\Author's notes (or foreword, if you want to be pernickety): This is a Metro 2033 (mainly the book) and MLP crossover, if it wasn't clear. This is my first attempt at a long story, so hopefully it'll be a fun ride for all of us.\
/Metro 2033 belongs to Dmitri Glukhovsky, Deep Silver and its other respective owners. MLP:FiM belongs to Hasbro and its other respective owners. This is a non-profit work for enjoyment and nothing else./
Perhaps it was luck or surprisingly good planning which had prompted the replacement of the overground train system with the Metro. Of course there had been protests and petitions against it when it was being built, but those were in the minority. When it was finished, the Metro was like an underground Equestria.
And soon after, it became the only inhabitable part of Equestria.
The war against the griffons came swiftly. Towns on the borders were massacred before the Royal guards even left Canterlot. Battles were short and brutal, always ending in the ponies defeat. Eventually, the Princesses could restrain themselves no longer and they intervened.
It quickly became abundantly clear that the griffons had been preparing for their invasion for a long time. For normal ponies, they had guns and blades. For the Princesses, something even worse.
In the past the Royal Sisters had obliterated armies on the battle field without so much as breaking a sweat. The Princesses were the real threat and so a machine was built to handle them.
The infamous Magic Vacuum crippled the Sisters as soon as they entered the fray. Fortunately for Luna, the device only drew on some of her power, only temporarily weakening her. Her sister was not so fortunate. Some say that simply killing her would’ve been more of a mercy.
Why the griffons invaded in the first place is still a mystery, but the most plausible theory is that they wanted the magic and power of the Crystal Empire. But something nopony could’ve predicted happened during Princess Twilight Sparkle’s last stand at the Empire.
It was said that when the Crystal Heart was surrounded by hope and love, those thing were reflected throughout all of Equestria. Even King Sombra was not foolish enough to tamper with the elder magic in the Heart, but when the griffons reached the Empire, someone was.
In an instant, the Empire was gone, destroyed by the cataclysmic magic of the Heart. If it had happened with a relic other than the Crystal Heart perhaps Equestria would’ve been more fortunate, but the properties of the Heart spread the destruction all over the world.
Nopony knows if any of the other races survived. We were lucky to have had to Metro to retreat into. Now, we live in the darkness, fighting each other and the mutated creatures that were once our brethren. It's funny really, how us Equestrians used to hold friendship highly and now we make more foes than friends.
Maybe the lucky ones died during the apocalypse, because now we languish underground.
-Extract from Kirin AJ's log
Metro 1023
Chapter 1: Ponyville Station
Rats lived in Metro. They’d changed terrifyingly over the first few years living underground, going from small, timid things to large, feral monsters. Ponies had to scour their station homes to find cracks and openings where the rats could slip through, lest they devour all of the station’s food and, Celestia forbid, the station dwellers. Thankfully, the rats usually weren’t smart enough to sneak into the station. No, their primitive minds had one directive; eat, which would make them run straight at the station gates in their swarms. The larger stations easily survived the hordes when they came stampeding thanks to the flamethrowers at their gates, which would burn them all to a crisp. But the smaller stations weren’t so fortunate.
One of the stations that fell to the flesh-eating rats was a smaller one near Ponyville station named Glimmering Ridge. Of all of its dwellers, only one survived: a filly who would be named Dawn.
Scootaloo had been on guard duty that day when an earth pony mare carrying a foal in a basket came charging towards the hundred metre point with thousands of ravenous rats swarming behind her. Scootaloo had been powerless to save the mare as the rats leapt at her, sinking their razor-like teeth into her flesh. But Scootaloo could see in her eyes that she didn’t want to be saved: she wanted the foal to be saved.
Scootaloo leapt over the barricades against the shouts of her fellow station-dwellers and flew towards the stumbling mare. When she bite down onto the handle and the basket changed owners, the earth pony whispered one final thing.
“Thank you.”
She flew near the top of the tunnel and landed safely on the other side of the barrier. She heard the flamethrower start up and felt the heat from it on her back. Usually she’d watch the rats burning, bearing with their dying squeaks, to make sure that all of them were truly dead and gone. But instead she picked the foal out of the basket.
She was a pegasus, barely two years old, able only to speak a few words. Looking at the pale lilac filly, Scootaloo could feel that something was special about her. If this foal had been born during a better time, her already well developed wings would’ve made her a champion flyer.
Maybe even a Wonderbolt, Scootaloo mused to herself.
The pale lilac filly stared into Scootaloo’s eyes and started to cry. Scootaloo cradled her in her arms and hushed her as she rocked her gently.
“Come on little one, everything will be fine.”
But that was a reassurance even Scootaloo doubted herself.
Seventeen years later
All her life Dawn had wanted to see the skies of the past. To her, the concept of a vast expanse of blue was so abstract that it almost didn’t seem possible, the only way she’d ever believe it was if she saw it. The older pegasus often reminisced while on duty at the barricades about flying in the open sky, the feeling of the cool winds rushing through their feathers. When Dawn went flying in the confines of the tunnels it only felt damp and dirty.
Her stepmother had taught her all about what life was like on the surface before the event. There were things, giant circles which moved across the sky at the whims of the two Princesses. One of those things, the Sun, apparently produced enough light for the entire world, which again seemed impossible. Living in the tunnels meant that the only source of light she knew was the warm glow of a fire and the pale glow of a unicorn’s horn. She had always wondered why something that made so much light didn't just cook everything.
Dawn was one of the last generations born before the event. Scootaloo had told her the story of how she had come into her care many times seventeen years ago. She was probably about two years old when Scootaloo took her in, but they decided to make life simpler by counting her age from when she was adopted.
It was only at times like this, during lulls in her guard shift, that she would fantasise about her parents. Her mother who had saved her had been an earth pony, so her father must’ve been a pegasus. What were they like? We they honest or criminals? Dawn usually preferred the former, only sometimes fantasising about them being daring rogues who lived on edge.
