Dominic stood in his boxers and white under shirt, in his hand was a plate that was piled high with chocolate chip pancakes. He walked to the living room and plopped down on the large leather couch. The remote grasped in his free hand he began to flip through the channels, he sighed as he saw commercial after commercial.

“Hundreds of channels and nothing but shit.” He sighed, finally the remote clicked onto the news. Fox 31 was covering a story about his town which interested him, considering that his town had nothing of interest save for the blue ribbon school that he attended. He turned up the volume while taking a bite from one of his pancakes, what he saw rocked him to his core.

“.....And it appears that this latest outbreak of the Pestilentia Immortuorum Virus has struck the small town of Evergreen. Though most outbreaks have been contained this one appears to be getting out of control.” A newscaster commented from the parking lot of the Shell gas station, Dominic saw people in the background running from others that seemed to be shambling or sprinting in inhuman ways. Dominic was a paranoid young man, everything was the end of the world to him. The Fukushima disaster in Japan had pushed him over the edge and on that day he had begun stockpiling survival equipment. His obsession with all things radioactive had not helped either, his teachers seemed to think he would be a good candidate for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Dominic set down his plate and sprinted to his room, he popped the lid to an old Civil Defense barrel he used as a bed stand.

Inside he found his ‘Bug Out’ gear, his long leather jacket with its iconic Twilight Sparkle cutie mark patch on the shoulder, his black combat boots, his knee and shin guards, black bandanna and his personal favorite an old M1 steel pot helmet that his grandfather had given him in his will. It had been a while since he had pulled these things out of storage, they still smelled brand new save for the helmet. Dominic pulled a pair of socks on his feet before sliding his jeans on, as he did this the phone rang. He picked it up and put it on speaker.

“Dad?” He said as he pulled the first boot on. “Little busy.”

“Dom, I take it you saw the news. Listen very carefully, your mom and Joanna are safe at the lifecare. Get whatever you need to get and be ready to go when I get there.” His father's voice came through phone, Dominic double knotted the lace of his boot before speaking.

“What’s your ETA?” He asked as he slid the other boot on, he looked around his room for anything else he could use. Geiger counters would be useless unless the government decided to drop the bomb in which case he would have bigger problems, gas mask’s though tempting would only bring down his endurance. From what he had read, Pestilentia Immortuorum Virus wasn’t airborne so the masks would also stay behind. One thing that should have been there was his backpack, loaded with his compass, map, utility knife and other assorted supplies. He had no time to dwell on that however.

“I’ll be there in around twenty minutes.” His father replied. “Be careful son.” The phone hung up and Dominic double knotted his other boot, he then fastened the knee and shin guards. Then he through on one of his many olive T-Shirts. With everything else on he put on his jacket and helmet, as he walked out of his room he put on his bandanna in case one of the infected got blood on his face. In the living room the Emergency Broadcast System had replaced the news, Dominic picked up one of the pancakes he had set down and ate it. His attention then shifted to the garage where the family sports equipment was, he walked to the door that lead to the garage and opened it. Inside sat his emergency weapon, he had taken a name from Fallout 3 and dubbed it, Excalibat. Picking up the aluminum bat he gave it a few practice swings before taking it out of the garage and closing the door.

Dominic heard the sound of gunfire in the distance, sirens blared from all over the small town. A shrill shriek filled the air outside, Dominic peered out the window and saw one of the infected chasing a young child. Dominic rushed to the door and threw it open.

“HEY! UGLY FUCK! OVER HERE!” He shouted, then he realised just how stupid what he had just done had been. The Infected snapped its head in his direction, then it let out a loud howl of primal rage. It broke into a dead sprint. Dominic readied Excalibat and when the Infected was within striking distance he let his weapon fly, the resulting impact created a loud *CRACKSSH* as the bat connected with its target’s head. The Infected fell to the ground with a massive chunk of its head missing, blood spatter covered Dominic. The semi-warm liquid was now all over him, he didn’t know what to say. He felt a rush of adrenaline rush over him and he was ready to charge out and take on the entire horde himself but a dull ache started to radiated from the back of his head, his world began to spin and he began to hear whispers in his ears. The pain began to grow as the unintelligible whispers grew louder, he collapsed to his knees and his bat rolled to the side. His hands clutched his head, it felt like it was going to explode in the same way the infected’s had. Then the lights went out....

“Tia, It is awakening.” A regal voice pierced the feeling of darkness.

“Good, now make sure that the doors and windows are locked. We don’t want him to get out of here.”

