Out of the Light

Out of the Light

by glorg

Chapter 3

Stranger in a Strange Land

“I got somethin’ to say

I killed a baby today

And it doesn’t matter much to me

As long as it’s dead”

The “van” vibrated with the song, echoing through my bones and jittering my teeth.  I clutched my seat tightly.  Dom, bobbing his head along with the beat, began to sing along roughly.

“Well I got somethin’ to say

I raped your mother today

And it doesn’t matter much to me

As long as she spread”

Dom turned to me and smiled widely.  “You ever heard of the Misfits, Twilight?”

“I can’t say I have,” I replied through a fake smile.  The lyrics were... well, gee, highly disturbing.  There wasn’t much of a nicer way to put it.

“You diggin’ it?  Go!  Speaks to me on a deeper level, I guess.  The chaos in my soul, coming out with crazy drums and brash guitars.

Sweet lovely death

I am waiting for your breath

Come sweet death, one last caress.”

“Um... indubitably!” I declared.  Perhaps being frightened by Dom at first wasn’t so far off the mark.  That song, that morbid tune, was nothing like the sweet melodies in Equestria.  Quite literally, it was making me sick: I could feel my stomach churning.  So... so simply horrid.

“You don’t like it, do you?” Dom said sadly.  Genially, I nodded my head.  Dom pushed a button in the car, and suddenly the music changed.   In truth, it was still odd to me, but at least the offensive words had been entirely replaced by instruments.  “I’m sorry.  Heh.  Should’ve figured hippies wouldn’t be into punk.”

“What are ‘hippies’?”

Dom kept his (I was quite certain by now that Dom was a stallion in his race) eyes on the road, but I could see the raised, ringed eyebrow.

“...I’d usually figure that you were just screwing with me just to be an ass, or just ‘cause you’re pretty and I’m freaky-lookin’... but you’re not fake, Twilight.  I can tell.  So what are you, if you’re not hippies?”

“Uh... I... don’t think you’d really believe me.”

Dom raised his hand on the wheel, almost as if asking for money.  “Shoot, Twilight.  Gimme your best shot.”

I’m not sure why I trusted Dom.  Just a few moments ago, his violent song had upset me.  And yet... he’d been caring enough to transport us to Fillydelphia, to take Rainbow Dash to the hospital.  Even complimented me.

A peculiar thing, for certain, but a nice one.

So I turned in my seat to face him, to clandestinely expose our precious secret.

“Swear to give me a fair chance, Dom?”

“Cross my heart, hope to die.”

“Stick a cupcake in your eye,” I finished silently.

“What?”

“Oh.  Nothing.  You really, really swear?”

“Of course!  Jesus, you go on and on with this stuff, don’t you?  Just spill it out, no worries.”

“...Okay.  My friends and I are all really ponies, pegasi, and unicorns, except for my assistant Spike, who is a dragon I’ve known for many years.  We live in a magical land called Equestria, in a town called Ponyville, and are ruled over by the two alicorn sisters, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.  I was with my friends at a party, and a rapid series of events created a situation where I believed us to be in danger, so my magic horn reacted blindly and apparently cast us off to this place, in these strange forms, without anyway back.  Now we’re headed with you to Fillydelphia, not only to make sure Rainbow Dash is fine but also because the name of your city is exactly like one near where we live in Equestria.  We don’t have much of a plan otherwise.”

Dead silence.

During the awkward hush, I scrutinized everyone holed up in the back.  We had not been travelling for very long at all, but nearly all of them were fast asleep, save for Fluttershy.  Even she did not acknowledge me, instead focusing entirely on the sprawling, knocked-out Rainbow Dash.  She liked to take care of sick animals; it almost made sense that Fluttershy would have an apt bedside manner.

Thinking back, I realized how late it had been when we were transported.  None of us were really rested.  For some reason, though, I felt as awake as I’d ever been.

When Dom began to speak, it startled me.

“Look... I’m all for weird stuff, alright?  I like David Lynch movies.  I listen to Pixies.  I got a thing for H.P. Lovecraft.  But... c’mon.  That’s just too damn weird.”

“...Oh.  I’m sorry, then,” I answered softly.

“Which is why it’s crazy that I kind of believe you.”

