Chapter VI: The Once Royal Sisters
Darkness. A pitch black void, devoid of all light for as far as the eye could see.
It was nothing new to him. He was used to it by now. Or at least he knew what to expect.
Standing in the middle of the void, Carter already knew what would soon take place. It was the same thing every time. He had seen it happen over, and over… and over. Nothing about it would be a surprise to him.
And yet each time he witnessed it he was filled with an unnerving level of guilt, fear, and dread.
Ghostly whispers began to echo from deep within the void, growing in volume as time went on. Carter anxiously waited for what was to come, as the voices always signaled the beginning of the event. It was only a matter of time before he’d be forced to witness it once again.
“No… please, no!”
Then it began.
A shadowy figure formed just a few feet in front of Carter. It was a man, created by the same darkness that surrounded the area. Though his identity was otherwise hidden behind the shadowy mist fogging up his face, Carter already knew the man all too well.
The man was crawling along the floor, propping one hand against his side as if that respective spot was injured, while the other pulled his limp body forward. He was audibly panicky and breathless, like he was crawling away from something, or someone.
Carter watched the shadowy figure do its thing, knowing everything that it would do. Where it would go, how far it would crawl, the way it would move along the floor. Everything. To him, it was like watching the same movie for the thousandth time.
Moments flew by and the figure all of a sudden looked over its shoulder, shaking nervously and picking up the pace, moving faster than before like his life depended on it.
Carter already knew it did, for soon revealing itself to him was another shadowy figure. However, unlike the first human, this one was the very man that brought Carter’s heart pain every time he witnessed the event unfold.
The second man marched over to the first with heavy, long strides, slowly gaining on the downed man with a violent stomp and defined side-to-side shoulder movement with each step. The man crawling along the floor increased in speed once more, practically flailing his arms while crawling away as fast as he could in order to try and outspeed the other man. But even he knew it was futile.
To no surprise, the second man caught up and stomped down vigorously against the downed man’s back, pinning him against the ground and preventing him from moving any further. He then leaned down and hovered his head right over the other man’s ear, taking a deep breath in.
Carter, who was still watching the event take place from the outer parts of the void, pulled his head back and winced in anticipation for what was to come.
“My vengeance… is at last mine to have.” The aggressive man whispered into the downed man’s ear with an intimidating, gruff tone.
Carter felt the familiar chill run down his spine in response to man’s words. But it wasn’t because of what he had said nor how he said it, but rather due to the fact that he knew who the voice belonged to. The one, the only man he had ever come to fear in his whole life: himself.
“You didn’t think I wouldn’t take the chance to hunt you down and kill you, did you?” The aggressor: the shadowy Carter, picked the injured man up by grasping his neck, lifting him high into the air and staring deep into his eyes, as if piercing through his mortal flesh and into his soul. “How long I’ve waited for this moment.”
“Please…” the injured man spoke in defense, kicking his feet around to escape the shadowy Carter’s grasp, though rather pathetically. “Please, show mercy.”
“Mercy…?” The shadowy image of Carter laughed, first as a slight chuckle, then growing into hysterics. “Mercy… ahahaha!!! You want me to show you mercy!?” Carter’s shadowed counterpart immediately stopped laughing and growled at the injured man, pulling him closer to his face. “Did you show them mercy?” The shadowy Carter’s eyes suddenly began to glow green, illuminating the nearby area, faintly, but enough to add an eerie aura to the already spine-chilling void. The familiar eye color sent another shiver down the real Carter’s spine.
“Please, I beg you… don’t kill me,” said the injured man.
“And why is that?” inquired shadowy Carter. “I finally have you in my grasp, and you think I’m just gonna leave and waste this opportunity? No.”
“Please… I beg you!!! Don’t do this to me!!!” The injured man’s kicking began to increase in strength, giving shadow Carter a bit more difficulty in maintaining his hold on the man. “You can’t do this!!!”
“Why not!? What could possibly be worth it to me to even consider keeping you alive!?”
Then, it happened. The one part of the scene that Carter could never seem to cope with.
The sound of screaming and crying echoed through the void, though their silhouette could not be seen like the other two figures. Carter’s shadowy image looked over his shoulder and dropped the injured man, chuckling in satisfaction.
“I see… now I understand,” said shadow Carter.
“No… no, no!!! No!!! You can’t do that!!! Not her!!!” shouted the injured man. Carter’s shadowy silhouette looked back at the man and kicked him in his jaw, audibly fracturing some bones and causing him to scream out in pain.
“You took them from me… and now, you will feel the very same feeling that I felt on that fateful day.” With that, Carter’s shadowy image walked away from the injured man and towards the sound of the cries. The injured man shouted at him whilst holding his now dislocated jaw with both hands, though his words were unintelligible to Carter.
Carter felt his heart sink within himself as he watched his shadowy counterpart walk toward the direction of the other person’s cries. He lunged forward, attempting to chase after his shadowy image and stop him from hurting them. But something stopped him. He fell to the ground, landing heavily against the void surface, which dazed him for a moment. He tried to get back on his feet once he regained his bearings, but again, something stopped him.
Carter looked back, realizing that his feet were stuck within the void, trapping him where he now laid and preventing him from moving. He struggled to free himself, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not break free.
Breathing hysterically, Carter looked forward and out towards his shadowy silhouette, watching as he walked into the void and continued towards the screaming.
“No!!!” Carter reached out in vain, as if that simple act would somehow make his copy change his mind and retreat. But he knew it wouldn’t work. It never did. It was the same exact result as every other time, after all. And unfortunately, because of that, Carter already knew what would happen.
Taking in one last breath, Carter heard the horrible, blood curdling screams of the victim. The volume was too intense for him to bear. Carter placed his hands over his ears and shouted in pain, feeling their voice scrape against his eardrums.
More so out of fear than genuine curiosity, Carter lifted his hands out in front of his face and looked upon his blood stained palms, shouting in denial of what he was seeing.
“You can’t escape your fate! You will be mine, and your soul will be forever damned to an eternity in Hell!!!”
“No!!! Stay away!!!” Carter screamed in response to the voice. “Go away!!!”
“Your soul. Will. Be. Mine!!!”
