The Ultimate Test of Friendship - The Stranger From The Outside

Chapters

Chapter I: The End Means A New Beginning
Chapter II: Lost in Another World
Chapter III: One Way or Another
Chapter IV: Answers We Seek
Chapter V: Not As It Seems
Chapter VI: The Once Royal Sisters
Chapter VII: So Much Change
Chapter VIII: Little Moment of Fun
Chapter IX: A Whole Lot of Apples

Chapter I: The End Means A New Beginning

"Beautiful," Carter thought.

The sunset settled beyond the horizon quite nicely, creating a pleasant and prepossessing array of colors surrounding the bright star in the center of it all.

Even though high above the land, gray clouds filled the sky, raining down to the ground, it seemed to only add to the beauty of the view; the sun’s rays made each little rain drop emit a glimmering beam of light.

It brought what little joy he had left in him out through a faint smile.

As the rain rushed down his short, brown hair, the young man let out a brief chuckle, thinking it was so strange how one little glimpse of nature could make his whole world that much more pleasing to his soul.

By then the sun had set about halfway behind the mountains off in the distance and the fall of night followed. That small glimmer of happiness gradually began to fade as the sunset diminished and in time his smile disappeared.

Carter didn’t want it to end. He mentally clung to it like it was his sole purpose for living.

As the sun’s appearance neared its final seconds for the evening, he reached out, almost trying to grab it to hold in close and keep the memory alive for himself. But it was futile, he knew it was so and soon the darkness of the night consumed the previously bright sky, replacing it with the familiar black void with bright stars and a beaming moon strewn across it all.

And like the sky, so too was his soul soon filled with darkness.

It was then that the truth returned to him. The misdeeds he had carried out, the transgressions he brought about, and the actions that had ultimately led him to where he now stood.

Peering over the edge of a tall cliff that towered over a barren wasteland, Carter had come to his end. The pain and regret that had then consumed him proved to be too much for him to further endure any longer.

Carter lifted his hands to eye level and held them in front of his face just enough to see them trembling. Though the rain dripped down his fingers, he could still see dried blood staining them. Pulling his head away in shame, he could still hear the sounds of their screams echoing in his head, constantly reminding him of the pain he brought upon them and the person he had become.

Carter's mind shuffled through copious thoughts, and whilst doing so his dejection was replaced with anger. Carter yelled out in a fit of rage, his thunderous bellowing reverberating throughout the badlands beneath him.

After his breath was exhausted, Carter looked back at his quivering hands and gritted his teeth.

“How…? Why…!?” He could not find the words to speak, not even if it was only to himself. His blue eyes closed shut as tears formed behind his eyelids. In the past he had persuaded himself that he was not who he had become. But now, all of those once irrefutable thoughts were now nothing but questions. “How could I do this?” Carter opened his tear-filled eyes and looked at his trembling hands once more. “Who am I? What am I? A monster? What have I done!?”

Carter fell to his knees and caught himself with his hands, stifling his cries yet still finding it difficult to hold back tears. Everything that had led to this moment was now too much for him, and in his mind he was left with no other choice.

As the tears slowly faded from his glossy eyes, Carter lifted himself from the dirt and walked back to the edge of the cliff, staring down at the land beneath him.

It wasn’t a question to him anymore, he had already made up his mind. If he were to continue, he wondered just how much more suffering he would need to endure before the world would finally cease its unabating assault on his life.

But all these questions gradually departed from thought as his next move drew closer.

Lifting his foot, Carter leaned forward and dangled it over the drop. It mattered not what would happen to him next, for all he cared about was wanting to be free. To Carter, death would be his escape from the nightmares that plagued his mind. Death would bring such a freedom.

His mind fell quiet, his limbs went limp and his soul was at ease, and with that act, Carter cast himself from the cliff he stood on, falling toward the ground below, descending to his now inevitable demise. No amount of hope could save him, no amount of forgiveness he could give himself would’ve stopped him from committing such an act.

After years of suffering, years of pain, and years of torment that he put on himself and others, it would finally end. With his last breath, Carter greeted his self-imposed fate, ready to be freed by the hands of death.

As his vision grew darker and his body went numb, he knew he would finally be free and leave the physical world.

Carter felt his body gradually feel lighter, as if he was floating through the air. It felt surreal to him, like nothing he did on Earth could mimic the feeling he was experiencing.

It was calming at first, and he embraced it without hesitation. He thought that this was perhaps what it was like to be shifting to the spirit realm. Part of him wanted to open his eyes and see the event take place from a visual perspective, to see what was actually happening around him. But he chose to keep them shut, letting the kinesthetic side of the experience entertain him a moment longer.

Had he known just how pleasant this was, Carter pondered if he would’ve taken his life sooner, prevent the wrongdoings of his past from ever coming to fruition, all while giving his own the feeling of freedom and peace.

Carter had not felt so happy before, everything about it was just too much to question. And so, letting his body float around, he simply embraced it, suing the time to take everything in and adapt to this new environment.

The peace was just what he was yearning for, and for a moment it seemed like he had made the right decision.

But his certainty was soon questioned as he felt the world around him grow colder.

The pleasant space he floated in began to feel less like an oasis and more so a frigid, icy biome. Carter felt himself begin to shiver. He started to wonder what was going on around him, why the outside suddenly changed in temperature.

Doing so almost hesitantly, Carter gingerly opened his eyes. He expected to find himself in some sort of freezing cold plateau, but that was not the case. Nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to witness.

Indeed he found himself floating, but in a dark, gloomy void, devoid of any and all light. Carter shook in surprise, taking the first few seconds to try and fathom everything he saw… or rather, that which he could not see.

Carter looked down at the rest of his body, noticing that the space he drifted through was so dark that he was unable to even see his hand in front of his face. He knew it was still attached to him, as he could feel its touch against his face when he rubbed his palm against his forehead, but truly understanding the level of darkness that he was in seemed eerie to him.

The feeling of peace and ease in Carter’s mind faded away with time, instead being replaced with fear and dread. He did not want to stay in this unoccupied abyss any longer. He began to struggle, waving his arms and legs around in a failed attempt to move about the void. However, it took little time for him to realize he was going nowhere. Even if he really was moving around, how was he to know where to go? After all, the darkness was of course too much for him.

As time went on, the severity of the situation slowly settled itself in Carter's mind. He was alone, left in the void he had awoken in and with seemingly no way to return to home. His eyes widened as his soul was filled with horror. He stopped all his struggling and just froze, accepting that there was perhaps no way to escape the pitch-black void. Floating around was all he knew he could do.

What am I to do here? Just wait? Wait around for something to happen? Anything? Is something ever going to happen!?

Carter’s mind was quickly filled with questions upon questions. He couldn’t make sense of anything anymore, and it steadily began to take a toll on his psyche. It was proving to be overwhelming, so much so that he started having second thoughts about his recent decisions.

A thought occurred to him: “Is this the price I have to pay for my actions?”

After waving around angrily in the void, Carter closed his eyes, clenched his fists and curled up into a ball. From there he muttered words to himself, wishing, praying to be returned to Earth. He hoped that perhaps he had merely landed on his head hard enough to knock him unconscious, thus causing this strange dream.

I want to go back, I want to go back, I want to go back, I want… I… I…

He stopped speaking when he felt another change in temperature. Opening his eyes, he noticed that he was able to see his body again. In fact, he could see the rest of the world around him. Carter was no longer in the void. He had a moment of relief to himself, but that did not last long.

Upon further inspection, Carter realized that he was not on any part of Earth that he recognized. It was abnormally hot, and the sky was glazed over with a faint red tint to it, with thick clouds of smoke littering the air. The ground beneath him was nothing but hot ash, and the world around him smelled like burnt flesh, which did not ease him at all. The atmosphere was so blistering and parching that Carter could feel his skin burning, getting hotter by the second and covering his skin in familiar red marks.

In time, the severity of the heat stripped Carter of all his energy, the lack of vitality forcing him to his knees and searing his skin even further. Carter writhed in pain, unable to scream, as he feared that it would only worsen the situation for him.

Carter knew he had to escape but he did not have the slightest idea on how to do so, nor if it was even possible to do before he would eventually become charred remains. For all he knew, this was still just some sick nightmare being displayed as he lay unconscious in the real world.

“It’s not real,” he’d say to himself. He would say it over and over, expecting everything happening to him to just stop and comply. But no, it was not to be. Carter looked down at his hands and noticed that the skin near his fingers was now down to his bones, remaining together only by burned tendons and seared nerves. He shouted in fear, afraid of what he saw happening to him. “This isn’t real!” Carter shouted in defiance. “It’s not real, none of this is real!!!”

“Oh… it is real, boy.”

A dark, petrifying voice echoed behind Carter’s back, sounding as if whoever said those words was close enough to him that its breath could be felt grazing his neck.

Carter immediately turned around and saw the image of a tall, shadowy figure with a dark purple cloak around its head, covering its face with shadows and allowing nothing but its bright red eyes to be visible.

Carter shouted in fear, practically jumping off his knees and sprinting as fast as he could away from the unknown creature. He did not know who nor what it was, but he was not about to wait and find out.

In the corner of his eyes, Carter could see that most if not all of his skin had burned off his body. But that did not matter to him, not then. All he cared about at that moment was to escape the monster. Carter ran as fast as he could with what little strength as he could force out.

Carter wrapped around a corner and pressed his back against the wall, taking a brief moment to regain his stamina. He had not seen anything so unsettling in his life, and he didn’t want to see it again.

Though hesitantly, Carter peeked his head out from behind the natural cover to check for the monster. He found no one. He let out a sigh of relief, but did not waste any time to calm himself down, nothing proved to be normal, not anymore. Carter pulled his head back behind the corner and shuddered.

Carter took note of a reflective, orange crystal sticking out from the ground beside him. After studying it for some time, he noticed that he could see his own reflection in the crystal. His newfound appearance genuinely scared him; he was nothing more than a skeleton. This was paired with the fact that he could no longer feel anything but constant, agonizing pain, and that very pain seemed to be the only thing he could focus on. Carter looked down at his bony hands and let out a fearful, stuttered exhale.

In the corner of his eye, Carter noticed something move in the crystal’s reflection. The man bolted his head upward and saw the monster in the reflection. Again he screamed in terror, turning around and aiming to run away once more. However, the ground beneath him shattered within his first step, resulting in him falling through the floor and down towards wherever he was to land.

With a thud, Carter landed on his back into another pile of ash. He rolled onto his side and groaned in pain. He squinted as he carefully pushed himself back up to his feet. Carter wanted to continue running, but as he stood, he began to look around with a more observant eye.

Carter studied the area he found himself in, taking note of all the strange formations of ash and pools of lava. Bones scattered around the environment could be seen quite close to each other. Strange beings resembling crippled humans devoid of life were spotted roaming about the land.

To him, it were as though the entire world that sprawled around him was made specifically to torment those who were unfortunate enough to step foot in its confines.

It did not quite click in his mind where he was at the time in part of his spontaneous fleeing, but while he had this time to pause and analyze everything for himself, it was then that the hard truth came to him.

Carter felt his heart sink in his stomach. He did not want it to be true, but there was no denying it. He knew where he was.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Carter swiftly turned around to find the monster standing right in front of him yet again. He wanted to run away like every other time, but something about this encounter with the unknown creature seemed different to him. It did not seem hostile towards Carter, with no intention of causing him harm. Everything from the place they stood to the sounds of the world around them made things seem destined to be. And so, Carter stayed in place, allowing the monster to speak to him should it wish to do so.

After a brief pause, the creature indeed spoke.

“You know why you are here… don’t you?”

“I…” Carter could not find the right words to begin conversing with the creature. It wanted an answer, and yet those were the very things that Carter wanted, as well. “I… I have no clue why I am… wh-who are you!?” Carter shouted, in an attempt to possibly overwhelm the monster, though after a moment, he was unsure of it was the right decision. If anything, he figured that it would instead agitate the creature. With that, Carter stepped back with an expression of regret all across his face.

The creature showed no physical reaction, appearing unphased by Carter’s outburst. It just stood in front of him, motionless and observant.

Another moment of silence passed.

“Coward.” replied the creature in a disappointed tone.

“Excuse me?” Carter said in response to the monster’s statement. “A coward?”

“Huh. You seemed so determined that your actions to take your own life was for the betterment of yourself and others. But now I see that when the truth is revealed, you cower, like a child in the dark.”

“Wha-... how dare you!” Carter snapped angrily. “I’ll have you know that I am no coward and that I did indeed know what I was doing.”

“And yet seeing this world before you puts you at ease?” asked the creature. It looked at Carter as he saw the human turn, looking back at the environment. “You truly have no idea why you are here, do you?”

“No…” said Carter, though he spoke hesitantly.

“This is Hell, the world meant for all souls who have committed only the worst of sins.” The creature turned to the land and motioned its hand to the scorching scenery as it continued speaking. “You have chosen to live the rest of your life here, due to your decision to take your life, as well as the lives of many others… lives that were never yours to take.”

“No…” Carter shuddered in fear. A life in Hell was something he never thought would happen as a result of all that had happened up to this point. He looked back to the hooded creature with fear in his eyes, attempting to persuade it to change its mind. “You don’t understand, it would not be right for me to remain on Earth. I have done too many terrible things in my life. My hands are unclean. I am not afraid to admit the truth. I-”

“The truth?” The creature replied in an almost baffled tone.

“Y-yes, it is th-”

“That is not the truth!!!” Carter shook back in surprise to the creature’s outburst. “You did not kill yourself because you thought it best for those you loved, because you hadn’t loved anyone!!!”

“That is not true!” Carter replied in defiance. “I did love, I did show emotion, but all that changed. I did what had to be done.”

“Pathetic.” The creature shook its head. Carter gritted his teeth, feeling as though it was not listening to him and instead determined to prove its own point, regardless of anything he had to say in defense. “Deny the truth all you want, but I know why you really did what you have done.”

Carter’s furrowed eyebrows loosened when he heard the creature say those words.

“You did not take your life for the safety of those around you, you just wanted to escape. Escape the pain you brought to yourself and others, escape the torment that you created… escape the nightmares that torture you every night. You use them as an excuse for your actions, in an attempt to somehow justify yourself, but that is not the case.

“No, you instead wanted the easy way out. Many times in your life you had friends, or at least potential friends, but because you were so caught up in your head, you pushed them all away. You stopped them from helping you and making you whole again. You did this to yourself. Instead of choosing the path of healing, you spiraled down the pit to your downfall, a pit you dug yourself into. And so, when it came down to it, when all was said and done, you would rather give your life up as opposed to changing it for the better?”

Carter had nothing to say to the creature. He knew it was right. He had not thought of it that way, but somehow the creature described Carter’s actions in a way that made sense, flipping his whole view of the situation.

“That is why you are here. You chose to end everything instead of fix it.”

“But how can you fix someone as corrupted as me?” Carter inquired. “I am not clean. I have done things that I can never forgive myself for. I have done things that no man, no living thing should ever do in their whole life. I am far from redeemable. I have become a monster by my own hand.”

“That is where you are wrong.”

Carter perked up at the creature. What it had just said was not something he was expecting. Its words almost filled him with a sense of hope, but he wondered why it wanted to help him escape such a dark and misfortune afterlife. Perhaps there was something in it for the creature. Still he decided to continue listening despite all his questions.

“I did say that you have claimed a spot in Hell as your resting place, but even now I can see that this is not at all what you expected, and most definitely not the path that you wish to continue following. You have experienced but a fraction of what torment awaits you here in Hell. No man, no mortal ever wants to end up here should they have the choice. Luckily for you, it appears that the winds of fate have changed course, and that you've been offered a second chance. A chance at redemption, to undo the sins of your past and prove that you are worthy of forgiveness.”

“Then what is it I need to do to prove myself? I will do anything!” Carter spoke in a pleading manner, begging the creature for this aforementioned second chance. “I do not want to end up here, I don’t, truly!”

“You failed in the past to become whole again, and that is because you pushed away friendship.” Carter tilted his head in confusion. He wondered what this had to do with his chance at redemption. The creature chuckled at Carter’s reaction, as if it expected nothing less from him. “Even now you see with the eyes of a child.” The creature placed its boney hand over its chest, right in front of where its heart would be. “Friendship is stronger than most mortals realize. There is power in numbers, as a strong bond can overcome obstacles and challenges that one alone simply cannot compete with. Your choice of living alone has, in the end, only hurt you more than you could ever realize. Had you let those people into your life, friends, family, loved ones, maybe you would have come out different in time.” The creature took a couple steps toward Carter, angling its head in an inquisitive manner. “Tell me truthfully, why did you choose to push away friendship from your life?”

Carter froze up. A question like that was not something he took lightly. Memories from his past flooded into his mind, filling his consciousness with nothing but the horrors that had happened to him that affected him many years ago.

“I have not had a very good reputation with friends,” said Carter. “I have had some who have turned their backs on me… and some I’ve turned against, as well. I… I was afraid of hurting anyone else, or once again being hurt all the same. I've opened my heart up to others, but it was always my downfall, and so I grew to despise all others, expecting nothing but the worst from them. It's bad enough that I know what I've become... I don't need the rest of the world to know as well.”

“So I see.” said the creature with a scoff.

“Then what do I do? You haven’t told me yet.” Carter spoke impatiently. The creature could only sigh.

“Very well. You will be sent to a world beyond anything your mind can imagine, a place no human has ever stepped foot in… until today.” Carter raised his brow, perplexed and surprised by what he was hearing about his mission. “In this new world, you will find its inhabitants and do what you failed to do on Earth: become a friend to them.”

Make… friends? That’s it? That shouldn’t be too hard…

“If it’s so easy, why is it that you have failed to do so before!?” The creature could read Carter’s smug thoughts through his expressions and responded accordingly with a rise in its volume. “Mark my words! Your mission is not as simple as it seems. You have forgotten what it’s like to be a true friend to those around you, and because of this, you will have to have them teach you once more. Only when you have truly befriended them will you have completed this task. But take caution… for should you fail, well… you already know what you are capable of. Of course, your reservation in Hell will still be waiting for your arrival, should you return to your dark ways.” Carter shuddered at the thought of remaining in the fiery realm for all eternity.

“I’ll do it, I will.” Carter answered quickly, not wanting to waste anymore time in Hell then he needed to. “Just get me out of here. I will prove myself, I swear.”

“Very well…”

The creature stretched out his hands toward Carter and emitted a glowing green light from his fingertips. The light formed a ball of energy in front of the creature, putting Carter in a state of uneasiness. The human stepped back a bit, figuring that if the creature was gonna shoot it out at him, it would do more than just tickle. However, after taking into account that he was still a skeleton of sorts devoid of physical feelings, he didn’t think it would affect him much after all. When the energy ball was about the size of a watermelon, the creature stopped charging it and kept it stationary. From there, he looked at Carter, then back to the ball.

“May you find success in your mission, for your future depends on it.”

Following those last few words, the creature shot the energy ball at Carter, making contact with the human and enveloping him in the green energy. The feeling that came from the energy’s radiation shocked Carter, as it felt intense rather than painful. Still, it was enough to get a shout out of him. As the energy consumed him, his body was lifted off the ground and sent away in the form of magical flakes.

Soon after, Carter was no longer in Hell and instead on his way to the new world awaiting him.

“And now -” Staring off with content, the hooded creature walked over to a nearby rock and sat down, pulling the cover off its head and letting out a sigh. “- we wait…”

Author's Note

And so begins the story of Carter Johnson's transformation.

If any of you are wondering, yes, Carter's past is supposed to be a mystery for now. I'm not too sure if I wrote that in a way that makes sense, but of course I tried my best.

Chapter II: Lost in Another World

Carter went from seeing nothing but green particles and bright sparkling light to feeling himself being launched through the air and heading rapidly towards the ground. He let out a panic-induced shout as he plummeted to the surface, flailing his arms around frantically all while spiraling uncontrollably.

Upon hitting the surface, Carter was sent tumbling a few feet, then proceeded to skid against the ground face first with his legs bent over his head and his arms extended out in front of him.

Finally he came to a long awaited halt; all his limbs came crashing down violently once his momentum had ceased. Following a pained grunt he remained in the prone position for a moment, taking a much needed pause to regain his bearings, along with his previously diminishing sanity.

The man swore under his breath, pushing himself up to his feet. Carter initially found it difficult to maintain his balance as he couldn’t help wobbling around.

An overwhelming urge to vomit arose within his gut, forcing him to place one hand over his abdomen and the other in front of his bilious-expressed mouth. He remained in that position for a time until he was able to regain full body control. Carter then straightened his back and stretched his arms out as far behind himself as he could, feeling the facet joints of his spine snap back into realignment. He let out a satisfied grunt, shaking off the rest of the odd, jittery feelings residing in him prior to eventually taking time to observe the situation and gain even a hint of understanding as to what exactly was in store for him.

Right away, Carter could tell that he was in some kind of forest, as nothing but lush greenery, undergrowth, and shrubbery was seen scattered around the nearby area, blocking enough of the sunlight to give the environment a somewhat desolate and spine-chilling aura.

Although, pushing aside all the negatives, Carter felt the forest also had some tranquility in it all, for nothing but the sound of the gentle breeze passing through the rustling leaves paired with the sweet scent that nature exuded brought a sense of peace to counter the otherwise eerie nature of the dark woodlands.

Carter lifted his head to the sky and closed his eyes, taking a moment to let everything soak in. He knelt down and placed his hand against the soil, gingerly grazing the grass with his fingers. It was a different and much more preferred environment for him to be in as opposed to the scorching wasteland he previously experienced in Hell.

Carter inhaled through his nose, smelling the complex scent of flowers, grass, and soil that floated around in the forest. For a moment he forgot he wasn’t even on Earth anymore, as everything seemed too familiar not to be the life sustaining planet he called home.

Carter looked down at his arms to find that his normal, skin-covered, clothing-clad body had returned to him, which brought him consolation. He smiled to himself, thankful that the creature he had met with in the underworld had shown him mercy. He was indebted to it, whoever it was.

While he was glad to be back in a state where he could again control the outcome of his life, Carter was quickly reminded through recent memories of the events that caused him to be where he now stood. The creature gave him a goal, and he was sure to see to it that it was completed.

Pushing himself to his feet, he mentally prepared himself for a long and unexpected journey. He was warned that it would not be easy to fulfill his goal, but that warning alone was not enough to stop him. He wouldn’t give up, he couldn’t, for he knew the consequences awaiting him should he fail his task, a fate he wished never to again endure.

Taking his first couple steps, it dawned on him that he did not know where to begin. With that question in his mind, he figured there was only one thing he could do: keep walking until he found someone.

Nothing but rows of endless trees and bushes laid before him. It made his journey seem like it would take quite some time before he would exit the forest and find some form of settlement.

Carter began going through the motions in regards to how he would introduce himself to the inhabitants of this new world. Initially he planned to just come clean and reveal everything about himself from the start, but he realized that there was no way that anyone would accept a man like him into their homes. Even he himself wouldn’t do such were he put in that position. So he then proceeded to map out how much of his past he would tell them, finding a balance between telling the truth and only telling them enough to gain their trust.

As he envisioned his plans in his head, his thoughts slowly shifted back to those of his past. The painful memories plagued his mind, and the darkness in his heart arose once more, haunting him with every step he took. It hurt his soul, like dozens of tiny blades jabbed into him, sticking in place and steadily sapping him of all hope of change. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to truly find peace knowing the burdens he carried on his shoulders, but he knew he couldn’t simply reside in past memories. Even now, he was determined to prove to himself and others that he was not truly lost, and that change was possible for him.

Stopping for a moment and kneeling down, he lowered his head and took a moment to push away the dark memories of his past. Carter knew that, in the end, no good would come from forever rethinking about his previous actions. What mattered now was getting back home, simple as that.

But one key detail remained hidden in his memories, one which he had neglected to take into consideration up until then.

The creature had mentioned that no human had walked on this world before and that he would be the first to do so. With that in mind, Carter wondered who it was he would have to befriend. If not a human, then the possibilities were far and few between.

Carter stuck with that thought for some time until a bright light pierced through the trees in front of him. Carter stuck his hand out in front of his eyes to block the light. In doing so he could see the sun poking through an opening in the forest. He was nearing the edge of the woodlands, and it would not be much longer before he would be out from under the cover of the trees and instead somewhere completely different. Like a child running to their mother, he stood up and chased after the light, anticipating a better view of the world around him once outside of the forest.

The sunlight washed over Carter the instant he exited the forest. All he found around him were grasslands, and seen off in the distance stood tall, colossal mountains, some towering high enough to gather snow at their peaks. He stood in awe of the world before him. The lush greenery of the forest was one thing, but this was proving to be something far more captivating to him.

Almost instinctively, Carter searched for any signs of life in order to begin his mission. He looked towards the surface, expecting to find some form of village or small town inhabited by nearby life, but to his dismay he found no such thing. Still he persisted with his search, determined that would find some sort of established, man-made living environment. After all, he highly doubted that he would be placed somewhere so far from other life.

Carter searched and searched for anything of hope, but was beginning to lose that very hope after spotting nothing but grass, mountains and snow as far as he could see.

That is until one small formation caught his eye.

It didn’t seem significant at first glance due to it being somewhat hidden behind the mist that came from the snow high up in the mountains, but upon further inspection, Carter could make out what appeared to be a city of sorts built into the side of a great mountain to the east. It looked to be a mix of gold and marble architecture, a sign that it definitely was not a naturally made formation. A smile of hope came over him, and wasting no time he hurried his way to the city.

Carter started his trek up the mountain, finding no trouble climbing up via a paved path, yet another clue that civilization was indeed close by. The first half of the mountain climb wasn’t too bad, however, it was the latter portion that proved to be problematic.

The air around him grew colder, and a thin layer of frost had begun to form up along the path. Carter could physically feel the difference in temperature so fast, like they were separated simply by a defined border that kept the two climates separated.

The decline in temperature began to take a toll on Carter, enough to force his body to go into a state of shivering. Carter crossed his arms to keep them warm, although his current outfit being a blue t-shirt, cargo shorts and black running shoes proved to be unhelpful in the least to combat the harsh climate. Still, he persevered up the snow-covered knowing that he would soon be somewhere much warmer.

Carter could eventually see the city walls poking out from behind the mountain. The mere sight of the city gave him just enough mental energy to push forward toward his destination. It was so close now.

The sound of someone’s voice coming from behind his back caught Carter’s attention, causing him to perk his head up and swivel on his heels. He was so happy to hear another person’s voice after so long, and he stood there awaiting the arrival of the stranger. However, his smile immediately dropped after he once again remembered that, according to the creature from Hell, he was the only human in this world. If that were really true, then whoever was coming up the path was not human, and as such, would most likely not take too kindly to Carter’s presence.

In a hurry, Carter looked around for somewhere to hide, but there was nothing he could take cover behind in his field of view. The voice drew closer with each passing second. He looked back at the path over his shoulder and raised his brow in alarm upon seeing the silhouette of the creature approaching his position. It was true, it did not look human, and he was not about to find out what it was the hard way.

Carter turned around instantaneously and sprinted up the path, away from the approaching being. The snow had grown in thickness along the path, making it difficult for Carter to proceed forward. Nevertheless, he managed to keep moving, lifting his legs over the snow with each step.

A cave came into view to Carter’s right, deep and dark enough to act as cover from the creatures following from behind. Without hesitation, Carter dashed into the cave and pressed his body up against the rocky walls in the darkest part he could find. From there he waited, doing his best to keep quiet, although his constant teeth chattering and staggered breathing didn’t help.

Carter kept his eyes locked on the path, waiting for the moment the creature would come into view so that he could get a good look at what to expect from the image of the inhabitants of this world, along with keeping his own appearance away from view. He could hear its voice increase in volume once more, signifying the creature’s arrival. Carter waited, shaking in anticipation - and as a result of being cold. Then, with patience, the creature came into view.

What the…?

Everything that Carter had thought to expect in regards to the creature’s appearance left him in an instant. Quadrupedal, resembling that of a horse, yet smaller than any he had seen. He guessed, in comparison to his own 6’ 2” body height, that the creature stood at about 5’ 2” from the top of its head when fully upright. He decided upon a pony instead, but even then the proportions of each of it's body parts were far different than those On Earth. On top of that, it was wearing a Stetson-style hat atop its head, which threw him off even more. But above all that, the creature had an orange coat, blonde mane, and paired with the pattern of a few apples present among its flank like that of a tattoo, which was nothing like the ponies he had seen on Earth. To no surprise, Carter found its appearance to be nothing less than bewildering. The sheer fact that it was able to talk was enough for him to just stand there, jaw agape and eyes wide open.

The pony was dragging a large, wooden cart behind it. Carter squinted in order to get a better look at the contents inside said cart. He could make out a couple bins full of jars organized in a 4x4 grid. There was something inside each of the jars, but he could not determine exactly what it was. It was oddly colored, resembling that of a rainbow with each color traveling upward in a spiral. There were a few barrels near the back, held together with a few feet of rope. But that was not what caught his attention, for behind all that was something far more interesting.

While the sight of the orange pony was truly something bizarre, he realized that he had overlooked one crucial detail: why was it talking in the first place? Found in the back of the cart was a younger, smaller pony. It was more cream colored in appearance with a bright red mane, and it too had a mark upon its flank, although it was a lot more difficult for Carter to decipher, looking to him like a shield of sorts with an apple at its center. It wore a white bonnet over its head, slightly too oversized, causing it to crease near the front.

Carter was at a loss for words, although it did not really bother him considering that he was intentionally remaining silent so as to not draw their attention to him. With little options he remained pressed against the cold cave walls, listening in to their discussion.

“Why did we stop? It’s freezing up here.” The smaller pony spoke to the eldest in a whining tone.

“Ah know that, sugarcube.” The orange pony replied, all while keeping its face towards the snowy ground.

Carter could pick out a southern drawl within their accents as they spoke, which he found odd. He did not expect for them to speak in such a manner. Even the simple fact that they spoke his same language was difficult for him to accept. It seemed like the more he observed them, the more his thoughts and beliefs on the world were debunked. Still, he resumed listening to their conversations, doing his best to prevent his teeth from chattering anymore.

The way the orange pony stared at the snow-covered trail caught Carter’s attention almost immediately. It was as if it was studying the path in search of something. It would ignore everything the younger filly was saying to it, which was enough of a reason to place Carter at a state of unease. But what it could have been looking for was behind him. That is until he looked at it from its perspective.

Oh no…

Amongst all the trouble of finding a place to hide, Carter neglected to take into account his footprints that came with each step he took. The snow did not fall nearly fast enough to cover his tracks in such a short time, and when the older pony noticed the odd markings embedded in the white powder in comparison to its own hooves, it raised its guard.

The pony followed the trail of Carter’s footprints, unknowing that they belonged to him. When Carter saw it look into the cave, his heart dropped. It stared directly at him, although he couldn’t tell if it could truly see him through the cover of the darkness. He managed to remain calm, holding his breath and standing as still as possible. For a moment the pony looked around the cave from the outside, but after a while it turned its head away.

“They must’ve left by now.” Carter could hear it mutter those words under its breath. He interpreted that the voice sounded feminine, although he did not think any good would come from such a minor discovery.

“Applejack, Ah wanna go now!!! It’s getting mighty cold!” The young filly began angrily jumping around in the cart, causing the jars to shift around. The older pony rolled its eyes and grumbled.

“Ah here ya, Apple Bloom. Quit yer whining.” The orange pony picked up the cart reluctantly and continued down the path. “Ya know, it would help a lot if you’d help pull this thing.”

“Uh… Ah would, honestly, but… mah stomach doesn’t feel too good,” said the filly.

“Ugh, of course. And with such convenient timing, too!” The two ponies’ voices gradually faded as they left the scene. Even after he could no longer hear them, Carter remained in the safety of the cave walls until he began to lose feeling in his fingers, which forced him to keep moving. He pushed himself off the rock walls in a shaken manner, his teeth continued to chatter and the cold had affected him so much that he found himself subconsciously curling up. He had to get to the city as quickly as possible.

Poking his head out of the darkness from the cave, Carter looked to his left to see if there were any more creatures, pony or not, who were on their way up the path as well. He found no one. He then turned to his right to see if the two ponies were out of sight. Thankfully there was no sign of them.

With no one left around but his shivering self, Carter was more than ready to continue moving up the mountain. In time, he noticed the snow growing thinner along the ground as he pressed onward. The bitter cold had started to fade once he neared the end of the path, which brought some comfort to him. He could sense the feeling in his fingers return to him and his shivering gradually ceasing.

Just around the corner, Carter could see the city in full. He found it was very regal and majestic in appearance. He was captivated by its grandiose design, looking around in awe as he kept venturing upward. Everything from the shape of the architecture to the colors used in its design gave off a welcoming sense to it all.

Voices rang in his ear once more, catching him off guard. Carter swiftly took cover behind a large rock to his right and laid against the now dry ground, looking ahead towards the direction of the voices.

Standing in front of him in the distance were two guards, both stallions, standing at each end of the gate leading into the city. Carter pursed his lips, eyes locked on the guards. He knew he had to find a way past them in order to gain any further progress. Placing his hand under his chin, he surveyed the area, searching for some way to get around them.

Off to his left, he saw a familiar cart set on the ground. It was the same one that belonged to the two ponies from before, as he saw the orange mare talking to one of the guards. He couldn’t make out what they were discussing about, but later both of the guards left their post and moved to where the two mares had left their things. He watched as one of the guards walked over to one of the barrels, mounting it on its back and carrying it into the city.

That is when Carter got an idea.

It was a long shot, and one wrong move would have meant the difference between success and failure. But despite the odds, Carter waited for a moment where all the ponies were in the city limits and out of view. While one would enter, another would exit, walking over to pick up another item. Carter gritted his teeth nervously, hoping that he would get his chance before all the mares’ items were moved into the city.

With one barrel left, Carter had no choice but to act. The last of the guards was already on its way, but he knew that the other was just about to come back.

Silently, Carter stood up and sprinted towards the barrel. He pried open the top lid and started to crawl inside, but immediately came across a big problem. The barrel was filled with liquid smelling like hard apple cider, so much so that he wouldn’t be able to fit in without spilling some of it in the process, which would leave an obvious mess. Still, he knew this was his only chance to get into the city unnoticed.

Carter went to the barrel and knocked it over on its side, spilling most of the cider out onto the slope of the mountain. The liquid flowed down the mountain, slowly but effectively. He hoped that in doing so, it would have enough time to flow far enough down so as to not catch the guards’ attention.

That looked expensive.

The sound of hooves stomping against the dirt ground echoed behind Carter, signaling the return of one of the guards. Frantically, Carter pushed the barrel back in an upright position, hopped into the wooden container and closed the lid over his head the best he could. Then he waited.

The guard came to retrieve the last of the barrels, placing its forehooves around it and mounting it on its back. Once secured, it turned around and began its walk back to where the others were waiting. It suddenly stopped in its tracks, looking down at its hind hooves after feeling itself step in some mud.

Carter tensed up inside the barrel. While he couldn’t see what was happening, he figured that an abrupt stop meant anything but good news.

Without thinking much of it, the guard simply shook its hooves free of the mud and continued forward, which brought some relief to Carter.

The guard set the barrel containing Carter down on the ground beside the rest of the barrels, wiping its forehead with its hoof. The human leaned in and listened carefully to their conversation within his cover, waiting for something that would signify a chance to escape unseen.

“Thank ya kindly, gentlecolts” - Carter couldn’t help but chuckle, finding their use of pronouns quite humorous. - “That should be it.”

The guards saluted without any words spoken, then turned around and headed back to their posts. The orange mare waved back to them before facing the younger filly.

“Alright, Ah’m gonna help Twi’ with her things for just a moment. You stay here and watch the cider and jam, got it?” said the mare.

“Ya can count on me, sis’,” replied the filly.

Carter lightly clenched his teeth after hearing talk about another pony, as it meant there could potentially be someone else in the area that would see him. He had to make his move quickly.

Quietly and carefully, Carter unscrewed the lid of the barrel and peaked his head out. He surveyed the area in front of him. To his luck, there was a dark alleyway between two buildings, perfect for him to take shelter while he came up with his next plan of action. Just to be safe, he turned around and made sure the coast was clear from behind. Carter suddenly caught himself having to hold back from shouting in surprise. The filly was standing right in front of him with her back turned to him.

Remaining behind the barrel’s cover, Carter had no choice but to wait until the filly moved far enough away so that he could escape without being noticed. And so he waited, keeping a low profile all while focusing on the filly. Moments passed without any progress; Carter began to wonder if he’d have enough time to get out before the mare returned.

“Apple Bloom!”

Just what he needed. Two fillies off in the distance called to the one by the barrels. The filly seemed to know the other young ponies and trotted over to meet with them, drawing her away from Carter’s position. He waited for a few seconds after they began conversing with one another, waiting for the moment where all three of them would have their backs turned to him.

That moment soon came and Carter wasted no time, jumping out of the barrel and sprinting into the alleyway, making sure to place the lid back on the barrel to cover his tracks.

Carter turned a corner and found a ladder located on the side of a building up ahead, leading to the rooftops. Without hesitation, he grabbed onto the iron bars and climbed upward, away from the surface and from any other unsuspecting eyes.

The feeling of relief swept over him once he had made his way to the roof, where after he made a brief search for any nearby threats, he sat down to catch his breath. Carter placed his hand over his chest, thankful that luck was on his side, even if it was only up until then.

Once he had fully calmed down, Carter walked over to the edge of the rooftops and peered out over the city, getting a much better view of it all from above. The city was so different from what he was used to seeing compared to Earth, aside from the inhabitants being ponies instead of humans. Everyone seemed so happy and carefree, as if they were all living in paradise. And the very view of the city itself seemed so bright and jovial.

Within the city’s population, Carter found there to be more than just ponies. He noticed pegasi and unicorns were also walking amongst each other, creatures which he had only known through myth and legend. Never before did he think their existence to be true. Yet another surprise among the many that left Carter with many questions. But since he was now out of harm's way for the time being, he was able to enjoy the newfound discovery as opposed to running from it.

Carter let out a cheerful sigh, taking in all the wonders that the city revealed to him.

Looking down at the streets, he could see a group of ponies. They were gathered around two other ponies that seemed to be of importance to them. One was a stallion unicorn of white with a blue mane, the other being a pink-coated mare clad in a similar colored dress and golden boot-like horseshoes, holding a young foal close to her, striking a color scheme that mixed the two elder ponies’ coats. The mare, along with the foal, seemed to share the physical attributes to that of both unicorns and pegasi, to which Carter remembered the term Alicorn. They appeared to be a family, but why they captured the attention of everyone else around them was still undetermined.

While thinking of Alicorns, Carter also noticed another one standing beside them. It was a purple mare with an odd mane consisting of dark purple and one pink, medial stripe. She was clad in a similar uniform, though her dress was golden, matching her footwear. Carter could not understand why, but he found her to stick out to him amongst the crowd.

There also seemed to be a handful of other ponies of varying species beside her, one of which being the orange mare from before. Carter rolled his eyes, wondering to himself if he’d get even a few minutes without seeing her around. While taking the time to analyze the crowd, he couldn’t help but notice yet another pony that caught his eye.

One pony amongst the crowd intrigued Carter. A brown pegasus wearing a green robe, seen twitching violently, placed the familiar sense of unease within him. No one seemed to notice what was happening to him, but Carter saw from above. Though hard to make out, Carter also realized that the pegasus’ eyes were turning green, glowing brightly. The man stepped back in horror, having a bad feeling about what was to come.

Impossible…

Then, without warning, the pegasus launched into the scene and stole the foal, spreading its wings out once it had acquired its prey and flew off into the sky. The mother alicorn cried out for her foal, flying up in pursuit of the thief. The stallion stayed on ground, though not by choice, ordering the nearby guards to go after them.

Carter could do nothing but watch in horror, not knowing if they would be able to stop the villainous pegasus. He wondered if he should help, were that decision possible for him to make. But in doing so, he would risk revealing himself to those down below. Carter clenched his fists and furrowed his brow. For the time being, he simply took cover and watched the events unfold from afar, hating every second he spent hiding rather than fighting.

Chapter III: One Way or Another

All hell broke loose the moment this unknown pegasus kidnapped the mare’s foal and ran away. A platoon of guards were flying high in the air, hot in pursuit of the evil pegasus. The foal was fighting back as much as it could, squirming and biting at the pegasus' hoof.

Carter hid behind the cover of a chimney atop the roof from which he stood, watching the battle unfold from below. Even if he wanted to help, he could not do much with the vertical disadvantage. So, for that moment, he stood back and waited, hoping that they would manage to apprehend the pegasus and end things before they would spiral out of control.

The guards soon caught up and surrounded the evil pony, pulling out spears and pointing them at him.

The pegasus scoffed at the guards, finding their numbers lacking and showing no signs of surrendering anytime soon.

The mother alicorn met up with them and stared at the pegasus with anger in her heart. She looked upon her foal, then back at the pony, gritting her teeth and striking a battle pose. The alicorn opened her mouth to speak and when she did, her words came out with a fire for justice.

“Release the foal and no one gets hurt!”

The pegasus only chuckled in response.

“You really think I’d just give you your beloved foal just because you asked nicely?” The pegasus grinned maliciously. “You are such a fool!”

