The Life of Dominus Vitam Mortem

                                                                  Chapter Four-Vitam

                                   “Vita longa bis narrantia, vexando hebes aure somniculosae hominem.”

Dominus stood in a line with seven other unicorns who were presenting their prowess with basic shield spells. Star Swirl was observing and taking notes. One of the unicorns was able to maintain a shield for almost an hour. There was a round of applause afterwards.

Dominus held his shield for only five minutes, but he had not practiced so the other students thought it impressive. Dominus got a few claps on the back later during a telekinesis test when he lifted a massive boulder with minimal strain. Dominus cornered Star Swirl after class.

“Mr. Star Swirl, I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Ask away my colt.”

“Who was Crystal Shard?” Dominus asked

“I, uh, seem to have forgotten the thing.. at the.. place... and such, I must be off.” Star Swirl almost galloped off, towards the back entrance to his home.Dominus sighed and went back towards Clash’s house. As Dominus opened the door to Clash’s mountainside home, he noticed that Clash wasn’t there.

“Hello?” Dominus called out, no one answered. Dominus walked up to his temporary room and wondered where everybody went. He picked up another book, and began to read.

“The Unicorn-Earth Pony Wars, a Soldier’s Journal.” The author was Bonecrusher.

“--Training exercises were a pain in the flank today, the general was out at Canterlot, trying to negotiate  some kind of treaty with the unicorns that annexed the place. That meant that the Sergeant was in charge. She’s such a bitch, making us hike up and down an entire mountain four times. My hooves are going to ache for a week.” “--I don’t even know why we’re even trying to be diplomatic, the whole point of our military is kill those unicorn mutherfuckers that invaded our homes in the first place!” “--We had our first actual fight today, it was really more of a skirmish, we held off at least fourteen unicorn archers. We sustained heavy casualties, one of which was the sergeant. She didn’t make it. I’m not exactly sure I’ll miss her. With the sergeant dead, I’m the highest ranking officer, which puts me in command. I’m not exactly prepared.”  “--The general got back today, he reported that he’s negotiated a treaty with the unicorns which would cause us to share Canterlot.He’s a fucking coward.” “--We had another ambush today, on our way back to Canterlot. We were right outside the gate, when some unicorn extremists run out, screaming about ‘Earth pony injustice’ or some crazy shit like that. We lost two men to suicide bombers, one to a soldier, and the gate guard got shot by an archer. The guard had his little filly with him, she saw him die and she started crying. Then she gets up, her daddy’s sword in her mouth, jumps off the wall and offs four unicorns. Then this unicorn mare casts this spell, summons up a little dragon. The little bugger cuts off my left foreleg and scratches up the filly’s face, three claw marks on her left eye, before one of our guys kills the dragon and the unicorn. The filly got her cutie mark, a sword. The whole ordeal was tough. The filly’s okay though. But they say I may never walk again.”

‘“Dominus?”

It was Clash, she must be back from work.

“I’m up here.” Dominus got up from the bed and went downstairs.

“How was school with Star Swirl?” Clash asked.

“Fine.”

“Well okay then. Dinner’s in about 3 hours, see you then.”

“Alright Clash.”

“You should go out for once, see the town, have fun.”

“Sure.” Dominus said, grumbling.

Dominus didn’t like being outside. He’d spent most of his life inside, either in his house or the mines. It had started raining, and Dominus despised it. He was tired, why wouldn’t Clash let him stay inside and sleep? He stood moping outside of Clash’s house until she came outside and told him to ‘Get his flank off her porch and do something’. The only places Dominus knew were Star Swirl’s house and Lemon Tart’s office. Based off of Star Swirl’s reaction when he asked him about Crystal Shard, he didn’t want to see Dominus earlier than he absolutely had to. Dominus decided that he would go to Lemon Tart’s office. By the time Dominus had reached Lemon Tart’s small fortress the rain had turned from a light drizzle into a torrential downpour. Dominus opened the fortress’s door and went inside, welcoming the warmth radiating from the torches on the walls. Lemon Tart was lounging around on one of the couches that lined the walls, but she got up when she saw Dominus.

“You come in because of the rain?”

“Yeah.”

“Why aren’t you at Clash’s?”

“She kicked me out.” Dominus hung his head.

“Well you’re welcome to stay here ‘till it clears up.”