“Gah!!!” Carter bolted upright in his medical bed, gripping onto his sheets and shaking uncontrollably. Each breath he took was strained and labored. His body felt cold while he sought to recover from the horrible events. He could feel a moderate amount of sweat drip off his forehead, streaking down and across his face.
He felt something grab onto his right arm, which only decreased his sanity further. Carter shouted in retaliation, tugging away from the unknown object grasping his arm. He flicked his eyes towards the strange appendage, seeing a cream-color haired leg reach out for him, holding him down with a hoof at the end of it.
The recognizable color alone caused him to let up, but only enough for him to cease his violent jerking.
As his focus traveled up the haired foreleg, Carter could see the familiar face of the timid, pink maned mare he saw during the introductions with Princess Twilight and her friends.
“Fluttershy!?” Carter shouted in shock.
“It’s okay, it’s okay! You’re safe, Carter!” Fluttershy did her best to calm the frantic human, keeping his arms down by his sides with her hooves to prevent any unintended backlash.
Feeling the adrenaline effects caused by both the nightmare and the sudden appearance of the mare slowly diminishing from within him, Carter took deep, rhythmic breaths to calm himself further. While he had some relief, he was still shaking violently.
Fluttershy continued to help the human calm his nerves, gingerly stroking his arm with her hoof and speaking softly to him.
“There, there. It’s okay, Carter. You’re okay,” she cooed. “It was just a bad dream.”
Carter slowly lowered his head to his pillow, quivering the whole way down. He stared ahead, mindlessly, stuck in his own thoughts.
Just a dream…?
Except it wasn’t just some mere dream.
Nightmares were a common occurrence. He knew it was so. Every human on Earth had experienced at least one in their lives. Nothing about the idea of such foul dreams were of any major importance to Carter.
But even then it was this one specific nightmare that would always affect him. It would appear to him every single night, tormenting him throughout his slumber.
Carter thought back on his dream, more specifically the dark, shadowy figure with green eyes. The one that resembled himself… his past-self. The nightmare he would go through every night was not just some scary movie fabricated from the random thoughts in his slumbering mind, but rather a horrible vision. A vision of his past. One that had stuck in his mind ever since that fateful day.
The one event that truly broke him.
“Carter… are you okay?” asked Fluttershy, feeling somewhat disturbed as she watched the human look straight ahead with a blank stare.
Carter heard the pegasus’ soft voice penetrate through the murmurs of all his countless thoughts. He shook himself out of his stupor and snapped back to reality. His eyes met with her’s upon flicking his head toward her direction.
A brief, considerably awkward moment of silence came over the two of them as they simply stared at each other.
Carter was embarrassed to say the least. Finally getting a hold of himself, he realized just how uncomfortable he probably made the mare feel upon awakening. She could have just been coming to him for a friendly greeting, only to receive an unexpected outburst in return.
“Fluttershy, I…” Carter wanted to apologize for his possibly bizarre interaction with the mare, but he couldn’t find the right words to tell her what he wanted to say. He turned away from her with a deadpan expression, feeling ultimately defeated and overwhelmed by the situation. “This is so embarrassing.” He shook his head, shamefully.
The mare did not at first say anything in response, only prolonging the silence. But after a second or so, Fluttershy slowly let out a steady wave of lighthearted giggles. Carter, puzzled by the mare’s unexpected reaction, flicked his head toward her’s with a raised brow.
Fluttershy held a hoof up to her mouth, doing everything in her power to stop laughing at the human. But the awkwardness of the prior situation proved to be too much for her to simply shrug off, causing her to feel the need to laugh.
“I’m sorry, *giggle* that was just *giggle* unexpected to say the least.”
Carter stared at the mare all while maintaining his deadpan expression.
Fluttershy could sense that he wasn’t feeling the same way, but she just couldn’t seem to prevent herself from further laughter, mostly due to the whole awkwardness of the situation.
“You're fine, Fluttershy,” he said, plainly. Carter couldn't find it in himself to be angry at the mare. For all he knew, she probably thought it was nothing more than a little nightmare, unaware of what really happened. And quite frankly, if that was the case, he wanted to keep it that way. And whether he liked it or not, the mare’s cute giggling slowly began to rub off on him. A slight grin had soon etched itself across his own face. Had it not been for the aftereffects of the nightmare-induced adrenaline rush, he felt as if he would've been laughing, himself. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” Carter said, looking back at Fluttershy with a smile, momentarily.
“No, no. It’s quite alright,” the pegasus replied with a residual snicker. “How are you feeling? You know, excluding the nightmare.”
“Fine, thanks -” Carter rubbed his eyes and yawned, ridding his body of the last of the adrenaline. “- what are you doing here?”
“Twilight wanted me to check up on you and see how you were doing,” said Fluttershy.
“Did she now?” replied Carter, looking back at Fluttershy. “A heads up would have sufficed. Nearly scared the life out of me,” he said, jokingly, hoping to get another laugh or two out of the mare.
“Yeah. I think she’s still getting everything ready for the sisters to arrive, so she sent me here, instead.” She shrugged her shoulders and blushed in embarrassment.
“Not like she would’ve reacted any differently.” Carter said, sarcastically. Another short burst of giggles escaped behind the mare’s smile.
“I guess not.” The mare looked away from the human, pulling her silky, pink mane away from her face with a brush of her hoof. Her timid nature appeared to be getting the best of her, causing her to shy away from the human. It wasn’t that she was scared around him, she just felt shy, like she usually did whenever she was around new faces.
Though Carter did not know that about her, it was perhaps to her benefit. He perceived her timid behavior as cute and somewhat adorable, although there was no way he would ever admit it to her. He figured it was just the effects of the anesthetics wearing off.
“Oh, I just remembered something.” Fluttershy swiftly bolted upright as a thought returned to her. She reached over to the desk located beside Carter’s medical bed and picked up a cup of water. Once safely in her possession she carefully positioned it within Carter’s reach and offered it to him. “I figured you might be thirsty. It must've been a while since you've had anything to eat or drink.”
Don't remind me.
The human graciously accepted her offering and chugged every bit of the cold liquid down his throat in only a matter of seconds. Following the final gulp, Carter couldn’t help but lean back and exhale in satisfaction as he felt the beverage cool his body and refill him with some much needed energy.
“Thank you very much, Ms. Fluttershy. I definitely needed that.” Carter handed the empty cup to the mare, who then took it from him and disposed of it in the nearest trash can.
