Cinematic Adventures: Carrie

Chapters

Luna’s Nightmare
Carrie & Eden’s Gate
A Terrible Accident
Into the Bliss
Saying Yes & Only You
True Friends
Words of Joseph
Hope
The Collapse Approaches
The Black Prom Pt 1
The Black Prom Pt 2
March to Eden's Gate

Luna’s Nightmare

A cool, crisp air breezed through the night as the bright shining stars and moon of Princess Luna lingered high in the sky overlooking the capital city of Canterlot. Speaking of the immortal diarchy of the moon, Princess Luna sat in her seat in the throne room as Night Court was in the process of ending. Throughout the entirety of the night, Luna had already done her job in the Dream Land where she’d chase away all the nightmares of her little ponies and afterwards spent a few hours dealing with the horrors of Night Court. It’s times like these that make Luna happy Celestia was the ruler of the day because she knew for a fact that Day Court was a hay worse. Thankfully, the last bit of business for the evening had been settled and it was finally time to retire for the day so Celestia could raise the sun.

“And that concludes our business for this session of Night Court,” Luna announced to her Lunar Guards. “I thank thee all for your insights and exceeding duties. Now it is time for us all to retire for the day. We shall reconvene this court once more tomorrow night.”

The Lunar Guards bowed for their princess and marched their way out of the throne room to their quarters. Luna rubbed her tired eyes with her hooves and gave a tired sigh as she stood from her throne and swiftly clopped her way down the steps.

“One last thing to do before bed,” She said to herself.

Trotting along behind the throne, she used her magic to wheel out a cart full of lavender and proceeded to hang them along the walls and pillars of the throne room. This is something she’d done for a few thousand years as a king gesture for Celestia to help her relax during her daily duties. Originally she hadn’t truly noticed the gesture and it made Luna feel unappreciated. But it wasn’t till a few years ago when Starlight Glimmer made them realize they both felt underappreciated with all they do for each other and their ponies.

After that experience, both Luna and Celestia made it an effort to appreciate each other more and everything they do for one another. After Luna finished lining the room with lavender, she took a deep inhale and allowed the heavenly aroma to assault her nostrils. Releasing a content sigh, Luna finally proceeded out of the throne room and down the fall to find her room. Walking down the hall, she enjoyed the peace and quiet of the night.

“Hello there.”

Luna gave a startled yelp and jumped down upon hearing the sudden deep voice. Directly before her, hanging from the ceiling, was a bat pony stallion with a dark blue coat about a shade darker than her own, pointed furry ears, and two giant dark wings folded against his back. This was General Supernova, her most trusted Night Guard who served her faithfully since her return from banishment many years prior. Supernova would train all the new recruits for the Night Guard in the princess’ absence and certainly did a fine job of it. Now here he was, dangling from the rafters mere inches away from Luna. Staring into his brilliant yellow eyes, Luna almost seemed hypnotized for a moment before quickly shaking her head with a furious blush.

“Oh, tis only you General,” She said relieved.

“Forgive me for startling your princess,” Supernova apologized, with a grin. “I was merely keeping watch over the throne room. Must have fallen asleep. Soon as I awoke, I noticed your exit and merely wished to check on you.

Luna once again blushed furiously.

“Oh—well yes—um—your concern is appreciated,” She stammered.

Luna would never admit it to him, or Celestia, or even herself for that matter but she always secretly harbored a crush on Supernova. She’d been working with him for years now, with him acting as her second-in-command, and in all those years she couldn’t help but grow quite fond of him. The way he soared through the air with ease during patrols, how he maintained authority and composure even during the toughest situations, not to mention a voice that could charm a cockatrice… perhaps even a whole flock.

“Well then, I suppose if that’s all I shall be on my way.”

Luna made to pass and continue down the hallway only for Supernova to jump down from his perched position, casually floated along, and land directly alongside her.

“Forgive me my princess if I were to step out of line, but has any pony ever told you just how stunning you look tonight?” Supernova asked.

Luna’s blush only grew till it resembled that of a freshly picked tomato.

“Um… no,” Luna responded awkwardly.

“No?!” Supernova said appalled. “Well that must be rectified right away. Princess Luna, I do declare you look absolutely stunning this evening!”

“Oh… well… thank you!” Luna responded, with a small smile. “That’s very kind of thee to say.”

Supernova released a deep chuckle as he continued to walk alongside the princess towards her room.

“I apologize if my presence makes you uncomfortable at all your highness,” Supernova apologized.

“No, not at all!” Luna replied too quickly. “It has merely been quite the long evening and I’ve grown quite tired from my duties.”

“Indeed,” Supernova nodded. “I hope you don’t mind if I accompany you safely to your room.”

“Not at all,” Luna replied.

The two continued to walk through the many halls of Canterlot Castle, with Luna sneaking glances at Supernova the whole way. Thankfully she kept control of her blushing, yet she couldn’t help the butterflies that were going crazy in her stomach every time she looked at him. Thankfully, they finally made it to her room. She turned to offer her gratitude to him.

“Well, I thank thee for your assistance General. I bid you a pleasant evening.”

Luna reached out her hoof to push the door to her chambers open.

“Before you go, there’s something I’d like to ask you,” Supernova interrupted.

Luna froze when she heard him speak and slowly turned to face him.

“Yes?” She asked.

“Well, I’d love it if you’d go out with me some time,” Supernova smirked. “And I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer.”

Luna gulped loudly as the blush once more returned to her cheeks.

“When you put it that way, sounds like I haven’t much choice.”

“Oh you have a choice,” Supernova chuckled. “You are the princess after all. I’m just making it hard for you to say ‘no’ with my charming personality and good looks.”

This actually made Luna giggle slightly, like a little school filly. Only this time she didn’t mind.

“I must say General, for all the time we have known each other, never have I suspected you were such an interesting character.”

“As are you Luna, only the best way possible,” Supernova responded. “So what do you say?”

Luna thought about it for a moment as she eyed the general up and down with her pale blue eyes. Then a coy smile spread across her face.

“Alright then Supernova, I accept!” She nodded.

“Wonderful!” Supernova smirked. “Does tomorrow night sound good? Perhaps you can make a bit of time between Night Court for a stroll through the gardens.”

“Perhaps I could,” Luna nodded. “For now thought I must rest. Good night Supernova.”

“Good night Luna.”

With that, Supernova unfurled his batwings, floated off the ground, and flew off down the hall till he was out of sight. Luna remained frozen in her spot for a moment, wondering if that really just happened. Finally, she let a smile creep its way back onto her face as she entered her room. Crossing over to her giant canopy bed she used her magic to remove her crown and regalia and set them along her bedside table. She used her magic to pull the covers down, then climbed onto the extremely soft bed while covering herself up. Releasing a sigh of content, she then closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

Luna stood staring in horror, wide eyed of the carnage surrounding her. All she could see was fire spread out as far as the eye could see and blood everywhere. Everything was pure chaos and destruction. She’d not see such carnage since she became Nightmare Moon, destroying the Castle of the Two Sisters attempting to destroy her sister. Not only this, but when she looked down she also noticed she was standing on a giant symbol of what looked like some type of cross.

Luna looked over and noticed what looked like a young human girl in a pink dress and completely drenched in blood. She knelt down on the ground with her head bowed seemingly in prayer. Behind her stood a man holding her arms stretched out wide, looking towards the heavens. Looking closer, Luna noticed on his bare torso that he was marked with tattoos and scars of several varieties. She could not see his face; it was shrouded in darkness. The man then snapped his head in her direction, slowly walking towards the Princess of the Night. Luna wanted to run away like crazy but found herself glued to her spot and couldn’t move a muscle. The man reached behind himself and pulled out, to Luna’s horror, a revolver. The man chuckled deeply as he aimed the gun toward her head.

“May God have mercy on your soul…”

*BANG!*

Luna snapped right up from bed with a terrified scream. She started breathing heavily as though she raced a marathon all across Equestria and she was sweating profusely. Not only that but her head hurt massively as she held a hoof to her now aching head. It was so weird because in the nightmare she just had she’d been short directly in the head. She’s had her fair share of nightmares in the past, but none made her feel as helpless and scared as this one had. So many questions rushed through her mind as she tried to regain her composure.

What was that dream all about? Who was that young girl and that man?

The very next day, the sun shone brightly over the town of Ponyville. The denizens walked about town partaking in their everyday lives. On the outskirts of town, a large gathering of ponies and an assortment of other creatures gathered around the newly constructed Discord’s theatre. Outside the theatre, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and the rest of the Mane Six stood at a podium on stage as Twilight addressed the gathered crowd.

“Good day every creature and thank you all for coming today,” Twilight announced. “As you all know, for over a year now myself and my friends have been going on these epic quests into different universes to spread peace and friendship. We have battled numerous foes, made new friends, and even brought a whole new meaning of peace.”

Everyone clapped and cheered in response before allowing Twilight to proceed.

“As a means of allowing all of you, our friends and family across Equestria to partake in our adventures, Discord created a magical theatre in which all manner of creatures could come and see us embark on our quest for peace. However, a recent event took place in which the theatre was set on fire by an unknown source trying to spread carnage and chaos. What that mysterious force failed to realized, however, is that the power of positivity and friendship can weather any sort of chaos thrown at us.

“That’s why, as of today, we’re proud to present you all the combination of hours of all the hours of hard work and friendship has helped us to achieve. Today, we present to you all the new and improved… Discord’s Theatre!”

Everyone clapped and cheered once more as Spike used a giant pair of scissors to cut the ribbon for the grand reopening. The moment was soon short lived when the sound of a chariot touching the ground drew every pony’s attention behind them. The crowd parted upon seeing Princess Celestia and Princess Luna arriving on the scene, walking through the crowd toward the front.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, what brings you both here?” Twilight asked.

“It seems Twilight that another threat to the Multiverse has come to light!” Celestia responded. “Tell them what you’ve told me sister.”

Luna nodded to her older sister and stepped forward to tell the others what she had experienced.

“Last night, I had a terrible nightmare,” Luna informed. “A premonition of terrible events to come!”

“My goodness!” Fluttershy gasped.

“So what happened?” Rainbow asked.

“I dreamt of a landscape engulfed in flames and littered with blow. I saw a young girl drenched in blood kneeling at the feet of a mad man. When he noticed my presence, he held a gun to my head and fired.”

“Dear Faust!” Rarity gasped loudly.

“Is there anythin’ ya’ll can tell us about this here dream princess?” Applejack asked. “Ya know ‘bout where it all happened?”

“I’m afraid not dearest Applejack,” Luna shook her head. “All I know for certain is that I sensed great pain and suffering from this dream. Whatever’s to come, there will be much death and despair if not tended to immediately.”

“But how exactly are we going to get to this place if we don’t even know where it is?” Spike asked.

It was then Pinkie Pie threw her hoof in the air and started bouncing around eagerly.

“Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! I know, I know! Pick me! Pick me!”

Everyone sighed with a shake of their heads before Twilight faced her enthusiastic friend.

“Yes Pinkie?” She asked.

“What if we just tried hooking up the T.V. thingy with Luna’s head?” She asked with glee. “We could channel the energy emanating between the television set and the wavelengths with Luna’s magic, thereby generating enough power to open the big, whirly, portal thingy and thereby giving us enough time to go in before it closes.”

“Pinkie, that’s… actually not a bad idea!” Twilight spoke, amazed.

“It is?!” Everyone asked.

“Aw, come on guys!” Pinkie giggled. “I have my smarty-pants moments sometimes. There’s more in my head than just candy floss and airheads.”

“Then there’s no time to waste!” Twilight declared. “Let’s get everything set up so we can investigate this phenomenon!”

“Aw yeah!” Rainbow smiled, clapping her hooves. “The girls and Spike on another whirlwind adventure!”

“Yea…” Fluttershy uttered feebly.

With no time to lose, the entire gang made their way into the new theatre and up to the big screen where the magical television was hooked up. Twilight quickly worked her technical magic and got everything necessary for the portal all set up before turning to Luna with a few wires in her magical grip.

“Okay Princess, I’m going to need to attach one of these wires to your horn and a few to your frontal lobes” Twilight informed her.

Twilight quickly attached the wires exactly as she had described with one on her horn and the other to the two sides of her forehead.

“This won’t hurt you at all. All we need is for you to remember the events of your nightmare again and it will power the television so that it may open the portal to wherever it is that your nightmare was taking place.”

“I understand Twilight Sparkle” Luna nodded.

Luna then closed her eyes and dug back into her memory of the the nightmare. Her horn sparked as she did so and the surge of power ignited the television to life and the giant screen of the theatre then turned into the very portal that they needed. Twilight and the others gathered at the portal and looked on inside.

“So where do you think that this thing will take us to now?” Rainbow asked.

“No idea sugarcube” Applejack responded uncertain. “But if it’s enough tah give Princess Luna nightmares, we best be ready fer anything.”

“Oh I just hope that we live to regret this” Fluttershy said frightened,

“Worry not Fluttershy” Rarity assured her. “No matter what we may encounter in this world, nothing will be able to break us”

“That’s absolutely positively right” Pinkie smiled. “Besides, what’s the worst that it could be anyway. A crazy axe wielding maniac? An evil child eating clown? Or even a haunted room that makes anyone commit suicide?”

Every pony turns and looks at Pinkie with wide eyes and horrified expressions.

“Oppsie, sorry about that” she quickly apologized. “I guess I was thinking of the wrong Stephen King movies”

“What are you…” Twilight began but then quickly stopped herself. “You know what, never mind.”

She then turned her attention to Celestia and Luna who both looked at them worriedly.

“Be careful” Celestia warned.

Twilight only responded with a single nod before looking back to the portal with a determined look.

“Alright every pony…let’s do this”

With that, the Mane Six and Spike all stepped forward and through the portal to wherever the Multiverse would take them. Had they known the true horror that they would be getting themselves into, they would have turned right around and walked away.

Carrie & Eden’s Gate

Stepping through the portal, shortly after officially crossing through the void between time and space, the Mane Six and Spike emerged through the other side as the interdimensional portal closed behind them. Looking around at their newest surroundings, they noticed they were in what seemed like a wooded area. Lying before them in a tiny clearing, they could see what looked like a town through the distance.

“So this is what Princess Luna saw in her nightmare?” Rainbow questioned. “Sure doesn’t look like the entire place is burning with tons of blood everywhere.”

“I’m sure Luna’s nightmare was showcasing future events Rainbow,” Twilight reminded her. “It’s what could happen if we don’t succeed.”

“Now the question darling becomes exactly what it is we’ve come here to stop,” Rarity pointed out.

“Well ah know one thing fer sure,” Applejack informed them. “Looks like we ain’t gonna stick out like sore thumbs in our state.”

Soon every pony looked down at themselves, seeing that indeed the magic of the portal had reverted them to their human forms. The very same as their previous adventures.

“Does this just happen now without us even casting a spell or anything?” Rainbow questioned, studying herself. “Don’t get me wrong, I look 20% cooler totally. It’s just weird how it happened.”

“I must agree with you darling,” Rarity replied, admiring her clothes. “But I must admit, I adore my otufit.”

“Me too!” Pinkie said excitedly.

“Hey guys, check this out!” Spike spoke up.

Everyone turned toward Spike and were much surprised by what they saw. In many previous adventures, while every pony else had their human forms, Spike mainly assumed the form of a small little dog. Only now, however, he’d taken his very own human form, one being just as tall as they were. His green spikes were replaced with hair, and he wore a mint green t-shirt with matching blue jeans and his own black sneakers that were mint white in the front.

“Spike… you’re… you’re human!” Twilight gaped amazed.

“I know, isn’t it great?!” Spike yelled excitedly. “Finally, a form where I can do more than just bark and chase my tail around. I can actually start pulling my own weight a lot more.”

“Well before you do that, we should probably figure out exactly ‘where’ it is we are,” Fluttershy advised.

“Fluttershy’s right,” Twilight nodded. “The only way we’re going to would be to head straight for that town over there.”

“Well, what’re we waitin’ fer?” Applejack asked. “Let’s get a move on.”

With that in mind, the Mane Six and Spike turned their direction towards town and started heading in its direction. Of course, had they only taken a closer look at their surroundings, they would have noticed the dark menacing creature. One with glowing red eyes, spying on the group while perched high in the dark trees… watching them.

Chamberlain, Maine…

This small town wasn’t really anything too special for the majority of the people living there. Pretty much anyone who lived there either moved away at some point in their lives or just never had the resources to leave. It was certainly a nice town to say the least, which makes it off for so many people wanting to leave. For now, another day of school had ended at Ewan High School…

*RING!!!*

As the school bell rang, a number of students made their way from the building. The Mane Six and Spike walked down the street after having worked their way out the woods and noticed a bunch of students walking out of the school. One student in particular was a strawberry blonde girl wearing really long, old fashioned looking clothing. She clutched her school bag tightly to her chest as she walked out the front door of the school.

This girl was Carrie White, the school outcast. Born and raised in this small town, she grew up under the abusive hand of her mother, Margaret White, a well-known religious zealot. Margaret lived, breathed, and slept anything to do with the Bible or the name of God. Growing up, Carrie was forced to abide by the exact same principles and religious beliefs her mothed believed in. Failure to do so would mean being ‘punished for her sins’. Her mother forced her to wear old clothing that covered every single inch of her form, and she was never able to socialize with anyone. Not that anyone even wanted to socialize with her to begin with because ‘everyone’ always picked on Carrie and bullied her in such an aggressive form. And ‘why’ they would be so cruel to her was anyone’s guess.

As Carrie walked, her head bowed to the ground and uttering no words, she failed to see where she was going and accidentally bumped into someone. The moment she looked up; she was horrified to be staring into the face of her biggest bully ever: Chris Hargensen.

“Hey freak, why don’t you watch where the fuck you’re going?!” Chris spoke harshly.

Chris shoved Carrie so hard the poor girl fell backwards and landed hard on her back against the concrete ground. Chris then grabbed Carries bag and dumped all its contents onto the ground before proceeding to step on everything.

“You and your crazy mom like to say everyone’s going to Hell, so am I going to Hell for doing this?” Chris mocked. “Am I going to Hell because you’re a stupid religious freak? The only one going to Hell around here is you!”

From the sidelines, the Equestria Girls and Spike saw all this take place. Frankly, they didn’t like what they were seeing one bit. Rarity especially couldn’t help but feel sorry to see the girl picked on this way.

“I can’t believe this!” Rarity said. “The never of that girl picking on a poor sweet thing.”

“I hear ya, Rarity,” Applejack nodded in agreement. “What gives her the right to pick on someone else? We should help her.”

“Oh good idea!” Rainbow said, cracking her knuckles. “It’s go time!”

She prepared to rush toward Carrie’s abuser, when Twilight grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“Hold on a minute!” Twilight spoke. “We can just rush headfirst without thinking what to do.”

“What are we supposed to do?” Rainbow asked. “Just stand here and let jerks like her pick on that girl?”

“Noo…” Twilight sighed in annoyance. “We need to think of a plan on settling this without starting a fight.”

Fluttershy watched as her friends were discussing what to do before facing the girl being picked on without a means of defending herself, while a group of other girls joined Chris in tormenting Carrie. Seeing this reminded Fluttershy of being picked on when she was a filly at Junior Flight Camp, least until Rainbow Dash defended her. She felt the need to help this girl, but also worried what those girls would do to her if she did. Finally, Fluttershy took a deep breath, found her courage, and proceeded towards Carrie’s direction.

Spike was the only one who saw his friend walked towards the group, catching a glimpse of the determination on her face. He quickly approached his friends, who were still trying to determine what to do of this situation. He quickly tapped Twilight’s shoulder.

“Uh, guys?” He spoke worriedly. “I don’t think we need to discuss this.”

“How come?” Pinkie asked.

“Because Fluttershy’s already heading over there.”

The girls looked toward Spike’s direction, his finger facing where Fluttershy’s going. The girls watched in shock as their friend actually approached the group tormenting the girl. Soon as she finally reached her destination, Fluttershy uttered three simple words:

“Leave her alone!”

The moment Fluttershy spoke, the girls turned away from the girl they were picking on and drew their attention toward the owner of the voice. Chris glared fiercely toward the pink-haired girl.

“Excuse me?” She asked rudely. “What did you justsay?”

As Chris glared at her, Fluttershy felt rather nervous. She had a feeling this would happen, but something inside her insisted she’d stay strong. Finding her courage again, she stared down the aggressive girl.

“I said, ‘Leave her alone!’” She repeated. “Please…?”

Before Chris could retort, she stopped the moment she realized Fluttershy wasn’t alone. For standing closely behind her, Twilight and the rest soon arrived putting the numbers on her side. Seeing they were at a slight disadvantage, Chris’s group turned to leave to which Christ was not happy. After seeing her friends leave, she once more faced the group… her eyes specifically toward Fluttershy.

“You’re going to regret this…” She threatened, walking away.

Soon as the bullies were gone, Fluttershy turned her attention to the girl she defended. Slowly and cautiously, Fluttershy approached the timid girl, who shook with fear toward the girl walking toward her.

“It’s okay,” Fluttershy spoke softly. “I won’t hurt you.”

“Why… did you do that?” Carrie asked, looking up.

“I saw how those girls were rudely picking on you, treating you so badly,” Fluttershy explained. “I couldn’t just stand around and do nothing could I?”

Eventually, when the young girl was calm enough, Fluttershy thought it was a good time to introduce herself.

“My name is Fluttershy. Could you please tell me your name?”

The girl looked shy, uncertain if she should tell this stranger her name. But she acknowledged that this same girl defended her from those bullies when no one else would. So perhaps there was no harm in saying her name.

“My name is Carrie,” She responded. “Carrie White.”

“Carrie… that’s a beautiful name,” Fluttershy smiled. “It’s nice to meet you.”

She held her hand out toward Carrie, who looked at it curiously before holding out her own hand. Their hands grasp each other as they shook up and down. Fluttershy could see a friendly smile form on Carrie’s face and she in turn smiled back. Once they were done, Fluttershy turned back to her friends seeing the surprised looks on their faces.

“These are some friends of mine I’d like you to meet Carrie,” Fluttershy spoke. “If that’s okay with you.”

“I’m okay with it,” Carrie responded.

Fluttershy smiled as she led Carrie to her friends.

“Everyone, this is Carrie,” Fluttershy introduced. “These are my friends Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Twilight Sparkle.”

Carrie said nothing but rather she waved her hand awkwardly.

“It’s very nice to meet you Carrie darling,” Rarity greeted kindly.

“Wassup dude!” Rainbow waved.

“Howdy!” Applejack tipped her hat.

As everyone introduced themselves, Twilight eyes the young girl curiously. Her alicorn senses detected something emanating within her, a powerful magic of sorts from this one girl. Certainly odd considering she looked like an ordinary teenage girl. But then, Twilight thought of herself as a regular old unicorn before her magical abilities really took off.

Finally, Fluttershy and Carrie turned toward Twilight, who quickly shook her head and regained her senses.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Carrie,” Twilight spoke, extending a hand.

Twilight reached out and gently shook her hand. And at the moment their hands connected, Twilight felt a magical surge like static electricity. All of which only confirmed her suspicion that much more.

“CAAARRIETTAAAAAA!!!”

A scream like a banshee sent the girls and Spike looking back, with Carrie’s eyes wide with fear. Stepping out of a vehicle, a hysteric older woman stormed toward the group with a hint of fury in her eyes. This was none other than Margaret White herself, Carrie’s mother, and she did not look happy.

“Whores… how dare you lay a hand on my daughter?!” The mother shouted.

“We were just talking—” Twilight spoke.

But Twilight never got to finish. Margaret just shoved her aside much to the shock of her friends. While they went to check on Twilight, Margaret grabbed Carrie’s arm and yanked her away toward the car. She eyed toward the colorful looking teens briefly with detest in her eyes.

“And you!” Margaret hissed at Carrie. “I told you, Carrie, didn’t I? I warned you of girls like them! That you are not to ‘speak’ to those sinners!”

“I’m sorry, Momma!” Carrie cried. “I just fell, and they were just—”

*SLAP!!!*

“You hush up when you’re mom’s talking!” Margaret snapped.

Carrie had to force herself not to cry as she clutched the side of her face. To say that Twilight and her friends were horrified by this display, in public especially, was vividly disturbing.

“They are Whores, Carrie, and that’s a sin! A sin to even consort with them!”

“Momma, please, I’m so sorry—”

“Get in the car! We’ll fix you straight up! By God’s good word, I’ll have you straightened out whether you like it or not!”

They watched as the mother practically shoved Carrie into the front seat of the car, slamming the door before the girl could object or say a word. She worked her way to the driver’s side and upon reaching the door took one more look back toward the newly arrived strangers. They have had their share of encounters with nasty parents prior but seeing this woman before them… all of them paled in comparison to Margaret. Such hatred within her eyes, never taking them off the girls even as she finally got into the car and started the engine. All the group could do was look on as the car made its way out away from the school to destinations unknown.

“Well! Such repulsive behavior!” Rarity cringed in disgust. “And that language of hers was worse for wear!”

“Y’all see the way she just… looked at us?” Applejack asked.

“You think she was like a Changeling who doesn’t even ‘try’ to hide their identity,” Rainbow remarked.

“I’ve got a bad feeling that I just can’t shake,” Twilight spoke up. “We need to follow them.”

“But how?” Spike asked. “We don’t know this area, and even if we did, we’d hardly keep up with them without attracting attention.”

A sigh escaped Twilight’s lips as she slipped her hands into the pocket of her pants. Suddenly, her eyes went up with confusion as she felt her fingers brush something in the right pocket. Curious, she lifted her hand out and from her grasp she discovered what appeared to be a rectangular device with a few squares for buttons. The rest of the group looked at the device in Twilight’s hand.

“What’s that?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

Without giving an answer, Twilight Sparkle pushed a button on the device and a *BEEP! BEEP!* was heard. Suddenly, a rumble like that of an engine caused the group to turn heads and their faces dropped. Reving up to the group on its own accord, a bright purple car matching Twilight’s skin tone slowly pulled up toward them before coming to a complete stop. Twilight herself couldn’t believe her eyes.

“It’s… my car?” Twilight asked.

“Huh?!” The group gasped.

“What the what--?” Rainbow spoke.

While they all stared wide eyed, with their mouths agape at the sight, Twilight walked around the car examining it with her own eyes. Not another word was spoken until Rainbow slowly turned her head towards Twilight.

“Where in the world did you get this?” She asked bewildered.

“Well, I often needed some transportation when I was at Canterlot High,” Twilight responded, eyeing the device. “It’s funny… I forgot I still had this since my last visit. But how’d all this get here—”

Twilight was at a loss for words, trying to piece all of this together. Rainbow slowly turned her head back to the car staring at it.

“So… you have a car… Storm has a speeder and a starship,” She whispered. “I need to get an awesome ride before I lose my coolness!”

Once all was settled, and amazed they were all able to fit, Twilight drove herself and her friends in her car following as closely behind Margaret and Carrie. Of course, she had to drive a safe distance to avoid arousing any suspicion. This way they could follow the pair to wherever they were going without them knowing they were followed. Eventually they noticed Margaret turned the car down a desolate road heading deep into the woods. Twilight turned her car in the same direction, following them.

“Is it just me or are things starting to get rather eerie?” Rarity asked nervously.

“Nope, I’m with you on that one Rarity,” Spike agreed.

“Where the hay are they even going anyway?” Applejack asked.

“No idea,” Rainbow responded. “But I guarantee this is not going to be good.”

Fluttershy looked out the window of the car, toward the darkness of the trees they passed by. As they drove along, she thought she could make out a dark figure in the trees. She noticed a familiar pair of red glowing eyes staring directly at them and she released a terrified yelp.

“Fluttershy, are you alright darling?” Rarity asked concerned.

“I-I-I s-saw it!” Fluttershy shook fearfully.

“Saw what?”

“That monster we saw back in Coolsville. It’s back!”

Everyone looked out the window Fluttershy had been staring out of, only they saw absolutely nothing.

“You sure you aren’t just seeing things again Flutters?” Rainbow asked skeptically.

“Now don’t go teasin’ Fluttershy now hon,” Applejack lightly scolded.

“But I didn’t imagine it!” Fluttershy squeaked. “It was there! I know it!”

As they discussed the matter, Twilight continued to follow Margaret and Carrie. Eventually, she noticed a clearing in the trees and Margaret eventually pulled her car to a stop. Twilight pulled her own over the side of the road, setting it to park.

“Okay guys, looks like we follow on foot the rest of the way,” Twilight informed the others. “Remember: Stay low and stealthy. We don’t want to be seen.”

All heads nodded as they proceeded to step out of the car and snuck their way down towards the clearing. Once they finally reached the edge of the tree-lines, their eyes went wide by what they saw. There, in the midst of the clearing, was a large white church surrounded by a series of other small cottages and structures. A large wooden arch stretched between two cottages in front of the church, with ornate words printed upon it.

The Church of Eden’s Gate

“What in the name of Celestia’s good grace is this place?” Twilight whispered to herself.

“Looks like Margaret is taking Carrie inside,” Fluttershy pointed out.

Sure enough, Margaret and Carrie approached the two white oak doors serving as the church entrance. Standing in front of it were two men wearing dirty trench coats and holding machine guns. Poor Carrie looked very uneasy and scared at the sight of the two men alone. Margaret, meanwhile, seemed completely calm and collected. The guards merely took one look at Margaret and held the doors open for them. Soon the two women were already entering the church.

“Great! Those guys look intense,” Rainbow observed. “How’re we getting in?”

“Ooh! Ooh! I got a plan!” Pinkie raised her hand excitedly.

“Here we go again,” Spike groaned to himself.

“Hold on guys,” Twilight spoke up. “Pinkie had a great idea of getting us here in the first place. Let’s at least hear her out. What’s the plan Pinkie?”

“Okay, okay, this is a good one!” Pinkie smiled. “I’ll sneak over into those bushes over there and imitate the call of a wild Kookaburra. In the meantime, Fluttershy will disguise herself as an Aboriginal medicine woman and…”

“You still think this will be a good idea?” Rainbow interrupted.

“Okay, I’ll just cast a spell to make us all invisible so we can sneak in,” Twilight sighed.

Twilight closed her eyes and raised her hands, allowing the magic aura to blanket the entire group. Once it cleared, they all looked down at themselves and noticed they were completely invisible.

“Ah sure… let’s do it the easy way…” Pinkie murmured.

The two guards remained under tight guard over the doors, their eyes never turning away from the forward direction. Suddenly, they heard a rustling sound and turned to the left noticing the bushes swaying about. Setting the safety off their guns, they slowly stalked their way toward the bush to investigate. Little did they know, the heavy doors to the church seemed to open all by themselves. It held open for a few more seconds until the doors slowly sealed back shut before the guards returned.

Inside the church, the now invisible group of travelers cautiously made their way through. They had to tread lightly in case their footsteps might risk giving them away. Eventually, they were at the spot where a few people would gather for the sermons and hymns. But in their eyes they saw only a handful of people, among them Margaret and Carrie sitting closely together. The group found themselves an empty bench and took their seats just as four individuals made their presence felt before the gathering.

One of them was a tall man with red hair shaved off on the sides (And swept to one side) with a beard to match. He wore a dark pair of cargo pants, a white t-shirt, and a military fatigue over it. The second was slightly smaller than the other with a swept back head of dark hair and matching beard. He wore dark pants, a blue button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a dark vest over it. A young woman walked in behind them with dirty blonde hair and wore a white lace dress adorned with flowers.

The three of them stepped up to the front waiting in anticipation. Carrie wondered exactly what it is they were waiting for. But her inner questioned was soon answered when another man made his way. The man himself was dressed in black pants, a white button down shirt, and topped with a dark vest. He also wore a pair of yellow aviators over his hypnotizing blue eyes. His black hair was slicked back and tied into a small man bun with a matching beard to boot. The minute he stepped inside, everyone besides Carrie stood in awe of his presence. Clearly the man had something about him that made everyone stand in respect.

Carrie sat in silence with her mother, watching the mysterious man walk toward the podium set up. The other three stood alongside him as he looked out amongst the gathered crowd from behind his aviators. Closing his eyes a moment, he stretched out his arms to the side and looked up high before slowly looking back down to the gathering. He spoke in a voice that was so soft yet could carry for a great distance.

“The end is coming,” He spoke. “You can feel it, can’t you? You can feel that we are creeping towards the edge. The Great Collapse is upon us. I know there are some of you out there that may not believe what I say, but when you wake up in the morning you see the same news I do. Do your eyes not fill with horror? We live in a world of fear, anger, and confusion. Communities torn apart, walls being built, your leaders far too impotent to act. They are bullies too weak to lead. That is the world that you have built. Are you proud of it? Or do you feel powerless, lost, alone? You can feel it. I know that you can feel it.”

As the man spoke, Carrie couldn’t help but find herself drawn to his words. Everything the man was saying made so much sense to her. The world hurtling toward its own destruction, yet no one in charge seemed to be doing anything about it.

“The thing is, that world’s hurtling towards its own destruction,” The man continued. “No one is will to do anything about it! But I am. I started this project for you.”

As he spoke, he held up a white book with gold trimmings all around it. In the center of the book resembled some form of cross but definitely a strange one.

“Now I do not claim to be a perfect man, but I saw what was coming and I chose to act. I chose to lead, and all I ask of you is to trust me. I will keep you safe, I will keep you fed, I will keep you clothed, and I will give you purpose. But you must have faith. Something is coming and I will protect you. I am your father and you… are my children. Together we will march to Eden’s Gate.”

The moment he finished speaking, everyone in the room stood upon their feet for a standing ovation. They clapped and cheered as they felt his words coursing through them. Even Carrie found herself clapping as she looked upon the man who called himself ‘The Father’. This provided an ample opportunity for Twilight and the others to sneak their way out of the church to leave. And yet out of the entire congregation, one face looked back in curiosity as if suspecting he heard a disturbance in the church. Yet it wasn’t so much a suspicious gaze about him… but rather curious.

Later that evening, at the local motel in Chamberlain, the Mane Six and Spike sat around their room discussing what exactly they’ve seen today.

“Can any pony explain to me what the pony feathers just happened?” Rainbow asked amazed.

“Darling, your guess is just about as good as the rest of ours,” Rarity responded.

“I’m mostly disappointed the church didn’t have a choir,” Pinkie sighed disappointed. “I love getting up and singing. Not to mention when they throw their hands in the air and…”

“Okay Pinkie, can we get to the really important matter at hand here?” Spike asked her.

Twilight found herself pacing around in a circle thinking about everything they had all seen. Then she suddenly froze in her spot as her eyes went wide.

“Oh my gosh guys, this is exactly why we were brought here!” She realized. “Think about what Princess Luna said. She mentioned a girl covered in blood and I’d bet anything this girl was Carrie. Which means that man that was speaking today, he must be the one who shot Luna in the head.”

“I admit this whole thing was pretty weird today Twilight, but how can you truly guarantee that’s true?” Rarity asked.

“Honestly I’m putting my bits on the guy with the camo,” Rainbow spoke up. “He looks more like the ‘Shoot first, ask later’ kind of human.”

“It’s pretty clear these people are some sort of religious cult,” Twilight answered. “If I know anything about cults, they’ll enforce their beliefs by any means necessary even if it means causing destruction.”

“So it’s like that ‘Our Town’ joint if they decided to go to war with Equestria?” Spike added, then cleared his throat. “Or at least… how I imagined it could’ve been…”

“But something doesn’t make any sense,” Fluttershy spoke. “Why would they be interested in Carrie?”

“When we first met her today, I felt a powerful force emanating from her. A powerful magic of sorts deep within her. I suspect her mother knows about it, which is why she took her to that church today.”

“That woman is all loco-moco in the coconuts I’ll tell you what,” Pinkie remarked. “Seriously, she looks like every other Karen or Spoiled Rich who ruins every party at their neighbor’s house.”

“What’re we to do about all this Twi?” Applejack asked.

“We’ll need to protect Carrie by any means,” Twilight responded. “I’m thinking we head back to that high school tomorrow so we can register as transfer students. That way we’ll keep our eyes out for her the best we can, and hopefully keep her safe.”

“Right! But we better avoid drawing too much attention,” Spike suggested. “We’ve already made ‘two’ enemies in one day, that Chris girl and Carrie’s crazy mother. If those church people were to know we were here… ooh boy. Celestia help us…”

Everyone else turned toward one another, contemplating the idea in their heads. But seeing as there was no other choice, they turned back toward Twilight and nodded their heads in agreement.

“We should probably get some sleep,” Twilight spoke. “We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

Unbeknownst to them, right outside their motel room door, a cultist (A seemingly normal tenant) had been listening in on their entire conversation. The man in question pulled out a walkie-talkie from his trench coat pocket, flipped it on, and proceeded to speak through it.

“The Collapse has arrived,” He warned. “Alert the Father. Soon enough, he shall set the sinners free.”

A Terrible Accident

The very next day, the Mane Six and Spike awoke bright and early to take on their newest task ahead of them. Normally on their previous adventures, they’d often be offered to stay with someone. Only this time, they were not afforded such luxuries. This led them to renting a motel room (‘Literally’ a room to fit them all), but thankfully Twilight had plenty of bits. This is where they’d be staying throughout the course of their time here.

Having seen the other day just how badly Carrie was abused, not only by her classmates but her own mother, they realized she truly needed their help. If what Twilight said was true, that she held a powerful magic deep within, if this power ever got out of control it could very well mean devastation for this town… and the world!

