//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12 
// Story: Behind the Veil 
// by FeralFox 
//------------------------------//


“Behind the Veil”
Chapter 12
by FeralFox





Twilight walked along as her companion strode somewhat lazily beside her, his fingers laced behind his head, shirts slung over his shoulder, and his posture bent slightly backward so that his face could bask in the warm afternoon sun as they walked. He walked with a sense of accomplishment at assisting Applejack with her farm work. It always felt good to help others, even without the incentive of personal gain. Marckus blindly followed his purple guide. He had asked her several times as to where they were going, but she refused to tell. Marckus lifted his arm over his head and to eye-level, checking his wrist for the time out of habit. He scowled as he had so callously forgotten to bring said item when he was packing his things for the journey to this world. He chuckled to himself as he thought of how it must either still be sitting on his dresser, or who it was sold to when the superintendent of his apartment decided it was time to sell his things. He never did care much for him, but Marckus made sure to stay in line and at least try to act civil in front of the crotchety old man. Marckus let out a heavy sigh as he reminisced about his native world. He wondered if time was still passing, and if so, had there been a missing persons report? His boss would have definitely taken note of his unusual absence. Now there was a man he respected. Never harsh on those that worked under him, but still punished those who deserved it. Even had a good sense of humor. 
 
The tall man was getting lost musing about things that had been so mundane and trivial to him just days ago. His daydreaming was disturbed by a strange sight, and coming from a man who had gone through everything he had, that's saying something. Just a short ways out, there were three little fillies running at him and Twilight. One was a yellow earth-pony with a red bow in her hair; another was a pewter unicorn with a curly purple mane, strangely similar to Miss Rarity, whom he had only met for a short while. The third one, taking the front-lines on a scooter, was an orange pegasus, also with a purple mane, though of a slightly darker tone. All three of them were wearing, to his surprise, little capes. At first he thought they might have been playing some kind of game, but when they neared, he could see that their faces were straight and serious, almost angry. He stopped walking and turned to them. The orange filly was getting very close and didn't look like she intended on slowing down. She zipped over to a small rock that stuck out of the grass and used is as a sort of ramp, propelling her off the ground. She dismounted her scooter in mid-air, giving herself a little boost. She was cruising straight for him. 
 
Hoping to deflect the projectile pegasus, he put his arms up across his face, making a cross. The filly didn't attempt to roll or change her flight path. Instead, she opened her mouth up wide and clamped down on Marckus' right arm, biting down with a vice-grip. The man recoiled slightly from the intended assault and grunted through his teeth as the little filly bore down on his forearm. With his attention directed at the pegasus, he didn't see the two other fillies still charging at his legs. The unicorn used her horn to ram his shin, the hard spiral bone meeting the un-cushioned surface of his own bone. The blow was a direct hit to the center of his leg, but the two thin bones deflected one another, making it more glancing than it should have been. The horn slid off his calf, tearing a small hole in his jeans. He grunted again as he looked down at his tiny attackers. Just as he had caught sight of the unicorn, the earth-pony had reared up and let loose an astonishing kick from her small frame, scoring a painful hit on the back of his leg, almost making his knee buckle. 
 
He regained his composure as Twilight had turned back to see the onslaught. “Oh my goodness! What do you think you are doing?!” She yelled, obviously just as confused as the man under siege. Marckus quickly prioritized his targets and made the proper strategy. First, he needed to free up his other arm. He reached over to the pegasus filly who was still gnawing away at his arm and grabbed her torso, his large hands and long fingers making it easy to get a firm grip on his tiny assailant. He squeezed her lightly, causing her to release her bite just enough for him to rip her from his arm. The filly began to squirm and pummel his wrist with her hooves, shouting indignantly. He snapped his attention to the unicorn. She was about ready to charge him again when he reached down and grabbed her, receiving the same reaction as the orange filly. The last one shouted at him in an eerily familiar southern drawl.
 
“Ah ain't gonna let you hurt mah friends!” With that, she turned and reared up to kick him again, but this time, he was ready. Keeping his boot planted on the ground as to avoid kicking her, he slid his leg forward, shoving her without much force. She toppled over and tried to scramble to her hooves, but he caught her hind leg over his boot and twirled her around on the ground, discombobulating her. When she was sufficiently spun, he placed his boot on top of her. Firm enough to keep her from escaping, but gentle enough to avoid crushing her or making it to difficult to breathe.
 
