Dominic let out a grunt as he brought his training sword up against Luna’s, his body was coated in sweat and his eyes were narrowed. The two of them stood in an empty building on the training grounds, it was dark outside, the morning light was just beginning to peek through the windows. They had been going at it for several hours, since the man had been awoken by Luna attempting to deliver a surprise attack.

He had been a tad awkward at first, but it was clear that Luna wasn’t letting her personal feelings get in the way of things. She was just as professional as always, and Dominic appreciated that to no end. He let out a yell as he went on the offensive, taking several swipes at the princess with his sword and forcing her to step back a couple feet. The mare responded with a quick pulse of magic that wrenched the blade from his hands and tossed it aside.

“Improvise!” She commanded, Dominic didn’t verbally respond as he brought his hands up in front of him. Luna took a swipe at him, forcing him to take several steps back and look around. There wasn’t much in the way of weaponry around him, just a stool and a small table Luna had set up when they’d entered. The canteens of water were still there, he hadn’t opened them yet. With a grunt the man dashed to the table, rolling across the floor as Luna took another jab at his chest. He sprung up from the roll and grabbed a canteen by the strap, then spun it round once or twice before whipping it out at Luna.

The mare brought up her sword to guard herself out of instinct, but just as the canteen reached her Dominic gave it a hard tug and the centrifugal force caused it to wrap around Luna’s training blade. With a mighty yell he pulled hard and ripped the sword from her grasp, her eyes went wide as Dominic commandeered her own blade and pointed the end directly at her. Both of them stared at eachother for a few moments, each of them panting heavily, before Dominic slowly lowered the training sword to his side.

“That is the fastest thou hath bested us.” Luna said as the man spun the sword a few times before he slipped it into his belt as if it were a sheath. “Was our affection that much of burden on thy mind?” The man quietly looked to the floor before he nodded.

“It was, Insegnante…” He said, almost sounding ashamed of himself.

“We art glad we hath resolved it then, thou hath been much more focused this past week than the previous six months.” Luna replied, her calm tone seemed to lift the shameful look off of the man’s features. “Hast thine armor been fully prepared, Dominic?” This caught the man’s attention and he looked up so he could meet his teacher’s eyes.

“It has, Insegnante.” He said firmly, Dominic thought about the armor in question. It was based of the dirt bike armor he had gotten through the mirror. Of course, as predicted, it had changed to an equine style after he’d gone through, but he’d had the resources to put together something from scratch that would fit him. Rather than plastic, the chest and arm guards were made from aluminum and steel. Where the old armor had been held together by nylon straps, Dominic had made the straps on his leather. He was certain it would do more than enough to protect him from the infected, at least as far as his upper body was concerned.

Luna quietly walked forwards and examined Dominic from head to toe, his hair had grown much longer in recent months, as he hadn’t had time to get it cut. It had gotten to the point where he did his best to hide it because of how shaggy it made him feel. The mare used her hooves to straighten it before she stepped back and nodded quietly.

“Thy training is nearing completion.” Luna said as she looked out the window at the rising sun, Dominic stood still as he adjusted his uniform. “It soon will be time for thee to receive our gift, and then, take a new title.” The man bowed his head quietly and ran a hand over his head, pausing as he felt the length of his hair once more. “We sense uncertainty in thee…”

“I’m uncertain if I should maintain my current title as it is, Insegnante… I… I don’t feel I am fit to continue serving as the President.” Dominic admitted quietly as he turned to walk towards one of the windows, he paused and looked at himself in the reflection pausing to feel his uniform. “I feel more at home in this uniform than I do in that office…” The man looked over his shoulder at Luna, then back to his own reflection. “I was born and raised to be a soldier, to maintain my family’s tradition of service…” He sighed quietly. “In my world, notions like honor and patriotism were disappearing… That was what made me so proud… Or… Perhaps arrogant.”

“As President thou serves thy country, doth thou not?” Luna asked as she approached him, Dominic nodded silently.

“I never wanted to be President.” Dominic replied, his eyes turned skywards. “You know what I’ve always wanted to be, but that’s impossible now…” The man rubbed his eyes quietly before he put his hand on the window, the chill of the glass sending goosebumps up his arm. “The only other thing I know that I’ve ever been more sure of is that I was destined to be a soldier, no more, no less. And, when I wear this… I feel more complete. You know?”

“Perhaps… Perhaps thou art correct… Perhaps thou shouldst step down.” Luna’s voice was soft, yet powerful. “But not before thou hath carried out thine mission. The people of thine world and ours will need a bridge if they are ever to merge peacefully. Thou art that bridge.” Dominic let out a grim chuckle as he quietly shook his head.

“No pressure, right?” He asked before he turned around and didn’t look Luna in the eyes. “I should go… I’ve got several drills I need to run with Rolling and Jen.” The mare was about to speak, but instead she nodded quietly. Dominic put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze before he walked to the door, Luna followed momentarily behind him, watching as he began to walk towards the motor pool. The princess closed her eyes and sighed before she walked back to the table where she had set the canteens.