“Now, now… let’s not choose to do something that we’d regret.” The alicorn’s voice shifted in pitch ever so slightly. Carter could tell what she was planning. She tried to be the voice of reason, but knew deep down that failure would only mean the worst for her foal. She had to act wisely, or else the little pony would pay dearly. The alicorn was sweating, shuffling through all kinds of strategies in her head as to what she should do to disarm the situation.

One of the guards suddenly jabbed their spear out at the pegasus without any command of action. The alicorn mother ordered against his attack, but it was too late. The guard's reaction was a surprise to everyone, even the pegasus. But alas, the pegasus managed to evade the spear attack with a well timed dodge, which gave him enough time to counter with his own attack. He grabbed the spear and yanked it out of the guard’s hooves, wielding it on his own. He then swung it at the guard, striking it through his breastplate hard enough to break through the armor and impale him, sending him falling down to the surface.

The other guards backed away due to a mix of surprise and disgust. It was then the alicorn ordered for the soldiers to strike, aiming to take down the threat by force. The guards followed their commands, rushing in on their target and attacking, all while making sure to avoid hurting the foal still held in the pegasus’ grasp.

One by one they went to strike, but the pegasus was swift and agile, taking out their numbers with ease.

Carter, still watching the whole event by now, couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of all the guards plummeting to the ground with each blow they received from the pegasus. He almost felt responsible for their suffering, as if his lack of action was the reason for all their pain.

In the blink of an eye, all that remained in the sky was the pegasus with the foal still in his clutches, and the alicorn mother floating on the opposing end. Below them, the unicorn stallion and a few of the other ponies were tending to the guards’ wounds, helping them stay alive after taking such fatal blows.

“Now then, your highness -” the pegasus raised the spear up to the alicorn and clenched his teeth, raising the foal up with his other hoof. “- you might want to think very carefully about what you do next. After all-” he rotated the spear, positioning the blade right up against the foal’s neck. “- it’s not just about you.” The foal began to cry profusely, calling out to its mother in fear.

The alicorn mother couldn’t hold back anymore.

Following a loud, aggressive roar, the alicorn charged magic from within her horn and shot it out at the pegasus, knocking the spear away from the foal and dazing him long enough to give her the opportunity to move in. She initiated the fight by delivering a powerful kick to his face, forcing him back a few meters. He growled in pain before striking back with a swing of his spear. The alicorn flew out of the way of the oncoming attack, gaining some distance from the attacker. The pegasus went in for another attack, this time lunging out towards her. She charged up more magic and used it to teleport behind the pegasus, giving her an advantageous element of surprise.

The alicorn mother lifted both her hind hooves in front of her and bucked the pegasus in his side, audibly making harsh contact. The pain inflicted upon him was enough for him to drop the foal.

When the little pony was seen falling to the ground, her mother rushed down to catch her. She swept her up in her arms and held her close, thankful to be in possession of her kin once more. The little foal yelled out for her mother and buried her face in her chest, soaking her coat in tears.

“It’s okay, Flurry Heart. Mommy’s here. Everything’s going to be okay,” said the alicorn as she petted her foal’s head in an attempt to calm the blubbering pony. The foal held desperately to her mother without hesitation, feeling overwhelmingly thankful to be back in her arms.

The two ponies focused too much on each other that they disregarded the pegasus, who had recovered fairly quickly from his injuries and prepared to attack, spear still in his possession. Carter’s eyes widened as he read the oncoming attack. He poked his head out from behind cover and shouted “behind you” in hopes that it would alert the alicorn in time. The alicorn did heed his warning, turning to face the pegasus and protect her foal.

But it was too late. The alicorn mother screamed in pain when she felt a sharp pain pierce through her side. The pegasus had stabbed her right flank with the spear, smiling maliciously as he watched her writhe in pain. Controlling her by the shaft of the spear, he then threw her across the sky and away from him.

She landed atop the very roof where Carter was taking cover, just on the other side of the chimney. She was in a lot of pain, crying out in agony and keeping still to lessen the pain. Yet even through all that, she still made sure to keep her foal close to her.

Carter stared at the alicorn in horror, placing a hand over his agape jaw as he watched her softly cry, all while she defending her foal. He could see the foal push against her mother, begging her to get up so that they could escape. Guilt grew in his heart as he watched the innocent, tiny pony beg for her mother to keep moving.

Carter turned his head toward the pegasus, who was approaching them swiftly. His emotions changed from fear to anger. Seeing the enemy up close brought rage in his heart. He furrowed his brow as he watched him draw closer to the mare.

The pegasus landed on the roof, striking an intimidating pose upon touching the surface. He slowly moved in closer to the wounded alicorn and her foal. The alicorn tried crawling away with all her might to get her foal to safety, but the spear embedded within her proved to be too much for her to ignore, causing immense pain when she moved even the slightest.

“How unfortunate…” The pegasus moved up to her and placed a hoof against her flank, forcing out a pitiful whimper from the alicorn. “I gave you a chance to stay out of this, but you, you had to act all proud. A shame really -” He grabbed the spear and buried it deeper into her side. The alicorn let out a blood-curdling scream, begging for someone to help her. Carter meanwhile clenched his fists, his face turned red as his body seethed with anger. “- I would hate to be your daughter. About to watch her own mother perish for her ignorance. But oh well.” The alicorn’s eyes widened in response to his words, staring deeply into his green eyes that filled her with dread, like he would be the last thing she saw.

Carter snapped. He yelled out in a colossal rage, jumping out from behind the chimney and punching the pegasus across the face with a devastating right hook. The force of his blow was so great that his enemy fumbled backwards, eventually landing on his back. Carter then swiftly positioned himself in front of the injured alicorn, keeping his fists clenched and brow furrowed.

The opposing pegasus got up to its hooves and growled at Carter. But upon getting a good, clear look at the human, his anger changed to confusion, feeling perplexed by the sight of Carter’s odd appearance. While the pegasus analyzed him for a moment, Carter just stood defensively in front of the alicorn, keeping his eyes locked on his enemy. The pegasus cocked his head.

While the stand down took place, the alicorn stared at Carter with the same shock, pulling her foal close to her. The sight of the human was unlike anything she had seen before. With everything happening so fast, she was unable to determine if he was friend or foe. Expecting the worst, she stayed on the defensive, charging her horn and preparing to protect her daughter with her life.

“What… are you?” The pegasus inquired, pulling his head back a bit.

Carter didn’t reply at first, merely gritting his teeth at him.

“Leave. Here. Now.” Carter said through his clenched teeth.

“You really think you can stop me?” The pegasus laughed at the human in a mocking manner. His laughter echoed across the rooftop. “I am at a loss for words. No pony can stop me. The Princess of the Crystal Empire couldn’t even prevent me from completing my work, yet here you are, trying to play the part of the hero. You have no magic, no wings, no chance of stopping me and my mission. I dare say you are the most unqualified... creature to ever challenge me.”

“And what would that mission be?” Carter inquired.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” said the pegasus. Carter watched his eyes dart towards the foal. The alicorn noticed it, too, placing her hoof in front of her daughter. Carter stepped in front of her, blocking her from the pegasus’ view.

“You will not take the foal.” The human’s words intrigued the alicorn, along with the way he moved around her. He didn’t come across as aggressive, but rather defensive, as the way he circled around her in front of the pegasus seemed like he wanted to protect her from the enemy. However, she was not fully convinced that he was on her side, and so she remained on high alert, watching the event continue to take place.

“Hmph, persistent.” The pegasus chuckled once more, shaking his head at the human in disbelief. “I must admit, I can respect your ambition, but I have no time for you.” He lowered into a stance, staring down at Carter with a readiness to fight. “Leave, or I will have no choice but to end you here and now.”

“Take your shot,” said Carter.

“Just what I expected,” replied the pegasus. He ground his hind hoof against the rooftop and lowered his head. Carter responded by putting his hands up in front of him, prepping for an attack.

The pegasus initiated the battle, lunging in towards Carter and ramming into his stomach. The human grunted as the attack connected, but he had enough time to brace himself, resulting in the attack doing nothing more than shift him back a few paces. Carter wrapped his arms around the pegasus’ neck from above, getting a good grip on his target and putting himself at an advantage. Releasing his hold with his right hand while maintaining it with the other, Carter swung wide, smashing his fist into the pegasus’ head with enough force to daze him. He then switched hands, going in for a left hook. But the pegasus expected it, ducking under the oncoming attack and shuffling away from the human.

The pegasus was quick, hopping around his opponent to get a good position to swoop in and capture the foal. But Carter was persistent, keeping up with the pegasus all while maintaining a defensive stance. No matter where he went, Carter was always in his way.

The pegasus soon grew tired of their little dance of sorts and rushed in, spinning around on his front hooves while lifting his hind legs. He delivered a powerful kick towards Carter’s chest. Carter was able to block it, crossing his arms in an X formation in front of him. But the sheer force of the attack was enough to knock him off his feet and push him backwards. He tried to regain his balance, but the pegasus followed up with another attack. He stepped back, then used his wings to propel himself forward. Then, with his forehoof, he jabbed it straight into his opponent’s face. Carter was launched off the ground and crashed into the chimney. He felt his spine slam against the brick structure, which sent a multitude of pain signals throughout his body.

Carter’s vision was blurry after the unfavorable landing. He held his hand up to his cheek, shaking his head slightly to rid himself of the dizziness he was experiencing. He soon recovered, but a moment too late.

When he was able to see clearly once more, he saw the pegasus grabbing the foal from her mother. The alicorn tried to stop him, wrapping her hoof around his. But he retaliated, kicking her square in the jaw. Following a sharp scream, the alicorn fell limp, breaking her grasp and giving the pegasus enough time to escape.

“No!” shouted Carter. The pegasus looked to him with an evil grin, holding the foal out in front of him as a sign of the human’s failure. Carter got up to his feet and rushed over to him, winding up for a punch. He swung at him, but by the time his attack came out, the pegasus was already far away. The pegasus flew into the air, floating just above Carter all while laughing from his chest.

“HAHAHA!!! Such insolence! You couldn’t even put up a decent fight, let alone stop me! AHAHAHA!!!” Carter growled at him. His face turned red as a result of the amount of rage he felt towards the pegasus. “Ah well, you tried. I’ll give you that. But in the end, you still have your life and I have what I came here for. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be taking my- AH!” The pegasus stopped mid sentence after feeling a intense beam of magic collide into him from behind.

Approaching him from the rear, the purple alicorn had caught up to him, releasing beams of magic from her horn at the pegasus. She took time to aim between shots so as to avoid hitting the foal.

The pegasus dove down to the surface and away from her, forcing the purple alicorn to chase him.

While he wasn’t too happy about his defeat, Carter now had time to tend to the mother’s wounds.

Carter turned on his heels and ran to aid the pink alicorn. He knelt down right in front of her spear wound. Assessing the injury, he could tell that the weapon was embedded very deep into her flesh. With such a large amount of the spear tip stuck within her, it would be very difficult to remove it without further damage, but even then, the weight of the spear itself pulled down against her skin, tearing it even more with time. He had no choice but to remove it.

The alicorn mother’s eyes fluttered open as she regained consciousness. Her body was in immense pain throughout every part of her. She groaned upon awakening, tensing in the process. She could later make out the image of the human, who was positioned by her wound. She let out a shout, pulling away from him before tensing up again due to the pain that came following her frantic movement.

Carter looked to her and lifted his hands in front of him as a sign to tell her that he was on her side.

“It’s okay, Ma’am. I’m here to help.” Carter spoke in a soothing and soft tone in hopes that he wouldn’t scare her anymore than she already was. The alicorn shuddered for a moment, thrown off upon hearing him speak her same tongue. But his friendly voice did work, for she lowered her guard after a brief pause to calm herself. She was still careful around him, but once he knew she no longer thought of him as a threat,

Carter looked back at her wound. He shook his head nervously, biting down on his lip. He wondered what would be the best course of action to help prepare her for what was to happen.

“My little Flurry Heart, where is she!?” shouted the mother. She looked around frantically for her daughter.

“The pegasus took her and flew away, but don’t worry. There are others chasing him down as we speak.” said Carter, though he was not sure if the purple alicorn from before would successfully take him down. Still, it was enough hope to mention to the mother.

“Please, I need to get to her!” She attempted to stand, but instead fell over, causing only more pain upon her. Carter placed his hands on her back to hold her down.

“You are in no condition to fight, Ma’am.” stated Carter.

“I can’t just lay here! That’s my daughter he has!!!” The mother became restless, shaking around where she laid, which only worsened her wound. While it was evident that she was in no condition to move, even to her, her motherly instincts prevented her from resting whilst knowing that her daughter was in danger. “That pegasus cannot just leave with her, I won’t allow it!!! Let go of me!!!”

“Ma’am, please… you must not make the situation any worse than it already is.” Carter held out his hand in front of himself as he spoke. “Listen, I understand what’s at stake, but you took a very devastating blow, and a fatal one at that if we don’t address it right away.” He looked her right in the eyes with a worried expression. “Please, let me help you. I don’t want your daughter coming back to find you… well…” The alicorn’s eyes widened, realizing what he was hinting at. Her thoughts clashed against each other. She knew he was right, but the guilt she felt knowing that she was unable to save her daughter in her current state left an unfavorable mark in her conscience. Without much of a choice, she turned her head away from him and sighed.

“Very well… do what you must.” With a nod, Carter hesitantly placed his hands around the shaft of the spear and got a good grip. He was strongly against the idea of such a painful action to cause her, but he saw no other way to deal with her injury. The alicorn looked at him, watching him prepare to pull the spear out from within her side. Her eyes widened. She began filling up with anxiety by the second. “Wait… what are you-”

“Hold still.”

The alicorn’s blood curdling scream filled the air. Tears poured out of her eyes. Carter, with the spear now in his possession, threw it to his side and began applying pressure to her injury. The alicorn cried softly once the pain began to subside, curling up in a ball and panting heavily.

“It’s okay, Ma’am. It’s all done,” said Carter, notifying her that the worst was done with. He left her to herself, kneeling quietly while she cried. The weapon was now indeed removed, but her wound was still too severe to leave unattended. With no other options in mind, Carter took off his shirt and wrapped it around her leg like a tourniquet, tightening it as best he could. “You’re doing very well, Ma’am. Stay strong.” Carter placed a hand on her back and brushed it over her coat, softly petting her to bring her some comfort.

Although her crying did not stop, his kind and compassionate actions did relieve some of the pain that she felt. But it could not take away the stress and guilt she felt for her daughter. She shook in fear, fear that the pegasus would succeed in stealing her daughter from her, fear of what he would do with her. And who was to blame for all of it but herself?

Carter could see the fear in her eyes. He couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her. He wasn’t at all a parent, himself, but he still felt empathy for her. Closing his eyes and clenching his fists, he stood and faced the alicorn once more.

“I’ll get you help, Ma’am. I won’t let you die, not today,” said Carter. "And don't you worry. Your daughter isn't going anywhere. I won't allow that fiend to take her, either."

“Please…” said the alicorn. “Please get my daughter back. She’s all I care about right now.” Carter zoned off, staring at the floor for a moment. He was touched by the alicorn’s unyielding love and concern for her daughter. He couldn't remember the last time he felt love, and yet he still understood just what the mother was suffering through knowing that her own daughter was in harm's grasp. He leaned down and placed a hand on her hoof, looking into her eyes with an empathetic, genuine look on his face.

“Don’t you worry. One way or another, I will return your daughter to you.” The alicorn simply nodded as he let go of her hoof. Carter arose and turned around. He walked to the edge of the rooftop. Staring off at the pegasus and the purple alicorn, who were still at battle off in the distance, he looked back to the mother over his shoulder. “That is a promise.” It was unclear to her why it was so, but something about his promise gave her a sense of hope strong enough to put her at a bit of ease, like she somehow knew things would work out for her and her daughter in the end.

As their battle continued in the distance, Carter saw the purple alicorn land a successful blow on the pegasus, giving her enough time to take the foal away from him and fly away. He did a subtle fist pump, thankful to see that the odds were looking to be in their favor. But the pegasus wasn’t out of the fight just yet, for it took nearly no time to recover before chasing after the alicorn.

The enemy was approaching her quickly. She looked over her shoulder to see him gaining on her, which surprised her quite a bit. She charged up her horn and shot a volley of magic beams at him. She was unable to aim her shots while she desperately flew away, so it worked more as a distraction than an attack. While a couple of the beams connected to their target, it was not enough to even slow him, and so he managed to close the distance between them even more.

Carter grew nervous as the chase went on. With so much distance between him and the enemy, he was once again unable to aid in the fight. He was back to square one. Still, there was a glimmer of hope when he witnessed the alicorn taking a sharp turn around a nearby building. When she came out of her turn, she was heading down a road, the same one that sprawled just below the rooftop that Carter stood on. Since the pegasus was determined to catch up to her, it was clear that he would be right behind her.

It was a gamble and a lethal one at that, but it was one Carter was willing to make. He took a few steps back, then took a running position. From there he waited for the alicorn to pass by him, which would mean the pegasus would follow suit. He faced his right, watching her zoom down the road and towards his position. Sure enough, the pegasus turned the corner just behind her and rushed in to reach her.

Once in position, Carter lifted his foot and ran towards the edge of the roof, leaping off of it and aiming to land on the pegasus. He felt as though everything around him slowed once he jumped off the ground. Only his breathing and the faint sounds of their flapping wings were audible to him for that moment. The alicorn had just passed under his feet once he leapt off the roof and he could see the pegasus approaching him just a few feet away. Clenching his teeth, he reached out for the pegasus, bracing himself for an unpleasant landing.

Everything sped up to normal when he felt himself collide with the pegasus. He spiraled through the air upon impact for a time, but Carter managed to grab hold of him by his hind hoof, holding tightly so as to not fall to his death. The pegasus looked around him, wondering what it was that had collided with him. He rolled his eyes in annoyance, finding the human held tightly around his hoof.

“You just don’t know when to quit, don’t you!?” said the pegasus. “Very well, I’ll indulge in your little heroism.” Carter reached out to grab his other hoof but missed. The pegasus fought back, bucking him right in his nose. Carter shouted in pain, applying pressure to the extremity to try and dull the pain all while keeping a good grip on the pegasus’ hoof. “Oho! Hurts, doesn't it?”

“Urgh, I will not let you win!” shouted Carter. The pegasus went in for another kick, but Carter was quicker, grabbing onto the attacking hoof and pushing it away from him. The force of the parry disrupted the pegasus’ flight, causing him to lose control for a bit of time. That single moment of weakness was all Carter needed. While his opponent tried to regain control, Carter swung himself over the pegasus and himself on his back.

With the advantage of positioning, Carter began his attack with a flurry of straight jabs to his opponent’s skull, bashing his fists into the bony structure. The pegasus, although annoyed more than in pain, managed to remain in control of his flight path. But he couldn’t simply ignore Carter’s punches, as they still hurt.

The pegasus wanted to rid himself of the stranger, choosing to shake him loose by performing an aileron roll. At the bottom of said roll, Carter felt himself slide off the pegasus’ back. He reached out and grabbed onto his tail, catching himself from falling to the ground below.

“You're strong, I’ll give you that -” the pegasus grinned, staring straight ahead. “- but you are too late!”

Carter looked to where the pegasus was staring and noticed that he was now within reach of the purple alicorn and the foal. He swore under his breath, looking back to the pegasus and formulating the best course of action.

The foal let out a fearful scream when she saw the pegasus reach out to grab her. The alicorn looked back as a result of her scream. Her jaw dropped when she realized just how much closer he was. But she also saw the human, who was still hanging onto him by his tail. Her worries only increased, as she was unaware of his presence until then.

The pegasus attempted to grab the foal, but missed by only a few crucial inches. The foal’s screams only amplified, as if to tell the alicorn to speed up. Carter could tell that there was not much time left before his opponent would get a hold of the foal once more. To stop him, Carter pulled himself closer to the pegasus and grabbed onto his left wing, throwing the enemy off course and forcing him spiraling towards the ground.

“Let’s even the odds.” Carter grabbed onto his wing and pulled back on it, forcing a shout from the pegasus and injuring his wings. Carter smiled to himself, satisfied with his attack. Their descent in altitude meant that the alicorn could have all the time she needed to flee with the foal still in her possession, all without worrying about another attack from the pegasus, at least while she was in the skies.

Except it didn’t go as planned.

The pegasus knew right then what the human was planning. Because of this, he reached out for the alicorn, grabbing onto her hoof and bringing her and the foal down with him. The alicorn screamed, pulling the foal close to her chest in order to protect her. But her efforts were futile, for the pegasus pulled himself closer to her and began pulling the foal away from her, kicking her in the face every other passing second.

Carter could see that the alicorn was losing her grasp on the foal and needed to help her. He grabbed the pegasus by the hairs on his back and then proceeded to wrap his arms around the pegasus’ forelegs, preventing him from further movement. The pegasus growled at the human, struggling to get out of his hold. He whipped his head back, headbutting Carter and dealing quite a lot of damage. But even then, Carter persevered through the pain, keeping his hold on the pegasus.

“Hahaha! Let’s go for a ride!” shouted the pegasus. Carter raised a brow, wondering what he was getting at. That is until he spotted a light pole which they were headed right for. Carter’s eyes widened, realizing that collision could only mean trouble. With little time to react, Carter pulled the pegasus’ head to him and kneed him in the jaw, causing his opponent to lose grip of the foal and float away from their position. Carter then went over to the alicorn and wrapped his arms around her, facing his back towards the light pole. From there, all he could do was grit his teeth and brace himself for a rough collision. The alicorn was at first confused by the stranger’s actions, but once she caught eye of the light pole for herself, she too braced for impact, pulling the foal close to her chest.

The sounds of snapping metal exploded in Carter’s ears. A stinging sensation in his back flared up the moment he and the ponies crashed into the light pole. But still, he held them close to him. With his back to the ground, Carter landed in the middle of an alleyway. His body tumbled over upon impact before skidding to a halt. He groaned in pain, feeling what he could only make out to be a couple of broken ribs within his chest.

The human got up to his feet, wobbling at first before regaining his balance. He placed a hand over his chest, as the first few breaths hurt him dearly. His first instinct was to check up on the two ponies and ensure that they were okay. He turned to the alicorn, who was laying on her side with the foal still held close to her. He kneeled down and placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her a bit to see if she was still conscious.

“Ma’am…” There was no reply. “Ma’am, please… please wake up. Ma’am.” Carter grew anxious with each passing second, worrying that his actions were not enough to protect the alicorn. “Ma’am… oh God, ma’am. Please wake up!!!” Her eyes remained closed and her body limp. Carter fumbled back from his perturbation. He didn’t even want to imagine that she was dead because of him. With her life at question, he grew in anxiety when he realized that the foal was also unaccounted for.

The foal popped her head out from behind the alicorn’s hooves, bawling her eyes out and calling out for her mother. Carter looked at her with some relief, but could feel his heart drop when he heard her cries, feeling sympathy for the little creature. How much suffering had she needed to go through, and all for what purpose?

“It’s okay, little one. Your mommy’s okay. She’s looking for you right now, don’t you worry,” said Carter in an attempt to calm the foal. She continued to cry, tears pouring from her eyes. Followed by a gasp from the human, Carter noticed that the foal’s horn was damaged, as a visible crack was seen in the appendage. Not only that, but her wings were severely bruised and covered with varying cuts all around its feathery flesh. “Oh my God, I am so sorry, little one. I’m so…” Carter returned his attention to the alicorn, looking over her for any injuries. Besides a few bruises, there was nothing of much concern. With one last act of hope, Carter placed his fingers against her neck and kept them there for a few seconds.

“... a pulse…” Carter sighed in relief. The alicorn was still alive, just knocked unconscious. With what little solace he could get from knowing that the alicorn had survived, Carter turned back to the innocent, weeping foal. He reached out to pick her up and comfort her, but stopped midway, thinking twice about his action. The foal seemed at first to fear him, pulling away from his hands. But as the two looked at each other, she began to grow trust in the human, sensing that the human’s intentions were good. She seemed to understand that both Carter and herself were nervous, something that Carter did not expect something so young to comprehend. With her beady eyes still locked on the human, the foal held out her forelegs wide, allowing Carter to pick her up.

Carter nodded, reaching for the foal and picking her up. Once in his hands, Carter pulled her close and cradled her in his arms. Her crying slowed to a stop with only the occasional post-cry huffing coming from her little lungs. Carter did all he could to comfort her, from petting her mane to gingerly rocking her side to side. She leaned into his chest and nuzzled up against him, finding safety with him.

She was so pitiful and innocent, willingly being with someone she had never seen or met with in her life, yet putting full trust in him. Carter brushed her mane away from the side of her face and gently stroked her cheeks with the back of his hand. The foal occasionally whispered for her mother, wishing to be reunited with her once more.

“I know. It’s going to be okay,” said Carter. He continued to lovingly pet her. “Come on, let’s go see your momma.”

“You annoying, little pest!!!”

Carter’s head shot straight up when heard the voice of the pegasus erupt from behind him. His scowl returned in an instant. He turned around without hesitation, finding the pegasus standing in front of him on the other side of the alleyway. He stared at the enemy with a menacing glare, holding the foal close to him.

“Why are you doing this!? What is your goal here!?” Carter shouted with his rage pouring out of him through the husky yelling from his chest.

“That is none of your concern.” replied the pegasus.

“It is now.” Carter looked to the alicorn behind him before pointing to her and turning back to the pegasus. “You have caused a great deal of harm to many innocent lives. There have been countless injuries by your… hooves, and you show no remorse!? I am certain that whatever your so-called mission entails is not the death and destruction of the innocent.”

“What my mission entails is, like I have stated multiple times, none of your concern.” The pegasus slammed his hooves against the ground in a fiery rage. “Leave now, or else!!!”

Carter looked at the foal, staring her in her eyes. Without question, Carter knelt down and placed her on the ground. She began crying once again, grabbing onto his leg and begging for him to pick her up and protect her. But he did not, instead looking at her with a stern expression on his face.

“Go hide behind the alicorn, you’ll be safe,” said Carter. The foal did not obey, shaking his leg even more. “Go, now!” His volume rose, startling the foal and causing her to back away in shock. He immediately regretted yelling at her and took a second to calm himself, taking in a deep breath before continuing. “Get behind her and do not look back. This will get messy.” The foal, though hesitant, obeyed in the end, trotting over to the unconscious alicorn’s body and taking cover behind her.

“That was a mistake,” said the pegasus, taking up a fighting stance. Carter slowly turned his head toward his target and exhaled.

“You will not get the foal.” Carter put up a stance of his own, ready to end the fight then and there. “I won't let you take her.”

“Enough!” The pegasus lunged at Carter in a blind rage, aiming to end his life as soon as possible. Carter blocked the attack and countered with an uppercut to his chin. The pegasus stepped back, then returned with a low buck. Carter backstepped and dodged it right before it could connect, grabbing him by his hoof where he then turned around and threw him over his shoulder. The pegasus slamming against the ground. Carter ran to him and mounted himself atop the pegasus’ back, grabbing him by his neck in an attempt to choke him. But the pegasus was quick, flipping around on his back and punching Carter across his face with his forehoof.

Carter’s head whipped backward as a result of the blow. Another successful stomach punch was administered from the pegasus to get Carter off of him and even the fight. While Carter stumbled backward, the pegasus arose to its hooves and resumed his stance. Carter caught himself on his knees, wiping the blood from his lip. In that moment he discovered that the pegasus had inadvertently revealed one key detail to his fighting style: he was always seeking to be the one to throw the first punch, as Carter would seem to only land blows in the form of counters.

With this in mind, Carter let the pegasus approach him, waiting for the moment to strike. Just as planned, the pegasus stepped forward and came at his foe with a stomp. Carter rolled away with just enough time to counter strike, following through with a jumping knee kick. The pegasus blocked it, but found himself unable to counter given his current position. So instead he stepped off to the side and gained some distance between him and the human, resetting the fight.

“Perhaps this is a good time to make things a bit more interesting.” The pegasus reached into his robe and pulled out a small knife. Carter’s breath stuttered for a moment upon seeing the weapon. He was unpleased to see such a steep disadvantage placed upon him, for not only would he have to attack via counters, he would also have to perform flawlessly if he wanted to avoid any serious injuries. Following a deep breath, Carter lifted his hands in front of him and took a stance.

The pegasus started off simple, leading with light stabbing motions with his knife in order to analyze how the human would react and how he would go about follow-ups. The human seemed to react in a very minimal way, simply stepping away from the knife or not moving entirely. He went in for a more lunge-like attack, jumping forward and towards the human. He missed as Carter stepped to the side, evading the attack.

Quickly turning back to face each other, Carter and the pegasus stood at a deadlock. The pegasus had grown impatient by this point, irritated that Carter had not yet perished by his hooves. In an arrogant attempt to end things there, the pegasus lunged towards Carter’s legs. Carter felt him wrap his hooves around his legs grip tightly. He tried to position himself accordingly, but the pegasus flipped him over his back before that action could be made.

Hitting his back against the ground, Carter looked up to see the knife in the pegasus’ hoof coming straight at him. Carter grabbed his hoof just before the knife connected, hovering just above his chest. And above his chest it remained, for no fighter could advance the knife any further. Carter was sweating, looking at the blade of the knife with a nervous expression. The pegasus lifted his other hoof and placed it over the one which he curled to hold his knife, applying even more downward pressure.

The knife was slowly drawing closer to cutting into Carter’s flesh. The human knew he couldn’t outmatch his opponent in his current position, but how he’d escape was beyond him. The knife’s blade hovered only an inch or two away from Carter’s chest and was only closing in with time. The pegasus smiled as the weapon gradually lowered towards his foe.

“I don’t think I’ll need to tell you what happens next.” said the pegasus in a threatening tone. “But don’t worry, I’ll be sure to tell that foal all about how you tried to save her once she’s mine.” Carter bellowed in pain as he felt the tip of the knife pierce through his right peck. “If only you could see your face.”

Carter reached out to the pegasus’ head with one hand while continuing to push back with the other. With his outstretched hand, Carter grabbed onto his face and moved his thumb in towards his opponent’s eye, pressing downward on the soft organ with all his might. The pegasus pulled his head back with the rest of his body following suit as he covered his eye. As a result, Carter was given enough time to pull the knife free from his chest and attack. He threw the weapon off to the side and kicked the pegasus straight in his chest, forcing him upward and off his body.

The pegasus landed on the ground with a thud, rolling over on his side and coughing. All the while, Carter got to his feet and shook himself off. The two stared at each other for a moment. Both bloodied and beaten, it seemed the battle was still in anyone’s favor.

The pegasus glared at the human, deciding on how to deal with him. But his objective changed when he saw the foal peek out from behind the alicorn’s body. He looked to her, then back to the human, grinning in a taunting fashion. Carter hesitated for a moment when he realized what he was planning, and in the moment the pegasus bounded towards the foal. Carter gave chase, running at the pegasus to catch him before he could take the foal.

The foal watched in horror as the evil pegasus sprinted full speed towards her with one hoof out in front of him. She cried aloud, running away with what speed her little legs could output. But it was inevitably not enough to outrun the pegasus, and soon the evil pony grabbed hold of her, pulling her into his grasp and proceeding to sprint away from the human.

The pegasus was fast, faster than Carter could deal with. The human knew fully well that he wouldn’t be able to catch up to him via brute speed alone. He would have to resort to closing the distance from a more tactical standpoint.

Their chase went into the middle of the city, which was not where Carter wanted to be, for his presence would be exposed to many more of the inhabitants than he wished. But there were no other options.

When they escaped the alleyway, Carter saw the heads of many more ponies look towards him, each of them with shocked expressions on their faces. Carter was able to recognize a couple of them from first glance, remembering the ones who were standing beside the purple alicorn before the whole situation took place. They were tending to the injured guards who were previously wounded by the pegasus during their aerial battle. One of them happened to be the orange mare from before. Carter rolled his eyes as he continued running.

Can I catch a break from seeing her!?

The pegasus headed down another alleyway in front of them, which only led left. Carter took note of that and headed left of the alleyway towards another one that would lead him to where the pegasus would be forced to go. If he was fast enough, he figured he could cut him off.

Laughing in triumph, the pegasus looked over his shoulder and realized that he could no longer see the human chasing him from behind. He looked down at the foal, smiling maliciously.

“You're all mine, now!” The foal bawled her eyes out. The whole ordeal was going nowhere for her and it was all just too overwhelming for her to bear anymore. Meanwhile the pegasus couldn’t have been happier, believing the rest of his mission to go smoothly from then on.

*SLAM!!!*

Carter rammed into the pegasus at full force, toppling the enemy over with a loud crash. The foal was launched into the air, falling right into Carter’s arms. The pegasus caught himself rather quickly and snarled, sprinting straight towards Carter. He rammed his head into the human and knocked him onto the ground. He followed up by prying Carter’s arms apart to reclaim the foal, but the human defended well, having at least one arm up to guard while the other held the foal away from the pegasus.

“No, I will not let you interfere with my mission!!!” The pegasus screamed, lifting his hoof and then bringing it down on Carter, stomping on his face. The blow knocked Carter of all his bearings. His vision went blurry and his ears rang violently. Carter tried his best to keep the foal protected, but he soon felt another blow to his face… then another, and then another. He dropped the foal in the process, causing her to roll a few times across the ground before stopping.

Many strikes in, Carter couldn’t feel his body. He let out distressed groans, trying to bring himself back to reality so that he could continue fighting for the foal’s safety, but each of the pegasus’ attacks kept him from doing just that. His vision lessened as the fight went on, going from blurry to straight darkness. He swore to himself, not wanting to admit defeat even though his body seemed to already claim it upon him. Carter didn’t want to give up, he couldn’t. Though he didn’t know the pegasus’ intentions, he couldn’t let him succeed in taking the foal for himself.

“Kill him…”

Carter felt his heart skip a bit upon hearing that dark, brooding, familiar voice ring in his head.

“You know what you must do…”

“No…” Carter’s head was then filled with the most violent and dreadful thoughts imaginable, plaguing his mind and slowly altering his psyche. He tried to fight it, but the feeling was overwhelming. “No, I can’t… stay out of my head!!!”

“Do not deny your true self. This pony deserves to die for what he has done. Do it, and you shall claim your victory!!!”

“No! No!!! AAAAAHHHHH!!!”

From the outside of Carter’s mind, the pegasus thought the human to be defeated, for his closed eyes and injured face gave him the false sense of victory. With one more stomp to his foe’s face for good measure the pegasus planted his hoof in triumph. But he felt his hoof shake from under. He looked down and watched in horror as the human began to change physically. His nerves filled with a black substance which spread throughout his entire body, and when he opened his eyes, they were bright green, just like the pegasus’. The winged pony simply stared, bewildered and evermore fearful as the change went on.

“Impossible!”

Carter let out a violent, almost inhumane scream, grabbing onto the pegasus’ head and pulling it down to headbutt him. The pegasus was knocked back, taken by surprise due to the sudden increase in the human’s strength. Carter followed up once he stood to his feet, delivering three powerful hooks to his opponent before grabbing him by his legs and throwing him into a brick wall in front of him. When he heard the sound of the pegasus crash into the ceramic structure, he tilted his head toward the sky and bellowed in a fit of rage, filled with the strange substance coursing within him.

“Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!”

The voices continued to flood his mind almost like a chant, encouraging him for more violence. Unable to choose otherwise, he appeased the voices in his head, marching toward the pegasus in order to end his life once and for all. He stopped just in front of the pegasus, staring down at him with an evil grin beaming from cheek to cheek, and his bright green eyes which stared deep into his enemy's soul which filled the pegasus with utmost fear. The deed would soon be done, all that was left was to kill the pegasus. Carter aimed to finish what he started.

But he couldn’t.

No matter what he did, no matter how much the voices demanded him to kill the pegasus, something was preventing him from moving. Something in his mind stopped him from going through with the pegasus’ murder.

Skipping over a breath, Carter heard the familiar sound of the foal’s crying from behind him. Slowly he turned to her, looking at her as she was curled in a ball, wailing in fear. It wasn’t her crying alone that halted him in completing what the voices demanded of him, but rather why the foal was crying. Her tears were not because of the pegasus, but because of him. The monster he had become and the demon she had come to realize was what she at first thought to be her hero drove her to tears.

Carter felt his heart sink deeply within him. He was appalled by what happened. How could he let himself be controlled so easily?

“What are you doing??? Kill your enemy, now!”

Carter grabbed his head, fighting against the voices that plagued his mind. He began having the same nightmares of his past appear to him, further torturing him mentally. He screamed aloud, pushing the voices out and away from his consciousness.

“Leave me!!!”

The voices rang in his head for seconds longer, further driving him closer to insanity. But as time passed they soon faded, remaining as nothing but distant echoes. He soon regained control of his thoughts and with that his other bodily senses. The blackness in his veins slowly faded away and his eyes returned to their normal blue tint. He shook his head and looked back upon the foal, who was still sobbing by herself. He stepped forward to apologize.

“I-I-I’m sorry, little one. I-I didn’t mean to…” The foal only cowered in fear the closer he approached her. His guilt grew exponentially with every passing second. He only wanted to protect the foal, but it seemed that in doing so he revealed his darkest secret to her. “I… I was…”

“Halt!!!” Carter looked ahead of the foal to find five guards approaching the scene, spears pointed straight at him. Carter held his arms above his head as a sign of surrender, hoping that they’d show some mercy upon him. The pony in the middle caught Carter’s attention, as it looked different than the rest. It was a bigger stallion clad in white and blue steel armor, wielding a much larger halberd-type weapon. “Do not move anywhere near the foal!!! Get on the ground or we will use force!!!” Carter lowered himself to the ground, complying with the guard’s orders.

Carter heard the laughter from the pegasus, followed by gargled coughing. He turned his eyes toward him.

“*cough* Haha… you really are a fool.” Carter raised his brow in response to the pegasus’ statement. Even after everything he had gone through, the winged pony still had the audacity to throw out threats to him. “You have just revealed a truth about yourself that you will never recover from. You think you will find safety here? You won’t. You’re not safe here… you’ll never be safe. And now… neither are they… *cough* *cough*”

And with that, the pegasus’ eyes slowly shut, signifying his death. Carter sighed feeling a mix of relief and regret in regards to what he had done to the pegasus. Even if he was evil, he did not know if he could truly consider himself the good guy after what he had done.

“Sir, we have him apprehended!” said a guard.

“Good.” The middlemost guard lowered his weapon to the ground and took off his helmet. Carter’s eyes widened and his jaw hung agape when he realized the identity of that specific guard. It was the father of the foal, the white stallion from before. The foal reached out for him, begging, pleading for him to come and rescue her. He looked at Carter with anger in his eyes. Carter gulped nervously, wondering if he was angered due to also seeing the recent events that had taken effect within him. The father picked his weapon up and approached Carter, rounding off towards his daughter.

The sound of a high frequency charge caught everyone’s attention. Turning toward the source, they all saw the pegasus beginning to light up, almost like his body was about to explode. Everyone’s eyes widened and they all took cover following the dramatic revelation. The father ran for her foal, but Carter came to realize that he wouldn’t be able to get to her in time. Though it was a bad idea, he himself ran for the foal. As the pegasus’ body exploded, Carter managed to grab hold of the foal and pulled her close before he felt his body fly off the ground.

The crowd of ponies gathered in the middle of the city gasped as they watched Carter and the others shoot across the sky, landing in the fountain located in the center of it all. They rushed over to aid their wounded soldiers, but when they came across Carter they backed away in fear.

Carter broke through the water’s surface, gasping for air as he brought the foal above the water. While coughing up some of the water that slipped through his esophagus, he placed the foal down on the ground.

The foal ran away from him the second she was freed, running over to her father. But as she made haste, something stirred inside her. She turned her head back to look at the stranger for a moment more, staring at him with an inquisitive look in her eyes. She saw him standing in front of her once again, but he did not look anything like the monster she saw before. This perplexed even her small, immature mind. She wondered childishly to herself, imagining the possibilities of what could be happening to the stranger behind the scenes. With her mind lost in thought, she turned around and trotted over to her father.

Carter climbed out of the fountain and crawled out onto the floor, laying down all sprawled-like across the stone path beneath him. He took a moment to bask in the sunlight, feeling his sweat drip down his face and onto the ground. Were it not for the guards whom he knew would apprehend him, he figured the worst was over.

His theory was soon proved correct, for the guards quickly came out from the fountain waters and, per the father’s orders, pointed their spears toward Carter once more. Carter merely lifted his arms and got to his knees, exhausted and in pain as a result of all that had happened.

“You are under arrest!” shouted a guard.

So much for thank you…

Without wanting to worsen the situation, Carter chose to comply with the guards. He expected to be thrown into a dungeon sooner or later, though for what specific reason was still beyond him. Then again, he figured that showing his face to them during such an eventful situation was probably not the wisest of decisions. Perhaps detainment was what was best for him. That is until he heard a soft, feminine voice speak out on his behalf.

“Wait, do not arrest him. He is not the enemy!” Carter did not recognize the voice, but he dared not look to see who it was should such a small gesture aggravate the guards. All he was left to analyze was the sound of hooves trotting along the stone path toward his position. When the steps stopped just behind him, Carter shuddered for a moment, wondering what was taking place behind his back. Then the voice was heard again. “It’s okay... sir… you're fine.”