I nearly fell over myself.  “C-Come again?”

“Yeah.  I know.  I don’t really get it either.  Shit, I don’t even really know you, but somethin’ about you just screams truth.”

“...You’re not making much sense yourself right now, Dom.”

“No, I know, believe me.  I dunno.  Just kinda have a... a gut feeling about it.  Hey, wait a minute, shouldn’t you be HAPPY I believe you?”

I considered this.  “I suppose you’re right.”

“You suppose?  Pfft.  You should be.  Gave you a ride, accepted your crazy-ass story, turned off some classic Misfits for you.”  He sounded irritated, but Dom’s face gave away his amusement.

A funny thing, for sure.

“Dom, I was certain you would call me liar.”

“Mmmm, I think you are.”

“...Huh?”

“Look.  I’ve dealt with some oddballs over the years, yeah?  Not saying you’re insane or anything like that, but sometimes... people crack a little.  Or not even that they crack, but, I dunno, I think everyone’s got their own little psychoses.  Their minds...  go down south for the winter, I guess.  I believe YOU believe whole-heartedly you’re all ponies.  And if you really believe that, then I feel like in some weird, far-out, over-my-head existential way... you really are.  So... yeah.  That’s why I’m diggin’ it.”

“...Oh.”

Very curious.

“So, Dom.”

“Yes?”

“I was wondering... what are you?”

He cocked his head.  “Um... Goth?”

“Is that what your race is called?  The Goths?”

“Oh, no no.  That’s my stereotype.  My label.  My, uh... ‘fashion choice’.  No, I’m white.  Err, Caucasian.  Whichever.”

“...So you are all called ‘Whites’ or ‘Caucasians’... interesting...”

“OH.  Wait, you mean... right.  Ponies, and all.  Um, I’m what’s called a ‘human’.  That’s what we’re, uh, all called.  One of us is usually called a ‘person’...when it’s more than one, you say ‘people’.  Then there are guys, or males, like me... and girls, or females, like you... and some people who kinda go back and forth between the two but they’ve got their own thing goin’ on, I wouldn’t worry about them too much.”

“Intriguing.”

“Ah!  Check it out, we’re on the Ben Franklin Bridge right now.”  Gazing out the window, I saw a colossus of iron and road stretching out ahead of me.  It was flanked by deep blue water on either side, but I could only glimpse it through the zigzag of steel beams.  The bridge emptied out on the horizon into the biggest city I had ever seen in my life.  Perhaps it was not as magnificent as Canterlot, but it was by far much larger.

“Fillydelphia?”

“Philadelphia,” Dom agreed.

“How fascinating,” I mumbled, leaning forward in my seat.  We had apparently passed over the water and were now physically inside the city: far away to my left, I could see hulking towers standing tall as giants, partially obscured by the smaller buildings in the foreground.  There was nothing that gargantuan in Equestria.

“...You good, Twilight?”

“What?  Oh, yes, I’m fine Dom.  I’ve just... never seen a city quite like this.”

“Heh.  Yeah.  Philly’s all right.  Takes some getting used to for some people.  If you know where to look, though, it’s beautiful.”

“Is that so?” I retorted absently.  Too busy staring at the urban forest.

“Um... Twilight.”

“Yes, Dom?”

“Look, I dig your names, okay?  And maybe you had real ones before and you’re just doin’ the ‘rebirth’ thing, but when we get to the hospital, I can’t tell them ‘Rainbow Dash’ got hit by my van, see what I mean?”

“I see what you mean, Dom.”

“Awesome.  Sooo, maybe... you go by pseudonyms?  Just for the sake of... normalcy?  Or whatever?”

“Do you imagine creating fake names for ourselves would really be the best choice of action?”

“Totally.”

“Very well then.  My name is now Sunshine Meadows.”

“...That’s literally not even a little bit better.  Uh, try again.”

“Okay... Magic Star.”

“...No.”

“Eclipse Light?”

“...’Kay, there’s no way this is gonna work.  Um, maybe I do the name-picking?  I won’t do too bad, I swear.  I’ll rattle off and you tell me which one you like.”

“Certainly, Dom.”

“Tabitha Small?”

I shook my head.

“Trixie—”

“NO.”

“O...kay... er, Tara Strong?”