The mare sat down and closed her eyes, relaxing her body and trying to focus on as little as possible. Dominic’s words seemed to weigh heavily on her shoulders, more than she knew they could. He had only recently turned twenty, already he had the weight of two world stacked upon his shoulders in a somewhat literal sense. She had seen many times during the last six months that he rarely slept proper hours, he only seemed to eat two times a day, and his shoulders always had a hunch to them. If she didn’t know better, she would’ve thought he was a sad old man.

She’d only seen joy return to him recently, when he and her had decided it would perhaps be best if they changed how they saw each other. Knowing that Luna still cared for him seemed to be the source, and had she lost control of herself and gotten angry, if she’d told him everything she knew about him to make him feel hurt, it was very likely the man would be a far cry from the calm focused fellow he was now. In fact, she was very sure he would’ve blown his brains out. Luna could see he was walking a tightrope, and so as she sat there relaxing and clearing her mind, she did something she hadn’t done in centuries.

She prayed. Luna prayed that Dominic would find peace and happiness, prayed that saving the rest of mankind wouldn’t destroy the man, and she prayed for forgiveness for the position she felt responsible for putting him in.

The mare didn’t know who she was praying to, whether it was her mother, Dominic’s god, some unseen force that moved the fabric of existence itself, just whoever was listening. She hadn’t been a mare of faith for a long time, but she felt there was no where else to turn in the coming weeks. It was truly out of her hooves, all she could do was hope that somehow her thoughts would make a difference.

Luna quietly opened her eyes and stood up, the sunlight was shining brightly through the windows and illuminating the room in a warm glow. She stood to her hooves and moved to one of the glass panes, then let out a sigh as she watched her sister’s day come into existence. It was a beautiful sky, the light cast a pink glow over the clouds in the distance, and for some reason Luna felt like it was a good omen. With that in mind she used her magic to gather her items and begin trotting out of the building, in the distance she could hear an engine begin to rumble and smiled quietly. Without a word she began trotting towards the city, looking to go to the hotel where she’d been staying. She was so focused on getting home that she didn’t notice the unicorn in front of her, and bumped into him rather clumsily.

“Oh, we art terribly sorry!” She said as she looked down at the coffee brown stallion, he was gathering some things that had spilled from his saddle bags while at the same time trying to adjust his long black mane.

“It’s alright, we all make…” The stallion trailed off as he noticed it was Princess Luna. “Princess Luna! I didn’t see you!” He gave a slight bow, but Luna quickly stopped him. “I was just looking for the ‘motor pool’, actually, that’s why I didn’t see you. The American Lieutenant said I was supposed to go there.”

“American Lieutenant…?” Luna asked quietly, noticing that this stallion didn’t seem to have a uniform. “May we ask who art thou?”

“Oh, right, sorry! I’m Scribble Pen, most ponies call me Scribs.” The stallion offered his hoof, Luna shook it genuinely. “I’m the foreign correspondent for the Canterlot Press, I’m gonna be riding along with the Americans in one of their metal things.” Luna briefly thought back to a conversation she’d had with Dominic a month or so ago.

”Dominic, the Canterlot Press want to send a reporter along in your tank.”

“Absolutely not.” Dominic replied casually as he stepped back to dodge a swipe that Luna made at him with her training sword.

Luna then remembered she’d signed the papers before she’d told Dominic, and had never heard back from the Canterlot Press about canceling them. She suppressed a sigh and figured this would be a perfect way to test how far her student had come with anger management, and she didn’t want to deal with the fallout of kicking a reporter of an American military base.

“Right, the motor pool…” Luna paused as she heard the rumbling some more. “Follow the rumbling noise that way.” She pointed off towards the motor pool which was located behind a barracks, Scribs nodded with a smile and began to open his mouth. “We can’t do any interviews, sorry.”

“Aw, alright then.” The reporter said, Luna smiled at him as he began to trot off, once he was out of earshot she shook her head and muttered under her breath.

“He doth not stand a chance…”

Scribs continued trotting along, brimming with excitement at the prospect of getting to see one of the American’s newest devices up close. He followed the sound of the rumbling noise, occasionally adjusting his heavy saddle bags, until finally he rounded a corner and stopped in his tracks. There they were, ten or so large metal contraptions lined up across from each other. There were a couple thestrals sitting on one, as well as a changeling wearing an oil stained bandanna. They briefly paused to look at him, then shrugged and went back to their chat.

“Excuse me?” He called, the changeling turned and looked at him with a raised brow. “Uh… I was looking for Commander Occisor?”

