Behind the Veil

by FeralFox

Chapter 15

*Tick tick tick tick*

*BBRDRDRDRDRDRDRDRDRDRD*

Marckus grumbled in notable displeasure, mumbling incomprehensible curses as his Circadian Rhythm told his internal clock to sound the alarm. He began moving in his place of rest to find out that he had ended up on the floor. He stretched his achy limbs, each giving several resounding cracks as joints popped to relieve pressure that had built up in them overnight. He flipped over onto his back and sat up, rubbing at his eyes, though he decided to keep them comfortably shut for the time being. He lifted himself to his feet and swayed slightly as the blood rushed from his head, dizzying him for a second. The moment passed and he took a few steps forward. Padding across the floor in his socks, he traversed his surroundings by memory, and knew to make a left turn after just a few steps. He turned and began walking sluggishly forward. Just a few more steps and he would be in his-

*SLAM*

The newly woken man crashed face-first into a wall and stumbled back, tripping over his heels and landing on his backside with an unpleasant thud.

“Uuh…who’s been putting walls up in my bathroom again?” He asked to no one in general. He rubbed his face and opened his eyes to see what exactly he had become acquainted with. It was the solid oak wall of some place that was familiar to him. With his hand still pressed against his face, he raised an eyebrow and, looking out through his parted fingers, observed his surroundings. “Oh yeah, right…” He said dejectedly as he realized that he was still in a different world. With a groan, he got back to his feet and looked for his initial target – the bathroom. Spotting the hallway, he lumbered sleepily through the small building, his bladder reminding him that this matter was soon to become life-and-death, and found the door to the Promised Land. He turned the handle and crouched through the small doorway, shutting the door behind himself.

With his business done, he knelt down in front of the sink and washed his hands. He then looked into the mirror. Again, the man found reason to frown. To his dismay, the man that stared back at him from the mirror was being attacked by a hairy face-demon. He turned on the faucet and looked around for some shaving cream. He soon realized that there would be no need for shaving cream in a pony’s home, and his frown soon degraded into an outright scowl. He took a bar of soap and lathered it up, spreading the suds across his overgrown facial hair. When his beard was coated to his liking, he withdrew his Swiss-Army-Knife from his pocket and extended the blade. It was a little dull from his years of extended use. He reached down and grabbed his pant leg, pulling it taught. He ran the blade across the denim numerous times, honing it and in-turn, making his hellish shave somewhat less hellish. He put the blade up to his neck, preferring to start under his chin when he heard a knocking at the door.

“Marckus? Are you in there? I heard a commotion and got worried.” His purple hostess called through the door.

“Yeah, I’m in here. Come on in, I’m decent.” He said as he began to slowly draw the blade up his neck. The door opened and there was a shrill shriek from the place’s resident. He flinched and almost dropped the knife, but accidently nicked his neck just above his Adam’s Apple.

“Marckus stop!” Twilight yelled. “It doesn’t have to end this way!”

“Wait what?” The confused man asked before the blade was ripped from his hands by a mauve aura.

“I know you’re sad, but that’s no reason to kill yourself! It’ll get better, I promise!” The unicorn shouted.

“Kill myself? What the he- er, what are you talking about?” The befuddled man asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Weren’t you about to kill yourself because you miss your world? I mean, the knife, a-and your neck?” The mare asked, now equally confused. Realizing how someone who has never shaved, nor witnessed someone shave, could easily think that he was about to commit suicide, he shook his head.

“Oh, no no no, I was about to shave my beard, that’s all.” He said, pointing to the soapy shag hanging off his chin. “Now, can I have my knife back?” He asked, extending his hand for his requested item.

“Shaving? Are you sure you’re not going to kill yourself?” She asked skeptically. Marckus rolled his eyes and snatched his knife out of the air.

“No, I’m not suicidal; I just want to get rid of this beard.” He reassured. With that he lifted his chin again and pressed the blade to his neck. Just as he was about to bring the tool up under his chin, his hostess interrupted again.

“Wait!” She shouted, freezing the knife in place with her magic. Marckus groaned and turned to her, using all his willpower not to let his morning irritability get the better of him. “Well, I was just going to say, I think Rarity might have some better tools for cutting hair. I mean, she does love to make her mane look perfect.” She suggested. Marckus sighed, but figured that anything would be better than the old knife he was about to use. He shrugged and folded the 7” blade back into the multi-tool’s handle and washed the soap off of his face.