The powerful flashlights shone further down the tunnel, sweeping along the floor, walls and ceiling trying to find anything in the dark. Dawn halfheartedly followed the distant beam with her eyes. Nothing found, the searchlight was turned off and several of the ponies who were sitting at the table returned to their card game. Dawn went back to absentmindedly fiddling with her dark blue tail.
Ponyville station had been under siege by more than just rats and the usual mutants recently. Strange new creatures, the Dark Ones, had started appearing. They resembled the structure of a pony but at the same time looked very different. Whereas ponies had fur, these had a dark leathery skin. They also had both horns and wings - like a bat’s is how Scootaloo described them - just like the alicorns who had ruled Equestria seventeen years ago. And while those things alone made them horrifying, their eyes made them even worse.
Those expanses of black were mesmerising, both wondrous and terrifying at the same time. Those eyes had reduced even the bravest of them into babbling wrecks.
Wanting to distract herself from her memories of her neighbours sitting in the infirmary soiling and talking to themselves because of the Dark Ones, she stood up and walked over to the metal barricade. Her eyes wandered over the rusting thing. This barricade hadn’t been replaced since it was erected seventeen years ago. The hundred metre point was the most unguarded point. All their focus was on the five-hundred and the two-fifty point.
Looking up from the barrier Dawn saw a flashlight making three quick circles followed by two vertical lines; the sign that the five-hundred point had actually spotted something and wanted reinforcements.
“Hey you lot,” Dawn called to the ponies behind her. “Five-hundred’s seen something.”
One of the older stallions playing cards snorted. “Dinky’s on duty there. Probably just saw her shadow again.”
“Better safe than sorry,” one of his playing partners said laying down his cards.
“You just don’t want to lose any more gems,” he said accusingly.
“Pretty much.”
Dawn leant down to pick up her assault rifle and holstered it. Firearms for ponies had been developed in the first month of the war. The original griffon guns had had a small trigger that could only be pulled with a talon. While that wasn’t a problem for unicorns, it was to the other races. So Equestrian firearms had no trigger guard and a larger trigger for the less nimble hooves of ponies. It made an earth pony and pegasus using one have to balance on either two or three legs but they were essential for survival. It was a beautiful marriage of magic and machinery with deadly results.
Scootaloo had taught her at a young age to always carry something to use as a weapon, be it a knife or just something heavy. Dawn quickly pulled out her knife from its leg-sheath and nodded at the other three ponies who were going to the five-hundred with her.
Scootaloo and the earth turned on their headlights and the other two, both unicorns, light up their horns, creating a dimmer but larger illumination than the torches. They started to walk down the tunnel. Most ponies, like her current unicorn companions, liked to have a gun out but Dawn on the otherhoof preferred having her knife out. A knife was less cumbersome than the rifle hanging down her side and in an emergency she could shed the rifle to fly quickly and not be totally unarmed. Flying in such a constricted place was unpleasant, but it wasn't impossible.
“Heading to five-hundred?” a stallion leaning against the two-fifty metre barricade asked.
“Yeah,” one of Dawn’s companions said.
He nodded and unlocked the neck high gate in the barricade. The group walked through it. One of the unicorn stallions, Toffee, trotted up to her.
“DId you hear about the trader who came in from Baltimare?” he asked, glancing side to side and sweeping the gun in his magic along the walls.
“No, what did he bring?” Dawn asked around her knife, taking care to speak clearly enough but not to drop her weapon.
“Usual stuff, ammo, foodstuffs, some clothes. No the real thing he brought were his stories.”
“Stories?” Dawn asked skeptically.
“Yeah. Apparently ponies have been going missing,” Toffee said leaning towards her, his voice dropping a little.
“Nothing really new there. Ponies leave stations all the time,” she said dismissively.
“Ah, but here’s where it changes. Two scouting parties have disappeared.”
“Really?” Dawn asked.
The earth pony mare joined in the conversation after she listened in on them. “I heard about that. They disappeared without a trace.”
“How can anypony disappear without a trace?” Dawn said, nervousness creeping into her voice.
“Dunno,” the stallion said with a shrug. “He said it was a normal scouting mission towards Fillydelphia and that they didn’t come back.”
“Do you think they abandoned their station?” Dawn asked.
He shook his head. “They sent another party to search for them and the same thing happened, except this time they found the corpse of one of the scouts just beyond their five-hundred point.”
“What killed him?”
“Nopony knows. He was all blue and swollen. Some kind of venom from something new in the tunnels.” He chuckled grimly. “Baltimare and Fillydelphia are only accepting traders travelling by cart. Means that we’ve got to escort them.”
Dawn rolled her eyes, but moved a little closer towards Toffee out of fear of this venomous thing. “I heard Baltimare’s been trying to help foster trading between Canterlot and Manehatten.”
Toffee snorted. “Yeah, because those two would really got on. A utilitarian station and a deluded utopia.”
“Think about it. If they worked together they could push back all the monsters and take back the surface,” Dawn said excitedly. She’d always wanted to see the surface.
“So why hasn’t that happened yet?” he replied, not angrily or smugly, just resignedly.
A flashlight flickered just ahead; three quick flashes. The group came to a halt and Toffee repeated the action before carrying on. Dinky was waiting just ahead with another four ponies, one of which was standing by the mounted machine gun near the sandbags.
“What’s wrong Dinky?” Dawn asked.
The grey mare glanced at one of the stallions behind her. “A Dark One’s just ahead.”
“What’s it doing?” Dawn asked as she walked towards the barricade and got her rifle out and aimed it down the dark tunnel.
“Just standing there,” Dinky said, nervously moving her own rifle around with her magic. She knew what they could do and knew how long it last. Her mother was still trembling and whimpering like a filly after a year.
Swirl shone his flashlight down the tunnel to find the creature. It stood there, unmoving, its leathery head tilted upwards as if reverently praying to something. The light made its eyes shoot open, revealing its pure black eyes. Its gash-like mouth moved soundlessly and its bat-like wings flared up.