“Okay, so how’re we going to pull this off?” Rainbow questioned Twilight.

“Simple,” Twilight responded. “We go to the high school today and speak with the principal. We tell him we are new transfer students starting school today. He gives us our schedules and this way we keep an eye on Carrie while attending the school.”

“Oh, is that all?” Rainbow remarked sarcastically. “I don’t think it’s ‘that’ simple, Twi. We’re full-grown mares and a teenage dragon from another universe. We may look like human teenagers, but we don’t exactly blend well with this crowd.”

“She does have a point darling,” Rarity agreed. “I’m quite certain we’d need some form of proof of a former school we went to. Of which… we have none.”

“Ah gotta agree,” Applejack spoke up.

“Don’t worry girls,” Twilight assured. “If they do start asking questions, I’ll handle it.”

“I just hope we can help poor Carrie before something awful happens,” Fluttershy said worriedly.

“Aw don’t fret Fluttershy,” Pinkie replied, patting her back. “We’ll cheer Carrie up right as rain. We just need to throw her one massive party and hopefully a whole bunch of people will come. Then she’ll be so popular everyone will want to be her best friend!”

“Sure Pinkie, because that will be ‘really’ easy with her crazy religious mom and that weird cult hanging around,” Spike replied deadpanned.

“C’mon guys, we’ve got work to do!” Twilight declared. “So let’s get to it!”

Soon the enter group gathered everything they needed and made their way out of the motel toward Twilight’s car parked in the lot up front. Everyone piled in one-by-one with Twilight taking the driver’s seat and starting up the car. They pulled out of the lot and drove down the road towards the high school.

The minute the car was out of sight, an Eden’s Gate cultist approached their motel door and used a lockpick to unlock it. He soon reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small canister of some sort as he proceeded into the room. What exactly was he up to? Only God knows…

The school day officially started at Ewan High School, as a number of students made their way through the front doors for another day of learning. Twilight and the others made their way inside as well, instantly working towards the principal’s office.

“I’m just gonna say it again,” Spike said nervously. “This is a bad idea…”

“Don’t worry your little head Spike!” Pinkie assured him. “I have a bonified, guaranteed, super-sure way of getting us in easy-peasy rice and cheesy.”

“I’m afraid to ask, but… what is it?”

“You’ll see…”

Soon the entire group made it into the principal’s office and before their eyes was Principal Mortan, a middle-aged, overweight African American man sitting at his desk. The moment he noticed the six girls and one boy walk into his office, he put on a smile.

“How can I help you all today?” He asked.

“Hello sir, we’re new transfer students,” Twilight informed him. “My friends and I wanted to see about getting our schedules.”

“Transfer students?” Morton questioned. “How strange, I hadn’t been given any information on transfers recently. It’s especially unusually this grade, and so late in the school year. But… don’t worry, I can see about completing your transfer.”

“Thank you very much,” Twilight thanked him.

Morton started typing on the computer set up on his desk as he began the process of transferring them to the school.

“I’ll just need your addresses and contact information from your parents or legal guardians so we can put together your transfer requests. I’ll also need proof of your parents’ residency, such as a utility bill, or a mortgage lease, assuming you’ve just moved to town. We’ll also need proof of your parents’ custody of you, birth certificates, or adoption papers if that applies. Your parents will also need to give us your medical records to ensure we know of any health-related issues you might have and be sure you’ve all had the necessary shots. And of course, we’ll need your transcripts from your previous school or schools. Once that’s all put in, we’ll try to push this through in a few weeks and get you into class.”

Hearing all the information required just to get into this place made everyone’s eyes widen and they started feeling nervous about the whole thing.

“Okay Twi, time to start taking care of it like you said,” Rainbow whispered to Twilight.

“Now then, can I get your parents’ phone numbers?” Morton asked.

Just as Twilight made to speak, Pinkie held a single arm in front of her stopping her in her tracks. Twilight eyed Pinkie curiously, as the pink party girl approached the desk and stood right in front of Morton. Slowly she waved her hand in front of his face, performing a Jedi mind trick.

“You don’t need to see any of that stuff…” She said.

“On second thought, I don’t need to see any of that stuff,” Morton spoke hypnotized.

“We’re normal trustworthy teenage girls…”

“You’re normal trustworthy teenage girls…”

“So, we can just have the same schedule as Carrie White and get to class…”

“So, you can just have the same schedule as Carrie White and get to class…”

The principal handed them their schedules and they each grabbed one.

“Have a nice day!” Pinkie waved goodbye.

“Have a nice day!” Morton waved back.

The Mane Six and Spike waved with wide smiles, and quickly left the office with the papers. Walking down the halls, they released a sigh of relief before facing Pinkie Pie.

“That was a close one!” Rainbow sighed surprised. “Good job, Pinkie.”

“Don’t thank me, thank Master Yoda,” Pinkie smiled, pointing to the sky.

“Why the hay did none of that come up in Canterlot High?!” Twilight asked.

“Maybe that world worked more on the honor system,” Rarity guessed. “Or… the school really needs to update their security and admissions process…”

Carrie White walked to school that morning feeling anxious and depressed as she always did whenever she approached the horrid place. Every day going to school, she was a constant source of torment, bullied ruthlessly by Chris Hargensen and her friends. All the more reason why she was always so hesitant to even go to school every day.

She decided to just keep her head down, and maybe if she walked as quickly as she could through the halls, she wouldn’t run into any of them. Once again, however, she ended up running right smack dab into someone due to her keeping her head down and not watching where she was going. This caused her to drop all her materials onto the floor.

“Oh, I’m really sorry about that,” A male voice spoke. “I should really watch where I’m going.”

Carrie looked up toward who she just run into and the moment she saw who it was, her eyes went wide. She stared in utter shock toward the young man standing above her, a boy just a slight older than she was with dark brown hair spiked up and a pair of sterling grey eyes. He wore a dark leather jacket, a grey t-shirt, and a pair of jeans with matching sneakers. He was certainly a very handsome young man with white sparkling teeth as he smiled toward her and held his hand out to her.

“Let me help you up,” He offered.

Carrie shied away at first only because she was worried that he’d bully her or torment her like everyone else. However, looking into those sterling eyes though she noticed only kindness and compassion. So slowly, ever so slowly, she reached her hand out and grasped his own as he gently lifted her back to her feet.

“Like I said, I’m really sorry I ran into you,” He apologized again.

Carrie looked like she wanted to respond, but she was so nervous and scared that she just knelt toward the floor to pick up her stuff. The young man in question leaned down as well, helping the girl who merely kept her face down. He grabbed for a white covered book, and suddenly his eyes went wide the moment he noticed the golden Eden’s Gate cross on the cover.

“What’s this?” He asked her.

Carrie looked up and noticed the bible in his hand. She gasped loudly before quickly reaching out and snatched it quickly.

“It’s nothing!” She answered quickly. “Please don’t touch it again.”

“Hey, no worries!” The boy said defensively. “What can I say? I’m a curious guy.”

Carrie stood back to her full height and the boy did the same as he kept looking at her.

“So… Eden’s Gate huh?” He asked.

Carrie quickly made her way to walk by him, to avoid any further conversation with him. But she quickly stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She gulped in fear as she turned back toward the boy, ready for the torment and ridicule she was sure would follow. What caught her entirely surprised, however, was seeing him reach into his own backpack and revealed an identical copy of the bible she had.

“Guess we both follow the word of Joseph,” He smiled.

He once again stuck his hand to her, only this time in a more ‘greeting’ type of fashion.

“Name’s Derick Collins,” He introduced himself.

Carrie merely looked at the outstretched hand for a moment before slowly reaching out and shaking it delicately.

“C-C-Carrie White,” She stammered.

Derick Collins smiled toward the shy teenager and couldn’t help but think how completely cute it was of her trying (And failing) to hide her blushing.

“Well hopefully I’ll get to see you around again soon… Carrie.”

With that in question, Derick turned heel and started walking down the hall as the young girl looked on. A strange feeling started to build inside of her, something she never felt after speaking with ‘anyone’ (Least not in years). But this boy, whom she barely knew, treated her as no different compared to anyone else… and they are apparently both part of the same group. If he was there at some of the sermons she was taken to with her mother, a shame she hadn’t known him sooner. Because the more she thought of Derick, as she looked down the hall, the bigger the smile formed as thoughts raced through her head.

Later…

Carrie White walked around the school swimming pool with several other students. Amongst the whole group, she was the only one wrapped in a towel covering her body from the top of her neck to around her legs. The sound of laughter made Carrie freeze, as several girls emerged in swimsuits just smiling and laughing. These were the popular girls known as ‘The Ultras’ consisting of: Sue Snell, Chris Hargensen, Heather Shryes, Tina Blake, Nikki and Lizzy Thibodeau, among others.

Carrie stood out of the why shyly, as several guys approached the swimsuit wearing girls. One boy, Tommy Ross, hugged Sue Snell and shared a kiss together. Carrie watched the kiss with such envy over their affection for one another. The like of which Carrie has never experienced in her entire life. In the meantime, Twilight Sparkle and her friends were amongst the students dressed in their suits. Truthfully, they were only there because they had the same schedule as Carrie, and they merely wanted to keep an eye on her. But they also knew that unless they took part in some of the school activities, they’d arouse some unwanted suspicion.

“Sue Snell! Tommy Ross! Come on!”

The shout of a teacher’s voice made Sue and Tommy separate and soon all the students dispersed. Before they all got into the pool, Carrie gave one last look toward Tommy, who smiled after Sue before turning to follow. The teacher herself, Miss Rita Desjardin, blew the whistle.

“Let’s go, ladies!” Miss Desjardin called out. “In the water! Caps on, please! Chris and Sue! Let’s go!”

“All right girls!” Rainbow replied, cracking her knuckles. “Time to build some school spirit and bring it to court!”

“Just remember Rainbow, this ‘is’ a team game!” Applejack advised, following her. “It ain’t about you!”

“Aw, come on! This is the Team Captain of the Wonderbolts you’re talking to. I’m all about that team spirit!”

Carrie eyed the girls quietly as she put her swim cap on, while all the other girls jumped into the pool among them Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Two things they noticed: The pool was waist deep, so they wouldn’t have to do a ton of swimming. And the game all these girls were about to play was Water Volleyball, which was a slight advantage for Rainbow and her friends given her two pals have a passing system as they do for Buck Ball (Just no basket).

But as they got ready to compete, Fluttershy couldn’t help but notice that Carrie preferred to stay in the back corner of the pool as if she was intentionally straying as far from everyone as possible. Though given the earlier treatment she’d seen Carrie take when they first arrived, the pink haired teen couldn’t blame her in the slightest.

“I want you to keep it in the air three times!” Miss Desjardin instructed. “All right?”

Carrie stood in the corner, watching the other girls play. Twilight Sparkle, along with Spike, Applejack and Rarity, cheered for their friends on the sideline. Sue struck the ball over the net.

“Yeah, Sue!” Chris cheered.

The ball came by so fast that Fluttershy jumped back as it splashed in the water near her.

“Don’t be afraid of the ball, ladies! All right, here we go.”

“Oh… it is on!” Rainbow replied.

It was now the other team’s turn to serve the ball. Rainbow Dash took the ball and spiked it so hard, it flew toward the corner of the pool near Carrie. The poor child looked so terrified as the ball floated toward her. All the attention from the other girls fell on the girl in the corner.

“All right, Carrie White!” Miss Desjardin called out. “Let’s get Carrie into the game. You can’t stand on the sidelines all the time.”

“Yeah! Give it a shot, Carrie!” Pinkie called out. “It’s all in good fun!”

Carrie nervously picked up the ball. Chris stared at her with an evil expression.

“Come on! Carrie’s serve!” Miss Desjardin called out.

“Whoo! Do it, Carrie!” Chris sarcastically cheered. “Yeah, yeah! Throw it. Do it. Serve it.”

“What is that girl’s problem?” Spike asked Applejack.

“Ya got me… but I don’t like it,” Applejack answered honestly.

Carrie awkwardly served the ball, and it flew toward the back of Sue Snell’s head.

“Ow!” Sue cried out.

“Ooh…!” The Equestrians cringed.

To say Carrie was mortified was an understatement. Chris and the other girls laughed, even Sue found some good humor in this situation.

“Ow! What the hell?” Sue replied.

Chris laughed hysterically, while Sue joined in (Albeit more sarcastically).

“Ha, ha, ha! It’s so funny, Chris!”

“Are you okay?” Chris chuckled.

“Yeah…”

“Well… always keep ‘em laughing!” Pinkie chuckled, shrugging her shoulder.

Carrie smiled nervously, hoping her blunder wasn’t as bad as she thought. And then… Chris hurled the ball back toward Carrie, and all the other girls (Apart from the Equestrians) kept laughing.

“You eat shit!” Chris shouted.

“Whoa, whoa, WHOA!” Rainbow called out. “Not cool!!”

Carrie frowned and stared toward the water in shame. Once more, the girl felt more ostracized than before. None of this went unnoticed by one of the girls in the pool, Fluttershy, who looked toward Carrie so sympathetically. For a brief moment, Fluttershy could see an image of herself when she was a young girl… the laughing echoing around the sad little filly. She knew the feeling of Carrie’s pain all too well.

After the game, most of the girls were in the locker room. Most of them were showering the chlorine off their bodies, while others were just changing. As they left the showers, Sue and Chris were in the midst of their discussion… mostly about boys.

“No, he didn’t,” Sue spoke.

“Yes, he did!” Chris answered.

“No, he didn’t. You’re making it up.”

“He came up to me and I said, ‘Well, you have to extend your hand…’”

“Now you’re lying…”

Carrie soon entered the showers wearing a towel, she looked around nervously for the other girls. Her arms wrapped tightly around her midsection, terrified and ashamed over the idea of anyone seeing her naked. But it was either wash the chlorine off or smell like pool water for the rest of the entire day. The whole school would get a kick out of it, but that wasn’t what ‘truly’ terrified her…

All the while, the Mane Six and Spike decided to get some information while they had time. After leaving the showers, they found the red-haired gym teacher, Desjardin, trying to clean up the pool. She soon stopped when she noticed the group walking toward her.

“Hi there!” She called out. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Actually Miss Desjardin, there is,” Twilight nodded. “We were just wondering if you could tell us a bit about this town. Seeing as we’re brand new to the area, we don’t really know much about it.”

“Sure!” Miss Desjardin nodded. “What would you kids like to know?”

“We’ve noticed a distinct lack of people in this town,” Rarity brought up. “Now I understand that this isn’t a small town by any means, but even the smallest towns have more residents than this.”

Miss Desjardin sighed loudly, as she looked toward the ground with a shake of her head. When she looked back toward them, they all could see the upset look in her eyes.

“This town used to have more people living here than it currently does,” She confirmed. “But all that changed the day Eden’s Gate rolled in.”

“Eden’s Gate?” Spike questioned.

“Yeah, they’re that religious cult I’m sure you’ve probably seen wandering this town.”

“What’s their story?” Applejack asked.

“Well years ago, they first appeared in a small community in Montana known as Hope County,” Desjardin explained. “They started out small and friendly, but soon enough it got out of control. They started buying up all the farms in the area, got ahold of the radio stations, entire towns, and before too long even had the cops on their pay roll. There wasn’t a single ounce of territory that they didn’t control. It was their own little sovereign community, built right under the people’s noses.”

“Dear Faust!” Rarity gasped.

“Wait! You said they started small and friendly,” Rainbow pointed out. “Does that mean things started turning ugly?”

“Not a whole lot’s known about this group before they came,” Miss Desjardin admitted. “One thing I do know though is that the government started sending strike teams to deal with the problem they possessed. No one knows of any of them that came back. Soon their reach started getting out of the country and within a few years, they expanded all across the U.S.”

“So why come to Chamberlain?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

“That’s what I don’t seem to understand. There’s nothing of real use for them here. I have no idea why they’d want to come here.”

“Can you tell us about the one’s leading them?” Twilight asked.

“Well the cult was founded and still run by Joseph Seed,” Miss Desjardin informed. “Crazy bastard calls himself ‘the Father’. He believes that some sort of ‘Great Collapse’ will hit, and the world will be engulfed in fire and blood.”

Hearing those two specific words made Twilight freeze in place. Fire… and blood. It reminded her of Princess Luna’s nightmare. At that moment, she could confirm this cult was exactly what they were sent here to stop.

“Then of course there’s his brother John,” Rita continued. “He’s the Baptist of the cult. Sends his goons out randomly and they start taking random people kicking and screaming into the woods for some sort of ‘cleansing’. Never heard of any he’s taken coming back.”

Fluttershy visibly trembled and shook hearing such information.

“Then there’s Faith, the little sister. I’ve heard reports of people losing their minds in a place called ‘the Bliss’. From what I’ve heard about Faith, she’s a liar and a manipulator who plays the sweet, innocent damsel-in-distress to fool people into helping her. When she gets you, there’s no going back.”

Soon Rarity joined Fluttershy in shaking in fear.

“And lastly, there’s the oldest of them: Jacob. A former military soldier who lost his mind on the battlefield. Then when he came back, he joined his brothers and became the one training the new recruits for the cult. From what I hear, he’s pretty damn good at it. In his mind, you’re either strong… or you are dead.”

Once she was finally alone, Carrie hung up her towel on the stands under the shower. She turned on the water and run her hands over her head, trying to relieve herself of all the stress. She took a bar of soap and started cleaning the rest of her body. Suddenly, she looked down and dropped the bar of soap in shock… spotting blood upon it. But the horror of it all came from the blood coursing down her legs onto the wet floor. Soon there was blood all over her hands. Poor Carrie was so terrified that she screamed.

“HELP! HELP!” Carrie shouted. “HELP ME!”

Carrie wrapped the towel around herself and ran out of the shower in a panic. Soon she ran right into the other girls.

“Help me!” Carrie begged.

She grabbed for Sue, her eyes begging for help. Sue pushed her away, thinking she’s just acting out.

“Get off me, you freak!”

“Please!”

The girls see a bloody handprint left on Sue’s shirt.

“Oh, my God!” Chris cried out. “Look what she did to your shirt.”

“Please!” Carrie sobbed.

Carrie grabbed Chris, who pushed her away. The other girls were a tad freaked out by the outburst, while Carrie was utterly terrified.

“Stop! Stop! Settle down!” Chris called out.

“I think I’m bleeding to death!” Carrie bawled. “Please!”

Carrie backed up, hugging herself trying to stop the bleeding. The realization hit Chris like a ton of bricks.

“Oh, my God, it’s period blood!”

“What?” Sue questioned. “Oh, my God.”

“I’m bleeding!” Carrie cried. “I think I’m dying!”

The other girls, though shocked, laughed over what they assumed to be an overreaction. Carire didn’t know what was happening with her, and she cried in sheer terror.

“PLEASE HELP ME!” Carrie begged.

“It’s just your period!” Chris spoke.

Soon Chris opened a locker, revealing a stack of tampons, pads, and sanitary cloths. She grabbed a tampon and held it out to Carrie.

“Just plug it up.”

Unfortunately, Carrie didn’t understand. She grabbed for Chris’ hand in desperation, but the latter pulled away though her hand was now bloody.

“Help me!” Carrie cried.

And Chris just laughed, mockingly imitating Carrie’s panic. The girls couldn’t help but laugh at Carrie’s overreaction.

“Oh, God!” Chris spoke.

“Oh! She got you,” Sue pointed out.

“Help me!” Carrie sobbed hysterically.

“God, just plug it up!” Sue groaned in frustration.

“HELP!”

Soon the girls started advancing on Carrie, chanting ‘Plug it up! Plug it up!’. Carrie backed into the shower area, falling to the floor. She was so scared, so confused, thinking she’s dying and had no idea what’s happening. Only Sue remained behind, her smile shrinking as she realized something really wasn’t right. All the other girls just threw tampons and maxi pads at Carrie, who crawled back hysterically crying, clutching the blood-stained towel around herself.

“I’m sorry… No!” Carrie cried.

The girls’ chanting and laughing continued. Chris pulled out her phone and began recording a video of Carrie screaming on the floor. The chanting from the girls filled the background, as feminine products pelted the defenseless child. Sue kept watch, only now realizing things have gone too far. Carrie curled into a fetal position on the floor, crying her eyes out while Chris kept the phone aimed at her.

All of a sudden, the teacher’s voice came over the changing.

“LADIES! LADIES!”

Miss Desjardin pushed through the crowd of girls, with the Equestrians close behind her. The group gasped in shock when they saw Carrie sobbing on the floor, surrounded by tampons and tissues. Desjardin too was shocked but tried to regain control of the situation. Carrie grasped at her, begging hysterically for help.

“Oh, my Faust!” Rarity gasped.

“What happened in here?!” Spike asked, horrified.

“It’s okay! It’s all right…” Desjardin spoke. “She’s not hurt!”

“Help me!” Carrie sobbed.

“It’s okay, hon,” Applejack reassured. “We’re here for ya.”

“Stand up. Let’s get you cleaned up,” Desjardin instructed.

Desjardin and a few of Twilight’s friends approached Carrie, trying to calm her down.

“Help me, help me!” Carrie sobbed.

By now Sue, and even the other girls, stopped laughing at the situation. All they could now was watch the scene play out before them.

“Come on, Carrie,” Fluttershy spoke softly. “Let’s get you to a nurse. Can you stand up?”

“It hurts!” Carrie cried. “Something’s not right.”

Sue walked beside Miss Desjardin and the Equestrians.

“Okay, okay. What are you talking about?” Miss Desjardin asked.

“Ms. Desjardin, I don’t think she knows it’s her period,” Sue spoke up.

“NO! NO!” Carrie shouted.

By now, Carrie had totally lost her composure. One by one, the tampons and pads around Carrie suddenly jumped backwards across the floor all by themselves. Some of the Equestrians reeled back as some of the pads touched near their feet. Then above them, the lights started to flicker followed by an electrical hum.

“Twi… what’s going on?” Spike asked nervously.

“I don’t know Spike…” Twi answered.

“All right, Sue. Get out of here!” Miss Desjardin spoke. “You’re not helping.”

Sue quickly backed off but the madness continued.

“NO! NO!” Carrie shouted.

“CALM DOWN!” Miss Desjardin shouted.

*SLAP!*

Miss Desjardin slapped Carrie across the face, snapping her out of her hysterics. Carrie finally quieted down, while the entire was dead silent. Twilight, the other girls, and Spike gasped in shock seeing a teacher strike a student’s face like that. But they had no words to describe what they saw.

“Everyone get out!” Miss Desjardin called out. “Now! Out!”

The other girls obeyed and turned to leave. Even Twilight and her friends had no choice but to step aside, leaving Miss Desjardin to comfort Carrie.

“Okay, deep breaths,” Miss Desjardin instructed calmly. “Come here. Come on. It’s okay. You’re okay, sweetie.”

Miss Desjardin slowly hugged Carrie toward her.

“It’s totally normal. Shh… do you know what it means?”

The thought of which made Carrie twitch. The overhead light suddenly sparked and went out. The girls, as well as Miss Desjardin, gasped or yelped in alarm. The Equestrians looked on as the teacher held Carrie, shielding her from any damage from the light. The other girls made a hasty retreat, all except for the Equestrians and Sue. When Twilight Sparkle looked back, she could see the guilty expression on Sue’s face. By now, Carrie was more calm yet still confused.

“Okay, sweetie…” Miss Desjardin sighed.

*RING!!!*

The school bell rang across the school. Carrie, now dressed in normal clothes, was brought into Principal Morton’s office along with Miss Desjardin. The Equestrians happened to be outside the office, listening in on the conversation.

“Are you, uh, feeling better?” Principal Morton asked. “Can I get you some aspirin?”

Carrie gasped and flinched as he tried to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. He backed away, realizing it’s not going to help.

“Some juice or something?”

“’Juice’?” Miss Desjardin groaned. “Really, Henry?”

Carrie sat in the chair in front of the principal’s desk. Principal Morton sat behind his desk, and Miss Desjardin leaned against the desk, hovering over Carrie.

“Maybe you just want us to leave you alone,” Principal Morton suggested.

“Carrie, honey, I am so sorry that I slapped you,” Miss Desjardin apologized. “I should have handled it better. It’s totally normal for young girls to get their periods. It usually actually happens a little bit earlier. Is this your first time?”

Carrie just looked toward Miss Desjardin with a total blank expression. She didn’t understand anything that’s happened or what her teacher was talking about. Miss Desjardin motioned to sit beside Carrie. Principal Morton could see the bloody handprint and looked a slight queasy. A sigh escaped Miss Desjardin’s lips before she continued.

“Honey, do you understand what’s happening to your body? Do you know what it means?”

Principal Morton approached the water cooler in the office corner, filling up a cup

“I don’t know,” Carrie spoke quietly. “I felt something moving down there.”

“Oh honey…” Miss Desjardin sighed.

“Well, maybe you could, uh, talk to a counselor about that or-or a nurse,” Principal Morton suggested, sitting down. “Um, what I need to know is who started throwing… um… things.”

“It was Chris Hargensen and all of her friends,” Miss Desjardin frowned.

“Casey…”

“’Carrie’,” Miss Desjardin corrected.

“Carrie, did Chris Hargensen start this?”

“Honey, you don’t have to protect them,” Miss Desjardin reassured. “What they did was unforgiveable.”

Carrie merely looked down in trepidation, clearly not wanting to talk.

“Okay, uh… it doesn’t seem that Carrie is going to point the finger,” Principal Morton sighed in defeat. “So Ms. Desjardin, I need you to get to the bottom of this. Let the punishment fit the crime.”

“Okay,” Ms. Desjardin nodded, facing Carrie. “Carrie, you’re excused from P.E. class for the rest of the week. Just take study hall, okay? At the library.”

“Yeah. We’re gonna have toc all your mom.”

The mention of her mother made Carrie’s eyes widen with fear. Outside, the group caught on to what the Principal suggested, and they faced each other nervously.

“… What?” Carrie spoke up.

“We’re going to have to call your mother, Carrie,” Principal Morton repeated.

Carrie faced the principal with horror and shook her head. The water cooler behind her started bubbling.

“Well, I know she’s had problems with us in the past,” Principal Morton explained. “Ever since the state stopped her from homeschooling you anymore, but we’ve got to bring her into this, okay?”

“Mm-mmm…” Carrie shook her head. “No…”

Carrie’s shaking grew more adamant. The bubbles in the water cooler started coming faster, a cracking sound could be heard. Twilight could sense something was happening in there… and knew something was wrong.

“Sweetie, we have no choice,” Miss Desjardin explained. “We have to tell your mom what happened.”

“No!” Carrie shouted.

The bottle on top of the water cooler suddenly shattered, sending glass and water everywhere. Principal Morton and Miss Desjardin jumped to their feet in surprise. Carrie just squirmed at the thought of her mother being brought in. She got up and left without another word, only to run into Twilight and her friends.

“Carrie! What happened?” Twilight asked.

But Carrie didn’t answer, instead she shoved her friend aside and stormed away sobbing.

“Carrie!”

At the front of the school, through the distorted glass of the windows, Margaret White walked towards the school. Looking out the window, Carrie was terrified as she watched her mother approach. Carrie sat on a bench near the front doors of the school, waiting for her mother like a prisoner waiting the executioner. Twilight and the others kept a close distance from Carrie, wanting to give the girl some space but also not wanting to risk being seen by Margaret.

Unfortunately, few of them couldn’t keep their distance for rather long. For two boys, sitting beside her, grinned viciously at her.

“Hey! Hey, you!” One boy spoke.

Carrie faced the boys, and the second one made an obscene ‘blowjob’ gesture with his mouth while the other boy just laughed. Rainbow couldn’t stand the way they were teasing her and without thinking she raced forward and shoved one of the boys aside.

“Why don’t you back off pal?!” Rainbow called out. “Who do you think you are talking to her like that?!”

“Hey, you better mind your own business bitch!” The shoved boy threatened. “Or I’ll—WHOA!!!”

The boy didn’t finish when he felt himself lifted off the floor. He was turned around and forced to look right into Applejack’s face, as the girl lifted her with her inhuman strength.

“You’ll wut?!” Applejack asked, frowning.

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” The other boy called out. “It’s cool, all right! We were just fooling around! Can’t you girls take a joke?!”

Applejack merely shook her head and dropped the boy aside, the latter squirming toward his friend as she took Rainbow’s side and they walked away but not before catching Carrie glimpsing toward the girls for a moment.

*RING!!!*

The school bell rang again, and soon the hall filled with students. Carrie closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. Soon a shadow fell over Carrie, and she was forced to open her eyes, as a gasp escaped her lips. Her mother, Margaret, stood over her glaring down at her frame by the lights in the ceiling. Carrie quickly stood without hesitation.

Outside, among all the students leaving, Margaret held Carrie by her arm and shoulder quickly ushering her away. Miss Desjardin walked out, angrily staring over the sidewalk where Chris, Sue, and the rest of their group had gathered.

“Tina, give it to me!” Chris beckoned. “Give it here!”

Tine passed Chris her phone. She held it up showing the footage to her boyfriend, Billy.

“This is brilliant. Look at this video.”

Chris and Billy watched, both of them smiled. The ‘Plug it up’ chant can clearly be heard in the background. Billy took off his sunglasses to be sure what he’s seeing was legit.

“She got her period!” Chris pointed out.

“Whoa-ho-ho-ho!” Billy chuckled.

“On my hand!”

Margaret opened her car door, Carrie right next to her. Carrie could hear the laughter and it was easy to figure out the cause. Sue looked very guilty as Carrie’s mother slammed the car door as Carrie got inside. Carrie looked out the car window, back to the ultras. Chris and Billy are making out, obscuring Sue from her view, and all the others crowded around the phone laughing at the video. The only ones not laughing were Twilight and her friends staring toward the car. Margaret stared at the group with contempt before she too got in the car.

Into the Bliss

For the most part, the drive home in the car was quiet for both Margaret White and her daughter Carrie. They say in tense silence, the like of which that normally occurred with any kid who’s had their parent called for any form of trouble at school. The car rattled and sputtered as they drove through a more rundown section of town.

“I’m sorry you had to come to school today, Mom,” Carrie apologized.

Margaret turned toward her for a second, placing a hand upon Carrie’s. The car’s breaks squeal as it pulled up to their home, the blue house which its neighbors dread passing every day. Margaret sighed in resignation, while Carrie looked down with dread.

“Let’s go inside, little girl,” Margaret said plainly. “You need to come inside with me.”

“Mama, why didn’t you tell me?” Carrie asked. “I was so scared, Mama. I thought I was going to die. Mama, they laughed at me… and they threw things at me.”

But Margaret gave no form of response to satisfy ‘any’ of her questions. She merely stepped out of the car while Carrie looked on.

“We’ll talk about this inside, Carrie,” She responded.

Carrie got out of the car, but she was still upset and confused.

“No!” Carrie spoke loudly.

Margaret turned and faced Carrie, surprised over the sudden outburst. Yet there her daughter stood, trying to sound braver than she ever felt in her entire life.

“I want to talk about it right here!” She continued. “I don’t… I don’t want to go inside with you.”

Margaret merely turned and walked into the house. Realizing her own mother would not give her the satisfaction, Carrie sat back in the passenger seat of the car. She tried to think, to make sense out of ‘everything’ that happened in one day, but no answer she could think of would satisfy the strange happenings in this town.

All of a sudden, a bratty neighbor kid on a bike slapped the driver’s side window, startling poor Carrie.

“Crazy Carrie, Crazy Carrie!”

The kid pressed his face to the glass with a snort. Carrie merely sighed in annoyance, for this wasn’t the only time a neighbor referred to her as ‘crazy’… especially to her face. But kids such as this one… they were far worse. The kid rode his bike around the front of the car shouting:

“Crazy Carrie, Crazy Carrie!”

One glare from Carrie and all of a sudden the kid’s bike flew over, sending the kid rolling on the grass. Carrie’s eyes went wide, as she wondered, ‘Did I do that?’. The kid, a slight scared by her expression and the ‘coincidental’ fall, picked himself up, grabbed his bike, and rode away. Carrie looked up toward the sun peeking through trees, then back toward the house. Eventually, Carrie decided to go into the house knowing her mother would be waiting for her.

Suddenly, as she set the book bag on a chair, heavy thud drew her attention upstairs. She climbed up the steps, growing more upset. She went into her mother’s bedroom only to find Margaret sitting in a corner, muttering to herself, and striking her head against the wall.

“Please Father, help my child,” Margaret prayed. “She’s lost~”

“Mama, stop it,” Carrie spoke softly.

But Margaret, ignoring her, kept slamming her head against the wall, harder and faster.

“MAMA!”

Margaret finally stopped and looked toward Carrie, as if just noticing she’s there for the first time.

“I don’t want to upset you,” Carrie said.

Carrie sat beside her mother and Margaret just turned her head to look at her daughter.

“So, you’re a woman now,” She spoke disappointed.

To which Carrie nodded tentatively in response.

“And God made Eve from the rib of Adam,” Margaret preached.

Carrie shook her head, growing upset by the minute.

“And what, Carrie? Say it.”

“No, Mama~”

“Say it.”

“Talk to me! Please just talk to me!”

“And Eve was weak…”

“I just want you to talk to me!”

“And the first sin…”

“Just talk to me~”

“And the first sin…”

“I just want you to talk to me!”

“Was the sin of intercourse!”

“And the first sin was the sin of intercourse,” Carrie repeated. “Mama…”

“Say it!” Margaret insisted.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Mama?”

“And God visited Eve with a curse, and the curse was a curse of blood~”

Carrie stoop up, upset that her mother won’t interact with her beyond reciting her own imaginary take on Scripture.

“I’m not going to say that!” Carrie objected. “That’s not even in the Bible! It doesn’t say that anywhere.”

Margaret soon turned toward the sky, clasping her hands in prayer.

“Oh, Lord! Help this little girl see the sin of her days and ways. Show her if she had remained innocent, the curse of blood would not have come upon her as it did on Eve.”

“I’m not Eve, Mama!” Carrie argued. “I didn’t sin!”

“You showered with those other girls!” Margaret retorted. “You had lust-filled thoughts.”

“Everyone has to shower, Mama! Everyone! That’s just the rules.”

“No, no, you are different! You must be different because He can see you!”

“I don’t want to be different, Mama. I want to be like them!”

“He can smell the sin on you!”

“I want to be like them…”

“And He will punish you!”

*WHAM!*

On the word ‘Punish’, Margaret struck Carrie in the face with her bible. Carrie fell toward the ground in a daze. Margaret knelt down beside her, trying to hold onto her as she prayed.

“I will not let that come down upon you,” Margaret declared. “I will not. Lord have mercy…”

“No!” Carrie shouted, picking up the book. “’The Lord is good. His unfailing love endures forever, and his faithfulness continues through all generations’. Psalms 100, verse 5!”

But Margaret just drowned out Carrie’s words with her own prayers as she stroked her daughter’s face.

“I’m going to keep you away from that school,” Margaret spoke determined. “We’ll pray.”

“You can’t!”

Carrie jumped up, running out of the room and down the stairs. But Margaret was hot on her tail.

“We’ll pray together,” Margaret rambled. “To save our women-weak, wicked, sinning souls!”

“You didn’t tell me, and they laughed. I didn’t sin, you sinned!”

Margaret stopped on the staircase, and her expression coldly furious.

“I did not…” Margaret spoke slowly. “I did not sin!”

Margaret calmly walked down the stairs. Poor Carrie looked very scared, realizing she just made a big mistake. Margaret opened the door under the stairs revealing a small cupboard with a crucifix hanging inside…

“Go to your closet,” Margaret ordered.

Carrie was understandably terrified. She shook her head like a frightened child.

“No, Mama…” Carrie squeaked.

“Go to your closet and pray!”

Carrie’s view of the closet may as well be a prison cell. Dark, claustrophobic, and overall… frightening. Carrie backed away as Margaret moved toward her.

“You pray…” Margaret demanded.

“No!” Carrie cried.

Margaret roughly grabbed Carrie by the arms and pulled her toward the closet.

“NO! No! Get off me! Mama! Stop it!”

Margaret took a grip around Carrie’s body and dragged her into the closet.

“Go to your closet and pray for forgiveness.”

“NO!”

“YOU PRAY!”

“Mama! Help!”

Carrie’s perception of the closet may as well have been the open mouth of a giant beast about to eat her, the stuff of nightmares.

“NO MOMMY!” Carrie cried.

“Come on!” Margaret grunted.

“PLEASE! HELP!”

Margaret finally got to the closet and threw Carrie inside. There’s a loud thump of Carrie striking the wall inside. Margaret proceeded to shut the door, but Carrie tried to push her way out. With a hard shove, Margaret shut the door on Carrie and locked it with a single deadbolt. Carrie banged upon the door and cried out, begging to be let out.

“You pray, little girl!” Margaret demanded. “Pray for forgiveness!”

“Mommy, let me go!” Carrie cried. “Let me out!”

The door and the lock rattled, as Carrie banged on it demanding to be released. Margaret held her hand to the door, struggling to keep it short. While doing so, she scratched her own arm, drawing blood and leaving scars. By now, Carrie was practically in tears trying to get out.

“MOM! HELP!” Carrie cried out. “GOD, YOU SUCK!”

