Attere Dominatum

Chapter 1

As the final minutes of night ended, and as the Night Princess was forced to lower her moon over the horizon, the Sun Princess smiled a bit. It was not because it was her time to shine, no, it was because she could sense that somewhere in her beloved country, somepony had gotten their wish granted.

“Is something the matter dear sister?” The Night Princess asked her older sibling as she flapped down onto the balcony where her sister stood. It wasn’t really like the Sun Princess to be smiling so early in the morning, always yawning even after all the time she’s lived and would always hate raising the sun in the morning.

The elder sister shook her head and continued to smile at her sister. “Nothing’s wrong dear Luna.”

“Are you sure sister? You’re usually so serious in the morning; either that or somewhat annoyed that you always have to wake up so soon to do your duties.”

The elder sister chuckled a bit, knowing that her younger sister was right. “Very well Luna, I’ll tell you why I’m such in a happy mood this morning. Did you happen to feel anything last night?”

“Like what?” The younger sister asked, raising an eyebrow as she wondered what her beloved elder sister was about to say.

“I could sense it last night Luna; Somepony had wished upon a star, and because they wished so hard, it seems their wish has come true.”

The elder sister turned her head in the direction of where she felt the strong magic as her younger sister do so too. As they both gazed into the horizon, and as the elder sister used her magic to raise the sun, the younger sister spoke out, knowing her sister was powerful enough to answer the question without losing focus on the sun. “Do you know what they wished for?”

The elder sister continued to smile as she finished bringing the sun up, before turning to her sibling to answer. “Not a clue, dear Luna. As old as we both are, there’s no possible way for anypony besides the pony who makes the wish to know what they wished for.”

“I see…” The younger sister said, looking down as she began to worry.

Sighing, the elder sister saw what the younger sister was worrying about, and put her wing around her sibling, comforting her. “I’m sure nothing bad is going to happen this time Luna. What happened to you all those years ago wasn’t your fault.”

“Was it really sister? Had it not been for that star, perhaps I would have not-“

“No Luna, it wasn’t your fault.” The elder sister interrupted. “You had no idea what was going to happen, and you had every right to be frustrated. It was my fault for not seeing your frustration and not realizing the pain you were going through.” She added, nuzzling her sister.

Looking back up, the younger sister smiled and began to nuzzle her sister back. “Thank you sister…”

The sniper thought she was dead, but the act of thinking and breathing had pretty much proved to herself otherwise. Not wanting to ruin the moment in case she really was dying, she laid still, and began to hear the sounds of birds chirping, no longer the sounds of war. No more gunshots, no more artillery fire, no more treads of tanks rolling over rubble while her comrades sat on the back riding their way into battle, no, everything was peace and quiet. Flicking her eyes open slowly as to not let the sun in too quickly, she began wondering why she was still alive. She knew she was alive because there was no other way to explain why seemed to be breathing and seemed to be unharmed in every way. Granted, that last part made her confused, but she knew she had to put it off for a bit as she got up from lying on the ground.

As she looked around and at herself, she saw that she was still in her uniform, still equipped with her scoped Mosin Nagant, still loaded with two bullets, and an extra twenty in her pack. She also had her trusty knife with her, the one she picked up from the very first German she had killed. She continued to look around to see that she was no longer in the city of Berlin either. She was instead in what seemed to be some kind of woods, where the ground was still covered in snow, and the area seemed to be untouched by man. As she began to let her thoughts wander, she snapped back into reality, realizing that she was lost.

Getting back to the task at hand, the sniper knew she would have to move and find shelter soon. It wasn’t the fear that she wouldn’t find shelter in time that scared her, but she knew she couldn’t be out in the open in case of enemies watching her and ready to ambush. Picking her things up from the ground, she began to move, hoping that luck was on her side.

Back in the small cottage on the edge of the woods near the bustling city, the teal earth pony had finally woken up after his restful slumber. Taking a great, big yawn, the pony turned to his side to see that his wife, as usual, had woken up before him.

Getting up and going into the dining room where his wife had just set down breakfast, he smiled and sat at the table. “Good morning dear.”

His navy blue unicorn wife turned to him and smiled back. “Good morning darling. Have a good rest last night?”

The earth pony nodded. “And you dear?”

“Fine.” She responded as she placed a plate filled with a few straws of hay on the table for her husband. “I’m sorry it isn’t much darling, but with the-“

The earth pony shook his head and placed his hoof on his wife’s lips, silencing her. “It’s not your fault dear. We’re not the only ones who have had this happen, but I assure you, things will change. Iron Bolt was supposed to have come back from Canterlot last night, and then you’ll see.”

