Stars Below

Once I was prepared to leave the camp behind, I had a choice. I could continue down the tunnel the way I was going, or I could backtrack and explore in the other direction. One was more attractive than the other, of course, seeing as the murderous beasts all came from somewhere ahead. I lacked any real weapons to defend myself, and I wasn't confident I could wield the unique weapons of the bipedal individuals without harming myself in the process. Seeing as I also lacked the stamina to cast combat spells for very long, my decision eventually became clear. I would backtrack, and see what - if anything - lay in the opposite direction.

So far I had not seen even a hint of sunlight or felt the faintest gust of natural wind, which suggested to me that I was indeed quite deep underground. The air was a constant temperature, just a little too cold for comfort, and it was still stale and foul even after I thought I had enough time to adjust to it.

I walked between the metal rails running down the middle of the tunnel, occasionally getting tripped up on loose railroad ties, but it was smooth going. It didn't take long at all for me to get back to where I initially woke up, and I was once again drawn toward that metal door on my right. It hadn't moved an inch since I left, meaning it was still open just barely wide enough for me to slip through if I wished. Rather than carrying on right away, though, I found myself hesitating. The darkness beyond the doorway seemed even thicker than what I was having to squint through in the tunnel, and the utter lack of noise gave me a bad feeling.

Then again, where else did I have to go? Anywhere in this labyrinth was as good as anywhere else until I had some sort of clue as to a way out.

Having made up my mind, I took a breath to steady my nerves before grabbing hold of the door with my magic. It took more effort than I first expected, but it wasn't long before the door opened up the rest of the way. The hinges obviously had not been oiled in quite some time, letting out the unmistakable screech of tortured metal as the heavy metal door swung open. I winced and lowered my ears, once again forced to protect them from a harsh sound. At least there was no one around to hear it that time, deafening as it was compared to the silence.

With the door opened, I could refocus on my light spell. My horn glowed brighter, and I finally got a look at the path I had just opened up. It led to a steep stairway, which in turn led to yet another door. This one looked to be of the same design as the door I just opened, but it was currently locked. Fortunately, it looked like it unlocked from the side I was on. The passage was otherwise unremarkable, perhaps in slightly better overall condition than the tunnel outside. The concrete stairs were uneven beneath my hooves, and merely passing through stirred up a thin haze of dust and debris.

I coughed to clear my throat, eyes watering, and I caught myself wishing for a feather duster right then and there. I had to laugh at the thought, imagining just how long it would take to clean up a place in such a sorry state. Were it up to me, this tunnel would have been sealed off and completely forgotten about.

Then again... maybe it already had? Could it have been something opened, abandoned, and closed under my sister's watch? A lot had happened during my thousand-year banishment, and even years after my return I was still finding out about little details that she forgot to inform me of. A place like this would have been quite the oversight on her part, full of previously unknown creatures and strange technology, but I couldn't rule it out entirely. Just another thing to ask my sister about when I returned to Canterlot, assuming she didn't find me first. Poor Celestia, most likely in the castle right then worried sick.

I realized then that I'd spent several moments staring at the door in front of me, lost in my thoughts of someplace and somepony far, far away from wherever I was. Thinking about going home got me no closer to making it a reality, so I shook my head and cleared my thoughts. The door featured a strange handle, a wheel that seemed to actuate a set of locking bars. It was nearly rusted solid and took a significant effort, but I managed to wrench this second door open and reveal another tunnel. The door squealed just like the one before it, but this time it seemed that I wasn't alone. I could just barely spot the flickering glow of another fire around a bend on my left. There was only darkness on my right, and I knew there was a good chance that whatever creatures were tending that fire had heard my racket.

My theory was confirmed by the sound of frantic whispers and shushing, a conversation dying out in an instant and being replaced with suspicion. I crouched down low, ears raised and focused on the sound, and for a moment I thought about running back the way I came and sealing that door behind myself. But then... those voices sounded like more of the bipedal creatures I met at the camp. If they were anything like Alyosha and knew my language, I may have the chance to speak with them. The chance to introduce myself would go a long way, I knew, and they were likely to be my best source of information.