An invisible force suddenly struck the closet door, leaving a crack down the center. Margaret gasped and leapt back in fear. Carrie fell back to the closet floor, also in shock. She gazed toward the crack on the door, the wood started to creak, and the small closet light flickered. Margaret looked at the crack on the door in horror, she could hear the sound of wood creaking all over the house.

“Help me…” Margaret begged, facing the sky. “Help me…”

Inside the closet, Carrie looked around in fear. Finally, she looked upon the ‘altar’ her mother set just for her. There’s a Bible, a crucifix, pictures of art depicting the crucifixion and Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac. Carrie looked at them with fear and shame. Blood appeared, running down the crucifix like Jesus’ wounds are freshly bleeding. The house continued to creak leaving Carrie terrified. She just realized she’s causing the strange things to happen. She curled into a fetal position; her hands clasped in prayer.

Back at their motel room, tensions were certainly high amongst the Mane Six and Spike following the terrible events of the day. They couldn’t believe what those girls had done to Carrie. The entire event was simply horrible; they couldn’t even imagine how that poor girl was feeling right now. Rainbow was so beyond pissed off, that she was ready to bring the whole place down in rage.

“Those stupid, no good, rotten, slimy, pieces of manticore dung!” She ranted. “I have half a mind to find out where each of them live, find those punks, and rip their heads right off their bodies!!!”

Fluttershy gasped upon hearing Rainbow spew such venomous talk. She knew Rainbow could certainly be defensive of her friends and get pretty angry, but she’d never seen her so murderous before. The sight truly frightened her. Slowly she got up to her feet, approached Rainbow, and placed a soothing hand on her shoulder. Rainbow whipped her head in Fluttershy’s direction, and she squeaked in fear.

“P-P-Please calm down Rainbow,” She stuttered. “I know you’re upset, but that sounds really hateful coming from you. I’m worried about you.”

Rainbow seethed for a few moments more before finally taking a few deep breaths. Finally, she allowed herself to calm down. When she was finally alright again, she turned back to Fluttershy and gave her a comforting hug.

“Sorry Flutters,” She apologized. “I just can’t believe anyone could do something like what those girls did to Carrie. All because of well… you know~”

“That makes two of us there, sugar cube,” Applejack spoke, from across the room. “Ah’ve seen mah fair share of mean things folks have done, but ah ain’t never seen nothin’ like we done saw today.”

“Mean?” Rarity asked quizzically. “It was downright despicable and hateful. Why is it that they even feel the need to torture the poor girl like that? What has she ever done to them?”

“Who knows why bullies do anything?” Spike responded. “Sometimes I feel like they do it to get a kick out of making someone else look weak. Like how Garble and his gang used to be. Thankfully we’re pretty cool now, and it’s all water under the bridge… but some things are still hard to forget.”

Twilight massaged her temples with her hands, trying so hard to think about ‘how’ they were going to stop this situation from growing worse. They left Carrie alone for only a few minutes to speak to Ms. Desjardin, and it only took ‘that’ long for all Hell to break loose. And when they finally got to Carrie, when they ‘tried’ to calm her down, she could feel her powers spiraling out of control the more panicked and freaked out she got.

“This is probably going to be tougher than I thought,” She finally said. “We could always try talking to these other girls and persuade them to stop being so mean to Carrie. But after what we’ve seen today, that could very well be a long shot. Then there’s her mother, I don’t even know where to begin with her.”

“Why don’t we just use that invisibility spell of yours again, and talk to Carrie at her place?” Pinkie suggested.

“We could at some point later,” Twilight responded. “But right now, we have another thing to worry about. Now we know about this Eden’s Gate group and who’s in charge. Except we must figure out ‘how’ to stop them.”

“That ain’t exactly gonna be easy,” Applejack responded. “From what Ms. Desjardin said, seems them there folks control everythin’ in this here town. If what she said bout that Hope County place is true, messin’ with these folk could mean big trouble for not just us, but everybody.”

Before their discussion could go further, a strange mysterious mist pooled throughout the entire room much to everyone’s confusion.

“What’s going on here?” Rainbow asked, looking around.

Taking a breath, Twilight instantly coughed as the strange mist traveled up her nose and into her body. No sooner did that happen that she instantly started seeing stars twinkling in her vision as she started feeling disoriented.

“Hold your breath, every pony!” She instructed. “I think this is some kind of poisonous gas.”

Everyone quickly held their breath as the mist continued to blanket the entire room till all were in a complete haze. One by one, everyone’s face started turning red from the lack of oxygen until finally they couldn’t hold their breath anymore. They all collectively took in a big lung full of air and the mist started entering into their systems.

“Oh great, now what?” Spike asked.

“I don’t know but I’m starting to—oh boy—starting to feel—” Rainbow staggered.

“I don’t think—whatever—oh my dear—I don’t believe this is poison,” Rarity slurred.

Slowly but surely, everyone in the room staggered and stumbled as they quickly found it difficult to stand as stars clouded their vision. They all started to fall tot heir knees as their visions went milky and foggy till finally… they passed out completely.

Carrie sat with her knees pulled up under her chin, silently weeping to herself. She’d now been locked in her prayer closet for hours. The usual occurrence for her whenever her mother believed she had sinned. Sometimes she’d be locked in the closet during the day and would never be let out till the following morning. All Carrie could do was sit back and cry till she’d finally be released at some point.

As she cried, she thought back to the terrible events transpiring that very day. Remembering being in the shower at school, only to suddenly bleed from below. She remembered screaming for help, under the thought she was dying. But most of all, she remembered all the girls telling her, ‘Plug it up!’ while pelting her with tampons and pads. And all that memory did was upset her more…

The only good thought coursing through her head of that day was meeting these strange, colorful girls. She remembered how nice they were to her, despite having only just met. She was admittedly apprehensive toward them at first, yet still they showed such kindness she never received from ‘anyone’. They were strange indeed, but they were the ‘only’ ones who genuinely liked her.

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by a single hand on her shoulder. Believing her mother finally decided to release her from the closet, she looked up toward her. But her eyes went wide with panic, nearly sending her screaming as she scampered back as far as she could toward the end of the closet.

Standing before her, or rather floating before her, was a girl no more than perhaps three or four years older than her. Like her, the girl also had strawberry blonde, almost ‘dirty’ blonde hair, gracefully falling down her back. She wore a beautiful white dress adorned with flowers, no shoes on her feet. She seemed to float off the very ground itself, over what appeared to be a strange green mist.

“Don’t be afraid,” She spoke calmly. “I’m not here to hurt you; actually, I’m here to help you.”

Carrie was so tempted to scream for help, but honestly who would hear it? Her mother would think she’s making it up, claiming she was seeing the devil for her sins. She tried so hard to speak, which was difficult due to her shock.

“W-W-W-Who are y-y-you?” She trembled.

The young lady just smiled sweetly, as she extended one hand towards Carrie. The poor girl recoiled further, while the woman merely giggled cutely over the display.

“I don’t bite,” She smiled. “My name is Faith, and I’ve come to help show you that this does not have to be the path for you.”

This drew Carrie’s attention, as her feelings of fear and trepidation started to become replaced with curiosity.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“You have the ability to walk a new path,” Faith continued. “A path so many others followed in search for a better future. If you allow me to, I can show you the way.”

Once again she extended her hand in offering, and Carrie just sat there for what felt like the longest time looking at it. So many things coursed through her head. On one hand, she ‘really’ wanted to reach out and take it to learn of this aforementioned path. On the other, she didn’t even know this woman or if she could trust her. Taking a moment to think, she decided to go with what her heart was telling her.

Tentatively, she reached out and grasped Faith’s hand in her own. This caused Faith to smile as she leaned closely, and blew some strange substance in her face of which she ended up breathing it in. Carrie gasped and started to cough, but soon found herself frozen in place. She looked around, seeing many sparkling stars while the room proceeded to spin. Staring back toward Faith, she noticed the woman smiling warmly.

“Welcome to the Bliss,” She said.

Just then, Carrie noticed a mysterious smoke proceeding to envelope her till her entire form was covered by it. And then… all went black…

A pair of brilliant lavender eyes slowly opened as Twilight Sparkle regained consciousness. Her head ached and for a moment she felt dizzy after she and her friends inhaled the weird green smoke. Slowly sitting up, she looked toward the girls and Spike finding them still passed out over the ground. When she turned around, her eyes went wide over the sight.

No longer were they in their motel room, or any room at all for that matter. From what she could see, the landscape resembled some grassy meadow. The weird thing about this meadow was that it was covered with some weird mist, while the whole area was shrouded in pure light.

“Girls, Spike, you need to see this!” Twilight shouted urgently.

She started shaking each of them one by one till they came to.

“What’s wrong Twi?” Applejack asked confused.

“I was in the middle of a great dream!” Rainbow complained.

“Trust me, you’ll want to see this!” Twilight insisted.

She gestured forth with the girls and Spike turning toward their front. Their eyes too went wide as they slowly picked themselves to their feet. They gazed toward the lit meadow in shock and awe.

“What the hay is this place?” Rainbow asked confused.

“Ah ain’t too sure,” Applejack answered. “But I ain’t got a good feelin’ bout this place.”

“Are you kidding darling?” Rarity asked. “It’s so beautiful here. Seems like something out of an old pony-tale.”

“It is lovely here,” Fluttershy agreed.

While Twilight did agree about this place being lovely, something inside her didn’t feel this place was right at all. How’d they even get here? It had to have been something to do with that stuff in their room. Twilight squinted her eyes upon noticing someone standing off the beaten path. The image slowly became clearer amidst the blinding light, noticing a familiar head of strawberry blonde locks.

“Carrie?!” She called out.

Twilight started running forward with the other girls (And Spike) following closely behind.

“Carrie!” She called again.

Carrie White slowly turned around, spotting the familiar colorful girls she had met before running towards her.

“Twilight?” She spoke. “What are all of you doing here?”

“That’s what we want to know,” Twilight answered.

“Right!” Pinkie nodded. “One minute we’re walking and talking, then this funny looking smoke rose through the floor like those fog machines at concerts, and we were like *GASP!*.”

“Perhaps I can explain…”

The girls turned around toward another figure in the meadow. The other girls didn’t recognize her, seeing as they hadn’t met before. But Carrie remembered her… Faith…

“Welcome to the Bliss!” She greeted.

Twilight, Spike, and the girls looked toward her in confusion.

“And you are…?” Twilight asked.

Faith merely looked toward her with the warmest smile.

“I am simply known as Faith,” She responded sweetly. “I brought you all here to help you show a different path. A path to lead you to a better, prosperous future.”

Hearing the name, Twilight and the others instantly assumed their fighting stance. They knew now who this was: Faith Seed, adopted sister of the mad preacher they saw earlier. They heard things about her around town, how she manufactured this strange drug made to manipulate people to do the cult’s bidding.

“Stay the hay away from us!” Applejack warned.

“Yeah!” One more step and I’ll whip you so bad you’ll feel it in the great beyond!” Rainbow threatened.

Faith noticed their hostility, yet merely giggled in response.

“I know you must have heard stories of me,” She replied. “That I am a liar, a manipulator… that I poison people’s minds. But let me tell you a different story… a true story.”

Despite knowing this woman was indeed bad news, that they shouldn’t listen to her, the girls found their will stripped from them. They felt their hands falling down their sides; their minds turning blank. They stared toward Faith almost as though they were slowly turning into mindless zombies. Carrie seemed to be the only one with any cognitive functions at this point, grabbing Faith’s outstretched hand and allowing her to lead her down the path. Faith led her and the hypnotized Equestrians further down the path till they came upon a riverbend where they sat upon the surface.

“There once was a young woman, who had been ostracized by her community,” Faith told them. “Bullied by friends… abused by her family. She took to a needle for help. She was all alone; she wanted to die.”

As she told the story, Faith’s voice started to crack and her eyes glowed red with tears. It actually made the Mane Six and Spike feel bad for her, Carrie especially. She could truly relate seeing as how she was in a very similar boat as her. After a moment, Faith’s demeanor changed from sad to happy in seconds.

“And then she met the Father…”

She giggled again as she grabbed Carrie’s hand and they both ran further along the path. The Mane Six and Spike quickly plowed forward, stopping along the river’s edge. Staring toward the side of a hill, they took notice of a giant statue of Jospeh Seed himself.

“The Father showed her how special she was,” Faith continued happily. “She was full of love and life. He gave her a new family, one that accepted her for who she was. The young woman no longer wished to die. She had been given… purpose…”

She extended her arms and in a flash of light, a pair of giant angel wings appeared on her back. These wings, however, seemed to be made of the same mist currently surrounding them. But still, they levitated Faith clear off the ground. Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Spike were too entranced to notice their own wings had grown from their backs levitating them off the ground. Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie had wings similar to Faith’s, but smaller in contrast yet still they lifted them into the air. Faith held onto Carrie’s hand as she lifted the girl off the ground. With everything going on, Carrie failed to notice that she too started smiling with joy.

“One day, the Father brought her here,” Faith gestured toward the statue. “He asked if she had Faith in him. He asked if she would be willing to die for him. The young woman who very much wished to live… was scared.”

Faith and Carrie both soared across the river with the others following closely behind, as they soared toward the statue.

“The Father told her this was her test,” Faith continued. “He would have faith in her if she had faith in him. So she closed her eyes… and leapt.”

Gently lowering down, the girls and Spike landed on the giant stone book the statue held. Carrie and Faith both stood along the very edge of it, looking down toward the momentous drop to the valley below. Faith let go of Carrie’s hands, giggling as she slowly floated backwards.

“The Father kept his word,” She spoke joyfully. “The Path to Eden is clear to those who have faith.”

Just then, in another flash of light, Carrie saw the familiar figure of Derick Collins standing at the edge of the book as well. She smiled happily as he turned around and smiled at her while reaching a hand toward her.

“Walk the path,” He said simply.

He soon turned around and held his arms out as he leaned forward before falling clear off the statue. So entranced in the Bliss, Carrie walked towards the edge of the book as well. It was only then Twilight Sparkle shook her head and started to regain some of her sanity.

“What the—”

She turned back toward her friends, who were still under the same state of hypnosis.

“Guys! Snap out of it!” She yelled.

One by one she went around to all her friends, either shaking or slapping them awake if need be. Eventually, they too snapped from their trance.

“What happened?” Spike questioned.

“Where in Equestria are we?” Applejack asked.

A loud scream from Rarity made them quickly turn toward Carrie, her arms out wide at the very edge of the book.

“CARRIE, NO!!!” They all screamed.

They ran forward as fast as they could, but it was too late. Carrie already leaned forward and fell toward the canyon below. Thinking quickly, the girls and Spike leapt after her hoping to catch Carrie and stop the fall. The whole way down, they heard Faith’s voice speaking to them.

“I will give you purpose… I will set you free…”

They continued to plummet toward the ground below. Just when they thought they’d be splat upon the ground… darkness followed.

Carrie White snapped awake and sat up with a start as she started breathing heavily. Looking around herself, she noticed she was still in her prayer close. Except she must have passed out on the floor at some point. Still, she couldn’t believe what she had seen in that place. She started wondering if any of it was even real or if it was all just a dream. It certainly wasn’t the first time her mother left her in the prayer close till night-time, she probably fell asleep. Taking a deep breath, she laid back on the floor and tried to relax. Whether or not that place was real or not, one thing was for certain. She felt more at peace than she ever did anywhere else. However, this did not last long as Faith once more appeared in an ethereal cloud of Bliss and sat alongside Carrie, who sat up upon seeing the woman once more

“Do you see what it is that ‘he’ can offer you?” Faith asked sweetly.

Carrie just sat there, frozen for a few moments, before she finally found the tongue in her head and could speak what’s on her mind.

“I-I-I don’t understand,” She stammered. “My momma has been bringing me to your church for years. But I’ve never understood what it is that you do.”

Carrie just leaned into Faith’s shoulder, and the woman put a gently comforting arm around the poor girl. She could see the small tears forming in Carrie’s eyes.

“I just don’t want to be hurt anymore,” She sobbed. “No one loves me… no one cares about me.”

Eventually, Faith pulled away and placed both hands on Carrie’s shoulders as she looked straight into the red watery eyes of the girl and just smiled.

“It’s natural to try and find meaning in our lives,” She spoke calmly. “Try to make sense, try to find order… but we can’t. Life doesn’t come from order; life comes from chaos.”

All while Faith spoke, Carrie listened intently as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Life is pain… loss… and tragedy. We are born into a world that feeds on our suffering, and after it has had its fill we are discarded. No one cares about us… no one sees us. Except the Father. When no one else loves you, he does. When no one else believes in you, he does. When no one else can understand you or see the worth in you, he does. Because he has faith… faith in our cause… faith in himself… and faith in you.”

Faith placed a single hand on Carrie’s cheek, as they both looked into each other’s eyes. When Carrie stared into the calm blue eyes of Faith Seed, she no longer felt pain or misery. Instead, all she felt was hope, warmth, and love. She felt more love and kindness from this woman more than she ever did from her own mother.

“Faith is what carries us through crisis, uncertainty, and relentless, punishing chaos of life.”

Faith then rose back up in her ethereal cloud as she stared down at Carrie once more with that same assuring smile.

“And when the gates open, the garden will blossom because of our faith. Trust in the Father, believe in him. Never… lose… faith…”

And with that, the cloud began to engulf Faith entirely before it all disappeared, and Faith was gone. All that was left was Carrie, sitting in the corner of her closet, sound asleep with a smile upon her face.

Next thing she knew, she heard Fatih’s voice ringing in her head.

“Do you feel different? Do you feel alive? The first step is always the scariest, but we all have faith in you. Follow the Pilgrimage… walk the path… I’ll see you soon.”

Her voice sounded so soothing and reassuring that Carrie released a content sigh, allowing her eyes to slowly flutter shut once more and drift back into a peaceful slumber.

Outside the motel, high upon the cliff overlooking the building, a powerful sniper rifle aimed directly at the window to the room Spike and the Mane Six resided in. A high-powered scope looked directly inside, observing everything they were doing. The one holding the sniper rifle was none other than the oldest of the Seed family, Jacob Seed. The former soldier turned cult lieutenant was such an expert marksman that if he truly wanted to, he could have easily fired off seven shots and the seven bodies in that room would’ve dropped before they even knew what hit them.

However, killing these girls and their dragon boyfriend was not on his mind at the moment. The sound of footsteps on the ground and crunching leaves behind him caused the military man turned his head and saw none other than his two brothers, John and Joseph walking up alongside him.

“What news have you for us Jacob?” Joseph asked.

“The sinners have learned of the Bliss and have now been given faith,” Jacob responded lowly. “This may only strengthen their resolve rather than diminish it.”

Joseph looked toward the old motel from behind his aviators and merely kept a stone face as he looked on.

“The devil is testing the strength and will of our project my brothers,” He said. “He has sent forth these ‘sinners’ straight from Hell to sabotage our plans and corrupt our precious hope. But God will not let them succeed. Soon enough, these sinners and all others dwelling in this den of evil shall soon see the light.”

Joseph then looked back toward his two brothers as a small smile crept its way to the corner of his mouth.

“Perhaps it is time we meet these demons face to face,” He said wickedly. “Show them exactly what Eden’s Gate is capable of.”

He turned his attention solely toward John and placed his hands on his shoulders.

“John, my dear brother,” He said. “Gather some men and bring these poor souls to me. I will show them that they are not beyond forgiveness.”

“Yes Joseph,” John nodded.

Joseph turned his attention toward Jacob.

“As for you Jacob, we must ensure that our hope cannot be tarnished by the temptation of sins. I am entrusting you to help young Carrie weed out the weak and to help her cull the herd. You know what to do.

Jacob gave no response, but merely nodded his head slowly which caused the Father to smile. He then turned back around to look back toward the motel and the occupants inside.

“We love you… we accept you… and we will take you… willingly or not.”

Saying Yes & Only You

Later that same evening, the Mane Six and Spike are sound asleep in their motel room following a long, very weird day. Earlier, they were subjected to a powerful drug created by Faith Seed, which sent them into a mystical plain of Bliss. All this in the hopes of encouraging them (And Carrie) to believe in the Project at Eden’s Gate and turn to their side. However, Twilight and the others would certainly not be swayed by crazy fanatics and their mad preacher of a leader. They intended to stay on track and help Carrie out of her situation no matter what. For now though, they were extremely tired and needed to get up bright and early for school. So for now, they laid in their beds sleeping peacefully.

So peacefully, in fact, that none heard the door to their room being opened and a group of cultists quietly snuck into their room. These people slithered toward their beds and quickly clasped their mouths shut. This action awoke them, and they struggled to break free before the people stuck a few syringes filled with suspicious liquids into their necks. They struggled for a few moments before whatever they were drugged with took effect and soon they were all out like lights.

The cultists grabbed them all, one by one, and flung them over their shoulders as they carried them outside to where there were two white vans with Eden’s Gate symbols painted on the sides. They loaded the girls and Spike into the individual vans and drove off down the road toward their compound. It was uncertain exactly what it is they’d do with them, but one thing was absolutely certain:

They’d certainly need God’s help now…

Meanwhile, deep in the woods near a gentle flowing creek, Sue Snell and her boyfriend, Tommy Ross, parked their car out on an old dirt road. The two teenagers were currently partaking in events rather… steamy to say the least. However, Sue wasn’t feeling it as all she could think about was how horrible she and all her friends were toward Carrie White today. Tommy noticed this and looked at his girlfriend worriedly.

“What?” He asked her.

“I’m sorry,” Sue apologized.

“What?”

Sue and Tommy stood outside the car, getting dressed as Sue looked miserable. Tommy was rather confused, if not worried about his girlfriend.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Tommy asked again.

“I really messed up today, Tommy,” Sue admitted guiltily.

“What, that thing with Carrie?”

“You know about that?”

“Yeah, everyone knows about it,” Tommy assured her. “But you’re not responsible for what Chris does.”

“Yeah, but it was me, too!” Sue retorted.

“You threw tampons at Carrie White?”

Sue gave no response as she just turned away, ashamed. Tommy couldn’t stand seeing his girlfriend so upset. So he decided to tell her something he hoped would ease her guilt.

“You know, I… I kicked a kid in the ribs once,” He confessed. “Yeah, while-while he was knocked out. Because this kid, he used to beat the living shit out of my every day in sixth grade: Danny Patrick.”

Tommy scoffed, laughing over the memory. But Sue still looked guilty, and Tommy took her hand.

“Did you apologize to Carrie?” He asked her.

“Did you apologize to Danny Patrick?” Sue scoffed.

“What? No, but we’re not in sixth grade anymore.”

Sue started to walk away, but he swept her into his arms in a bridal carry and Sue couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Don’t!” She laughed.

“He was a dick to me,” Tommy chuckled. “What did Carrie White ever do to you?”

Sue didn’t have an answer for the question, just kept looking away in guilt. Suddenly, both teenagers noticed headlights heading in their direction and watched in curiosity as two white vans drove by. Then suddenly, they turned onto the dirt path to their right and down the creek. Sue and Tommy looked at each other curiously.

“Wonder what’s going on?” Tommy asked curiously.

“Only one way to find out,” Sue responded.

She started to walk into the wooded area near the creek with Tommy following closely behind. When they reached the edge near the creek, they both knelt into the foliage so they could see what was going on and couldn’t be seen themselves. They watched as the two vans pulled up along the side of the creek and a few men stepped out wielding guns. They opened the back of the vans as even more men came out holding what looked like six teenage girls and one boy. The men dropped the teens down at the edge of the creek as another vehicle pulled up to a stop.

Out of that vehicle stepped none other than John Seed. Both Sue and Tommy looked at each other, not really knowing what to do at this moment. They had heard about Eden’s Gate from their friends in school, but never had they actually ‘seen’ them for themselves.

“What the hell’s going on here?” Tommy whispered.

“I don’t know,” Sue answered. “Maybe we should call the cops!”

“Good idea,” Tommy nodded.

Both teenagers quickly retreated back into the wooded area towards their vehicle, to quickly inform the police of what’s happening. Assuming of course that they’d believe them.

The first to awaken was none other than Spike, whose bright green eyes slowly peeled open from the drug-induced slumber. When his vision returned, he noticed they were no longer in their motel room. Instead, they were laid upon the gravel road near a slow-moving creek.

“Aww man, what happened?” He groaned, slowly sitting up. “Feels like I got hit in the head by a raging bull.”

The feeling of something poking into the back of his head quickly caused him to turn around and come face-to-face with a machine gun pointing right at him. His eyes grew so wide they almost popped out of his head as he started shaking Twilight.

“Uh Twi, um… we got a problem!” He spoke nervously.

Twilight groaned as she and the others started coming back to reality. They themselves sat up and groaned in pain.

“Did anyone catch the license plate of the truck that hit us?” Rainbow moaned.

Once all their visions become clear, they noticed where they were and who they were with. They finally realized what exactly was going on.

“Oh, for buck’s sake!” Rainbow sighed.

“What in the wide world of Equestria is going on here?!” Rarity yelled frightened.

“Well, ah ain’t reckon tah find out!” Applejack growled.

The country girl tried her hardest to break free of the binds keeping her arms behind her back and her feet latched together. But for some reason, her usual Earth pony strength wasn’t working.

“Wut in tarnation!” She muttered confused.

“Perhaps it requires a more magical touch,” Rarity piped in.

The fashionista gathered her thoughts and focused on her magic, as Twilight did just the same. However, their magic seemed to be failing them because absolutely nothing happened.

“My magic… it’s gone!” Rarity gasped.

“Mine too!” Twilight dreaded.

The sudden sound of a low chuckle drew everyone’s attention toward John Seed, who stood in the midst of his followers.

“Look down at your wrists,” He said.

Everyone looked down and noticed their wrists had these strange leather cuffs. Rainbow grabbed hers and tried yanking it off, but it refused to budge an inch. Everyone followed suit, desperately trying to get their cuffs off, but to no avail. This left John laughing lowly as he stood from the rock he sat upon and approached the group. All the cultists that stood around them, pointing their guns at their heads, stepped aside for John Seed to step forth as he smiled with sick joy toward the group of teenagers.

“Try as you may, but nothing on this Earth can take those cuffs off except for the Father,” He told them. “Sure you may strip away the leather, but underneath are some of the finest metals known to mankind. Those very metals have been blessed by the divine light of the lord to drain away any and all powers of the devil. In other words… you’re powerless.”

Hearing this made everyone gasp in fear and worry. Their magic and strength stolen away from them, leaving them as nothing more than any ordinary run-of-the-mill teenagers at this point.

“Yes… we know what you are,” John smirked. “Now then… which of you shall be first to be cleansed?”

His grey blue eyes looked over them all, one by one, before his eyes locked upon Rarity.

“You…”

He walked right over and snatched a handful of the poor girl’s hair, making her cry out in pain. The others tried to stand and fight, but without their powers the cultists easily overpowered them. John dragged the screaming Rarity to the creek, wading them both right into the middle. Once far enough, John looked toward the heavens before violently shoving Rarity’s entire form under the water. The entire time he held her down, he preached his madness:

“We must wash away our past!” He spoke loudly. “We must expose our sins! We must atone! For only then may we stand in the light of God and walk through his gates unto Eden!”

Rarity struggled for life under the water, as John continued to hold her down. He then looked back toward the others and gave a nod to the other cultists. They grabbed a hold of the other girls and Spike, dragging them all. They kicked and screamed as the cultists hauled them toward the water as well. Once there, the cultists followed John and shoved them all under the water. Everyone kicked and struggled for air, but the cultists and John had such strong, vicelike grips that it was difficult to escape. Soon they lost whatever breath they had left in their bodies and were ready to black out.

Then, mercifully, John and the cultists led them back above water and they all took that much-needed deep breath. The cultists started leading them out of the water, Twilight being the last, but John held an arm in front of her and stepped right before her to look deep in her eyes.

“Not this one,” He told the cultist. “This one’s not clean…”

John grabbed Twilight’s shoulders and violently shoved her backwards, down under the murky depths once more. This time, as Twilight struggled for breath, she could look into the hateful face of John Seed as he drowned her. From the side, her friends were held back and forced to watch in sheer terror.

“Please just let her up already!” Rarity begged.

“She’ll die!” Fluttershy cried.

“SILENCE!!!” John screamed.

Finally, John pulled Twilight back up, laughing as he gazed upon her half-drowned face. He had half a mind to hold her back under again till she finally stopped moving… for good.

“Do you mock the cleansing John?”

The sudden voice from behind everyone made all heads turn toward none other than the Father himself, Joseph Seed, standing a few feet away. The sight of his older brother made John look down almost in shame.

“No Joseph,” He said dejected.

“You have to love them John,” Joseph told his brother. “Do not let your sin prevent that. Bring that one to me.”

John merely nodded and proceeded to drag the nearly unconscious Twilight toward Joseph. When they were close enough, where Twilight was only a few inches away, the Father placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes from behind his aviators.

“I trust by now you understand how we know of you,” He spoke. “Years ago, my family and I were approached by a hooded figure, who gave us the ultimate secret to seeing the divine light of God. The flowers from your homeland allowed us to mass produce the Bliss and expand our reach far beyond what we ever hoped for. All the figure asked in return… was for us to kill you, Twilight Sparkle. You… and all the rest of your friends.”

Joseph then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“However, despite all you’ve done, you are not beyond salvation. You are not here by accident or by chance. You are here by the grace of God. You and your friends have all been given a gift. Now it remains to be seen whether you choose to embrace them… or cast them aside.”

Joseph then stepped away from Twilight and approached his younger brother.

“They must reach atonement, John,” Joseph said. “Or the gates of Eden will be shut to you.”

He leaned in and both brothers pressed their foreheads together.

“Yes, Joseph,” John replied.

Joseph backed away again before walking away and the cultists dragged Twilight back toward her friends hurling her toward the ground. They all scrambled toward her, holding her close as Twilight tried to regain her breath and keep herself from passing out. John walked toward them and looked upon them with a stone expression.

“You will confess,” He told them. “Every sin you’ve ever committed, no matter how petty, no matter how small, I shall pull from you. Then we will see if you are worthy all atonement.”

Then each of the cultists grabbed the blunt ends of their guns and smashed them into the group’s heads, knocking them all out. One by one they were loaded into the back of the vans once more and Eden’s gate drove them back to their motel, knowing that when they wake the next day they’d now know exactly what they were dealing with. So says the Father…

Meanwhile…

Billy’s car revved up to the biggest, expensive house on the block. The house of which just happened to belong to Chris herself. Speaking of which, Chris practically laughed in excitement.

“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why he lost his license,” Chris told her friends.

“Then why’s he still driving?” Tina asked curiously.

“I don’t need a license if they can’t catch me,” Billy replied.

Once the group were inside, the three teens made a dash upstairs toward Chris’ bedroom.

“Jackie’s email, Jackie’s email!” Chris called out.

Chris practically sprinted those stairs just to get to her own bedroom. Chris jumped upon the bed, but Tina wrestled her for the laptop. Billy soon strolled in to see them all over each other.

“Chris, no,” Tina squirmed. “No!”

“Wow,” Billy smirked. “Why don’t you two kiss or something while you’re at it?”

“Oh, baby…”

Tina and Chris laughed, as the former leaned down to ‘fake’ kiss Chris. Chris laughed and pushed her away, sitting herself up.

“Don’t be so stupid,” Chris remarked.

Chris jumped into Billy’s arms, and they seal the deal with a kiss. They lay upon the bed, making out while Tina watched from the side. It was during which time a thought occurred to Tina, the girl starting to have second thoughts.

“Wait… do you think we’re going to get detention because of that?” Tina asked. “Because that would suck.”

Chris sat up as she straddled Billy so seductively. They brushed the idea aside like its all a joke with no guilt whatsoever.

“No! They should be thanking us for helping her through her first period,” Chris retorted. “I got her a tampon. So what?”

“You were only trying to help her, right?” Tina asked, in on the joke.

“You should post it.”

Chris grinned like she had the best idea for a prank in the history of Chamberlain. Without hesitation, she jumped for the laptop.

“No, I’m in it!” Tina whined.

“No one’s going to see you, Teenie,” Chris teased.

Chris started thinking more of what to add in order for this joke to work.

“What? What are you doing?” Tina asked curiously.

“Carrie… White…” Chris typed.

Chris proceeded to upload the video to YouTube as Carrie White.mov. Soon she added a slight description to go with the video.

“Favorite movie?” Chris asked Billy.

“Blood Sport,” Billy smirked, laughing at the joke.

“Favorite drink?” Tina asked.

“Bloody Mary…” Chris smirked.

It was only a matter of seconds before the video went up. Moments from now, the whole world would be watching this. For soon, Carrie White would be famous whether she wanted to be… or not.

Back at the White household, Margaret was making a dress while singing along to a record playing ‘Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy’. She sat by her work bench amidst all her sewing equipment which included, but not limited to: Her sewing machine, measuring table, some pins, and other seamstress tools. She cut out some fabric with the large pair of scissors, humming to herself.

Margaret (Sings):
Brightly beams our father’s mercy
From his lighthouse evermore.
But to us he gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights be burning…

Later, Margaret White finally approached the closet and unlocked the deadbolt. Opening the door, she found Carrie sound asleep on the floor. She knelt down and rubbed a hand along Carrie’s head and shoulder, stirring her awake.

“Did you finish your prayers, little girl?” Margaret asked.

“Yes, Mama,” Carrie whispered, sitting up.

“That’s my good girl,” Margaret approved, kissing her forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Mama,” Carrie spoke softly.

They looked toward each other with a slight hint of affection. Yet underneath their expressions, they both shed plenty of fear in their own way. *KNOCK! KNOCK!* A sudden knock at the door drew their attention, to which Margaret stood up to answer it. The moment she opened the door, she smiled at the sight of Jacob Seed and a few cultists.

“The time has come Margaret,” Jacob said lowly.

Margaret gave no response, but her smile only said enough as she nodded. She stepped aside, allowing the former soldier and his followers into her home. Jacob’s eyes fell onto Carrie, and he beckoned her to come forward. Carrie was both frightened and also intrigued to see the eldest Seed brother in her home instead of the church like they normally were. She hesitantly stepped forward until she stood directly in front of him. Being a full grown man, Jacob was much taller than she was. So he had to look down upon her. Reaching out a single hand, he ran through her strawberry blonde hair and smiled for a moment before quickly turning serious.

“It’s time to cull the herd,” He said.

The next thing Carrie knew, she felt pain in the back of her head as something struck her in that very spot and she fell forward into Jacob’s grasp, completely out cold. Jacob picked her up in his arms bridal style as he looked back at the young girl’s mother, who stood before him with a frying pan in her hand. Jacob just gave her a nod, which she returned with one of her own before he turned and left the house with his followers in tow.

Darkness…

This was the only thing Carrie White was surrounded by as her head throbbed immensely after being struck in the back of the head. Her eyes slowly started to flutter open as her hazy, milky vision was blinded by light. Slowly her sight returned to her and when it was fully restored, she wished it had stayed gone.

For her eyes widened with terror when she realized she was strapped down in a chair in some filthy old basement. Sitting before her on a little table was a projector showcasing some pictures on a screen. All the pictures were of different types of wolves, some of them feasting on dead carcasses of other animals and others snarling. This had to be the most terrifying moment Carrie faced in her entire life.

“Momma!” She yelled. “Momma, help! Someone please help me!”

A low chuckle made her blood run cold and she froze in place as Jacob Seed walked out from behind her, observing the project before them.

“The world is weak,” He spoke. “We have forgotten what it is to be strong. You know our heroes used to be Gods and now our heroes are godless… weak… feeble… diseased.”

Jacob then turned back in her direction with those cold eyes, staring directly into the frightened girl’s soul. Slowly, ever so slowly, he started walking towards her. She could do nothing but just sit in fear, allowing her tears to fall.

“We let the weak dictate to the powerful and then we are shocked to find ourselves adrift,” Jacob continued. “But history knows the value of sacrifice. Of culling the herd so that it stays strong. Over and over, the lives of the many have outweighed the lives of the few. This is how we survived. And we have forgotten… and now the bill has come due.”

Jacob knelt down so he was directly in front of Carrie. The frightened girl tried desperately to turn her head away from this man. But he just grabbed her head and turned her back to face him.

“Now, the Collapse is upon us, and this time the lives of the few outweigh the lives of the many. And when a nation that’s never known hunger or desperation descends into madness, we’ll be ready.”

Carrie looked into the man’s eyes that seemed to burn with hatred and malevolence. To say she was truly terrified was an understatement. Yet there was also a small part of her that wanted to understand him, all of this. For years she and her mother have followed Eden’s Gate and yet she still could never understand exactly what it is that they preached but found herself drawn to them anyway.

“It all comes down to you Carrie,” Jacob told her. “You were chosen for a higher purpose than any could ever possibly understand. The Father chose you to be his guiding light… his everlasting peace… his hope.”

Jacob then stood back to his full height and reached over to another table beside Carrie. He picked up a small music box and proceeded to wind the gears.

“We will cull the herd,” He said. “We will do what needs to be done. When you awaken, you won’t remember any of this. Then when the time comes… you will be unleashed.”