“I see…”

Eating the straw his wife had given him, the pony got up from the table and kissed his wife on the cheek before taking the scarf from the bedroom and heading out the door. “I should get going; I want to hear what Iron has to say before work.”

“Alright then darling.” The wife responded, watching her husband walk out the door and close it behind him, before going back to her own work.

As the earth pony walked down the road towards the city, he looked at all the trees around him. It had been several months since the tress were last green, and with the ways things were now, the trees wouldn’t be green for at least several more months. The weather team and the team in charge of clearing up winter were given orders to not do so by the lords of the city. By not clearing up winter, the peasants were forced to buy food from the surrounding cities, giving more money to nobles there in exchange of buying the high-grade iron and steel from Cossackitsyn.

Things were getting worse in the city of Cossackitsyn as the nobles who ruled the surrounding areas were beginning to break various rules and laws so that they could have a tight grip on the population of the city. They had become so filled with greed, and were so far away from the capital or from anypony who cared, that the nobles were able to become corrupt without any repercussions. But that’s not all, anypony who dared to try to complain to the nobles about the way they were being treated would most likely be thrown in jail, or in the rare occasion, be deemed traitors against the state and be hung.

That’s where the pony’s friend, Iron Bolt, comes in. The pony’s friend had stashed away so much money in a secret compartment in his house where the nobles couldn’t find it, that he was finally able to buy a ticket both ways to the capital of their country, Canterlot. There, he would go before the princess they all loved and revered, and tell her of the horrible things that the nobles were doing. Then, when the princess finally heard about the atrocities that the nobles had done, she would swoop down and save the citizens of Cossackitsyn, declaring them free once more.

Suddenly, the pony’s thoughts were cut off, as he saw a fawn off to the side. He smiled at the fawn and waved at it, even though he knew it couldn’t wave back. He was sometimes jealous that he wasn’t born a wild animal, not having to worry about the politics of the world, but he shook those thoughts off as he continued to watch the fawn. The fawn seemed to have noticed him, and began to walk up to the pony. It began to sniff as the pony began to chuckle. “Well, you’re a friendly little fella, aren’t you?” The pony said as he began to brush the coat of the fawn, who in return, began to lick him on the cheek, making the pony laugh some more. “S-Stop it, that tickles.” He said between laughing and trying to push the fawn away.

After successfully pushing the deer away, he began to pet it on the bridge of the nose, continuing to smile at it. “Well, I need to get going; otherwise I’ll be late to work. See you later little guy.” He said, waving goodbye to the fawn as he walked away. Seconds later, he felt a nudge on his side. Turning around, he saw that the fawn had begun to follow him. “No, you can’t come with me.” He told it, but it only seemed to tilt its head in confusion. Sighing, the pony pointed back into the woods and spoke sternly. “Go home.”

The fawn, who seemed to have become sad at the outcome of events, understood and turned back towards the woods. When it turned, it looked back at the pony, trying to give him its best sad face. The only pony only continued to point towards the woods. The fawn lowered its head in defeat and quietly went back into the woods.

The sniper had been walking for a solid hour, with no sign of any way out of the woods so far. There were a few times where she ended up stopping and listened to the sounds around her, to see if she could pick anything up. She would constantly scan the grounds for any type of track that she could follow, but found none so far.

As she continued her walk through the woods, finally, she happened to come across a small cottage in the middle of nowhere. Not knowing whether it was safe or not, she went into a prone position and using her rifle, watched the cottage carefully for any signs of movement from the edge of the woods. Luck seemed to be on her side, as minutes later, someone finally decided to step out of the cottage. What she saw shocked her.

What came out was a small horse, but not just any ordinary small horse. This horse had a teal colored coat, and what seemed to be wearing a scarf around its neck. One final note she made was the piece of art that seemed to have been painted onto the horse’s backside, making her wonder whether or not it was some type of cruel joke. The sniper, trained to always be as calm as possible, continued to watch the small horse. After it had gone far enough for her to safely move, the sniper got up from her position. Using the tree line, she followed the small horse to observe it more.

Continuing her watch, the sniper was shocked even more when she noticed that the horse seemed to be indeed sentient. Not only did it seem to be able to live in a house of sorts, but it also seemed to have a language of its own! At least, she thought it did. All she heard was whinnies and neighs from the teal horse, but it did seem to be communicating to a fawn that had stumbled across the horse’s path.

Being far away enough to not be detected, she was able to observe both species closely using the scope of her rifle once more. She was able to conclude from watching both animals, that only the horse seemed to have the intelligence of a human being, as the fawn seemed to show nothing different from fawns of Earth.

