Celestia's Chosen Hero... is Carl?

by Joey JoJo Shabadoo

Part 10: Just Happened to be at the Right Place at the Right Time

As the train passed through the mountains, bathed in the orange light of the setting Sun, Twilight and her friends were enjoying their peaceful trip to Equestria’s capitol, resting on the seats, side by side, as they discussed various different topics to keep themselves occupied until their arrival.

However, while Twilight's friends enjoyed each other’s company, Carl and Unis sat on opposite sides of the train cart, as far away from each other as physically possible. Every so often, their line of sight would cross paths and they would glare for a moment, but ultimately, nothing else would come from it.

Carl thought about how the trains back home were usually filthy, cramped and filled with questionable odours and even more questionable passengers, luckily his distaste for public transport was mitigated by the fact that, as a Princess, Twilight had reserved her own private cart for them. The cart was spotless, free from any homeless people and their stray, stained newspapers, allowing Carl to relax and enjoy the scenery, passing by his window.

Mountains, trees and a host of bizarre creatures scrolled by, they were honestly the most intriguing sights he'd ever seen since he arrived in Equestria. It made him question why Celestia decided to send him to Ponyville at all, with its mind-numbing mundanity.

Carl had been mostly silent throughout the journey, as he wasn’t pleased with having to share a cart with Unis, then again, for Unis, the feeling was mutual. Their bitter rivalry was becoming a concern for Twilight and her friends as they feared tensions may escalate.

At times like this, there was only one thing that Twilight felt could liven their mood. From under her seat she pulled out a small box.

“Hey, Carl, Unis.” She called. “Do you want to play a game?”

“Uh, Twi?” Applejack asked. “Have you always kept that box under there?”

"What? Why? Is it weird?"

"Never mind... but, are you sure that'll help?"

“Well, if they’re going to fight, I’d rather they do it with cards, rather than their hooves. Besides, I’ll be here to break them up if things get… heated.”

Carl had no interest in playing pony games, but Unis couldn’t refuse a request from a Princess and swiftly joined her.

“Carl? Are you sure you don’t want to play? It’s really good.” Sadly, Twilight’s persuasive box shaking was ineffective.

“Nope, I’d rather stare out this window.”

“Carl, we’re in a tunnel.”

“I’ve made my choice.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with us having fun without you? I don’t want you complaining about it later.”

“I’m fine, Sprinkler.”

“Well, alright…” Twilight was a little disappointed. She hoped Carl’s competitive side would compel him to at least give it a try, but with Unis distracted, her plan was still somewhat successful, until the Captain suddenly opened his big mouth.

“Ignore him, Princess. The commoner is nothing more than a knight with an empty scabbard.” He smugly proclaimed.

“What the fuck does that even mean?” Carl responded, offended more by his lack of understanding of the insult, rather than the insult itself.

“It means: you're scabbard carries no blade for you to strike me with. In other words: you’re all talk.”

“Well, excuse me, Captain Coward, but where I'm from, we fight with our fists, not with cards.”

“How predictable. You’re finally given an opportunity to best me in a contest of skill and all you can do is make excuses. And you had the nerve to call me a coward.”

“You’re a dunderfuck, is what you are!”

“You're simple minded slander only proves my point.”

“Motherfucker, I could slap your shit all over this cart, if I wanted to!”

“I wouldn't let you lay a hoof on me, you obnoxious cur!”

“That’s it! Nobody calls me a cur!”

With his blood boiling, Carl was raring for a fight as he marched over to Unis, but before he could raise a hoof, he was frozen by Twilight’s magic.

“Woah, back up Carl.” She ordered. “This is exactly the kind of situation I was trying to prevent.”

“Well, you’re doing a real bang-up job, Princess.”

Twilight could only let out her usual, exasperated sigh in response to Carl’s petty sarcasm. “How about you two sort out this little rivalry of yours with a simple card game, you know, instead of beating each other senseless.”

Having been given a moment to think about it, Carl reluctantly agreed. “Fine, I didn’t want to fight in this shitty little cart, anyway...”

Twilight was filled with glee, happy to finally be able to share her new game with everyone, as she placed the box on an empty seat. “Alright, everypony. Here it is.”