Jacob slowly lifted the lid of the tiny music box, which released a small jingle. However, Carrie couldn’t even make any of it out because the moment it began, her brain started going dark. Her entire vision was replaced with red, and her entire body began to convulse. The last thing she saw before her vision was lost once more was the image of Jacob standing over her and singing deeply…

Jacob (Sings):
Only you, can make this world seem right…
Only you, can make the darkness bright…

True Friends

The very next day, the Mane Six and Spike awake with a series of splitting headaches. Groaning as they sat up from their beds, they massaged their aching, throbbing temples. Last night felt like a blue for all of them, they weren’t sure if what they experienced was real or simply a figment of their imaginations due to the stress of the situation. However, one look upon their wrists and they realized what happened the night before was absolutely true. For the very same cuffs remained, placed for the purpose of counteracting any and ‘all’ of their magic.

“Aww buck!” Rainbow groaned. “Here I was hoping this was just a bad dream… the like I actually ‘don’t’ like.”

“Well it ain’t,” Applejack responded. “We was about tah be killed last night!”

“I’ve never felt so weak and helpless in all my life,” Rarity shuddered, frightened. “When I was shoved under that water, my entire life flashed before my eyes. I was worried I’d never see my family or husband ever again.”

“I was worried I’d never see my Cheesy or my sweet Lil’ Cheese again,” Pinkie added tearfully.

“I was worried I’d never see the greatest friends I’ve ever had in my life!” Spike cried out, hugging himself.

“That was the most terrifying, awful moment I’ve ever experienced!” Fluttershy sobbed.

Growling under her breath, Rainbow stood up on shaky legs, stumbling her way through the door to their room. Everyone noticed her leave, quickly gained their bearings, and made their way after her.

“Rainbow, what are you doing?!” Spike yelled after her.

“What’s it look like I’m doing?!” Rainbow yelled back. “When I find those stupid brainwashing creeps, I’ll tear them smack dab in half!”

“Have you gone completely mad?!” Rarity asked, shocked. “So long as we have these cuffs on, we’re powerless! You’d be walking right into a slaughter if you do this darling.”

“I don’t care! I’m sick and tired of people who think they can run around kidnapping and torturing people all in the name of this ‘higher purpose’ they keep blabbing about. I’ll show ‘em a higher purpose after I send them flying to the moon!”

Applejack quickly ran up and tackled her girlfriend to the ground, all while Rainbow struggled in her grip.

“Let me go!” She yelled. “You can’t stop me! Let me go!”

“Yah ain’t thinkin’ straight sugar cube!” Applejack grunted. “Believe me, ah wanna take the fight tah them varmints mahself! But we gotta be patient. We walk in there without our abilities, we’d be dead in seconds. Ah ain’t losin’ ya, now or never.”

Rainbow struggled for a few moments more before eventually she started calming down, allowing her girlfriend’s words to sink. It was clear Applejack was right: They walk into Eden’s Gate territory with nothing but the clothes on their backs, no question they wouldn’t be walking out again. As she took a few deep breaths, Applejack got off her and helped her up.

“Ah girls… Spike… what’ll we do now?” Rainbow asked. “We can’t just let these wackos get away with all of this!”

“Not to worry Rainbow, I’ve got a plan,” Twilight told her.

“What you got Twi?” Spike asked.

“First things first, we need to get to the school and warn Carrie of all this,” Twilight explained. “No doubt Eden’s Gate will be coming for us, so there’s no doubt they’re gunning for her too.”

“I hope she’s alright,” Fluttershy said worriedly. “I know we just met, but still I can’t help but worry for the poor dear. She’s so young…”

“Don’t worry Fluttershy,” Pinkie assured, placing a hand on her shoulder. “We won’t let those big meanies do anything to her or my name isn’t Pinkamena Diane Pie. Or if Gummy’s full name isn’t Gummy Julio Ricardo Montoya Delarosa Ramirez!”

Everyone turned toward Pinkie Pie, each with a quirked eyebrow.

“Is that really his full name?” Spike asked.

“No, but could you imagine?” Pinkie giggled.

Everyone once more rolled their eyes and groaned over Pinkie’s randomness before they piled into Twilight’s car. They soon made their way toward Ewan High, and they knew the time had come to put some holes in the plans of Eden’s Gate. If they had ‘any’ hope of doing so, they needed to warn their new friends immediately.

Outside the school football field, Chris Hargensen and all her Ultras friends stood outside waiting for gym class. Miss Desjardin blew her whistle drawing the girls’ attention. The boys races off the field as the girls lined up. Miss Desjardin seemed pleasantly cheerful today.

“All right stand up, line up please,” Miss Desjardin ordered. “You have a big week coming up. A big month, actually! Probably the biggest month of your lives! Prom and then graduation. Are you excited?”

All the girls smiled and laughed in agreement, as Miss Desjardin smiled toward them.

“Probably all have your dresses, have your dates by now.”

Miss Desjardin walked over toward Chris till they were able to see each other eye to eye.

“What about you, Chris?” She asked. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

“Billy Nolan,” Chris responded. “You don’t know him; he doesn’t go to this school.”

But all at once, Miss Desjardin’s expression shifted from cheerful to accusatory in a matter of seconds.

“Are you gonna get him a boutonniere?” She asked. “Or are you just gonna pin a bloody tampon to his lapel?”

“I so don’t need to hear this!” Chris sighed with an eye roll.

Chris turned to walk away, clearly in no mood for a lecture. But she hadn’t gone far when Miss Desjardin blocked her path.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

Miss Desjardin walked Chris back in loon, then walked toward Sue.

“What about you, Sue?” She asked. “Are you and Tommy busy campaigning to be prom king and queen? I would have voted for you… not now.”

Without waiting for Sue’s response, the teacher backed away to address the entire line-up of girls. The fury was plain to see upon her eyes.

“You all did a shitty thing yesterday,” She addressed them all. “A really shitty thing. And one you had the audacity to post a video. Somebody made a video of it?”

“This is bullshit!” Chris yelled out.

“That’s it!” Ms. Desjardin declared. “Thanks to Miss Hargensen, you can run suicides!”

The groaned over the idea of doing suicide drills for a punishment. Basically, for those not familiar with the ‘suicide drills’: It began with a sprint from one cone to the next. Once there, the object was to kneel down and touch the cone. Then it was a matter of running back to the first, then running to the next farthest away till all the cones are touched. And as if that wasn’t enough… they’d have to do the ‘whole’ obstacle course all over again!

“I’m not doing it!” Chris argued back.

“That’s up to you,” Miss Desjardin smirked. “That’s up to all of you, but anyone who stops running is ‘suspended’, and if you’re suspended… you don’t go to prom.”

The other girls faced each other in horror over what was just heard. Either they partake in the suicides, or they can refuse and miss their one chance to make high school memories ‘forever’. And all because of ‘one’ prank. Miss Desjardin soon turned and looked straight into Sue’s eyes.

“While you’re running, I’d like you all to think long and hard… about what it would be like to be Carrie White.”

All the girls began to run the suicides, as Miss Desjardin drilled them along the way. While they were in the midst of doing so, Twilight’s car pulled up along the parking lot with a skid. The Mane Six and Spike soon jumped out with Twilight taking the lead. They ran as fast as they could onto the football field, passing the girls along the way, and raced straight toward the gym teacher.

“Miss Desjardin!” Twilight called out.

The teacher in question quickly turned when she heard her name called out. She smiled upon seeing the six familiar girls and one teenage boy.

“Well hello kids,” She greeted. “What are you doing out here today?”

“We came looking for Carrie,” Twilight continued. “Have you seen her? It’s important we talk to her.”

“I don’t think she’s arrived yet,” Miss Desjardin shrugged. “But when she does, my best guess is she’ll be in study hall at the library.”

“Okay, thanks!” Twilight thanked her. “C’mon guys!”

The girls and Spike start to turn heel for a run toward the school. But they quickly stopped in their tracks the moment Sue Snell ran in front of them.

“Wait a minute!” She said.

“Oh, what do you want?” Rainbow spat at her.

“Look, I feel really bad about what happened with Carrie. But I just want to say…”

“Oh… ya mean when you and all yer little ‘friends’ were makin’ fun ah Carrie?” Applejack retorted. “Or when ya were y’all throwin’ stuff at her face? Hasn’t she had enough!”

“I know that was wrong. And I feel really bad about it, but…”

“Look darling, if you’re looking to apologize you’re talking to the wrong girls,” Rarity told her. “Apologize to Carrie… then we can talk. Now if you’ll excuse us, the rest of us have work to do… and apparently you do too.”

The girls and Spike quickly walked around Sue to continue their way towards the school.

“I saw what happened last night!”

This made everyone freeze in place, like a pack of deer in front of headlights. Slowly, they all turned back toward Sue with wide eyes.

“So you saw…”

Sue didn’t let them finish and just nodded her head. Everyone faced each other, then back toward Sue.

“How much did you see?” Twilight asked.

“Not very much I’m afraid,” Sue responded. “My boyfriend Tommy and I were out there last night when we saw those cultist guys drive up and pull you guys from the vans. We left shortly after to tell the police. They just brushed it off as us seeing things, and all they cared about was why ‘we’ were out in the middle of the night.”

“Did you tell ‘anyone’ else?” Spike asked.

“I’ve tried, but no one in this town believes me. Not even my own mom. That’s the problem: These people don’t want to admit groups like this exist.”

“Well we do believe,” Twilight responded. “More importantly, we’ve seen what they can do. That’s why we must help Carrie because we know for a fact they want her.”

“Then let me help,” Sue suggested. “This is my ‘one’ to chance to make it up to Carrie after all the horrible things I’ve done to her. I’ve got to do this.”

The girls and Spike looked at each other for a moment, considering the possibility. On one hand, they were extremely skeptical of Sue after what she and her friends did to Carrie the other day. Naturally, they weren’t sure if Sue could be trusted. On the other hand, they could clearly see she was feeling remorse for her part in it all. Even though Applejack lost her strength, she could still sense the honesty in others and Sue was being one hundred percent honest. And so, a decision was made.

“Alright, you can help us,” Twilight concluded. “But please be careful. Eden’s Gate are already after us, we don’t need them coming after you too.”

“Thank you!” Sue thanked them. “I promise you won’t regret this.”

“Sue!” Miss Desjardin yelled from the sidelines. “You got time to talk, you got time to run!”

Sue looked over her shoulder toward her teacher then back toward the others.

“Okay guys, I have to get back before Desjardin puts my head on a stick,” Sue said quickly. “Before I go, you guys have anywhere to stay?”

“We were staying at a motel outside town,” Applejack answered. “Don’t reckon we’ll be stayin’ though. Eden’s Gate came and snatched us in the middle of the night.”

“Well, why don’t you guys come stay at my place for the time being,” Sue offered. “Mom won’t mind at all. We’ve got a few guest rooms that we’re not doing anything with at the moment. I’ll meet up with you guys after school and we’ll all go over together.”

Suddenly Pinkie popped right next to her, and the poor girl nearly jumped out of her shoes. But Pinkie soon had Sue in her grasp, wrapping her arms around her with a bone-crushing hug.

“Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!” Pinkie exclaimed. “That’s the kindest thing anyone’s done for us since we got here. When we get back to Equestria, I’m throwing the biggest ‘Thank You Sue’ party. It’ll be so much fun with games and cake and…”

Sue struggled for life in Pinkie’s tight grasp till eventually her friends pulled the party girl off her. Sue finally took some much needed breaths before running back to the field. Everyone turned with a glare toward Pinkie, who just smiled sheepishly.

“Too much?”

“Yep!” Everyone nodded.

Outside the school, the bell rings as Margaret White’s car pulled toward the curb. Margaret kissed Carrie upon the cheek, the latter dressed in a multitude of layers. A jacket, a flannel shirt, a skirt, her hair tied in a braid, and wearing a cross necklace. Clearly, Margaret wanted her to dress as conservatively as possible. And on that note… she succeeded.

“I’ll be okay, Mama,” Carrie insisted.

“I’m going to leave work early today and pick you up after school,” Margaret replied.

Margaret kept close watch on Carrie, who slowly walked inside the school feeling as though her mother was watching her every step of the way. Soon as Margaret finally pulled away, Carrie turned back and breathed a sigh of relief. Due to her experience the night before and Jacob implanting the idea in her head that she wouldn’t remember anything, she was completely clueless as to what actually happened. Thankfully, she turned around just in time to stop herself from running into a certain boy she’d already run into before. Derick Collins looked toward her with the same hypnotizing sterling eyes, and she was immediately hooked.

“We really must stop meeting like this,” Derick chuckled.

Carrie gave an awkward chuckle before going around Derick, continuing on her way. Before she could get too far, she felt the hand of the teenage boy on her shoulder. Immediately, she stopped in place.

“Whoa, whoa! Where are you going in such a hurry?” Derick chuckled again.

Carrie just stood there without another world, and neither was she moving a muscle.

“Everything okay?” Derick asked.

“Please just leave me alone,” Carrie whispered.

“Huh?”

“I said, please leave me alone!” Carrie said a bit louder.

Derick immediately retracted his hand to his side.

“What’d I say?” He asked confused. “Did I do something wrong?”

“P-Please…” Carrie plead.

Derick was beyond confused right now, yet he could hear the trepidation in her voice. He backed away with his hands raised in defense.

“Alright, I can take a hint,” He spoke. “Sorry for bugging you.”

He turned to walk away, when suddenly he felt a much smaller hand on ‘his’ shoulder.

“Wait, I didn’t mean that!” Carrie said quickly. “I’m sorry, I’m just not very good at being social. I haven’t exactly had very much experience.”

Derick chuckled a bit before turning back around, looking toward the nervous girl.

“Don’t worry about it,” He assured her. “I understand more people around here would sooner throw tampons at you than talk to you.”

Carrie flushed red with embarrassment and tried to turn around before Derick stopped her.

“Sorry, bad choice of words,” He apologized. “I mean you don’t have to worry about being so shy and closed up around me. I’m not here to hurt or make fun of you. Actually, I always thought you were… cute.”

Upon hearing this, Carrie blushed harder and tried to hide her face away. Of this which only made Derick laugh.

“Anyway, I’m really glad I ran into you,” Derick confessed. “I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after school later.”

“I can’t!” Carrie shook her head. “Momma would never let me go anywhere with a boy. She’d never let me go anywhere at all.”

“We’d only be going to the church at the Eden’s Gate compound with a few of my friends, so I’m sure she wouldn’t mind,” Derick assured her. “The Father says that trust amongst our brothers and sisters is one of the most important things we can have. So what do you say?”

Carrie thought for a moment, considering his words. If she and him were going with a group of teenagers from Eden’s Gate at their church compound, what was the harm? After all, Margaret started taking Carrie to the church to get her in touch with God for the longest time.

“Okay,” She smiled. “I’ll go, but so long as I can meet you there. Momma is picking me up after school and she’d rather take me than have me go with anyone else.”

“We can work with that,” Derick nodded. “I look forward to hanging with you later.”

Derick gingerly reached forward and brushed a single strand of hair from Carrie’s face and behind her ear. He then smiled at her before turning around and making his way to class. And the whole time, Carrie watched him feeling the butterflies in her stomach fluttering inside her like hummingbirds. And for some unexplainable reason, she felt a slight… attraction to this mysterious man.

Meanwhile…

Miss Desjardin blew her whistle, pressing the girls to keep going. The whole time the girls sprinted across the field. They were sore, tired, and panting for breath, clearing having been at this for a while. The girls eventually broke into pairs while they continued their suicide drills.

“She can’t do this to us,” Chris grunted.

“Just let it go, Chris,” Sue insisted. “We’re almost done.”

“Then every day this week? All because of Carrie White?! Like hell I will!”

“Keep moving, Hargensen!” Miss Desjardin ordered. “Keep moving or you’re not going to prom.”

“Fuck you!” Chris snapped. “This is child abuse!”

Miss Desjardin stopped in her tracks, she glared toward the girl. Even Sue, Chris’s closest friend, was shocked by her choice of words. Sternly, Miss Desjardin approached Chris, who merely got right up in her face.

“What did you just say to me?!” Miss Desjardin asked.

“I’m not gonna move another goddamn inch because Carrie White had her period and was too stupid to know what it was!”

“What?” Sue asked, in disbelief.

“You’re suspended, you’re outta prom and you’re out of my class, now!” Miss Desjardin shouted, turning to leave.

“No!” Chris snapped.

“No?!” Miss Desjardin whipped around.

“You can’t decide that!” Chris declared, facing the girls for support. “She can’t do this to us!”

“Goodbye, Chris. The rest of you, keep at it.”

“Someone could die of dehydration. Tina, you have a heart condition, right? If we all stick together, they’re not going to suspend all of us, they’re not going to keep us all from prom, there would be no prom! Nick? Lizzie?”

But sadly, the other girls didn’t appear convinced at all.

“Let’s go, ladies!” Miss Desjardin called out.

“Heather, this is bullshit!” Chris insisted. “We didn’t do anything wrong!”

It was then Chris started to realize she’s truly alone in all this. Not another girl among the group was budging an inch.

“Alright, let’s go!” Miss Desjardin shouted again.

“Right, Sue?” Chris begged, taking her arm. “You’re with me on this, right? Come on.”

“Sue…”

And almost immediately, Sue pulled her arm from Chris’ grip. Her facial expression was more than enough to tell Chris, ‘No!’.

“Come on,” Sue told the girls.

Soon Sue and the other girls kept with their sprints, while Miss Desjardin encouraged the group to keep going. It didn’t take long for Chris to realize what she had gotten herself into. It wasn’t enough that she got suspended from school, but now she won’t be going to the prom. And all because of one practical joke against Carrie White.

“This isn’t over…” Chris shook her head. “This isn’t over by a long shot.”

Chris soon stormed off the field, shedding Veruca Salt tears while the other girls kept exercising. But brewing deep within that sadistic mind of hers, a plot of revenge was slowly developing.

Carrie shuffled through the halls quietly and calmly. Everyone looked toward her, and she could hear them laughing. She soon passed a row of lockers where the janitor scrubbed off the graffiti which read, ‘CARRIE WHITE EATS SHIT’. Humiliated beyond measure, she hurried away as every student looked after her, laughing their heads off.

Carrie ducked straight into the girls’ restroom. She put down her book bag and looked herself in the mirror. Disgusted by how she looked, she quickly unbraid her hair still upset over everything. The whole time she stared at herself in the mirror, she could hear Joseph Seed’s words ringing in her ears.

“Cull the herd… weed out the weak… purge the sinners…”

Her anger caused her telekinesis to crack the mirror. She channeled her anger toward the mirror, causing more cracks till the whole mirror shattered, sending shards of glass into the sink in front of her. Wide eyed, it dawned on Carrie she was truly causing things to move on their own… and she could control it! She looked around to make certain she’s alone, then tried again. She stared toward the shards of glass in the sink, and they started to vibrate. Carrie focused with visible effort and several shards floated a few inches in the air. Carrie, in disbelief, smiled at her new power.

The sound of a door opening drew Carrie’s attention, and the glass dropped. Carrie stood over the sink, hiding her actions as someone came in. Carrie quickly grabbed her book bag, set to avoid any trouble.

“Carrie!”

Carrie jumped upon hearing her name called and when she turned around the Mane Six and Spike walked towards her. Recognizing some familiar, friendly faces, she calmed down immediately.

“Hello everyone,” She greeted casually. “What can I do for you all?”

“We need to speak to you,” Twilight told her.

“It’s really important darling,” Rarity added.

“Well, I was just on my way to the library for study hall,” Carried told them. “You can come if you want.”

At a table in the school library, the Mane Six and Spike sat on one side of the table with Carrie White sitting by herself reading a book. Among the group, Fluttershy felt bad for the girl. A child bullied her entire life just for being socially awkward, so different compared to everyone else. Something Fluttershy could relate with personally, like watching a mirror of her past playing out before her eyes. Eventually, she approached Carrie’s side at the desk and casually sat next to her.

“What are you reading?” Fluttershy spoke.

“Nothing!” Carrie replied awkwardly, hiding the book. “I mean… you guys wouldn’t be interested anyway. Just some research for homework—”

“Oh, I’m into research myself,” Twilight Sparkle replied. “Can we at least have a look?”

At fist Carrie didn’t know how to answer the question. It felt so unreal: These girls and a boy, a group she only met a few days ago, were speaking with Carris as if they’ve known each other for years. Slowly Carrie turned her head toward Fluttershy.

“I don’t normally get these conversations,” Carrie spoke quietly. “I mean… who’d hang out with a girl who can’t even have a normal life… or even be good at ‘anything’.”

The majority of the group stared toward Carrie sympathetically. Fluttershy gently placed her hand upon Carrie’s, the latter releasing a heavy sigh of sadness.

“I know what you are going through,” Fluttershy said sympathetically. “Growing up, I didn’t have many friends. Even when I had one, I still felt like I had no pon—no one to rely on… I felt alone most of my life.”

“She’s not exaggerating kiddo,” Rainbow replied. “I was there through it all when Fluttershy and I were at school together. All those kids, picking on her just because she wasn’t… strong as they were. I couldn’t stand that behavior… so we know how you must feel.”

Carrie was rather surprised for several reasons. The first was clearly Fluttershy’s own confession, and the next was how they all seemed to understand Carrie’s upbringing. The young girl in general couldn’t even imagine what the pink-haired teen had gone through, or if her condition were any worse than hers. Yet somehow, it felt exactly the same as the path Carrie had gone through.

“Why are you helping me?” Carrie asked. “I know I asked the first time, but…”

“My dad told me helping someone in need is like caring a flower,” Fluttershy explained. “You can either ignore it and let it suffer… or you can take care of it to ensure it has a better future. And… well, I’d like to help my S.S.F.F.”

“S.S.F.F.?” Carrie asked confused.

“Super Shy Friends Forever,” Fluttershy translated. “And I’d like to be your friend… forever.”

“We’d all be willing to, darling,” Rarity added. “You look just like the type of dear who can sure use some friends right now.”

For whatever reason, the way they were speaking to him, Carrie felt this warmth she hadn’t felt her whole life. It was like a pack of angels had come to her aid, seeking nothing more than mere companionship.

“Sure!” Carrie smiled happily.

“That’s the spirit!” Spike smiled.

Then she saw Fluttershy clench her hand into a fist, raising it slightly into the air. Carrie also clenched her fist and slowly raised it toward her level.

“Super…” Fluttershy spoke.

“Shy…” Carrie added.

The group smiled as two fists collided with each other, and in the midst of their ‘fist bump’ the girls in question declared:

“Friends forever…”

Later that day…

Carrie stared toward the window in class, not paying much attention to the course. Yet she couldn’t remove the smile that was growing on her face. On one hand, she was getting the knack of her newfound gift performing some as simple as making a flag flap. On the other hand, a group of kids and one mysterious teenage boy all wanted to extend a hand of friendship toward her without reason to judge her. As if for the first in a while, she suddenly felt the way almost every other student felt when they’re surrounded by friends. Seemed perhaps things were slowly starting to look up.

“Alright, who’s next?” Mr. Ulmann the teacher spoke. “Uh… Carrie?”

Soon as her name was called, Carrie turned to face the teacher.

“Favorite poem. Did you bring one?”

All the kids turned toward her, several of them laughed. The only ones not laughing were Twilight and her friends, who had taken seats along the back of the class to keep tabs over Carrie. To even suggest that Carrie was nervous was without question an understatement.

“Yeah…” Carrie murmured.

“Why don’t you come to the front of the class and share it with us all?” Mr. Ulmann beckoned.

Carrie slowly got up from her seat and cautiously made her way down toward the front of the class. Sue and Tommy, whose desks are next to Carrie’s, could see how uncomfortable she appeared to be. The other students quietly snickered as she approached the front. Soon as she stood at the front of the room, facing the entire class, she kept her eyes on her book and read her poem of choice.

“This un…

“’This unfrequented place to find some ease, ease to the body some, none to the mind. Times past, and what once I was and what am now o wherefore was my birth from Heaven foretold. Twice by an Angel, who at last in sight of both my parents all in flames… ascended.’”

Soon as Carrie was finished, the whole class just stared in surprise and confusion. Even Twilight and her friends seemed surprised, though whether they understood the meaning remained to be determined.

“Uh… did you get that?” Spike whispered to Rainbow.

“Do I look like a poet to you?” Rainbow whispered harshly.

“Okay, uh, that was, uh…” Mr. Ulmann stammered. “Disturbing.”

The other kids laughed, especially Tina, who clearly had Mr. Ulmann’s ear. Derick, sitting between the students, merely glared toward Mr. Ulmann angrily.

“This is the most you’ve said all year,” Mr. Ulmann continued. “Anything else you wanna add or are you done scaring us for the day?”

“Asshole…” Derick muttered, under his breath.

The other students turned and gasped toward him. There was no doubt everyone heard him, especially the teacher.

“Excuse me, Mr. Collins,” Mr. Ulmann spoke up. “Did you say something?”

“I said ‘awesome’!” Derick lied. “Thought what Carrie read was awesome. Didn’t you, Mr. Ulmann?”

Carrie hurried back to her desk, trying to avoid further trouble.

“All right, who’s next?” Mr. Ulmann asked, looking around. “Uh… Nikki. Uh, I mean, Lizzy~”

Carris sat back down, keeping her head as low as possible. She pushed some hair in front of her face hoping to stay hidden. She peeked over toward Derick, who just smiled at her with an assuring wink. Spike and the other girls spotted this right away, immediately realizing what was going on.

“Girls,” Spike spoke up. “I think Carrie has a crush on that boy.”

“I reckon so,” Applejack nodded. “He’s got a name?”

“I did hear someone speak his name in passing,” Twilight confirmed. “Derick… Collins…”

Words of Joseph

In the back room of a dress shop, Margaret White sits at the sewing machine deep in her work. A customer’s voice was heard yet Margaret chose to ignore the voice. Unfortunately for her, that approach would not last for long.

“Is anybody working?”

Looking up from the sewing machine, Margaret spotted a woman at the front desk. A rather anxious customer ringing the service bell.

“Excuse me!” The customer called out. “Is anybody working?”

Margaret focused on the sewing machine. In the woman’s ears, the machine was as loud as a revving engine. She fed the dress into the machine, almost catching her finger in it. Finally, she stopped the machine, and cut the loose thread with her scissors. Clearly, she wanted no interaction with anyone but because it was part of the job Margaret had little choice.

She approached the front counter towards he customer. It was none other than Mrs. Snell, Sue’s mother. She’s dressed in a blue sleeveless top, which made Margaret uncomfortable. Especially since it showed off the woman’s skin and therefore it is ‘sinful’ in her eyes.

“Oh, Margaret,” Mrs. Snell gasped. “I’m sorry to disturb you. I don’t know where Hugo and Gloria…”

“Can I help you, Mrs. Snell?” Margaret asked.

Judging by the tone in her voice, Margaret wanted nothing more than to have this conversation over with as soon as possible.

“Uh, yes, I’m picking up,” Mrs. Snell spoke nervously.

Margaret looked toward Mrs. Snell’s ticket then went to seek out Mrs. Snell’s clothes. The awkwardness and tension hanging in the air was nothing short of palpable. But eventually, Margaret returned with the dress for Mrs. Snell.

“Margaret, I want to say how sorry I am about what happened at the school,” Mrs. Snell apologized. “There’s no excuse for what Sue did, but she’s a good girl.”

“Are any of those girls good?” Margaret asked rhetorically.

Mrs. Snell handed her the money, creeped out by Margaret’s words. Margaret put the money inside the register, and Mrs. Snell looked over the dress, very pleased.

“Oh, that is beautiful work, Margaret. Thank you.”

Margaret listened to Mrs. Snell’s praise, in barely-contained anxiety and disgust. She pulled out a pen blade, which she used for work, and held it down by her side.

“I love what you’ve done with the neckline, and the stiches,” Mrs. Snell continued, oblivious. “You can barely see them. So few people can sew like this anymore. I could do never do anything like this myself~”

Margaret’s anxiety grew worse with each word spilled out from Mrs. Snell. She pulled up part of her skirt and started scratching at her leg. Mrs. Snell’s words grew louder, ringing in her head, so badly she started cutting herself with the pen blade. In Margaret’s eyes, this mother encouraged her daughter’s sexual sins instead of protecting her the way she does with Carrie. The woman looked as if she could burst into tears or scream at the worst possible moment.

“Sue’s going to look beautiful,” Mrs. Snell spoke, admirably. “I am so excited for her. I remember my prom. Anyway, she’s going to love it.”

“These are Godless times, Mrs. Snell,” Margaret muttered.

Mrs. Snell frowned with confusion, uncertain of how to take that response. Margaret merely allowed her skirt to fall and walked away, shaking her head in pity over Mrs. Snell’s ‘sinfulness’.

At Principal Morton’s office, Chris along with her lawyer father, Mr. Hargensen, sat at Morton’s desk. Miss Desjardin stood behind them, frowning with disappointment over Chris’s attempt at playing the ‘wounded party’.

“This gym teacher was running Chrissie into the ground and used profanity,” Mr. Hargensen argued. “I believe the term ‘shitty’ was used. She can’t do that; it’s abuse of power.”

“You’re right, Daddy,” Chris agreed. “That’s what she said. ‘Shitty’. She’s really abusive.”

“Ms. Desjardin was reprimanded for what happened in class today,” Principal Morton reassured. “But you know we’ve had a lot of problems with your daughter in the past. And now, with what she did to her classmate, Carrie White. The girl was having her… what your daughter and her posse…”

“I’m not going to sit here and listen to half-truths!” Mr. Hargensen interjected. “I know my daughter. She said she didn’t do it. I want her prom privileges restored.”

Chris could barely suppress a smug smile.

“You can’t prove she did anything, can you?” Mr. Hargensen concluded.

“Well, I believe that there is a video of the incident,” Miss Desjardin pointed out. “Your daughter is the one who took it.”

Chris frowned, realizing the video was still on her phone. Mr. Hargensen looked toward Chris; he didn’t know about the video. Miss Desjardin and Principal Morton had the upper hand.

“I think a video like that would probably be pretty damning to anyone in it and to the person who made it,” Miss Desjardin continued. “Don’t you, Mr. Hargensen? I don’t know. I’m just a gym teacher, but it seems like a video like that would probably affect college admissions, possibly a lawsuit, tons of bad publicity. I wonder what ‘The Today Show’ would do with a video like that.”

It was in that moment that Chris realized… she really screwed up.

“I think we should just look at her phone and if it’s not there, I owe you a huge apology and she should be allowed to go to prom,” Miss Desjardin smirked.

Mr. Hargensen slowly turned toward his daughter.

“Chris…”

Principal Morton held out his hand for her phone.

“Chris!” Mr. Hargensen urged.

“Daddy, I’m not going to give them my phone,” Chris laughed. “I have personal things on here. Isn’t that invasion of privacy or something?”

A sigh escaped Mr. Hargensen’s lips, as he levels with Chris. He realized she was probably lying to him.

“Chrissie, if you want to go to prom, just give them the damn phone and we can be done with this,” Mr. Hargensen spoke impatiently. “I have to get back to work.”

“Dad…” Chris whined.

“God damn it, just give them your phone, Chris!” Mr. Hargensen snapped, taking her arm.

“No!”

*RING!!!*

Chris pulled her arm away from her father and stormed out of the office as soon as the school bell rang. But it was all for naught, the reality sunk in like an anchor out at sea. There was no denying it now… Chris was not going to the prom.

Meanwhile, Sue was with her friends while they talked about the dance. Mostly about how the party was going to be disorganized. Next to them were Rarity and Pinkie Pie, who helped with the design and organization, respectively. The girls, especially Sue, found them very nice. So much show they rather enjoyed their company and their opinions.

Rainbow Dash was there too, mostly to help carry some of the heavy things around. While she was not the typical girl interested in girly activities (Like a school dance), she was most concerned about Chris. According to these girls, she tried to rile them against the gym teacher even at the risk of missing their prom, but they turned their backs on her. Who knows what she would do to them for not supporting her confrontation with Desjardin? If there’s one thing Rainbow knew about bullies, especially this one girl, she and her friends would have to be extra careful.

Of course, Rainbow was not wrong. All of a sudden, Sue and the girls heard something falling. They turned around and saw an angry Chris, who just entered the gym.

“So, I’m officially out of the prom,” She spoke, approaching the group. “I thought cock-sucker Morton would lose his job through my dad suing him.”

Pinkie and Rarity didn’t say anything, but they frowned as they sensed they couldn’t expect anything good from Chris. Rainbow, for her part, put the box she carrying on the floor and approached the group, standing at the foot of the stairs.

“Jesus Sue, why didn’t you stand up for me?” Chris argued. “We could have them by the balls.”

“Could you moderate your language, Chris?” Rainbow remarked. “There are kids here?”

Before Chris could answer back, Sue spoke up.

“We deserved it, for what we did to Carrie White. I thought I deserved it.”

Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie looked proudly toward Sue, upon hearing those words. Chris, however, sighed in frustration.

“Desjardin was right,” Sue continued. “We did a shitty thing for no reason…”

“BULLSHIT!” Chris interrupted furious.

That comment came as a nasty surprise to Sue and the other girls. But not only to them; the students seated at the table behind them turned over the swear word.

“That Carrie goes around saying that everyone but her and her mother are going to Hell, and you stand up to her.”

“Hey, you lying, meanie-pants! Carrie never said ‘any’ of those things!” Pinkie called out.

“What’s the problem with defending a friend?” Rarity asked.

“Friend?!” Chris yelled. “I hallucinate with you. There are tons of students to interact with, and you decide to hang out with an outcast?!”

“Better than hanging out with a spoiled brat!” Rainbow remarked.

Chris looked at her with a mixture of disbelief and rage.

“What did you call me?!”

“You heard me.”

“She’s right,” Sue spoke, standing up. “You’re such a pig sometimes, Chris. What did Carrie White ever do to you?”

“Yeah! What do you win by treating Carrie so badly?” Pinkie scolded her.

“She’s been begging it for it since the sixth grade!” Chris justified herself.

“That’s not a reason, that’s an excuse!” Rainbow shouted, angrily.

“Oh, why do we even try with you?” Rarity asked. “It’s quite clear ladies there’s just no reasoning with her; I don’t know about you, but I can’t take being here anymore.”

“I’m with you Rarity,” Sue replied. “We gotta go.”

The four girls grabbed their things and made for the exit. Chris, however, was not about to let it end this way. Not without her having the last word.

“Hey, I seem to remember you were in the throwing with the rest of us. What is it that she was calling her? Freak?”

Sue stopped right in her tracks. She had patience, but she also had limits. Pinkie, Dash, and Rainbow also stood still and turned toward Chris angrily.

“I stopped,” Sue told Chris.

“Oh, you stopped?” The bully scoffed.

“Yeah.”

“Why did you keep running, hmm?” She asked, approaching the group.

“Just ignore her darling,” Rarity advised, taking Sue’s arm gently. “She’s not worth it…”

Sue walked away again, but Chris grabbed her by the other arm. The force nearly made her drop all her things.

“Why did you keep running, Sue?” She repeated.

“Stop it, Chris!” Sue begged.

“Leave her alone!” Dash ordered.

But Chris blocked their way, relentlessly teasing Sue.

“You can’t keep running, Sue! Little Sue, and you can’t hide behind your new group of useless friends.”

Now Rainbow was more than willing to strike Chris in the face, but Pinkie and Rarity held her back. Chris either didn’t seem to notice or merely ignored it. Either way, she made it her mission to make Sue as miserable as possible.

“Because you’ve been dreaming about senior year and the perfect boyfriend and the perfect pro your whole god-damnit life. You’ve already booked the hotel, already practiced zones you’re gonna make when you and Tommy make love. That’s why you had this bullshit change of heart. You don’t give a shit about Carrie White, and everybody knows it!”

“THAT IS ENOUGH!” Rarity yelled. “Chris, Sue may have made a mistake; we all make mistakes! But Sue’s a better person, friend and a lady than a brat like you will ever be!”

“Yeah! I’m sorry to say this, and I mean I’m really sorry, but you know what?” Pinkie asked. “I’m glad that a party-pooper like you won’t be going to the party! Because I know girls like you, and you’d surely ruin it for everybody!”

The two girls left with Sue. While Chris was shocked those girls dared to say those things to her face, the moment she saw them leave she assumed she won the fight.

“Okay, I’ll see you around, Sue…” Chris smirked.

However, turning forward again, Chris was surprised to see Rainbow Dash in front of her. The cyan teenager was not going to leave without a thing or two to say to that bully.

“You may be the dumbest teenager in all of Ewen High School but understand this: Never go near Carrie White again. That’s the last warning I’ll give you.”

Rainbow made for the exit when Chris stepped in front of her and blocked her path. Chris may have lost the match against Desjardin, but she refused to let some ‘rookie’ talk down to her like that. She was the superior, and she was going to make that perfectly clear to her.

“Nice warning, stupid. Now I’ll tell you mine…”

Chris grabbed Rainbow by the collar of her shirt. Dash was shocked, maybe slightly intimidated, by the sudden action. But before she could react, Chris spoke to her with a threatening voice.

“Newbies like you must know their place. I’m the alpha wolf here, and all the students will do whatever I say. If I want to annoy Carrie, the yellow one or anyone I feel like, you and your friends better turn the other way. Do—”

But Chris couldn’t finish. For suddenly she felt a searing pain. She looked up and, to her surprise, Rainbow grabbed the arm holding her and squeezed with all her might. As much as Dash promised not to, she wouldn’t tolerate Chris threatening any of her friends… especially Fluttershy. Chris thought she was intimidating, but she soon realized she only angered this girl further.

“I don’t think you get it,” Dash spoke, her anger growing. “If you get close to Carrie, Fluttershy or ‘any’ of my friends… being kicked out of prom will be a sweet relief compared to what I’ll do to you.”