Earth… This entire time she hadn’t even think about the planet, as there was no point to it. Everything she had witnessed seemed to have been the same back on Earth, but with the addition of the teal horse, she began to wonder if she was even on Earth anymore.

With the thought of Earth, the sniper ended up losing seeing where the horse had gone. Cursing herself, she got back up from her hiding position, not even realizing that the fawn from earlier had wandered near her. It seemed to begin cowering at the sight of her, making her wonder. Usually, deer and fawns knew that when an enemy was near, it would run away. This one seemed different.

For whatever reason, the fawn seemed to be not only afraid of the sniper, but confused. It didn’t know what the sniper was, and was too scared to run away.

Deciding to not frighten the fawn anymore and leaving it alone, the sniper turned back in the direction it came from and began to walk back to the cottage to see if anyone else lived in it. The fawn, seeing the new creature walk away without harming it, took this as a message to turn and run, in case the new creature really did intend to harm it.

Going back to where she first saw the cottage, the sniper went back into a prone position and began to wait once again.

After continuing to walk for some time, the teal pony had finally reached his destination; the large steel mill on the edge of Cossacitsyn. Even though his Cutie Mark represented him being in the carpenter field, the city really had no need for his skills, forcing him to work in a field he wasn’t all too familiar with.

Hoping to find his friend Iron before work, the teal pony looked over almost everywhere in the factory, but with no luck. With a heavy sigh, he went back to where his hardhat was, putting it on and going to work with his other co-workers.

“Heya Hammer.” One of his co-workers greeted with a smile.

The teal pony, or Hammer as he was known by, smiled back and nodded. “Hey Bauxite. Hey Alkali.” Continuing to look around for his friend, he turned to his co-workers to ask what had happened. “Either of you guys seen Iron Bolt this morning?”

Both of the co-workers stopped for a second to look at Hammer, then looked at each other with worried faces. Turning back to Hammer, the grey coated earth pony named Bauxite spoke up, continuing to have a worried face on. “You haven’t heard Hammer?”

“Heard what?”

This time, the magenta earth pony named Alkali answered. “Baron Yerik heard about Iron Bolt’s plan before he ever got on the train. He never made it to Canterlot. It’s been an entire week since it happened, we assumed that you knew.”

A look of horror struck Hammer’s face. Did his oldest friend really get captured? Did he really not make it to Canterlot? Not knowing anything else, he reluctantly continued to ask what happened. “W-What happened to him? Where is he now? What about his wife and son?”

With a heavy sigh, Bauxite answered. “Rumor has it that Baron Yerik captured Iron before he stepped onto the train, taking him back to his mansion. He was supposedly tortured there until he passed away. As for his wife and kid…”

“You’ve heard the stories about Yerik’s son, right?” Alkali asked.

Hammer seemed to have frozen up hearing this. “No…” He said in disbelief. He knew the stories, but he didn’t want to believe it.

Alkali nodded. “Iron’s kid got marched into the woods where he was left there to die. The wife was forced to… you know…”

“Fucking bastards.” Bauxite said quietly, gritting his teeth and stomping his hoof into the ground. “It’s one thing to kill somepony simply because they want to help their friends, but to kill their kid as well? He was only eight years old! I swear, if Princess Celestia knew-“

“If Princess Celestia knew what?” A voice behind them asked. All three ponies turned to see at a large, muscular earth pony with a crimson red coat and a rivet for his Cutie Mark. “You were saying?” He asked again in a deep and stern voice.

Not knowing what to say, Bauxite began to stumble on his answer, when Alkali cut in. “He wasn’t saying anything sir. We were just getting back to work.” He said, scared of the earth pony.

The earth pony seemed to smile a wicked grin before turning back to Bauxite. “Good, we wouldn’t want you three to see the captain of the royal guard about not working, now would we?” All three shook their heads in fright. “Then get back to work!” The earth pony snapped, making all three turn back to their work stations and begin working immediately.

After the earth pony walked away, Bauxite whispered once again. “I hate it when he sneaks up on you like that.”

“Shh, be quiet Bauxite, otherwise he might catch us! Then we really will go see the captain.”

Grumbling, Bauxite continued to work, but not before complaining some more. “This just isn’t fair! Both Foreman Rivets and Captain Stands being in Baron Yerik’s payroll. What happened to Equestrians being free to live the way they wanted to? Not having to live under tyranny? Isn’t that what separates us from the Gryphons? Instead, that old bastard lives in a fancy mansion with a beautiful wife who more than likely fools around with other stallions and/or mares, and a son who uses his father’s power as a way to take advantage of our women with various threats!”

