Ponyville's Courier

"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.

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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.