Chapters Prologue
My life felt grey, around me all I saw was hate and greed. I suppose that I was no better. I had stopped caring a long, long time ago, all I wanted was to be done with this last contract then, then I would retire. I would buy some land and build a house, then I would spend the rest of my life in a world of my own.
My last workday finally came. It was a very important day for the security company that I worked for called Rhino Security. My employer and good friend, well my only friend Michael Hansen had after much effort gotten a contract with a man by the name of Helijad Zatim. Mr. Zatim who was a oil sheik in Saudi Arabia, Our first job was a simple escort of him, his business associates and his son, they were to be escorted to a nearby airport. My team were to escort the son.
“Alright gentlemen, were all set. We drive out of that gate in 5 min.” Michael pointed towards the large steel gate we were parked next to; he then turned towards one of the servants, a young man and told him we were ready to go.
He nodded and ran inside Mr.Zatim’s mansion to deliver the message, a minute later everyone came out, went into their assigned vehicles and Michael gave the go order.
My vehicle was the last to drive out of the gate, my team was escorting Mr. Zatim’s son, a spoiled, pampered teenager. He tried ordering us around, while all we could do was to brush him off politely.
While driving to our destination the road in front of us was suddenly crowded with people.
“Shit” said someone in the SUV.
We all hated it when a simple job got complicated.
”We will have to take route B, driver can you back out of here”
He looked at me with a frown “look behind you Boss”
The road behind us had become just as crowded as the one in front of us.
Mr. Zatim’s son let out a small laugh. “Why don’t you just drive through these peasants or shoot a little, then they will run like the rats they are”
I looked at him with annoyed eyes “kid, Shut the Fuck Up.”
He glared back at me, clearly he felt insulted, but he did not talk further.
“We need to get moving, start honking the horn and nudge the people in front of us if need be”
Before the driver could answer a bright light and loud bang came from the left side of our armored SUV, people screamed and ran in all directions.
“STEP ON IT” I shouted as I took the safety of my Sub-machinegun.
The tires of the SUV bit into the road and it was not long before we were a good distance from the place of the incident.
“What the fuck happened? That was no gunshot, was it a bomb?” I asked while looking back at the team sitting in the back of the car, that’s when I noticed that Mr.Zatim’s son was with little success holding back a large grin.
“What’s so funny kid” I asked with an annoyed tone.
He looked at me with the eyes of a snake.
“It’s funny what one little grenade can do, don’t you think?”
As I realized what had happened the anger grew in me, “Did you throw a flashbang grenade into the crowd” I asked harshly.
He answered me without removing the grin from his lips “I don’t know what kind I threw, but I do know it was a grenade and hey, it worked didn’t it?”
I tried not to yell but I had little success “You little shit, just wait ’till I tell your father. I will not have you smother this company’s name just because you think you can do as you please”
He did not respond, he merely sat back in his seat with a satisfied smile.
After a few minutes we arrived at the airport. Michael and the other two escort teams were standing outside the main building with Mr. Zatim. We parked next to the other SUV’s. Once we were stopped I got out of the vehicle and grabbed Mr.Zatim’s son by the shoulder.
Michael and Mr. Zatim looked questioning as to why I was manhandling his son; once we were near I shoved him forward.
“Mr.Zatim your son deserves some severe punishment; he threw a flashbang grenade into a larger crowd of people”
“Is this true my son?” he asked while running his fingers through his long beard.
“Yes father, but it was near the marketplace and I thought it was a good solution, so we could get here faster and-“
“Enough, go inside while I talk to Mr. Hansen and his men” he said in a stern voice.
His son did as he was told.
Mr. Zatim walked closer to us, we were all expecting an apology, but instead we received angry words.
“How dare you disrespect my son like that? The marketplace at this day is only filled with vermin, he-“
Then my anger turned to rage, he was no better than his son. He too felt as thou he was better then everyone.He continued to talk but I could not hear the words, all I heard was white noise, but then I heard him say “you should know your place, dog”
I snapped.
I planted a knee in his stomach which made him puke a little as he bend forward. I then slammed my elbow into his neck and he fell limb. His son came running towards me, he shouted something, I could not hear what and I did not want to. When he got close he lifted his fist, but before he could strike I had trusted my body forward and planted a solid headbutt that made him go limb as well. Everyone must have been looking in shock since none had tried to stop me.
I stood still and looked at the two lying in front of me. I felt calm now, but I also realize that this was the worst thing I could have done, we were never going to get a contract in this region ever again.
My eyes traveled from Mr. Zatim and his son whom were now getting assistance from airport personnel to Michael, he stood rubbing the space between his eyebrows and nose, I walked over to him and stood at ease in front of him.
His gaze traveled from me, to the other teammates, to Mr.Zatim and his son, then back to me.
“You really did it now Nikolai, most of his family members are major players here in Saudi Arabia, after what you just did, I don’t think we can get a contract here anytime soon”
“Michael…I…I’m sorry” I didn’t know what else to say.
“Don’t be. I know that you’ve been on edge as of late and that you are planning on resigning and retiring. I just wanted you here because the pay-out would have been enormous, it would have been a nice boost for the company and you would have had a nice big bonus to cash in, but now…” he paused shortly as he walked closer.
“Now, I want you to take a long vacation. I don’t care how long it is, but I’m sending you on one as of right now”
I didn’t get to protest against it, but truthfully I didn’t want to anyway.
I found myself being guided into Michael’s SUV and we drove to the companies HQ. He ordered me to pack all my things and place them on my bed, he would make sure they got sent once I found out were to spend my vacation.
-
It was now 4 weeks since I flew from Saudi Arabia to Denmark, I had bought some land out in the Danish countryside. I had hired a local construction company to help me build my house and to my surprise they were very hard working, and efficient.
I had thought that the construction would have been flawed, but they did a very good job, considering that this was the first house of such proportions they had built.
This house was going to be my new start…
My chance to forget everything.