“You’re very welcome, Carter,” replied Fluttershy.
Throughout their whole interaction, Carter made sure to come across as friendly so as to not further increase their suspicion toward him, specifically in regards to what Princess Twilight had told him the night prior. He’d make a conscious effort to smile and display his gratitude whenever possible in order to earn her trust. But at the same time, he held back from getting too involved. He himself did not know if he could trust the ponies, especially after what had happened during their first encounter. For all he knew, this was just a test of sorts to see if he would crack. He knew he wouldn't, because he wasn't the bad guy. But, still, he held his guard up, expecting the worst while hoping for the best.
At first glance, Fluttershy’s kindness seemed more sincere than forced out.
Carter figured that she had, by then, shifted from seeing him as a possible enemy - not unlike the select few others - and now thought of him as just another stranger she wanted to get to know. While he wasn’t planning on not allowing her to truly get to know him - as part of him wanted to get to know her, as well, but more so out of trust issues rather than genuine interest - Carter remained almost uncommunicative, keeping quiet unless he was on the receiving end of the conversation.
Fluttershy turned her head towards the ground and nervously rocked along her hind hooves, troubled by the recurring silence.
“So… the doctor told us that you were free to go whenever you woke up,” she said.
Carter looked down at his arms, finding small bandages covering the spots where the cords were previously injected into his body.
“So it seems,” said Carter.
“Yep. He said that you shouldn’t feel too much pain, but that you should keep that cast on for the next day or so just so your ribs can have enough time to finish healing properly.”
Carter pulled the blanket down to reveal his chest. Sure enough, the cast was still tightly wrapped around him, securing his ribs in place. He gently wiggled his shoulders and hips back and forth. Although he still felt mild soreness in both sides of his chest with each motion, Carter could tell that he had recovered rather quickly.
Fluttershy spectated him from the side, giggling at the human’s strange movements.
“If you’d like, we can leave here and head to the foyer. Most of the others are already there,” said the mare, tilting her head innocently as she waited for his response.
“Sure. Why not?” Carter said, going over the other options in his head, to which he could think of none. “I guess it would be best. After all, it's not like I'm leaving this stupid place anytime soon,” he muttered, shaking his head. Carter did not think about what he said, or rather how he spoke. That is until Fluttershy looked back at him with an offended expression. “Not that I’m mad about being here. You mares have been very kind to me and I cannot thank you enough for your hospitality. I just meant that, unfortunately, it doesn't look like I'll be going home anytime soon.”
“Heehee, it’s quite alright.” Fluttershy couldn’t help but dole out another flurry of giggles at the human. “You don’t talk to others much, do you?”
“Was it that easy to figure out?” Carter raised his brow at the pegasus, feeling somewhat offended, himself. Although, looking at it from her perspective, he probably deserved that little remark. In the end, he could only chuckle alongside her.
“Anyway -” Fluttershy reached down and picked up a small pile of Carter’s clothes, grabbing them with her hooves and placing them on top of the bed. “- when you are ready, you can go ahead and put these on. Just meet me outside in the hall when you are done.” Carter nodded in reply. With that, Fluttershy spun around along her hind hooves and trotted out of the room.
Carter, now left to himself, pulled away the blanket draped over his lower body and swung his feet off the medical bed. With his feet dangling off the floor, Carter looked down at his cast to inspect himself and his continuously-recovering wounds. Nothing about his injuries appeared to be too alarming by then, and so he figured that he would indeed be able to safely move about the castle without causing further harm upon himself.
Carter wasted no time, knowing that Fluttershy was still waiting for him. He quickly put on his clothes and proceeded towards the exit.
While he knew that he still didn’t have his shirt due to past circumstances, Carter still felt it a bit impolite of himself to meet the others without any clothing to cover his top half. However, they probably had no expectations as to how he was to present himself, so he carried on without further questioning his decisions.
Upon exiting the room, Carter walked into what appeared to be a waiting area with chairs lined up in rows of three. He found Fluttershy sitting in the seat closest to him, quietly reading a newspaper while she was waiting for the human to arrive. It had the image of the evil pegasus printed in bold, taking up about half of the front page with the rest being a brief description of what had taken place the afternoon prior.
Fluttershy heard the human’s footsteps as he approached her. When she was able to see him in the corner of her eye, she turned her head to face him.
“I still can’t believe that the pegasus tried to take Flurry Heart…” A gasp of sorts escaped her lungs upon finishing her sentence. She looked back at the newspaper. “What kind of monster would foalnap somepony like her?”
“Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy.” Carter came over to the mare’s location and stopped a foot or two in front of her, looking down at the newspaper for himself. He focused solely on the picture of the evil pegasus, getting a familiar feeling from his image alone.
Carter shifted his attention down at his hand, remembering what had happened to him near the end of their battle. He could still remember the cries from Flurry Heart as she looked upon him whilst corrupted. His only remaining concern was hoping that the foal was not scarred by what she had witnessed. The last thing he needed was for her to feel scared around him, especially after all he wanted to do was help her. However, looking back at Fluttershy, he knew that he shouldn’t be reminiscing. He lowered his hand and let out a sigh.
“She’s safe, now. That’s what matters.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s just… I wish these attacks would end. So many ponies are getting hurt and nopony knows why they keep happening,” said Fluttershy.
“I’m sure you’ll figure that out soon enough,” replied Carter. “Don't give up, now. For all we know, you could be so close to finding a solution.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Fluttershy sighed, feeling somewhat defeated with having to accept things for what they were. But, Carter was right. It was in the past, and the important thing was that Flurry Heart did indeed survive and was currently with her family like she should have been.
Fluttershy placed the newspaper down on the table beside her where the rest of the reading material laid and hopped off her chair, gently landing on her hooves.
“Now then, let’s go take you to see the rest of the group.” Fluttershy trotted off down the hall, signaling for Carter to follow behind her. The human did just that and they were soon back on track to meet up with the other mares.
Their trek down the halls were quiet for the most part. No words were spoken between the two of them save for some directions from Fluttershy as they traversed through the castle.
The silence - while making the mare feel a tad awkward - gave Carter some time to think.
