Coming out of it...

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11: End of Act 1
Chapter 12: Intermission: Merry Late Christmas!
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23: Happy Birthday America
Chapter 24
Chapter 25: Interlude
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 1
Chapter 7

Chapter 2

Dominic stood in his boxers and white under shirt, in his hand was a plate that was piled high with chocolate chip pancakes. He walked to the living room and plopped down on the large leather couch. The remote grasped in his free hand he began to flip through the channels, he sighed as he saw commercial after commercial.

“Hundreds of channels and nothing but shit.” He sighed, finally the remote clicked onto the news. Fox 31 was covering a story about his town which interested him, considering that his town had nothing of interest save for the blue ribbon school that he attended. He turned up the volume while taking a bite from one of his pancakes, what he saw rocked him to his core.

“.....And it appears that this latest outbreak of the Pestilentia Immortuorum Virus has struck the small town of Evergreen. Though most outbreaks have been contained this one appears to be getting out of control.” A newscaster commented from the parking lot of the Shell gas station, Dominic saw people in the background running from others that seemed to be shambling or sprinting in inhuman ways. Dominic was a paranoid young man, everything was the end of the world to him. The Fukushima disaster in Japan had pushed him over the edge and on that day he had begun stockpiling survival equipment. His obsession with all things radioactive had not helped either, his teachers seemed to think he would be a good candidate for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Dominic set down his plate and sprinted to his room, he popped the lid to an old Civil Defense barrel he used as a bed stand.

Inside he found his ‘Bug Out’ gear, his long leather jacket with its iconic Twilight Sparkle cutie mark patch on the shoulder, his black combat boots, his knee and shin guards, black bandanna and his personal favorite an old M1 steel pot helmet that his grandfather had given him in his will. It had been a while since he had pulled these things out of storage, they still smelled brand new save for the helmet. Dominic pulled a pair of socks on his feet before sliding his jeans on, as he did this the phone rang. He picked it up and put it on speaker.

“Dad?” He said as he pulled the first boot on. “Little busy.”

“Dom, I take it you saw the news. Listen very carefully, your mom and Joanna are safe at the lifecare. Get whatever you need to get and be ready to go when I get there.” His father's voice came through phone, Dominic double knotted the lace of his boot before speaking.

“What’s your ETA?” He asked as he slid the other boot on, he looked around his room for anything else he could use. Geiger counters would be useless unless the government decided to drop the bomb in which case he would have bigger problems, gas mask’s though tempting would only bring down his endurance. From what he had read, Pestilentia Immortuorum Virus wasn’t airborne so the masks would also stay behind. One thing that should have been there was his backpack, loaded with his compass, map, utility knife and other assorted supplies. He had no time to dwell on that however.

“I’ll be there in around twenty minutes.” His father replied. “Be careful son.” The phone hung up and Dominic double knotted his other boot, he then fastened the knee and shin guards. Then he through on one of his many olive T-Shirts. With everything else on he put on his jacket and helmet, as he walked out of his room he put on his bandanna in case one of the infected got blood on his face. In the living room the Emergency Broadcast System had replaced the news, Dominic picked up one of the pancakes he had set down and ate it. His attention then shifted to the garage where the family sports equipment was, he walked to the door that lead to the garage and opened it. Inside sat his emergency weapon, he had taken a name from Fallout 3 and dubbed it, Excalibat. Picking up the aluminum bat he gave it a few practice swings before taking it out of the garage and closing the door.

Dominic heard the sound of gunfire in the distance, sirens blared from all over the small town. A shrill shriek filled the air outside, Dominic peered out the window and saw one of the infected chasing a young child. Dominic rushed to the door and threw it open.

“HEY! UGLY FUCK! OVER HERE!” He shouted, then he realised just how stupid what he had just done had been. The Infected snapped its head in his direction, then it let out a loud howl of primal rage. It broke into a dead sprint. Dominic readied Excalibat and when the Infected was within striking distance he let his weapon fly, the resulting impact created a loud *CRACKSSH* as the bat connected with its target’s head. The Infected fell to the ground with a massive chunk of its head missing, blood spatter covered Dominic. The semi-warm liquid was now all over him, he didn’t know what to say. He felt a rush of adrenaline rush over him and he was ready to charge out and take on the entire horde himself but a dull ache started to radiated from the back of his head, his world began to spin and he began to hear whispers in his ears. The pain began to grow as the unintelligible whispers grew louder, he collapsed to his knees and his bat rolled to the side. His hands clutched his head, it felt like it was going to explode in the same way the infected’s had. Then the lights went out....

“Tia, It is awakening.” A regal voice pierced the feeling of darkness.

“Good, now make sure that the doors and windows are locked. We don’t want him to get out of here.”

That last sentance sent shivers down Dominic’s spine, much more important however was that there were people talking. There shouldn’t be any people around him, there should only be him, waking up in his bed, with no one but himself. He had a hell of a dream, he hadn’t dreamed of ponies in months. The strangest part was how real it felt, there wasn’t any fuzziness to his vision during the ordeal, it was crystal clear. The air smelled sweet yet sterile, the floor was solid under his feet. He groaned as he moved the blankets he was covered in to- Blankets? He didn’t need no stinking blankets. He didn’t have any in his stronghold, just his lumpy mattress. The bed he was in was softer than a cloud, the blankets were warm. It felt alien to him, he felt a wave of nervousness wash over him.

With every ounce of strength and willpower he shot his eyes open, they were met by a high ceiling. It had an eight pointed star painted upon it, it was surrounded by clouds and rainbows. It immediately reminded him of the large building that he and his dad had gone to to pick up the license plates for his truck only lacking the very stoic assholes from the DMV. Had someone found him and taken care of him? It seemed so odd, most people would have slit his throat while he was unconscious and taken his things.

“Wha...where am I?” Dominic asked in a weak voice, he heard footsteps around him. He didn’t have the energy or the pain tolerance to move his head to either side.

“You are in my bedchambers, you were hurt rather severly before you came here.” A warm motherly voice replied, Dominic felt a smile cross his face. Something about that voice, it just seemed so familiar, so calming. It made him feel something he hadn’t felt in years, it made him feel....safe.

“How long have I been out?” Dominic asked, still not moving his head.

“A week or so, the impact to your head was quite severe.” Another voice chimed in, though less motherly it held an air of regality to it. Like it came from a woman in charge of her life. “While you were unconcious we noticed you were having some rather, fearful dreams.”

“Who hasn’t lately? Are you going to tell me that the Apocalypse hasn’t given you some nightmares?” Dominic asked, still staring at the ceiling. He was currently counting the clouds, he had counted 37 before the whole act of counting got old and he stopped. He noticed that the two voices had stopped talking. “Was it something I said?” He asked, he finally had the strength to turn his head. When he did he was staring at two very shocked Alicorns, this in turn made him roll out of the bed and get into a defensive stance. “What this fuck is this! You aren’t real! You’re just me still being druged!” His stance faltered as he felt a wave of pain wash over him. “FUCK!” He collapsed onto one knee which in turn made him groan from the impact on the cold marble floor. He noticed he was only in his undershirt, his boxars and his socks. All of which were surprisingly clean.

“Please, be careful.” Finally the white Alicorn, Celestia if he remembered correctly, broke the silence. “You could rip the stitches.” She seemed slightly shaken by something, she started to approach him but he pushed himself away.

“D-Don’t touch me! You’re a....a cartoon! You’re a creation of graphite and pastels! I won’t believe you’re real! SO JUST GET AWAY!” Dominic kept sliding away, he pulled himself back to his feet. Celestia raised an Eyebrow, he still didn’t believe he was really here. Almost like reading her mind, Luna stepped forwards.

“If we art nothing but fictitious creations, explain to us the pain in thine head.” She said with a smile, she had this creature on the ropes. “Being the Princess of the night and dreams, we can most certainly tell thou art not dreaming.” Dominic opened his mouth to retort but in truth he had nothing, he had never in all his 18 years of life had he felt pain during a dream. Pleasure definitely, but pain? No, never. Luna smiled when she saw him close his mouth, it was replaced as she watched Dominic scan the room. His eyes fell on a candelabrum, he lunged at it and grabbed it with both hands. It would have been comical if it weren’t for the look of sheer terror plastered on Dominic’s face.

“S-S-Stay back, tell me where I really am!” Dominic shouted, his eyes were scanning the room. “A-And h-how did my clothes get clean?!”

“First of all, you are in Canterlot, in the kingdom of Equestria. Secondly, we washed them and you. You smelled fairly unpleasant as well.”

“You what!? You took my clothes and washed me while I was unconscious!” Dominic shouted even louder, it was starting to rival the Royal Canterlot Voice. “What exactly did you see!”

“Well we determined that you were a male, quite a male.” Celestia said casually, Dominic’s hand hit his forehead with such force the resounding smack caused both princesses to wonder how he had survived the impact. “We saw that many of your muscles are similar to ours, and then there was the rather strange scars.”

“Shit, shit shit. Why did you redress me, you don’t seem to upset that you’re naked!” Luna stepped forwards for this question.

“You are mostly hairless, it would be understandable that the clothes kept you warm.” She said plainly, Dominic looked around and found his clothes sitting on a desk in the middle of the room. He cautiosly walked over still holding his makeshift weapon and keepign his eyes on the Princesses. He quickly redressed, from his boots to his Helmet and Bandanna. But things were missing, his backpack, bandoliers, shotgun and revolver all were missing.

“Where are my guns, my ammo, my backpack, my bandoliers!?” Dominic asked as he eyed the Princesses with narrowed eyes. “If you scratched my benelli I’ll...”