Whatever I did, I knew I'd have to decide quickly. I could already see shadows moving, creeping away from the fire, and likely picking up weapons before heading my way to investigate the noise. A hasty glance at my surroundings revealed nowhere to hide - or at the very least, nowhere I could get to in time. I had mere seconds to make up my mind, and I wasn't sure I would be able to get through that passage quickly enough. Even if I could, would they not just follow? Ultimately, I had but one choice, and I would have to hope it paid off.

"Wait! I do not mean any harm!"

I cringed at the sound of my own voice, shrill and tinged with panic. It was certainly not the best greeting I could have offered, but it had the intended effect nonetheless. The shadows rushing to meet me slowed down, and I heard yet more whispering at the very edge of my hearing. They were discussing their next move, surely, and couldn't decide. With no answer - and no attack - forthcoming after several moments, I cleared my throat and tried again.

"I am lost, and I require your assistance," I continued, managing to bring my voice back under control. "May I approach?" I found myself holding my breath after my question, glancing back over my shoulder to make sure my escape route was still within reach. I was ready to bound to safety at a moment's notice when someone finally answered with similarly thickly accented Equestrian as Alyosha.

"No, stay put! We will come to you, and put down any weapons you might be carrying!" The voice called back, and I noted that it sounded like a female. Lacking any weapons to dispose of, I stood still and waited to be face-to-face with my new acquaintances. Moments passed at what felt like a glacial pace, but eventually, I saw a pair of bipedal silhouettes beginning to resolve themselves out of the gloom ahead of me. One was noticeably taller than the other, but they seemed to be hanging back. The smaller one stepped forward, pointing another of those strange weapons at me, before... they just stopped. Both of them.

I fidgeted in place, once again glancing back at my chosen escape route, and I found myself very strongly considering running for safety right then and there. I held my ground for the moment and tried to be diplomatic, lowering my head as I took a cautious step forward. The closer biped took an equal step back, raised her weapon a little higher, and turned on a flashlight that blinded me. "Stop right there! Not another step, you... mutant!"

I instinctively unfolded one of my wings to shield my face, blocking out most of the harsh light and hiding my face while I cringed at the insult. Mutant?! The nerve! Once my eyes adjusted I lowered my wing and faced the biped with a glare. "I am no mutant! I am Princess Luna, keeper of the Moon! Have you no respect?" I raised my voice just a tad, perhaps out of reflex, but it seemed to have the intended effect. Both bipeds lowered their weapons and exchanged looks, though I couldn't see much with the flashlight still hindering my vision.

"A princess? I think we've finally soaked up too much radiation and gone mad, Maksim," the female said after a long moment. I realized she was speaking to her comrade, and I held my tongue for the moment. The much larger individual, apparently named Maksim, shrugged and lowered his weapon completely.

"You're the one always going up to the surface, Natalia. If anyone's losing their marbles, it's you; or Alexi, the old coot," he said, in a deep, rumbly voice that ended in a hearty chuckle.

"He's probably close enough to hear us saying that, you ass!" Natalia shot back, and I must admit that I had to stifle a little chortle of my own. My grin vanished when she turned her attention back to me, her weapon lowered but still pointed in my direction. "You, come closer. If you really aren't a threat, then... I can't believe I'm saying this, but we should get familiar. Who knows, maybe the scientists back at one of the bigger stations will get a kick out of a talking horse."

I was hardly in a position to decline her orders, so I hesitantly stepped forward. The closer I got, the easier it was to judge her height, and I realized that I was nearly as tall as she was. Natalia held up a gloved hand to signal for me to stop once I was a couple of meters away, and I looked her up and down with a small frown. "You are... Natalia, yes?" I asked, struggling to recreate the specific pronunciation Maksim had used, "I'm afraid I do not know much. I have no idea where I am, or... what is going on. There was a battle close by in a neighboring tunnel, and-"

"A fight?! Are the others okay?" Natalia interrupted, only to glance down when she finally spotted the nametag hanging around my neck. Without warning she stepped forward and grabbed it in her left hand, startling me enough that I nearly broke the chain pulling my head back. She read the name in an instant, and the hesitant smile that had been building on her features fell away. "Damn it all... were they dead when you found them?"