Carter began strategizing how he wanted to approach the others when he would finally get to see them again. For the most part, he expected to have no trouble getting along with the ponies, as they seemed to somewhat accept him - albeit with some trust issues, to which he figured he could overcome through small talk and allowing them to get to know him a little better like he was doing for Fluttershy.
However, in regards to Rainbow Dash, she was a whole different story.
While Twilight mentioned that Applejack seemed to show regret for her actions, Rainbow Dash, judging her based on how she acted towards him, along with what the Princess had told him about her in regards to not showing the same regret, Carter determined that Rainbow Dash would be the most difficult to earn her trust. Even with that in mind, he couldn't decide if he just needed to give her more time than the others before she would accept him or take an entirely different approach to win her trust.
But at the end of the day, Carter knew nothing would be certain until things would actually unfold.
Coming to the end of the hall and into the foyer, Carter and Fluttershy were met with the rest of the group. Each of the other mares were talking amongst each other, no doubt waiting for the guests to arrive.
Princess Twilight turned her head toward the hall when she saw the human step out into the scene. A smile swept over her face as she dismissed herself from the group and trotted over to him.
“Good morning, Carter,” she said in a light, jovial tone. “How are you, today?”
“Better,” replied Carter. He wanted to say more, but nothing else came to his mind. And so he was left standing there, awkwardly.
“... That’s great to hear.” Twilight said, breaking the silence.
Carter could tell that she too felt uncomfortable amidst the silence. He swore under his breath.
“What about you, Your Majesty?” Carter asked in an attempt to redeem himself.
“I’m doing very well. Thank you for asking,” said Twilight.
Carter took note that while the princess still wore her crown and golden boots, she discarded her dress. He wondered if it had perhaps been damaged after the attack, but seeing as the other mares were never clothed, he instead assumed that she only wore it for significant events.
“Is everything ready, Twilight?” Fluttershy took notice of the awkwardness and stepped in to help guide the conversation.
“Yep. Everything is all set,” said Twilight. “Now we are just waiting for them to arrive.”
Carter cocked his head in curiosity. While it dawned on him that he didn’t know who exactly these aforementioned guests were, he did remember Fluttershy revealed one distinct feature about them.
“You said something about two sisters,” Carter said, at first looking at Fluttershy, then shifting his attention to Twilight. “Who are they to you? Dare I ask.”
“Right, you haven’t even met them!” Twilight’s eyes grew noticeably wider, realizing that she had yet to reveal to the human the identity of said guests. “It’s the two sisters: Celestia and Luna. They were the previous princesses, the leaders of Equestria before they bestowed that honor upon me. Today marks the first anniversary of my rule as princess, and so they wanted to come to the castle to say hi and see how things are going.”
“So you are very new to this whole thing?” Carter inquired, taking note when Twilight mentioned “first anniversary.” He knew she already mentioned that she had only recently taken up the title of leader, but he didn’t think that implied only a year long timeframe.
“Yes, quite so,” replied Twilight.
There was a knock at the gates. Everypony went silent.
Princess Twilight turned her head toward the front entrance of the castle.
“Open up!” ordered Twilight.
The gates opened up immediately following the princess’ orders. One of the castle guards stepped into view, requesting a moment of Twilight’s time. She accepted and trotted over to talk with him.
While they discussed with each other, the other mares continued to talk amongst each other.
Fluttershy went to talk with the others, leaving Carter to himself. That is until Applejack noticed that the human was all by his lonesome. Seeing as there was no pony else in the area, she came over to his position.
“Howdy, Mister,” she said, opening the conversation while continuing to walk toward him.
“Good morning, Miss Applejack,” Carter said in reply, keeping in mind his manners. “How is your day going?”
“Quite fine, actually,” said Applejack. “Looks like yer wounds healed quickly. Bet that’s a relief.”
Carter did not reply. While he, by then, had some understanding of her’s and Rainbow Dash’s intentions at the time, he personally felt it was still, in the end, mostly their fault for what had happened to him. He wouldn’t admit it, but he still held some form of a grudge toward them for acting very aggressive during their first encounter.
Applejack could tell he did not fully forgive her via the silence along with his deadpan stare. She expected nothing less. The guilt ate her up inside throughout the entirety of the night, prior. She wanted to apologize to him now that she had the opportunity to speak with him in person.
“Carter, Ah… Ah’m really sorry for how Ah treated ya, yesterday. It was not right of me to cause ya harm, and Ah know that, now. Ah just… Ah really don’t wanna come across as the bad pony in yer eyes.” Applejack held out her hoof to Carter. “If it’s all the same to ya, Ah’d like to start fresh and redeem myself. Redo my first impressions, if Ah may.”
A smile came over Carter’s face. He respected the mare’s willingness to own up to her mistakes and see to it that she would make things right. He reached down and grabbed onto her hoof, giving it a firm shake.
“Thank you for that, Applejack,” said Carter. He appreciated her apology. But while he processed it in his head, he realized that perhaps he himself also needed to apologize for his shady introduction. “But… you don’t have to apologize. Princess Twilight told me about what had happened before I arrived here and why you all thought I was the one to blame. In short, I respect your decision. You were only trying to protect them, nothing wrong with that.” Applejack smiled back at the human, touched by his kind words. “If anything, I’m sorry for how I acted. I have trust issues, and that’s why I'm not the best at talking to others. I let them get the best of me, and so I held back in regards to revealing my past. But in doing so, I see now that I gave off the wrong first impression. I just hope you now know that I’m not who you once thought I was. It was just… bad timing on my part.”
“Hmph, it seems we both made some mistakes,” said Applejack.
“Yeah… I guess we did.” Carter and Applejack ceased their hand-hoof shake.
It felt good for both of them. The issues that arose from their first encounter seemed to now be washed away, paving the path for a fresh shart. Carter had allowed at least Applejack to see him as an ally rather than the enemy, and Applejack had begun to loosen up around the human.
While the two of them were talking, Rarity also caught the eye of the human. She too seemed to require his attention, as she trotted over to join in on their conversation. She was carrying something blue and made of cloth. It was neatly folded holding it closely by her side.
“Carter, thank goodness you’re here. Princess Cadance told me about the shirt and so I made this for you.” Rarity gave Carter the item in her possession.
The princess got her to make it...?
Carter unfolded the item and held it out in front of himself. It was a dark blue shirt… of sorts. It didn’t look like anything he had ever worn before, looking less like a shirt and more like a tunic.
