Dominic stared at the petal for several terse seconds, then he picked it up with his fork and held it up. The ponies gasped and checked under their own food, all but Celestia. She just continued to eat as if nothing had happened, an action which brought the attention of a now irate human upon her. He could feel the spores from the plant start to affect him, and not in a joking way. His asthma, which hadn’t attacked him in years, was coming back with a fiery vengeance.

“Wh-What did you do!?” He shouted, he began to find breathing harder. Celestia, who had only expected to loosen his tongue, looked in horror as Dominic began to cough roughly. He braced himself on the table and coughed out of control. One particularly harsh cough yielded a red spray that stained the table cloth, the ponies backed up as he coughed. Luna moved to brace him but he held up his hand. He pounded on his chest a few times before wiping his mouth on his sleeve, it left a red streak on the leather jacket. He jerked towards Celestia, his eyes had become covered in blue spots. His lips were also spotted, though a bit of the blood he had coughed up still dribbled down his chin.

“Dominic, are you okay?” Celestia asked, Luna would have face hooved if she wasn't preoccupied with watching the young man.

“I’m gonna gouge out your eyes and piss in your dead skull!” Dominic shouted, he pulled his revolver from his holster and pointed it directly at Celestia’s head. The hammer clicked back, one squeeze on the trigger would be the end of it. “One more dead infected, it won’t make a fucking difference!” Dominic’s world was swirling, he was no longer in the dining hall. He was in Evergreen’s main street, staring at ten infected creatures. Whatever they had been before, they were as good as dead now. Luna shoved his arm before he pulled the trigger and the round discharged into one of the windows. “GET OFF OF ME! YOU'RE NOT GONNA MAKE ME ONE OF YOU!” Dominic pointed his revolver at the creature that had shoved him, the hammer came back. Again he missed as he felt a searing pain in his side, one of the creatures had hit him with something hot.

“Everyone needs to get out of here! NOW!” Shining shouted as he saw the round punch a hole into the wall. The element bearers left with great haste, though Twilight couldn’t help but watch the young, crazed human. Shining had hurled a pot of scalding hot tea just in time to save Princess Luna, though it looked as if it had only phazed the human for moment. Cadence remained however. “Cadence! Come on!”

“They need my help Shiny! I’ll be okay!” Cadence replied, she used her magic to push him outside the door and seal it shut.

“YOU’LL NEVER TAKE ME!” Dominic screamed at the creature who had locked the other seven in one of the buildings. He charged towards it, his breathing heavy and pained. He jumped up on a burned out car before tackling it and placing the barrel of his revolver to it’s temple. Before he could fire however, he was hit by something heavy. The other creature had hurled a manhole cover into his side.

Luna stood there, slightly shocked by her previous action. She had thrown a serving tray at Dominic before he could fire, now he looked at her with his spotted blue eyes. Whatever he saw her as, it wasn’t what she truly looked like. Dominic got to his feet, having been knocked a considerable distance from Cadence. She too was getting to her hooves, feeling slightly shaken by the near death experience. Celestia charged her horn and levitated a pot of plants, Dominic saw this and dodged it. It missed his shoulder by inches, he was losing steam. His breathing was ragged and he was coughing again, Luna felt emotional pain as she looked at his face. Where ever he was, he was certain it was the end.

“Dominic! Calm thyself! We wish not to harm thee! We art thou’s friends!” Luna called out, he looked at her for a moment. Almost as if he were thinking. Dominic stared at the creature, his thumb cocked back the hammer on his revolver. He had fired three times now, only three more shots. This cerature, this infected abomination had claimed to be his friend, it had the audacity to call him friend!

Luna, Celestia and Cadence shuddered as they watched a manic, rage induced, grin spread across his face. Cadence could sense his emotions, outrage, hatred, fury, and the urge to kill.

“M-My friends!?” He said in an insane sort of tone, he started walking towards them. “MY FRIENDS!?” Dominic’s face was one of twisted fury now. “YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME! MY FAMILY! MY LIFE! MY SOUL! EVERYTHING! YOU UGLY INFECTED GUT SACKS, WHO SHOULD BE PUT DOWN, HAVE THE BALLS TO CALL ME YOUR FRIEND!?” He pointed the revolver at Luna. “YOU KILLED MY ENTIRE RACE! YOU SLAUGHTERED BILLIONS OF LIVES! AND NOW YOU’RE MY FRIENDS!?” Cadence looked at Dominic, sympathy starting to grow. “DOES A FRIEND FORCE ME TO KILL MY FAMILY! DOES A FRIEND MAKE MY FRIENDS ABANDON ME! DOES A FRIEND RIP THE ONLY PERSON I HAVE LEFT APART LIKE SOME SORT OF DELICACY!” Dominic was trembling now, the weapon was inches from Luna’s muzzle. “ANSWER ME GOD DAMN IT!”