End Prologue
The Meeting
I awoke next to my bed, I could not fall asleep in it. The beds I had slept in the last 8 years were bunk beds or beds with military issue mattresses. So sleeping in a soft, oversized bed felt…wrong and if I tried to sleep in on the couch or the floor my internal clock wouldn’t allow it, and I would wake at precisely 05.00 AM. I would spend a few minutes rolling from side to side, but eventually I would get up since it was clear that I would not be able to fall asleep again.
The coffee machine was brewing, the toaster was toasting and I was searching the refrigerator for something edible. I had not prepared a meal since I was in the military and that was just a can of grub that needed to be heated. Eventually the toast was covered with a few slices of Salami, just for the record, warm coffee and Salami don’t mix well.
After my… special breakfast I decided to do some morning exercise, I had hardly been training during the construction of my house, so I did feel a little rusty, but I quickly got into it again. I had had always felt it relaxing to exercise, how contradicting it may sound.
After some time the sun started to show itself on the horizon, and I found myself staring at it. I had seen the sun rise many times while I was on duty, but standing there in my little “Gym” watching the sun rise, I felt something. A feeling that the next couple of months were going to be…something else.
The television offered nothing, but news about murderers and political scandals, so I turned it off and walked out into my garden. Well if you could call it that, the grass that had been planted was growing, slowly but surely. No flowers had been planted, but I was going to plant roses. My mother loved roses, back when my parents were still alive she had a big garden with all kinds of colored flowers, but the ones she loved the most were her bright white roses. As I stood there in remembrance I decided to drive to the nearest florist, but as I looked at my watch to see what the time was I noticed that it was Sunday and before I could form a new plan of what I was going to do my phone rang. The display informed me that it was Michael.
“Hi boss, do you want me back?” I asked hoping that he would not say yes.
“Don’t worry Nick, I told you that should take the time you needed, so no, I’m not calling to ask you to come back. I just wanted to hear how you’re doing” Michaels voice was sincere.
We talked back and forth, I talked about how the last couple of weeks had been, and he told me a little about what the company was doing at the moment, he was cut short though, a familiar voice interrupted him, but I could not hear what the voice said.
“Sorry Nikolai I have to go, work call’s” I could hear annoyance in his voice.
“Don’t worry about it, and… thanks for calling… talk to you later boss”
“Yeah, talk to you later”
Our conversation was short, but I was happy to have talked to him. I didn’t really have anyone that I thought of as friends other than him, so getting a call from him was something I enjoyed.
--
Without anything to do I walked down towards the shore, there was an old wooden walkway, it did not seem sturdy at all. Never the less I ventured out onto it. It creaked menacingly and I quickly got off it, right then and there I decided to rebuild it, since I had nothing better to do.
“Hmm, damn you Sunday” I said to myself as I remembered. I couldn’t buy any materials so it seemed that rebuilding it was out of the question, but then my eyes drifted toward the nearby forest.
“There has to be a few logs that I could use” I thought to myself, truthfully I just needed something to do, I had no carpenter skills of any kind, but I liked the thought of rebuilding something.
My closet didn’t really contain any summer clothes, walking around in my house I wore a shirt and jogging pants, but that wouldn’t do, there was most likely thorn bushes and other things my clothes could get ripped on in the little forest, so I needed some appropriate to wear.
--
I looked like a soldier that had lost his equipment, I had my favorite hiking boots on, my pants had Danish military issue camouflage, the last time I had worn them were when I had left the military to join RSC. On my upper body I wore a sleeveless shirt and on my back i had a camelback pouch, I wanted to be on the safe side since I was such a warm summer day.
After a good walk along the dirt road I finally stood at the edge of the forest. It was a luscious green, it was a really pretty sight. The nature here was much prettier than the places where I had been with the company, if there even were any.
I slowly made my way into the forest; inside it was like another world, it was quiet, yet loud at the same time, there were so many various and vivid colored flowers, I couldn’t stop myself from smelling them. The scent of each flower was sweet, but in different ways.
After my little “flower child” experience I sat down in a clearing and took a sip of water, as I sat there I noticed a cluster of purple and white a little distance off. My curiosity got the better of me and I stood up to go and see what kinds of flowers they were.
As I came closer to the cluster of bright colors I noticed that it wasn’t flowers, but instead it was an animal that was asleep. It was a horse, no it was much smaller, it was a little pony. I had never seen an animal with such colors, its coat was a bright white and it mane, and tale were indigo purple.
“Wow, it’s really pretty. Wait what’s that?” I whispered to myself as my eyes traveled back and forth on the little pony, my eyes stopped on its flank as I noticed what looked like 3 diamond.
“Is that a tattoo” I whispered to myself.
Before I could think more about it the pony’s position shifted and it sat up, facing away from me. It surprised me and I dropped flat onto my butt, crushing a mix of leaves and twigs under my weight.
The little pony’s head turned quickly in the direction of the noise; it made eye contact with me. We sat there looking at each other, as I stared into its eyes I felt paralyzed. It had big beautiful Azure blue eyes. The thing that made me break eye contact was the glow that came from it horn. Yes I did say horn. It glowed brighter and brighter, but then disappeared suddenly resulting in a small gasp from the pony.
I still sat there with mouth agape. ”Am I dreaming, or is this heatstroke” I said while looking around to see if there were any other “weird” things going on around me.
“Please good…Uhm…sir you’re not going to hurt me are you?”
My eyes flew back to look at the, well... unicorn pony. ”Did you... just talk” I asked, sounding like a complete idiot.
The little pony carefully nodded. ”I am lost you see and I do not know where my friends are, have you perhaps seen others like me?” its voice was frightened, yet soft and elegant at the same time, it was clear that it was a female.
With the surprised look still plastered on my face I answered her.
“Uhm, no. That is no don’t worry I won’t hurt you and no, I’m afraid I have not seen any…Uhm ponies, other than you”
The fear in her eyes disappeared to some degree as I told her that I wouldn’t hurt her, but it was replaced with sorrow as I said she was the only pony that I had seen.
The thoughts were racing in my head, but somehow I realized that all of this was real and in front of me there was unicorn that was afraid, lost and longing for her friends.
