With a mighty gasp Luna was pulled from her unconsciousness only to be greeted with immense pain and nausea.

Keeping her eyes closed as her brain tried its hardest to figure out what was going on, Luna focused on breathing as the pounding in her skull slowly subsided allowing the princess to feel the rest of her body.

Instantly wishing the headache was back with the various signals she was receiving, Luna coughed and hacked at her throat that felt like it was full of thorns. Not even able to vocalize her discomfort without her throat feeling like it was tearing itself apart, Luna finally opened her eyes to a sight that only served to make her more confused.

Looking up at the dense foliage at what must have been above her, small dots of blue sky poking through at random places, the night princess’s mind raced to figure out just what was happening before the events leading up to her slight coma came racing back and propelled Luna to her hooves in a panic.

Breathing heavily as she looked around with wide eyes, Luna's heart started to calm when she realized that she was indeed still alive, and that the forest seemed eerily calm. A stark difference to the endless violence she had been a part of before.

As a massive sigh of relief escaped her mouth despite the pain still present in her throat, the next mystery presented itself to the battered mare, and that was just how she was alive. Because when she had gone dark things were most certainly not looking good.

But perhaps before she thought too hard on that maybe she should figure out just where exactly she was. Luna most certainly didn’t remember passing out in a shallow dugout that was partially covered in branches and leaves. No… it seemed to Luna that if memory serves her right she passed out in the middle of the open after a large… concussion of some sort. There were still some large gray spots in her recollection, the princess noted as she looked around.

As she did so, more and more questions presented themselves. Slowly turning her head to look behind her and deeper into the dugout Luna was shocked to see the form of her sister laying on the dirt floor and quickly made her way over to the prone form of her sibling before nuzzling Celestia once she reached her.

A massive relief washing over Luna as she watched her elder sister steadily breathe Luna lingered upon Celestia’s form, noting the large blood stain on her chest before reluctantly turning around and examining the space more.

Now that she had more of a grip in reality it didn’t take long for Luna to notice her sword laying on the ground and what had to have been a vessel of Hank’s next to it, the gray metal container half buried in the ground with its cap removed.

Using her hooves to somewhat clumsily reseath the bloody blade into the scabbard on her side, too scared to use her magic. Luna then looked to the canister and limped over to it before using her hooves, same as her sword, to pull it from its place and bring it to her nose.

Giving a quick smell, getting nothing but a metallic hint from the canister Luna slightly tipped the foreign piece of kit only to immediately stop when she saw clean water spill from its top and start to soak into the light brown soil. In a flash Luna brought the canteen to her lips and started to greedily drink from it.

As the water cleared her pained throat Luna suddenly lurched forward and spit up half the liquid as her dry throat closed up on the water and forced her into a gagging fit as she coughed up red tinged water.

As the coughing fit forced her into a sitting position. Luna wheezed heavily as she regained her breath and started drinking again, much slower this time, as she tried her absolute best to let the water wash the dry blood out of her throat.

Sighing in relief at the feeling of a throat devoid of burning pain, Luna gave the canteen a shake to gauge how much was left inside and decided to leave it when she realized she had taken most of the contents.

Gingerly setting the canteen down somewhat awkwardly, Luna stood back up and started up the small incline that led out of the partially covered hole in the ground before breaking back into a coughing fit at the smell that had either just made it to her nose, or more likely had been there the whole time and her nose was unwilling to work with her body in full meltdown.

Clearing her throat Luna pursed her lips when she came face to face with a dead shuck that was laying at the edge of the dugout. Actually the entire dugout was surrounded with dead shucks, and not because that is where they had fallen but because they had seemingly been deliberately placed there.

With more questions mounting Luna stepped out of the hole and over the dead body in her way, giving the drag marks and blood trails a moment of recognition before she leveled her gaze and took in her surroundings.

Slowly walking forward, her eyes wide, and mouth slightly open, the first thing the nocturnal princess focused on was the distinct lack of trees that had most certainly been there before. As a powerful mix of confusion and astonishment washed over her Luna lightly cleared her throat while turning to her left only for her already wide eyes to stretch even further open.

As Luna looked forward towards the cliffside she had retreated from the pony was met with nothing but ash, slag, and smoldering piles of trees and mangled corpses. It took a moment for it to all sink in before Luna started to make her way forward to what used to be a natural cliff side and what now was a newly formed mass of sloping smooth rock.

In an instant Luna knew what had happened once she had passed out, however it didn’t make her any less surprised, if anything it made her more astonished. Her sister had completely obliterated the cliffside and the land below the cliff for a good half kilohoof into the forest.

There were no bodies, no trees, no brush, and most notably no dam of rot and decay clogging the river that now flowed normally past its barren, ash-covered, banks as it made its way towards Ponyville.

Walking her way through the ankle deep ash towards the edge of the “cliff” the night princess suddenly froze completely still, her heart sinking in her chest not a second later. As breathing became harder Luna kept her eyes locked on the completely motionless body of her human friend.

Shakily moving forward, never taking her eyes off the human’s form, the closer she got the worse her stomach turned at the sight before her. Nearly hyperventilating Luna made it to the human, giving his form a wide berth as she walked to the side of the man.

“H-Hank.” Luna rasped, calling out to the human in what she already knew was a fruitless endeavor, before falling on her rear and taking a deep breath.

Forced to look away from the man as she calmed herself, Luna eventually looked back up to the man and looked the scene before her over.