“Alright…but I’m already in the hole enough as it is. I really don’t want to keep borrowing things from people.” He said in minor protest.

“Oh, I’m sure she won’t mind lending you a blade to cut your hair with.” The lavender mare reasoned. He dried his face off with a nearby…well, the equivalent of a hand-towel, and the two made their way back to the main living-area. Marckus looked to the grandfather clock that stood at one end of the room. The dials read 5:08.

“What’s today, Monday?” He asked. Twilight nodded her head, causing the man to sigh. “Yup…I woke up for work…” He said with a hint of sorrow in his tone. “Oh well, not much I can do about it now.” He concluded. As they passed through the living area, the man grabbed up his boots and laced them on. The two left the building where Marckus proceeded to stretch his arms out above his head, pushing up with his toes, extending himself out as far as he could. His spine cracked several times, making Twilight cringe. He moaned and groaned, finally relaxing and hunching over, bending his back the other way. Once he was finished limbering up for the day, he turned to a very disgusted-looking mare. “What?”

“Those noises are…disturbing.” She said, making her discontent of his stretches clear.

“Yeah, but it feels sooooo good…” He argued as he allowed the newfound comfort in his joints soak in. Twilight merely shook her head and the two started on their way.

As they walked through town, the looks he got from the townsfolk were completely changed. No longer did they stare awkwardly at him, or sneer and back away. Now they were content to politely disregarding him as they went about their business. Those that were not too occupied would nod, or even give a fine howdy-do. The walk to Rarity’s place of business was altogether a pleasant one. Twilight knocked on the front door and stepped back to wait.

“Are you sure she’s even awake? I mean, it’s only five in the morning.” Marckus commented. His question was soon answered by the door opening up to reveal Rarity, in all her fabulosity. Her mane was, of course, coiffed to perfection, and her coat held it’s normally marvelous sheen.

“Why, hello again Marckus, Twilight, what brings you two to my shop?” The pewter unicorn asked politely.

“I was just wondering if I might trouble you for a razor.” The bushy-bearded man asked.

“A razor? Why would you need a razor?” Rarity asked as she beckoned them inside.

“I’m looking to get rid of all this….this.” He said, tugging on his chin hair. “Come to think of it, I’d like to cut all of this hair off too.” He said idly, running his fingers through the shaggy mop that grew atop his head. “Before I came here, it was winter, so I let my hair grow out to keep my head n’ face warm, but now that it’s summer, I can finally chop it all off.” He said with a sigh of relief. Rarity on the other hand, gasped in horror.

“Why would you want to cut away those lovely locks? Oh, such a beautiful color, and so perfectly maintained. No split ends!” She remarked. “How did you keep it in such a fine condition?” She asked, looking at it closely from atop a high stool. Marckus merely shrugged.

“Eh-uh-know…” He said with a shrug, not giving it much thought. “It’s prob’ly hereditary. My dad had good hair. So did my Pa.” He recalled.

“Pardon me, but your ‘dad’ and your ‘Pa’?” Rarity asked. “Is that not the same person?”

“Well, ‘Pa’ is normally used in place of ‘dad’ but we always called my granddad ‘Pa’ because was Italian…that’s a nationality by the way.” He explained.

“Oh my, how fascinating.” The fashionista mused as she continued to gander at the man’s head.

“So does that mean that I can borrow a razor and some scissors?” He asked, now desperately wanting to rid himself of his overgrown hair.

“You can’t simply throw such beautiful hair away! Oh I can just picture the styles I could put your hair in!” She said, moving bits and pieces around with her hooves. Marckus crossed his arms calmly, but his signal was clear enough. “Hehe…Oh, if you are so insisted in ridding yourself of it then I suppose it would be wrong of me to try and stop you. Yes, I have a razor and some grooming scissors that you may borrow, but I am still against this I hope you know.” She said as she trotted out of the room. She returned with the items he requested – An old-fashioned straight-razor and a small pair of scissors. He took them and thanked her. He and Twilight were about to leave, but Rarity couldn’t help herself.

