Well... that's two thousand bits I'm never getting back, I thought as I stared down at the two simple, gold rings in my hand. Placing them into their respected boxes, I slipped them into my pocket. I made my way towards the castle at a leisurely pace through the rain and the busy streets. After all, Celestia would be in court around now, so there was no rush.

There was no doubt that Tia hadn't yet struck down the law about royalty being able to lead a romantic relationship: it would have been in the papers if she had. So, I thought, we'll just do this by ourselves, then when it's legal we'll come out with it. It seemed like a good plan, so I stuck with it. If worse came to worse, then I'd just propose later when I had the chance.

The gates were close now, only a few more minutes of walking before I would speak with Celestia. Anxiety gripped me suddenly. What if Discord was right? What if Celestia asked me to come to the castle so that she could explain why she had deceived me? I shook those thoughts out of my head. I needed to be strong. I had to be determined. I steeled my resolve and walked into the castle.

Celestia was indeed in court, but she had relayed to the guard that when I came to the castle, I should be lead to her chambers to wait. So, I climbed the stairs of the tower to her room, entered, then promptly began to pace around the room. There was no hiding it: I was nervous. I really didn't want to fuck this up.

A sensation of wetness under my feet woke me from my stupor. I looked down to find a trail of water where I was walking. Face-palming and shaking my head, I berated myself for making a mess of Tia's room, while not even being in it for five minutes. After grabbing a towel from the washroom, I began to soak up the water from the carpet. As I did however, the world began to spin far faster then it should have. When I was done, I was trying my best not to vomit all over the floor.

After considering my options, I decided that it would be best if I could take a nap. I had a lot of time before court was done, and I doubted that Tia would mind, so it didn't seem like a bad idea. Placing my wet clothes in the bathroom, I slipped into the princess' bed with only my underwear and my shirt. I placed the ring box that I planned to give Celestia on the other side of the bed, just underneath the blankets so that Tia couldn't see it. When she came in, I would wake up and give it to her, and that would be that.

Quickly, my body was overcome by fatigue and I drifted into Luna's domain.

"...if I don't tell him?!" a familiar voice whispered angrily. "What then, huh?!"

"Shh... Then the world will fall into chaos," the voice of Discord hushed calmly, not knowing that I had already awoken, "and I won't have the satisfaction of knowing that it was my doing." Deciding it would be best to keep my awareness a secret, I refrained from making any indication I was awake.

"Like I care about that," the familiar voice quietly huffed. The person was female, and the identity was on the tip of my tongue. "Even if I do tell him, it's not going to guarantee that there won't be war."

"You're right," Discord admitted, "but don't you think he'd want to know? It might give you a chance to gain his trust, then maybe his d—" Discord's words were suddenly muffled by something, but we got the idea. "So rude."

"Rutting isn't all there is to love, Discord," the voice seethed. Love? Wasn't Cadence the princess of love? No, this wasn't Cadence... the voice was too sultry, too low-toned.

"Why would you talk behind someone's back—" I rolled off of my side and looked at the two talking "—right fucking in front of them?" The two— Discord and Chrysalis —looked at me, one with complete shock, the other mild annoyance. My hand made it's way to my head as a powerful headache pushed its way into my skull. "Well, spit it out. What do I need to know other than I'm going to die?"

"WHAT?!" Chrysalis shouted, her shock turning into anger. My other hand slapped itself onto my head now, the shout amplifying the headache.

"Here," Discord said, appearing at my side with a glass full of clear, green liquid. "This will help with the headache and nausea. I can't do anything about the fatigue, however." I quickly downed the glass of green apple-flavored tea, and soon enough my symptoms slowly started to go away.

Chrysalis was fuming at the end of the bed with her fists clenched at her sides. "Do you seriously expect me to just ignore what you just said!?" she chided. "What do you mean, he's dying!?"

"I'm pretty sure that's self explanatory..." I muttered quietly as the pain from the headache finally subsided, leaving me worn out. "What the hell did you just give me?" I asked, twirling the cup in my hand as I sat upright. "Is this, like, chaos juice? Was there a chance that I turn into a tree or something?"

