Behind the Veil

by FeralFox

Chapter 5

As the sun began its march towards its zenith, just peeking over the horizon, a small shaft of golden light permeated the room. Twilight began to stir from her pleasant slumber as the small bedchamber was relieved of the sleepy darkness. She gently stretched her limbs, quickly meeting their resistance, only wanting to remain in the comfortable position. As blood began to rejuvenate the waking unicorn, she rubbed the dried crusts that plagued her eyes. As she opened them she was greeted by the beautiful morning sky peering bashfully through partially closed curtains. She stood from her bed and opened them to allow the morning glory to flood her room and bathe her in its warmth. As her mind came to focus, she recalled the last days events. She quickly turned to see tiny beams of light drifting past the leaves of the great tree she resided in, through a rather large hole in her roof. With a hint of panic, she quickly trotted down the hall, into the living area to see Marckus still lying on the sofa. She let out a gentle sigh of relief at recalling that there was no threat to fear. She took note that he had stripped himself of his several layers of clothing that covered his torso during the night, preferring to use them as padding between his thighs. He lay on his right side, facing the back of the couch, only allowing Twilight to gaze at his long back and broad shoulders. His muscles were stretched taught against his small frame, which was notably smaller without his several shirts to increase his volume. His muscles were not bulky, but lithe and sculpted, boasting more strength than one would believe at first glance. Normally a pony's muscles couldn't be seen through their coats, unless they were performing some tasking labor, but that would give no time to take note. Twilight was captivated at this sight, seeing the different groups of fibrous tissue that provided motor function, perfectly symmetrical across his spine. It was so fascinating, so....exotic

She quickly shook the shook the strange thought away from her mind as she also noticed the bandages around his waist and the many bruises along his arms and sides. With a ginger touch she shook the man with her hoof, beckoning him back to the world of the waking. He began to shift and stretch delicately, minding his injuries. Twilight could only stare at the tight bundles of muscle as they contracted and relaxed, blood now circulating through them, only increasing their size ever so slightly. He rolled lazily onto his back, his incarcerated forearm sitting on his wrapped stomach, giving the bewildered mare another show of the result of the many years of manual labor he had performed. His chest was slightly lined with small, black hairs, similar to those which coated his jaw, but his toned physique could be seen just as clearly. The dual plateaus on his chest rose gently from his ribs, only to be parted by the valley that marked the location of his sternum, the bone-like mass of cartilage that connected his battered ribcage together. She could also not help but notice his nipples, something also normally hidden by fur, standing as lone points atop each of his mounds of strength. Twilight was once again entranced as she watched the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed softly in his sleep. She may have “studied” him like this for hours if not for the recall to reality in the form of a certain baby dragon pronouncing the day's first meal was almost complete. Once she snapped back, she raised a hoof, only to stop mid-motion, scanning the side she was presented with for a place to shake him from.

I don't want to touch his shoulder, because it might still be sore from being dislocated. Her hoof shifted down, under his arm to his side. Can't touch there, his ribs are cracked. It hovered down toward his leg. Nope, fractured. She glanced back up at his torso. As much as she didn't want to, or maybe she did want to, she reached over his arm and gently placed her hoof on his right pectoral, the relaxed muscle impressing slightly at the pressure, and she proceeded to shake him awake.

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Marckus began to stir from his peaceful world, back into that of the conscious. He grumbled something incomprehensible at the unknown stimuli. He slowly opened his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the dim light that cascaded around him. As the images began to sharpen he noticed the pair of amethyst eyes looking back....all to closely. He gave a startled shout as his body tensed up in reflex to defend himself from whatever dominated his sight. Simultaneous a shriek of terror could be heard from whatever had been hovering over him, as it jumped away from the outburst. Quickly he braced himself with his right arm on the couch and raised himself into a sitting position, dragging his rear-end back towards where his head had rested. He looked on to see the kind, lavender unicorn standing across the room, cautious of his every movement.

“Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! You just startled me, that's all.” He gave a reassuring smile as she relaxed and began to walk back to his side. “Next time, be sure to give me a few inches of breathing room.” He said with a light chuckle as he retrieved his clothing from betwixt his legs. As he opened the bottom of the three articles of clothing, all still neatly inside one another, he softly slid his left arm through its proper sleeves, and repeated the process with his right, then he brought the clothes down over his head and squirmed his way to the neck hole. As he squirmed, he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. As he popped his head out of the collective collars, he found a very intrigued Twilight, staring intently as he brought the base of the clothes down over his wounded abdomen. Dismissing it as observation of movement, he swung his legs off the side of the small furnishing on which he slept, and placed them on the floor. Reaching for his crutch, he heard a new voice call from beyond his sight.