Laid beside him in a pile were all his weapons that she figured he had collected after the fight and hiding her and Celestia away in relative safety. After that he must’ve dragged himself to the edge of the cliff to look over the scenery before him and stand guard if the sword still in his hands was anything to go by.

As she stared emptily at the man she eventually found a small smile forming on her lips despite the implications, the pose he had fallen to rest in fit him well. Sat on his knees, his rear on the back of his calves, he held Celestia’s sword before him with the blade stabbed into the ground and the cross guard pressed against his left shoulder as he continued to hold onto the weapon, his left hand on the handle and his right around the blade.

The blood soaked weapon kept the much the same blood soaked human on his haunches despite his slumped forward posture and limp head that hung down, his chin resting on the tattered plate carrier.

Doing her best to ignore the grizzly wounds that were strewn across his frame Luna sighed and slowly stood before she started to approach her friend. It was only ten hooves that separated them but it felt like a mile to the mare as she closed the gap between her and her stubborn friend.

“Stubborn to the end.” Luna said lowly, stopping just a foot away from the man.

Looking over his features, Luna didn’t like seeing the usually indomitable form of the man slumped forward how he was, It simply wasn’t befitting of a stallion of his caliber, and neither was the ghostly paleness of his skin in the spots where she could actually see his bare skin under all the blood and grime.

Hanging her head and letting a heavy sigh escape her lips, Luna reached out with a hoof intending to place it on the man’s shoulder, just to be connected to the man one last time but instantly found herself jumping back, startled at the temperature of his skin. His body was hot, really hot!

Somewhat shocked out of her sadness, Luna stepped forward again and placed her hoof back on his shoulder feeling the extreme heat radiating from his body all the same. Luna would be the first to admit that she knew nearly nothing about human biology, but she also knew that dead ponies never got warmer and she was willing to bet that humans followed the same rule.

But that would mean that Hank wasn’t dead. The human most certainly looked dead however so with extreme discomfort in what she was about to do Luna took a step back and pulled her sword free with her hoof knowing that her horn was still very much not an option.

Squinting her eyes and gritting her teeth a little, Luna slowly pushed the blade forward and gave Hank a small poke on his left arm to see if he would react. Yielding no results the first few times, she moved to hitting the man with the flat of the blade instead of poking at him.

Sick at herself for disrespecting the likely dead body of a close friend of hers Luna continued to probe for life regardless in the same method because there was no chance that she was going to be close to the man in the slim chance that he all of the sudden came to. She knew better than to wake a warrior harshly or, heaven forbid, try and take their weapon from them when they were sleeping, nothing good had ever happened when trying such things.

Watching the human’s body slightly shake with each hit she delivered, Luna started to feel too disturbed at her actions to keep going, but in perhaps a mix of frustration and sadness Luna wound up a hard swing of her sword and struck it directly on the side of her sister's blade that Hank had a hold of.

Having had closed her eyes when she threw the strike to hold back tears at the death of her friend, the heart attack that hit her in the chest came extra hard when her sword was wrenched from her hoof and a gurgling scream came from in front of her.

Her eyes snapping open in an instant all Luna saw in the flash of movement was Hank hook the cross guard of the sword in his grip with the cross guard of her sword and give a hard pull, tearing it out of her grasp as he clumsily shot to his feet all the while the human repositioned the sword in his hands ending in murder stroke with the sword pulled back over his right shoulder.

Looking up at the crazed eyes of the human that now towered over her as he stared down at her, Luna took a slow step back to get away from the deranged human who continued to look down at her with a heaving chest and wild eyes.

“H-hank….. It is over!” Luna stuttered out, hoping to calm the man who moments ago she thought had been dead but now was very much alive and had her in the exact situation she had been trying to avoid.

His face morphing from murderous intent to confusion over the next few tense seconds, Luna let out the breath she was holding as the man slowly started to look around and started to remember where he was, who she was, and what had happened.

Slowly lowering the sword and looking down to it a heavy sigh escaped the human’s lips before he promptly fell back to his knees and tossed the sword away to his side where the well christened blade slid into the mix of blood and ash.

Slowly lowering himself back to the ground with a series of groans and hisses, Luna looked at the man with pained eyes as she looked over the grievous wounds that covered his body and had started to bleed again from his sudden movement.

Taking a deep breath that ended in a harsh cough and hacking fit once he had got himself laid out flat on the ground Hank slowly reached for his canteen, letting out a groan when his hand only found the empty pouch and remembered where it was.

Leaning over the man to see what he was trying to reach for, hoping she could help in anyway possible it took a second for Luna to put the pieces together but once she did she quickly stepped away and took off into a run for the dugout where the water container with a rushed, “We’ll return shortly!”

Sighing, Hank let his arm go slack at his side and decided to just stare up at the gray sky that he knew was actually blue. He truthfully didn’t expect to wake up from his rest at the cliff’s melted edge after he had gotten Luna and Celestia set up, but here he was, too injured to move and seeing in grayscale from blood loss, but still alive.

Chuckling lightly at the scenario as his thoughts jumped around Hank laughed particularly hard as he thought about just what deity he had to have pissed off to curse him with the seeming inability to cross the threshold. It sure had felt close, and he was nearly certain when he had decided to close his eyes he was finally done for but now that he wasn’t dead he, for the first time, he didn’t feel pissed that it wasn’t over. He was still aggravated that he wasn’t finally done with his shift, but there was a strange part of the man that was looking forward to something.

He didn’t know what the thing was per se, the man’s brain was in no place to even begin comprehending such things with how concussed and low on blood he was. But there was something there that was different than the last however many times Hank had been laying on the ground staring up at the sky.