Rainbow released her and again made for the exit. But before she left, she turned toward the now sore Chris.

“Oh, all that talk of you being the alpha… and everyone following you. You made it clear that no one ‘supports’ you. I’ve met my share of bullies like you… you don’t deserve any friends.”

Rainbow soon departed from the gym as Chris watched her. The bully glared with intense rage. Because of Carrie, not only was she not going to prom, but even her own friend Sue had abandoned her. And now some new girls, who weren’t even locals in this town, suddenly challenge her own authority? She was going to get her revenge; whatever it took, Carrie White and her friends were going to pay.

Later…

School had ended, as Carrie White and her friends made their way out the front doors. Twilight and the others were in the midst of explaining to Carrie everything Eden’s Gate had done to them thus far. Being dragged from their motel room in the middle of the night, taken out into the middle of nowhere, and nearly drowned in a creek all for some sick, twisted ‘cleansing’. Carrie listened intently, as they explained in great detail all the horrid things they were describing. With the condition she now had in her head though, the automatic response was to disbelieve.

“Are you all ‘certain’ you weren’t just dreaming?” She asked them.

“Darling, I know what a ‘dream’ is like, and this most certainly was no dream,” Rarity responded. “I remember very vividly fighting for my very life, as all of us did. I can never forget being held under the water, how they nearly tore the roots off my head, and how drenched my night clothes were that night~”

“But if what you’re saying is true, why didn’t they just kill you as you said they wanted to?”

“Joseph Seed said he was ‘ordered’ to kills us, but believed we were worthy of being saved,” Twilight explained. “For some reason he just let us go, and I believe its because they have something else in mind. We just don’t know what that is.”

“What we do know is waking up back at the motel,” Fluttershy continued. “We raced right over her to warn you of all this. That there’s a chance you’re being targeted too.”

But Carrie just shook her head in response, not really believing what she was being told.

“I just can’t believe that’s true,” She said. “I’ve been attending Eden’s Gate for years and I’ve never seen anything so sinful or even heard about it.”

“You seriously believe those religious nutcases over your friends?” Rainbow asked, in disbelief.

“With all due respect, I’ve known them longer than I have known all of you,” Carrie responded. “I thank you all for being my new friends, but I believe I know what I’m doing!”

The familiar sounds of her mother’s car drove up to the school and made Carrie look back. She saw her mother sitting in the car, waiting for her. She looked back toward the others with a seldom look.

“I have to go; I’m expected at the compound,” Carrie told them. “I’ll see you all in school tomorrow.”

“Carrie, wait!” Twilight called after her.

Carrie just continued walking and got in the car with her mother. The moment she stepped inside, Margaret glared toward the other girls, then Spike (Who waved feebly), and then toward Carrie.

“I thought I told you specifically to stay away from those girls Carrie,” Margaret scolded. “They are wicked and vile just as all sinners.”

“They were just saying goodbye Momma,” Carrie assured.

Margaret squinted her beady eyes toward her daughter before turning back around and placed her hands upon the steering wheel.

“We’re going home then,” She said flatly.

“Actually momma, do you think it might be alright if I go to the compound for a while”

Margaret turned back toward her daughter again, with a quirked eyebrow.

“Why?” She asked.

“I was hoping to connect further with the other members of the group,” Carrie responded. “What better way to worship God and spread his good will than working side-by-side with others that too share his grace?”

Margaret squinted her eyes again toward her daughter, as if trying to determine if there was any sense of falseness hiding behind her eyes. After a moment, she let up and even offered a tiny smile in the corner of her mouth.

“I suppose that’ll be alright,” She said.

With that being said, Margaret drove the two down the road and onward toward the Eden’s Gate compound. The Mane Six and Spike watched them drive off, knowing right then and there that they couldn’t just let her go alone.

“There’s no way we are going to let her wander into that viper’s nest all by herself,” Rainbow spoke determined.

“But how would we possibly follow her?” Rarity asked. “Without our magic, we can’t make ourselves invisible or anything else for that matter.”

“There’s still my original idea,” Pinkie suggested. “I even have Fluttershy’s costume…”

Pinkie smiled as she reached through her hair and pulled out a long thick dress that looked like one of Native American origin. Even had the headdress to go with it. Everyone just turned toward the party girl and slowly shook their heads. They all quickly turned to walk away when Sue Snell raced toward them.

“Guys, wait up!” She yelled. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you the way to my house.”

“We’d love to Sue, but we kind of have something to do really quick,” Twilight responded.

“Could you maybe write your address down and we’ll meet you there?” Rarity asked.

“Uh—okay?” Sue nodded.

Sue quickly pulled out a piece of paper from her backpack and wrote down her address, handing it to Twilight.

“Thanks Sue, we’ll meet up with you later,” She said quickly.

Twilight and the girls soon raced into Twilight’s car in the parking lot, hopping in as fast as they could. The tires screeched as they soared down the street like a rocket much to the young blonde girl’s confusion.

Margaret and Carrie pulled up toward Eden’s Gate compound deep in the woods. Carrie slowly stepped her way out of the car staring toward the entrance.

“I will be back again in an hour to pick you up,” Margaret told her.

Carrie merely nodded and shut the door behind her, as her mother drove back down the road. She turned back toward the compound entrance, slowly making her way to the front gates. Rather than being met at the gate by the armed guards on patrol, she was surprised when the Father himself pushed open the gates and extended his arms in welcome.

“Welcome back, my child,” He greeted warmly. “God has graced us all with your presence once more.”

Carrie gave a small smile as she walked forward. Joseph placed his hands on her shoulders and they both leaned in to place their foreheads together in greeting. When they both parted, Joseph walked alongside Carrie as they walked through the compound. As they walked, Carrie looked around and noticed the members of the group who actually lived in the compound. Many of them walked about playing with their children, others doing various tasks around the compound, and some others sitting in silence reading the bible.

“Quite peaceful, isn’t it?” Joseph asked her.

“Yes, it is,” Carrie nodded.

“When they all came to me, they were no different than yourself my dear. Broken, senseless, devoid of hope and faith. I gave them something to believe in, something that could make life worth living. This is why I started the project, so everyone may feel beloved and valued.”

Joseph turned toward Carrie again, once more placing his hands upon her shoulders.

“Would you like to aid me in giving my sermon today?”

Carrie couldn’t believe what Joseph was asking of her. Normally he never allowed anyone to assist him in giving sermons, except for his family. The fact he asked ‘her’ made Carrie feel both extremely honored and terrified. Taking a deep breath, she nodded slowly. Joseph smiled at her response and led her right into the middle of his little community, who all gathered around to hear the words of their great leader.

“Brothers, sisters, the world is reaching its tipping point!” He preached. “We are hooked, we are blind to our obsession, and our obsession is consumption. Relentless consumption. You see we need to have the next best phone, and then to go with that phone we need a new watch, or we need new glasses. And then we need a new bag to put all our stuff in. And then of course, we need streaming music, and we need streaming T.V., and we need streaming movies, and streaming news, and streaming truth, and steaming lies, and lies, and lies, swimming in our heads.”

Everyone in the gathered crowd either nodded their heads in agreement or voiced their agreements with cheers.

“And we consume without purpose, and we consume without reason, and we consume without regard for one another… we consume all, and that is our sin… Greed. And we drift down the corridors of consumerism. We’ve got our phones and our pads pressed against our faces. Not stopping, never taking notice to the pain and the suffering of those around us. Because we need to race to upload pictures of our pets or our meals or our bodies.”

Joseph then placed an arm around Carrie and brought her forward.

“Take young Carrie here for instance. Someone had the gall and the audacity to upload a horrid video of her being publicly humiliated and shamed for an act of human nature. And what of the heathens who have committed this terrible sin? They laugh and poke fun at this poor child for greed and attention. They believe that themselves because they feel special for this. That is the travesty, because we are all special, we are all smart. But yet we seem to need the desperate approval of some digital friends that we hardly even know, when your family and loved ones are right beside you.”

Once more the cultists cheered louder in agreement.

“Our family knows the truth, and the truth is that you are all special!” Joseph continued. “You are all engaging, you are all fantastic and capable and wonderful. And all you have to do is believe it. You see we live in a world without confidence. All of us desperately looking for approval from a ‘like’ button and why? Where is our confidence? Where is our faith? I have confidence. I have faith. Let me be the well you drink from to fill yourself up. I am your Father, and you are my children, and together we will march to Eden’s Gate.”

After the sermon was over, the cultists stood, clapped, and cheered loudly for their great leader. Even Carrie herself, standing beside him, clapped and couldn’t help but feel herself floating on air thanks to his words. The more she heard the Father preach, the more special and uplifted she felt. She didn’t feel like that shy, pathetic girl she usually saw herself as. She suddenly felt like she could do anything. That feeling only grew even more when she noticed Derick Collins approaching her holding a guitar.

“Man, talk about powerful advice,” He remarked. “I can’t believe he let you up close for his sermons. He never lets anyone do that.”

Carrie blushed slightly as she smiled over the praise.

“I guess he thinks I’m special,” She replied.

“As he said, we are all special, especially you,” Derick smiled back. “Come with me, I want to introduce you to some friends.”

Carrie followed closely behind as Derick led her to one of the white painted buildings in the compound. Derick held the door open and allowed her to walk in first as he shut the door behind her. Carrie looked as she noticed a group of teenagers about her age sitting in a circle of chairs. They looked at her and smiled as they waved in greeting. She awkwardly smiled and waved back as Derick led her over to two empty seats and both sat down with the others.

“Everyone, I’d like to introduce you all to Carrie White,” Derick introduced. “Carrie, these are my friends: Randall, Keith, Alexa, Terry, Wanda, Talia, and Charlie.”

“Hello Carrie!” They greeted in unison.

Once again, Carrie just waved awkwardly as she looked over toward Derick, looking quite scared. He just placed a comforting hand on her back and smiled at her which helped calm her nerves.

“We are the Eden’s Gate choir,” Derick explained. “We were hoping you might be interested in singing some songs with us.”

“T-That’s really sweet, but um… I don’t really sing,” Carrie spoke nervously.

“Trust me, you’ll love it,” Derick smiled. “Here, we’ll get it started and when you feel comfortable, just jump on in.”

Derick quickly turned his guitar to the perfect tune and began to strum as he and the rest of his friends began to sing.

Carrie watched them all sing from her seat and couldn’t help but smile in actual joy. There was no anger or hatred or bullying going on in this group at all. Merely a bunch of teenagers like herself gathered to celebrate and enjoy being together. This is what she always hoped friendship was like and for so many years it was all she ever wanted. Her thoughts drifted back to the Mane Six and Spike, especially Fluttershy. She only wished they could see just what it is she saw here at Eden’s Gate. Her thoughts continued to run in her head as the others sang.

Derick stopped playing as he and the rest of the group faced Carrie with big smiles. Carrie stopped her thoughts and instantly went back to the fear of being judged. However, when she looked at them all, they weren’t glaring at her nor judging her by any means. They just wanted her to partake in the fun activities that they were enjoying. They wanted her to experience what it was like to have friends. With a small smile and much more confidence, Carrie too began to sing.

When the song was finally over, everyone broke out laughing and soon turned to conversation. All the while, Carrie was finally starting to enjoy herself for once in her life. Yet she nor the others had any idea that from outside the building’s window, some figures were watching them.

From behind a bush, the Mane Six and Spike kept a close eye on Carrie. All eyes peeked through the window, yet all they could see was how happy and cheerful Carrie looked for the first time since they met her.

“Look at her,” Fluttershy mused. “She looks so happy.”

“So what?” Rainbow shot back. “This is all some sick trick to lure her into joining this crazy club. I bet you none of these kids even care about her in the least.”

“Ah don’t know bout that hon,” Applejack argued. “What bout that there Collins boy? Seems he really fancies Carrie, and she really seems tah fancy him.”

“Even if that were true, we need to protect her from these psychos!” Rainbow reciprocated.

“I just hope we can do this before whatever they’ve got planned comes to fruition,” Twilight added.

“You and me both,” Spike agreed.

It was then that a low, guttural growl caught everyone’s attention and they froze in their spot.

“Spike, please tell me that was you!” Rarity practically begged.

“Nope…” Spike shook his head.

“Sounded like a hungry timberwolf ready to pounce on its prey,” Pinkie pointed out.

“PINKIE!!!” Everyone shouted.

Slowly they turned around only to come face-to-muzzle with a pack of snarling white wolves. They noticed they all had what looked like a red cross painted on their heads. The wolves snarled and snapped at them, as they surrounded the group. Normally, the girls and Spike could handle these beasts no problem but seeing as they didn’t have their abilities right now, they were in trouble.

“Fluttershy, can’t you talk to them?” Rainbow asked.

“I could try,” Fluttershy said nervously.

The timid yellow girl slowly approached the snarling wolves and gently knelt to one knee. The wolves kept growling and snarling, but Fluttershy tried to maintain her composure.

“Shh… its okay little wolves,” She said soothingly. “We aren’t going to hut you. We’re just here to help a friend and then we’ll go.”

The one wolf, seemingly the pack leader, stopped snarling for a moment and the others followed suit. The wolf slowly approached Fluttershy, who held out her hand to pet him. Taking a sniff of the girl’s hand, the wolf pulled back to stare into Fluttershy’s caring eyes… before he snapped at her hand. Thankfully, Fluttershy was able to draw her hand away before the wolf chomped it off and she scurried back toward the rest of the group in fright.

Suddenly, as the wolves moved in on them again, a whistle drew the attention of the wolves who whimpered and made to retreat. Everyone sighed in relief, assuming the terror was over, until they saw the wolves walk up and sit alongside Jacob Seed, who looked toward the group with a smile.

“Well, well, well… what do we have here?” He spoke. “Looks like a couple of lost little pups who wandered too far from home.”

Jacob stood on his feet as he pulled a revolver from his side holster, aiming toward the group. He gestured with said gun towards the church and his wolves walked up again, snarling at the group. With the combined threat of the wolves and Jacob willing to kill them, they put their hands up and walked towards the church. When they got to the doors, Jacob opened them revealing John, Faith, and worst of all Joseph waiting inside the church with the mindless zombie cultists known as ‘angels’ under Faith’s control. Joseph stood before the gathered group and smiled upon seeing them.

“We were not able to properly greet the last time you snuck into my home,” He remarked. “But I welcome you all the same.”

Jacob cocked his gun and his wolves snapped at their heels which made the Equestrian group jump forward right toward the middle of the gathering. Joseph stepped down from his podium and walked toward the group with his arms extended in welcome.

“Welcome to Eden’s Gate,” He greeted. “Though I assume you’re not pleased to be here.”

“You’d assume right crazy flakes!” Rainbow snarked.

This earned her a slam in the back of the head from Jacob and his gun, which caused her to drop to the ground groaning in pain. Though the others desperately wanted to help, the snarling of Jacob’s wolves kept them in place. Joseph walked right up to the ground and looked intently at them.

“Something is coming, you can feel it can’t you?” He asked them. “We are creeping towards the edge and there will be a reckoning. This is why we started the project because we ‘know’ what happens next. They will come for us. They will try to take from us, take our guns, try to take our freedom, take our faith. But we will not let them. We will not let their greed or their immorality or their depravity hurt us anymore. There will be no more suffering.”

He gestured toward the Mane Six and Spike as he continued to address the gathering.

“Here they are, the locusts in our garden. They’ve come to destroy all that we have built. I knew this moment would come, and we’ve prepared for it. But God will not let them take me. I saw when the lamb opened the first seal and I heard as if it were the noise of thunder one of the four beasts say, ‘Come and see’. And I saw, and behold it was a white horse and Hell followed with it.”

Joseph then turned his attention specifically on Twilight.

“I told you before that you are not beyond salvation. What I said still holds true, however, in order for this to happen you must first do the hardest thing you have perhaps ever done. The key to your salvation is simple… walk away. Go back to where it is that you dwell, leave me and my family in peace. Do this and God will spare you from the reckoning that is eminent for this world.”

Twilight looked away from the deranged mad man for a moment before slowly turning back with a face that showcased both her determination and resolve.

“We survived the worst Equestria could ever possibly throw at us and we still came out on top,” She spoke. “Time and time again we faced insurmountable odds and still we were victorious. No matter what you say or do to us, we will always resist.”

For a moment, the smile on Joseph’s face faltered into one of the frown before he smiled again, though this was more ‘forced’.

“And this is your final choice?” He asked.

“Yes!” The girls and Spike answered in unison.

Rather than getting extremely angry like he really wanted to, Joseph instead looked amongst the group again.

“I know that you are in pain,” He addressed them. “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. But you are not the only ones to be tested.”

Joseph released a deep chuckle before reaching for the sleeve of his white shirt and pulled it up so they could all see the tattoo on his wrist. The tattoo was of a beautiful young woman.

“Did you know that I had a wife?” He smiled. “So beautiful, isn’t she? We were pregnant with our first child, and we were just babies ourselves really. And I was terrified. Becoming a father, mostly about money, but she wasn’t worried. She had faith that things were going to work out. She always had faith. Then one day she was going to go visit a friend, and there was an accident… and the Lord taketh.”

Joseph held back a sob which tried to escape his tortured soul, but he kept it in.

“They rushed me to a hospital and put me in a room with this little pink bundle stuffed with tubes and they said I had to be strong, because my little girl was going to live. God was looking out for our daughter. And they left me alone in a room with her, and I just… stared… at my daughter. So helpless, so innocent, and all she had in the world was me. A nobody from nowhere with nothing. And in that moment, I knew that God was testing me. He was laying out a path before me and all I had to do was choose.”

The more he told this heartbreaking story, the more terrified the girls and Spike grew.

“So I put my hand on my little girl’s head and I leaned in… and I could smell. And we prayed together. Prayed for wisdom, prayed for strength… then I knew. I heard God’s plan for me. And I took my fingers and I put them on that little plastic tube that was taped to her angelic face… and I pinched it shut. And after a little while, her little legs started to kick and kick… then nothing. Stillness. Release. The Lord giveth and the Lord… taketh. Pain. Sacrifice. There are all part of his test, and we have to prove that we can serve God… no matter what he asks.”

When his story was finally over, Twilight and all her friends stared wide eyed toward the mad preacher, unable to even comprehend what he just told them. He’d actually… killed… his own child. If there was ever any sort of hope maybe Eden’s Gate were just, it was all completely shattered. Joseph closed his eyes as the pain and torture recalling his past life flooded back to him. He opened his eyes again and this time there was deep anger inside.

“So I tell you once more, take my offer and leave now… or God will bring his wrath upon all of you.”

With that in mind, Joseph walked off with Faith and John. Jacob called off his wolves as he joined after them. This provided the perfect opportunity for the Mane Six and Spike to race out of the church back to Twilight’s car so they could get the Hell out of there as fast as possible. Little did anyone know that hiding behind the corner of the church was none other than Derick Collins.

Derick had secretly heard the entire conversation through a cracked wall in the church, and even he couldn’t believe what he heard. Growing up his entire life in the compound, he always believed the Father to be this great savior and leader of their group. Now after hearing what Joseph had done to his own child, even supposedly in the name of God, it sickened him deeply. It became perfectly clear to Derick: Joseph Seed was ‘no’ savior. Just a mad man preaching lies and deception to his cult.

And when Carrie White discovers the truth about Joseph, and the one caring person in her life didn’t tell her… Collins knew it was going to break her heart. The problem was: How was he going to tell a young girl who finally felt so happy?

Hope

Later that same evening, at the Snell household, the Mane and Spike were hanging out with Sue in her room. As they told her what happened at the compound, the whole time Sue listened to recount they heard, and tears eventually streamed from her eyes. A deep sadness resonated within her heart. To think someone would willingly murder their own child over some twisted sense of righteousness. It sickened her, made her feel absolutely terrible even. Sue herself hoped she’d have children of her own someday and just knowing someone could do something like that, it tore her apart. Finally, by the time the group finished explained, they just sat there in utter silence for the longest time.

“… I don’t even know what to say,” Sue finally spoke up.

“It feels like all the joy had been completely sucked out of the world,” Twilight replied sadly.

“What kind of monster does such a thing?” Rarity asked tearfully. “To their own child nonetheless?”

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie said absolutely nothing, as they both held each other and sobbed quietly in silence. The story they’ve been told was absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking, neither of them could find it in themselves to speak. Fluttershy was a complete emotional wreck, while Pinkie was so sad her hair lost its bounce and hung flat behind her. Especially hurtful given that Pinkie Pie herself has a child of her own.

“Sorry guys, but after all this information I’d really want to be alone right now,” Sue spoke regretfully.

“That’s okay Sue,” Twilight nodded. “We understand.”

“Try to get some rest dear,” Rarity suggested. “Maybe think of better things tomorrow.”

The Mane Six and Spike got up, departing the room while waving a sad goodnight to Sue as the door closed behind them. They proceeded toward one of the guest rooms and shut the door. Eventually everyone sat on the ground, their sadness resumed.

“What do we do now?” Spike asked.

“We must protect Carrie at all costs,” Rainbow responded. “That’s what we have to do.”

“And how do ya reckon we do that hon?” Applejack shot back. “We ain’t got no clue how tah even get started. Even when we get some ideas, that there cult’s one step ahead ah us.”

Twilight stood to her feet, proceeding to pace around the room as she tried brainstorming other possible ideas that could help Carrie. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie remembered something she found back at the camp and instantly stopped crying.

“Wait a minute!” She said quickly. “I remember something when we were running out of the compound.”

Everyone immediately turned their attention toward Pinkie.

“What is it Pinkie?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie reached into her hair and pulled out a large schematic folded up as well as a video camera. She laid them out in front of everyone, who looked at them in confusion.

“So what exactly do you have here Pinkie?” Rainbow asked.

“I really don’t know what all of this is,” Pinkie admitted. “But I know it must be important. What else would they keep behind a locked door like its some sort of big giant secret?”

Twilight looked toward the schematics laid out in front of them and noticed they looked like the layout of the Ewan High School gym. At the very bottom of the plans, there was a date as well as an event marked on it.

Prom, 2013

“These schematics are showcasing the school gym on Prom night!” Twilight told everyone.

“Why would the cultists care about the prom?” Fluttershy asked.

“Let’s see what’s on this camera,” Twilight said, grabbing the object.

Flipping the small screen on the camera, Twilight activated the device and played back the tape while the others gathered around her. The tape played back to when Jacob Seed had Carrie held in the basement. The moment Jacob opened the little music box, something strange happened. Carrie started shaking uncontrollably for a while before going limp as Jacob left the room. Next thing they knew, Carrie ripped right out of the chair restraints and held out her arms. A strange energy started flowing throughout the room she was in.

And then… it began.

Carrie’s eyes turned solid black as a massive scream of pure rage shot throughout the entire room and sent all the cultists in the room flying. She then shot her arms out and lifted the projector in a telekinetic grip before reducing it to pieces. She grabbed a number of screaming cultists in her grip before smashing them to a bloody pulp against the solid steel walls of the basement. It was about that time the camera went to static and cut off, leaving the Mane Six and Spike staring wide-eyed, and their mouths dropped over what they just witnessed.

“Oh… my… Faust!” They all gasped.

Carrie sat on her bed, closing on of the books she got from the library. Several laid on her bed, one sat on the table at the other side of the room. Carrie decided to test her new powers. Staring at the book on the table, it started to shake and eventually it levitated as the lights flickered. Deep in her focus, she hovered the book towards her. With a wave of her hand, the books on her bed started levitating. They floated around the room like a small flock of birds much to Carrie’s amazement. A few books slammed into the wall or dropped from her telekinetic grasp.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Margaret heard the books thumping and saw the lights flickered. She looked up, scared as the house groaned from the energy.

“Carrie?” Margaret called out.

Back in her room, Carrie was astonished as she rose her bed off the floor as well. Margaret turned back toward the sink and pulled a large kitchen knife from the dishwater. She cautiously made her way up the stairs with the knife. In her room, Carrie smiled and laughed a tad as she started getting the hang of controlling the levitation. Suddenly, Margaret grabbed the door handle and tried opening it.

“Carrie?”

Carrie heard her mother, and the fear broke her concentration. The books fell and the bed returned to its spot on the floor. Margaret opened the door, finding all the lights off and Carrie curled up in bed, pretending to be asleep. Margaret looked around, deciding there’s no danger, and very quietly she put the knife on the dresser. Margaret pulled the blanket over Carrie, stroking her shoulder.

“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, little girl,” Margaret whispered, to her ‘sleeping’ daughter. “You’re safe here with me.”

Carrie’s face was hidden and judging by her eyes she didn’t believe her own mother. Carrie flicked her fingers, and the knife fell off the dresser landing with its blade stuck on the floor with a loud *CLANG!*. Margaret turned around and gasped with fright, while Carrie just smirked.

The next day at school, Sue watched Tommy and the rest of the team playing Lacrosse. The Mane Six and Spike stood beside her, all having huge bags under their eyes. They were unable to get much sleep from the night before. After seeing what they’d seen on that video camera, to say they were horrified would be an understatement. They decided against telling Sue for the moment, speaking in a hushed tone around her because they really didn’t want her to worry.

“Now we don’t know Carrie very well girls,” Fluttershy whispered. “But after what we saw on that camera last night… that wasn’t her at all… *SQUEEK!*

“She had to have been brainwashed somehow,” Twilight surmised. “Possibly some form of mind control.”

“You mean like the time Plankton had everyone in Bikini Bottom under his mind control?” Pinkie asked.

“Exactly!” Twilight nodded.

“If what you say is true darling, based on the schematics of the school gymnasium, I think we know what Eden’s Gate are planning,” Rarity pointed out.

“Those sick creeps are going to make Carrie go crazy at prom and kill everyone attending,” Rainbow added.

“They do that, and it’ll cause a mass panic,” Applejack spoke up. “It’ll be the end of the world as we know it. Just as Joseph done said.”

“This must’ve been his plan all along!” Spike realized.

“Should we tell Carrie about this?” Fluttershy asked.

“Even if we did, she’d never believe us,” Twilight shook her head. “She’s too far brainwashed by the cult that she believes they can’t do no wrong. We’re going to have to take matters into our own hands.”

“And how do we do that?” Pinkie asked.

“We’re going to that prom and we’re going to stop whatever plans the cult has in store. We must do whatever it takes to prevent Carrie from losing control. But for now, we just play along and act like everything’s normal. We can’t risk tipping off the cult that we know what ‘they’ know.”

Soon as the game ended, Sue went to meet with Tommy as he took off his mask. He ran toward Sue and kissed her on the lips.

“Hey!” Tommy greeted. “How’re you doing?”

“Good…” Sue laughed.

“Good?”

“Yeah…”

“What’s up?”

“I want you take Carrie White to prom.”

“A-ha-ha!” Tommy chuckled. “Good one, babe. Come on.”

Tommy turned to walk away, but Sue didn’t follow. It was then he realized she meant it.

“Are you serious?” Tommy asked, surprised.

“I’m just trying to fix what I did,” Sue insisted.

“Yeah. I-I-I get that, but this is…” Tommy stammered. “Uh, Sue, it’s nuts.”

“Okay, so it’s nuts. But after what we did to her, I have to do something. I have to do something that counts.”

“Uh… what even makes you think that she would say yes to me?” Tommy chuckled nervously.

“She’d say yes,” Sue reassured.

Suffice to say, Tommy was still uncertain about this. Sue looked wistful but still she was determined to do the right thing.

“We’ve barely even spoken.”

“What girl doesn’t even want to go to prom? What girl doesn’t want one magical night? Maybe I can give that up for her.”

“No…” Tommy shook his head. “Babe, I want you to have that magic night. I don’t want to go to prom with Carrie White. I want to go to prom with you.”

“Well thankfully, you won’t have to worry about that.”

They both turned toward the direction where the voice came from. Sure enough, Derick Collins approached them.

“I’m asking Carrie to prom,” He told them. “We’ve been hanging out as of late and, if I’m being honest, I actually really like her. I’ll ask her to prom and you two can go together. It’s a win-win.”

“I did catch how she looked at you in class when you rescued her,” Sue recalled.

“Well there you go, problem solved!” Tommy smiled at Sue.

Tommy raced back to the field t continue the game. Sue merely shook her head before walking off. Derick was just about to do the same before Twilight and the others approached from the front.

“Derick, wait!” Twilight spoke urgently. “Before you do anything, we know your loyalties lie with Eden’s Gate. But you have to know…”

“My loyalties don’t lie with that brainwashed cult,” Derick interrupted. “At least… not anymore.”

This caused the group to dawn some confusion.

“But I thought you were part of the group,” Spike spoke confused.

“I was… till I heard what happened.”

“You heard all that?” Fluttershy asked.

Derick nodded his head before hanging it in sadness.

“All my life, I thought what the cult was doing was just. I thought the Father was our savior, our guiding light towards the promised land. But after hearing what twisted, demented sense of God he had, after what he’d done to his own child, I refuse to follow anything like that again. I follow the will of God, and I know God would never allow anything like what Joseph Seed has done.”

The group looked toward each other for a few moments, then back toward Derick. They wanted to believe what he was saying, but after being part of the cult for so long they had serious doubts.

“How do we know that what you’re saying is true?” Twilight asked.

Derick took off his backpack and pulled out his Eden’s Gate bible from inside. Walking toward a nearby trash bin, he produced a lighter from his jacket pocket and lit the bible on fire before tossing it toward the bin. Everyone watched with wide eyes as he was essentially throwing away the very teachings he grew up with his entire life. Walking back toward them, a determined look filled his eyes.

“If you guys are protecting Carrie from these assholes, count me in!” He volunteered.

“Ya really care about her don’t ya?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah, I do!” Derick nodded.

Twilight gazed toward Derick for a few moments more, trying to determine whether or not to actually trust him. Then she finally stuck out her hand, to which Derick gently grabbed and shook. From that moment on, their commitment to helping one another was sealed.

“So what do I do?” He asked.

“Well, since you’ve already planned to ask Carrie to prom, that’s all we really need you to do,” Twilight responded.

“Right! Take her to prom and make sure she has the greatest night of her life,” Rainbow added.

“The happier she is, the less likely things will go wrong,” Applejack nodded.

Fluttershy soon approached Derick, much to his confusion, and gave him a big hug. He stood there frozen for a moment before awkwardly placing a hand on her back.

“Please make sure Carrie has a good time,” She pleaded. “She’s been through so much already, and I really want her to have a good night for a change. She’s my friend, and friends always want to see each other happy.”

Derick lightly patted Fluttershy’s back before the girl finally drew away to looked toward the pink-haired teen’s eyes with a smile.

“I promise…” He said.

Later…

Derick Collins walked like the world was in slow motion, treading across the school like a model on a runway. With his slick hair, the hypnotizing eyes, and even a leather jacket, all the girls smiled and giggled toward him. He’d exchange a few handshakes and some high fives to some students and faculty alike. He’s every bit of the embodiment of every teenage heartthrob cliché.

Walking straight into the lunchroom, it didn’t take long for the young man to spot Carrie White. She sat alone, hunched over her telekinesis books. He soon approached her with a tray of food and tapped her shoulder.

“Hey, Carrie!” Derick greeted.

Carrie gasped in surprise over someone talking to her. On instinct, she quickly covered the book as he sat down. She turned toward him and sighed with relief.

“Hey… you…” Carrie greeted awkwardly.

“I was just looking for you at the library, since that became your new hangout and stuff,” Derick spoke. “But I never would’ve figured you’d be here.”

“Yeah… sorry if that’s weird…” Carrie apologized.

“It’s cool…”

For a moment, Carrie said no more. She seemed to be waiting for another mean comment. Derick picked up one of her books and read the title.

“’Telekinesis: Unlocking the mind’,” Derick read. “You certainly have taste.”

Carrie quickly grabbed the book away as he chuckled. A few other students took notice of Derick sitting right across from Carrie, all of them murmuring as to why this random guy would suddenly be hanging with the outcast.

“So, this whole… telekinesis thing. Is that like—some form of, um… hypnosis?” Derick asked, starting conversation. “My choir friends and I tried that once… we actually hypnotized Charlie’s dog to take a dump on Principal Morton’s porch.”

Derick chuckled, yet Carrie retreated herself further. Seeing as being lighthearted wasn’t reaching Carrie, he decided to switch tactics.

“So… how are you doing?” Derick asked casually.

“I’m… okay…” Carrie answered, awkwardly.

“Great. So you know prom’s next week, right? At first I was just going to skip the whole thing. But then I was thinking… if you don’t have a date already, maybe you’d want to go with me?”

Carrie looked toward Derick in utter confusion. True, she really liked this boy, and they were very good friends. But she couldn’t help but shake her head, thinking she heard him wrong.

“What?”

“You know? The prom?” Derick repeated. “You and me… next week… do some dancing?”

Now Carrie clearly had no idea how to respond. She looked around, seeing all the other students staring at the pair in disbelief. And Carrie could swear she heard a chuckle somewhere in the crowd. In her mind she must be thinking it’s another joke, as Derick leaned toward her.

“What do you say Carrie?”

Carrie stood up and quickly threw her books in her bag hurrying out of the lunchroom. Derick went after her in the hallway and reached for her arm. She whirled out of his grasp, frightfully upset.

“Derick, please stop!” Carrie begged. “Just stop trying to trick me… just like everyone else!”

At first Derick didn’t say a word. He could clearly see how vulnerable and used to being hurt Carrie was.

“Carrie… I’m not trying to trick you,” Derick assured. “I really want to go to prom with you; I refuse to go with anyone else.”

“You don’t mean that…” Carrie whimpered.

“Yes I do!” Derick insisted, holding her coat. “I’m with you Carrie White, every step of the way. Not because someone told me to… not because I have to… I want to go with you. It’ll be the most fun you’ve had in years, I promise!”

“B-B-But…”

“Please…?”

Carrie stared toward Derick for a moment, the way he looked at her as if beckoning to take his hand and say ‘yes’. Instead, as she reached out toward him, she merely grabbed her coat back.

“I just can’t!” Carrie insisted, shaking her head.

And just like that, Carrie took off before Derick could reach out to her. So confused, so upset, she couldn’t even look back toward Derick as she ran as far as her legs could carry him. And Derick just looked after her, his eyes wanting to help but not knowing what to do. Around the corner, Twilight and her friends approached and stood behind Derick. The young man let out a sigh, as Fluttershy placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry…” Fluttershy apologized.

Derick didn’t say another word. Instead he slowly turned toward Fluttershy and pat his hand against hers. He then decided to walk away, his hands in his pocket wondering what he was going to do now. The very same question plaguing the minds of the girls, and Spike. What were they going to do?

In the darkened girls’ locker room, Carrie sat while crying her eyes out. It didn’t take long for Miss Desjardin to find her all by herself. Feeling sympathetic for the child, she knelt down to speak to her.

“Did one of the girls try something again?” She asked worriedly.

Carrie shook her head before gazing up toward her teacher with tears in her eyes.

“No… I got invited to prom.”

Hearing the amazing news, Miss Desjardin was ecstatic for Carrie.

“Really?” She gasped. “That’s great news! With whom?”

“Derick Collins,” Carrie responded.

Miss Desjardin tried to retain the happy façade, but the answer set off a red flag.

“Derick Collins?” Miss Desjardin asked. “I don’t think I’ve seen him around school very much. Is he… dreamy?”

Carrie sniffled a bit before her nodding her head ‘yes’.

“Yeah…” She replied. “I don’t know why he’d ever want to go with me though. He must have just been out of options.”

Suffice to say, Carrie was convinced it couldn’t possibly be true. Despite being everything a girl could dream of Collins really only spoke with one girl… and that was her. Part of her desperately wanted to believe Derick was being genuine but was so afraid she’d just get her heart broken again. Poor Miss Desjardin couldn’t bring herself to crush her hopes, even against her better judgement.

“Maybe he really meant it,” She assured.

“No…”

“Yes, of course he did.”

“Why?” Carrie sobbed. “Why would he want to go with me?”

“Come here.”

Miss Desjardin took Carrie’s hand and lead her toward the mirrors. She put her arms over Carrie’s shoulders for support.

“Do you know what I see?” She asked. “I see a beautiful young woman. Maybe wear a little make-up.”

Carrie gazes upon her reflection, daring for a moment to hope. Miss Desjardin pulled her hair back and poked Carrie’s cheek, getting a smile from the girl.

“Pinch your cheeks a little bit, put some color in there. Curl your hair. Stand up straight.”

Miss Desjardin gently pulled Carrie from her usual crouched posture.

“There you go.”

And as Carrie looked upon her reflection, she began to see someone worthwhile looking back. The woman she wanted to be.

Later that day, Carrie walked along the street toward her house. Suddenly, to her horror, she spotted Derick pulling up his car along the driveway. Soon as he emerged, he began walking straight towards her house. Quickly, she raced after him.

“What are you doing here?!” She asked horrified.

“Aren’t you going to ask me in?” He joked.

“This is not a joking matter. You can’t be here!”

“Why shouldn’t I? I hoped to continue our conversation from earlier. About the prom. Kind of left me hanging back there.”

“I’ve already told you…”

“You did, but I figured you’d change your mind.”

Carrie watch a car come down the road, making sure it’s not her mother. All the while Derick kept talking.

“Girls change their mind all the time.”

“Why are you doing this?” Carrie asked him seriously.

“C’mon, I’m really trying!” Derick insisted.