Hesitantly, Carter lowered his hands to his side and turned to face whoever it was who was talking to him. To his surprise, it was the same purple alicorn from before. Although she was visibly battered from head to hoof, Carter felt some comfort knowing that she was indeed alive after what had happened to her previously. When she was able to look upon his face, she was taken aback for a split second, surprised by his odd appearance just as any of the other ponies reacted. But that soon changed as she further studied the odd creature, smiling at him in a friendly way. Carter raised his brow in response, not expecting such a strange reaction to his presence.

The alicorn looked to the foal, who was reunited with her father. The stallion covered her face in kisses, nuzzling her cheek and whispering “I love you” into her ear multiple times almost apologetically. Carter was happy to see that the foal was now safe and out of harm’s way. But upon seeing the foal and her father happily together once again, the image of the mother appeared in his head, remembering her state of health last they spoke.

“Oh, the pink alicorn! The mother, she is-”

“It’s quite alright, sir! Don’t worry, we found her and took her to get help.” stated the purple alicorn, speaking in a way that calmed Carter almost immediately. “One of my friends found her on a rooftop and let me know of her condition. Cadance, the mother, was actually the one who told me about you when I was able to find her. I hadn’t the fondest idea of what had happened after I was knocked unconscious, but what she did tell me was that a strange creature came to help her retrieve her daughter.” The alicorn looked back at the foal and smiled. “I think she’ll be happy to know that you did just that.” The father perked up at the alicorn, then towards Carter, gasping after hearing the full story. “Brother, I speak the truth. He is not our enemy.”

Brother?

“Oh my… guards, lower your weapons! He is not who I thought him to be!” said the father. Carter tilted his head in surprise, amazed when he put two and two together to reveal that the father had some leadership role in relation to the guards. Not only that, but he was also put at peace, as it seemed that they in fact did not witness the horrible corruption that he had gone through near the climax of the battle. “I am so very sorry for the confusion, I did not know you were only here to help.” said the stallion.

“It’s… quite alright.” replied Carter.

“Oh wow -” The purple alicorn studied Carter further, looking closely at his wounds. “- that pegasus really did a number on you, didn’t he?” she inquired.

“Ma’am, with all do respe-”

“Ma’am!?” One of the guards shouted angrily at Carter in response. “You will refer to the Princess of Equestria as ‘Your Majesty’ and nothing less!!!”

“Sir, calm yourself this instant!” The alicorn stomped her hoof as she finished speaking. The guard stepped back in embarrassment, refraining himself from speaking any further. The alicorn rolled her eyes before giving Carter a nod, letting him know that he was allowed to continue speaking.

Carter was taken aback by the alicorn's reaction. Her response alone did not raise any suspicion, nor the way she spoke, but rather the way her body shook near the end of her sentence. She was notably shaky, as if she was nervous. Carter didn't think much of it, but kept that seemingly insignificant detail in the back of his head.

“Forgive me… Your Majesty. I had no clue you were of such high importance here in this land.” Carter said in an attempt to make his apology sound as mature as possible considering that he now knew that he was talking to such high royalty.

“It’s quite alright, sir.” she said with a giggle. Carter was thrown off by the alicorn’s odd demeanor, noticing another sudden shake near her hindlegs. She was so open and kind to him, something he did not expect from her, especially given the events of the past half hour or so. But then it hit him. After all that had happened, perhaps it was just her nerves that got the best of her, resulting in the quick yet infrequent shivering. “Who are you?” she inquired, wishing to learn more about the mysterious creature standing before her.

Carter opened his mouth to speak, but stopped just before any words could come out. He remembered why he was sent to this world and why revealing the truth to the wrong crowd would do him no good. And so, silent he remained, keeping to himself unless the princess insisted on an answer. A few awkward seconds passed by, and by that point the alicorn raised her brow at the human, wondering why he suddenly went silently. Carter did not think it wise to continue his silence lest he wanted trouble, so he kept the discussion to a minimum, speaking very discreetly.

“With all due respect, Your Majesty, I am not one to simply put trust in those I have just met.”

The alicorn at first stared at him with an expression mixed with confusion and mild aggravation, but upon going through the thoughts in her head it only seemed fair that he must have had reason for being so defensive when around strangers.

“Okay then…” Out of nowhere, a blue pegasus with a strange prismatic color-schemed mane appeared in front of the alicorn, floating just a few feet off the ground. The alicorn then turned to her.

“Twilight, there are no other enemies within the area. The coast is clear.”

“Thank you, Dash. I’ll see to it that I increase the number of guards, tonight.” said the alicorn. The pegasus then flew high into the sky. From there, the alicorn returned her attention to Carter. “It’s not polite to talk here. Please, come with me to my castle. We can talk there and I can get you help if you so wish.” The wounds on his body caught her attention mid-sentence. She stared at his wounds, second guessing her offer. "On second thought... are you able to walk?"

Gritting through the pain and holding a hand along his side, Carter simply nodded in reply. His pride got the best of him, preventing him from admitting that he was in serious pain. The alicorn couldn't seem to respond with anything other than shrugging her shoulders, accepting things as they were before proceeding. She motioned for the human to follow behind her, leading him towards a far off castle which Carter noticed in the distance. The guards followed suit, along with the white stallion and his daughter close behind.

Carter felt uneasy about the whole situation. One minute he was trying to avoid being seen and the next he was seen by everyone around him. There was no saying what would happen once he arrived at this aforementioned castle, but Carter knew that if he wanted to even come close to properly fulfill his mission, he would have to start there.

Author's Note

Hope you all enjoy this chapter. Don't feel afraid to reach out and comment if you feel so inclined! Take care!

-MCX

Chapter IV: Answers We Seek

Never before had Carter felt so out of place in his life.

As he followed behind the princess towards the far off castle - making sure to stick closely behind her so as to not agitate the guards or startle the numerous townsfolk - Carter could sense every pair of eyes that stared at him. Sure, being the only human in sight, which was no doubt a first for every one of them, all while being escorted by the princess, her brother, her niece and numerous guards, no less, was enough of a reason to justify their fascination and mild trepidation toward him, but it still placed such an unnerving feeling upon him. It was as if his mere presence was a crime in its own right. Each passing second just filled him with more of a sense of regret. He wondered to himself if it was even a good idea to get involved in the first place.

While Carter was deep in thought, the princess looked back to the stranger, catching a glimpse of him with his eyes pointed toward the ground while they walked. She could tell that he was quite nervous about the whole situation, no doubt as a result of everything that had recently happened, along with the fact that her brother and the guards were still unsure if they could really trust him. She smiled at him hoping the simple gesture would relieve some of his stress, though he didn’t notice it. The princess, maintaining her light-hearted demeanor, spoke to him in order to get his attention.

“You don’t have to be nervous, sir.” She tried to speak to him in a way that would calm his nerves and get him to converse with her. He lifted his head and looked to her, quietly nodding his head in reply before looking back toward the ground. Her smile dropped. She couldn’t seem to figure out specifically why he was remaining so reclusive. It wasn’t until she caught sight of the looks that the townsfolk gave him when she understood his reasons. She sighed under her breath, feeling sympathy toward the stranger. “Don’t let them get to you, sir. They are simply shaken up just like the rest of us, nothing more.”

Carter looked the princess in her eyes, giving her his full attention. She looked at him with a distressed half-smile, trying everything she could to ease his worries. He began to feel bad for neglecting to talk with her. It wasn’t her fault that all these past events were happening to him and he knew it wasn’t right of him to take it out on her. He opened his mouth to speak, but one of the guards stepped in front of him with his spear pointed straight towards his face. Carter lifted his hands immediately following, turning his head away and rolling his eyes. The princess grunted in response to the guard’s actions.

“You there, stop threatening him this instant -” she stopped in her tracks and stomped her hoof against the ground. “- I think it’s better for us to make a friend rather than an enemy. Wouldn’t you agree?” The princess’ demand startled both Carter and the guard. The guard reluctantly stepped back, lowering his spear. Carter looked to the princess with concern. He could see her shaking once more. He tilted his head and intended on asking her about it, but he stopped himself just before he could speak, thinking it too personal for him to inquire about herself. He quickly changed topics in his head, choosing a more casual, less invasive approach of conversation.

“Your Majesty, do not let yourself be troubled in regards to my thoughts and feelings. I understand that everyone's shaken up by my appearance, and rightfully so. That’s obvious,” he said.

“No, you’re fine. It’s just…” she paused for a moment. Carter studied her expressions; she looked like she was about to say something, but was second guessing herself. “Nevermind that, let’s just continue forward.” Carter, though suspicious about her random pause mid-sentence, chose to dismiss the thought and resume with following the princess.

At one point during their trek to the castle, the princess took a step forward with her right forehoof, only to lose her footing and fall to the ground. A small cry escaped her lungs, though she tried to hide it the best she could. Carter went to aid her almost instinctively, but yet again the guards stopped him, preventing him from laying a single finger on the princess. Two of them kept Carter afar while four other guards ran to aid their leader.

“Are you alright, Your Majesty?” asked one of the guards, holding out a hoof to her.

“Yes, yes, I am quite alright,” said the princess, grabbing onto the guard's hoof and using it to help keep her balance as she got to her hooves. Carter gritted his teeth a bit when he noticed that, behind the cover of her golden footwear, her right forehoof was severely swollen. He felt it unjust that he couldn’t help her, but standing back was the only option he had at that point. And so he waited, watching as the guards aided her until she was back on her hooves. From there she remained quiet for the rest of the journey, though her nervous shaking returned throughout its whole duration.

In time, the small group had arrived at the gate of the castle. Two guards stood posted on each side of said gate. When one noticed their leader approaching them, he announced “the princess is approaching, open the gates!” The gates then opened soon after, allowing the small group entrance into the castle. Each guard saluted as the princess passed by them, quietly greeting their leader. The purple alicorn nodded in return, allowing them to drop their salute.

Just as he assumed. When the guards took notice of Carter, their expressions changed within an instant. They stared at him with bewilderment and concern. Carter didn’t even pretend to acknowledge them in return, keeping his head and eyes straight forward as he followed the princess.

They soon made their way into the throne room. When Carter stepped foot in the middle of an art piece embedded into the floor located in the center of the throne room, the princess stopped. The rest of the group followed suit. She then turned to the guards and escorted them away from the human, wishing to speak with them in private. Meanwhile, the prince and his foal separated from the others, heading out of the throne room. Carter figured that it was most likely to get the foal some help, as he knew her injuries weren’t just gonna heal themselves anytime soon. Before leaving with the guards, the princess looked back at Carter and told him to patiently stand by. He acknowledged with a subtle nod, not giving her much eye contact. This put her in a state of mild curiosity, but she accepted his reply, nonetheless.

With that, Carter was able to spend a brief moment appreciating all the intricate and elegant decorations. They seemed like they were placed with the most precision and attention to detail in mind, making what would normally be a bare, empty excuse for a room to appear rather pleasant and welcoming, feelings which Carter gladly accepted. He couldn’t quite hear what the princess and her guards were discussing about, but he figured it didn’t concern him. As long as they weren’t planning on killing him, he was just fine.

The guards saluted the princess one last time following the end of their discussion before turning around and heading out of the throne room. From there the princess trotted back to Carter and stopped a couple feet in front of him. Then, before speaking to him, she cleared her throat and smiled.

“I sincerely appreciate your patience,” said the princess. Carter pulled his head back subtly. He couldn’t help but feel awkward. The way that she made him feel welcomed and acted non-confrontational was so odd to him. And the mere fact that he was nothing more than a stranger to her made everything nothing less suspicious. Still, he kept his mouth shut and allowed her to continue, making a conscious effort to visibly show her that he was indeed listening. “I am so, so sorry about everything that has happened in the last half hour or so. I understand this might be very overwhelming, but rest assured, you are in good hooves.” Carter stifled a chuckle, finding her use of terminology quite humorous. Although he was sure that it made sense to her and her kind. “Now I don’t want to waste your time as I know that you’ve taken quite a beating. Let's take care of those wounds of yours, yes?”

“... No.” Carter said briefly. “I will be alright…” He paused for a moment. Due to his prideful ego, he initially decided against her offer. However, he immediately regretted his response when pain in his chest due to his injured body flamed up at that very moment, reminding him that he was in fact in a lot of pain. From possibly fractured ribs to big, swollen bruises and bloody cuts, it was evident that he was indeed needing to address his wounds, soon if not immediately. He wanted to change his answer, but refused to go back on it so soon. So, doing his best to change it in a casual, non ego-draining manner, he ended his sentence with: “- but if it’s alright with you, I do believe I may have... a few wounds here and there, or at least it feels like that. I might need some aid after all. But it can wait…”

Hell, Carter. Grow up! You haven’t even been here for more than a couple hours and you’re already trying to kill yourself again!?

“Are you sure?” asked the princess, looking back on his wounds. She could clearly tell that he was in quite a bit of pain, but did not want to seem pushy with her offer. “It’s honestly no trouble at all if you require medical aid. Judging by the way I see it, things shouldn’t take too long, if time is what you’re concerned about.”

“I assure you, I’ll be okay for now.” Carter felt so dumb for answering the way he did. His "tough guy", ego-filled excuse for an answer ate him up inside, filling him with guilt. He knew that she was just trying to be helpful. Who was he to deny her? In another attempt to hide his ever-growing shame, he flipped the topic of their discussion entirely. “Are you doing okay, yourself, Your Majesty? I hope that the stumble you had earlier didn’t cause too much further harm.”

“Oh, that? It’s quite fine. Which by the way, I am very sorry for how my guards acted towards you. They do in fact have the one mission of keeping me out of harm’s way, but I didn’t expect them to be so defensive toward you in the process. On behalf of each of them, I am terribly sorry.” The shaking returned the second she finished her sentence.

“Uh… absolutely fine, Your Majesty.” He had to regain composure, finding himself staring too much at the shaking pony, coming up with numerous possibilities as to why she was always shaking. “I understand completely. It’s good to hear that you are alright. I was worried that the pegasus from earlier did a number on you. I mean, I myself do not have wings, so taking the hit when we landed was kind of all I could do. I’m sorry if it wasn’t really conventional to your perspective.”

“No, actually I wanted to thank you for what you did back there.” The princess placed a hoof over her heart and nodded gratefully to the human. “You were very brave to do such a heroic act. I’ve never seen somepony… erm, someone do something like that for somepony, let alone for those they have never met before.”

“I thank you for that, Your Majesty, truly I do. But you don’t need to thank me. I was just trying to help,” said Carter. He maintained a stoic countenance, though he did feel somewhat happy to hear the princess’ complement.

“And help, you did! Were it not for you I fear that things could’ve gone much worse,” replied the princess. “Alright, I do have a couple more questions to ask you before I escort you to the nearby medical center, but I want my friends to be here with me before I continue. They were supposed to be here in the castle long before all that stuff happened, but you know… plans change, I guess. Can you wait that long?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” said Carter, although he wondered just how long that would take. And the term “friends” somehow stuck in his mind. Being the princess and all, Carter figured that these other ponies that she mentioned would be of some similar status to her and her brother. Perhaps leaders of other nations. Hell, anything could have made sense to him. He didn’t even have the slightest knowledge of this new world and yet it felt as if everything about it was getting thrown at him, one after the other.

His questions were soon answered when the first of what he figured to be the so-called friends came through the door and into the throne room. It was a white, unicorn mare with a dark purple mane and an assortment of gems imprinted along her flank. She came in with such finesse, acting as though every pony near her would faint by her looks alone. Carter couldn’t help but chuckle under his breath as he watched the mare strut toward the princess like she was modeling for only the most grandiose of audiences.

“Ugh, I’m so sorry about all that’s happened, Twilight. I can’t imagine wha-”

The mare stopped mid-sentence when she noticed someone in the room she did not recognize. To no surprise to Carter, the white mare gasped in horror as she looked upon the bloodied, beaten, wounded and overall bizarre appearance that was the human. Carter initially did not intend to acknowledge her, as her reaction toward him along with her uptight, narcissistic first impression put him off rather quickly. However, the memory of his brief visit to Hell quickly reminded him about his mission, the whole reason he was here in the first place. And so, he gave off a half-assed smile and held his hand out, subtly waving hello to her. It was rather evident to him that the mare could quickly read through his low-effort greeting and pick up on his sarcasm, but she still returned the greeting with her own nervous, albeit genuine smile.

“Who in Equestria is this!?” yelled the mare, directing her question to the princess, who stood just a few paces behind the human.

“It’s okay, don’t worry. He’s on our side.” The princess replied rather quickly, which brought about curiosity within Carter’s thoughts. “He actually helped us stop that pegasus from taking Flurry Heart.”

“Ah, so you’re the one everypony’s talking about?” said the white mare. “Forgive me, I’ve just never seen your kind before.”

Jerk…

“Are the others coming?” asked the princess.

“Yes, dearie. They should be here any minute. In fact, I could’ve sworn I saw Applejack out of the corner of my eye as I entered through the gates.” Carter felt his heart skip a beat. Hearing “apple” in the name gave him a funny feeling.

“Sorry Ah’m late, Twi.” Everyone’s head turned to the front doors, spotting a familiar orange mare clad with a stetson hat atop her golden mane and apple symbols along her flank. Carter’s eyes widened. It felt like no matter where he went, this mare would always manage to be in the vicinity. “Ah don’t know what happened, but Apple Bloom told me that all the cider spilled out from one of the barrels. Ah don’t know how it could’ve happened, but Ah’m afraid that Ah'm gonna be one barrel short.” Carter turned his head, as he couldn’t help but make a nervous face knowing that he was the one who spilled the cider in order to enter the city unnoticed. Much good that did him.

Following closely behind the orange mare was a blue, pegasus mare with a strange prismatic color-schemed mane. She had the image of a cloud with a rainbow ejecting from it upon her flank. Carter began to catch on to the recurring traits found with each pony, although their designs were still very different from what he was used to when looking at a pony, which still made it difficult for him to accept things as they were. Carter recognized this particular pony from the brief appearance she made earlier with her report for the princess. Unlike the others, she came into the castle whilst flying just above the ground, though it wasn’t like any of the other mares had a choice.

“This crud couldn’t have happened at a worse time!” Carter studied the blue mare’s behavior and tone of voice, concluding that she had a very sporty, fearless and high-self-esteem nature. “Who is this?” asked the blue mare, looking over towards the human. The princess looked to Carter, who returned with a blank expression.

“Let’s just wait for the others to arrive, then we will exchange greetings,” said the princess. She could tell that the stranger would get annoyed if everyone asked him that question individually.

As they continued to wait, two more ponies entered the castle, all mares. A pink mare with a jittery, happy-go-lucky personality and frizzled mane of similar, albeit lighter color, and an image of many balloons along her flank. And a cream colored pegasus mare, who had a pink mane similar to that of the pink pony, though it was much longer and rested along each side of her face behind her ears. She too had a flank emblem: a couple pink butterflies. While the pink mare was noticeably shorter than the others, though not by much, the cream colored pegasus was taller, though more slender than her other pony counterparts.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Twilight. I hope everything is alright,” said the pegasus. “Oh… and I see that you’ve brought company.” Carter sensed a shy attribute within the pegasus through her quiet, timid voice as she spoke. She would lower her head when she spoke, though as she continued talking, he figured that it was more so due to seeing him for the first time, just as everyone else did. However, unlike everyone else, she didn’t seem appalled or fearful about his presence, but rather cautiously curious. “I don’t believe we have met before, have we?” Carter didn’t respond verbally, but shook his head in reply all the same, keeping a straight face the whole time. She smiled for a split-second, but his lack of such a smile in return put her back in a timid state.

The pink pony was nothing less than crazy, at least according to Carter’s first impression of her. She was not afraid to speak her mind, and the way she swiftly moved around the room greeting every one of her friends at a speed that gave him trouble keeping track of was something he couldn’t decide as either impressive or concerning. It came across as almost supernatural. When she got to Carter, she stopped right in front of him with her face no more than a couple inches away from his own. She stared at him with a intrigued expression on her face, analyzing him like she was looking to acquire data for a science project. Carter simply stepped back, raising his brow and looking back at her with a stoic expression.

“Pinkie, back away from him,” said the white unicorn. “Why is it you must always make guests feel so weird?”

“I dunno… this guy just gives me a funny feeling,” replied the pink pony, all while keeping her eyes locked on Carter’s. “You are a guy, aren’t you?” Carter grunted in reply. The pony continued staring at the human. Carter, feeling a bit overwhelmed by her odd behavior, turned to the princess and asked her if she was the last one expected to arrive in order to divert the awkwardness of the situation.

“Ah, yes. Pinkie’s the last of them,” said the princess. “Alright, thank you all so much for coming. I’m sorry about that little incident, but I can assure you that it’s over. You may also notice that we have a new guest with us, today. This is the one who helped us save Flurry Heart. I’m sure you all are very interested to meet him, so let’s begin with introductions.” Waving her hoof away from herself, the other ponies all evenly dispersed around the room, forming a circle of sorts around Carter, with the princess positioned sitting on her throne. With that, the princess started the conversation. “First off, welcome to Equestria! My name is Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and the leader of this proud nation I get to call home. These other ponies that you see are my closest, most best friends in the world. Together, we make up the Council of Friendship! I’ve only recently become the new ruler, and so they help me from time to time when things get a little overwhelming. But I digress. Girls, why don’t you introduce yourselves to this kind sir.”

Carter was lost in thought between the princess’ greeting. “Princess of Friendship?” he muttered under his breath. Such an interesting title was not something that he expected to hear from the ruler of the nation. Of all things, friendship seemed like the least likely, let alone necessary. And the friends he saw standing around him were also not what he at all expected. They seemed like just regular commoners, nothing he thought a princess would associate herself with in such a way. But perhaps he was just jumping to conclusions. Maybe there was a reason for all of this unusualness. He continued to listen, hoping for some answers to clear his numerous questions.

“My name is Fluttershy.” The cream colored pegasus was first to introduce herself. Carter turned to her as she spoke. She kept her head low, barely giving him eye contact. Carter felt a little pity for her. He did come across as menacing, so it was obvious why she’d be so nervous with her greeting to him. Hoping to lessen her nervousness, Carter gave her a genuine, apologetic smile and silently nodded in return. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for the mare to return the act, giving him a smile of her own in a way that let him know that she forgave him and that they were now on good terms. “It’s very nice to meet you, sir.”

“The pleasure’s mine,” replied Carter, in hopes that his words would further better his first impressions. Fluttershy held a hoof up to her mouth and giggled, charmed by his kind reply.

“I’m Pinkie Pie, pleased to meet you!” The pink mare was the next one up. It was obvious to Carter that she was anticipating her turn, introducing herself immediately after Fluttershy was done talking. And the way she appeared to almost buzz around as she talked gave Carter a good laugh, though it was only for a brief moment. It was as if she downed multiple liters of caffeine just before the occasion.

“Good to meet you, too, ma’am,” said Carter. He looked away for a second, trying his hardest to calm himself before his laughter would come across as degrading or insulting as opposed to playful.

Carter didn’t notice it, but the princess had a smile on her face as a result of seeing the stranger laugh. Even if it was only a mere chuckle, she was able to see something other than stern expression and defensive behavior in him, which gave her hope that he was starting to loosen up around them and earn his trust.

“I’m Rainbow Dash” - said the blue pegasus, pointing to herself in a proud manner - “and this here is Applejack.” The orange mare beside her took off her stetson and placed it over her chest, politely nodding to the human.

“It’s very good to meet ya, sir,” said Applejack. Carter returned with a nod of his own.

“Guess that just leaves me, then.” The white unicorn stepped forward and gave off more of a bow than a nod, tucking one of her forehooves behind the other and slightly lowering herself to the ground in a polite and courteous manner. “My name is Rarity. It is good to make your acquaintance, sir.” Carter tilted his head and smiled, caught off guard by her introduction. He initially took her for something of an impolite narcissist, but the way she introduced herself seemed to contradict those first thoughts he had of her. She came across as very mature and conscious of her every move, making an effort to present herself to him the best she could. Carter felt obligated to respect it, returning with a similar gesture.

These ponies have some weird names…

“Well, well. You surely do have a lot of friends here, Your Majesty.” Carter said with a sigh, relived that the introductions were now done with.

“Yes I do, and I am glad to have each one of them,” replied the princess. “Now then with all of their introductions out of the way, may we get to know a little about you?” Carter was then left to respond accordingly. He found himself in a clash against his thoughts. He still wasn’t willing to tell them the full truth about why he was here nor about the things he did in his past. However, they were proving to be very kind to him, treating him very well in regards to being their guest. So, after running it through in his head, he decided to answer their questions, but only that. Unless they were to ask, he would keep his mouth shut.

“Very well.” Carter stood up tall, cleared his throat and took a deep breath before continuing, calming his nerves. “My name is Carter Johnson. I am from a planet called Earth.”

“Well it’s an absolute pleasure to finally get to meet you, Carter. Again, welcome to Equestria,” said the princess. “Now I must ask you. What brings you here on such a day like today?”

This is where Carter had to plan how he would respond. Again, the whole truth was not something he wanted to be let known to the public, for it would possibly get him in huge trouble… or worse. It wasn’t like him to lie, so he cut out some key details, forming a fake story based on the truth.

“I… I don’t actually know the whole reason why I’m here.” As expected, each one of the ponies stared at him with various expressions of suspicion. His answer was indeed vague and unhelpful, not much of an answer at all, really, and he knew it. He elaborated, hoping to add enough to his answer to satisfy their curiosity. “All I can remember is that one minute I was watching the sunset and the next I woke up in a forest not too far from here. Everything that happened in between it all is all cloudy in my mind, nothing I can make out.”

“Wait, you mean the Everfree Forest?” inquired Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah… I guess,” replied Carter. “Why?”

“I’m just surprised that you made it out alive. There are a ton of evil creatures that lurk around in that forest.”

“Really?” Carter found it hard to believe her, as his experience in the forest proved to be quite the opposite. Of course, there was no denying that he could have just been really lucky. He trusted the relatives knew what they were talking about. “I guess I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So ye’re saying ya have absolutely no memory of anything that happened between leaving yer home world and arriving here, correct?” asked Applejack. Carter could tell that she was not happy with his answer, nor were the others. It made sense to him. After all, if he were in their same situation, he would also find it pretty difficult to believe such a statement. But alas, it was the very statement he stuck to.

“Believe me, ma’am, I wish I could tell you all something else that happened, but nothing’s coming to mind. It came and went all too fast.”

“That’s okay, Carter. I believe you,” said the princess. The other mares looked at her with confusion in their eyes, wondering how Twilight could believe such a vague explanation. “Do you remember anything leading up to that moment?”

“Ummm… no, not really,” replied Carter, leaving out the details of his encounter in the underworld. “I wish I had a better answer, but I just can’t think of anything else in regards to how I got here.”

“That’s okay, don’t beat yourself up over it.” Fluttershy said, butting into the conversation. “Actually, on a different note, what are you? Like, what species?”

“I am a human.”

The ponies all cocked their heads sideways. They could not recall learning about anything called a human before. Everypony except Twilight Sparkle. She, unlike the others, seemed to recognize the name of the species, though where exactly she heard it from was unknown to her. Carter pursed his lip, feeling awkward with all the sudden silence.

“Huh, can’t say I’ve heard of your kind before,” said Rarity.

“You must definitely live far away from Equestria, if we’ve never heard of that.” added Pinkie Pie.

“Yeah, I’d imagine you’re right,” said Carter.

“Dang… I hope you don’t live too far from here. Imagine what your friends are thinking right now.” Pinkie Pie’s words hit Carter like a bullet through the heart. His stern, emotionless expression slowly changed into a hopeless stare. He lowered his head, looking down at the floor. “And your family, too!” The memories of his past returned once more, filling him with everything from guilt to anger to depression. “Man, you must’ve really lost everything, huh?”

“Pinkie!!!” Each of the other ponies yelled in sync with each other, ordering the pink mare to shut her mouth. Twilight could tell that Carter was deeply hurt. She looked at him with a similar expression, feeling sympathy for the human.

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t think she meant to-”

“It’s okay, Your Majesty,” said Carter, closing his eyes and shaking his head, ridding his mind of the vile thoughts. “It’s just that… never mind.” He didn’t want to bring up his past to them. Even thinking about it scared him. “Don’t worry about it, you guys. I’ll be okay.”

“I don’t think you're telling us the truth.” Carter turned to Rainbow Dash, who approached him with a snarl escaping from behind her clenched teeth. Carter pulled his head back slightly, feeling threatened by the pegasus’ actions. “There’s no way that you just randomly end up here in Equestria with no memory of anything prior to arriving. You are acting very, very suspicious.”

“And the sheer fact that ye’re the only one of yer kind to step foot in Equestria is by itself all the reason to believe that ya are not who ya say ya are.” Applejack joined her, stepping forward and advancing toward Carter.

“Hey, wait a minute! I told you I wish I knew more than what I know, but I don't.” Carter raised his hands in defense.

“Girls, stop!” Fluttershy shouted, hoping that her friends would stop whatever it was they were planning before things got ugly.

“Yes, please stop this instant!” added Rarity.

“Don't tell me you're actually believing this guy!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Let's just calm down and act like normal, civilized ponies!” shouted Pinkie Pie. But Applejack and Rainbow Dash did not hold back, continuing their approach toward the human.

“No way, I want answers!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

“I don't have any answers! Why are you interrogating me?” Carter inquired. “I'm not your enemy. Heck, I just saved you from them. I'm not here to hurt any-”

Uh oh!!!

Carter took a step back, tripping over his own feet and falling straight onto his back. The room went silent as the sound of cracking bones filled the nearby area, the source being Carter’s body. His already injured ribs only worsened upon landing against the cold tile floor beneath him. He shouted in pain, grimacing and coughing up blood. He held a hand to his mouth, trying to prevent any of the red body fluids from spilling out onto the floor beneath him.

Applejack and Rainbow both stopped their movement when they saw the human stumble to the floor. They gasped when they heard the crunch of his ribs, feeling an overwhelming sense of regret and embarrassment. Frozen in place, they couldn't begin to believe that they would do something so vile. Even if he was lying to them, what better were they to cause him harm?

Twilight, who by this point had enough of her friends’ strange behavior, jumped off her throne and rushed to help the human. She knelt down beside him, talking to him softly in order to calm him down. His skin had turned pale and his limbs were shaking. It was clear to her that he was in a lot of pain and that he needed to be treated right away. Applejack and Rainbow ran over to aid them, but the princess waved a hoof at them, gesturing for them to back away. She looked back at both ponies glared at them. A fiery anger was seen behind her wide eyes.

“What are you girls doing!? This is not acceptable!” She looked back at Carter and helped him to his feet. He managed to stand, but found it difficult to maintain his balance, falling into the princess’ forelegs. The princess caught him on the way down and motioned for Fluttershy to assist her. The cream colored pegasus rushed over without hesitation and aided in taking the human to the medical center.

While Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy practically dragged Carter away, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Pinkie Pie all stood back and watched as the human was practically dragged away by the two ponies. When they turned the corner and went out of sight, the four remaining ponies looked to each other with varying expressions of regret and concern.

"Ah can't believe what I just did..." said Applejack. “But Ah just don’t believe that guy for a second.”

“Especially regarding all that has been happening lately.” Rainbow Dash placed a hoof against her chin in thought. “You don’t think…”

“I don’t know what to think, but you girls cannot ever do that again!” said Pinkie Pie. "We are better than that! We need to lead by example and not lash out simply because we get a little scared!" Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack nodded in agreement, looking toward the ground as their immense feeling of regret returned.

The three mares talked amongst each other, hoping that the human would be okay, but also wondering if they could really trust him. Rarity kept herself apart from the others, unwilling to join in on their conversation. She didn’t want to take part in any accusations knowing that, just like the rest of them, she didn't know him well enough to make any critical decisions. But even with that in mind, there was still a small part of her that agreed with them. She had a strong feeling that he wasn’t telling them the truth and that he was not who he said he was, at least, not entirely. But who he really was was beyond them.

Author's Note

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. As always, don't be afraid to comment if you so wish.

Peace,

-MCX

Chapter V: Not As It Seems

“Is he gonna be okay, doctor?” asked Princess Twilight. She and Fluttershy looked over to the human, who was passed out on a medical bed with multiple intravenous lines injected into his veins, pumping him with all the necessary medicine, nutrients and other fluids in order to keep him alive during the recovery process. His body was covered in bruises, cuts, scratches and dried blood alike. Twilight felt horrible for neglecting to get him help sooner, even if it was his choice to wait.

“He’ll live, Your Majesty,” replied a scrub clad, orange, unicorn stallion. “Though his anatomy is quite different in comparison to that of us ponies, there are enough similarities to allow us to safely and confidently operate on him. He has several fractures in his ribs along with a plethora of bruises and cuts, albeit superficial at most. Luckily, they will be able to heal rather quickly and efficiently. Simply put, it shouldn’t be too long, Your Majesty.”

“Oh please, take all the time you need, doctor. All I wish is for him to come out of that room like nothing ever happened,” said Fluttershy.

“Rest assured, we will do just that. However, I must now ask that you stay out of the room while we begin the operation.”

“Understood.” Princess Twilight took a step back, allowing the doctor to close the doors to the emergency room and proceed to heal Carter back to good health. Once the doors were closed, Twilight and Fluttershy turned around and headed back toward the throne room, where the other ponies were awaiting their return.

Upon entering the throne room, the four other ponies looked to the princess and the pegasus, hoping that they would return with good news. Fluttershy looked at them and nodded with a faint smile, letting them know that, to their knowledge, Carter would be okay. Each of them let out some form of a sigh of relief.

But even with the good news said, Princess Twilight glared directly at Rainbow Dash and Applejack, glowering at them and tapping her hoof against the floor. The two mares turned away from the princess, covering their face with a hoof to hide their embarrassed expressions.

“We need to talk, girls,” said Twilight with a growl in her voice. The two ponies knew they were in for a rough time. “What in Equestria were you thinking!? Treating a stranger like that! You could’ve caused him a lot more harm! Not to mention the fact that that was one of the most embarrassing, mortifying, most humiliating things I have ever had to witness! Imagine that was you! Wouldn’t you be quite discouraged if that was the first impression you received!?” Princess Twilight had to take a moment to pause, taking note that she was losing control of the volume of her voice. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “Why in Equestria did you do that?”

“Twi’, we’re so very sorry for what we’ve done. We didn’t mean to cause him any harm,” said Applejack, imploring for the princess’ forgiveness.

“Then what were you two thinking? Coming at him like that, let alone while already injured.” Princess Twilight placed a hoof on her forehead and shook her head. “That is not something we should be doing to anypony! You two should hope he doesn’t hold a grudge against you for that!”

“Twilight, with all due respect, don’t you think that he’s even the least bit suspicious?” Rainbow Dash raised her brow at the princess.

“That doesn’t make it any bit acceptable to hurt him!” replied Twilight.

“Okay, sure, I may have screwed up in that aspect, and I’m sorry about that, truly -” Rainbow Dash shied away from the princess, clenching her teeth in humiliation “- but what if he’s lying about who he says he is?”

“What are you saying, Dashie?” Pinkie Pie inquired.

“Yeah, you seem like you're trying to prove something,” added Rarity.

“Well, don’t you think it’s kind of odd that this crazy pegasus comes in and tries to take Flurry Heart from Princess Cadance, and then suddenly this stranger from who knows where swoops in and saves the day?” stated Rainbow Dash. “It just seems way too contrived to instead be a coincidence. And on top of all that, his vague explanation of his past doesn’t help in the slightest. If you ask me, I don’t think he is who he says he is and that he is hiding something important from us.”

“But what about that would enforce a need for violence?” Twilight inquired.

“It didn’t, and that’s not what I was intending to happen!” replied Rainbow Dash. “I’m saying that this ‘hoo-man’ or whatever is quite possibly a threat, and one that needs to be stopped!”

“Yes, Twi’. Rainbow Dash is right. We didn’t mean to cause him any harm. But she does have a point.” Applejack spoke up in defense of the pegasus, who was feeling quite overwhelmed with everyone else staring at her. “That Carter fella seems to be leaving out a lot of his past, and that’s if we are to believe that what he’s saying about himself is in fact true.”

“We cannot confirm that he's lying,” said Twilight.

“But what if he’s the one behind it all!?” Rainbow Dash screamed out against the purple alicorn and nearly startled her, dashing straight towards the princess. Applejack jumped out in the nick of time and grabbed onto Rainbow Dash, tackling her to the ground. Rainbow Dash violently attempted to break free of the orange pony’s grasp, but Applejack kept a firm hold on the pegasus. “You know I’m right, Twilight!!! What if he’s the reason for the attacks!? The reason that this whole event is going on in the first place!?”

“And what if he isn’t!?” Twilight shouted from her chest, her voice echoing across the entirety of the throne room, causing each of the other ponies to freeze in place and stare at her with surprised expressions. The princess’ nervous shaking returned, causing her to vibrate uncontrollably. Princess Twilight groaned in pain and focused on her breathing in order to calm her nerves. Once the shaking stopped, she looked at Rainbow Dash with a sense of worry in her eyes. “Rainbow Dash, I… I’m not at all saying that you are wrong. In some ways, I agree with your claim. You do make a good point. H-H-However, unless we have undeniable proof that he is the one responsible for everything that has happened recently, I, as the Princess of Equestria, cannot carry out any further actions without possibly negatively affecting Equestria in the process, dare I was wrong about him.”

Rainbow Dash growled under her breath, pushing Applejack off of her body and standing to her hooves. She looked at the princess with anger in her heart. Twilight stared back with the same level of emotion in return. They kept their gaze locked on each other for a moment, until Rainbow Dash began to visibly struggle to further control herself. Her furrowed brow slowly loosened and mouth went from clenched teeth to a quivering lip. A single tear rolled down her eye, which she quickly hid away from the others by shying that respective cheek away from them.

“You don’t get it, Twilight -” Rainbow Dash began to softly cry, holding a hoof in front of her face and struggling to control her huffing “- I get you’re the Princess of Friendship, which means that you have a lot of responsibility and all… but that still isn’t an excuse to not take necessary action.” Twilight, who by this point was beginning to regret the level of anger she portrayed to her friend, looked at Rainbow Dash with sympathy in her heart. “If we don’t stop this, more and more ponies will continue to be affected, even perish. And as much as I hate to admit it, they will have no one to blame for it but us… or rather, you.” Rainbow Dash turned to face the princess with teary, angry eyes. “I don’t want that for you, but I cannot control the decisions you make. If I could then maybe… maybe she’d still be alive…”

With those last words, Rainbow Dash turned away from the group and bolted out the door and exited the throne room. Applejack ran after her, but Rarity held a hoof out in front of her, stopping her from pursuing the pegasus.

Princess Twilight, filled with the shame following her outbursts, sat down on her throne and softly cried. She was at a loss for words. The mare's strong words hit her like a bullet through her heart. She knew Rainbow Dash was quite possibly correct, but again, if she were to act out based on her emotions and turn out to be wrong about Carter, not only would his punishment prove to be pointless, but the world would come to hate her.

The other mares looked to their friend, trotting over to her side and comforting her with their presence. Fluttershy hugged Twilight and allowed the princess to cry into her chest. The pegasus gently stroked Twilight’s mane with her hoof, helping her ease her consciousness. Looking up at her friends, the princess wiped away her tears and let one one final huff.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, dear,” said Rarity. “She doesn’t mean that. You know how she’s been lately. She’s just scared, that’s all. Nothing different than how the rest of us feel.”

“But what if she’s right? What if Carter…” Twilight couldn’t find it in herself to say such a vile, possibly untrue accusation about the human. “I just don’t want to *sniff* do the wrong thing.”

“And we will help ya make sure that ya don’t, Twilight,” said Applejack.

“It’s like you said, Twilight. Maybe Carter really is a nice, innocent guy. Who are we to deny that possibility?” said Pinkie Pie.

Princess Twilight, wiping away her tears, got up onto her hooves and nodded to the other mares, thanking them for their kindness. She knew they were right. As much as there was a chance that Carter could’ve been the enemy, there was also an equal possibility that he was actually innocent.

“Thank you, girls. I’m glad I have you all to depend on,” said Twilight.

“Of course, Twily. We’ve got your back one hundred percent!” replied Pinkie Pie.

“It’s what friends are for,” added Applejack.

“So what do we do?” asked Fluttershy.

“We need to know the truth about Carter,” said Twilight. “We can’t take any action right now, and I would hate to know that I placed the blame on the wrong target. So we’ll take things slow; get to know him real good and see if he truly is who he says he is and not just someone simply acting all innocent and oblivious in order to cover their tracks.” The mares all nodded at each other, agreeing to the princess’ plan of action.

Head pounding and chest flaring up as a result of inflammation near his ribs, Carter slowly opened his eyes upon awakening. Near the beginning of the recovery process his vision was blurred to the point where he couldn’t make out anything in his vicinity. All he had to go off of was his auditory and kinesthetic senses. Carter could hear nothing but loud beeping sounds that came at a steady rate.

Carter tried to reach up and place his hand on his forehead for support, but he felt something tug against him as if it was embedded into his flesh. He groaned in pain, lowering his hand and waiting patiently for the rest of his senses to return to him before proceeding.

When his vision returned, Carter got a better idea of what he was waking up to. He found himself alone in a recovery room labeled as G Wing, which he noticed printed on a sign near the exit off in the distance. He was just there, lying across a medical bed. There were many different intravenous lines ejected into his arms.