“I can help you look for them if you’d like”
The little pony looked at me with happiness in her eyes.
“Oh yes please, I would be most grateful and –nneggh” she tried to stand, but she dropped back down onto her stomach.
I crawled a little closer. “Are you okay?” I asked concerned.
You could clearly see that see was physically exhausted, the slightest movement made her body shake. She was in no condition to lie here in a forest least of all walk.
“I…I” tears began streaming down her muzzle. “I’m so tired, but I need to find my friends” she forced the word out through her sobs, as she did I felt a sting in my chest; I was now strongly determined to help her.
“Miss, your body is completely exhausted, I don’t think that It would be wise of you to wander these woods, besides-“I pointed towards the sky that earlier was sunny and blue were now getting clouded by dark clouds.”-it is most likely to start raining soon, but you’re welcome to rest at my place, while I look for your friends”
“But I…I…” she was silent for a few seconds. “ I would like that, thank you very much” she didn’t protest, she knew how dire her situation was.
Her face slowly blushed and softly she whispered “would you mind…carrying me”
I smiled at her request “I won’t mind, I’m just glad that I can help” then the thought struck me, how was I going to carry her. She was intelligent so it would most likely offend her if I carried her like an animal, so I decided to carry her with her lying in my arms like you would see a prince carrying a damsel in distress.
One quick movement and she lay in my arms. She was much lighter than I expected. As I stood with her, I looked down at her.
“Now let’s get you out of here”
The white unicorn nodded softly and I started to carefully walk out of the forest, it was dusk so I had to concentrate not to trip over anything. Finally after some time we were outside the forest and the lights from my house could be seen I the distance.
“The light you see there is from my house, so we’ll be there soon”
The little pony did not respond, she had fallen asleep. ”Wow you really are exhausted if you can fall asleep in the arms of a complete stranger” I thought to myself.
Her head moved a little and was now resting against my chest, she looked peaceful and I found myself to be staring at her for a few minutes. Then the first raindrop fell and I knew it was time to get inside.
--
Just as I walked through the door the rain started pouring, but both of us were relatively dry. The little pony was so sound asleep that she had not so much as registered as the drops had hit her. As I stood in my living room with her in my arms I thought of laying her on the couch, but since I had no use for my own bed, I decided to lay her there instead. She was not a stupid animal so she would hopefully appreciate the feeling of a soft bed.
I laid her down softly, careful not to wake her, as she touched the sheets she made a satisfied sigh.
“Now you just get some rest and I’ll go look for your friends” I whispered as I wrote a note. A note that read
“I have gone back to the forest, to search for your friends, make yourself at home, I’ll be back with your friends before you know it. Nikolai”
It was now dark outside and raining heavily, but I had promised her to go look, so with a warm and dry set of clothing accompanied by a rain coat and a heavy duty flashlight, I was all set. Before walking out of the bedroom I stopped to stare at the little pony in my bed.
“Don’t you worry, if your friends are out there I’ll find them” I said in a whisper before walking out of the room and into the dark and rainy night.
End Chapter 1.
Chapter 2 : The Beginning
The Beginning
09:48 am. Was the time when I decided to stop wandering the forest in search of the white pony’s friends, I had more or less searched everywhere in the nearby area, if any person would have been near they would most likely have thought that I was insane since they would have heard me shouting things like “Hallo are there any ponies around, your unicorn friend asked me to look for you” and “To all ponies, I can provide shelter and food, your white coated friend is already resting at my house” then again I was looking for ponies so I couldn’t really shout anything else.
I couldn’t help but feel a little down since I had not found any ponies, but I had to check on the one that was sleeping in my house.
Carefully I opened the front door and walked in. ”Are you awake yet, miss…unicorn” I felt like an idiot once I heard my own words, she did not respond and I proceeded into the living room from where I could see into the bedroom. She was still asleep and I had no intentions of waking her just yet, she needed all the rest she could get.
My clothes were soaking wet, the raincoat had kept me dry most of the night, but eventually it couldn’t stand against the heavy rain.
”Cheap shit” was my thoughts as I walked into my washroom and pulled the wet clothes off my body. The raincoat was hung up to dry, my clothes were thrown into the dryer and my boots were placed near a radiator, after I was done I put on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, then it was onward to the kitchen, I had not eaten anything since yesterday morning and now my stomach was growling like a beast.
The refrigerator had nothing new to offer, but thanks to my hunger, this morning the salami covered toast and hot coffee combination was not that bad. The little pony was probably going to be hungry once she woke; luckily a bag of carrots was hidden in the back of my refrigerator, they were quickly rinsed under running water and placed in a bowl of water so they were fresh when she awoke.
I walked into the living room and gazed into the bedroom once more; the white and purple form on the bed had shifted its position, but was still asleep. Its white coat blended quite well with the bare walls of my house, its mane and tail on the other hand stood out strongly, the strong purple color was alone in a sea of black and white.
I found myself staring at her mane and tail, the color made me feel calm, at one point I became so relaxed that I couldn’t hold back a yawn. I was truly tired, but then again I had been out searching for her friends the entire night.
“Well I guess I’ll get a little sleep myself”
I laid down on the couch and fell asleep minutes later.
--
“Nikolai can you come in here for a second?” my father called out from his study.
“What is it dad?”
Wake up…
“Hey son, when you’re done with school today would you mind stopping by the florist; I’ve bought a special something for your mother”
Wake up, god damnit.
Proudly I responded “Sure dad, I’ll get it”
“Thanks son, I knew I could count on you” my father said as he hugged me.
WAKE UP!!!
--
I sat on the edge of couch and stared down into the floor; sweat was dripping of the tip of my nose, my breathing was heavy and my heartbeat frantic, my mind rushed with hate and anger, memories of my past forced themselves into remembrance, memories that I wished I could just…wash away.
“Excuse me…” a soft voice to my side said.
I turned my head slowly to see the little unicorn looking at me with fear and concern in her eyes.
“I...I heard you yell, is...Is everything alright?”