Running up with the canteen held awkwardly in her mouth, Luna skidded to a stop next to the man and set the canteen on his chest, snapping the human out of his thoughts and bringing him back into the real world that was filled with pain.

Just doing his best to keep breathing through the pain Hank tried as hard as he could to reach the canteen on his chest but was forced to give up when his tricep nearly felt like it was ripping itself from the bone.

Gritting his teeth as he forced back a scream Hank rammed his head back in the dirt as he waited for the pain to subside.

Flinching back as she watched the man struggle, Luna wished she could have done something to ease the pain instead of standing and just watching, but there truly was nothing she could do, and she hated it. It wasn’t the first time she had been in such a situation, being immortal unfortunately meant that she had found herself in such circumstances countless times before. She found it never got easier.

Incapable of just standing there doing nothing though, Luna slowly reached forward with a protest from her own ribs and took the canteen in her hooves again and lifted it to her mouth to unscrew the cap.

After getting the extremely slippery canteen open, having to pinch it between both hooves and use her teeth to unscrew it like a foal Luna then leant scooted herself closer to Hank’s head in her seated position before slowly, and carefully, lowering the canteen to his mouth which only served to get her an unamused looked from the immobile human as he frowned.

“Oh suck it the buck up and stop being so stubborn you idiot.” Luna sneered as she continued to inch the canteen lower to his mouth getting a huff from the man who conceded and parted his lips.

Water and blood mixing in his mouth and throat made the man choke on the liquid causing Luna to stop pouring it for him so she wouldn’t choke the man further. Wanting to spit the water out, Hank fought the biological urge to clear his airway and forced his body to calm down. He knew he couldn’t afford to waste any of the water, and he definitely wasn't going to waste it by spitting it out, so as he settled his airway and calmed himself, mostly thanks to his lack of gag reflex Hank finally drank down the now foul tasting water before taking some much needed breaths.

Nodding to Luna she leant back forward and started giving him more water that the man was now able to get down more smoothly. As the canteen started to run dry, Hank paused for a moment with a full mouth and swished it between his teeth to clean his mouth out the best he could in the moment before swallowing the water that he desperately wanted to spit out but didn't dare actually do it.

Finished with the contents of the canteen Hank laid his head back and took a long breath in enjoying the lack of burning pain his throat had been giving him. Hank had alway found it amazing how just a little water could make a person feel just a little more human.

“Better.” Hank spoke in a low and grumbly voice even for him, his throat still hoarse from all the screaming and yelling.

Sighing in relief at the sound of his voice, even if it was rough and gravelly, Luna gave a small smile, “We are glad to have you back friend.”

“Happy you're still alive too.” Hank replied, “What’s the damage?”

“The damage?” Luna asked with a raised brow, not understanding the slang.

“How hurt are you?” The human clarified.

Nodding to show she knew what he meant, Luna looked down at herself and her tarnished fur.

“I am hurt, but I am also recovering. The same cannot be said for my sister, she is still incapacitated.”

Nodding, Hank sighed, feeling what his own body was telling him. “I’m really fucked up.”

Looking down at the man, Luna didn't know where to even start with how badly he was torn up. His arms were bitted and torn, his face was cut, his forehead split just below the hairline, his neck had cuts, his torso was scattered in damage, and his legs…. His legs were hard to look at.

“Can you feel your legs and paws?” Luna asked the man, still looking at his mangled legs.

“Unfortunately.” Hank replied shortly, “How bad?”

“Very.” Luna responded in kind, not one to sugar coat things.

“I figured. It feels bad.” Hank admitted slowly moving both of his feet, his calves and thighs screaming at him all the while.

“Are they… Still mostly attached?” Hank asked, truly not knowing the extent of his injuries.

“Nothing is missing,” Luna answered looking back at the man’s face, “You just have a series of very deep cuts and numerous punctures.”

“Any chunks missing?”

“Not that we can see.”

“Okay. Good.” Hank sighed in relief, “I need to get to work on fixing myself.”

Looking at the man like he was crazy Luna shook her head, “How? You cannot even move.”

“In a way I really don’t wanna do. But if you would; take out the medical kit on my left side and find the small bag with four white pills in it.”

Noticing her rising curiosity and reluctance Hank sighed, “No questions, just do it.”

Shutting her mouth and nodding Luna reached for the aforementioned pouch and got it open with little trouble, getting ahold of the strange miniscule smooth bag was another story with her hooves was another story and greatly demoralized the princess who was used to a far margin more dexterity than a shaky foal.

Finally getting ahold of the dimebag, holding it pinched between her front hooves Luna to the human for what to do next.

“Well now you need to find a way to get that bag open and those pills into my mouth.” Hank grumbled, wincing as he spoke, “I’d recommend just lowering that bag to my mouth and I'll bite it open with the pills inside. I don’t want those little things spilling into the ash. We’ll never find ‘em.”

Finding no fault in his logic, Luna wasted to time in doing so and quickly had the four pills in Hank’s mouth, albeit still inside the see-through bag as well.

“Ight. Pull.”

Doing her best to keep hold of the miniscule and extremely slick bag between her hooves, Luna couldn’t do anything when the little thing slipped out of her hooves when Hank turned his head slightly.

Clear that there was no way they were going to get the bag tore with the current method they were trying, Luna put her hooves down with an annoyed huff and lent forward with opening her mouth.

Completely helpless to do anything but watch, Hank did his best to hold himself and the bag still as Luna latched onto it with surprising precision and gave a careful pull. Without further trouble the bag ripped allowing Hank to pull his half into his mouth while letting Luna spit her half out.