“We cannot have a dangerous creature running about with powerful weapons of unknown power can we?” Celestia interrupted. “So, tell us about you and you will receive your belongings.” Luna snapped her head to look at Celestia.

Tia! You would give this creature his weapons! He tried to harm several medical staff! Luna thought to her sister through the telepathic link they shared.

For all we know his weapons could be a part of his culture, and judging by the looks of them they are more than likely clubs than anything else. The only thing I saw of Interest was the bloodied kitchen knife on the end of the large one. Replied Celestia, it was at this point they noticed Dominic looking at them with a raised eyebrow and his candlestick weapon.

“What do you want to know?” He asked warily, Celestia looked at him for a moment. So many questions, what to ask first was difficult to chose but she chose an easy one. She wanted to test this creature before her.

“What are you called?” She asked.

“My name is Dominic. I am a human.” Dominic stated, this was very similar to a fan fic he had read. He could barely believe that the story was accurate. There were many questions that followed the first that are not worth mentioning. The questions flowed comfortably for several minutes until Celestia ask the one of the big questions on her mind, at this point Dominic had lowered his weapon.

“Dominic, you mentioned the apocalypse. What did you mean by that.” Celestia seemed to strike a nerve with that question.

“Pestilentia Immortuorum.” Dominic replied with a hatefilled tone, she had never seen that look of hatred on the human before but she knew it must have been something terrible. “Litterally translated it means something like, the plague of the Undead.” Celestia had heard of necromancy but never had she heard of a plague, she suddenly feared that she had exposed her and her ponies to a disease. “I know what you're thinking, and I don’t have it. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here, this disease is spread by the bite of the Infected. You get bit you maybe have a minute to chop off your bitten limb or just off yourself.”

Dominic slammed his bat into one of the Infected, he was pulling it out of the creatures ruined skull when he heard the sound of his fathers truck pulling up. Dominic grabbed what he needed and ran through the horde, leaving a trail of bloodied corpses in his wake.

“The symptoms for the first patients came slowly, nausea, heartburn, indigestion. Running noses, cough and fever were also pretty common.” Dominic continued. “Then the skin would turn grey or completely white, the eyes would become clouded with cataracts. In the final stages, the heart stopped beating if only for a minute. When it came back, the person was gone and all that remained was a mindless creature that’s sole purpose was to make your life as miserable as humanly possible.”

”DOMINIC! WHAT WERE YOU DOING!” His father shouted, Dominic didn’t answer and just climbed into the back of the truck. As he did he felt one of the infected tug at his leg, instinctively he slammed his bat down on the creatures head.

“Th-Thats horrible!” Luna and Celestia cried out at the same time.

“It gets worse, the disease didn’t just target a specific age group. It targeted the old, the young. Men, women.....children.”

Dominic looked at the now bloodied and destroyed body of the very girl he had rushed out to save, his heart wrenched and he felt tears form in his eyes.

“I-I’m Sorry.”

On that note, Celestia sighed. “It is late,” she said noting that the moon had risen thanks to Luna. “We can continue tomorrow, please follow my sister to the quarters we’ve set up for you.” Luna got up and as did Dominic, they walked to the door and Luna’s horn glowed. It opened with a creak, the two of them began walking. Guards stiffened at the sight of the masked biped, the staff made sure to stand clear of him. They had heard about what had happened in the infirmary. It was because of this that the walk was mostly silent, occasionally Princess Luna would ask him something about his world but it was mainly quiet.

Luna could see that there was a frown underneath his mask fairly well, her wing unfurled and she draped it over his shoulders. To Dominic it felt nice, but strange. “What are you doing?”

“We are trying to comfort you, we speak from experience on how loneliness can be hard on one’s soul.” Luna replied, the rest of the walk was silent, they reached the door to the room that Dominic would be staying in.”Here we are, is there anything we can give you that would make you more comfortable.”

“I....It would be nice to have some company.” Dominic replied, Luna looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Not like that. Just someone to talk to.” Luna smiled and nodded.

“We think we can help thee.”

Chapter 3

Luna and Dominic had talked for many hours about various things, from how humans had advanced without magic to the internet memes that had come with the rise of the internet. Eventually he had gotten tired and fallen asleep, Luna watched him for a few minutes. He had no magical aura so she would be able to sense if he was having a nightmare much faster than anypony else, she sighed finally and turned to leave the room. A soft noise caught her attention, she looked at Dominic and slowly crept over to his sleeping form.

“.....Luna is best pony.......” She smiled at that and then turned and left again, her hooves clip clopped on the marble floors. As she walked she heard a rather loud BANG eminate from the door she had just passed. The door to Twilight Sparkle’s room had been sealed by the young alicorn as she wanted no interruptions while studying Dominic’s weaponry and other possessions. Luna placed her ear on the door to listen to what happened next.

“grrrrrr pony feathers! Motherbucking Celestia condemn it to Tartarus!” She heard the small Alicorn cursing, Luna giggled slightly. “At least that time I didn't burn off my eyebrows. *sigh* How does he manage to use this thing!?” Luna, interest piqued, knocked on the door.

“Twilight, we wish to speak with thee.” Luna said calmly, the door flew open with a pulse of lavender energy. A very disheveled looking Twilight Sparkle sat in front of a large table with the many odd possessions of the human, currently Twilight was fiddling with a small device that had a blank screen and several buttons. “We see thou art taking care of our guest’s belongings.”

“Yes Princess Luna.” Twilight replied as if on autopilot “Maybe this is some sort of charm? No too advanced. A weapon? No too small.” Twilight muttered to herself.

“May we inquire into what caused the noise several seconds ago?” Luna asked, she trotted over to the table. She noticed that Twilight had separated multiple objects by color and size, a large amount of Red cylinder’s with brass bases were sitting in a pile alongside a large pile of brass casings that held a copper tip.

“I’m currently trying to figure out the purpose of this.” Twilight said holding the strange device in her hooves. “And more importantly I’m trying to figure out how to pick up these objects! My magic is useless on them.” Twilight sighed. “The noise was me trying to activate it with an electricity spell.”

“From what Dominic has told us of his technology, that device is referred to as an ‘MP3 Player’.” Luna stated, Twilight’s eyes widened. “Odd, he didn’t mention having one.”

“You spoke with him?” She asked, Luna nodded. “Without me?”

“What we spoke of would have been....traumatizing to thee. Tia is also still upset with thou, though less now.” Luna retorted, her current attention was on the large wood and metal club-like weapon. The bloodied kitchen knife had been removed and destroyed because of its Bio-hazardous properties, Twilight sighed as she attempted to get the MP3 player to work once again. “Have thee made any progress on determining what these....” Luna paused, a shudder ran down her spine. Her ethereal mane changed direction and began pointing in the direction of Dominic’s room. “We must leave, he requires our help.”

“Please Princess, may I come?” Twilight asked with a glimmer of hope in her eye’s, Luna sighed and nodded.

“Yes Twilight, but after this thou must sleep. I sense many answers will be given tomorrow.” Luna replied, she began walking towards the door and opened it with her magic. Twilight was close behind, they began to trot swiftly towards the room of the visitor.

{♠}

Dominic slipped into the cab of his father’s truck, he was looking at his once peaceful town as they drove past. Dozens of infected were pouring all over the small community, sheriffs officer’s were being over run. The highway was packed on both sides and the only way that Dominic and his father were making progress was by driving on the side of the road dangerously close to the edge of a steep hill.

“We’re almost there, once we get Mom and Joanna we can get out of here.” His father stated as they drove, fires were raging in the dry woods where the pine beetles had killed the trees and left them as dry wooden trunks. In the dry heat and chaos they began to ignite like matchsticks, not a single firefighter was present however. They were all too busy trying to escape just like everyone else. Finally a break in the traffic on the road allowed for them to get across to the exit that would take them to the Lifecare where Dominic’s mother and sister were located.

“What do you want me to do dad?” Dominic asked, his father pulled out his revolver. Not just any revolver, HIS revolver. The revolver that he never let Dominic fire more than once a year. He quickly checked the cylinder to see it was loaded, he then handed it to Dominic as well as handing him the other cylinder that would allow him to fire 9mm rounds.

“Kill anything that gets in our way, and if one of us gets bit, do what you have to do....” His father said coldly, Dominic was still realing over killing the girl he had tried to save and now his father was trying to get him to kill his own family!?

“Dad, I can-”

“I know it’s gonna be hard but you’ll be granting mercy, Dominic. No one should have to live like one of those....things.” His father said in the same cold voice as before, Dominic gulped. He had been preparing for the end of the world since he was thirteen, he always knew that if something like this happened it may be up to him. No amount of preparing can make one not feel guilt, not feel sorrow at taking the life of another sentient being let alone one of his own family members. “Promise me son.” Dominic looked at his father, gaping. “PROMISE ME!” Dominic gulped and nodded. “Good boy, get ready. We’re here.”

The truck pulled up to the lifecare center, one of the last places where the sheriffs department was fending off the hordes. Dominic and his father got out of the truck and pushed through the dozens of people taking refuge in the retirement home.

“Jennifer!” Dominic’s father called out his mother’s name. “Jenny! Where are you!”

“Over here Tom!” A strained voice called out over the bedlam that had ensued, Dominic and his father pushed through the crowd until they happened upon his mother and his sister. They were both administering medicine in the parking lot of the building, people old and young, rich and poor. All of them were being treated by his mother and the many other nurses and volunteers.

