A Fugitive In Equestria

Darkness. Darkness everywhere. This is what Wayne could see. Darkness, and nothing else.

Voices.

Touching.

Moving.

Voices... So many voices. Yelling. Screaming. Shouting. And... soothing?

Yes, there was a voice among the others that he could hear, but just barely. It soothed him... comforted him.

He couldn't make out the words. It sounded as if they were coming to him from underneath a great deal of water. He couldn't hear them, but he knew what they meant.

Safe.

Secure.

Safe... Always safe... as long as he was with her.

Her...? Yes, her. It was a female voice that spoke to him... that soothed him.

Wayne was suddenly aware of a feeling on his hand. A sort of... movement. Up and down and back again. It felt... nice.

The voices were loud. Louder all the time. They were coming closer to him.

Wayne tried to move, but his body felt like it was made of stone. No feeling except the weight of his own skin against his muscles and tissue.

A loud noise erupted from his side. A door being smashed open.

The voices were loud enough to hurt his ears now. But it was only a dull, throbbing pain. Like a bad headache.

The movement on his hand stopped. So did the voice that gently spoke to him.

He wanted it back. He felt so lonely without it. So afraid. So cold and lonely. He needed her to stay with him... always.

"Whs... hs... cndtion..."

"I... th-k... he... gttng... bettr..."

"Ar... yo... sure?"

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure."

The voice... it was talking to someone other than him. He felt angry at this. The voice was only supposed to talk to him. Him! Nobody else but him!

He used every ounce of willpower in his body and slowly reached out his hand towards the voice.

There was a gasp and his hand was seized by a warmth. The same warmth that was touching him before.

He sighed and could feel a small smile creep onto his face. Wait... He could feel his face! He could feel other things too. His arms, his feet, his chest... There was a warm weight pressing against his chest. It burned into his very being, like molten metal being poured onto him. But it felt good. It felt amazing. It felt... right...

Wayne reached out with his other hand and grabbed the warmth. It felt soft and furry... Like a cat. But it was bigger. He pulled whatever it was onto his chest and wrapped his arms around it tightly.

It gave a squeak of surprise as he did this, but it didn't fight him. It just laid there on his chest, being warm and soft and comforting for him.

Wayne suddenly felt heavy again, but it was a good feeling. Not the suffocating kind of heavy that he felt before, but the kind of heavy when you're so tired that you could sleep anywhere in the world comfortably.

He could feel warm breath on his neck and face. He wondered what it was briefly before falling into a dreamless sleep.

***

Wayne reached up and scratched his nose. There was something breathing on him, but he didn't know what. It was actually kind of really fucking annoying. Mostly because it was making his nose itch again.

He scratched his nose again and yawned. It was dark. Why was it dark? Wait...

Wayne opened his eyes.

That would be why...

Wayne was staring at a tiled ceiling with small holes in each tile, like millions of little bullets hit everywhere.

He was in a hospital. He would recognize that pattern anywhere. But a hospital where?

Wayne tried to think where he might be. There was no way he was back at Echo; that place was back in Chicago. Charlie Station was wiped out over a year ago, so that was out. He could be in Zeta... No, they wouldn't risk their security, even for him. So... where was he?

A yawn broke his train of thought.

He looked down to see a little white horse sleeping on his chest. It was wearing some type of blueish-purple armor and had a sword strapped to its side.

All at once he remembered where he was and why he must be in a hospital.

He tensed on reflex as he stared at the horse.

The horse must have felt the muscles in his body move underneath it. Its eyes fluttered open and it yawned again. It instantly tensed up as it saw him staring straight at it.

There were a few quiet minutes as the horse stared unblinking into Wayne's eyes, not sure what to do.

"Um... g- good morning." it squeaked out in a small voice.

Wayne just looked at it. No, her. Wayne could tell it was a female by its voice.

"Um... Hello?" she tried again.

Wayne just stared.

