New Dawn

Jerrod jerked his head to the side. It was bitey, like little bits of ice stabbing his skin. No that wasn't right, it was wet and bitey, cold that's the word. Something damp and cold was splashing against his skin. Grunting he swatted at his assailants as he sat up. When he opened his eyes the world was dark and grey. Splotches of varying shades of colors. He squinted and the squeezed his eyes shut and when he opened them he saw a sea of green with little dots of grey stretching out before him.

He shook his head and pulled himself to his feet slowly. “What?” He looked around and noticed a tombstone to his left, the name faded and illegible. Jerrod traced the name with his fingers and furrowed his brow for a moment before frowning. “It’s been a long time since I thought of that name.” Turning away he started walking along the line of stones. No two of the tombstones were the same, some were faded others were nothing more than pictures and some had names that stood out strongly against the stone backdrop. Jerrod stopped in front of one.

Vines and cobwebs covered it but he felt something drawing him to it. Carefully he brushed the face of the stone clean and gasped. “Sarah.” A sad smile curled his lips downward as he touched the letters with a claw. Pulling back his hand he looked at it as it blurred before their was a hand. Slowly he flexed the fingers before shaking his head and moving on.

“Why? Why you?” Jerrod turned away from the grave, his breath leaving him in a shuddering sigh as he bit back tears. “Why now?” He  looked around the quiet graveyard at all the stones littering it and wiped away a few tears. “I thought I had buried all of you in one way or another.”

Turning back to the stone he froze as he looked upon the statue of a large sphinx. “Of course you would be here.” He stood on the tip of his toes and wrapped the statue in a hug. “The one who saved me, the first to love me.” He stepped away and wiped a tear from his eye. “Khepri, my mother, my savior, how I miss you.”

A low chuckle rattled the sky and Jerrod whipped around. “Such a touching scene.” Dominus dropped from the tree behind Jerrod and marched up to him. “But we both know you can never see her again, not after the life you have lived.” He placed a hand on Jerrod’s chest and shoved him backwards. “Not after everything and everyone you have buried.”

Jerrod stared up at Dominus as he fell back into the grave. “I know.” He admitted sadly as he settled into the coffin and clasped the black rose on his chest. “She is lost to me by my own destruction.” The lid slid closed and Jerrod heard the dirt scatter over the coffin lid.

Jerrod closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. “It’s time I let it end, it has been a long journey and I deserve a rest.” Suddenly the coffin filled with light and Jerrod felt himself pulled upwards. He landed on his feet gently as the dirt was gently brushed from his clothes and face. Slowly he opened his eyes and took a breath of fresh air. He looked over thousands of faces that encircled him and the one in front of him that smiled up at him.

Dominus turned his bruised and bloodied face towards Jerrod and spat on the ground at his feet. “You think you’ve won. You can never be rid of me.” He laughed as a large fist slammed into his face. “You think your friends can hold me at bay? I will never be silenced.” His voice rose to a scream as he struggled at his bonds while Jerrod looked past him.

Jerrod looked past the broken form of Dominus to all the creatures assembled. Creatures from all over Equus, from ponies to humans and everything in between stood around him and Dominus. The faces covered all manner of emotions; Jerrod saw expressions of painful sorrow and euphoric bliss and many Jerrod couldn’t identify. No two faces were the same but each did have a single similarity. They each carried with them a look of peaceful tranquility, a peacefulness as though they had accepted some unknown fate. Luna stepped from the crowd, followed by Twilight then Swiftwing and finally Sun Feather. They all smiled as more creatures joined them, Teyvin followed by two dragons stepped forward last and nodded to him before the crowd suddenly surged forward. Jerrod watched calmly as they sped towards him, burying him for a brief moment before the wave broke and he stood on a beach.

Jerrod looked around. “I remember this.” Dominus rose to his feet slowly and looked out over the ocean with Jerrod. “It’s where I woke up after the...accident.”

Dominus sneered. “Accident, it was a massacre. Don’t try to make it sound pretty. This is where you woke up after you massacred them all.” He turned and to Jerrod and growled. “It deserves a memorial to commemorate your misdeeds.” He laughed at his own joke and turned his gaze back to the ocean.

Jerrod stepped towards the water and looked at a distant rock outcropping in the water. “You're right, there is no way to make it anything less than a massacre.” A sharp pain in his chest caused Jerrod to look down. Slowly he traced the blade that jutted from his chest with a sigh. “I guess it’s only fitting I would be stabbed from behind isn’t it?”

Dominus released the blade with a sick chuckle. “It never comes from where you expect it.” Jerrod nodded and Dominus stepped ahead of him. “So then the question is now, who’s going to make it further?” Dominus turned around beckoned Jerrod forward. “Do you think you can leave me in the dust?”

Jerrod took three steps forward and paused. “Can I ever outrun you?”

Dominus smiled and leveled a new blade at Jerrod. “Do you really want to?” The blade was thrust forward and slid through Jerrod’s chest next to the other one. “Or do you still need to lean on me for strength from time to time?”

Jerrod turned and faced Dominus as he stepped backwards, his heels hanging over the edge of the cliff. “I never needed you for your strength, you were a shield.” A clawed hand was placed on his chest and Dominus pulled another blade from the several on the ground beside him. “I used you to protect myself from the horrors of the world, is it really my fault that even shields can be a weapon?”

