The being that is human: a very emotional, influential and innocent soul that lives within the boundaries of Earth. They are naturally found separated from each other; their power-hungry spirits prove detrimental to what their ultimate potential could entail. As a wise man once said, “the world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” Humans can and will fall short of their best, and yet it is the one thing that motivates the human race to become better than what they currently are, for better or worse. A single man or woman can make a difference, yes, but it is the power in numbers that proves to be the ultimate force. The force of honesty towards one’s comrades, generosity with one’s possessions, kindness to get them through the hard times, laughter to lift one’s spirits, loyalty with knowing that they can count on each other, and magic: that special essence found in each person's soul. With all these different things, order must be established. This is done through the essence of leadership: the figurehead for the bond that guides all the other essences into an order to create harmony. This is what can only be described as a bond, a relationship, or a group. It is what this species considers… the power of friendship.

“There is a time to stand down, and a time to fight. We were not given the urge to take a man’s life; we were given a moral compass, and as such, we must prove to be responsible with this power.”

11-5-2023

A young 22 year old man, by the name of Carter, was asleep on his bed in his small apartment next to Fort Lewis, where he was currently stationed. He was at peace, letting his body rest in preparation for the following day’s trials and allowing his mind to calm itself from all the stress that slipped its way into his head throughout his day. He had a smile on his face, relieved to know that there was always a time and place in his life where he wouldn’t have to deal with the pains that life brought upon him… or so he thought.

Carter began to become restless in his sleep. Letting out a couple of moans and angry grunts, his body began to twitch and fidget in his sleep, extreme hatred and guilt filling his conscience. He furrowed his brow in anger and his fists clenched tightly. His skin began to turn beat red; his scalp was releasing sweat in numbers. The images of his past presented themselves to him once again, forever torturing him by taking away any chance he got at peace. His mind began presenting images of himself in a room surrounded by the bodies of deceased gang members. The area around him looked like the climax of an intense war, as nothing seemed remotely normal. Blood was splattered all over the room, including the ceiling, dripping down to the floor almost rhythmically. His heart rate began to rise along with his breathing as he looked at his surroundings, horrified by what he was seeing. He looked down at his hands, which were covered in a familiar red liquid. He began to lose composure, unable to mentally grasp the situation that he found himself a part of. He was shaking violently and began swearing loudly. He looked over his shoulder almost instinctively and found a little girl, dead on the ground. Carter limped over to her, falling to his hands after feeling wounds scattered around his own body. He looked at the deceased, innocent girl’s corpse that laid in front of him. His eyes turned bright red and began tearing up with massive groups of the salty liquid. He buried his face into her bosom before shooting his face up to the sky.

“Why, God!? Why must she suffer because of my weakness!?” Carter shouted. The veins in his neck thickened as he released a fury of hate around him; the anger in his soul could’ve been felt by anyone in the vicinity. He looked back at the girl and placed his palm on her cheek, gently caressing it with his thumb. Carter felt a pain shoot up through his body as the last bit of blood began to escape through his wounds. By this point, his skin was completely pale and his body heat had dropped beyond the normal. He fell to the ground, lifeless, near dead, and just looked at a picture of the little girl with her parents. He gave up trying to stay alive and stopped moving.

Why? Why must she suffer? God, why her? Please spare her the same fate as mine.

Carter collapsed, nothing but blackness coming in his eyes. Blackness… and a small outline of a little ghost. The apparition filled his soul with nothing but fear. It wasn't like anything he had felt before, but rather a fear of the unknown, like those who are afraid of the dark.

“No, don’t haunt me. No more. I am sorry, stop!!!”

~

Carter shot out of bed with a heavy gasp escaping his lungs. He felt abnormally hot; his head was sweating profusely and an immense amount of tears culminated in his eyes. He placed his hands all around his body, checking himself for any wounds. He surveyed the room for any dead corpses or deceased little girls nearby. Nothing he was looking for was found. He tried to calm down, taking deep breaths and placing his hands against his head in order to try and expel all of the bad images still bouncing in and out of his head.

With his adrenaline still skyrocketing out of control, he got out of his bed and ran to the fridge, which was located at the other end of his apartment. He pulled out a bottle of water, twisted the cap off in mere seconds, and chugged the entire mass of liquid down his throat in an attempt to cool himself off. He did not want any more distractions keeping him too occupied to sleep. Carter waltzed over to his bed, after tossing the empty bottle into the trash can with a flashy flick of the wrist, and plopped down on the mattress. He looked over his shoulder and stared at the desk clock with a worn out expression over his face.