“Jenny we have to go NOW!” Dominic’s father shouted over the noise, his mother shouted something at him and Dominic’s father shouted back at her. She wasn’t leaving and neither was his sister, Dominic felt all his hope of escape begin to fade. The roar of jets overhead signalled that the military had arrived. The gunfire from the Sheriff’s officers began to pick up, Dominic’s father looked at him. “Dom go and see if you can help the police, I’ll try and get mom to come with.” He ordered, Dominic nodded without hesitation and took off towards the Police cars. His father’s revolver in his grip, he finally reached the officers.

“Do you need any help officer?” He asked the sheriff, he nodded to him.

“Get the shotgun out of my car and grab as much ammunition as you can carry. Once you do that start unloading into those ugly fuckers! Evacuation choppers get here in half an hour.” The sheriff shouted over the noise of gunfire and the moans of the Infected. Dominic rushed over to the car and pulled the benelli from the gun rack, next he took off his helmet and used it to carry ammunition. He quickly ran over to the police line, dozens of uniformed officers and civilians with firearms were creating a wall of lead. The legions of Infected monsters continued to march unwavering towards their own demise, what they lacked in tactics, firepower or speed they made up for in overwhelming numbers and tenacity. Dominic took aim at their advancing line and began to unload with the shotgun.

One of the rabid creatures once called people jumped onto the hood of the car and then prepared to leap towards Dominic, he took aim and prepared to squeeze the trigger when a blast of lavender energy vaporised the creature mid flight. Dominic whirled around but saw no one, perhaps it had been divine intervention? He went back to firing and reloading and fireing and reloading. In the mean time he didn’t know he was being watch by not one but two alicorn Princesses, Luna looked at Twilight with a stern but not angry gaze.

“We must first watch how the dream troubles him before we intervene, he obviously could have handled that....beast on his own.” Luna explained, they were currently invisible and watching the entire scene unfold. “Though it does shed light on his weapons, not simple clubs. Ranged weapons, those red and brass cylinder’s must be what creates the power of them.”

“Perhaps we should keep them for ourselves?” Twilight asked, she nearly lost her stomach contents shortly afterwards as she saw Dominic blow the head of one of the Infected apart.

“DOMINIC!” A female voice screamed, Dominic turned on a dime and sprinted towards the voice with his weapon in his hands. Twilight and Luna watched as he dumped whatever remaining ammunition out of his helmet before putting back on his head, he finally made it to the location of his sister, father and mother. His sister was holding her arm and rocking back and forth, Dominic’s heart began to beat faster than any time in his short life. His father looked at him with a somber expression, a tear forming in his eye.

“Son....” His father began, Dominic did something he would regret to the day he died. He hesitated. For as his father began to explain what he had to do his sister’s eyes glossed over and her teeth snapped together. She leaped forwards and landed on his father, tearing at his neck with her teeth. His mother instinctively charged forwards, Dominic stuck out his hand and his eyes widened as he saw her leap straight towards her death. By this point anarchy had ensued, the defensive line had broken. Dominic saw his entire family turn against him in under ten minutes. A tear rolled down his cheek but was absorbed by his bandanna, he leveled his shotgun at his once loving sister.

“I’m.....I’m sorry!” He cried as he squeezed the trigger, Luna and Twilight stood stock still as they watched him shoot his own sister. His mother was the next to charge at him, her face bitten by her once loving husband. Another blast of buckshot flew from the barrel of his shotgun, and when his father stood up and shrieked with a beastial cry the third blast of buckshot tore his head clean open. Dominic stood there, time was frozen. Blood stopped in mid air, people being tackled frozen in place. The only thing moving was Dominic and two Alicorns. He looked around and finally he saw Princess Luna and his favorite pony Twilight Sparkle, had they just seen what had happened?

Twilight certainly looked like she was ready to lose her stomach contents, Luna had a more concerned look on her face.

“Dominic.” She started, he held up his hand.

“How much....” He asked her, looking into her eyes. She didn’t answer quick enough. “HOW MUCH!”

“Enough.” Luna finally replied, Dominic looked at Twilight.

“And her? How did she get here?” He asked suspiciously.

“A joined mind spell, its very complicated to explain.” Dominic walked over to the Princess of the night and looked her in the eyes, he was only inches away from her face.

“I’m okay with you asking me questions, I’m okay with having every inch of me scrutinised by you and your sister, But! DO NOT FUCK WITH MY HEAD! This isn’t the first time I’ve had this dream and it won’t be the last! SO GET THE FUCK OUT! Let me face my demons alone!” Luna felt genuinely hurt by his words, she nodded slowly with a frown on her muzzle and in a flash of light both Princess Luna and Twilight Sparkle were gone from his dream. Time sped back up and Dominic felt the immense boulder of guilt come slamming down on his shoulders as he looked at his dead family. At this point everyone had abandoned the evacuation, he said a quick prayer and turned away from his loved ones. The world began to fade to black.

Chapter 4

Dominic sat across from Celestia with a scowl though it had been hidden by his bandana, it had been his dream to come to this place at one point. Now, however, it was bittersweet. He was here but only after so much violence and bloodshed. Everything he touched seemed to be destroyed in a grotesque way, that made him shudder. So many things could be destroyed by his hands. Celestia noticed the look of deep thought on Dominic’s face and coughed lightly, he looked at her. Neither of them had spoken since she had come to check on him aside from her general greeting.

“My student has told me what she saw….” Celestia finally said, Dominic’s gaze fell on the floor and his fists clenched tightly. His eyes moved about glancing at every inch of the floor, not a single dust particle could escape his gaze. “What I heard was-” She paused as if to think of the proper word. “Disturbing. I wanted to give you a chance to explain your side of the story.” Dominic looked at her, his eyes had turned to steel.

“I hesitated, my family turned, I had to deal with the consequences.” He said flatly, the words held a type of darkness that could rival the power of Sombra. Celestia looked into his eyes, she saw the cracks in the walls he had built were starting to grow. If she pushed him too far she could cause those walls to become impenetrable but if she didn’t push enough he would only distance himself from anyone trying to help him. She decided that she would have to push later on, for now there were still questions to be answered. Dominic answered most of the ones he understood, he left out tidbits like Einstein's theory of relatively. The dark ages were a ‘fun’ subject as well, talking about that really put him in a cheery mood. He and the princess continued to converse, albeit slightly less. Dominic was starting to ease out of his hardened state and beginning to return to the slightly vulnerable teen he should have been, if only for a few sentences at a time

Finally Celestia was comfortable moving on to one of her larger questions. She had asked him more about his technology, Dominic finished his answer to her question about Television. Now was the perfect time to ask him.

“Dominic?” She asked in a more serious tone, this caused Dominic freeze up. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” She could practically feel his eyes narrow on her.

“What?” He asked, his tone was still semi relaxed though his body language said that he probably knew what would be her next question.

“You’re patch.” Celestia pointed a hoof at Dominic’s shoulder, there sat Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark. “How do you know that symbol.” Dominic was quiet for a moment as he mulled the question over in his head

“Well….I guess I ca-” *BANG* Dominic was about to answer when the unmistakable sound of his revolver firing. The bang was followed by a loud cry of pain, Dominic was on his feet within a heartbeat while Celestia was stunned. “Where are my weapons?!” He shouted, Celestia could only mutter one word.

“Twilight.” Dominic threw his hands into the air before delivering a massive kick to the door that lead to the hallway, it flew open and he rushed out.

{♠}

Twilight rocked back and forth, her hoof was burning like nothing she had ever felt before. Dominic’s revolver sat on the floor far away from her, a trail of blood indicated she had scooted away from the death dealing device. She cried out in pain for a second time, for several seconds she stopped moaning in pain to listen for any approaching ponies. Her room was in the new wing of the castle that still had a low guard compliment, to her relief she heard something. Heavy noises against the floor, too heavy to be hoofsteps. She also heard regular hoofsteps and somepony shouting orders, that voice sounded familiar. Her thoughts were cut short as the pain in her leg began to burn even worse, she cried out again. The door was booted open by a large steel toed boot, to her surprise and sheer horror she saw Dominic rush in. His eyes settled on her instantly, his face was hidden by his bandana but she could tell he had a worried look.

He almost looked as if he were on the verge of tears, Twilight could see him blinking the moisture away. He rushed to her side and looked at her wound, he grunted as he looked at the bleeding entrance wound and sighed as he saw the exit wound. He stood up and moved to Twilight’s bed. Several guards rushed in after him, they saw Twilight and immediately began to form a perimeter around her. Dominic pulled several pillowcases from the soft pillows they contained, his head whipped around trying to find something else. It settled on the liquor cabinet, he looked slightly miffed by the prospect of her having a liquor cabinet but shrugged it off.

At this point Celestia galloped in, she saw the perimeter of guards around Twilight and then Dominic rooting through her liquor cabinet with several pillowcases. She didn’t know what he was doing but she didn’t like it, he was still a wild card in her eyes. She used her magic to grab the items in his hands. He let out a surprised growl before turning to look at Celestia, his eyes weren’t angry as she had been expecting however. They were urgent, surprised and in a state of shock.

“What the fuck was that for!?” He shouted in a panicked voice. “I’m trying to help her!” He brought his hands up to the back of his neck and began to untie his bandana. Celestia looked at him for a few seconds, Dominic didn’t wait for her response and took another bottle of alcohol. He Quickly popped the top from it and dumped its contents onto his Bandana, Celestia’s eyes widened as she saw what he was doing.

“Let me help you.” She said walking towards Twilight, Dominic brought his soaked bandana over as well as the bottle of alcohol. It was the first time Twilight had seen the humans face, if it was anything similar to a ponies she thought it looked extremely young. Perhaps eighteen or nineteen. It was hard to believe that he had been through so much more than her even though they were almost the same age.

