//------------------------------// // Part 9: You're Pretty Cocky For a Guy Who Doesn't Even have His Own Body // Story: Celestia's Chosen Hero... is Carl? // by Joey JoJo Shabadoo //------------------------------// Now that Carl and Pinkie Pie had reconciled their differences, the group set off for Twilight's castle, in the hopes that she would show the same level of understanding and kindness the rest of her friends had shown Carl, or at the very least, tolerate him a little more. With Pinkie’s friends by his side and his new, fluffy pink scarf blowing in the wind, Carl was fully prepared to confront Twilight, but before he could, there was still one more obstacle standing in his way. Atop the golden staircase, standing guard outside the castle’s entrance was an all too familiar face. “God damn it.” Carl groaned. “It’s that fucker, Unis.” Despite his irritation, Carl and the others marched towards the bottom of the steps, eventually catching the attention of the Captain's all seeing eye. With Carl leading the herd, he and Unis naturally locked sights onto each other, with Unis showing great displeasure in their reunion, triggering a cocky grin from Carl. “So, you’ve come crawling back?” Unis reviled. “Crawling?” Carl smirked. “Is that how you pictured this going down? Were you expecting me to get on my knees and beg for forgiveness? Sorry, but I'm not that spineless.” “You’re just lucky the Princess didn’t issue a restraining order on you, commoner.” “Good thing, too. How am I supposed to save her ass from evil, if I’m forbidden from going anywhere near it?” “'Save her from evil'? I find it highly unlikely that you have the power to save anypony.” “I’ve got a better track record than you, Captain. What were you doing during the Lightning Ball incident? Oh, yeah, cowering behind a tree.” “I was not cowering!” Unis leapt off the steps, landing directly in front of Carl, in defiance of his claims. “I kept that ball contained using all the power I had! We would have been vaporised immediately if I hadn't! How dare you imply incompetence on my part!” “Woah, calm down, buddy. I never said you were incompetent… I said you were a coward.” “It’s almost as if you want to get arrested.” “Want to? I think the better question is: Can you? Can you arrest me?” “That overconfidence won’t be of any help, once you’re locked away, rotting in a dungeon cell.” “Yeah, I’ll bet Celestia will be real pleased when she finds out that her trump card was imprisoned.” “Mark my words: Push me any further and no jurisdiction in Equestria will prevent me from putting you in your place, commoner!” “Oh yeah, well you’re a big, fat-” “Ahem!” Rarity interrupted. “Pardon me, boys. I would hate to put an end to your verbal fencing, but we have more pressing matters at hoof, right Carl?” Carl was so wrapped up in arguing with Unis he almost completely forgot why he even came to the castle in the first place. “Oh yeah….” He took a deep breath and bellowed out: “Hey, Toilet Sprinkler! Get your ass out here!” “And, what business could you possibly have with Princess Twilight?” Unis questioned. “More than I have with you, so move, nerd.” Carl shoved Unis aside without a second thought, completely throwing him off guard. With his pride wounded, Unis would have retaliated, but to his surprise, the massive doors to the castle creaked open, as Twilight appeared before them. Her mere presence forced Unis to back down. “Carl, what are you doing here?” She asked, descending the staircase. “How the hell you been, Twiggles? See the storm last night? That rain came down harder than your fat hooves down those stairs.” “I see you haven’t changed.” “Damn straight, I haven’t.” “In that case, I’ll give you about three seconds to vacate the premises.” “What!?" Carl yelled, angered. "Bitch, make me!” Twilight immediately levitated Carl off his hooves and was about to toss him aside when Pinkie suddenly leapt towards her. “Twilight, wait!” “Pinkie!?" Twilight's callous attitude quickly subsided upon seeing her friend. "What are you doing here!? Are you okay!?” “Carl, what are you doing!? How could you screw this up so quickly!?” “It’s not my fault she pisses me off so much!” Carl cried, struggling to break free from Twilight’s magic. “Twilight, it’s okay. Carl and I are friends now!” “WHAT!?” Out of sheer shock, Twilight dropped Carl from her grasp as he crashed back down to earth. “Friends!? With him!? What the heck happened!?” “Me and Carl had a long talk about it and we decided to let