That last sentance sent shivers down Dominic’s spine, much more important however was that there were people talking. There shouldn’t be any people around him, there should only be him, waking up in his bed, with no one but himself. He had a hell of a dream, he hadn’t dreamed of ponies in months. The strangest part was how real it felt, there wasn’t any fuzziness to his vision during the ordeal, it was crystal clear. The air smelled sweet yet sterile, the floor was solid under his feet. He groaned as he moved the blankets he was covered in to- Blankets? He didn’t need no stinking blankets. He didn’t have any in his stronghold, just his lumpy mattress. The bed he was in was softer than a cloud, the blankets were warm. It felt alien to him, he felt a wave of nervousness wash over him.

With every ounce of strength and willpower he shot his eyes open, they were met by a high ceiling. It had an eight pointed star painted upon it, it was surrounded by clouds and rainbows. It immediately reminded him of the large building that he and his dad had gone to to pick up the license plates for his truck only lacking the very stoic assholes from the DMV. Had someone found him and taken care of him? It seemed so odd, most people would have slit his throat while he was unconscious and taken his things.

“Wha...where am I?” Dominic asked in a weak voice, he heard footsteps around him. He didn’t have the energy or the pain tolerance to move his head to either side.

“You are in my bedchambers, you were hurt rather severly before you came here.” A warm motherly voice replied, Dominic felt a smile cross his face. Something about that voice, it just seemed so familiar, so calming. It made him feel something he hadn’t felt in years, it made him feel....safe.

“How long have I been out?” Dominic asked, still not moving his head.

“A week or so, the impact to your head was quite severe.” Another voice chimed in, though less motherly it held an air of regality to it. Like it came from a woman in charge of her life. “While you were unconcious we noticed you were having some rather, fearful dreams.”

“Who hasn’t lately? Are you going to tell me that the Apocalypse hasn’t given you some nightmares?” Dominic asked, still staring at the ceiling. He was currently counting the clouds, he had counted 37 before the whole act of counting got old and he stopped. He noticed that the two voices had stopped talking. “Was it something I said?” He asked, he finally had the strength to turn his head. When he did he was staring at two very shocked Alicorns, this in turn made him roll out of the bed and get into a defensive stance. “What this fuck is this! You aren’t real! You’re just me still being druged!” His stance faltered as he felt a wave of pain wash over him. “FUCK!” He collapsed onto one knee which in turn made him groan from the impact on the cold marble floor. He noticed he was only in his undershirt, his boxars and his socks. All of which were surprisingly clean.

“Please, be careful.” Finally the white Alicorn, Celestia if he remembered correctly, broke the silence. “You could rip the stitches.” She seemed slightly shaken by something, she started to approach him but he pushed himself away.

“D-Don’t touch me! You’re a....a cartoon! You’re a creation of graphite and pastels! I won’t believe you’re real! SO JUST GET AWAY!” Dominic kept sliding away, he pulled himself back to his feet. Celestia raised an Eyebrow, he still didn’t believe he was really here. Almost like reading her mind, Luna stepped forwards.

“If we art nothing but fictitious creations, explain to us the pain in thine head.” She said with a smile, she had this creature on the ropes. “Being the Princess of the night and dreams, we can most certainly tell thou art not dreaming.” Dominic opened his mouth to retort but in truth he had nothing, he had never in all his 18 years of life had he felt pain during a dream. Pleasure definitely, but pain? No, never. Luna smiled when she saw him close his mouth, it was replaced as she watched Dominic scan the room. His eyes fell on a candelabrum, he lunged at it and grabbed it with both hands. It would have been comical if it weren’t for the look of sheer terror plastered on Dominic’s face.

“S-S-Stay back, tell me where I really am!” Dominic shouted, his eyes were scanning the room. “A-And h-how did my clothes get clean?!”

“First of all, you are in Canterlot, in the kingdom of Equestria. Secondly, we washed them and you. You smelled fairly unpleasant as well.”

“You what!? You took my clothes and washed me while I was unconscious!” Dominic shouted even louder, it was starting to rival the Royal Canterlot Voice. “What exactly did you see!”

“Well we determined that you were a male, quite a male.” Celestia said casually, Dominic’s hand hit his forehead with such force the resounding smack caused both princesses to wonder how he had survived the impact. “We saw that many of your muscles are similar to ours, and then there was the rather strange scars.”

“Shit, shit shit. Why did you redress me, you don’t seem to upset that you’re naked!” Luna stepped forwards for this question.

“You are mostly hairless, it would be understandable that the clothes kept you warm.” She said plainly, Dominic looked around and found his clothes sitting on a desk in the middle of the room. He cautiosly walked over still holding his makeshift weapon and keepign his eyes on the Princesses. He quickly redressed, from his boots to his Helmet and Bandanna. But things were missing, his backpack, bandoliers, shotgun and revolver all were missing.

