“That wasn’t that bad of a walk.” Dominic stated as he approached the doors to the dining room with Twilight and the other ponies. The walk had here had been relatively silent, only Twilight and her friends would speak to each other about things that had changed since she had left ponyville. Most of it had been uninteresting to Dominic and so he zoned out, now he stood in front of a pair of massive doors with Twilight in his arms. Two guards stood at attention near the door, they looked at the group of four and wordlessly pushed the door open. The group stepped into the dining room and the doors closed behind them.

The room was large with white marble walls and gold trim, the dining table was made from cherry wood as were the chairs. Most of the chairs were empty, the others were occupied by ponies. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Shining Armor. The last two were surprised by Dominic but the young man wasn’t surprised by them. If he had heard his sister had been shot he would have come to visit her as well. Despite the positive energy and the slight joy at being close to an actual meal, Dominic was still exhausted and in a foul mood.

“Good morning, Dominic” Celestia said to him, he muttered something under his breath. Her voice sounded similar to his mother’s, it took all of his strength to keep from flashing back. Dominic walked Twilight over to a seat next to her brother and Cadence. As he passed by the Princess of Love she shivered. Being the princess of love, she could pick up on emotions in a way not too dissimilar from a changeling. Love was a warm emotion, it gave off a radiant heat that spread to all those around. Dominic had no such heat, he was colder than the frozen north. Love, in his heart, had been replaced by anger, depression, pain, and longing.

Dominic set Twilight down wordlessly and made his way over to the seat next to Luna. Rainbow Dash and Rarity had taken the other seats that were away from the Princess of the night, forcing him to sit next to her. It wasn’t that he didn’t like her, he really did, but she had seen one of his many nightmarish memories. Only one of several dozen. He didn’t know what to say to her, he didn’t know what to say to anyone. He removed his shotgun and hung it from the back of his chair, his helmet was placed on the floor and he tossed his gloves into it casually.

“So…” He stated, looking at the group of ponies. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were looking at him with glares that normally would have made any regular pony cringe. Dominic just returned it and actually got Applejack to turn away. “What’s for breakfast?”

“Well, for us we ordered pancakes and hay bacon.” Celestia gestured to herself and Luna. “The girls ordered their own respective meals and I took the liberty of ordering something lite for Twilight. For you, well I ordered something that should be to your tastes.” Dominic sighed.

“Better than fuckin’ nothing.” He grunted out, Shining Armor’s guard training kicked in. No one talked to the Princess like that.

“Watch your tongue, creature.” Shining shouted, Dominic’s gaze snapped to him. “You’re in the presence of the Princesses!” Dominic felt anger rise in him, but it was quickly suppressed. He was just like the others, he didn’t need his approval. Dominic let out a breath and calmed himself more.

“Shining, tone it back a bit honey. I’m sure that Dominic is just adjusting to being around royalty.” Cadence chastised her husband, Dominic sighed and looked at the table sullenly. “I’m sure he comes from an entirely different culture.” Dominic felt the crushing guilt from before, his thoughts drifting back to his dream.

“Um…” A soft voice spoke up. “Mister Dominic, are you okay?” It was fluttershy, looking at him with a concerned face. He sighed, those eyes seemed to be filled with a desire to help. He didn’t need help, he had done it himself for the past few years. He could keep his feelings in check alone, couldn’t he? The images that played in his head gave him the answer, sooner or later he was going to snap and if it happened near the ponies… He didn’t want to know what would happen.

“I’m just thinking about home.” Dominic stated, the images stopped flashing in his mind. Still he could see the faces of the people being tackled and killed by the infected. Those images were burned into his mind like old photographs.

“Do you miss it?” Rarity asked, oblivious to what she had asked. Dominic shook his head and simply glared at the table.

“No.” He muttered, his anger flaring at the thought of seeing the hordes again. Like locusts they would swarm and destroy with the liquidity of water. Flooding the streets in a tidal wave of flesh and blood, taking the lives of almost anyone they touched. “I’d rather die before I go back to that shit hole.” This got the attention of the ponies, all of them except for the three Canterlot Princesses had shocked looks on their faces. How could he not want to go home? It was his home!? Didn’t he have family? Didn’t he have friends?