“Can you cauterize the wound?” Dominic asked, his voice was flat. The guards parted as he and the Princess passed them. Celestia nodded to him before looking at Twilight, she lit her horn but Dominic stopped her for a second. “Hold on.” He walked over to Twilight’s bed stand and ripped one of the legs off before coming back over and sitting next to Twilight. “Bite down on this.” He instructed, Twilight looked at Celestia who was just as confused as she was. “It’s gonna hurt a lot and I don’t want you biting your fucking tongue off, so bite the fucking thing.” Twilight opened her mouth and Dominic put it in. She bit down on the wood, his attention turned to her wounded for leg. He raised the bottle of Alcohol and poured it onto the wound, Twilight gasped and her jaw tightened on the table leg. Tears came to her eyes as Dominic rubbed the alcohol around her leg. “Shh Shh its okay.” He said in an oddly calming voice. Celestia looked at her prised student with sad eyes

“Okay Princess, I need you to stay focused!” Dominic said loudly, at this point the guards were watching in awe. “Cauterize it now.” Small flames danced across Twilight’s fur as the alcohol ignited, to her surprise however it didn’t burn her skin but only her fur. Dominic was also surprised but shrugged it off again, the bleeding stopped and Dominic took his bandana and wrapped it around the wound. “She still needs a real doctor but it should hold for now. At least I think. Been awhile since I last got shot, my skills may be a bit rusty.” Both princesses said nothing, just staring at eachother. “Hey fuckers! Wake the fuck up and help me!” Dominic said in an annoyed, the panic that was there earlier was more suppressed but Twilight could hear it perfectly. The human stood up before hoisting Twilight over his shoulder. The sudden movement made the table leg fall from Twilight's mouth. She suddenly felt tired as the adrenaline began to wear off, her eyes started to close as she felt Dominic begin to carry her.

{♠}

Twilight awoke to the feeling of soft blankets over her and a soft bed beneath her, she could barely make out the sound of a beeping heart moniter and something deeper. A voice, very deep and very tired sounding. Twilight tried to open her eyes but couldn’t, she felt to tired to do anything aside from listen.

“....this is difficult for me to say, I don’t know how you’ll react…” That was Dominic’s voice, who was he talking to? Why did he sound so nervous?

“You have my word, no matter what you say no harm will come to you.” That was Celestia’s voice. “If it weren’t for you Twilight might be in far worse shape than she is now.”

“Okay, here I go.” Dominic’s voice was slightly nervous, as it had been earlier. What had happened earlier? Twilight couldn’t remember much. “I know who all of you are, Twilight Sparkle, Princess Luna, you, and many more. I know about the Element’s of harmony, the invasion on the royal wedding, the reason Twilight is an alicorn and not a unicorn.” One could hear a pin drop, Twilight could imagine the look of shock on Celestia’s face and if she could she would have one as well. For whatever reason she couldn’t seem to move, just breath and listen. “Nightmare Moon, Sombra, Discord.” Dominic paused for a moment as if thinking. “I’m surprised I haven’t seen him yet, he’s been reformed if I remember correctly.” He said to himself. “I know a lot of things, that’s why I thought that this was a dream at first. That’s why I kicked Luna out of my head, that’s why I decided to keep the truth hidden.”

“H-How do you know this?” Celestia’s voice was softer, Twilight could understand why. She had the same feeling, trying to take the information in.

“Do you remember what I said about Television?” Dominic asked, Twilight had know Idea what it was but she had a feeling it was a type of advanced technology. She heard Celestia’s regala move indicating she was nodding. Dominic sighed and remained silent for a few moments before speaking again.

“In my world, Everyone here, even this universe, is fictional. A story created to entertain people and teach valuable lessons. The targeted audience of the TV show that depicts you was directed at younger girls. However, it was so well done that it reached more than that. The Animation was fantastic, the storylines and character development were extremely well done, and it all focused on something that my species loved.” Dominic explained, he still sounded hesitant but was getting more confident.

“What was that?” Celestia asked, the information was starting to sink in. The shock was wearing off and now she began to take the news in stride. Twilight wished she could see the look on her face, she desperately wanted to see that motherly face.

“Despite what you’ve seen, most humans had a primal urge to love things that were deemed ‘cute’ or ‘Adorable’.” Dominic explained. “And honestly, being here in person. I can say without any doubt that you ponies are the most fucking adorable things I’ve ever seen.” Dominic tried to lighten the mood. “The thing is, while some humans were relatively nice and some were downright awesome, most of them were Assholes. The people like me saw the message in the show, treat people fairly, respect other people’s opinions. We also saw the cute things about the show, references to things we understood.”

“I sense a but coming?” Celestia asked, Twilight could tell that Dominic nodded. His helmet clanked ever so slightly.

“But as I said, most humans were assholes. A lot of them hated you, a lot of them hated me, hated the entire thing. The internet became a war zone, pictures, videos, stories. It was total bedlam! Some websites were for our cause, others against us. We began to branch out into the real world. Art and music, conventions, interviews. The world was beginning to understand we were here to stay and that we were not going to be quiet.” Dominic paused, Twilight heard him sigh. “Then Hasbro, the company in charge of the series decided to fuck with us. They created the *gag* Equestria Girls. A feature length film about Twilight getting sent to the world of humans. It was okay but it made it harder for some of us to be a part of the fandom.” Twilight felt she could open her eyes again but she wanted to hear more, she wanted to know more about Dominic’s world.

“All of those things are the tame side of the fandom, there was however, a darker side.” Dominic stated with a dark voice. “It is better that I don’t go into it, it would only cause bad things.” Twilight opened her eyes as he finished, the bright light caused her to cover her eyes.

“Twilight!” Celestia beamed, she rushed over to the side of Twilight’s bed. It was at this point Twilight noticed the pain in her hoof, she looked at her hurt leg and saw that it had been bandaged. “My faithful student!” Celestia hugged Twilight in her forehooves.

“Princess!” Twilight hugged her mentor, losing her shock from what she had heard for only a few seconds. As she hugged Celestia she saw Dominic standing in the shadows with hands behind his back, he stood there with a stoic look though she thought she could see his eyes glistening a bit. His eyes met hers for a brief second, he looked down at the floor afterwards. Celestia let go of her student and sat down on her haunches next to the hospital bed. The lights in the room were out except for the lamp on the table, Luna’s night was out in all of its beauty. Twilight looked back at Dominic, he was still looking at the floor.

“Twilight? Is something wrong?” Celestia asked when she saw Twilight’s gaze was elsewhere, she turned to see Dominic was standing and looking at the floor. “You heard him didn’t you?” Celestia asked looking back at Twilight, her tone a sort of worried intrigue. Dominic shifted slightly and tensed up, at this point Twilight noticed he was wearing his ‘Bandoliers’ and had his weapons.

“Yes Princess.” Twilight said, she had learned long ago lying to the Princess was a bad idea. “I’m confused, I don’t know how to react. I feel somewhat flattered but….”

“Violated?” Celestia finished the sentence for her, Dominic tensed even more. His lack of a bandana made it easy to see his face had gone from stoic to something on the border of nervous and defensive. His gaze was still firmly on the floor, what was he thinking?

“I wouldn’t say that, just…..odd.” Twilight said trying to get the proper words to form on her tongue. “It’s odd having pon- people watch you, even if they are doing it because they like you.” Dominic visibly relaxed though he still remained silent, it was as if he were deep in thought.

“I guess so, be that as it may…. I would recommend we keep this information to ourselves, I’ll tell Luna myself but Twilight. You cannot under any circumstances breath a word of this to anyone, not your friends not you family. NOT even Cadence.” Twilight tensed at this which made Dominic look up from the floor and at Celestia. “At least, not yet.”

The door to the room was knocked on several times causing everyone to look at it, Celestia used her magic and the door swung open. A blur of Pink shot in at immense speeds, Dominic instinctively reached for his sidearm but stopped when he saw who was responsible for the sudden movement. Pinkie Pie, the lord of motor mouths, the bane of all sane beings in the universe.

“TWILIGHT! MY PINKIE SENSE TOLD ME YOU WERE HURT SO I GOT ALL THE GIRLS AND SPIKE AND WE CAME TO SEE YOU BECAUSE WE DON’T WANT YOU TO BE SAD BECAUSE BEING IN THE HOSPITAL ALONE CAN BE SAD! I CAN’T IMAGINE WHAT I WOULD DO IF I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL ALL ALONE WITHOUT MY FRIENDS OR PRINCESS CELESTIA. HI PRINCESS! ANY WAY THAT WOULD BE A MEGA BUMMER!”

“SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Dominic roared, it took all of his willpower not to pull his revolver on the Pink mare.Immediately Pinkie stopped and turned to look at the source of the voice, a loud gasp escaped her mouth.

“WOW! I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE YOU BEFORE! WHAT ARE YOU! ARE YOU A MONST- mmmphhmmmm” Celestia put her hoof over Pinkies mouth before Dominic could pull his revolver.

“Where did Pinkie go?” A voice with a tomboyish tone to it spoke from the hall, Dominic knew that voice. “Wait, lets just follow the trail of confetti.”

“Umm….how do we um...know if Twilight is hurt?” A softer voice asked, Dominic facepalmed. His patients had dropped to zero when Pinkie had burst in, he took in a massive breath.