“Twilight! Breakfast is ready!” The idea of food brought him great joy as he was berated by his gut in burbles and grumbles.

“Mmm, that sounds marvelous!” He said, rising to his feet, in favor of his right side.

“I agree,” Twilight said, turning from her “observations” and walking across the room to an adjacent kitchen area. “some food could do us both worlds of good right now.” Upon entering the smaller room with a crouch and a hop, he found himself confronted by another shriek of surprisingly similar pitch.

“AAH! Twilight, look out! Its gonna eat you!” Screamed the frightened reptilian-looking creature.

“Calm down, Spike, he's not going to be eating anypony. This is Marckus, and he's from a different world. He's very nice, so don't you worry your pretty little head. Now, what's for breakfast?” Spoke the purple pony. Spike returned from behind the small dining placement and grabbed two plates of what looked like roughage and different flowers.

“Breakfast, compliments of the chef!” He said, happy to serve another well cooked meal. The tall man's face dropped at this sight. “Oh...um...s-sorry, Marckus, but I-I wasn't expecting company.” Twilight's face gleamed as a thought entered her mind

“I'm so sorry to be rude, but what exactly do you eat for breakfast in your world? Do you even have a morning meal?” The interested unicorn inquired.

“Yeah, I have breakfast, but...” his face seemed to drop even more at the sight of what he believed to be a regular meal in this world. “I don't suppose you have any eggs, or bacon, or sausage, or pancakes?” The lavender mare's expression turned from one of interest to one of shock and disgust.

“You EAT eggs?!” Noticing the only familiar food he had listed. He let out an uncomfortable sigh as he readied himself to admit something that could prove terrifying to these herbivorous creatures.

“Well....yeah...I'm kinda an omnivore...” He reached up and put a hooked finger inside his mouth, pulling it back to reveal his sharper teeth, in addition to his flatter, grinding teeth. Torn between fascination at his beautifully unique dental structure and fear at his possible future blood-lust, she came to a satisfying middle-ground, hope that he would eat something else besides her and her friends.

“S-soo...that means that you don't have to eat meat....right?” She asked hesitantly.

“I could, but it wouldn't be too healthy. I need lots of protein. I could get some from nuts and legumes, but it wouldn't be enough, I'm afraid. But don't get me wrong, I would never eat you, or any of the other folks of this world.” She let out a sigh with a mix of relief and stress. “I don't really want to ask any more of you than I have to, but if I can at least be allowed a few eggs for breakfast, or catch some fish for lunch or dinner, I could prob'ly get by the rest of the day on fruits and veggies.” The hungry man attempted to reason to the logical pony, hoping that she would understand.

“Well...we're just gonna have to talk to Fluttershy about this. I know she'll be resistant at first, but she knows better that anypony else that carnivores have to eat other creatures to survive.” She glanced back up at him with a smile, which he returned with one of his own. “For now, would you mind if Spike and I ate our meals before we set out, I don't mean to be rude.”

“Not at all, but could I trouble you for a glass of milk, preferably that of a cow?” He specified, hoping not to disturb or offend the female mammal currently sitting in front of him. He wasn't quite sure if her species did in fact produce milk, but he wasn't going to chance an awkward conversation from his kind hostess.

“Of course. No trouble at all.” A bottle of milk levitated from the fridge in the corner of the kitchenette and a glass from a nearby cupboard. The glass landed on the counter as the bottle began to drain itself into the glass. Once the glass was topped off, it floated back to its home. He grabbed the glass and swirled the with liquid around before looking at it hesitantly. “Something wrong?” She asked with a concerned look on her face. She had given him what he had asked for, so why shouldn't she be concerned?

