• Published 27th Apr 2019
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The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds - Kamahido



Twilight accidently brings a human from Earth to Equestria. Will he be able to coexist with the equine inhabitants of this new land?

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Chapter 3 - Endless Rain


Arc stands outside Hammer’s apartment door for some time. Groaning, he leans against the wall quietly. Eventually Cherry calls out to him.

“Arc?”

“Hm?”

“I know you wanted to say something back there.”

“Yeah. But I didn’t.”

“Scared?”

“I was, yes.”

“She’s probably still awake. You could just knock on the door.”

Arc turns back to the battered door. He raises a hand but does not move. Eventually he sighs and turns to look down the stairs.

“I can’t do it.”

“Tell her you do or don’t want a relationship?”

“I… I don’t know. Both? Neither? I’m just so confused right now!”

“This might be your last chance to act in this matter.”

“You’re right. But even if I was brave enough to knock… I don’t… I don’t know what I’d even say.”

Sighing, Arc turns back to the door. Reaching into his raincoat he pulls out Hammer’s ID card as well as the fake one she lent him. Kneeling down he carefully slides them under the door along with the military jeep keys. Cherry sighs.

“She didn’t say a word about her badge.”

Arc nods as he stands up. “Yeah. Hammer was a bit… preoccupied back there.”

He turns to walk down the stairs. Reaching the bottom he looks back to the door and sighs.

“Take care, Hammer.”

Stepping outside into a heavy rain, Arc puts up his hood and zips up his raincoat. Looking around he turns and begins walking. Cherry calls out to him again.

“No portal?”

Arc shakes his head. “Not this time. Right now, I… I just need to think.”

“But you’ll catch a cold!”

“Doubtful. It’s pretty warm tonight.”

Walking on in silence for a time Arc sighs and removes his raincoat. He tosses it into a nearby trash can before continuing on his way. Cherry calls out to him, clearly confused.

“Arc? What are you…?”

“I just want to feel the rain.”

“But why?”

Arc looks up as the rain pelts his face. “Because it feels like the heavens are punishing me.”

“What?”

“And I completely deserve this after what I did to Hammer.”

“She really cares about you, Arc.”

“Yeah. That’s just the thing. I… I took her feelings and manipulated them for my own gain.”

“But she doesn’t know that. If you wanted, now would be the time to make a clean start with her.”

Arc shakes his head. “No. She deserves better than a liar like me.”

He walks on for some time, his clothes completely soaked through. Eventually a large vehicle pulls over next to him. A man jumps out and runs over to him.

“What the heck are you DOING?! There’s a curfew in effect!”

Arc looks up at him, dazed. “Huh? Oh… hi Marshal Raynor.”

Raynor groans and points to his vehicle. “Get in right now!”

Doing as he is told Arc walks over to the passenger seat and gets in. The marshal jumps back into the driver’s seat and turns to him.

“You want to tell me what the heck this is all about?!”

Arc leans his head back in the seat and sighs. “I… did something terrible.”

“What was it?”

“You remember that girl I was with back at Roberto’s Pizza?”

“Yeah.”

“She and I… kinda clicked.”

“How is that a bad thing?”

“I… I just… I lied to her.”

Raynor sighs. “What did you tell her?”

“That I was a private investigator.”

Raynor chuckles. “Be honest, Arc. That’s what your old man would’ve said, isn’t it?”

“I guess. Truth be told, I didn’t think it would go this far.”

“You in trouble?”

Arc shakes his head. “No. At least not the kind anyone can help with.”

“Talk to me. Maybe we can figure something out.”

“Well, you see… her sisters had been going out unexpectedly. She hired me to follow them and figure out what they were up to.”

Raynor frowns. “So you were stalking them?”

“Just for one night as they went on their way.”

“Arc, you can’t just do that to people without the proper license.”

“I know, marshal. But I… I just needed to earn her trust.”

“Trying to make her like you more, or something?”

“Kinda, yeah.”

Raynor rolls his eyes. “That much isn’t a crime, Arc. It’s just part of being young and wanting to impress the ladies.”

“Well, it worked TOO well.”

“Uh oh. She wants a ring now, or something?”

“Not exactly. I gave her evidence to prove that her sisters weren’t up to anything dangerous. One was taking classes down at the community center. The other was ducking out to exercise.”

“That’s good. I mean, good that they weren’t in any trouble, or anything.”