“Yeah it was just… just had a bad dream, don’t worry about it, it’s nothing”
The little unicorn looked at me, frightened and concerned, but the look in her eye reveled that she was curios to hear about her friends.
“I went back to the forest after I had brought you here, but sadly I didn’t find any of your friends despite having looked the entire night and sorry for wakening you"
The pony shock her head.
"Oh no please do not apologies, you have helped me even though I am a complete stranger to you, I slept the night away while you were out looking for my friends, I... I don’t know how to thank you"
"You don’t need to thank me, if I had left you in the woods I wouldn’t be able to live with myself" I had calmed as we talked and the anger I felt disappeared.
"Are you hungry?"
Her big azure eyes became even bigger then I had thought possible, and just as she opened her mouth, most likely to utter a no, her stomach growled even louder than mine had when I returned from my search.
Her face became a bright red and for some reason, I felt warm inside as I saw her reaction.
"I prepared some carrots for you, I’m sorry I don’t have anything else right now, I just moved in so the varieties in food are almost none existing”
The real reason for my lack of refrigerator content were that with my none existing coronary skills I could not make a real meal even if my life depended on it, micro oven meals were what kept me nourished.
"I...I don’t know what to say, other than thank you, thank you oh so very much, for everything" she said as she bowed her head towards me.
"Oh where are my manners, my name is Rarity, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance"
Before I could introduce myself like she had her belly growled again, it was even louder than the last time, her face blushed once more, and I couldn’t stop the little smile that crawled over my face.
“Hello Rarity my name is Nikolai let’s wait with further introductions a little longer, you can eat as many of the carrots you want, I have already eaten and right now I’m really longing for a bath"
I said this while I walked over to the sink and emptied the bowl of it water and afterwards sat it on the living room table, Rarity looked at it with hungry eyes.
"Well if anything comes up, anything at all just come get me, ok"
"...ok, thank you once again...Nikolai" she smiled with a grateful smile.
"You’re welcome, miss Rarity" I said as I walked towards the bathroom, before entering I gazed back at the little unicorn, she looked at me with a smile, again I felt a warmth in my chest.
--
My smell was rather sharp; my "nightmare" had made me sweat heavily, this was not the first time it had happened, each time I would dream about my past, I would try to force myself awake so I could get away from the memories, but no one can run from their memories nor can they forgot them, I had tried to do that for 11 years now and just as I thought I was free of my past it would return in my dreams.
“I’m probably getting a cold, since my chest feels like this” I said to myself as I pulled the wet, sweaty clothes of my body and walked in under the shower.
The water was cold and it helped clear my mind of thoughts, except one.
“What should I do now?” I asked myself as I thought of the pony in my house with the emotional features of a human being, where she was from was a mystery but I did intend on asking her and if she knew how to get back home.
“I really don’t need this right now, I just want to spend some time by myself without any worries” I said as I rubbed shampoo into my hair.
“No, I promised I would help her find her friends, I won’t break that promise, but I guess I should try and get some answers”
As I dried myself with a towel, I saw my refection in the bathroom mirror, seeing my own tattoos made think about the three diamonds on Rarity’s behind.
“I wonder if it’s a branding… no the diamonds are blue, they have to be tattoos- “
CRACK “AAAH”
The sound of shattering glass and Rarity yelping made me jump to attention and barge out of the bathroom door.
“WHAT HAPPENED?” I yelled in an aggressive voice, then my eyes met Rarity’s, they were again filled with fear, in front of her was the fragmented glass bowl.
“I...I’m...So-sorry...Please...I” she was on the verge of tears.
“Oh shit, no don’t be afraid, I, uh 2 seconds” I quickly tied a towel around my waist and walked over and kneelt down next to her.
Her eyes sparkled and her lower lip quivered, it was obvious that I still frightened her and my outburst had only made her fear me more.
“You don’t have to be afraid, I don’t care about the bowl, I thought something happened to you, please, you don’t need to be afraid of me, I wouldn’t hurt you” the tone and words that came from my mouth felt alien, I had never said anything like that before, neither had I used such a comforting tone of voice and that surprised me, but I didn’t show it.
“I…I…I” she tried to start a sentence, but at the same time she was trying hard not to cry.
“What is it? You don’t have to be afraid to ask me anything”
Just as I finished my sentence she broke into tears, the sound of her cries made me feel warm like before, yet it was different , this feeling was intensified as she shifted her body and hugged me with her forelegs, she pressed her head against my chest and I felt her tears running down until they were soaked up by my towel, she was crying with all of her might, letting it all out, all of the sadness, all of the fear…I too had cried like that once, though no one had been there for me.
I remembered how I had felt at time I cried like that, it was shortly after the… death of my parents, I had felt so alone and abandoned, she most likely did the same being here, away from everything and everyone she knew.
“Just let it out, you can cry all you want” I whispered as I hugged her back, this caused her to become quiet for a second, but then she tightened her hug and cried even harder than before, I felt how her little white fragile form sought security and comfort.
It made me feel an urge to help her, to comfort her, to protect her.
Her cries had now faded and she merely sat with her head against me.
“Thank you…”she sniffed. “I’m so sorry to react like this”
“Don’t be, just promise me that you won’t be afraid of me anymore”
A soft giggle came from the little white pony. “I promise I will try”
I loosened my hug and she pulled herself back, rubbing her eyes with a hoof.
Suddenly I remembered that the only thing on me that resembled clothing was the towel around my waist and I did feel a little embarrassed, yet she did not seem to mind that at all, but perhaps she thought that this was normal clothing for humans.
“Miss Rarity I’m going to get dressed real quick ok, then how about you and I have a little talk about… well everything”
“I would like that, but… aren’t you already dressed?” she arched a brow in a questioning manner, while looking at my towel.
“Not really I’m just…covered”
The little unicorn’s cheeks turned a light pink. ”Oh my, I see, I uhm, will wait here for you return then” she said this facing while away from me.
Her reaction brought a smile to my lips, one that first faded as I dressed myself, I couldn’t help myself as to again wonder how the next couple of days were going to be, I imagined it was going to be something out of the ordinary, since, well she wasn’t ordinary, she was quite a “Rarity”
End chapter 2.
