Chipped Blade yelled loudly as he slashed his sword through the gut of an enemy changeling, green blood soaked his fatigues and he could tell that the liquid would be staining his fur as well. He had moved to the left flank with his spellbow in hand, but as the changeling forces had tried to close in rapidly he’d been forced to charge straight into the fray. His heart was pumping at an alarming rate, he could practically feel everything around him. Every sword slash, every magical blast, each cry of pain, it all drove him back to the day his world had been shattered.

There was no remorse in any of the slaughter, he wanted every single Changeling to suffer the pain of his blade. As it stood he was out in the open, panting and slashing at any changeling that dared get close to him. The clouds were thundering overhead but the rain had yet to start falling, perhaps it was waiting to unleash its torrents after the battle had concluded, but only time would tell.

Two changelings charged Chipped at once from opposite sides, with their swords pointed and ready to impale him. The stallion readied his sabre, which was nearly dull after so much use, and watched them charge. He readied himself, at the last second he flapped his wings and took to the air. One changeling ran into the other, impaling his comrade on his sword. Before he had time to react Chipped had dropped from the air and skewered the remaining changeling’s skull to the ground.

Chipped stood there panting as he looked around him, the changelings were backing away with great speed. He picked up one of the swords that had been dropped by the changelings and twirled it, flicks of blood flew from the blade and stained the remaining foes armor. The thestral could taste the changeling blood in his mouth, there was so much of it around, it was hard not to be exposed to it. Chipped had never felt so angry before, nor had he ever felt a thirst for blood as he did now. Occasionally he’d tear into a rare bit of meat when he could, but never to such an extreme that he wanted to rend his foes to ribbons.

Chipped glared at one changeling in particular, there were four or five of them that were backing away from him in a circle. His eyes shrank to pin pricks as the twirling of the sword became faster and faster, before he knew what was happening he’d launched himself forwards at his target, teeth bared. The sword connected first, punching through the armor and shredding the changeling’s insides like wet tissue paper. If that wasn’t enough to kill him, and it was, Chipped felt his canines sink deep into the changeling’s neck. With great force he closed his mouth and tore the flesh away, resulting in a fountain spray of green blood.

After a few seconds Chipped spat the flesh from his lips and looked around at the remaining changelings, they were scrambling away after watching their comrade ripped open like a blood bag. Chipped Blade’s eye twitched as he looked at all of them, the blade fell from his hoof, it would only slow him down. With lightning speed he’d lunged at the next changeling, teeth bared and letting a ferocious roar escape his throat. The changeling slashed like mad at the oncoming thestral in a vain attempt to save himself, moments later he’d been tackled by the crazed bat pony. His armor did little to protect him as Chipped Blade sank his teeth down between the plating.

“FALL BACK!” Shouted one of the changelings that had remained, his wings buzzing as he took to the air, the remaining changelings followed suit. Chipped would have none of that, after thoroughly ripping the changeling apart he opened his wings and took to the air like a demon out of hell. The neck changeling to fall was ripped from the sky and pummeled into the ground, it’s throat ripped out, and its corpse left mangled.

By this point the changelings were falling back in droves, partially due to the actions of Chipped Blade, but mostly because they were being torn apart by sustained chemical and molotov bombardment. Chipped Blade roared into the sky as he watched the changelings begin fleeing, behind him he heard hooves and a mighty yell as the American army charged out of its trenches in pursuit of the enemy.

Chipped Took of flying faster than he’d ever flown before, zeroing in on a changeling that was lagging behind with a wound in its side. The thestral could smell the blood, he could practically taste it. The blood soaking his fur began flicking away in the breeze as he moved even faster and faster. The changeling looked over his shoulder at the oncoming enemy, panic rising in his heart as he recognized the green liquid and the bloodthirsty look. His wings buzzed faster and faster but the thestral drew ever closer, he had no recourse but to scream as loud as he could, hoping that his comrades would come to his aid.

Chipped Blade extended his hooves to their full length before snatching the changeling in a crushing grip and baring down on his neck. All the while the changeling shrieked in pain and horror, Chipped was so absorbed by the act that he had no time to recognize the sound of a spell bow. Moments later he was on the ground, wheezing as his body ached and spasmed.

“Secure him tightly! Move! Move! Move!” Shouted the familiar voice of Rolling Thunder, Chipped had just enough time to look up at the stallion as two other Americans hogtied the sniper. “Keep going after them, I’ll deal with him.” The others nodded and rushed off after the fleeing enemy, Chipped Blade stared at Rolling Thunder with wide angry eyes, the older stallion just shook his head slowly. “Son… You might not think it now, but you’re gonna thank me for this.” The stallion readied his spellbow with a blue crystal and shot Chipped in the stomach, stunning the thestral into unconsciousness.

[♦]

”Dominic…” A voice called out through the milky whiteness that surrounded the young man, he was standing alone on a plane that seemed to stretch into an infinite white abyss. Dominic looked around for the source of the calling voice, his hand reaching for his holster. There was no revolver to be found. “Dominic Occisor… The man! The legend!” The source of the voice was right next to him now, he backed up and turned to look.

“John De Lancie?” Dominic asked in disbelief, there in his full glory was the King of Chaos himself. Dressed in a smart business suit with a pin on the collar that Dominic recognized from the Warhammer series, the figure of De Lancie was standing in a lax position with his hands in his pockets.