“He’s off down by the end, tall motherfucker, can’t miss ‘im.” The changeling said as he pointed off towards the last vehicle in the row, Scribs nodded slowly, a bit off put by the foul language but he figured it was a changeling thing. As he got closer to the end he used his magic to levitate his pad and pen from his saddle bag, getting ready for his first ever interview with a world leader. He could barely keep himself from skipping along, but it was a military base, so he figured he should at least maintain some look of professional conduct.

“You know you almost look like Rommel when you’re wearing that hat.” A female voice said as he got closer, there was a slight chuckle from beyond the tank.

“Meh, Rommel tried to kill Hitler, so he couldn’t be all bad.” Replied a gruff baritone voice, Scribs could tell that was the man he was looking for. He took a few deep breaths before he rounded the corner of the last metal device, sure enough he saw two bipeds and a thestral standing there. One of them was shorter with feminine features, the other one was taller than any pony Scribs had seen and wore a peaked cap. All three of them wore the same colored uniform that the other soldiers had been wearing. “Did Chipped let a Civie wander back here?”

“I doubt it, nothing get’s on this base without him knowing.” The female replied as she looked Scribs up and down questioningly. “Can we help you with something?”

“Oh, uh, I’m the reporter!” Scribs replied with a smile, he saw the tall human put his hand on his face and heard a tired groan. Meanwhile the others were staring at Scribs with a bit of surprise, before they looked at the tall man who was pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Luna sent the papers anyway…” He mumbled, getting a couple nods from the others. The man turned and walked towards Scribs, then extended his hand. “Anyway, you know me from the funny pages, I’m Dominic.” Scribs hesitantly shook the man’s hand. “This is Captain Poplawski and Major Thunder.” The others waved at him with a bit of confusion before Dominic cleared his throat. “I assume you’re from the Canterlot Press and they told you you’d be riding with me, correct?” Scribs nodded.

“I can take him if you don’t want him, sir.” Major Thunder spoke up, Dominic shook his head as Scribs felt a slight frown on his face.

“Nah, I’ll take him.” Dominic took a few moments to compose himself before he looked at the other human and the thestral. “As for you two, let’s hold off on the drill now that this guy is here. I wanna show him the ropes.”

“Yes, sir.” The others replied, Dominic gave them a salute which they returned before walking away. That left Scribs alone with the man who was now looking down at him with his hands on his hips, the reporter gulped as he realized just how muscular the commander was.

“So, what do I call you, eh? Can’t just call you ‘reporter’, then again, I might end up doing that anyway.” Dominic said as he crossed his arms and leaned back, Scribs took a moment to realize he wasn’t being screamed at before he spoke.

“Scribble Pen, but most ponies call me Scribs.” The stallion replied, Dominic shrugged quietly and took note of the pad and pen that were floating in the unicorn’s magic. Scribs remembered he still had them floating and quickly lowered them so that they weren’t so obvious.

“Alright then, Scribs.” Dominic patted the vehicle beside him before he grunted and hoisted himself up so he was sitting on the side. “Climb on up and I’ll show you the internals, then we’ll meet the rest of the guys that run this thing.” Scribs slipped his pad and pen back into his saddle bag before he struggled to climb up beside the man. Once he was up Dominic pulled open the hatch and gestured to it, Scribs carefully made his way over to the opening and peeked in.

The inside was painted white and there were numerous gauges and other devices he couldn’t quite place. He didn’t climb in at that moment, instead opting to just examine it from the perspective of the open hatch. When he’d had his fill he stepped back and watched as Dominic closed the metal slab.

“You’ll get to know it a bit better once you’re inside.” Dominic said as he adjusted himself so that he was sitting on the metal thing that looked like a castle, either leg straddled the large metal pipe that Scribs assumed was the vehicle’s main weapon. “While we’re waiting for the others I figure you have some questions for me?” The reporter straightened up at the mention of questions, his horn glowed and a couple notes floated out of his bag, as well as his notepad.

“Yes, actually! My editor gave me several questions!” Scribs replied, Dominic just nodded and waited for him to get the questions together. After a few seconds the stallion had them together, he read over the first one and paused. “What the… That can’t be right…” Dominic reached out and plucked it from the air, then looked it over himself.

“My Equestrian still isn’t one hundred percent… Does this really say ‘Justify the recent push to aid humans after they’ve proven to be so dangerous.’?” Dominic asked, Scribs just nodded and got a glare from the man. “Did you write this shit?”

“No, I swear! It was my editor! I haven’t seen them until now!” Scribs said in a panicked tone, Dominic grabbed the rest of his questions and looked them over. Once he had he balled them all up and withdrew two cigars from his pocket.

“You smoke, Scribs?” He asked as he offered one to the reporter, and not wanting to look like even more of a jerk, Scribs nodded and took the cigar. Dominic bit the cap off of his, and Scribs mimicked him. He’d never seen a cigar up close, it smelled a tad funny. “Remember, don’t inhale or you’ll get real sick, just puff.” Dominic pulled a match from his pocket and lit the ball of questions on fire, before lighting his cigar. He stomped the papers out after they’d burned for a bit, letting the ashes scatter in the breeze. Scribs accepted the commander’s match and puffed on his own, coughing a bit but eventually getting the hang of it. “If there’s one thing I can’t abide it’s yellow journalism.”

