//------------------------------//
// Omake: Strange Place 
// Story: Politics 
// by Dai Kirai 
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	The warrior looked over the broken landscape. Purple crags broke everywhere; a stench of sulfur filled his nose. Low growls came from every direction. The sky was a mass of white as if snow had covered the sky like it would the ground. The air felt like nothing, no heat, no chill, no motion. Solitary black wisps floated through the air like leaves on mysterious wind. He took a breath yet nothing happened. There was no air to take in. He spoke but no words left his mouth. He moved his legs; tough boots soundlessly met the ground. His arms rested on a black metal object attached to his vest. 
In the distance he saw creatures made of fire prowling the landscape. Slowly making their way to him, hiding behind jutting purple rocks instead of going over them. At each footfall there was a hiss. Their paws turned bright red and the ground beneath them softened. Crawling around like cats, fire like human hair sat atop their feline heads, flames licking the ground. Distance seemed to mean nothing. They came closer. A slow pace that covered ground quickly. Or was space not the only thing twisting for the lone human. 
The warrior popped the P90 to his shoulder. Not a minute before he had been facing something, no, several somethings with black carapaces and wings. He remembered a purple shield protecting his unit. Princess Twilight holding out as changelings pounded against the dome. Or was that another dream. The creatures got closer, moving out to surround him.
He fired, not expected the gun to work. It barked, louder than normal. The bullets failed to travel in a straight line, but meeting where he aimed and passed straight through the fire-leopards. The world flashed out as if it stopped existing. Stumbling. He gasped and his lungs burned. The warrior collapsed to the ground, fire passing through his body. The warrior looked up, fighting with his own body to see the three creatures circling someone. 
The person was familiar, someone he had shared so much with, and who had died. But this was just a kid of seventeen. He was covered in grime and tattered clothes despite looking well kept, he was tattered. The soldier’s Ka-Bar flashed at the fire-leopards. A line opened in one and magma poured onto the ground. One pounced on the man from behind, clothing and flesh charring by the touch. 
The warrior yelled on the ground. He heard his own voice, week and brittle. Burning fleshed mixed with the sulfur in his nose. Ragged breathes brought in the hot dry air. Raising the gun, he pointed it at the mysterious creatures as the bit into his friend. He fired. The creature it back popped like a zit, spewing melted rock over the other two. His friend’s screams intensified before dying out completely. The two shapes looked at him. Faces a mix of human and pony. He couldn’t hear their ramblings over the sound of blood in his ears. 
They charged, he turned. Running. Feet scrambling over cracked and broken purple rock. He heard them nip at his heels. The man looked behind him, the fire-leopards leapt into the air, lunging for his neck. He turned to fire. The first one hit him full in the chest with its paws, the second in his stomach. Both shattered into ash. Their bent and broken bodies crumbling up into the sky. 
This is not your grave.
Why are you here?
The voice came from everywhere. From nowhere. From his own mind. 
He tried to speak. The world was back to an airless nowhere. Avery spun. He was alone; the mountains in the distance had vanished. The ground beneath his feet slowly healing. 
It is fine so long as you can answer it to yourself.
Do you know your own name?
 “Avery Anwar.”
‘I mean you no harm.’ You have heard that often. 
“Yes.” The voice had a direction. Always behind and above.
Are you haunted by your crimes?
“No.”
What about your sins?
Do they weigh you down?
Follow your every move?
“No.” Avery kept turning. 
You cannot lie to me. The voice started to have emotion. Deep and dark yet comforting. 
“What are you?” He yelled. It was odd not needing to breathe as all other sounds but their voices faded away.
I am. The better question is what are you? Murderer? Traitor? Hero? Savior? But these are not for you to answer are they?
The shaking of his limbs rattled the gun silently; he could feel their vibrations against his own. “You don’t scare me.”
You can lie to yourself but not me. A form descended from the snow white sky. It landed gently on wings of iridescent dark blue indigo. It had the form of a pegasus, settling gently on the ground with its three fingered and webbed claws. Wispy blue mane covered its face; something could be seen through the hair on its forehead. There was no way to tell if it was male or female. A cutie mark of Apollo along the flank, stars shinning with their own light. The wings raised to create a whirlpool between them. It took on the appearance of the Earth-Equestrian portal but with space filling its center. Lightning crackled on the edges of the vortex.
“What are you?!” He roared, taking aim.
Its eyes closed as a wind formed from his right. There was a vertical slit down the middle of its head. It shot open to form another eye and walked closer to him. The gun disappeared. 
An Enemy? A Friend? What are the point of these labels? You are smarter than this Avery Alexander Anwar.
It knew his name. His full name. The name he picked for himself to fit in. 
But it is time for you to wake up. 

Avery could hear the signs of battle. The hiss of magic and the whir of bullets. The smell of blood, and bitter fear. His breathe returned as someone banged on his chest. The warrior’s eyes refused to open. 
“You don’t get to die here. You still owe me for that bullet you lodged in my back.” 
I know that voice. Something that begins with an A.