“Open fire!” Dinky yelled, squeezing the trigger of her rifle.
Muzzle flashes cast sharp shadows against the tunnel as bullets flew towards the creature. It kept walking forwards with a low groan as bullets impacted its body. Just as the large, mounted machine gun started to fire, the Dark One let out a piercing screech and its horn lit up a sickly black.
Dawn dropped her gun and fell to the floor clutching her head as both the noise and magic enveloped her. She managed to force her eyes open and saw the other ponies doing the same. Through the pain, Dawn could hear somepony’s hoofsteps. In her addled state, she thought that it was coming from her station but realised that it was in fact from the direction of the Dark One.
The desire to protect her home gave her the strength to try and stand up. Her legs shaking, Dawn pushed herself up using her wings to help her but was blocked by something cold on her back. Looking up, she saw that the Dark One was looming above her.
Adrenaline surged through her body and she tumbled away from the creature. Instead of chasing her, it simply watched, its head tilted slightly almost as if it was confused by Dawn’s actions. Dawn had managed to press herself up against the sandbags. She looked around; all of her friends were either out cold and groaning in pain on the floor. As luck would have it, her gun was next to her. Fumbling slightly, she held it pointed towards the creature.
Her instincts were screaming at her to shoot the thing, but something stopped her. Maybe it was the fact that it was still watching her and hadn’t attacked anyone that made her wait, but because of those seconds she waited she heard the Dark One’s voice.
It was low and raspy, seemingly echoing inside her head. At first all that came was a jumbled mess of sounds but soon words began to take form, and before long, it spoke a sentence.
‘Come home.’
Something in its voice made Dawn relax and lower her gun. It occurred to Dawn that it had actually spoke telepathically to her, yet at that moment she didn’t care. She felt... safe. Wanted. Loved.
With its abnormal mouth, the thing did its best attempt at a smile before walking towards Dawn, who was herself standing up and slowly walking towards it.
They met, and the creature placed its leathery horn against Dawn's forehead. It lit up a pale grey now, the glow spreading around Dawn's body. She felt bliss spreading throughout every inch of her being. A content smile spread across her features as she tilted her head up slightly to welcome the creature's magic more wholly.
A single bolt passed through the thing’s front leg. The connection between the pair was cut and Dawn collapsed again to the ground panting. She’d almost let that thing take her! The Dark One staggered backwards, frantically looking around. With a pathetic splutter, its horn failed to light. Another bolt impaled its flank, then wings and then one last bolt went through the thing's head. It looked at Dawn - almost fearfully - and loosed a terrible death cry as it toppled to the ground.
Somepony walked over to her and offered her a hoof. Dawn gladly took it and stood up.
The mare in front of her had not been part of the party, they were all still on the ground. Dawn took a good look at her saviour. She was wearing a full protective suit with a gas mask hanging from her belt and night vision googles sitting atop her head. Hanging from around her neck was a Helsing, a pneumatic weapon which fired bolts, and on her back were two other weapons, a double-barrelled shotgun and a rifle similar to Dawn’s.
“You okay?” the mare asked.
Dawn nodded dumbly, the Dark Ones invasive presence still jumbling her thoughts a little.
“Yeah... Yeah. Thanks,” Dawn said, glancing at the corpse of the creature.
The mare turned around and walked over to the Dark One. She sat down and poked it. “So this is a Dark One...” she murmured to herself.
Dawn was still staring dumbly at her. She noticed a few more things about the mare. She had a large, curved blade sheathed against her side and one of her saddle bags on her back was filled with various kinds ammo. Her suit was mostly a dark grey, but there was one item of clothing was stood out: a filthy red bow holding up her red mane.
“What’s your name?” the mare called, still inspecting the corpse.
“D-Dawn.”
“Dawn.” She turned around and smiled. “Pretty name.”
Dawn tried to smile back, resulting in more of a grimace, and looked around at her unconscious friends. “I don’t know when they’ll wake up,” Dawn said.
The mare pulled out her knife and drove it through the creature’s head, black blood spilling out around the blade. “These things are so strange...” She wiped the blood off on her sleeve and put it away. “I see why you called them Dark Ones.”
Her saviour had a strange accent, similar to some of the Appleloosan traders’. “Who are you?”
“Name’s Bloom. I was born in Ponyville before the event,” she said fondly. “Born n’ raised on the surface above us.”
Before Dawn could press for more information about this stranger some ponies came charging up the tunnel. One of them stopped by Dawn and Bloom. “Are you two okay? We heard a screech,” he panted.
The stallion waited for an answer but received none as both Bloom and Dawn looked at the corpse. “Wow,” he muttered. “You killed it... Damn.” He scratched his neck. “What should we do with it?”
Bloom shrugged, answering for both of them. “I’m heading into the station with my new friend anyway. I’ll ask whoever’s in charge what they want to do. “ She nudged Dawn to start walking towards the station. “Wake those lot up and send ‘em back,” she said over her shoulder.
Dawn felt torn. Why should she let this new mare boss her about? Her friends’ healths should’ve been the priority! Yet, something compelled her to obey. Maybe it was a sense of debt to the mare who saved her or the fact that she still felt a little odd.
“Don’t worry, I think they’re alright. Saw one of them comin’ to,” Bloom said as she fell into stride next to Dawn.
“You sure?”
“Completely. ‘Sides, Ponyvillians are tough! Some dumb lil’ monster ain’t got get us down!” Bloom chuckled.
Part of Dawn knew that those ‘dumb lil’ monsters’ had indeed got about a hundred ponies down, some dead and some driven insane, but she still laughed. Laughter was all that really kept the station going. There was a story about a pony who taught Ponyville about the importance of laughter before the Event, Pinkie something. They could definitely use more laughter now.
“So why’re you here?” Dawn asked, eyeing the scratched and dented weapons the mare had on her. Very high quality ones, Dawn noticed.
“Canterlot wants a message delivered so I thought I’d do it and say hi to my old friends.” Bloom said with a shrug. It seemed like a good enough reason but the way her ears twitched made Dawn think there was more to it than that.