Carl squinted at the box, fumbling around as he tried, but failed to read the cover. “Wow, it’s…. uh…. um…… that... thing….”

“It’s called: Contradiction.”

“Yeah, that! Wait, what? Is that some sort of lawyer simulator?”

“No. It’s a simple card game.”

Twilight opened the box to reveal the cards inside, as she explained the rules.

“Each pony has 3 cards. A sword, a shield and a hammer. Sword beats hammer, hammer beats shield, shield beats sword and if both cards are the same, then it’s a draw. Both ponies reveal one card to each other at the same time and the idea is to predict what card your opponent is going to play and counter it.”

“So, it’s Rock, Paper, Scissors, but with cards.” Carl bluntly stated, expecting something a little more nuanced than a game he learned when he was five.

“You’ve heard of this game, Carl?”

“Wha-? Of course I have! Who the fuck doesn’t know about Rock, Paper, Scissors!?”

“Ponies who don’t have hands.”

“Oh… Yeah, that makes sense.”

Unis stifled a laugh. “With that kind of intellect at your disposal, I can’t imagine this game being much of a challenge.”

“I should hope not, be kind of embarrassing if you found a kid’s game challenging.”

“I guess that makes it the perfect game for you, commoner.”

“Yeah, so don't start crying when I beat you, unless you want to skip playing the game and move on to the part where I cave your face in!”

“Nopony is caving anypony’s face in!” Twilight interrupted, separating them with her magic. “If you two really have a problem with each other, can you please, try to settle it through a non-violent, card game, instead?”

“No, that’s fucking stupid.” Carl objected. “I’d much rather punch the dude, instead.”

“You’re not punching anypony!”

“Ignore him, Princess.” Unis responded. ”This child can hardly read. Do you honestly expect him to have the brains necessary to understand how to play a children’s game?”

“You must think I’m pretty stupid, don’t you!?”

“I'm glad you finally figured that out. For a brief moment, I was almost concerned for your intelligence.”

“In that case, I’ll do it. I’ll beat you in this dumb card game, then we’ll know who the real retard is.”

Unis was unfazed by Carl’s boasting. He took his seat, picked up his cards and waited to begin.

Carl sat in the seat across, he tried to pick up his cards, but they kept slipping from his grasp, until he dropped them all over the floor.

“Carl!” Twilight yelled. “Those are expensive!”

“Sorry, I’ll pick them up…” Carl scrambled to retrieve his cards, but only ended up damaging them further.

“No, no, no, stop!” Twilight lifted Carl aside and picked the cards up herself. “Oh, look at what you did, you creased it....”

“They’re just cards, Twiggles, you’ve got plenty more.” Carl shoved his massive hooves directly into the delicately crafted box, as he shuffled the cards around.

“Will you stop that!” Twilight ordered as she fixed Carl’s mess. “These are rare, collector’s cards, made especially in Canterlot!”

“Fine, you fucking nerd, then you hold them for me.”

“I guess I’ll have to, you... child.”

Twilight levitated Carl’s cards in front of him.

“Alright, you ready to play, Captain?” Carl goaded.

Unis remained calm, his confidence, for once, was unwavering. He wasn’t blind, he saw that the card Carl dropped and damaged was the sword, even with the cards turned away from him, he could still see the crease on the bottom corner.

If Carl played the sword card, he knew he could counter it without having to guess, which gave him a 50/50 shot at beating any other cards Carl would play.

“Such a fool.” He thought to himself. “Completely unaware he’s already lost, thanks to his own bumbling, incompetence. Perhaps it is a little unfair to best him through somewhat illegitimate means, but surely if he was as clever as he thought he was, he would have noticed the crease and replaced the card already. So, consider this a lesson. A lesson in how the superior conduct themselves and why you'll always remain a mere commoner.”

“Um, Carl.” Twilight asked, as she prepared his cards. “I don’t think you can win with this.”

“Of course I can, just watch.”

“You sure you don’t want me to-”

“I’m fine, Twiddler.” Carl asserted.

