Evershade Dominion

Some of the most welcoming words are those of hatred.

December 25th, 2003 6:00 A.M.

Vanhoover, Equestria

I woke to the sound of my alarm clock screaming at me to wake. I wanted to refuse the wake up call but I couldn’t as I knew I would miss the boat if I stayed any longer than necessary at the hotel. I slowly forced myself out of bed and turned off the alarm clock, proceeding to throw back the covers and stretching arms above my head, both my neck and back made muted popping sounds.

I walked over to the window and opened the blinds, my eyes quickly adjusted to the overcast sky that created a gentle snowfall onto the streets below. The various stores across the street from the hotel were closed for the day as their owners and workers spent Christmas with their families. I turned away from the window and packed what little items I had out back into my knapsack beside the bed.

I proceeded to exit the hotel room and make my way down to the lobby. The same changeling from the night before was sitting behind the desk reading a book with red cover and golden lettering. Her hand covered up most of the title making it nearly impossible to read. I walked over to the desk and placed the key on it. When she heard the clank of the key she jumped slightly, obviously startled from my sudden approach.

“A bit jumpy this morning are we?” I asked playfully as she blushed slightly and shook her head.

“Sssorry, I wasss jussst reading. I get lossst in the book and pay no attention to anything around me. I hope your night was peaceful?” she half asked me. I nodded and started to turn away before I felt her hand grab my shoulder. “I-I wanted to thank you for lassst night sssir.” I turned just enough to give her a quizzical glance. “For the money I mean. I wasss able to buy my children giftsss for once thisss chrissstmasss.” she gave me a brilliant smile that made me smile slightly.

I nodded my head and put my knapsack on the counter before pulling out a small phone and handing it to her. “Please take this.” I said as she shook her head and waved her hands. “I have a single number in this phone, mine. Living in a town like this is no way to live. If you ever need someone, if someone is ever hurting you, your family, or your friends call me and I will come running.” I said with a smile. I meant every word of it, living in a country while being any other race than a pony was a nightmare.

You never knew when the next pony would come along and try to hurt you physically, verbally, and or mentally. I feel bad for this countries non-equine residents, they were anything but equal and their monarch, Queen Celestia, preaches equality yet lets racism run rampant. One of these days a storm is going to come and her highness will be caught in the middle of it.

She didn’t know what to say as she finally accepted the phone and I started to walk away. “My name is Kalima, and thank you for everything!” She exclaimed to me as I turned around to see her waving with a large smile spread across her face as her wings buzzed happily and tears coming from her eyes.

I smiled and waved back, “The name is Lost Solstice, please be safe Kalima.” I replied as I exited the door. The moment I left I felt a snowball hit the side of my head, I quickly whipped around to find two young colts standing with an arm on their hip and a snowball in their free hand. “Hit me again and I’ll make soup out of you.” I growled at them as their faces went white.

I brushed past them and towards the docks. It took me about 10 minutes to reach the docks, by that time it was 6:27 A.M. I proceeded to show my ticket and make my way onto the deck of the ship, the deck was covered in a thin layer of snow. The ship wouldn’t set sail for another 16 minutes so I made my way down to my quarters and set my room up for the long voyage.

January 12th, 2004 7:24 A.M.

Prualst Harbor, Utopia

I stood at the bow of the ship as the Prualst Harbor came into view. My cowl covered my face while my cloak billowed in the wind behind me. Let’s see the party they have in store for me. I thought silently as I pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked at the pier where we would land. There were a few creatures walking around the pier that seemed almost normal until I saw one of them pull the collar of their shirt closer to their mouth and speak. Good but not good enough. You gave yourselves away once again.

I stowed my binoculars away into my knapsack and readied myself. They may have given themselves away but they’re no pushovers, I trained them after all. The days of friendship and camaraderie were but a distant memory of days long past, they had a duty to their country and I had a duty to myself. As we neared the pier I readied myself to flee but it looked like they hadn’t noticed that I saw them yet.

The ship docked and once the doors opened to leave I was already walking down the plank, much to my surprise one of them approached me with a grin. “The Queen awaits you Lionel.” they said as they passed by, catching me by surprise with those words. I turned around to see the person walking away as if nothing had happened and up the stream of civilians coming off the ship.

I kept my eyes on the person as he stopped a couple before placing them under arrest and the ones hiding among the docks ran to the ship to apprehend the couple. They submitted without fuss and were gone in a flash of brilliant light, leaving nothing but the traces of a decaying teleportation spell. I shook the sight out of my head and started my way down the pier.

It didn’t take long before I found myself at the entrance of the market that had started my new life. The memory of snapping his neck made me smile with delight. As I crossed the threshold of the market I felt several eyes fall upon me. Watching and waiting for me to make a move. Although I was now a citizen of Dystopia and they could not arrest me without purpose, including previous crimes committed here, they kept their eyes on me.