“Right.” They walked in silence up until the two-fifty point. A bright search light illuminated the duo. Dawn shielded her eyes with a wing but Bloom remained standing proudly, only squinting slightly.
“Dawn? That you?” a voice behind a machine gun called.
“Yeah! Turn that damn thing off!” she snapped. The light went off and Dawn blinked heavily, trying to get rid of the dots in her vision.
“Where’sth everypony else?” one of the sentries,Twist judging by the lisp, asked.
“Wakin’ up at the five-hundred point,” Bloom answered.
Twist’s eyes widened in surprise. “Apple Bloom? Is that you?”
“It’s jus’ Bloom now. Nice to see ya Twist. Still got that lisp I see,” Bloom said playfully.
“Speech therapy isn’t my main concern down here,” Twist laughed, opening the barricade as she did so.
“You two know each other?” Dawn asked.
“Yeah! Back in the day me and the Crusaders were great friendsth,” Twist said excitedly, her lisp becoming a little more pronounced as she hugged Bloom.
“Crusaders?”
“Yeah! They were always getting into trouble! I’m surprised your mom hasn’t told you about them,” Twist said.
“Who?” Bloom asked.
“Scootaloo.”
Bloom spluttered. “What! Scootaloo’s your mom!”
“Err, stepmom?” Dawn said, scooting towards Twist a little.
“Stepmom!” Bloom said amazedly to herself. “Never thought Scoots would be a mother. Heck, even Sweetie isn’t a mom and she’s the romantic!”
“The Metro changed us all,” Twist said, not entirely sure whether to comfort Bloom or not. “Are you okay?”
Bloom didn’t answer for a few seconds. “Huh? Oh! No, nothing's wrong, jus’ confused is all. How come she never told us when we got together in Canterlot?” she asked Twist.
“You should probably ask her yourself,” Twist suggested.
Bloom nodded. “You still on duty?”
“Another two hours. I’ll come find you and Scoots when I’m done,” Twist said, giving Bloom another quick hug.
“Sounds like a plan.”
Twist went back to the barricade and Bloom started walking towards the station with Dawn just behind her. A silence hung between them; Bloom lost in thought and Dawn unsure what to say.
Bloom spoke up first. “How old are ya?”
“About seventeen.”
“About?” Bloom asked.
“When I, um, arrived here the Event had happened a year ago. I was about two when Scootaloo took me in.”
“Awfully kind o’ her,” Bloom muttered. “Sweetie would love you. Do you ever leave the station with your mom?”
“Stepmom,” Dawn corrected. “No, she doesn’t let me out unless in on guard duty.”
“Never been beyond the five-hundred?”
“Well I did once, but it was kinda in secret,” Dawn admitted, her voice getting quieter as she spoke.
Bloom smirked. “Bit of a rebel are ya? Going off to another station for your secret stallion,” Bloom teased.
“No! No. Me and a few friends just went exploring the tunnels.”
“Mighty dangerous.”
“We had a gun,” Dawn finished sheepishly.
“Suppose kids'll be kids. I won’t judge.” Bloom grinned.
Dawn wondered to herself why she was being so honest with this stranger. Maybe she was awestruck by the way she'd dispatched the Dark One, or simply the way she carried herself. Either way, it had almost caused her to reveal her darkest secret.
The two guards at the Metro door saw Dawn and gave her a polite nod before opening the door. It slid opened, grinding and squeaking as it did so. Dawn stepped through and looked back at Bloom who was staring wide-eyed in amazement.
“I’m home,” she whispered. A light chuckle escaped her lips. “Can’t believe I’m home!”
Bloom started trotting in a random direction, just excited to explore the underground version of her childhood home.
“So, who are you looking for?” Dawn asked, hurrying to catch up to Bloom.
They were standing at the Quills and Bullets kiosk, unsurprisingly the quills costed more than the bullets. Bloom had a happy smile on her face as she reminisced. She looked up at the vendor and pursed her lips.
“Where’s Mr Comfy?” she asked.
“Comfy Inkwell? That’s my father, he’s, uh, indisposed,” he said uncomfortably.
“Oh. Well tell him that Apple Bloom said hi and that he’s still got a weird business model,” she said jovially.
The stallion snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure he’ll be overjoyed when he hears that.”
“I’m sorry, Stroke. She’s been away for a long time,” Dawn said sympathetically.
He sighed. “It’s alright. He’s gotten worse and mom’s really upset, I just... I dunno...”
“How ‘bout when the Salt Lick’s open, you, me and Dew go and hang out for a while?”
He smiled slightly. “Sounds great. I’ll let her know when she finishes work at the farm.”
“Farm? You mean Sweet Apple Acres?” Bloom interrupted, excitement lining her voice.
“Uh, yeah?”
“Still growing juicy red apples?” she asked hopefully.
“More yellowy-grey, but yeah,” Stroke said. He glanced at Dawn, who merely shrugged.
“Mind showing me the farm?” Bloom asked.
Dawn would’ve preferred to find her tent and get some rest, but the filly-like excitement in Bloom’s eyes made it hard to refuse.
“Not at all.” Bloom started to walk away from the kiosk, letting Dawn finish talking to her friend.
“I’ll stop by after I’ve dropped off Bloom and had a nap.” She groaned and shook her head. “The Dark One did a number on my head.”
He raised his brow. “Dark One... Dawn, are you feeling alright?” he asked, worriedly stepping out from around the kiosk.
“Yes!” she snapped, making Stroke flinch. Her voice grew softer. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“If you say so,” he said with a hint of doubt. “Just take care of yourself alright, don’t want you ending up like Dad.”
“Right.” Dawn bit her lip. Stroke’s father had been on guard duty at the five-hundred point a few weeks back when a Dark One had showed up. Of the the six that were there, only two remained, both of them gibbering wrecks. “I’ll see you at the Salt Lick later then?”
He cracked a smile. “Definitely.”