Twilight didn't think Carl could really be this stupid, but she wasn’t going to argue with him, even if he was clearly putting himself at a disadvantage.

“Alright... This is a best of five.” Twilight explained. “Whoever wins three matches, wins the game.”

The battle began and Carl immediately picked the center card. It wasn’t creased, meaning Unis had to take the 50/50 shot. He thought carefully about what card Carl would play and deduced, given his attitude, he would obviously go on the offensive and pick the hammer card.

Unis made his choice and the two revealed their cards. Unis played the sword, but Carl instead played the shield.

“Hey, I won. How about that?” Carl gloated.

Unis was mildly shocked, but it was a minor setback. Their hand’s were shuffled and the second round began, as Carl immediately picked his next card, just as swiftly as before, as if he wasn't thinking at all.

It wasn’t creased, so it was another 50/50 shot. Unis thought for a moment, given Carl’s uncouth nature, it was entirely possible that he would play the same card twice, just to be annoying.

Unis made his choice and they revealed their cards, again. Unis picked the hammer and Carl, as predicted, picked the shield.

“Ha.” Unis laughed. “Your tricks are far too predictable.”

“S-Shut up.”

The score was tied, one each, moving into the third round. They revealed their cards, again. Unis played the sword and Carl played the shield.

“What? The shield a third time?” Unis was certain Carl would give up on using it once his childish gimmick had failed.

“Is there a problem, Captain?”

Carl’s attitude was concerning to Unis, but nevertheless, he continued the game. He was certain Carl was playing some kind of mind game and so, predicted that he would play the shield a fourth time.

They revealed their cards, Carl did, indeed, play the shield with Unis countering with the hammer.

“Aw man, guess I am too predictable.” Carl facetiously lamented, shrugging his shoulders.

Unis was growing anxious. Perhaps Carl really was aware of the crease on his sword card. Was he intentionally not playing it to be safe? Or, was he really so simple minded and callous, that he would play the same card repeatedly without even thinking?

There was no way Carl would play the shield a fifth time, even he wouldn’t be that reckless, meaning that whatever card he did play would be entirely predictable, thus securing Unis’ victory.

He knew he could win. He needed this win. For the sake of his pride, he needed a solid victory against Carl, one that would cement Unis as his true superior. Just when he was beginning to feel the tension building, it suddenly melted away when he finally saw it.

Just like every other turn, Carl picked his card immediately, but this time, his card was creased. It was the sword card that Unis saw him drop earlier. It seemed Carl really did have no idea it was damaged, or he’d never play it, not that Unis had any objections.

With their score’s tied, they headed into the final, decisive battle, with Unis being unable to contain his delight. “You put up a decent fight, commoner, but I’m already one step ahead, I know exactly what card you played.”

Carl turned to Twilight, with his own cocky smirk. “Ooh, he sounds confident. Now, watch closely Twily, this is where the real fun begins.”

Twilight had been watching their game closely, and could tell some shenanigans were about to go down.

Unis revealed his card first, the shield. “Now, show me your sword card.”

“Well, shit, I guess you got me.” Carl spun the levitating card around to reveal: The hammer.

“WHAT!?” Unis cried in disbelief.

“Gotcha.” Carl grinned.

“But, how!?”

“How what?”

“Don’t play stupid with me! I saw you drop the sword card!”

“Oh, you did? Did you try to use that to your advantage?”

“I… of course I did, who wouldn’t?”

“That doesn’t sound very fair. Almost like, what’s the word I’m looking for? Cheating?”

“It was to teach you a lesson for not being observant enough to realise your own folly!”

“Oh good, in that case, you can consider my cheating a lesson in not being observant enough to realise I swapped the sword card for a second hammer card, right under your nose.”

“What? When?”

“I snuck it into the box when I was rummaging through it, earlier. Then I snagged the hammer card underneath my hoof and lifted it out without anyone noticing. I even gave it a nice crease in the corner, where I snagged it.”

“Princess, you could see his cards, so you must have known. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Twilight shrugged. “I told him he’d be at a disadvantage, but he insisted on playing anyway.”

Unis felt betrayed and devastated by his loss. “I...I… can’t believe I lost to such underhooved, trickery.”