“Not quite.” Moments later the human figure shifted to that of a more familiar creature, a creature by the name of discord, still adorned in the suit which had stretched and changed to accommodate its new occupant. Dominic blinked for a few moments and began backing away, not really trusting the ‘former’ villain yet.

“Discord?” Dominic asked, just trying to confirm what he was seeing.

“In the flesh.” Discord replied, in the background Dominic could hear Pink Floyd playing. The song, of course, was ‘In the flesh’. The god of chaos snapped his fingers and a pair of chairs appeared facing each other, one was high backed and made of stone. Discord promptly took that one for himself, leaving the other for Dominic. The chair was leather with brass rivets in the front, it looked oddly familiar. “Have a seat, I wanted to have chat with my latest rookie of the year.”

Dominic slowly sat in the seat and reached up to his face, pulling down the black bandanna he still wore. He was oddly calm about all of this, but perhaps it was just because he was used to crazy shit happening lately.

“It was a toss up between you, that sniper lady, and a teenage colt in Canterlot that published pictures of his teacher having an affair with his mom.” Discord said with a wave of his hand, another snap and a wooden box appeared in front of Dominic. “Have a cigar, they’re Cuban.” Dominic raised an eyebrow at the box, then looked at Discord. “I stole them from Castro’s office, that’s how Cuban they are!”

Dominic reached out and took a cigar, Discord’s eyes widened and there was another snap of the finger. The cigar exploded in Dominic’s hand, leaving him surprisingly unscathed.

“The fuck!?” Dominic yelled.

“The CIA…” Discord said simply, Dominic paused in thought as he recalled how the CIA had tried to assassinate Castro with a cigar. He took another one, when it didn’t explode he put it to his lips and bit the cap off, then reached into his jacket for a book of matches. “Allow me.” Another snap and the cigar was lit. “It’s the least I could do for my new favorite person in the world!” Again, Dominic was silent, unsure of what to say. “You know, you’re not very talkative.”

“I’ll let you know when I have something to say, I’m just taking this all in right now.” Dominic replied as he puffed on the cigar, it was just as great as he’d imagined it to be. Discord hummed and shrugged as he leaned back in his seat.

“Anyway, you’re probably wondering why you’re here, eh?” Discord asked, there was another nod. “It’s quite simple, really. I want to congratulate you for all the chaos you’ve brought to this world, and on top of it, you haven’t been turned to stone!” Discord pressed a button on his chair and applause echoed through the background. “I’ve never had this much time to spend to myself, I’ve been taking a vacation across the multiverse and I haven’t gotten one call from work!”

“Uh huh…” Dominic said simply, Discord let out a slow chuckle.

“You see, my job is quite difficult lately. So many rules and regulations these days makes it hard for me to fill my quota of chaos. Believe it or not I have a quota, it’s so the proper amount of progression can happen in this timeline.” Discord explained as he floated himself a cigar and lit it with his thumb, he puffed on it and exhaled before going on. “You’ve filled my quota three times so far, nearly four, I’m set for the next thousand years at least.”

“Riiight.” Dominic mumbled again, looking around slowly. “So, other than congratulations, why am I here?” Discord hummed and snapped his fingers, a scroll of paper appearing in front of him as he cleared his throat.

“For giving me a right good amount of vacation time, I’m giving you a reward. A couple actually, since you filled a couple quotas.” Discord explained as he looked over the paper, crumpled it up, and ate it. “Reward number one!” Discord snapped his fingers, Dominic felt his body tingling as his jacket stitched itself back together, the slashes and cuts fading as the leather went back to a near pristine shine.

“The fuck…? I thought… And… What?” Dominic stammered as he looked down at himself, patting down his jacket in surprise.

“Oh, right, magic doesn’t normally work on you… Well it does, in a way, but I won’t spoil the surprise!” Discord clapped his claws together for a moment before relaxing in his chair. “Relax, friendo. Reward number two is one you get to choose.” Dominic opened his mouth to speak. “I can’t bring people back from the dead. It gets weird very fast, and that’s coming from me.”

“So… Seeing Maria again…?” Dominic asked rehtorrically, Discord shook his head. “Is that a ‘No, out of the question.’ shake of the head?” Another shake of the head nearly made Dominic jump out of his seat. “You mean she’s…!? But, how!?”

“Well, as it turns out, gunshots are very loud. Loud enough to get the attention of a passing National Guard Convoy.” Discord said in a matter of fact tone, Dominic felt tears welling up in his eyes as he heard those words. “Not to say that was for the best though…”

“Why?” Dominic asked, his voice catching in his throat. Discord frowned and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Look, you don’t want to know… It’s just gonna make you all depressed, well, more depressed than usual.” Discord explained, Dominic stood up and glared deeply into Discord’s eyes. The chaos god stared back for a few moments, then shuddered as if he’d had ice poured down his back. “Wow… Fluttershy has nothing on you. Okay… Fine…” Discord snapped his fingers and an image appeared in the air like a holographic projection.

There stood Maria, looking sadder than Dominic had ever seen her from the top of a large concrete structure. It almost reminded Dominic of the top of Pikes Peak back in Colorado, the view at least, he remembered going there as a child and looking in the direction of his home town. Maria had never looked so sad, her long hair had been shaved down to a shadow of its former self, there was a scare over her eye and she wore blood stained army fatigues.