“Why wouldn’t you want to go home?” Pinkie Pie asked, eyeing him suspiciously. “It’s where all your friends are! And the other stuff that makes you happy! Don’t you have things you really really REALLY miss!?”

“Oh I have plenty of those.” Dominic said darkly, his face became like stone. “I miss a lot of things.” He wanted to desperately get out of the room, he didn’t want to think about anything. He just wanted to eat and go hide away somewhere.

“Girls, Dominic isn’t very keen on talking about his home.” Twilight interjected.

“Why?” Asked Rainbow Dash, looking even more suspicious.

“Ah reckon we’re entitled to some answers.” Applejack said looking at Dominic, he glared at her. “Ah can tell y’all is hidin’ somethin’.” Dominic looked at the Luna and Celestia, trying to figure out what to do. He didn’t want to talk about his life anymore, hopefully the Princesses could change the subject. They didn’t.

“You’re not entitled to jack shit.” Dominic hissed at Applejack. Rainbow Dash didn’t like his tone one bit. Her already short temper was getting shorter and shorter. “I don’t need to explain myself to you.” The tension in the room could be cut with a knife, it had been a total shit storm the entire time.

“Dominic, thou dost not have to tell them.” Luna interjected, Dominic took several more deep breaths. “What Dominic says is truth, he doth not need to explain himself to thee. When he wishes to tell thou, he will make thee aware of it.” She had a no nonsense tone, which caused Applejack to back down.

“Okay, Princess.” Applejack said submissively, Luna looked at the other bearers.

“We know thou have many questions, but the answers Dominic would give would be difficult to comprehend.” She said in a more relaxed tone, Twilight and Celestia nodded. There were several loud bangs on the door, the tension in the room lightened a bit as Celestia smiled and used her magic on the door.

“Enter!” She called, eleven ponies entered the room carrying platters of different shapes and sizes. The tensed slightly at the sight of Dominic but had the common courtesy not to stare. The covered platters were set in front of the ponies and the human, an unfamiliar smell leaked from the platter in front of him. “Now, please don’t wait any longer. Dig in.” The way Celestia said, the last two words made Dominic freeze. A memory desperately tried to push itself into his mind but he toughened up and kicked it to the curb. Dominic lifted the lid and looked at his meal, a plate of scrambled eggs covered in cheese. A smile flashed on Dominc’s face for a moment or so, he didn’t LOVE eggs but he did like them and they were hot. Not hot from being cooked over a space heater but from an actual stove, a truly hot meal. Dominic picked up his fork and sunk it into the eggs.

With the most care and precision he could muster, Dominic took a piece of the egg and moved it to his mouth. He took a bite and felt the warm eggs on his tongue, a wave of warmth spread through his body and mind. His emotions became less intense for that moment, and for just a moment, a smile graced his lips. Luna caught a glimpse of it before it faded away, as did Celestia, Twilight and Cadence. To Dominic, it felt as if he had just been within the mind of god. The texture of the eggs was perfect, the temperature wasn’t unbearable and the flavor of the eggs mixing with the melted cheddar cheese was near indescribable. After he had eaten just the small morsel, he decided that rather than ravage the plate as he would his normal food he would savor it.

“So, Dominic.” Cadence said as she sensed his sudden spike in emotions. “What kind of foods did you eat on your world.” She asked, Dominic stopped eating and looked at her before picking up his bag and unzipping the main compartment. From within he brought out two cans of beans and placed them on the table before putting the bag back.

“Beans, lots of beans.” He said eyeing the cans, this got the love princess’ attention.

“Why only beans? And why are they in those cans?” She asked, looked at the top of the can and found the expiration date.

“This one doesn’t go bad for another two years, no need to refrigerate it, easy to carry. The perfect kind of food.” Dominic explained simply, he looked at his food and pointed to it with his fork. “This…” He said before taking another bite. “Is the first hot meal I’ve had in two or three years.” Dominic’s eyes widened, why did he just say that? He didn’t want to say that. He looked at the eggs again, a single blue pedal could barely be seen hiding under them. “Oh fuck.”

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the mega delay, this is all I got after my Google doc crapped out on me. As always, Comment, Rate, do whatever. I apologize if it's bad, I've been having trouble thinking of Ideas for it.