Finding the plastic bag to be nothing but trouble, Luna tried her best to blow it and spit it out of her mouth while the piece of plastic kept getting stuck to her lips. Finally pulling it into her mouth and chewing it into a small ball the lunar princess was able to spit it out with enough force to get it past her dry lips.

Looking down to see Hank doing much the same after he seemingly got the pills out of his half, the pony finally had her curiosity neglected for too long and had to know how those tiny pills were going to provide any kind of help.

“What are those small tablets?”

Not answering her question but instead motioning with his eyes for the canteen on the ground Luna got the message and brought the canteen to Hank’s lips completely emptying the last of the water into his mouth.
“I would still like to know about what those tablets are going to do.” Luna stated as Hank swished the water around his mouth before swallowing.

“It’s drugs Luna.” Hank stated simply with a flat look, “And when I do anything I do it right.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Luna asked, not understanding why he was being so cryptic.

“It’s my own blend of prescription narcotics I came up with after a LOT of experimentation. I call the bags with that mix in them my “go bags”. It’s a sustained combat stim.”

Completely taken aback from the revelation that Hank was apparently quite the drug abuser, Luna couldn’t help but feel shocked, “W-we didn't take you for drug user Hank.” Luna stuttered out.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me and what I’ve done in the past Luna. Let’s keep it that way.” The man said with an air of finality about him.

“You will need to talk about your exploits, good or bad someday Hank.” Luna retorted.

An honest laugh making its way from his mouth Hank looked at Luna with a surprising amount of mirth behind his eyes. His jovial look was, however, somewhat disturbing to witness considering the structure of his scarred face, and the layers of blood covering him.

“I doubt that.” He eventually said with a chuckle.

Deciding to leave it be Luna instead wanted to know just what the drugs were and what they were going to do.

“So,” Luna began getting Hank's attention, “Just what do these “go bags” have in them? What does the mix of drugs do?”

“It’s primarily a painkiller. Codeine as the fast acting opioid, followed by a hit of oxycodone to keep the pain away for around a day. The real fun is in the other two pills.”

“What are those?” Luna asked, leaning forwards in intrigue.

“Those are the “uppers”, Amphetamine is my go to for that. Love the stuff.”

“What is an “upper” exactly?”

“It’s a drug that makes you feel good, as well as giving you energy. In this case it helps fight the minor depressant effects the opioids have but really it's just there to make me feel good and alert.” Hank sighed, “I mean it's kinda hard to breathe on this mix for a little while cause the opioids and the Amp kinda fight a little but ehhhhhh, minor details ya know.”

Already sounding much more upbeat Luna couldn’t help but be happy with the effects so far even if she didn't like the use of such substances.

“Plus….. I just feel normal when I’m on it. I mean opioids and amphetamines are highly addictive, and the lack of pain is great and all…” Hank said with a grunt before suddenly sitting up much to the surprise of Luna who looked at the man wide eyed, “But really what makes me want to take this stuff everyday is because it makes me feel like my old self. Makes me feel like the me before my family and friends were killed, before people I once knew started trying to eat me, before the bombs fell. I mean I was only in that shit for like four years but, god it fucked me up.”

Completely at a loss for words at what Hank had just said, Luna just sat and watched as the man sat back against a rock and started looking over his legs. Usually the man was just about the most closed off a pony could be so the turn in character was even more jarring to the princess than his sudden return to mobility. However it was clear to the pony as well that the human was knowledgeable in more fields than he let on. If he knew, seemingly moderate to advanced, pharmaceuticals what else did the man know that he had not revealed yet?”

“Also just letting you know,” Hank threw a pebble at Luna, snapping her out of her gaze and flashing a grin once she focused on him, “You’re probably gonna start feelin’ a little a little weird here soon. I can already tell your pupils are dilating a little.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Luna shook her head at the man, figuring he had just had his bell rung a little too hard.

“You chewed on your half of the bag before spitting it out and those pills have been in that bag for a loooong ass time, you definitely got a little hit outta it.”

Narrowing her eyes at the man, not at all amused at the revelation, Luna focused inwardly trying to notice anything strange but wasn’t able to come up with anything, “We feel no different.”

“Yeah, you got a little baby hit, probably wont do anything other than smooth out some rough spots that are hurting ya, but uh. You don’t have a history of respiratory issues do ya?” Hank asked, looking up from his leg.

“Not that we know of, no.” Luna was quick to reply.

“Right on.” Hank gave her a thumbs up while putting on a pair of blue surgical gloves, “You do have some weight to throw around after all so that’ll help temper any effects as well. Hank added just as Luna was looking away causing her to snap back to the man.

“Did you just call us fat?”

“Did that sentence contain the word fat anywhere?” Hank retorted, not even looking up to address her.

“No.”

“Then I didn’t call you fat did I? How much do you even weigh?” Hank asked, clearly not caring about the age long rule of not asking a mare her weight.

Looking down over her body Luna pursed her lips, alicorns were quite heavy by design, and even though she was admittedly quite thin, the number on the scale did not reflect that for her height.

“Last I checked I was roughly one hundred and ninety five stones. Now, howev-”

Getting cut off by Hank laughing himself into a coughing fit, the human cleared his throat and continued to laugh while pushing the suture through his skin.

“That’s it?” Hank chuckled looking up to a confused Luna, “You beanpole! How in the hell can you think you’re fat? I weighed more than that when I was fuckin’ thirteen! Then again I was damn near diabetic then as well.”