I shook my head. "No, they... they fought bravely, and I helped as much as I could against the beasts attacking them, but I was too slow. Alyosha spoke to me before he passed, and I decided to collect his name tag. I... assumed it carried some symbolic meaning?"

Maksim had stepped closer now, crouching down to be closer to eye level with me. He was massive compared to Natalia, evidently quite muscular underneath his makeshift body armor. The size of his weapon matched everything else, looking to be a different model compared to the roughly similar designs I'd seen so far. After taking a look at the tag in Natalia's hand, he shook his head and sighed. "Watchmen, most likely. You're lucky to be alive, facing them without a gun."

"Is that what you are carrying? I am unfamiliar with these weapons," I explained, unable to hide the slight embarrassment at my own cluelessness. The two of them exchanged incredulous looks once again, and it was clear that Natalia was holding back a laugh when she spoke up next.

"What else? We certainly aren't going to get stuck in with a knife! Besides, even in the metro, a trusty Kalashnikov is never hard to find." To illustrate what she was talking about, she presented her weapon for me to look at. It was quite similar to the one Alyosha and his friend carried, though I could tell it was missing a few parts even with my own limited understanding. At the same time, it featured some add-ons that the last two 'Kalashnikov' guns were missing - namely, a large, bulbous attachment near the operating end of the gun and a tubular object along the top. Natalia noticed my continued confusion, but didn't get to say anything before being cut off.

"Ah, but the more exotic pieces require a little more love to keep running," Maksim boasted, grinning widely as he held up his own gun. It featured a longer front end and more wood near the back, plus a drum-shaped protrusion from the bottom instead of a flatter, curved piece like every other gun I'd seen so far. "RPK; military-grade construction, drum magazine, heavy barrel, reinforced stock... All the firepower a man could ever want."

I raised an eyebrow at the terms being thrown around, and thankfully Natalia spoke up on my behalf. "If she doesn't know what a gun is, do you really think she knows what all those fancy parts mean? Not everyone is a gun nut like you," she said, lightheartedly chastising her friend. He just shrugged and tucked his RPK away again, letting it hang off his shoulder by a sling. Then, Natalia let out a weary sigh and copied him with her gun, using a sling around her upper body to let her gun hang on her back. "Alyosha was one of the guards we had just finished training a day ago," she explained, "Maksim and I are with the Order."

Natalia paused, and Maksim picked up the slack. "The Spartan Order, that is; best damn soldiers in all of Metro. We were sent to help relocate the civilians living in this station when their previous home started being hounded by mutants. It started off as one or two attacks in a month, but toward the end they were calling us for help almost every day. The brass back in Polis decided to relocate them and seal the tunnel... this close to the edge of the metro, I guess they decided that losing a few dozen meters of tunnel wasn't so big a deal."

I nodded along to the exposition, even if it only left me with more questions so far. I looked between the two of them, so different and yet so similar, and quickly made up my mind on where to start. "I can see the logic in such a decision, difficult though it must have been to make," I began, earning a sage nod from Maksim. "But I'm afraid I must ask... before I can learn anything about this 'Metro' and your Order... what are you? And where am I?"

Once again, Natalia and Maksim exchanged looks, and once again I felt my face heating up as a wave of embarrassment overtook me. Could I have been more tactful with my question? Certainly. But, of course, I only realized that after I asked it. Thankfully, Natalia seemed more than willing to humor me and my cluelessness. "Tell you what," she began with a smile, "you follow me and Maksim back to the station, and we'll introduce you properly. After that, we'll help you decide what to do next. Sound like a good plan?"

"I still think the eggheads back at Polis would like a look at her," Maksim suggested, standing up to his full height again as he spoke. "We've never seen anything like her, and really - 'keeper of the Moon'? What is that even supposed to mean?"

I felt more than a little put out by Maksim's seemingly dismissive attitude, but looking at his expression I could tell that it was more likely that he was just... not the most socially graceful being. There was no malice in his words, but there was plenty of misunderstanding. "I'm right here," I snarked, unable to stop myself. "And I do have a name, in case you've forgotten. Luna?"

"He means well, Luna," Natalia butted in, cutting Maksim off before he began to defend himself. "You just have to get used to Maksim's... Maksim. Now then - let's go and introduce you to everyone else! I'm sure they'll love you."