“IN HERE!” He shouted, all noise in the room and hallway stopped. A pin could be heard hitting the floor, Dominic looked at Celestia and Twilight before shrugging. “I can’t stand anymore annoyances today.” He stated plainly, four sets of hooves were heard outside the door before four ponies walked in. The first was Fluttershy, upon seeing Dominic she bolted right back out the door with an Eep. “Fuck.” Rainbow Dash and Applejack trotted in looking surprised at Fluttershy before looking at Dominic.

“What the hay is that thing?” Applejack asked out loud, Dominic sighed and his hand and had it’s second date with his face.

“Fuck my life.” He groaned, he had just divulged all he knew about the ponies to Celestia, Twilight had been shot with his gun after witnessing him using it to slaughter dozens of infected, and now the rest of the mane six were here to fuck him over. “Why did I open that fucking refrigerator.”

“You sure use funny words? What does fuck mean? I bet it means a really nice thing! I love saying Fuck! FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!” Pinkie pulled her mouth off of Celestia’s hoof and began to spout the word ‘Fuck’ so much it would have made the saltiest sailor blush.

“Pinkie! Thats a bad word.” Twilight reprimanded, Pinkie immediately froze and pulled her tongue out of her mouth. Staring at it with a shocked expression, she gasped. Her hair deflated and she lost a shade of pink. Applejack shot Dominic a glare but at this point he didn’t care. Rarity walked through the door pulling Fluttershy along with her magic before closing the door to the small hospital room. Dominic waited for the surprised gasp.

*Gasp*

He sighed, this was starting to turn into one of those fanfics he had read. Celestia sensed his distress and sudden annoyance. She cleared her throat and every pony looked at her.

“Girls, I’m sure you’ve noticed our guest here. His name is Dominic, he was brought into our world by Twilight. You’ve also most likely picked up on his rather crude language.” Celestia began, Dominic sighed again. Celestia went on to explain who Dominic was, where her came from and how he would be permanent addition to Equestria. She left out sensitive subjects such as the apocalypse and by association Dominic’s combat history. Dominic sat down in a chair and waited for the explanation to end, Luna arrived during the middle of the lecture and discretely made her way over to Dominic. All of the girls asked several questions which were either answered or passed up.

Finally Celestia finished explaining, for the girls it was exciting and interesting. Dominic and those who already knew the story were relieved that it was over.

“Twilight will be able to leave tomorrow, I suggest we all have breakfast and discuss things further tomorrow.” Celestia stated, Dominic went from bored to alert in under a second.

“Are you fucking nuts? Twilight took a .357 round to the leg! She’s lucky she still has a leg, how is she going to be able to leave tomorrow?” Dominic facepalmed when Celestia, Luna and Twilight stated.

“Magic” in unison. He growled and the day came to an end, the girls went to their individual rooms while Luna and Celestia retired as well. Dominic was left sitting in Twilight’s hospital room. Someone had to stay and make sure she was taken care of. He and Twilight spoke for a few hours about the fandom before she fell asleep, Dominic’s heart would have exploded if it hadn’t been turned to stone by nearly three years of loneliness and violence.

“So fuckin’ cute.” Dominic stated, before he too sucamb to sleep.

Chapter 5

Dominic stared at the wall, his eyes were bloodshot and ached painfully. Everything here was calm, too calm. If he let his guard down he could be jumped, he could be killed. His sleep had been fitful and he had awoken thinking that someone was trying to suffocate him. Since then had hadn’t close his eyes and he held his shotgun close to his chest. This type of calm wasn't normal, even before the outbreak there had been something. A siren in the distance, a bugling elk, somthing! His stomach growled angrily, he hadn’t eaten in a week. Slowly he moved his gaze from the wall to the bag, the food contained within was calling his name. But he stopped as movement in his peripheral vision caused him to instinctively whip out his revolver and take aim.

“Get a hold of yourself man!” He growled to himself, trying to calm his frayed nerves. He took several deep breaths before reaching out and grabbing the bag, to his relief nothing reached out to kill him. Still his hypervigilance refused to allow him a moment of peace. As he sat there in the hospital room he continued to see shadows in his peripherals, he needed to get his mind off of everything. His gaze fell on the sleeping mare in the bed, she had a soft smile on her muzzle as she made cute little snores. His mind began to wander to how he had once been a normal person, how he had always been a bit of a cynic but used his sense of humor to cancel it out.

Dominic looked down at the floor again. Another shadow moved in his peripherals again, he whipped around and still nothing. He felt his body starting to betray his mind, a cold sweat swept over his him. This always seemed to happen when he was alone, he always felt more on edge than ever when he was by himself. Sure Twilight was sitting right there but she was sleeping, he didn’t feel right waking her up.

He started hearing a squeaking wheel in the hallway, it caused him to start staring at the door intently. Again in just out of his peripherals he started to see movement, he forced himself to not spin around. Continuing to stare at the door and focus on the squeaking wheel, every few minutes it would pause for a while before starting up again. It was getting closer each time until it was finally outside the door to the room, It stopped and the door handle began to turn. A soft humming came through the opening door, a white unicorn mare wearing a nurses hat and carrying a tray of what looked like jello and greens stepped in. The second she laid eyes on him she gasped and almost dropped the tray, Dominic just stared at her.

“What time is it.” He asked, breaking the silence. The mare simply stared at him for a moment before shaking her head.

“T-t-twenty after s-six.” She stammered, Dominic nodded and looked to the bag he still held in his hand. Slowly he undid the zipper and reached inside. The nurse, he guessed she was a nurse, tensed slightly but relaxed as he pulled out a can. It had odd writing on it, similar to pony text but less elaborate. Like something a foal might write, simple but eloquent. She silently tried to translate what it said, Dominic coughed and she quickly blushed. She had been staring at the can intently for an amount of time that made it awkward. “S-Sorry.”

“Mhmm.” Was Dominic’s reply, inside however he was grateful for the distraction. He would have started shooting at the shadows if she hadn’t come when she did.

“I just need to give Princess Sparkle her medicine and I was told to bring her guest some food. Can you tell me where they went?” Dominic gave her a deadpanned stare, realisation dawned on her and she blushed again. Dominic sighed inwardly and nodded, the nurse trotted over and let Dominic pick up the tray. He took a sniff of the mashed up greens and recoiled with a disgusted look on his face. He set the tray aside, ignoring the offended look he received from the nurse, and looked back at the can he held. He rooted in his bag for a moment and pulled out an old can opener.

The nurse moved towards the sleeping form of Twilight Sparkle and gently nudged her with her hoof. Twilight mumbled something about avocados being the work of discord but did not wake, the nurse nudged her again. Slightly harder this time, this time Twilight moaned and pulled the blankets over herself in an absolutely adorable move. The nurse nudged her a third time, this time far more forcefully. Twilight jolted awake and looked about the room confusedly before noting a pain in her hoof. It was a soft ache, bearable but annoying. She remembered what had happened in a blur, Dominic busting into her room and dressing her wound, hearing him discussing his knowledge with Celestia.

“Your highness, It’s good to see you awake. I’m Nurse Namaste. Doctor Von Crop instructed me to wake you and give you these.” The nurse said in a cheery tone, the sound of metal on metal was in the background as Dominic began opening his canned food. Her gaze fully on the can and nothing else, Twilight looked at him for a moment before responding to the nurse. She let out a small yawn.

“Thank you, may I ask what they are?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Painkillers, Princess Celestia said that you could leave today but it would be extremely painful without these.” Namaste replied with a cheery smile, Dominic looked at her for a moment. She was missing a cutie mark, from what Dominic knew that was more than unusual. He coughed loudly getting her attention away from Twilight and simply pointed at her flank. She looked at him quizzically before a look of realisation passed over her face. “The hats we wear are enchanted to make us completely uniform. That means it hides our cutie marks.” She explained, removing her hat for a brief moment. Her coat changed to a deep brown but her mane remained white. An image of an elephant appeared on her flanks.

“Oh.” Was all that Dominic replied with, Namaste returned her hat to her head before returning her attention to Twilight. The alicorn smiled and brought the pills up to her lips, quickly downing the pills and drinking all of the water. Immediately the slight ache in her hoof subsided.

“Now you’re going to need to take two of these every four hours for the next week or so.” Namaste instructed. “Doctor Von Crop will be by later to give you your prescription. In the meantime I would suggest remaining awake, the pills work better when the patient is cognitive.” Namaste turned and moved towards the door.

“Thank you nurse, have a good morning.” Twilight said, Namaste simply nodded and left. Closing the door softly. The sound of the squeaky wheel soon followed, an awkward silence fell in the room. Twilight was staring at Dominic, his eyes were flicking all over the place. “Dominic?” His head snapped to her in a heartbeat, the bloodshot eyes were accented by several bags under his eyes. “I just wanted to say, thank you, for helping I mean.”

“Don’t mention it.” He stated. “Seriously, don’t mention it.” Dominic saw one of the shadows in his peripherals but didn’t move on it, Twilight would warn him if someone was going to attack him. Right? The minor amount that he had relaxed the day had disappeared, he looked even more tense than ever. Even when he was looking at her, Twilight saw his eyes constantly scanning the room.

“Are you okay, Dominic?” She asked, immediately realising how stupid the question was. Dominic however shook his head, his eyes still scanning the room as he did. “What’s troubling you?” Dominic stopped looking around and then at Twilight, his emotions and his thoughts racing. What was troubling him? Was it that he was in a supposedly fictional world that had no war or conflict that couldn’t be solved with friendship? Was it because he was expecting an attack that he knew would never come but couldn’t stop preparing for? Was it because so many other people in the world deserved to be here instead of him? He thought about it so hard that his right eye twitched several times. Then it came to him, he was troubled by all of it! The Outbreak, losing his family, losing his entire race, coming to a place he didn’t deserve to come to, all of it! But worst of all, he couldn’t put it into words. That one question had too many answers. Twilight must have noticed the twitching eye and clenched fists because she quickly changed the subject.