They parted, Stroke returning to work and Dawn to escorting Bloom to the farm. Dawn lead her guest through the dank, crowded ‘streets’. It was quite common for ponies visiting other stations to get lost in the labyrinth of makeshift buildings. Visitors often assumed that their station was the same as all the others, and while structurally that was true, each station was set out very differently. However, the thing that they were now passing was the same in every station; the large, communal bonfire which sat in the middle of the station away from anything else. Too many tents and lives had been lost to personal fires.
Bloom glanced at the ponies crowding the bonfire; mares, stallions and foals all huddled together, sharing whatever meagre meals they had. Before the event, Ponyvillians had never felt real hunger, but now it was the norm.
A colt hacked and wheezed, pressing himself further into his mother’s coat, trying desperately to get more warmth than the fire could offer. Bloom felt a pang of guilt wrenching at her heart as she saw the mare she now recognised’s ribs poking through her fur. She stopped, and sighed before reaching into her backpack.
Dawn had walked back to her and frowned knowingly at Bloom as she dug through her bag. “There’s a lot more like her,” she said sombrely.
“I know. But you gotta help anypony you can.” Bloom gave the mare and colt ten magi-gems - bits having become nothing more than useless lumps of metal long ago. Magi-gems were the Metro’s currency for two reasons. Firstly, they could be used to heal certain aliments, like the flu or small cuts. And secondly, when used in the right manner, they could be used as explosives.
Dawn bit her tongue. Giving a single magi-gem she could understand, but ten? That seemed a bit much to be giving to some unfortunate ponies. Everypony, expect from Scootaloo, told her to only look out for number one. Bloom and Scootaloo helped whoever they could. It made sense that they believed in the same things considering that they were childhood friends.
“Thank you! Thank you!” the mother wept, hugging Bloom tightly.
A happy smile spread across Bloom’s face. “You’re welcome.”
The mare took one of the gems and pressed it against they colt’s forehead. They gem lost it’s pale blue colour as a blue aura spread across the colt’s body. He blinked rapidly with glazed over eyes until the glow faded. He coughed a swirl of blue dust and smiled.
“I feel really good now, mummy!”
Bloom and Dawn left the pair, not wanting to encroach on them any longer. They walked in silence to the farm, a content smile on Bloom’s lips. When they arrived, Bloom let out a small whistle as her eyes roamed over the wooden arch with Sweet Apple Acres painted in white on it.
“Can’t believe she’s still goin’,” Bloom said. “Who runs the place?”
“Caramel.”
“That silly filly’s still around?” she laughed. “I better go compliment him on not running the farm into the ground. He used to lose seeds and tools all the time when he was a farmhoof.”
“He’s the station’s shoemaker too,” Dawn added. She yawned, really starting to feel her extra hours awake now.
Bloom noticed. “Don’t worry ‘bout me, I’ll ask someone to take me to Scoot’s tent. You go and get some shut eye, ‘kay?”
Dawn nodded and started to trudge back to her tent. In her sleep deprived state, she wasn’t really aware of her course or the ponies she met. All she was aware of was shedding her protective clothing, putting her weapons away and then curling up in her sleeping bag, the sounds of the station lulling her to sleep.
Author's Note
Thanks for reading. As I said at the start, this is my first attempt at a multi-chapter story, as well as my first real world-building attempt so the first three chapters are quite expositiony (and chatty) in my opinion. Hopefully it was still fun to read.
I haven't played Metro Last Light or watched any walkthroughs of it yet, and I will try not to until I get it and finish it so I have no idea with what I write here will tie in nicely with it. Same goes with Metro 2034, I haven't read it (well I've read the first chapter) since I only know English fluently. I'm tempted to learn Russian just to read Metro 2034 and 2035 when it comes out.
Decisions decisions.
Chapter 2: Grief and Conflict
It was something that she’d only seen in photos and in books; green pastures as far as the eye could see. She tore her gaze away from the magnificent ground and focused on the white, fluffy cloud she stood on. The fluffiness was so strange yet so incredible. She pressed her hooves into the thing, pushing right through until she started to fall through the white mass.
Before she tumbled down to the ground, something grabbed onto her wings.
“Whoa there! I don’t want to have to explain to your mother how her little princess ended up as a pancake,” a deep voice said.
“Wings!” Dawn pouted, sticking up her small wings.
“I know you have wings, but you can’t fly well with them yet.”
Dawn looked at her wings and frowned, tears threatening to spill out.
“Hey there, don’t worry. You’ve got a mighty fine set of wings there, much bigger than any other foal's. Much prettier too.” Dawn giggled as her father put her on his back. “Since mommy said that I can’t teach you, I’ll take you to my friend who’d love to! Just don’t tell mommy, okay?”
Dawn giggled and held tightly around her father’s neck as he leapt off the cloud and glided towards the ground. He occasionally beat his wings, jostling her as he did so...
“...and his great power will protect us! He knows what we need to survive and prosper!”
Dawn felt something prodding her between her wings. She groaned, burying herself further into her sleeping bag. The prodding persisted.
“Dawn. Get up.”
“G’way.”
Her botherer snorted and grabbed the zipper with teeth. Dawn responded by reaching a leg out and flicking the invader’s snout.
“You little...”
Dawn’s eyes shot open as she felt somepony wrapping their legs around her sleeping bag and lifting her off the ground.
“Rise and shine, sleepyhead.”
Dawn hit the ground with a yelp. She scrambled out of the bag and glared at her stepmother. “I hate it when you do that!”
Scootaloo laughed. “I hate it when you don’t wake up, so I guess we’re even.”
“I just finished my shift!”
“Five hours ago,” Scootaloo said, raising a condescending eyebrow.
“Why would you wake me up so soon?” Dawn sighed.
“We’ve got a guest.” Dawn frowned. “You can catch up on your sleep later. Get ready and meet us outside.”
“And I hear you ask, my brethren! Why would a god care for us?” somepony yelled outside.
“Sweet Celestia, another preacher,” Scootaloo sighed irritatedly.
