It was a peaceful night in Ponyville. One of those nights where all you can do is look out the window and dream. Dream of adventure and wonder, of monsters and aliens. For Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville's Librarian, aliens seemed to be the most heavy on her mind. Her friend Rainbow Dash who brought the topic to her mind was unusually deep-minded that night. She kept spacing-out and turning her eyes to the sky.
"You ever wonder what's out there Twi. "Rainbow Dash said, eyes upward." It seems impossible that we're the only ones here." Rainbow heaved a sigh. "We're obviously not the only ones. Our friends are right here." Said Twilight obviously not paying attention. Rainbow Dash got up and started home. "Hey where are you going?" asked Twilight. Rainbow dash turned her head back."Home. I need to think." and with that she walked away. Twilight sat dazed by this new possibility.
She started thinking and realized Rainbow Dash could be right. It seems utterly impossible that they are the only ones that exist in the universe. And what if we are, then what. Better yet what if we aren't. How would we contact them. How would they contact us. Dear Celestia, what would happen. It could lead to mass hysteria, war, or even the extinction of pony kind. These thoughts stayed with Twilight when she got home and all through the night, haunting her dreams, stealing every free thought with a glimpse of Equestria in ruin.
Here she was two nights later with these thoughts still fermenting in the corner of her mind spawning more horrifying images for her to suffer through and on a night as empty as this there's nothing left to do but think and dream. She sat and watch the black silhouettes of houses as they sit boring and motionless as Twilight felt. Occasionally she would see ponies walking about handling business and or going for late night strolls through the town. Absolutely nothing was happening... until a door opened to the alley across the way.
The open door was the only light source she could see all around. From the light she could see a pony step into the shadows and walk away. She saw something else, too. An odd... bipedal creature step from the doorway. The door closed and all she could see was the the black figure look around then... she had no idea what the hell just happened! "d-did t-that thing j-just run u-up that wall?" Said Twi in disbelief, she rubbed her eyes. The creature was gone. She shook her head and blamed her imagination. she went to grab a book.
CRASH! came a sound from upstairs. Twilight stopped in her tracks. What the hell was that she thought. She walked towards the stairs and began climbing up. Slowly she approached the top of the stairs and saw it laying there. Small droplets of blood had pooled around the bipedal's form. The creature began to stir.
*******earlier*******
The deal went smoothly enough, got in, got out without a hitch. The client had his package and I got my payment. Now I just had to get back. I leave the building and start back home. Tonight I felt a bit adventurous so I started looking for alternate routes. I noticed an overlarge large tree with... a door, and windows, but the best thing, for a runner, was the balcony. First thing I need to do was get level with the balcony and I could leave.
So I jumped to the roof of the building. I was at balcony level so a simple run-jump should get me to the balcony. I looked over the edge. The road was clear of witnesses but I shouldn't get too reckless for risk of detection. I took a couple steps back took a running start then jumped... straight through the tree's window.
"Ah... damn that hurt" I said holding my head. I climbed into a sitting position and began to pick the broken glass from my skin and tossing them to the ground... before i realized what I was doing. I jumped up to leave and immediately fell to my knees. The spot where I pulled a relatively large shard was bleeding. "Fuck!" I reached into the front pocket of my bag and pulled out a med-kit and began to patch myself then I looked around the room. There were small stacks of books about the room and a single candle sat in the middle of the room giving off a faint glow. That's when I first noticed her.
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The bipedal was male, that much she could see. Mostly by the sound of i-his voice but also of the use of vulgarity that colts usually use. All at once he got up... then fell again. he cried something through gritted teeth then pulled something out of his bag. From the looks of it, it was a small red pouch. From that he pulled out a small roll of gauze, then he began to look around. Twilight followed his eyes around the room until they were looking into each others eyes. Then he spoke in a gentle quiet voice.
***********************
Neither of us moved, hardly breathing. I knew I wasn't supposed to be caught but at this point there was no turning back. "I suppose introductions are in order." I stood up. She took a step back. "My name's Dominic. It's alright, I ain't gonna hurt you. I just need to get out of here. 'kay?" I stood for what seemed like hours waiting. In this time my leg started bleeding more heavily making it harder to keep standing. eventually my leg gave out and I fell again, this time completely. The last thing I could hear was her gasp and running hoofsteps before I blacked out.
"What the hell is that thing" cried Rainbow Dash. It was the day after the incident and Twilight had called her friends to the library to figure out what to do with "Dom". "I don't know darling but it's outfit is atrocious." said Rarity. The human shifted slightly in his sleep, grumbled something, and was silent. Pinkie Pie was looking at the yellow bag that he brought with him. "And what's with this bag? Whad'ya thinks in there? Might be candy, or cookies, or..." Pinkie stopped talking and put on a thoughtful face. "Well whatever's in there, ah don't think it's ours to look through." said applejack. Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Whatever AJ i'm looking through it anyway" Rainbow Dash reached into the bag and pulled out a black L-shaped object.
"What is this thing." said Rainbow. "Looks odd" said Twilight. She took it from Rainbow and began to inspect it. There were a few switches and a trigger. "Hey Twilight what's that trigger thing." said Fluttershy. Twilight thought about it then pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened except it made a clicking sound. Twi tried again still nothing happened. "Well that was anticlimactic" said Rarity, disappointed. "Will you please stop messing with my gun." said a voice. Everypony turned to the voice's owner. The bipedal was sitting up and appeared to be waiting. Nopony moved. "Can I have it back please?" No movement. He sighed and reached for his gun. Everypony stepped back.