by-gones be by-gones.” “There’s no way Carl would ever do something like that. What really happened?” “Well, Applejack had to kinda force him a little, but we got there eventually. He apologised and everything.” “I don’t know… How do I know Carl didn't put you up to this? What if you’re just covering for him?” “Applejack and the others were there, they can vouch for me. Plus, I even gave him that super cool scarf.” Twilight didn’t even notice it at first, but upon further inspection, Carl really was wearing a frilly pink scarf. There was no way he'd ever wear something like that without good reason. “Are you sure this isn't some kind of elaborate ruse?” “Gosh darnit, Twilight!” Applejack yelled. “Pinkie gave him that scarf as a sign of their friendship. It might seem unbelievable, but it’s the truth.” Twilight kept staring at the scarf as she pondered to herself. Applejack couldn't possibly be lying, but Carl was still acting the same way he always had. Could he really have changed? Was this all just an act? Either way, it was too early to tell. “What are you staring at?” Carl chided, as he pulled himself back together. “Got a problem with the colour pink?” “Do you, Twilight?” Pinkie reiterated. “What? No. I just… have a hard time believing what I’m hearing.” “Come on, Twilight. Give him another chance. For me?” “I don’t know. Unis, what do you think?” Carl thought it was odd that Twilight would ask Unis for his opinion, considering he isn't even meant to be involved in the first place. Unis needed no time to think and responded, swiftly. “Honestly, Princess, you're just wasting your time. It’s obvious he hasn’t changed at all and that he will only continue to be a burden on you. I imagine after extended exposure to his vulgar personality, even Princess Celestia would begin to lose patience with him.” “Shut up, retard.” Carl retorted. “Go be irrelevant somewhere else.” Unis held his tongue, as not to create a scene in the presence of royalty. While Carl's vulgarity was certainly still prevalent, the rest of Twilight’s friends, especially Pinkie, all still looked as if he deserved a second chance. Twilight wasn’t sure herself, having not witnessed this supposed change, but if she couldn’t trust her friend's judgement, then who could she trust? “Alright, Carl. I’ll give you your second chance.” “Neat.” “But, you’re still on thin ice. I want you to promise to never lash out at my friends like that again. Got it?” “Well, technically I only lashed out at your friends because they wouldn-” “GOT IT!?” “Yes ma’am.” “Good.” “Congratulations, Carl!” Pinkie rushed in for a triumphant hug. “You’re back in Twilight’s good books.” “Yeah, on the bottom shelf…” He replied. “Unis.” Twilight called. “Continue your guard duties here, me and Carl have important business to attend to.” “Oh, god, really? No breaks?” “No breaks, now come on.” “What the hell are we doing?” “Shopping, of course.” "Oh god, Pinkie, save me!" "Have fun, Carl!" She waved. “Goddamn it…” Before Carl knew it, he was back to being dragged around town with Twilight, as if nothing had changed at all. They strolled through the high street, once again, as the same ponies watched them pass by, anticipating another verbal showdown between the two. However, they were left disappointed as they merely passed by without saying a word. The two eventually came to a fairly large building that looked like a supermarket, leaving Carl a little anxious. “Oh, man. I think I’m having flashbacks…” He groaned. “What? You don’t like supermarkets?” Twilight asked. “No, I hate shopping in general. Especially with women…” “Carl, if you weren't such a picky eater, I wouldn't have to drag you here. Now, quit complaining, it'll only take a few minutes.” “'A few minutes' my ass! That's what they all say and before you know it, you’ve been in there for an hour with no end in sight. Then they keep asking the same, redundant questions, while they take their sweet time. Meanwhile I'm stuck standing around, about to keel over from boredom.” “Don't you think you're over-reacting, just a little bit?” “Nope, you can stand around freezing your ass off in the frozen section, but I'm not setting one foot in there.” “Oh, fine, be a baby, but you just lost your right to complain about whatever food I happen to get you.” “Fine.” Twilight groaned in disbelief, amazed at Carl’s childishness. She pointed over to a row of seats up against the side of the building. “Go sit over there until I’m done… and try not to get into