“I thought the council voted to ban any preachers entrance,” Dawn said groggily as she walked over to the side of their tent where her clothes were.
“They did. Canterlot didn’t like our new policy and ‘suggested’ that we changed it.”
“Wonderful being part of the Harmony line, isn’t it.”
“Better than being under the New Order’s banner or anypony else’s,” Scootaloo said with a shrug. “I’ll see you outside.”
“Under his omniscient eyes we will purify the surface and-”
“This is the living area, fuck off!” somepony yelled, which more ponies quickly joined in, forcing the preacher to leave.
Dawn smirked. Preachers were an annoying lot. It was funny really how all of these new religions preached the same things yet were vehemently against one another.
She looked inside her wardrobe. It wasn’t especially large, just slightly taller than her, nothing like the massive ones she’d seen in photos of old Ponyville, but it was a luxury nonetheless. That was one of the benefits Dawn enjoyed of having Scootaloo as her stepmother.
Scootaloo was Ponyville’s head of security and because of that she had some more benefits than the average pony did. A larger tent was another benefit. Dawn looked around the tent that she and Scootaloo shared. She’d always thought that it was a little too big for just the two of them.
When she was younger, she often wished that Scootaloo would find a stallion and they could be a happy family. But for whatever reason, Scootaloo never found a partner, male or female, that she introduced to Dawn. It was sad really, Dawn could tell that Scootaloo wanted a family, her own, biological family. And while Dawn and Scootaloo’s relationship good enough for the both of them, it wasn’t exactly what they both desired.
“Dawn! Can you bring out some tea?” Scootaloo yelled from outside.
“Sure thing!” Dawn yelled back. She quickly put on a heavy, grey jacket. Not because it looked nice, such vanities had no place in her life, but because it was practical. It served to keep her warm, protected against anything sharp and, because of the holes she cut in the back, it allowed her to fly.
She trotted over to the pantry part of the tent and looked at the tins and boxes on the little shelves. Mostly dried fruits, breads, mushrooms and canned goods. She opened the cupboard and found the little box of Ponyville station’s home grown tea.
Unlike teas of the past which were made from various kinds of plants, Ponyville station’s tea was made of ground up mushrooms. It had quite a bitter aftertaste, but compared to the rest of the station’s attempts at tea it was decided that Ponyville’s was the best. It was for that reason that Ponyville was one of the better off stations. Traders would often come to Ponyville to swap weapons, clothes and magi-gems for the stuff, meaning that Ponyville was always well-supplied.
Or used to be really. After the Dark Ones appeared last year the flow commerce had severely fell. More and more ponies were being made the make the now very risky journey from Ponyville to other stations the trade tea for whatever the station needed.
Dawn grabbed the box and trotted out of the tent. She leapt into the air, flapping her wings once to leap over the head of trade’s tent and land on the other side by the communal fire. Scootaloo smirked as Dawn landed and Bloom chuckled.
“Much better flier than you ever were,” she teased.
“She’s probably much smarter than you ever were too,” Scootaloo answered, picked up the kettle of boiling water.
Dawn placed teabags into the three metal cups. Her stepmother poured the water in and watched the water turn a murky brown.
“I always thought that tea was a posh pony thing when I was little,” Bloom said as she graciously as she picked up the cup.
“Mmm,” Scootaloo grunted as she took a sip. “I remember.”
“Funny how things change, ain’t it?”
“I was training for the Wonderbolts and you were busy fixing up Ponyville, quite a big change.”
There wasn’t a stool for her, so Dawn sat down on the floor and grabbed her tea. That was the first time she’d ever heard of the Wonderbolts. What were they?
“You seen Rainbow Dash lately?” Bloom asked.
“Not since she left for Whinnyshire last month. How ‘bout you? How’s AJ and Mac?”
“Mac’s still in Canterlot. Captain of the Guard now.”
Scootaloo nodded. “Heard about what happened to Shining Armour. Shame.”
Bloom frowned. “Yeah.” Her hoof scuffed the ground as she stared into the cup. “Princess Cadance ain’t doing too well. Even her son can’t make her smile.”
“How’s the lil’ tyke? Scootaloo asked.
“Just finished his first Kirin trip before I left.”
Scootaloo smiled. “Shining would’ve been proud.”
“Yeah. Cadance wasn’t happy though, tried to convince me to stop him becoming a Kirin. Couldn’t do it though. AJ told me never to refuse anyone who was good enough.”
“Wait,” Dawn interrupted, getting the attention of the older ponies who had seemingly forgotten about her. “You’re a Kirin?”
Scootaloo’s frown went unnoticed. “Damn right I am. One of the best out there,” Bloom said with a grin.
“You mean a Kirin who goes to the surface, fights mutants and saves stations?” Dawn asked, excitement and awe creeping into her voice. She was talking to an actual Kirin!
“The very same.”
Every pony in the Metro held the highest respect for the Kirin; the Dragon-Ponies. The movement started in Canterlot two years after the event when supplies were running low and mutants were becoming more daring.
Princess Luna and Celestia created the Kirin order so that they could scavenge for whatever supplies remained on the surface and the take the fight to the mutants. Every foal dreamed of becoming a legendary Kirin. Apparently, if a Kirin thought that you had the potential, they’d take you under their wing. Maybe Bloom would...
“Don’t you dare,” Scootaloo said firmly. Dawn couldn’t tell who she was talking to, but decided that it was to both of them.
“Scoots, she’s in excellent shape. Looks like she’s even got stronger wings then RD.” Dawn wasn’t really sure who RD was, but the way Bloom said it made her feel pretty proud.
“You think I don’t know that!” Scootaloo snapped.
“Are you jealous?” Bloom said teasingly. “My offer's still open you know.”
“And I am still saying no.”
“Come on Scoots you an’ Dawn could come back to Canterlot with me and train and become Kirin.”
“I can’t. I’ve got to protect my home. Our home.”
Bloom sighed. “I understand.”