Carter didn’t know what to think of it. It wasn’t at all what he was expecting when Princess Cadance told him he’d get a new shirt. But at the same time, anything was better than nothing. And who was he to tell Rarity that her work was unacceptable?
“Thanks, Rarity… but you didn’t have to-”
“I know, I know, it isn’t my best work. I just didn’t have much time to work with and being that you’re the first human I’ve ever seen, I hardly know how to make a shirt for your… unusual body formation,” said Rarity. She could tell that Carter didn’t exactly like the design, but didn’t want to be rude. In all seriousness, especially after looking at it next to the human, she too didn’t appear to like her design. “Eh, that one can work as a temporary shirt for now. Just find me later in the day and I can fashion a more… fitting design for you.”
“She's right, Carter. Rarity is one of, if not the best with all things fashion and clothing," said Applejack.
“It’s fine.” Carter said with a chuckle. He looked back to the white mare. “Thanks, Rarity. Truly. This will work nicely.” Rarity nodded in reply.
“Oh! They’re here!” Everypony turned to face Princess Twilight as she looked outside the front gates with a beaming smile spanning cheek to cheek. It had seemed that the sisters had finally arrived.
Eagerly, Twilight rushed outside to greet her guests. The other mares followed suit, trailing closely behind the princess.
Applejack, while catching up with the others, looked back at Carter.
“Ah’m sorry, Ah hate to just up and leave ya like this,” she said with an embarrassed smile. “Just stay there and wait for us to return. We just gotta go say hi to a couple old friends.”
“Just go with the others. Don’t mind me,” replied Carter.
Once Applejack had left the foyer through the castle gates, Carter was left to himself, once again. Of course, there were also two guards in his vicinity, each one posted on opposing sides of the gate and staring straight in front of them. But they didn’t seem to even acknowledge him, so it felt to him as though he was the only one in the room.
And so Carter remained where he stood, rocking along his heels as he waited for the ponies to return.
He looked down at the “shirt” that Rarity gave him and decided to put it on. As expected, it was nothing like what he was used to. It fit him like an oversized jacket, draping down past his knees. But even then, he couldn’t help but inwardly commend the mare’s craft. She was right. Rarity definitely wasn’t used to making clothing for humans, and yet she seemed to make something rather acceptable in comparison to what he could’ve done, and in such little time no less. On top of that it looked well made as opposed to cheap and rushed, appearing to be somewhat durable and clean in design.
Heh. Thanks, Rarity. You actually did pretty good…
After tightening the tunic with a belt he found attached to the waist area of the clothing, Carter turned his attention to the interior of the castle, in order to distract himself while he waited for the ponies to return.
The image of the princess portrayed along a stained glass window caught his attention, enough to cause him to turn around and get a closer look at it for himself.
Upon further inspection, Carter could make out the rest of the mares surrounding the princess, each wearing their own necklace that seemed to be heavily focused upon through the art’s choice of color, making their respective jewelry appear much more shiny and reflective compared to the rest of the scene. It looked like this single piece of artwork was meant to portray the nation’s leader and her friends.
But that wasn’t the only one he found.
Placed along the entirety of the hall’s walls were more glass artwork-based stories, depicting younger versions of the ponies overcoming the challenges they each faced back before they came to where they now stood.
One portrayed an event where Twilight and her friends defeated a stallion who seemed to be one with the shadows, fighting against the purple mare for what appeared to be a heart made of light blue crystal. There was also a small, purple dragon who appeared to fight alongside the princess, though it was unclear to him who it was.
Another told the story of the ponies fighting against some strange beast that seemed to inhabit physical traits from many other creatures, forming together to create a strange and unusual amalgamation. However, at the very bottom of the stained glass portrait, it showed the creature being reformed, staring across the image and towards Fluttershy. It appeared that, somehow, she was the key to their success.
Carter viewed many more of the artistic windows, getting small hints into Equestria’s past. There were so many questions that arose from each one, so many portrayed ponies and other creatures he did not know, and so many other parts of Equestria that he had never seen before.
One small detail stood out to Carter after he realized a trend found within some of them: Twilight was depicted as a unicorn at some point in history. He pondered why they would inscribe her as such, as she was clearly an alicorn.
Then, coming up to the last stained glass window, Carter saw the image of two alicorns circling around each other in the form of a yin yang, alicorns which he had never met before. One was white and as bright as the sun, with that very same star inscribed along her flank. The other seemed like the polar opposite, resembling the darkness of night, along with a fitting symbol of the moon upon her flank.
Though he had never met those two ponies in person, it was almost obvious to him who they really were.
Is that…
Carter froze when something unexpected came into view.
The shadow of a pony approaching him from behind cast itself over the human and onto the wall in front of him. It was nothing to him at first, only slightly startling him when he took notice of it. However, as the unknown pony drew closer to him, the shadow grew larger. So large in fact that it seemed almost unrealistically tall for a pony. Carter thought it was nothing more than an optical illusion, perhaps caused by the angulation of the shadow, but as he turned around, his hypothesis was immediately falsified.
Sending a chill down his spine in surprise, an abnormally tall, white alicorn mare with a chromatic colored, transparent mane stood before him, with the familiar emblem of the sun upon her flank. And standing beside her was the other, slightly smaller alicorn mare, standing at about his height, having a darker, blackish-blue colored coat paired with a gloomy, cosmic-like mane.
The human and the two mares stared at each other. Each one of them visibly portrayed their shock through their expressions, each for their own reasons. While the two mares couldn’t believe that they were actually seeing a human for the first time in the history of Equestria, Carter just couldn’t seem to comprehend the alicorns’ abnormal height difference compared to the Princess and her friends, along with their otherworldly appearances.
After staring childishly at the mares for what felt like an eternity, Carter looked over his shoulder at the stained glass image of the two mares, then back at them. He went through that very same motion twice more, stuck in a state of pure perplexity.
“Are you… the sisters?” he finally inquired, continuing to stare in surprise at the two alicorns.
“... and you must be the human.” replied the white mare.
“You know of me?” Carter was surprised by her response, as it seemed that even though no human had ever stepped foot in Equestria - at least to his knowledge - these two alicorns already knew of his kind.
“Twilight told us of your arrival,” answered the darker mare.