The day my brother was killed, my mother and sister fled to a new land before I could find them and deliver unto them the same fate. I felt a certain void in my heart for not eliminating them before hand but that was the thrill of the hunt. They could only evade me for so long, and when I do find them I will make sure they suffer,

I was brought out of my thoughts as someone accidently bumped into me, quickly apologizing to me. I waved it off and told them it was alright before continuing into the market and purchasing what I was there for. A few fruits and vegetables as well as a few other things for dinner that night, knowing tomorrow I would be leaving again. I never usually stayed in Dystopia and or Utopia for more than a day as contracts were constantly being offered.

After gathering my groceries I quickly made haste to the Dystopia entrance that was blocked off by two large titanium reinforced doors much to my dismay. There were two guards standing in front of it as well to steer any would be citizens away. A scowl made its way across my face as I approached.

Each guard held out their spears towards me, the one on the left was a Kirin and the one on the right was a Dragon. A nice little challenge if they wouldn’t let me through. “Halt citizen, you are not allowed to enter Dystopia unless granted permission from the queen.”

I thought for a second then laughed at them. “Screw your queen and your ‘permission’ Dystopia is my home and I have dinner to cook. Belay my food any further and I’ll make soup out of you.” I growled. You don’t mess with me and my food, let alone my home. They took a step closer and poked my chest with their spears.

“Turn back now you worthless urchin.” the Kirin said as he flicked his spear into my bag of groceries, spilling them onto the ground. I looked down at the food for a second before lashing out with a fist into the spearhead, shattering the metal and shaft. I proceeded to disarm the Dragon guard and hold the spear to the Kirin's throat.

“It’s one thing to threaten me, it’s another to waste my hard earned food.” I held the spear there at his throat for a good minute before the Dragon spoke up.

“You could get in serious trouble for killing him, do you want to spend the rest of your days in the dungeon?!” she tried to reason with me. I merely smirked at the Dragon as I pulled the spear back a bit, preparing to plunge the spear through the kirins head.

“You don’t want to do that Lionel.” I heard a familiar voice call from behind me. It was a voice that my ears haven’t heard for the past decade, ever since I killed my brother and took refuge in Dystopia. “You would lose your only chance at making amends with this country.” they called.

I turned to them with anger in my eyes, preparing the spear for a new target but quickly restricted myself as I saw who it was. One of the people who saw my brother get killed. An old friend made an enemy. “Sergeant Milo.” I said flatly in recognition. “I have no reason to make amends with this country.” I growled as I turned around and plunged the spear at the Kirins throat, only for it to be caught by Milo.

“It’s Master Sergeant Milo now Lionel, or Lost Solstice whatever you prefer now, and if you kill him I will kill you.” his voice was cold and the look in his eyes void of feeling. He would try to kill me if I didn’t comply, sadly I wasn’t the same person I was ten years ago.

“Kill me Milo? That would be a sight to see, one who had always strived to surpass me in every way but could never even come close. I dare say you are only as strong as I was back then.” I smirked at him as he landed a hard right uppercut to my jaw, barely effecting me. “I told you Milo, you won’t be able to harm me.” he continued to throw blows at me. I let him hit me as much as he wanted, barely feeling what he was dishing out.

By the time he was done he was panting heavily and I had barely budged an inch. “Unlike you Milo, I don’t take days off.” I growled as I turned away from his group of lackeys and started walking to the market before I felt his hand land on my shoulder.

“Wait Lionel. This isn’t the reason I came to you. When I told you earlier that the queen awaits, it was a summons.” He quickly said as he felt me tense up at his touch. I quickly relaxed as I turned back to him.

“Is that what you meant when you said, “to make amends with this country”, Milo?” he nodded before he went to speak again. “Well you can tell her majesty to shove her proposition up her respective posterior lest she plans to pay me for my troubles. I could care less about living in the so called “peace” of Utopia.”

He laughed and shook his head, “She thought you might say that, or at least something along those lines. She is prepared to pay you 500,000 bits and dismiss you of all the crimes you have committed. Meaning that you would be-”

“Milo, I could care less if she were to give me an estate for this shit. All I am interested in is why she is willing to pay 50 times my normal price AND dismiss my crimes.” I retorted quickly. Milo smirked as if he had caught his prey when in reality I just got the catch of a lifetime.

“Why don’t you come to the palace and find out? She is awaiting your arrival.” he replied with an air of confidence. I quickly rectified it as I walked past him and started dragging him by his skinny tail. That was the best part about him being a Neko, they’re easy to drag by the tail.

“Let’s go milk sipper.” I said, making his confidence immediately shrivel and dissipate as his fellow guards laughed at him.

“I’M NOT A MILK SIPPER YOU MUTT!” he hissed back. Ah, the sweet sound of an old friendship rekindled.