Looking over his shoulder, Carter realized that the beeping noises were coming from a health monitor displayed on a table beside him, projecting his heart rate along with other various data regarding his current status, which luckily all fell under normal readings.

Carter closed his eyes for a moment more, easing himself into the wake up process. His head felt sore and foggy, which he figured was due to the fact that he had been unconscious for a presumably lengthy duration. He gritted his teeth and let out a moan periodically, fighting through the pain, which by this point was slowly but surely fading away.

In time, the pain had come to a point where it was bearable, and so Carter opened his eyes again. Remembering the state of his ribs before collapsing, Carter looked down to check on them. To his luck, there was a thick cast wrapped tightly around his lower chest, locking his bones in place in order for them to properly heal with time.

Carter focused on controlling his breathing while trying to remember all that had happened within the last couple hours. As the rest of his body control returned to him, so too did his memories. He recalled the meeting with the ponies. Carter managed to remember as far as seeing Princess Twilight and Fluttershy carry him to the emergency room before losing consciousness. Whether or not he would admit it to himself, he was grateful for their help.

It was good to know that he had others that he could talk with, considering just how much change he had to go through within the past day or so. Their hospitality was very helpful to him. They seemed so kind and open towards him, making him feel truly welcome in their land.

But then he remembered what happened near the end of the conversation.

Carter furrowed his brow and clenched his teeth. The way they acted so violent towards him after the kindness they showed him aggravated him greatly. It made it seem like their niceness was only a cover up, and that it wasn’t much of an introduction, but rather an interrogation. Carter huffed, feeling stupid for allowing himself to fall prey to their tactics. Sure, the lies he told them about his past were rather dreadful, but why they would act hostile toward him after all he had done beforehand was confusing to him. To Carter, the only explanation he could come up with was that, due to the vague explanation of his past, they saw him as the enemy. But even if that were the case, it felt almost like a betrayal, albeit one he fell right into.

“Oh good, you’re awake.” Carter rotated his head to his right, finding a stallion standing in front of the various monitors connected to the human’s body, taking note of the readings. His sudden appearance startled Carter, causing the heart monitor to spike for a short moment. “Hmph. You seem to be healing rather quickly. This is good. You should be back on your hooves in no time… erm, I mean… feet?” Carter nodded, confirming the doctor’s guess.

The stallion doctor walked over to Carter’s arm after equipping his hooves with glove-like coverings and carefully removed each of the intravenous lines individually. When one arm was cleared he repeated the process on the other, gathering up all the medical tubes in his hooves and placing them into a clear bag to be easily and correctly disposed of. Carter, waiting patiently, simply watched as the doctor did his job. The stallion picked up the bag and walked out of the room to dispose of the used IVs. But before he walked out the door, the doctor spun on his hooves and looked back at Carter.

“The princess told me that she wished to see you once you awoke. I will go get her right now, please wait patiently.” It didn’t seem like he had a choice, and so Carter gave the doctor a simple nod in return, still feeling a bit too nauseous to respond verbally without expelling what little nutrients he still had in his body. Receiving the acknowledgement, the doctor continued out the door, leaving Carter to himself once more.

Stuck with himself in the emergency room, Carter could do nothing but look around the vicinity, examining all the medical technology placed in different designated locations around the area. Although similar to the ones he was used to on Earth, Carter noticed that a few in particular seemed to work in pairs with magic, as it seemed some key components were missing, which would result in an inoperative machine, unless it was controlled by other outside forces, such as magic. Then again, his knowledge of said magic was indeed extremely miniscule, so perhaps he was just overthinking things.

Carter heard some faint voices coming from the other side of the emergency room. They sounded very gentle and childish, which threw Carter off. Then the sounds of rolling wheels became audible, growing louder with each passing second.

Soon following all that, the doors flew open and revealed a nurse pushing a smaller medical bed down the aisle. She was speaking to someone who was on top of the bed, though Carter couldn’t tell who it was from where he was. However, he did notice that the nurse was speaking very softly and light-toned, like a parent speaking to their child.

“It’s okay, wittle one. You’re going to be just fine,” said the nurse mare.

“Mama…” The sound of a smaller foal echoed in reply to the nurse's words. Carter gasped subtly, having a very strong idea as to who it was that the nurse was talking to.

“Yes, yes, your mama is okay, as well. She can’t wait to see your wittle face again, she just needs to finish talking with the doctor, okay?”

“Mama…”

“*sigh* Yes, I know, I know.” Carter watched as the nurse pushed the little bed beside his own, parking it right beside him and locking the wheels in place. “Here you go, Miss Flurry Heart. You can talk with this kind sir right here until your mommy arrives.” The nurse turned to face Carter as she walked out of the emergency room. “Good luck with her. She’s a real talker.” Carter exchanged nods with the nurse as she exited the room, leaving the human with whoever it was beside him.

To no surprise, Carter looked to his right to find that it was none other than the very same foal that he fought to save hours ago. The little pony had a cast around its horn which, if Carter remembered correctly, was placed in order to keep the pointed appendage from completely falling off the top of her head. The foal also had numerous bandages strewn about her body, though they seemed to cover up very superficial, insignificant wounds in comparison.

“Well, well, well.” Carter looked at the foal with a smile, hoping to get her to do the same in return. But she instead did quite the opposite, staring back at him like he was a monster. Carter turned his head and sighed. It was clear that the foal had not forgotten him, or rather the monster he revealed himself to be. Cursing under his breath, the human looked back at the foal with an apologetic look on his face. “I’m sorry you had to see that, young one. I know that must’ve scared you a whole heck of a lot.”

The foal cocked her head in response to the man’s words. She looked as though she understood every word he spoke, but was still left confused as to what he meant. To her young mind, it was as if the human she saw before her was a completely different person than the green-eyed, black veined, bloodthirsty monstrosity she witnessed him become during the fight with the pegasus. Even she could understand that they were not separate beings, and yet something about the way Carter apologized to her in a genuine manner made her second guess herself.

“You must understand, I was only trying to protect you. I just… I just sometimes lose myself,” said Carter. The foal nodded in response. He was quite surprised by the foal. Here he was, talking to the toddler equivalent of a pony like she was a full grown mare, yet she seemed to comprehend everything he said, not by words but instead by the way he displayed his emotions. It made the conversation with her seem unusually casual and effortless for one so young.

The foal tried talking in response to the human, but nothing but nigh unintelligible babbling escaped her mouth. Carter pursed his lips and shook his head, visually letting her know that he could not understand her. Whining childish, the foal threw her hooves against the bed and pouted, thinking of another means to converse with the human.

An idea popped into her infantile mind that could help her communicate to Carter in a way that he’d understand. The foal lifted one of her forehooves in front of herself, and with the other she pointed to the former. Carter stared at her hoof for a moment, oblivious as to what she was trying to convey to him. Adding to her gestures, she traced a line down her hoof. She then pointed to the human, signaling for him to do the same.

Carter, playing along with the foal, did just that, drawing a line down his arm with his finger. At first he still found himself unable to become aware of what the foal was telling him. The foal continued the gesture, putting emphasis on her movements when she came to the middle of her foreleg. Carter looked back to his arm and tried it once more, looking closely at his forearm. He couldn’t find anything of significance in his arm except for his skin and nerves.

Then, it came to him like lightning. Carter traced one more line down his arm, following the path of his nerves. He took note that they were currently normal color and that the foal was most likely referring to the color of his nerves when he underwent his corruption, so to speak. It was by that point that he realized that the foal was asking him about what happened.

“You want to know what happened, don’t you?” Carter said, looking at the foal and pointing at his nerves. She babbled in agreement. Carter looked back at his own hands and stared at them. His fingers began to shake as he recalled the events that took place when the corruption took control of him. “I wish I could tell you, but I don’t have a clue as to what it is nor what happens to me when it takes over. I don’t even know what triggers it. The only thing I do know is that, when it does overwhelm me, it seeks nothing but death and bloodshed. It fills my mind with numerous images of violence, as if encouraging me for more of it.”

The foal stared at the human with a confused look. Carter understood it as though his explanation went right over her head, which made sense to him. After all, he was talking to a foal.

“With that said, you have nothing to worry about, little one. I know it’s scary to see, and believe me, I too get scared just thinking about it. But I have lived with it for many years. As you can see, it still hasn’t taken full control of me.” The foal continued to awkwardly stare at the human. Carter chuckled, thinking himself crazy for talking to her for so long to the point where it seemed as though he was really only talking to himself. “Just… *sigh* just keep it between us, okay?” She replied with another babble, though Carter couldn’t tell if it meant anything to him.

“I see you two are getting along quite well.” Carter and the foal both rotated their heads toward the doors of the emergency room. Princess Twilight came in through the doorway, holding it open for another pony following behind her. It was the foal’s mother: the pink alicorn from before. The mother limped her way into the room, maintaining her balance with Twilight’s help. The two mares made their way over to the foal and stopped at the side of the bed she was on.

The foal looked to her mother with excitement in her eyes, stretching her hooves out and reaching out to grab onto her. The mother giggled and picked her foal up from the bed, cradling the young pony with one hoof.

While the foal reunited with her mother, Carter took note of a large cast wrapped around the pink alicorn’s flank, the very spot the spear wound was located moments ago. It seemed she recovered quite well, all things considered, which brought some bit of peace upon Carter.

The mother looked at Carter after kissing her daughter several times over, nodding to the human as an expression of her sincere gratitude.

“Thank you so much for saving my daughter’s life and allowing me to be with her once more. You may not know it, but your kind and heroic actions mean a lot to me and my family. I shall see to it that your courageous deed will not be forgotten,” said the mother alicorn. “I would offer your shirt back to you, but… unfortunately it’s stained in too much of my blood, so it might not be worth the trouble. I apologize for the inconvenience. If you’d like, I could have somepony make you another one as a small reward.”

“I thank you for the kind words, Your Majesty -” said Carter, remembering that he heard a guard address the alicorn as a princess similar to Twilight Sparkle's title “- but you need not thank me. I was just doing the right thing, nothing less.”

“I understand. But even then, I humbly offer you my sincere thanks.”

“Although, I think I would like a new shirt, though it’s no rush,” said Carter, looking down at his exposed chest.

“Very well then. I’ll get somepony to make you a new shirt in no time.” Following up with one more nod, the alicorn turned her attention to Princess Twilight. “I must be going. It’s been a long while since I’ve last seen Shining Armor. Knowing him, he’s probably sick just thinking about us.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” replied Twilight. “I won’t keep you from seeing him. Go see your husband.” And with that, the mother parted ways with the foal in her possession. As the alicorn left the emergency room, the foal looked back to Carter from over her mother’s shoulder. Carter saw the foal’s small eyes peering over her mother and laughed in response, waving back at her. The foal giggled before diving back behind her mother.

“Cadance could not stop asking if you were alright ever since she awoke from her recovery, asking me if you and her daughter lived,” said Twilight. “If you ask me, I think you made quite a name for yourself.”

Carter smiled at the princess, thanking her for the kind remark. But upon thinking back on how they treated him not too long ago, his smile disappeared and was replaced with a stern, somewhat irritated look. Princess Twilight stepped away from the human, feeling uneasy in response to his sudden change in demeanor.

“Ummm, are you feeling okay?” inquired Twilight.

Carter continued to glare at her, locking his eyes with her’s. The fact she dared to act like she cared about his health and well-being after witnessing the aggression her friends displayed toward him was nothing far from alerting. The way she seemed to cover up their hostility with her own kindness came across as contradicting, like she was hiding something about them from him.

“Sir, did you hear me?” The princess raised her brow, feeling uneasy in response to the human’s continued silence.

“What’s really going on?” Carter asked, maintaining his stern look.

“What? What do you mean?” Twilight looked back with genuine confusion, lacking the slightest idea as to what the human was implying.

“Don’t play coy with me, Your Majesty.” Princess Twilight pulled her head back, baffled by the human’s sudden aggression. “Your friends seemed like they wanted to hurt me last we met. Don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“Oh, that -” Twilight looked away from Carter and rubbed her leg with the opposite hoof “- yes, well… I apologize on their behalf for that little incident. But please, refrain from any further outbursts.” Carter and Twilight stared into each others’ glare, flaring their nostrils in mild agitation. “With all due respect, you didn’t exactly come across as friendly. You looked at each pony with that stern, agitated look on your face throughout most of your interaction with them, looking as though you were insulted to meet them like it was nothing more than a waste of your time. Not only that, but your vague, undescriptive explanation of your past and how you came to this world did not help matters any more.”

“But why did they so much as approach me like that?” Carter said, demanding an answer.

“Because they thought you were the whole reason for the attacks!” Twilight froze the second the words slipped through her clenched teeth. Her eyes widened and the nervous shaking returned to her yet again. She fumbled around, catching herself just before she hit the ground.

Carter watched the trembling princess from his bed, slowly filling with remorse for how he acted. He let out a deep sigh, calming himself before speaking any longer.

“Your Majesty... I... I didn’t mean to yell at you. It’s just that -” Carter laid back in his bed and let out another, slower sigh. Everything was going downhill for him, and for the most part, there was no one to blame but himself. The princess was right; he was being a huge jerk to them. He knew he didn’t know the full story and that it wasn’t right for him to act out based on the little knowledge he did have. With nothing to gain from remaining stubborn, Carter allowed himself to briefly open up to the princess. “- a lot has happened since I’ve left Earth. One day I'm home and the next I'm far from it. Everything feels so different. I feel overwhelmed, worried… dare I say it... scared in a sense. Scared of the unknown. It’s not right for me to take my anger out on you, I know that. I just… I just want to know what’s been going on. I want answers just as much as you do.”

Princess Twilight - standing back on her hooves after suppressing the shaky feelings she felt prior - looked back at Carter and smiled in forgiveness. She appreciated the human’s apology and understood how he felt after taking the time to explain himself.

“It’s okay, Carter. I understand how you feel and agree that I owe you a bit of an explanation.” Princess Twilight sat down beside Carter and looked at him with the same smile as she began.

“Before you were sent here, during the introductions, Applejack and Rainbow Dash did not believe that you were telling the truth when you were telling us how you came to find yourself here in Equestria. Partially because of that, they both thought that you were the one who sent the pegasus to take Flurry Heart from my brother and sister-in-law, assuming that you were only playing the role of the hero to cover your tracks.”

“But why? Why would they think I sent the pegasus to attack? When I fought him it didn’t seem like he was working for anyone,” replied Carter.

“Well, I don’t know if I should tell you.” replied Twilight. She could tell that he was curious as to why she would hide something from him, and that it was apparent that she needed to explain herself. “It’s not that I don’t want you to know, it’s just that… well, I don’t want it to bother you. I know you just got here and all, and I’d hate to know that I only made your experience here even worse.”

“I can take it,” said Carter, giving the princess his permission to tell him the truth. He crossed his arms as he waited for a reply.

“Very well, then.” Princess Twilight cleared her throat before continuing. “It’s about the attack itself. The pegasus, you saw how he didn’t look normal, correct?”

“Yes, actually,” Carter answered in reply, although the thought of the pegasus’ strange corrupt-like appearance reminded him of himself more than anything. “W-What about it?”

“Well, that type of corruption. It… it wasn’t the first time that something like that has happened.” Carter’s eyes widened in response to the princess’ statement. “The first of these events took place about three months ago. It wasn’t anything significant in comparison. The only thing that happened was that a pony went crazy running around Ponyville, a nearby city, causing all kinds of trouble, but not going as far as hurting anypony. We dealt with them and attempted to apprehend them to try and determine the cause of the problem, but when some of my guards threw the cuffs on that pony, it exploded into a mess of black goo, severely burning two of the nearby guards.

“Then another instance occurred a month later. Similar scenario, no violence or anything like that, at least, not at first. When my guards went to take care of him, then the pony started fighting back, going as far as biting a guard’s hoof in defense. We tried to apprehend him, but again it exploded, causing damage to the guards and eliminating any possibility of figuring out a solution.

“As time passed, so too did the attacks. They kept coming one by one, happening more and more often with each consecutive occurrence. By now, the pegasus attack was only three days after the last one, and I fear that the next one is fast approaching.” Princess Twilight’s shaking occurred yet again. Carter, in an attempt to calm her nerves, tried to talk positively to the mare.

“If that happens again, just let me know. I’m willing to help in any way I can,” said Carter. Twilight’s shaking ceased almost immediately following Carter’s kind offer. She looked at him and giggled.

“That’s actually very sweet of you, Carter. But you don’t need to worry about it. Me and my guards are perfectly capable of handling it ourselves.” Twilight looked down at the ground, making a circle motion with her forehoof. “It’s just that something doesn’t make sense. I don’t get why they always explode when they are about to be arrested. It’s like somepony is causing it to happen intentionally, and that is why me and my friends feel as though somepony is causing ponies to become corrupted.”

“Strange…” Carter mumbled under his breath. He looked at the princess with a raised brow. “So Rainbow Dash and Applejack wanted to apprehend me, assuming that I was the one to blame for all this?”

“Yes, that is exactly the reason,” said Twilight. “Don’t worry, I’ve already talked with those two and they both told me that they were sorry… or at least, Applejack did.”

“What of Rainbow Dash?” inquired Carter.

“I… don’t know if I would be in the right to tell you, myself. But to keep it brief, she’s been heavily affected by the results of the attacks. She’s lost so much because of them, and so she’s very quick to act, hoping, wishing that she could do anything to stop these attacks here and now.” Carter nodded in reply, comprehending enough of what the princess explained to him in order to understand the full picture.

“I see. In some ways I can understand her pain. I imagine that I'd act the same way if I lost something important. Tell Rainbow Dash she has my best wishes,” said Carter. “Though, assuming she still dislikes me, I doubt that’ll have any positive effects.”

“Awe, don’t worry about it. I’m sure she’d like that very much,” replied Twilight. “I’ll be sure to tell her when I see her again, although it might be better if you told her, yourself.”

“Alright then…”

A brief moment of silence fell over the pony and the human. They each stared out in front of themselves, thinking of something else to talk about. Twilight perked her head up when she thought of an idea to converse about with Carter.

“Carter… I know I’ve already asked you this, so you don’t have to say anymore if you don’t want to -” Princess Twilight brushed her mane away from her face and looked down at Carter with an innocent, inquisitive look in her eyes “- but if it’s alright with you, I just want to make sure that you are telling the truth about who you say you are and about your past. I believe that you are not the enemy, but I just want to make you sure you feel like you can trust me.”

Carter stared blankly at the wall in front of him, recalling all the things that had happened before coming to this strange new world. Many of the visions of his past hurt him deeply, leaving permanent imprints in his mind like scars. He was still not willing to reveal everything to her, as he feared that revealing the truth about who he was and what he had done in the past would mark him as a target and that he would possibly be seen as their enemy because of it. But at the same time, he did come up with a rather piss-poor excuse for an explanation regarding his past, and Princess Twilight began to prove to him that she was worthy of some form of truth.

Carter turned his head toward the princess and looked her directly in the eyes. Following a deep exhale, the human allowed himself to reveal enough of the truth to gain her trust, feeling that she had already earned his to some degree.

“During our first meeting, when Pinkie Pie talked about my friends and family back on Earth… I…” Carter couldn’t find it in himself to continue. Doing so much as mentioning them brought a flood of emotions to him. He pursed his lips together and squinted, finding himself suddenly needing to hold back oncoming tears.

Princess Twilight could tell that the human was feeling emotional about something regarding his home and those he spent his time with. She felt pity for the human, even though she didn’t yet know the reason behind his sadness.

“I’m sorry if Pinkie Pie crossed the line after mentioning them. I swear she didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or offend you in any way if that’s what happened,” said Twilight.

“No, no. It’s completely fine, Your Majesty. I’m not mad at her at all.” Carter said, clarifying himself. “No, it’s something else.” Twilight scooted herself closer to the human, interested in hearing what he had to say. “You see… back on Earth, I don’t have friends or a family. Not anymore.”

“What?” Twilight said, more so as a question. Carter looked down at his lap and nodded shamefully in reply to the princess. It was by that point that Twilight knew that he was serious and that something regarding his past took a serious toll on him. “Please tell me why…” She didn’t expect Carter to continue, but to her surprise he pushed himself up so that he sat tall against the back of his medical bed and went on with his explanation.

“I’d rather not get into the details. It’s not something I wish to talk about, at least not right now, Your Majesty.” Carter turned his head away from Princess Twilight, swiftly wiping away a tear while trying his best to maintain his stone-cold demeanor.

Princess Twilight could tell from his actions alone that, whatever had happened before he arrived in Equestria, something about his past haunted him greatly and impacted him so much. It was nothing but a guess to her, but even then she couldn't help but feel some pity for the human just after witnessing his reaction to recalling his past.

“But, put simply, I have made a lot of mistakes in my life. I lost a lot of good people over past years. People that left me, and people that I pushed away, myself. I was broken mentally around the beginning of my adult years due to... various circumstances that seriously impacted me. I hurt a lot of good people in my life and broke a lot of bonds with those I once called my friends.

“When I realized the pain and suffering I was causing others, I couldn't bring myself to accept my past and learn from my mistakes in order to be better. So I pushed away the idea of friendship, thinking that living a life of solitude would be the best thing for me and those who I walked among. After all, what further damage could I do if I never interacted with anyone ever again? However, I soon came to realize that my foolish actions once again only caused further damage, but before I could stop myself, I had become so broken and so mentally destroyed that I felt as though nothing could help me.

“At that point I was truly broken. I lost all hope of things getting better. I had become a monster, a being that I swore to my parents that I would never become, and yet, here I am now, unable to even allow myself to look in the mirror and feel anything other than pain and regret. It got so bad that I was... banished from my homeland. Never to return.”

“What!?” Twilight gasped in surprise. “Banished? What do you mean by banished?”

“I don't know exactly why... but something about my disregard for friendship is the reason I am here now. While I can't remember much, I do remember that I was banished from Earth because of what I had done to myself and was sent here with one task: to learn about friendship. I didn't tell you because I didn't think you should care, but now I know I should've told you from the beginning. For that, I am sorry.”

Carter lifted his hands in front of him.

“I know I'm not a likeable person by any means. I am not one to simply open up to others, easily. I feel like I can trust no one, anymore, that anyone I open up to will instantly take advantage the moment they can. But even with that said... I want to become a friend to others once again, I really do. But as I look at myself everyday, I fear as though I am incapable of change and that the things I did in my past will forever represent who I am and who I will remain as. I fear others will never see me as a friend. Am I really capable of change? Or am I stuck pushing away everyone I meet and finding it impossible to trust anyone?”

Princess Twilight lifted a hoof in front of her mouth, quietly gasping in response to Carter’s final words. Eyes wide open and jaw slightly agape, she couldn’t have imagined such an explanation from the human. She knew he was telling the truth based on the way he acted upon finishing his final sentence. She felt absolute pity for the human, though she was glad that he had begun to open up to her.

“I want to change. Truly I do. I just fear that by this point it is impossible.” A single tear rolled down Carter's cheek.

The alicorn stepped closer to the human, who was leaning against his pillow with a shameful expression upon his face. Twilight could tell that simply thinking about his past hurt him greatly. Whatever it was that he did before coming here was clearly something he never wanted to relive. She lifted a hoof and rested it atop his shoulder, softly rubbing it back and forth to offer him some comfort. Carter opened his eyes and looked up at the princess, moved by her kindness.

“Carter, I cannot thank you enough for telling me that.” Twilight stepped back from the human, all while keeping eye contact with him. “I understand how hard it can be. Believe me, I have met many, many others just like you in my lifetime. Those who have hurt themselves and/or others in their past because of the things they've done and believe that no amount of forgiveness could ever be enough to separate themselves from who they were. But that’s just simply not true.”

“How can you be so sure?” asked Carter.

“Because I have helped them before,” replied Twilight. “I believe that friendship is a powerful, necessary thing that everypony needs to have in their lives, you included. As the Princess of Friendship, it is my duty to help spread the magic of friendship to all those I meet, showing them just how important it is to have others around you that you can count on. Carter, I’m sorry about what happened some time ago, but perhaps you were sent here for a reason. Maybe there really is a chance that you can undo the deeds of your past and become someone you can be content with.”

“But how?” Carter inquired, looking at Twilight with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

“The way I see it, I can help you learn about friendship and help mend that piece of you that has been broken for so long.” Princess Twilight looked into his eyes with a sparkle in her own beady pupils. “I promise when I say that nopony is beyond saving. If you will let me, I can help you learn about friendship and rebuild that lack of trust that you’ve held in for so long. And maybe in doing so, I can also help you get back home.”

“I… I would like that very much, Your Majesty,” said Carter. “I do not want to keep hurting those I meet. I want to change, truly.”

“Very well,” Twilight said with a gentle nod. “I will teach you about everything you need to know about friendship in order to help you change your fate and hopefully return you to your home, as well. Also... please, just call me Twilight.”

“Thank you, Twilight.” Carter said, nodding back to her as a sign of his gratitude. “I promise to do my best to learn all you teach me, as well as return the favor to you and your friends in anyway I can.”

“Thank you, Carter. But you don’t have to do that. My only wish is to help you,” said Twilight. “Now then, it’s getting rather late and unfortunately I have a couple guests arriving tomorrow, so I need to finish the necessary preparations before it gets too dark.” The princess looked to a clock far across the room reading 9:14. She looked back at Carter once more. “Is there anything else I can do for you before I leave?”

“No, Your Majesty, erm... Twilight.” Carter said, not wanting to interrupt anymore of her time. “You have already done more than enough for me.”

“Very well. Get some sleep, Carter. You’ve earned it.” With that, Twilight spun around on her hind hooves and proceeded to exit the emergency room. Carter watched as the princess left him alone to get some sleep, thinking back on what had just happened. In what seemed like a sudden panic, Carter shouted her name, getting her attention and causing her to turn around to face him, her smile still present on her face.

“Why? Why are you doing this for me?” Carter inquired. Twilight cocked her head in confusion. “You don’t know who I am, what I’ve done, who I’ve become, the things I have done to others, the reason I have been banished from Earth… I am nothing more than a stranger to you, and yet... yet all you’ve shown me is kindness, compassion and respect. Why?” Twilight smiled at the human, tilting her head a bit and beaming from cheek to cheek.

“It’s like I said, Carter. I believe that friendship should be for everypony to enjoy. You are no exception. And besides, from what little I’ve seen in you and the things you've done, you have a good heart and a level of bravery that I can only commend. Say what you will about your past and the man you've become, but the way I see you, you are a good human. You display a strong desire to do the right thing, which lets me know that not all hope is lost for you.” She spun around on her hooves and exited through the door. “We'll talk more in the morning. Good night, Carter. Sweet dreams.”

The lights in the emergency room shut off following the princess’ leave, leaving Carter all to himself.

Leaning into his pillow, Carter couldn’t help but think of Twilight's friendly demeanor. He understood what she meant when she said that she wanted everyone to experience friendship, but still, the way she acted around him even after everything he told her about his past was, while not necessarily suspicious, still very unusual. Such a level of kindness was not something he had felt in a long time, and it felt good, too good. He wondered if it was acceptable for him to feel such a way in response to the princess’ tender-hearted actions. He was left to wonder if he was even deserving of such kindness.

Why does she act so nice to me...? Is there something she expects to get in return, or will she really help me? I... I don't understand. She seemed genuine enough. Perhaps she really does plan on helping me. Maybe she can show me how to remember what it's like to accept friendship. I mean, it is why I'm stuck here. Maybe... maybe... no!

Carter suddenly twitched violently, shaking his head, furrowing his brow and clenching his teeth. He grunted forcefully, dispelling the thoughts from his mind. It was unclear to him, but something about opening up to the ponies felt like a betrayal to himself and a sign of weakness.

No, she does not concern you. Friendship is wrong, and you will suffer once more if you allow someone like her, a pony no less, to alter your mind and make you weak. You're really about to lower your guard just because someone shows you the kindness and compassion you've wanted for so long? Fool! She does not truly care about you, no one does. The only one who's important to you in life is yourself, no doubt about it. The princess means nothing to you. She is only here to help you get back home. Once you fulfill your mission and return to Earth, you will forget about her, along with everyone else in this world, and live life once again without ever thinking back on this cursed place. She... Twilight means nothing to you. No one does. No one... no one... no one...

His mind fought back and forth between thoughts. He couldn't seem to make a choice. Carter wanted friendship in his life; it was something he yearned for so long. And with the Princess telling him that she'd help him with friendship, he wanted to take the chance without question.

However, something about it just didn't seem right for him. It wasn't necessarily the ponies that stopped him from jumping the gun and allowing himself to be a friendly guy, but rather himself... more specifically, his past. With everything he had done, even if they could accept him for what he had become, he pondered if he could ever be a true friend.

As all the thought fumbled around in his head, Carter slowly drifted off into a slumber, nodding his head every so often until finally his eyes shut and his body went limp. Besides a few snores, the entirety of the emergency room was completely void of sound, leaving the human to sleep in silence and allowing his body to finish healing come the break of dawn.

Far away from the city of Canterlot, a small town the locals named Seaward Shoals perched beside a large lake. Located within the center of the town was a particular house, grandiose and regal in design. Living within said house were two older alicorn mares. Both mares were packing for an upcoming trip to Canterlot, expecting to meet with Princess Twilight not much after sunrise.

“I can’t believe it’s been a year since our dear Twilight has become Princess of Equestria,” said the older mare. She was white in appearance with a chromatic colored, transparent mane. She had the emblem of the sun upon her flank.

“Yes, well, she definitely had a big role to fill, and I’d say she’s done just that.” replied the younger, albeit still elder pony. She was a stark opposite of the other mare in color, instead having a darker, blackish-blue color scheme to her coat, with her mane looking similar, although sharing similar attributes to the other mare’s like the transparent appearance. She had the image of the moon with a few dark clouds protruding it upon her flank. “She’s definitely done well as the nation’s newest leader.”

“Yes she has, dear sister. I’d say she has done a good job, indeed.” said the white mare.

“Where would you like your clothes, Celestia?” The older mare looked over her shoulder to find a small, purple dragon with green spikes along his back and tail. He was carrying a tower of her clothes, struggling to keep it from toppling over due to his comparatively small height.

“Just put it with the rest of my stuff, dear. I’ll sort through it, myself.” replied the white mare.

“Okay, I can do that.” The small dragon took a few steps forward, nearly tripping over his own feet and spilling the clothes in the process. Luckily he caught himself before that happened and set the pile of clothes down on the ground before he took any more chances.

“Do be careful, Spike,” said the darker mare.

“Can do, Luna,” replied the dragon, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He sat down on the floor to recover for a second before continuing to help the two mares pack. However, a strange feeling began to bubble up from within his gut. He placed his hands on his stomach, feeling his cheeks begging to puff up. Celestia and Luna looked to him in curiosity, wondering what was becoming of the small dragon.

In the blink of an eye, Spike burped aloud, his belch echoing across the whole house. Following the rather embarrassing event, his fiery breath formed a rolled up, sealed letter, which appeared right in front of his face before falling to the ground, landing in his lap. The purple dragon picked it up after clearing his throat and opened the letter, reading the contents written on the inside.

“Hey, it’s from Twilight,” said Spike.

“Oh? Do read it for us, dear boy,” said Celestia.

“Yes, please do. We would like to hear how she’s doing,” added Luna.

“Okay… hmmm. Hey, how’s it going, blah blah blah. Princess stuff, friendship stuff, girly stuff, more blah blah blah… huh. That’s interesting.” Spike placed a hand on his chin, puzzled by a strange note within the princess’ letter.

“What is it, Spike?” inquired Celestia.

“Well, it says here that Twilight has managed to meet yet another new species outside of Equestria,” replied Spike.

“Oh really?” said Luna with excitement in her voice. “Who are they?”

“Well, it’s hard to pronounce. But if I’m reading this right, it seems to spell out… ‘hoo-man?’”

Both Celestia and Luna looked at each other with surprised looks on their faces.

“Ummm, could you repeat that for us, dear,” said Luna, looking back at the dragon, believing that she and her sister misheard him.

“Oh, maybe it’s ‘human,’” said Spike. “Twilight says she has recently met with a human.”

Luna looked back at her sister with the same shocked expression. The name of the species sounded so foreign, yet so recognizable. It was something they never imagined to hear within their lifetime. And yet here it was, apparently with the newly appointed princess.

Spike took notice of the mares’ strange reaction to the mention of the stranger, perplexed as to why that name seemed to trouble them.

“Uh, you two okay?” he asked.

“Oh, uh… yes, Spike. Quite alright.” Celestia snapped back into reality, along with her sister. They looked back at their clothes, resuming their packing all while staring blankly in front of themselves. “It’s just… ah, nevermind.”

Spike, while still unable to determine the reasoning behind the sisters’ strange response, simply brushed away the thought and continued to help them pack.

While they were able to calmly resume their work, the two mares couldn't help but keep their minds fixated on the idea of the human. It was something they hadn't heard mentioned in a long, long time. If one was really with Twilight, it could mean so many different things for all of Equestria.

"A human..." thought Celestia. "What in Equestria is one doing here with the princess?"

Author's Note

You guys didn't really think I forgot about Spike, did you?

As always, don't feel afraid to reach out to me. I'm always reading your comments. :pinkiehappy:

Edit - 4/8/2022: Added dialogue near the end necessary for otherwise missing/neglected plot points.

Peace,

-MCX

Chapter VI: The Once Royal Sisters

Darkness. A pitch black void, devoid of all light for as far as the eye could see.

It was nothing new to him. He was used to it by now. Or at least he knew what to expect.

Standing in the middle of the void, Carter already knew what would soon take place. It was the same thing every time. He had seen it happen over, and over… and over. Nothing about it would be a surprise to him.

And yet each time he witnessed it he was filled with an unnerving level of guilt, fear, and dread.

Ghostly whispers began to echo from deep within the void, growing in volume as time went on. Carter anxiously waited for what was to come, as the voices always signaled the beginning of the event. It was only a matter of time before he’d be forced to witness it once again.

“No… please, no!”

Then it began.

A shadowy figure formed just a few feet in front of Carter. It was a man, created by the same darkness that surrounded the area. Though his identity was otherwise hidden behind the shadowy mist fogging up his face, Carter already knew the man all too well.

The man was crawling along the floor, propping one hand against his side as if that respective spot was injured, while the other pulled his limp body forward. He was audibly panicky and breathless, like he was crawling away from something, or someone.

Carter watched the shadowy figure do its thing, knowing everything that it would do. Where it would go, how far it would crawl, the way it would move along the floor. Everything. To him, it was like watching the same movie for the thousandth time.

Moments flew by and the figure all of a sudden looked over its shoulder, shaking nervously and picking up the pace, moving faster than before like his life depended on it.

Carter already knew it did, for soon revealing itself to him was another shadowy figure. However, unlike the first human, this one was the very man that brought Carter’s heart pain every time he witnessed the event unfold.

The second man marched over to the first with heavy, long strides, slowly gaining on the downed man with a violent stomp and defined side-to-side shoulder movement with each step. The man crawling along the floor increased in speed once more, practically flailing his arms while crawling away as fast as he could in order to try and outspeed the other man. But even he knew it was futile.

To no surprise, the second man caught up and stomped down vigorously against the downed man’s back, pinning him against the ground and preventing him from moving any further. He then leaned down and hovered his head right over the other man’s ear, taking a deep breath in.

Carter, who was still watching the event take place from the outer parts of the void, pulled his head back and winced in anticipation for what was to come.

“My vengeance… is at last mine to have.” The aggressive man whispered into the downed man’s ear with an intimidating, gruff tone.

Carter felt the familiar chill run down his spine in response to man’s words. But it wasn’t because of what he had said nor how he said it, but rather due to the fact that he knew who the voice belonged to. The one, the only man he had ever come to fear in his whole life: himself.

“You didn’t think I wouldn’t take the chance to hunt you down and kill you, did you?” The aggressor: the shadowy Carter, picked the injured man up by grasping his neck, lifting him high into the air and staring deep into his eyes, as if piercing through his mortal flesh and into his soul. “How long I’ve waited for this moment.”

“Please…” the injured man spoke in defense, kicking his feet around to escape the shadowy Carter’s grasp, though rather pathetically. “Please, show mercy.”

“Mercy…?” The shadowy image of Carter laughed, first as a slight chuckle, then growing into hysterics. “Mercy… ahahaha!!! You want me to show you mercy!?” Carter’s shadowed counterpart immediately stopped laughing and growled at the injured man, pulling him closer to his face. “Did you show them mercy?” The shadowy Carter’s eyes suddenly began to glow green, illuminating the nearby area, faintly, but enough to add an eerie aura to the already spine-chilling void. The familiar eye color sent another shiver down the real Carter’s spine.

“Please, I beg you… don’t kill me,” said the injured man.

“And why is that?” inquired shadowy Carter. “I finally have you in my grasp, and you think I’m just gonna leave and waste this opportunity? No.”

“Please… I beg you!!! Don’t do this to me!!!” The injured man’s kicking began to increase in strength, giving shadow Carter a bit more difficulty in maintaining his hold on the man. “You can’t do this!!!”

“Why not!? What could possibly be worth it to me to even consider keeping you alive!?”

Then, it happened. The one part of the scene that Carter could never seem to cope with.

The sound of screaming and crying echoed through the void, though their silhouette could not be seen like the other two figures. Carter’s shadowy image looked over his shoulder and dropped the injured man, chuckling in satisfaction.

“I see… now I understand,” said shadow Carter.

“No… no, no!!! No!!! You can’t do that!!! Not her!!!” shouted the injured man. Carter’s shadowy silhouette looked back at the man and kicked him in his jaw, audibly fracturing some bones and causing him to scream out in pain.

“You took them from me… and now, you will feel the very same feeling that I felt on that fateful day.” With that, Carter’s shadowy image walked away from the injured man and towards the sound of the cries. The injured man shouted at him whilst holding his now dislocated jaw with both hands, though his words were unintelligible to Carter.

Carter felt his heart sink within himself as he watched his shadowy counterpart walk toward the direction of the other person’s cries. He lunged forward, attempting to chase after his shadowy image and stop him from hurting them. But something stopped him. He fell to the ground, landing heavily against the void surface, which dazed him for a moment. He tried to get back on his feet once he regained his bearings, but again, something stopped him.

Carter looked back, realizing that his feet were stuck within the void, trapping him where he now laid and preventing him from moving. He struggled to free himself, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not break free.

Breathing hysterically, Carter looked forward and out towards his shadowy silhouette, watching as he walked into the void and continued towards the screaming.

“No!!!” Carter reached out in vain, as if that simple act would somehow make his copy change his mind and retreat. But he knew it wouldn’t work. It never did. It was the same exact result as every other time, after all. And unfortunately, because of that, Carter already knew what would happen.

Taking in one last breath, Carter heard the horrible, blood curdling screams of the victim. The volume was too intense for him to bear. Carter placed his hands over his ears and shouted in pain, feeling their voice scrape against his eardrums.

More so out of fear than genuine curiosity, Carter lifted his hands out in front of his face and looked upon his blood stained palms, shouting in denial of what he was seeing.

“You can’t escape your fate! You will be mine, and your soul will be forever damned to an eternity in Hell!!!”

“No!!! Stay away!!!” Carter screamed in response to the voice. “Go away!!!”

“Your soul. Will. Be. Mine!!!”

“Gah!!!” Carter bolted upright in his medical bed, gripping onto his sheets and shaking uncontrollably. Each breath he took was strained and labored. His body felt cold while he sought to recover from the horrible events. He could feel a moderate amount of sweat drip off his forehead, streaking down and across his face.

He felt something grab onto his right arm, which only decreased his sanity further. Carter shouted in retaliation, tugging away from the unknown object grasping his arm. He flicked his eyes towards the strange appendage, seeing a cream-color haired leg reach out for him, holding him down with a hoof at the end of it.

The recognizable color alone caused him to let up, but only enough for him to cease his violent jerking.

As his focus traveled up the haired foreleg, Carter could see the familiar face of the timid, pink maned mare he saw during the introductions with Princess Twilight and her friends.

“Fluttershy!?” Carter shouted in shock.

“It’s okay, it’s okay! You’re safe, Carter!” Fluttershy did her best to calm the frantic human, keeping his arms down by his sides with her hooves to prevent any unintended backlash.

Feeling the adrenaline effects caused by both the nightmare and the sudden appearance of the mare slowly diminishing from within him, Carter took deep, rhythmic breaths to calm himself further. While he had some relief, he was still shaking violently.

Fluttershy continued to help the human calm his nerves, gingerly stroking his arm with her hoof and speaking softly to him.

“There, there. It’s okay, Carter. You’re okay,” she cooed. “It was just a bad dream.”

Carter slowly lowered his head to his pillow, quivering the whole way down. He stared ahead, mindlessly, stuck in his own thoughts.

Just a dream…?

Except it wasn’t just some mere dream.

Nightmares were a common occurrence. He knew it was so. Every human on Earth had experienced at least one in their lives. Nothing about the idea of such foul dreams were of any major importance to Carter.

But even then it was this one specific nightmare that would always affect him. It would appear to him every single night, tormenting him throughout his slumber.