“Who’s been telling you to try?! Did Twilight and her friends put you up to this? Eden’s Gate?”

“Nobody told me to do anything… I chose to approach you! And I meant every word I said.”

Derick looked deeply into her eyes, placing a gently hand upon her cheek. Carrie flinched a bit, and yet somehow she didn’t mind.

“I’m not an idiot… I know what its like to be the outcast,” Derick responded. “For years, my entire life has always been with Eden’s Gate, we’re always praying every day and I never really get to do regular teenage activities. You and I have gone to the same place for religious fulfillment but never once had we even spoken to each other. Then I actually get a chance to meet you, to get to know you not as a follower of God… but as a person.

“I realized that the only fulfillment I haven’t had was someone special to call my own. I get you don’t think very highly of yourself, but believe me when I say… I think you’re the most beautiful, kindest girl on the face of God’s green earth. And I’d give up ‘all’ of my beliefs, if it means getting to know the ‘real’ you.”

Carrie almost wanted to cry over such kind words, she desperately wanted to believe them truly. She just didn’t know if she could find it in her heart to believe him.

"You need to leave,” She insisted.

“Not until you say yes,” He responded. “Just one night being regular kids and I’ll never ask again.”

“Why is the prom so important to you?”

“Because I think we’d have a good time. Truth is… I’ve been to so many schools, yet I never actually been to a dance. Honestly, I really believe if you’d give it a chance as I’m willing to, maybe you’ll realize your missing something in your life too. And even if nothing happens afterwards and we still want to be friends, I’ll have no regrets.”

Carrie spotted another car, fearing that it could be her one. And even if that wasn’t the case, surely the next car would be.

“Yes!” She spoke quickly. “Yes, okay, I’ll go. I gotta be back by 10:30.”

Even though it was a rather ‘quick’ yes, just to convince him to leave before her mother arrives, Derick was still pleased she agreed.

“No problem! So… I’ll pick you up here at 7:00?”

“Yeah… okay,” Carrie nodded.

Before he left, he decided to be brave and go for the moment. He leaned close and placed a gentle kiss on Carrie’s cheek, smiling at her as he hopped in his car. Carrie stood frozen as a heated blush came to her face as she watched him drive away. Slowly lifting her hand up, placing it on the exact spot on her where he kissed her, Carrie White couldn’t stop the huge smile coursing its way to her face as she walked back home.

Little did the strawberry blonde know, from the sidelines, Chris Hargensen had been watching the entire time with an angry look on her face. She couldn’t believe the little bible thumping freak was now going to prom. A deep rage boiled deep inside her, being kicked out of prom all because of Carrie White. Pulling her hood over her head, Chris walked down the street huffing angrily to herself. She needed to figure out a way to get back at Carrie White, something even more humiliating than last time. But how?

As she walked, the sound of a car behind her caused her to turn around and spot two white vans coming in her direction. Chris quickly stepped out of the way to let them pass, but they pulled alongside to a complete stop next to her. From the vans, a group of Eden’s Gate cultists jumped out with machine guns and started towards her. This scared Chris immensely and she quickly fled the other way. However, she hadn’t gotten very far as another group of cultists jumped out the other van and cut her off. They grabbed her by the arms and started dragging her back towards the others.

“Let me go freaks!” She yelled loudly. “I swear if you don’t let me go, there’ll be Hell to pay! My dad’s a lawyer and he’ll sue your asses off!”

The cultists said nothing as they dragged Chris back towards the rest of the group. One of the cultists opened the back doors of the van and out stepped Joseph Seed. The Father gazed toward the girl struggling in the grips of the other cultists and smiled.

“Release her!” He ordered.

The two cultists simply nodded their heads and released their hold on Chris. The girl in question rubbed her sore arms and just glared at the Father.

“If you so much as long one finger on my, my dad will ensure you’re locked away for the rest of you fucking life!” She threatened.

Joseph, meanwhile, chuckled in amusement as he stepped towards the girl.

“Worry not my child, for I am not here to harm you,” He assured her. “Rather in fact, I’m here to offer you aid.”

“Yeah right creep,” Chris scoffed. “If I were you, I’d get in your shitty can and get as far the hell away as possible because I’ll call the cops!”

The cultists behind Chris raised their guns and aimed for her back. But Joseph merely held a hand to stay their fire. He then held both arms to the sky as he looked toward the heavens.

“When the Lamb opened the seventh seal… there was silence in Heaven… and the seven angels before God were given seven trumpets. And there were noises, thundering’s, lightning’s, and an earthquake… and I heard a great voice from the temple say to the angels… go your ways… and pour from the vials, the wartch of God upon the Earth.”

Hearing his preaching, Chris merely rolled her eyes.

“Oh great, another Jesus freak!” She muttered. “Look, I’ve had enough with this shit in my life. You can all go back to singing your little songs and I’m going the hell home! I want nothing to do with ‘any’ of you!”

She pushed the two cultists aside and started walking her way back down the street.

“Not even if it concerns vengeance against Carrie White?”

Chris stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder toward the mad preacher and his followers.

“What do you mean?” She asked confused.

“I know you harbor great resentment for Carrie White all your life,” Joseph continued. “God has spoken to me child of a great collapse that will destroy this very world as we know it. We believe young Carrie is the chosen one, who will bring the great collapse upon the Earth. All she needs is to be pushed in that very direction and the prophecy that has been foretold unto me will be fulfilled.”

Chris turned fully back around now. She walked right back into the middle of the group.

“Why the hell should I help you?” Chris retorted. “What kind of church are you?”

“The kind which rewards an opportunity to torment Carrie White with any punishment deem worthy,” Joseph continued. “In order for the prophecy to be fulfilled, she must first be broken beyond repair. I knew you’d never pass on an opportunity to cause that girl pain; I’m offering you that very opportunity. TO help show the world exactly what she is… nothing.”

Joseph held out a hand for her, leaving Chris to ponder for a good moment. It was certainly a very tempting offer. An opportunity to humiliate that stupid little freak even further and show it off to the whole world. An opportunity for revenge knocking right at her front door, and this man offered her that chance to do anything she wished. With a wicked smile on her face, she reached out and shook the preacher’s hand.

“What did you have in mind?”

The Collapse Approaches

The next day, the Mane Six met with Carrie downtown to help her find a dress for prom. Spike would’ve gone along, but instead he went with Derick to find a nice tuxedo. Carrie was both extremely excited to find a great dress, yet also terrified of what her mother would do when she found out about all this. However, for the first time in her entire life, Carrie White was actually happy. She was going to go through with this no matter what.

Right now, Carrie and her friends walked down the street seeking a shop for the perfect dress.

“Looking forward to prom, Carrie?” Twilight asked her.

Carrie didn’t answer at first; instead, she responded with an awkward shrug.

“Well… I wasn't too excited about it at first,” She admitted. “Honestly when Derick asked me, I thought he was trying to mess with me… like everyone else.”

“What changed your mind?” Rainbow asked.

Carrie thought back to the day she finally accepted Derick’s invitation, after he showed up at her house before her mother came home. The fact he was so persistent to actually come to her house just to ask her was a sweet gesture. What she remembered most was that kiss he’d given her on the cheek just before he left. It made her blush, and a smile came upon her face.

“I don’t know,” She replied sheepishly. “He just wouldn’t stop pestering me till I agreed.”

“Oh, is that the only reason darling?” Rarity asked mischievously.

“Could it possibly be because ‘someone’ has the lovey-dovey kissy eyes for him?” Pinkie joked.

Carrie only blushed harder, but nonetheless giggled along with the rest.

“He’s really handsome,” Carrie admitted. “He’s also very sweet and respectful.”

“And that right there sugar cube is how ya know y’all got yerself a great feller!” Applejack smiled.

“You deserve a chance at happiness Carrie,” Fluttershy said.

Just as they approached the dress store, Carrie a noticed a beautiful dress sitting in the window and ran right up to admire it. The others walked alongside her and gazed upon it as well.

“Eh, it’s a lovely dress indeed but I feel the colors would clash entirely with your complexion darling,” Rarity critiqued.

“Leave it to Rarity to rip on anything she doesn’t find fashionable,” Rainbow replied, with an eyeroll.

“I’m not dumping on anyone’s style Rainbow Dash,” Rarity shot back. “I’m merely looking out for dear Carrie. This is her ‘one’ night to be a princess and she must look absolutely perfect.”

“She’ll look anyway she wants to look,” Twilight replied. “Whatever she wants to do, that’s all that matters.”

Carrie smiled in appreciation, hearing her friends wanting her to have a great night. Opening the front door to the shop, she made her way inside with the others following. They hadn’t noticed from across the street that Chris, along with the Ultras, were watching at a safe distance.

“Crazy right?” Tina told them. “Derick Collins and Carrie White. To think that Freaky Carrie actually has a date for the prom.”

Back inside the store, Carrie gazed upon the red dress inside the store and then the price tag. It was certainly ‘way’ more than she could ever afford.

“Sheesh, you think for that price it were made of gold!” Rainbow remarked.

“Fashion is expensive dear,” Rarity spoke up. “You’d know if you ever tried wearing something glamorous every now and then.

“And I will… just as soon as I want to be a prissy prima Donna,” Rainbow retorted.

“You two gonna have tah wait outside?” Applejack asked, irritated.

“Sorry…” They apologized in unison.

Course that hadn’t stopped Rainbow and Rarity from glaring at one another for a minute more, before turning away. Twilight approached Carrie’s side and held out a tiny bag to her.

“What’s this?” Carrie asked.

“If that’s the dress you want, we’ll make it happen for you,” Twilight responded. “This should be enough to pay for it.”

Carrie took the tiny pouch and peeked inside, spotting a small number of golden bits. Carrie stared in shock toward the tiny pile of gold. This amount alone could buy her any dress in the shop. However, she handed it back to Twilight with a smile.

“I really appreciate the offer,” Carrie said. “But I just can’t accept that. You’ve done so much for me already, being the first real friends I’ve had. I couldn’t ask for more.”

Twilight smiled back at the girl before putting the bag of bits away. Carrie soon approached a roll of fabric, smiling as she ran her fingers along the smooth fabrics. Fluttershy walked alongside her, admiring the fabric just the same.

“If you’d really want an amazing dress, you could always make one,” She suggested.

“My sewing skills aren’t that great,” Carrie shook her head.

“Would you please stop doing that all the time?” Fluttershy asked, scoldingly. “I may not know much about you Carrie, but there’s one thing I do know. You’re an amazing girl with many talents. If you took a moment to truly believe in yourself, you might just see it too.”

Carrie looked toward Fluttershy for a moment before giving a big smile and threw her arms around her shy friend. Fluttershy happily returned the hug before they turned their attention toward the fabrics. Chris eyed them through the window, a smirk spread across her face. Those girls would be having fun now, but soon enough their happy little world would come crashing down. And everything will be just as it should be.

Later that evening, Carrie walked by herself back to her house as the thunder and lightning struck. The girls and Spike knew better than to approach the house given her mother hates them. Speaking of whom, Carrie slowed down in fear the moment she saw her mother. There she stood, waiting in the yard, furious and worried at the same time. She ushered Carrie into the house before the storm got worse.

“Where have you been?!” Margaret asked. “I was worried sick! Come on! Come inside!”

“I’m sorry I’m late, Mama,” Carrie apologized.

“Just get inside!” Margaret scolded.

No sooner were the two ladies in the house, Margaret proceeded to lock the door behind her.

“Your supper’s cold! I’m going to have to heat it up! I didn’t know…”

The moment Carrie took off her coat, Margaret froze. She stood repulsed by the fact Carrie’s shoulders were completely bare.

“You’re immodest!” She gasped in horror. “I didn’t know where you were! I didn’t know!”

Carrie walked after Margaret into the kitchen. The poor girl tried so hard to explain herself.

“No, Mama. I took the bus to Main Street; I bought cloth for a dress.”

“You are not to go anywhere but to school and back!” Margaret growled. “You know that!”

“Mama, before you say anything else… I’ve been asked to prom,” Carrie admitted.

Margaret practically throws the dinner into the oven. She doesn’t reply to such news that would normally please the run-of-the-mill mother.

“Mama, I’ve been asked to prom.”

“Oh, God, why?” Margaret sighed.

“It’s next Saturday and he’s a very nice boy,” Carrie continued. “And he’ll come and meet you before and he promised to have me home by 10:30.”

Margaret started shaking her head rapidly, trembling over what her daughter was asking of her.

“No, no, no, no…”

“I already accepted,” Carrie explained. “I know this scares you. It scares me, too. The other kids, they think I’m weird. But I don’t want to be. I have to try to be a whole person. Before it’s too late.”

For a moment, Margaret turned toward her daughter staring at her. Then with one hand, she caressed Carrie’s cheek. The softest touch she’d ever given her own daughter.

“He’ll hurt you,” She whispered.

Carrie shook her head, removing her mother’s hands from her face.

“No, Mama. No, Mama, there are bad people, but not Derick. He’s good! You’ll like him, he’s a very nice boy!”

“Boys, boys,” Margaret growled. “After the blood, comes the boys sniffing, slobbering like dogs!”

“Stop it, Mama!” Carrie begged.

The child walked away, as Margaret followed her into the living room.

“He’s going to paw at you until he finds where that blood smell comes from!” Margaret warned. “He’s going to take you, Carrie, in his car out to the wilderness, out where its cold and the roadhouses are and the whiskey!”

“Stop being so crazy!” Carrie begged.

“You tell that boy you’re not going!”

“No!”

“We’ll move from here! We’re never going to stop moving!”

“No, Mama!”

“You’re going to go to your closet and you’re going to pray! You’re going to get in there and you’re going to pray for forgiveness~”

“NO, NEVER AGAIN, MAMA!”

The lights flicked and everything in the living room, everything that wasn’t nailed down, suddenly lifted high into the air. Tables, chairs, lamps, the couch, everything. Margaret screamed in terror, collapsing onto the floor. All around her, everything suddenly dropped back to the floor. Carrie, stunned over how powerful she’s become, stood over her whimpering mother.

“Mama, stand up,” Carrie spoke.

Margaret folded her hands in prayer, staring toward Carrie in horror.

“Mama, stand up!”

One raise of her arm, and Carrie forced her mother high into the air. Margaret screamed as her feet dangled inches off the ground. All the lights around the house flickered, the house itself creaked as if it were stirring to life.

“Mama, I’m going,” Carrie declared, determined.

“Witch!” Margaret muttered.

“I’m not a witch, Mama! There are no witches!”

“The Devil’s got her now… like he did before…”

“It’s not the Devil, Mama. There are other people out there like me who can do what I can do~”

“You poor child! Don’t you know he’s working through you?!”

“Mama, it’s inherited! It was passed down from Grandma and it skipped you! You know that!”

Margaret shook her head in response. Denying that any such claim could possibly be true, and the other reason stemming from the fact she was terrified beyond measure.

“Maybe it came from Daddy!” Carrie guessed.

“He gave me a cancer!” Margaret spat. “I thought you were cancer!”

Carrie flinched at the admissions, her own mother thinking of her as a disease. All this made Margaret rise higher into the air, the poor woman screaming for her life.

“That’s awful!” Carrie gasped, in pain. “Don’t say that!”

“You must renounce this power!” Margaret begged. “You must never use it!”

“Mama, I don’t want to fight with you!”

“Ancient serpent…”

“I’m not like you! And I’m never gonna be like you!”

“She’s lost to me… by your grace…”

“Pray all you want, Mama, but I’m going! And nothing’s going to stop me.”

Margaret kept frantically praying, for her own salvation… begging the lord above to grant her safety and asking of him to make this child stop whatever she was doing. Seeing there was no talking sense into her, Carrie dropped Margaret from her psychic grasp. Her mother fell face down onto the floor, sobbing in horror and despair. All Carrie could do was stare at her own mother with some sense of pity… and disappointment.

“And I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Carrie concluded, walking away.

Later that very same night, under the cover of blackness, Chris Hargensen and her boyfriend Billy sped through the night toward a farm. After Chris met with the Father, learning of the plan he had in mind, Chris immediately jumped at the chance. A perfect act of revenge against Carrie White, and she wouldn’t miss this opportunity. Chris and Billy, along with their friends Jackie and Kenny, pulled up to the farm and opened the car trunk. They pulled out some buckets, ropes, flashlights, knives, and a sledgehammer.

“What are we doing?” Billy asked Chris. “What does this have to do with Carrie White?”

“Trust me babe,” Chris replied. “This is going to get back at Carrie White and everyone else way more than you could ever imagine.”

“How do you know that?”

“I have my sources,” Chris smirked wickedly.

They climbed the fence into the pig pen. The boys laughed and snorted much like pigs.

“It’s a piggy!” Kenny chuckled.

“Here, piggy, piggy, piggy!” Billy called out. “Here, piggy, piggy, piggy, piggy!!!!”

Chris shined her flashlight over all the pigs, eyeing out for the best one.

“It smells like shit in here!” Jackie cringed.

“Chris, pick one,” Billy beckoned. “Pick one that looks like her. Pig’s blood for a pig!”

The boys laughed, while Chris smiled. Sure enough, one of the pigs waddled towards the light.

“That one!” Chris pointed.

One motion from Billy, and Jackie was already at work with the sledgehammer.

“Go on!” Billy urged. “One quick swing, all right?”

“I got this!” Jackie smirked.

Jackie raised the hammer, psyching himself for the massacre still to come.

“Don’t worry, little piggy,” Jackie spoke mockingly. “Uncle Jackie’s gonna bash your head right in! You’re not going to feel one…”

“Shut up! Do it already!” Billy groaned impatiently. “Jesus!”

Jackie stared toward the pig, which merely grunted. Clearly the creature was too oblivious to realize its imminent death. But one look toward the creature, and Jackie suddenly felt somewhat hesitant.

“I can’t…”

Chris rolled her eyes, as Billy took off his jacket.

“God, you guys are such goddamn pussies!” Chris criticized.

“Shut up!” Billy groan.

He angrily threw his jacket toward Kenny as he walked forward.

“I’m sorry, Billy,” Jackie apologized.

Billy shoved Jackie back after taking the sledgehammer. He kissed the top of the hammer, then brought it down hard and fast against the pig’s head. There’s a squeal, followed by a sickening wet thud. Billy knelt down toward the pig, before turning back toward Chris. He held out the knife for her.

“Come on, you got this.”

Chris shoved the flashlight toward Kenny, took the knife, and knelt down beside Billy.

“All right, it’s just one quick sli…”

Before Billy could finish, Chris brutally sliced the pig’s throat. There’s a splatter, followed by the sound of blood filling the bucket. Chris looked toward the bloody knife in a daze, smiling with triumph. The group laughed through the adrenaline rush.

“Oh my God!” Jackie laughed out loud.

“Good job, baby!” Billy smiled.

Billy and Chris smiled, kissing in celebration while the other boys laughed.

Later…

In the dead of night, Billy and Chris proceed to break into the school. Fortunately, there were no guards to catch them in the act.

“There we go…” Billy whispered.

Opening the gate, the pair make them way inside. Chris opened the gym door as she held up the flashlight. In the meantime, Billy carried a cooler containing the bucket of pig’s blood. Chris shined the light around the room, disappointed that she won’t be there on a date. At the same time, she was looking for the best place to set their trap in order for this to work.

In the gym, Billy pulled the bucket of blood up above the stage with a rope.

“Billy, hurry up!” Chris laughed with anticipation. “Oh, my God!”

“When the time comes, I’ll let you pull the rope, okay?” Billy asked.

“Oh, I plan on it.”

Billy tied the rope and the bucket swung in place. A small drop of blood fell from the bucket and hit Chris on the cheek. Billy smiled at her annoyance and disgust.

The next day in the school gym, the Mane Six and Spike were helping Sue and the others set up for prom. Sue, on a ladder on the stage, attached all the wires. She looked back, spotting Tina and the twins in the office. The moment they turned toward Sue; they gave an evil grin. That is until Rainbow stepped into their line of vision and slammed her fist into her open palm. This caused both twins to immediately turn away.

“That’s right, back off!” She muttered.

Sue resumed her task at hand, but not before giving Rainbow a thankful smile from atop the ladder. Rainbow smirked back with a thumbs up before moving on to work on something else. As Sue resumed her work, she suddenly felt a strong sensation of dizziness sweeping over her. She climbed down the ladder rather shakily, which did not go unnoticed by the Mane Six and Spike.

“Are you alright Sue?” Twilight asked her.

“You seem a bit pale darling,” Rarity noticed.

Sue took a few deep breaths before feeling the sudden urge to vomit. She quickly covered her mouth and raced out of the gym. Spike was just coming out of the boy’s bathroom, scrubbing his hands together, when he saw Sue running toward the bathrooms.

“Sue?” Spike asked.

But Sue didn’t answer him. Instead, she burst straight into the girls’ restroom, toward the nearest stall, and a vomit sound was heard. Spike cringed over hearing how sick the girl was, covering his hand over his own mouth and nose after detecting a slight smell. A few minutes later, she emerged trying to catch her breath and control the nausea. It was then the Mane Six entered the bathroom to check on their friend.

“Are you feeling okay Sue?” Fluttershy asked worriedly.

The time girl walked over and placed a gentle hand on her forehead to determine if she had a fever. She didn’t feel warm to the touch, so that was out of the question.

“Perhaps you should see the nurse darling,” Rarity suggested.

“No… no its okay,” Sue slurred a bit. “I’m alright now.”

“Are you sure?”

But any words from her friends felt like a blur. It was then she noticed something odd: The mirror that Carrie shattered earlier, pieces of shard still in the sink. She stared at the mirror slightly confused.

“Sue?... Sue?”

Sue stirred herself back to reality back toward the girls.

“Sue, are you okay?” Twilight asked, concerned.

“Actually… maybe I do need to see someone after all,” Sue spoke. “I really should get going…”

Sue proceeded to walk away before the girls could question her further. They all looked toward the departing teen with slight concern, if not suspicious. Yet the most curious of them all was a certain pink-haired party girl, scratching her chin and squinting her eyes as if she knew something the others didn’t.

“Hmm…”

In the living room, Carrie White stood over her mother’s dressmaking desk. Humming to herself, she gazed over the material she acquired to make her own dress. Sitting by the window, her mother Margaret read the bible to pass the time. Every now and then she made a scared glance toward Carrie, who just hummed while cutting the fabric. The moment Carrie looked at her, Margaret turned away praying under her breath.

Carrie merely hummed over her mother’s sewing machine, which operated under her own powers. Only going to prove that whatever was occurring inside her, the power within this child was growing stronger. Eventually the girl put the finishing touches on her dress, a dress she was proud to call her own. She stood to admire the dress placed on the mannequin. Smiling because she knows how she’ll look in it, and this time she was determined to finally prove that she was not Carrie White the scared little girl…

But Carrie White… the woman…

The Black Prom Pt 1

Author's Note

Thanks to Wolfram-and-Hart for the amazing quotes suggestions in this chapter

The Black Prom Pt 1

The time had finally come for the event many people have been waiting for while it was one the Mane Six and Spike had been dreading: Prom Night. Currently, the Mane Six were with Sue in her room preparing for prom. The other day at the dress shop, Rarity helped Carrie pick out some wonderful fabric to make her own prom dress, while picking up supplies to make dresses for herself and the girls. She slaved all night to create a wonderful ensemble of prom dresses and she certainly outdone herself with how well they turned out.

“Dang Rarity, you really outdid yourself, didn’t you?” Rainbow admired.

“I always do darling, always do,” Rarity smirked, admiring her own dress.

“Ooh… all this dress is missing are a few giant cupcakes and loooooooots of sprinkles!” Pinkie giggled. “And then I’ll be just like Katie Perry!”

Everyone looked toward Pinkie Pie with such confusion, while the pink party girl just admired her appearance. The more and more they hung out with the wacky party pony, the less and less things make sense. But they let her have her say, as they all continued to get ready. It was at that moment the door opened and in walked in Sue Snell. Her long blonde hair was beautifully curled, and she was decked out in a beautiful red dress. The girls all took a good look at the blonde and couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh Sue! You look absolutely gorgeous darling!” Rarity admired.

“Do you really think so?” Sue asked honestly. “I thought the curling might have been a little too much.”

“Aw, don’t be crazy now sugar cube,” Applejack scoffed. “Ya look like a million bits and ah know yer feller will sure think so too.”

Sue looked down at her dress and couldn’t help but feel a sad frown coming to her face. There was that part of her mind that still really wanted to go to prom tonight, being with her boyfriend, surrounded by her friends, and just having a good time. But there was also part of her that felt like she didn’t even deserve to go after all she’d done to Carrie. Yet she can’t help that maybe Chris was right: That she cares about the prom more than Carrie. This did not go unnoticed by the Mane Six, all of whom staring worriedly at her.

“Are you okay Sue?” Fluttershy asked her.

Sue sniffed a bit, wiping her eyes before looking back toward her friends.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” She replied. “It’s just… I still don’t feel like I even deserve to go tonight.”

“Look, you already know what you and the others did to Carrie was wrong,” Rainbow pointed out. “At least you’re making amends. That’s more than I can say for that dirtbag Chris and the other girls. That makes you more of a woman than they are.”

Sue couldn’t help but bring a small smile to her face hearing everyone’s comforting words.

“Still, I feel like I should be helping you guys stop Eden’s Gate rather than worrying about the prom,” She said seriously.

“We’ve already talked about this,” Twilight spoke up. “We’re going to worry about Eden’s Gate; you need to focus on having a great time at prom tonight.”

“But I just…”

*KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!*

The sound of loud knocking at the door made everyone walk toward the window. A big white limo sat just in front of the house. From out of the limo stepped Tommy, Spike, and Derick Collins as they approached the house.

“It looks like the boys are here,” Fluttershy smiled. “We probably should get going.”

“This is going to be so AWESOME!” Pinkie yelled loudly. “We’ll have the most spectacularly fun night at prom ever! I’ve never been to a prom before, at least not a ‘human’ one. I can’t wait to break out some super-duper fun dance moves!”

To demonstrate her point, Pinkie pulled out a boombox from her hair and switched it on to a hip hop track. She then began break dancing right in the middle of the room… doing a rather poor job of it. This caused Sue and the rest of her friends to laugh hysterically till she finally stopped.

“So whatcha think?” Pinkie asked with a smile.

“Maybe save it for the dance Pinkie,” Rainbow chuckled.

“We should probably get downstairs and meet with the boys,” Twilight reminded them.

The girl group walked down the stairs toward the front door. Sue opened up the door and all the girls stared wide-eyed toward the handsome guys standing before them. First was Tommy wearing a stunning ivory suit, then Spike wearing a fancy looking purple suit, and finally Derick wearing a nice grey suit.

The boys looked toward the girls in amazement, as the girls looked back toward them at an equal level. Everyone in the entire group was absolutely stunning.

“Wow!” They all exclaimed, in unison.

“Look at you Spikey Wikey!” Rarity admired. “You look like a prince in that dashing outfit.”

“Thanks Rarity!” Spike thanked her.

Even Twilight had a few tears in her eyes, as she looked upon her more grown up assistant.

“You look so grown up and handsome,” She said.

“I only wish Gabby were here,” Spike muttered to himself. “So I could dance with her.”

“What was that now?”

“Nothing!”

Both Sue and Tommy admired each other before sharing a chaste, sweet kiss.

“You really are the most beautiful girl in the world right now,” Tommy smiled at her.

“And you are the most handsome man I’ve ever seen!” Sue replied happily.

“Alright, everyone looks amazing!” Derick chuckled. “But we really should get going. I’m supposed to pick up Carrie.”

Everyone nodded in acknowledgment, as they made their way to the limo. Tommy and Sue both climbed into his truck because Sue didn’t want to upset Carrie by arriving alongside them. Though she was trying to make things up with Carrie, she worried the girl still held some resentment against her. Hopefully all that will change tonight. With that said, everyone climbed into their vehicles and rode off towards the best night of their lives…

Or the last…

At the White household, Carrie stood at the mirror and finished applying her lipstick. She looked beautiful and for the first time in her life she felt beautiful. She reached down and picked up her corsage. Soon as she stood back up, she saw her mother standing behind her in the mirror. In contrast with Carrie, her mother looked disgusted. Carrie tried to make peace while still holding out the corsage.

“Will you pin it on me, Mama?” She asked hopefully.

Margaret just stared at her dress, shaking her head in disgust.

“Red…” She muttered. “I might have known it would be ‘red’.”

“It’s pink,” Carrie corrected.

Seeing its pointless to try, Carrie pinned the flower to her dress herself.

“I can see your dirty pillows!” Margaret commented. “Everyone will!”

“’Breasts’, Mama!” Carrie responded. “Breasts… you have them, and every woman has them.”

Margaret just approached her daughter, placing her hands on her shoulders.

“Take off that dress, Carrie.”

“No!” Carrie shook her head.

“Take it off and we’ll burn it together and pray for forgiveness.”

“Mama, its modest.”

“Call that boy and tell him you’re not going!” Margaret ordered. “Tell him… just tell him you’re sick. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Or you could just be happy for me!” Carrie argued.

To say Margaret was dumbfounded was a huge understatement. As Carrie turned to leave, Margaret started smacking herself in the head.

“Mama, stop hurting yourself,” Carrie said calmly.

Carrie telekinetically stopped Margaret’s hand mid-smack.

“You know its not going to make me stay.”

*BEEP! BEEP!*

A car horn blared outside, and Carrie approached the window. Look out, she sees that nothing’s there.

“He’s not coming!” Margaret said. “It’s a trick! Same as always!”

“He’s going to come!” Carrie argued.

“They’re going to laugh at you!” Margaret continued. “They’re all going to laugh at you!”

“Mama, stop it! I’m nervous enough as it is.”

They then heard a car door open and looked outside. Sure enough, there was a big white limousine. A valet opened the door and out emerged Derick Collins. The young man proceeded to walk toward the front door but looked toward the window and waved casually toward the women. Carrie smiled, not quite believing for a fact that Derick was indeed here… yet there he was. Margaret however was utterly horrified.

“Hi, Mrs. White!” Collins called out.

“You see, Mama?” Carrie said excitedly. “Its Collins, from the choir. You see, tis all going to be okay.”

“Oh, repent!” Margaret practically begged. “It’s not too late!”

“Mama, don’t ruin this for me!” Carrie responded.

The young girl turned to walk out the room. Every second, Margaret grew more desperate.

“I’ll be home early,” Carrie assured her.

“I’m going to have to tell that boy the truth!” Margaret yelled after her. “That your father took me, and you were born of sin!”

“You’ll say nothing, Mama!” Carrie argued back.

Carrie walked downstairs while Margaret’s voice rose with every word.

“And from that sin… was born another! The worst sin! A man or a woman who is a witch among you is to be put to death! You are to stone them!”

Carrie turned, rose her arm, and froze her mother in place.

“I’m warning you, Mama…” Carrie warned angrily.

“The Devil’s hand!” Margaret gasped. “Just as the Father had predicted. The Collapse has finally come!”

Carrie shook her head seeing her mother under such distress. She really didn’t want to hurt her mother, despite ‘everything’ she’s the only family she has left. But still… Carrie refused to give up on the best night of her life, and she did not appreciate the fact her mother was ‘ruining’ it for her.

“Please don’t do this!” Carrie begged.

“There will be a judgment, Carrie. As Jezebel fell from the tower, you too…”

Carrie used her power to shut her mother’s mouth. Carrie levitated her toward the prayer closet and locked her inside. Carrie couldn’t believe she did that, but the deed was done.

“Mama, you’re not going to say another word until I’m gone,” Carrie spoke.

Derick knocked on the front door, waiting for someone to answer. Inside the prayer closet, Margaret still couldn’t talk. But that didn’t stop her from pounding against the door and rattling the handle. Carrie tried to keep from crying, this hurt her more than it did for her mother.

“Mommy, I’m sorry,” She apologized sadly. “I love you. I’ll be home early.”

There’s a momentary pause before Margaret pounded the door again, this time with her own head. Carrie used her power to weld the deadbolt into place. Derick knocked again and Carrie turned on the record player blaring ‘Amazing Grace’ at full volume, drowning out her mother’s pounding with the music. Until at last, Carrie finally emerges from the front door.

She shyly stepped out onto the porch and placed her wrap around her shoulders. Seeing her in her dress, Derick stared wide eyed at her. It was as if he believed he was looking at an angel from heaven itself.

“Hi Derick,” Carrie greeted with a smile.

“Hi…” Derick replied giddily.

“Do I look okay?”

“You look… beautiful.”

Carrie took Derick’s arm and walked toward the limo. She was so happy yet scared at the same time. Derick opened the door for her like a true gentleman, allowing Carrie to step into the limo. The moment she did, she was surprised to see the Mane Six and Spike sitting together in the limo. And the moment their eyes landed on her, they all smiled happily at her.

“Wow Carrie, you look absolutely wonderful!” Twilight admired.

A blush formed upon Carrie’s cheeks, but she was flattered to hear such compliments from her friend. As she settled into the limo, she looked around in confusion as if noticing a few things were missing.

“Didn’t you get asked to the prom?” Carrie asked.

“Oh no, we don’t have dates for tonight,” Twilight replied. “We decided to go as a group.”

“But why?! The boys there would be fighting each other trying to see who gets to ask you all out first!”

“Oh, about that!” Rarity spoke up. “Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Fluttershy, and I have very special gentlemen in our lives. But they’re back in our, uh… hometown and couldn’t be here tonight.”

“Yeah, we’re just here to enjoy the party!” Pinkie added, tossing confetti.

“Wait, what’re you talking about?” Twilight asked confused. “I don’t have a boyfriend!”

“Me neither!” Fluttershy shook her head.

“I think Discord and Storm Shield might beg to differ, darlings,” Rarity smirked.

“RARITY!!!” Twilight blushed. “It’s… it’s not like that with Storm!”

“And Discord and I are just good friends!” Fluttershy insisted. “Why does everyone keep assuming that?”

“Well everyone’s been saying the same thing about Lyra and Bon-Bon for years,” Pinkie pointed out. “Look how they turned out!”

“There is someone back home I kind of wish I brought to this, too,” Spike sighed. “Ah well, maybe next time.”

“What about Applejack and Rainbow Dash?” Carrie asked curiously. “Do they have boyfriends waiting for them too?”

After a short silence, Applejack and Rainbow Dash grinned knowingly.

“Um… not exactly, no!” Applejack shrugged. “Ah just don’t think boyfriends are in the cards for R.D. and me.”

“No boy could handle all this awesomeness!” Rainbow smirked.

“That’s too bad,” Carrie spoke. “I hope you two won’t be too bored not having someone to dance with.”

“Don’t you worry none, Carrie,” Applejack assured.

“Yeah, if A.J. gets too lonely, maybe I’ll ask her to dance myself!” Rainbow smiled.

“Oh, now don’t trouble yerself on account of me!” Applejack played along. “What would they say if the ‘Awesomely Cool’ Rainbow Dash danced badly with a girl at the prom?”

“That’s it! You, me, Electric Slide, tonight, cowgirl!”

They held hands, laughing amongst themselves. Confused, Carrie leaned toward the others.

“Um… girls? Spike?” Carrie whispered softly. “I don’t want to make a fuss, and not that I have a problem with it or anything, but… I think those two might be… kind of… a little… gay.”

“Really?!” Spike feigned surprised. “Huh… well, I’ll be darned!”

The limo eventually pulled up toward the school, where all the students started showing up. The Mane Six and Spike stepped out of the limo first, with Carrie and Derick still sitting inside the limo. Carrie looked out the window and its plain to see she was ‘really’ nervous.

“Derick, can we wait a minute?” She asked.

“We can wait as long as you want,” He responded kindly. “We got plenty of minutes.”

It seemed Carrie was ready to have a panic attack, just looking at all the other students. How they laughed amongst themselves, how happy they were for this big night.

“You’re scared huh?” Derick asked. “Trust me when I say this: Not everyone in the world are bad. Besides, you’ve got me to protect you. I swear to you, nothing’s going to happen to you so long as I’m here.”

Derick reached out and grasped one of Carrie’s hands in his own. Carrie turned toward him with a slight smile. It was then Derick noticed the corsage pinned to her dress.

“Here, let me fix this,” Derick offered. “I think its supposed to go on your wrist.”

Derick took the corsage off Carrie’s dress and proceeded to slide it along her wrist.

“There. Are you ready?”

Derick stepped out of the limo, and held the door open for Carrie. The moment they walked inside the gym, it felt like a dream come true. Star decorations hung from the ceiling. People danced, talked, and took pictures together. Freddy, a student Carrie recognized from the library, recorded everything off a handheld camera. The cheering and dancing from the crowd echoed throughout the whole gym.

Over on the sidelines, Tina and Kenny stood over a laptop preparing the second phase of their prank. Oblivious to their intent, Miss Desjardin danced… if you count flailing your arms like Kermit the Frog and whooping as dancing. Carrie and Derick sat at their table, watching the events of the prom play out.

“Do you want to dance?” Derick offered.

“Um…”

Carris saw Heather shaking her groove thang on the dance floor, so shamelessly like she hadn’t a care if the world watched. It was obvious to Derick Carrie wasn’t comfortable with the idea of dancing.

“Or… we could just wait for a slower song?” Derick suggested.

“Yeah…” Carrie chuckled with relief. “I’d like that…”

As the song came to an end, Miss Desjardin spotted Carrie sitting with Derick and walked toward them.

