The Bear, The Bull, And The Pony

‘Man, maybe I shouldn't have given him that shot.’ Six thought to himself. Watching Cider coughing on the floor behind the bar. ‘This is pretty fuckin funny though.’ he continues watching, ‘Jesus, you’d think he was trying to hack up a lung or somethin.’

“Hey, you good down there buddy?” Six asks.

Cider continues coughing but is able to at least nod his head.

“Just making sure. Can’t have ya dying on me now.” Six reaches behind the counter and picks up Cider by the back of his neck. Bringing him over the bar and onto one of the stools next to him.

Cider coughs a few more times hitting himself in the chest before taking a deep breath and looking at Six with watery eyes.

“What.. ‘cough’..oh Celestia..What was that stuff!?” Cider manages to ask Six.

“That my friend was Whisky. Aged for over 200 years with some slight radiation mixed in for a spicy kick.” Six says while pouring himself another.

He’s about to offer Cider another shot but is quickly declined with Cider looking fearfully at the dark orange liquid. Six just shrugs and continues drinking.

“So. Cider, If you couldn’t already tell I’m not exactly from around here and I need some information. If you’re able to answer some of my questions it would be greatly appreciated.” Six explains

“OH..Yes, of course. I'm happy to help you.” Cider says.

“Great, thanks kid. Firstly, where am I exactly?” Six asks

“Uhh..do you mean the name of the town? Because we call this place "Thinspring.”” Cinder shifts in his stool trying to get comfortable.

Six pauses before saying, “Well that's good to know too. But I meant the name of this entire place outside of just the town.”

“Oh, well that would be the Lands of Equestria Mr.” Cider says.

“Equestria? Who came up with this shit?” Six says, the last part being more for himself than a real question.

“That would be the..um..princesses Mr.” Cider says.

“Princesses too huh? One of those wouldn’t be that ‘Celestia’ I heard you say back there?” Six asks, a little intrigued as to why they would use her name in the same sense that someone would use God’s, or Jesus’s.

“Ye..Yes she is one of them. She’s the Princess of the day. While her sister Princess Luna is the Princess of the night. Together they move both the sun and moon…Then ther..” Cider is cut off by Six

“HOLD ON! They CONTROL the sun and moon? As in, they actually move them across the sky?”

“..um..Yes.” Cider says, confused as to how Six would be surprised by that. ‘Just where does he come from? Everypony knows that the princesses control the day and night.’

“Now THAT is something I gotta see.” Six pours himself another shot, “Goddamn that is fucking insane if it’s true.” he pauses a second, “Heh, like one of God’s angels.”

Cider still looks at Six with confusion but passes it off as him being from really really far away. Although he is starting to wonder who this ‘God’ he keeps hearing the stranger talk about is?

“Sorry about that, it just surprised me. Please carry on, you were saying something else after I cut you off right?” Six apologizes,

“Uh..Yes. Right. After Princess Celestia and Princess Luna there’s Princess Cadence the Princess of love. But she is less a Princess of Equestria and more the Princess of the Crystal Empire all the way up north.” Cider scratches his chin, “And our newest princess, Princess Twilight Sparkle the Princess of Friendship.” Cider finishes explaining.

‘Love and Friendship? How can there be a princess based on those? Aren’t those just concepts? This place is so fucking weird.’ Six thinks to himself. ‘But this is good. Now I know who runs this place. I’ll have to try and find them, and if they are as powerful as Cider says they might be able to help me get home.’ Six stows away that plan for later.

“Thanks Cider. But one last thing, you wouldn’t happen to know where I could get a map could you? One of the entire region? I've been traveling blind since I got here and it’s only due to luck that I managed to get out of those badlands and find this town.” Six asks, starting to repack his stuff. Also managing to sneak the two glasses he and Cider have been using into his pack as well.

“THE BADLANDS! What is Celestia’s name where you doing there!? Are you ok!?” Cider shouted at Six, catching the attention of the entire bar as everypony turned to look at the two. Everypony except the dark purple pony wearing the cloak in the back who’s ears just twitched.

