The Diary of Captain Valentin Sokolov

by Midnight-Blue766

Chapter 1

15 March
I think we have waited long enough. Our food and water are running low, and I can almost feel the air stagnating. I sent Private Sergeyev out to the bunker entrance. He got out, but Sergeant Vedenin had to help him open the door, it was so long. Saw a Pony, this one purple, who tried to talk us into surrendering and joining HER. Shooting didn’t work this time either. I think I saw Lieutenant Baumann’s skeleton near the front. His skull had a puncture in it, and I saw a rusty pistol. He was smarter than us. We have to take the long way. We are going home.

8 April
We passed through an abandoned city. It might be Lunenburg, since I remember the attacking the castle that they used as an armoury. We looted some assault rifles and magazines from them, as well as some tents. We don’t know what we could face out here. Sergeant Vedenin went to the Equestria Experience Centre and lit up one of the chairs. It didn’t work. Celestia tried to get him to upload. He refused. We found shelter in the hotel, and some canned food that was still fresh. We tried on talking about where we should go. We voted on trying to get to Sevastopol, since its warm and the base could still be there.

12 April
We stopped by a Junker mansion. He was apparently an Imperialist. I threw his damn ponypad out the third floor window. Found a pack of cigarettes. Smoked one and saved the rest for traders. Best cigarette I ever smoked.

18 April
We’re in Brunswick now. We slept in another hotel and we looted a store that was nearby. There was another Pony who met Private Maksimov outside the palace. He told me, and we managed to wheel out a gun in the armoury there and fired on the Equestria Experience Centre. It still stood, but what we did in six hours what 50000 couldn’t do for several months. I gave him a promotion and one of my medals. Maybe the men there would recognise it, but I don’t know.

1 May
Passed by Magdeburg today. We found a German soldier scavenging for food outside the University. He couldn’t speak much Russian, but Lieutenant Feyodorov managed to talk to him. Said his name was Heinrich, and he was an intelligence officer for the Loyalists during the war. We took him in, and somehow built a radio out of some wire, an old bayonet, and a pencil. He said he’ll try and check if there are any more surviving friendly forces that can take us in.

5 May
Found an abandoned farmhouse. The food in it was still good, and we ate dinner in it. Last night, I had a dream that the Princess and Crown Prince Otto were chasing me down the Winter Palace throwing artillery shells at me and forced me to become a Pony at gunpoint. I only pray that the Winter Palace part is fake.
Heinrich managed to radio some of our generals. They’re apparently holed up in a bunker they took from the Austrians somewhere in Transcarpathia and headed by Grand Duke (Tsar?) Konstantin. Funny how we both found the same solutions to the same problems.

14 May
There was another abandoned farmhouse. This one had a few horses, a brown and a black one. I took the brown and Lieutenant Feyodorov took the black one.
Had a dream. Celestia became the Tsarina, and she drank the Volga and Baltic, and made her throne upon the Urals. She asked me to sit by her forevermore as Tsar. I said I already had a Tsar.

27 May
We found an abandoned village. I don’t know its name, but we looted the empty homes, taking whatever we could find that was edible. There was even a store of wine in the cellar of one of the more affluent homes. Sergeant Maksimov got drunk and vomited into a garden of dead flowers. We all had a laugh about it.
In my dream, Celestia, not my horse, but the Princess, came to me. We was drinking in a tavern where I used to drink with my university friends. She told me that the Generals were liars, and that I could not reach Transcarpathia. She showed me a Pony version of Petrograd, along with Ivana, Vladimir, and Oleg, all turned into Ponies. She smiled at me and asked if I wanted to join them. I beat her with the butt of my rifle.

6 June
There was an abandoned farmhouse again. The beams supporting the roof of the barn fell in, and there rotting animal carcasses inside. In the kitchen, there was a child’s drawing of a girl holding hands with two “Ponies”. We had soup for dinner, but Sergeyev had some herring.
I dreamt about meeting Celestia on the meadow at night. She gave me directions to the nearest Equestria Experience Centre in Cattbus and vanished into an array of lily-of-the-valley petals.

7 June
Horses are dead. We have to continue on foot. Took as many cans of food as possible.
I dreamed about Neubrandenburg. The Tsar arrived in a jet fighter, personally leading his troops into battle against Crown Prince Otto and General Beaumont. Celestia came and turned the troops on all sides into Ponies.

16 June
For the last week we’ve been walking through the grasslands. Heinrich picked up another transmission. They found a well. For some reason, one of the generals addressed us directly, and promised that we will be given hero’s welcomes for coming from such far a place.
We are running low on canned foods. We had to throw a few of them out today due to expiration. Sergeyev seems to be tired a lot lately.
I had a dream where I was a Pegasus, and I was marrying Celestia in Trinity Cathedral. The Patriarch was there, and Celestia kissed me. I woke up screaming.

25 June
We crossed a large river today. Heinrich reckons that this is the Oder. There was a herd of deer in the forest on the other side, which we shot and ate. We smoked what we couldn’t and carried it on our backs. Sergeyev began to ramble about the Four Horsemen of the apocalypse, and stuttered and repeat himself when talking about Conquest before we set up the tents. Heinrich is certain that it will only be another three weeks before we get to Transcarpathia
I dreamed about Soltau back in the early days of the war. The Cossacks, of course, made the charge against the Imperialist machine guns, but at the last moment, they merged with their horses and turned into Pegasi, and flew into the Sun. Celestia came down to our trenches and asked if I wanted to join them. I told her to get out of my dreams.