Of course she did…
“I see you have met Carter.” Twilight said, coming up from behind the alicorns. The two mares turned around and both of them and Carter looked toward the princess as she trotted closer to them to join in on their conversation. “This is the human I briefly talked about in the letter I sent you, yesterday.” Princess Twilight stopped beside Celestia. The other ponies followed closely behind her before halting in a small clutter behind the princess, looking up at the sisters with smiles.
“So I see,” said Luna. The mare seemed to consciously monitor her words, keeping them to a minimum. She looked upon the human with a stoic stare.
The silent staring the dark blue mare gave the human was, while unsettling to some degree, something Carter was ultimately more used to, given the fact that he himself would often do the same. Although she appeared to be staring at him with a more curious intent than anything else, looking as though she was studying the human visually as opposed to verbally.
“Well I must say that it is an absolute honor and privilege to meet you, Carter!” Celestia said in a cheery tone and with a bright smile.
Contrary to her sister, Celestia seemed to be bursting with interest regarding the human. She seemed to have many questions for him.
“Honor?” Carter inquired, puzzled by the peculiar choice of words.
“But of course,” said Celestia. “It has been forever since anypony has even heard of humans, let alone actually seen one. Your big reveal, whether you know it or not, is a very momentous occasion for Equestria.”
“Wait, you know of humans!?” Twilight questioned the white mare through a shout. Being the current princess of the nation, she was left baffled after hearing that Celestia and Luna had known of humans in one way or another, and that, while she heard of them by name once upon a time, she ultimately had no comprehension of their existence before Carter’s arrival.
“Yes, Twilight. Humans have only ever been mentioned ever so briefly within the earliest known historical transcripts,” answered Luna. “Even then, they’ve only ever mentioned their existence, nothing more.”
“Believe me, dear Twilight, we are just as surprised as you are to be actually seeing one with our own eyes,” said Celestia. “Oh, but more on that later, I do not wish to overwhelm you with all my questions during our first encounter. However, I do believe introductions are in order.”
Oh boy, let’s see how this one goes.
“My name is Celestia, one of the former leaders of Equestria. And this one beside me is my sister: Luna, who had also served alongside me during our time,” said the white mare with a smile, pointing a hoof at the other pony when mentioning the latter’s name.
“It is good to finally be able to meet you, human.” Luna said with a nod, though without any form of a welcoming smile.
“You as well,” said Carter, returning the deadpan gesture.
“I’m so glad you two could make it,” Twilight spoke to Celestia and Luna once they were finished with their introductions.
“Yes, it’s an absolute pleasure to be seeing you all, once again, and after such a long length of time since our last visit, too,” replied Celestia.
“Indeed. It is always good to be able to see our once faithful student, now beloved successor, along with all her friends, whenever we can,” added Luna. “Me and my sister rushed to the opportunity to see you girls when we realized that today marked the first ever anniversary of your leadership since your coronation.”
“I still can’t believe it’s already been that long,” said Princess Twilight, cocking her head and smiling nervously. “I honestly didn’t think I’d make it this far.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Twilight. We always knew you’d be perfect for the job,” said Celestia.
“But only because you have such awesome friends,” said Rainbow Dash with a smug grin beaming from cheek to cheek. The other mares all looked at her with their own humorously skeptical expressions.
“Yeah, you’re not wrong,” said Twilight, blushing from slight embarrassment. She knew very well that, while the prismatic-maned pegasus was merely being cocky, she was overall correct with her statement. “You girls have been a big, big help.”
“Oh goodness! Your hoof, Twilight.” said Celestia as she looked down at the princess’ injured forehoof. The appendage was dark purple and moderately swollen, making it quite an easy find.
“Oh, that… I…” Carter took note of the princess quickly looking over at him, then back to the sisters. “I just tripped. It’s nothing, really…”
“You… tripped?” Luna inquired. “That looks like a lot of pain caused by such a simple stumble.”
“Yeah, it was quite unfortunate,” replied Twilight.
Carter raised his brow in response to the princess’ reply. While he chose to keep quiet, he knew she wasn’t telling them about the rather violent crash she had to endure during the attack, let alone mentioning the event to them at all.
He figured at the very least that there was a reason for steering away from the attack, and one that he should stay out of. But still, the fact they took notice of her injured hoof so quickly proved that she wouldn’t be able to hide it for long.
It looked better than it did the night prior, but her hoof’s wounds were still very noticeable, even through her golden boot. Luckily for her, the rest of her wounds were pretty healed up by then.
Perhaps to the princess’ luck, she should’ve also been glad that Rarity’s shirt she gave Carter hid his cast, otherwise that might have led to more questions. It was also a good thing, at least in this case, that her friends were down on the surface tending to the wounded guards rather than joining in the fight.
But one thought arose in Carter’s mind, and after seeing the Princess’ eyes widen for a brief moment, Twilight quite possibly had the same idea.
What would they think if the sisters saw Princess Cadance and Flurry Heart in their current condition?
“I hope it wasn’t too much trouble getting here,” said Fluttershy.
Thank God…
He wasn't certain, but Carter swore he could hear himself and Twilight sigh in relief at the same time following the pegasus’ topic-diverging question.
“Of course not.” Luna shook her head then turned her eyes toward Twilight. “Which by the way, Twilight, thank you for sending Spike our way to help us pack. Definitely helped us save some time.”
Carter cocked his head, slightly. The name “Spike” was not one he was familiar with.
“Absolutely, Luna. I’m glad to hear that he was able to help you,” replied Twilight, smiling at the sisters.
“Speaking of which, where is that little fella?” inquired Applejack.
“He’s outside, gathering our luggage and bringing them inside,” explained Celestia.
“Well then, shouldn’t we go out and help him?” asked Rarity, feeling concerned for him. “I feel terrible knowing that he’s out there doing it all by himself.”
“Don’t worry about it, Rarity. We didn’t pack too many things. He can take care of it, himself,” said Celestia.
“That’s assuming he’s not having any trouble,” Luna said, looking over at the front doors of the castle. “He’s taking a long time to get here. You don’t think we may have overloaded the little guy, you think, sister?”
“Nonsense, Luna. Spike is strong, I’m positive he’s doing fine,” replied Celestia, giving off a determined look to her sister.
