”Psst… what is that?” One skinny guard whispered to another. “Is it a mutant?”

“Rangers say it’s an alicorn.” The other replied. “It’s not a mutant, and it comes from some other world or something like that.”

“What bullshit.” The other huffed. “It’s just a more fancy way of calling it mutant. The Rangers says its friendly, but I tell you…”

Luna sighed. The citizens of Kutuzovskaya reminded her much about Ponyvilles during Nightmare Night. The humans ogled her with big eyes, whispering to one another. As she walked between through the station, the humans conveniently moved aside with mixed yelps and gasps.

Luna was not prepared to bump into a pair of legs. Looking up, she saw Grig’s bearded face.

“I just wanted to let you know, me and Vasili are staying on the station to escort Misha when she’s back up on her legs. Dima and Naum are heading back to Polis for a full report. Meanwhile, we heard the neighbor station has a lurker problem… you wanna come with us?”

“No. I have had my share of firearms and mutants for one day.” She tried walking past him, but he put a hand in front of her.

“Luna, I’m getting a tad worried about you. We both do.” The man leaned down, coming down to her eye level. “I get it. You don’t like what the Ranger stand for, and I agree their methods was-“

He stopped and rubbed his eyes. “I don’t think the LT made the right choice up there. I honestly thought we were just gonna shoot mutants. But other humans…”

Luna started to smile slightly. “You wanted a life of adventure, I understand. Tales of bravado inspired you two.”

“Yeah! But I guess there was another part of that bravado that we didn’t sign up for.” He shrugged. “but can you see past that? See us as Grigory and Vasili, and not Rangers?”

Luna smiled even more. “You helped me from the very first day I arrived here… how can I not consider you as my friends?”

“Naaaaw Luna come here!” Grig suddenly cooed and wrapped his arms around her neck, hugging her tight. “You are amazing, you know that right?”

“Like I care!”Grig laughed and stood up. “HEY LISTEN UP! LUNA HERE IS HERE TO HELP YOU. TREAT HER WITH THE SAME RESPECT YOU’D SHOW TO ANY OTHER PERSON!”

The crowd absorbed the message in silence, and then went on their usual routines.

“Hah. That was cool.” Grig chuckled. “Anyway, Vasili is probably tired of waiting for me. I should go. But we’ll be back in time for third grub.”

“Yeah you know… dinner if that sounds more normal. It’s just hard to keep track of time in here so lunch, dinner and breakfast is…” he shrugged, trying to find the right word.

“I understand. When you don’t know what the time is, it does not matter what you call it.”

He smiled and reached his hand behind her ear and scratched. Luna loved him doing that.

“You’re a bright one.” He smiled. “But I really should get going. Vasili will be butt hurt if I dawdle too much. You should ask around the station if you can help them with anything.”

“I wish I could share your enthusiasm, but I’m not so sure they’ll accept my help…” Luna frowned.

“Metro-dwellers can be slow and hard to trust, but use your killer smile and those adorable eyes, and you’ll be part of the station in no time! I promise.”

Luna took a moment to take a deep breath before she got up and started trotting through the station. The humans gave her funny looks, but Luna was not going to be demoralized by that anymore.

She came into a crowded room that seemed to be a market. Humans by stands shouted out all kind of things;

A slight rumble in Luna’s belly came as she heard soup. It felt like she hadn’t eaten in ages… some warm food would do her good.

She pondered, how could she get money? Working for it could take time… maybe if she sold something.
She turned her saddlebags upside down, pouring out all of her packing on the ground. Some humans stood and watched curiously.

“Let’s see…” Luna grumbled. Sleeping bag… no, I need that… mask filters… best saving them just in case, same for the gasmask…
She had a plethora of ammunition. She could absolutely sell those… or…

She placed her hoof under her chin. Maybe the human guards could use it. If the defenders of the station ran out of, things could be most unpleasant.

Perhaps it would help her get along better with the guards too! She thought with a smile.