“Yes,” Dominus sneered cooly. “ A shield. A nice safe thing to hide behind in fear while the world around you throws its worst at you. A tool for someone too weak to face his own problems head-on. Do you know what a shield really is? A coward’s tool. A tool for those who would rather hide than face the tough times.” Dominus closed his eyes and smiled. “Of the two of us I was always the strongest, you were just a weakling who needed a place to hide.”

Jerrod’s eyes flared with hate and anger. “ME?” The area around them burst into flame and ghostly screams echoed out from the flames. “Look around you, look at the horrors you have wrought.” Jerrod swept his arm in a wide circle, pointing to the burning building and creatures running around in terror. “This was you, murdering the innocent because you couldn’t bear what had happened. All those monsters forcing you to fight to the death every day so you slaughtered them, like a coward running away from his problems.” Dominus smiled happily as he watched the flames and the ghosts within. “This was you Dominus. You murdered them all. You slaughtered all of them and you call me a weakling.”

The flames reflected in Dominus’s eyes, giving them an air of insanity that added to the malice in them. “And you're still afraid to let go of it all. Afraid of what would happen if you let go of me, what this world would do to you if I wasn’t there to protect you.” Dominus cackled madly. “You can’t let go of me because you still need me. You need me there to hide behind when it all turns to shit again.” He spat at Jerrod’s feet. “You are coward who can’t face this world by himself.”

Jerrod looked down at the ground were the spit had landed. “If I do let go of you though, will I be strong enough to face what comes next?”

Dominus stepped forward and placed the tip of a blade against Jerrod’s chest. “Do you really not see it?” He began to push it forward. “You created and defeated me, and I am you. You defeated yourself and you’re not sure if you're strong enough to face the future.” The hand on Jerrod’s chest gripped his shirt and pulled him away from the cliff into the blade placed against his chest. “Maybe I should take this body for my own.”

Jerrod gripped the blade of the sword. “NO! I have too much, I can’t let you have this body.” He grasped the blade and pushed himself backwards off the blade. “I can’t let you loose to terrorize this world again..”

Dominus twisted the blade as it came free and swung it sideways, tearing a necklace free from Jerrod’s neck. “You let me do it once before.” He lifted the sword, showing the pendant hanging from the tip. “After her you were perfectly content to curl up in a corner and let me do whatever I wanted.” He smiled cruelly. “Are you telling me you have already forgotten about her?” He tilted the blade so the pendant slid back to the hilt and smirked. “If so I guess I’ll just keep this.”

Jerrod lunged forward over the wall and tackled Dominus. “NO! Give her back to me.” He struck Dominus’s face and reached for the pendant with his other hand.

Dominus smirked and rolled over on top of Jerrod and drove the sword down into his chest so the pendant rested on his heart. “Take her!” He stood up and pulled a dagger from his belt. “You’re pathetic, clinging so desperately to the past like that. You’re a fool.” He turned away and hopped over the wall. “You're not worth my time.”

Jerrod sobbed as he clutched the pendant in one hand tugged at the blade with the other. “You’re wrong. I’m not clinging to the past.” The blade came free with a squelch and Jerrod rose to his feet. “I swore I would never forget her, that’s all.”

Dominus spun around and threw his dagger. “You’ve stalled out. You’re using her memory to hold yourself still. All those around you you use to numb the pain of the past but you don’t ever let yourself get close to them.” Dominus jumped from his spot above Jerrod and planted his feet on his chest. “You keep talking about letting go but then her face swims through your head and you find yourself lost in the past again. She’s gone. Her son is gone with her and they aren’t coming back anytime soon.” Dominus shoved his feet forward and Jerrod tumbled backwards over a cliff. “It’s time you realized that.”

Jerrod grabbed a root sticking out from the cliff face and hung there for a second, looking up at Dominus with a confused face. “I know they’re gone, I just, I don’t want to forget.” Dominus mouthed something silently as Jerrod released the root. “You're right, I need to let go of the past. I need to close my eyes and plunge into the future. Moving on doesn’t mean forgetting.” Jerrod hung his head sadly. “I can’t forget the past but I can’t let those memories control my life.”

Jerrod hit the water feet first and watched as memories swirled past him in the bubbles. He saw himself as a pony blowing out candles at a Pinkie Pie party. There he was as a dragon lying in bed with Amadiel and there he was with Luna as a human. Possibilities swirled around him, endless possibilities. As a pony, as a human, as a dragon as a mixture, the endless stream of bubbles swept past him, filling him with dread and hope and joy and sorrow. He felt his feet touch the bottom and the bubbles came to a stop and he saw Luna sitting staring out to sea. The moon hung low on the horizon and the stars reflected off the ocean creating two skies. Her head turned and she smiled at him as Amadiel landed beside her then Swiftwing followed by Twilight and then Sun Feather. Slowly older faces joined the new ones and Jerrod felt himself walking forward towards them. He paused and looked back and saw his footsteps changed between human, dragon and pony as they faded into the distance where he saw the faces of those he had lost somewhere in the past. Smiling he turned back to the others and broke into a jog.