//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Metro 2033: A Stalker's Tale // by Hurgusburgus //------------------------------// I was momentarily blinded as the great, gilded castle doors swung open. The noise overwhelmed me for a moment but I quickly accustomed to the new atmosphere, but still! The ceiling must've been at least fifty meters high, supported by thick marble columns inlaid with gold filigree that presented some event in Equestria's past, I guess. The floor and walls were made of the same stone, the polished surfaces shining in the light of the lanterns hanging from the buttresses. Large stained glass windows glittered dully in the low moonlight, thus I was unable to tell what was depicted there. It was like something of pre-war photos of Earth, except real! I know, I know, those words don't make sense, but I was simply awestruck – everything here spoke of wealth and prosperity. It was as if I'd stepped into a whole another century. Bourbon was similarly awed, his head on a swivel as he looked around. “Bozhe moy... Kinda like out of those photos of St. Petersburg castle, right, Alyona?” “Da.” I could only nod dumbly as we walked along. Eventually, we were greeted by none other than Celestia herself. “Welcome to the Grand Galloping Gala! I hope you got here without any trouble?” “That we did. Travelling with national heroes speeds things up, I have to say.” I responded, giving a slight bow to her as others followed suit, even Bourbon. The alabaster alicorn smiled warmly at us before gesturing to the rest of the hall. “Please, do enjoy yourselves, but stay around after the Gala. I would very much like to know what you all have been up to since we last met.” I nodded and we dispersed through the hall, doing whatever. Bourbon sauntered off to sample the drinks, while I kind of wandered around, properly taking in the sights. A short while later, my stomach made its needs known and I decided to get something to eat. And there was so much food to choose from. Then again, considering how big this party was, it wasn't that big of a surprise – there were cakes, puddings, fondues, salads, foodstuffs of every kind imaginable, and the smells left me drooling. And then, my conscience decided to make itself known – here I was, safe and sound, living a life of luxury, yet how many people were living by the skin of their teeth back in Metro? Honestly, it left me feeling like an asshole. But there was little I could do about it, really. Thus, even with my mood somewhat dampened, I chose to sample what was available on the table. The cuisine did not disappoint me, though the foods with hay or flowers in them were left alone. To a pony they would've been delicious, but to a human like yours truly... not so much. Nonetheless, what I did eat was simply delicious, even though there was no meat. Then again, that would've been really messed up, considering. It took the better part of an hour until I no longer felt the need to eat, but by then, I'd found something else to entertain myself with – the orchestra began some sort of a slow, waltzy piece. Quickly, the guests divided into pairs and began to mill about and... And... Was Bourbon dancing with Rarity? He was, indeed, with the fashionista standing up in a two-legged pose, but it worked, somehow. Neither of them were bad at it, too. Well, now. Turns out Bourbon was a man of many talents, then. It was about then that my brain decided it'd witnessed just about enough weird shit. Grabbing a bottle of wine from a nearby waiter, I wandered off. A third of the bottle and half an hour later found me surveying the landscape from a balcony. It was a really nice sight. Even though I only saw the glittering lights of Canterlot far below the castle, I was more drawn to the sky – the stars twinkling in the vast, abyssal expanse of space were what really drew my attention. Here's the thing – these days, few people knew what sky looked like, and combined with the fact that it was mostly concealed from sight by a constant cloud cover, you'd have to be a really lucky Stalker or such to even see a glimpse of it. As fate would have it, I was among those lucky few – I'd caught a short glimpse of night sky back at Moscow, but this was different, a sky whose stars weren't obscured in any way. It was a breath-taking sight, to see something that was akin to a myth back on Earth... Letting out a soft sigh, I took another sip of wine, feeling a slight buzz coming on – drinking 'shroom vodka kind of helps one develop a resistance to alcohol. My mood rather upbeat, I hummed to myself as my eyes wandered across the sky. We're the last descendants In the line of valiant soldiers We're the mistreated angels We're the blackbird nation We're the chosen ones... Those were just about the only words I knew of that song, and proceeded to hum wordlessly to myself, enjoying the solitude, the view, and the bottle of a great wine. *ahem* I turned to look at whoever had found me, and saw someone who could only be Celestia's sister, Luna. Well, the description Twilight'd provided me with matched. “Hello. You must be Alyona.” Luna spoke, her voice calm and measured. “Da. And you must be Luna.” The midnight blue alicorn smiled wanly and nodded. “Indeed I am, and I regret that I only get to meet you now. Whatever are you doing out here on your own?” “Oh, the party, although very nice, got kind of stuffy, so I came out to cool down a bit, gather my thoughts. Oh, and enjoy the view while I'm at it, too.” Luna let out a small hum at that, gazing across Canterlot. “Yes, it is a fine city, is it not?” “That, too, but I was referring to the sky.” That threw her for a loop and she looked at me surprisedly. “Really?” “Mhm.” I made to sit down, but Luna was faster, conjuring a pair of cushions, sliding one below my rear. “Thanks. So, before the war, people back on Earth would always be fascinated with space. They'd look up to the stars and say 'I want to know what's up there.' Hell, about sixty or so years ago, they even managed to send a couple of people to the Moon.” Luna's eyes widened in surprise at that and her jaw all but hit the floor. I chuckled for a moment before speaking again. “I guess Celestia told you about what's my world like now, right?” She nodded. “Right. Well, these days we have to fight every day to survive. Outlying stations don't last long and are either taken by bandits, Reds, Nazis, or overrun by the