So what’s left… she looked on her silver shoes and tiara. It was the only things left.

She sighed. The tiara had been with her for as long as she could remember, and she had no intention of parting with it. The shoes were beautiful, but served no practical use in the metro.

Sighing, she looked at one of the stands with pots, pans and other miscellaneous. She approached it and cleared her throat, making her presence clear to everyone. Two humans that had been browsing slid away, leaving the stand all for Luna. The man behind the stand, a chubby fellow with rounded glasses stiffened when the alicorn used her magic to put her shoes up on the counter.

The man snorted, casting a long glance on her, then on the shoes. Carefully like a suspicious squirrel he snatched one shoe and examined it. He made a low hmm as he held the shoe up in the light, and then tapped on it with a fat finger.

“It’s made in silver… if that means anything…” Luna shot in, still smiling.

He had his vision still fixed on the shoes. With a sigh he turned to her, seemingly nervous.

“I… dunno what to do with it… might be able to smelt them to something… but honestly I just see ashtrays…” he snorted once, then leaned forward. “I’d say fifteen bullets for each.”

The man casted nervous glances to the sides. “Err… yeah… how much were you expecting?”

They use bullets as currency? Luna thought. It didn’t make sense to her, but if that is how it is…

“Well?” The man said slightly annoyed, “I’d like a quick answer… and you’re scaring the customers!”

“Mm… It’s a deal.” Luna sighed. Quickly the shoes want down a box and the man put up two magazines up on the counter.

Well that went well Luna smirked. At least he didn’t treat me horribly or called me any names. Satisfied, she went to the food stand. Again all humans steered clear of her, and the owner stammered and handed the bowl of hot soup to her slowly, only to retract his hand as if he’d burned it.

She ate in peace, enjoying the warm mushroom soup. She did have spectators however, four small creatures with wide eyes. Human foals, or children she corrected herself.

They didn’t say anything, just looked at her with curiosity. One picked his finger up his nostril and then stuck it in his mouth. Shuddering, Luna got up and trotted to the guard postings, her followers still with her, keeping their distance.

Luna took notice of one human leaned against the station platform, cursing and holding his ankle. “Erhm… excuse me, is something wrong?”

The human turned to her, revealing a young female with a short, cotty mane. She was so startled by Luna; the woman fell backwards on her rump, causing her to spit out more inappropriate curses.

“I am so sorry!” Luna cried. “I didn’t mean – please, can I help you up?”

The woman spat in anger and casted some concerned glances around her. When she didn’t see any other human, she nodded to Luna.
Luna walked over to her and lowered down, letting the human grab her around the neck to haul herself up.

“I did a dumb jump down from the platform,” the woman winced. “landed wrong and twisted my ankle. I was going to make a delivery to the three postings. But I won’t be able to do that now...”

“Oh, I can do it, if you would like some help!” Luna saw her opportunity to prove herself.

The woman grimaced, unsure if she really wanted the alicorns help. After a little while she lightened up and nodded.
“If you really want to… take these and give two for each post.” She handed over a brown bag.

Luna opened the bag and peered down on six bottles with a clear liquid inside. “What is it?”

“Vodka. Keeps the spirit and mood up, and warms the body.” She replied and closed the bag again. “Don’t even think about taking a sip yourself. This is for the men and women protecting our station!”

“I won’t, I swear!” Luna nodded and hung the bag around her neck. “Is there anything else I can do?”

“No just go, I’ll limp to Oleg and fix my ankle.” The woman waved her hand dismissively and turned. “Thank you Alicorn.” She said while hobbling away.

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Luna had delivered the bottles of “vodka” to each posting and was now walking back. When she approached the first post, the three men made a surprisingly warm welcoming for her.

“Hey, thanks for the vodka Alicorn!” One gleeful man said with a wide grin. “You look like a strange, strange thing… but if you bring vodka… you can’t be all bad!”

“Why, thank you.” Luna blushed. Was it really so easy to earn their trust?