“What?” Scribs asked.

“When the news media sucks at its job and makes shit up.” Dominic clarified as he puffed on his cigar. “You want to ride along and ask questions, go ahead, but make them your own damn questions. We clear on that?” Scribs nodded and looked back to his notepad. “So come on, ask away, I’m an interdimensional alien that commands the most advanced, most diverse army in the world, there’s gotta be some question there.”

“Well… I’m a little curious about why you decided to go on this charge so early in your political career…” Scribs asked, Dominic chuckled for a moment before the smile ran away from his face.

“I’m not a politician.” Dominic said simply and quietly. “I care about my homeland, and the people that still live there… They’re suffering, you know?” Scribs began to jot down several words on his note pad. “There’s one girl there that I’m doing this for the most… She deserves a better world. I was blessed with a second chance, if I deserve one, I’m sure she and a bunch of others deserve one too.”

“So I’ve heard there was some sort of outbreak, but it hasn’t really been explained in other interviews.” Scribs continued, Dominic nodded as he exhaled a puff of smoke and looked off towards New Liberty. After a few moments Scribs followed his gaze, but he didn’t see anything of note.

“Imagine the entire city on fire.” Dominic said quietly, Scribs was a bit stunned by that. “Imagine that over half the population was suddenly turned into ravenous wolves, and everyone they bite turns into another ravenous wolf.” The reporter began jotting down what he was hearing. “Now imagine they all look like people you used to know, teachers, doctors and so on… Your friends now want to rip your face off…” Scribs could see Dominic’s hand tremble for a moment before he took another pull on his cigar.

“It sounds like it’s an awful place…” Scribs commented as he finished jotting down the rather stunning visual on paper.

“Words can’t do it justice.” Dominic said with a sigh before he shook his head. “But, you can see why I’m so hell bent on getting this done. On top of that I’ve recently learned there’s groups out there that take slaves, maraud around the country side, and generally want to make life hell for survivors.” Dominic pounded his fist down on the tank. “That’s what these are for.”

“I see…” Scribs said, he was a bit nervous about riding along in the vehicle now. He’d heard there would be monsters, but he had expected something along the lines of a hydra or timberwolves, not diseased former humans and pillaging raiders. Yet, something about what was happening got his attention. Almost all the other news outlets were talking about how helping humanity would be bad, but Scribs could see the sincerity in Dominic’s eyes. He’d ride along with him nonetheless, it sounded like that would yield a much better story.

“But enough about the sad stuff, I’m sure you’ve got all that gossip stuff you wanna talk about.” Dominic said as he looked back to Scribs with a slight smile. “You wanna hear about me and the Princess, right? That’s all I seem to hear about lately.”

“My editor wanted to hear about it, I really could care less.” Scribs replied with a shrug, Dominic’s eyes brightened as he smiled before patting the stallion on the shoulder.

“What I like to hear.” The man said before he looked off to the side and paused, then stood up and started waving. “Get over here, got someone you need to meet.” Scribs turned and saw a thestral trotting over, a stallion with a muscled physique and a cocky grin. “Scribs, this is our driver. Gear Grinder, this is a Scribs.”

“Good to meetcha, now who are ya?” Asked the thestral as he used his powerful wings to flap himself up onto the tank.

“I’m the reporter that’s going to ride along with you.” Scribs said simply, Gear Grinder raised an eyebrow for a moment before he looked at Dominic.

“You serious, we’re takin’ a fuckin’ civie?” The driver asked, Dominic puffed on his cigar and nodded.

“We’ve got room for one more since I’m commanding, and besides, he’s an alright guy. Not like the rest of the Canterlot Creeps we get around town.” Dominic replied, Gear Grinder looked back at Scribs and gave a slight shrug.

“Alright, man. Just remember who does what in there, you know?” Gear Grinder walked to the hatch and pulled it open. “I’m gonna start going over those cold weather manuals, like you say, you never know what we’re gonna run into on the other side.”

“Roger that, Gear.” Dominic replied as he watched the driver climb down into the vehicle and close the hatch, the man puffed on his cigar once more before tapping away the ashes. Scribs awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the ground. “Don’t worry about Gear, him and I have known eachother for a while. He’ll warm up to you once he gets used to you.”

“I hope so.” Scribs said quietly, he seemed to take note that the tank was short one crew member. “Hey, isn’t there supposed to be somepony else?” Dominic nodded quietly as he looked around the motor pool.