Carter thought back on his dream, more specifically the dark, shadowy figure with green eyes. The one that resembled himself… his past-self. The nightmare he would go through every night was not just some scary movie fabricated from the random thoughts in his slumbering mind, but rather a horrible vision. A vision of his past. One that had stuck in his mind ever since that fateful day.

The one event that truly broke him.

“Carter… are you okay?” asked Fluttershy, feeling somewhat disturbed as she watched the human look straight ahead with a blank stare.

Carter heard the pegasus’ soft voice penetrate through the murmurs of all his countless thoughts. He shook himself out of his stupor and snapped back to reality. His eyes met with her’s upon flicking his head toward her direction.

A brief, considerably awkward moment of silence came over the two of them as they simply stared at each other.

Carter was embarrassed to say the least. Finally getting a hold of himself, he realized just how uncomfortable he probably made the mare feel upon awakening. She could have just been coming to him for a friendly greeting, only to receive an unexpected outburst in return.

“Fluttershy, I…” Carter wanted to apologize for his possibly bizarre interaction with the mare, but he couldn’t find the right words to tell her what he wanted to say. He turned away from her with a deadpan expression, feeling ultimately defeated and overwhelmed by the situation. “This is so embarrassing.” He shook his head, shamefully.

The mare did not at first say anything in response, only prolonging the silence. But after a second or so, Fluttershy slowly let out a steady wave of lighthearted giggles. Carter, puzzled by the mare’s unexpected reaction, flicked his head toward her’s with a raised brow.

Fluttershy held a hoof up to her mouth, doing everything in her power to stop laughing at the human. But the awkwardness of the prior situation proved to be too much for her to simply shrug off, causing her to feel the need to laugh.

“I’m sorry, *giggle* that was just *giggle* unexpected to say the least.”

Carter stared at the mare all while maintaining his deadpan expression.

Fluttershy could sense that he wasn’t feeling the same way, but she just couldn’t seem to prevent herself from further laughter, mostly due to the whole awkwardness of the situation.

“You're fine, Fluttershy,” he said, plainly. Carter couldn't find it in himself to be angry at the mare. For all he knew, she probably thought it was nothing more than a little nightmare, unaware of what really happened. And quite frankly, if that was the case, he wanted to keep it that way. And whether he liked it or not, the mare’s cute giggling slowly began to rub off on him. A slight grin had soon etched itself across his own face. Had it not been for the aftereffects of the nightmare-induced adrenaline rush, he felt as if he would've been laughing, himself. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” Carter said, looking back at Fluttershy with a smile, momentarily.

“No, no. It’s quite alright,” the pegasus replied with a residual snicker. “How are you feeling? You know, excluding the nightmare.”

“Fine, thanks -” Carter rubbed his eyes and yawned, ridding his body of the last of the adrenaline. “- what are you doing here?”

“Twilight wanted me to check up on you and see how you were doing,” said Fluttershy.

“Did she now?” replied Carter, looking back at Fluttershy. “A heads up would have sufficed. Nearly scared the life out of me,” he said, jokingly, hoping to get another laugh or two out of the mare.

“Yeah. I think she’s still getting everything ready for the sisters to arrive, so she sent me here, instead.” She shrugged her shoulders and blushed in embarrassment.

“Not like she would’ve reacted any differently.” Carter said, sarcastically. Another short burst of giggles escaped behind the mare’s smile.

“I guess not.” The mare looked away from the human, pulling her silky, pink mane away from her face with a brush of her hoof. Her timid nature appeared to be getting the best of her, causing her to shy away from the human. It wasn’t that she was scared around him, she just felt shy, like she usually did whenever she was around new faces.

Though Carter did not know that about her, it was perhaps to her benefit. He perceived her timid behavior as cute and somewhat adorable, although there was no way he would ever admit it to her. He figured it was just the effects of the anesthetics wearing off.

“Oh, I just remembered something.” Fluttershy swiftly bolted upright as a thought returned to her. She reached over to the desk located beside Carter’s medical bed and picked up a cup of water. Once safely in her possession she carefully positioned it within Carter’s reach and offered it to him. “I figured you might be thirsty. It must've been a while since you've had anything to eat or drink.”

Don't remind me.

The human graciously accepted her offering and chugged every bit of the cold liquid down his throat in only a matter of seconds. Following the final gulp, Carter couldn’t help but lean back and exhale in satisfaction as he felt the beverage cool his body and refill him with some much needed energy.

“Thank you very much, Ms. Fluttershy. I definitely needed that.” Carter handed the empty cup to the mare, who then took it from him and disposed of it in the nearest trash can.

“You’re very welcome, Carter,” replied Fluttershy.

Throughout their whole interaction, Carter made sure to come across as friendly so as to not further increase their suspicion toward him, specifically in regards to what Princess Twilight had told him the night prior. He’d make a conscious effort to smile and display his gratitude whenever possible in order to earn her trust. But at the same time, he held back from getting too involved. He himself did not know if he could trust the ponies, especially after what had happened during their first encounter. For all he knew, this was just a test of sorts to see if he would crack. He knew he wouldn't, because he wasn't the bad guy. But, still, he held his guard up, expecting the worst while hoping for the best.

At first glance, Fluttershy’s kindness seemed more sincere than forced out.

Carter figured that she had, by then, shifted from seeing him as a possible enemy - not unlike the select few others - and now thought of him as just another stranger she wanted to get to know. While he wasn’t planning on not allowing her to truly get to know him - as part of him wanted to get to know her, as well, but more so out of trust issues rather than genuine interest - Carter remained almost uncommunicative, keeping quiet unless he was on the receiving end of the conversation.

Fluttershy turned her head towards the ground and nervously rocked along her hind hooves, troubled by the recurring silence.

“So… the doctor told us that you were free to go whenever you woke up,” she said.

Carter looked down at his arms, finding small bandages covering the spots where the cords were previously injected into his body.

“So it seems,” said Carter.

“Yep. He said that you shouldn’t feel too much pain, but that you should keep that cast on for the next day or so just so your ribs can have enough time to finish healing properly.”

Carter pulled the blanket down to reveal his chest. Sure enough, the cast was still tightly wrapped around him, securing his ribs in place. He gently wiggled his shoulders and hips back and forth. Although he still felt mild soreness in both sides of his chest with each motion, Carter could tell that he had recovered rather quickly.

Fluttershy spectated him from the side, giggling at the human’s strange movements.

“If you’d like, we can leave here and head to the foyer. Most of the others are already there,” said the mare, tilting her head innocently as she waited for his response.

“Sure. Why not?” Carter said, going over the other options in his head, to which he could think of none. “I guess it would be best. After all, it's not like I'm leaving this stupid place anytime soon,” he muttered, shaking his head. Carter did not think about what he said, or rather how he spoke. That is until Fluttershy looked back at him with an offended expression. “Not that I’m mad about being here. You mares have been very kind to me and I cannot thank you enough for your hospitality. I just meant that, unfortunately, it doesn't look like I'll be going home anytime soon.”

“Heehee, it’s quite alright.” Fluttershy couldn’t help but dole out another flurry of giggles at the human. “You don’t talk to others much, do you?”

“Was it that easy to figure out?” Carter raised his brow at the pegasus, feeling somewhat offended, himself. Although, looking at it from her perspective, he probably deserved that little remark. In the end, he could only chuckle alongside her.

“Anyway -” Fluttershy reached down and picked up a small pile of Carter’s clothes, grabbing them with her hooves and placing them on top of the bed. “- when you are ready, you can go ahead and put these on. Just meet me outside in the hall when you are done.” Carter nodded in reply. With that, Fluttershy spun around along her hind hooves and trotted out of the room.

Carter, now left to himself, pulled away the blanket draped over his lower body and swung his feet off the medical bed. With his feet dangling off the floor, Carter looked down at his cast to inspect himself and his continuously-recovering wounds. Nothing about his injuries appeared to be too alarming by then, and so he figured that he would indeed be able to safely move about the castle without causing further harm upon himself.

Carter wasted no time, knowing that Fluttershy was still waiting for him. He quickly put on his clothes and proceeded towards the exit.

While he knew that he still didn’t have his shirt due to past circumstances, Carter still felt it a bit impolite of himself to meet the others without any clothing to cover his top half. However, they probably had no expectations as to how he was to present himself, so he carried on without further questioning his decisions.

Upon exiting the room, Carter walked into what appeared to be a waiting area with chairs lined up in rows of three. He found Fluttershy sitting in the seat closest to him, quietly reading a newspaper while she was waiting for the human to arrive. It had the image of the evil pegasus printed in bold, taking up about half of the front page with the rest being a brief description of what had taken place the afternoon prior.

Fluttershy heard the human’s footsteps as he approached her. When she was able to see him in the corner of her eye, she turned her head to face him.

“I still can’t believe that the pegasus tried to take Flurry Heart…” A gasp of sorts escaped her lungs upon finishing her sentence. She looked back at the newspaper. “What kind of monster would foalnap somepony like her?”

“Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy.” Carter came over to the mare’s location and stopped a foot or two in front of her, looking down at the newspaper for himself. He focused solely on the picture of the evil pegasus, getting a familiar feeling from his image alone.

Carter shifted his attention down at his hand, remembering what had happened to him near the end of their battle. He could still remember the cries from Flurry Heart as she looked upon him whilst corrupted. His only remaining concern was hoping that the foal was not scarred by what she had witnessed. The last thing he needed was for her to feel scared around him, especially after all he wanted to do was help her. However, looking back at Fluttershy, he knew that he shouldn’t be reminiscing. He lowered his hand and let out a sigh.

“She’s safe, now. That’s what matters.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just… I wish these attacks would end. So many ponies are getting hurt and nopony knows why they keep happening,” said Fluttershy.

“I’m sure you’ll figure that out soon enough,” replied Carter. “Don't give up, now. For all we know, you could be so close to finding a solution.”

“Maybe you’re right.” Fluttershy sighed, feeling somewhat defeated with having to accept things for what they were. But, Carter was right. It was in the past, and the important thing was that Flurry Heart did indeed survive and was currently with her family like she should have been.

Fluttershy placed the newspaper down on the table beside her where the rest of the reading material laid and hopped off her chair, gently landing on her hooves.

“Now then, let’s go take you to see the rest of the group.” Fluttershy trotted off down the hall, signaling for Carter to follow behind her. The human did just that and they were soon back on track to meet up with the other mares.

Their trek down the halls were quiet for the most part. No words were spoken between the two of them save for some directions from Fluttershy as they traversed through the castle.

The silence - while making the mare feel a tad awkward - gave Carter some time to think.

Carter began strategizing how he wanted to approach the others when he would finally get to see them again. For the most part, he expected to have no trouble getting along with the ponies, as they seemed to somewhat accept him - albeit with some trust issues, to which he figured he could overcome through small talk and allowing them to get to know him a little better like he was doing for Fluttershy.

However, in regards to Rainbow Dash, she was a whole different story.

While Twilight mentioned that Applejack seemed to show regret for her actions, Rainbow Dash, judging her based on how she acted towards him, along with what the Princess had told him about her in regards to not showing the same regret, Carter determined that Rainbow Dash would be the most difficult to earn her trust. Even with that in mind, he couldn't decide if he just needed to give her more time than the others before she would accept him or take an entirely different approach to win her trust.

But at the end of the day, Carter knew nothing would be certain until things would actually unfold.

Coming to the end of the hall and into the foyer, Carter and Fluttershy were met with the rest of the group. Each of the other mares were talking amongst each other, no doubt waiting for the guests to arrive.

Princess Twilight turned her head toward the hall when she saw the human step out into the scene. A smile swept over her face as she dismissed herself from the group and trotted over to him.

“Good morning, Carter,” she said in a light, jovial tone. “How are you, today?”

“Better,” replied Carter. He wanted to say more, but nothing else came to his mind. And so he was left standing there, awkwardly.

“... That’s great to hear.” Twilight said, breaking the silence.

Carter could tell that she too felt uncomfortable amidst the silence. He swore under his breath.

“What about you, Your Majesty?” Carter asked in an attempt to redeem himself.

“I’m doing very well. Thank you for asking,” said Twilight.

Carter took note that while the princess still wore her crown and golden boots, she discarded her dress. He wondered if it had perhaps been damaged after the attack, but seeing as the other mares were never clothed, he instead assumed that she only wore it for significant events.

“Is everything ready, Twilight?” Fluttershy took notice of the awkwardness and stepped in to help guide the conversation.

“Yep. Everything is all set,” said Twilight. “Now we are just waiting for them to arrive.”

Carter cocked his head in curiosity. While it dawned on him that he didn’t know who exactly these aforementioned guests were, he did remember Fluttershy revealed one distinct feature about them.

“You said something about two sisters,” Carter said, at first looking at Fluttershy, then shifting his attention to Twilight. “Who are they to you? Dare I ask.”

“Right, you haven’t even met them!” Twilight’s eyes grew noticeably wider, realizing that she had yet to reveal to the human the identity of said guests. “It’s the two sisters: Celestia and Luna. They were the previous princesses, the leaders of Equestria before they bestowed that honor upon me. Today marks the first anniversary of my rule as princess, and so they wanted to come to the castle to say hi and see how things are going.”

“So you are very new to this whole thing?” Carter inquired, taking note when Twilight mentioned “first anniversary.” He knew she already mentioned that she had only recently taken up the title of leader, but he didn’t think that implied only a year long timeframe.

“Yes, quite so,” replied Twilight.

There was a knock at the gates. Everypony went silent.

Princess Twilight turned her head toward the front entrance of the castle.

“Open up!” ordered Twilight.

The gates opened up immediately following the princess’ orders. One of the castle guards stepped into view, requesting a moment of Twilight’s time. She accepted and trotted over to talk with him.

While they discussed with each other, the other mares continued to talk amongst each other.

Fluttershy went to talk with the others, leaving Carter to himself. That is until Applejack noticed that the human was all by his lonesome. Seeing as there was no pony else in the area, she came over to his position.

“Howdy, Mister,” she said, opening the conversation while continuing to walk toward him.

“Good morning, Miss Applejack,” Carter said in reply, keeping in mind his manners. “How is your day going?”

“Quite fine, actually,” said Applejack. “Looks like yer wounds healed quickly. Bet that’s a relief.”

Carter did not reply. While he, by then, had some understanding of her’s and Rainbow Dash’s intentions at the time, he personally felt it was still, in the end, mostly their fault for what had happened to him. He wouldn’t admit it, but he still held some form of a grudge toward them for acting very aggressive during their first encounter.

Applejack could tell he did not fully forgive her via the silence along with his deadpan stare. She expected nothing less. The guilt ate her up inside throughout the entirety of the night, prior. She wanted to apologize to him now that she had the opportunity to speak with him in person.

“Carter, Ah… Ah’m really sorry for how Ah treated ya, yesterday. It was not right of me to cause ya harm, and Ah know that, now. Ah just… Ah really don’t wanna come across as the bad pony in yer eyes.” Applejack held out her hoof to Carter. “If it’s all the same to ya, Ah’d like to start fresh and redeem myself. Redo my first impressions, if Ah may.”

A smile came over Carter’s face. He respected the mare’s willingness to own up to her mistakes and see to it that she would make things right. He reached down and grabbed onto her hoof, giving it a firm shake.

“Thank you for that, Applejack,” said Carter. He appreciated her apology. But while he processed it in his head, he realized that perhaps he himself also needed to apologize for his shady introduction. “But… you don’t have to apologize. Princess Twilight told me about what had happened before I arrived here and why you all thought I was the one to blame. In short, I respect your decision. You were only trying to protect them, nothing wrong with that.” Applejack smiled back at the human, touched by his kind words. “If anything, I’m sorry for how I acted. I have trust issues, and that’s why I'm not the best at talking to others. I let them get the best of me, and so I held back in regards to revealing my past. But in doing so, I see now that I gave off the wrong first impression. I just hope you now know that I’m not who you once thought I was. It was just… bad timing on my part.”

“Hmph, it seems we both made some mistakes,” said Applejack.

“Yeah… I guess we did.” Carter and Applejack ceased their hand-hoof shake.

It felt good for both of them. The issues that arose from their first encounter seemed to now be washed away, paving the path for a fresh shart. Carter had allowed at least Applejack to see him as an ally rather than the enemy, and Applejack had begun to loosen up around the human.

While the two of them were talking, Rarity also caught the eye of the human. She too seemed to require his attention, as she trotted over to join in on their conversation. She was carrying something blue and made of cloth. It was neatly folded holding it closely by her side.

“Carter, thank goodness you’re here. Princess Cadance told me about the shirt and so I made this for you.” Rarity gave Carter the item in her possession.

The princess got her to make it...?

Carter unfolded the item and held it out in front of himself. It was a dark blue shirt… of sorts. It didn’t look like anything he had ever worn before, looking less like a shirt and more like a tunic.

Carter didn’t know what to think of it. It wasn’t at all what he was expecting when Princess Cadance told him he’d get a new shirt. But at the same time, anything was better than nothing. And who was he to tell Rarity that her work was unacceptable?

“Thanks, Rarity… but you didn’t have to-”

“I know, I know, it isn’t my best work. I just didn’t have much time to work with and being that you’re the first human I’ve ever seen, I hardly know how to make a shirt for your… unusual body formation,” said Rarity. She could tell that Carter didn’t exactly like the design, but didn’t want to be rude. In all seriousness, especially after looking at it next to the human, she too didn’t appear to like her design. “Eh, that one can work as a temporary shirt for now. Just find me later in the day and I can fashion a more… fitting design for you.”

“She's right, Carter. Rarity is one of, if not the best with all things fashion and clothing," said Applejack.

“It’s fine.” Carter said with a chuckle. He looked back to the white mare. “Thanks, Rarity. Truly. This will work nicely.” Rarity nodded in reply.

“Oh! They’re here!” Everypony turned to face Princess Twilight as she looked outside the front gates with a beaming smile spanning cheek to cheek. It had seemed that the sisters had finally arrived.

Eagerly, Twilight rushed outside to greet her guests. The other mares followed suit, trailing closely behind the princess.

Applejack, while catching up with the others, looked back at Carter.

“Ah’m sorry, Ah hate to just up and leave ya like this,” she said with an embarrassed smile. “Just stay there and wait for us to return. We just gotta go say hi to a couple old friends.”

“Just go with the others. Don’t mind me,” replied Carter.

Once Applejack had left the foyer through the castle gates, Carter was left to himself, once again. Of course, there were also two guards in his vicinity, each one posted on opposing sides of the gate and staring straight in front of them. But they didn’t seem to even acknowledge him, so it felt to him as though he was the only one in the room.

And so Carter remained where he stood, rocking along his heels as he waited for the ponies to return.

He looked down at the “shirt” that Rarity gave him and decided to put it on. As expected, it was nothing like what he was used to. It fit him like an oversized jacket, draping down past his knees. But even then, he couldn’t help but inwardly commend the mare’s craft. She was right. Rarity definitely wasn’t used to making clothing for humans, and yet she seemed to make something rather acceptable in comparison to what he could’ve done, and in such little time no less. On top of that it looked well made as opposed to cheap and rushed, appearing to be somewhat durable and clean in design.

Heh. Thanks, Rarity. You actually did pretty good…

After tightening the tunic with a belt he found attached to the waist area of the clothing, Carter turned his attention to the interior of the castle, in order to distract himself while he waited for the ponies to return.

The image of the princess portrayed along a stained glass window caught his attention, enough to cause him to turn around and get a closer look at it for himself.

Upon further inspection, Carter could make out the rest of the mares surrounding the princess, each wearing their own necklace that seemed to be heavily focused upon through the art’s choice of color, making their respective jewelry appear much more shiny and reflective compared to the rest of the scene. It looked like this single piece of artwork was meant to portray the nation’s leader and her friends.

But that wasn’t the only one he found.

Placed along the entirety of the hall’s walls were more glass artwork-based stories, depicting younger versions of the ponies overcoming the challenges they each faced back before they came to where they now stood.

One portrayed an event where Twilight and her friends defeated a stallion who seemed to be one with the shadows, fighting against the purple mare for what appeared to be a heart made of light blue crystal. There was also a small, purple dragon who appeared to fight alongside the princess, though it was unclear to him who it was.

Another told the story of the ponies fighting against some strange beast that seemed to inhabit physical traits from many other creatures, forming together to create a strange and unusual amalgamation. However, at the very bottom of the stained glass portrait, it showed the creature being reformed, staring across the image and towards Fluttershy. It appeared that, somehow, she was the key to their success.

Carter viewed many more of the artistic windows, getting small hints into Equestria’s past. There were so many questions that arose from each one, so many portrayed ponies and other creatures he did not know, and so many other parts of Equestria that he had never seen before.

One small detail stood out to Carter after he realized a trend found within some of them: Twilight was depicted as a unicorn at some point in history. He pondered why they would inscribe her as such, as she was clearly an alicorn.

Then, coming up to the last stained glass window, Carter saw the image of two alicorns circling around each other in the form of a yin yang, alicorns which he had never met before. One was white and as bright as the sun, with that very same star inscribed along her flank. The other seemed like the polar opposite, resembling the darkness of night, along with a fitting symbol of the moon upon her flank.

Though he had never met those two ponies in person, it was almost obvious to him who they really were.

Is that…

Carter froze when something unexpected came into view.

The shadow of a pony approaching him from behind cast itself over the human and onto the wall in front of him. It was nothing to him at first, only slightly startling him when he took notice of it. However, as the unknown pony drew closer to him, the shadow grew larger. So large in fact that it seemed almost unrealistically tall for a pony. Carter thought it was nothing more than an optical illusion, perhaps caused by the angulation of the shadow, but as he turned around, his hypothesis was immediately falsified.

Sending a chill down his spine in surprise, an abnormally tall, white alicorn mare with a chromatic colored, transparent mane stood before him, with the familiar emblem of the sun upon her flank. And standing beside her was the other, slightly smaller alicorn mare, standing at about his height, having a darker, blackish-blue colored coat paired with a gloomy, cosmic-like mane.

The human and the two mares stared at each other. Each one of them visibly portrayed their shock through their expressions, each for their own reasons. While the two mares couldn’t believe that they were actually seeing a human for the first time in the history of Equestria, Carter just couldn’t seem to comprehend the alicorns’ abnormal height difference compared to the Princess and her friends, along with their otherworldly appearances.

After staring childishly at the mares for what felt like an eternity, Carter looked over his shoulder at the stained glass image of the two mares, then back at them. He went through that very same motion twice more, stuck in a state of pure perplexity.

“Are you… the sisters?” he finally inquired, continuing to stare in surprise at the two alicorns.

“... and you must be the human.” replied the white mare.

“You know of me?” Carter was surprised by her response, as it seemed that even though no human had ever stepped foot in Equestria - at least to his knowledge - these two alicorns already knew of his kind.

“Twilight told us of your arrival,” answered the darker mare.

Of course she did…

“I see you have met Carter.” Twilight said, coming up from behind the alicorns. The two mares turned around and both of them and Carter looked toward the princess as she trotted closer to them to join in on their conversation. “This is the human I briefly talked about in the letter I sent you, yesterday.” Princess Twilight stopped beside Celestia. The other ponies followed closely behind her before halting in a small clutter behind the princess, looking up at the sisters with smiles.

“So I see,” said Luna. The mare seemed to consciously monitor her words, keeping them to a minimum. She looked upon the human with a stoic stare.

The silent staring the dark blue mare gave the human was, while unsettling to some degree, something Carter was ultimately more used to, given the fact that he himself would often do the same. Although she appeared to be staring at him with a more curious intent than anything else, looking as though she was studying the human visually as opposed to verbally.

“Well I must say that it is an absolute honor and privilege to meet you, Carter!” Celestia said in a cheery tone and with a bright smile.

Contrary to her sister, Celestia seemed to be bursting with interest regarding the human. She seemed to have many questions for him.

“Honor?” Carter inquired, puzzled by the peculiar choice of words.

“But of course,” said Celestia. “It has been forever since anypony has even heard of humans, let alone actually seen one. Your big reveal, whether you know it or not, is a very momentous occasion for Equestria.”

“Wait, you know of humans!?” Twilight questioned the white mare through a shout. Being the current princess of the nation, she was left baffled after hearing that Celestia and Luna had known of humans in one way or another, and that, while she heard of them by name once upon a time, she ultimately had no comprehension of their existence before Carter’s arrival.

“Yes, Twilight. Humans have only ever been mentioned ever so briefly within the earliest known historical transcripts,” answered Luna. “Even then, they’ve only ever mentioned their existence, nothing more.”

“Believe me, dear Twilight, we are just as surprised as you are to be actually seeing one with our own eyes,” said Celestia. “Oh, but more on that later, I do not wish to overwhelm you with all my questions during our first encounter. However, I do believe introductions are in order.”

Oh boy, let’s see how this one goes.

“My name is Celestia, one of the former leaders of Equestria. And this one beside me is my sister: Luna, who had also served alongside me during our time,” said the white mare with a smile, pointing a hoof at the other pony when mentioning the latter’s name.

“It is good to finally be able to meet you, human.” Luna said with a nod, though without any form of a welcoming smile.

“You as well,” said Carter, returning the deadpan gesture.

“I’m so glad you two could make it,” Twilight spoke to Celestia and Luna once they were finished with their introductions.

“Yes, it’s an absolute pleasure to be seeing you all, once again, and after such a long length of time since our last visit, too,” replied Celestia.

“Indeed. It is always good to be able to see our once faithful student, now beloved successor, along with all her friends, whenever we can,” added Luna. “Me and my sister rushed to the opportunity to see you girls when we realized that today marked the first ever anniversary of your leadership since your coronation.”

“I still can’t believe it’s already been that long,” said Princess Twilight, cocking her head and smiling nervously. “I honestly didn’t think I’d make it this far.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Twilight. We always knew you’d be perfect for the job,” said Celestia.

“But only because you have such awesome friends,” said Rainbow Dash with a smug grin beaming from cheek to cheek. The other mares all looked at her with their own humorously skeptical expressions.

“Yeah, you’re not wrong,” said Twilight, blushing from slight embarrassment. She knew very well that, while the prismatic-maned pegasus was merely being cocky, she was overall correct with her statement. “You girls have been a big, big help.”

“Oh goodness! Your hoof, Twilight.” said Celestia as she looked down at the princess’ injured forehoof. The appendage was dark purple and moderately swollen, making it quite an easy find.

“Oh, that… I…” Carter took note of the princess quickly looking over at him, then back to the sisters. “I just tripped. It’s nothing, really…”

“You… tripped?” Luna inquired. “That looks like a lot of pain caused by such a simple stumble.”

“Yeah, it was quite unfortunate,” replied Twilight.

Carter raised his brow in response to the princess’ reply. While he chose to keep quiet, he knew she wasn’t telling them about the rather violent crash she had to endure during the attack, let alone mentioning the event to them at all.

He figured at the very least that there was a reason for steering away from the attack, and one that he should stay out of. But still, the fact they took notice of her injured hoof so quickly proved that she wouldn’t be able to hide it for long.

It looked better than it did the night prior, but her hoof’s wounds were still very noticeable, even through her golden boot. Luckily for her, the rest of her wounds were pretty healed up by then.

Perhaps to the princess’ luck, she should’ve also been glad that Rarity’s shirt she gave Carter hid his cast, otherwise that might have led to more questions. It was also a good thing, at least in this case, that her friends were down on the surface tending to the wounded guards rather than joining in the fight.

But one thought arose in Carter’s mind, and after seeing the Princess’ eyes widen for a brief moment, Twilight quite possibly had the same idea.

What would they think if the sisters saw Princess Cadance and Flurry Heart in their current condition?

“I hope it wasn’t too much trouble getting here,” said Fluttershy.

Thank God…

He wasn't certain, but Carter swore he could hear himself and Twilight sigh in relief at the same time following the pegasus’ topic-diverging question.

“Of course not.” Luna shook her head then turned her eyes toward Twilight. “Which by the way, Twilight, thank you for sending Spike our way to help us pack. Definitely helped us save some time.”

Carter cocked his head, slightly. The name “Spike” was not one he was familiar with.

“Absolutely, Luna. I’m glad to hear that he was able to help you,” replied Twilight, smiling at the sisters.

“Speaking of which, where is that little fella?” inquired Applejack.

“He’s outside, gathering our luggage and bringing them inside,” explained Celestia.

“Well then, shouldn’t we go out and help him?” asked Rarity, feeling concerned for him. “I feel terrible knowing that he’s out there doing it all by himself.”

“Don’t worry about it, Rarity. We didn’t pack too many things. He can take care of it, himself,” said Celestia.

“That’s assuming he’s not having any trouble,” Luna said, looking over at the front doors of the castle. “He’s taking a long time to get here. You don’t think we may have overloaded the little guy, you think, sister?”

“Nonsense, Luna. Spike is strong, I’m positive he’s doing fine,” replied Celestia, giving off a determined look to her sister.

Luna could only reply with a roll of her eyes paired with a chuckle. The determination her sister projected through her words was both humorous, yet respectable all the same.

Celestia, suddenly feeling an overwhelming wave of excitement wash over her now that they were finally back in Canterlot, began trotting in place in front of the others.

“Ooh, it’s so good to be back!” Everypony couldn’t help but giggle in response to the eldest mare’s gestures; even Carter failed to hold back his smile, which he hid from view upon raising his fist in front of his mouth. “Let’s not waste anymore time, I do believe an anniversary party is in order.”

“Of course, Celestia. Right this way.” Twilight signaled to her friends and to Carter to follow her as she led the others down the main halls of the castle. Everypony followed closely behind the princess.

Carter kept to the back of the group, walking just behind Pinkie Pie and Rarity. He had no clue what exactly Princess Twilight had planned for her anniversary, so he kept quiet, simply following her and the others while he waited for the answers to come to him.

Carter stopped in his tracks after hearing footsteps from behind his back, which only caught his attention upon comprehending the fact that, last he checked, he was the furthest behind the others in the group.

Carter looked over his shoulder and saw a massive tower of suitcases come through the front doors, carried by what he could only make out to be two purple, clawed feet which he spotted from below the luggage, not at all resembling any pony attributes. While perplexed by the sight, Carter then turned his whole body upon witnessing the creature step into the castle. The size of the luggage pile alone was impressive to him.

A voice was heard from behind the tower of suitcases, and following an audible “uh oh,” the luggage began to tip forward.

Carter, realizing what was about to occur, broke off from the group and rushed in to help the unknown creature recover before they would drop all the suitcases. He sprinted as fast as he could, watching as the luggage slowly fell toward the ground, all while the creature holding them began to freak out from behind their cover.

The human got right under the towering suitcases and held his arms out. By the time he arrived, they were too low to be repositioned, and so he instead attempted to catch all that he could.

When the suitcases finally toppled over, Carter managed to grab onto a couple of them, but the remaining luggage fell to the ground with a loud thud. Carter winced in reaction to the booming noise that echoed throughout the foyer.

While maintaining a good grip around the luggage that he did manage to catch, Carter looked over his shoulder to see if the others took notice of the unfortunate event. The hall was empty, and while some residual echoes reverberated off the walls, no hoofsteps were heard coming from the hall. It had seemed to Carter that the others were too far to hear the luggage on impact, which was perhaps to his and the other creature’s best interest.

Let’s hope nothing broke from that… let alone something expensive…!

A distressed groan came from under all the luggage that Carter wasn’t as fortunate to catch, which seemed to pile on top of the other creature upon landing. Carter, after carefully placing the luggage he did manage to recover on the floor beside him, knelt down and began to move the rest of it off the creature.

“You alright?” Carter asked as he continued removing the luggage off the unfortunate creature. Another groan came in reply. “Hold on, lemme help you out of this mess.”

Once Carter managed to move away a majority of the luggage, a purple arm extended itself from underneath it all, reaching out for a hand… or perhaps a hoof. Carter quickly aided the creature upon seeing its clawed hand, firmly grabbing onto it with his own - albeit non-clawed hand - and then freeing the rest of them from there.

“Ugh… thanks for that,” said the creature once it was freed. It dusted itself off, brushing its hands against its knees, briskly. It looked up at Carter to thank him, but instead found itself stepping back, startled by Carter’s odd appearance.

Both Carter and the other creature looked at each other with surprised looks once their eyes met, happening almost identically to when he and the sisters first met not too long ago.

Carter was left surprised for only a second or two, however, as he now felt quite accustomed to seeing new, various species on occasion. And it seemed to him like the other creature felt the same way, as it looked up at Carter with the same expression once it was able to get a good look at him: curious as opposed to cautious.

The creature was found to be a bit smaller than the ponies… in fact, it didn’t resemble a pony at all. It was a bipedal in appearance, already a notably major difference. It was also covered in scales rather than hair. Color-wise, it was purple, similar to the princess’ color scheme, but with green eyes and spikes that ran along its back from its head to its tail, shrinking in size the farther down it went. It also had a lighter, more mint-like tint along its belly and in a small patch of scales ejecting from around both its cheeks.. Its hands ended in three fingers and a thumb, and its feet had three toes, both of which were clawed. Its tail also appeared to possess a spear-like tip at the end.

Dragon???

Carter was left perplexed. While he wasn’t used to seeing this creature, he in fact knew what it was almost instantly.

The two were left staring, possibly longer than necessary.

“You’re welcome,” Carter said, holding out his hand to the creature and initiating the conversation.

The small, reptile-like creature shook itself out of its stupor and grabbed Carter’s hand, giving it a firm shake.

“Sorry… I’m just not used to seeing guys like you.” The dragon gave off an apologetic smile whilst slightly tilting its head. “You’re the… hoo-man, right?”

“Human… but yes,” replied Carter. “Like a color hue… but I digress. Yes, that is indeed me.”

“Ah, I see.” The dragon pulled his hand away once the handshake concluded.

“And you are a dragon, correct?” Carter inquired, making sure that his synopsis of the creature was indeed true.

“Yes, that’s correct!” The small dragon placed one hand along its side and the other against his chest with his thumb extended outward and pointed towards himself. “I’m Spike. Royal Adviser to Princess Twilight Sparkle and proud member of the Council of Friendship.”

“Wow,” was the only thing Carter could say after hearing such a statement. “An actual dragon. *Chuckle* That’s kinda cool, really.”

“You know of dragons?” Spike inquired, interested in knowing how the human had heard of species beforehand.

“Well, where I’m from, we’ve only heard of your existence via myth… but to actually see one up close and actually alive is truly something special.” He couldn’t help it, but Carter felt rather excited to see a dragon for himself. "Although, with all due respect... you're quite smaller than I would imagine."

“Yeah, I'm still a rather young dragon. Got a bit of time before I'm fully grown.” replied Spike. “You know, I guess the same can be said for us here in Equestria. We've only heard of you humans through myth and legend. What’s your name?”

“Right. *ahem* My name is Carter… human from Earth. Yeah, nothing special, really.” Carter laughed and scratched the back of his head, awkwardly.

“Hey. that’s fine,” said Spike. “I actually thank you for helping me with the luggage. I wouldn’t admit it to them, but it was definitely a lot, perhaps too much. But don’t tell them I told you that.”

“Yeah, of course.” Carter said, pretending to zip his mouth shut. “But uh, alicorns have magic, right?” Carter asked once the thought came to him.

“Yeah, why?” Spike replied, wondering where the human was going with such a question. Although, truthfully, he already had an idea about what he was going to say next.

“I just think it’s odd that they could instead use their magic to move the luggage themselves. But instead they give it all to you,” explained Carter. “But hey, perhaps that’s just not my decision to make.”

“No, you’re quite right. Believe me, I’ve thought the same thing, myself,” replied Spike.

“Interesting…” Carter and Spike couldn’t help but laugh.

With that, Carter helped Spike pick up the luggage from the ground and walked over to where the rest of the group was gathered, that being the throne room. Everypony turned to look at them once they entered the throne room, wondering why they took so long to catch up.

“Carter, where did you run off to?” Princess Twilight inquired. She noticed that the human was carrying in the sisters’ luggage along with Spike.

“Yeah, I saw him come in with all this luggage and I offered to help him.” Carter set his portion of the luggage down against the wall beside him. “Spike was all like, ‘it’s okay, I can handle it. I’m the strongest dragon I know.’ But I insisted on helping him.” The human winked at Spike, helping him keep his dignity.

Spike shook his head and sighed as he too set the rest of the luggage beside the rest.

“Oh Spike, you’re such a strong, cute dragon. What would we do without you?” said Rarity. Spike shied away and blushed as a result of the compliment.

“I’m so happy that we actually get to do this!” said Celestia with an overwhelming amount of glee in her voice.

“Indeed,” said Luna.

Carter couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, as Luna’s reaction seemed so contrasting compared to her sister’s.

“Well, now that everypony’s here, I guess we can go ahead and start,” said Twilight.

“Hold on now… where’s Cadance and her family?” inquired Celestia, realizing that the Crystal Empire leaders were nowhere to be seen. “Wasn't she supposed to be here, too?”

Everypony froze up, especially the princess.

“Oh… C-C-Cadance?” Twilight’s shaking reoccurred.

Carter knew the princess was under a lot of stress. But it was still unclear to him why she would hide the attack from somepony like them. He couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t just tell them straightforwardly. He felt like it would be the smarter choice, especially since it wasn’t like any pony perished during the attack… except for the enemy, of course, so it wasn’t like she was having to tell them a death count.

“Yes, where is she?” asked Luna.

Carter, still having no idea what was going on behind the scenes, could tell that Celestia and Luna truly had no idea about the attack nor what had happened to Cadance and her foal.

“Twilight?” Celestia noticed Twilight’s nervous shaking almost instantly. “What’s going on?”

“Sorry I’m late!”

Everypony turned toward the voice. It was Princess Cadance, limping her way into the throne room with her husband supporting her, all while the stallion also carried in their little foal, who was still covered in bandages and casts of her own.

They all stared ahead with their own various expressions. Twilight and her friends had wide eyes, the sisters looked in shock with agape jaws, Spike had a mix of both, and Carter just glared with a face that said, “uh oh…”

Cadance could tell that the sisters were very surprised to see her in her current state, and rightfully so.

“Twilight… what happened!?” Celestia exclaimed, looking at the princess with a mix of extreme concern and mild anger in her eyes.

“I… she… uh…” The princess’ trembling only grew in intensity.

Celestia slowly walked over to Twilight, sensing the level of stress arising from within the princess. The closer she got, the more the Twilight shied her face away and the more tears began to form in her eyes. When Celestia got to Twilight’s side, she placed a hoof along the princess’ back and gingerly patted her.

Twilight sniffed before looking up at the eldest sister. An overwhelming amount of shame was visible in her through her eyes.

Celestia looked down at her once-pupil and brought her close to her, pulling Twilight in as she sat down beside her and rested the princess’ head against her chest. Twilight broke into tears and silently wept into Celestia’s chest.

“There there, Twilight. It’s okay.” Celestia continued to comfort Twilight, softly running a hoof through her mane while she held one of her wings out in front of the princess, allowing her to cry in privacy.

The others all stared at the two ponies, feeling sympathy for their princess. The past few days had been a lot for her to deal with, and it was obviously beginning to show.

While her sister tended to the princess, Luna walked over to Princess Cadance and the rest of her family, checking in on them.

Even Cadance found herself in tears soon after the mare came to them, reaching out for Luna with her free hoof. Luna rushed in and pulled Princess Cadance in, hugging her and whispering words of encouragement softly in her ear.

While their little moment took place, Carter watched from the corner of the throne room, wondering if he could’ve done anything better to prevent this. He hung his head and let out a long sigh, hoping that things would only get better from there.

“Twilight, my dear, I am so sorry about what has happened, whatever it is. I want to help you… but to do that” - Celestia looked down at Twilight and wiped away her tears with her hoof. Twilight looked up at Celestia through her tear-covered eyes. - “I need you to tell me exactly what happened.”

Author's Note

This one, along with the following chapter, are going to be very dialogue heavy for the sake of allowing the story to move along smoothly and make sense in the long run.

But at last, Chapter VI is finally released!!! Sheesh, this one shouldn't have taken this long... but life just loves to surprise us, doesn't it. :twilightblush:

Chapter VII: So Much Change

“... *sniff* and that’s what happened.” Princess Twilight brushed away the last of her tears following the end of her sentence.

The sisters stared at the princess with wide open eyes and agape jaws. Both were beyond shocked and horrified to learn about the recent attack once Twilight finally revealed to them everything that had happened not too long ago.

“Oh my… Twilight, I…” Celestia couldn't find herself to speak. Her heart raced in response to the information she had just received, dreading the event in her mind and imagining what it would've been like should she have been in Canterlot at the time.

Luna closed her eyes and lowered her head, fearing the possibility of what would've happened if the pegasus was victorious and took off with Flurry Heart. As a tear or two formed in her eyes, the stoic mare pulled Cadance and her foal in for one more hug, grateful to know that they were now safe after experiencing such a vile event.

The others all stood around Twilight and Celestia, keeping quiet so as not to disrupt the peace that they all definitely needed. Each of them kept to themselves, either staring at the ground or recalling the events in their memories, thankful that it was over.

Keeping close to the princess, Celestia pulled the mare closer to her with her wing and continued to gently stroke Twilight's mane with her hoof in order to further calm her.

Princess Twilight spent the remaining minutes of peace leaned up against Celestia, finding solace in her presence. She couldn't seem to stop her nervous shaking, which by this point had been going on for a long time. But to her, that was the least of her problems. It hurt her greatly to have to tell the sisters about the attack, wishing that she could’ve done something to prevent it entirely. But in the end, she knew it was wrong to keep it from them.