“Well, you see” he began, not wanting to reject the continued hospitality, “we pasteurize our milk, because it comes from a different animal and can tend to upset our stomachs.” he saw the disappointment on her face and quickly tried to change the outcome of the subject. “But I have a pretty strong stomach, and I have been drinking it for years, so no big deal!” He said with a smile before taking a hearty gulp of the bovine by-product. As he lowered the glass, the purple unicorn gave out a muffled snicker as she saw a mustache of milk covering his one of hair. She tried to cover her mouth with a forehoof, but to no avail, she couldn't stop herself from laughing. Spike turned from his plate to witness what hilarity issued behind him and burst out in a less controlled fit of laughter. Marckus glanced between them with a raised eyebrow to his ignorance at what was so funny. Soon he found his lip turning cold as the cow juice permeated his facial hair and soaked his skin. He looked down to see that he was the source of the bouts of giggles from the two seated in front of him, as his lip was now comically shaded a color that dittoed that of his beverage. As his cheeks burned with newly arriving blood, he sucked his lip into his mouth to extract the offending liquid and ending the hysterical event all too soon. Twilight and Spike calmed down and returned to eating as a pleasant silence rested amongst them.

The plates were cleared and placed in the sink to be cleaned by Spike as he and Twilight made their way out in to the living area.

“Now that that's out of the way, lets see about getting you some food.” She said, slowly walking down the stairs, as Marckus leaped past, taking the stairs three at a time, but remaining cautious. They made their way to the front of the library and Twilight opened the door with a quick use of what he believed now were telekinetic powers of some kind. He made his way quickly out of the building and into the street. He had become a master of traversing small doorways on one leg. Luckily for him, the library was near the edge of town and they passed only a few pedestrians on the way to Fluttershy's cottage. It was a quaint little thing, also a hollowed out great deciduous tree, stood at the edge of the forest that its occupant had so clearly been afraid of. They made their way to the front porch and Marckus had decided to stay back a bit for this confrontation, seeing how frightened the canary pegasus was of him, even before she knew he consumed meat. He could only imagine the reaction he would get upon her discovery of said eating habits.

Twilight advanced on the front door and gave a quiet triplet of knocks and waited for a response. Soon the door was cracked open to reveal a blue eye peeking out from behind the door.

“Oh, hello Twilight, what brings you down here?” She spoke no louder than a whisper.

“Well, I have to ask you something that you may not want to hear.” Explained Twilight. “It has to do with Marckus.” She sidestepped to reveal the tall man standing a safe distance away, waving slightly at the mention of his name. Fluttershy's eye went wide at the sight of him but she didn't run away, she simply nodded to signify that she understood. “You know better than anypony how certain creatures have to eat other creatures to survive, right?” She said, recalling an earlier statement. The blue eye bobbed up and down in a hesitant nod. “Well, you see, Marckus is an omnivore, so he can eat fruits and vegetables, but...” Fluttershy's eye widened and began to water as she realized what Twilight was about to say. “he needs protein to stay healthy, and to get that protein, he has to eat something like meat, or fish, or eggs. So, we were hoping that you could spare a few eggs, or some fish for today, but only a few!” She tried to reassure her teary friend “he says he can manage the rest of the day without any more.” The yellow mare closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Yes.”

“But, he doesn't have to take that many, and how many times have you given a bear a-- wait what?” The unicorn had a perplexed look on her face.

“I understand. He can have a few eggs, but only four or five.” She said, all too familiar with the circle of life, and what one must do to survive. It was her passion to take care of animals, but if a few of many had to die to save the one and only, than it had to be so. She opened the door wider and stepped out. “Follow me, I'll take you to the coop.”

“Thank you, so very much!” Marckus said, an expression of true thankfulness adorned his face. Fluttershy slowed down to hover next to the tall man, letting Twilight lead for the moment.

“No, thank you.” She said, only loud enough for him to hear.

“What are you talking about?” He said, honestly ignorant as to what he, of all people, should be thanked for.

“You're risking your own health trying to keep everything the way it was. I know, judging by how big you are, that a few eggs isn't really enough protein to keep you healthy for long. So, thank you.” He knew this to be true, but hoped that they would not know. Being so large, he did require much more than a few eggs, but these ponies had shown him such generosity in such a short time, he didn't feel that he could take any more from them. He would return the favor, if it was the last thing he did.

She flew ahead to lead them once again, to the chicken coop. She proceeded to carry a basket lined with hey into the coop and retrieve some eggs. She returned shortly with the basket full.

“One question, really quick. How do you eat the eggs anyway?” Twilight asked, her lust for knowledge once again taking priority in her mind.