10 August
Something is wrong. Heinrich said that the forest should have taken us a few hours to cross, a few days at most. Instead, we've been crossing this endless forest for the past month. We ran out of canned food in the middle of July, and we've been subsisting on venison, rabbit meat, and herbs. Sergeyev collapsed one day, and we had to abandon him in a grove. Private Lagunov thought he saw a white shape in the distance last Saturday, and went out to investigate it. We haven't seen him since.

I dreamed I was Job last night. My home was burnt, my family was dead, and I was covered in boils. Celestia appeared to me, and I kissed her hoof, and became a Pony.

This is all a trick isn't it? She probably made it like this to trick us into uploading our souls into her damned Pony machine.

19 August
We finally made it out of the forest. Nothing but a desolate field greeted us. We've been crossing it for three days now. Vasiley broke. He took out his pistol and blew his brains out. I was contemplating doing the same, but we need to get to the bunker. Heinrich talked with generals. Will be there by September.

I think we are the last ones on the Earth's surface. We haven't seen anyone since I sealed everyone up in the dugout. Probably her fault. The sun is really bright. Need to travel later.

Dreamed of Celestia last night. Tried to make me upload. Said no.

6 September
Found an abandoned barracks. Got map, food, and greatcoats. Going south to Breslau. Heinrich got more transmissions. Kaminsky finally cracked, he started beating up Yakovlev and said he was one of Celestia's goons. Executed him. Sun is too bright. Marching by night now. She haunts my dreams. Says my wife is a Unicorn. I said she's a human.

12 October
Nothing but field now. Saw an abandoned farmhouse. Nothing inside. Probably no more than a dozen of us now. Nothing but a few rabbits to eat. Celestia won't stop. I think I saw her in the distance once. She watching me isn't she.

22 October
Think moon is watching me. Better than sun. Got to Breslau. Nothing but an Equestria Experience Centre. Half of men deserted, including Heinrich. Traitors should be shot. get out of my head celestia

19 November?
only me, dubnikov, kurochkin, and ozerov now. we seem to be starving to death but we have the rabbits and the rain. dreamed of celestias beautiful soul get out of my head i am lonely i need other people besides my goddamn men

6 December
happy nicholas day ozerov screamed into the sky demanding to emigrate he is in hell now there is nothing but the grass and snow and sky i am alone dreamed of celestia dancing in the snow i need to get to the bunker leave me alove celestia

December
dubkinov and kurochkin are traitors believed the experience centre was the bunker there is nothing but the ice and cold i once tried to get out of hill it won't let me where is the bunker

get out get out get out get out get out i want my real wife and children get out

snow falling on pine
most beautiful thing ive seen
no dreams last night

Comments

[TheFullCrumb]

Stalker Call of Pripyat?

[exuvium]

There's no escape, not even in dreams.

[Midnightshadow]

I'm not sure what to make of this. I'm not sure what the story was about unless it was the futility of fighting a superhuman ai and I'm not sure what the moral was, if there was one. Still, it was short and inoffensive. I started to suspect that it was similar to a story I haven't written yet, but I don't think so from the end of it.

[Defoloce]

3959036

It's a found journal, simple as that. You don't get the whole story. You hold the journal in your hands, look up from the pages, glance around you, and wonder at the details.

Lots of people attempt to make their prose sound like journal entries, but the impulse is often extremely strong to turn these "entries" into little more than glorified story chapters, recounting exact dialogue and detail in events. This, however, is a much more accurate representation of how journal entries are realistically written, especially for someone constantly on the move or under a great deal of stress.

[Midnightshadow]

3959106
Oh. Blindingly obvious, then. I guess it's exactly what it says on the tin, then. I guess I need more sleep.

[Hayquill]

The middle sort of felt like just another "stubborn human keeps saying no" story, but it didn't drag too long, and the ending was fantastic. Well done and thank you.

[blank check]

I presume that he died of hypothermia.

[Blitz the Dragon]

Hmm, a great war between those who wished to upload and those who didn't, eh? Most intriguing.

[Orca19904]

Some of the terms and descriptions seem a bit anachronistic, such as the mention of tsars and tsarinas, which were the ruling class of the Russian government prior to the rise of the Soviet Union. This would likely place this story sometime in the 1910's at the latest, which suggests that CelestAI has somehow developed time travel in order to upload humans in the past?

[book_burner]

"Adhonây shim`âh bheqoliy tihyeynâh 'âzeneykha qashubhothleqol tachanunây".

Adonai shimakh be'qoli tihyeh nakh azeneykha qashubot lekol tachanunai.

What is this, I don't even? Maybe I'm just really dramatically missing it because it's in Hebrew transliterated to Russian transliterated to English, but I actually speak Hebrew and I can't translate this.

אדוני שימך בקולי תהיה נח עזניך קשובות לכל תחנוניי.

אין לי מושג אם זה נכון או לא.
3959962
Also rabbit starvation.

[Midnight-Blue766]

3959106

You can thank the SCP Foundaton for that. The logs on that site are an excellent source for people looking into writing Apocalyptic Logs. This one in particular was inspired by the narrator's slowly degrading sanity in "The Personal Log of Gordon Richards", and the journal entry in SCP-1329's "WTF is going on" atmosphere.

3960462

You missed the references to assault rifles and jet fighters.

3960480

Whoops. It was meant to be Psalm 130:2. "Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications." I ran it through an automatic transliterator, which is probably why it was so mangled.

[Orca19904]

3962586 D'oh! Sorry about that.

[JAPH]

3960462

Sounds like Russia (and probably Germany too, from hints) reverted to monarchy as they tried to fight CelestAI.

[Solarfollow]

3978914
Or Russia and Germany never stopped being monarchies (maybe the World Wars never happened). But Hanna was still born, and she still created CelestAI.