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Chapter 10: Explanations and Preparation

Author’s note: What would you say if I told you I was writing this by the seat of my pants? What would you say if I told you that this story was just a jumbled mess of idea that I found a loose connection for? What would you say if I told you that I wrote parts of this based off the feedback you give me in the comments?

All I’m saying is this: I have no idea what I’m doing or where this is going. All I know is that I write whatever comes to mind.

P.S. I know there isn’t a lot of action in this chapter but this story needs some damn Juxtaposition (look it up). There will be some action next chapter but until then, keep your panties on grandma.

-

“I will begin the preparations for the spell.” Celestia said with a small tone of pride in her voice “Prepare yourself for your journey. I have no idea how much time you will have in your world, so make sure you are ready.”

“Roger that.” I said with one hand on Ulik’s shoulder.

“I will be back before night fall.”

Without so much as a goodbye, Celestia walked out of the room and took to the sky. I watched as she flew with grace and disappeared behind a stray cloud. I returned my attention to Ulik. I shook his shoulder and he groaned a bit before returning to life and giving me a smile. He climbed to his feet and tackled me with a ‘good morning’ hug. It took everything I had to pull him off of me and place him back onto the floor. As I set him on the floor he gave me a look of apprehension as I placed my hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes.

“Look,” I began “Later tonight I will be leaving and you can’t come with me.”

I watched his eyes narrow in sadness and he lashed out at me with another hug and buried his face into my shoulder.

“Don’t worry; I will be back for you. I would never abandon you.”

He pulled his face away from my shoulder and tried to calm himself down as I used my thumb to wipe the tears from his eyes.

“I will need you to wait for me. I need you to be strong for me.” I said before I broke eye contact and hung my head “I’ve lost too much and I can’t afford to lose you too. I need you to soldier on for me, ok?”

Ulik stared into my eyes for a moment before giving me a nod and latching back onto me. He tackled me with so much force this time it sent me onto my back. I placed my hands on his sides and lifted him in the air above me like my father used to do to me.

“Ulik, is there a reason you don’t talk?” I asked

Ulik turned his head away and I noticed his smile turn into a frown. Then it hit me. It hit me like a fucking freight train. I sat up and placed a hand on Ulik’s shoulder and spun him back around.

“You can’t talk, can you?” I asked with a small amount of sadness escaping with my words.

Ulik tried to turn away from me but I only pulled him in closer. He hung his head and gave me a slight nod of acceptance.

“I’m… I’m sorry Ulik.”

Ulik only turned his head in response before giving me a playful punch in the shoulder. I laughed and climbed to my feet. Ulik only came up to my waist, so I needed to crane my neck to look at him. I petted the top of his head and began to walk towards the door.

“Come on, I need to find the Elements and a new shirt.” I told him when we reached the door.

I held out my right hand and he immediately grabbed hold. I opened the door and was greeted by a small crowd. I shoved Ulik back inside and closed the door. There were various flashes and question being asked. ‘What did Celestia say to you?’ and ‘Why did you kill those guards?’ were the most common. I drew my handgun and fired it into the air. The empty casing bounced off the door and hit the ground with small ping. I returned my 1911 to my holster and the crowd took on a much quieter stance.

“I will answer questions later. Right now, everything is confidential.” I commanded over the crowd “Now back off or someone gets hurt.”

As soon as I said that, the crowd split and ran off in various directions. I turned around and opened the door. I found that Ulik had his ear press against the door. I grabbed his claw and tugged him along. I closed the door and knelt down beside him.

“Let’s get a move on little man.”

He gave me a happy nod and we made our way into the center of town. The town had returned to its normal self at this point. The vendors were out and about, patrons wandered the streets, and businesses were opening up shop. As Ulik and I made our way through town, we received various stares and hushed whispers as we walked along. The various ponies would give me a look and then turn away and talk to the one next to it. Part of me wanted to yell ‘What the fuck are you looking at?’ but my better judgment prevented me.

As we walked along, I saw Applejack at her regular stand. I walked up to her and saw that she now had various apple products on display. Part of me was extremely hungry but I knew I had no cash.

“Howdy,” she called out to me in a cheerful demeanor “care to try mah products?”

“Still broke and don’t pretend you don’t know what happened last night. Word travels fast in these small towns.”

I watched her expression melt away from her face and was replaced by one of confusion.

“Listen,” I told her “I need you to round up your friends and meet me back at Twilight’s. Don’t ask questions, just do it.”

“No need to be harsh.” She said trying to break down my emotional wall.

“Like I said, just do it.”

Her face immediately turned to one of fear and she closed up her stand. I turned away from the cart and began my walk back to Twilight’s house. As I walked, I noticed another crowd forming behind me. With that in mind, I just picked up the pace and made a B-line for the door. I pulled to door open and slammed it shut behind me.