“So this pony just came out of nowhere and tried to foalnap Flurry Heart?” asked Luna, moreso out of disbelief.

“Yes, it’s true,” said Cadance. She looked down at her foal and softly petted her mane. “It’s all true. And as you can see, he wasn’t planning to go out without a fight.” She pointed to all her wounds whilst speaking.

“Did you manage to stop him? Did he get away?” Celestia inquired.

“We stopped him, alright,” answered Twilight. “Thanks to Carter. He managed to help us defeat the evil pony and bring Flurry Heart back to us.” The princess looked to the human, nodding at him as a way of saying thanks once more for his help. “If it wasn’t for him, I don’t think we would’ve gotten so lucky.”

“You stopped him?” Celestia turned her attention to the human.

“I did my best to help.” said Carter, looking back at the eldest sister. “I only wish I had helped sooner.”

“Well we appreciate your help, mister. You’ve done us all a great service,” said Luna.

Carter nodded in reply, wordlessly like the rest of his replies.

“Gosh, I don’t know what to say.” Celestia was still bewildered by what she heard and finding it difficult to process everything. “I mean I'm glad it's all said and done, but Twilight, this is most unfortunate. This is no simple issue, and even I know that this is far from being the first attack caused by corrupted ponies.” She turned back to the princess with a bit of betrayal shown through her expressions. “Why…? Why weren’t you going to tell us about this?”

“Uh… I…” Princess Twilight's lip quivered in response to Celestia's question. The guilt that had slowly grown within her began to consume her. It overwhelmed her to the point where she couldn't get herself to speak. She could only stare back at the elder pony, racked with grief and embarrassment.

“Celestia, if I may speak on behalf of Twilight, we were only trying to not ruin the party for you and Luna,” said Fluttershy. She, along with the others, could tell that the princess was currently overwhelmed by her emotions and wasn’t at all in her right state of mind, and thus helped do the talking for her.

“What?” Celestia responded, baffled by such an odd response.

“It's true, ma'am. We only wanted to make sure that you two would have the best time with Twilight and the rest of us to celebrate a whole year's worth since you and Luna stepped down from the throne, even in spite of everything that happened, yesterday,” stated Rarity.

“But what does that have to do with any of this?” questioned Luna.

“Last night we discussed if we were going to cancel the party or continue to go through with it. We knew you two were gonna be here today, so we agreed to just continue as normal,” explained Pinkie Pie.

“We know we've all been preparing for this event for a while now. We didn't want the attack to ruin it for everypony,” added Applejack. “So we tried to keep it away from you two so you wouldn't have to worry about it while you were here. That way we could all just have a good time together. But it looks like things weren’t meant to go like that.”

Both Celestia and Luna, while still troubled in their own rights, each took a deep breath before continuing the conversation.

“Well I thank you for trying to balance everything and make us feel welcome, even after all that…” Celestia was still troubled. It was true that everypony had been planning the event for about a month's time, let alone waiting a full year for the anniversary. And to have such an unfortunate and untimely affair ruin it for them would definitely be a very unwelcomed conclusion. But still, if that was truly the reason for the ponies to hide it from her and her sister, Celestia wondered why Twilight didn't just tell them in the first place. “But I don’t think that’s the whole story.” Celestia looked back down at Twilight. “Why else did you decide to keep this from us?”

Princess Twilight knew she couldn’t keep quiet for the entirety of the conservation. All the sisters wanted were some answers. Taking in a deep breath, she lowered her head and sighed.

“I wish to speak with the sisters, privately.”

The ponies were surprised by the princess’ command. But they dared not question it, and they quickly exited the throne room one by one soon following Twilight’s request.

Carter noticed Applejack signal to him with her hoof to move to her position. He nodded and briskly walked over to her side, following her outside the throne room.

Once the others had left the room, Celestia, Luna and Princess Twilight were allowed their moment to talk in private.

Celestia and Luna both noticed a familiar, depressed look on Twilight’s face. While the younger sister stood beside the princess, who was still nuzzled against Celestia, the elder sister lifted Twilight’s chin with her hoof and looked down upon her with a warm, sympathetic look in her eyes, letting the princess know that she wasn’t angry.

“I know that look all too well, Twilight.” Celestia brushed Twilight’s mane away from her tear-glossed eyes. “Whatever it is that’s bothering you, you can tell us. It’s just you, me and Luna. You don’t have to keep things from us that trouble you. We just want to know how we can help.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.” Twilight pushed herself off Celestia’s chest and got to her hooves, letting out one more deep breath and finally calming herself enough to prevent any more of her nervous shaking before continuing. “It’s just… everything that’s happened. The attacks, the damage it’s causing everypony, the fact that we still don’t know the reason behind the attacks… everything.”

“What do you mean by that?” inquired Celestia, pushing herself to her hooves as she listened to the princess.

“I mean that… being a princess is not at all what I expected it to be.” Princess Twilight stared at the ground as she spoke, thinking back on everything that had happened since she first took the throne; the good, the bad… all of it.

Both sisters couldn't help but chuckle.

“Well, Twilight, that’s to be expected when a princess first starts her rule as leader of Equestria,” said Luna in a supportive, yet remindful manner. “I don't think anypony could perfect the role, not even you. But we knew that even before you started your journey, and -”

“I understand, and that’s not to say that I thought that it would be easy. No, not at all.” Twilight said, reassuring the sisters - and to some degree, herself - that she did have somewhat of an idea regarding the expectations of a national leader such as herself. “It’s not that. What I mean to say is that it's different. Everything about this is different… different from what I'm used to.”

Twilight looked to a window with the image of herself and her friends etched into the glass. Memories of her past began to flood her mind, memories of the life she had lived before becoming the princess. She began to recall everything she and her friends had done throughout their lives and everything that had led up to this moment. Her emotions got the best of her, soon after.

Celestia and Luna took note of where she was staring and felt pity for the princess, as they both knew how she felt when she looked upon the image.

“Ever since I've become Princess of Equestria, my life has changed drastically. I don't have all the freedom I used to, and the things everypony expects of me are so much more numerous than before.

“Before all this, I used to be able to be with my friends whenever I wanted to. We'd always have fun together; laughing, playing, going on adventures… all things that friends usually do. But now… now I don't get to do those things with them. Now I have an entire nation that depends on me to tend to every little thing that goes on throughout the day, every day. Sure, we had stuff that stopped us from hanging out even back then: jobs, families, things like that. But now it feels like I never have time to be with them. This is the first time in a while that I've been able to do just that, and especially now that you both are here, too, I feel like I don't want it to end.”

“I understand how you feel, Twilight. But that's just part of growing up,” said Celestia.

“Except it isn't simply growing up!” Twilight turned around and faced the sisters with a mildly agitated look in her eyes. “Growing up entails change, and I get that. But this isn't just change. I'm the princess! Me! Nopony else has that going for them besides Cadance! And now that I'm the princess, everypony looks up to me, which means that everything that happens revolves back to me. Everything that goes wrong is on me. Every mistake that occurs is on me. So much pressure is on me, and I just don't know how much more I can take.”

“It is a lot of stress on you, Twilight. We knew that from the beginning,” said Luna.

“But with that said, we picked you for a reason,” added Celestia. “We knew that, despite how overwhelming the role can be, you would be the perfect pony to take our place.”

“And I can't thank you enough for that, Celestia. But after stepping into your shoes for just over a year now, after actually going through the motions and experiencing what it's like to do what you two did before me, I don't know if I'm actually cut out for such a role,” replied Twilight. “It's getting to be overwhelmingly stressful. And like I previously stated, I don't get to be around my friends that much, which means I'm alone a lot of the time… alone with nothing but my stress and anxiety.”

“Have you talked about this with your friends?” asked Luna.

“Well… no. No, I haven’t. But that’s not important.” Twilight began to teeter on the edge of her breaking point. Her cheeks were puffed and her face began to glow pink.

“Well if you've been so stressed lately, why haven't you at least told us?” inquired Celestia.

“Because I didn't want to disappoint anypony!” Twilight’s shout almost shook the throne room, unable to keep her feelings tucked away any longer.

The room went quiet following the princess' sudden outburst.

Both sisters felt a wave of emotions flow through them after the echoes had settled. At first they felt surprised, not at all expecting the princess to react in such a manner. But once they processed what Twilight had told them through the shout, it was then they realized that now she was beginning to truly open up.

“Disappoint… us?” Celestia inquired.

Twilight’s shaking reoccurred, but only until she continued speaking, which she paused for just a couple seconds. The princess sighed.

“You two were the best princesses Equestria could’ve ever been blessed with. You two were always ready to be the leaders that we all needed. You always knew what to do, how to do it, and if you didn’t then you would at least know where to find the answers. You set the bar pretty high for me, and I knew well before the day came when I would take the throne that I would have a lot to live up to. At first, I thought for sure that I could do it. But as time went on, and especially with the attacks, it’s only recently that I realized just how hard it is to lead a whole nation, let alone being somepony that everypony else can look up to when things get tough.”

Princess Twilight lowered her head in shame. It hurt her to have to admit to them the pain and stress she was feeling from being princess, but as the conversation went on, she quickly began to realize that bottling up her emotions would only lead to a worse outcome.

Celestia and Luna remained silent throughout the princess’ confession, only flicking glances at each other from time to time.

“Because of the fact that you two did it so well in the past, I didn’t want anypony to worry that I wouldn’t be up to the task… that I wouldn’t be enough. So I kept quiet, not letting anypony know how I really felt. But… if I’m being honest with myself and to you, I’m scared. I don’t want to know that I don’t meet the standards. And yet every time something wrong has happened in Equestria, I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt rush over me. Like it’s all my fault.” A tear formed in each of Twilight’s eyes as she shied away from the sisters.

“I just want to be like you. But I’m worried that I’ll never do as good as you, two.”

Celestia and Luna both looked at each other, surprised to hear such a confession. But as moments passed, they couldn’t help themselves.

They began laughing.

Twilight, confused and slightly insulted by the gesture, lifted her head and looked over at the two sisters, who were seeming to share a moment of humor between each other.

“Are you… laughing at me…?” Twilight inquired, assuming that the laughter could only mean mockery.

“No, dear. Ahaha! Not at all,” said Luna.

“Quite the contrary, Twilight,” replied Celestia.

“Well then why are you laughing?” asked Twilight.

“Oh Twilight, we’re not laughing at you -” Celestia placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “- we’re laughing with you.”

“But… I’m not laughing.”

“Twilight, you expect too much out of yourself,” said Luna.

“What?”

“Yes, my sister is right,” replied Celestia. “We did not at all expect you to fulfill your duties to perfection, Twilight. Especially not right after you took the throne.”

“But, isn’t it my job to do everything right?” said Twilight.

“On paper, sure,” said Luna. “But my dear, you are not at all expected to be perfect. No pony expects that of you. Not right out of the gate, so to speak.”

“Me and Luna were definitely not anywhere close to perfect, ourselves. Especially when we first became princesses,” said Celestia.

“But you two seemed like you were made to be leaders!”

“Well, I won’t lie, we were pretty good princesses, once upon a time,” said Celestia with a hint of sarcasm. “But, Twilight, we were not perfect. We too had to grow and learn how to do our jobs back in our earliest days of leadership, just like you are doing, right now.” Celestia gently stroked Twilight’s mane. “It took us a long, long time to get to where we are today. We made many mistakes of our own, but we overcame them in time.”

“Might I need remind you of what I had to suffer through because of my mistakes?” said Luna.

Twilight shook her head, quickly remembering the moon sister’s past actions and the consequences that followed.

“Twilight, you are a princess, yes, and that of course means that you must be the leader that everypony needs you to be,” said Celestia as she took a few steps away from Twilight in order to give her space. “But you must remember to spend the beginning of your journey learning how to do your job. And you are not alone in this. I did remind you on the day of coronation that it would be you and your friends who would lead Equestria from here on out. But to do that, you must allow them to help you and guide you when it gets tough.”

“You didn’t get here alone, and you definitely won’t last long if you choose that path now,” said Luna.

“Let them help you. Let us help you, Twilight. I promise, if you let us do just that, we can help you overcome those challenges and make your job a little easier.”

Twilight looked up to Celestia, wiping away her tears and coming in for a hug. The eldest sister openly embraced the princess, pulling her close and showing love for her.

“You’re not alone in this, Twilight. Remember that and you’ll be just fine.”

“I will. Thank you for the reminder.” Twilight let go and backed away from Celestia until she was able to see her again.

“Poor thing,” Luna said, feeling pity for the princess. “It’s been a long few days, hasn’t it?”

“You have no idea,” replied Twilight with a giggle.

“Eh, we have some idea,” said Celestia.

“Well, now that that’s out of the way, I can still go through with the party if you two wish to do so,” said Twilight.

“I think that would be a great idea,” replied Luna.

“It would be a great way to allow everypony to calm down for a time,” added Celestia. “But before we do that, is there anything else you wish to talk about?”

“Yes. Now would be a good time to do so,” said Luna.

“Well…” Twilight rubbed the back of her head with her hoof and looked down at the ground as one more topic for discussion popped up in her head. “There is one more thing.”

“What is it?” asked Celestia.

“It’s… it’s about the human: Carter.”

The others all gathered in the dining room, located a few rooms adjacent to the throne room. They each sat at a table and talked amongst each other while they waited for Princess Twilight and the sisters to return.

While the majority of them enjoyed their moment with each other, Carter sat along the end of the dining table, farthest from the rest of the ponies. With crossed arms and a stoic look on his face, he stared blankly in front of himself, nearly motionless while lost in thought.

Applejack, who sat to Carter’s right with only a single seat separating them, took notice of Carter’s odd, antisocial behavior. She wondered why he was being so reclusive and isolated from the group.

“Quite a first impression of Equestria for ya. Ain’t it, Carter?” She spoke in a friendly tone, hoping to get the human to slowly join in with the rest of the group. Applejack figured that he was simply shy around new faces, especially being the only human.

“I guess…” Carter didn’t quite know how to reply. Without any idea of what this strange new world was during any other point in time, and considering that he had only been there for just over a day, he didn’t feel comfortable sharing his thoughts. He felt worried that - with his luck - his answer would possibly offend her and the others, which was the last thing he needed on his conscience.

“Oh… Ah see…” Applejack turned her head away from the human, feeling awkward in response to Carter’s short reply.

Then came the familiar, awkward silence.

Carter shied away and cursed to himself. Yet again, he failed to pick up the social cues that she was just trying to start a conversation with him. In a swift effort to save himself the embarrassment, he looked back at the mare and continued their talk.

“You ponies all have an emblem or something along your flank. What is that?”

Applejack looked back at him with a raised brow.

Carter thought nothing of his little question when it came to mind. But once it was actually put into words he felt his heart drop.

Did I really just start off with a question about their butt tattoos!?

His eyes widened and he clenched his teeth in embarrassment.

Applejack looked down along her back and saw the image of apples embedded into her hairs.

“Oh, ya mean my cutie mark!” Applejack chuckled when she realized what the human was pointing to. “It’s a special thing us ponies get when we find out what makes us special. We’re normally born without ‘em, but once we discover our purpose, a special magic gives us our cutie mark.”

Oh thank God. She took that so lightly. I could’ve been in big trouble… wait a minute. Cutie mark? What the hell kinda name is that? And what does she mean that some “special magic” gives it to them?

Applejack waited for a response from the human, but he just stared blankly ahead, lost in thought.

“Uh… does that answer yer question?”

“Erm, yes! Yes, that answers it perfectly.” Carter replied, snapping back into reality. “Sorry. Still recovering, I guess.” He said in an attempt to save himself further embarrassment.

“It’s all good, partner,” replied Applejack.

Silence fell over the two once more, and while Carter knew that at least this time it was fine to close the conversation then and there, he didn’t know if it was right of him to do so after such a quick chat. So to continue he began thinking of other things to talk about. Without much thought, one question came to mind.

“Applejack, is everything alright with the princess? With Twilight?”

“Yes, she’s doing fine.” Applejack said with a sigh. “She’s just a bit overwhelmed being the princess ‘n all. But nothing you should worry yerself with, Carter.”

“Overwhelmed?” Carter asked.

“I’m sure even you can understand how much weight she carries on her shoulders… metaphorically speaking, of course,” replied Applejack. Carter nodded in reply. She leaned back in her chair and kicked up her back hooves on the table, positioning her forehooves behind her head at the same time. “Yeah. Everything was fine in hindsight when she first started. But as time went on, she began to grow more and more stressed.”

“Is that why she shakes all the time?” Carter inquired.

Applejack froze for a moment.

“Erm, Ah don’t know if that’s for me to share. But perhaps that might be it.”

“I mean no offense.” Carter said, hoping to clear up any miscommunication. “Guess I just took notice of it, myself.”

“Yer fine, yer fine. It’s definitely occurred gradually over the past few months. Perhaps it's just a coping mechanism she’s subconsciously developed to deal with her stress.” Applejack placed a hoof against her chin as she thought about it. “But again, Ah think we should leave ourselves out of it. Twi doesn’t exactly like it when we invade her privacy. No pony does.”

“Fair enough,” said Carter. “I’m sure she’s glad to have you and the others there to help her.”

“Yeah, heh heh… right.” Applejack scratched the back of her head and smiled nervously in response.

“… What does that mean?” Carter asked with a raised brow, reading through the mare’s nervous expression.

“*sigh* Me and the girls haven’t been together much. Not recently, at least.”

“But I thought Twilight said you made up some sort of council or something. Wouldn’t that kinda force you to meet up at times? You know, for important meetings and the like.” Carter inquired.

“It did for a time,” said Applejack. “We originally planned to meet up once a moon, and we did for the first few. But as the days went by, our lives began to pull us away from each other, slowly but surely. We tried to come up with an alternative, but we never could agree on anything, and it snowballed to the point where, until today, we haven’t seen each other for a few months. We’ve only communicated through letters, but even they’ve been limited.”

“So that’s why you chose to go through with this party of yours, isn’t it?” Carter said, finally putting the pieces together.

“Yep.” Applejack let out another long sigh, slouching back in her seat and lowering her head until the shadow from her hat cast over her face. “It’s not been easy. And with the attacks, it’s only gotten worse.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Carter didn’t know how to properly respond, but felt it right to respond in some form of empathy.

“It’s all good. Just part of growing up, Ah guess…” Applejack kicked her hooves off the table and sat upright in her seat. “If only things were different.”

Carter and Applejack turned away from each other, each letting out a sigh.

“I’m sure it will get better with time.” Carter said, hoping to bring Applejack some encouragement.

“Ah mean if it wasn’t for you then maybe this wouldn’t have happened,” replied Applejack.

Carter nodded in response.

“Yeah… if I wasn’t… what!?” He darted his eyes back at the mare with a scowl.

“If ya would’ve just killed him sooner then none of this would’ve happened!” shouted Applejack, looking back at Carter with her own angry expression.

“Applejack, what the hell are you talking about? Why are you saying these things!?”

“Ya could’ve beaten that pegasus so much quicker, but no… ya had to play the hero and save Cadance and Flurry Heart. Ya would fight to protect them instead of focusing solely on the death of your enemies. Foolish.”

“Why are you saying such things!? I protected them! I saved them when you couldn’t!” Carter shouted back in a fit of rage.

“Who cares about them!?” Carter’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped in response to the mare’s harsh words. “They mean nothing to ya. The only thing ya should’ve cared about was bathing in the blood of yer enemy. They don’t care about ya! We don’t care about ya!”

Carter soon felt his blood boil from within. He clenched his fists and clenched his teeth together as he aggressively pushed himself off his seat, using every bit of energy to prevent himself from lashing out at the mare.

“Don’t you dare make me hurt you, Applejack. This is your one warning!”

“There you go, that’s it! Use that rage! Unleash it all at me and prove to yourself just how powerful you truly are. Unleash your full potential!”

Carter froze when he heard Applejack’s voice begin to shift in pitch, sounding darker and more brooding than she normally sounded. He also noticed that her eyes changed color, transitioning to a more green color… one which he immediately recognized.

“You!? Nrgh… get out of my head!!!” Gasping, Carter violently gripped his head and writhed in pain, falling to his knees and struggling to rid himself of the evils that had altered his mind. He shouted violently while he fought against it. “Get out of my head, now!!! Urgh… now!!!”

“Carter…? Carter!”

Applejack’s voice pierced into Carter’s consciousness. He gasped and quickly lifted his hands up to eye level, checking for any darkness in his veins. There was none to his luck. He felt as if he was pulled back into reality, as if it was nothing but a dream… or rather a nightmare. But as he slowly recollected his thoughts, he couldn’t decipher if any of it was real or not.

“Carter, ya there?” Applejack asked, staring at the human with worry.

Carter quickly looked back at her with wide eyes and a pale tint in his skin.

“Erm… yes.”

“Oh thank goodness. Ya went quiet, again. Staring straight ahead like ya saw a ghost,” said Applejack.

“Is that right?” Carter blinked rapidly a few times more, placing a hand against his forehead as he tried to fully clear his mind, groaning a bit in the process. “I… don’t think I’ve recovered just yet. Must be lack of sleep or something…” He said to cover up the truth.

“Oh, well do ya need to rest?” Applejack inquired.

“No, no. I'll be fine. I think I just need some fresh air.” Carter pushed himself off his seat and stood up onto his feet. “I-I-Is it okay if I step outside for just a moment?”

“Absolutely fine, sugarcube. There’s a door right around the corner that leads to the nearby balcony,” said Applejack, pointing a hoof at the direction she was talking about.

Carter simply nodded before proceeding down the hall and away from the others, shivering briefly as he felt a chill run down his spine.

Once Carter went out of her sight, Applejack leaned back into her chair and pursed her lip, wondering what was going on with the human and why he was acting so peculiar. But the thought only lasted a moment or two, as she soon shifted thoughts and joined in with the rest of the ponies’ conversation.

As Carter walked toward the exit, he stopped in place once he heard the familiar voice of Twilight, for he passed by the throne room during his passage. It sounded to him like she was still talking to the sisters, and while part of him was curious to see what they were discussing about, he knew it wasn’t right to eavesdrop on their conversation. And so, Carter continued down the hall.

“It’s… it’s about the human: Carter.”

Carter heard the princess say his name during her chat just before he stepped out of range of her voice. Intrigued, he went against his morals and listened in on their conversation, only to hear what she had to say about him.

“What about him?” Inquired Luna.

“I got to talk with him a bit last night. There was some… miscommunication between us and him. He’s very shy, almost defensive when we ask anything about his past. But last night, he told me he was banished from his home world and sent here to learn about friendship. If that’s true then I want to help him, but I don’t know if I have the time to do it,” said Twilight.

Time?

“Going back to the subject of the attacks, I know that it is my duty to protect Equestria. But at the same time, I am the Princess of Friendship after all, and so I feel a strong urge to help him. And yet… I feel like doing so will only add to the stress of it all. I just don’t want to feel like choosing to help him will prove to be more of a burden than a benefit.”

Stress…? Burden?

Carter felt like there was a hole in his heart. He was hurt by the princess’ words, but it wasn’t her fault.

Ever since he came here, he wanted nothing more than to simply learn about friendship and then go home. But now he began to realize that it wasn’t going to be that easy, and that such a goal would perhaps prove to be too much not for him, but for those who wish to help him, especially with everything else going on in the world.

Am I really a burden?

Having heard enough, he quickly continued onward toward the balcony, shaking his head to rid the thought from his mind.

Meanwhile in the throne room, Twilight and the sisters went on with their chat.

“Do you see him as a burden?” asked Celestia.

“Of course not!” Twilight said almost defensively. “I think it would be an honor to get to know him better and help him learn about friendship, especially considering that he’s the only human in Equestria, at least that we know of!” Twilight rubbed her foreleg with her hoof. “I misspoke. I meant that I want to help him, but I’m worried that I won’t have time to be there for him, and that he would feel neglected and betrayed in spite of me telling him that I would indeed help.”

“Then why not do it?” asked Celestia. “If you want to help him then what’s stopping you? I’m sure even you could figure out how to fit time into your schedule. And again, you have friends who can help you.”

“Maybe…” said Twilight.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other. They tried to come up with something to resolve this in such a way that Twilight would be satisfied with. Then, in a way only siblings could, Celestia and Luna both grinned before turning back to the princess, knowing they were thinking of the same thing.

“You know… if you really wanted to, we could stay here for a little longer,” said Luna.

“What!?” Twilight exclaimed, not expecting the sisters to bring up such an offer.

“Of course. We could help you with your royal duties and get you back on your hooves,” said Celestia.

“But… you two are retired now. I don’t think I can-”

“Oh no, dear. You will still be in charge of everything. We will just be working behind the scenes and help you until you feel confident, again,” explained Luna.

“Think about it, Twilight. Would us being there to help you be of benefit?” inquired Celestia. Twilight nodded. “Do you see any negatives?” The princess shook her head. “Then let us help you. It’s like you said, we do have quite a bit of experience in leadership. Perhaps we could share some of that knowledge with you.”

“Plus, we too wish to learn more about the human. If you let us, we can take him off your hooves from time to time and spend time learning about him all while helping him with goals,” said Luna.

“What do you say, Twilight?” asked Celestia.

The princess briefly looked away from the sisters, analyzing the offer in her mind one more time.

“A-a-are you really okay with doing this for me?” Twilight said, looking up at Celestia.

“Well we did just ask you, didn’t we?” said Luna.

“Then yes. Yes, I would love that very much.” answered Twilight.

“Oh goodie! More time with our favorite ponies! I can’t think of anything better than this.” Celestia said with a little gallop of excitement.

“I mean, we do have the party to still look forward to,” said Luna.

“Oh yes, of course,” said Twilight. “Let’s not waste anymore time. I’ll go get the girls and we can finally start!”

Carter peered over the edge of the balcony, looking out over the rest of Canterlot. The sun was high in the sky, shining down on Carter’s skin in a warm, relaxing way. The wind breezed through the air and through his hair. The sound of birds chirping nearby softly echoing around him. The world around seemed so peaceful and alleviating at that time, enough so that it brought him a small moment of comfort.

Carter looked up into the clouds, staring into the vast, blue skies above his head. The natural image alone made him smile.

The man chuckled to himself, thinking back on everything that had happened so far. Teleported to another world, attacked by an evil pegasus - which the creature was something he thought he would never see in his lifetime - and now he was finding himself interacting with a bunch of ponies of all kinds. So much had changed in such little time, it felt almost unreal to him, like every part of his journey so far was nothing more than a figment of his imagination. Even then, he was fine with it.

It could always be worse…

“Haven’t you ever heard the term, ‘tempting fate?’”

The voice called to him once more, alerting Carter’s senses instantaneously.

Carter spun around on his heels and looked around at his surroundings. Something was off about this specific interaction. Usually, whenever he heard the voice call to him, it sounded like it came from his head, like it was just part of his imagination. But this… this time it felt as if someone was talking to him from behind. Either way, there was no doubt that it was the same voice. The same one he had been fighting against since his dark decline on Earth.

“I can assure you. It WILL be worse… if you do not listen.”

Carter froze in place when he saw something move in the corner of his eye. Something… no, someone was there, watching him from a distance.

Slowly and almost hesitantly, Carter turned his head and looked towards the figure. What he saw before him was something he almost couldn’t accept. An exact replica of himself, like he was looking through a mirror. However, unlike him, this other version of himself donned the familiar bright green eyes that he was used to seeing himself have when he would change. When he would become the monster from within.

“What!?” Carter was at a loss for words.

He was used to experiencing moments where his dark side would try and take over. But never before had it come to this. Somehow, someway, it appeared before Carter in physical form, resembling himself but with an eerie, otherworldly appearance. Its body was fully fueled by the darkness within itself, evident through its pure black veins. It also looked as though it had a gloomy outline, as black aura almost leaked from its flesh.

“Surprised to see me, aren’t you?”

Carter couldn’t tell if his evil counterpart was real or just another mind trick. Slowly, he walked up to him and waved a hand in front of himself. When his fingers made contact, the image of his evil self faded into nothingness, whisked away with the wind.

He paused for a moment, expecting it to be over.

“Hahaha! Pathetic!”

Carter turned around to see him reappear, this time laid out across the edge of the balcony, twiddling his thumbs.

“You’re funny, you know that?” He said in a mocking tone. “You’re almost never scared. You’ve seen a lot of things in your past. Stuff that I no doubt helped with. And yet the moment you take one good look at yourself of all people, you practically shit yourself. Ironic, don’t you think?”

“What the hell are you!?” Carter shouted, demanding an answer.

“Awe, come on.” The evil clone sat upright and turned his head to look at Carter. “You already know the answer to that.”

“How are you here?” Carter changed the wording of his question, hoping to get something out of him.

“Ugh… and you’re dumb, too?” The evil Carter stood on top of the balcony edge and leapt off of it, jumping high into the air and performing a front flip at the apex of his jump. He then landed only a few feet in front of Carter, striking a pose before standing straight and looking Carter dead in his eyes. “I am everything you could be. Everything you will be. Everything you are. I am the real you.”

“You are not me!” shouted Carter. “There is only one of us, erm… one of me! Gah! Explain yourself!!!”

Evil Carter slowly paced around Carter, resting his hands together behind his back.

“You could be so much more than you are. I know you’ve seen it, first hand. The strength, power and potential you have within you is… remarkable, to say the least. However, you continue to lie to yourself and hold back. You cling to false truths; the lies society has brought upon you. You could have everything you want, but instead you chase that which you could never have.”

“What do you mean by that!?”

“I am here because of what you are and what you will become. You fail to unleash your full potential because you run from the truth. Even now you try to pursue friendship of all things, nothing more than a waste of your time. For the moment they leave you, you will be left with nothing. But if you push away friendship and learn to focus on yourself, you will become the most powerful being in the world. That is where I come in. I show you your true power, your true potential.”

“All you’ve shown me is the damage I can cause myself and others,” Carter said, thinking back on his past actions.

“You see them as crimes, I see them as examples. Face it. Without my help, you would’ve never gotten your revenge.”

Carter snapped in response to those words.

“She did not have to suffer for what I’ve lost!!!”

Following Carter’s berserk rage, his veins began to grow darker. He felt his head get heavier and he fell to his knees, placing a hand against his head.

“There it is. Let your rage consume you. Let it fuel your desire for power.”

“Grh… I don’t want power!” Carter shook away the feeling and bolted to his feet, glaring at Evil Carter. “I want my life back!!!”

“You can’t get your life back, because you have yet to live it.”

“Liar!”

“Say what you will, but if it weren’t for me, you would still be a pathetic corpse roaming the Earth.”

“If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t be in this mess!!!”

Evil Carter paused for a moment, then slowly began bellowing in laughter.

“Ha! Is that so?” Evil Carter slowly walked up to Carter. “Am I the one who chose to jump off the cliff that day? Am I the one who agreed to come here instead of rot in Hell? Am I the one who gave up when all seemed lost?”

Carter struggled to reply. Though he didn't want to admit it, to some degree, he knew his alternate self was right.

“You brought this upon us!”

Evil Carter stopped right in front of Carter.

“No. You did this. I may be pulling the strings, sure. But you are the one who’s carrying out the actions. You can tell everyone about me and what I’m doing to you, and you may be right. But when you look in the mirror or when others look at you, they don’t see me. They see you. I am here to help you, but you are ultimately the one who makes the decisions.”

“You have no control over me!” shouted Carter.

Evil Carter glared and violently grabbed Carter by his throat, using just enough strength to choke him.

“I am more powerful than you could ever fathom, and as you can see I am only growing stronger. I will consume you, one day. And when that day comes, everyone will know who you truly are. You cannot stop me. Nothing can! And if you so much as even think of befriending the ponies. I. Will. Kill. Them.”

Carter pushed his evil self off of him and went for a hook to his face. However, just like the last interaction, the second Carter made contact, the image of his evil self faded from existence.

With the amount of force Carter put into his attack, Carter fell to the ground, smashing violently onto the stone floor of the balcony. He winced in pain as he looked for Evil Carter. But he was nowhere to be found. The only thing he could still perceive of him was one more quote.

“My time will come… everyone will know about me, and you will be unable to stop me!”

Carter couldn’t seem to fathom the event once it was all said and done. Seeing himself so similar in appearance, yet so different in personality, was something he never thought he would see. But as time was proving to him, nothing was as he had expected it to be.

Pushing himself up to his feet and brushing himself down, he looked around once more, just to see if Evil Carter was still around. But he was nowhere to be found, giving Carter the impression that he was hallucinating.

Tired, he crossed his arms and looked back over the city, taking in the view once more in an attempt to calm his mind.

“Carter? Carter?”

It was Twilight’s voice.

Carter turned around and saw the princess approaching him.

“Your majesty. Erm, Twilight,” he said in a friendly tone. “Did everything go okay between you and the sisters?”

“Yes, it’s all good. Everything is taken care of,” replied Twilight.

“That’s good,” said Carter.

“I just wanted to come by and let you know that we are going to start the party soon. If you want, you’re more than welcome to join us.”

“Me?” asked Carter.

“Of course. I know it’s kind of last minute, but since you’re already here with us then I feel it would be rather unkind of me to not let you join us,” replied Twilight.

“I wouldn’t be intruding?”

“Of course not. The others even told me to invite you, so I’m sure they would be more than happy to see you join us for the festivities.”

Carter went over it in his head. Again, he had nothing better to do. Not only that, but doing so would be just the thing he needed to do to get to know the ponies better and get one step closer to his goal.

“Okay then, I accept.”

“Great!” Twilight said in a light tone with a smile from cheek to cheek. “Then let’s go to the dining hall. We’ll kick things off, there.” She turned around and began leading him to where the others were gathered.

“Twilight, wait.” Carter said, causing the mare to stop in place and look back at him. He recalled the things he had heard about him when he passed by the throne room. “I… I heard a bit of your talk when I was coming here. I didn’t hear all of it, but I did hear you talking about me. You said you didn’t know if you would be able to help me with everything else you got going on. That I would perhaps be… a burden.”

Twilight’s eyes widened, unaware that Carter had heard that part of the conversation.

“Twilight, I know I told you that I was here to learn about friendship and grow as a person. But if that means that in doing so I only bring you stress, then I want no part in it.” Carter looked back to the sky, reminiscing his past once again. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my past. Do not allow me to impact you negatively, as well.”

“Oh Carter. You didn’t hear the end of it, did you?” inquired Twilight. Carter looked back at her with a raised brow. “That’s what I initially thought. But the sisters agreed to help me with… well, helping you. I'm sure my friends would also love to do the same for you! And I think it would be for the better. Having multiple ponies helping you would mean that you would get to see what it’s like to be around different ponies and how to make friends with each of them. That might help you reach your goal a little quicker, don’t you think?”

“I see…” said Carter. “Sorry for jumping to conclusions.”

“*giggle* You’re fine, Carter,” replied Twilight. “Now then, about that party.”

“Just give me a few more minutes, Twilight. I… haven't been feeling like myself while recovering. I’ll meet you there shortly,” said Carter.

“Okay, that’s fine. See you there.” With that, Twilight trotted down the hall and towards the dining hall.

Leaving Carter to himself once more, he looked down at his hand and glared.

“Alright, you listen to me. You will never become a part of me. You will never win. They can’t know about you and they won’t know about you because starting today, you will cease to exist. You’ve caused me and others enough pain, already. I will not allow you to hurt them, as well.” Carter turned towards the hall and began making his way toward the rest of the group.

“That is my promise.”

Author's Note

As mentioned in the last chapter, yes, this one is a bit heavier on the dialogue side of things. Hopefully it wasn't overboard.

Chapter VIII: Little Moment of Fun

Carter made his way into the dining room where the others were gathered; royal sisters, Crystal Empire family, Princess Twilight, and her friends. They appeared to be having a great time chatting with one another, smiling, laughing and all around just happy to be with each other. It seemed the party was going well, which was quite the opposite of how things once were, but he was sure that, to them, it was good to finally get a true moment of peace.

Not wanting to disrupt their conversation, Carter found one empty chair, the same one he previously sat in located between Applejack and Spike, and quickly made his way to his designated seat, quietly sitting down and remaining silent once seated.

Carter looked around the table, surveying where everyone else was seated. He was most surprised to see that not only was the Crystal Empire family there with them, but they had recovered from their injuries rather quickly. While surprising to see, it brought Carter some peace to know that worst seemed to be behind them.

“So nice to see you here, Carter.” Twilight said, looking toward the human with a warm, genial smile. “I’m glad you agreed to join us.”

“Thank you for the invitation. I’m honored.” Carter replied, trying his best to show some gratitude.

Twilight returned with a lighthearted giggle.

Carter smiled, feeling good about what he said.

After initially coming across as a deadpanned, rage-fueled jerk for the most part, along with being fed up with constantly having to hide his dark side from the ponies, Carter made it his goal to better his reputation with them. In doing so, he was sure that not only would it make achieving his goal much easier, but it would also hopefully suppress his darker self from trying to come out, at least less frequently.

“You actually came at a good time. We are all just waiting for lunch,” said Twilight.

“Sounds good,” replied Carter.

It came as quite a surprise that hunger had not crossed his mind. Yet even after the princess brought it up, he still felt less hungry than he would have otherwise anticipated.

“Well, well, well, looks like we’ve got ourselves a special guest with us, today!” said Pinkie Pie as she jumped out from behind Carter’s chair, nearly causing him to jump out of his own seat.

The others had all turned their attention toward the pink pony due to her blaring voice and couldn’t help but giggle in response to Carter’s admittedly reasonable reaction.

Carter looked down at the ground and sighed, hiding his embarrassment-induced blush, albeit rather poorly.

“Welcome to the party, hoo-man! Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you aren’t left out and ensure that you have just as much fun as every other pony!” Pinkie Pie pulled out a cheap, paper party hat and placed it atop Carter’s head, then revealed a little party horn which she blew, shooting confetti out the end once fully unrolled. Then, within the blink of an eye, she returned to her chair.

Carter couldn’t seem to fathom the events that had just occurred before him. It all happened so fast. Perplexed, Carter simply stared at the pink mare with wide eyes.

“*giggle* Don’t think about it too much, ya hear,” said Applejack, looking over towards Carter. “It’s just how she does things.”

“I’d listen to her if I were you. You’ll drive yourself crazy if you try to make sense of it all,” said Spike.

Carter could only shrug in response. With what little knowledge he had collected about the ponies, it was only reasonable to believe that, like the unicorns, perhaps Pinkie Pie had her own magical powers, albeit without a horn. It was still anything goes.

“So, Mr. Human, I’d like to ask you some questions about yourself if that’s alright with you.” said Celestia.

Carter tilted his head downward and took a moment to think before replying to the eldest mare. He was ultimately fine with answering questions as long as they didn’t pertain to his past, but after thinking it over, he wondered just how many of those would be about that very thing. Settling on a middleground, he decided to just let them ask their questions and keep his answers brief.

“Go ahead. I doubt you’re the only one with questions, anyway,” said Carter.

“Oh goody!” Celestia took a moment to clear her throat. “So, Twilight tells me that you claim to be from another world entirely. Is that true?”

“Yes, Ma’am. Earth is the name of my home world.”

“You can just call me Celestia. I’m done with formalities, but I thank you, nonetheless.”

Carter nodded in reply.

“But back to the subject, I’m quite astonished to admit that I’ve never heard of any place called Earth. I mean, we call the soils of the land by that very name, but I have no recollection of another world called Earth.” Celestia pressed a hoof to her chin and looked away from the others, pondering the thought. “It is rather unusual. Perhaps you truly are from a place beyond Equestria. But then again, Twilight’s brought many more species of all kinds from neighboring nations and beyond, so I can’t necessarily say that it’s hard to believe.”

“Neighboring nations? Other species?” Carter said, perking his head up in response to the eldest mare’s words.

“Why yes, darling,” answered Rarity. “There are many others around the world. Or rather, our world.”

“Is that so?”

“Well, you’ve already been acquainted with Spike, haven’t you?” said Fluttershy, sarcastically.

Carter flicked his eyes to the dragon then back to the pegasus.

“Fair enough. But are dragons the only others you mentioned?”

“Not at all. There are many more. Griffons, Changelings, Yaks, and Hippogriffs to name a few,” said Twilight.

Carter leaned back in his seat and chuckled under his breath. Just the princess’ words alone baffled him. Besides yaks, it seemed like all things myth and legend could be found in this new world.

“Fascinating.” Carter said, still trying to process the information.

“What’s Earth like?” inquired Fluttershy.

“In short, it’s just a planet where humans are the superior. Although we don’t have magic like you guys do. For the most part we are more technology and science driven,” said Carter.

“Interesting,” said Twilight. “I couldn’t imagine a world without magic.”

“And you said you were here to learn about friendship, correct?” asked Cadance.

“That’s the goal,” said Carter. “Although it pains me to admit that. You’d think an adult human such as myself wouldn’t require such a youthful punishment.”

“How was it again that you were sent here?” asked Luna.

Carter froze for a moment, forming an answer that didn’t reveal too much of his past.

During that short moment of silence, Luna simply stared at the human with a stoic expression.

“I made some mistakes that I now regret. I… pushed a lot of good people out of my life and was sent here to learn from the error of my ways and become a better man.” replied Carter. “Like I said… sounds childish, but it’s what has become of late.”