“She’s been waiting for you for three years.” Discord said in a neutral tone, Dominic gulped down the lump in his throat as he walked towards the image. He could feel himself hyperventilating and pain was shooting through his chest, he clutched at his heart as he steadied himself on Discord’s chair. “She takes every mission to your town she can, but they always get cancelled. They’ve all but given up on looking for you, in fact, one of the humans in Equestria was on the same task when she came here.”

“How many rewards do I have left…?” Dominic asked, barely choking the words out. Discord remained silent. “How many?!”

“One.” Discord said in a solemn tone. “Bringing her here will be a bad idea, for reasons beyond your current understanding!” Dominic turned on his heel and looked at Discord with the same dead expression. “Don’t you understand what could happen? Luna would have a conniption!”

“Why?!” Dominic yelled, Discord face clawed and snapped his fingers again. The image shifted to one of Luna cozying up next to Dominic with a content smile, putting a wing over him, almost nuzzling him.

“Are you blind or just stupid?” Discord asked, Dominic stared, dumbfounded beyond belief. He slowly sat down on the ground and clutched his gut.

“Oh man… I don’t feel so good…” He said in a shaky voice. “This is all so… So… I… Why am I not freaking out more…?” He asked, looking at Discord nervously. “Is it bad that I feel sick after seeing this? I mean, I like Luna a lot, I’d never be made ill by this…”

“It’s the poison from the changeling arrow that you caught in the leg.” Discord replied, the image split between Maria and Luna. “But it does sort of beg the question here, doesn’t it? Which one is more important to you? Choosing one will inevitably doom the other to loneliness and grief.” All mirth was lost from Discord’s tone. “This is the part of chaos I hate…”

Dominic stared at the two images, tears streaming down his face as an internal conflict raged. For what felt like an eternity he stared at the faces, each time more and more pain crossed his mind. He cared deeply for Luna, he’d even risk saying he loved her. On the other hand, Maria had been his friend since childhood, he’d grown up with her, taken care of her, she’d taken care of him, they’d joked and watched movies, cried on each others shoulders. Luna had done that too, though not to such an extent. He’d never known that either of them cared about him in such a way for the most part.

“If I may interject here?” Discord said, sitting down on the ground next to Dominic. “There’s no one pointing a gun at your head and saying that you have to fall in love with either of them. If your heart is set on bringing your friend here, do it, bring your FRIEND here.” The man looked at the chaos god with a neutral expression. “Unfortunately, we’re running low on time… I have a feeling the poison is going to wear off and you’re going to wake up.”

Dominic stood up slowly, adjusting his jacket and looking at the sleeve of his jacket, on the shoulder was still the patch that Maria had given him all those years ago. He wiped his eyes and took a breath, then looked at Discord with the face of a man grown old before his time.

“Let me think about it...”

With that he pulled the bandanna up over his face, Discord stood up himself and adjusted his suit.

“You know, you’re an interesting case… Most people would’ve jumped at the chance for a supply of unlimited gold or a massive stockpile of weapons… You’re more concerned about other people than yourself...” Discord said with a shrug, a top hat appeared atop his head which he promptly tipped in Dominic’s direction. “I think that deserves a little something special as well.” Discord snapped his fingers once again, Dominic felt something appear on his head. He reached up and removed a blue peaked cap with gold fringe, his eyes widened at the insignia on the front.

“West Germany, seriously?”

“Gotta be a little chaotic, you know how it is.” Discord said, Dominic hesitantly put the cap on his head. “Figured you’d want something democratic.” Dominic opened his mouth to speak, but a sudden weight on his chest forced his eyes shut as he gasped loudly.

Dominic gasped loudly as he bolted up right, shocking several ponies that had been tending to his wounds. In an instant there had been a flash of light over the wounded president, and now he looked almost like a new man. The wound in his leg was still present, as was the one on his arm, but his jacket had been repaired and there was a new cap atop his head. He could feel the sandy ground beneath him, rain was starting to fall, and in the distance he could see a line of changelings with hooves raised as best they could over their heads being marched towards the POW camp.

He was still laying by the battlements of the ballista, but it seemed it had stopped firing some time ago. Shakily Dominic staggered to his feet, steadying himself on the artillery piece and looking around with wide eyes. All around him he saw fields of destruction, corpses littered the ground as the fires started by the molotovs smoldered in the rain. The pain in Dominic’s leg was quite real, but he couldn’t sit down, not yet, he had to wait and see what would happen. The man managed to stand for a few moments before falling to the ground on one knee and groaning.

“Mister President!” He heard the voice of Bulwark off behind him, moments later a pair of ponies had pulled him back onto his back and he was staring up at the sky. “What happened, sir!? Are you alright!?”

“D-Discord…” Dominic stammered as he tried to get back to his feet but fell on his face, the thestrals blinked in surprise at the name. Slowly he got back up onto his knees and looked around again. “How bad is it? How bad are we hurt?” Bulwark took a moment to realize the subject had been rapidly changed.

“We took some damage in the trenches, casualties are just about as high as predicted…” Bulwark explained, Dominic remained quiet for a few moments before removing the cap from his head and leaning back against the battlements. “The enemy casualties were higher, sir. We’ve also captured at least three quarters of their remaining force.”