“Oh, wait! Please!” She called. They halted and Marckus grumbled, getting rather annoyed at how often he was being interrupted and stopped.

“What’s up?” He said, turning back to her, trying his hardest not to let it get to him.

“Well, if you are going to get rid of it, you may as well let a professional do it for you. I would gladly cut your hair to your preference just to see it done well.” She proposed. Now it wasn’t being interrupted that was causing the man such a grievance, it was the over-generousness of these ponies. He was going to end up being further in the hole from all these favors than he was with his credit debt. And he knew there was no turning it down, as Rarity seemed to be the most persistent at handing out favors. Marckus sighed and began to walk back to the generous mare.

“Alright…but you know you’re not making it any easier to repay my debt, right?” He said with a smirk. Rarity waved a dismissive hoof at his comment and sat him down on her second tallest stool, and proceeded to stand on the tallest directly in front of him.

“Now, how much? An inch? An inch and a quarter?” She asked, wondering how much to trim off.

“Ya know, I usually keep it three-eighths long, but now that I think about it, a quarter sounds better.” He said. Rarity quickly grabbed the man’s face in her hooves and turned his head to look him in the eyes.

“You want me to cut it all off?! Down to a quarter of an inch?!” She asked, astonished.

“Yeah, the perfect cut – a crew cut. No bed-head, easy to wash, stays cool, and I never have to worry about it looking nice, ‘cause it always looks nice.” He said matter-of-factly. It almost looked like a tear was brimming in Rarity’s eye. She looked at his hair almost longingly, but stood up and started her work, sheering off mounds of hair off Marckus’s head.

“I can’t believe you’d want to get rid of all this perfectly good hair…” Rarity said sadly as she looked down at the pile of trimmed hair that lay on her floor. Marckus was happily rubbing his freshly shaven head, moaning contentedly as he ran his fingers over the little bristles that adorned his scalp.

“AAaaahhaahaaa……I love the feeling of a crew cut.” He said with a beam. “Again, I can’t thank you enough for this, Rarity.”

“Marckus, dear, as much as I hate to see this hair go to waste, it was really no trouble.” She said as she used her magic to sweep the pile of hair into a bin.

“Aw man, I can’t wait to shave this beard and trim my ‘stache.” He said more to himself than the others as he ran his hands across his face. “C’mon Twilight, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get this done as soon as possible so that I can enjoy the rest of the day.” He said to his hostess.

“Sure thing. Thank you for having us Rarity.” Twilight said as Marckus began to examine the quality of the razor he was given.

“Actually…” Rarity began. Right then, Marckus knew he wasn’t leaving. “Why don’t you take care of that here? I’d love to see the end-product, especially if you’re so excited about it.” She said.

“Um…alright, I guess.” The man said with a shrug. “Do you mind if we stay?” He asked the lavender unicorn beside him.

“No, that’s fine with me.” She answered, equally intrigued by what their friend would look like at the end of his grooming session.

“Okay then. I need a sink, some shaving cream- er, some soap, and a mirror.” He said. With that, Rarity led him to a bathroom that had all three things he needed. Once again, he lathered up the soap and coated his beard with the suds, acting as a make-shift shaving cream. He sat on his knees as he had before and held the razor just in front of his neck. He paused to shoot the mares that watched him a side-long glance, checking to see if they were going to interrupt him. Seeing no signs of protest, he pressed the blade against his neck and pushed it up and off the tip of his chin, cutting a nice line through his beard. He then proceeded to shave off the remainder of his beard and side burns, making sure to go over it a few times to clear any remaining stubble. When his chin was clear, he quickly trimmed his moustache and rinsed off his face. He washed off the razor and cleared the sink of his facial hair before standing up and rubbing his chin, neck, and cheeks.

“Aaww…man does that feel better.” He said joyfully.

“Well, are you going to let us get a good look at your work?” Rarity asked politely. Marckus removed his hands and shifted his head from side to side to show off his smoothed face. “My my, that suits you quite nicely. I do say you look quite handsome.” She complimented.

“Yeah, I have to admit, you do look better now.” Twilight added. The freshly shaved man resumed rubbing his cheeks with a broad grin.