“I know Bauxite, but what else can we do? Every time somepony tries to tell Princess Celestia or Princess Luna about what’s happening, not only is Baron Yerik standing in our way, but the Canterlot Nobles who are helping him as well. Face it, we don’t have any more rights, we’re just slaves for their enjoyment.”

Looking over to where Hammer was standing, Bauxite had noticed that Hammer hadn’t been working. “Oi, Hammer! What are you thinking? If Foreman Rivets catches you, we’ll all be in trouble!”

“Weren’t you just doing the same thing Bauxite?” Alkali asked, earning a glare from the grey earth pony.

“This and that are separate things. Right now we need to start working before Rivets comes back, got it? So pick up the hammer, Hammer, and get to work.” Bauxite said through his teeth, clearly afraid of what would come if the Foreman indeed caught Hammer not working.

Hammer didn’t care though, and turned around from his co-workers, walking his way out of the factory. Alkali began to call after him. “Hey, Hammer! Where do you think you’re going?”

Neither of them got an answer, and Bauxite rushed up to get in front of Hammer, stopping him in his tracks. “Hammer, I know you’re upset at what happened to Iron, but what’s done is done. If you try to walk out right now you’ll get sent to Captain Stands. You don’t want that, do you? Think of Sewzy, think of what would happen to her if you tried walking out.”

At the mention of his wife’s name, Hammer did indeed stop and began to think about it. Continue to live in an impoverished state? Or escape now and find a new place to live? Somewhere where they would be treated like actual ponies. He didn’t have long to think though, as Foreman Rivets turned the corner once again to find all of them not working. “Didn’t I tell you three to get back to work?!” He yelled, making all three flinch.

“W-We’re sorry sir! H-Hammer was just wanting to go use the bathroom, and I tried telling him that we needed to start working, b-but then he wouldn’t listen and-“

“Enough!” Rivet’s voice echoed through the factory as he cut Bauxite off, while at the same time glaring and scowling at all three ponies. Walking up to Bauxite, he jerked his head to the side, motioning for Bauxite to move and go back to work. After Bauxite was out of the way, Rivet’s walked up to Hammer. “So, you wanted to use the bathroom, didja?”

Too afraid to speak verbally, Hammer was only able to shake his head at the question.

“Well then, if you didn’t need to use the bathroom, then just what were you doing?” Rivets asked, becoming more and more upset at the moment.

“I-I-I-I-“

“Spit it out!” Rivets yelled again, making Hammer flinch in fear.

“I-Iwasjustgettingbacktowork!” Hammer answered quickly, closing his eyes tight. He thought that the answer wouldn’t satisfy Rivets, and became even more scared at what would come. It seems his fears came to fruition though, as he felt like a brick had just smacked him across the snout, making him fall to the ground.

“You honestly think I would believe that?! Get up!” Rivets yelled as he waited for Hammer to stand back up. When he didn’t, Rivets kicked Hammer in the stomach hard. “I said get up you coward!” He yelled again as he continued to kick Hammer in the stomach as hard as he could.

After multiple blows to the stomach, along with some kicks to the face and side resulting in some cuts, Hammer had begun to cough up blood. He seemed to have been saved though, when a royal guard had come into the factory looking for Rivets. “Foreman Rivets?” The guard called out, ignoring the brutal attack that was occurring on the ground.

“Yeah?!” Rivets responded, getting one final kick in before turning around to face the guard. “What is it?!”

“Lord Yerik is here to see you. He’s currently waiting in your office.”

At the mention of the baron’s name, Rivets calmed down. “Oh, I see. Very well, I’ll be on my way then.” He told the guard, before turning back around to Bauxite and Alkali. “Clean up this mess-“ He said, pointing at Hammer. “I don’t want to see a single drop of blood when I get back, otherwise you two will have the same fate. Got that?” They both nodded furiously. “Good.”

As Rivets turned back to the guard and began to walk to his office, Bauxite and Alkali rushed over to Hammer and began to help him up. “What in Tartarus were you thinking Hammer?! If that guard hadn’t come, you would’ve ended up getting killed!”

“Now’s not the time Bauxite, we need to focus on helping him up.” Alkali told his friend in a calm voice.

“Then when will be the time Al?! If he doesn’t learn now he’ll end up dead!”

“Let me go.” Hammer quietly said, coughing up some blood as he tried to stand straight. After taking such a beating, the earth pony began to wobble back and forth. The earth ponies next to him would catch him at the last moment when he began to fall, but that didn’t stop him from being able to go back to the table.

“What do you think he should do?” Alkali asked as he looked at Bauxite with worried eyes. “There’s no way he can work in this condition, but if he tries to leave he’ll end up even worse!”