"Well, actually—"

"Are you, or are you not dying?!" Chrysalis demanded, cutting Discord off.

The air in the room got heavy as nobody could speak the words. Well I know I couldn't, but the spirit of chaos seemed keen to wait until I had. Minutes seemed to pass as I looked over the sunlight radiating off the side of the glass. "Yup," I sighed, "but there's really nothing anybody can do about it. It's an autoimmune distorter, sort of. The blood I received after my stabbing— most likely the white blood cells —are attacking the tissue in my heart, probably because it's where the highest concentration of blood resides. There hasn't been extensive testing done into it, but I'd wager that it's also destroying my immune system, too. Which in turn means that in half a year or so, I'll be dead due to illness and heart failure. Not only that, but apparently my soul is also being destroyed. So yea, I'm pretty much fucked."

The air was still thick as Chrysalis crossed her arms, thinking to herself. Not wanting to see the pained look on her face, I turned to Discord, who was sticking out one of his claws with feigned glee as he gazed at it. "Oh, I'm a pretty princess," he mocked quietly as I saw the glint of one of the rings I had just bought.

His reflexes were second to none, dodging the glass just in time as it flew at his asymmetric head. The shattering glass startled the changeling in the room, forcing her to look at the cowering Discord, then to my enraged glare. "I'm only going to say it once: put it back."

I honestly thought he'd make some sort of quip or joke about how doctors aren't supposed to hurt people or something, but instead he nodded and came over to the side of the bed and placed it in the seemingly unopened box. "A ring?" the changeling queen questioned curiously as she caught a glimpse at band of gold. "Don't tell me you plan on proposing to Celestia or Luna, or whoever it is that you're courting. Oh, let's face it, of course it's that white-coated beacon of an eyesore... You know that's not going to work out, right?:"

"Yea, I know about the law," I sighed.

"Law?" she questioned. "No, I mean... Oh. So you don't know." Chrysalis shot a look to Discord, who only shrugged in return.

"What?" I asked, looking between the two. "Does this have something to do with the war you two were talking about?"

The two both gave a look of mild anger to one another, seemingly blaming the other for me waking up. Chrysalis rubbed her arm gently and looked to the floor. "I don't think I should be the one to tell you this, but I'm beginning to think I'm the only one who will."

"Tell me what?!" I demanded.

"That you're going to start a war whether you like it or not." Again, the air became even thicker. I wanted to ask what the hell she meant by that, but I found myself unable to speak. "Changelings are natural-born spies," she continued as she began to pace along the foot of the bed. "We've inserted ourselves into pretty much every civilization on the planet, with each changeling drone reporting to their queen. I just so happen to focus on Equestria and the Gryphon Empire, which as of recently has had... stressed relations."

"Stressed— ?" I started, but I stopped at the sheer weight at the words. "I think Celestia would have told me if Equestria was on the brink of war! And what does that have to do with me?!" The two ex-villans stared at me with a look that let me know I was missing something really obvious. "What?!" I asked, not really seeing the dot that connected these to points.

There was silence for but a moment, before the two said in unison, "The elixir?"

And then it all made sense. "Wait, they want me?!" I said in horrified excitement. "That's...! That's fucking awful! So that's why I was attacked...! They wanted a situation where I had to have magical blood put in me." I swallowed the ever-rising fear in my throat. "The elixir... so all they actually need is my blood, not me."

"That's right," the queen of the changelings answered, "and if you marry Celestia, you'd be one of the most protected people in the country. The only way they'd be able to potentially obtain that blood is through an invasion."

"Plus," Discord added, "they could use the fact that the Alicorn sisters have the elixir to convince other nations that the already immortal alicorns plan to give immortality to whomever they please— even commoners. That would be the ultimate blow to the ego of royalty. I have no doubt that it would end in glorious chaos!"

"And mass death and destruction," I concluded with a stressed sigh. "So, what do I do now? Just keep doing what I've been doing? Minus the whole proposal deal? I just have to put myself in danger and be miserable for six months so that the world doesn't end?" The two nodded: one with solemn acceptance, the other with excited glee. "Well... Fuck."