Cadence had to end it here and now, she ignited her horn as quickly as possible and poured the most love she could muster into Dominic. He cried out in agony and the revolver clattered to the floor, causing it to discharge. The spots on Dominic’s eyes and on his lips disappeared, it was in fact only effecting the spores and not Dominic himself. He fell to his knees, coughing violently as his lungs began to function correctly. The spores no longer cut into his lungs and throat and so the blood ceased to come as he coughed, Dominic looked up at Luna and then at the weapon laying on the floor.

“Oh….oh god…” He said to himself before falling to the floor, fresh images began to flash in his mind. A memory from the fateful day, it was starting to creep up on him. He got to his feet and picked up his revolver. Celestia started to aproach but the hammer was drawn back again. “GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!” He shouted, backing up and aiming at Celestia’s forehead. “ALL OF YOU! STAY THE FUCK BACK!” While Celestia and Cadence complied, Luna took a step forwards. The revolver shifted to her. “GOD DAMN IT! LUNA! STAY THE FUCK BACK! DON’T MAKE ME DO IT!”

“It will be okay, Dominic. We- I want to help you.” Luna said slowly, Dominic was still trembling. ”Don’t hesitate! NEVER HESITATE!” his father’s voice echoed through his head, Dominic’s finger was alternating between the trigger and the trigger guard.

“DON’T MAKE ME KILL YOU!” Dominic shouted again, Luna stopped in her tracks. She could see the determination in his eyes. He didn’t want anyone near him, and after what had happened Luna could understand why. Deep down she was furious at her sister, she had told her everything that Dominic had told her. He had told Celestia so much, and all of it had brought the memories back to life in his head. She still wanted him to talk more!? Talking didn’t always solve everything!

“We understand Dominic, we know thou art angry with our sister.” Luna said slowly, Cadence now stood dumbstruck by the display. Not only by the fact she had stopped his mental torment for a moment, but by the fact that her aunt, who prided privacy over all, had attempted to get him to speak more loosely with deception.

“Angry? ANGRY!?” Dominic roared, his resolve hardening. “I POURED MY HEART AND SOUL OUT FOR YOU BASTARDS! I TRUSTED YOU! THE LEAST YOU COULD HAVE DONE WAS LET ME EAT SOMETHING WITHOUT ANSWERING YOUR FUCKING QUESTIONS!”

“It’s okay, Dominic. It’s over now.” Luna said, Dominic looked at her for a moment, hearing the sincerity in her voice, before he lowered the hammer on his weapon. His resolve was gone, he didn’t have the energy to continue the stand off. He dropped the gun to the floor and looked at it for a moment. All of the anger he had in him in that moment changed, it was replaced by a wave of anguish and sadness. His back slid down against the wall he had backed up to and he just sat there for a few moments, staring into the distance. After three years of fighting to survive, after watching so much death and grief, after seeing his entire race devastated, it was only now, in a foreign dimension that he began to openly weep. Luna moved next to him and draped a wing over his back, he buried his face in his hands as he sobbed.

Celestia made a move to join her but stopped when she saw the glare she received from Cadence.

“You’ve done enough damage, aunt Celestia. Leave him alone.” The words were cold, they cut deep into Celestia’s heart. Cadence trotted over to Dominic and placed her wing around him as well. Neither alicorn spoke, they just let him weep and sob. For several minutes that was the only sound in the room, before Celestia turned away from the scene and walked to the doors. She pushed them open and closed them immediately, the guards that had been ready to charge in looked at her for instructions.

“We have no need for your service, the situation has been resolved.” She said in an almost distant tone, the element bearers and shining armor looked at her for news. “Cadence and Luna are okay, as is Dominic. However they may be in there for a while, I suggest you all return to your rooms.” Without any more words, Celestia disappeared in a flash of light. The ponies stared at the spot she had been in for a moment before looking at eachother. Rainbow Dash moved towards the door and put her ear up to it, but heard nothing because of the thick wood that it was made of.

“I bet they kicked his flank!” Rainbow Dash stated, Twilight shook her head slowly and looked at her still bandaged hoof.

“What did he mean? Who are the infected?” Rarity asked, rubbing her chin with a hoof. She looked at Twilight. “Do you know?”

