//------------------------------// // New Faces, New Problems // Story: Of Vodka and Cider // by UglyTurnip //------------------------------// Stalliongrad was a strong city; one of the most powerful of Equestria. This primarily earth pony city was known for having some of the mightiest laborers to ever walk Equestria, and it wasn't afraid to show it. A military garrison sat at the north of the city, only miles from the border of the Crystal Empire, directly under the princesses' orders. The city imported more alcohol than all the other Equestrian settlements combined, and exported it's strongest males to serve. The city was cold, and not just in the literal way. Nikolai continued to stare over the horizon, his mind trying to conjure a solution to a very important question; how did zombies get into Equestria? This was a different world, one free of former human contact. It couldn't have been himself, because he had spent more than a week in Ponyville without any ill effect. His eyes centered on a small horde shambling its way out of the city, and he sighed. He looked back at Berry and Cherry, who were both observing the corpse. Cherry had recovered from her shock to be responsive, but she the absolute horror that she had just witnessed was still being absorbed. Her breathing was rapid and panicked, and here eyes darted to the left and right, expecting more to come. Berry joined Nikolai, staying close to him. The anger in his eyes made her feel safe. He had fought these abominations before. He would know what to do. A few minutes passed without any conversation, as nobody could or wanted to speak. Finally, Nikolai's voice broke the silence. "We need to get moving. There will be more." Cherry trotted over. "I didn't know. . . I'm sor-" "It was not your fault. You did not know. Besides, maybe it was a good thing you brought us here." "Why? How is this good!?" Cherry exclaimed. "Those things took over Stalliongrad!" "But the zombies are tough. Who knows how long it would take for them to spread? And there's only one living being in all of Equestria that knows how to kill them: me." "So you're saying that we have to go in there?" Berry gulped. Nikolai smiled. "Yes. For vodka. . . Oh yeah, and for Equestria, too, I guess." Despite the horror and danger they would face, Berry and Cherry followed Nikolai as he began his march to the city. The normally goofy drunk had turned deadly serious, because he knew that zombies in Equestria meant something sinister. He was already a bridge between his world and Equestria, but somehow the zombies had crossed another bridge into this world. Nikolai executed the horde that wandered out of the city without hesitation. The ponies looked away, hoping to somehow protect their innocence to such violence. It was no use, as they still shivered from the crashes of the shotgun. It sounded so foreign to them, as well as frightening. "They are still weak," Nikolai announced after ending the last zombie. "Good. This gun is too." "That's weak!?" Berry couldn't help herself. Nikolai turned to her. "Compared to the MP40, yeah. But if we found one, we'll find more." They entered the city to see zombie ponies all over the street. Nikolai instantly stopped and raised the Olympia. He silently counted them since they had not yet noticed him. By the time he reached fifty and had not yet finished, he simply lowered the gun. The darkness in the street meant that he couldn't see too far, and he knew there were many more "We need to get off the street," he whispered. Scanning the sides of the street for a safe building, he saw a single light shining in the night sky. It was to the left, out of the way of the zombies, and looked like it could contain survivors. Nikolai crept to the left, going slow to avoid alerting the horde, and motioned silently for the other two to follow. With each step, they came closer to the wandering zombies. "I sure hope this works," Nikolai muttered. The Russian noted that they were not extremely alert like they had been in Der Riese and Shi No Numa. In fact, they simply stumbled in the darkness like they were lost. Nikolai knew that those zombies had been controlled by Samantha, but that had been in a different world. Samantha's influence must not include Equestria's world. The only guide these zombies had was their hunger. Luckily, they managed to evade detection, and Nikolai opened the door gently and carefully. "What the buck is that?" He heard a female voice with a thick Russian accent. Nikolai jumped and flung open the door in a panic. She sounded like his first wife. "Shit! Look out!" Was all Nikolai heard before something struck the back of his head. He fell to the floor, unconscious. "No!" screamed Berry as she ran in after. "He was on our side!" The building was occupied by two identical female earth ponies and a navy-colored male unicorn, who held a shovel with his magic. The females' eyes bore into the unicorn's skull, then at Berry. They seemed cold and calculating. Before anybody had a chance to explain themself, Cherry came rushing in. "Berry! They heard you! They're coming!" "Shit!" One of the twins exclaimed. She then turned to her counterpart. "Is the escape plan ready?" The other one expressed no emotion. "It better damn well be. What do we do with Miss Loudmouth and her winged friend?" "They should come with us," the unicorn, who had a Muneich accent, gave his opinion. "We've needed help for some time now. They will have to do." "We're not leaving without Nikolai!" Berry insisted