“Hmm... it sounds nice, but it’s just not me.”

“Tessa Shepard?”

“...Say that again.”

“Tessa Shepard.”

“I like that name, Dom.”

“Yeah?  Great!”  He beamed at me sideways, never taking his eyes off of the road.

I said it aloud several times to try it out.  It wasn’t quite Twilight Sparkle... but it felt like putting on a lovely dress.

“Awesome, one down, six to go.  You said Spike was your assistant, right?”

“Yes, I actually hatched—”

“Now he’s your younger brother.  How does Sean Shepard sound?”

“I think he’d like it.”

“Cool.  Erm... the country gal’s name is Applejack, right?”

“Correct.”

“...Annie Johnson.”

“That sounds excellent.”

“Sweet.  How about the fancy, urbane chick?  Rarity, right?”

“Yes, that would be Rarity.”

“Robin Hepburn.”

“Spot on, Dom!  She would love it.”

“Goodgoodgood.  Hey, is your pink-haired friend still awake?”

“You mean Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy?”

Turning her attention away from Rainbow Dash for perhaps the first time during our trip, Fluttershy peered up bashfully at Dom.  “...W-Who, me?”

“Mhm,” said Dom.  “What was your name again, sweetheart?”

“Oh, um... Fluttershy,” she whispered.

“Fluttershy.  That’s a very pretty name.”  The heated blush crawled up her cheeks and onto her ears.  “Would ‘Faye Harrison’ be a good name, too?”

“...It’s perfect,” she assured faintly.  Dom grinned.

“The other one, Pinkie Pie... she’s ‘Pam Pearl’.”

“A little flashy, but Pinkie would laugh at Pam, so that sounds fine.”

“And all we have left is Rainbow Dash, right?”

“Right,” I testified.

“Hmm... ‘Ramona Dean’.  She looks like a Ramona Dean to me.”

Still relatively unconscious, Dashie loudly moaned a garbled word that sounded bizarrely like “Okay”.  Gaining no further response, I caught Dom’s eye and shrugged.  “I’m sure she would be enamored of it.”

“Nice.  Okay, you’re all set.  See?  What would you do without me?  You found the one guy in all America who would give you a ride to Philadelphia, believe your wacked-up pony story, and give you a brand new name so you could fit in.  Good thing you met Dom, am I right?”

“You hit my friend with a van.”

“...Shit.  I forgot about that.  Can I tell her how sorry I am when she wakes up?”

“Why wouldn’t you be able to?” I inquired.

“I dunno.  Kinda got the feeling that she won’t be so happy to see me when she wakes up.”

“What?  Noooo.  I doubt she even knows it was you!  Just... just be very careful breaking the news, huh?”  Suddenly, I was somewhat worried about Dom.

He gulped audibly and nodded.  I suppose even though she was near comatose, he could tell Rainbow Dash was a ball of fire.

A few moments went by where neither of us talked, the only sound the still questionable melodies that Dom was somehow able to create from his monstrosity.

“Dom?”

“Yeah, Tw... Yeah, Tessa?”

“What’s your full name?”

Dom’s eyes became wrinkled and heavy, almost obscuring his pupils, and the tight smile on his face was almost bittersweet.  “Not to be mean, but, uh... you don’t quite get to know that story yet.”

I was certain the perplexity was apparent on my face.

“We’ll save that for later, okay?  I’ll tell you sometime.”

And he would say no more.

“Twilight.  We’re here.”

A nudge on my shoulder stirred me awake.  I was surprised; I hadn’t even realized I was taking a nap.

Outside the windows, I could see only concrete and bland, beige walls, along with a sea of various monstrosities (some of which looked a lot like Dom’s van).  It was dark, lit by strangely-colored candles on the ceilings, and admittedly made me a little nervous.

“Wake everyone up, right?” Dom asked, peering over into the back.

“Sure.  I’ll help you.  Head around back,” I replied, climbing out on my side.  Upon opening the door, a musky smell smacked my nose and threw me back a little.  It was just so... unclean.  Nevertheless, I pounded over to the back of the van, meeting Dom just as he was opening up the doors.

I wasn’t expecting anypony to jump out.  Neither was Dom.