“Yeah, you’ve been talking with him a lot. Any idea what he was talking about?” Rainbow Dash asked, turning away from the door and looking at Twilight. Shining Armor looked at her as well, he wasn’t going to ask but she could tell he wanted to know. Twilight sighed and looked at the door for a moment, then motioned down the hallway.

“I’ll tell you in my room, it’s not necessarily a happy story.”

{♠}
(3 Hours later)

Celestia stared out the window, she had been doing so for the past three hours. The words echoed through her head like bells that would not cease to ring. Never had Cadence spoken to her with such venom, she never thought that it was within her to even have venom. The true severity of Dominic’s story had also come to light. She had heard that many of his kind had been killed, but she had never guessed the number was in the billions. These thoughts made way for different thoughts, ones directed at herself. What had she done wrong? The poison joke she had used was magically altered to only affect his speech, not cause him to nearly choke to death before hallucinating. Whatever he had seen, it had convinced him he had to defend himself.

If Cadence hadn’t been present, Dominic may have killed Luna. That was another thing that was bothering Celestia, she had frozen up and barely contributed to the fight. Maybe it was shock, maybe it was horror, maybe she just went brain dead for a moment, she didn’t know. It was starting to drive her crazy, her sister had been inches away from death and she had done nothing. Dominic had threatened to kill her once he had been brought out of his hallucination, again it was someone else who had saved her. Luna had been the one who brought Dominic back from the edge, she had been the one to comfort him, Celestia had been cast out by her own family.

Celestia’s thoughts interrupted by several solid knocks on the door, without getting up she opened them with her magic. Luna entered the room, a look of disappointment and rage on her face. Her coat was stained slightly, no doubt it was the remnants of Dominic’s tears. She closed the door behind her and cast a sound proofing spell, Celestia continued to stare out the window. Luna sat in front of her, glaring at her. For several minutes they remained silent before Luna spoke.

“Dominic is asleep now.” She said, looking into Celestia’s eyes. “He sobbed for nearly two hours, Celestia.” Celestia said nothing in rebuttle, just stared at her sister. Her emotions were sapped, and there was nothing to say. Luna flared her horn again, this time it was a spell she used to let her speak in modern terms. It helped when on public relations trips and so forth. “What were you thinking, Celestia? What master plan crossed your mind when you put that petal in his food?”

“I was attempting to help him open up more.” Celestia replied, Luna glared at her more. Celestia had a habit of trying to force ponies to open up to her, even if she didn’t know it.

“Oh? Well mission accomplished! He has successfully fired four rounds from his weapon, he nearly killed you and myself and he cried himself to sleep! At least we learned valuable information from him!” Luna shouted, not nearing the royal canterlot voice but still shaking the window. “What else did we learn!? His families dead, his race is dead, he has no one left. Oh wait! We already knew that!”

“He needed to talk more, talking about things helps ponies-” Celestia began to rebute.

“Ponies! Not HUMANS! He put his faith in us! He told us his secrets! What right did you have to try and milk more out of him!” Luna cut her off, she began to pace back and forth. “Talking doesn’t always make things better Celestia, you have to realise that some secrets are okay to keep!”

“I don’t know, Luna. I just thought, maybe if we had talked more you wouldn’t have-”

“NO! YOU ARE NOT PUTTING THE BLAME ON ME!” Bellowed Luna, her face going scarlet with rage. “ I admit it! I’ve done some horrible things! But forcing someone to relive that kind of HORROR!” She paused, letting the word sink in. “I would never wish it on anyone! Maybe if you saw what he saw, felt what he felt you would realise that. Stop trying to be a benevolent ruler and just try to be someone’s friend!”

“What would you have me do now, Luna? What’s done is done, it cannot be undone. Neither you or I have that power.” Celestia finally snapped back, Luna looked at her sister for a few moments. “He is still unpredictable, that makes him dangerous.” Luna started to fume, this was Celestia’s answer to any problem.

“I should have seen this coming.” She hissed, Celestia looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “If anything pops up that you don’t want to spend time fixing, you banish it. Sombra, Discord… even me.” Luna lowered her voice at the last part, her gaze hardened. “Dominic will not fall into this category, not if I have anything to do with it.”

“Luna! He nearly killed you.” Retorted the Solar diarch, Luna glared at her even more. How could she deny what she had done, it wasn’t Dominic who had put the petals in his food.