“Dude.” Carl chuckled. “It’s just a game, who cares?”

The smug look on Carl’s face was like a dagger in Unis’ soul. Admitting defeat to this commoner was a painful blow to his pride as a Captain. Not that Carl himself dwelled much on his victory, to him it was just a dumb game.

“Hey everypony!” Applejack announced. “We’re here!”

“About damn time!” Carl rejoiced.

The train pulled into the station as Carl and the others passed through the gates of the rich and bustling city of Canterlot.

“Damn… look at this place.” Carl was in awe, compared to Ponyville, Canterlot was a massive step-up in terms of presentation. The buildings were huge, each one could be considered its own castle. The roads were spotless, Carl finally felt like he was walking on solid ground instead of the dirt streets of Ponyville.

“Man.” He expressed. “This place makes your kingdom look like shit, Twinkle.”

“Thanks, Carl…” Twilight begrudgingly replied.

“Holy shit, what’s that place?” Carl pointed to a lavish, extravagant and eccentric looking clothing store.

“Oh, that’s just my Canterlot boutique.” Rarity answered, nonchalantly.

“Wait? You own two boutiques?”

“Oh, don’t be silly… I own three.”

“And here I thought you were some elitist try hard.”

“Um…. I appreciate the compliment…? I think…?”

Pinkie suddenly popped into the conversation. “You wanna see something neat?”

Carl jolted in shock. “Shit, Pinkie. What?”

“There’s a great restaurant around here, that’s run by a friend of mine.”

“And, how is that important?”

“Because, they make the most deliciously spicy food you’ve ever tasted. Way better than the stuff in Ponyville.”

“Spicy food? That actually sounds edible and not shitty. Let’s go find this place.”

"Oh!" Dash added. "And maybe later I can show you around the stadium where the Wonderbolts put on their air shows."

"You mean 'flying pony air shows'? What the fuck, where was all this shit in Ponyville?"

“NO!” Twilight interrupted. “Really, Carl? After all the trouble you caused yesterday, now you want to go sightseeing?”

“Of course.”

“We don't have time for distractions. Not when that monster in still out there. Stay focused.”

“But, I’m hungry and bored and....”

“We’re seeing the Princess, now!”

“Okay, mom…”

Twilight was about to direct the group to Celestia’s castle, when a sudden frightened cry, echoed from a nearby alleyway.

A young, aristocratic mare was pinned against the wall by a unicorn, levitating some kind of weapon before her, shrouded in the darkness of the alley.

Upon first witnessing the scene, Carl immediately informed Unis. “Yo, Captain. There’s a mugging going on in there, might want to do something about that.”

While skeptical at first, Unis couldn’t afford to ignore such a serious claim, but as soon as he examined the scene, he took swift action. “Halt, citizen! What’s going on, here!?”

The unicorn grabbed hold of the mare, levitating the weapon dangerously close to her face. “N-nopony move! I’ve got a hostage!”

The mare screamed in terror, begging for help. Upon hearing her cries, Twilight jumped in to aid Unis. “Stop right there! You can’t escape!”

“Are you kidding me!?” The unicorn yelled. “The Captain of the Royal Guard and a Princess!? I just wanted some quick cash! Just my luck...”

The unicorn backed up, deeper into the alley, but the glow emanating from a window shed light on his person, revealing a scar across his eye, as well as his weapon.

“Stop!” Unis ordered. “Move another step and I’ll be forced to take action!”

“Yeah.” Twilight added. “Now, put down the kni-... uh… spoon?” Twilight was taken aback for a moment. “Are you holding a spoon?”

The unicorn became flustered, he was hoping the darkness would conceal his ‘weapon’. “Sh-shut up! I had to improvise, okay!?”

Even his hostage was displeased. “I screamed in terror over this?”

Realising his plan had backfired, heavily, he did the one thing he could do in his current situation. He released a burst of magic, blinding everyone in the alley and ran away.

As he escaped, he looked back on two of the most powerful authority figures in Equestria and laughed at how easily he managed to out-manoeuvre them.