We cleaned the broken glass and sat in silence for a while. Eventually, I was left alone as Discord took Chrysalis for some "quality time with his besty" and teleported away. I paced, sat, looked out of the window at the dimming sun and the ever-busy ponies of Canterlot.

I thought a lot in that three hour period. I thought about my duty as a doctor, and how that made me open to attack. I thought about Celestia and how our lives would carry on from this point forward. I thought about my death, and how this struggle would still carry on after I was dead if my body was still in one piece. I thought about how it was strange how by a random quirk of fate, the peace of this world was thrown off-course. How strange it was to me that one little human could throw a world of Gods and Empires and magic into disarray.

And then, I thought of nothing. I simply waited.

Soon, I heard the door behind me open slowly. I continued to look out the window, waiting for some kind of speech or apology or something, but it didn't come. Instead, I heard a small gasp after the sound of the ring box opening. It wasn't long after that I heard it close and soft footfalls approach from behind.

Two, soft arms wrapped around my midsection as another head was placed on my shoulder. Celestia pulled me close, her bound breasts pressing against my back as she looked out of her bedroom and into the city. She was warm— warmer than the sun on my skin, but I fought against the urge to turn around. "We need to talk," I stated quietly. "Though, it's going to be about more than just me."

Despite my tone, she refused to let go. "I figured as much," she admitted solemnly. It was actually a little shocking how calm her words were. Though in retrospect, she must have gone through this exact situation plenty of times before. Another loved one dying right in front of her, and there was nothing she could do. "Then speak. Let me hear all of it."

"First, lets get the obvious off of the table. I'm dying," I said coldly. "It's going to be due to heart failure or disease onset by immunodeficiency, plus even if we somehow make my body last, my soul is apparently being destroyed. At the end of six months... Carter Bowman will no longer exist." The cold realization of my words dawned on both me and Tia. I could feel us both tense at the word "exist".

"Discord was the one who told me this, and that the elixir is actually... well, I guess it's started to brew in my body as we speak. I know it's Discord and everything, but he doesn't seem to have anything to gain by lying. Best-case scenario: I die in six months and everything about the elixir goes away. Worst-case is... well, this leads into my next worry."

"I know what's happening with the Gryphon Empire. You can thank Chrysalis for that. She seems to be grateful for me saving her life, though she didn't say anything to that regard. I digress— I know now that they want my blood, and that's causing your relations with them to deteriorate. I know they've been trying to worm their way in to your government for a while, considering the whole heat fiasco. I don't know if that's because they want Equestria, or they want to get close to me, but I'm pretty sure the winning bet here is both."

"All of this," I concluded, "is happening because I just so happen to show up one day without anybody knowing why or how. I'm pretty sure that if there was a reason for me to be here, it would have made itself obvious by now, but it hasn't. It leads one to believe that it was, indeed, a coincidence— a random chance that I happen to be here."

I waited for a moment, hesitant about what I wanted to say next. She would no doubt react poorly to it, but it was the best option. "What are you getting at?" Tia finally asked quietly, breaking the silence.

I swallowed what fear was left and spoke. "I'm not supposed to be here. In fact, I'd wager no human from my world was ever supposed to be here. As we speak, my presence is disturbing the natural harmony of this world." I took a breath and prepared myself for what I was about to say.

"If I'm going to die soon anyways, then kill me and destroy my body. With that, everything here will be solved and go back to the way it was before I came here. I take full responsibility for what's happening to you right now. It's just like... like ripping a bandage off quickly: you know it'll hurt so you might as well get it done with as quick as possible."

There was nothing— not even a shred of emotion from Celestia after I said these words. I waited and waited as I watched the sun slowly edging towards the horizon. The telltale sound of her magic rang in my ear as she forced the sun below, blanketing the world in her sister's calm darkness.

In the room, however, the darkness was completely different. It was a thick coil of anticipation and fear around my midsection and shoulder. I could feel the arms around me tighten almost painfully, and I felt the dampness of her cheek against mine. Then, Celestia took on a tone I had never heard her use before: a cold, bladed tone that could cut even the bravest soldier's will to pieces.

