are ve? Let's go!" The rest of the journey to the next station is filled with the sounds of the two old friends joking and laughing, exchanging stories and hearing about each other's lives.

They get to the station gates without seeing a single guard. The group stops, and Koldan steps forward to the lock holding the gate in place.

"Watch out," he says, spreading a putty-like goo around the lock, then stepping to the side and bracing himself. He presses on the top of a metal rod, and the lock is blown off of the gate entirely, allowing him to swing it freely open. Rainbow Dash is appalled at the breaches in inter-station regulation displayed by this station, but walks in anyway, following at the rear of the group.

This isn't even really a station, as such, more like a depressing collection of tents with an unsanitary market. The 'citizens' are all either huddled around small fires, or at the market. There isn't a proper guard in sight.

"Life at this station, as you might be able to see, isn't really the best," Koldan says, "But it's a place to sleep anyway. The only people that stay for very long at all are the salesponies, most of the others are just passers-by."

A small group of large ponies appear on the other side of the station, all with very large weapons, and with full-face helmets. The largest member of the group steps forward, and yells in a harsh voice at the ponies gathered in the small tent-city.

"Хорошо, суки! На земле сейчас!" The ponies all start at the sound, immediately pressing themselves against the cold ground. The group goes around, and starts taking anything of value that they find.

"Hey! They can't do that!" Dash says with anger in her voice, her face contorting with rage at seeing the crime. She reaches for her Kilashnikov, which is slung over her shoulder, and stealthily brings it into semi-automatic, pointing it from the hip at the group.

As she's doing this, a small pony tries to slip away from the group of thieves. One of them notices, walks over, and beats her over the head with the butt of his gun.

"Сэр! У нас есть бегун." The leader turns to face his fellow thug, seeing the little mare. "Немного довольно одной, на что."

Walking over, he pulls out a rope. He has his teammate hold her down as he ties her legs together, and throws her over his shoulder. Dash snaps. Throwing stealth away, she brings her rifle up and unloads four rounds rapidly into his head. He drops instantly, dead before he hits the ground. The rest of the group turns around to face the enraged and panting prismatic-maned mare, and level their rifles, switching just barely too slowly to full auto. There are several loud, resounding cracks, followed by four clunky thuds as the metal of the dead thug's armor hits the ground.

---

Thank you very much to the programmers of google translate. I'm trying to learn Russian, but I'm only just learning the most basic of basics so far. Thank you also to the readers and especially the reviewers. And also, if you have any recommendations for learning Russian other than going to Russia and Rosetta Stone, please let me know!