“And the rest?” Dominic asked as he looked at Bulwark, the stallion paused and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Eliminated…” The stallion said, Dominic nodded slowly as he felt a wave of pain run up his leg. The man looked to the closest trench and spotted the numerous bodies that lay at the bottom, mangled together were Americans, Changeling Defectors, and enemy Changelings alike. “Air cover reports activity to the north, it’s a large force…”

“That would be the Equestrian’s…” Dominic muttered under his breath, he struggled to his feet once more and began limping towards the capitol building. “I want a casualty list… I want the names, not the serial numbers… When the Equestrian’s show up they will undoubtedly want to help us… Let them.”

“Right, sir… Might I ask where you’re going?” Bulwark said as the rain continued to fall, there was a flash of lightning as Dominic put the new cap back on his head.

“I’ve had… Call it a vision… If it is to come to pass, there’s a lot of things that need to be done…” Dominic’s tone was laced with emotion that seemed to come from somewhere deep down. “Firstly… I must ensure that a massacre of this scale NEVER happens again… The American military must become second to none if we are to survive…” The man turned and looked towards the flapping flag atop the capitol building. “Meet me in my office in three hours, General Bulwark.”

“Sir, I’m a Colonel- Oh…” Bulwark trailed off as he watched Dominic limp towards the building. The man had a much scarier look to him than normal, perhaps it was the bedraggled look, or maybe the new hat and coat, or the look of icy cold determination in his eyes.

Once he’d walked away, Dominic’s face shifted to one of intense worry. He couldn’t let his subordinates see it, not at the moment anyway. Discord had revealed to him something that he’d been too stupid to see, and what was worse, he’d already been as stupid three years earlier. He’d had no idea how Maria had felt for him before what he thought was the end, he’d had no idea how Luna felt either. Each time he thought about either of them he could feel his stomach knotting up.

He didn’t want to hurt either of them, he didn’t want to chose one over the other. What was worse was that deep down he knew that he felt the same way about each of them, Luna and Maria had been sources of comfort and companionship for him in the past. They had held him close, chased away the fear and doubt no matter how many times it came back. Dominic almost walked into the door of the capitol building without opening it, but thankfully he was shaken from his thoughts just in time.

He entered the building and looked around, it was quiet, too quiet.

“Sonar?” He called out, there was no response. Dominic closed the door behind him and walked forward, his boots causing the old wooden floor to creak. Slowly he climbed the steps to his office, pain lancing up his leg with each step, until finally he pushed his door open. The spectacled mare was sitting in the window, staring out it as the rain plinked against the glass. “Sonar, you alright?” The mare didn’t answer, but the man heard a sniffle. He slowly hobbled his way over to her and knelt down, wincing as he did so.

There were tear stains on her face as she stared down at the POW camp, and Dominic could see that she was trembling. The changelings were being marched in one by one, and she seemed to be watching every one of them with a close eye. Dominic reached out and tapped her on the shoulder, she flinched and looked over at him, her eyes shimmering with tears.

“M-My husband…” Sonar started to speak, but the words caught in her throat. Dominic reached out and pulled the mare into his chest, he could feel her sobbing against him as he closed his eyes and shook his head, tears were forming in his own eyes. Never again would he let such harm befall his friends, never again would he allow such a loss of life. His reservations against using human technology had been chipped away over time, and in that moment, they had vanished.

Sonar continued crying for half an hour, all Dominic could do was hold her close and rock her back and forth. The pain in his leg and arm were beaten down as best he could, Sonar was more important than his own comfort.

“I-I saw it happen… Wh-What do I tell my son?” She asked between sobs. “H-How do I tell him…?” Dominic patted her mane and opened his eyes, slowly he backed away and looked at the spectacled mare.

“Tell him the truth… Tell him his father was a hero… Just like his mom.” Dominic said in a shaking voice, he could feel pain growing in his back. It was psychosomatic, he was certain of it. Nonetheless, Dominic felt it was his duty to make things right, no matter the cost to his personal happiness. Sonar stared at Dominic for a few moments, then slowly nodded as she wiped at her eye with a wing. Outside there was commotion, undoubtedly the Equestrian’s were arriving. “Go and be with your son…”

Sonar nodded and stood up straight, Dominic stood on his wounded leg and nearly hissed in pain. Nearly. He contained the anguish as best he could, Sonar didn’t need to know just how much pain he was in. She was in far worse pain, Dominic knew from personal experience. Once Sonar had left the room Dominic began muttering curses under his breath, he leaned against the wall and waited for the pain to subside before he began limping down the steps and outside.

Sure enough, as predicted, the golden chariots and carriages of the Equestrian Royal Guard were on the horizon. The antsy American soldiers watched them carefully, but maintained a relaxed posture. Leading the formation over the sandy plains was Luna and Celestia. Dominic felt his gut wrench when he saw the flowing mane of the night princess, the meeting with Discord was still fresh in his mind. To add to his growing stress level, Chrysalis was trotting over, still in her battle regalia.

“You do not realize it, but your heightened stress level is actually helping you.” The Queen said as she stood next to the President. “The poison on the arrows gets weaker with adrenaline.” Dominic looked at her silently, adjusting his new cap before turning back towards the approaching Equestrian forces. “I can still sense your emotions, Mister President. I know just how close you are to losing control of your anger.”

“And how do you know that?” Dominic asked, sounding rather testy, as if to prove the Queen’s point.