I gave Ulik a little push and he ran off into another room. I took a few steps before my stomach gave a horrifying rumble. I placed my hand over my stomach and staggered over into the kitchen area. I had not eaten anything other than apples in the past few days and the intense physical activity didn’t help. I began to rummage through drawers and doors in hopes of finding something edible. The drawers were full of various dishes, bowls, and various other items.

“I need a fucking sandwich.” I told myself.

I opened a few more drawers before I found one with a few vegetables in it. There were a few carrots, onions, and celery. I grabbed a few carrots and returned to the book room. I hated carrots but I needed something in my body. I took a bite of the vile vegetable and took a seat in the book room.

-

After an hour, Ulik seemed to be bored with the Twilight’s house and popped a squat next to me. I took my arm and threw it over him and squeezed tight. With my other hand, I took a carrot and handed it to him. He immediately snatched it up and devoured it. Knowing that he hadn’t eaten in over two days, I didn’t blame him.

Without warning, the door flew open and Dash, Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity walked in followed by a pink pony with a puffy mane and another yellowish Pegasus with a pink mane.

“Took ya long enough.” I said flatly, trying to kill the silence.

“Sorry, A bit of trouble arose with the crowd outside.” Twilight explained “Please tell me that was a warning shot earlier.”

“It was more of a threat, but whatever.” I said brushing off the comment.

Twilight rolled he eyes and Rarity stepped forward. She looked over me as if scanning me for something.

“Take a picture. It will last longer.”

“I’m sorry,” she said without breaking eye contact with my boots “but your attire is dreadful.”

I facepalmed and said “Practicality beats fashion in my line of work.”

“That would be…?” She said raising an eyebrow.

“I’ll explain that in a minute.” I said before breaking eye contact with and turn my attention to Twilight “I’ve got a question for you.”

Twilight stepped forward and said “What do you need?”

I lifted my hand and pointed to the mark I had received earlier. I got a few surprised gasps followed by whispering.

“What the fuck is this?” I asked with my confusion obvious “It wasn’t here when I came to this place.”

“When and where did it show up?” Twilight asked turning her attention to me.

“After I left town, I collapsed and fell into a ditch. Figuring I had nothing better to do, I took my knife and added a few tallies on my gun. As soon as I finished, my hands felt like someone was jamming a screwdriver through it and my gun changed before my eyes.” I explained before pulling out my handgun “All of the artwork on the slide and the grip wasn’t there before it happened.”

Twilight ran over to a book case and retrieved a large book. I couldn’t see the title, but the book looked old, very old. She skimmed through the book before turning her attention to my hand. After a few minutes, she slammed the book closed and returned it to the shelf.

“Congratulations! You are the first non-equine to receive a cutie-mark.”

“A whatie-mark?”

“A cutie-mark.” She said again “When you find your special talent, a symbol of it appears on your flank. However, since you’re a human, I guess it appeared on a part of your body that wasn’t covered by your clothing.”

Twilight turned to her side and pointed to a large purple star on her side.

“This one is mine and it represents magic.”

“So let me get this straight,” I said bringing my hand to my chin “I just got the human equivalent of a magical ass-tattoo….but on my hand?”

Twilight facehooved and said “When you put it that way, yes.”

“Ok then. That doesn’t help with the fact I don’t know what it means.”

“It means that you good with that thing.” She said pointing to the gun in my hands.

“So I’m good with guns, I already knew that. That doesn’t explain the fact my gun magically changed before my eyes and the fact that I don’t need ammo anymore.”

“That would be your magic at work.”

I brought a hand before me a waved off the comment “It’s better if I don’t question it.”

“As you wish.”

I looked around the room and noticed that the six ponies had created a semicircle in front of me. I turned my attention to the two that I didn’t know. I saw that the pink one had a huge smile plastered across her face and the Pegasus was cowering behind her.

“I’m Ryan and this is Ulik.” I said pointing at the lizard curled up into my side “You two are…?”

In an almost ecstatic yell, the pink one yelled “I’m Pinkie Pie and this is Fluttershy! Itsogoodtomeetyou! Doyouwantto-“

By this point is was like being ear-raped. I brought my hands to my ears and Ulik followed suit.
It didn’t help. I began to tap the side of my head with the barrel of my gun out of frustration.

“-wearegoingtobethebestoffreinds-“

Twilight, noticing my distress, walked over to Pinkie and shoved a hoof into her mouth, effectively shutting her up.

“Bless you child!” I said placing both of my hands together in thanks “You truly are a saint.”

Unimpressed with my sarcasm, she said “What was it that you wanted everyone to know?”

As if she didn’t know… I rose to my feet and towered over the group of ponies. Ulik stood up as well and pointed his claw like it was a gun. He watched me as I holstered mine and he did the same.

“Celestia has assigned me to protect you. Don’t ask, because I have no idea why.” I said as a draft blew in giving me a shiver.