Taken aback from his outburst and claim that he weighed more than a nearly full grown alicorn at twelve years of age Luna scoffed, not believing the man for a second.

“I need to get you to Granny so she can get some food in you god damn.”

“We are not underweight either!” Luna cried, only causing the human to laugh more at her expense, going as far as slapping his own knee which immediately made him hiss.

“Oh yeah well how much do you weigh then Mr. big tough human?!” Luna tried her best to mock the man by puffing out her chest.

Getting the laughs out of his system still, it took Hank a few seconds to calm enough to speak, “Oh I think I was two sixty five a few weeks ago.”

As the seconds ticked by and Luna realized the man wasn’t laughing at his joke she started to get a little nervous that he was serious, “Don’t lie to us like that and not expect us to catch it. Do you believe we were born yesterday?”

“Ain’t lying.” Hank said simply as he cut the excess line from the suture he had just set.

Shaking her head, Luna simply refused to believe the man, “There is no way. That would make you heavier than even my sister.”

“I’m dense. What can I say?” Hank shrugged again.

“We are quite aware.” Luna quickly quipped, getting a snort from the human.

“Very funny.” Hank rolled his eyes finishing on the cut closest to his torso, “No but seriously I’m twice more dense than any living creature on this planet, my planet’s gravity was twice of what it is here so my body is as such built for environments with greater stress.”

“.... Seriously?”

“Yes, dead serious.” Hank confirmed.

“So that means that to you…”

“Everything here is light as fuck? Yes. It’s super easy to jump really high and run really fast with no effort? Yes. I can carry a hundred and twenty pounds on my back and it only then brings me to my baseline? Yes. Everything here is built weaker than me so I can break anything I want with relative ease? Most certainly.”

Nodding along as the man answered her question and more Luna sat back in amazement as everything started to make sense.

“That does explain a lot about you Hank. Your athleticism is truly a spectacle to behold, and I would dare to say that your physical prowess outdoes even that of myself. The fact you come from a realm that is similar to this one but harder in every way explains how you understand so much about this world but are also able to operate in it at… what we guess would be superhuman? Levels?” Luna pondered aloud.

“You got the term right.” Hank looked up to Luna with a smile, “And everything else you said was spot on as well.”

“You are a very interesting subject to think about Hank.” The lunar princess exclaimed, getting a raised brow in response from the human.

“Is that a good thing?”

“Very much so.”

“Then I’ll take it I guess.” Hank hummed before pouring rubbing alcohol into a series of deep cuts on his calf.

Jaw clenched in pain, the man took a series of deep breaths before looking to the mare in front of him who looked very concerned, “I… I got a question for you Luna.”

“Yes?” Wondering what the human could possibly want to know at a time like this she entertained.

“Did Celestia steal food from you as a kid or something cause the size disparity between you two is… oh god damn I can feel that on the bone… quite significant.”

Looking back at the man whose eyes were quinted in pain, Luna couldn’t help but give a small laugh and hang her head as she remembered back to her and her sister's childhood. “Yes, she actually did take food from me when we were foals, and older. Sister’s appetite is absolutely endless.”

“I knew it. I fuckin’ knew it!” Hank laughed through the pain as Luna did as well.

“When we were young she would even eat flowers out of mother’s garden, much to mother’s displeasure.”

“What was her favorite flower?” Hank followed the conversation.

“Daffodils, hooves down.” Luna revealed.

“Still kinda funny to me that you guys eat flowers and grass.”

“Well it is quite amusing to us that you find that strange when you eat fresh hearts.” Luna shot back with a raised brow.

Waving his hand a few times Hank finally nodded, “Fair enough.”

Watching Twilight pace back and forth, muttering all the while, Spike casually munched on a gem watching the pont grow more and more disheveled with every step.

“I need to send another letter!” Twilight cried, growing impatient for a response from the princess.

“Twilight! It’s been ten minutes! You’ve already sent two. You know the letters go to her bedroom when she’s busy!” Spike sighed, growing tired of the overreaction.

“Spike! That was HER magical signature that erupted from the Everfree! Something bad must have happened!”

Putting his half finished gem down with a sigh the small dragon leant back in his chair, “So what she’s in the Everfree? It's Princess Celestia we’re talking about here, you really think she, of all ponies, doesn’t have whatever is going on under control? Nothing can hurt her.”

“Except that human!” Twilight turned to look at Spike who was still unamused with the whole situation, “How are you so calm right now? Didn’t you feel it?”

“Uh the whole town felt the shockwave Twi, and that’s why I’m not worried,” Spike groaned, “Whatever she's doing I’d say is under control. She’s probably just putting up a magical ward at the old castle or something.”

Calmer, but not calm in any sense of the word Twilight continued to pace about, her mane growing more and more frazzled with every step until a series of knocks came from the old door. Quickly making her way over to the door and opening it a little too fast, a startled Rarity took a small step back, getting some distance between her and the disheveled Twilight Sparkle.

“Twilight dear…. Are you alright?” The fashionista asked, taking a forward step while looking over her near crazed looking friend.

“Yes! No! Maybe!” Twilight blurted, “ I don’t know, I’ve been trying to reach Princess Celestia since the magical pulse but haven’t been able to reach her!”

“BECAUSE IT’S NOTHING!” Spike yelled from inside the library, tired of Twilight's ramblings.

“So I take it the huge pulse was Princess Celestia’s then?” The white pony asked while taking a comb from her saddle bag with her magic. She of course had felt the wave hit the town but had no clue of what or whose it was.