trouble, okay?” “As if I’d do such a thing.” Twilight didn’t appreciate the sarcasm, not that she ever appreciated Carl’s sarcasm, but she entered the supermarket without any further comments. Satisfied with dodging a troublesome shopping trip, Carl parked his rear on one of the seats and patiently waited for Twilight. It may have been boring, but at least it was effortless boredom. Of course, after a few minutes, Carl found himself kicking up the dirt underneath his seat in a vain attempt at entertaining himself, but soon, a small pegasus colt sat on the seat next to him. He was a little black pegasus with big blue eyes and a scruffy mane. It was apparent from his appearance that he was highly energetic and as soon as he and Carl looked at each other, he immediately started talking. “Hey, mister!?” The kid asked, standing in his seat. “Why are you sitting so funny?” Carl caught himself sitting upright, like a human, again. “Uh… because I feel like it?” “You’re weird, you’re like that green unicorn mom sometimes talks with.” “Uh huh…” “Hey, why are you sitting here? Did your mom go shopping without you, too?” “Uh… yeah, sure.” Carl laughed to himself. The young colt, suddenly started fluttering over his seat in excitement. “Hey, look! I just learned to fly recently! It's super cool!” “Really? Good for you, kid.” “Yeah, but I’m still getting used to it. My mom took me shopping a couple of days ago, but when I was flying around the store, I accidentally knocked a bunch of stuff over…” “Is that why she dumped you out here, today?” “Yeah… mom wasn’t happy. She said she needed to pay… compen...say...son?” “Well, have you tried walking?” “What!? Why would I walk when I can fly!? How am I supposed to get good at flying if I walk everywhere!?” “Huh… good point.” “So, why did your mom leave you out here? Did you break a bunch of stuff, too?” “Oh, I’ve broken plenty of stuff, but honestly, she’s just a massive bit-” Carl suddenly stopped himself. For some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to swear in front of this innocent child. There was just something about his energetic eagerness that he found too endearing to sully with harsh cursing. “Bit?” The child asked. “Bit… bit of a control freak. You know?” “Yeah, my mom can be like that.” “I bet she is…” “Yeah… I just wish she wouldn’t get so mad all the time…” “She’s just trying to keep you out of trouble. Otherwise, you might end up like me, someday.” The colt laughed. “Yeah... you're old.” “O-old?” Carl wasn't sure how to take that, but he admired the colt's guts. "What's your name, kid?" “I’m Stormy Ascent.” “Woah, nice name.” “What’s yours?” “Carl.” “Really?” “What did you expect?” “I don’t know… something cooler, I guess.” “Nope, nothing cool here. I’m just a boring old fart.” Suddenly, without warning. A massive explosion tore through the entrance to the supermarket as sparks of purple lightning crackled throughout the area, debris scattered across the ground and smoke burst through the decimated entrance to the store. “WHAT THE FUCKING HELL WAS THAT!?” Carl screamed. As the smoke from the blast cleared away, it revealed Twilight, standing firm, but clearly injured by the explosion. She was glaring intently at the figure standing in the ruined entry way. “What are you doing!? Stop this!” Twilight ordered. “There are ponies here! If you want to fight me, we can take this somewhere else!” “Fight you!?” The figure announced, loudly. “What!? I'm not here for a fight! I'm here to send a message!” "A message!?" "Yeah! 'Dear Princess Celestia: Thanks for keeping me imprisoned for over a millennia! As thanks, I'll reduce each town in Equestria to rubble, one by one!'" “Not on my watch!” Twilight fired a large, powerful blast of magic at the figure, hoping to consume and trap them, but the attack was effortlessly nullified by the figure’s own magic. A sparking barrier that absorbed Twilight’s blast, like a black hole, reducing it to nothing. “What!? How!?” The figure laughed hysterically at Twilight’s dumbfounded expression. “Oh, what’s the matter Princess? I hope that wasn’t your best shot, otherwise, I’ll just skip the fighting and move straight onto the part where I rip this entire town to shreds!” “No!” Twilight fired another blast, but it was suppressed, once again. She kept firing, but couldn’t break through the figure’s defences. Twilight was at a loss, she wasn’t prepared for a fight and had no idea who or what her opponent was or how their magic worked, it was all too