"No." A simple statement, but it was filled with the oppressive malice of a desert sun. The warmth from her body was now almost uncomfortable as she constricted me even tighter. "I refuse."

"Celestia, your family and friends will live through a war that might span the entire world because of me!" I pleeded. "This is the safest bet, and you know it."

"What part of "no" don't you understand? You aren't going to die for a mistake you didn't even make. I won't allow it."

My jaw tightened in a way I had never felt before. "So that's it? You're just going to risk an all out war for one man? Several thousands of lives just for one who's going to die in six months. Don't you think that's going against everything you stand for? Everything you pride yourself on?" I paused, waiting for a response. There was none, so I pulled out my final card. "Doesn't it go against the whole reason why we met in the first place?"

"What?!" she said in appalled confusion. "What the hell are you implying?!"

"With the information I have now, it's obvious. Don't even try to tell me otherwise. The whole reason I was at the gala is because you gave Applejack two other tickets, probably under the pretense that her family should come along. But you knew she owed me, and that the tickets would be the best way to get me to check out Canterlot before I took the job offered to me by the ministry of health— a ministry that you have easy access to. There was a pretty good chance that I would come, and I did. You saw your chance with that asshole, Snowy... whatever the fuck his name was. I left and was a lone. All you had to do was to sweep me off my feet and then you'd have me close by to keep track of.

"I was a liability," I argued. "If I was left out in Ponyville with the elements, there would be no doubt that someone would come for me— and with the whole Tirek thing, I became known. You needed me here not only to protect your citizens, but the elements as well.

"It's obvious, Celestia. It was the smartest thing for you to do to keep everyone safe and to keep me happy, but now ethics have been thrown out to burn. The blood in my system needs to be destroyed before anyone gets it in their head that they can be the next immortal."

The hard silence in the room began to carve away my bravery, but I stayed strong long enough to wait for her answer. A sniffle came into my ear, then a choked sob. "I would be lying if I said there wasn't any truth to that," she admitted as she tried to suppress her emotions. After a breath, she continued.

"You're right. I did set up your arrival to the gala and I did intend to influence your choice to stay in Canterlot so that I could keep you under wraps, but something unexpected happened. Something I never saw coming in my infinite wisdom. I genuinely liked you, Carter, and that fond friendship turned quickly into... it might as well have been a school girl crush. On my birthday, seeing you in front of the station with those mares— I hadn't felt my urge to strangle someone in over three hundred years. By the time we were on the train, I knew I was in love.

"And not some fucking puppy love either— real love— deep love. I understood that day that I couldn't let you get mixed up in the fight for the elixir. I knew someone would try to pull something. That night on Hearth's Warming eve, it was Luna's way of getting me to become emotionally detached from you for my own mental health, in case something were to happen to you. It made me doubt my feelings, and I accepted to find out what they really were once and for all... but we both know what happened after that.

"Maybe if I had just told you from the start, none of this would have happened," she lamented. "You would have most likely agreed to stay close, understanding the circumstances. Then none of this would have happened— or at least it would have been delayed. The point is, I wanted you— not as a liability, but as someone that makes me genuinely happy to be alive! This— what we have between us isn't a lie! I wanted this for the first time in something like five hundred years, even though I knew it could end up like this!"

With this, Celestia tried desperately to get her overwhelming emotions in check, but was failing tremendously. I would feel her body trembling and her grip was now tighter than ever before. Somehow, I managed to turn around to hug her and Tia practically buried her snout into my shoulder as the dam broke. I watched at the person I held most dear to me broke down into a weeping mess, collapsing to her knees and bringing me with her. "Please," she begged, "please don't go! Please stay for just a little longer!"

I felt... awful. Like not even a little bit relieved, just awful at what I had said. Of course she was scared— I was fucking dying. The man she loved was dying in front of her. My own tears joined hers as I brought the hug in to a point where it was almost painful. "Okay," I said, keeping in my own sobs. "I'll stay. I'll stay for as long as I can."

We ended up sleeping on the floor that night. Though, it was a restless night for both of us.

Author's Note

I started writing this chapter in 2015. It's been 4 years.

Carter's already fucking dead.

Shit.