In the depths of Canterlot Castle’s library, a conversation in Zebrican could be heard. The two voices were low, as if they were conspiring. In reality, it was much more benign.
“So what happened after that?”
“Well, Simms gave me a key to a shack and I started living in Megaton.” Dom sighed, leaning back in her chair. “It’s been ages since I’ve told that story. Feels like a lifetime ago.”
Twilight was a little unsure how to feel. It had been a great story, but so many details left her uneasy, namely a town built around a weapon of mass destruction. At the same time, she felt relieved that the ghoul had made the right choice in saving the town. A thought flashed through her mind of an immoral, evil version of this woman, and she shuddered.
“You okay?”
Twilight smiled thinly. “Yeah, just thinking.” There was a brief pause. “I was wondering. About your left arm...”
“You’re wondering why it doesn’t match my armour?” the ghoul asked with a smirk. “Well, two reasons. The first being that is hurts to wear a set of T-45d, which this is from, without skin. There’s a specialised body suit but...” Dom shuddered. “I dunno, I just can’t stand to wear the damn thing.”
“T-45d?” Twilight asked. “Is that a different version of what Veronica’s wearing?”
“The T-51b is much more advanced, and was only in action for about two years,” the ghoul explained. “The chapter I’m from had switched to the older stuff after finding enough to outfit a small brigade. That, and Liberty Prime.”
“Liberty... Prime?” Twilight tried for a moment to think what she meant. “Was that a weapon?”
“A fifty-foot tall, nuke-tossing, laser-shooting, propaganda-spewing metal behemoth,” she replied proudly. “He was built to help reclaim Anchorage, but they couldn’t power him up. Instead, they deployed soldiers in power armour. Rothschild got him working. The Enclave didn’t know what hit them,” Dom replied wistfully. “It’s been five years, and we still haven’t put him back together.”
Twilight took a moment to process that. “Okay then,” she muttered, scribbling down a note to ask for more detail later. “What’s the second reason?”
At that, the ghoul sighed sadly. “Well, it’s the uniform of a mercenary group that used to operate from the DC ruins, Reilly’s Rangers. Four of the best mercs I ever knew. Reilly, Brick, Butcher and Donovan.”
“How did you meet them?”
“Reilly got her men trapped on top of a building with no way down. When we met, she just came out of an induced coma.” Dom purposely neglected to mention that she was responsible for that. “Even when Doctor Barrows had to tie her down to the bed, the only thing she cared about were her Rangers.” The ghoul chuckled at the memories. “Anyway, she offered to pay me if I rescued them for her.”
“Did you save them?” Twilight asked nervously.
“Oh yeah,” Dom replied dismissively. “Had to fight my way through... must’ve been a hundred Super Mutants, at least. That was a nightmare. Trust me, nothing is scarier than an abandoned hospital,” she told the pony darkly.
Twilight’s eyebrows went up when she heard something she had never expected from the ghoul: fear. Okay, maybe not fear,, the lavender scholar admitted to herself. But there was definitely something akin to that in her voice and expression. “It can’t have been that bad,” Twilight commented. “It was only a hospital.”
Dom only stared for a moment. “Most of the beds had skeletons on them. People who were too sick or injured to get away or be saved. The place was swarming with Super Mutants, eight-foot tall psychopaths who would eat you without a second thought. And you know what made it worse?” the ghoul asked. “I found little bits and pieces, notes and messages from the people that worked there. Everything was so... normal, peaceful. And then, in an instant, gone, destroyed. I saw at least one note saying that a few doctors were gonna stay behind, let the patients die with dignity. Odds are, that meant pumping them full of painkillers. I had nightmares for weeks about that place,” she said. “Never tell me that it wasn’t that bad.” Before Twilight could respond, though, the ghoul continued. “Anyway, I fought through the hospital, used a collapsed radio antenna to get into the hotel across the street, and fought my way up.
“When I met them, they were out of ammo, hungry, and scared. When they asked where the rest of the rescue team was,” Dom chuckled, “and I said it was only me, they couldn’t believe it. I’ve seen mutants grab a guy in power armour by the arm and just pull it off like it was nothing. To think a nineteen year old girl in a padded jumpsuit made it is pretty ridiculous,” she explained.
“Wow,” Twilight exclaimed, terrified and amazed. “How did you do it?”
“Frankensteins are stupid,” Dom explained. “Makes those dogs look like damn geniuses in comparison. I managed to trick a few into walking into traps. Long story short, I got them out, we got to their base, and Reilly thanked me. Gave me this,” she said tapping her breastplate, “and made me a Ranger. That night, we got drunk, celebrated being alive and, well... I’m a lightweight. Or at least, I was. Never really drank booze before, so I had too much and...”
“Did you sleep with one of them?” Twilight asked
“Yeah. This was years before I became a ghoul, and I looked good. Wouldn’t have blamed him for taking advantage of me,” Dom said with a laugh. Twilight was a little surprised. “The thing is, I jumped him. Alcohol makes me...” She paused for a moment trying to find the right word.
“Amorous?” Twilight suggested. The Lone Wanderer wasn’t exactly happy to see that the mare was smirking, but couldn’t really be angry either, so she shrugged.
“If you want to look at it that way, sure.”
Twilight’s expression turned to confusion again. “Why are you telling me all this? From the way you acted before, you seemed perfectly fine just keeping to yourself.” Her head tilted quizzically. “Why the sudden change of heart?”
The ghoul looked at the high ceiling and sighed. “Well, mainly, it was seeing how your friend reacted last night. Actually seeing it from the outside made me think,” she explained. “She get insulted a lot about her intelligence?”
“Rainbow isn’t stupid. She can be a bit... slow on the uptake, though,” the mare conceded. “I wonder where she is, anyway.”