sudden. The figured continued laughing to themselves, in admiration of their own incredible power. “Well, Princess. You’re clearly out of ammo, so I guess I’ll take my shot now.” The figure stepped out of the entryway, it was difficult to make out who they were, as their entire body lit up with a purple light, obscured by lightning. From above their horn, a massive collection of magical energy was being amassed. It formed into a ball of destructive, lightning magic, that grew larger and larger. “What are you doing!?” Twilight yelled in fear. “You can’t throw around magic of that magnitude in a small town, like this! The damage would be immeasurable!” “But, if I have all this magic, I might as well use it! I’ll be surprised if anything crawls out from the ashes when this bomb goes off!” The ball of energy was finally complete, it was at least the size of a large house, with enough power to level the entire town. “Alright, Princess!” The figure called. “Catch!” The figure flung the ball at Twilight who, immediately ran away. Not from fear, but to lure the attack into an open space, away from any ponies. She was steadfast, as the attack loomed over her, until it eventually consumed her. The ground shook violently, as the ball collided with it, ripping the earth beneath Twilight asunder, becoming more unstable as it prepared to detonate, when suddenly, it was surrounded by a purple barrier. As the energy reached its boiling point, the ball exploded, but the barrier kept all of the kinetic energy it released contained, preventing any collateral damage. The barrier dropped and the smoke cleared, revealing an extremely fatigued Twilight, still standing in the small crater left by the blast. The figure burst into laughter, again, entertained by Twilight’s quick thinking. “Impressive, Princess! You used a barrier to protect yourself, and then used a second barrier to contain the explosion. I bet that took a lot of mental fortitude, managing two barrier spells like that without either of them breaking underneath all that pressure!” Twilight was far too fatigued to reply to his facetious praise. With his aura gone, Carl was able to see the figure for who they truly were. He recognised the voice and their magic, but their appearance was completely different. They were just a greyish white, female unicorn with a black mane. “Mom?” Stormy stuttered. “What did you say?” Carl asked. Stormy scrambled over to the figure, ignoring the danger of the situation. “Kid! What are you doing!?” “Something’s wrong with mom!” Carl wasn’t sure how he was supposed to defend a child from such monstrous power, but against his better judgement, he followed after him anyway. “Stupid little bastard!” Stormy pulled on his mother’s leg, trying to get her attention. “Mom, what’s happening to you!? Why are you doing this!?” The figure took time out of mocking Twilight, to deal with the nuisance that was nattering in their ear. They turned to face the child and with a sickly grin, replied: “Because she despises you.” “What?” Stormy was left stunned and confused. “What did I do…?” The figure suddenly took on a more melodramatic tone. “Oh, what haven’t you done, dear child? All that flying around, your constant need for validation. Not to mention your little accidents. You’re like a buzzing little fly, except flies don’t cause destruction wherever they go. It’s all so aggravating, it drives your mother crazy, but at the very least it did produce some delicious negativity.” “I-I’m sorry….” “Oh, that’s okay. Here, let me put you out of your misery…” The figure began recharging their magic, their body crackling with wild electricity, while Stormy stood petrified by their intimidating presence. Twilight thought fast and teleported in front of Stormy to protect him, at the same time, Carl had caught up and grabbed hold of him. Standing right in there face, Twilight braced herself for the incoming assault. The energy the figure gathered erupted from their horn, blasting Twilight at point blank with a burst of magic. Twilight threw up a barrier to protect herself and Carl, as the figure’s blast consumed them. From within the safety of the barrier they could see the stream of energy surging around them, as the magic shielding them cracked under the pressure. Eventually, the stream of magic burst, relieving Twilight from the immense stress. Another strip of ground had been ripped up by the blast of energy and the windows of the supermarket had all shattered from the pressure. “Well, I