“You smell angry.” Chrysalis said simply. “Changelings detect emotion through more than just magic, you know.” The Queen sighed and looked down at her bloodstained armor, then at the bandage around Dominic’s leg. “I myself am upset… For obvious reasons.”

“Killing your own children would do that, I suspect…” Dominic said in a tone that was far more harsh than he intended it to be. “I’m… Sorry.” Chrysalis frowned and looked at the sand, the Equestrian’s were getting even closer now.

“That is only part of it… The other reason is that I have failed them as a mother. If I had done a better job, perhaps they would not have been so easily fooled into following Gigant…” Chrysalis sighed and looked at Dominic, she could see he was close to fracturing under the pressure. She’d heard that he’d done so before and somehow he’d come back from it, but perhaps it had taken something out of him. Chrysalis worried for the man’s sake that the next fracture would take all the fight out of him, and then all hope of peace for her children would be off the table.

By now the fresh faced recruits of the Equestrian Royal Guard were in view, compared to the battered and tired American forces, they looked more like toy soldiers than an actual military force. Dominic reached to his jacket pocket and withdrew a cigar, bit the cap off, and lit it with a wood match. Luna and Celestia began walking towards him and Chrysalis while the guards split off to aid the Americans, behind the princesses came a sturdy looking chariot flanked by guards on either side.

“This could be the end for me.” Chrysalis said quietly, Dominic glanced at her. “Distortion will take my place as Queen should anything happen… I’ve instructed her to surrender our forces to you…”

“I am tired, I am hurt, half the ponies I know are dead or mourning, and I’ve just found out someone on my homeworld that I care about deeply is alive and I can’t get to her, on top of that, seems Luna and I have things that need talking about…” Dominic said as he exhaled a puff of smoke, his expression becoming a grim frown. “I am absolutely done taking bullshit today. They can take you with them when they pry you from my cold dead hands.”

Chrysalis stared at the President with rather surprised eyes, not expecting that much fire in the belly from him. She could see it in his eyes though, he was tired and he wasn’t going to yield one more inch.

“Dominic!” Luna called happily, she was smiling until she spotted the bandage on Dominic’s leg and the way he held his arm. Dominic looked over at Chrysalis and nodded, then began limping forwards towards Luna. The Princess trotted up to him and put her hooves over his shoulders, not really questioning the new cap or the repaired jacket. Hesitantly Dominic returned the hug, part of his anger melting away as he felt a familiar warmth from Luna’s body. The gut wrenching feeling followed shortly after Luna had broken the hug, and Luna could tell there was something more wrong with the man than just his physical injuries.

“Hey, Luna…” Dominic said, trying to sound casual, but just coming off as tired. He puffed on his cigar and looked at Celestia, she received a simple nod. The man’s gaze shifted over to the chariot that was being flanked by guards. “What’s with the box?”

“We take it thou received our letter, considering the response we received in reply?” Luna asked, Dominic nodded as he continued looking at the box. Celestia was meanwhile staring at Chrysalis, Chrysalis was staring right back. The solar princess turned and looked at Dominic, alarm bells began to go off as she sensed a familiar magical aura. Discord had been in contact with the man recently, judging by the hat and coat. She began trotting over, and before Dominic could reply to Luna’s words, she’d tackled him to the ground.

“Sister!” Luna said in shock, meanwhile the American’s had taken note of what was happening. Shocked and not in the mood for anymore bullshit, they took aim at the Equestrian Royal Guards that had started filtering through the town. The standoff was dangerously similar to the Cuban Missile Crisis, one false move would lead to an outright slaughter.

“FUCKING COCKSUCKING SON OF A BITCH!” Dominic screamed in pain as the pain in his leg exploded through his body, it didn’t help that Celestia was pinning him in the sand. “The fuck is WRONG with you!?”

“Wrong with me!? What’s wrong with YOU!? Have you lost your mind!? Why would you make contact with Discord!?” Celestia yelled at him, her muzzle inches from his face.

“I didn’t you idiotic bitch, he made contact with me while I was unconscious!” Dominic yelled back, Luna gave a hard shove that knocked Celestia off of Dominic and gave the man time to get back to his feet. “And people say I go off half cocked!?” Celestia and he stared eachother down. “You think I’d willingly make contact with a chaos god when I’ve got plenty of chaos going on already!?”

Celestia blinked for a few moments, meanwhile Dominic was leaning heavily against Luna for support as his leg throbbed and blood began to soak through the bandage. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, once again, she was making great strides in completely destroying her already tenuous relationship with Dominic. The man looked at Luna and took a few breaths before sighing.

“There is some stuff we need to talk about though… But that’s for later.” His tone was sincere, if not pained. Luna nodded and watched him look at his soldiers. “Stand down!” Slowly the American’s lowered their weapons, leaving many of the Equestrian Royal Guards shaking in their golden boots. “I’ll ask again… What’s in the box?” Dominic adjusted the hat on his head, which thankfully hadn’t been tossed off in the small fight. He’d need to find his helmet later, but for now, the officer cap worked nicely.

“Thou shalt see…” Luna said before turning to the chariot and nodding to the guards, the guards turned and opened a door on the side of the closed vehicle, a pair of steps descended down into the sand as the rain continued to fall. Dominic watched with baited breath, after a few seconds of waiting he saw something he hadn’t seen in a long time. Another actual human being.