“Hey you should have drink with uss…” Another guard slurred and offered a small cup.

Eager to befriend them, she took the cup with her magic, causing the guards to gasp loudly.

“Woooaah how you – how’d – you’d how…” the second guard kept slurring, trying to comprehend what he just witnessed.

The three men suddenly burst into laughter. And they did so for a good whole minute, only stopping when they were red in the face and wheezing for air.

“Magic… ooh that’s a good one.” The third guard wiped the tears away. “I like you Alicorn, you’re funny.”

Vodka was poured into all four cups, and the three men raised theirs high. “A toast to Luna then, the magic vodka-bringer!”

A bitter fire burned in her throat as the liquid ran down. Luna coughed and spat, tears running down her cheeks.

More laughter came, and someone clapped Luna on the back.
“Have some more, it will go down easier this time!” a man pulled in Luna and filled her cup.

Luna hesitated at first, not wanting to feel that burning sensation again. But as she saw the anticipating faces of the men, she started to smile.

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Vasili and Grig had finally returned from their mission in the neighbor station Fili. The station had been infested with lurkers and even after killing over a dozen of them, there were still more. Much more.
They had now run out of ammo, and their armors had been damaged from the sharp fangs of the ugly bastards. Not to mention how much medkits and bandages that had been consumed.

“And rope.” Grig nodded. “I don’t want to fall into one of those holes without any rope nearby!”

“I hear you-“ Vasili suddenly interrupted himself and pointed forward. “What’s going on over there?”

Grig looked, seeing a large crowd standing in a circle. What they were gawking about couldn’t be seen. As they got closer, they could hear a guitar playing a happy, rhythmic tune. There was snickering in the crowd, and low whispers; look at that… what is this… looks so silly…

When the duo of friends pushed their way through the crowd, they stunned to see the sight.

Luna was in the middle of the shebang, preforming an odd, awkward dance up on her hind legs. The music came from a very young man with a guitar, the boy playing with a big smile.

“Luna?” Grig barely could believe his eyes. “What the heck are you doing?!”

The alicorn fell over on her back with a thud, and then looked at her friends, still on her back.
“Grig… Vasililiiiihehehee…” Luna slurred. “Hi.”

”Luna… what… ” Vasili shook his head, he too being confused of her state.

“I’m making friendsss…” she rolled on her belly and got up on wobbly legs. “Have you heard how beautiful Nikolai plays on his gui… guy…” she blinked, trying to find the word.

Grig walked up to Luna and held her head with two hands. He sniffed her muzzle, and then shot his head back. “Holy shit, you reek of vodka!”

Luna giggled in his hands. “I had some with my friends… Ivan… eeh Dimitri and uuh Mark!”

”How much is some?” Grig sighed and looked into the intoxicated pony’s eyes.

“Jeez… Vasili, help me with her. She’s going back to the tent.” Grig groaned. His friend came and picked up Luna by her hind legs, while Grig held up her head and chest. Luna squirmed and protested when they picked her up at first, but soon giggled and let out a WHEEEEE when her human carriers rushed away.

“Thank you so much Luna!” Nikolai shouted behind after them, holding up a full magazine.
Luna had been very generous with the tipping.

Back at the tent, Grig and Vasili had lots of trouble with the drunken alicorn. She refused to lie down on her mattress, she wanted dance some more – rather demanded to dance or else they would be sent to the deepest and darkest of dungeons.
An hour later she fell into a more depressed state, starting to whine and cry. “I’m sorry I don’t even know what’s gotten into me…” she wept with a quivering lower lip. Vasili and Grig took turns in comforting her, while the other cooked up some food.
She ate with a grand appetite, and then Grig and Vasili decided it was time to get some shut-eye. Again Luna started to moan and complain. She didn’t want to be sleeping alone. She wanted to sleep next to BOTH of her friends to feel better.
So they pushed their three mattresses together, Luna in the middle and them on the outside. Luna finally relaxed and nuzzled both on the face and purred satisfied. “Good night… I love you two…”

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Luna groaned loudly. Her head was pounding like a hammer on an anvil.
She sat up, seeing herself in a tent. Grig and Vasili was nowhere to be seen. Slowly she crawled up from her mattress and walked out. That was when she noticed something stuck on her horn. It was a piece of yellowed paper with some scribbling on it.