“Miss Desjardin,” Carrie spoke up.

Miss Desjardin covered her mouth with glee, seeing Carrie in her dress.

“You look beautiful!” Miss Desjardin compliment.

“I’ll let you two ladies talk,” Derick replied, standing up. “Anyone want some punch? Heard a couple of the guys spiked it.”

“Really?” Miss Desjardin pondered.

“No!” Derick chuckled. “I’m just kidding! I’ll be right back.”

Derick made an awkward retreat, leaving the two ladies along. Miss Desjardin pulled up a chair next to Carrie.

“You’re doing okay?” Miss Desjardin asked.

“Yeah…” Carrie answered uncertainly.

“Yeah?”

At that moment, Derick approached the Mane Six and Spike at their own table.

“You guys seen anything yet?” He asked them.

“Not a sign of Chris or anyone from the cult,” Twilight responded. “That’s good for now, but we can’t lower our guard for a second.”

“They’ve got to be here somewhere,” Rainbow said squinting. “I can practically smell them.”

“Just keep your eyes peeled,” Derick instructed. “If you see or hear anything suspicious, come find me. I’ll deal with them.”

Soon as the measures were taken care of, Derick walked off toward the punch table. Grabbing some cups, he proceeded to pour a sampling… while taking a careful sniff just in case. Seeing as the punch was normal, he returned to his table where he left Carrie and Miss Desjardin, who by now left Carrie alone. He handed one cup to Carrie, while saving one for himself.

“Listen Carrie… I was just thinking,” Derick spoke up. “Do you really have to be home so early?”

“I promised Mama,” Carrie insisted.

“I know… I totally get it. But, um… I’ve heard some students talking about going to this ‘Cavalier’ after. I’ve never been to it myself, but—”

“That’s okay.”

“What is?

“I know you’d rather hang out with your friends…” Carrie sighed.

“Hey, no…”

All at once, the music changed to a much slower tempo. Derick listened for a moment, then turned toward Carrie with a grin.

“It’s a slow song…”

“No!” Carrie objected.

“Come on… a deal’s a deal.”

“No, no, no, Derick!” Carrie cried out, petrified. “I’ve never danced before!”

“Well, what a coincidence!” Derick replied. “Neither have I.”

“No, Derick I can’t! I just can’t do it!”

“You can’t go to a prom and not have at least ‘one’ dance. It’s like walking out of a drive-in.”

“… I just can’t.”

“Carrie White, will you share this dance with me?” Derick offered a hand.

Carrie White wanted to say ‘no’. Only this time, the moment she looked into his eyes… she couldn’t.

“Trust me,” Derick smiled.

And then, Derick took her by the arms and slowly led her onto the floor. Carrie followed him, with all the awkwardness of someone trying roller skates for the first time. Derick walked her through how a dancer and their partner slow dance.

“Take this hand with mine,” Derick instructed.

Carrie went along with it, so afraid she’ll somehow mess up.

“Now put ‘this’ hand on my shoulder, and I put my hand on your hip. Then… we sway.”

And sure enough, that’s just what Derick & Carrie were doing. Swaying with the rhythm, Derick taking the lead.

“See, there’s nothing to it. Nothing to worry about at all. And just look at you! You’re an excellent learner. If you really want to get fancy with it, we can always sign up for ‘Dancing with the Stars’. We could leave all of this behind us… tour the world…”

“No!” Carrie laughed.

“Yeah you do…” Derick smirked. “Ready? Look.”

Derick gave Carrie a twirl, then back to their original positions.

“Pretty fun for your first time, right?”

To which the two teens shared a laugh together. Carrie laid her head upon his chest, swept away by the dance itself. But in the back corner of her mind, one thing had been bugging her all night.

“Derick, why am I here?” Carrie asked.

“I did invite you,” Derick stated the obvious.

“I know that, but… why?”

“Carrie… the important thing is that we’re here! You and me, on prom night! Forget about what everyone else says… forget about being Prom King or Queen. With you, I’m having the greatest time of my life.”

“You are?” Carrie asked, wide-eyed.

“Of course!” Derick chuckled. “I just hope you’re having a good time… with me.”

“I am…” Carrie assured. “I’m sorry I’m being so difficult. It’s just that my mom~”

“I know… I know,” Derick understood. “If its any consolation, at least you have ‘a’ mother who looks out for you… in some way. My parents, well… they never really cared what I did.”

Carrie looked toward Derick for a moment, feeling sorry for the young man. One look at him, she initially saw him as this confident young man who seemed to have just about everything, least more than she had. Yet upon a deeper study, she can almost feel the pain in his words and the sadness in those eyes. As if to suggest there’s more to Derick than she even imagine.

“So… what do you say we dance just a little longer?” Derick offered. “We see which poor fool they crown for King and Queen, then we go to the Cavalier… just the two of us. I promise I’ll have you home by 10:30. Sound good?”

“Well, actually…” Carrie thought.

“Yeah?”

“Maybe… we can stay till 11?”

“Hey! Whatever you want. As far as I’m concerned, this is our night… we should enjoy this while it lasts.”

And so Derick Collins went for broke, determined to make this the best night ever. Pulling back a bit, they both looked toward each other’s eyes for a moment before Derick gently caressed her cheek with his palm. Slowly, ever so slowly, the two leaned in until eventually their soft lips met with a small, sweet kiss. Carrie felt numerous emotions course through her as her lips met his. She was terrified, yet extremely happy to share her first kiss with a boy she really liked. When they eventually pulled back, they stared at each other again before they continued dancing together smiling all the way.

From the sidelines, the Mane Six and Spike watched Carrie and Derick dance the night away and they also noticed their little kiss. Fluttershy, tears streaming down her face, smiled over the fact that her friend was finally happy.

“Now that’s a codec moment,” Rainbow smirked.

“Y’all can say that again hon,” Applejack nodded, kissing Rainbow’s cheek.

“She finally found happiness in her life,” Fluttershy sobbed happily. “True happiness.”

“After everything she’s been through, she deserves it,” Spike smiled.

Twilight watched the two lovebirds continue their dance, until she noticed something off the corner of her eyes. She noticed what resembled a man sneaking his way out of the gym and seemingly holding a device in his hands. What really tipped her off was the symbol of Eden’s Gate on his bare arm.

“Guys, there’s a cultist sneaking out!” She whisper-yelled to the others.

She pointed off to where he was, and they all looked just in time to see the cultist departing the gym.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Rarity asked. “We must stop him before he enacts whatever that cult has planned.”

“Let’s go get him!” Rainbow added.

The Mane Six and Spike quickly hopped to their feet, quickly following the cultist out of the gym.

Back at the White house, Margaret tried to force her way out of the prayer closet. She reached through the crack in the center of the door, ripping away at the wood. In doing so, her fingers bled heavily but Margaret didn’t care. She soon reached for the deadbolt, only to discover it had been melted closed. But Margaret wasn’t giving up. She knew something was coming, she knew bad things were about to happen, and she wasn’t going to sit idly by when it arrives.

Back at the prom, Tina worked her way backstage allowing Chris and Billy access into the prom. Chris passed Tina a stack of papers, which she stuffed into an envelope. Chris and Billy raced up the stairs toward the rafters, where they left the rope to the bucket. All they needed to do now was to wait for when their intended targets assume the position.

Meanwhile, it was time for the M.C. to announce the voting for this year’s Prom King and Queen.

“Take your seats, take your seats!” The M.C. called out. “It’s now time to vote for your King and Queen of the prom! All right!”

Everyone cheered over the announcement, everyone excited for one of them to receive the biggest honor in school history.

“Ballots are on the table!” The M.C. instructed. “Everyone gets their own, please! Guys, take your seats.”

Derick pulled out a chair for Carrie and took a seat.

“Make an ‘X’ beside the candidate of your choice,” The M.C. continued. “Let’s have the best prom ever! Woo! All right!”

Chris looked down from the rafters, spotting Carrie and Derick together. The students began to vote on their ballots. One person circled “Derick Collins” with hearts and scribbled over the name “Carrie White”. Another checked off “Derick Collins” but wrote in “Sue Snell”. Another wrote in “Morton” and “Desjardin”… for reasons. Even “Tommy Ross” received a vote from several students.

“Derick, we’re on here!” Carrie pointed out, in shock.

“You don’t want to be on there?” Derick asked.

“Do you?”

“Well… why not? Whether we win or not, it doesn’t matter. All that happens here is we go up toward those thrones, wave a scepter around while they play the school song, and then, uh, do a little dance just so everyone sees how idiotic we look.”

“But you said you’ve never been to dances.”

“And I don’t… doesn’t mean I don’t know how it works.”

Despite how nervous she was, Carrie couldn’t help but look towards the thrones on stage.

“They are beautiful…” Carrie admitted.

“Not as beautiful as you,” Derick replied, flirtatiously.

“So… who do we vote for?” Carrie chuckled. “I guess they’re more your crowd than mine. I don’t really have a crowd.”

“We can always vote for ourselves just for laughs.”

“No. No, don’t vote for us.”

“To the devil with false modesty!”

Carrie checked their names on the ballot.

“To the devil,” Carrie repeated.

Soon all the students started handing in their ballots. Tina approached with the ballot box, smiling.

“All set?” Tina asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” Derick shrugged. “No tricks…”

Derick proceeded to drop their votes into the box, to which Tina grinned.

“Good luck, kids,” Tina replied. “You’ve got my vote.”

Carrie was uneasy as Tina approached, picking up more ballots. Carrie smiled and pulled out her phone. Off another part of the gym, Sue Snell sat beside Tommy and a few of their friends. Suddenly, her phone buzzed and when she looked she found a text from Chris herself.

‘YOUR GIRL LOOKS GOOD. SHE WON’T FOR LONG.’

Sue looked from her phone in horror, scanning the room to locate the Mane Six and Spike. Unable to see them, she started breathing deeply in horror. Tommy looked over and saw she was freaking out.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked worriedly.

Sue just held up her phone, showing him the text. Tommy too was horrified, as they realized that things were only going to turn bad.

Very bad…

The Black Prom Pt 2

The Mane Six and Spike walked slowly down the dimly lit hallways of the school as they searched for the cultist who left the gym. The atmosphere was certainly creepy, as the lights flicked throughout the hallway. Yet they all maintained their composure though, as they scanned ‘every’ inch of their surroundings for any sign of movement. The sound of running footsteps made them snap their heads toward the direction it came from. Soon they spotted the cultist running down an adjacent hallway.

“There he goes!” Rainbow yelled. “Get him!”

The Mane Six and Spike raced down the hallways as fast as possible down the hall in the cultist’s direction. They followed the fleeing man down multiple hallways before he snuck into the school’s boiler room. The girls and Spike quickly ran after him, pursuing him through the twisting confines of the boiler room. Finally, the cultist reached a dead end in the form of a giant brick wall and the Mane Six (Including Spike) had him trapped.

“There’s no escape!” Twilight told him. “Tell us what you’re doing here, and we might be merciful.”

The cultist merely released a chuckle before swiftly reaching into his coat pocket, pulled out a suppressed pistol, and fired at the group. Everyone jumped behind any form of cover they could get behind, as the cultist fired upon them. Applejack lifted up her hat from her head and pulled out her trust lasso from inside. Turning toward Rainbow Dash, she gestured toward a nearby crevice which led to an area behind the cultist. Rainbow Dash nodded in understanding, knowing what needed to be done. So Applejack snuck through said crevice while the cultist reloaded his gun and Rainbow Dash jumped out from her hiding place.

“Hey dung head, my Grandma shoots better than you!” She taunted. “And she’s completely blind!”

“Rainbow Dash, what do you think you’re doing?!” Rarity shrieked.

The cultist finished reloading his gun and proceed to fire several rounds toward the cyan tomboy. But Rainbow succeeded in dodging the oncoming bullets, ‘Matrix’ style. While this went on, Applejack snuck up behind the cultist and hurled her lasso around him restricting his arms to his side. He struggled in the hold before Rainbow Dash rushed forward with a leaping spin kick and knocked the cultist flat on his ass.

“Yeah that’s right, never step to Rainbow Dash sucker!” Rainbow taunted once more.

Everyone proceeded to come out of their hiding spots and came over to the now restrained cultist. Twilight got right in his face and started to interrogate him.

“What are you doing here?” She asked. “We know this is all some big plan by Eden’s Gate and we want answers. What are you planning?”

To which the cultist merely laughed in her face, before receiving a solid punch to the face courtesy of Rainbow Dash.

“I’d start talking if I were you dirtbag, or I’ll knock your teeth down your throat!” She threatened.

The cultist spat out a bit of blood from the punch he had taken and continued laughing.

“You sinners have absolutely no idea what’s to come,” He said. “God spoke to the Father of the Great Collapse long ago and we have prepared for the day he would purge the sinners from this world and allow it to be reborn anew.”

“Oh, fer the love ah Celestia!” Applejack groaned irritated. “Enough with the yappity-yap and tell us what yer plan is!”

“The wolf is a predatory hunter that stalks its prey until it is finally weak enough to pounce,” The cultist spoke, in riddles. “However, sometimes the wolf must lead the sheep away from the rest of the flock before it may strike. And sometimes, it’s the wolf hiding amongst you in sheep’s clothing you must watch out for.”

“What the hay does that even mean?” Spike asked.

Everyone looked amongst each other trying to determine what he meant. Suddenly, one gasp out of Fluttershy, and her eyes went wide as saucers.

“He’s the distraction!” She realized. “He was supposed to lead us away from the gym!”

Everyone’s eyes widened with realization as it was all coming together.

“We need to get back now!” Twilight said urgently.

The girls and Spike quickly raced their way out of the boiler room as the cultist laughed madly behind them. They needed to get back the gym and fast before things got much worse!

Back at the prom, Kenny and Tina were in a corner with the ballot box. They pulled out all the ballots and replaced them with the stake of fakes Chris gave them. They kissed as the votes were completely rigged. Up along the rafters, Billy and Chris kept watch while preparing the bucket hanging overhead.

“As soon as that bucket goes, we run,” Billy instructed. “We don’t stick around for the laughs or the screams or anything. All right?”

Chris wasn’t entirely paying attention. She just looked toward Tina, who gave her a look saying, ‘It’s all set’.

“You got it?” Billy asked again. “Are you listening? Hey!”

Billy grabbed Chris rather roughly, yanking her around so she could see him.

“Ow!” Chris cried out. “What?”

“When they get up there, what’s happening? You’re pulling the rope and when the…”

Chris shoved him back so she can watch.

“Shut up so I can hear!” She said rudely.

“Hey!” Bill yelled.

Billy grabbed Chris, forcing her again to look at him. He was officially done with her carefree attitude.

“Listen to me!” He ordered. “Listen! If you get caught and you say ‘anything’ about what we did, I will fucking kill you! This isn’t what you bitches did in the shower! This is criminal assault! This is fucking jail time if we’re caught!”

“I get it!” Chris responded, slightly scared.

Down with the rest of the students, Carrie and Derick waited to hear the results of the vote. They were not expecting to win by any means, but if they ‘did’ that would sure be a hell of an experience. Derick looked over and could see that Carrie was visibly nervous. Seeing her in distress, he reached out and grasped her hand in his own.

“Whatever happens tonight, you’re always a queen to me,” He assured her.

Carrie smiled sweetly, even leaning over to plant a quick kiss on his lips.

“And the results are in,” the M.C. announced. “And it was very, very close! A drum roll please!”

A drum roll echoed throughout the gymnasium as the M.C. brought out the votes.

“By one vote, our winners are… DERICK COLLINS AND CARRIE WHITE!”

The gym immediately erupted with cheers and applause, yet to say Carrie was thunderstruck was an understatement. In his mind, all the sound melted away and she was trying to process the news. Soon people around her started clapping and cheering. She turned toward Derick in shock as the music started playing.

“Come on!” Derick gestured.

Derick took Carrie by the hand, leading her towards the stage. Everyone’s applauding and cheering, pictures were being taken, and the two of them were up on the screen. Chris watched it all from above, laughing sinisterly. At that moment, the Mane Six and Spike ran toward the gym till they found Tommy and Sue standing in the crowd.

“Sue, what’s going on?” Twilight asked urgently.

“Carrie and Derick just got nominated prom king and queen,” Sue responded. “This is all a set-up though. I got this text message from Chris a while ago.”

She pulled out her phone, and the moment the group saw the text they started to panic.

“Okay, you and Tommy find Chris!” Twilight instructed. “We’ll warn Carrie and Derick!”

Sue nodded understandingly, pulling Tommy alongside her while the girls and Spike tried to work their way through the crowd towards Carrie and Derick. The crowd cheered as Carrie and Derick ascended toward the thrones and everyone tried to push their way forward. Up in the rafter, Chris got cold feet even with her hands on the rope.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Billy asked. “Come on, go! You can do this.”

Carrie and Derick got onto the stage. Carrie was even standing on the proverbial ‘X’ mark spot. Bill grabbed Chris, angrily holding her in place.

“We are fucking doing this!” Billy said. “It’s too late to go back now.”

“I give you your newly crowned King and Queen of the prom, Derick Collins and Carrie White!” The MC announced.

Out in the crowd, the Mane Six and Spike tried to push their through.

“CARRIE!!!” They yelled.

Carrie was given a bouquet of flowers. She’s about to cry from sheer happiness. The girls and Spike made their way through the crowd, spotting the bucket hanging over.

“Guys, watch out!” They shouted.

“Pull it!” Billy urged.

“Shut up, Billy!” Chris shouted, impatiently.

Chris and Billy gave one last big pull and soon… the bucket tipped. The blood fell from the bucket, completely drenching Carrie and Derick. She looked at herself, her dress was completely ruined, covered in blood, and right in front of her date… and everyone else in school. She’s in shock, unable to speak. She looked up toward the bucket hanging above her. She looked toward Derick, who for the first time seemed… livid.

“WHAT THE HELL?!?!” He shouted loudly.

Tina clicked on the laptop, where a video of Carrie’s humiliation in the shower played on screen. The room filled with the ‘Plug It Up’ chant and Carrie’s cries for help. Chris and all her friends laughed. Soon the whole crowd was laughing… unless that part was all in Carrie’s traumatized head. Carrie started walking down the steps in a daze.

“Carrie, wait!” Derick called out. “Carrie—I didn’t know about this!”

Carrie stopped, seeing the video of herself begging for help. Billy sloppily tied off the rope of the bucket before dragging Chris downstairs. In the meantime, Chris laughed hysterically over the triumph of her revenge.

“Freak! Freak!” Chris yelled spitefully.

Out amongst the crowd, the Mane Six, Spike, Sue, and Tommy looked horrified over what transpired. Billy dragged Chris toward the door, but she clearly wanted to savor the moment. Everyone else kept laughing at Carrie’s expense. Soon the rope holding the bucket was coming undone, but Carrie didn’t notice. She was furious… hurt beyond words. Miss Desjardin made her way toward Carrie, holding out her hand.

“Carrie, come on!” She urged.

One raise of her hand, and Carrie sent Miss Desjardin flying toward the ground. The crowd gasped upon witnessing her telekinetic ability. The Mane Six and Spike raced forward, finally approaching Carrie by the front. Before anyone else could make a move, the rope came loose, and the bucket descended rapidly toward Derick’s direction. Spotting it, Tommy Ross leapt onto the stage and pushed Derick out of the way…

*CLANG!!!*

The bucket struck Tommy upside the head with a sickening clang. Someone in the crowd screamed as Tommy flopped to the floor. Sue stared in horror as her boyfriend fell. Tina, Jackie, and Miss Desjardin looked in horror towards Tommy’s body. Carrie turned, spotting Tommy lying on the floor, his eyes open yet unseeing. She crawled toward him, kneeling in the puddle of blood.

“… Tommy?” She cried. “Tommy, no! No!”

Derick, Sue, the Mane Six, and Spike raced up staring down toward the fallen Tommy.

“SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!!!” Derick screamed toward the crowd.

He leaned against Tommy’s chest, hoping for any sign of life. Sure enough, he could hear a heartbeat… but it was very faint. Without a second thought, he proceeded to administer some CPR in an effort to save Tommy’s life all while the crowd stood stunned… one for what happened to Tommy, and what Carrie just did before them. Speaking of which, Carrie looked up, spotted Billy’s sunglasses in the rafters, and all at once she knew… she knew what happened.

Unbeknownst to anyone, outside the gym window, Jacob Seed watched everything unfold through the scope of his snipe rifle. A sick smile spread across his face, as he watched the misery and angst unfold before him. He soon reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small remote control.

“The Collapse… has come.”

With one push of the button, everyone’s fate was sealed…

Back inside the gym, the song ‘Only You’ played throughout the loudspeakers around the confused students and staff. Hearing the familiar song, Carris stood up and turned toward the crowd. Her conditioning started to kick in as her vision instantly turned red as her mind became a blue. The star decoration lights flickered on and off. Carrie gasped for her, holding her arms out as the blood started levitating from her arms. The others took noticed, watching her worriedly.

“Carrie, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

“What’s wrong with her?” Sue asked.

“Oh, this is bad…” Rainbow spoke, with dread.

Jackie grabbed Tina and started pulling her away.

“Come on!” Jackie urged.

“Are you seeing this?” Heather spoke up.

By now Carrie was hyperventilating, all the rage and power started building from inside her.

“Come on!” Heather cried out.

Heather tried to drag her date with her but gave up and made to leave herself. Fluttershy slowly approached Carrie, trying to calm her friend down.

“C-Carrie…” She stammered nervously. “P-Please relax… you don’t have to do this!”

Carrie’s heart was beating a mile a minute, her eyes turned jet black and then… Carrie White SNAPPED!!! Screaming with utter rage, Carrie unleashed a psychic blast over the whole prom knocking down everyone and everything that wasn’t nailed down. Carrie shot her arms out and sent Fluttershy flying backwards. The timid, frightened girl screamed as she soared across the air, but thankfully Derick caught her before she hit the ground.

And somehow, someway… Tommy Ross finally woke up releasing a heavy gasp of air. He sat up, groaning as he clutched his head. Sue, bursting with tears, hugged her boyfriend tightly.

“What happened?” Tommy asked dazed. “What’s going on?”

Carrie waved her arms, sending Heather flying into the gym doors. Carrie waved her arms, slamming all the doors before the students could escape. Try as they might, they pounded against the doors but neither would budge. Carrie grinned with satisfaction, as she brought down a lamp decoration which knocked over a student. The principal tried to keep the peace amongst the students.

“DON’T PANIC!”

Unfortunately, the students were too terrified to listen to him. The principal soon found himself swept up in the mad rush for the doors. The whole crowd of students pounded against the doors, while Carrie merely watched. Derick and Fluttershy both got up, just as the rest of the girls and Spike rushed toward them.

“Are you guys alright?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“Any injuries?” Rarity asked.

“No, I’m alright,” Fluttershy assured. “Thanks to Derick here.”

Everyone turned toward Derick, who breathed heavily, and they all noticed something. In his hand was the cuff that was originally on Fluttershy’s wrist. They gasped upon seeing this knowing that Fluttershy would now have her abilities back.

“Derick, how’d you get that cuff off Fluttershy?” Twilight asked confused.

“I don’t know,” Derick shrugged. “Just came off when I caught her.”

“That’s impossible!” Spike spoke. “John said only Joseph Seed could remove these cuffs… was he bluffing all this time?”

Everyone was confused, trying to understand what was really going on. But right now, they needed those cuffs off more than anything and they could question the circumstance later.

“Ya think you can take these cuffs off the rest ah us?” Applejack asked.

“I can try!” Derick nodded.

One by one, he approached each of the Mane Six, including Spike, and sure enough he was able to peel the cuffs clean off their wrists. The moment they were removed, they could feel their powers circulating their very bodies once more. Now with their magic back, they knew what they had to do.

“C’mon! We need to save as many people as we can!” Twilight told them all.

“Let’s do it!” Rainbow yelled in agreement.

“Ah’m with y’all!” Applejack agreed.

“As am I!” Rarity nodded.

“Give me liberty or give me death!” Pinkie yelled dramatically.

“… I really hope it’s the first one!” Fluttershy squeaked.

Nevertheless, Fluttershy followed her friends as they made a mad dash to help the students and faculty in the midst of all the chaos. While everyone else was trying to pry their way out, Jackie Talbot practically dragged Kenny to his feet.

“Bleachers!” Jackie called out.

Carrie’s attention turned toward Jackie & Kenny; the boys were pulling the bleachers out from the wall so they could escape through the windows. They raced up the bleachers when Carrie raised her hands and clenched her fists. The bleachers slid closed again, sending Kenny toward the floor… but landing in the arms of Rainbow Dash, who zipped by in a hurry. Jackie, about to be crushed to death between the bleachers, braced himself for impact…

But all of a sudden, a great force stopped the bleachers from squeezing much to the boy’s confusion. He looked down and to his astonishment, the blonde hair country girl, Applejack, pressed herself between the bleachers applying her leg strength to keep it from closing. With Applejack’s strength renewed, she used her legs to push the bleachers wide as the boy stared with a frozen expression.

“Go on! Git!” Applejack called out. “Can’t hold ‘er all night!”

Without a moments thought, Jackie quickly proceed to climb the rest of the way up the bleachers and hurled himself out the window. Applejack grunted and groaned trying to keep the bleachers from shutting, as Carrie clenched her fist harder trying to crush her. Applejack gave a pained yell as she could feel her strength give away… but lucky her savior arrived in the form of Rainbow Dash, who quickly shoved Applejack out of the way before the bleachers snapped shut.

Just as Carrie aimed to attach the girls, something else caught her attention. Freddy Holt, with a camera in hand, aimed the device directly toward Carrie. Yet all the girl could see was someone trying to record her pain again. With a wave of her arm, she summoned a table and hurled hit head-on toward Freddy.

As it seemed the table would strike the boy, the furniture itself suddenly froze in levitation. Carrie turned one eye toward the side as Twilight Sparkle held her hands up, straining while applying her own telekinetic abilities to keep the table frozen in the air. As Freddy backed away, filming the scene before him, a struggle ensued between the two girls. Both applying their powers trying to motion the table from one direction to another like two magnets against each other.

“Carrie… please…” Twilight groaned, tears streaming. “Don’t do this…!”

Carrie merely smiled, sensing her new challenger was merely holding back. She hurled her arms violently and the table crashed against Twilight, knocking her aside with a yelp and she slid against the floor, bruised but not killed. With Twilight out of the way, Carrie looked toward the ceiling and with a wave of her arms the sprinklers switched on. By now, Carrie’s eyes closed in ecstasy as her power was at an all-time high.

All the students before her started slipping in the water from the sprinklers, adding into the existing chaos. Amongst the crowd were the Thibodeau twins, Nikki and Lizzy, the two sisters desperately rushing for the nearest exit.

“Come on, Lizzy!” Nicki called out. “We’ve got to get to the door!”

“NICKI!” Lizzy cried out.

“LIZZY!”

It didn’t take long for Carrie to notice them. Psychically, she tripped the twins in their tracks. They tried to stand up, but Carrie’s power kept them pin to the floor.

“LIZZY!”

“NICKI!”

The twins screamed as the panicking students raced toward them, and Carrie smiled at the sight of the twins’ inevitable deaths.

*BOOM!*

Suddenly the floor by the twins feat exploded with smoke and… confetti? Sure enough, more explosions sent the students circling away from the twins, who looked about in confusion. Grabbing as many cupcakes as possible off the food stand, showering them with sprinkles, Pinkie Pie hurled a few cupcakes toward the stampeding kids and each cupcake exploded on impact. But thankfully it managed to steer the students away and the twins were safe… for the time being.

The sprinklers were shut off as Carrie was starting to lose her patience. With extra effort, Carrie violently snapped the electrical wires above the stage. Sparking cables, scaffolding and lights fell to the stage. Carrie growled as the decorative moon fell to the floor, setting the backdrop ablaze with fire. The curtains, and especially the decorations soon caught fire and the whole gym erupted with heat. Carrie stood at the very center of it all, looking more demonic by the second.

Mr. Ulmann soon ran up and took Tina’s hand.

“TINA! COME ON!” Mr. Ulmann urged.

The two made a break for it, but Carrie caught them. Carrie psychically lifted the now burning moon decoration and hurled it toward the fleeing couple. The moon flew between the two and they dove in opposite directions to avoid being hit. Tina stood before Carrie in terror, as the latter lifted her arms and caused the electric cables to fly up like some form of demonic snake charmer. Tina couldn’t run, for her path was blocked by the sparking cables.

Just as Carrie was about to whip Tina with the cables, a sudden crystal shield blocked the assault before Tina’s eyes. In front of her, Rarity stood at her guard flinching a bit while unleashing the shield to block Carrie’s attack. As Tina turned away to run, Rarity summoned every shield she could to block all the wires hurled at her. But Carrie proved herself to be relentless, striking against the young fashionista over and over. Rarity stumbled a bit until she reached a burning table and part of her dress caught on fire.

Rarity looked down and yelped as she tried to pat down the fire before it could reach any higher. This did not go unnoticed by a certain friend of hers.

“RARITY!!!” A male voice shouted.

Spike, catching sight of Rarity, quickly rushed out and tore the part of her dress currently in flames. Spike proceeded to stomp on the material to snuff out the fire, as Rarity looked on (More relieved that her life was saved). All this went on as Miss Desjardin and Derick looked on with horror, seeing those who hadn’t been saved burning to death through Carrie’s power.

Miss Desjardin turned toward Carrie, who reached out and force-choked the teacher. Desjardin gasped, clutching her through and found herself unable to breathe. Carrie psychically lifted Miss Desjardin into the air, then with a flick of her wrists the electric wires fell into the puddle of water due to the sprinklers, to which the water sparked and zapped wildly. Desjardin looked in horror toward her imminent electrocution.

“CARRIE, STOP!!!” Derick called out. “Let her go!”

Carrie didn’t even look at Derick, as he stood beside her trying to talk some sense out of her. His eyes were pleading, a rare occasion when he actually started to tear up.

“She was good to you, Carrie! I was good to you! Please… let her go!”

With one wave of her hand, Carrie hurled Miss Desjardin toward Derick, but otherwise she was safe on stage. Miss Desjardin and Derick watched in horror, with slight relief, as Carrie floated off the stage and stared toward the pair (Specifically toward Derick).

“Leave… me… alone!!!” Carrie shouted, menacingly.

The Mane Six, Spike, and everyone else looked on as Carrie literally walked on air over the surviving students and staff. She did no more than watch as the students ran in terror, as the gym was slowly consumed by the burning chaos she’s unleashed. Fluttershy was helping a sobbing Heather, who bled heavily from her crash. She looked on as Carrie was making her leave from the gym, while all her friends were busy helping the other students. Without thinking, Fluttershy raced toward the still-open bleachers and followed her through the open windows before anyone else could stop her.

“Fluttershy!” Rarity called out.

Outside, police and fire truck sirens blared across the street as they approached the enflamed school. Carrie landed upon the ground outside, catching her breath as students and faculty ran from the building. Fluttershy had just arrived and was about to reach out toward Carrie when they heard the sound of an engine revving. They turned and spotted Billy’s car pulling away, with Chris looking out the window toward the devastation they left behind.

Carrie took a deep breath and went after that, Fluttershy realizing that she had business to finish and she in turn followed her. Billy’s car drove down the road as several other cars burst into flames. They stopped at a red light as a police car raced down the opposite direction. By now Billy’s out of breath, with Chris panicking and near tears as if she hadn’t planned for all this to happen. Chris proceeded to write a text to her father which read, ‘Daddy, come get me’. To which did not go unnoticed by Billy’s eyes.

“What are you doing?” Billy asked, panicking. “What are you doing? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Billy grabbed Chris’s phone before she had a chance to send.

“Nothing!” Chris insisted.

“Do you think this is a fucking game?! SHH! Shh! Shh!”

A line of police cars, fire trucks and ambulances zoomed past the car.

“What are we going to do?!” Chris asked.

“We’re going to leave town,” Billy answered. “And we’re never going to come back.”

Chris sobbed, as Billy kissed her attempting to provide some form of comfort.

“Okay? It’s okay,” Billy assured. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Okay…” Chris nodded.

One last police car zipped past before the light turned green, and the two kids could finally drive away. Just as they pulled away, Carrie was right behind the car. With one stomp, her telekinesis caused the road to crack and practically pursued the car. Carrie raised her arms, and the crack burst ahead of the car collapsing the road ahead of them.

“Oh, my God! Watch out!” Chris screamed.

Billy turned the wheels, the breaks squealed as they almost fell into the sinkhole. Billy backed up, as the road crumbled beneath them.

“Shit town!” Billy groaned.

“DON’T MOVE!”

Billy swung the car around just as most of the street collapsed behind them. They start for the other way when they see Carrie in the street, standing there… watching them.

“Oh, my God. It’s Carrie!” Chris gasped.

Carrie eyed them, unafraid of the two bullies for the first time in her life. Chris turned toward Billy, the look of hatred upon her face told her exactly what she wanted.

“Run… her… down!” Chris ordered slowly. “Kill her. Kill her, Billy! KILL HER, BILLY! KILL HER!”

“SHUT UP! I GOT THIS!” Billy shouted.

They sneered evilly as Billy hit the gas up to 90 miles.

“COME ON! AAAAAHHH!!!!”

From six feet away, Fluttershy gasped as the car was heading straight for Carrie. Undeterred, the girl rose her hand , and the car seemed to crash straight into an invisible wall. Billy struck the steering wheel headfirst, dying upon impact. Chris, dazed, was miraculously alive. Meanwhile, the car’s front was smashed, the crumbled hood smoking. Chris woozily rubbed her neck. Fluttershy silently gasped in shock by what she saw, yet she just stood there as Carrie stared toward the damaged car.

“Billy? Billy?” Chris spoke.

Chris pulled Billy from the wheel. His face was smashed, covered in blood, and his head flopped lifelessly to the side. There was no mistake what had just happened.

“Billy?! No!” Chris sobbed.

By now Chris was panicking, as Carrie walked around the car towards her. For a moment the two glared hatefully, even fearfully toward each other. Chris turned to run, but Carrie bolted the car doors to lock. Chris tried to kick the door open, to which Carrie made Chris’s seatbelt to strangle her. Chris undid the belt and climbed into the driver’s side, tearfully pushing Billy aside and set the car in reverse.

Chris backed the car up and hit the gas, trying to run Carrie over again. Carrie used her powers to lift the back of the car off the ground. The wheels spun in midair as Chris pressed the pedal. It took more effort, but Carrie lifted the whole car completely off the ground. As Fluttershy slowly approached Carrie from behind, she could see that for the first time Chris was completely terrified. In that brief second, Fluttershy looked toward Chris and no longer saw Carrie’s evil tormentor, but a scared girl. A scared girl like Carrie… like herself.

Fluttershy slowly reached out, about to say something to Carrie and maybe convince her that this wasn’t the right thing to do. Instead… Fluttershy hesitated, as she gazed toward Chris. From a look of concern toward the girl at first, Fluttershy’s face dropped to a stone-faced look as if she knew that if Chris lived… she’d just try to hurt Carrie all over again. To Chris’s utter shock, Fluttershy turned away.

Enraged, Chris stomped on the gas again, and Carrie stepped aside allowing the car to go forward. The car crashed into the pump of a gas station, and Chris’s face crashed right through the windshield, her face stuck in the glass with shards all over her. The car leaked all its fluids and gasoline from the pump spilt everywhere.

Carrie walked around to the front, as she and Fluttershy looked towards Chris’s bloodied, mangled face. She gurgled what could be ‘Help me’ towards the girls, while Fluttershy’s face merely said one word, ‘No…’. And just like that, Chris Hargensen was dead. As Carrie walked away, she stopped toward Fluttershy and for the moment they looked at each other, the latter afraid Carrie would hurt her there and now. Instead, Carrie made the light pole fall onto the car, igniting the gasoline, and blowing up the car in a huge fireball. And Carrie slowly walked past Fluttershy, as she stared wide eyed toward the blaze and her hair swept around from the fiery breeze. Mentally asking herself, ‘Did I do the right thing?’.

Back at the school, as the fire died out, survivors and rescue workers swarmed the place. People were crying, coughing, trying to either help each other walk or ‘get’ help, others merely stumbled through the aftermath asking themselves, ‘What the fuck just happened?’.

The girls, along with Spike and Sue, looked around in horror. Sue saw Derick Collins comforting Miss Desjardin, wrapping her in a blanket while she sobbed. He turned toward the group and they all looked at each other. Based on their faces they started to share in the guilt over what happened, but none more so than Sue herself. It was during which moment Twilight Sparkle arrived and approached the group.

“Tommy’s going to be okay,” Twilight assured. “The medics said he still might’ve had a concussion. They’re going to bring him to the hospital for a series of x-rays.”

Sue nodded and turned toward the group. Nodding in unison, they proceeded to walk away down the streets before any of the officials could question them. As they walked down the burning street, passing all the chaos around them, they finally found Fluttershy. She just stood there, watching Chris’s burning car and the smell of burning flesh hung in the air. Her face was blank, unreadable, after witnessing such horror. Twilight approached Fluttershy’s side, standing together eyeing the mess.

“Where’s Carrie?” Twilight asked softly. “Where did she go?”

Fluttershy turned toward Twilight Sparkle, and eventually the others. She knew from their faces they needed to find Carrie before more people got hurt. Only one word came from Fluttershy’s lips:

“Home…”

Carrie stumbled down the street toward her house. For a moment, she’s seemingly regaining her senses. She sobbed as she approached the front door.