“Yeah, probably should warn you about her.” Dominic said as he puffed on his cigar once again. Scribs felt a bit out of place and so he hesitantly puffed on his cigar as well. “Our gunner is a bit…. Shall we say… Intense?” Scribs began writing without even looking at the pad and pen, far too busy paying attention to the man in front of him. “She’s actually a griffon.”

“A griffon?” Scribs asked, he sounded a tad worried. Dominic just nodded and paused once more as he looked to the sky, the unicorn followed his gaze and spotted what he was looking at quickly. A griffon was quickly coming in to land beside the tank, when she did she kicked up a cloud of dust. As it cleared Scribs saw Dominic stand up straight and clasp his hands behind his back, taking up a very commanding stance. The reporter turned to look at the griffon, he gulped and adjusted his saddle bags in case he had to run.

She was lean and muscled, with black fur and grey feathers, her tail waved back and forth in an almost menacing pattern. When she saw Dominic she snapped to attention, but the man quickly waved a dismissive hand.

“Sergeant Avos.” Dominic said simply, Scribs watched the griffon relax her posture and roll her neck. “This is Scribble Pen, he’s going to be riding along with us through the portal.”

“Understood, sir.” The griffon said as she hopped up on the tank and leaned forwards, Scribs blinked nervously as she leaned forwards and sniffed him, when she’d finished she sat down on the metal.

“Hey, is that Eggy?” Gear Grinder yelled from inside, Scribs saw the griffon’s eyes go wide at the name. Suddenly there was a loud tirade of angry words and screaming that Scribs couldn’t understand, as the griffon was speaking in her native tongue. Dominic clicked his heels together and cleared his throat, and she quickly quieted down.

“Avos, Gear’s inside going over the cold weather manuals, I suggest you go and join him.” Dominic said calmly, the griffon nodded with a slight look of shame on her face before she opened the hatch and dropped down. “And Avos…”

“Sir?” She replied as she poked her head out out of the turret.

“Don’t kill him, please? We need him to drive the tank, remember?” Dominic’s tone was a lot less commanding now, Avos just nodded before she dropped down and closed the hatch behind her. Dominic sighed quietly and puffed once more on his cigar.

“I take it she doesn’t like being called ‘Eggy’, but, I’m curious where it came from.” Scribs said, Dominic chuckled and sat down on the turret once again, relaxing a bit more now that it seemed the gang was all there.

“I was talking about languages on my world, how Thestrals sound like Germans and the griffons sound like the ruskies.” Dominic began to explain, meanwhile Scribs was writing it down as best as he could. “In Spanish the word ‘Huevos’ means ‘egg’, or something similar to it. Huevos and Avos sounded similar enough for Gear to start calling her Eggy.”

“And griffon’s are very particular about their names, I take it?” Scribs asked, Dominic nodded. The reporter had already filled up half of his first notebook, he was glad he’d practically stuffed his saddle bags with more of them. That reminded him of something. “Say, is there a place I can put my stuff?”

“You can leave it with the gate MPs until we roll out, afterwards you’re gonna have to find space for it in or on the tank.” Dominic explained as he noted the saddlebags on his newest acquaintance. He hadn’t placed him yet, but so far Scribs seemed like an alright guy, all things considered. “We can drive you over there if you don’t want to walk.”

“Nah, I’m alright…” Scribs replied with a smile as he hopped down from the tank, his cigar falling to the ground as he did so. “Thanks for letting me stick around.”

“Just don’t make me regret it when we go through.” Dominic said in a serious tone, Scribs nodded firmly and turned to walk away. The president sighed and dropped his cigar, then stepped on it before he turned and opened the hatch. He climbed inside and removed his hat, then pulled the hatch shut with a ringing thud.

[♦]

Jen sat quietly in the apartment, performing a bit of maintenance on her revolver at her dining room table. Her hair was let down past her shoulders, she’d been growing it out recently, as she wanted to enjoy long hair as much as she could before she shaved it away in preparation for T-Day. Below her she could hear the hustle and bustle of Johnny’s bar, and she could hear him occasionally shouting to one of his employees.

She’d grown used to that noise over the past couple months, to the feel of Johnny’s arms around her at night, to the smiles and greetings she’d get from the regulars. Despite all that, Jen knew that she would go through the portal. Dominic’s reasons for going through resonated with her, in a way she agreed that there were people more deserving of a second chance than her, but there was more to it than that. Jen wanted to prove to herself that she could go back to earth, that she hadn’t been made soft by Equestria and her new life.

The woman paused and looked to her handheld radio, she’d set it down nearby in case she ended up being called. So far all she was hearing was idle chit chat between the command center and the long range sentries, and hearing that, she decided it would be alright to change the channel. She reached over and hit a couple buttons until the radio chatter was replaced by the sound of music, she smiled faintly as she recognized the song. It wasn’t perfect, but at least there was some way of listening to human music once again. Dominic had loaned his music player to the boys in the radio center and all of the sudden they had the first ever music station.