*********************
Last night's sleep was the best I've had in months. But it's kinda hard to sleep with all this noise. I turned and mumbled 'Shut up' and tried to go back to sleep... Then they started talking about my bag. I opened my eyes and sat up in time to see the blue one pull my pistol from my bag. "What is this thing" she said. The purple one used her magic to take it. Please don't pull the trigger I silently prayed. I saw her magic field shift from the handle to the trigger. Damn I mentally swore. She pulled it. A relieving click resounded. "Will you please stop messing with my gun?" I said. All 6 turned towards me. I immediately felt awkward. "Can I have it back please?" None of them moved. I heaved a sigh and reached for the gun. They took a step back.
"Can we please move past the silent treatment? I've already had to sit through it with her." I said pointing to the purple one. The yellow pony stepped forward. "My name is Fluttershy." She said quietly. I extended my hand. "Name's Dom" She recoiled and shrieked softly. The blue one raced forward. "DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" She screamed. And with that I was then smothered by cyan fur and feathers as I was attacked. Not exactly the highlight of my morning. As the others worked to pry her off of me all I could do was curl into a ball and hope she didn't do any real damage.
After they had successfully pulled Rainbow dash off me, we began to speak like calm individuals. "The hell'd you do that for!" I shouted. "I thought you were gonna' hurt her!" She, now know as Rainbow Dash, grumbled angrily. " Why would I do that?" I asked. Rainbow Dash flared up "Because you're an alien and I know better than to trust an alien." I stopped, all anger forgotten. "Something about what you just said is familiar." I thought back. While on one of my earlier jobs a shout of 'ALIEN' caused me to fall of a rooftop. I returned to the present. "You nearly got me killed." I said angrily. "I would love to hear another shouting match but can you please tell me why you are here." The white one said. I sighed, seeing no use in yelling anymore.
"OK. My name is Dom and I am a runner. I come from a place torn apart by war between the CPF and us. I used to run alongside Faith Connors, the very best, until I was moved to the dimensional division. I deliver letters and documents from here to my dimension. I was on a run 'til I mistimed a jump and landed in your house." I had finished talking and waited.
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The ponies sat and listened to his story with an unbridled attention. When he had finished nopony said a thing. Pinkie Pie raised her hoof. "So there's no sweets in that bag?" she asked. Dom looked annoyed "No there's no candy, sweets or anything in that bag." Twilight raised her hoof. "Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville librarian. What IS in that bag besides your 'gun' and that red pouch?" Dom stopped. "I can't say. It's for the Princesses' eyes only." Rarity raised her hoof. "Do you have to wear such a drab and ugly outfit." Dom looked down.
He was wearing a black shirt that didn't reach his elbows and a single red glove and a black wrap around his forearm. where his hooves were supposed to be were 5 appendages coming out of both his arms. He was also wearing a long black material around both his legs that connected at waist level and a pair of black shoes. He looked up and said "Yes I have to wear it. Anything that could constrict movement could get me killed so clothes like this are encouraged."
Twilight raised her hoof. "You said something about a war?" As Twilight finished her query Dom looked at her with a haunted look in his eyes. "We are fighting an unending war but fighting nonetheless. CPF or Civil Protection Force made sure to make Runners look like the bad guys even though they will shoot on sight if one is seen as or suspected of being a Runner. No trial, no arrest, just a bullet to the head. That's how I lost my big brother. We entered the Runner's life together and we always stayed together. During one of our runs, a soldier came out from behind a wall and shot him right in the head. My gun was out of ammo so I grabbed my knife and stabbed him. Over and over again. I lost count at 30 and stopped soon after. After that all I could do was crawl over to him and cry. I cried for so long." He stopped. Nopony moved or said anything. Dom was looking down. He sniffed a couple times and looked up.
Twin trails of tears had appeared on his face but he showed no signs of crying or even sadness. When he spoke, he spoke evenly. "The wars we fight are always unfair to one or both sides. Faith Connors was one of the best Runners I knew and she didn't fight for glory or fame, but for the cleared name of her sister,Kate. Kate was accused of assassinating a mayoral nominee and was unfairly tried. Faith stopped the convoy of trucks that was carrying her sister and rescued her. Even today Faith looks after her and protects her. No matter what Runners stick together. any other question?" He said.
Nopony said anything. "Good." He got up and began repacking his stuff. He grabbed his gun and put it in the holster he wore on his hip. He stopped repacking and looked at his leg. The bleeding had stopped and it was wrapped in gauze. "Oh no, is it still hurting? Did I make it worse? I'm so sorry. I knew I shouldn't have wrapped it so tightly." Fluttershy began to fret, tears in her eyes. Dom stopped her by raising his hand. "No, no. I was surprised by the lack of blood flowing through my pants." he chuckled. and with that he put the bag over his head and approached the window. Dom slammed the underside of his fist against the window sill.
"Damn" he said. He turned back. "I can't leave yet." He told Twilight. "It's daytime. Too risky. So i'm staying here 'til nightfall." Twilight looked at him in disbelief. "Isn't there somewhere else you can go?" she asked hopefully. He shook his head. "No it's too far away. I'll just have to stay here 'til tonight. It won't be that bad will it?" She sighed. "Okay, but only 'til tonight." Dom got up and began searching the shelves for something to read and the others huddled up to hatch a plan about what to do with the Runner in their midst.