“She was so impressed that she hired me to figure something else out.”

“Oh?”

Arc frowns. “You see… there’s this guy that both her sisters really like. She was afraid they were being manipulated or blackmailed by him.”

“Were they?”

“That depends on how you look at it, I guess. I mean, he wasn’t actually forcing them to do anything they didn’t want to.”

“You need me to do something about it?”

Arc shakes his head. “No. I already gathered irrefutable proof of what the guy was doing and turned the evidence over to her. She’s going to go over it with her sisters and try to convince them he’s up to no good.”

Raynor sighs. “Sometimes that’s the best you can do. Tell them the truth and hope they see reason. But what’s that have to do with you walking the streets in the wee hours of the morning?”

The marshal gestures to the tool box.

“And what’s in there?”

“The payment for my services.”

Raynor frowns. “Seriously? Stop doing that without a license!”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I think this’ll be the last time I investigate anything around here.”

Raynor chuckles. “Had your fill, eh?”

“Something like that.”

“It’s not all glamor like on TV. Dealing with other people’s problems day in and day out can wear on you after a while.”

“Yeah. I mean… there’s a lot of bad stuff that goes on around here.”

Raynor laughs. “Don’t I know it. Sometimes I’d like to hang it all up and be a P.I. like you’ve been talking about for years.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. No brass telling you what to do and how to do it. No meaningless calls that you have to follow up on. And no feds telling you to keep the citizens prisoners in their own homes at night.”

“Yeah, what’s up with the curfew?”

“No idea. But I was told to enforce it, so I have to. Now I’m going to let you slide this time, Arc. But this needs to be the last time, okay?”

Arc looks out the window. “Yeah.”

“I’m serious, Arc. You’ve been in trouble before, and I was able to look the other way on most of it. But if the patrols catch you, there won’t be anything I can do to…”

“Wait. Patrols?!”

Raynor nods. “Yes, patrols. It seems the feds have seen fit to ask the military to replace the police force for nighttime duty. Frankly I’m surprised you weren’t seen walking to your girlfriend’s place.”

Cherry calls out to him telepathically. “No one even looked at us, Arc.”

“Probably because we were in a military vehicle. They must’ve thought we were one of them.”

Arc clears his throat before speaking.

“I guess I was just really lucky.”

“Well, don’t be pressing that luck.”

“No worries there. I… um… was actually planning a little trip.”

“Where to?”

“No idea.”

“Eh?”

“I just… need to get out of town.”

“You’re not the first. We’ve had a few families move out since the Shard ordeal and now the feds.”

He sighs.

“But not me. I can’t let the good folks who live here down.”

“You think they’re doing the wrong thing by running away?”

Raynor shakes his head. “I wouldn’t call it ‘running’. More like not wanting to deal with it anymore.”

“Isn’t that about the same thing?”

“It can be. But it’s more about why they’re doing it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Some of them have families and livelihoods to protect. Family comes first, I suppose.”

Arc nods. “You may have a point there.”

“All I’m saying is I don’t blame them for leaving.”

He pulls over in front of Arc’s house and stops.

“Thanks for the talk, Marshal. I’ll do my best not to go out like this again.”

As he opens the door and moves to get out Raynor puts a hand on his shoulder. Arc turns to the man as he speaks.

“Arc? Is there something you want to tell me?”

For a time neither of them says anything. Eventually Arc sighs and shakes his head.

“I’m sorry. Maybe someday I can talk about it. But not anytime soon.”

Arc extends a hand. Raynor shakes it soberly.

“Take care of Shelly and Lily for me.”

“I will.”

“Thanks, Jim… for everything. Goodbye.”

With a nod Arc steps out and closes the door behind him. Raynor sighs as he pulls away from the curb and mutters to himself.

“I hope you can make a new start for yourself out there, Arc. Just don’t go doing anything stupid.”

Meanwhile, Arc walks into the house. Derpy sits at the kitchen table in a t-shirt and shorts. She quickly stands as he enters.

“Arc! What happened?!”

“I… um… went for a walk.”

“In the rain?!”

Arc sighs. “Yeah.”

She takes the toolbox from his hand and leads him upstairs to the bathroom.

“We need to get you out of those wet clothes! Get in the shower and I’ll fetch you something dry to wear!”