as the zombies' hooves began to reach through the windows. "Are you serious?" The first twin questioned, ignoring Berry's statement. "We don't need anymore outsiders!" The unicorn's face scrunched up at the term 'outsider'. "I'm sure they'll be useful. What choice do we have?" "Leave them to die!" The emotional twin urged. "And the big ape too!" Cherry had her weight forced on the door, but it was beginning to give way. The pegasus could feel their cold, rotten hooves on her body, and she shivered with each passing moment. She looked over at Nikolai's unconscious body and the shotgun that lay next to it, still loaded and ready to fire. She was half-tempted to simply dive for it, but her hooves looked too big to reach the trigger, so she continued to hold back the hordes of undead. "Sister! Enough!" The less-emotional twin ordered. "I don't like it either, but Bertrot has a point. What could possibly go wrong with them following us?" "Nevermind," Bertrot waved a hoof dismissively. "You just said the magic words." "Can we just go already!?" Cherry pleaded. The door behind her appeared as though it would shatter into splinters at any moment. The twins nodded and sprinted behind the counter as Bertrot backed up to Berry and Cherry. The sisters reached under the counter and heaved a large sack of makeshift explosives onto the counter. Bertrot levitated a Molotov that was lying nearby and lit it with a small spark of his magic. He waited for the twins to join them before tossing it at the explosives. The door gave way just as the fire hit the sack, which blasted the wall behind it open. There was another store behind the bar, one that had a staircase. "Go!" The emotional twin ordered as they all fled the approaching horde. But somebody forgot to pick up Nikolai. . . . . . The five survivors panted as they opened the door to the roof of the building, which was littered with food and other supplies. Bertrot slammed the metal door behind him and barricaded it with a large wooden crate. "Buck," he panted. "Why did we decide to blow up the bar? There was a door to the other shop, right?" The emotionless twin gave a small smile. "Rule of cool, my friend. Rule of cool." Berry groaned. "That was a close one, right Nik? Nik?" There was no answer. Cherry glanced at the party on the roof, and it dawned on her that they didn't account for Nikolai. "Oh shit," Berry gasped. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" She broke down and began to sob. "W-we left him to die!" Cherry felt the guilt overtake her. If she hadn't brought them along, Nikolai would still be alive. Then, a familiar gunshot from below. Another followed. "Wait. . ." Two more gunshots. "Nikolai! He must have woken up in time!" Bertrot sighed with relief. Maybe he hadn't screwed everything up today. . . . The first thing Nikolai saw when he opened his eyes was a face-full of pony zombie. His first reaction was to punch it right in the muzzle. As it stumbled back, he glanced around for his shotgun, acting on pure adrenaline. Once he found his weapon, lying to his left, he snatched it and aimed at the horde that now had its full focus on him. "I hope this thing is loaded!" Nikolai shouted to himself right before he pulled the trigger. The roar of the Olympia brought relief to Nikolai's face and buckshot to the pony's. He turned to another and blew its head into bits. Two still remained interested in Nikolai as he backed away into the wall. He desperately fumbled for shells in his ammo bag as they closed in, but he ended up dropping the back. One latched its hooves onto his arm and he tried to shake it off, but it held an iron grip despite its lack of fingers. "Chyort!" Nikolai instinctively cursed in Russian. "Get off!" It would have bitten into his arm if not for a well-timed sniper shot that went in one ear and out the other. Nikolai was too relieved to question the source of the shot, and he had enough time to reach for his knife and jam it into the skull of the other zombie. Nikolai knew the gunshots would give his position away to more of the undead, but he also knew that a pony, no, a human had just saved him from death. In the end, curiosity got the best of him, and he stepped out of the smoldering bar and into the street. It was still pitch black, and there were only a few pairs of yellow eyes left in the street. Almost instantly, sniper shots cracked and the bodies dropped one-by-one. Soon, the street was clear and safe. Nikolai didn't have to fire a single shot. "Hello, comrade," Nikolai heard a distinctly male Russian voice. "I can't believe we actually found another human." Nikolai turned to face the man, but couldn't make out his features in the darkness. "Oh, that's right. It's too dark. Hold on." Nikolai heard footsteps, followed by a door opening. When the footsteps came back, there was a lamp in the hand of the man. His body was heavyweight and weary from combat, just like Nikolai's. He remained silent as the man grew closer. He still couldn't make out the man's face, but the clothes were that of a Red Army soldier. "Wait. . . Chernov!? Chernov! I thought you died in Berlin!" Nikolai finally spoke. "Chernov?" He then shook his head. "Who are you?" The man raised the lantern to his face, revealing cold, vengeful eyes. He had a thick beard that covered his chin and a mighty mustache on his upper lip. Despite his cold appearance, he had a warm smile on his face. His frown lines made it obvious that it was a rare experience for him. "Reznov. Remember me?"