“... *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.”