“Thanks.”

Dominus sat down on one of the couches and took a nap. He had the strangest dream. He dreamt he was attending one of Crystal Shard’s seances. She spoke in her multiple voices all in sync, and called Dominus a fool. Then she exhaled the living smoke, but instead of the shape of a colt, it formed his parents. The smoke form of his father laughed at him, while the smoke form of his mother screamed at him, saying she wished he had never been born. Dominus shouted at them to shut up, to go away, but they didn’t, they just continued laughing and yelling. Dominus felt terrible, he felt hateful, he despised these evil shadows of his parents. He screamed and there was a burst of red light from his horn and a crack like thunder, and they were dead. They had turned from smoke in the shape of his parents into the dead bodies of his parents. Crystal shard was gone, and he stood with his parents in the darkness. Then the bodies of his parents writhed, changing shape, becoming twisted and evil. His father laughed, his  mother screamed. Then Dominus woke up, gasping for air. Dominus looked around. The window next to him was black, telling him it was nighttime. Then Dominus saw Clash. She was standing in the doorway, looking at him with the strangest look on her face.

“What was that all about?” She asked, the same look still on her face.

“What was what?” Dominus asked.

“You were crying in your sleep.”

“I had a dream. About my parents.”

“Oh. Umm…okay. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Later.”

“Fine.”

“When’s dinner?” Dominus asked, his eyes losing their drowsiness as he thought of food.

“Two hours ago.” Clash said, trying to stop herself from smiling.

“Did you at least save me some?” Dominus said weakly.

“Yeah, sleepy head. Let’s go back home and you can eat.” She was chuckling now.

The next day Dominus was well-rested and ready to learn some spells. He had his new saddle bags and a packed lunch. He also had a gargantuan amount of questions to ask Star Swirl. He said goodbye to Clash, stuck his tongue out at Carver, who stuck his out in turn, and saluted Iron Breaker before leaving. He knew his way to Star Swirl’s house well enough, and found his way there without a problem. Class was interesting, they had moved from shield spells to minor offensive combat spells. During lunch Star Swirl approached Dominus.

“Dominus, I wanted to talk to you.”

“Yes Sir?” said Dominus, who had been sitting by himself, contemplating life.

“I am going on a research excursion to an abandoned dragon’s nest at the top of the mountain, and I wanted to know if you were interested in coming along.”

“Of course sir!” Dominus had lept up in excitement and knock over the pile of books next him.

“Then meet me here in a week at six A.M.”

“Yes sir!” Dominus sat back down and finished his lunch in a hurry, he wanted to tell Clash about it before his lunch break ended.

Later that day, Dominus was reading in his bed when Clash got home, he went to greet her, bouncing down the stairs. He couldn’t wait to tell her about the expedition. When he saw her, she was hanging her sword upon the wall near the door. He ran over to her and started bouncing again, excitement pulsed through him.

“Clash! Guess what?” Dominus exclaimed, he sounded as giddy as a school filly.

“What?” she said apathetically.

“I got invited to join an expedition with Star Swirl.” Dominus said importantly.

“Oh, that thing. I got invited to that too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s great, we can go together and it’ll be awesome!” Dominus started bouncing again.

“Do you understand how dangerous this is?” Clash said, look at Dominus seriously.

“It can’t be too bad, it’s just a hike up the mountain and then a little dig, right?”

“A dig into a dragon’s nest.”

“Star Swirl wouldn’t ask me to go if he didn’t think I was up for it.”

“Maybe.” Clash said, unconvinced.

6 A.M., a week later. Dominus stood with Clash, about to climb up the steep path to the top of Canterlot mountain. They sat and waited for Star Swirl to join them but their wasn’t any sight of him. Star Swirl didn’t arrive until almost half of an hour had passed.

“Oh I am dreadfully sorry, one of the springs in my new clock was loose, so it was a little slow.” He had his cape on inside out and his straggly goatee was unkempt.

“Were you trying a new design?” Dominus asked, looking at Star Swirl quizzically.

“Actually yes, this one uses smaller springs to allow for a more compact design.”

“How large was the clock itself?” Dominus asked, eyes wide in interest.