The three fillies each trashed and wriggled futilely in his grasp. During the short time the assault had taken place, Twilight was observing, baffled and awestruck. She was baffled as to why the three fillies had attacked the towering man in the first place, and awestruck as to how quickly and fluidly Marckus had subdued them. The feeling of awe, however, quickly faded to be replaced by anger.
 
“What in the name of Celestia were you fillies doing?!” She scolded. Marckus was still struggling with them, trying to keep his balance over the one under his hefty boot while keeping the others in his hands. The orange pegasus spoke up first.
 
“We're trying to, grrr, save you from this, nng, monster!” She said as she fought the tremendous man's steel hold. She tried several times to bite his hands, but on every attempt, he would give her a light squeeze and stop it short.
 
“He's NOT a monster!” She yelled. “I was in no danger! If anything, you're all lucky that Marckus is disciplined, or he might have hurt you. I wouldn't have blamed him either, considering you attacked him for no reason!” She shouted, giving each little filly a death stare. The fillies stopped struggling and finally noticed that they were not being killed by a giant monster, or even hurt for that matter. Marckus glanced over his extended arm to Twilight. She nodded and he set the orange and alabaster fillies down and removed his boot from the yellow one. They stood shoulder to shoulder with each other and stared at the ground. Twilight cleared her throat purposefully.
 
“Were sorry.” The trio said simultaneously.
 
“We just wanted ta’ get ar’ cutie marks 's all. We thought maybe we'd be good monster hunters, or maybe pony savers.” The one with the bow said sadly. Marckus shot a questioning look at Twilight. She turned her poisonous gaze from the fillies to him in turn.
 
“A cutie mark is something that-- Oh my goodness! Marckus, you're bleeding!” The lavender mare screamed. He raised an eyebrow and took note of the unusual coldness of his arm now that the adrenalin of the moment had worn off. He looked down at his right arm to see the hot, viscous, crimson liquid running down his arm from where the pegasus filly had bitten him. He turned his arm over to inspect the other side, only to see the same.
 
“Huh. So I am.” He said calmly. Upon inspecting his arm more, he remembered the horn he took to his shin. He peered through the tear in his right pant-leg reveal a small laceration that ran from the front of his leg around the outside. “Hmm...” He said as he reached down for his bundle of shirts that had fallen from his shoulder during the rumble. “It seems you little fillies did quite the number on me.” He retrieved a bright red shirt from within his gray sweater. He sighed to himself as he looked at the tee. It was one of his favorites, and currently one of his only, but alas, this was more important. He placed the bottom of the shirt in his mouth and tore a long strip from the base. He slung the remaining shirt over his shoulder and gave his arm a few good licks to clear away any contaminated blood from the wounds, then began to dress it. He tied the make-shift gauze tightly around his arm. Then he ripped another piece from the tee and tied it around his shin. 
 
Once he was done patching himself up, he turned to the three fillies who had seen the damage they had done and were now looking up at him with wide, misty eyes. 
 
“I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you.” The snow-white unicorn sobbed.
 
“Yeah, me too. Please don't hurt us.” The tangerine pegasus pleaded. Marckus thought for a moment before he sat down on his heels, still looming over the small fillies. 
 
“Don't worry, no harm done...so to say.” His deep voice soft and easy. “Just promise me this: The next time you see someone you don't know, try and look past their appearance for who they really are. Otherwise, you might jump to some bad conclusions.” He looked each of them in the eyes as he spoke. “Can you do that for me?”
 
“We promise!” They said in unison. He smiled and patted them each on the head before returning to his full height. He turned to Twilight again.
 
“Anyways, you were about to explain...'cutie marks', was it?” The purple pony blinked for a moment before her mind returned to her.
 
“Uh, yes, cutie marks. They are special-- wait a minute.” She interrupted herself again, much to the patient man's disdain. “Why aren't you little fillies in school right now?” The trio of troublemakers shuffled nervously as they watched the grass grow. 
 
“Wull...we were at recess when we saw y'all walkin' by...” The drawling filly began.
 
“And we thought you were in danger so...” The pewter unicorn continued.
 
“So we snuck out to save you.” The pegasus finished. Twilight scowled at them. 
 
“So you went AWOL from school, and you didn't think to ask the teacher for help?” Having it said out loud made it abundantly clear how poorly thought out their plan was. “Well, as punishment, I'm going to escort you little rascals back to the schoolhouse and tell Ms. Cheerilee what you did, so that you are properly punished.” She looked on in frustration at the three little fillies. 
 
