Reincarnated Immortality

Carn solemnly walked through the tavern's door and and smiled when he saw that their 'spot' had not been taken. His happiness quickly faded when he remembered the deed to be done. She would be missed by none but her sister… and himself. Immortality is a curse best shared with others, albeit his curse burdened him more so, having lived and died countless times since he had been ‘chosen.’ He had had several friends, but he always watched them wither, die, and turn to dust. There were few who could understand the pain he endured, let alone accept him for what he was. Luna was one of these few.

“It will be another ten years before the event occurs, but I must make preparations for it now.” The voice did not reply. Carn quietly walked through the boisterous tavern toward the bar located at the back of the room. A few patrons’ gazes were drawn to him, allowing him to see that they were all utterly drunk, but they were drawn back to the merriment and festivities occurring around their tables and in their mugs; enjoying themselves too much to be distracted by the newest member to the tavern’s populace. Carn seated himself at a barstool near the edge of the counter and waited for the bartender to finish his rounds and to return.

“Just a moment! I’ll be with you shortly!” he called from across the room. He served a few more mugs to a few tables whose occupants yelled loudly with approval. Somepony else sat in the stool next to him.

“Why do stallions always have to be so loud…” Carn smiled to himself.

“I don’t know, maybe they get some sort of pleasure out of annoying you.”

“HA, I doubt they would be so joyous if they knew I was here.”

“And I doubt any one of them is sober enough to realize they are in the presence of royalty.” Luna chuckled as she glanced around the tavern from underneath her cloak.

“I suppose not… Still, tis good to see a friendly face.” Carn felt as though he had been stabbed in the heart with a poisoned dagger. “You missed our meeting last month, what held you?” She smiled at him.

“A chimera… it was a… chimera.” He quietly stated, trying to recover from her previous statement.

“Ah, well I’m sure…” she trailed off as the bartender stumbled through the crowd, making his way back to the counter. He opened a small gate, stepped inside, and immediately headed for a small sink. He dumped a few empty mugs into the water and hastily ran to the end of the counter to where Carn was sitting.

“Sorry about the wait, now what can get foruuuhhhhhyaaa...” His speech slurred as he saw who was sitting beside him. “Princess Luna!” He fell to his knees and bowed to her “I had no idea I would be serving royalty today your highness! Please forgive me for not attending to you sooner!” She smiled, but Carn could see that she was slightly annoyed.

“I’m just another customer, please treat me as such.”

“Yes… of course, uh… your highness.” He fumbled with two glasses that he pulled out from under the bar. “uh… what can I get for you two?”

“Cider, please.” The bartender looked from Luna to Carn.

“The same.” He quickly rushed into a back room to retrieve the drink.

Luna sighed, “Always the same.”

“Perhaps if you disguised yourself more there would be a different outcome.” Luna removed the hood from her head, allowing her mane to flow freely.

“Perhaps, but I do not wish to hide my appearance from my subjects.”

The bartender returned with two full mugs of cider and set them down in front of his two new patrons. “Fresh from the bottle!” he announced with faltering confidence. He stood there awkwardly for a moment before saying, “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

Luna was the first to respond, “We are content with this.” He bowed before stumbling away to return to his rounds. When he was far enough away, Luna turned to him. “Might I assume the incident in the back alley was your doing?”

“It was, he tried to rob me.”

“Oh, so it was he who engaged in conflict with you.” She lifted the mug to her lips and took a sip.

“I don’t always start the fights, you should know that.” He followed suite and took a drink from the mug. The two sat in silence for a while, occasionally sipping at their drinks. Luna shifted awkwardly on the stool.

“What hinders you from speaking with me?” Carn sat up and looked at her. He hadn’t realized he had been not only avoiding eye contact with her, but also limiting how much he spoke with her. “It is unlike you to remain so silent.”

“I uh… just have a lot on my mind.” Her smile faded into a worried expression.

“What troubles you so? Surely the world is not too far out of balance, especially with the thieves guild becoming a much more prominent threat to our society.” She chuckled as she thought of all the ridiculous demands they’d made for the return of stolen property.

“No, it’s just… sometimes I look back at my lives and review what I’ve done with them, and all I can remember about them is all the times I had to do something wrong. Not once do I ever remember one prominent act of good." Luna frowned, and began to speak slowly, as if choosing her words carefully.

"The evil you do is but a means to the greater good. We all must endure the hardships of life or we will wither and die. You only remember the evil you have done because it cannot sustain itself, forcing you to take more drastic actions to ensure our world is aligned. But everything you do that is good, no matter how small the occurrence, it multiplied ten-fold. While you may not see it, the good you do is beyond measure." She put a hoof on his shoulder and smiled. "Always remember that." Her touch pained him the most as he could practically feel the large amount of trust she had in him, but he look at her and forced out a smile.

"Thank you, Luna." She removed her hoof, glanced about the room for a clock and gasped in surprise at the time.

"Oh our dearest sister will be most displeased when she learns we were absent from our nightly court duties. I'm afraid we must depart." she quickly stood and turned to head for the door. "once again next month?"

" I wouldn't miss it..." he trailed off slightly

"We shall see you then!" Luna stood up and headed for the door and that's when he felt it. An inexplainable to urge to do something he thought he wouldn't have the strength to. Carn's horn glowed lightly as he focused his magic on all of the drunken stallions in the room. Normally, controlling another pony would require an extreme mastery of magic and perhaps a degree in phycology, but because they were all intoxicated, getting them to do his will would be exceptionally easy. He cast the spell, placed ten bits on the counter, and proceeded up the adjacent staircase leading to the tavern's rooms. His work was done.