This laughter was cut short once his face was implanted against what he could only describe as solid rock, knocking him to the ground. He looked up to find Carl’s intimidating figure looming over him, his arm out-stretched.

One look at Carl's demeanour and he could tell, he wasn’t like the prissy, snobbish citizens of Canterlot, nor was he like the disciplined and reserved guards. Carl gave off a completely different aura, one that felt distinctly un-pony like. Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“Stay back, buddy!” The unicorn threatened, raising his weapon.

“Is that a fucking spoon?” Carl laughed.

With his bluff, called, the unicorn squealed and turned to run away, only to bump into Unis, who quickly restrained him with magic and arrested him.

“Geez, the criminals in this world sure are pathetic.”

“Don’t get so cocky, this one was just an idiot, who almost got lucky.” Unis replied. “Princess, I’ll have to meet up with you later, while I deal with this fool.”

With Unis escorting the criminal way, Twilight turned her attention to Carl. “Why did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Stop that criminal.”

“I don’t know… just happened to be at the right place at the right time.”

“Well, whatever the reason was, thank you.”

“Whatever… let’s just go to the castle already.”

Twilight still couldn’t comprehend what was going through Carl’s head, but she felt that very slowly, she was finally seeing more to this arrogant jerk, whom she disowned only yesterday.

Upon reaching the castle and climbing a very tall set of stairs, the group was easily granted entry from the guards thanks to the presence of Princess Twilight and entered Celestia's throne room.

“I wonder if the Princess is even around right now?” Twilight pondered to herself.

“HEY, CELESTIA!” Carl yelled, his voice echoing throughout the castle. “WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!?”

“Well, I can add being deafened to my list of impaired senses now. Thanks, Carl.”

“You say something?”

Twilight quickly moved on, before the migraines started again. “Excuse me.” She asked a guard. “Could you find Princess Celestia for us?”

“Yes ma’am.” The guard answered, leaving the others to wait patiently in the throne room.

There wasn’t much to do now, until Celestia arrived, so out of sheer boredom, Carl’s attention was drawn to the glass murals, the same ones that the Princess showed him when he first arrived in Equestria.

Reviewing them once again, he suddenly remembered who the ponies depicted on the murals were supposed to be.

“Hey, Twilight.” He called.

“Yeah?” She replied, curious by his sudden formality.

“The purple horse in the murals, that’s you right?”

“Yeah, it is. And the other ponies depicted are my friends, the same ones you’ve already met. Together we form the Elements of Harmony.”

“I take it the other creatures depicted are the villains you fought?”

“Yeah…?”

“Compared to Smokey, earlier. What were these other villains like?”

“Well, I don’t really know a whole lot about the being we fought earlier, but these other guys all had their own bodies, for one thing.

They also had clearer motives. Usually stuff like: world domination or a lust for power or revenge, you know, the usual... but that thing from this afternoon. I have no idea what it was trying to accomplish. It just seemed bitter, hateful and malicious, just for the sake of it.”

“Celestia told me these guys all showed up around the same time, a thousand years ago. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”

“Oh? Are you actually showing an interest in Equestrian history?”

“No. It doesn’t take a historian to recognise such an obvious pattern. I’m just wondering if Smokey fits into this pattern as well.”

Twilight was a little surprised that Carl was taking this seriously, but with that creature on the move, the time for Carl to fight and somehow defeat this being drew ever closer. She wandered if his sudden change in attitude was due to anxiety.

“Oh, Princess Twilight, we were not expecting to see you, today.” From behind, a tall dark alicorn formally addressed Twilight.

“Princess Luna. I’m sorry, but I really need to speak with Celestia, right now.”

“I heard, in fact, I believe the whole castle heard. How are you today, Carl?”

“I was nearly vaporised by giant energy blasts, but other than that, I’m okay, I suppose.”

“I see… Anyway, my sister is finishing her work and will be here shortly.”

“And what the hell are we supposed to do in the meantime?”

Just then, a royal guard kicked the doors to the room wide open, in a panic. “Princess, it’s an emergency!”

Luna quickly took charge of the situation. “Elaborate, guard. What happened?”