“Yes, and I haven’t gotten a reply from the princess with either of the two letters I sent!” Twilight rambled before shutting up when she felt a comb get shoved into her mane.

“You’re a mess darling, clean yourself up a little.” Rarity said with a smile and moved past Twilight into the library, “And how can you expect the princess to reply to your letter when she is in the Everfree in the first place?”

“EXACTLY!” Spike again yelled in exasperation from the kitchen, no doubt going after more gems.

“Oh hello spike, would you be a dear and get me and Twilight a glass of tea please? I know she could use it.”

“O-of course Rarity.”

“Thank you darling.” Rarity said with a smile and pulled out two chairs before sitting, “Come here and sit down Twilight, you’re running yourself ragged over nothing.”

“But it’s not nothing. To feel that level of magic from here means that Princess Celestia cast a spell of unfathomable power and size. And I don't know what spell that could have been.”

“I don’t doubt that you don’t know Twilight.” Rarity said, not helping Twilight’s mood at all, “Celestia knows so much more than any of us, even you, so don’t get so worked up over something that is probably nothing. It’s bad for your beauty dear.”

Taking a deep breath Twilight sighed, “I guess you’re right Rarity.”

“I know I am darling.” Rarity smiled, “And don’t look so glum, I know the girls are on their way right now.”

Not able to help it but crack a small smile Twilight huffed before looking over to the white fashionista, “Thank’s a lot Rarity.”

“Of course darling.”

“God damnit Luna! I told you I could do it.” Hank grumbled watching the Lunar princess wretch for the third time as she attempted to butcher some meat off a long dead Shuck for him.

“N- no! We can do it! Thou needs to focus on letting your body rest!” Luna replied, having to look away from the spilled guts of the Shuck; spilled guts that she hadn’t even put there.

“You’re mixing old and new English again, you’re getting stressed out.” Hank pointed out, only to receive daggers stared back at him from the mare in question.

Fire already built and burning steadily next to the man, the human just shook his head and grimaced at the extreme hunger pains he was feeling. He could tell the bacteria had decided to join the party because all of the sudden he felt his stomach drop and his energy levels deplete even further as the little symbiotes went haywire all over his broken frame. If Luna had thought he was hot to the touch before when the bacteria were simply keeping him alive through the shock he was in, the man now felt like a hot kerosine lantern.

Sweat beading off his body, dripping down his face and arms in deep red streaks as it washed away some of the blood that his entire body was caked in, the man was starting to grow irritable.

“Luna just go check on your sister, I’ll fucking handle it!”

“No! We have it!” Luna yelled back before a loud crack came from the pony and the wolf she was cutting on.

Turning around with a severed rear leg and a smile on her face, Luna smugly trotted back over to the human, the leg stabbed onto her sword which was held in her mouth. With a quick dip of her head Luna dumped the leg next to the human who instantly grabbed it and started skinning it with a fervor that she had never seen the likes of before.

“Shuck’s are extremely sturdy creatures, Hank. I cannot believe you defeated all of those that entered that passage in hoof to hoof combat.”

“I had no choice.” The human put simply, as he threw the fur and skin away.

Scoffing at his response, Luna turned and gazed back at the passage where Shuck bodies were piled almost five hooves high in some spots and where the stone floor was covered in every inch by dead bodies and blood.

“Don’t write off your actions so easily,” Luna said, almost offended, “What you were able to do here today is the stuff of legends. Do you have any idea of how impossible the odds you were against were?”

Slowly raising his head and looking Luna straight in the eyes, Hank's jaw clenched before loosening as the human’s head fell back down to the leg in his lap. Sore hands finding themselves on either side of the joint that connected the lower leg and paw to the thigh Hank gave a sudden pull and twist that obliterated the joint and separated the two with a harsh, grinding snap.

Wincing at the sound, but unable to not be impressed but the show of strength regardless, Luna’s expression softened as she registered Hank’s sudden turn in body language.

“Did I say something to upset you?” Worry heavy in her voice Luna asked.

“No.”

Catching the edge in his voice that had not been there before Luna turned and started to walk away with a hurt look on her face, “We are going to check on our sister.”
Only getting a few steps away the midnight purple mare was stopped with a much softer call from the man, “Luna… I just don’t like being praised.”

Stopping in her tracks before turning around the lunar princess cocked her head to the side, “Why not?”

As memories came flooding back to the human he was quick to shake them from his mind, “I just don’t deserve any.”

Clear as crystal that something else was truly at the cause of his hang up Luna knew it wasn’t the time to pry and decided to let it go with a simple sigh, “We both know that isn’t true Hank.”

Turning back around and slowly making her way towards the dugout, leaving Hank to cook and eat his meal in peace.

The small of dead Shuck’s hitting her in the face as she got closer to the dugout Luna pushed through the pungent odor of death and blood quickly reaching the edge of the hole in the ground.

Stepping over the dead body in her way, steadily making it down the incline, the lunar princess looked at her sleeping elder sister’s face and took a relieved breath. The fact that Celestia had rolled herself over was a good sign that she wasn’t too hurt, just exhausted. A brief thought to touch her sister’s horn with her own and see if there were any dreams to observe crossed Luna’s mind, almost out of instinct, before it was instantly shot down.

There was just no way either of the two had a strong or stable enough magical connection to even begin to attempt such a thing. Luna could even feel Celestia’s body still pulling magic in from the surrounding area and even herself to some extent.

While Luna was surprised that her sister was so extremely low on magic to still be pulling it in, she was more relieved that physically her sister wasn’t in awful shape and had survived the ordeal after all.

