//------------------------------// // Сталлионград // Story: General Winter // by SONBoomer //------------------------------// Stalliongrad was a grand city in it's own right. Rebuilt twice, first after the Revolution, then, after it's near complete destruction during the Second Pan-Equine War, it is one of the most famous cities in all of Equestria. Plain and utilitarian by design for the most part, it still possessed many architectural wonders. The sad part was, that most of these "wonders" were requested, ordered, imagined, and sometimes, even designed by the (in)famous supreme leaders of the Union - the older residential areas were dominated by bright red-topped "Steel-Inkas" or tight and tidy, yet horseshoebox-like "Hrustshhevkas", gray, prefabricated, pressed ferro-concrete block housing, whilst many of the public buildings were of the most raffish constructivism and postconstructivist, neoclassicism, or neoreneighsance design, with considerable inspiration gained from both Art Deco and Futurism - the grand and gaudy mixed with simple and Brutalist... Instead of being eclectic (in that aesthetically pleasing sense of the word) the buildings in many places were clashing. Still, the city gave out a feeling of tolerable, perhaps, even enjoyable dissonance - it reflected it's history, the broken and fixed pavements have been soaked in bot blood and petals. But the statues, Sweet Harmonia, the statues! Seemingly left in complete disarray, placed randomly around town, the many, commonly themed sculptures displayed futurist, realist and symbolist inspirations. "Societal Realism" it was called. ....The world shuddered in awe and silent insanity upon hearing those exact words. "I really like the style of these buildings..." Trixie commented, glancing around from the station platform. The terminal was on the edge of the city, but close to the Local State Headquarters. No sooner than they had stepped out of the train, they were approached by two, soldier-like stallions. "Мадам." one spoke with well-played Prench accent, before switching to... "Yoor чarиot eez vaiting." The three mares flinched. Spike had to take a deep breath to hold back his laughter. "И vill take yoo to the Празда." the other one said "Мой кomrade, Ясной Речи, vill carry yoor luggage. Кom' along, pleeze." They followed the two stallions along the platform, and as they reached the stairs, Twilight leaned to Trixie, giggling. "Did you heard it?" "Unfortunately." Trixie muttered "I think my grammar school teacher just had a heart attack. And she's already dead!" "No, not that..." Twilight said, rolling her eyes, deciding not to call the shameless butchering of pronunciation by it's name "I meant, his name..." "What do you mean?" Spike asked, leaning closer himself. "His name means "Clear Speech" in Northern tongue." Twilight giggled. "Figures." the sound of Sunset groaning in front of them made the three jump. They soon boarded the simple metal carriage, while "Clear Speech" diligently loaded their portmanteaus into the other one. Once he was finished, the two stallions started instantaneously. While the streets were wide, the tall buildings on the sides and the amount of pedestrians and smaller carriages made them feel crowded. Most buildings here had a... "Damp" shade, various browns along with whites, their monotony only broken by a few marble white and deep red houses, then some blue ones. Three-headed street lamps fenced the road. Most estates were very puritan, only a small terrace or an arcade at ground level. Small shops and stands popped out from these, first few and far between, then gradually growing more common as the city center came into view. The kiosks and bodegas were replaced by shops, and streets leading to specified markets and even one or two market halls - all simply marked on their glass frontages with numbers. The street grew even wider, and the traffic increased. The mares noted that most carriages and wagons had metallic wheels, sometimes coated in thick, black rubber that left intriguing marks on the layer of snow that never seemed to disappear. The street lights were adorned with traffic signs - unreadable for the mares and the dragon (barring Trixie, who spoke Northern, along with 13 languages besides Equestrian fluently - natural talent within her family, a necessity of all magicians that perform in front of all audiences). Every now and then, they heard the rattle or growl of some machine, coming from the smaller streets - a construction underway, perhaps just a causal proof of presence of the very few motor vehicles - that any respectable city had these days - were, as a matter of act, there. Twilight took note of the utilitarian clothing of the Stalliongradians: all of their clothes were thick, compact, and insulated perfectly. There was a little variation in colors or styles - long coats, civilian gymnasterkas, furry papakhas and ushankas, mares going around in sarafans coated with large capes, and packponies with stuffed telnyashkas. Everypony was wearing valenkis, and for the first time, the three unicorns saw ponies wearing pants - en masse! "This is... Pretty much a collage of all the Northern stereotypes I know about..." Trixie muttered, bemused, waving back at the traffic officer, standing on his "trunk" in the middle of the crossroad, directing the carriages in his white uniform and peaked cap. He smiled brightly at them, and took a brief moment to wave with his signal baton. "That's because Stalliongrad has always been a propaganda city." Sunset replied, looking straight ahead "The most bloodiest and desperate battle of the Second Pan-Equine War was fought here. Almost every dictator, whether Head Commissar, Supreme Secretary or Premier, had a suite in the city. It was the Capital of the Idea." "Now it acts as the capital once more..." Twilight mused "Girls, have you seen anypony that wasn't smiling?" "Huh?" the others asked. "Well, not that everypony's all cheery and happy-go-lucky, but I can't see a single frown, scowl or glum look anywhere." "...Your point?" Spike wasn't impressed. "How can they be so pleased, or even happy?" Twilight asked "Many visitors said..." "Many visitors said, in the past, that average pony of the Union spends 12 hours a day in misery." the fiery unicorn hissed, turning to the others "First of, that's an overstatement if I ever saw one, and second, that was the past! Now, they have some decent leaders, that..." "Yoo're abaut to meet." the stallion said, as they came to an abrupt stop... After gathering themselves from the carriage floor, they took their first glance at the "Prazda" or, "Governmental Building"... "Just as I expected..." Sunset murmured. The building's exterior was coated was composed of a deep, reddish-brown granite, and it's design was like a Jacuzzi with Gothic and Art Deco relaxing in it (with the former discreetly adding a wee bit extra "omph" to the bubbles). To everyone's surprise... The result wasn't gaudy. It looked pretty decent, actually, with the roof and the ornaments reaching for the sky, and with little amounts of decor, aside from the huge, stainless steel "Winged Horseshoe with Horn Reticle" on it's face, the five-pointed star standing proudly at the tip of the horn. "This is it." Twilight sighed "The Stalliongrad Local Government Headquarters." "This is where we'll drop off." Trixie added, turning to the two stallions "Thank you for your services. Oh, we'll be residing in Hotel Aurora. Не могли бы вы взять наш багаж там, Ясной Речи?" "Конечно!" 'Clear Speech' replied, towing away the portmanteaus. The mares then turned to the other stallion. On the way, he revealed that his name was "Энергичный Помощник", or "Eager Aid". He slowly walked away from the carriage, and kept staring back at the three mares, his eyes darting from one pair to the other. "Да?" he asked, awkwardly "Iz dere anything else yoo need help vith?" "No..." Twilight replied kindly "We just want to thank you again for carrying us here." "Oh?" 'Eager Aid' mused "I-Iz dat all?" "Mmm-hmmm!" the lavender unicorn replied cheerily. "Я... И do not need to be thanked..." "What?" the mares asked. "It was мой task to help you get here." the stallion replied "A simple task. I don't need a reward for it." Before any of the unicorns could answer, Eager Aid continued with a sharper tone: "И do not require yoor charity!" he snapped "The Союз is NOT plagued by poverty and misery, in contrast of the Equestrian Popular Belief!" "Calm down!" Sunset snapped back, throwing herself into a fighting position without even noticing "It was only a gesture! A common, friendly gesture!" So irritated and engrossed she was with the argument, she didn't even notice the frantically waving purple mare beside her. "And speaking of popular belief..." Trixie began, much to Twilight's chagrin "YOU certainly don't seem to think beyond, what I assume is, "Common Stalliongradian Social Propaganda"!" she lashed out, getting into a fighting stance as well "You immediately assumed that if we're being nice for just ONE SECOND, in the slightest bit, we're doing it out of pity! Because we obviously look down upon you, since we come from Equestria! Because ALL Equestrians are snobbish, bourgeois oppressors, am I right?!" By now, Eager Aid was also waving anxiously, "Стоп! Кalm down!" he shout-whispered. He shot a glance at the street, and, seeing that no-one stopped to ogle at them, he gave a relieved sigh, and turned back to the two agitated Equestrians. "И apologize for мой presumptions." he muttered in a hushed tone "But yoor... Gesture caught меня off-guard. Az a carriage-пони, И mostly deal with simple tasks, as мой талант is to help others. It requires little to no effort from me. So please, don't thank me for it." he allowed himself to smile "It was nothing. Мой pleasure, in fakt." Before they could reply, the stallion departed. Sunset exhaled slowly, whilst Trixie tended to her vigorously throbbing temples. Twilight was cross. "Well, there you have it!" she yelled "I hope you're happy, now that you've proven that the Princesses' representatives are bunch of passive-aggressive jerks!" Spike sighed, looking at the large building towering above them. "Let's head inside."