“Yea..Jeez calm down Cider, I’m fine. And why are you so worried? There’s nothing out there except sand, rocks, dead bushes, and dust.”

“Nothing out there?! The badlands are home to tons of dangerous creatures. Not to mention that Viper gang near the entrance.” Cider says.

‘Really? Maybe I just got lucky again because I didn’t see shit out there.’ Six thinks to himself, thanking his luck for keeping him out of trouble.

“Well. That may be true. But as you can see I’m perfectly fine. And that gang of ponies, The Vipers, I took them out. So you don’t have to worry about them anymore. Which also reminds me, is there a sheriff's office or something like that around here? I want to see if they have a bounty on them.” Six asks, finishing repacking.

“T..Took care of them? Wh..What do you mean?” Cider nervously asks.

“What do you mean ‘what do you mean’? I took care of them, you know, killed them.” Six says casually, confused as to why Cider looks so nervous now.

The moment Six said ‘killed them’ the entire bar went silent again. Everypony frozen in their seats staring at Six. Even the dark purple pony looked up from where they were sitting and stared at Six from underneath their hood.

‘Fuck. Right. Skittish. Shit. Forgot about that. I should not have said that. Fuck.’ Six cursed himself for forgetting that these ponies weren’t like the people of the wastes. People who wouldn’t even bat an eye when you say you killed someone. ‘Alright gotta try and salvage this.’

“Hey. Cider. Look at me.” Six says, lowering his voice and getting down on a knee so that he was level with the pony. “You have no reason to be afraid, ok.” he puts a hand on Cider's shoulder, who flinches at the contact. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to kill you. I’m your friend and I would never hurt my friends.”

Cider is still shaking but Six can feel him relax slightly from under his hand.

“W..why?” Cider asks quietly.

“Why what?” Six asks back confused.

“Why d..did you k..kill them?” Cider asks, his voice regaining some of its confidence.

“Because they deserved it. They chose a life of sin. To steal what is not theirs and kill the innocent. That is why I killed them.” Six starts, “I didn't do it out of hate or some perverse enjoyment. I don’t enjoy killing. But it is something that must be done. Something that I must do.” Six smirks underneath his mask, “Anyway, we can’t expect God to do all the work.”

Six stands back up and ruffles Cider’s hair. “‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.’ And neither will I, my friend.” With that Six pats Cider on the head and turns around to leave.

The rest of the bar hearing Six’s words relax a little as well, many going back to their drinks and games. All but the cloaked pony in the back who still stares at Six.

As Six is walking out of the bar about to reach the door he hears Cider call out to him.

“WAIT. Umm..we don't have a map here in town but the next town over Ponyville might. The train is broken right now though so you’ll have to wait until next week to ride it there.”

“That shouldn't be a problem, I’ll just follow the tracks.” Six says.

“A..Are you sure? It’s already a day's trip j..just by train. Walking would take two m..maybe three days at most.” Cider asks, surprised.

“Like I said, it shouldn't be a problem. I’ve walked longer distances than that, I’ll be fine.” Six shrugs.

“Uhh..ok..if..if you're sure. Oh, and there is a sheriff's office just down the road. You can talk to them about the umm..Vipers.” Cider says with a little disappointment in his voice. He had kinda hoped that his new friend would have stuck around for a little.

Six catching this, smiles at Cider. “Aww..is someone sad i’m going so soon. Don’t worry I’ll definitely be back here soon. I just really need to get my bearings first. After that maybe you can give me a tour.” Six suggests to Cider who perks up after hearing that he will be coming back.

“But thanks again Cider, you have been a huge help to me today. But I should get going, the sun is going down and I want to get out there before it’s gone. I’ll see you again my friend.” Six waves to Cider.

“Oh uh..Goodbye Sir. I hope to see you again.” Cider waves back, watching Six leave through the swinging doors. Then getting off the stool walked back over to behind the bar. ‘Wait..where are those glasses that I gave him?’