With a thud, his spiked head knocked onto the ground.  I could see the pain in his face.  The pony on top of him was rigid with fury, holding him down with brutal intent.  She was no longer blue-furred or winged, but I would know that prismatic hair anywhere.

“DASHIE!” I yelled.  She didn’t acknowledge me, dead-set on Dom.

“YOU IDIOT!  YOU STUPID ALIEN!  YOU RAN ME OVER!”

“I’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorry—” Dom began to chant.

“THAT.  REALLY.  HURT!”

“I’MSORRYI’MSORRYI’MSORRYI’MSORRY—”

“YEAH?! WELL YOU WILL BE!”  Rainbow wound up for the punch, even curling her fingers up in a sort of ball for extra power.

“Whoa nelly!”  Somepony interrupted, and then yet another shape came bursting forth from the rear of the van.  Her blonde hair bobbed wildly as she wrestled Rainbow Dash away from Dom.  “Calm your britches, Dashie.  ‘Twas an accident, nothin’ more.”

“HEY!  Get off me, got it?  I need to teach that punk a Rainbow Dash lesson!”  Rainbow struggled desperately to throw Applejack off of her.

“Oh no you don’t!  Ya can’t fly away from me and Ah AIN’T lettin’ go ‘til you calm yourself down, Dashie!”

“BUZZ OFF!” Rainbow screamed.

“Oh!  P-Please be careful!  I don’t want anypony to get hurt...” trailed off Fluttershy, climbing carefully out from the van into the open.  She stood by me and bit her lip anxiously.

Applejack was almost twisted in a knot around Rainbow Dash, making sure that Rainbow could never budge from the trap.  Dashie was trying to, no doubt about it, but Applejack’s pure strength had clamped down like iron around the pegasus.

Haltingly, Dom hoisted himself up from the ground and rubbed his head.  “Damn... I didn’t think she’d be that mad... ow, shit.  Where the hell are security guards when you NEED THEM?” he shouted to nothing, throwing one hand up in exasperation.  No response.  I was under the impression that he had not been expecting one.

Within the van, I could hear the sounds of ponies rising.  Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Spike were likely to join our party soon enough.

None of us really knew what to do.  On one hoof, we wanted to break our friends apart and make sure Rainbow Dash wasn’t injured even further; on the other, there was no breaking things up when it came to Applejack against Rainbow Dash, and I was sure none of us wanted to intentionally put Dom in the way of danger.

I felt horrible, standing aside as a spectator whilst two of my best friends grappled in a battle of wills.  But I had no magic, and there was no way I could tear them apart.

“Relax.”

“GET OFF ME!”

“Ah said, relax.”

“GET YOUR STINKIN’ HOOVES OFF ME!”

“SUGARCUBE, IF AH SAID IT ONCE, AH SAID IT A THOUSAND TIMES: ya don’t get OUTTA MY REACH ‘til you settle yourself down, and Ah AIN’T plannin’ on weaselin’ outta my promise, ya got that?  Now SIMMER DOWN.”

Rainbow struggled for a moment more, a dark look passing over her face, before finally resigning in defeat.  Her whole body seemed to fall.

“...Fine.  I won’t beat up on the alien, okay?  Just... lemme go already.  You’re giving me a headache.”

Applejack promptly unfurled from Rainbow Dash.  “Y’all good, sugarcube?  Ah didn’t mean ta hurt you none.  Jus’ didn’t want ya ta hurt anypony.”

“Ugh... yeah, I’m fine, whatever.  Help me up at least, A.J.”

“Sure thing, R.D.,” Applejack laughed.  They were on their hind-hooves within seconds.

No, no.  Feet.  It was so difficult for me to think of us as ‘human’ instead of pony.

With more than a hint of menace, Rainbow Dash pointed accusingly at Dom.  “YOU,” she snarled.

Dom put his hands up in defense.  “I’m sorry I hit you, I’m so so sorry, you can beat me up later if you want to, I swear, I swear on my life, but first you have to go to the hospital—”

“What?  No!  Shut up.  I’m not going to the hospital, alien dude,” Dashie retorted, still pointing intimidatingly at Dom.

“B-But you might have a concussion!  I need to—” he stuttered.

“Shut it... uh... what’s your name?”

“...Dom.”