Luna could only reply with a roll of her eyes paired with a chuckle. The determination her sister projected through her words was both humorous, yet respectable all the same.
Celestia, suddenly feeling an overwhelming wave of excitement wash over her now that they were finally back in Canterlot, began trotting in place in front of the others.
“Ooh, it’s so good to be back!” Everypony couldn’t help but giggle in response to the eldest mare’s gestures; even Carter failed to hold back his smile, which he hid from view upon raising his fist in front of his mouth. “Let’s not waste anymore time, I do believe an anniversary party is in order.”
“Of course, Celestia. Right this way.” Twilight signaled to her friends and to Carter to follow her as she led the others down the main halls of the castle. Everypony followed closely behind the princess.
Carter kept to the back of the group, walking just behind Pinkie Pie and Rarity. He had no clue what exactly Princess Twilight had planned for her anniversary, so he kept quiet, simply following her and the others while he waited for the answers to come to him.
Carter stopped in his tracks after hearing footsteps from behind his back, which only caught his attention upon comprehending the fact that, last he checked, he was the furthest behind the others in the group.
Carter looked over his shoulder and saw a massive tower of suitcases come through the front doors, carried by what he could only make out to be two purple, clawed feet which he spotted from below the luggage, not at all resembling any pony attributes. While perplexed by the sight, Carter then turned his whole body upon witnessing the creature step into the castle. The size of the luggage pile alone was impressive to him.
A voice was heard from behind the tower of suitcases, and following an audible “uh oh,” the luggage began to tip forward.
Carter, realizing what was about to occur, broke off from the group and rushed in to help the unknown creature recover before they would drop all the suitcases. He sprinted as fast as he could, watching as the luggage slowly fell toward the ground, all while the creature holding them began to freak out from behind their cover.
The human got right under the towering suitcases and held his arms out. By the time he arrived, they were too low to be repositioned, and so he instead attempted to catch all that he could.
When the suitcases finally toppled over, Carter managed to grab onto a couple of them, but the remaining luggage fell to the ground with a loud thud. Carter winced in reaction to the booming noise that echoed throughout the foyer.
While maintaining a good grip around the luggage that he did manage to catch, Carter looked over his shoulder to see if the others took notice of the unfortunate event. The hall was empty, and while some residual echoes reverberated off the walls, no hoofsteps were heard coming from the hall. It had seemed to Carter that the others were too far to hear the luggage on impact, which was perhaps to his and the other creature’s best interest.
Let’s hope nothing broke from that… let alone something expensive…!
A distressed groan came from under all the luggage that Carter wasn’t as fortunate to catch, which seemed to pile on top of the other creature upon landing. Carter, after carefully placing the luggage he did manage to recover on the floor beside him, knelt down and began to move the rest of it off the creature.
“You alright?” Carter asked as he continued removing the luggage off the unfortunate creature. Another groan came in reply. “Hold on, lemme help you out of this mess.”
Once Carter managed to move away a majority of the luggage, a purple arm extended itself from underneath it all, reaching out for a hand… or perhaps a hoof. Carter quickly aided the creature upon seeing its clawed hand, firmly grabbing onto it with his own - albeit non-clawed hand - and then freeing the rest of them from there.
“Ugh… thanks for that,” said the creature once it was freed. It dusted itself off, brushing its hands against its knees, briskly. It looked up at Carter to thank him, but instead found itself stepping back, startled by Carter’s odd appearance.
Both Carter and the other creature looked at each other with surprised looks once their eyes met, happening almost identically to when he and the sisters first met not too long ago.
Carter was left surprised for only a second or two, however, as he now felt quite accustomed to seeing new, various species on occasion. And it seemed to him like the other creature felt the same way, as it looked up at Carter with the same expression once it was able to get a good look at him: curious as opposed to cautious.
The creature was found to be a bit smaller than the ponies… in fact, it didn’t resemble a pony at all. It was a bipedal in appearance, already a notably major difference. It was also covered in scales rather than hair. Color-wise, it was purple, similar to the princess’ color scheme, but with green eyes and spikes that ran along its back from its head to its tail, shrinking in size the farther down it went. It also had a lighter, more mint-like tint along its belly and in a small patch of scales ejecting from around both its cheeks.. Its hands ended in three fingers and a thumb, and its feet had three toes, both of which were clawed. Its tail also appeared to possess a spear-like tip at the end.
Dragon???
Carter was left perplexed. While he wasn’t used to seeing this creature, he in fact knew what it was almost instantly.
The two were left staring, possibly longer than necessary.
“You’re welcome,” Carter said, holding out his hand to the creature and initiating the conversation.
The small, reptile-like creature shook itself out of its stupor and grabbed Carter’s hand, giving it a firm shake.
“Sorry… I’m just not used to seeing guys like you.” The dragon gave off an apologetic smile whilst slightly tilting its head. “You’re the… hoo-man, right?”
“Human… but yes,” replied Carter. “Like a color hue… but I digress. Yes, that is indeed me.”
“Ah, I see.” The dragon pulled his hand away once the handshake concluded.
“And you are a dragon, correct?” Carter inquired, making sure that his synopsis of the creature was indeed true.
“Yes, that’s correct!” The small dragon placed one hand along its side and the other against his chest with his thumb extended outward and pointed towards himself. “I’m Spike. Royal Adviser to Princess Twilight Sparkle and proud member of the Council of Friendship.”
“Wow,” was the only thing Carter could say after hearing such a statement. “An actual dragon. *Chuckle* That’s kinda cool, really.”
“You know of dragons?” Spike inquired, interested in knowing how the human had heard of species beforehand.
“Well, where I’m from, we’ve only heard of your existence via myth… but to actually see one up close and actually alive is truly something special.” He couldn’t help it, but Carter felt rather excited to see a dragon for himself. "Although, with all due respect... you're quite smaller than I would imagine."
“Yeah, I'm still a rather young dragon. Got a bit of time before I'm fully grown.” replied Spike. “You know, I guess the same can be said for us here in Equestria. We've only heard of you humans through myth and legend. What’s your name?”
“Right. *ahem* My name is Carter… human from Earth. Yeah, nothing special, really.” Carter laughed and scratched the back of his head, awkwardly.