6:58

Carter’s face changed to one representing sheer displeasement. He knew that he would have to head down to meet up with his unit and begin instructing them on their basic training very soon, so he decided to just lay in his bed. With nothing productive to do until he was ordered to head down to the barracks, he turned on the television to entertain himself.

“Alright pinhead. Your time is u- chu, I choose you- are not the biggest lo- my little po-”

Carter was flipping through the channels to see if any of the content interested him. Nothing came close to bringing even the smallest bit of enjoyment into his day.

“Geez, and to think that my parents only had like... maybe five channels?” Carter said to himself. He got tired of looking for something enjoyable and just switched over to the local news channel to get himself informed on current events.

“Thank you, Paul. Now with our brand new story about two…” The news anchor began to lean over and talk into her earpiece. Carter was intrigued, as he knew from past experiences that it usually meant something big was about to be announced. He leaned closer to his television.

“This just in; the northwestern border of the country has just been invaded by the extremis group, the IFRE, which, based from what I’ve just been informed on, is now planning on bombing Joint Base Lewis. I repeat, the bombing is coming towards Fort Lewis.”

Carter jumped out of his bed. He was currently stationed there; hearing this was not something he was looking forward to. Carter was not into combat and knew that if they were coming for an attack then he would not have such an easy time defending himself. He ran to the window and began to slowly open the blinds.

*BLAM!!!*

Carter’s vision was filled with nothing but bright lights with orange tints. He was shot out of his apartment and sent into the air, making his body seem almost weightless and cold for a time. He was very disoriented after his body crashed through the drywall and wood upon collision with the apartment wall. He fell down onto the pavement below (which was only two stories down but still enough to seriously damage him.) Upon landing, the impact left wounds strewn across his body that hurt him enough to stop him from moving. After gaining enough time to evaluate the situation, he got up and let out a distressed groan as the pain began to kick in.

Shit! Talk about a wake up call…

He slowly rolled onto his stomach and propped himself up with his arms. He looked down at his body, finding nothing on him looking lacerated or severed, but the amount of smaller wounds like bruises and cuts were numerous. Thankfully, the blood loss he was experiencing was objectively small. He crawled to his feet and looked up at the apartment complex. To him, it was now nothing more than some rubble, looking like some historic ruins.

He stammered about, trying to find a weapon he could use to defend himself, just in case there were any ground troops nearby. He didn’t expect to find anything, but was still agitated when he couldn't find anything close to a defensive tool.

A deafening war cry was heard coming from behind Carter. He quickly rotated on his heels to find a man with a knife charging straight at him. Carter had little time to analyze the situation and just threw out a hefty right hook to the man’s head. A loud crack was heard as Carter's fist collided with the enemy's skull. Carter knew he dealt some damage, a satisfied grin appearing over his face. The man fell to the ground with a thud, cursing almost instinctively and violently grabbing the part of his head that had been struck by Carter’s fist.

This is not a good time to anger me.

The enemy tried to get up, but Carter took a piece of concrete from the apartment ruins and placed a firm grip over the corner of it before raising it in the air and working with gravity to throw the debris right on the man. Carter's mind was in full 'fight' over 'flight' by this point; the rage in his eyes visibly noticable. It didn’t take long after the concrete made contact with the enemy when Carter finally recollected his sanity. He was appalled by what he had just done.

I can’t say this is the first time I have taken another person’s life… bet dang, it still doesn’t feel right. I doubt it ever will...

Carter knew he had no time to feel bad about what he had just done, so he knelt down to examine the man. His body was cold and no pulse was felt. Carter knew that he wouldn’t be getting back up any time soon. He wore a military jacket with a symbol that resembled the IFRE. Carter was not happy to see that. He took the deceased soldier’s knife and pistol and proceeded over to the main building where he would hopefully meet up with the rest of his unit.

Carter continued down the road to find his team, looking over his shoulders almost rhythmically to make sure that he was not being watched or followed.

After about a mile or so, Carter finally found the building where his unit slept in and ran down to find them. He approached the door and tried to open it, but it was locked.

Locked? They must have followed protocol. Good for them, sure, but now I am gonna have to bust in sounding like the enemy.