“It was about a fourth of the size of the standard design, which allowed for easier placement on any surface.” Star Swirl held his head high and puffed out his chest, glad to be receiving praise for his work. The talk between continued between Dominus and Star Swirl in this manner for the next few hours. Dominus would ask a question, Star Swirl would answer, and a lively conversation would ensue. Clash and the other two guards began to talk amongst themselves; mostly about fighting tactics and weapons. By the time they had reached the top of the mountain, the entire entourage had exhausted its topics of conversation. The sigh of relief when they reached the top could have been heard a mile away. The top of the mountain was curved like a bowl, with a bottom of soft sand. Bones littered the ground throughout the entirety of the mountaintop. Dominus flopped down on the ground and panted. Star Swirl sat and procured a cup of steaming hot tea from thin air, which he began to drink. Clash and the other guards stood and studied the layout of the area, looking for potential ambush sites. After a short tea break, Dominus and Star Swirl began using small brushes to search for bones and dragon egg shells. Every time they found something they would lift it up, examine it, and put in a large sack one of the guards was holding. By dusk Dominus and Star Swirl had almost filled the entire sack with dragon egg shells, and some cracked gems. Clash was walking toward the duo, who were examining their spoils, when a massive tail shot up through the sand. The tail was scaly, but not unlike a scorpion’s in shape. It ended in a point so sharp it seemed to cut through the air as it moved. The tail stabbed downward as soon as it had come up, it’s point driving straight through Clash’s lungs. She let out a scream that ended in a sigh. Dominus stared blankly in horror at Clash speared on the tail, her head lolling to the side as she gasped for air. the tail shot back under the sand as the head of a massive dragon rose up. After the head were the shoulders, then the wings. When the dragon had completely come out from under the sand, Dominus saw that the tail was attached to the dragon, and Clash was still speared on the tail. The dragon lifted the tip of its tail to its face and examined Clash, determining that she wasn’t good enough to eat; it through to the ground and turned its attention to the guards. The guards were standing completely still, huddled in a circle, cowering. The dragon picked them up, and swallowed them whole. The dragon turned it’s attention to Dominus, who had knelt over Clash’s body, crying.

Dominus turned on the dragon, his eyes red from crying.

“YOU!” Dominus screamed , the red in his eyes growing.

“THIS IS YOUR FAULT, YOU KILLED HER!” his eyes were glowing red with magical energy. His head was thrumming with the voices again. He heard voices screaming in his head, goading him on. His horn glowed with five layers of magic spark. There was a crack like thunder,  then dragon’s head exploded, blood and brains flying everywhere. The light in Dominus’s eyes subsided, as did the voices, and he ran over to Clash’s body. When he reached her, he was crying again, and he tried to pick her up with telepathy. He couldn’t, his magic wouldn’t work. He collapsed on Clash’s body, sobbing uncontrollably. Star Swirl emerged from where he had been hiding and looked at Dominus. Dominus continued sobbing.

“Dominus.” Star Swirl said tenderly.

“WHAT!” Dominus screamed in reply.

“Your horn is glowing.”

“What?” Dominus said looking up. He saw that his horn was glowing, but not in its usual color, rather than red, it was a cream color. Dominus started hearing the voices again, but they weren’t screaming, they were singing. They sang a melancholy tune, growing louder with each passing second. They sang so loud that Dominus could hardly stand it. He screamed, and a tendril of cream colored energy flew from his horn, into Clash’s eyes and mouth. After several painful seconds, the glowing ended, but the singing didn’t. Dominus heard it growing quieter until he couldn’t hear it anymore, fading from his memory. Clash stirred, she took a sharp gasp for breath, blinking.

“YOU’RE ALIVE!” Dominus exclaimed.

“Yeah, I am, so what?”

“You were dead, and now you’re not! That’s amazing!”

“I was dead?!?”

“Yeah, you didn’t notice?”

“No.”

“Huh, not what I would’ve expected to hear.” Dominus pulled Clash up by her sword sheath with his mouth.

“I like your cutie mark by the way.”

“What!?”

“Your cutie mark, the one right there.” Clash pointed to his flank. Dominus looked and saw what his cutie mark was, the image that would predict his future, that he had waited for his whole life. He was disappointed. It was two scythes, one white, one black, forming the shape of a heart. The heart-scythe lay in a drop of blood.

“What does it mean?” Dominus said.

“It means that you are a very important stallion.” Star Swirl said gravely.