She descended the steps and looked around curiously, and she was followed by a man that looked like he’d been tossed in a bag of yard trimmings. Dominic felt short of breath, leaning even more on Luna’s side for support. After a few moments he was back on his own two feet, his mouth moved but no words came out. They were right in front of him, real actual living breathing people! A sight he’d hoped and prayed for for so long, something he thought he’d never see for the rest of his life as long as he lived.

They were right there!

The two people spotted him relatively quickly, he was the only biped in sight after all. Dominic reached up and pulled the Bandanna down from his face, letting them get the full look. They stared at eachother for what felt like an eternity until Dominic began slowly limping towards them, not a soul dared move as the President approached the man and woman. Dominic stopped a foot or so in front of them, looking at both of them carefully. Slowly he reached out and poked both of them, he had to be sure they were real.

The people raised eyebrows at the poke, but again remained silent. The woman cleared her throat as she took note of the hat on Dominic’s head, her German wasn’t the best, but maybe she could communicate.

“Um… Sprechen Sie Englisch?” She asked, Dominic paused and then looked up to his hat. He reached up and removed it, then nodded at the woman.

“I… I… I do… Yes.” His voice quivered as he held the hat in one hand at his side, Dominic felt tears welling up in his eyes once more. Somehow a glimmer of happiness had punched through the misery and despair, hearing the voice of another human being, seeing them walking and talking, after such a long time. He was overcome with emotion, and much to both the other’s surprise, he pulled both of them into a hug.

Jen and Johnny were certainly surprised at just how big the man was, and how strong he was. The man, Dominic if what they had been told was correct, was absolutely sobbing the entire time, even after he’d let go of them. Luna and Celestia approached, the Lunar Princess began escorting Dominic away while Celestia cleared her throat.

“I apologize about that… He’s just… He’s been on his own for the past three or four years, I don’t think he was ready to see you quite yet.” She explained, Jen and Johnny nodded slowly, still feeling surprised at just how strong the man had been. Johnny fancied himself a pretty tough guy, but even he knew his limitations. Back in Newark, the man named ‘Dominic’ would be classified as a tank. “I also apologize about what you see around you… We weren’t expecting something this bad when we set out…”

Jen and Johnny looked around once more, it became apparent just how much death and destruction surrounded them.

“Perhaps we should get you someplace out of the rain…” Celestia suggested, the two humans nodded and she began walking towards the town. Of course, never having been there, she had no idea where anything was. The American’s guarding the town gave her dirty looks, she figured tackling their head of state had given them that right. Looks of surprise and intrigue washed over them as they spotted the humans, but they were busy processing POWs, providing medical aid, and gathering the dead.

Eventually they came to a building with the stars and stripes flying above it, Celestia concluded this was the capital building. Two heavily armored changelings with green stripes on their armor stood on either side of the door at attention, when they spotted the two humans and Celestia they didn’t flinch or change posture. Celestia on the other hand ignited her horn.

“Stand down.” Said a voice behind them, a thestral was walking towards the building with a scowl on his face and filthy fatigues. Celestia slowly lowered the magic in her horn, she could tell that it was no changeling. “These are defectors, they aided in the defense of our country.” The thestral looked at the Changelings. “Gentlecolts, please stand at ease and allow the group through.”

“Yes, sir!” The changelings responded in unison, they opened the doors and waited for Celestia and her human followers to enter, the thestral followed soon after and the doors closed behind him. Jen and Johnny were absolutely gobsmacked by what had just happened, meanwhile the thestral had marched out in front of the group. He was gruff looking and his eyes held a tough gleam.

“My name is Rolling Thunder, I’ve been assigned to assist you as the President and his aid are both indisposed.” The stallion said, he adjusted his fatigues and took note of the camouflage jacket that Jen was wearing, then shrugged and looked at Celestia. “As it stands housing has yet to be set aside from you, it may not be allocated for some time, I assume you understand why?” The two humans nodded. “Good.” The stallion turned and looked at Celestia. “Is there anything further I can assist you with?”

“Not necessarily, I would like a chance to meet with Queen Chrysalis if that’s possible?” The Princess asked, the thestral shook his head.

“That will need to be arranged at a later date, we have enough going on as it is.” Rolling said sternly, Celestia nodded and let out a sigh.

“Princess, we’d like to get the run down of the place, if you don’t mind?” Johnny suddenly spoke up, Celestia looked at them and nodded.

“Of course, I shall be overseeing the guards if you need me…” The princess turned and walked outside, as soon as the door was closed both humans let out a sigh, then looked at Rolling Thunder. The stallion certainly had the face of a soldier, Jen could tell just by looking at him he’d seen some serious action.

“Please, follow me.” Rolling Thunder began trotting up the steps of the building, the two humans following him carefully. Jen was having a bit of a hard time understanding what was going on, she had thought that the ponies would be carting them off to some sort of special building in Equestria. Instead it seemed they were dumping them out in the boonies. Johnny was contemplating how he would escape the town if things turned out to be a trap. Rolling Thunder opened the door to the office at the top of the stairs and ushered the two people inside.

“Please, make yourselves comfortable. If you need anything find me, I have some repairs to oversee.” Rolling Thunder commented as he turned and closed the door, there was no click of a lock, that was a good sign. Jen and Johnny sighed as they approached the window that allowed light to enter the room, both of them could see a steady stream of changelings being marched into a camp while other changelings patrolled around outside.