“DOM.  Shut it, Dom.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Better be.  I’m guessing YOU were paying us back for hitting me by taking us here in your weird... metal... alien space-carriage, right??”

“I mean... I mean, I guess—”

“CAN IT TOM!  But since I never made it to the hospital, you didn’t pay us back, right?!”

“Uh, right?”

“YOU BET YOUR FLANK THAT’S RIGHT!  So, Ron, you still owe me and my friends, got it?”

“Erm... it’s-it’s Dom.”

“DON.  Like I said.  But get it through your THICK, ALIEN skull.  You.  Owe.  Me.”

“Okay!  Okay, I owe you!  I’m really really sorry I ran you over, alright?  Like, seriously.  Not just because you’re threatening to beat the shit out of me.”

For the first time, Rainbow regarded Dom with an emotion other than rage.  “...You for real, Jon?”

“Yes.  Totally.  Without a doubt,” ascertained Dom.

“Huh,” said Rainbow Dash.  “Whatever, then.”

Dom exhaled in relief.

“But you still owe us, Dan.  Don’t you dare forget it.”  It was with that ultimatum that Rainbow dramatically turned around and refused to look at Dom.

Dom glanced my way, asking mutely for an answer to her actions.  I simply shrugged.  Rainbow Dash is as Rainbow Dash does; there wasn’t much more to the logic.  It’s precisely the same explanation for all of my friends (except it is used exceptionally often for Pinkie Pie).

The atmosphere inside of the van was...

...Uncomfortable.

...Painful.

...Awkward.

I was not sure how long we had sat there, looking at one another with apprehension, but it felt like an eternity.  Dom was still in charge of the van and had commandeered it out of the hospital, half-heartedly paying some woman as we went out (I could not understand for the life of me why he had to compensate without actually going into the hospital).  I sat next to Dom once more, for I felt that he was much more comfortable with me than the others, but this time Rainbow Dash had decided that she would experience the van from the front.

This is what she told us.

What I suspected was that she wanted to make sure Dom wouldn’t run off on us.  Hard as nails, she could be.

The rest were in the back, awake but strangely silent.  I imagined they were scrutinizing the tension up in the front, which was inadvertently contributing to the air of animosity.

Though, really, I’m in the opinion that what was on everyone’s minds was the issue of Dom’s debt.  To me, he had already paid by taking us to Fillydelphia; to the much more impassioned and forceful Rainbow Dash, he had a lot of making up to do.  So how would Dom respond?  How would Dom offer recompense?

Rarity cleared her throat.  Just about everypony in the van turned to stare at her.

“Oh!  Don’t mind me.  Had something in my throat.  Nothing more,” she claimed quickly.

Back to the unsettling quiet.

Dom, who had been drumming the steering wheel and appeared to be far off in thought, suddenly straightened in his seat.  I glanced over, curious; upon seeing his face, I saw the look of epiphany bright within his eyes.

“Hey.”  Once more, everypony in the van faced the noise-maker expectantly.  “Do you guys have anywhere to crash?”

“...Ah beg your pardon?” said Applejack quizzically.

“Crash?  Y’know, sleep?  Are you living anywhere, is what I’m saying.”

“Nope Mr. Dom the Alien, we don’t have a house in your alien homeland.  I was thinking of living out of a trashcan and baking garbage cupcakes myself, but do you have something better in mind, Domnomnom?”

“I do, Pinkie.  You guys are staying with me in my apartment while you’re in town.  How does that sound, Rainbow?”

In turn, everypony gazed at Dashie for her retort.  She was mulling it over in her mind, scratching her chin thoughtfully.

“You have enough room?”

“I think I could make some.”

“And it’s not lame?”

“Heh.  No, it’s not lame.”

“And you have food?”

“Tons.”

“...Show me the money and I’ll be satisfied, Sam.  If your apartment’s as cool as you say it is... you’re off the hook.”

Dom chuckled.  “Sounds like a plan to me.”

“Your plan better work, Tim.”

“I’m pretty sure it will, Ramona.”

Rainbow practically whipped around in her seat.  “What’d you call me?”

I laughed hesitantly, feeling the weight of the van’s attention thrown on me.  “Uhm... about that...”

*Author's Special Note: Anyone who gets the references in their pseudonyms is awesome*