Luna
Gone to Fili station to clear out some lurkers.
We’ll be back in six – seven hours (depends on number of problems).
You should take it easy today. Hangovers are not fun.
Remember to eat and drink plenty of water.

-G, V

Hangover? Luna groaned. Had she been intoxicated?
Small fragments of yesterday came back to her, remembering her very un-princess-like behavior at the guard posting. Most of it was a blur at the moment.

Deciding for some breakfast, she trotted onward to the market. On her way she noticed how people would chuckle and smile after her.

They probably remembered her charade from yesterday. She cringed. On the positive side, they weren’t afraid of her.
The owner of the food stand greeted her with a smirk. “You did one hellova' preformance yesterday. My kid laughed for hours, and so did me and my wife!”

“Heh… glad you were entertained…” Luna stammered, feeling the urge to bury her head under something.

He laughed and reached out a bowl of soup. “Here, this one’s on me. And take this too,” he gave her a small silvery plastic bag. “Mix it with some water if you get any headache.”

Thanking for the supplies, Luna hobbled back to the tent to eat. There, she had some familiar faces waiting for her; the four children from yesterday.

“Hello younglings.” Luna forced on a smile, even if the headache still pounded her head.

Luna smiled. She took off her jacket with magic and spread her majestic wings. The children made a wooow and rushed forward. “Can we touch them?” A girl asked, the only one of the group.

Luna nodded, and let the children tug her wings. They were very gentle about it, not wanting to hurt the wings. “They are pretty…” the emerald-eyed boy said with awe.

“Can you really fly?” the girl asked. “What’s it like? Can we fly with you? OH CAN WE, PLEASE PLEASE?” Her eyes got big, and so did her friend's

The thought went through Luna’s mind. While the children might have liked it, cheering in delight, their parents would probably scream in fear if they ever witnessed it.

“I’m sorry but umm… my wings haven’t been used for a while… I won’t be able to carry anyone for some time.” She did in fact have her wings tucked under jackets and armor for some time, and they felt slightly numb. It would go away in a few hours, but it was better to tell a white lie for the children.

“But don’t fret children…” Luna tried to cheer them up. “Would you like to hear about my home, Equestria?”
The children nodded.
“Well then. Once upon a time, in a magical land rule two regal sisters…”

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Luna had been telling stories so long, Grig and Vasili had returned from Fili station. The children, named Petir, Stepan, Yuri and Tana had been so captivated about Equestria they never interrupted Luna, just letting her go on and on.

“Nannying huh?” Vasili chuckled as he and Grig approached the tent. “That’s always a good start.”

“Alright children, you should get to your parent before they start to worry.” Grig sat down by the fireplace started to place firewood.

The children muttered in discontent. Before they left they waved bye to Luna, promising her they would come back the next day. A warm feeling welled up in Luna, and her smile felt like it had stuck permanently on her face. She eventually joined Grig and Vasili by the fireplace and discussed their day over some mushroom stew.

It was enjoyable to hear how Grig had fallen into a lurker nest, and fallen on top on a lurker. It sounded very comical, how the mutant had died instantly when the armored man fell on it, and Grig had been screaming like a little girl, as Vasili described it. Grig turned red and buried his face in his hands when hearing this.

“I think it’s about time to sleep now.” He tried to push the subject away. “I’ll hit the sack.”

Luna and Vasili snickered at him, but they too felt it could be nice with some rest. The two asked Luna if she wanted to have her mattress by herself, or wanting to sleep next to them again. Luna blushed when they explained how she’d been acting in her drunken state.