He took a step back and put himself in a battle stance. Carter lifted his right leg and extended it with a violent speed out in front of him, kicking the entryway free. Slowly and cautiously walking to the bunker, Carter did a quick check to make sure there were no enemies nearby. A flash of light pulled Carter’s vision towards the east hallway. He found an IFRE soldier with his shoulder around the corner, ready to flick his gun to his side and fire at him. Carter held the pistol up to eye level and stared down its iron sights. Without second thoughts he pulled the trigger. The loud spark of light was followed by a concussive blast once the bullet left the chamber. It penetrated the drywall and impaled something else once it cut through. Carter peered over at the soldier once more, only to instead find him on the ground. The bullet had made contact in the most effective spot.

Headshot! Damn, that couldn’t have been any luckier.

Carter threw open the next door with his elbow, breaking the lock and forcing himself into the next room. He held his gun out in case of any IFRE soldiers in the area. What he instead found was his team with their backs against the wall, arms raised.

“At ease, soldiers. Just me.” Carter said. He found them all: Privates Jessica, Amber, Tiffany, Sophia, Watson, Bethany, and Markus.

“Well, you should’ve at least knocked or something before coming in like that. Nearly thought we were dead.” Watson said.

“Never mind that.” Amber said. “How ya feeling, Carter?”

“I’m fine. I will live.” Carter said.

“Oh no!” Bethany yelled.

“What’s the matter, Bethany?” Markus asked.

“My uniform is dirty, now! Our sergeant is not going to like this! I spent the entire day before to make sure it was nothing but tip top.”

“A shame.” Jessica said, rolling her eyes.

“Yes… how horrible.” Carter scoffed.

“Oh, I am so scared, like really scared, like are you seeing me? I am shaking so hard right now, I am in a state of panic. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. I can’t stop. I am so scared.” Tiffany mumbled loudly.

“Quiet!” Carter shouted, his stoic look changing into one of mild aggravation. After hearing Carter's sudden outburst his unit finally came together and began to devise a plan with their higher-up.

“Um, I-i-i think that we should stick together on this one, sir.” Sophia whispered.

“What was that?” Carter asked.

“I-i-i think that we should stick together. As a-a-a team.” She said, no louder than the first time.

Carter felt like nothing was getting better, and that (at this rate) they would all be the first to fall if he sent them out on their own. This put a lot of pressure on his mind, but it hidden by the anger in his soul, which was soon released upon his unit.

“Damnit, Sophia! I don't know how you are expecting to get through life, but get your mind together and start talking to me when you actually feel like doing so!”

The team looked at Carter, jaw-dropped expressions over all their faces. Sophia was on the verge of crying. Tiffany was comforting her, trying to stop her from possibly annoying him any further. Carter (though not willing to apologize for his temper) took a deep breath before continuing any further.

“It is clear that you guys will not last a single second out there. All of you need to go to the safety bunkers and hide there. I will fight off the enemy forces for your safety until you guys arrive there safely. Once you arrive, relay your location to me via radio, where I will then come to you. Got it?” They shook their heads in approval, each one of them staring at him with a bit of remorse in their eyes.

He flicked his hand and beckoned for his unit to follow him. They all came to his position and awaited further instructions from their higher-up. Once Carter confirmed that they were alone, he eyed each of them and silently moved his head right, signaling for them to begin their trek to the emergency bunkers.

Once the rookies turned the corner and fell out of sight, Carter knew that it was now his job to keep the enemy lines away from them so that they could get to their objective with little trouble.

Carter pulled out the pistol and held it to his side. He took guard behind a wall and turned to look out the door and into the nearby area outside the bunker. He was not prepared for what he saw.

A massive amount of soldiers began pouring into the vicinity. Carter pulled out his knife and holstered the pistol. He ran up to the soldiers and began throwing his knife around, driving it into the massive amounts of enemies. He could tell that they were nothing but rookies based on their rank symbols on their shoulders. The soldiers slowly fell, one by one. Though backup had yet to arrive, he killed off about five of them before he had a chance to catch his breath.

Carter fought them off for as long as he could, trying desperately to give his team enough time to get to their safety location. His mission was not seeming to be of any help on his side of things, as the swarm of enemies did not seem to stop piling themselves into the barracks.

I hope they all make it there soon. I can't keep this up for much longer.

Carter eventually ran out of ammo for the pistol. He gritted his teeth and violently threw it against the cold floor. He had to go in CQC style.

You want me so badly? Come get me.

