Author's Notes:

Wow! Two in under a day!

Was going through my old files and came across this, retooled it to fit the current storyline and I give it to you as a late present! Also, if you have any questions about the story in general, leave 'em in the comments! I like answering questions!

See ya later!

Hearths Warming Eve...

Dominic stared out the window as he had done for the past month or so, the snow fell quietly in the night. He looked down at the city that bustled with activity on this night, rubbing his stubbly chin. There were families rushing about, going to places only they knew. Despite the distance, he could see foals running around their parents, staring at everything as if it was some sort of wonder. It took him a moment to realize that a tear was rolling down his cheek, it was quickly wiped away.

The lights in his room gave it a sort of warmth, illuminating the table where his weapons sat. Disassembled in the process of being cleaned. His jacket and helmet sat on the bed, laid haphazardly like a teenager would leave dirty clothes. The bookshelf was new, it had works of the world translated into English by his now friend, Twilight Sparkle. She had learned the language better than he had, it was scary to him how fast she learned. Of course, there were other new things that were far less happy. The pile of newspapers that slammed him as a dissident and a monster sat next to his new fireplace, ready to be burned at a moments notice.

He had yet to get a haircut, no barber in the country would entertain the idea of cutting his hair and he refused to have a stylist. Stylists talked about how wonderful he would look when it was over, barbers talked about current events and debatable subjects. That problem was negotiable though, he could cut his own hair if worst came to worst. Dominic stepped away from the window and over to the latest edition of decor to his room, a christmas tree. It was skimpy, and the needles were falling whenever someone closed a door, but it was a christmas tree nonetheless. He had used his bandoleers as garland, and spent shotgun shells as ornaments, rather than a star he had an empty bean can from his food reserve.

“Perfect…” He said with a ghost of a smile, his attention was brought back to the window as a bright flash of light illuminated the outside. He rushed over and saw strobing indigo light from a familiar tower in the distance. “Oh fuck! Luna!” He rushed to the table and hastily reassembled his shotgun, thankfully he hadn’t started cleaning it yet. He then ran to the tree and grabbed several shells of buckshot. He loaded them into his benelli and charged at the door, only to find it locked from the outside. “WHAT THE FUCK! LET ME OUT!”

“We’re under orders from the princess to keep you in there!” Shouted the guards from the other side.

“LIKE HELL YOU ARE!” Dominic roared, he delivered a kick to the door. His combat boot jarred it outwards a bit. “OPEN!” He kicked it again. “THIS!” A third time. “DOOR!” With all his might, the door burst outwards. The guards went sprawling out on the floor and a bloodthirsty Dominic rushed out into the hall. “I’ll deal with you later!” He shouted at the guards, rushing towards Luna’s room. At first he had been lost, but now he knew every path to her room. Often times he would discuss things about his future, and face the demons of his past. For that, Luna had also become a close companion of his.

Guards were blocking every path, for what reason he didn’t know, but he didn’t care. Luna could be hurt, and if she was he would do everything within his power to bring a reckoning upon who ever harmed her. He took an alternate route as several guards built a phalanx, bobbing and weaving around as many of the golden clad soldiers as possible. He was surprised there were so many, shouldn’t they have gone home to be with their families? Dominic took a right down another hallway, this time he stopped running. Standing in front of him were no guards, only a single pony.

Celestia didn’t glare at him as he had expected, she just held up a hoof and opened her mouth to speak.

“Dominic, calm down. Luna is fine, trust me…” Dominic shouldered his shotgun.

“I trust you about as far as I can throw you, bitch.” He growled, Celestia looked hurt by the comment. “Move. Now.”

“No, Dominic. Luna has told me not to let you pass, she’s going to-.” The solar diarch was cut off when Dominic flipped the safety off.

“I will lay you out, Celestia. Don’t think I won’t.” Celestia looked genuinely frightened.

“Fine… Fine…” She said, backing up a bit. “You can go see her, but if you do I’ll come with you.” Dominic flipped the safety back on and lowered his weapon.

“Deal.” He muttered, running past her without waiting for her to follow. The mare had trouble keeping up with the sprinting human, she was surprised by how fast he was with only two legs. Dominic turned down the final hallway, skidding slightly on the polished floor. His eyes were set on Luna’s door, nothing else mattered at that point. The young man slid to a stop just short of the large wooden barrier. He could hear pained grunting inside, and flashes of light were vissible through the crack under the door. He tried pushing his way in, the door didn’t budge. He tried kicking it, but the door didn’t budge. Dominic shouldered his shotgun and took aim at the hinges of the door.