“Don’t beat yourself. This ain’t the first time something like that has happened around these parts,” said Applejack.

“Really?” Carter replied, raising his brow.

“Well I mean, what do you think the ‘Princess of Friendship’ does?” Twilight said with a giggle.

“Point taken. The only thing is, I’m not quite sure where to even begin,” said Carter.

“Leave that to us,” said Twilight.

“Us?” Rainbow Dash flicked a glance at the princess, looking somewhat appalled by the idea.

“But of course! We’ve done it plenty of times before. What’s one more?” replied Twilight.

“You didn’t say anything about us when we talked about this!”

“What she means is that we aren’t sure if each of us has the time to do that.” Applejack said, looking back at the pegasus with a stern glare.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“Yeah… that’s what I meant.”

“Don’t fret about it, girls. I obviously won’t pressure you to help him out if you can’t find the time,” said Twilight.

“I thought you said I wouldn’t be a burden,” Carter said, looking over to Twilight.

“And you aren’t Carter. I promise,” replied Twilight. “I just think it would be better for you to learn how to befriend different types of ponies.”

“Oh, you must understand, we would absolutely love to help you with your goals. We just simply have other things to do in life, as well,” explained Fluttershy. “You know, like housework, jobs, families… -”

Carter felt a sharp pain run through his heart. His body shook for only a blink of an eye. He stared blankly out in front of himself, fighting back a sudden onslaught of negative emotions filling his mind.

“- ... you understand, don’t you?”

Carter snapped back to reality once Fluttershy finished her sentence.

“Right…” he said, still stuck in his mind, slowly resuming eye contact with Fluttershy.

The other ponies, along with Spike, all tilted their heads in response to the humans words, more specifically how he spoke.

Twilight quickly picked up on Carter’s sudden mood change, knowing that something didn’t settle well with him.

“However, like I’ve said, we will help you reach your goal and teach you about friendship!” Twilight said, speaking louder than normal to draw the others’ attention away from Carter.

“I appreciate it, your majesty.” Carter said, lifting his head and making an effort to smile. “Rest assured, I’ll make sure to do my part and listen to what you have to say.”

“Yes! The food is here!!!” Pinkie Pie’s shout could be heard echoing throughout the dining room for quite a while, startling everypony around her.

Multiple stallions dressed in tuxedo-like attire stepped out from behind the kitchen doors and proceeded towards the ponies, each carrying a tray with food. Each one of them stopped in place next to someone seated at the table and remained still until each of them had gotten to where they needed to be. From there the stallions set the tray down in front of their respective guest and then lifted the tray, carrying it away with them as they took their leave.

It was there that Carter realized he overlooked one key problem: he was an omnivore, the ponies were not.

Looking down at his tray, Carter saw what appeared to be a sandwich with hay between the bread. A hay sandwich.

While it did not necessarily look unappetizing, the thought of eating hay of all things was something that did not sit well with him, let alone for his first meal in a while.

Carter looked over at the others, who all had bright smiles along their faces. Certainly they viewed the meal as appealing. Even the young dragon, who he at first figured would be at least carnivorous with a similar repast on his tray, was already halfway through his respective sandwich.

Rolling his eyes and sighing, Carter knew the others would start asking questions if he didn’t begin eating. And so, Carter reluctantly picked up the sandwich in front of him and gritted his teeth.

“Jusqu'à la fin d'un voyage.”

Without another word, Carter took a single bite and chewed slowly. To his surprise, the taste was pleasant to his senses. Perhaps it had been too long since he last ate anything for his palette to compare it to anything else. But alas, he was pleased that his body wasn’t trying to puke it all up. He took another bite just to make sure it wasn’t only the one, but like the first, the taste was just as enjoyable.

Enjoying some hay… I’m going insane.

Carter let out a nervous laugh.

“How’s the food, Carter?” inquired Twilight.

“Oh yes, very good,” replied Carter, trying his best not to look suspicious.

“Goody! I was nervous for a moment that you couldn’t eat hay based foods. Looks like my little gamble paid off.”

Carter’s eyes widened ever so slightly. He kept his smile while gritting his teeth.

“Yeah… lucky.” Carter turned away for a moment.

Unbelievable!

The luncheon went on for a while longer. Everyone ate, drank and talked amongst each other, making sure to bring Carter into their conversation whenever the opportunity presented itself.

When the food was gone and everyone’s stomachs were full, they began the next part of the day’s festivities.

“Whew… I’m stuffed,” Rainbow Dash said, propping her hind hooves up on the table.

“Right there with ya, partner,” said Applejack.

“That was definitely delicious. Thank you so much, Twilight,” said Celestia.

“Of course! Anything for you, girls,” replied Twilight.

“Does this mean we can move on to the next part of the evening?” Pinkie Pie inquired.

“Yep, it sure does,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Pray tell, what’s the next part?” asked Luna.

“Ah brought up a couple barrels of apple cider with me on the way here. We planned to just hangout together, drinkin’ and talk about what’s been goin’ on between us. Just a little catchin’ up session,” explained Applejack.

“Ooh, I like that idea very much!” said Celestia. “Well then, let’s waste no more time and get right to it.”

The group departed from the dining table and proceeded towards the family room located behind the throne room, where they would continue with their day.

Though Carter preferred to be in the back of the group during their little walk, he was soon pulled to the front when Celestia hounded him to come to her side so she could ask him more questions.

Upon arriving in the family room, Twilight began to assign each of the group members a job to set up for the next event.

“Alright, everypony, let’s split up so we can do everything quickly. Fluttershy and Rarity, you tend to the fire. Pinkie and Spike, you two rearrange the furniture. Cadence, you just sit down and relax, I’ll go get the cups for drinks. Celestia, Luna, you can also relax while we get things set up.”

“Well then, me and Dashie will move the barrels into the room,” said Applejack.

“Alright then, let’s move,” Twilight clapped her hooves together, and from there the group began their assigned chores.

Carter, standing awkwardly while everyone else was doing something, looked to the princess to offer his assistance.

“Your Majesty, erm… Twilight!”

“Oh, forgive me, Carter. I don’t know how I missed you,” said Twilight.

“All good,” he replied, smiling and nodding his head. “Anyway, I can help if need be.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to. We’ve already got everything covered.”

“You sure?” inquired Carter.

Twilight was about to repeat herself, but quickly noticed the two mares heading outside to retrieve the barrels, specifically Rainbow Dash. The princess pursed her lip for a moment, pondering an idea.

“Actually, if you really want to help, I’m sure AJ and Dashie could use your help bringing in those heavy barrels, outside.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash quickly spun around and stared Twilight dead in the eyes. “No, we got it. We don’t need any more help.”

Twilight smiled and shrugged her shoulders. She knew Rainbow Dash still wasn’t opening up to Carter, and felt that she had to step in and help her learn to trust the human, and vice versa for Carter.

“Awe, come on, Dashie. Ah’m sure Carter could help us out plenty,” said Applejack. “Besides, there’s quite a couple barrels to bring in.”

“But I… you don’t… we…” Knowing that there was no way around it, Rainbow Dash groaned aloud before stomping outside. “Fine!”

Applejack and Carter both raised their brow in surprise to the pegasus’ reaction.

Applejack looked back at the human and tittered before quickly chasing after Rainbow Dash.

Carter on the other hand turned his attention to the princess, looking at her in a way to let her know he questioned her decision. She nodded in return, smiling just as she usually did. Carter nodded silently and walked outside to help the other mares.

When they came across the barrels, Applejack hopped into the cart holding them all in place and proceeded to roll one to Rainbow Dash and Carter, respectively.

“Take these here barrels. We’ll start off with this, then come back for more if we need to. But Ah highly doubt it.” said Applejack.

Rainbow Dash rolled her respective barrel along the ground in front of her while Carter mounted his upon his right shoulder and held in with his arm. While the pegasus rushed off towards the others, Carter waited for Applejack to come down from the cart with her barrel of cider.

While waiting, Carter noticed jars of rainbow-colored jam behind the remaining barrels in the cart.

“What are those, Applejack?” he inquired.

“Those are just jars of zap apple jam,” Applejack replied.

“Zap apple?”

“Yeah, special apples that grow around this time. Twilight loves them just as much as anypony else and ordered some ahead of time. These here are her’s.”

“I guess she really likes them,” said Carter.

“Everypony does, which is why me and mah family back on the farm make so much.”

“I see.”

The orange mare hopped down once she lowered the barrel to the ground and rolled it inside; Carter followed closely behind.

While on their way back, Applejack looked up at Carter, who just stared blankly out in front of himself. She could tell something was on his mind, and it was quite obvious to her what it was.

“Please excuse Rainbow Dash. Ah know she doesn’t mean to be rude… she’s just-”

“I’m sure she has her reasons. No need to explain.” said Carter, keeping his eyes locked straight forward. He already knew from Twilight why she did not trust him.

“But Ah still feel bad. Ya shouldn’t have to deal with that.”

“Maybe you’re right… but I’m not going to argue with her. I’ll work to gain her trust, in time.”

“*sigh* Just promise me ya won’t think of her as the enemy. She has a good heart, she’s just a little shaken up is all,” explained Applejack.

“I promise,” Carter said, turning his head to look the mare in her eyes.

The barrels were soon lined up in the corner of the family room and each member of the group grabbed a cup of cider before continuing with their evening. They all sat in a circle around with a coffee table in the center. A warm, cozy fireplace was lit to keep everyone warm while they enjoyed each other’s company.

With most of the seats taken, Carter walked over beside one of the sofas and remained standing. He didn’t want to ask them to move over, and he didn’t mind standing all too much, anyway.

Fluttershy took notice of Carter and shifted herself away from the closest armrest. She then caught eyes with the human and beckoned for him to sit by her, patting the open spot beside her.

Carter, though hesitant at first, nodded and sat beside the pegasus, thanking her once he had seated himself.

“Blanket?” Fluttershy asked after grabbing a soft, blue cover and holding out for him. The human nodded and reached out for it, but instead, Fluttershy reached over and wrapped it over the front of his body and hung it behind his shoulders.

Surprised by the kind act, Carter thanked Fluttershy once more as he adjusted the blanket.

“You are very welcome.”

From then until dusk, the group shared each other’s life stories, filling everyone in with everything that had happened since last they saw each other. Laughs were shared, questions were asked, gasps were heard, and even some tears were shed.

In short, they had a good time.

At one point, Princess Twilight flipped to a page in her scrapbook with a picture of all six mares and Spike smiling at the camera. But there was one more creature standing behind them all, someone who he didn't know in person, but rather one he recognized from one of the colored glass arts he found in the castle.

“Twilight, that creature behind you. The… amalgamation, for lack of better words. Who is that?” Carter said, pointing to the creature in question.

Twilight and her friends looked closely at the picture, trying to spot the creature Carter was referring to.

“Ah, you mean Discord.” Fluttershy said, being the first to spot it. “You see, Discord is a unique creature to this world: a draconequus. He's a good friend of ours.”

“Friend? Pardon me if I'm being too nosey, but on one of the castle's glass wall arts it seemed like you were fighting against him,” said Carter.

“You're actually right. But he's not evil anymore.” explained Twilight. “Before he was reformed, Discord was bent on conquering anything and everything he could get his claws on. His tactics were without equal and chaotic in nature, as his name implies. Celestia and Luna defeated him years ago, encasing him in stone. Time passed and the sisters chose the six of us to try and reform him, which thankfully we did thanks to Fluttershy.”

“Now, now, girls. It was a team effort.” Fluttershy couldn't help but blush in response, shying her head away and hiding it behind her long mane.

“I mean, he's still kind of chaotic,” said Rainbow Dash.

“That is true, but for the most part Ah say he's turned over a new leaf,” said Applejack.

The mares laughed with each other, recalling all the times this so-called “Discord” went back to his old ways and nearly destroyed Equestria. Carter was surprised as the list went on, revealing to him that the ponies had a surprisingly large amount of tolerance and forgiveness towards the creature in spite of everything he had done against them.

But about midway in their discussion, Carter's attention was pulled toward a separate picture, or rather the corner of one hanging out from behind other pages of the scrapbook. It was nothing breathtaking at first glance, but as Carter studied it further, he felt his heart sink inside him.

What Carter saw in that small portion of the picture was a lone mare clad in battle armor. Her coat was darker than anything he could comprehend, and her eyes resonated with a very familiar color. While they were otherwise cyan, they illuminated and gave off a green aura, the very same color that the evil pegasus possessed, along with himself whenever he gave in to his darker, alternative self.

Without giving it much thought, Carter assumed that it was a more recent photo, perhaps a shot of the first infected pony ever reported.

But one very crucial detail stood out to him, sending a chill down his spine: the image of the moon along the mare's flank.

What…?

Filled with curiosity, Carter slowly raised his head and looked at the younger of the sisters. To no surprise, but still giving him yet another spine chill, the very same cutie mark was found along Luna's flank.

Luna suddenly stared back at the human after sensing his gaze.

Carter shook for a moment before looking back at the picture with Twilight and her friends, hoping that the mare wouldn't get suspicious.

Without much thinking, Carter was about to ask the princess about the mare in the photo, but his mind went blank following a loud clap.

Princess Twilight closed the scrapbook and stretched her forelegs over her head, letting out a much needed yawn.

“Aaaaaalright, girls. I think it's time we call it a night.”

“Is it really over, already?” inquired Pinkie Pie. A frown swept across the mare’s face as she hung her head and sulked.

“I’m afraid so, Pinkie,” said Rarity.

“I hate that it’s over just as much as you do, Pinkie,” said Twilight. “But to be honest, it was absolutely amazing to see you girls again.”

“Agreed. It’s definitely been a long time. Feels good,” said Applejack.

“It was really nice to get to see you, too!” said Fluttershy, speaking to Celestia, Luna and the Crystal Empire family.

“Our pleasure, my little ponies,” replied Celestia, giggling to herself.

“We can’t thank you enough for inviting us, Twilight,” said Luna.

“Glad you could make it, and even more so now that you’re both staying here a little longer!” said Twilight.

“Yes, though it hardly feels like we left at all,” said Luna. Her little remark caused the group to laugh.

“Well, the only thing left to figure out is where everypony’s gonna sleep,” said Applejack.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already planned that all out,” replied Twilight.

“Of course you have,” said Rainbow Dash, letting out a lighthearted sigh.

“Girls, I’ve set up the master bedroom for us all to sleep in. We can stay up late and do whatever we want, like tell spooky stories, share gossip, anything!” Twilight looked over at Spike and giggled. “Don’t worry, I saved one of the spares for you, by yourself.”

“Thank goodness. Last time you girls had a sleepover you stayed up the whole night,” said Spike. The mares laughed in unison in reply to the dragon’s comment, recalling the events of their last sleepover. Spike turned to Carter, the sisters, and the royal family before continuing. “They wouldn’t let me sleep at all. And come to think of it, I think one of their spooky stories kept Fluttershy up all night, as well.”

Fluttershy let out a frightened yelp and yanked her blanket over her head, shaking violently beneath the cover.

“Eeep! Don’t remind me!” she said, timidly. The other mares laughed once more.

“Anyway, with that said, Celestia, Luna, you of course will get your own room. And big brother, you and your family will also get a room for yourselves,” said Twilight.

“Thank you so much for thinking ahead, Twily,” said Shining Armor.

“You always were a good planner,” said Celestia.

“And Carter, if you’d like, you can also sleep in your own room,” said Twilight.

“I’d like that a lot, your majesty,” replied Carter.

“Perfect! Then let me escort everypony to their room before we call it a night”

Twilight hopped off the sofa and landed on her hooves, walking down the hall. The others followed suit, allowing the princess to lead the way.

Near the back of the group, Carter couldn't stop thinking about the photo with the mare. He didn't want to believe it, but there was no denying that it looked just like Luna. But even if it were true, why was that moment with her in Twilight's scrapbook?

Maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe Luna was never corrupted. Hell, who’s to say it was even her? I think I'm just overthinking things…

After realizing trying to decipher everything only resulted in more questions, Carter put his thoughts aside and quietly continued following the others.

But even then, all those thoughts quickly faded away once Carter realized who he was walking beside.

Rainbow Dash…

Carter and Rainbow Dash walked side by side. They dared not interact with each other, not even as much as giving eye contact. They just continued walking in silence.

Carter, lost in thought, felt mixed emotions toward the blue pegasus. On one hand, he knew she had reasons to not trust him, even if he was doing his best to prove that he wasn’t responsible for the prior attacks on Canterlot. But on the other hand, her persistent hatred toward him was starting to get to him, so much so that his sympathy began to fade away quickly.

Carter couldn’t seem to choose between confronting her or just letting her be, and without thinking, he opened his mouth to speak with her.

“You girls seem to really get along.” Carter’s face froze once he finished speaking. While it was just an innocent question to spark conversation, he felt his heart sink and as he cursed himself for not keeping his mouth shut.

“Yes we do. They are my best friends and they mean a lot to me,” replied Rainbow Dash.

Carter eyed the pegasus with a fire in his eyes. While her words would’ve sounded kind and supportive otherwise, her tone was very passive aggressive. He had to hold back from stopping her then and there and getting into a heated argument. That is until a thought came to his mind. Taking a deep breath, he turned to look her in the eyes and spoke.

“Listen, I get you don’t like me, and I know you must have your reasons. But rest assured, your friends are the ones who agreed to help me. Who would I be to betray them?” Rainbow Dash didn’t look back at him, instead staring ahead angrily as she marched on. “I may not know about friendship, right now… but I've had friends before. I know how much they can mean to you.” The mare’s glare slowly faded, shifting into more of an understanding look. Carter looked away and sighed. “Look, at the very least, if and when I fulfill my task and leave this world, you won’t have to ever see me again. I'm sure you'll be much happier, then.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped ever so slightly. She felt a pain in her gut strike her like lightning. An overwhelming amount of guilt began flooding her conscious, eating away at her pride.

“W-W-Wait, don’t say that,”

Carter raised his brow and looked to her once more.

“I… I don’t hate you. I really don’t. I just…” Rainbow Dash felt tears form in her eyes, causing her to swiftly turn her head away. She took a moment to recollect herself before continuing. “This whole thing has really affected me. I just want to find the one responsible and bring justice. I just want it to be over, already. When I first saw you, I thought you were the one to blame, but more so just to pin a target on anypony than actually believing that you were the mastermind. I wanted to blame you, like it would somehow make everything stop. But deep down, I know that it won't.”

“... I see,” replied Carter.

“Look, I… I want to… apologize.” Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth, finding it difficult to admit her apology to the human, but feeling a sense of relief once she did so. Carter looked inquisitively at the mare in response to her statement. “I know just as much as anypony that you don’t deserve that hate I’m giving you, and so I want to just say that I’m… sorry. I let my emotions get the best of me, and I'm sorry. I just… ugh, I just can’t bring myself to trust you… but I want to. If that even makes any sense.”

“No, no… I get it,” replied Carter. “Believe me, I have my fair share of trust issues, myself. I can understand how you feel quite well.” The two of them shared a quick giggle. “With that said, if you let me, I’ll do my best to earn your trust.”

“And I’ll do the same.” Rainbow Dash held out her hoof to Carter. “No hard feelings?” The human curled his hand into a fist and bumped it against her hoof, nullifying the conflict in their growing bond.

From there, they continued their walk without scowls and glares, but rather smiles.

Unbeknownst to them, Twilight had overheard their conversation and couldn’t help but smile. It felt good knowing that her friend had begun to open up to the human, and that Carter was starting to see her as a friend, just like the rest of them.

Once everyone arrived at their respective rooms, the group said their goodbyes before splitting off.

Carter opened the door to his room and took a moment to see everything it had to offer. There was a bedroom with a quite comfortable looking bed, albeit pink in color, an unfortunate realization, and a desk beside said bed. There was also a bathroom, as well as a balcony overlooking the city separated by the rest of the room via sliding, glass door.

Without hesitation, Carter closed the door behind him and went straight for the bed. He practically jumped onto the mattress, landing all sprawled out along the covers. After everything that had taken place in his life, it felt good to be given a nice, soft bed to sleep in for the night.

A sharp pain bolted through Carter’s body, however, as he neglected to take his wounds into account before jumping onto the bed. He winced for a second before rolling onto his back and lifting his tunic-like outfit up to examine the wraps around his ribs. It seemed to him that he was healing quite well, but figured it would be best to avoid further jumping-onto-beds until his injuries were completely restored.

While he couldn’t wait to get some sleep, Carter got up and walked toward the balcony in order to clear his mind for a moment and get some fresh air. He opened the slide doors and left them open to allow the breeze to flow into his room.

Carter leaned down and rested his arms along the balcony beams, staring up at the starlit sky in awe as he allowed himself to take a moment to truly relax and reflect on all that had taken place up to this point.

So much change had occurred, and there was no doubt that it would only get even more different with time.

Carter couldn’t help but laugh, coming to terms with knowing that all this happened because of his final choice on earth. He was still unsure if he would truly recover, but if he did, he figured it would be one crazy story to tell everyone.

As he stared into the night sky, one particular star stood out to Carter. A bright, luminous star, flickering amongst the others. He couldn’t seem to understand why, but it strangely made him think of the spirit he met in Hell. The one who sent him to Equestria, as if the star was meant to represent the spirit looking down on Carter from above.

No matter what would happen, Carter knew he had the spirit to thank for giving him a chance at redemption and to avoid an otherwise unfavorable fate. But even then, he was still unable to understand why the spirit chose to help him in spite of his past. He cocked his head and pondered.

Why me…?

A knock from the door echoed through his room, breaking him from his thoughts as Carter turned around.

“Come in!” he shouted.

The door opened and revealed the princess.

Twilight had changed into a purple, pajama-like gown. Her mane was glossy and it hung down the sides of her face, as if she just came out of the shower, and she charged her horn with enough magic to act like a nightlight.

“Sorry, am I interrupting?” she inquired.

“No.” Carter looked back at the stars.

By that point Twilight had become quite accustomed to the human’s one word answers, and so she could help chuckling briefly as the expected silence soon followed. She childishly galloped her way over to Carter and stopped at his side, picking her front hooves off the ground and resting them along the railing of the balcony, joining Carter in stargazing, wondering what he was thinking about.

He didn’t mind her presence, but it took Carter longer than necessary before realizing that the princess likely didn’t just come to him in his room for no reason. Feeling embarrassed for taking so long to read the situation, he let out a sigh and turned to face Twilight.

“Where are my manners… I assume you want something from me?”

Another chuckle slipped out from the princess as she too turned to give Carter eye contact.

“No, no. I just came here to check on you to make sure you’d be alright for the night.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. I can’t thank you enough for giving me a place to stay for the night, let alone a room all to myself. Than- erm… you have my most sincere gratitude, princess,” said Carter.

“You know, you don’t have to use all those fancy, elaborate words around me, right?” replied Twilight.

“Well, at least how I was raised, you speak any other way to royalty and you’d probably be beheaded on the spot,” Carter said with a stern look.

Princess Twilight gave him a doubtful look, but it quickly shifted to a smile.

“Was that a joke?” Carter couldn’t find it in himself to contain his own smile, surprised by her response. “Didn’t think you were capable of joking.”

“Unfortunately I don't think it's a joke… but I haven’t forgotten that I am still just a guest here in the castle. I’m a firm believer in courtesies.”

“That’s sweet, Carter, thank you. But you can use… simple speech if you wish. I’m used to it and you won’t ever hear me and my friends talk like that around each other,” said Twilight.

“Very well.”

Twilight and Carter looked back at the night sky.

“You know, I never would’ve thought of you as somepony who likes looking at nature,” said Twilight.

“Some-pony?” Carter replied arrogantly, raising his brow at Twilight.

“You know what I mean!” The princess rolled her eyes in response.

“Funny you should say that, though. I don’t normally do this. I guess… maybe this night sky gives me a sense of calm that the one on Earth doesn’t.” Carter smiled for a moment, continuing to look up at the stars.

Twilight felt a sense of contentment whilst looking at the smiling human, seeing a side of him that she otherwise thought him absent of. It was like there was an entirely different person within him, trapped and contained behind the gruff, much more serious human that she normally saw him to be.

Carter quickly picked up on the princess’ staring and dropped his smile in the same instant.

“Either that or I’m going insane, which I’m sure wouldn’t be too far fetched,” said Carter.

“I think you’re still just processing all this change,” replied Twilight. “And might I just say that you’re doing a better job than most I know.”

“Maybe I should just call it a night and get some sleep.”

Carter stepped away from the balcony and proceeded towards his bed. He sat along the edge of the mattress.

“If you don’t need anything from me, please don’t let me keep you from seeing your friends, again,” said Carter.

“You know what, there’s actually one more thing I wanted to talk to you about,” said Twilight.

Intrigued by the princess’ response, Carter leaned forward and placed his arms along his knees.

“I wanted to give you this.” Princess Twilight approached Carter, pulling something out from a hidden pocket with her nightgown. Once it came into view, the moonlight reflected off of it, giving it an alluring appearance.

The item looked like a book and was blue in color with a purple gem in the center of it, similar to Twilight’s cutie mark.

Carter found himself drawn to the object, wondering what it could be and why the princess would want him to have it.

After a moment or two, Twilight hopped onto the bed and sat herself beside Carter.

“It’s something I hoped would help you on your path. Something I once used when I was learning about friendship, myself. Many years ago.”

“What is it?” he inquired.

“It’s a journal.”

“Journal?” Carter felt almost disappointed, though the fault was his own, as he expected it to be something magical or otherworldly. But he dared not let it show through his voice.

“I know it’s not much, but a journal is something I have a special place in my heart for,” said Twilight.

“You see, when I first came to Ponyville, my home before all of this princess stuff took over, Celestia sent me there with a simple goal: learn about friendship. All that I had with me was Spike, and a journal similar to this one. Every day I’d take a few minutes to write down a lesson about friendship that I learned with my friends, either from a crazy event or something I read. Anything, really. It wasn’t much, but as time went on I used those writings to remind me why friendship is so important. I even sent them to Celestia and helped broaden her understanding of the topic.”

“You had to learn about friendship, too?” Carter inquired.

“It’s where my story began. I had to walk the same path you are, Carter. I know how it can be, and while I can’t simply do it for you, I only wish to make your journey a little easier. And, well, I feel like maybe this journal could be of use.”

Twilight reached over and placed the journal in Carter’s hands.

“What do you want me to do with it?”

“I don’t need you to do anything. It’s completely up to you. You can write in it as much or as little as you like. Then perhaps one day you’ll go back and read through everything that’s happened to you since the start of your adventure.”

Carter stared at the small journal for a moment, trying to understand why Twilight would think that this would help him reach his goal any easier. While he couldn’t find a reason, he thanked her, nonetheless, as he felt as though Twilight had done nothing but help him since she first met him.

“Thank you, Twilight. I might just use this,” said Carter.

“That’s great to hear. And again, don’t worry. I’m not expecting you to send me a list of things you’ve learned over time, although you are more than welcome to if that helps you move forward,” said Twilight.

“Maybe…” Carter set the journal on the desk beside his bed and laid back across the sheets. “If it’s all the same to you, though, I think I should be getting some sleep.”

“Yes, I bet you need it.” Twilight hopped off the bed and landed on her hooves. She made her way to the door and opened it, pausing for a moment before stepping out of the room. She looked over her shoulder and eyed the human one more time. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you home one way or another, and we’ll also make sure that you return as a new man.”

“I seriously appreciate everything you’ve done, Twilight. Thank you,” said Carter.

“Goodnight, Carter.”

“Goodnight.”

Twilight stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Carter to himself once more.

Now able to finally get some sleep, Carter got comfortable in his bed and laid his head against the soft, fluffy pillow beneath him. From there he laid motionless, aside from periodic respirations. He waited for his body to go limp and his brain to clear him, allowing for the effects of sleep to take over.

But it didn’t come to him, and as minutes passed, his annoyance only grew.

After about half an hour or so, he angrily rolled onto his back and grumbled, throwing his hands up violently.

“What the hell?” he whispered.

Carter rubbed his eyes then rolled onto his side, ready to go for round two. But before he closed his eyes, he saw the journal resting on the desk, reflecting the moonlight back at him. He propped his back against the backboard to sit himself upright and be able to reach the journal. Carter picked and up and intended to simply move it away from the light, but once he had a hold of it, he didn’t want to let go of it quite yet.

Carter leaned against the backboard and held the journal close to his face so he could see it with the limited moonlight illuminating the room. He fiddled with it for a moment, opening it and flipping through the blank pages. He noticed a ruby red pen located between the spirals holding the pages together. He pulled it out from its confines and rolled it between his fingers, pondering for a moment.

“Ah what’s the shame? I’m not sleeping anytime soon, I guess. Might as well write something to pass the time.”

Carter clicked the pen and opened to the first page of the journal, where he began writing his first ever entry.

Chapter IX: A Whole Lot of Apples

Carter bolted upright from his bed in panic, gasping for breath and clenching tightly onto his chest with one hand. He stared senselessly ahead as he tried vigorously to regain control of his thoughts and emotions. Carter was able to recollect himself not too long after; a single bead of sweat trickled down his face as a result of his efforts. He spent another minute to allow himself to fully recover.

That same damn dream.

Carter wanted nothing more than to lay his head back on the soft pillow and sleep a while longer, but he knew that the nightmare would only return if he chose to do so. That along with the presence of the early morning sunlight filling the bedroom made him reconsider his choices, and so he instead got out of bed.

Carter proceeded to the bathroom where he intended to clean himself off. He found everything there was to expect like a shower, sink and toilet to name a few, which was a surprise to him. Although these familiar appliances were designed more with the ponies in mind, it felt strange to him how everything in this new world felt so different, yet so similar at the same time.

At first, Carter wasn’t sure if the princess would take kindly to him using the bathroom amenities. But he later decided that she would be fine with it given the fact that she had lent the room to him for the night. He also wasn’t too keen on the idea of walking around with an unpleasant odor on him throughout the whole day.

Carter unclothed himself and went to step in, but caught eye note of the wrappings around his previously wounded abdomen. Not wanting to get them wet in the shower, he simply decided to take them off, as he felt much better than before. About halfway through, he was able to get a clear look at his recovery. Save for a few remaining bruises it seemed that he made a full recovery, which influenced Carter’s decision to scrap the wrappings once all of it was removed from his body.

As he cleaned himself, Carter went against using soap, as the scents from them smelled far too sweet to him and he wasn’t too keen on smelling like that for the whole day. Even then the human made sure to scrub himself thoroughly.

Once done, Carter slipped into the tunic-like clothes Rarity gave him and walked outside of his room, proceeding towards the throne room.

Initially, Carter didn’t know if anyone else was awake due to it being very early in the morning. However, as he made it to the stairs leading to the throne room, he heard Twilight and Applejack talking to each other. Almost subconsciously, he listened in to their conversation while he continued downstairs.

“Ah wish we could spend more time together, Twi. Really felt like the ol’ days,” said Applejack.

“Don’t worry, Applejack. We’ll find more time to hang out in the future. Maybe then I’ll finally have this whole princess thing figured out,” replied Twilight with a chuckle.

“Yer doing fine, sugarcube.” Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle, herself. “Anywho, Ah do need to get back to the farm. We don’t have long left to pick the rest of the apples that need picking, and it ain’t right for me to leave the rest of the family doing the work without me.”

“You think you can do all that before it’s too late?” Twilight inquired.

“Ah think so. It hasn’t been easy with… everything happening with Granny. But we’re getting through, one day at a time,” said Applejack.

“How is she doing?” Twilight looked at Applejack with concern, as she could tell that the farm pony wasn’t processing her emotions well.

“She’s fine, Ah assure you. She’s just… a little sick is all.” Applejack timidly rubbed against her hoof.

“If you need anything, let me know. I can always make time for friends,” said Twilight, placing a hoof along Applejack’s shoulder.

“*sigh* We both know that unfortunately ain’t true,” replied Applejack. “But thanks, Twi. Ah do appreciate that.”

Twilight rubbed her hoof along Applejack’s shoulder for a moment. Applejack smiled back at the princess, thanking her for her kind gesture.

Both ponies quickly jolted in surprise when they heard footsteps coming from the staircase beside them. They turned and looked to find a pair of feet coming down each step, indicating the human’s presence.

Carter came to the bottom of the stairs and was greeted by the two ponies, each presenting a friendly, amiable smile toward the human.

“Good morning, Carter. How’d you sleep last night?” Twilight inquired in a cheerful tone.

“Quite well. The bed was very comfortable,” replied Carter, returning with a slight smile of his own, wishing he could go back and sleep for at least another hour or so.

“That’s good to hear. Of course, that is one of the benefits to sleeping in a castle,” said Applejack, looking at Twilight with a raised brow.

“I still can’t believe you actually let me stay here,” said Carter. To think the princess would let a stranger into her castle and partake in the prior night's festivities was something he did not take for granted.

“Well, it’s not everyday we get to meet a new face, let alone one who saved the day,” said Twilight.

“You’re still talking about that, huh?” Carter raised his brow and placed his hands behind his back.

“Don’t be so modest. Ya done did a good thing, let yourself enjoy that for a time,” said Applejack, patting Carter's chest in a congratulatory manner.

“I guess so…” Carter awkwardly scratched his head in response. “But, ummm… now that the party is over, what do you want me to do? You know, to better learn about friendship.”

“Don’t worry Carter, there’s plenty for us to do to help you start your journey. We can… oh… that’s actually a good question.” Princess Twilight rubbed her hoof against her chin as she tried to figure something out for Carter to do that would help him with his friendship quest. “To be quite honest, I didn’t really think about it before. I knew we would help you, but I guess I forgot to figure out how exactly that would happen. To be honest, I'm usually good at making a schedule.”

“That’s okay, Your Majesty. I don’t want to be getting in the way of your time with your friends,” said Carter.

Twilight quickly returned with a smile before pondering further.

As Carter waited for the princess’ response, he looked over to Applejack who was also patiently waiting. He looked back to the princess, then back at the orange mare. The ponies’ prior discussion came to him, recalling what they mentioned to each other. It was then he had an idea.

“Your Majesty, if I may.”

Twilight looked up at Carter and motioned for him to speak.

“I overheard word that Applejack was busy with apple picking and that the deadline was coming up shortly. With permission from both of you” - Carter turned to face Applejack - “I’d like to help in any way I can.”

Princess Twilight tilted her head and pursed her lip. In her mind she saw no downside with allowing him to help Applejack, but the princess looked to her friend for the final answer.

“A-A-Are ya sure ya want to do that?” inquired Applejack, surprised by Carter’s offer.

“I don’t have much of a choice, it seems. Besides, you made it seem like you don’t have much time left. I’m sure an extra pair of working hands wouldn’t hurt,” said Carter.

Applejack was left speechless, unable to find it in herself to reply for the first couple seconds. She looked back at the princess, who simply smiled and shrugged her shoulders. It seemed they were both in agreement.

“Alright then. Ah guess ya can tag along as long as ya ain’t afraid of getting yer hands a bit dirty,” said Applejack.

“Not at all, ma’am,” replied Carter.

“You really like formalities, don’t you?” asked Twilight.

“I’m just really trying not to mess this thing up,” said Carter.

“Just calm down and relax. Ain't no need to be perfect,” said Applejack with a chuckle.

Carter swiftly let out a sigh to calm his nerves before he inevitably made things more awkward than they already were.

“Let’s start there, Carter. The first lesson about friendship I will give you is to not be so stuck-up. Your friends aren’t supposed to be your boss. You should feel okay with being yourself around them and they should feel the same around you,” said Twilight.

Carter chuckled.

“Thank you, Your Ma- erm, Twilight. I needed that,” Carter said with an embarrassed smile. “You’re right. I just need to relax. Loosen up a bit.”

“That’s the spirit,” said Applejack.

“Although, how are we getting back to your farm?” Carter inquired.

“I’ve already got that figured out” - both Applejack and Carter turned their heads toward the princess - “I have a couple stallions outside the castle with carriages ready to take you and the others back home.”

“Well, aren't you quite the planner,” Carter said with a grin.

“Like I said, I'm usually good at it. You kind of need to be in my line of work,” replied Twilight.

“Nevertheless, thank you.”

The group of three conversed for a minute more before the rest came down the stairs, one by one, each greeting the others on their way over.

The last to arrive was Rarity, who claimed to be late simply due to necessary beauty sleep, to which the others laughed at.

Once all of them were grouped together, Princess Twilight led them out the castle doors and to each of their respective carriage.

Carter helped Applejack into theirs before feeling someone tap his shoulder from behind. He turned around to find Spike. The little dragon held out his hand to the human.

“Was nice meeting you, Carter. Maybe next time we can get to know each other a little better.” Carter smiled and shook the dragon’s hand, but was pulled in before he could let go of his hand. Spike leaned in and cupped his other hand around his mouth. “Between you and me, it can get kinda awkward being around mares all the time, so don’t feel bad if you’d rather meet up sooner rather than later.”

Carter chuckled and winked at the dragon, giving off a thumbs up as he stepped away from Spike.

“Ooh, I almost forgot. Twilight wanted me to give you this for the road. To help you get settled in,” said Spike, handing Carter a small pouch.

As Carter took the pouch from the dragon’s possession, he was surprised by its unexpected weight. He opened the pouch to examine its contents, astonished to find a handful of gold coins, which he presumed to be equestrian currency.

“Oh my… Spike, you don’t need to do this,” said Carter, handing the pouch back to Spike. “You and the others have done enough for me, already.”

“She insists,” replied Spike, pushing the pouch of gold away. “It’s not much, but it should help you in a pinch.”

“Well then, tell her majesty that she has my gratitude.”

The dragon nodded in reply.

As Spike turned to walk back towards Twilight, Carter turned to enter the carriage. However, he only made it up the first step before he heard some unintelligible babbling coming from behind him. He looked back once more, this time finding little Flurry Heart racing towards him, giggling along her way.

“Flurry?” Carter stepped down from the carriage and knelt down in front of the foal once she approached him. “What are you doing? Where are you parents?”

Flurry Heart babbled more as she jumped up onto Carter’s knee.

“What the- what are you doing, you goofball!?” Carter exclaimed, laughing alongside the foal. He held his arms around her so she wouldn’t fall off his leg. “Huh. You seem like you healed pretty well. Thank God.”

Flurry Heart looked Carter in his eyes and smiled. Even though Carter couldn’t understand what she was saying, he could still kind of decipher whatever it was she was trying to relay to him through her motions.

“I got to go, Flurry Heart, and you need to go back to your parents.” Flurry Heart smiled a while longer before looking down at Carter’s arm and growling childishly, lightly smacking her hoof against his flesh. Carter looked down and furrowed his brow. “Don’t worry, Flurry Heart. I will not let that monster hurt you or any of your friends. I promise.”

Flurry Heart babbled once more, almost agreeing with Carter’s promise.

“You are really something special, you know that?” said Carter.

“Flurry Heart! Get over here! Don’t make Carter miss his ride!” Carter and the foal looked over to find Princess Cadance waving her hoof around as she called to her daughter.

“She’s fine, Your Majesty! Just saying our goodbyes!” exclaimed Carter. He looked back at Flurry Heart and smiled one more time. “Guess I got to go. You be good now, you hear.”

Without any time to process what took place, Flurry Heart leaned in and hugged him around his neck.

Carter froze, at first unsure as to why he felt himself doing so.

Carter looked down at the foal, watching her as she held him closely to her. It was nothing more than a simple gesture, yet he felt a sudden wave of emotions sweep over him. It was almost foreign to him. It made him feel something. Something he hadn’t felt in a long time, and he didn’t know how to respond.

He felt happy.

He remained still; Carter knew not if he should have hugged her back, even though there was a part of him that wanted to.

The two of them stayed there for a few seconds. Carter let those feelings of happiness and content fill him, not wanting to let go. For the first time in a while he felt truly happy.

But as time passed, Carter knew he had to part ways with the foal, and so he pulled Flurry Heart away from him and looked at her one more time.

“You are amazing, Flurry Heart. Never forget that and you’ll be just fine.”

Flurry Heart giggled and hopped down from Carter’s leg, running over to her mother.

Carter chuckled as he watched the foal run.

“Ya really built an audience. And in such a short time, too,” said Applejack from inside the carriage.

“I guess so…” Carter said, looking over at the foal as his emotions began to even out.

“Now come on! We got a whole day’s worth of work to get through,”

“Huh? Oh, right!”

And with that, Carter boarded the carriage and sat himself down once inside.

“I hate to see you girls leave so soon, but don’t worry! We’ll see each other again in no time, I’m sure of it! And I wish you safe travels on your journey, Carter! I'll have something for you real soon!” Twilight said with a bright smile as she waved to all her friends. The others all waved back in return as they drove off, one by one.

Seeing her friends leave was bittersweet to the princess, as she had no idea when they’d next see each other. But what she did know was that if they were able to see each other now, then there was definitely a next time.

“Come on, Spike. Let’s get back to work,” said Twilight as she made her way back inside the castle, ready to resume her duties. Spike, along with the once royal sisters, followed suit.

As for Carter, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride in accomplishment of all the things he had done thus far. To him, he was doing well and it was only a matter of time before he would complete his quest and return to Earth as a new, reformed man.

Feeling good about himself, Carter turned away from Applejack for a brief moment and lifted his hand in front of his face.

“Take that, you rotten parasite,” he whispered.