“I dunno. Not like it really matters, she can’t get in trouble.” The ghoul pushed herself off her chair and stretched. “I can relate better to Reg, though. We’ve both seen people we know and care for die, we’re both war veterans, and we get along.”
“I guess someone who’s seen the same experiences would be more relatable,” Twilight considered, still a little uneasy with the ease she would talk about those things. “Is that why you prefer the griffons?” she asked as she led her guest towards, bringing a few tomes, each the size of a newborn foal, for light reading.
“That, and the griffons don’t give half a shit about me not having skin. Seriously, some of them found it attractive,” she added, sound a little disgusted. “Not entirely sure what’s up with that.”
“Ew,” Twilight commented before gasping. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to - ”
Dom waved her off. “Shut up before you actually insult me. Besides, I know I look as sexy as mincemeat. Not many people into necrosis where I’m from. Thank god,” she added under her breath.
Twilight blinked as they exited the library. “Um... Did... did your lover leave you?”
“What?” Dom whipped around, completely confused.
“You know, after... after you became a ghoul. Did he...?” She let the question trail off.
“Oh. Oooooh. No, no. He... he died about a year before this happened,” she replied glumly. “I was considering leaving the Brotherhood, becoming a merc, just so I could be with him. But the universe hates me,” she spat. “Every time I get close to someone, or something goes right, fate finds a way to kick me in the ovaries. I find my dad? He sacrifices himself to save me and his friends. We reclaim Project Purity? The Enclave manage to take out our biggest weapon. We take down the Enclave base? They come back two years later, destroy an entire settlement, take off my arm and kill some of my best friends, including the only man to really love me!” At this point, she had begun to yell. “Then, after that, when the only problem we have is raiders, Talon Company comes out of fucking nowhere and nukes me! And I survived! What does that say about me!? I am fucking cursed!”
Twilight began to panic. What was she supposed to do when the dangerous cyborg mutant soldier went briefly insane? She looked around, trying to find something that could be used to placate her. With only shelf upon shelf of books, some dating back further than she could trace her family tree, there weren’t many options.
“Everything that happens seems to be designed to make me suffer! What next!? I lose my legs!? Fucking Deathclaws figure out how to use guns!? Or maybe Communist China will decide to inv - ”
SMACK!
Dom slowly turned her head and absently rubbed her cheek. Twilight stared at the book held in her magic, unable to believe what she had just done. I just slapped her. I JUST SLAPPED HER! She began to back away as slowly as possible, preparing herself to run if she had to.
“Thanks.” That simple word caused the mare to stop for a moment. “I... I needed that.”
“Buh?” And the mare’s mind ground to a complete and utter halt.
“Sometimes, I get a little... crazy. Pain helps me think, helps me get it back together,” the ghoul explained. “Sorry if I scared you,” she added, sounding apologetic.
“Oh.” It took Twilight a few moments to say anything else. “Oh.” She tried a third time. “Huh.”
“If that happens again, feel free to break my foot or something,” she added as though it was the most normal thing in the world.
“Wait, what!?” the mare asked loudly, finally finding her tongue.
“The bones’ll jump back into place and mend instantly. You don’t have to worry about hurting me,” she added with a smirk. “People have tried. It never lasted.”
“Your bones heal instantly?” Twilight asked disbelievingly. “How?”
“A mutation I picked up ages ago.” She looked up and scanned the area. “The hell is that noise?”
“... with that monster in there! Remove it immediately!” The sound of yelling, though deadened by distance, could be heard if one strained their ears.
“Oh no,” Twilight muttered, recognising the voice. “Not him...”
“Who?”
“The biggest tail-chaser, bigot and all-around unpleasant stallion in the castle, Prince Blueblood,” Twilight seethed. “I still can’t understand why Princess Celestia puts up with him.”
“Hmm,” Dom grunted thoughtfully. “Want me to break his legs for you?”
The mare could only double-take at the bluntness of the question. “What!?”
“Hey, he sounds like a complete dick. He needs to be taken down a notch,” she explained calmly. Twilight would have found the response better if it weren’t for the rather twisted smile she was wearing, though. Before she could respond, the ghoul pushed past and turned right, straight towards the exit.
“You got a problem with me?” she asked sweetly as she poked her head out, seeing a white unicorn with a blonde mane and tail harassing one of the golden-armoured ponies of the guard. Her gravelly voice, though, made the question sound oddly sinister.
“You!” the prince screamed, spinning around to face her. “What are you doing here, abomination?”
“A little advice,” Dom answered, doing an amazing job at keeping her tone polite, “the last idiot to call me that ended up with his head jammed down a toilet.” Blueblood raised an eyebrow. “The rest of him, I nailed to a wall,” she added, causing the unicorn to back away in revulsion. “You want to end up like him?”
“How can you speak of such things so easily?” he asked, not even trying to hide his disgust.
“Practice.” Dom grinned, showing a set of sharp, slightly-crooked teeth. “But I could always use more,” she went on, letting a hint of malice through. “You wanna be my new torture doll?” she asked sweetly. A second later, she started giggling.
Prince Blueblood kept backing away until he hit the wall behind him, trying to get away from the laughing psychopath. As he turned and galloped clumsily away, he could hear her laughter echo through the corridors.
Dom was left leaning down, her hands resting on her knees, trying to regain her breath. “Hahahah! Oh man, he’s more spineless than a raider!”
“What was that!?” Twilight asked, having watched the entire thing unfold.
“Just a little intimidation,” the ghoul replied breezily. “Man, that was just pathetic.” She chuckled for a few seconds. “Look, I wouldn’t do that without a good reason. I’m not a murderer.”