“Nothing happened, mind you!” Vasili was quick to calm her down. “We’d never take advantage over you.” Grig nodded with him.

“…so you won’t mind if…” Luna almost whispered and dug in the dirt with a hoof.

She didn’t have to finish her sentence before the men crashed into their mattresses, leaving a large spot for her to lie in.
Overjoyed she curled up between them, enjoying the closure of her human friends.

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The dark tunnel stretched out before her, the darkness embracing her.
The shrill laughter of a child echoed from the dark, bouncing off the rounded walls.
Suddenly the laughter ended abruptly and was changed into the weeping of a woman.

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Luna shot up, hearing screaming.

Something was not right. Luna got up and started running into the station. There was people running about, shouting for Stepan. This was not a good sign.

“A kid is missing. He just vanished into the thin air, not passing any postings.” The guard scratched his head. “This is some weird shit going on here…”

Stepan was missing. Luna’s heart dropped. She barely knew the boy, but the thought of a child of six-seven years, alone in some dark tunnel with monsters in every corner…

A sharp whistle traveled through the metro. “I found a hole!” someone shouted.

Luna followed the crowd to pile of stacked boxes. Behind them was a small hole in the wall, sloping downwards.
“It’s too tight for us!” A man barked angrily. “We need sledgehammers and pickaxes over here!”

“What! What is that is a baring wall?” a woman shot in. “We need to check if we even can dig without the metro coming down on us!”

“My son can be down there!” a woman cried desperately. “He can be hurt!”

The crowd started to argue, some wanted to leave it be, saying the child was probably dead. Others insisted they had to dig, willing to risk the roof falling down.

“I will search for Stepan.” Luna said out loud. The crowd got silent instantly and stared at her.

“A grown human may not be able to fit through that hole, but I could.” Luna said confidently. “If the boy is lost in darkness, each second is crucial and should not be wasted on arguments.”

The humans blinked, not sure what to say. An alicorn, a being they did not know or have seen before, now offering her help to save a child in potential danger.

“I agree with her.” The food stand owner nodded. “She’s not one of us. But if she’s willing to go after one of ours… man, I can respect that. And I wouldn’t turn her help down.”

Luna took a deep breath before talking.
“I am a princess where I come from. All of my subjects, young as old and in between, are equally important to me. And true, I am no human, and you are no ponies. But I will unhesitatingly risk my coat for an innocent life like a child. No matter being a subject of mine or not.”

The crowd had heard Luna’s unselfishness, and they seemed to be impressed by her inspirational speech.

“I’ll give you enough rations and water to survive a week down there.” The food stand man nodded respectfully to her before he ran off.

“Coming with filters and medkits.” Another stand owner said before he ran off too.

Luna felt relived the humans had accepted her help. They didn’t see her as a freak anymore.

A hand came behind her ear and scratched gently. “You never seize to surprise us.”

Luna turned to Grig and Vasili. She could see in their eyes what they were thinking.
We’re damned impressed.

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“Alright, supplies are down.” The man gave a thumb up.

“Wish we could go with you.” Grig said with a sigh. “But I wish you luck. And one more thing… I know you’re not fond of guns but… take this with you.”

Luna bowed her head. “Thank you. I know you value this gun highly. I won’t lose it.”
Grig nodded.

“Good luck down there.” Vasili patted her head. “Come back in one peace. And bring back the kid with you.”
“I will do everything I can.” Luna reassured.

She tooka deep breath and started to crawl. It was tight and uncomfortable, but her strong will kept pushing her forward. Finally the hole ended, and she jumped down. With a short fall she landed on all four on damp soil.

She lit her horn, observing the enormous tunnel before her. It seemed worse than the tunnels she’d become familiar with, noting but earth held up by wooden support beams, and moss hanging down like ghostly drapes.

Collecting all her supplies, she looked back to see the tunnel had collapsed behind her. She could only move forward.

Moon of the Metro

by BlueYellowNoble

5. A Pony of the People