“We found a mysterious figure loitering around the castle grounds and before we knew it, the Sacred Shield was stolen from the guard’s weapons vault!”

“Unbelievable and we had just recovered that, too. Where is the culprit now?”

“We currently have him pinned down, but please hurry. It’s taken an entire group of us to keep him restrained and we don’t know how much longer we can hold out!”

“Purple lightning!” Twilight called out. “Has the culprit shown any signs of using purple lighting!?”

“Yes! How did you know?”

“It’s him again.” Twilight turned to Princess Luna, from that single glance, she instantly understood and the two headed outside to confront the thief.

“Um, should we go after them?” Fluttershy asked.

“Nope, I ain’t doing shit, until Celestia shows up.” Carl replied.

“Are you okay? You look a little tense.”

“I-I’m fine.” He replied, rubbing his foreleg, still wrapped in its bandage.

Just outside the castle, Luna and Twilight witnessed a desperate struggle. The guards had surrounded a single unicorn, one with a scar across their eye.

Despite the guards having combined their powers, it wasn’t long before the stress became too much for them and with excessive force, the unicorn unleashed a burst of magic that released him from their containment, leaving the guards too fatigued to fight back.

“Good job, boys. Nice display of teamwork, there.” The unicorn sarcastically congratulated. “But, you’re about a millennia too late to be challenging me.”

Twilight recognised that smug self-important attitude immediately, even if they were in a different body. “That’s the monster that attacked me in Ponyville.”

“Princess, it’s been so long since we last saw each other. How are you holding up?”

“I’m recovering just fine. It’ll take a lot more than flashy explosions to put me down.”

“Oh, Twilight. I could care less about you.” The unicorn lifted their hoof and directed his onlookers attention elsewhere. “I’m talking to Luna.”

“Me?” Luna replied. “Do I know you?”

“Ouch, that hurts, Luna, and after everything I did for you.”

“What are you babbling about?”

“I guess being trapped on the Moon for a thousand years has taken a toll on your memory. But, that’s okay, I know how hard it can be, being imprisoned for a thousand years. Thankfully my memory's still as clear as crystal.

Yes, I can still recall it, ever so perfectly. Your feelings of inadequacy, your sadness, your jealousy. ‘Why does everypony go to my sister for advice? I’m a Princess, too.'”

“Are you mocking me?”

“‘Why does no one trust my abilities? I’m just as strong as my sister.’”

“Stop it.”

“‘Why do they love my sister’s day so much, yet show no appreciation for my beautiful night? And I worked so darn hard on it, too.’”

“I am ordering you to stop.”

“You were always an afterthought, Luna. Never as important as your sister, always the sidekick. Poor little Luna, the forgotten Princess.”

“STOP!”

Luna’s voice shook the ground as lightning suddenly flashed from the sky. The guards were paralysed with fear, even Twilight was shaken by her sudden outburst.

“Now, I remember!” Luna yelled. “Everything was your fault! If it wasn’t for you, Nightmare Moon would have never existed!”

“Don’t pin the blame on me, Princess. I didn’t create Nightmare Moon, I merely discovered her.”

“I’ll make sure you never harm another soul. Begone!” Without hesitation, Luna fired a magical blast at the unicorn, who took it head on, as the magic burst with a fiery explosion.

Once the smoke cleared, the unicorn laid on the ground, wounded from the blast. “That stung… good thing this isn’t my body, you know?”

Luna wanted nothing more than to continue firing, but couldn’t risk harming the pony who was being possessed.

“What’s wrong, Luna? Can’t finish the job? Scared you’ll do something you might regret? Maybe you should embrace Nightmare Moon, again. Maybe then you’ll have the guts to actually finish me!”

Angered, Luna fired one more blast at the vile unicorn, leaving them incapable of standing any more.

As the smoke cleared, silence fell over the scene.

After calming Luna down and with the unicorn injured, this was Twilight’s chance to finally confront them, face-to-face. “Who are you? What are you? How do you know Celestia and Luna?”

Even as a crumpled mess on the ground, the unicorn still let out a mocking laughter. “Yeah, like I’d spoil that surprise for you.”

“You’re in no position to be mocking us!”