Bad Pun Ending Yeah.
Chapter 3 : The Request
The Request
Sunlight was shining through the windows and bathed my body in light as I was practicing the various fighting stiles I knew against a large boxing bag, I was deep in concentration yet it was easy broken as Rarity called out to me while standing in the doorway to my gym.
“Nikolai, breakfast is nearly ready, so I hope that you are hungry”
I quickly wiped my face with a towel and responded.
“You bet I am, I’ll just take a quick shower and then I’ll join you okay”
She nodded and sent a happy smile at me before she trotted off towards the living room, I made my way toward the bathroom, just before entering Rarity called out again, this time her voice was more playful.
“Oh, and Nikolai would you be a dear and try on the attire that I have prepared for you”
As I heard her say the word ‘Attire’ my eyes lock at a symmetrically folded set of clothes that were resting on a small decorative stool inside the bathroom.
“Rarity…” I turned toward the sound of hooves, and was met with big shining puppy dog eyes and a forward pressed lower lip.
“Please, I worked real HARD and I hoped that you would LIKE them” she was using a tone of voice I imagined only she could, she knew that if she used it, it was very likely that I would say yes.
I did, I couldn’t say no, not now, not after I had looked into those eyes and heard that sweet voice.
“…ok, but only today, you got that?”
The little white mare giggled. “Of course, we would not want you to be well-dressed all of the time, now would we”
I smiled at her words and walked into the bathroom. “I just hope that it isn’t as girly as the last set of clothes you made for me”
“Why you!”
Before she could begin to scold me I had closed the bathroom door and locked it, I chuckled as I heard her walk away, acting offended, I pictured her walking away with her nose in the air and mumbling something about how rude I was.
As I walked in under the shower I thought about how much my life had changed.
Rarity had been living with me for 4 months now; the first week was spend with asking questions about each other, she told me a lot about herself, her world, her friends and her daily life, she told me about things like what a Cutie Mark is, how unicorns were able to use magic and how 2 royal sisters watched over the land of Equestria, it sounded like something out of a child’s cartoon, but she, a unicorn herself was in front of me and she had demonstrated her magical ability many times after we had the long talk, so I could only believe what she had told me.
I had not told her anything specific about myself other than the reason for me being on “Vacation” and Regarding my world, well I didn’t know exactly what to tell her, but she asked a lot of questions so that was not a problem, giving her answers however, were. My world is a cruel and evil place compared to hers, here the ink in an old book can mean more than the lives of thousand people, she did not believe me at first, she thought it was some kind of human joke I was pulling on her, but after I had shown her a couple of recorded incidents, one of them being the Baslan school hostage taking, she knew that I was telling the truth.
She had understandably been quite sad to hear that my world was like this and being stranded here, away from all she held dear did not help.
Rarity had explained that her friend called Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn that was quiet adept in the use of magic had tried to teach her a teleportation spell, learning the spell had been easy for Rarity, but it all went wrong when Twilight had tried to make a co-teleportation, Rarity had said that at first everything felt fine, but suddenly magic had begun to whirl wildly around them, Twilight herself had teleported out of the magical maelstrom and had called out for Rarity to do the same, only she couldn’t, fear had “griped her mind” as she said herself, she began to suffocate, and her vision darkened, the last thing she remembered was the teary face of her friend, calling out to her.
Talking about this, she had been quite emotional and I had tried my best to reassure her that her friends were most likely trying everything they could to bring her back, even though I had no way of knowing if they were, she said that she hoped they were, but they could just as easily think that she had been vaporized and was gone forever, this thought of course had made her even more sad, and after two weeks of waiting and seeing how sad she was I had another long talk with her.
I had told her that since there was no way to know for sure if she ever would be able to return home, she should accept the fact that she might have to live in my world for the rest of her life, after I had said this she had become quiet and had asked to be alone, I gave her the space she had asked for and after a day alone in “her” bedroom, she came to me with a request I could not deny her.
“Nikolai… can I stay here with you… for the time being?”
“Of course you can Rarity, you can stay as long as you’d like”
There was no way in hell I would have said no, in this world she needed someone to protect her and I was determined to be that someone.
Since she would be staying with me for an unknown amount of time, I asked if she would like to decorate the house, so It would feel more like a home to her.
At first she didn’t want to, but eventually we were ordering various furniture, paintings and other decorative items over the internet, almost all of it was old French styled, I have to admit, at first I didn’t like it, but it grew on me… just like Rarity had.
Knock Knock
A soft knocking on the door broke my trail of thought.
“Darling, for how long do you plan on being in there; breakfast is getting cold and I want to see how you look in your new set of clothes” Rarity voice was growing impatient.
“just a minute” I responded as I stepped out of the shower and began drying myself with a towel, as I did, I stared at the clothes on the stool, the socks and boxers were my own, but the pants and shirt were “Rarity Made” as she called it.
The shirt was dark purple and the pants were bright white, just like the colors of Rarity’s mane and coat, I liked it, luckily everything fit me perfectly and I sighed in relief, this was not the first set of clothes that she had made for me, she had made a few other sets of clothes to thank me ever since we had furnished a workroom for her, the first couple of sets she had made for me were way to tight in all the “wrong” places and on top of that they were… let just say I looked more like a duster than a gentleman, it was no pretty sight.
After much trial and error, the clothes that she made became more simple and practical; she even made some of my own clothing more comfortable by refitting it with softer materials, she had also made a few dresses for herself that she would wear now and then.
“She’s really outdone herself this time” I said this as I opened the door and was met with Rarity’s annoyed face, but immediately upon seeing me wearing her newest creation, she beamed with joy.
“WA-HAHA-HA, I knew it, perfect, now if you would be so kind to pose for me please”
I knew this routine and I did as she wanted.
“Good, no stress on the seams, shoulders look good, OH and that collar, very nice-“
She continued to mutter to herself as she inspected her work carefully, I didn’t try to stop her, once she started it was almost impossible to make her stop.
“- the length of the legs are also perfect… how does it feel…down there? Tight?” she asked with a concerned and embarrassed tone.