“I don’t think you do.” Bloom raised her brow.
“Enlighten me then.”
“You’ve seen a Dark One right?” Scootaloo asked, already knowing the answer.
“Killed one too,” Bloom said smugly.
“Me too, whoop-de-do,” Scootaloo said bitterly.
“Really?” Bloom asked.
“Yeah, Scootaloo was the first one to,” Dawn said proudly.
“And you think you aren’t good enough to be a Kirin,” Bloom said with a smirk.
Scootaloo scowled. “I wasn’t quick enough, and because of that Derpy’s messed up and I have the blood of five of my friends on my hooves.” She knocked back the tea, grimacing as she swallowed some of the mushroom sediment. “Finish up and come with me.”
“Where we going?” Dawn asked. She felt a creeping dread as she anticipated her stepmother’s answer.
“The ward.”
Moans, weeping and the smell of urine flooded Dawn’s senses. Normally, she’d be holding a wing to her snout, but not today. She had to look strong in front of Bloom to prove she was Kirin material.
Scootaloo walked in front, a cap bearing the Ponyville watch’s emblem sitting upon her head. The medical staff would nodded respectfully to her or frown understandingly at her. None of them greeted her. They saw her enough to know why she was here.
She turned a corner, Bloom and Dawn following. They walked past makeshift rooms made of cloth walls. From within they could she the shadows of ponies, rocking back and forth, bitting their tails or just simply sitting unnaturally still. Tied in with the constant moaning coming from them, it was hard for Dawn not to trot closer to her stepmother. She didn’t like coming here.
They stopped outside one of the rooms. The shadow they saw on the bed was sitting very upright, wobbling its head from side to side. There were two other shadows in the room that were leaning together, talking in low voices and chuckling.
“Why are we here?” Bloom asked, looking at the dirty floors and dark stains on some of the curtains. Not the most sanitary of places.
“So you can see what we’re up against.” Scootaloo coughed loudly. “Dinky? Turner? Is it all right if I come in?”
“Huh?” Time Turner said, his shadow turning around. “Oh, Scootaloo, of course.” He stood up and pushed open the curtains. “Hello Scootaloo, Dawn. It’s nice to see the two of you.”
“Hey Dinky,” Dawn said to the grey unicorn. Dinky nodded, making the tear stains on her cheeks glimmer in the dull light. Remembering the encounter with the Dark One from earlier, Dawn realised just how much Dinky must’ve been scared.
“How is she?” Scootaloo asked, stepping in after Dawn.
“She’s looks like she isn’t hurting anymore,” Time Turner said weakly. “Nothing like when it first happened.”
Scootaloo leaned in to nuzzle him. She looked at him with sympathetic eyes. “It’s an improvement.”
“Yeah...”
Dinky frowned as she saw Bloom silhouette on the curtain. “Who’s that outside?” she asked Dawn who had taken a seat next to her.
“Oh, that’s Scootaloo’s friend and the one who saved us earlier,” she said with a wing draped around Dinky.
“I should thank her,” Dinky said, holding back a sob.
“You can come in Bloom,” Scootaloo said.
“Bloom?” Time Turner said. “As in little Apple Bloom?”
“Not so little anymore,” she said, gingerly stepping into the makeshift room.
Time Turner smiled, albeit a subdued one. “Derpy would’ve loved to see you again.”
Bloom looked at Derpy’s swaying form on the bed. The joyfully, energetic eyes she once had looked glazed, vacant, like something hard sucked her soul out. She occasionally muttered something, too low to hear, but she wasn’t doing it on purpose.
“What happened?” she asked.
Time Turner sat down next to Dinky and rested his head tenderly against his daughter’s.
“The first Dark One surprised us,” Scootaloo said. Dinky sniffled and Turner planted a kiss on her head. “I was on duty at the two-fifty point and Derpy was at the five-hundred point. I don’t know what happened, but we heard a scream. I was the only pegasus there so I flew on a head with a sniper rifle. I stopped halfway, looked down the scope and saw it look around at the bodies of the five other ponies then pick up Derpy, who was just shivering.” Scootaloo grit her teeth.
“I shot it in the head and it went down. If I was faster I could’ve killed it before it touched Derpy and she’d be alright!” Scootaloo kicked a metal tray and then wheeled around on Bloom. “That was a year ago. Derpy was the first and now there’s a hundred other ponies just like her! Totally fucked!”
Dinky whimpered and nestled further into Time Turner. Dawn wanted to tell her to stop, but she knew she’d only get yelled at. Both she and Time Turner knew that they had to let Scootaloo vent her anger.
“There’s nothing we can do to help them! We've used thousands of magi-gems to try and fix ‘em but it never works! None of them get better in their own time and to top it off, more and more are falling ill! Sometimes, when they’re not even near a Dark One!
“At any second any one of us could break down. Don’t you understand how terrifying that is? That there is nothing we can do to protect or help ourselves. We’ve killed some of them, yes, but another always comes. We’re waging a war a new kind of war. We have weapons but they break our minds without trying! We’ve lost to the new species.”
Bloom frowned. “So you’ve given up.”
Scootaloo’s wings flared up in rage. “Not given up, resigned. There is nothing we can do, but there is no way I am leaving my town like you and the damn Elements of Harmony did! No. I am going to die where I lived,” she said firmly.
“You think I abandoned my home?” Bloom shouted, starting to show her anger too now.
“You, your family and our so called Keepers of Harmony.”
Bloom stepped towards Scootaloo. “We left to help ponies.”
“You left to because you were scared.”
“I help ponies. I’ve made their lives better by getting them food, shelter and weapons to protect themselves. What have you done, huh?” They were nose to nose now.
The three other ponies in the room were terrified now, Dinky crying into her father’s coat and Time Turner hugging her tightly. Dawn wrapped her wings around Dinky to further reassure her and noticed that the low chatter from the hospital staff had stopped and that they were all focusing on what was going on in the room.
“I’ve helped my hometown. Unlike you,” Scootaloo spat.