Jen hummed along to the tune of ‘Fear of the Dark’, she had to hand it to the young president, he had a pretty good ear for music. Meanwhile she was paying particular attention to a pesky bit of dirt that had taken up residence on the outside of her revolver’s chamber, it was very peaceful to her just to focus on a simple task and she would have been content to just let it stay that way. As the music on the radio faded out she couldn’t believe her ears at what came on next, mainly because she couldn’t believe a guy like Dominic would have something like that on his playlist.

Her most secret favorite song ever that she couldn’t help but get up and dance to, it was by a Swedish group and always put a smile on her face. Jen stood up with that same smile she’d had years ago when she would listen to it before the fall, then she started dancing like some dumb girl just out of high school. The song’s name was ‘Caramelldansen’, a song that she never openly admitted to loving for fear of ridicule. She supposed that if the President of the United States listened to it from time to time, she could listen to it as well.

Things were going fine as she danced there in the privacy of her apartment, flailing her arms and legs around in an absurd fashion. In fact, it got to a point where she was starting to sing along to the song, though perhaps her volume got a bit louder than she wanted it to. She shrugged it off though, she was having fun for once and she didn’t have to worry about looking silly in front of her troops, as much as she wished she could. Then the song came to an end, and the apartment was silent for several seconds.

“You are absolutely fuckin’ adorable.” Johnny’s voice said from behind her, she blushed and turned to look at him nervously, he was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed and yet he looked very open. He had a smile that was warm and inviting, bolstered by the honest clothes he wore. A suit and a tie that had been specially tailored for him, Jen had to admit it certainly made him look handsome, even as she blushed and nervously brushed hair out of her eyes. “Oh… Sorry, is this one of those things where you didn’t want me here while you geeked out or whatever?”

“No!” Jen said quickly as she walked towards him. “I… I just wasn’t expecting you to come up here. I don’t mind that you saw…” She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“I don’t mind that I saw either, all that jumping around was pretty nice.” Johnny’s smile grew a bit more cocky as Jen felt him pull her close, she smiled a bit and gave him a squeeze of her own.

“Well you’ll have to wait until tonight to see anymore of it, I’m still technically on duty, you know?” Jen replied, Johnny just smiled as he let go of her. “What brought you up here anyway?”

“We heard you singing downstairs.” Johnny said simply, Jen blushed again. “Worried there was an axe murderer up here or something.”

“Shut up, you!” Jen gave him a smack on the arm before she turned and walked back to the table. “I’m mad at you now, so nyah.” She stuck her tongue out at him before sitting down, Johnny chuckled quietly and waved goodbye.

“Well… Even if you’re mad, I love you… Actually, I love it when you’re mad! That’s when you’re the most fun!” Johnny started laughing only to duck as Jen picked up a spoon from the table and threw it at him. “Jeez, okay! Sorry!” The man sighed contently and closed the door, then adjusted his tie and started walking down the steps to his bar. He reached to his pocket and withdrew a cigarette, then lit it with an old metal lighter he’d picked up off a traveling merchant. More specifically, he’d beaten the crap out of a wanna be drug smuggler and taken the lighter off his twitching carcass.

Johnny didn’t like drugs in his town, and as much as Dominic laid claim to it, so too did Johnny. The man ran a clean operation, that was the only reason the government hadn’t cracked down on him yet, as technically all of his ventures were legal. In the United States and only the United States, that was alright, the US didn’t have any extradition treaties.

As Johnny stepped into his bar he heard the normal dull roar of his customers, he could see the changeling he’d hired to work the bar was watering down the drinks just enough, and the diamond dogs acting as bouncers were keeping kids and thugs outside where they belonged. The entire room reminded him of an old bar in his neighborhood, right down to the pictures on the walls that depicted some of the more interesting adventures of his clientele.

“Hey, boss.” Came the familiar voice of Ball Peen, Johnny’s second in command. He was a big grey earth pony, a former Solar Elite that had been kicked out for excessive force complaints. He wore a suit of his own, navy blue unlike Johnny’s black suit. Johnny looked to the stallion with a raised eyebrow and saw he was standing off in a corner behind the bar, the man walked over to him and leaned next to him before taking a drag on his cigarette. “So, I talked with those stallions from Manehattan about our little venture…”

“What did they say?” Johnny asked, not taking his eyes off the room. Ball Peen cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. “Come on, Peen. The fuck did they say?”

“Okay, just so you know, I’m quoting here…” Ball Peen said in a calm tone, Johnny’s eyes narrowed at him. “‘We’ll let him ship up here if we can use his mare for a week.’.” The man snapped his cigarette in half as his fist trembled, Ball Peen backed away quietly.