Carter was enraged with fiery forces controlling his mind. Any and all foes he saw were decimated by their last breaths. His rage seemingly knew no bounds and did not hold back. In his head he felt like he knew what he was doing, (completing the mission) but his actions made it seem otherwise, as if his conscious and his flesh-covered body were two separate entities entirely. It wasn’t until his mind went back into a state of control when he snapped out of it, looking down at his hands. He was not happy with what he had just done. Carter fell to his knees as his mind began filling itself with flashbacks of the little girl, remembering that this was the same thing he saw that night. Carter rolled his fingers into fists and got back up. He knew that this wasn’t the time to cry about it. He had to fight.

Through the thick and thin of it all, Carter managed to get a moment of peace. Perhaps they were called off, or maybe they were just done with the attack and retreated. He didn’t know; there was no way to know for sure.

Carter got a call from his radio. He suspected it to be his unit reporting about their arrival in the safety bunkers. He picked it up and held it to his mouth.

“This is Private Carter, over.” He said into the radio.

“This is Private Jessica! We are safe in the bunker, over.” Carter was relieved. He was ultimately glad to hear that they successfully completed their objective. A small smile appeared over his face… until he analyzed the voice. It didn’t sound like Private Jessica.

“Who is this?” Carter inquired. Just then, a loud snap was heard, followed by blood jetting up into his face, and the heat of his body dropping to an icy cold. A sniper round had made its way through his neck, forcing him to his knees. Carter had never felt his life fade away so fast.

Damn! That hurt!

Through the skinny blurs of vision he still had left, Carter saw a man approaching him. The man looked down at him and laughed. He grabbed Carter by the throat and looked into his eyes. Carter saw nothing but green iris’ right up against his face, and smelt the odor of cigarette smoke. Carter began trying to desperately get a breath in his body so that he wouldn’t die, but he felt as though his body didn’t have the muscle power to inhale at all.

“Look at you. A disgrace to your people.” The man said. “You tried so hard to run from who you've become, but you know deep down that you can never change. You're just a little man. A little man that needs to learn his place.” The man snapped his fingers. He held up a personal monitor and showed Carter the footage that was recorded.

Carter saw each of the soldiers from his unit get killed off by an IFRE ambush attack. Carter watched as each one lost their life only to try and stay safe. He shyed his face away from the screen. He could not bare to look anymore. Carter felt horrible, feeling like he had failed them by not sticking with them.

“Ugh, you. You, guh… monster.” Carter muttered out, trying to stay alive with each word he spoke.

“Oh, that makes you mad, huh? Well that’s their fault.” The man said. “If they just cooperated with us, then I guess that they would’ve lived to tell the tale. However, I feel like you specifically told them to disobey our orders. Haha!" Carter snapped and thrusted his knife into the man's throat. “Ah! Damnit!!!”

“Die... you bitch.” Carter shouted, the essence of rage pouring out of his soul as he clenched his teeth with every word that came out. He felt his body going numb and falling to the floor. Carter knew he wasn’t going to live this one out, as he saw a light approach him. It was a light that seemed a lot like the one that people said someone would see when they die.

As the IFRE leader began to curse repetitively and flail about, Carter’s soul had already left his body and began ascending to the light that laid before him. It was unlike anything he had felt, and a pleasantly new experience at that. He felt free from the troubles that he faced back on Earth and was not fearful in the least to leave his once-was home.

The feeling did not last long, though, as Carter began to watch the light slowly fade away into nothing. He felt uneasy and was determined to find answers. Like a small child, Carter swam through the air in order to try and find that light. No dice. He swam faster, moving his hands in a stroking motion, faster and faster, but could not seem to catch up with the light above him.

Everything went dark, and Carter went from feeling like he was ascending to just floating in mid air… or in this case, nothingness. He looked and saw the silhouette of a person in the distance. He analyzed the figure before gasping and turning his face away from the being.

“This is just a dream. Don’t let it affect you. Just let it go by and wake up.” Carter muttered to himself. He looked back and the being was gone. Carter looked around the area, but could not find the figure. He let out a sigh of relief before closing his eyes again, hoping he’d wake up from the dream. He however did not stay like that long, as he saw a bright light appear past his eyelids. Carter opened his eyes to find the being in his face. He let out a yell and turned away. “Get away from me, you damned spirit. Away!”

“Carter, what are you telling me to do!?” The ghostly figure shouted. The voice sounded like it was augmented with a lower pitch from someone with an originally higher tone.

“What do you want from me, demon?” Carter shouted, still looking away from the figure.

“I, a demon?” The voice sounded angry. “ Ha, no way. Not me.”