“No its perfect, feels good and light, though I think I’ll need to get used to the color”
She giggled
“Yes, that, I did not want to make it all dark since, well most of your clothing is black or has camouflage on it, but enough talk about clothes, come now, breakfast is waiting”
I followed rarity to the kitchen table and sat down; my mouth watered as I gazed upon the large assortment of food, there was pancakes, muffins, waffles, a cake and a large number of fruits, sadly there was no bacon, since the mere sight of meat made rarity sick, though eggs were ok for me to eat and I needed them for the protein now that my diet had become that of a vegetarian, though I have to admit that when I was out buying groceries and other stuff, I would buy a hotdog or… three, I didn’t tell her that of course.
“May I?” I asked.
She giggled again and smiled at me with that smile I had grown so fond of these past few months.
“You may, and please do tell me what you think of the cake”
“Oh don’t worry, I’ll tell you” I said as I starred at the strawberry covered mass of sugar and whip cream, eating cake and sweets was something that I also had become accustomed to since where rarity came from it was not unusual to eat these things several times a day.
Sitting there at the table eating together made me feel at ease, a feeling that I enjoyed, here in the house I didn’t need to be vigilant of my surroundings, here we were alone, away from the eyes of the world and with no worries at all.
Just like I preferred it.
Rarity’s head suddenly jerked upward as she remembered something.
“Oh by the way, Michael called while you were in the shower, he left a message on the answering machine, but all he said was that you should call him, it was something about the company not doing so well… Nikolai… what is going to happen once he wants you to return?”
It was understandable that she was worried; at some point I would have to go back to work at R.S.C and that would mean that she would be left alone in the house.
“Don’t worry about it when that time comes I’ll have a talk with Michael, if I tell him how much I like my new, eh… lifestyle, he`ll understand, I know he will”
“Nikolai there is actually something about that, I would like to talk to you about”
She was fidgeting on the stool, yet she had a determined look on her face.
“Do you think we could perhaps sell some of my dresses?”
This surprised me; I knew that she had made a few dresses for human females and that It annoyed her that she could only see them worn by manikins, but I guess it would be natural for a dressmaker to want her creations to be worn by someone that could appreciate them.
“Well I guess we could…hmm, maybe over the internet or-“
Rarity stooped me midsentence.
“I honestly had something else in mind”
I knew where she was going with this so I asked her directly.
“Rarity… do you want to be known to the public?”
She fidgeted again.
“I have thought about it a lot, you are my caretaker and I wish to repay you with more than just cooking and clothing, also I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss the feeling of being known for my craft, but I will not ask this of you if it is too much trouble”
It would be a lot of trouble, why did she have to ask that, everything was perfect; I was satisfied just being here with her, not having to give an interest to the “outside” world, not having to worry about what might happen to her, I wanted her to stay here hidden away along with myself.
No… who was I to deny her request, it wouldn’t be right to say no, to deny her the chance of a “life” here in my world, right now she was nothing more than a house maid, she needed this and maybe this could benefit someone that I had brought in a lot of trouble.
“How about I call Michael after when done eating, I’ll ask him to come visit and then we’ll see what happens?”
She immediately jumped up with a loud “REALLY?” witch was quite unlike her usual ladylike calm.
I smiled; this was what I had come to enjoy so much, the feeling of being needed not only as a protector, but also as a friend.
“Hey Nikolai long time no see, how you been” Michael asked before giving me a friendly hug.
“Hi boss, I’ve been good, thanks for coming on such short notice”
Michael let out a heartfelt laugh.
“Hell you just saved me a ton of paperwork and besides I haven’t see you in, what 5 months now, I can see that some things have changed” he said while running his eyes up and down the dark purple shirt and the white pants Rarity had ordered me to wear.
“You don’t know the half of it, but come on in we can’t stand here all day, and there is someone you need to meet”
“Ah yeah the Mystery person you couldn’t tell me about over… the… wow-“ as Michael walked through the main entrance he was clearly surprised to see how the inside of the house looked, but a second later the surprised look turned into a brotherly grin”-you’re going to introduce me to your girlfriend aren’t you?”
Now it was me that was surprised. “What, no”
Michael arched a brow “…boyfriend”
“WHAT, NO, just come on and I’ll introduce you, god damn it”
Michael and I walked into the kitchen, he laughed all the way there probably because of my reaction, I gestured for him to take a seat and he did, I then walked over to the stairs leading to the second floor where Rarity’s workroom was located and called for her.
“Rarity, come on down and introduce yourself” I then turned to look a Michael with a devilish smile. “I can’t wait to see the look on your face”
Michael was just about to ask me what I meant, but then Rarity descended the staircase, the further down she came the more confused Michael looked.
Rarity sat down opposite to him and looked at him with a nervous yet warm smile.
I walked over and placed my hands on the back of the chair. “Michael, meet Rarity, she is the possible client I was telling you about over the phone”
Rarity opened her mouth, but before she had a chance to say anything, Michael laughed aloud.
“HA-HA-HA, that’s a good one, Nick, is that a toy, this is a joke right?... right?”
Before I could answer him, Rarity spoke up.
“Mister Hansen, you are being rather rude, I can assure you that I am no toy, I am a unicorn and a lady at that, I had pictured you as a gentleman after all of the Things Nikolai has told me about you, now I believe a apology is in order”
Michael said nothing he just looked at her with a blank expression on his face.
“Come on boss, say you’re sorry and introduce yourself”
He didn’t, instead he fell sideways towards the floor in a 90 degree angle, and once there he was motionless… he had fainted.
“Oh…that was… unexpected, what now?” rarity asked looking at me with concerned eyes.
”Goodbye Mr. Hansen, please do come visit us sometime soon” said Rarity as Michael and I walked out of the front door.
“I will miss Rarity, uhm, I will” he said this while waving sheepishly at her.
When Michael and I reached his car, he turned around and placed his hands on my shoulders.