Nodding, Arc does as he is told. Removing his soaking wet clothes he steps into the shower and sighs contentedly. A few minutes later Derpy walks in and sets dry clothes on the closed toilet lid. She turns to the closed shower curtain.

“Arc?”

“Hm?”

“Are you… okay?”

“No, Derpy.”

“I’ll be waiting on the steps.”

“Okay.”

Sometime later Arc leaves the bathroom. Derpy stands and takes his hand.

“Come with me.”

Leading him downstairs, Derpy sits Arc down on the couch and looks him in the eye.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?”

“That look in your eyes.”

Arc rubs them as Derpy shakes her head. “That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”

“I… just feel like a terrible person right now.”

Derpy sighs. “You don’t have a bad bone in your body, Arc.”

Arc groans. “Methinks you might disagree when I tell you what I did.”

“Go ahead.”

Arc brings Derpy up to speed on his recent activities with Hammer. She smiles at him and squeezes his hand.

“I admit that you really shouldn’t have done that to Hammer, Arc. But your reasoning was in line with your duty to Equestria.”

“Tell that to Hammer.”

“She sounds like a very nice mare, Arc. If she knew why you did it, I’m sure she’d…”

“Be furious and want to punch me in the mouth as I deserve?”

“Maybe. But what’s done is done, Arc. Sunday you’ll save Princess Celestia and return her to Equestria. Then you can go see Hammer and tell her the truth.”

“I… I know I should, but… how?”

“Just be frank with her. She’ll listen.”

“But…!”

“Arc. She deserves to know.”

“You’re right, Derpy. But now’s not the right time.”

“Oh?”

“She has enough going on in her life at the moment without me adding to that pile of headaches. Tomorrow, or very soon, Hammer will have her hands full trying to convince Stingray and Mio of what their commanding officer is doing. Considering how long this has been going on, I don’t think they’ll be very receptive. At least not right away.”

Derpy nods soberly. “It’s up to you, Arc. I know you’ll do the right thing.”

“Thanks for having faith in me, Derpy. It’s more than I have in myself right now.”

Derpy stands up and smiles as she extends a hand to him.

“Come on. Let’s get you to bed. You’ve had quite the day.”

Nodding, he takes Derpy’s hand and allows her to lead him upstairs. She guides him toward the door as Arc turns to her quizzically.

“Um… Derpy?”

“Yes?”

“This… isn’t my room.”

“I know. It’s where Dinky and I are staying.”

“But won’t that make you feel a bit… uncomfortable? I mean… with you being a human woman, and all.”

“You mean am I worried you might do something to me?”

“Um… something like that.”

Derpy smiles up at him as she takes his other hand.

“No, Arc. I trust you completely. That and Dinky was asking for you earlier. She’s missed snuggling I think.”

“Well… okay. But only if you’re okay with this.”

Nodding, Derpy leads him into the room and over to the bed. Rain still pelts at the glass and drips down the panes as Arc looks down at Dinky curled up. Smiling, he stretches out next to her. Dinky immediately cuddles up to her father as Derpy covers them up with a sheet before lying down next to him. Arc puts and arm around his daughter as Derpy lays her head on his shoulder and smiles at the scene before her. Arc sighs contentedly as he looks at Dinky.

“She’s just such a little angel.”

Derpy nods. “That she is.

“How’d we get so lucky?”

Derpy smiles up at him. “By you being her father.”

Arc shakes his head. “I think you had more to do with this than I did. After all, you’re with her every day. I’m just around part of the time.”

He sighs.

“But I promise that will change very soon.”

“We believe you, Arc. You should know that Dinky’s been talking about that very thing a lot lately.”

“She’s excited?”

Derpy nods. “Very. You’re her hero, after all.”

“Part time hero, you mean.”

Derpy sighs. “We understand why though. It really couldn’t be helped.”

“I question that.”

“Who else could do your job, Arc?”

“There has to be someone, somewhere who could.”

“If that’s true, I have no idea whom it might be. You’re certainly one of a kind.”

Dinky murmurs in her sleep.

“Dad…?”

“Shhh… I’m right here, sweetheart.”

She smiles sleepily as Arc kisses the top of her head. He turns back to Derpy.

“We should get some sleep too. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day.”

“Yes, I’m sure you have a million things to do in preparation.”

Arc sighs. “Truth be told, just one.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“I’ll tell you in the morning. “

Derpy yawns. “Okay. Good night, Arc.”

“Good night, Derpy.”

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