“Those goddamn cocksucking motherfuckers…” Johnny said in a low tone, the thought of those manehattan slimeballs going anywhere NEAR Jen was enough to get his blood boiling. As he thought of her though he took a few deep breaths and shook his head. “They don’t want to be ahead of the curve? Fine. Send Anton to tell ‘em to go fuck themselves.” Ball Peen nodded quietly, he was surprised his boss hadn’t gone totally ballistic. The hustle and bustle of the bar was doing a good job of disguising their conversation from prying ears, another thing that Johnny enjoyed about his dream-come-true. “Peen… You still know that jeweler in Equestria? The one that fenced the goods last month.”

“Two Tone? Yeah, why?” Ball Peen replied, Johnny looked around for a moment before he knelt down.

“I need a ring for Jen.” He said in a hushed voice, Ball Peen raised an eyebrow at him before realizing the human custom was to put rings on their fingers rather than a horn. “Thing is, T-Day is a two weeks away now, you know?”

“Shit! Right! We’ve gotta get ready for that concert thing they’re doing.” Ball Peen remarked, Johnny sighed and facepalmed. “I hear they got Countess Coloratura to appear, part of some ‘USO’ thing or whatever before they go through.”

“No, Peen, it doesn’t have anything to do with the concert.” Johnny said slowly, the stallion paused and tilted his head. “I want to propose to Jen.” Ball Peen’s eyebrows rose, the thick black things normally hid the stallion’s eyes, but they rose to such a height Johnny could see the light grey orbs as clear as day.

“Don’t worry about it, boss. I’ll have him get it done before then.” Ball Peen said dutifully, Johnny smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

“Jen hates diamonds, says they’re part of some conspiracy or something, so ask for emerald if you can get it, otherwise anything else will do… And she loves rose gold.” Johnny commented, smiling faintly as he thought more of the adorable, sexy, tender woman upstairs. Ball Peen nodded once again, he could see just how important the ring was to his boss. He had to admit he could see why the tough guy loved the woman so much, she always made cookies when they had their private ‘Poker’ sessions between the stallions that made up Johnny’s Equestrian and Crystal Empire connections. On top of that, she had on more than one occasion helped with a tough business decision.

“You can count on me, Johnny. I won’t let you down. I’ll go get it myself if you want.” Ball Peen offered, Johnny shook his head and stood up straight as he reached to his pocket for another smoke.

“Nah, I need you here to run things at the concert. Send the new guy… He has incentive not to fuck up.” Johnny explained as he lit his cigarette and took a drag, he reached to his suit pocket and withdrew a small folded up slip of paper. “These are the measurements on her finger, I took them while she was asleep, so she’ll be surprised.” Ball Peen took the paper and stuffed it into one of his suit pockets.

“I got it covered, chief.” Ball Peen said with a smirk, he paused and looked around for anything odd, a few moments passed as the two of them just silently observed the bar. After a minute or so they spotted a pegasus walking in, she had light blue fur and a white mane and the a tornado for a cutiemark. The mare walked directly to the two of them and cleared her throat, then in a very deep very male voice she spoke.

“Hey, boss.” The pegasus said. “Some fuckin’ Canterlot mooks are messing around near the train station, over by our latest batch.” That got Johnny’s attention, as well as Ball Peen. “Wants me and the guys to go fuck ‘em up?”

“I’ll go take care of it myself, send Anton and that new guy over there as well.” Johnny said as he took a drag on his cigarette and began walking out of the bar, the ‘mare’ nodded before she burst into a small flash of flame, revealing she was actually a very buff changeling male. Ball Peen just shrugged at that and went back to watching the bar, saying a small prayer for the poor folks that were about to get their asses handed to them.

Johnny unbuttoned his suit jacket and hung it up on a hook by the door before he stepped outside, he adjusted the suspenders over his shoulder before rolling up his sleeves and scowling. As he walked down the street he ignored the stares he received from some of the tourists, he only stopped to grab an axe handle from a display outside of a hardware store. Of course he dropped several bits near the display as he walked away. After a minute or so Johnny realized he had a large darkly colored griffon walking behind him with a length of chain in one of his talons, his name was Anton. He rarely talked and had a mean streak a mile wide. Beside him was a younger looking earth pony stallion by the name of Oregano with a length of steel pipe slung over his shoulder.

The trio came upon the train station soon enough, the MPs standing there caught sight of them almost immediately. They didn’t stand up or say anything, they just pointed off to the right on the other side of the train that was parked there. Johnny nodded as he and his crew walked around the side of the train and started heading right, sure enough they saw a pair of box cars that weren’t supposed to be open, as well as a pair of unicorns floating boxes out onto a carriage.

“Anton.” Johnny said over his shoulder. “Sick ‘em.” The griffon nodded and quickly took to the sky, several seconds later he came crashing down in front of the unicorns with a scowl on his beak. The two ponies eyes widened and they started to back away, they suddenly stopped as they backed into something very tall. Johnny. “Hey there, fellas.” The two of them turned around nervously, Johnny realized they both seemed to be dressed up like carnies.