“What are you saying?” Carter inquired, finally looking upon the figure in front of him. The face could not be seen, as it, along with the rest of its body, was cloaked behind a threaded, hooded attire. It was one that would be seen worn by the likes of the grim reaper himself.

“You have pushed away your feelings for far too long. You fear that feeling you had that one fateful night, and as such, have not only thrown away your life, but also the lives of those around you.” The voice said.

“What are you telling me? Speak clearly and with intent!” Carter said, beginning to be aware of the problem at hand.

“You have damned yourself from ever having people in your life, and because of your carelessness, have also made everyone you knew and loved, along with those around you, feel worthless in your presence.”

“No, you do not understand.” Carter began. “I have had many of my friends and family lose their lives because of my arrogance. I chose to push relationships away, not for my own self pity, but because I know that it will save the souls of the innocent from many more deaths if I were to let it continue. It is for their own good. Nothing bad could possibly come from this.”

“Liar!!!” The silhouette howled in a screechy anger. “You have impacted so many more people compared to the time before you changed your ways! Your choices always impact more than just yourself!” Carter looked at the figure.

“What are you saying!?” Carter yelled.

“Though your intentions may seem humble and only for the benefit of your comerades, you have destroyed yourself. I am quite certain that you have noticed yourself losing control of your temper quite easily, resulting in finding yourself doing and or saying things to others that you would otherwise find to be morally wrong in your heart. Not to mention the fact that you have become almost insensitive and unable to read people's emotions to help and guide them towards success. Your unit died because they had no one to count on, not even themselves. This was all because you didn’t show them the kindness and compassion that needed to be displayed for their safety and well being. Yet even with that said, you have still done similar things in your past because you chose to push away these feelings. Your choice to push away… friendships.”

“If anything, spirit, just let me know where I am and why?” Carter asked.

“I know that there is still good inside of you, Carter. There just has to be someone that can help you see it again.”

“Is that what you are here for, then?”

“That is for you to figure out.”

“I will take that as a yes.”

“You must become a friend yet again, or the path that you take leads to somewhere that you do not want to be in.”

“What? Do you mean… oh, no. No, I am not worthy of going there. If what you are saying is true, then there has got to be a way out of this mess.” Carter insisted.

“Well, luckily for you, I have found a way to give you a second chance.” The figure said. "You and I both know that somewhere in that violence-torn heart of yours, you still have a good side, with good morals."

“What do you want from me? Do I need to be a good boy and do things for charity? Do I need to donate my kidney? What do you want!?” Carter shouted, still flustered by the recent events.

“No. You must learn to find it in yourself to have friendships. Be a friend to those around you, even if they are not for your own well being.” The figure said.

“What? That’s it? Ok...”

“Do not let this deceive you, boy. For friendship is a powerful force, one that is made to exceed all other powers from a single person. It is by friendship that those who stand together are stronger than those who live separately.”

“Ok. I can do that. I will just go home and contact my family and friends. It’s been a while since I-” Carter was cut off.

“No. You will not be going home.” The figure said. “It is for your safety and well being that you truly understand the power of friendship.”

“Oh. Ok… so what does that mean? China? Mars!?” Carter guessed almost jokingly.

“You are going somewhere you have never seen before. A place that will truly help you on your journey.”

“Ok. Where is this place?” Carter inquired.

“That is all I can say.” The figure stated.

Moments after the apparition’s last words, Carter began to fly up into the air at a slow speed, and a glow of light followed suit. Carter had absolutely no clue what was going on, but did not care enough to ask what he was going through. The whole series of events had proven to be too much for his seemingly infantile brain to comprehend.

“Ok, I guess I am off?” Carter said, wanting an answer or at least some reply.

“May your will be as strong as you see it to be.” The figure said before disappearing behind the light that absorbed Carter’s soul.

With that, Carter was sent away to an unknown location. Where he was going was a place that would truly define himself worthy of forgiveness for his selfish ways if he was to pass the test. Carter was determined to prove himself worthy of this reward, but it would not come to him as simply as he had thought. Where he was going was truly a land of friendship, and it would be a while before he would feel accustomed to the events to come.

Author's Note

A start to a special story that I have been most excited to write! It is a great joy to be able to write stories that entertain others, as it has been a dream of mine to do so!

As for Carter and the rest of the story, things only grow in plot from here on out. New mysteries unfold, friendships grow and fade, and faces old and new alike come together to decide the fate of Equestria.

Feel free to comment! Any questions that you may have will be attempted to be answered ASAP! Thanks for joining me in this brand new adventure; this is gonna be a fun ride.