“I’ll never get tired of this feeling…” He said contentedly as his overly-sensitive face was tingling with the stimulation. Once he was done doing what he was doing, he handed the razor over to the fashionista. “Seriously, I can’t thank you enough.” He went on to thank the white unicorn for the third time this morning.

“Yes, yes, I know darling, and you’re quite welcome. It’s always a pleasure to help a friend.” Rarity said jovially. “Is there anything else I can help you two with?” She asked as the pair made their way to the door.

“Nah, I’m set.” The man said habitually rubbing the tip his chin with one hand.

“I’m fine. Thank you though.” Twilight replied politely. With that, they left the Boutique and made their way back to the Library. They went to the living area and the bald-faced man flopped down onto the sofa he had become so accustomed to. “Well, I’m off to do some research on the continuity between post-classical era transmogrification-spells and modern disguise charms.” She told her guest. The man sat with a blank expression, staring straight ahead as he tried to process what she said. Finding the effort in vain, he merely disregarded it.

“Well…normally I’d be at work until about six-ish. What am I supposed to do now?” He asked, not knowing what to do with his newly acquired spare-time.

“Why don’t you go back to sleep? I mean, Pinkie’s party ended around four, I can’t believe you’re up to begin with.” She noted.

“I could say the same thing about you.” He responded quickly.

“I’m used to late-night study sessions.” She replied.

“Long nights before workdays.” He explained himself. The mare nodded in understanding.

“Well, I don’t know what you can do. There’s an entire library downstairs if you’re interested in reading.” She suggested. He shook his head.

“Eh, reading’s better for winding down and relaxing, after a long day’s work. I don’t have the attention span, or the patience to read for an entire day.” He reasoned. She started off in the direction of her room, craning her neck to talk back to him.

“I’m not sure there’s anything else you can do. Well, you could go ask Applejack for some work. She might even pay you this time.” Twilight called back, turning into her room. Finding nothing better to do with his time, he pushed himself up off the sofa and headed down the stairs and out of the Library. Without having to match the slower pace of a pony escort, Marckus was free to walk at his normal gait, taking extremely long steps, as was his way, and made good time getting over to Sweet Apple Acres by memory.

Eventually finding his way to the massive expanse of farmland and apple trees, he hopped over the low gate and approached the farmhouse. He gave a few gentle knocks to the door. After a moment, the door opened up to reveal a little yellow filly.

“Howdy there, little miss.” Marckus said politely. “Um, is Applejack here?”

“She sure is.” She said cheerily. She leaned back into the house and took a deep breath. “APPLEJACK! DOOR FER YOU!” She hollered into the residence. Taken somewhat aback by the unexpected shout, the man waited for the filly’s call to get answered. Before long, the blonde, Stenson-clad mare trotted up to the door.

“Howdy Marckus, Ah almost didn’t recognize ya. What brings ya ‘round these parts?” She asked, tipping her hat in greetings.

“Well, I was actually wondering if you’d be willing to employ me here on your farm. Without my normal job to go to, my entire day has become depressingly empty.” He explained. The orange pony gave him a skeptical look, mulling the idea over.

“Ya do have a strong back. Ah can’t say ya didn’t surprise me when ya hauled that wagon.” She said as she thought. “Ah tell you what, Ah’ll give ya one week. If’n you’re capable for farm labor, I’ll hire ya, if not…wull, we’ll take care o’ that if we come to it.” She proposed.

“You’ve got yourself a deal!” The man said enthusiastically. Applejack turned over her hoof and spat a wad of saliva on it, holding it out to seal the deal. The man grimaced inwardly as he couldn’t help but imagine the disturbing feeling of a spit-shake. He resigned himself to the act and spat a healthy amount into his own palm and grabbed her hoof, shaking it firmly and holding back the urge to shudder from the slimy wetness against his hand, grinning and baring it. With the deal closed, he released his grasp and promptly wiped his hand on his jeans.

“We were actually gonna start in a few minutes, after breakfast. Yu’re welcome to join us if ya want.” The farm pony said warmly. Thinking of the strictly vegetarian meals the locals ate, he shook his head.

“No thank you, I’m fine.” He politely declined. He walked to the edge of the porch and sat down on the edge, waiting for the Apple Family to eat their morning meal.