“Where the hell are we?” Asked Johnny, not taking his eyes off the POW camp outside. Jen had her eyes focussed on a couple carts that seemed to be filled with bodies that were being wheeled down the street. The ones in American looking armor were being treated well, even as the armor and weapons were taken from them. Even the changeling defectors were given respect, unlike the ones that Jen believed were the enemy.

“This is all so weird…” Jen said quietly, she stepped away from the window and looked around the room. Then she spotted something hanging on a hook behind the desk, an olive drab cap with the Marine Corps emblem on it. Slowly she approached it and picked it up, there was a familiar stain on the brim. “This… This was mine… How did this guy get a hold of it?” Johnny approached the desk and and noted that there seemed to be documents spread out in the ponies’ strange language, but there seemed to be notes in english.

“Look, let’s give this guy a chance, eh? We got burned for paranoia last time.” Johnny suggested, Jen looked at him as she put the hat on her head, then nodded slowly. The man paused as he heard someone coming out the steps outside, he assumed it was Rolling Thunder again, as did Jen. The door swung inward and the hulking form of Dominic entered the office, limping along with Princess Luna following behind him. He appeared a lot calmer now, which was saying quite a bit considering the day he’d had. In his hand was an old looking metal helmet, his metal helmet that he’d left on the field, which he promptly set on his bed.

The man limped over to the desk and grabbed his chair from behind it, then sat down in it with a sigh. He wheeled back a bit and leaned back in the seat, staring at Jen and Johnny quietly while Luna walked over and sat next to him.

“Let me say I’m sorry for doing that thing earlier… It’s been a rather long day and my inhibitions got the better of me.” Dominic said in a voice that almost sounded like he’d just woken up. “I’m sure you’ve both got a lot of questions for me, as I have a lot for you. First of all, I’m sure you’ve heard by now, yes, my name is Dominic.” Jen and Johnny stared at him for a few moments before Jen stepped forwards, she’d always been a bit more outgoing anyway.

“I’m Jennifer, but my friend’s call me Jen.” She smiled faintly, to be honest, it was nice to be having a semi-normal conversation again. “And this handsome man next to me is Johnny.” Dominic nodded slowly as he removed his cap.

“Okay, good to meet you. First question. Why are you wearing my hat?” He gestured to Jen and the hat, Jen frowned and removed it.

“It’s my hat. I lost it a while ago…” Jen replied, Dominic paused and looked at Luna with a raised eyebrow.

“How long ago?” He asked, not taking his eyes off the princess.

“A couple months or so, as long as I’ve been in Equestria. There was snow on the ground then.” Jen explained, Dominic let out a simple ‘Huh’ and leaned back in his seat with a shrug. “What was that?”

“Nothing, keep the hat if it’s yours. It was a christmas present, but if it’s yours, who am I to take it from you?” Dominic seemed a lot more mellow that he’d been before, perhaps it had something to do with the new headache that Luna seemed to have. She’d given him a good shot of happy thoughts, but since he was awake when she’d done so, it had taken a lot more magic to make them stick.

“That’s… Really nice of you… Thanks!” Jen was somewhat surprised, as was Johnny. They had expected Dominic to be a bit more aggressive and angry, his build just denoted someone that solved his problems with brute force. In a way that was true, but Dominic had been doing his best to curb that attitude lately. “And here I thought all the nice people in the world had gotten munched.” The comment didn’t really seem to have an effect on Dominic, he just let out a sigh, as if he were calming himself down.

“Well, there’s still a few of us out there.” The man shrugged, he adjusted his coat and rubbed at the patch on the shoulder. This caused Jen to pause, she recalled meeting a woman in the Pikes Peak Refuge that had described a jacket with that patch. It could’ve been a coincidence though. “Now, enough formality, you’ve got questions and hopefully I’ve got answers.”

“That’s right.” Johnny said, the first thing he did was point out the window in the direction of the POW camp. “Mind explaining what all this is about?” Dominic nodded slowly, sighing and rubbing the bridge of his nose as he sat up.

“It seems we set up our little town in a place that was abandoned, only it wasn’t, because the Changeling’s wanted it. I assume you know what those are, right?” A pair of nods was all Dominic needed to continue his story, Luna was watching with rapt attention. She’d never seen humans interact before, she didn’t dare interrupt. “Well, the first attack we beat the shit out of them, then we negotiated, and we were about to sign an armistice until these guys-” Dominic pointed out the window. “-rolled in trying to be bad and shit. Run by some nut job that was basically a milk toast Hitler, but a quick shot to the face fixed that, and so now we’re mopping up…”

The man paused and shook his head, looking out the window once again. “It’s not as easy as that though, a lot of ponies died, just… A lot of death in general… And some other stuff that isn’t important happened to me.” He rubbed his eyes and leaned back in his chair once more. “Basically those guys are POWs, the ones with green stripes on the armor are defectors, and so on and so on…” Johnny nodded as Dominic finished his recounting of the tale, Luna’s attention was now fully focussed on Jen.

The group continued talking for a bit, and everything seemed to be running smoothly. They laughed, the cried, they shared jokes that Luna didn’t understand. Through it all, however, Luna could see there was something gnawing away at Dominic. As a couple hours passed and the business of running a rebuilding city got in the way Johnny and Jen were assigned a place to live and escorted there while Dominic continued working. Luna stayed, just watching him, his mood was all over the place.