“Don’t get too cocky…”

Carter’s smile dropped as he heard his taunt echo in his mind, lingering there and eating away at Carter’s newly found contentment. He scoffed as he lowered his hand down to his side.

“Did you say something?” inquired Applejack.

“Oh, n-no,” replied Carter. “I mean, yes… what exactly do you want me to do? You know, once we get to your farm. Is it just apple picking?”

“Yes. They’re in season and are perfectly ripe,” said Applejack. “We’re just on a bit of a time crunch.”

“Is it like this every year for you guys? Racing against the clock?” inquired Carter

“No, just this year. We’ve had some… other things take the place of farm work.” replied Applejack.

“... I see.” Carter responded obliviously, pretending not to have heard what Applejack told the princess back at the castle. “Well then, I’ll make sure to do my best.”

“Thank you, Carter. I really do appreciate you for offering to help.”

“It’s the least I can do. Repayment, if you will, for agreeing to help me learn about friendship.”

“Believe me, there’s not much to it. Ya just gotta be willing to learn, is all,” said Applejack.

Carter nodded. He knew the mare was right, but he couldn’t come to terms with it. If it really were so easy, he didn’t understand why he had not changed in the past.

As he pondered, a thought came to him. One he had been meaning to ask for some time since his arrival.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why is Princess Twilight specifically the princess of friendship? Where I’m from, that’s a very… unusual subject to be a part of, let alone as leader,” said Carter.

“Yer fine, ask all the questions ya like. Ah know ya just got here n’ all,” replied Applejack. “But to be honest, before Twilight came to where she is now, Ah’m sure many of us would have agreed with ya. Friendship was a foreign concept to us, so much so that we were once split apart because of our differences. Earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns alike lived separate from each other in a fierce feud for power and domination. Only recently in Equestria’s history did we slowly start to learn the benefits and true power of working together.

“Eventually we put away our differences and came together, but Celestia felt there was more that could be done in regards to friendship. So she sent her best student, Twilight Sparkle, to go to Ponyville with her only companion at the time, Spike, and learn about friendship for herself. That’s when she met us, and when she reported the things she learned to Celestia, she became the Princess of Friendship. Ever since that day, Equestria has only gotten better because of Twilight and her dedication, and when it came time for the sisters to step down from the throne, we knew there was no better eir than Princess Twilight.”

“Interesting. Seems she’s done a lot for Equestria,” said Carter.

“She has, indeed,” replied Applejack.

After minutes more of conversation the carriage came to a halt, stopping right in front of a white fence gate leading to a red barn.

“This is the place. Sweet ol’ Apple Acres!” Shouted Applejack, happy to be back home.

Applejack stepped down from the carriage and opened the gate up for Carter, who was looking around at the farm’s scenery as he exited closely behind.

“Quite a nice place you got here,” said Carter.

“Thanks. Ah know it ain’t much to some folks, but it’s home to us,” replied Applejack. “Anywho, let’s not waste anymore time.”

Applejack closed the gate behind herself as Carter made his way through. She then ran towards the barn in a hurry. Carter, caught off guard by the mare’s sudden burst in speed, quietly sprinted after her.

Applejack was the first to make it inside the barn, followed closely by Carter. The mare looked around for the tools necessary to begin the day’s work.

“I’ll get the baskets we need for carrying the apples with us. See if ya can find a couple, won’t ya Carter?” she inquired, looking over her shoulder toward the human.

Carter gave her a thumbs up, acknowledging her words. He then looked around in search of baskets. He began his search at the opposite side of the barn that Applejack was surveying. Finding nothing within the first couple seconds, he went about a more thorough hunt, looking behind barrels and under boxes. Still nothing. He cocked his head, feeling stupid and expecting Applejack to have already acquired at least a few by then.

“Have ya found any of ‘em, yet?” asked Applejack.

“No,” replied Carter in embarrassment.

“Hmmm… that’s odd. Ah could’ve sworn Ah left them right here.”

Carter felt a sense of relief in knowing that it wasn’t just him struggling to find the baskets. However, if neither of them had found them, Carter wondered where they were.

“Do you recall another place you saw them?” inquired Carter.

“Ah don’t. Ah always leave them right here, and last Ah checked baskets don’t have legs to run away,” replied Applejack.

Carter took a moment more to ponder where to continue his search, when he heard a faint voice coming from the back of the barn behind the wooden walls.

Not to Applejack’s knowledge, Carter exited the barn and proceeded towards the back of the structure. He searched for the source of the voices. He could still hear them as faint whispers, but couldn’t track it down.

Coming around the corner, Carter stumbled into a large pile of hay bales stacked atop each other, almost in the form of a makeshift fort.

I wonder…

Carter approached the fort and looked around the perimeter for baskets. None were found, but for a brief second Carter heard the voice coming from inside the fort.

There was an opening in the front of the hay bale fortress leading inside. Carter knelt down and leaned his head towards the entrance.

“Hello…?”

Nothing came to him in response. Carter opened his mouth to repeat himself when he saw something moving within the shadows of the fort. He leaned closer to get a better look.

“Who goes there?” A young, yellow filly with a bright red mane jetted her head out from the fortress entrance, inches away from Carter’s face.

Both Carter and the filly shouted as they quickly backed away from each other, albeit Carter was startled by the sudden appearance of the filly, whereas the young pony was in genuine fear of seeing the human standing before him.

The filly took refuge in the fortress walls.

Carter sighed and went back to the fortress entrance.

“Um… excuse me. I’m looking for baskets. We need them to pick the apples. You wouldn’t happen to know where they are, would y-”

In a flash, the young filly, along with two other fillies, one white unicorn with a half pink, half purple mane, and an orange pegasus with a purple mane, zoomed out from within the fortress and pinned Carter. The unicorn used her magic to force Carter to his knees while the pegasus ran behind the human and pinned his arms behind his back.

What the-!

“Don’t say another word, monster! We know why yer here!” exclaimed the yellow filly, who stood in front of Carter, glaring into his eyes. “Ya just want the basket so ya can run off with our apples. Well that ain’t gonna happen!”

Carter struggled to break free of the pegasus’ grasp combined with the unicorn’s magic hold on him. He speedily began devising a plan to escape. While nothing came to his mind at first, he looked at the yellow filly in front of him. That’s when an idea popped into his head.

That accent… could it be…?

“Wait! You wouldn’t happen to know Applejack, would you?” Carter inquired.

“Ya mean my big sis’?” the yellow filly replied with a raised brow.

“She was the one who sent me to find them! I’m here to help pick the apples, not take them for myself!”

“You’re a big liar!” replied the unicorn.

“Applejack doesn’t even know you!” added the pegasus.

“It’s the truth!” shouted Carter.

“Why should we believe you?” asked the earth pony.

“Because Ah said so!” The four of them looked back to find Applejack, who stomped her hoof fiercely as she ended her sentence. “Y’all heard me. Let ‘em go this instant!”

Without much choice, the three young ponies reluctantly released their hold on the human and let him free.

As Carter dusted himself off, Applejack ran up to his side and helped him to his feet.

“Are ya okay? Ah hope they didn’t hurt ya,” said Applejack, apologizing on behalf of the fillies.

“I’m fine, Applejack.” Carter turned towards the three young ponies with a stern expression. They each looked back with a look of shame and mild fear. But as Carter calmed down, his face changed to that of a smile. “You three have amazing skills and coordination. I’m sure Applejack must be thankful to have you here to protect the farm while she’s gone.”

The three fillies couldn’t help but smile back in response to the humans' kind words.

“Ah sure am,” Applejack said with a sigh. “Allow me to introduce these three rascals. The pegasus is Scootaloo, the unicorn is Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s little sister, and then there’s Apple Bloom, my lil’ sis’.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” said Carter.

“And who might you be?” inquired Sweetie Belle.

“My name is Carter Johnson. I’m a human.”

“Never heard of a human before,” said Scootaloo.

“Well it’s very nice to meet ya, Carter,” said Apple Bloom.

Carter laughed to himself, surprised how quickly the young ponies shifted moods in spite of everything they had thought of him beforehand.

A question came up in his mind as he examined the fillies further.

“I see you three have a similar cutie mark. May I ask if they are in common with each other?”

“They are, actually,” said Scootaloo.

“We three make up the Cutie Mark Crusaders: a group who dedicate our lives to helping other fillies and colts with finding their purpose so that they can one day get their Cutie Mark,” explained Apple Bloom.

“Quite an interesting mission of yours, I must say. But I’m sure that they’d be thankful to have you girls to help them out,” said Carter.

“Well I hate to interrupt the chit chat, but we do have quite a bit of work to do. So could you be so kind as to tell us where the baskets are?” said Applejack in an almost impatient tone.

“Oh my gosh! The apples, that’s right!” shouted Apple Bloom. “The baskets are in our fort, here. We were gonna do a bit of apple picking earlier, but… we kinda got carried away.”

“Is that right?” asked Applejack.

“B-But don’t worry, sis’. Me n’ the girls can still help out. Right girls?” Apple Bloom looked to her friends.

They did not match her energy.

“Awe shucks, Apple Bloom. We really wish we could, but…” Sweetie Belle froze, trying desperately to think of a way out of work.

“We already had… something planned for tonight. I’m afraid it can’t be rescheduled,” said Scootaloo, finishing her friend’s sentence for her.

Carter and Applejack looked at each other and hid their mouths behind their fist and hoof respectively, unable to keep in even the slightest chuckle.

“Awe. Thanks a lot,” said Apple Bloom as she pouted her lip.

“Don’t worry, sugarcube. Carter’s here to help out,” said Applejack. “We’ve already gotten a lot done, so far. Ah’m sure we can get done with the rest of the apple pickin’ if we just put our hooves together and work as hard as we can. Then we can be done for the year and you’ll have more time to spend playin’ with yer friends.”

Apple Bloom sighed as she sulked her way into the hay fort to grab the baskets. As she came out with a few baskets stacked atop each other, the filly looked one more time to her friends.

“Ah promise Ah won’t be long.”

“Cool. See you later, Apple Bloom!” said Scootaloo as her and Sweetie Belle ran off towards town.

Apple Bloom dropped the baskets and hung her head as she sulked.

“Sometimes Ah hate farm work.”

“Chin up, sugarcube. Like Ah said, it shouldn't take too long.” Applejack picked the baskets off the ground and carried them away, beckoning for Carter and Apple Bloom to follow.

Carter took the first step, but realized that Apple Bloom wasn’t following. He stopped in his tracks. He looked at the filly, turned to where her friends ran off, then back to her.

“You really like being with your friends, huh?” he inquired.

“Yeah, Ah do,” replied Apple Bloom, looking up at the human. “Why ya ask?”

“Just means I should work extra hard so I can help you get back to them.” He gave her an amiable smile. “Now let’s get to work.”

Apple Bloom smiled, moved by the human’s words and finding the motivation she needed to get up and get to work. She trotted to Carter’s side and walked beside him as they caught up with Applejack.

Along their way, Carter looked out across the pasture and to the unpicked apple trees in the distance. It was true what Applejack said, there were a lot of apples yet to be picked. He pursed his lip, slightly intimidated at the thought of getting so much done by nightfall. But he expected nothing less, and he knew there wasn’t much of a choice, anyway.

The small group made their way to the first of the farm’s many apple trees yet to be relieved of their produce. It was there Applejack set down the baskets, aside from one which she took for herself, leaving the rest for Carter and Apple Bloom to use.

As the two others picked up their respective baskets, Applejack explained the instructions for the day’s work to them.

“Let’s each tackle one row at a time. Start at one end and work down until ya finish that row, then go to the next closest one.” The filly and human nodded in response as they assumed their positions. Apple Bloom took the row closest to her sister while Carter took the farther option.

Carter began his work setting down the basket by his side and looking up the apples. They were high up over his head, too high for him to reach without something like a ladder or step stool, let alone the ponies. Saving himself the potential embarrassment of asking, he observed their methods of acquiring the apples.

Applejack turned her body away from the tree and vigorously bucked it by its trunk. From there the apples detached from the tree’s branches and gravity did the rest, falling perfectly into the basket below.

Apple Bloom did the same, sending all that tree’s apples down and into her basket with one swift buck.

Carter stood dumbfounded.

Shaking his head, Carter simply accepted their methods, as weird and foreign as they were to him. He looked back to his tree and huffed.

Alright tree. Give me your apples!

Carter turned, leaned back and kicked the tree, connecting with the base of his foot. He then stepped back and waited for a moment to allow the apples to come falling down. And he waited. And waited.

Assuming he didn’t use enough strength in his kick, he winded up for another strike. With more force than the last, Carter delivered a hefty blow to the tree’s wooden exterior, enough to where the tree splintered where he struck. Again he waited for the apples to fall neatly into his basket, but the tree it seemed had other ideas, keeping hold of its produce.

Both apple ponies, hearing the sound of the wood cracking following the human’s powerful kick, turned their heads in curiosity to see what all the commotion was about.

“What’d that tree ever do to ya?” asked Applejack.

Carter froze in place. He knew he was caught.

“Uh… if I’m quite honest, I’m just trying to do what you girls just did.” In the end, Carter went against making up some dumbass excuse and admitted his intentions. “I don’t think I can reach those apples if I were to pick them by hand.”

“Oh, well why didn’t ya say something earlier.”

Applejack walked over to another, farther tree and reached from behind. She then pulled out a ladder and proceeded towards Carter. Once there, she placed the ladder up against the tree, allowing Carter access to the high-above apples.

“Unfortunately teaching you how we here at the farm ‘pick’ our apples would take a couple days, and we simply don’t have that kind of time.”

“That’s alright,” said Carter with a blank expression.

“Don’t feel too bad. My brother’s wife has yet to learn the ways of the ‘apple buck’, as well. Just takes some practice,” Applejack looked to her sister. “Speaking of which, where is our brother?”

“Unfortunately he can’t come out to help us. He and Sugar Belle are busy taking care of… -” Apple Bloom swiftly looked to Carter, then back to Applejack. “- you know who.”

Applejack quietly nodded in response.

Carter, continuing to act as if he was oblivious to the situation, turned around and said a quick prayer for their grandmother under his breath.

“Anywho, let’s get back to work,” said Applejack, trotting back to her tree.

As Applejack left to resume work on her row of trees, Carter looked to his tree with a furrowed brow.

“Thanks for nothing you big jerk,” he whispered, forcefully punching against the bark with his fist. A lone apple fell from the tree and onto his head, causing him to flinch and cover the spot where it landed. “Fine. Point taken.”

Carter reached down and grabbed the freed apple, placing it in the basket before climbing the ladder to collect the rest of them from the tree.

The day went on about the same from there. Carter would walk up to each tree, prop the ladder against its trunk, then proceed to pick each apple off the branches, one by one. He would then place them in his basket, and if ever it got full, he would walk them over to a large barrel and gently place them inside, continuing the process from there.

As he finished with the last remaining tree in his row, Carter stepped down with a smile on his face and picked up his basket.

Carter moved towards the apple barrel to deposit his produce, when he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He stared out to the distance, looking over towards the apple ponies. With a disappointed look on his face, Carter had come to realize that both mares had made the same progress he had nigh four-fold. They were rows away from him, and they were only speeding up from there. It was a swift but brutal slap to the face, informing him of just how much, or rather how little he was doing for them in comparison.

With nothing else he could do, Carter simply sighed and continued on his way. He hoped that they would at least have some sympathy in knowing that he wasn’t very experienced in farm work, and that he was trying his best. Still, it hurt his ego to see just how slow he was doing when comparing his work to theirs.

As the sun rose above the land, an intense heat followed suit. Applejack, Apple Bloom and Carter continued their work, nonetheless. Doing their best to finish come nightfall.

Occasionally, Carter would make another attempt at the so-called “apple buck”, but would always come up short. Not even a single apple would drop to pity his efforts, and he would swear under his breath with every failed attempt.

As the blue skies slowly changed to orange, the ringing of a distant bell echoed across the acreage.

“Yee haw! Supper time!” exclaimed Applejack.

Apple Bloom dropped her basket and sprinted toward the barn. Meanwhile, Applejack trotted to Carter’s position.

Carter didn’t react, continuing with his work.

“Aren’t ya coming?” Applejack inquired. “Ah highly doubt ya ain’t yet hungry for some supper.”

“You don’t think the others would mind a guest?” replied Carter as he dropped his basket and looked over his shoulder.

“Well of course not, ya silly. Anyone helping us with the farm deserves a good meal for their efforts,” said Applejack. “Besides, Ah already told the others that ya were here earlier today. They told me they couldn’t wait to meet ya.”

“Alright then, if you insist,” Carter dusted himself down and followed Applejack to the farmhouse.

“Awe, don’t pretend ya ain’t itchin’ for a good meal,” said Applejack.

“I am, believe me,” replied Carter with a chuckle.

As long as it isn’t another hay sandwich.

Upon entering the farmhouse, Applejack opened the door for Carter as the human dusted his shoes off.

As he stepped into the house, Carter took notice of all the farm themed decor set around the vicinity. It was a nice change of environment compared to the farmland, despite being built on the same plot of land.

In front of Carter was the dining table, which had three dishes covered in tin foil. While the contents of each dish were unknown to him, he was captivated by the delicious scent that filled the farmhouse.

Carter set his shoes beside the front door, making a conscious effort to be a respectful guest.

“Well what in tarnation is this here thing!?”

The unfamiliar voice erupted from behind Carter, startling the human quite effectively.

Carter swiftly spun around on his heels in response to his sudden adrenaline rush.

Upon examination, Carter locked eyes with a green, wrinkly, very elderly mare with a gray mane and tail wearing an orange scarf with a red apple pattern around her neck.

The elder pony stared at the human in surprise and confusion, but seemingly lacking the brain power to process this new creature standing before her, as her expression did not change even after a few moments of awkward gazing.

As for Carter, it didn’t take long for him to piece together the identity of the old mare.

Carter wanted to introduce himself to the old mare by starting with “Granny Smith, I presume,” but realized that if he did, Applejack would no doubt wonder how he knew her name, and perhaps catch on that he was eavesdropping on her conversation with the princess back in the castle. And so he paused for a moment more, replanning his introduction.

“Hello, ma’am,” Carter said, plainly. “I hope I didn’t scare you.”

“Ah, a feller with manners.” The elder mare held her hoof out. “Granny Smith’s the name.”

“Carter Johnson. A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Carter said, gingerly shaking the mare’s hoof.

Carter quickly noticed how the old mare was shaking while balancing on her other three hooves, so he was quick to disengage the hand-hoof shake.

“Granny, what in tarnation are ya doing out of bed?” Applejack rushed to her grandmother’s side and held out her hoof for the elder pony to maintain balance. “Ya trying to get yerself hurt?”

“I’m quite fine, ya whippersnapper!” protested Granny Smith. “Ya younglings always acting like Ah’m living my last few moments in this world.”

Applejack, evidently impacted by the old mare’s words through her pained expression, suppressed her rising emotions with one big sigh.

“We’re just worried about ya hurting yerself, Granny. That’s all.”

“Ya didn’t tell me we were having a guest over,” said Granny Smith, looking back at Carter in surprise.

“Ah did, Granny. Ah told you when we got here, this morning. This is Carter, the human Ah told ya who was gonna help us pick the rest of the apples. Don’t ya remember?” said Applejack.

“He don’t look like a dragon to me,” replied Granny Smith, staring at her granddaughter with a confused expression.

“No… a human,” replied Applejack, raising her voice a bit more so the elder mare could hear her more clearly.

“Say, isn’t that the same thing as Discord?” Granny Smith glared at Carter. “Ya better not get into any trouble in my house, ya hear me!”

“No, Granny…” Applejack couldn’t help but roll her eyes and chuckle. “Ya know what, let’s get ya over to the table and have some supper with our special guest.”

“Supper? Why didn’t ya say so, earlier? Ah’m hungrier than a bear after hibernation.”

Carter failed to hold back a hearty laugh in response to the elder mare’s remark.

Carter came around the opposite side of Granny Smith and aided Applejack in walking the old mare to the dining table. Once they did so, Carter pulled her chair out as Applejack helped Granny Smith onto her seat.

As Granny Smith sat herself down, Applejack pushed her chair in while simultaneously gesturing toward another for Carter to sit in.

Carter walked over to the respective chair and quietly sat himself down.

“Well go on and tell me about yerself, younglin’,” said Granny Smith.

Carter opened his mouth to speak, but Applejack spoke before he could get a word out.

“Ah’m sure ya have lots of questions for him, Granny. But Ah’m also sure that the others would like to learn about him, as well. Wouldn’t ya agree?” said Applejack.

“Ah guess ye’re right,” replied Granny Smith. “Speakin’ o’ which, where are they?”

“Ah’m sure Big Mac and Sugar Belle are coming down any second. But Ah swear Ah saw Apple Bloom come in the house before me,” replied Applejack.

“Ah did see the lil’ one run upstairs for something. Maybe she went to get them.”

“Oh my gosh, it’s you!” A pink mare with purple hair came down the stairs behind Carter, followed by Apple Bloom and a taller, muscular, red stallion with golden hair. “It’s so good to meet you. My name’s Sugar Belle.” The pink mare came up to Carter and held her hoof out to him.

“This is Carter, the human Ah told y’all about,” said Applejack.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Carter stood up and shook the mare’s hoof.

“Oh my… you’re a lot taller than I expected,” said Sugar Belle.

“Eeyup,” said the red stallion from behind.

“Ah yes, this is Applejack’s big brother and my spouse: Big Mac.”

“Sir,” said Carter, shaking the stallion’s hoof.

“Always good to get some extra help around the farm,” said Big Mac.

“So I’ve heard,” replied Carter.

As the rest of the apple family sat themselves, so too did Carter, preparing himself for a tasty meal.

A smile swept over Carter’s face as Big Mac leaned over and pulled back the tin foil of each dish, revealing carrots, cornbread, and apple slices. It was nothing grandiose to him, but simply seeing something he was used to eating was enough to make him eager to dig in and feast.

Applejack, seeing the giddy human in the corner of her eye, couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Alright, everypony. Let’s dig in.”

One by one, each of them grabbed a plate and loaded them full of food to saturate their hunger.

“So tell us a bit about yourself, Carter,” said Sugar Belle, passing the stack of plates to Apple Bloom.

“Yeah, what brings ya here to our farm? I’m itchin’ to know just what made ya come here,” said Granny Smith.

Carter closed his eyes and laughed, realizing just how much this question would be asked to him.

“Well, if you must know, I overheard that you guys weren’t doing so good with getting your apples picked in time before winter. So I offered to help and, well, here I am.”

“Well that’s very thoughtful of you, mister,” said Sugar Belle.

The conversation took a pause as each of them took their first bite.

Carter started with the carrots, taking the biggest bite he could and nearly downing the first of the vegetables with that very chomp. A smile formed from cheek to cheek as his stomach happily accepted the delicious sustenance.

“But what brings ya here to Equestria? Ya definitely don’t look like yer from these parts,” said Apple Bloom.

“I’m not. I’m from a far away land. I… am here to learn about friendship.”

“Friendship, huh?” said Sugar Belle.

“Why do ya need to learn about friendship?” inquired Apple Bloom. “Ah thought everypony knows about it.”

“Some more than others, I’m afraid,” replied Carter. “I made some… questionable decisions back home, and now I’m here to make better choices and become a better, much more friendly person.”

“The princess herself has offered to help him, so he’s kind of become her new student,” explained Applejack.

“Student?” Carter inquired.

“This isn’t the first time Princess Twilight has tasked herself with helping somepony else discover the power of friendship,” said Big Mac.

“Why do you guys say it like that?” asked Carter.

“Say what like huh?” replied Apple Bloom.

“The ‘power’ of friendship.” Carter spoke while making quotation marks with his hands. “Friendship isn’t some magical power, it’s a concept, the act of two or more humans, ponies, whoever it may be, forming a relationship of mutual affection between themselves and others. There is no special force, aura or ‘power’ that causes friendships to become what they are… is there?”

The whole apple family laughed in response.

“What’s so funny?” Carter asked, oblivious to their humor.

“Ya described friendship, sure, but ya only did so as a simple word. Ya have yet to actually understand what friendship really is about and the good it can do,” said Applejack.

“What do you mean?” Carter spoke anxiously, eager to learn about what the mare was talking about.

“If ya only knew… but, that’s why we’re here to teach ya,” said Applejack. “It’s not something ya can learn by simply reading a book or watching a demonstration. There’s a reason it took Princess Twilight so long to learn about it, and even to this day she doesn’t yet know everything about friendship.”

“But…-”

“No more talkin’ ya yabberjabbers, let’s start eatin’!” shouted Granny Smith, immediately delving into her meal after her outburst.

The rest of the apple family giggled once more before joining the eldest member in partaking in the feast.

Carter, meanwhile, was left clueless. He received no answers and was left with even more questions than before he sat down. He could not decipher what they knew that he didn’t. To him, friendship was nothing more than a concept, one that he felt very confident in understanding by definition. But to the ponies, it seemed as though they thought very differently about it.

Realizing that further pondering only created more questions, and therefore more cloudiness in his mind, Carter simply rolled his eyes and sighed as he took a bite of the cornbread.

Even with all his thoughts, he found solace in eating the familiar food stacked atop his plate.

As evening fell, the food on the table whittled away until there was nothing but empty plates and crumbs left.

“Whew, that was delicious,” said Apple Bloom, patting against her stomach.

“Sure was,” said Applejack. “Ah sure am tired, but it looks like we still got some more sunlight we can use to help us pick a couple more apple trees. Ah’m still certain we can pick the rest of the apples if we get our hooves dirty and work real hard.”

“Awe, but sis’ Ah thought we could just call it a day. We’ve been working really hard and all,” whined Apple Bloom, pouting her lip whilst staring at her sister with big, beady eyes.

“Ah’m sorry, sugarcube, but this happens every year. You know how important this is to us and for our farm.” Applejack cocked her head and smiled apologetically.

“Ah guess ye’re right.” Apple Bloom crossed her forelegs and huffed.

Applejack rolled her eyes and looked at Carter with a pursed lip and furrowed brow.

“Ready when you are,” said Carter, not wanting to irritate the orange farm pony any further.

“Good to hear, now let’s get to wo-”

A loud thud erupted from the nearby area, startling everyone at the dining table. They began frantically searching for whatever it was that caused the thunderous boom.

“Did you drop something?” inquired Sugar Belle as she searched under the table.

“Wasn’t me,” said Apple Bloom, checking her surroundings.

“Nope,” said Big Mac, making sure he still had his plate and utensils.

Carter examined the area near the end of the table. Finding nothing but an empty chair, he turned to the opposite end, finding nothing out of the ordinary there, either. He placed his hand on his chin and gently stroked it as he pondered what caused the ruckus.

“Granny, did you drop your plate or something?” asked Sugar Belle.

Carter's eyes went wide, his face went pale and his heart sunk in his chest.

The human nigh-instantaneously turned his attention back to the first location of his search.

An empty chair!?

A soft groan was heard shortly after; the entirety of the apple family gasped in unison when they finally realized what had happened.

“Granny!!!” Applejack exclaimed, worried sick and sprinting to aid her grandmother. She nearly fell to the ground once she got close, finding the old pony having a seizure on the ground.

Carter and Big Mac followed suit, kneeling down beside Applejack.

Apple Bloom ran to aid them, as well, but when she witnessed what was happening to her beloved Granny Smith, she stumbled backward and shouted in denial of what she saw.

Little Apple Bloom practically fell into Sugar Belle’s hooves, who swooped in to comfort the young filly. Apple Bloom buried her face into Sugar Belle’s chest as tears formed in her eyes, shutting her eyes and looking away from the scene, not wanting to further watch as Granny Smith suffered.

Sugar Belle gingerly grazed her hoof along the back of Apple Bloom’s head in an attempt to calm her, but knowing deep down that it would do no good.

“It’s going to be okay, Apple Bloom. Everything is going to be okay,” said Sugar Belle, continuing to comfort her sister.

Applejack held tightly onto her grandmother’s hoof, unable to do anything to help the old mare.

In time, Granny Smith gradually regained control of herself.

“Huh, what’s going on? What happened? Why y’all looking at me like that?” asked Granny Smith, unaware of the recent event.

“Granny, ya scared us to death!” Applejack looked at her with a sorrowful expression. “Ya almost… Ah couldn’t… Granny, ya need to get back in bed, now.”

“I’m quite fine, ya hear! Ain’t ya never seen a mare fall, before!?” Granny Smith pulled her hooves away from her grandchildren’s hold, but they refused to let go.

“Granny, that was no mere fall! Ya shouldn’t… Bah! Big Mac, help me get her to her room.” Applejack and Big Mac helped Granny Smith onto her hooves and aided the elder pony up the stairs. “Ah’m glad ye’re okay, Granny, but ya need to get some sleep.”

“Ah don’t need no sleep! The moon isn’t even up, yet. Ah assure ya, Ah’ll be quite fine.” Granny Smith’s voice cut off from the rest of the group as the bedroom door slammed shut once Applejack and Big Mac made it inside.

Carter looked to the youngest of the apple family, who was still in tears after seeing such a shocking and fearful occurrence before her young eyes. Sugar Belle did everything in her power to help soothe Apple Bloom’s despondency. As much as he wanted to support her, he felt that this was not of any concern to a stranger such as himself and instead something only the family should worry about.

“Ah’m scared, Sugar Belle.”Apple Bloom spoke through her tears, hugging Sugar Belle with a tight grip. “Ah don’t want to even think about her leaving us.”

“I know, honey. It’s going to be okay, just give it some time,” said Sugar Belle, continuously, gingerly stroking Apple Bloom’s mane.

Carter placed a hand on his heart and sighed.

“Is this a normal thing, now?” inquired Carter, directing his question to Sugar Belle.

“No, it’s not…” Sugar Belle answered, appearing to be holding back tears of her own.

Carter’s mouth dropped open slightly, feeling empathy for the apple family. He could understand just how hurt and how broken they were after experiencing such an awful incident.

When the others witnessed a severely depressed Applejack make her way down the stairs and return to the dining room, they looked to her for answers regarding Granny’s status. She wore a sad, gloomy expression upon her face, looking down toward the ground and fighting back an onslaught of tears.

“Granny Smith isn’t feeling too well. Big Mac is with her, right now. Hopefully she’ll recover soon.” Applejack shied away and wiped away a few escaped tears. “We will have to finish picking the apples some other day.”

“But… what about winter?” asked Apple Bloom. “It’s starting to get cold at night. If we don’t do it now, they might freeze and die by morning.”

“We will worry about that later, Apple Bloom. Go play with your friends, why don’y ya,” replied Applejack.

“But… big sis’.”

“Apple Bloom, just go…” Applejack’s voice rose ever so slightly, sounding less dejected and more angry.

While Apple Bloom was oblivious to the shift in her sister’s tone, Carter and Sugar Belle detected it rather quickly.

“Do as she says, Apple Bloom,” said Sugar Belle.

“No! We have to-”

“Do not talk back to yer sister, ya hear me!?” Applejack snapped. The emotions suppressed within her heart was unleashed upon her sister, nearly scaring the young filly to death.

Both Sugar Belle and Carter stumbled back in surprise, unsuspecting of Applejack’s outburst.

The house was quiet, as nothing but Applejack’s vigorous panting could be heard.

As Applejack calmed herself, she laid eyes on her dear sister, who was petrified, struggling to breathe normally and doing everything in her power to hold back the many tears that were forming under her eyes. As she looked at herself through her sister’s eyes, all Applejack could see was an angry, enraged mare in the tear-made reflection. Applejack’s expression changed once more, from anger to concern, then to sadness, sadness evoked upon the realization of what she had just done.

It was then she knew that she had just made a grave mistake.

“Apple Bloom… Ah…” Applejack could not find the words to speak. Nothing in the world could be said to reflect just how sorry she was.

On the verge of bawling, Apple Bloom sprinted up the stairs and into her room, slamming the door shut. But even as the wooden door protected the filly from sight, her cries could still be heard by everyone in the dining room.

Applejack could no longer hold back her own tears, for an insurmountable level of sadness and regret for the way she acted toward her own sister flooded her soul. A couple tears trickled down her face and landed on the wooden floor beneath her hooves.

Applejack stood there, softly crying. It felt like the world was against her.

“Ya can go, Carter. *sniff* Thank ya for yer help. *sniff*” Applejack spoke through her cries, lowering herself to the ground and covering her face with her hooves.

Understanding the circumstances, Carter simply nodded and turned to exit through the front door.

As he proceeded toward the exit, Sugar Belle frantically followed after him, grabbing him by the arm before he could step outside.

“Wait, don’t go.”

“I can’t stay here… not now,” said Carter.

“B-but, where will you go? Do you have a place to stay?” inquired Sugar Belle.

“No.” answered Carter. Sugar Belle stared back at him with concern on her face. The human looked over her shoulder, looking upon a broken, despairing Applejack. “But I’ll find something. Right now, you need to be with your family. Don't… don't let me get in your way.”

“Are you sure?” questioned Sugar Belle.

“I know how important family is… believe me,” answered Carter, speaking with intent.

“I see.” Sugar Belle turned her head away from Carter and wiped away a tear. Knowing that he was right, she held out her hoof to him. “It was good to meet you, sir. You’re always welcome back to the farm if you wish.”

“Good to meet you, too.” Carter shook the mare’s hoof. “You have my prayers.”

“Thank you. Good night.”

Sugar Belle gently closed the door behind her and walked back to be with Applejack and comfort her. She sat beside her sister-in-law and softly placed her hoof along Applejack’s back.

“Oh, Sugar Belle. *sniff* Ah’m so, so sorry. *sniff* Ah didn’t mean to *huff* Ah didn’t *huff* *huff*” Applejack could not continue her sentence as more tears filled her eyes after looking to Sugar Belle, which only filled her with more shame and regret.

“It’s okay, Applejack. I understand. It really has been difficult, recently. I'm sure Apple Bloom knows you didn't mean it. Just… give it time.”

Carter, standing on the other side of the door, turned around and began his walk. He knew not where he would go, but he knew that the apple family needed to be left alone for the time being.

As he walked away from the farmhouse, he could faintly hear some of the conversation between Applejack and Sugar Belle.

“Ah just don’t want to lose her. Ah don’t want to lose Granny. Besides you and my siblings, she’s the only family Ah have left.”

Carter stopped in his tracks, intrigued by the mare’s use of words.

“Ah don’t want to lose her… Ah’ve already lost them. Ah can’t lose her, too.”

Carter’s eyes opened wide as a familiar pain filled his heart. His breath grew more rapid and his body went cold.

No… impossible. It can’t be, she doesn’t mean… no. Of course not…

Carter shook away the negative thoughts from his mind and continued forward.

“Mom… *sniff* Dad.” That was the last thing Carter could hear as Applejack’s voice fell out of his range.

Carter immediately lost balance, falling to the dirt surface beneath him, catching himself with outstretched arms and resting on his hands and knees. He had lost control of his breathing and he felt himself break out in a cold sweat. Those very last words haunted him, affecting him in such a way that they practically paralyzed him.

He felt a pain growing inside him, one he was all too familiar with.

Carter began trembling as another dark, torturous memory plagued his mind, separate from the one that would haunt him in his sleep. A single tear fell to the ground, soaking the soil where it struck.

Not her… not her, too. She doesn’t deserve that.

Carter’s mind became overwhelmed as he felt nothing but fear and sadness consume him. He shook his head vigorously, trying desperately to clear his mind of the terrible memories brought upon his consciousness. He struck the dirt with his fist, gritting his teeth and groaning in a state of mental pain.

Following several deep breaths, Carter regained his composure and got back on his feet.

The skies above turned gray as the sun began to set behind the horizon. With it, heavy rain swept over the land.

As the rain doused the hair on his head, Carter looked down at the ground in pity of the apple family.

A lonely apple rested right beside Carter’s foot, glimmering in the rain. He reached down and picked it up, rubbing off the dirt that clung to the fruit. Carter gazed upon the apple for a moment longer, intrigued by what he found to be its majestic nature. So simple in design, yet so familiar to his eye.

“If only there was some way I could help them…” he said to himself, partially speaking to the apple. “They have enough going on, already. I just wish I could make it easier for them the same way they’ve done so for me.” Carter looked up at the sky. “What do I do?”

As if someone was watching over him, a single raindrop landed straight atop the apple in Carter’s hand, splashing with enough force to pull his attention to the apple.

Carter first looked at the apple merely in reaction to the raindrop, but as he examined the fruit further, an idea sparked in his mind.

Carter looked to the apple trees, back to the apple, then back to the trees.

It was then he knew how to help.

“Alright, I can do that.” Carter took a big bite out of the apple before tossing it aside and walking over to the nearest apple tree that had yet to be picked free of its produce.

Carter grabbed the ladder and an apple basket along his way and placed it up against the tree’s truck. He climbed up each step until he could reach the apple, when he then began picking the apples, one by one.

Once the first was done, he moved on to the next and repeated the process, then same with the following.

Carter made it his mission to get all the apples, by sunrise if need be, so that Applejack and her family could focus solely on Granny Smith’s health and well being. And so he kept working, walking with purpose behind each step.

However, when he came to the fifth tree, he set the ladder against it, but he did not climb the ladder. Instead he stood there, looking down at the ground and pondering many thoughts.

Carter could not help but think back to what Applejack had said when he left, how much it hurt her and her family to see their grandmother in such bad condition, and just how much it truly impacted not just her, but all of them. It was not like he could magically save Granny’s life, but it made him wonder if what he was doing would be truly helpful.

An anger rose within him, but he did not know why. Still, he was very angry, angry with himself. He could not come up with a reason to justify his feelings, but he felt as if he wasn’t doing enough. Not for himself, not for those he wished to call friends, not for anyone. Sure, he had done a lot since his arrival, but he still felt like there was more he could do, or rather in his words, more that he should do. But no matter what he thought of, he could not come up with a suitable answer.

And that was the theme: he never got answers, it was always just more and more questions.

What am I doing? Applejack is in there, about to lose a family member, and I'm standing here thinking that picking apples of all things is gonna help!?

Carter violently threw the ladder aside and clenched his fists. Winding his arm back, he struck the tree with a mighty blow, splintering it once his fist connected, all to release his rage.

But it was not enough.

Carter stepped back and delivered another blow to the tree’s wooden exterior, cracking it further. Then another, and then another. Left, right, left, right. He kept on swinging, each punch packing more power than the last.

“And why the hell do I care!? Why do I feel bad for them!? When have I ever cared for anyone!? What is wrong with me!?”

When it came to the point that Carter’s whole fist could enter through the hole he had caved into the tree with his hands, it was then he stopped.

His hands began to tremble once again as he looked upon the damage he caused. Even though Carter knew it was just a tree, the fact that he hurt it all because of his rage was disheartening, for this was far from the first time Carter acted out on his emotions.

Carter pulled his fist out from the hole in the tree and dropped to his knees. He looked down at his hands, which were covered in a bit of blood due to wounds on his knuckles. It once again reminded him of his past, the monster he became and the whole reason he was sent to Equestria.

Carter looked up at the tree and placed his hands over the hole in its trunk.

“What... what am I doing? I… I don't mean that. I do care about them. They've done so much for me and I just want to do the same for them. I want to feel like I'm actually making a positive difference, doing something good for once! It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, to really make myself feel happy… but it always seems like I can never do enough. It feels like I instead hurt others rather than help them.” Carter flipped himself around and sat with his back against the tree. “What do I do? I want to help them, but I can't. I can't heal Granny Smith… and that makes me feel angry. But... even I know what anger leads to.” Carter hung his head in shame. “I let my emotions control me. Again! Even though I want to help, I know that being angry only causes more issues. I'm doing this to myself…”

Carter closed his eyes, thinking back on everything he had done leading up to this moment. All the good and bad he had committed in his past.

But while he focused solely on the bad, he came to realize that staying in that frame of mind was keeping him from achieving his goals and preventing himself from being better, being the man he wished to be.

Carter lifted his head and sighed, embracing the feeling of the rain washing down his face.

“But... I will not become a monster. Never again.” Carter stood up and faced the tree once more. “I may not be able to save Granny Smith, but I can pick the rest of these apples before morning. And that is what I will do. It’s what I must do.” Carter brought his right leg back and took a stance. “I don't know what they see in me. I don't know why they agreed to help me nor why I was pardoned of damnation, but they trust me. Applejack and her friends trust me. I cannot... no, I will not disappoint them.”

And with a mighty roar, Carter swung his leg around and kicked the tree, this time controlling his strength and focusing more on shaking the apple tree from its very roots.

As his foot collided with the tree trunk, the tree shook in place, but no damage was seen where he struck.

After taking a moment to breathe, Carter pulled his leg away from the tree.

A single apple fell to the ground, landing beside Carter. Then another, and another, until all the apples from that one tree came down from the branches and into Carter’s reach.

A smile swept over Carter’s face. It had seemed to him that he had learned the aforementioned “apple buck”

“Thanks…” Carter looked back at the tree and patted its trunk. He leaned down and picked up the dropped apples, placing them in his basket. He then lifted the basket and held it by the handle, targeting the next of the many trees yet to be picked. He looked up at the apples with a stoic face. “But we’re not done yet. Alright, Carter, let’s start being helpful, again.”

Author's Note

Bit of a lengthy chapter, I know, but I didn't want to cut anymore of it out. Hope you all like it.

-MCX