“But your too scared to really do anything to fix the problem. You could take the fight to them!” Bloom yelled back, pressing forward, making the pair of them strain their necks as their foreheads struggled against each other.
“We can’t fight them.”
“You just haven’t got the guts to. After all this time, your still a coward. Still a chicken.”
Scootaloo narrowed her eyes. “Outside. Now!”
She stepped around Bloom and stormed outside with Bloom close on her heels, an equally angry look on her face.
Dawn, Dinky and Time Turner remained seated. Dinky was soon only sniffling into her father’s coat. With a guilty expression on her face, Dawn removed her wings and stood up.
“I’m really sorry,” she whispered.
“It’s okay,” Time Turner croaked. He cleared his throat. “You should go calm them down.”
Dawn nodded and turned to leave. She paused and looked once more back at Dinky. She looked miserable. With a shake of her head and a determined look on her face, she hurried outside two find her stepmother and Bloom.
All of them were too distracted to noticed that Derpy had stopped swaying and had been staring at Dawn with a tilted head. As soon as the pegasus left, Derpy started to sway and mumble again, as if she had never stopped.
Dawn looked around as she left the hospital. It was just beyond the town square where meetings were held. She told a wild guess and jumped into the air and flew there.
“You’re a pathetic coward!” Dawn heard Bloom shout. Her hunch was right then.
“Coming from somepony who abandoned her home!” Scootaloo yelled back, panting heavily.
She put on a burst of speed and hurried towards their voices.
“I didn’t abandon anypony!” Bloom roared.
Dawn saw a large crowd and in the centre was Scootaloo and Bloom fighting. She touched down at the front of the crowd next to two ponies she recognised; Stroke and Dew.
“What do you call leaving your home and friends then!” Scootaloo yelled, as she spun around, trying to buck Bloom.
Bloom jumped back, Scootaloo’s hooves just missing her snout. “I left to help more ponies than just the ones in my town!”
She charged forward to ram into Scootaloo. The pegasus jumped up and fluttered her wings. Bloom kept going forward, straight under Scootaloo. She skidded to a stop and Scootaloo landed. They glared at each other as the circled each other.
“Why are they fighting?” Dewdrops, her unicorn friend, asked.
“I don’t really know,” Dawn sighed exasperatedly. At least they didn’t look hurt.
Scootaloo spat at Bloom. “You followed your sister like the little dog you are.”
“At least I have a family that loves me,” Bloom retorted with a snarl.
Scootaloo tensed up and the crowd fell silent. That was a low blow and everypony knew it.
Roaring, Scootaloo charged at the earth pony. She leapt and flipped in the air, pumping her wings and headed hooves first at Bloom.
The earth pony tried to dodge to the side but was kicked on the flank. She yelped as she was knocked to the ground. Scootaloo prowled over to Bloom, who was wincing as she stood up.
“At least my mother didn’t die in childbirth,” Scootaloo scowled.
Again, the crowd was silent.
Bloom glared at Scootaloo before screaming and whipping her leg at Scootaloo. It hit her square on the jaw, sending her reeling. Bloom launched herself at Scootaloo who was dazed and shaking the spots out of her eyes. She planted her front hooves and spun on them, then bucking with her hind legs.
She misjudged the distance and didn’t hit with full force, but it was still enough to knock her backwards. Clutching her bleeding snout, Scootaloo hovered on the opposite side of the circle.
“We need to stop them before they really hurt each other,” Stroke said.
“Your right, I think they’ve let off enough steam,” Dawn said.
As the two older ponies charged at each other Dewdrop’s horn lit up a pale blue, encasing both of the mares in her aura when they were a few metres apart. She grunted and strained as they struggled to get out of her grasp.
“Stop ‘em!” Dewdrop managed to force out between gritted teeth. A few of the other unicorns watching joined in her attempts to subdue the mare, but found that the were struggling too much for them to get a good hold.
Stroke and Dawn ran to Bloom and Scootaloo respectively. Bloom was balanced on her hooves ready to buck Scootaloo and the pegasus had one hoof drawn back to punch the other mare. Both of them had their eyes screwed shut and were sweating as they strained against the magic holding them.
“Miss Bloom! Calm down, please!” Stroke pleaded.
“Scoots! Stop it! You’re gonna hurt each other!” Bloom yelled at the same time.
Both mare couldn’t hear them through the magic shells they were encased, nor could they see the ponies in front of them. All they could focus on was breaking free of their bonds and finishing their fight.
Dewdrop screamed as her magic shattered. When the base layer of magic broke, the other unicorns that were helping her weren’t prepared for the force they competing against. One by one, layer of magic broke.
Scootaloo was freed first, and her hoof came crashing down, slamming straight into Dawn’s face. The young pegasus went careening towards Bloom who broke free of her binding a second later.
Her heavy iron-shoed hooves collided with Dawn’s back. Dawn screamed as she felt the bone-shattering impact. She hit the roof of the station with a crack.
“Dawn!” Scootaloo screamed, pure terror lining her voice.
The mare fell to the ground quickly, too fast for anypony to catch her. She landed on her neck and lay motionless in a crumpled heap.
“Sweet Celestia! Dawn! Dawn! Can you hear me,” Scootaloo cried, tears starting to spill out from her eyes.
“Get a doctor quickly!’ Bloom shouted at Stroke. The stallion scurried towards the hospital, yelling for help.
Scootaloo knelt next to Dawn. Her breaths were shallow and infrequent, blood was trickling from her mouth and a nasty bruise was swelling up on the side of her face. Where she had hit her.
She’d hit Dawn. She’d hurt the filly she had promised to take care of. The guilt was crushing.
Scootaloo wanted nothing more than to cradle her daughter, but she didn’t, her experiences with neck injuries telling her not to touch her without a stretcher and brace nearby.
Instead, she covered Dawn with her wings, to keep her warm and to just be close to her.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she sobbed.
Author's Note
Nothing particularly interesting or witty to say about this chapter, just thought I should make us of the author's notes.