“Dominic wait! I’ll unlock it!” Celestia called from behind him, the door was encompassed in a golden glow. When the glow subsided, Dominic reared back and booted the door open. It swung fast on its hinges, banging against the wall inside. He rushed in, prepared to kill anyone he had to. To his confusion, it was only Luna and Twilight. They looked at him with wide eyes, noting the shotgun before anything else.

“What…?” Dominic stammered, looking at the two alicorns with a dumb expression. “What the fuck?” He slowly walked forwards, his shotgun hanging loose on its strap. Luna was the first to recover from the shock, she watched the human slowly make his way to her. She and Twilight were sitting at the table, two small wrapped objects sat in front of them. One was a square, while the other was a flat triangle. Dominic stared at the packages for several minutes, Luna, Twilight and Celestia sat down in front of him.

“Merry Christmas, Dominic.” Luna finally said, Dominic sniffed for a moment. The princesses could see his eyes watering. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. “Go ahead, Dominic. Open them.” The young man picked up the square package first, he looked at the tag. It was written in very poor english.

To: Dominic
From: Your friend, Twilight

He ripped the wrapping paper off, leaving a white box. Dominic looked at Twilight, she nodded and he gripped the lid. He lifted it off and placed it aside,a few tears rolled down his cheeks as he reached into the box and pulled a cap from within. It was an olive drab utility cap, a globe and anchor were embroidered on the front.

“H-How…?” He stammered, looking at the cap in disbelief.

“Remea and Luna told me about how you wanted to enlist in the Marine Corps, but couldn’t. I made a few adjustments to the spell that brought you here, and was able to pull this through. That’s what caused all the flashes that I’m sure you saw, otherwise you wouldn’t have come with such speed. It was actually-” Twilight was cut off as Dominic wrapped his arms around her in a crushing hug, she returned the gesture as best she could. When Dominic pulled away, tears were streaming down his face. “D-Did I do something wrong?” Twilight asked momentarily worried.

“N-No! No no no no no!” Dominic replied. “I just… Wow… Thank you, so much Twi. It’s perfect.” He used his shirt to wipe his face. “You didn’t have to do this…” He hugged Twilight again before turning to Luna. She smiled and pushed her gift towards him, Dominic looked at her for a moment and then eyed the triangle shaped package. It was an eerily familiar shape, he squeezed it and felt cloth within. “Luna, don’t tell me…”

“Just open it, Dominic.” Luna said, smiling even wider. Dominic began to unwrap the package, Celestia watched with great interest. She hardly knew him compared to her sister and her student, what she was seeing was completely alien to her.

“Luna if you…” Dominic froze as his eyes fell upon part of the gift. A white star, sewn into a blue background. “Luna…” He opened the gift fully. “Luna… This is…” He held up a flag, it had thirteen stripes and fifty stars. It was crisp and clean, red, white and blue. A small tag slipped out of the package and onto the table. It read Proudly made in the USA. “Luna… This is m-my flag… This is…” He placed the flag back on the table with as much care as he could. His hands were trembling, fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. He grabbed the Lunar princess in a hug ten times as strong as the one administered to Twilight. “My flag…” He cried tears of joy, Luna returned the hug, soon they were joined by Twilight. Celestia looked at the flag for a moment, it had an odd look to it. One that made it seem unique.

“Celestia…” She was snapped from her gaze by Dominic’s voice. “In the first world war, Christmas brought peace to the soldiers on the front lines. For a few days, there were no enemies, only men sharing a holiday far from home.” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I don’t forgive you for what you did, Celestia. But, for one day, I’m willing to forget.” The young man gestured for her to join the group hug, the solar princess smiled slightly. She used her magic to close the door to the room, shutting out any unwanted visitors before she trotted over to the group. She joined the hug, and they all stared out the window as the snow fell. Not a sound could be heard for the first few minutes, but a soft humming broke the silence. Twilight felt a rush of deja vu.

“Dominic, does that song have any lyrics…?” She asked, Dominic nodded. “Can you sing for us?” He cleared his throat.

“Silent night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin, mother and child. Holy infant so tender and mild.” Dominic’s baritone voice instilled a strange sort of calm as the group broke the embrace. “Sleep in heavenly peace… Sleep in heavenly peace…”