After a few minutes, the family finished their meal and work quickly began. Long hours of hard labor in the hot sun passed with relative silence, save the occasional instructions. With the addition of man-power, the chores and jobs around the farm were all finished much faster than usual, leaving plenty of time for harvesting apples. At the end of the day, when the last wagon of apples was hauled in, the hard work of the two farm ponies plus one Marckus resulted in a near doubling of the average in apples harvested. With some strategy implemented into the work, the process was more streamlined, allowing for such a boost in gathering.

“I gotta say, Markus, havin’ you around is soundin’ pretty darn good.” Applejack said with a grin.

“Eeyup.” The large red stallion agreed simply.

“My pleasure. Honestly, I’d be going stir-crazy if I had to stay in that Library all day.” The man replied, wiping a line of sweat off his forehead with his arm.

“Keep this up an’ getting’ that job’ll be a shoo in.” She said with commends.

He thanked her for the opportunity and proceeded on his way back to the Library, taking note of the dozens of pegasi flying around in the air hurriedly. Not much later, he reached his destination, bending down low through the doorway.

“Twilight?” He called. In the corner of his eye he spotted a stack of books floating around behind the counter, though there was a mysterious absence of the usual aura that surrounded things the mare levitated. He walked to the counter and peered over it to see the lower half of the Library’s other resident. “Spike?” He said to the legs under the books.

“Nnngh, Hi Marckus, nngh” The dragon said, straining to carry the reasonably large stack of thick tomes.

“Here, lemme help you.” The man said, walking around the counter and taking up the Spike’s burdon.

“Wow, thanks Marckus. Those were really heavy.” The mythical reptile said, relaxing his arms and back.

“No prob.” The man said casually as he followed Spike to a section of shelves where he assumed some of the tomes went. Spike climbed a ladder and began to take some of the books off the top of the tall stack and place them in their proper place. “Hey, where’s Twi’?” He asked. Spike pushed off the shelf and slid himself along the book cases on the ladder, Marckus quickly following behind.

“She’s still up in her room, studying.” Spike replied. The man had figured that’s where she’d be, if anywhere else. Before long, the books had all found their proper places amongst the shelves with Spikes disciplined knowledge and Marckus’s help. “Thanks for the help!” Spike said gratefully.

“Yup.” Marckus simply said. Spike looked up to him and did a double-take.

“Woah, I didn’t even notice your face, and your head. All your hair is…gone.” The dragon observed.

“Yup. I cut it all off this morning.” The man explained.

“I’m digging the ‘stache!” Spike complimented enthusiastically. Marckus couldn’t help but smirk at the energetic remark from the young dragon. He figured that Spike had goals of his own moustache by the sounds of it.

“Heh, thanks. Welp, I’ll be seein’ ya ‘round.” Marckus said, heading up the stairs.

“Yeah, I’ll see you later.” Spike replied, turning to the rest of his duties. Marckus climbed the steps with ease and strode to Twilight’s room.

“Hey Twilight?” He called again. This time, there was actually a response from the bookish mare.

“Yes Marckus, what is it?” Twilight answered back. He walked in to see her flipping through seven separate books, seeming to read them all at once. The sight was truly amazing, if not a tad bit disturbing.

“Hey, why are the pegasi all in a buzz? On the way back from the farm I noticed a bunch of them flying around all hurriedly. I think I even saw Rainbow Dash zipping around with some purpose up there. Oh, by the way, Applejack’s almost assured me a job.” He said.

“Congratulations!” Twilight said happily before addressing his actual question. “Well, to answer you, the pegasi are busy putting together a huge thunderstorm to cover a missed drizzle last Wednesday.” She explained. Marckus blinked as he tried to grasp her statement.

“Wait…’putting together’ the storm?” He asked, baffled.

“Yes. Pegasi have the innate ability to make, and manipulate weather. Rainbow Dash is actually head manager on Ponyville’s Weather Team.” Twilight explained. The concept floated around in the man’s mind as he began making sense of it. Of course, there was no sense to be made, so he just stuck it in the quickly filling ‘Different World, different rules’ file in his brain. Apparently, the laws of physics are also different here, he thought.

Just as he finally got his head around the strange concept, a massive bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, and a tremendous clap of thunder boomed through the Library, marking the start of the storm.