Turning to leave once again before she had any more magic pulled from her, Luna looked at her sister for a few seconds more before hiking up the blood soaked incline to the dugout. Having to shake her hooves free from the blood and dirt that had stuck to them Luna grimaced as she made her way back toward the campfire.

<><><>

Hungrily tearing into the seared cut of meat in his hands the human couldn’t help but let out a moan when he felt the protein hit his stomach causing the chronic aching and throbbing to instantly die down.

It didn’t matter that the cut of meat was on the rare side in some areas and on the burnt side in others, or that it was covered in white ash despite his efforts to brush it off, to the injured human it was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted. As such it took the man no time at all to absolutely demolish the two pound piece of meat and fat, and in an instant he wanted more. Even so the man did at least have the sense to wait and let the other cut cook more properly than the last so it would provide more nutrition.

As he waited in anticipation for the slab to cook, Hank noticed Luna returning from the dugout and the distinct lack of any signs of sadness or panic on her face or in her body language. A small wave of relief coming over the man that the large white mare’s vitals were holding Hank couldn’t help but smile and lay his head back against the rock and enjoy the rays of sun that were now able to hit his body now that the trees had been vaporized.

“We take it you are doing better now that you have something in your stomach?” Luna spoke as she approached the resting human.

“Very much so. And I take it you’re feeling better after seeing your sister is still alright?”

“Indeed.” Luna nodded while sitting next to the human, “How did you know she was alright?”

Cracking an eye open to check on the meat as it sizzled on the large rock next to the embers, Hank moved to flip it with his knife, “Your body language is calm.”

“You really analyze everything around don’t you?” Luna rhetorically asked, scrunching her nose at the scent of cooking Shuck meat.

“Everything all the time, everywhere I go. It sucks.”

Humming in understanding, Luna nodded, “Hard to relax isn’t it?”

“Impossible to relax,” Hank sighed, moving the cut of meat around idly, “It can be fun to surprise people with little things no one else notices or remembers though. How’d you get over it? Or have you?”

“A thousand years on the moon breaks many habits.” Luna said simply.

Turning to address the mare, Hank looked at her face as she stared off into nothing, “A thousand years?” The human asked, thinking he heard wrong.

“A thousand years.” Luna growled out.

“God damn.” Hank couldn’t help but laugh, “I woulda flat out killed myself. Fuck. That.”

Shocked out of her trance at the crass nature of Hank’s statement Luna couldn’t help but start laughing at the comment. It was a breath of fresh air to finally have somepony say something other than: ‘That sounds horrible’ or ‘I’m sorry you had to go through that’, the crass nature that Hank seemed to exude at all times was one of Luna’s favorite characteristics of the man.

“We mustn’t lie either Hank,” Luna laughed out, “I would have killed myself in your circumstance.”

“Well shit man,” The human huffed, “I tried to kill myself in my circumstance.”

Both the man and pony laughed even harder, going as far as doubling over as they cackled, despite the morbid and depressing subject matter. With tears in their eyes and lungs empty the pair were forced to calm down to catch their breaths but kept laughing occasionally until they were both silent again.

Pulling the meat off the stone, satisfied with its level of relative rawness, Hank turned his head in Luna’s direction, “You know,” He started getting the mare’s attention, “I suppose we’re lucky, or unlucky, that I got the zombie apocalypse and you got a vacation to the moon.”

Smile still on her face from their shared laughing session, it only grew wider at the comment, “Yes, I suppose so. I most certainly do not think I could have survived the four years at the end of the world in the conditions you endured.”

“And I know for damn sure I woulda died in about three minutes on the moon.” Hank added.

“We are lucky.” Luna nodded, putting particular emphasis on the word.

“We’re somethin’ alright.” Hank huffed before taking a generous bite of the Shuck steak.

Simply watching the human tear through the huge piece of meat, Luna couldn’t suppress the small shiver that shot down her spine at the morbid sight. Thinking about his impressive abilities, large and hardy frame, and insanely fast reaction times it really should’ve dawned on her that Hank was an apex predator sooner because of his forward facing eyes and the layout of his teeth but Luna had really never considered it before. Watching him tear through enough meat to feed four griffons after slaughtering a tide of wolves with his bare hands had a very strange way of sinking the point home however.

Averting her gaze in an instant when Hank’s eyes snapped to hers more or less out of instinct, Luna saw him pull the Chunk of meat way from his mouth and turn to her out of peripheral vision and for some reason felt her heart pick up a beat or two.

“Sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable with how I’m eatin’ this. I’m just starving and how much I heal seems to be tied to how much I eat.” The man said, having felt Luna’s stare for a while and realizing why she was looking at him the way she was.

“It is more than fine, the volume in which you eat is just… jarring.” Luna responded honestly.

“I’ve heard that before,” Hank also said honestly, “But I mean you don’t get this big eating daisies.” He smiled and pulled up his right arm, flexing it before instantly regretting his decision and dropping the arm.

Shaking her head at the human’s antics, the turn in conversation and small show of strength did remind Luna of a topic she wanted to bring back up.

“Hank I want to say something but I do not want you to get mad.” Luna started somewhat nervously.

“No promises.” Hank smiled and laughed before taking another bite of Shuck thigh.

Knowing that was as good as she was going to get, the lunar princess sighed, “I know you said you don’t like receiving praise for your actions, which I do understand, and it’s very humble of you.”

“It’s not a matter of humility, Moon pie,” Hank quickly interjected between bites, “”It’s that I don’t deserve it.”

