Freedom, At Last

"Princess, it's not advisable to leave the chariot, your leg is still in dire need of care, and they aren't exactly friendly-"

A blue hoof pressed against the guards lips, to which he looked up at Luna, who was wearing a serious face. "My sister has made her point clear. Who are we to deny her of what she wishes to do? With as many guards as there is, I have no doubt fate that we will be safe. Her leg is also being stabilized by her own magic, and she will heal much faster than any normal pony."

The guard sighed in defeat. "As you wish, Princess'."

"When you say that they weren't friendly," Celestia spoke, "What did you mean by that? Have they shown aggression?"

"Aggression, not really, but they're extremely vulgar, and not on the best of terms with any of the guards. They were carrying the same weapon the other creature used to harm you, but made no attempt to reach for them, except when we made ourselves known. Other then that, no, they haven't caused any trouble."

"I'm glad to hear it."

Celestia stepped out of the Chariot, her sister following next to her. There was a line of guards in front of them, ready to escort them into the forest to where the creatures were found. It was quite obvious to why the creatures weren't exactly happy with their predicament, but with how the first encounter went, Celestia knew that it was just the guards playing it safe.

Each step Celestia took she felt a wince of pain, but it was manageable. Luna wasn't lying when she said she would heal faster than normal ponies. Alicorns and their more powerful magic inside of them allowed any injuries to heal almost twice as fast, and for the pain to be dulled exponentially. It was useful in tough situations, and always reminded her that Alicorns used to be leaders in battle, which is why their magic seemed to still focus around that subject.

"The report said that we were able to understand them," Luna began to speak to the guard travelling with them, "but at what level? The report was vague on that aspect. Are they intelligent enough to understand basic words, or can they speak just like we can?"

"See for yourself." The guard said with a gesture in front of themselves, showing what looked like to be a tiny encampment, surrounded by atleast two dozen guards with their spears drawn. Four of the creatures were sitting around a burnt out campfire, whilst one of them was standing, staring at one of the guards.

"I bet that spear tip is the only fucking tip you're able to use. Fuckin' prick."

Well, atleast they knew that the creatures were able to speak, and not just in the most basic of forms.

As Celestia and Luna drew closer, two guards moved out of the way for them to enter inside the little ring that the guards had made. All five creatures looked at them, staring at them in awe, but also a bit on the wary side. One of the creatures put his hand on what looked like to be a smaller version of a weapon.

"Oi oi oi- before you keep walking-" The creature that was standing up said, putting out his hand, "I want you to tell us what the fuck is going on. I'm assuming you're these Princess' these assholes keep talking about, and I want to know just why in the hell you've got us circled like this. Terrible first impression- y'know, for royalty I thought you would've been more... regal, about your first encounters."

"Jake, boy, shut up, and let's listen to them."

"Boris, you can't say that I'm not right-"

"Shut up you idiot!" Boris yelled, spitting a bit towards Jake's direction as he did. When Boris turned to look at the Princess' once again, he realized that Celestia had a wound on her leg, amateurly wrapped in a bandage. He shook his head. "I'm sorry for my friend here- but you can understand how we might be on edge, yes?"

Boris had a much heavier, and different accent compared to Jake. An accent similar to her first encounter.

"While I'm deeply sorry for such a presentation of force, my guards are simply on edge as well. Our first encounter with creatures of your kind has been not so pleasant."

"You were shot." Boris said, pointing to her wound. "With how much gold you're carrying on you, I'm not surprised."

"What do you mean?" Luna asked.

"Gold. Zoloto. Valuable to people where I'm from. And, where I'm from, you don't politely ask for what you want."

"That's what he was after..." Celestia said, looking down at herself. "I take it that you're somehow different?"

"Different?" Another man spoke up. "Of course we're different! We're not dirty scavs! Artyom, by the way." Artyom said with a smile. "Across the five of us, we have atleast one functional brain cell. That's a lot more than any scav combined."

Luna tilted her head. "What is a scav?"

"Scavenger." Another man said, raising his hand. "I'm Dmitri- and we simply call them Scavs. They know how to shoot better than they know how to talk. Not like they're useful at either."

Jake nodded. "Got that right. They can't shoot for shit."

Luna narrowed her eyes. "My sister's wound says otherwise."

"Pft-" Jake shrugged, "Even a blind man can get lucky sometimes. We're not saying they're not dangerous, we're saying they're idiots. I don't think I've ever seen a Scav that didn't pull a gun on me."

Boris shook his head. "Back on topic. Why exactly are you here? If you thought we were dangerous like them, you would've had us killed by now."

Luna nodded. "We would have, but we can understand you. Language has been a barrier with all of the other ones we've encountered."

Jake laughed. "I'm with you on that. Russian is a weird language- can't understand half the shit these three say sometimes!"

"Russian?" Celestia asked.

"The native language of Tarkov." Dmitri said. "We generally speak English, as our two friends here don't know Russian. Few people in Tarkov know English, so it's no doubt why you didn't find anyone but us that can speak it. Still- what does this mean? What do you want?"

Celestia looked back at Boris, who was in her mind the leader. "We need to understand more about where you came from. Having an intelligent conversation with you five would prove most useful in our knowledge of that anomaly."

Jake crossed his arms. "And why should we help you?"

"I'm sure a couple guards here would be happy to polish their spear tip with your face." Luna said with a smirk. Jake looked like he was about to say something, before nodding and giving a little smile.

"My sister is joking. If you help us, we will find out how to help you in return. I'm sure a room with proper bedding would suit your needs much better than the floor here, would it not? If you agree to help us, you'll get your very own rooms."

"Our own rooms?" The final member of the team spoke up. "That seems... dangerous."

"How?" Jake asked, turning to him. "Marcus- do you know how long it's been since we've slept in a separate room from one another? The privacy?"

"Yes- but splitting us up is one way to kill us all in our sleep. It's assassination tactics- split us up and kill us separately." Marcus turned his head towards the two Princess'. "As friendly as you seem, taking kindness so easily has only lead us to be injured or trapped. It's gotten me shot way to many times, and my friends in less than lovable situations."

Celestia nodded. "I understand your concerns. If not the privacy of a separate room, atleast the proper food and-"

"-no food either. How do we know you're not going to poison us?"

Celestia stared back at Marcus. He was definitely untrusting, and Celestia had little reason to doubt that it wasn't from past experience. Jake looked over at Marcus, raising his hands in the air. "Dude- come on! Atleast let us have the food. I'm tired of eating fucking croutons and downing it with vodka."

"...Fine." Marcus said, obviously upset still. "I'm not trying anything, though. You lot can go ahead and get poisoned. You won't be happy when you're on the floor, crawling to me, begging me to save you."

"I will be happy if it means I get to have a full stomach~" Jake said, patting his stomach with his hand.

"Can you idiots hush for a moment?" Boris said with a groan, shaking his head once more before meeting the eye's of both Celestia and Luna. "We'll go with you. Anything, anything, is better than that damned Tarkov! Even if you were to kill us, I'd be much happier to have died here than to have died in such a wreck of a place."