“We don’t need you to protect us!” Dash exclaimed “We have faced dragons, manticores, and wolves before. We are just fine on our own!”

“I said that too. She still assigned me to you all. With no better option, I accepted.” I explained “Now does anyone know where I can have a few suits commissioned?”

“Darling, I am your mare.” Rarity pointed out.

“Perfect! I’m heading to my world later to get better equipped and I need something to wear. All of you but Rarity are dismissed.”

Taking the point, Twilight walked upstairs and everyone else but Rarity left.

“Lead the way Rarity.”

She gave me a small nod and trotted out the door with me and Ulik in tow.

-

After fighting off the crowd that had gathered once again, we reached a large two story building. As the day progressed, I noticed the temperature was dropping rapidly. Rarity opened the door and motioned for me and Ulik to come inside. When I reached the door, I pushed Ulik inside and I crouched down and walked in.

I closed the door behind me and noticed that the inside of the building was filled with various boxes and materials. As I walked I noticed a few pony mannequins with some very… eh… flamboyant designs on them. The mannequins were clothed in dresses covered in jewels and feather. Honestly, it looked like something a drag queen would wear.

I motioned for Ulik to go sit in a nearby chair as I continued to follow Rarity. Without warning, she stopped and levitated a measuring tape over her head.

“So tell me, what exactly would you like me to make?” she said in a very businesslike tone.

I tried to think of what bodyguards back in the States would wear and always came back to the same combo of black shoes, black suit, white dress shirt, black tie, and sunglasses.

“Alright, I am going to lay this flat out. I want a plain black suit with black shoes, a white shirt, and a black tie. It needs to be very durable, since I’ll likely be fighting in it. It also needs to be flexible and comfortable. Can you do that?”

“Of course I can! Are you actually doubting me?!” she shot back in shock.

“Maybe…” I said in a playful manner.

She wasn’t amused by my comment at all. She pointed to a pedestal and I stepped onto it. I had a feeling that this was going to take a while.

-

After twenty minutes, she finished the measuring and moved on to gauging my flexibility. She asked me to move my arms and legs back and forth, so on, so forth. After she finished that, she walked back into another section of the business and I followed. When she reached the door, she slammed it in my face and the sign read ‘Private’.

“I’ll just sit out here like a piece of fucking furniture then.” I called out through the door.

I got a loud ‘humph’ through the through the door. I shrugged and walked back over to Ulik. He had long ago passed out on the chair he was sitting in. I rolled my eyes and picked him up. With him in my arms, I sat down on the floor and took a little beauty nap.

-

I was awoken by a door slamming in the corner of the business and I lifted Ulik onto my shoulder. Standing up, I could see that Rarity was carrying a large box with her magic. I walked over to her and set Ulik down on the pedestal that I had been standing on. As soon as I set Ulik down, Rarity threw the box over to me and I snatched it out of midair.

“Try it on.” She said with a look of confidence.

“Wilco.” I replied.

I walked behind a large wall and got to work.

-

After slipping on the last shoe and strapping my holster on, I walked out from behind the wall and let Rarity see me. I had to admit, it was the most comfortable piece of clothing I had ever worn. I held my arms out in a spread eagle fashion and found that I had quite a large range of motion. That is where I noticed something special. On each of my shoulders sat a copy of my mark. I was honestly impressed.

“Ok, you proved me wrong, way wrong.” I said adjusting my wrist cuffs “You are damn good at this.”

She had a large smile across her face as I watched her take in the compliment.

“Oh, and the marks on the shoulders are a nice touch too.”

She seemed to bounce in that air for a moment out of excitement, before dropping back down to the ground. Physics be damned.

“How much?” I asked, realizing I’d need an advance from the Princess.

“This one is free.” She said

Bullshit it’s free. How much?”

“No, Darling, it’s free.”

Wow. That was the first time I had ever gotten something for nothing and it honestly scared me a little. Back in Youngstown, nothing was free and everything had a price. If you ever got something, you could expect a favor to be asked of you and if you refused, you could expect a bullet in return.

“I… I don’t know what to say. What’s the catch?”

“No catch. Just enjoy it.”

“…”

“I believe a ‘thank you’ is in order.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Anytime.”

I turned around and found that Ulik was still sleeping. I lifted him up and placed him on my right shoulder. I pushed out the door and proceeded to make my way back to Twilight’s.

-

As I made it back to Twilight’s front door, I noticed that the sun was going down and that Celestia would be here very soon. I opened the door and walked over to my usual corner. I set Ulik down and walked over to the window. I placed my hands on the window sill and took a deep breath. I knew what needed to be done in my world and it wasn’t going to be easy.

Without skipping a beat, I saw Celestia fly down from the sky and land just in front of the door. I took one last breath to steel myself and I walked over to the door.

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