“That’s bullshit and you know it!” Luna roared, normally she would have gasped at the use of the word but it was the only thing to describe what Celestia was saying. “He didn’t put the petals in his food, YOU did! His outburst was our fault, if Cadence hadn’t eliminated the spores he ingested when she did he could have DIED! You could have KILLED HIM! Take some responsibility for your actions.” Celestia looked at Luna for a moment, her words ringing in her head.

“When was it, Luna?” Celestia asked, pausing to look out the window. “That you grew more than I?” Luna was slightly taken aback by the statement, but took the compliment nonetheless. “You’re right, I need to responsible. I guess I just thought that I knew what was best for him.”

“He has been on his own for nearly three years, I am sure he know’s what is best for him better than you or I.” Luna said, trying to calm down from the argument. “Unfortunately you won’t be able to tell him of your revelation.”

“Why not?” Asked Celestia, Luna laughed at that. Did she really have to answer this question? She saw the genuine curiosity on her sister’s face and sighed.

“Isn’t it obvious, sister. You have angered him in ways you can’t possibly fathom, he made sure to tell me about it when I said I was coming to see you.” Luna sighed. “He wants nothing to do with you, and I cannot blame him for that. Though he didn’t say that in so many words.” Luna looked out the window, watching a flock of birds take off in the distance.

“Perhaps I should apologize.” Celestia suggested, Luna sighed and shook her head.

“You don’t understand, Celestia. He doesn’t watch an apology, he just doesn’t want to see you again. Ever.” The lunar princess turned back to her sister. “In time he may think differently, but until then…” Luna’s mane changed direction rapidly. “I must go, think about what I have said.” Celestia just nodded, dazed for the second time that day. She had angered ponies in the past, but had always apologised. They had always been willing to listen, but not Dominic. No one had outright denied her a chance to right wrongs. Luna walked out of the room and closed the door, following her hair to Dominic’s room.

{♠}

Halfway to his room Luna’s hair stopped pulling her, it hadn’t been gradual that came with the traditional waking up from a nightmare. The lunar princess picked up her pace until she came to the room she sought. The guards standing near the door looked rather uncomfortable, what had happened couldn’t have been good.

“Princess Luna, thank faust you’ve arrived!” One of the guards said, he began the process of unlocking the door with his compatriot. “That thing has been screaming its lungs out for the past twenty minutes!” Luna glared at the Solar guard, he wilted under her gaze and continued to unlock the door.

“Awaiting final authorisation, your highness.” Said the other guard, Luna nodded and touched her horn to the door. It swung inwards and she trotted in.

“Not a soul is to enter until we are finished.” She commanded, the guards nodded. “Especially Celestia.” Before the guards could think about the last bit Luna closed the door and locked it, she turned to look at the room. It had been changed slightly to accommodate their guest better. The chairs had been reinforced and the bathroom that had been meant for ponies had been modified into a minotaur model. That was the only source of light in the room, the door was opened just a crack and Luna could hear running water. As quietly as she could she crept over to the door and perked up her ears. She could hear Dominic breathing heavily, like he had just run a mile non-stop.

“Dominic?” Luna called out, she heard something fall to the floor and the breathing became more panicked. Several terse seconds passed by before the door opened and Dominic walked out, his face was dripping with water. Luna noticed that without his helmet, jacket and other equipment he was less intimidating. His eyes were still red from his breakdown earlier, they held a look of longing in them.

“Hello, Princess.” He said, his voice hoarse from the screaming he had done during the fight. His shirt was off revealing the spot where he had been hit with the scalding tea had been bandaged, as well as the numerous other scars that adorned his torso. “Is there something I can help you with?” Dominic walked over to the window and looked out at the vast, green land that surrounded the city.

“I just came to see if you were okay.” Luna said sincerely, Dominic paused for a moment. “I understand you are used to the royal we, I cast a spell to make it easier to speak with Celes-”

“Don’t even say her name.” Dominic growled, stopping Luna in her tracks. The Lunar princess trotted over to the human and followed his gaze across the horizon, though she didn’t see anything. “Not now, not ever around me.” Luna nodded again, trying to keep him calm.

“She said that she wanted to apologize.” Luna stated, now just taking in the view as she assumed Dominic was doing. The human growled in response, thinking about her royal highness trying to apologize.

“She doesn’t get it.” He muttered, Luna looked at him. “There’s no magical fucking button, there’s no little switch. You just don’t turn it off.” His face contorted into anger for a moment. “YOU JUST DON’T TURN IT OFF!” He looked at Luna and his gaze softened. “It hasn’t even been two weeks, and she expects me to just spill my guts to her.”