“Hello there, sir!” One said.

“We were just collecting an order we placed, no need to worry!” Said the other.

“May we ask who you are?” Said the first.

“Or what you are?” Finished the second.

“We’re the owners of this fuckin’ train.” Johnny said as he tapped his axe handle against the boxcar.

“Actually that would be the Equestrian Rail Ser-” The first one began to speak.

“Did he say you could fuckin’ talk?” Oregano cut in, the two unicorns gulped and shook their heads. “Then shut the fuck up.” Johnny smirked quietly, that was the sort of loyalty and fire he liked to see in his guys.

“Now you said you placed an order, thing is, we don’t do things like that unless it’s done in person.” Johnny said as he nonchalantly gave his axe handle a couple test swings. “So that makes me think you’re lyin’ to me… But you wouldn’t do that, would you?”

“N-No, sir!” They said in unison.

“Good, then you won’t mind paying for your order now then, because I know we haven’t gotten paid yet.” Johnny smirked at the two of them.

“O-On second thought, we’d like to return-”

“Sorry. No fuckin’ returns. Pay up.” Johnny leaned forwards and looked the two of them in the eyes. “Don’t make me lose my cherub like demeanor.” The two unicorns nervously looked at each other, their horns began to glow, but both of them let out a choked gasp as two very large talons grabbed them.

“Well, ya see… We, uh… We’re a little short right now…?” The first one said, the second one nodded hastily. Johnny looked at Anton, the griffon slowly lifted both of them up and gave them a good shaking, causing numerous bits of lint, dust, and two gold watches to fall into the sand. The man knelt down and picked up the watches, then looked them over appraisingly.

“Don’t worry… These will do just fine to cover the first month’s interest.” He slipped the watches into his pocket and leaned on his axe handle like it was a cane. The two unicorns were shaking out of fear now, as Anton had set them back on the ground. “You got a month to send eight thousand bits, or I send my two associates here to beat it out of you, you read me?” The unicorns nodded rapidly. “And you send it in the mail and pray it doesn’t get lost, because I swear I ever see you fucks in my town again they won’t find all the goddamn pieces.”

“Wh-What about the-” The second unicorn started pointing to the carriage filled with stolen American Hard Apple, Johnny responded by giving him a swift whack in the gut with the axe handle.

“When you pay you’ll get your order, until then, shut it.” Johnny muttered, the two unicorns nodded nervously. “Anton, toss these two fucks on the train, make sure they stay there until it leaves. Once that’s taken care of head to Manehattan and tell those cocksuckers to go fuck themselves.” Anton nodded quietly and hoisted the two stallions onto his back like they were children, that left Johnny and Oregano standing by the side of the two open box cars. “Oregano, right?”

“Yes, Don Giovanni.” The stallion replied, Johnny raised an eyebrow at him. “Your, uh, your… Marefriend? She calls you that sometimes, when you’re not around…” Johnny smiled and rubbed his chin.

“Don Giovanni...I like the sound of that.” He hummed before he shook his head and looked back at Oregano. “I need you to do something very special for me, this task is very important.” Oregano nodded silently, Johnny began taking the crates out of the carriage and loading them back into the boxcar. “I want you to head to Canterlot and meet with a guy named Two Tone, he’s a jeweler and a good one at that. Tell him I want a ring made, nothing too flashy, something elegant. It’s for my ‘Marefriend’, I’m looking to propose to her, you can see why this is so important.”

“Of course, Don… I’m honored you would pick me for such a task.” Oregano replied, Johnny just chuckled as he loaded yet another box.

“You’re a good kid, I can see you going a long way in this business of ours.” He said, now Oregano was helping him load the boxes as well. The olive colored stallion grunted under the weight, but he didn’t complain, even as his parted black mane got mussed up. “Now, as I was saying, talk to Ball Peen, he’ll give you the rest of the details and the money. The money has to come from the bar, nothing else… I won’t buy something for Jen with blood money.”

“I understand, Don Giovanni. I won’t let you down.” Oregano said with a dutiful nod, Johnny loaded the last crate into the boxcars and closed the doors.

“You’ll probably leave on the same train as those other fucks, so make sure they get out of here when you go.” Johnny added, Oregano nodded and the two of them began walking back towards town. Johnny was thinking about how he would ask Jen, when he would ask her, would he do it in public or in private. Oregano on the other hand was thinking about his new boss, he was a lot different from the other crews the stallion had run with. Violent and loud, and yet he seemed to do somethings with a noble purpose beyond getting rich. Oregano could respect a boss like that.

The sun was beginning to set in the distance, marking one less day until the beginning of an entirely new world. It seemed that already the town was starting to bustle with visitors and newcomers, and that was sure to increase as they got closer and closer to T Day.

Author's Notes:

Here's another one to celebrate a job interview well done!

And an extra clip of the day, because I wanna go one step beyond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at0oBNV3yfg