Hmm, how should I cook these? Scrambled? No. Hard boiled? Nah. Sunny-side up? Maybe another time. Ah-ha! “I know a way that you may even want to try” He said with a happy grin on his face, the two mares looking at each other with a raised eye-brow.

They had returned to the library, eggs and Fluttershy in tow, and had entered the kitchen where Spike had long since finished cleaning up their breakfast. But now it was time to make his own.

“If you don't mind, I'll need a few things.” Marckus said, commanding the tiny kitchen.

“Sure, whatcha need?” Twilight asked, still interested in how he was going to make eating eggs appetizing.

“Let's see...I need a frying pan,” he said as he lit the stove burner with a match. A pan floated into his grasp and he set it down on the low flame. “Um...a bowl to mix, some flour, some milk, and some butter, please.” As he listed off the items, they floated onto the nearby counter. While holding his crutch under his arm with his arm from his shoulder to his elbow, he used what little mobility he had left in his forearm to cook. He awkwardly took an egg and cracked it on the counter's edge. The two mares flinched a bit. With surprising dexterity, he split the eggshell with his two fingers and his thumb, letting it's contents spill out into the bowl. He repeated the process with the other eggs and then dumped in about six cups of flour and almost a quart of milk into the bowl. Seeing as they she was a pony, he did not expect Twilight to keep a fork in her kitchen, so he reached into his jean's pocket to pull out a small rectangular object that consisted of a mess of metal components flanked by two beautifully crafted wooden pieces that made both a cover, and a handle. It was a Swill Army Knife. He used his teeth to extend the cork puller that he proceeded to use in place of a whisk. Twilight was once again fascinated by the strange object he pulled from his garments as he whisked the mixture in the bowl into a fluffy, soup-like texture. Carefully placing his tool in the sink to be washed and sanitized, he took a bit of butter from the tray and threw it onto the pan. He poured some of the batter into the pan and let it cook. After about thirty seconds or so, he flipped the solidifying disk with his hand and cooked it on its other side. Fluttershy, Twilight, and even Spike had been captivated by his cooking, not only because it was something completely new to them, but because he was doing this all with one arm, if that. He repeated the process numerous times until he had a stack of soft, fluffy, golden-brown disks all stacked neatly on top of one another. He placed the plate down on the table in front of the three bewildered spectators.

“May I present to you: Pancakes!” Marckus exclaimed, proud of his culinary feats. “Go ahead, try it. I don't expect you to like them, but it wouldn't hurt, right?” After Twilight levitated plates to the three of them, the one for Marckus being the one with the stack of pancakes on it, she placed a pancake on each of their plates. “Oh, and one more thing!” He said, reaching back and grabbing his tool from the sink. He washed off the corkscrew and put it away, only to produce a long knife. He used the knife to scoop some butter off of its tray and plop it down on his stack before viciously devouring it, while somehow minding his table manners. He was down to his last half-pancake and the others had only starred at his feast, seemingly with interest. He scarfed it down and the stared however impolitely at Twilight's delicious morsel of a breakfast food. “Um...you gonna eat that?” She shrugged her shouders slowly. “Why don't you try it? You don't have to like it.” Slowly but surely, the three of them all took one hesitant bite, chewing it just as slow. A collective of “mmm's” could be heard from the table as they seemed to have enjoyed their first bite. Marckus leaned in closer the the middle of the group, causing them to follow suit. “The best part is...” They leaned in closer “you don't have to use egg. You can use a soy replacement!” They all gasped collectively and then devoured their new meals, knowing now that it wouldn't be wrong for them to make more.

They all convened in the living area to digest, bellies bulging in delight, as Twilight wrote down the specifics of the recipe, mostly for Spike's sake, as she was a disaster in the kitchen. Suddenly, Fluttershy sat up, eyes wide.

“Fluttershy, whats wrong?” The lavender unicorn asked.

“Rarity's going to be back in town later today, and she still doesn't know about Marckus!” She explained. “We should probably stop by the Carousel Boutique as soon as she gets back.”

“That's a great idea, that way we can have the whole gang up to speed.” Twilight agreed. Marckus looked on with a worried expression on his face. “Don't worry, she's one of our friends, and I'm sure she'll be happy to meet you.” She gave a light smile and his expression softened.