“Where are my guns, my ammo, my backpack, my bandoliers!?” Dominic asked as he eyed the Princesses with narrowed eyes. “If you scratched my benelli I’ll...”

“We cannot have a dangerous creature running about with powerful weapons of unknown power can we?” Celestia interrupted. “So, tell us about you and you will receive your belongings.” Luna snapped her head to look at Celestia.

Tia! You would give this creature his weapons! He tried to harm several medical staff! Luna thought to her sister through the telepathic link they shared.

For all we know his weapons could be a part of his culture, and judging by the looks of them they are more than likely clubs than anything else. The only thing I saw of Interest was the bloodied kitchen knife on the end of the large one. Replied Celestia, it was at this point they noticed Dominic looking at them with a raised eyebrow and his candlestick weapon.

“What do you want to know?” He asked warily, Celestia looked at him for a moment. So many questions, what to ask first was difficult to chose but she chose an easy one. She wanted to test this creature before her.

“What are you called?” She asked.

“My name is Dominic. I am a human.” Dominic stated, this was very similar to a fan fic he had read. He could barely believe that the story was accurate. There were many questions that followed the first that are not worth mentioning. The questions flowed comfortably for several minutes until Celestia ask the one of the big questions on her mind, at this point Dominic had lowered his weapon.

“Dominic, you mentioned the apocalypse. What did you mean by that.” Celestia seemed to strike a nerve with that question.

“Pestilentia Immortuorum.” Dominic replied with a hatefilled tone, she had never seen that look of hatred on the human before but she knew it must have been something terrible. “Litterally translated it means something like, the plague of the Undead.” Celestia had heard of necromancy but never had she heard of a plague, she suddenly feared that she had exposed her and her ponies to a disease. “I know what you're thinking, and I don’t have it. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here, this disease is spread by the bite of the Infected. You get bit you maybe have a minute to chop off your bitten limb or just off yourself.”

Dominic slammed his bat into one of the Infected, he was pulling it out of the creatures ruined skull when he heard the sound of his fathers truck pulling up. Dominic grabbed what he needed and ran through the horde, leaving a trail of bloodied corpses in his wake.

“The symptoms for the first patients came slowly, nausea, heartburn, indigestion. Running noses, cough and fever were also pretty common.” Dominic continued. “Then the skin would turn grey or completely white, the eyes would become clouded with cataracts. In the final stages, the heart stopped beating if only for a minute. When it came back, the person was gone and all that remained was a mindless creature that’s sole purpose was to make your life as miserable as humanly possible.”

”DOMINIC! WHAT WERE YOU DOING!” His father shouted, Dominic didn’t answer and just climbed into the back of the truck. As he did he felt one of the infected tug at his leg, instinctively he slammed his bat down on the creatures head.

“Th-Thats horrible!” Luna and Celestia cried out at the same time.

“It gets worse, the disease didn’t just target a specific age group. It targeted the old, the young. Men, women.....children.”

Dominic looked at the now bloodied and destroyed body of the very girl he had rushed out to save, his heart wrenched and he felt tears form in his eyes.

“I-I’m Sorry.”

On that note, Celestia sighed. “It is late,” she said noting that the moon had risen thanks to Luna. “We can continue tomorrow, please follow my sister to the quarters we’ve set up for you.” Luna got up and as did Dominic, they walked to the door and Luna’s horn glowed. It opened with a creak, the two of them began walking. Guards stiffened at the sight of the masked biped, the staff made sure to stand clear of him. They had heard about what had happened in the infirmary. It was because of this that the walk was mostly silent, occasionally Princess Luna would ask him something about his world but it was mainly quiet.

Luna could see that there was a frown underneath his mask fairly well, her wing unfurled and she draped it over his shoulders. To Dominic it felt nice, but strange. “What are you doing?”

“We are trying to comfort you, we speak from experience on how loneliness can be hard on one’s soul.” Luna replied, the rest of the walk was silent, they reached the door to the room that Dominic would be staying in.”Here we are, is there anything we can give you that would make you more comfortable.”

“I....It would be nice to have some company.” Dominic replied, Luna looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Not like that. Just someone to talk to.” Luna smiled and nodded.

“We think we can help thee.”

Author's Notes:

Yeah, I don't think this is my best work but I didn't wanna keep you waiting to long. Again first time writing an HiE where it isn't several months after the humans arrival. If anyone has pointers they would be much appreciated.