Marckus chimed in. “Wait. Did you say you were looking for your 'cutie marks'?” He looked on questioningly. The little fillies perked up and exchanged smiles with one another.
 
“We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” They shouted in sync. “We go on lots of adventures, trying to find our cutie marks!” The unicorn filly said. “I'm Sweetie-Bell!” She said, taking a step to separate herself somewhat.
 
“May I assume you're Ms. Rarity's relative?” Marckus asked, curious about the similar colors.
 
“Yeah! She's my sister! Did you meet her?” He nodded and she smiled, but he said no more to allow introductions to continue.
 
“Ah'm Appelbloom!” The filly with the bow said, also taking a step. “Ya might've met mah sister, Applejack.” He nodded again, connecting the accents.
 
“And I'm Scootaloo!” The pegasus said, making the line solid once more, if not just a step forward. Marckus looked at the little pegasus and wondered if he had met one of her relatives yet. 
 
'Ms. Fluttershy perhaps? The yellow and orange are kinda close, but the purple mane and outspoken voice make me want to say no.' He thought to himself 'Who was that other pegasus that I met....Rainbow Dash, that's right. I guess the colors don't really matter considering she's rainbow, so...ah, best not assume anything. I might ask one day, but not now.'
 
“I'd like to say 'nice to meet you', but your first impression isn't really winning me over.” He said cautiously, not wanting to upset the little fillies. “But hopefully you'll be able to change that so that I can.” He said with a smile. The Crusaders smiled along with him. He mentally wiped sweat off his brow at the save. “But as I've asked before, what exactly IS a cutie mark?” He repeated.
 
Twilight was about to open her mouth to explain, but then an idea stuck her. She turned up to her giant companion. “Marckus, what do you say about coming with us to the schoolhouse? Maybe you can learn some basic things about Equestria while you’re there.” The man scratched his beard with his non- bloody hand and pondered on this for a moment before he shrugged. 
 
“Eh, might as well.” He didn't really like the idea of returning to school after the thirteen years he had gone through to graduate, plus the three years he went to trade school to get his auto technician's license. But then again, this was a whole new world, so he had to start somewhere. He gathered his spare clothing and they set off. 
 
After a short while of walking in a somewhat awkward silence, a schoolhouse came into sight. 
 
“Maybe I should warn them about you before you go in.” Twilight said as they neared the little building. Marckus nodded and the quartet of ponies entered the house of learning. He waited for a few moments patiently before Twilight returned to beckon him inside. He tried to walk as lightly as possible, but his heavy boots made staying quiet an impossibility. With each step, the floorboards creaked and a light thud sounded when rubber met wood. He ducked through the door to see a small classroom filled with similarly small colts and fillies. The sound of his muffled, yet thunderous approach made them all turn from their activities. The faces of the students were all pleasantly mixed. That is, not all of them frozen in abject-terror. Some of them were afraid and screaming in fear, yes, but some were exited, and were saying things to their desk-neighbors. Some were confused looking, or curious rather, and seemed to be asking others questions. But to the man's dismay, the mare he assumed was teacher was hiding behind her desk, terrified, ready to shriek. He decided to remain still as Twilight tried to disarm the teacher situation over the cacophony of shouts.
 
“Miss Cheerilee? This is Marckus! Don't worry; he won’t hurt you!” She shouted over the noise of the children. She explained the cloth on his arm and the ruckus that the Crusaders had made. Once she was coaxed out from behind her desk, the fuchsia mare stood at the front of the classroom, beside a podium, and cleared her throat loudly. Slowly but surely, the commotion died down. She coughed nervously as Twilight motioned for the large man to approach them.
 
“Class, this i-is...Marckus. He's from another world, and h-he's here to learn about ours.” Marckus waved to the class with a smile. “Don't be afraid of him, h-he won't be hurting anypony a-anytime soon.” She said as if she was trying to convince herself more than the children. She turned and looked up to the towering man. “W-why don't you take a seat in the back of the room and I'll resume the lesson. I-I'll be happy to answer any of your questions.” He nodded and made his way around the class, and sat down cross-legged in the back of the room. 
 
He turned to Twilight and whispered. “You wouldn't happen to have anything I might be able to take notes with, would you?” Twilight smiled and her horn shown a brilliant purple light, before a small, black leather bound book materialized from thin-air, along with a quill and ink well. Marckus took the book, but stopped when he reached for the quill still hovering in the air. Being a dominant lefty, his hand would smear the ink if he wrote with that, and his right hand writing was...lacking to say the least. He thought for a moment before desperately patting down his right thigh. He dug through the pocked on the side of his leg designed to carry pencils and such, praying that he'd find something of use. Lo and behold, he found a broken pencil and an old ballpoint pen. He sent a silent 'thank you' to whoever was watching over him right now.
 