can see why Celestia chose you as her student.” The figure commended. “But, I guess that’s not saying much, with the sorry state you’re in, right now.” “You…” Twilight muttered, breathing heavily from her exhaustion. “You’re the one… Celestia warned us about… Who are you?” The figure reached out their hoof to lift Twilight’s face, as she was clearly too tired to do it herself, all so they could look her in the eye. “I’m just the embodiment of pure negativity, that’s all.” Twilight let out a quick burst of magic to push the figure out of her face. “Oh my, still got some fight left in you, even after all that? I guess you’re not the same, whiny little brat, who cried incessantly whenever they failed a big test.” “Wha-? That only happened one time!” “Ooh, don't want to make you angry, you might brainwash me into falling in love with your raggedy little doll.” “You leave Smarty Pants out of this! I don't know how you know about my past, but if you think you can use it to psyche me out, then you are sorely mistaken.” “Still going to fight, then? Alright, but tell me, Twilight. Will you be able withstand a third attack? What about a fourth, or fifth? How about ten or twenty!? Maybe you should just cry to the Princess, like the child you are!” “Hey, how’re you holding out, Sprinkles?” Carl stepped out from behind Twilight. “You’ve got some magic left, right?” “Yeah… Why?” “Good. Use it to keep the kid safe and try to regain some stamina. Let me take a swing at this asshole.” “But, there's no way you can stand up to him. What If you-?” “Don't worry about me, I’ve dealt with this guy before and I’ve got a feeling I might be more effective against him than you think.” “What makes you say tha- wait a minute. You’ve dealt with him before!? When!? Why didn’t you tell anypony about this sooner!? That’s kind of important, Carl!” “You can bitch at me later, we’ve got more important shit to deal with right now!” Twilight backed off and quickly escorted Stormy away from danger. Although Stormy was scared, he was also a little excited that he got to be guarded by Princess Twilight, herself. “Hey, fucko! Remember me!?” Carl called. “Celestia’s trump card. Her super secret weapon. What does her highness’ waste of time and effort want with me?” “What? Did you forget your promise?” “Oh, that’s right. I said I’d erase you. To be honest, I’d prefer to do it with Celestia watching, but I suppose I’ll be able to rub my victory in her face regardless if there’s a body leftover or not.” “You’re pretty cocky for a guy who doesn’t even have his own body.” “Neither will you, in just a few seconds.” The figure gathered his magic into another, large lightning ball. “Alright, Carl. Even you should be able to figure out how to play this game! Catch!” The ball loomed over Carl as it began its descent towards him. Twilight could only watch as the same attack that rendered her, a skilled alicorn, a fatigued mess, was now crashing down upon Carl, who was merely an Earth pony. The attack eventually crushed Carl, but suddenly, miraculously stopped. There was a brief pause where even the mysterious figure couldn’t figure out why their attack halted, but from Twilight’s perspective it was clear as day. Carl raised his arms and somehow stopped the attack, dead in its tracks, his hooves, burning from the impact. “Hey, asshole!” Carl yelled. “You can have this back!” With all his might, Carl threw the ball back at the figure who took the blast head on. Although they shielded themselves from any damage, the enraged look on their face proved that Carl, somehow did the impossible. “WHAT!?” The figure screamed. “WHAT DID YOU DO!?” “Whew… dude, chill. I just didn’t want your balls in my face.” “THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT, YOU IDIOT! YOU SHOULD BE DUST IN THE WIND! YOU CAN’T JUST DEFLECT MY ATTACK LIKE THAT! YOU’RE JUST AN EARTH PONY!” “...but, I just did…” The figure took deep breaths to calm themselves. “Okay… fine… so, you’re not just dead weight after all. Not yet, anyway…” “At least I have weight, Smokey.” “In that case, how about we kick the difficulty up a notch!” The figure summoned another, massive energy ball. Carl prepared to counter it, just as he did before, but what he couldn’t prepare for were the four other balls that spawned around it. “You gotta be shitting me…” It wasn’t obvious to the others, but deflecting the first energy ball wasn’t as easy as it looked. His hooves were singed, still smoking and Carl wasn’t sure if he could handle