“Nevermind, lets talk about something else.” She eyed Dominic nervously, he seemed to have changed drastically. What had caused him to go from somewhat relaxed to completely on edge. “I noticed while I was going through your belongings…” Dominic tensed again. “That you had a strange device, Princess Luna identified it as a ‘MP3 Player’.”

“Really?” Dominic asked, genuinely surprised by the declaration. He remembered the can in his hand and finished opening it, the sight and smell of honey smoked beans greeted him like an old friend. “Where was it?” He asked, taking the spoon from the tray that had been brought and using it to eat directly from the can.

“The main pocket.” Twilight answered, Dominic’s head whipped to the side as another shadow moved. He shook his head vigorously in an attempt to stop the shadows, thankfully it worked. Twilight noted his behavior, but said nothing. Dominic hummed in response, his head was starting to clear.

“Odd, I always use that pocket for food. It’s impossible I could have missed it.” He reopened the bag and began to sift through the foodstuffs and ammunition but came up with nothing. “Huh, it’s not here now.” He simply shrugged and went back to eating his beans in silence with Twilight watching him.

“Aren’t you going to ask where it is?” She asked, he shook his head without a word. He was to focussed on his long overdue meal. He ate with a ravenous speed, it was amazing that he hadn’t choked from the sheer amount of beans he was shoveling into his mouth. He didn’t seem to have very good manners either but it was like watching a carriage crash. She knew she shouldn’t stare at it but she just couldn’t look away either. Finally after several minutes he had emptied the can, he tossed it into a garbage pail next to him and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket.

“So, what now?” Dominic asked, looking at Twilight. She shrugged, she didn’t know what to say. It was just starting to settle in her mind that she had pulled him from an entirely different world, and she had seen what it had been like through his dreams. His eyes drifted to the clock on the wall, it wasn’t even six in the morning yet. “You know, you’re very lucky. Very fuckin’ lucky. That round normally would have ripped your leg in half.” Twilight paled at the thought of losing her leg, how would she be able to serve her nation without her leg? She then noticed the neutral look on Dominic’s face, he was holding his revolver in his hand and looking it over. He pushed the cylinder out and examined the casings, one had been struck by the firing pin while the other five were intact.

Dominic popped the spent casing out of the cylinder and placed it on the table next to him, being careful to avoid the mashed greens and jello on the tray. His hand reached into his jacket’s inner pocket and came back out with a single round, it slid into the cylinder with ease before he returned the weapon to it’s fire ready status and slid it back into his holster. Dominic picked up the shell casing he had set down and stood from his seat, his boots clicked against the floor as he walked over to Twilight.

“Here, this is yours.” Dominic said neutrally, holding out the casing to Twilight. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow before taking it in her hooves.

“What’s this for?” She asked, Dominic shrugged before walking back to his chair and slumping back into the seat.

“I don’t know, just seemed right to give it to you.” He looked out the window, the sun was starting to crest the horizon. The early morning light lit up Dominic’s face and Twilight could see a frown was still being worn by the young man.

“Dominic, can I ask you something personal?” Twilight blurted out, she didn’t know why she said it. To her surprise though, Dominic nodded without taking his attention away from the window. “Did you mean what you said? About your race? They couldn’t have been all that bad, right?” Dominic looked at her for a moment before opening his mouth to speak.

“Not all of them, but most of them. At least where I grew up.” He said with a sigh. “Most of the adults were smart, I could carry on an intelligent conversation with them. The kids my age though, they were as dumb as a post.” Dominic pinched his nose before speaking again “Oh did you hear that Cuba is an island? I guess I can’t take my road trip there!” He said in an annoyed, nasal voice. Obviously mocking someone. He let go of his nose and growled. “Fucking morons.”

“Dominic, I have no idea what the geography looks like on your planet.” Twilight deadpanned, Dominic looked at her for a moment before chuckling. “But come on, that couldn’t have been everything, right?” Dominic paused and his face lost the look of mirth that it had seconds before, a look of ire replaced it.

“My classmates, they weren’t the nicest people.” He said with venom in his voice. “I always took care of my friends, when they were in a jam and I could help them I would. But what do they do when I need something? When I beg for help?” Twilight wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but Dominic continued to speak. “They turn their backs!” Dominic changed his voice for a moment. “Oh hey Dominic, I need money for lunch.” Then he changed his voice back to normal. “Sure, pal! and then a few days later I ask for my money cause I need to get gas for my car and they just laugh at me!” he changed his voice again. “What money?” Twilight was slightly nervous around the now fuming human, it was frightening how angry he could get in such a short amount of time. She could see his hands were moving as if he was trying to choke something. “And then! When I needed them most, the ugly fuckers decided to leave me for dead!”

“Dominic, calm down…” Twilight said, trying to calm Dominic. He had started pacing back and forth, it looked as if he was going to blow a fuse. Suddenly, however, his face softened.

“Sorry. I...I don’t know what came over me there.” said Dominic, he took several deep breaths which he released through his nose. “I just haven’t thought about…” Her rubbed his temples. “Them. For a long time.” His hands fell to his side before he walked back to his chair and sat down.

“Them? Your friends?” Twilight asked, Dominic only nodded. He was currently staring at the floor, taking more deep breaths. “What did they do?” Dominic looked at her for a second, she could again see the rage in his eyes. However it was subdued, like embers from a fire about to die.

“I don’t want to talk about it, lets just say I have a lot more scars than I should because of them.” Twilight looked at the clock, hoping that the breakfast with her friends and the princesses would come quickly. It was just passing five fifty-eight, there was still ten minutes until the Princesses normally ate breakfast. It was also when most of her friends would wake up normally, either to go to work ,or in Rainbow Dash’s case, train. Hopefully they would come to get them before then, it wasn’t that she didn’t like Dominic. He seemed nice enough, despite his rough edges and anger issues. What made her nervous was the fact that certain things seemed to set him off more than others, and she didn’t know what subjects to avoid.

There was also his constant whipping around, as if he thought something was trying to sneak up just out of his vision. The look of terror that flashed in his face for a moment as he whipped around was starting to become engraved in Twilight’s mind. Even with his temper that seemed so unpredictable, she couldn’t help but feel heartfelt sympathy. No one should have to constantly feel like they were about to be attacked, but still Dominic did. Her feelings were beyond mixed, he had the potential to be a great friend but at the same time a death dealing, unstoppable monster. She really hoped it was former.

Dominic was about to open his mouth to speak when another knock came to the door.

{♠}

2 Minutes Earlier…

Rainbow Dash and Rarity trotted down the hallway to the palace’s hospital, their objective was simple. Collect Twilight and the…. Thing for breakfast. So far the trip had been silent, but it was getting hard to ignore the elephant in the room. To them the creature ,Dominic, was simply a disaster waiting to happen. He was crude, rude and Rainbow could pick up easily how dangerous he could be. She was one of many ponies in the group of friends that didn’t like the notion of an alien that wasn’t from this universe. Her companion, however, didn’t share that sentiment.

No, Rarity had always prefered to give ponies the benefit of the doubt since the Zecora incident. That belief also translated over to interdimensional aliens, she and Fluttershy were the only ones to share this belief in the group of friends though. She couldn’t blame the other girls, most of the time their foes had been strange creatures from the unknown. It was only their nature to not trust the young ‘human’ ,as she had been told was his species name, but it would make befriending him and even more difficult chore. Something else was tugging at her mind however, in the short amount of time she had been near him she had caught a whiff of something on, no in his jacket. A scent that had been practically hammered into the rough and weathered leather. It smelled of copper and rotten meat. She had only smelled rotten meat once, when she had visited the griffon kingdom and passed by a rotting animal carcass on the side of the road. The scent was nearly impossible to forget.

The pair of ponies was getting closer to their destination, room 45B. Within a few minutes they would be with their friend. The silence however could not last and someone had to break it.

“Rares, what do you think of this thing.” Dash asked, Rarity didn’t answer immediately as she thought. He seemed like a very nervous, interesting pon- Person.

“Darling, I am still rather shocked at meeting a new life form.” Rarity replied. “As for what I think? I haven’t really gotten to know him yet, but from what I’ve heard he’s a little rough around the edges. I truly wish you would show him a bit of open mindedness. He helped Twilight after all.”

“Maybe he’s trying to lull us into a false sense of trust, maybe he’s really not some interdimensional alien and actually a regular alien that was sent to scout ahead for an invasion!” Rainbow Dash retorted, Rarity facehooved so hard that it was surprising she didn’t get a concussion.

“Rainbow Dash, please! Try to think rationally? Why is it you always assume that something different is a threat?” said Rarity with an exasperated huff. Rainbow Dash’s voice adopted a tone of stone cold malice.

“Because I care about my friends, I’m not gonna let some hairless ape hurt you or anyone else of I can help it.” She stated determinedly, visions of what had happened during Discord’s brief reign flashed in her mind for the briefest of seconds. The pair realised they were finally at their destination.

“We will finish this later.” Rarity said in a whisper as she raised her hoof and knocked, there was movement withing the room. A set of heavy footsteps echoed from behind the door before the handle turned and the door opened inwards. Rarity was hit with the smell of copper and rotting meat as she looked up into the face of Dominic. She thought she saw the faintest tug at the corner of his lips before he stepped back and allowed the two ponies to enter without a word.