Twilight cocked an eyebrow at the strange instruments. Marckus opened the cover of the book and scratched back and forth on the corner of the page with the point of his pen. Nothing. He scratched faster and harder, but still, nothing. In despair, he looked down at the pen. He perked up when an idea came to him. He quickly unscrewed the front of the pen and took out the tip/inkwell assembly before regarding the lavender unicorn beside him. 
 
“Excuse me, Twilight? Do you think you'd be able to put some of that ink in this little chamber?” He asked, pointing to the floating inkwell and the plastic tube on his pen. She nodded and her horn began to glow again. After a flash of light, Marckus reassembled his pen and scratched at the paper. After a few seconds a glorious black trail rode in the wake of the pen's scratches. A smile stretched across the man's face as something so trivial became so important, just because it's the only one in existence. “Thank you!” He said with a sigh of relief.
 
“You’re welcome!” She replied happily. “Now, I'll leave you to your learning. I've got to check up on Spike. I'll be back in a couple of hours, okay?” He nodded and directed his attention to the class, who had been watching his movements intently, including Ms. Cheerilee. Twilight left and the class had resumed to an almost normal pace as the man wrote down everything he deemed important. Which was everything, save the simple math and spelling lessons. He was once again astounded at how perfectly similar his world's arithmetic and his country's language were to that of this world's. 
 
Twilight had made it back to the Library where Spike had set up a sandbag defensive position in the main living area, and had donned an olive drab green metal war helmet and was cowering in a fetal position, grasping a red-hot fire stoker. He jumped when Twilight entered the room and motioned for her to get behind cover, to which she rolled her eyes.
 
“Spike, what are you doing?” She asked the Hidden Dragon. 
 
“There's been some really weird noises coming from the atrium, and I want to be prepared when whatever's making them comes down.” He said in a panicked tone. Twilight rolled her eyes once again and trotted up the stairs to the so called lair of the beast. 
 
What she found was Pinkie Pie being........Pinkie Pie. The decorations had advanced quite a lot since her last visit, but there were also many other things that drew the Librarian's attention. Scattered about the room were several mini trampolines, from which Pinkie was bouncing, hanging ribbons and banners along the rafters. And on the floor, there were several boxes and baskets of party decorations that Pinkie Pie was throwing to Pinkie Pie, so that she could stay bouncing. In another section of the room was Pinkie Pie, launching streamer artillery at the wall. Near a table that looked to be for concessions, Pinkie Pie was blowing up balloons and handing them to Pinkie Pie, who was tying them up into various shapes. She were all laughing and giggling as she went about her work, telling her jokes that she'd almost keel over laughing at. Twilight blinked a few times before slowly backing away, breaking into a gallop down the stairs. She looked at Spike with wide, fearful eyes.
 
“Don't go in there!” She warned. The baby dragon looked back with an equally terrified expression.
 
“I told ya’ so!” He retorted. He tossed a similar helmet to Twilight, except there was a hole stamped out of the top. The lavender mare put on the helmet and waited behind the sandbag fort with Spike, ready to weather out the storm that was Pinkie Pie.
 
After an amount of time lost to the pair, Twilight realized that she had to retrieve Marckus from the schoolhouse and keep him from coming back to the Library for a while. She burst from the bunker at full gallop while calling back to Spike.
 
“Gotta go get Marckus don't let Pinkie burn down the library bye!” And in an instant she was out of the building. Her helmet was left spinning at the staircase in her hasty exit. She trotted quickly to the schoolhouse, hoping she wasn't too late. She came upon the building just as the class was getting let out - the colts and fillies cheering at the end of another monotonous school day, no doubt. Twilight entered the little building and saw Marckus feverishly writing down information, still seated in the back of the room. He clicked the pen away and shut the notebook just as Twilight came into the room. He smiled as he stood up. “Learn a lot today?” Twilight asked.
 
“Man, I'll tell ya, when you said 'whole new world', you meant whole new world” He said with a wave of his arms to accent his sentence. “Alright, where are we off to now?”
 
“How do you know I'm taking you somewhere new?” She asked jokingly.
 
“I catch on quickly.” He answered with a chuckle of his own.
 
 
 

To be continued...