“She thought she was helping Dominic, I agree her methods were poor-”

“Her methods were underhanded, backstabbing and downright infuriating. I would expect something like this from the fucking Soviet Union or Nazi Germany!” Dominic growled, Luna looked thoughtful at that. Dominic had used underhanded tricks, Luna didn’t want to say it but she agreed. Celestia had done something that the Nazi’s or the Soviets would have done. “Not Equestria.”

“She still had good intentions, don’t hate her for trying to help you.”

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Replied Dominic, he turned away from the window and walked over to the bed. “When she’s seen what she made me relive, and understands that I don’t want her god damned help. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll hear an apology from her. Until then she can go fuck herself.” He sat down on the bed and winced as he aggravated the burned patch of skin on his side.

“I- We will tell her this.” Luna started to revert to the royal we as the spell wore off. “M- Our spell is wearing off. But thou’s words hath had their desired effect, we hope ours have done the same.”

“Not really, Luna.” Dominic sighed out. “I haven’t said this to a anyone in a while, but thank you.”

“For what?”

“Trying to help me, I know I must seem like a big fucking asshole but it really means a lot to me.” Luna nodded and looked at him for a few moments, she trotted over to the bed and sat on her haunches in front of him

“Dominic. Celestia has told us everything.” Dominic stopped and looked at her. “Know that we are not upset with thou, but it does raise questions.”

“I’m not answering anymore god damned questions, Luna.” Dominic said sternly.

“We know, but the questions still remain. When thou art ready, not a second earlier.” Luna said, trying to sound sincere. Dominic sighed and nodded slowly.

“When I’m ready…” He looked out the window and noticed the sky darkening, a single white fleck passed the window and then another. “What season is it?”

“We are about to begin winter, Hearths Warming Eve is about a month away.” Luna turned and looked at the snow begin to fall, Dominic struggled to his feet and walked back to the window. His hand came up and he pressed it against the glass, it was cold. Luna trotted back over to him and watched the snow fall. “Dominic, did you have any winter holidays on your world?”

“I thought I said no more questions.” Dominic grunted, removing his hand from the window. Luna nodded, she was about to apologize when Dominic spoke again. “But, I’ll give you this one. Before the outbreak we used to have this holiday called Christmas.”

“Explain this… christmas. If you don’t mind.”

“You want the long version or the short version?” Luna shrugged. “Short. Basically my family would get together and we’d spend time with each other.” Dominic got a nostalgic look in his eye. “I would normally help my grandma in the kitchen, my dad and my sister would entertain the little kids, mom would catch up with her family. They lived all over the country, so christmas was the only time she could see them.” Dominic stopped for a moment, Luna could see he was struggling. “We’d normally have this huge meal, and after words we’d sit down around our christmas tree.”

“Smiliar to our traditions, we assume thou gave each other gifts?” Luna asked, Dominic nodded.

“I remember I gave my sister a bottle of hot sauce, as a gag. I actually got her a book about drawing tigers. My dad gave me a movie I’d been looking for, Trinity and Beyond: The atomic bomb movie.” Dominic sighed. “And that’s how it went. After that most of the family would leave and it’d just be my mom, my dad and my sister.” Dominic stopped again, wiping his eyes.

“Thou hath said enough, Dominic. We need not hear any more.” Luna said, putting a hoof on his shoulder.

“We would sit on the couch and just stare out the window until it got dark, watching the snow fall. My dad would start humming a song, the same song he did every year. We’d listen for a bit and then start singing to it.” Dominic looked down at the floor and then at Luna. His eyes were red and wet. “I memorized the lyrics, in latin and english. just in case we changed it up one year.” Dominic walked back to the bed and laid down, Luna walked over to the bedside and looked at him. “I think… I think I’ll just go back to sleep now.” He said, sounding distant.

“Okay, Dominic.” Luna turned and left the room. “Sweet dreams.” Dominic closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber almost immediately, Luna watched from the door for a moment before stepping out and closing the door. The guards saluted and went to lock the door but Luna raised a hoof. “That won’t be necessary, if he should wake send him to us.”

“Yes Princess.”

Author's Notes:

Here it is. The product of several long days of writers block and hours of constant rewriting. Again not sure how good it is, but it's better than nothing.

Question for you.

Do you care about canon? Should I incorporate elements from the upcoming season as actual plot points for instance?
Also what would you think of a Christmas Special?

As always Comment, Rate, and Favorite. Feedback really helps me figure out where the story is going.