“This is just what the company needs Nikolai; I can’t thank you or Rarity enough” I could hear the happiness in his voice, it was understandable, after I had snapped in Saudi Arabia I had only gone downhill for the company. Now the company could have a fresh start, but it wouldn’t be easy and I knew it.
“Boss… instead of thanking me, there is one thing I would like to ask of you regarding the protection of Rarity”
Instantly Michael replied “Anything, you just name it”
I looked him straight in the eye. “I want to be allowed to use the amount of personnel and equipment that I deem necessary to keep Rarity safe”
“Nikolai-“
“Please Michael! If anything were to happen to her… I can’t lose her…not her too…please”
I had never asked Michael for anything before and now I was begging him to help me. He stared at me for a second or two before answering.
“Okay… I understand” after a moment’s silence he punched me on the shoulder and smiled broadly ”I’ll call you in a couple of days, once I have prepared everything, ok?”
I nodded and gave him a quick hug. “Thanks boss… it means a lot to me”
“Yeah, yeah get off me this is getting gay”
With that he got into his car and waved as he drove off.
I walked back to the house, once inside I closed the door and let out a relived sigh, Rarity meeting Michael had gone better than I had expected… that is if you ignored the part where he fainted of course.
I walked into the living room, Rarity sat on the couch and stared at the setting sun, for some reason she looked sad, I sat down next to her.
“Is something wrong Rarity?”
She didn’t answer, instead she leaned herself against me and placed a foreleg over my stomach.
“I’m going to cause you a lot of stress aren’t I” she looked concerned at me with those Azure blue eyes, and it made me smile.
“Don’t worry I’m used to being stressed, besides as long your happy, then I’m happy… so don’t worry okay”
She smiled back at me and then placed he head against my chest. “Okay…”
We sat like that for some time, eventually Rarity let out a long sigh.
“Are you tired?” I asked, but she didn’t answer, she was already fast asleep. “What is it with you and falling asleep against me” I didn’t want to wake her so i reached for the blanket that was next to Rarity and carefully tugged it in under her and myself, this was the first time since I had found her that we had been this close and I enjoyed it, I enjoyed the warmth of her as she laid against me, it made me fell calm and serene.
“Thank you for coming into my life Rarity… Thank you…” I whispered softly as I myself drifted off to sleep.
The Helper
“Nikolai…” the sound of Rarity’s strained voice woke me; a strange darkness filled the house.
“Rarity, where are you?” I reached for the lamp next to the couch, but it didn’t light.
“Help me, Nikolai…” her voice was weak, something was wrong.
I jumped up and looked around the dark room, I could see things moving out of the corners of my eyes, but each time I turned to look at them they disappeared.
“RARITY WHERE ARE YOU!” I was now getting desperate.
“Help me… please… help me”
The lights in the hallway leading towards Rarity’s bedroom slowly started glowing a dim orange light, witch slowly revealed Rarity laying on the bed, but something was wrong, the look in her eye… she was in pain.
“Rarity what’s wrong” I began to run down the hall, just as I was about the reach the door it slammed shut and I nearly ran into it, just as I placed my hand on the doorknob I heard HIS voice.
“You will always be alone Nikolai…” HIS voice was a whisper, yet I heard it as though HIS mouth was next to my ear.
Then… Rarity began to scream. “NIKOLAI HELP ME! PLEASE HELP ME! IT HURTS! NIKOLAI!”
“NOOOOOO,” I bellowed at the door as I slammed my entire body against it again and again and again. The door didn’t give way, hell it didn’t even budge no matter how hard I slammed myself against it.
Suddenly with an audible gurgle, Rarity’s screams stopped and so did my efforts to break the door down.
“Please no… no” I whispered at the floor with my head against the door, the white carpet below the door slowly turned a dark shade of crimson, at the sight of It I again began to bellow prayers at the door and ram my body against it.
Finally it gave way and I crashed through it, tripping to the floor.
The normally white carpet was stained with dark crimson spots, just like the white sheets were and on the bed… she laid... motionless.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, Rarity, talk to me, please” I begged as I crawled onto the bed and took her in my arms. Her eyes stared into mine, there was no life left in them, no spark. Tears poured uncontrollably from my eyes.
“Don’t leave me… I don’t want to be alone again…” I begged, but to no use… she was gone, taking from me like everyone I’ve ever care about.
Then HE talked, HIS voice felt like needles. “She’s dead Nikolai, just like all of you family and friends, face it you are meant to suffer, to be alone”
“You…” I laid Rarity down slowly and whispered “I’m so sorry…” afterwards I turned my head to face HIM. HIS smile was mocking me. “What? Are you going to kill me? Again?”
I stood up on the bed and trusted myself towards HIM, rage filled me, it burned inside me, but before I reached HIM I was blinded by a bright light and with it the desperate voice of Rarity followed.
“Nikolai, please wake up!”
I did, for real this time, my clothes were soaked with sweat, I was gasping for air and my heart raced. I looked to my side and saw Rarity looking at me; her azure blue eyes were no longer cold and blank.
“Are…are you ok?” concern was clear in her voice.
I turned to her. “I… I just had a bad dream don-“
Rarity interrupted me; anger mixed itself with her concern. “Do not tell me not to worry; you had a nightmare just like that the first day I was here. You screamed: Wake up! But this time you were screaming my name and whispering: no, again and again. Please… tell me what did you dream?”
I didn’t want to tell her, but since she acted like that there wasn’t really anything else to do.
“You… you were being murdered...” Rarity gasped “and I couldn’t save you, no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get to you. You were in the bedroom with… someone from my past… he made you scream for help… when I finally got to you…it was to-”
Rarity jumped up on the couch and hugged me tight.
“It was just a dream, a stupid, stupid dream. I know that if I am ever going to be in any kind of danger you will be there to help me and keep me safe, no matter what obstacle is in your way” I could hear that she meant every word.
I hugged her back. Her words meant a lot to me, we had really grown close these past 7 months we had been living together.
We sat for a little while in the embrace. After a while Rarity lifted her head up to mine and our eyes met. Those azure blue eyes of hers were still filled with concern, the anger was gone, but it had been replaced with curiosity.