“Mommy!” Carrie cried out. “Mommy! Mama?”

Hurrying inside, Carrie discovered a gaping hole in the prayer closet, large enough for a person to crawl through. Suddenly, she heard creaks upstairs and Carrie climbed the stairs. She looked around, but no sign of her mother was in sight. She went into her own bedroom, only she found it empty.

“Mama!”

With Carrie’s back turned to the hall, Margaret walked past her into her own room unnoticed. Carrie turned off the lights in her room and proceeded into the bathroom. She began to run a bath, removing her dress, and slipped her naked form into the tub. As she splashed some water over her face, adjusting her sight, she seemingly noticed all the blood on her for the first time since prom. She looked at herself in horror, realizing what happened tonight was all real. All the things she’d done, the people she hurt (Whether they were now dead or not), and guilt-ridden by her actions… she started sobbing.

“No… no! No!”

She splashed some more water over her face, furiously scrubbing her arms with a full ‘Out, out, damned spot!’ around every inch of her body. Eventually, she hugged her knees to herself and just cried. When she was finally clean, Carrie left the bathroom in a simple blue night gown.

“Mama?” Carrie called out.

She entered her mother’s room, looking around. Suddenly, she heard another creak. Carrie spun around and there was Margaret, standing by the doorway in a white night gown.

“Oh, Mama!” Carrie sobbed.

Carrie rushed toward her mother, who held out an arm to her. Carrie hugged her, and Margaret hugged her back. She gazed sympathetically toward her daughter, who cried against her shoulder.

“Mama, you were right,” Carrie cried. “They laughed at me, Mommy! They all laughed at me!”

“I knew they’d hurt my little girl,” Margaret spoke softly. “I should have killed myself when he put it in me. We slept in the same bed, lived together sinlessly. Then one night, I saw him look at me in that way. And we got down on our knees to pray for strength… and that’s when he took me~”

Carrie was disturbed by her words, her mother picked now to talk about her conceive… one that occurred between Margaret and Carrie’s absent father.

“No, Mama,” Carrie shook her head. “No, I don’t want to hear it!”

“And I liked it!” Margaret smiled.

“Mama, no~”

“I should have given you to God when you were born, but…”

Years ago…

Inside a blue house, screaming erupted. On the stairs are several broken knick-knacks and a Bible in puddles of blood and other bodily fluids. Inside the bedroom, with a table full of candles and a cross on the wall, Margaret White laid on the blood-soaked bed, screaming in pain.

“Help! Help me! Help me, Lord! I’m dying! What is this? Cancer?”

She was pregnant, her belly bulging under her white dress, and she screamed again. She pushed herself to the pile of pillows at the head of the bed, looking toward the ceiling.

“Mother Mary, full of grace,” Margaret prayed. “Protect me and guide me in my hour of death.”

She screamed again in total agony, before suddenly going quiet and disturbingly calm. She felt between her legs and pulled the skirt up revealing a tiny head of the baby she unknowingly just given birth to. To say Margaret was horrified was an understatement.

“It’s a test…” She told herself. “The Father said God would test me…”

The bloodied baby laid upon the bed, wriggling in her first moments of life. And yet Margaret was deeply repulsed.

“Cut it down…” Margaret told herself. “Cut it down.”

Margaret quickly opened a drawer, pulling out a large pair of scissors. She raised them in her right hand and brought them down towards the baby. The scissors froze in midair, just above the crying baby. But then, Margaret looked into the baby’s eyes and the baby looked into hers. She put the scissors down and picked up the baby. She cradled the child to her chest, shushing her cries. And she sat there on the blood-stained bed, holding baby Carrie as she cried…

“… I was weak,” Margaret continued. “And I loved you so much. And I said, ‘God, let me keep my little girl. Let me keep her’. Let’s pray~”

Carrie didn’t know what else to do. It had been a long, traumatizing night. And all she wanted was at least ‘one’ measure of comfort, even from her own mother.

“Yes, Mama. Yes, we’ll pray.”

“I’ll be the preacher,” Margaret smiled. “You’ll be my congregation.”

Carrie knelt to her knees, and Margaret followed after. She hugged her child as she began to pray.

“Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name. They kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is…”

Little did Carrie realized, behind her back, Margaret rose the kitchen knife.

“… in Heaven~” Margaret finished.

Margaret stabbed Carrie in the back, and her daughter cried in pain. Margaret rose the knife again, only Carrie hurled them both in opposite directions. Margaret slammed into the bedroom wall and Carrie tumbled all the way down to the bottom of the stairs. Carrie laid upon the floor in pain and looked up to see her mother slowly come down the stairs with the bloodied knife. Carrie painfully tried to crawl away, but her mother gained on her.

“Mama, please!” Carrie begged tearfully. “No, Mama! Mama, please!”

But it was too late. Margaret had lost what little sanity she had. And yet… she still looked heartbroken.

“This isn’t your fault, Carrie,” Margaret spoke regretfully. “It’s mine.”

“Mommy, this isn’t right!” Carrie shouted.

“You know the Devil never dies. The Father said he’ll always come back. He says you gotta keep killin’ him.”

“No, Mama!”

“Over and over again…” Margaret concluded, raising the knife.

“Mama, please. Mama!”

Margaret lunged for her, but the knife impaled into the floor.

“No! No, Mama!”

Carried tried to crawl away, but Margaret grabbed at her legs. Reaching for the knife, she slit Carrie’s calf. Carrie screamed and fell on her back. Margaret straddled Carrie, stabbing for her shoulder… and missed. Carrie grabbed Margaret’s wrist, trying to pry the knife away.

“MAMA, STOP IT!!!” Carrie cried out.

Margaret swung the knife and slit Carrie’s left arm; the poor child screamed in pain. Margaret raised the knife and brought it down towards Carrie’s head, screaming wildly. Carrie’s telekinesis stopped it mid-swing, almost exactly the same point when Margaret failed to stab her as a baby. Carrie tried to push her back, but with her injuries and the emotional turmoil of her own mother trying to kill her, its exceedingly difficult. With a groan of exertion, Carrie lifted Margaret into the air. The girl winced as every knife, scissors, needle, and any other pointy object in the house flew in and surrounded Margaret.

“Carrie…” Margaret whispered frightened.

“I’m sorry,” Carrie apologized, regretfully.

“CARRIE!!!”

They both screamed as Carrie sent Margaret flying back. She landed against the prayer closet, where she’s impaled by all the sharp objects in the house and with each hit she gasped. Her arms are pinned out like she’s been crucified, her chest resembled a pin cushion of knives, scissors, and other blades. She gasped and grunted before falling silent.

Carrie slowly approached her mother, caressing her face. Suddenly, Margaret gasped for air miraculously alive. Carrie shushed her and slowly pulled the knives out causing Margaret intense pain. Finally, Carrie removed all the blades and Margaret collapsed into her embraced. Carrie gently laid her on the floor.

“It’s okay! It’s okay…” Carrie whispered.

Despite everything, she cradled Margaret’s head in her lap. The woman looked into her daughter’s eyes, gasping and barely alive. In that one brief moment, it didn’t matter to Carrie that this psychotic woman tried to kill her. Trying to finish what she started since she was conceived. All Carrie wanted now was to make it all right, to make peace with her own mother… the only family she had, despite ‘everything’.

“It’s okay…” Carrie cooed. “No one’s going to hurt you. No one’s going to hurt you.”

One final gasp, and Margaret died in Carrie’s arms. The reality struck her like a ton of bricks, and Carrie broke down crying. For now, the child with all the power in the world was totally alone. An orphan of an otherwise cruel world… she just couldn’t take it.

“Carrie?”

Carrie looked up as Sue, along with Fluttershy, the other girls, Spike, and Derick entered the house. They saw Carrie and Margaret on the floor, the former cradling her mother’s lifeless body. They did not need to ask what happened, they could only stand there watching this scene with slight fear. They were upset, scared of Carrie’s reaction toward her presence.

“It’s over, Carrie…” Fluttershy stepped up. “This has to stop…”

“Let us help you, Carrie,” Sue offered.

Carrie, crying her eyes out, looked down toward her mother. Then her eyes turned back toward the group.

“Why couldn’t you leave me alone?” Carrie asked angrily.

“I’m sorry!” Sue apologized, crying.

Yet Carrie merely looked down at Margaret, then back at Sue. She flexed and grabbed Sue with her telekinesis.

“Carrie, put her down!” Derick shouted.

He raced toward her, but Carrie flexed her right arm out and lifted Derick into the air. He gasped for air, as he clutched his throat while an invisible force was choking the life out of him. Her eyes glared with hatred toward everybody.

“Look what you turned me into!” Carrie growled. “You… and your Eden’s Gate friends!”

“You don’t understand!” Derick gasped, struggling in her grasp. “I had nothing to do with this… I swear it!”

“Don’t hurt us, Carrie!” Sue begged.

Carrie merely gave her an evil smile, which slowly faded into despair.

“Why not? I’ve been hurt my whole life.”

“Snap out of it, Carrie!” Applejack called out.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity raced toward Carrie. She saw the trio and swung her arm out, knocking them aside. The release of concentration additionally broke her hold on Sue and Derick, who dropped to the ground. The others tried to reach Carrie, but one stomp of her foot knocked them backward. With the help of her psychic powers, she lifted her mother toward her. All around, the house shook and groaned with lights flickering about. Fluttershy stared at Carrie in tears.

“Please, stop it Carrie!” Fluttershy begged tearfully. “This isn’t you! Please come back!”

“I killed my mom,” Carrie cried. “I want her back! I’m scared!”

“You’re not alone, Carrie! Please believe me! We’re ‘Super Shy Friends Forever’… remember? You’ve just got to remember, Carrie! Please try!”

The house groaned as a psychic earthquake made the house crumble. Stones, the size of baseballs, fell from the sky and smashed through the house. The piano and bathtub fell through the ceiling from the second floor. Within the seconds, the house was near collapse.

“We’ve got to get out of here!” Rainbow shouted.

“Carrie… gimme your hand!” Fluttershy reached out.

But Carrie was unresponsive. Sue raced toward her, the girl holding her mother. Carrie looked toward them with wide eyes.

“Give me your hand!” Sue called out. “Come on!”

Carrie held her hand out towards Sue’s midsection, gasping with shock. She could hear a heartbeat.

“It’s a girl…” Carrie whispered.

“What?!” The group shouted.

“She didn’t know?”

Sue was in shock by this sudden revelation, yet the same was not said about Pinkie Pie.

“I knew it…” Pinkie gasped. “Sue… you’re pregnant!”

“Oh, my God!” Sue gasped.

“You’ve got to get her away…” Carrie told them.

“Carrie…” Derick whispered.

But Carrie rose her arm and lifted the group off the ground.

“Get out! GET OUT!”

And just like that, Carrie sent Sue, Derick, and the others flying out of the house (But gently this time). The whole group stood on their feet, watching as larger stones fell onto the house and the foundations shook. Inside the house, at the center of the chaos, Carrie held her mother’s body accepting the end of her suffering as she kissed her mother’s forehead.

“It’s okay…” She whispered.

The house collapsed into a huge sinkhole, nothing left but a crater of rubble. Sue rubbed her stomach, realizing she’s going to be a mother… while Pinkie Pie placed her arm around her offering any form of comfort she could. Sue cried, for Carrie, and everyone else who died on this night as she leaned against Pinkie’s shoulder. The rest of the Mane Six, along with Spike and Derick, slowly approached the rubble. Tears began to drop from their eyes over the loss of a dear friend. Fluttershy was the first to officially break down into sobs.

“It’s not fair!” She sobbed loudly. “This shouldn’t have happened to her! She was good! They pushed her into becoming a monster!”

Fluttershy sank to her knees, crying as Rarity sunk beside her embracing her with a motherly hug. Pinkie sank down as well, her hair drooped straight and lifeless, and all their friends started to cry.

“This is so sad and heartbreaking!” Pinkie cried. “This shouldn’t happen to people!”

She took a tissue from her hair, blowing into it before tossing it away. Applejack removed her hat in respect, as a stray tear raced down her cheek. Rainbow placed a hand over her girlfriend’s shoulder before they embraced each other in sadness. Both Spike and Twilight stood at the very edge of the rubble, as an overwhelming sadness enveloped them both and their own tears fell like waterfalls.

“If only we’d been there for her,” Twilight cried. “If we hadn’t let our guard down, maybe…”

Spike pulled his surrogate sister to his side, allowing her to cry.

“There was nothing any of us could’ve done, Twilight,” Spike told her. “We saved as many lives as possible, but even ‘we’ can’t save everyone. The conditioning in her brain was just too strong to break. Some things just can’t be changed…”

Everyone in the group stood crying, mourning over the loss of a poor girl pushed over the edge. This continued for a while till Twilight cleansed her eyes and looked out amongst the scattered rubble that was once the White house. She noticed something out of sorts and upon closer inspection, she noticed a fresh piece of paper on top of all the rubble. Taking great care, Twilight made her way through the rubble and grabbed the piece of paper before bringing it back to the group.

“What’s that?” Spike asked Twilight.

Twilight gazed toward the piece of paper, as a look of anger and determined dawned on her face. Twilight approached Pinkie Pie, reached deep into her hair before pulling out the gym schematics and video camera from Eden’s Gate compound. She soon approached Sue.

“Take these,” She said, handing them over.

“What are they?” Sue asked.

“Evidence,” Twilight responded. “Evidence that Carrie didn’t do this on her own free will. Take them and make sue the world sees them.”

Crumbling the paper, throwing it onto the ground, Twilight turned heel and started marching down the street angrily.

“Twilight, what’s going on?” Rarity asked her. “What was in that note?”

“You’ll see…” Twilight responded. “We end this right now!”

The girls, Spike, and even Derick had absolutely no idea what was going on. But nonetheless, they followed after Twilight to only God knows where. Sue watched them go before she knelt down, crumbling the piece of paper Twilight discarded. Unfolding it, Sue looked at the note and saw the Eden’s Gate symbol embroidered at the top along with a clear, simple message:

‘It ends where it all began…’

March to Eden's Gate

Twilight Sparkle, with the rest of the Equestrian heroes (Including Derick Collins), walked slowly toward the Church of Eden’s Gate, exercising extreme caution as they remembered very clearly of their last experience in this place. They took note of all the barrels of Bliss still flowing from the top, along with the same green mist. The two white oak doors slowly opened as Joseph, John, Jacob, and Faith emerged from inside. And to their surprise, Jacob led a handcuffed Carrie, forcing her to kneel on the ground.

They hadn’t expected to see the girl alive, especially as it appeared she had died when her house collapsed. But as it seemed, Eden’s Gate had secretly removed her before the house’s total destruction. The poor girl was still dressed in her baby blue night dress, now tattered, bloodied, and torn from her home’s destruction. All the girls felt bad seeing Carrie in this state, especially Fluttershy who had grown very close to the poor young girl within their time spent together. Joseph stepped forward with his arms extended, almost welcoming, and everyone looked upon the seven deadly sins which he had carved into his body that were now scars.

“This is where it all began,” He stated slowly. “Seems only fitting this is where it ends. The sacrificial lamb finally come to slaughter.”

He turned toward Derick Collins, who stood at their side, and Joseph couldn’t help but smirk.

“I see another traitor has joined your foolish cause,” Joseph observed. “And not just any traitor… but my own flesh and blood.”

This caused everyone to gasp in the shock. The girls and Spike turned toward Derick, who seemed as quickly stunned as they did.

“He’s… your father?” Twilight asked shocked.

“You lied to us the whole time?” Fluttershy asked, feeling betrayed.

“That’s how he was able to get those cuffs off!” Rarity realized. “Only Joseph’s ‘blood’ could take them off… Derick’s blood… the blood of a Seed.”

Derick shot glances back and forth between the Equestrians and Eden’s Gate.

“No… it’s not true!” Derick responded. “My parents’ names are Thomas and Edna Collins. They raised me since I was a baby!”

“Oh, I’m afraid it is true,” Joseph said. “You are my own flesh and blood, my only son.”

“You’re insane!” Derick shot back. “You killed your own baby! You said so yourself!”

“I assure you my boy, I am completely sane,” Joseph responded. “You see, many years ago God graced me with another opportunity to be a father. Your mother Megan, well she was never truly my great love as my first wife had been. But she was all too willing to give me a child I sought.”

The more the man spoke, the more pissed off Derick grew. To think everything he’d ever known his whole life were based off a lie.

“When you were born, God spoke to me once more and explained that you had a destiny,” Joseph continued. “Just as he himself had to sacrifice his own son to purge the world of its sinners, so too did I. He told me I did not have to kill you as I had your sister before you. I entrusted you to the care of two of my most trusted followers. They were to raise you as their own, to condition you for your role to play in the Great Collapse.”

Derick had finally had enough. Just as he was about to rush forward, to attack the Father directly, Spike and the girls held him back.

“You son of a bitch!” He yelled. “You killed your first child and abandoned your second. You don’t deserve to be called a father, much less ‘the Father’!”

Joseph merely chuckled at the boy’s fiery temper.

“I was merely following God’s plan my son,” He spoke. “I was, however, given the opportunity to name you before handing you away. So I leave you with one final parting gift before the end. Your true name… Ethan.”

Twilight merely shook her head before voicing defiance.

“Joseph Seed, stop this madness at once!” She demanded. “Release Carrie now, disband your cult, and no harm will come to any of you. Refuse then my friends and I will be forced to do whatever we must to save our friend and the town from your hold.”

Twilight readied her magic, as did Rarity. Applejack and Rainbow Dash cracked their knuckles, prepped to fight. Pinkie pulled her huge party cannon out from her hair, ready to fire. Fluttershy preferred to avoid violence as much as possible, seeing as how there’d already been so much throughout the entire adventure.

Seeing the girls ready to fight, Joseph merely uttered a low chuckle as he snapped his finger. In a blink of an eye, Jacob procured his pistol from his side holster and aimed smack dab against the back of Carrie’s head. The girls looked in horror, noting the tears flowing down Carrie’s cheeks. They soon turned their attention toward Jacob, ready to defend their friend.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you my child,” Joseph interrupted. “Even with all the power you possess, that bullet will steal leave that gun faster than you can stop it. I’d suggest you stand down now, or more innocent blood will be spilt.”

Twilight looked toward the mad preacher with fire in her eyes, while he smirked toward her. Just then, Fluttershy raced in front of her.

“Please Twilight, just do what he says,” She begged. “There’s already been enough tragedy and heartbreak tonight.”

Her friend’s words resonated in Twilight’s head, as she gazed back and forth between the Seed family and Carrie. She wanted so desperately to help their friend, but also knew Jacon could very easily pull the trigger before she could even twitch to do magic. Sighing to herself, she let her hands fall to her sides as she looked back toward her friends.

“Stand down, girls…” She said.

“Are you kidding me?!” Rainbow asked. “We’re doing what this nut ball says?”

“Come on Twi!” Applejack spoke. “We can’t just—”

“I said stand down!” Twilight repeated, assertively.

The girls looked back and forth between each other till one by one, they lowered their arms to their sides. Twilight turned back towards the Seeds, attempting another approach.

“All right Joseph, we won’t fight,” She announced. “But I am appealing to your heart and soul I know you still have. Just let Carrie go, we’ll leave, and we won’t bother you anymore.”

Joseph Seed laughed lightly as he took a step forward, once again extending his arms out and looked upon the heavens above.

“When the lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw unto the altar the souls of the martyrs, slain because of the word of God.”

Lowering his gaze toward Twilight’s, he stepped forward till he stood before her and stared at her with a blank stare of which truly disturbed her.

“You made martyrs out of me and my family,” He growled softly. “Now I am prepared to do the same to yours.”

Stepping behind Twilight, she slowly turned her gaze to follow him and gasped in shock. Her friends now stood in the clutches of a group of Bliss-controlled cultists, all their guns right at their heads.

“Get the hay off me you doped-up jerk!” Rainbow ordered loudly.

The cultist holding her slammed his gun right into her face causing her to gasp in pain before going completely still.

“Yer not helping Dash,” Applejack spoke.

“Wowie wow! Wow!” Pinkie said excitedly. “This reminds me of the times playing cops and robbers with the little foals in Ponyville. Except this time we’re in actual danger… we’re in actual danger!”

The cultist holding her aimed his gun at the sky and fired a round which echoed loudly through the trees. Pinkie and the others instantly clammed up as the cultist aimed the gun back toward her head. Rarity and Fluttershy both had tears running down their faces. Twilight herself was on the verge of crying herself. Joseph stepped towards her again, staring her down.

“But God is watching us,” He said. “And he will judge us based on what we choose at this moment.”

Joseph slowly circled around Twilight, who just stared in shock toward her captive friends.

“I told you we were living in a world on the brink,” He spoke. “Where every slight… every injustice… every choice reveals our sins. And where have those sins led us? Where have those sins led you?”

He stopped in front of her again, as he gestured toward her captive friends.

“Your friends have been taken and tortured… and it is your fault. Countless people killed and it is your fault. This very town is on fire… and it’s your fault.”

The last part he growled before stepping back and held his hands out again.

“Was it worth it? Was it?”

He stood right in front of her, leaning in so he could whisper.

“When are you going to learn that not ‘every’ problem can be solved with magic?”

He walked around her again and she turned as he stepped beside his family once more.

“When you first came here, I offered you the chance to walk away. You chose not to. In the face of God, I am offering you that choice one last time.”

He stepped forward a bit more.

“Restrain your magic, take your friends, leave me and my flock, and go in peace.”

Even under restraint by an armed cultist, Rainbow tried to remain tough.

“Yeah right crazy flake!” She growled. “Like we’d ever trust anything you say? When we get out of this, we’re kicking the living daylights out of you!”

“Are you insane Rainbow?” Rarity gasped. “We’re on the verge of being killed here!”

“Whatever ya decide Twi, we’re with ya,” Applejack said.

Twilight kept her gaze on Joseph Seed, as he once more looked up toward the heavens.

“Remember… God is watching.”

So many thoughts coursed through Twilight’s head in a single moment. Finally, she allowed the tears she held to flow freely. There had been so much pain, so much suffering caused since the beginning of this journey. She truly didn’t want any more.

“We’ll go…” Twilight said softly.

“WHAT?!” Her friends yelled.

“What’s gotten into you Twilight?” Rainbow asked, shocked. “You’re not seriously accepting this, are you? What about those people in town?”

Twilight slowly looked upon her friends, so they could see the tears free-falling down her face.

“And what happens to them if we stay?” She questioned. “As much as I hate to say it, he does have a point. Until we got here, they hadn’t done any real harm to anyone. No one was killed or tortured until we stepped hoof in this place. I won’t allow a single ounce of further blood fall because of me.”

Wiping the tears from her face, Twilight turned back toward Joseph.

“We will leave you in peace Mr. Seed,” Twilight declared, defeated. “And we will never return.”

Hearing her finally utter those words, Joseph actually smiled as he looked back toward his family who also smiled in victory. Joseph extended his arms again and looked upon God once more.

“Judge not, and you will not be judged.”

He then extended his arms out and gently grabbed Twilight by the shoulders as he smiled upon her.

“Condemn not, and you will not be condemned.”

Twilight too looked up, as she and Joseph stared right into each other’s eyes.

“Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

They both leaned forward and closed their eyes as they pressed their foreheads together, almost a sign of understanding and forgiveness. When Joseph finally stood upright again, he smiled upon Twilight as he walked toward Carrie and undid the bonds upon her wrists before looking into her eyes.

“Take your friends my child and go.”

The cultists released the other girls and Carrie quickly shot up bolting toward them, embracing them all in a hug. Twilight walked up to them as well.

“Let’s go girls,” She said.

Rainbow drew away from the hug, staring upon her with wide eyes.

“Twilight, you can’t really…”

“Enough Rainbow!” She snapped. “Sometimes its best to leave well enough alone.”

Twilight started walking before the rest of the girls, who in turn began to follow behind her. Then, Twilight stopped mid-stride as she looked toward the ground.

“Then again…”

She reached into her bag, pulled out her crown with her element on it, and placed it on her head. Then she quickly hurled the bag towards the others, who quickly grabbed their element neckless and placed them on, much to Carrie’s confusion.

“Sometimes…” Twilight continued. “You’ve got to do the right thing.”

Twilight and the girls quickly turned heel and fired their elements, which when combined together formed a powerful rainbow blast which lunged toward the Eden’s Gate members. They all cried out in shock, as the blast impacted them and slowly they disintegrated before their very eyes. When the blinding lights finally cleared, the heroes looked up to see that the Seed family and their cult of heretics had vanished completely.

Everyone stared at the now empty church and compound, as they all stood in shock due to the evening’s events. Carrie just sobbed as she once more clung to Derick, who clung desperately to her as well.

“I though I’d lost you forever,” Derick said.

“I’m so sorry…” Carrie sobbed. “I should’ve never thought you’d betray me.”

“It’s okay Carrie,” Derrick assured her. “Joseph and Eden’s Gate fooled everyone. They masterminded the entire disaster in their corrupted minds and did everything in their power to make you believe they were right and all of us were against you.”

Carrie eventually backed up and looked out toward the forest which led back to Chamberlain.

“I have nothing anymore,” She sobbed. “No home to return to, and everyone will want me dead. What am I supposed to do now; where do I go from here?”

Twilight and the rest of the Mane Six, including Spike, looked toward each other as if silently communicating the very same idea amongst themselves. They turned back toward Carrie, all of them smiling.

“You could always come back to our home with us,” Twilight suggested.

Carrie slowly turned back toward her new friends before she looked down sadly and shook her head.

“I don’t belong anywhere,” She said sadly. “Everyone was right… I am just a freak.”

“No you’re not Carrie,” Twilight responded. “You’ve just been made to believe that no one ever cared about you. But I promise you this… wecare about you.”

“There are so many times we could’ve just turned around and forget all this,” Rainbow added. “But we don’t roll that way.”

“We chose to stay and help ya,” Applejack nodded.

Once more, a stray tear fell off Carrie’s face.

“Why?” She asked.

Fluttershy walked toward Carrie and gently lifted her head so she could look into her eyes.

“Because we love you Carrie White,” She said. “We’re your friends, now and forever. We will never, ever abandon you.”

Carrie let a few more tears fall and threw her arms around Fluttershy, who hugged her back. The rest of the Mane Six and Spike joined in as well. Derick stood off to the side smiling until Applejack looked over at him and gestured for him to join.

“Come on sugar cube, y’all get on in here too!” She chuckled.

“Really?” Derick asked. “Even after finding out I’m the son of the man who tried to kill you all and destroy this town?”

“Ya may be be related by blood, but y’all ain’t nothing like that scoundrel,” Applejack assured. “Ya did yer darndest tah givin’ Carrie a sense ah belonging and that’s somethin’ to be happy ‘bout.”

Derick smiled before joining the group hug. Eventually, as everyone pulled away, they felt the wind pick up and turned to see the portal back to Equestria open up. Both Carrie and Derick looked shocked while the Mane Six and Spike smiled.

“Looks like its time to go,” Twilight smiled.

“I-I-I don’t understand,” Carrie said confused.

The Mane Six and Spike turned around toward the two confused teenagers.

“You see Carrie, remember when we mentioned our hometown earlier?” Rarity asked.

To which Carrie simply nodded her head.

“Well, as it turns out, it’s a little more complicated than that,” Spike smiled.

Twilight waved her hands and her magical purple aura enveloped them all. Soon they reverted back to their original pony and dragon forms. Both Carrie and Derick watched with wide eyes, shocked to see their friends assuming these bipedal Equine forms.

“SURPRISE!” Pinkie shouted with glee. “We’re ponies!”

“Ahem!” Spike cleared his throat.

“And a dragon!” Pinkie reiterated quickly.

“You see, we come from a magical land called Equestria,” Twilight explained. “Where all manner of creatures live in peace and harmony. Though its mainly comprised of the three pony tribes: Earth ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns.”

“Except Twilight here,” Rainbow gestured to her friend. “She’s an alicorn and a pretty awesome one at that. Oh, did I forget to mention she’s a princess?”

This was way too much for Carrie and Derick to take in at once. They both just stared at the group in confusion.

“Perhaps it would be easier to explain once we return,” Rarity said.

“Wait you want us to come back to your world with you?” Derick asked.

To which the Mane Six and Spike nodded in agreement.

“It’s a great opportunity to start a fresh new life,” Twilight told them. “Where you can be free to be whoever you want to be. What do you guys say?”

Derick and Carrie both eyed each other for a moment, smiling as they joined their hands together. They knew that so long as they were together, with friends by their side, nothing could go wrong.

“It sounds perfect,” Carrie smiled.

The Mane Six and Spike all smiled as well before everyone stood side by side, facing the portal back to Equestria. For Carrie, this was a chance to leave everything behind and start a brand new life. In a new land, with her friends… and her boyfriend. They all walked forward, entering the portal one-by-one, leaving Chamberlain and their past behind them… forever.

Coming through the other side of the portal, the Mane Six and Spike (Along with Carrie and Derrick) emerged through Discord’s theatre. Soon as they stepped through, there a gathered group of creatures stood applauding for their safe return. The first to greet them were the princesses, Celestia and Luna.

“Welcome back all of you,” Celestia greeted kindly. “I’d like to offer my most sincere congratulations on another job well done.”

“I don’t know if I would congratulate us princess,” Twilight spoke honestly. “We didn’t save everyone like we usually do. Many people died under our watch.”

“My dearest Twilight, you place far too much on your shoulders,” Celestia responded. “Even as princess, you cannot save ‘everyone’. Your job is to protect as many as you can, and we’ve certainly seen you do this on your mission. As well did the rest of you, and for that I am most proud of you all.”

The Mane Six and Spike merely bowed before the Princess of the Sun in respect. It was then they heard a gasp of shock and turned to find out why. There they noticed that Carrie and Derick had taken on pony forms of their own. Derick took the form of a peach-colored Pegasus with spiky brown hair and a guitar cutie mark. Carrie turned into an Earth pony with a glowing blonde mane and a cutie mark of a winged cross with a halo over it.

They both looked at their new forms, completely shocked.

“What’s happened to us?” Carrie asked surprised.

Celestia only chuckled in response as she walked in front of them.

“It would seem when you both came through the portal, you took on your pony forms immediately,” Celestia told them.

Both Carrie and Derick looked up in awe toward the sun princess, who stared toward them with a smile.

“It is a tremendous pleasure to meet you both,” She greeted. “I am Princess Celestia.”

Both Carrie and Derick awkwardly bowed before her presence, to which Celestia giggled with delight.

“Please, no need for formalities,” She assured them.

“Forgive me princess, but if I may ask,” Carrie spoke up. “Where are me and Derick supposed to live?”

Celestia smiled as se turned toward Fluttershy, who gave a tiny nod of the head. Fluttershy walked forward with a smile of her very own.

“If you want Carrie, you could always live with me,” She offered sweetly. “I have extra space to spare, and we could make you a lovely room.”

“You really mean that Fluttershy?” Carrie asked.

“Of course I do Carrie,” Fluttershy nodded. “We’re Super Shy Friends Forever. I’m more than happy to let you live with me.”

Carrie held back a few more tears, as she threw her new hooves around Fluttershy and they both hugged once more. Applejack walked up alongside Derick and smiled at him.

“If yer lookin’ fer a place tah call yer own, ya can always bunk with me and mah family,” She offered. “Sweet Apple Acres is a beautiful piece ah land and Fluttershy just lives down the way. Ya can always go and visit Carrie whenever ya want to.”

“I’d like that,” Derick nodded.

“Hope ya don’t mind helpin’ out round the farm.”

“Are you kidding?” Derick scoffed. “I’ve been a working man since I was five.”

“Well ah guess its settled then,” Applejack smiled. “Welcome to the Apple family.”

Applejack stuck her hoof out with a grin and Derick stuck out his own for a hoof shake. That’s when Pinkie Pop popped out of nowhere from a cloud of confetti.

“Ooh, this is so super-duper exciting!” She exclaimed excitedly. “Two more new ponies in Ponyville to throw parties for. Also Derick, I know your last name is originally Seed, but will you go by Apple now? *GASP!* ‘Apple Seed’? I just got that now! Hah, ha-ha-ha-ha!!!”

Pinkie Pie fell over laughing at her unintentional joke, and everyone started to laugh as well. This adventure may have been one for misery and misfortune indeed. But in the end, one girl finally got exactly what she needed. A new place to start anew, someone to call her own, and a new group of friends who accepted her as she truly was.

Sometime later…

Sue Snell stood at a court hearing surrounding the events of the prom. The head commissioner, Stuart Murphy, had her on the spot anxious to hear her side of the story. Sue knew this would come eventually, but she had no other choice.

“Miss Snell, we’re trying to determine the exact role Carrie White played in the tragedy on prom night,” Murphy explained. “You would agree that you were under an enormous amount of stress. Isn’t it possible that what you saw was a natural act?”

“Most of my friends died that night,” Sue answered. “But my boyfriend and I know what we saw~”

Sue and Tommy walked through a cemetery in the rain. Since leaving the hospital, Tommy’s head was bandaged and would need some time to recover. Flowers and wreaths hung around several gravestones they passed. Sue carried one white rose and looked toward one grave in particular.

“You want an explanation? Carrie had some sort of power, but she was just like me, like any of you. She had hopes and she had fears. And we pushed her.”

Eventually, Sue saw just what she was searching for. With Tommy beside her, she approached the gravestone of Carrie White herself. Only it was defaced with red graffiti which read, ‘CARRIE WHITE BURNS IN HELL!’. They never did find a body when the fire department started digging through the rubble, but since Carrie was nowhere to be found Sue and Tommy agreed it would be better if the world thought she was dead.

“And you can only push someone so far before they break…”

Sue left the flower by the grave and looked down for a moment as she clutched a hand to her belly. If what Carrie said was true, that she was expecting a child (A daughter), she considered this her second chance. She was not there for Carrie White when she truly needed help, but not another girl will be needing her, and she would not ruin this chance again. Only she wouldn’t be alone, as Tommy clasped a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to him with a small smile. Eventually, they left the grave behind them not truly knowing what happened to Carrie or their friends or even the cult. But wherever Carrie may be, they will always hope that the poor unfortunate child had finally found peace, a better place beyond their own. And that for the first time in her life… there would be eternal happiness just for a girl named Carrie.

Epilogue

In another section of Equestria, in the now abandoned ‘Our Town’, there was a rumbling sound. A strong wind picked up in the area sending several leaves floating off the ground. Cracks formed along the stones of the empty homes, as faint screaming was heard. A bright light soon enveloped the entire landscape and when it cleared, the Seed family and what remained of their followers stood in its wake. They looked around in confusion before Joseph smiled wickedly.

“Even in our hour of defeat, God grants us salvation!” He spoke.

He walked toward the front of his flock to address them.

“The politicians have been silenced!” He spoke. “Corporations have been erased. The world has been cleansed by God’s righteous fire. But most of all… it means I was right. The collapse has come and the world as we know it is over!”

“You have no idea…”

Hearing a new voice, the Eden’s Gate cult turned and saw Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, Tirek, Andromedis, Demittria, and the Dazzlings standing beside them with sadistic joy etched on their faces. From behind them stepped none other than the Mysterious Benefactor.

“What harbingers of doom greets us upon our arrival in the plains of ethereal?” Joseph asked.

“Who we are is of little importance at this moment,” The Benefactor answered. “What matters is that we all share the same purpose. To cleanse the world of the decay rotting away our very way of life.”

The Benefactor walked alongside Joseph Seed and addressed the rest of the gathered crowd.

“For far too long we struggled to achieve these ends on our own,” The Benefactor continued. “Hence why we have chosen to join forces to exterminate the rabble that calls this land their own. For when this world is ours, we shall shape it into any image we choose and rule as we see fit.

“Now you may look and believe that ‘we’ started this Dark Order… but you’d be wrong. We answer to a much higher power, one that is the very incarnation of darkness itself. For too long, he has been locked away but now… he has risen again.”

The Benefactor stepped aside from their position as a strange black ooze-like substance rose from the Earth. The ooze began to take the form of its own until a figure clothed in an black hooded robe and wearing a dark mask stood before them all. They also saw that the figure held some sort of glowing golden staff in its hand.

Upon seeing the dark figure, Joseph immediately knew who it was.

“You are the one!” He stated loudly. “The message from God sent down to warn us of the Great Collapse.”

Joseph bowed in the presence of the dark figure as too did his brothers, sister, and the remainder of his followers. The Legion of Doom, the Sith Emperor, Demittria, and the Dazzlings also bowed in the figure’s presence, as did the Benefactor. The figure merely stayed frozen in place before speaking out in a deep demonic voice.

“After thousands of years banished to the darkness, the Dark One rises once more!” The figure declared.

The Dark One held out the staff and a feeling of immense power could be felt by the entire gathering.

“Look upon and tremble before the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus!” The Dark One announced. “The ancient artifact of which allowed me to walk the earth for thousands of years, collecting as much dark magic my soul could hold. Now with the combined power of the staff itself and the darkness, nothing will stand in the way of evil ever again.”

The Dark One slammed the hilt of the staff onto the ground, as a beam of light shot from the tip and rose high into the heavens. This created a powerful rift in the heavens itself, as the sky swirled like a whirlpool and assault the very foundation of reality itself.

Darkness has risen.

The End…?