“Alright, fine. If you really want to know, why don’t you ask good old Celestia. Ask her if the phrase ‘One thousand years ago.’ means anything to her.”

“What?”

Before Twilight could ask any follow up questions, a purple mist burst forth from the unicorn as the creature that possessed them had escaped, yet again.

“Guard!” Luna ordered. “Tend to the unicorn’s wounds, I have important matters to discuss with Princess Twilight and my sister.”

“Luna, what the heck is going on!?”

“We are about to find out.”

Inside the castle, Twilight’s friends were growing concerned over the ruckus they could hear outside, however, Carl was growing bored of waiting around and was about to head deeper into the castle to look for Celestia himself.

His search was swiftly cut short when as soon as he turned around, the visage of the Princess was already looming over him.

“Good evening, Carl. Have you been keeping well?” Celestia asked with her usual smile.

There were many things Carl wanted to yell at the Princess over, but for some reason, he felt as if he already understood why she hadn’t had the time to see him again. “It’s about damn time you showed up.” Was all he could muster.

“I’m sorry, but being a Princess can be very time consuming, but I’m impressed you were able to come all the way out to Canterlot without needing my help, and with Twilight’s friends, no less. I take it, things have been going well for you.”

“Going well!? Are you high!? I drowned in swamp water, was left homeless and I nearly died twice!”

“Oh my, that does sound awful, but you seem perfectly fine, now.”

“Uh… more or less….”

“And I’m assuming Twilight and her friends have helped you greatly during these troubling times?”

“Well… eventually… they did....”

“You haven’t been judging them too harshly, have you?”

“What? I… you see… wait a minute... What the fuck am I doing!? I’m not a kid, I don’t need to answer to you!”

“Indeed, you are no child, Carl. I just wanted to make sure your tendency to get into petty disputes didn't get in the way of the magic of friendship, but it seems I have nothing to worry about.”

“Uh…. thanks?”

“By the way, love the scarf you’re wearing.”

Carl was confused, he felt cheated out his excuse to criticise Celestia right to her face. “Hey, wait!” He called to her as she passed by him.

“What is it?”

He called out, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. He was all riled up and ready for an argument, but he had nothing to fight with, any ill-will he bared towards Celestia was met with a warm smile and forgiving kindness, there was nothing to be upset about.

“N-nothing… forget it.”

“You seem a little different from when we last met, Carl. Are you feeling okay?”

“Shut up.”

The castle doors suddenly slammed open, as the atmosphere in the room grew tense. Twilight and Princess Luna marched across the room to confront Celestia.

“Sister!” Luna exclaimed. “When you told me that a great evil was awakening, you never told me it was THAT great evil.”

“Lots of ‘great evils’ have awoken over the past few years, you’re going to have to be a little more specific.” She joked.

“You know who I’m talking about. That vile creature, that revels in destruction and breeds hatred and greed in others. A creature that could only have been birthed from the bowels of Tartarus.

Mephisto.”

Celestia’s attitude suddenly shifted, her warm smile was twisted into a scowl. “I see… I’m sorry, Luna, but had I told you earlier, I was certain you’d try to seek vengeance upon him. For your own safety, and the safety of everyone in Equestria, I couldn’t let that happen.”

“Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked. “That thing… Mephisto. He told me to ask you something. At first I thought he was just messing with me, but it was something Carl mentioned as well.”

“What is it, Twilight?”

“What does the phrase ‘one thousand years ago’, really mean to you?”

Celestia turned away from her fellow Princesses, to think in silence, until she finally spoke again. “Very well, now that everypony is here, the time has finally come to reveal the truth. A truth about Equestria’s past that I kept secret for so very long...”

Carl was intrigued, but also weary from his travels. “I feel like this is going to take a while, can get a cushion or something…?”

“This is the story of a being, born from pure negativity, deep in the depths of Tartarus.

This is the story…. of Mephisto.”

Author's Note:

I try my best to update this story weekly, but sometimes things like sickness and Them's Fightin' Herds get in the way.

Also, hey, plot is happening now.

Next time: We learn about Mephisto as we prepare to head into the final chapters.