“If…” Rarity began in a low and cautious voice. “If I would ask whom it was from your past that you dreamt about… would you then tell me?”
I looked away for a quick second as I thought about her words.
“The person I dreamt of is… was someone who took everything from me… He was the one that killed my parents”
Rarity let out a low gasp.
“But please, I don’t want to talk about my parents… or their killer, It’s a subject that I really don’t want to talk about” a few tears escaped my eyes as I thought of my mother and father… and HIM.
Rarity whipped a few of them away. “It’s okay, You don’t have to…” The tone in her voice was calming and I felt myself relaxing again.
I didn’t get to get completely relaxed do to a sudden volley of bright flashes that came from the large living room window, they made me snap to attention. It was someone with a camera his face was partially obscured by the hood of his jacket.
I didn’t think, I just yelled.
“STAY RIGHT THERE YOU SON OF A BICTH!”
He didn’t.
“SHIT” I yelled as I bolted towards the front door and took chase, leaving a startled Rarity behind. I was not going to let him get away, if he did, all of the world would come crashing down upon Rarity.
“STOP OR ILL MAKE YOU REGRET YOU DIDNT!” I roared this towards my prey whom was running towards his car for dear life. He didn’t listen and once I was close, I griped his arm and used the momentum to throw him to the ground.
A puff of snow flew up into the air as he hit it hard, instantly I locked his arm and placed a knee on his back to keep him down.
“You should have stopped when I told you to” I said this as I pulled his hood off reveling… her face.
“Please don’t hurt me, Mr. Zander, please don’t hurt me”
Instead of a man, I was pinning down a young woman, a woman that I knew.
“… Elucia… what the hell are you doing here?”
--
“let me get this straight, Michael told you that I needed an assistant and that’s why you came here, but you were afraid to knock on the front door so you walked around the house to look through the windows, then you saw me sitting on the couch with Rarity and the first thing that comes to your mind is to take a photo… really?” my tone was a little harsher then I had wanted it to be.
“I’m sorry, I… I… I”
The sniffling girl in front of me was none other than my handler Elucia De Lute, by handler I mean the link between me and R.S.C HQ. To be honest I wasn’t all that surprised about her actions, Elucia was… kind of special… let’s just keep it at that for now, I’ll explain later.
Rarity jabbed me with a hoof and sent me an scolding glance, before turning her attention toward the sniffling paparazzi.
“There, there my dear don’t be sad, he does not mean it like that, it is just that we were rather startled by you taking those photos. You see no one knows about me being here and we would prefer if it remained like that for just a while longer, do you understand?” Rarity spoke in a calming tone that had great effect.
“Yes miss Rarity I understand, I’m sorry. It’s just something I do, I’m so sorry” sniffed Elsie. The last part was very true about her. She always had her camera with her and she would take pictures no matter what the situation.
Rarity padded her hand softly with her hoof, reassuring her that it was all right, I was quite surprised to see how calmly Elucia took the fact that Rarity was a talking unicorn. She had of course been quite surprised when she met Rarity face to face, but other than that she acted as though Rarity was just another human being.
A devious thought crossed my mind.
“Hey Rarity I have an idea for how Elucia can make up for startling us” I said with a broad smile.
“Oh darling she does not have to do anything it was just a little mistake on her part”
“You could make her try on the dresses that you made and –“ I didn’t get to finish as Rarity nearly exploded.
“Elucia as punishment for your violation of our privacy, I want you to try on all of the dresses I have made so far and I want you to be my model for any future dresses that I will be making. Now come with me, your punishment will start as of right now” Rarity jumped behind Elucia and nudged her with her horn.
Elucia only managed to utter a few buts before being lead upstairs by her unicorn captor.
I couldn’t help but laugh a little at the sight. With both of them now gone I thought it would be best to call Michael and thank him, Having Elucia here would make the coming media-storm much easier to handle.
The phone only rang once before Michael picked up.
“Hey Nick, did you like the little surprise I sent you?”
“Hey boss, yeah we were pretty surprised, so surprised that I ran after her and threw her to the ground”
“You did what?”
We talked back and forth for a little while about how I had handled the situation, how Rarity and Elucia had reacted when they met each other face to face and how she had more or less forced Elucia upstairs to dress her.
“Ha ha, that poor girl. Let me guess she hasn’t told you anything about my plans for Rarity reveal has she”
I chuckled a little before answering. “Nope, I probably scared her so much that she completely forgot. Tell me what do you have planned?”
Michael began to explain in detail what he had planned and how we should meet face to face and discuss what was going to happen. We didn’t get to talk much longer since other thing needed his attention.
“Okay boss I’ll tell her. I’ll call you tomorrow and tell you how she took the news okay”
“Sure thing Nick, tell Rarity I said hi”
“I will boss, don’t you worry”
Michael and I said our farewells and hung up. I chuckled all the way up the stairs as I thought about how rarity would react when I told her the news.
As I walked through the door I was met by the sight of a princess… or at least that’s how Elucia looked.
”-Oh and I must make a tiara for you dear, Then you will truly look bedazzling” Rarity was beaming with joy as she was using her magic to manipulate the cloth that was most likely going to be a part of Elucia’ s dress.
“Could I maybe also get some glass shoes, I have always wanted glass shoes” squealed Elucia; she was just as happy as Rarity was.
I spoke before Rarity could answer, I couldn’t wait to see her reaction.
“Okay, I just got off the phone with Michael and I have some good news and some bad news for you Rarity. The bad news is that we need to live somewhere more secure if you are to be revealed to the world, so continuing to live here isn’t really going to work”
As I talked I could see that she was sad to hear this, she had grown attached to this house, just like I had.
“The best place for us to stay would be near R.S.C’s European headquarters” I finished my sentence with a smile.
Rarity’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Does that mean that we are…” she held her hooves in front of her mouth, trying to hold back her excitement.
“Yes, that means that we are going to France”
She didn’t respond to my answer, she what you would expect her to do… she fainted.
I am so sorry it took so long for me to post this, ive had my hands full with a lot of stuff.