monsters. It's not a happy world back there.” I sighed dourly to myself before continuing. “One night, I was hurrying back to a service tunnel that'd get me back underground, having scavenged a pretty nice stockpile of goods. And then, I looked up for a moment to check if I was still on track. And that's when I saw it – some of the clouds had cleared out, letting me see a bit of the night sky, stars and all. With so few people in the Metro actually having seen the sky, I felt pretty damn lucky to have done so as well. And it felt nice, to know that even with all the dangers of the world, there were still some good and beautiful things left, you know?” The midnight-blue alicorn smiled at that, nodding. “I do know what you mean, Alyona. And it's a nice surprise to know that you appreciate the night. Ponies seldom do.” “Well, then they need to get their heads checked.” I chuckled before passing her the wine bottle. “Here, have a drink.” She smiled before taking a sip from the bottle. “So, what can you tell me about yourself?” I took a sip as well before answering. “Well, there isn't much to tell, but sure. I'm twenty-four years old. I was born... shit, four years before the nukes fell, year 2009. I was the only one of my family to get in the Metro. Stayed in an orphanage 'til I was sixteen, then had to leave.” I sighed as memories of those years returned. “Had to scrape by the skin of my teeth to survive. Saved up enough for a gun and bullets, then did courier and guard work, did whatever I had to so I could stay fed and clothed.” “That sounds horrible.” Luna spoke, a look on sympathy on her face. “Looking back, yeah, it does. But it was either that or die. Life is pretty damn unforgiving in the Metro But I survived. Took to a Stalker's trade pretty quickly, and it went only upwards from there. The supplies I recovered from the surface are vital to the survival of the Metro as a whole – munitions, medicine, books, non-perishable foods, fuel... Ours is an important task.” “That sounds dangerous, to live in a world that isn't hospitable.” “That's putting it lightly, but yeah. It's very dangerous. You get attacked by something on the Surface, only one of you is walking away alive from that fight – the animals can't afford to walk away without food, and I don't want to become Watcher chow – they're these howling things that can be a real pain in the ass.” I took another gulp of the wine, and Luna followed suit. “Anyways, I needed to find Bourbon and found out he'd left Riga station some time ago. I tracked him to the best of my abilities all the way to Sukharevskaya – Dry Station – where I found him shot and well on his way to six feet under. Then an anomaly zaps us, and we end up here – the rest is history.” “True enough.” Luna nodded, smiling before raising the bottle. “Now, this here bottle needs to be emptied. Shall we?” “Oh, by all means!” I laughed as I took a sip and it only went downhill from there... I found out a couple of things about Luna that night – one of them was that she was a lightweight. A terrifyingly light lightweight. Well, I wasn't all that sober myself. Ponies know how to brew strong booze, I'll give 'em that. We must've been quite a sight to the guards stationed in the hallways – me feeding one of their princesses with a bottle of wine. It would become one of the memories that would cause me to headdesk immediately. Next morning found me somewhere dark, warm, soft and incredibly comfortable. I was also curled up to said something comfortable, and I also seemed to be naked. Kinda breezy this morning. Oh, also, hangover from nowhere. Urkj~ Suppressing a groan, I shuffled out from what I suspected to be the blanket and tiredly inched my way towards the edge of the bed. Even though I was sleepy, hungover, kind of sore and fatigued, I also felt pretty damn content, as if some big weight had been removed from my back. Sighing softly, I turned to look at the bedsheets in an attempt to find some of my underwear. I found my underpants first. HANGING FROM LUNA'S GOD-FRICKING-DAMNED HORN. The last night's deeds came rushing back to me and, in that moment, I realised just how fucked I was. Not in that way, even though that did happen, apparently. I'd done the horizontal monster mash. With the sister of the one pony who could control the sun itself and could, I imagine, turn me into a heap of ashes with nary a thought. So, yeah. I kind of panicked and tried to sneak out. Quietly as I could, I snatched up my underwear and donned it. Turning away from the slumbering alicorn, I took a st-shlickt. I froze and turned to look at the source of the noise – one of Luna's horseshoe thingies. The pointy end of it had gone right through my foot. Celestia sipped from her teacup as she unfolded the newspaper, humming as she read it. The breakfast table was set, and she waited for the rest of her guests – namely the Element Bearers and Bourbon - to show up. They'd gladly accepted her offer to stay over in the castle for the night, which made her glad – she'd been able to exchange few words with them, considering how busy the Gala had been. She'd been happy to find out Luna had decided to be friends with Alyona. The younger alicorn had been initially suspicious of the human when Celestia had told about her. With a bit of luck, she'd overcome those suspicions and become steadfast friends with Alyona. YYYYYYIIIIIIEEEEEEEAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH~ A tea-sodden newspaper dropped onto the table as the alabaster mare sat upright in alert. Her horn lit up as she traced the scream back to its source – Luna's bedroom. Worried and curious, she teleported to the room, where she was witness to a sight that left her wondering whether her tea had gone bad. Alyona was sitting on the floor, all but naked save for her underwear, trying to stem the blood flowing from her foot, while a silver horseshoe lay nearby, covered in blood. Luna was rubbing a bruise on her head, trying to extricate herself from the bedsheets she'd gotten tangled herself in. “Um... did I, er, interrupt something?” Two heads turned to face the alabaster alicorn. “Chyort poberi... Bourbon's not going to let me live this one down, the mudak...” With that, Alyona passed out, collapsing on the floor. Celestia blinked in wordless surprise for a moment before looking at Luna. Despite the situation, she couldn't help but tease her sister a bit. “Wild night, huh?” “Myergh~”