“I do not believe I could disagree more.” Luna shook her head while looking at the man while he looked back to her with no emotion, “I do not exaggerate this Hank, without magic, not even an alicorn could have done what you did. What you managed here today surplants as one of the most lethal combatants I have ever fought alongside. Without you, my sister and I would be dead Hank.”

Completely silent, staring off to his right, where the dam of rot used to be before Celestia’s miniature sun reduced a half mile of forest into ash, the man suddenly took a deep breath and turned his head back to front and opened his mouth, “You do realize I’m the one who got us all into this mess, put all our lives on the chopping block? It was my idea to scout these woods, and it was my phone which I was too fucking retarded not to leave at home that siced that whole valley onto us.”

“Hank.” Luna shook her head in disappointment, “There are risks that are always associated with actions such as these-”

“Lu-”

“Now is the time for you to listen and for us to talk.” The mare said sternly, getting an annoyed huff from the man but no further interruption

“You are gifted in many manners of things Hank, I’m not discrediting anything you’ve accomplished or survived through against all odds, but you’re young and dumb.”

While his body language had grown a little tense and his face was stuck in a small frown as Luna continued the second she called him young the human’s head instantly snapped to Luna and locked onto her with wide, anger filled eyes, his jaw clenched almost tight enough to break his teeth as his hands also started to tremble a little.

Instantly taken aback by the extreme shift in the man’s disposition from calm to almost lunging at her, Luna faltered for a second and had to process the extreme amount of anger on the man’s face for a second before continuing, “I have led hundreds of ponies to their deaths Hank.” Luna gulped at the look in his eyes, “ And all of them chose to be there behind me, and yet, despite my best efforts, they still died.”

“W-What I am trying to say is that you cannot blame yourself for everything that happens to those that you lead or propose an idea to. You are not responsible for my sister or I’s wellbeing. We know the risks that combat entails and do not blame you for anything that happened here today. So please do not blame yourself for such things in the future.” Luna finally got her point across to the human somewhat shakily but felt like most of it was unfortunately ignored by the man as he stared at her with absolute rage in his eyes as she spoke.

As the seconds drew on after Luna had finished speaking she found it increasingly hard to look at the man who had still not looked away from her or calmed in any way. Having to look at Hank in short bursts before looking to the ground or the horizon Luna’s ear twitched when the human finally spoke.

“You can call me dumb. You can call me any manner of insults, I don’t care. But don’t you ever call me young again.” Hank snapped at the mare who was somewhat surprised by the real reason behind his incredible anger, “Just because I haven’t been through many winters doesn’t mean I’m fuckin’ young! Calling me young makes it seem to me that you think I don’t know a fucking thing! Is that what you think!? You think I don’t know the horrors that life has to offer, That I haven't experienced every Goddamn day seeing something more fucked up than the last but being unable to care cause I’ve seen so much?”

Shaking his head, the man switched from mad to sad for a split second before going right back to angry, “So no. I’m not young! I don’t get to call myself young anymore. And I ain’t gonna have anyone else skip over all that SHIT I went through and call me young, or a kid, or a boy. And I don’t care if its some two-thousand and whatever the fuck year old pony that says it.”

Looking right at Luna, Hank reached up and adjusted his jaw with a loud click before continuing, “ I don't care if I’m less than a hundredth your age, I have seen and done things that you can’t even begin to comprehend and I won’t have you patronize me. I don’t care if you think I haven't had enough life experience yet and I don’t care if you call me inexperienced, but don’t ever call me young ever again. Got it Luna?”

Staying silent, unable to find the words after the anger filled rant hank just threw at her Luna just looked back at the man much to his annoyance, “I said: Got it Luna!?”

“Y-Yes.” The mare replied with a shock, “We really meant no offense Hank, truly! We had no idea this is a raw nerve of yours.”

Staying silent for a few moments, just looking at the fire as it crackled, the man sighed and hung his head, “Well it is, so please don’t call me that again, I really, really fucking hate it.”

“Understood. We are sorry.” Luna nodded.

“Don’t be. You didn’t know, and I shouldn't've gone off on you like that. It’s just hard to control this thing sometimes.” Hank gestured to his head.

“We- I understand more than you know.” Luna said with a sad smile.

Sitting beside each other for a few minutes in silence more inside their heads than out Luna was the first to shake from her thoughts and looked over to the man who was quite obviously still stuck in his, “I am going to go check on our Sister… On my sister. I will give you some alone time.”

“Appreciate it.” Hank said simply sitting up straight, “Once I get myself fixed up a bit more here and let the little bastards in my bloodstream do their thing we need to get moving out of here.”

She didn’t know how Hank expected to walk anytime soon or how they would go anywhere if her sister was still unconscious but Luna nodded in confirmation nonetheless before walking away from the human and back toward her the dugout where her sister was. Even though the hard part seemed to be over Luna still knew the road back home would be anything but easy.

Not too awful on time between chapters this time so here we are. I realize not much really happened this chapter but not everything needs to be action packed all the time. Either way I hope it was entertaining either way and was able to convey that Hank did not get out free of injury.

Also I updated the main story description and finally set the time line in stone here is what I added verbatim to the description: Apocalypse time line: early 2014 - mid 2018. Little over 4 years total before main character is zapped to ponyland. Ignore all other mentions of how long the man character says he was going through the end of the world for. Four years is the real amount of time, I just haven't had time to sift through all the chapters and find every mention of the time spent.

So here we are. More changes to story details are to come, mostly pertaining to vehicles, but will be very slight.

Tomate