five attacks at once. “Let’s see you survive this one!” The group of explosive orbs flew towards Carl. Deflecting all five of them would be impossible, but there wasn’t enough time to strategise. He needed a quick and simple solution and he needed it now. Carl rushed forward, leapt toward the oncoming blasts and punched one as hard as he could. It wasn’t the most intricate plan in the world, but the force of his strike sent the ball at the front of the pack colliding with the others. Although his feat was impressive, it didn’t prevent the sphere’s of chaotic lightning from detonating upon contact with each other. Before Carl could even land from his jump, the magical blasts unleashed all their pent up energy and burst, all at once. The force of the blast sent Carl flying past Twilight as he tumbled across the ground and the shockwaves shook Ponyville to it's core. As Twilight looked on in shock, the figure burst into the same loud, obnoxious laughter he just loved to indulge himself in. “This is Celestia’s secret trump card!? What an idiot!” The figure could barely contain himself, he was laughing so hard. “I can’t believe he thought that would work!” “I can’t believe that actually worked!” “WHAT!?” His laughter stopped. Surprisingly, Carl managed to survive having been blasted in the face by such a powerful force of magic. “That’s impossible! You should have been incinerated! How are you still alive!? Not even Earth ponies are that resilient!” The figure was furious. How was he supposed to gloat over his victory when Carl would consistently prove his efforts fruitless? “Well, that knocked the fucking wind right out of me...” Carl wheezed, as he pulled himself up. “EXPLAIN YOURSELF, THIS INSTANT!” “Geez, dude, who shat in your coffee this morning?” Carl chuckled as he regained his composure. “Look, all I did was punch the first ball into the others, causing them all to explode, but the actual force of the explosion was what threw me back. The magical energy itself never even touched me. To put it simply, your attacks may look large, intimidating, and flashy as hell, but they’re nowhere near as strong as you think they are, even a simple Earth pony can handle them once they’ve realised that. If you really want to erase me, you’re gonna have to put in a bit more effort than that.” The figure’s body crackled with intense lightning, shaking the ground beneath him. “I’m being mocked? By… pony scum? ME!?” “You okay, dude?” “I’ll erase you! I’ll erase all of you! This entire town… will be nothing but ash when I’m through with it!” The figure’s power erupted, as their lightning shot into the sky. Dark clouds gathered around as he formed a magical blast, one that was far deadlier than anything Twilight or Carl had seen up to this point. While the other ponies looked on in horror, Carl had a smug smirk on his face. “Got him.” He charged towards the figure, who was so focused on amassing all his power in the sky, that he left himself completely unguarded. With a single devastating punch to the face, Carl knocked the figure through the air until he crashed into the ground. Having just been soundly pulverised, the figure lost control of their attack and the energy above them dispersed before it could endanger anyone, returning the sky to normal. The figure laid, dazed on the ground. “What happened…? Why.. am I… in pain…?” “What’s wrong, Smokey? Can’t take a punch?” “You… what are you…?” “Just some random asshole, that’s all.” “I’ll destroy you…” “Not in that state you aren’t. How about you get out of that woman’s body before I beat you out of it.” Suddenly, without warning, something small bumped into the back of Carl's head. “Ow! What the-?” “Leave my mom, alone!” Stormy cried in Carl’s face. “What!? Hey, Sparkplug! I told you to keep the kid with you!” Twilight hadn't even noticed Stormy had escaped from her, she was too enthralled by Carl's bizarre fight. “Why did you have to hit my mom like that!?” “Kid, have you not been paying attention!?” “Of course I have, but… I still don’t want anypony to hit my mom!” Stormy flew over to the figure and hugged at their leg. “I don’t care if she yells at me, I just want my mom back!” The figure suddenly grinned. “Well, looks like I just got myself a new bargaining chip.” “Really, dude?” Carl berated. “You’re going to take the kid hostage? What happened to all that talk about blowing up the whole town or whatever? This is just low.” “I know! It’s prefect, isn’t it? Just look at this poor, frightened