“Hey Twilight!” Rainbow called, shooting Dominic a glare. Any normal pony would have flinched, but Dominic simply looked at her with his usual neutral, stoic expression. “We just came to take you to Breakfast.” Twilight smiled at her friend, not seeing the glare that had been dealt.

“Thank you Rainbow Dash, I’m starving.” She said with a grin, she was more than relieved that her friends had arrived when they did. It was hard to hold a conversation with a six foot tall, zombie slaying, nineteen year old, human. She looked at Dominic, still standing by the door with his hands held behind his back. “I’m sure Dominic is also a tad bit peckish?” Dominic simply pointed to the empty can in the trash.

“I’m fine.” He said, seconds later however his stomach growled. He groaned when grin spread across Twilight’s face. Despite her reservations, her inner scholar wanted to know more about Dominic. Observing how he acted with more than one pony around would be an interesting concept, he seemed to pick up on that. Of course he would, he knew a lot about her after all.

Rarity was currently sizing up the young man that stood by the door, his clothing looked utilitarian in nature which would make up for the lack of fashion if not for the strange mix of smells coming from it. The style of it was new to her, as was most of the materials. She had never seen the strange blue fabric that made up the young man’s pants before. It looked strong and durable, which would explain why he wore it. His jacket was battered leather, black with a dark grey hue. She would love to try and recreate a similar outfit for a pony, maybe the cowponies out west or the Stalliongradis in the north.

“Something you need?” Dominic asked, looking at Rarity with a raised eyebrow. The white unicorn blushed slightly and looked away, shaking her head as she did. Dominic shrugged and looked back at Twilight. “So, how are we getting you out of that bed?” He asked, Twilight opened her mouth to speak but stopped. How were they going to get her out of bed? She couldn’t walk on her hoof for another day, she would have to be carried. Rainbow Dash was able to do so in the past, but the new Princess had developed a small cake addiction. Before Twilight’s transformation Rarity was also able to accomplish the task with levitation, but Alicorns were more resistant to magic now. It would be far more draining on her friends, she guessed she would have to stay in the bed while Dominic went with them.

“Nevermind, I got it.” Dominic stated, breaking her train of thought. He began to move towards her, but Rainbow Dash stepped in his path. Dominic didn’t let this stop him however, as he simply stepped around her.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” Rainbow Dash started hovering in his face, Dominic’s face adopted a fierce glare.

“Firstly, get the fuck out of my face. Secondly, I’m going to carry her to breakfast.” He said in a cold tone. Rainbow Dash stared at him for a moment, her muzzle inches from his nose. She huffed and backed up, allowing him to move.

“I got my eye on you, monkey.” Rainbow snapped, Rarity sighed. Why did she have to be so hostile? If Dominic were offended by the remark, he didn’t show it. In fact Twilight could swear she heard a soft chuckle at the comment. Twilight looked at the shell casing in her hooves and tried to levitate it, only it seemed her magic was only absorbed by the strange metal. It seemed to shine a bit more than it had a minute ago. Dominic took the casing in his hand and examined it, then he put in his pants pocket.

“I’ll hand it back to you when we get wherever the fuck we’re going.” Dominic stated as he began to remove the wires attached to Twilight, he knew to turn off the heart monitor so that the nurses and doctors wouldn’t think that Twilight’s heart had stopped. Rainbow Dash watched the entire time, glaring daggers at the human. Dominic ignored her, it didn’t bother him that she was so distrustful. What bothered him was her constantly declaring it, like he hadn’t heard her the first time. When he finished undoing the wires he looked at Twilight. “You ready?” She nodded, Dominic scooped her up in his arms. To her surprise, he was actually quite gentle. She curled her legs up under her as he held her like a person would hold a dog.

Dominic felt her wings flutter a bit as he shifted her weight to be more focussed on his right arm, Twilight sighed while Dominic grunted. She was heavier than she looked, but he could handle it. It wasn’t like he had to carry her all the way across the castle right?

Chapter 6

“That wasn’t that bad of a walk.” Dominic stated as he approached the doors to the dining room with Twilight and the other ponies. The walk had here had been relatively silent, only Twilight and her friends would speak to each other about things that had changed since she had left ponyville. Most of it had been uninteresting to Dominic and so he zoned out, now he stood in front of a pair of massive doors with Twilight in his arms. Two guards stood at attention near the door, they looked at the group of four and wordlessly pushed the door open. The group stepped into the dining room and the doors closed behind them.

The room was large with white marble walls and gold trim, the dining table was made from cherry wood as were the chairs. Most of the chairs were empty, the others were occupied by ponies. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Shining Armor. The last two were surprised by Dominic but the young man wasn’t surprised by them. If he had heard his sister had been shot he would have come to visit her as well. Despite the positive energy and the slight joy at being close to an actual meal, Dominic was still exhausted and in a foul mood.

“Good morning, Dominic” Celestia said to him, he muttered something under his breath. Her voice sounded similar to his mother’s, it took all of his strength to keep from flashing back. Dominic walked Twilight over to a seat next to her brother and Cadence. As he passed by the Princess of Love she shivered. Being the princess of love, she could pick up on emotions in a way not too dissimilar from a changeling. Love was a warm emotion, it gave off a radiant heat that spread to all those around. Dominic had no such heat, he was colder than the frozen north. Love, in his heart, had been replaced by anger, depression, pain, and longing.

Dominic set Twilight down wordlessly and made his way over to the seat next to Luna. Rainbow Dash and Rarity had taken the other seats that were away from the Princess of the night, forcing him to sit next to her. It wasn’t that he didn’t like her, he really did, but she had seen one of his many nightmarish memories. Only one of several dozen. He didn’t know what to say to her, he didn’t know what to say to anyone. He removed his shotgun and hung it from the back of his chair, his helmet was placed on the floor and he tossed his gloves into it casually.

“So…” He stated, looking at the group of ponies. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were looking at him with glares that normally would have made any regular pony cringe. Dominic just returned it and actually got Applejack to turn away. “What’s for breakfast?”

“Well, for us we ordered pancakes and hay bacon.” Celestia gestured to herself and Luna. “The girls ordered their own respective meals and I took the liberty of ordering something lite for Twilight. For you, well I ordered something that should be to your tastes.” Dominic sighed.

“Better than fuckin’ nothing.” He grunted out, Shining Armor’s guard training kicked in. No one talked to the Princess like that.

“Watch your tongue, creature.” Shining shouted, Dominic’s gaze snapped to him. “You’re in the presence of the Princesses!” Dominic felt anger rise in him, but it was quickly suppressed. He was just like the others, he didn’t need his approval. Dominic let out a breath and calmed himself more.

“Shining, tone it back a bit honey. I’m sure that Dominic is just adjusting to being around royalty.” Cadence chastised her husband, Dominic sighed and looked at the table sullenly. “I’m sure he comes from an entirely different culture.” Dominic felt the crushing guilt from before, his thoughts drifting back to his dream.

“Um…” A soft voice spoke up. “Mister Dominic, are you okay?” It was fluttershy, looking at him with a concerned face. He sighed, those eyes seemed to be filled with a desire to help. He didn’t need help, he had done it himself for the past few years. He could keep his feelings in check alone, couldn’t he? The images that played in his head gave him the answer, sooner or later he was going to snap and if it happened near the ponies… He didn’t want to know what would happen.

“I’m just thinking about home.” Dominic stated, the images stopped flashing in his mind. Still he could see the faces of the people being tackled and killed by the infected. Those images were burned into his mind like old photographs.

“Do you miss it?” Rarity asked, oblivious to what she had asked. Dominic shook his head and simply glared at the table.

“No.” He muttered, his anger flaring at the thought of seeing the hordes again. Like locusts they would swarm and destroy with the liquidity of water. Flooding the streets in a tidal wave of flesh and blood, taking the lives of almost anyone they touched. “I’d rather die before I go back to that shit hole.” This got the attention of the ponies, all of them except for the three Canterlot Princesses had shocked looks on their faces. How could he not want to go home? It was his home!? Didn’t he have family? Didn’t he have friends?

“Why wouldn’t you want to go home?” Pinkie Pie asked, eyeing him suspiciously. “It’s where all your friends are! And the other stuff that makes you happy! Don’t you have things you really really REALLY miss!?”

“Oh I have plenty of those.” Dominic said darkly, his face became like stone. “I miss a lot of things.” He wanted to desperately get out of the room, he didn’t want to think about anything. He just wanted to eat and go hide away somewhere.

“Girls, Dominic isn’t very keen on talking about his home.” Twilight interjected.

“Why?” Asked Rainbow Dash, looking even more suspicious.

“Ah reckon we’re entitled to some answers.” Applejack said looking at Dominic, he glared at her. “Ah can tell y’all is hidin’ somethin’.” Dominic looked at the Luna and Celestia, trying to figure out what to do. He didn’t want to talk about his life anymore, hopefully the Princesses could change the subject. They didn’t.

“You’re not entitled to jack shit.” Dominic hissed at Applejack. Rainbow Dash didn’t like his tone one bit. Her already short temper was getting shorter and shorter. “I don’t need to explain myself to you.” The tension in the room could be cut with a knife, it had been a total shit storm the entire time.

“Dominic, thou dost not have to tell them.” Luna interjected, Dominic took several more deep breaths. “What Dominic says is truth, he doth not need to explain himself to thee. When he wishes to tell thou, he will make thee aware of it.” She had a no nonsense tone, which caused Applejack to back down.

“Okay, Princess.” Applejack said submissively, Luna looked at the other bearers.

“We know thou have many questions, but the answers Dominic would give would be difficult to comprehend.” She said in a more relaxed tone, Twilight and Celestia nodded. There were several loud bangs on the door, the tension in the room lightened a bit as Celestia smiled and used her magic on the door.