"Uh, well, I know you can understand me. The princess cast a spell on you so that we could communicate."

Wayne just kept staring at her with a confused look.

She bit her bottom lip.

Wayne blinked at her.

She scooted back on him when he did this.

Wayne let out a low growl in the back his throat.

She turned to the door behind her. "H-"

Wayne grabbed her muzzle and twisted so that he was on top of her, pinning her down.

She tried to move but could only flap her wings.

"Now, yer gonna tell me exactly where the fuck I am," Wayne growled at her.

She whimpered and shrunk down into the bed below her.

"I got no idea where I am, so y'all's gonna answer mah questions. Got it, little horse?"

Her eyes widened at him.

"You got it?!" he hissed out, leaning into her.

She closed her eyes and whimpered, but nodded.

"Good. Now, I'ma let go o' yer mouth now, y'hear? But if y'all scream, I'll jam my fist so far down yer neck I'll be fingerin' you from the wrong way out," he said slowly as he let go of her muzzle, but kept his hand hovering close by.

"I- I'm not a horse," she said.

"What?"

"I'm not a horse, I'm a pony. Everypony that lives in Equestria is a pony, more or less."

Wayne hummed. "So, is everybody some type of pony?"

She looked at him with confusion. "Of course not. There's ponies, but also zebras, sea serpents, dragons, griffons, and even a few bat ponies living here."

Wayne's eyes widened. "That's... interestin'... But what is Equestria? A state? A city?"

"It's our country," she told him.

"Hmm, an' how many are there livin' here?" he asked.

"There's over ten thousand ponies in Equestria. And there's nearly a thousand guards in this castle right now," she said as she looked up at him.

He worked his jaw back and forth. "A thousand guards huh...? Nah, they won't be a problem," he thought aloud.

The pony beneath him paled.

"What kinda weapons do ya have?" he asked her.

"We have some of the best blacksmiths on Equus working on our guards' weapons and armor," she said confidently.

"Are ya mass producing 'em?" he asked her quickly.

"Mass... producing?"

"I thought so..."

She drooped her ears back as she realized that he was, all-in-all, unimpressed with this world.

"Now... if I let ya go, what happens?" he asked slowly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... If I let ya go, will a thousand angry guards be rushin' in here ta try ta kill me?" he asked her harshly.

"Well... no-"

"What about that big, blue pony?" he asked.

"Princess Luna?" she cocked her head to the side.

"Princess? Y'all got princesses here?" he asked incredulously.

"Well... princess, now," she said sadly.

After a minute, he pulled himself up, giving her room to move.

She thought about flying out of here, she really did. But... she didn't.

"What happened?" he asked.

She looked at the ground and sighed slightly. "The ones that were trying to kill you... They killed Princess Celestia. After that, one of them killed the other and tried to come after you. It... it killed hundreds of guards... Some of them were my friends..."

There was another silence between them as they both thought about what happened.

Then, she was grabbed roughly by Wayne. She looked at him with wide eyes, but realized too late what he was doing.

He pulled her forward and nearly crushed her in a tight hug. "I'm sorry. I really am," he whispered into her ear. "I know what it's like ta lose someone close."

Her eyes started to water.

"I lost mah entire family 'cause o' the war," he said softly.

The tears were flowing freely now.

"Every single friend I ever had is dead 'cause o' me. They wanted ta hurt me, so instead of tryin' ta find me, they hurt everybody I loved ta try ta draw me out. So many are dead, an' all 'cause of me. I'm responsible fer every single death. So I know how much it hurts, pony. I'm so sorry."

She wrapped her hooves around him tightly and sobbed into his chest. She had been holding it in for days while he was unconscious, but now it all came rushing out at once.

He rubbed her back with one hand and trailed the other through her red hair. She had comforted him while he was out of it. Now it was his turn to be there for her.

The two were so caught up in their respective activities that they didn't even notice the orange pony and the larger, blue pony slowly close the door to the room, leaving them alone.