“I know, alright! Celestia damnit!” Bauxite yelled out in frustration as he slammed his hoof into the ground. “Jus-Just give me a minute to think, will ya?”

“We might not have a minute. For all we know Rivets could be back any second!”

As the two continued to argue for the sake of their friend and fellow co-worker, the two ponies seemed to have not noticed that despite wobbling, Hammer was able to slip out factory unnoticed. His goal, to protect his wife from any threat that would come.

As Foreman Rivets entered the office, he saw sitting in his chair, a jet-black unicorn with a golden mane and tail. His Cutie Mark was of a two-headed eagle, each head looking in separate directions. “Y-You called for me sir?” Rivets asked in a scared voice, afraid of the pony in the chair.

Baron Yerik smiled and nodded. “It’s been a while Rivets. I am to assume that you’ve kept the peasants in line?”

“O-Of course sir! I’ve keeping them in line just you’ve told me!”

“Really now…” The smile on the unicorn’s face quickly turn into a scowl. “Then perhaps you can tell me, just why the hell one of your workers seemed to try going to Canterlot!” He exclaimed, pounding the desk as he ended the sentence.

“I-I-I h-have no idea what you mean sir!”

Letting out a snort, the unicorn leaned back in the chair. “Of course you don’t… One week ago, one of your workers by the name of Iron Bolts tried taking a train to Canterlot to seek help from the Princesses. My men were able to intercept him before he got on, and were able to take him back to my mansion for some… fun.”

Taking a large gulp, Rivets replied. “I-I-Is that right? W-Well, I-I’ll make sure that nopony here tries anything like that again sir.”

“You better… You are dismissed Rivets.”

“Very good sir.” Rivets said as he bowed to the Baron before turning around and beginning to walk out. He was stopped though, as the Baron called out for him.

“One more thing Rivets.”

Rivets turned around slowly, trying to remain as calm as possible. “Y-Yes sir?”

“I just seemed to remember that this morning my son was complaining to me about how he’s grown tired of his latest ‘meal’, and wishes to go out and hunt for some more ‘meat’. Trouble is, he can’t seem to find any mares succulent enough for him to feast upon. You wouldn’t have suggestions now, would you?”

Hammer had finally made it to the path leading to his house in the woods. Still bleeding a bit, the teal pony began to walk towards his home ever so slowly. Unaware that he was being monitored by multiple sets of eyes, including a single set that hadn’t moved since it first laid on the ground.

Seeing his house in sight, the pony began to trot a little faster, praying to Celestia that nothing had happened to his wife. As he got closer and closer, the pony had suddenly stopped, as three large black beings covered in fur jumped out of the woods in front of him, having smelled the blood that had come out of his wounds. The wolves began to circle him, making it impossible for him to escape.

The pony tried his best to look intimidating to the beasts, but it did no good. The first wolf lunged at Hammer and pinned him down to the ground, biting wildly at him. With a burst of adrenaline, Hammer was able to keep the beast at bay, its jaw just millimeters away from his throat. Thoughts of his wife and the time he spent with her began to fill Hammer’s head.

Suddenly, Hammer and the beasts heard a loud crack fill the air, and almost two seconds later, the beast that had just been biting away rolled off him, yelping in pain. With another crack, the beast was silenced as a small hole found itself in the beast’s jaw.

Not sure where the cracks were coming from, the remaining two beasts turned their heads in every direction possible. With one more crack, a second wolf fell, another hole found in its head and blood began to pour out. The final wolf, now realizing that the cracks meant death, began to run back into the woods, but not before another crack filled the air, and a sharp pain hit the side of the beast. The wolf would later bleed to death deep within the woods.

Laying on the ground and not exactly sure what had just occurred, Hammer was pleased that somepony, or perhaps something had come to his rescue. Too exhausted to get back up, Hammer continued to gaze up in the sky, watching the clouds slowly roll by. Shockingly, a new figure fell into his range of sight. Not recognizing what it was or what it looked like thanks to the sun beating down on the two of them, Hammer began to panic. His adrenaline gone, and with extra blood pouring out his wounds, he had become too weak to move. He closed his eyes tight, waiting for the final moment to come. That moment however, did not come.

“Ti v poradke?”

And that’s chapter 1, hope you guys enjoyed it. For those who are wondering, yes, this is pretty much going to be the polar opposite of ‘Into A New World’. Rather than being comical and happy and all that, this story is going to focus more on tragedy and suffering and such. The reason why I don’t have the gore tag up is because of the fact that I don’t think I’m going to be very descriptive when the ‘gory’ scenes come, which will mostly be battles and one scene that I had talked about earlier in a blog, so... yeah. Anyways, until next time.