“Enter!” She called, eleven ponies entered the room carrying platters of different shapes and sizes. The tensed slightly at the sight of Dominic but had the common courtesy not to stare. The covered platters were set in front of the ponies and the human, an unfamiliar smell leaked from the platter in front of him. “Now, please don’t wait any longer. Dig in.” The way Celestia said, the last two words made Dominic freeze. A memory desperately tried to push itself into his mind but he toughened up and kicked it to the curb. Dominic lifted the lid and looked at his meal, a plate of scrambled eggs covered in cheese. A smile flashed on Dominc’s face for a moment or so, he didn’t LOVE eggs but he did like them and they were hot. Not hot from being cooked over a space heater but from an actual stove, a truly hot meal. Dominic picked up his fork and sunk it into the eggs.

With the most care and precision he could muster, Dominic took a piece of the egg and moved it to his mouth. He took a bite and felt the warm eggs on his tongue, a wave of warmth spread through his body and mind. His emotions became less intense for that moment, and for just a moment, a smile graced his lips. Luna caught a glimpse of it before it faded away, as did Celestia, Twilight and Cadence. To Dominic, it felt as if he had just been within the mind of god. The texture of the eggs was perfect, the temperature wasn’t unbearable and the flavor of the eggs mixing with the melted cheddar cheese was near indescribable. After he had eaten just the small morsel, he decided that rather than ravage the plate as he would his normal food he would savor it.

“So, Dominic.” Cadence said as she sensed his sudden spike in emotions. “What kind of foods did you eat on your world.” She asked, Dominic stopped eating and looked at her before picking up his bag and unzipping the main compartment. From within he brought out two cans of beans and placed them on the table before putting the bag back.

“Beans, lots of beans.” He said eyeing the cans, this got the love princess’ attention.

“Why only beans? And why are they in those cans?” She asked, looked at the top of the can and found the expiration date.

“This one doesn’t go bad for another two years, no need to refrigerate it, easy to carry. The perfect kind of food.” Dominic explained simply, he looked at his food and pointed to it with his fork. “This…” He said before taking another bite. “Is the first hot meal I’ve had in two or three years.” Dominic’s eyes widened, why did he just say that? He didn’t want to say that. He looked at the eggs again, a single blue pedal could barely be seen hiding under them. “Oh fuck.”

Chapter 8

”There is no escape…” The voice echoed through Dominic’s head. “Try as you might, you are a monster…” Dominic found himself running in an upside down world, everything in it was intact. The buildings on mainstreet, the cars, the people. He felt compelled to look up, but fought it at the same time. “Don’t fight it…” All sound was muted save for that voice. “Embrace me, EMBRACE ME AS YOUR SAVIOR!” Dominic looked up, he found himself staring into his own eyes. A reflection of everything loomed above him, but it was far more sinister. “Embrace your rage!” The reflection hissed.

The reflection was in flames, carbonized corpses lined the streets and the cars burned like torches. Dominic could see his counterpart smiling at him, a fiendish smile. Suddenly, the reflection became Dominic’s world. Clouds of smoke blocked out the sun, screams echoed in the distance, and the other Dominic stood in front of him.

“S-Stay away from me!” Dominic shouted, pointing at his counterpart.

“How…?” The voice echoed for what felt like an eternity. “I am you.” Dominic blinked and the other was gone. The entire world was gone. Dominic found himself in a massive black void, four figures appeared. Each was shrouded in darkness.

“You killed us, Dominic.” His father’s voice echoed through his head. One of the figures lit up, it was his father before a muzzle flash lit his face and the body fell to the floor. Dominic wanted to scream, he wanted to run and hide.

“You’re a failure, I can’t believe I bore you.” His mother’s voice now, another muzzle flash and then a corpse. Dominic fought with everything in his being, just to shout, just to move, but nothing happened.

“You did this… Dominic.” The third voice was his sisters. “You did it all…” She was joined by hundreds of other voices as the bodies of all the infected he had killed became visible. A third muzzle flash and all of them fell away.

“I can’t believe I trusted you…” That voice, he hadn’t heard that voice in years. The final figure revealed itself. A girl his age stood before him, raven black hair hung past her shoulders. “You were never strong enough.” She spat, there was no flash of light, she simply fell into the darkness. Dominic clenched his eyes shut, then opened them.

He stood in a desert, massive dunes of sand stretched out as far as the eye could see. The wind came up again, it pushed him down one of the dunes. He rolled multiple times before coming to a stop, Dominic lifted his head and spat sand from his mouth. Sitting in front of him was a word, it had been drawn in the sand. It read ‘Lost.’. He was suddenly grabbed from beneath and dragged kicking and screaming into the sand.

{♠}

Dominic jerked awake, taking in deep breaths and clearing his mind. His body was drenched in sweat and his bandaged side ached, it was one of the worst dreams he had ever had. Slowly he swung his legs over the side of the bed and put his head in his hands. The eerie silence of his room hung like a shroud, the only light available was the dim moonlight from the window. Dominic let out a sigh and stood up, his joints popped loudly. He quickly dressed himself, from his helmet to his boots.

Dominic slid his revolver into its holster before donning his bandoleers. He then grabbed his shotgun and slung the strap over his shoulder. This had been his ritual for the past few years, he didn’t intend on changing it. When he had everything he walked to the door. He gave it a shove and the heavy door opened. Bright light from the hallway poured in, blinding him for a moment. When his eyes had adjusted he looked at the two guards, they returned to look expectantly.

“Sir.” One of them said, Dominic blinked a few times. “Princess Luna has ordered us to bring you to her. Would you please come with me?” It took a moment for the words to go through Dominic’s head before he nodded.

“Yeah… Yeah sure. Let’s go.” He replied before shaking himself awake. “Fuck I need a cup of coffee.”

“Private Straight Arrow can get you a cup while I escort you.” The guard stated, the other guard nodded and started off down the hall. “Right this way.” The guard began to walk down the opposite hallway. Dominic watched him for a moment before following, his hand discretely slipping to the grip of his revolver. For several minutes the only sound between them was the clicking of Dominic’s boots and the guards clinking armor.

“What did she want to see me about?” Dominic asked, breaking the silence that had fallen.

“I don’t know, she simply ordered us to bring you to her if you woke.” The guard replied in a stoic tone. They walked on for several more minutes before he took in a deep breath. “What’s it like.”

“Excuse me?” Dominic asked, not sure what the question was. He didn’t intend to answer it, but he liked to know what he was refusing.

“You’ve killed before right? What’s it like.” Dominic looked at the guard with a shocked expression, he had expected a question like this from one of the element bearers. The bluntness of the question was dumbfounding to him, did these ponies think he killed for fun? His hand tightened on the grip of his revolver before he decided against killing the guard, instead he answered the question.

“It leaves you hollow inside.” Dominic said in a cold voice. “Every night you hear the screams, see the faces. It tears away at your soul like a wild animal and leaves you empty.” The guard was silent for the rest of the trip, which Dominic was fine with. He had given him the answer that he wanted to hear, not the actual truth. If he had, the guard would have probably thought he was a monster. When the pair reached their destination the guard silently left and pointed at the large doors.

“Fucking asshole…” Dominic muttered under his breath. The door he stood in front of was massive, the great mahogany wood was decorated with golden insets that depicted both the sun and the moon. He wasn’t sure he had the strength to even try pushing them open, but that didn’t stop him from doing so.

Slowly the doors began to open inward before swinging free, he stumbled a few steps and looked up. The sound of swords being drawn caught his attention before he himself drew his weapon. He stood up straight and whirled around on his assailant, the hammer of his revolver drew back as the barrel came face to face with a lunar guard. Another guard tried to sneak up from the left but found Dominic’s shotgun barrel in his path.

“Enough!” Luna’s voice rang through the room, the guards flinched slightly. “Guards, stow thine weapons.” Reluctantly the guards complied, dominic followed suit and let his shotgun hang free on its strap before the revolver was replaced in its holster. Luna was sitting at the top of a massive set of stairs, her regalla was shined far more than Dominic remembered and she had an air of seriousness about her. Slowly she descended the steps with all the grace and elegance of the night itself. “Leave us.” The guards saluted and left, Dominic heard the door close before speaking.

“What the fuck was that shit?”

“Our guards are over zealous when protecting the throne. We apologize for their behavior.” Luna said in a calm voice, Dominic sighed.

“What’s up?” He asked, looking the princess in the eyes.

“We wanted to check on thee, we predicted thou would have a nightmare after the incident. However, we wanted to honor your request to abstain from directly interloping.”

“But you want to talk to me about it, huh?” Dominic asked, Luna nodded. “Well, I don’t know what to tell you. I can’t remember, and that’s just fucking fine with me.” He lied, shivering slightly as the image of the final figure’s face popped into his mind. Luna gave him a sad smile and shook her head.

“Dominic, we have been alive for thousands of years. We can tell thou art fibbing to us.” Dominic looked away from her and sighed. “We will not force thee, but if thou doth let emotions build for too long…” Luna looked down for a moment. Dominic didn’t need her to continue, he knew what she meant.

“I don’t need help.” Dominic muttered, more to himself than Luna. “Is that everything?” The princess shook her head.

“No. Twilight Sparkle wished to speak with thou, her friends also seemed interested when we spoke with her.” Luna walked over to Dominic and put her hoof on his shoulder. He turned back and looked at her. “If thou ever wish to speak, do not hesitate to find us.” Dominic sighed and the pair left the throne room for Twilight's.

Chapter 9