By nightfall he’d practically worked himself to sleep, the wound on his leg was a dull ache, and the street was protected by the supplemented force of guards. Dominic leaned back in his seat and looked over at Luna, she could see the facade of toughness slip away. The man removed the jacket that had been repaired and set it aside, she could still detect the aura of Discord on it. She assumed that his emotional distress had something to do with that meeting more than the fight that had just ended. Luna stood from her seat on the floor and trotted over to Dominic, he looked at her for a few moments as she sat down in front of him.

“Dominic, tell us what ails thee…” Luna said warmly, her tone struck a chord with Dominic, reminding him of all the times she’d been there to listen. “T’was the act of Discord, correct?” Dominic nodded slowly as he looked her in the eyes.

“He showed me things…” Dominic said quietly, Luna’s face softened. “What it boils down to is he offered me something free of charge, and I don’t know if I should take it, because of what he showed me.” The man reached out and put a hand on Luna’s shoulder, staring into her eyes with a shimmer to his own. “You care about me more than a normal friend… Don’t you?”

Luna’s face became very surprised, and then slowly she nodded and closed her eyes. She fully expected a slap or a vocal rejection, but that rejection never came.

“We… I care very deeply for you…” Luna admitted as she opened her eyes and looked at Dominic, the man’s face didn’t seem to change. “I… I love you, Dominic.” The man didn’t say anything, just staring at her with that same shimmer in his eyes, as if he were doing his best to hold back tears. “What could Discord do that would make you worry about that?”

“Maria is alive…” Dominic said in a serious tone, Luna paused, the nodded slowly. “He can bring her here, but, I still care very deeply for her…” Tears began to form in the Princess’ eyes. “Wait, please, don’t cry…” Dominic got out of the chair and sat on the floor so that he was eye level with the princess. “I care a lot about you too… I care about both of you… I… I love both of you…”

“And thou worry that by saving thine friend thou will fall for her… And...” Luna seemed to understand, Dominic nodded slowly as he looked the mare in the eyes.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Luna…” He said in a voice barely over a whisper, Luna opened her wings and wrapped them around the young man. She pulled him tight against her, hugging him tightly as she held back her own tears.

“It would upset me… But, thou know better than to think we would hold such a thing against you.” Luna’s tone was soothing, but Dominic could hear there was mixed emotion behind it. “Dominic, thou art barely an adult… I do not expect you to know how to handle such a situation, especially since I assume thou hath never been in a relationship before…” Dominic looked up at the mare, finding her warm fur and soothing voice a comfort. “It touches my heart to know that thou care so much, but we both know what you must do… If thou are ever to live with thine self…”

“W-What are you saying?” Dominic asked, Luna looked at him quietly.

“Save Maria.” She said simply, her tone was even and calm. The worry in her voice had vanished. “Cast off thine fears, trust in fate…”

“O-Okay…” Dominic replied, he returned his head to Luna’s chest as she continued holding him. He returned the hug eventually, the two of them cuddling close to one another. Luna’s heart was racing as she held Dominic in her wings, she realized now more than ever that part of him was still a boy, the more she thought about how scared and confused he must have been the more she wanted to hold him and make it all better.

She recognized that Maria could very well take Dominic’s heart, and though it would hurt her to see it happen, she knew deep down that as long as Dominic was happy she would be able to survive. Her sister often forgot that Luna was not a filly anymore, she was capable of controlling herself a lot better, and she was at peace with the world around her. She had learned that from Dominic, not to let the little things bother her, and everything was a little thing.

“Luna…” Dominic’s voice took her from her thoughts, Luna looked down at the man quietly. “Thank you…” He hugged her tightly. “No matter what happens… I love you.” Those words that Luna had longed to hear, she couldn’t help but admit that hearing them filled her with a great amount of joy. That joy was mixed with an aching sadness, because she knew that those words came from the heart of a very sad man. It wasn’t the warm happy moment she had imagined it to be, but she could deal with it, just knowing that he cared about her was enough to keep her happy.

In Dominic’s mind there was a little joy, but most of it was clouded by worry. It had been decided, he would have Discord open a portal to his old world and save someone he cared about deeply. As he thought more about it though, he realized that he could be pulling Maria away from people she cared about as well. That wouldn’t do. In that moment he resolved that he would do more than save Maria, he would save every person he could. With a plan set in his head it was easier for him to relax, and holding Luna close helped even more.

What happened next was almost an accident, or perhaps it was fate stepping in, Luna’s muzzle brushed against Dominic’s lips. For just a few seconds their lips touched, neither of them acknowledged it verbally, but both of them smiled inwardly afterwards. In the wake of such violence and destruction, a new hope was beginning to grow.

Author's Notes:

Well, the moment you've all been waiting for is here, kinda. All hands on deck, it's the launch of the good ship LunaDom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WPE_4bqQXc

It's getting to the point where this story is going to wind down, but don't worry, there's a sequel in the works. Sorry if this seemed a little more fast paced than usual, I wanted to play around with a different sort of style, not sure if it worked out well, hopefully it did. Consider this a late Christmas present to all you lovely dudes and dudettes.

As always, like, comment, and favorite if you want.