“Hey. that’s fine,” said Spike. “I actually thank you for helping me with the luggage. I wouldn’t admit it to them, but it was definitely a lot, perhaps too much. But don’t tell them I told you that.”
“Yeah, of course.” Carter said, pretending to zip his mouth shut. “But uh, alicorns have magic, right?” Carter asked once the thought came to him.
“Yeah, why?” Spike replied, wondering where the human was going with such a question. Although, truthfully, he already had an idea about what he was going to say next.
“I just think it’s odd that they could instead use their magic to move the luggage themselves. But instead they give it all to you,” explained Carter. “But hey, perhaps that’s just not my decision to make.”
“No, you’re quite right. Believe me, I’ve thought the same thing, myself,” replied Spike.
“Interesting…” Carter and Spike couldn’t help but laugh.
With that, Carter helped Spike pick up the luggage from the ground and walked over to where the rest of the group was gathered, that being the throne room. Everypony turned to look at them once they entered the throne room, wondering why they took so long to catch up.
“Carter, where did you run off to?” Princess Twilight inquired. She noticed that the human was carrying in the sisters’ luggage along with Spike.
“Yeah, I saw him come in with all this luggage and I offered to help him.” Carter set his portion of the luggage down against the wall beside him. “Spike was all like, ‘it’s okay, I can handle it. I’m the strongest dragon I know.’ But I insisted on helping him.” The human winked at Spike, helping him keep his dignity.
Spike shook his head and sighed as he too set the rest of the luggage beside the rest.
“Oh Spike, you’re such a strong, cute dragon. What would we do without you?” said Rarity. Spike shied away and blushed as a result of the compliment.
“I’m so happy that we actually get to do this!” said Celestia with an overwhelming amount of glee in her voice.
“Indeed,” said Luna.
Carter couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, as Luna’s reaction seemed so contrasting compared to her sister’s.
“Well, now that everypony’s here, I guess we can go ahead and start,” said Twilight.
“Hold on now… where’s Cadance and her family?” inquired Celestia, realizing that the Crystal Empire leaders were nowhere to be seen. “Wasn't she supposed to be here, too?”
Everypony froze up, especially the princess.
“Oh… C-C-Cadance?” Twilight’s shaking reoccurred.
Carter knew the princess was under a lot of stress. But it was still unclear to him why she would hide the attack from somepony like them. He couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t just tell them straightforwardly. He felt like it would be the smarter choice, especially since it wasn’t like any pony perished during the attack… except for the enemy, of course, so it wasn’t like she was having to tell them a death count.
“Yes, where is she?” asked Luna.
Carter, still having no idea what was going on behind the scenes, could tell that Celestia and Luna truly had no idea about the attack nor what had happened to Cadance and her foal.
“Twilight?” Celestia noticed Twilight’s nervous shaking almost instantly. “What’s going on?”
“Sorry I’m late!”
Everypony turned toward the voice. It was Princess Cadance, limping her way into the throne room with her husband supporting her, all while the stallion also carried in their little foal, who was still covered in bandages and casts of her own.
They all stared ahead with their own various expressions. Twilight and her friends had wide eyes, the sisters looked in shock with agape jaws, Spike had a mix of both, and Carter just glared with a face that said, “uh oh…”
Cadance could tell that the sisters were very surprised to see her in her current state, and rightfully so.
“Twilight… what happened!?” Celestia exclaimed, looking at the princess with a mix of extreme concern and mild anger in her eyes.
“I… she… uh…” The princess’ trembling only grew in intensity.
Celestia slowly walked over to Twilight, sensing the level of stress arising from within the princess. The closer she got, the more the Twilight shied her face away and the more tears began to form in her eyes. When Celestia got to Twilight’s side, she placed a hoof along the princess’ back and gingerly patted her.
Twilight sniffed before looking up at the eldest sister. An overwhelming amount of shame was visible in her through her eyes.
Celestia looked down at her once-pupil and brought her close to her, pulling Twilight in as she sat down beside her and rested the princess’ head against her chest. Twilight broke into tears and silently wept into Celestia’s chest.
“There there, Twilight. It’s okay.” Celestia continued to comfort Twilight, softly running a hoof through her mane while she held one of her wings out in front of the princess, allowing her to cry in privacy.
The others all stared at the two ponies, feeling sympathy for their princess. The past few days had been a lot for her to deal with, and it was obviously beginning to show.
While her sister tended to the princess, Luna walked over to Princess Cadance and the rest of her family, checking in on them.
Even Cadance found herself in tears soon after the mare came to them, reaching out for Luna with her free hoof. Luna rushed in and pulled Princess Cadance in, hugging her and whispering words of encouragement softly in her ear.
While their little moment took place, Carter watched from the corner of the throne room, wondering if he could’ve done anything better to prevent this. He hung his head and let out a long sigh, hoping that things would only get better from there.
“Twilight, my dear, I am so sorry about what has happened, whatever it is. I want to help you… but to do that” - Celestia looked down at Twilight and wiped away her tears with her hoof. Twilight looked up at Celestia through her tear-covered eyes. - “I need you to tell me exactly what happened.”
This one, along with the following chapter, are going to be very dialogue heavy for the sake of allowing the story to move along smoothly and make sense in the long run.
But at last, Chapter VI is finally released!!! Sheesh, this one shouldn't have taken this long... but life just loves to surprise us, doesn't it.
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So you have another chapter ready with this? Also most importantly good chapter.
11263916
Not yet ready, but I already have it planned out.
Update?
11290179
Next chapter is starting to come along, finally. Shouldn't be too much longer now, but I don't feel confident enough to list a release date, quite yet.
Yeah, sorry... I've had very little free time until only about last week, so now I have time to work on the story a lot more.
11290189
Ah ok
Don't know how I missed this update.
Don't like how he ended up laughing too not only after a horrible nightmare, fueled by his horrible past of all things mind you and his embarrassment just because she did so. If anything I would have been offended at best and angry and annoyed at worst. Doesn't seem realistic to me, but what do I know?
Don't see how his statement came across as offensive. It just seems like a neutral statement to me. Not like he insulted them or anything. Unless someone not being pure happy to see them is offensive to them which is just plain stupid even in the universe this fic takes place in. You might want to adjust that to make it actually insulting.
Luna: Except for a millennium where I threw a hissy fit and got banished to the moon, but we don't talk about that.