child. He only wants you to stop hurting me. He’s such a good boy, it almost makes up for his little accident last week.” “Last week? Wait, are you talking about when he crashed in the supermarket? How do you know about that?” “Oh, I know a lot of things… probing people’s memories is an innate talent of mine.” “Oh, really?” Carl's smug smirk suddenly returned. “Because, that was a lie.” The figure immediately dropped his cocky attitude. They may have incredible powers, but having a good poker face was not one of them. “That look pretty much confirmed it. Stormy’s shopping shenanigans only happened a couple days ago, not last week. I admire the attempt, but you should leave the shit-talking to the professionals.” Carl said, as Twilight remembered his own failed attempts at trying to bluff Pinkie Pie, only yesterday. The figure desperately needed a way to regain control of the situation. “The… child was merely mistaken, right… son?” “Last week…?” Stormy replied, still not fully understanding what the grown up ponies were talking about. “You mean the vase? I’m sorry about that, too! I just wanted you to see me fly, you never have time to see me fly...” Carl roared with laughter. “Well, how about that shit? Do I even need to defeat you at this point? I think you've embarrassed yourself enough.” The figure paid no mind to Carl’s taunting as they were fixated on Stormy, seething with rage. “Hey!” Carl called. “You touch that kid and I'll…. what the…?” The figure suddenly struggled as they stared into Stormy’s saddened eyes. “No, stop it. Not again… not after finally finding another vessel! No! STOP!” Soon after, the figure’s body began glowing with a purple aura, the same aura Carl had seen before, just like in the Everfree Forest. Purple smoke suddenly burst forth from the figure’s body as it flew into the sky, disappearing from sight, leaving the vessel behind. The possessed mare laid unconscious on the ground, but after some prodding from Stormy soon awoke. “Stormy…?” She mumbled. “Mom!” “Stormy!” Having been exercised of the purple mist, the mother embraced her son. “My little baby’s okay!” “Are you back to normal now, mom?” “Yes and it’s all thanks to you.” “I’m sorry for all the stupid stuff I did.” “It’s okay. You maybe a little brat sometimes, but you’re my little brat.” Carl didn’t feel the need to stick around any longer, he left Stormy to reunite with his mother and returned to Twilight. “Don’t you love a happy ending?” He asked her. “Carl… what you did was…” “Brave? Inspiring? Maybe a little reckless, but totally badass?” “Stupid!” Carl was a little downtrodden by her reaction, although it wasn’t entirely unexpected. “Provoking that… thing, running head first into it’s attacks, punching giant magical balls of destructive energy! There was no guarantee that any of the stunts you pulled were going to work!” “Yeah… but, they did, didn’t they?” “That’s not the point! You could have been vaporised!” “But, I wasn’t.” “But… you should have…” “Oh, thanks…” “No! I didn’t mean it like that!” Twilight replied, with an uneasy look on her face. “I’m just stating the fact, that under normal circumstances, you shouldn’t have survived any of that...” “Oh, yeah? Then how did I survive all that, genius!?” “I don’t know…” Twilight didn’t look like she was being sarcastic, she was genuinely clueless. With that, Carl decided not to pry any further. “Well, what I’d like to know is: Why did that thing feel the need to lie to me, like that? Is he hiding something?” He thought aloud. “Like what?” "I don't know, that's why I asked." Twilight pondered for a moment, before coming to a decision. “I think it’s time we spoke with Princess Celestia about all this.” “Really, when?” “Immediately.” “But, isn’t Canterlot, like, really far away?” “That’s fine, we can just take the train.” “You mean we have to take public transport!? Goddammit…” “This is no time for complaining. We need to return to the castle, right now.” Before the pair left, Carl was smacked on the back of the head, once again. “Ah! What the fu-” “Sorry, mister.” Stormy apologised. “What is it, kid?” “I just wanted to thank you, for saving my mom.” “W-what? Uh, sure… no problem.” “Are you, like, a hero or something?” “Me? Nah, I told you. I’m just another boring Earth pony.” Stormy's mother soon joined them. “Well, you’re our hero.” “Uh… neat. I gotta go.” Embarrassed beyond belief, Carl quickly caught back up to Twilight. “Aw, looks like you’ve got a fan club, Carl.” Twilight teased. “Shut up.”