The Ultimate Test of Friendship - The Stranger From The Outside

by MegaCartmanX

Chapter VIII: Little Moment of Fun

Carter made his way into the dining room where the others were gathered; royal sisters, Crystal Empire family, Princess Twilight, and her friends. They appeared to be having a great time chatting with one another, smiling, laughing and all around just happy to be with each other. It seemed the party was going well, which was quite the opposite of how things once were, but he was sure that, to them, it was good to finally get a true moment of peace.

Not wanting to disrupt their conversation, Carter found one empty chair, the same one he previously sat in located between Applejack and Spike, and quickly made his way to his designated seat, quietly sitting down and remaining silent once seated.

Carter looked around the table, surveying where everyone else was seated. He was most surprised to see that not only was the Crystal Empire family there with them, but they had recovered from their injuries rather quickly. While surprising to see, it brought Carter some peace to know that worst seemed to be behind them.

“So nice to see you here, Carter.” Twilight said, looking toward the human with a warm, genial smile. “I’m glad you agreed to join us.”

“Thank you for the invitation. I’m honored.” Carter replied, trying his best to show some gratitude.

Twilight returned with a lighthearted giggle.

Carter smiled, feeling good about what he said.

After initially coming across as a deadpanned, rage-fueled jerk for the most part, along with being fed up with constantly having to hide his dark side from the ponies, Carter made it his goal to better his reputation with them. In doing so, he was sure that not only would it make achieving his goal much easier, but it would also hopefully suppress his darker self from trying to come out, at least less frequently.

“You actually came at a good time. We are all just waiting for lunch,” said Twilight.

“Sounds good,” replied Carter.

It came as quite a surprise that hunger had not crossed his mind. Yet even after the princess brought it up, he still felt less hungry than he would have otherwise anticipated.

“Well, well, well, looks like we’ve got ourselves a special guest with us, today!” said Pinkie Pie as she jumped out from behind Carter’s chair, nearly causing him to jump out of his own seat.

The others had all turned their attention toward the pink pony due to her blaring voice and couldn’t help but giggle in response to Carter’s admittedly reasonable reaction.

Carter looked down at the ground and sighed, hiding his embarrassment-induced blush, albeit rather poorly.

“Welcome to the party, hoo-man! Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you aren’t left out and ensure that you have just as much fun as every other pony!” Pinkie Pie pulled out a cheap, paper party hat and placed it atop Carter’s head, then revealed a little party horn which she blew, shooting confetti out the end once fully unrolled. Then, within the blink of an eye, she returned to her chair.

Carter couldn’t seem to fathom the events that had just occurred before him. It all happened so fast. Perplexed, Carter simply stared at the pink mare with wide eyes.

“*giggle* Don’t think about it too much, ya hear,” said Applejack, looking over towards Carter. “It’s just how she does things.”

“I’d listen to her if I were you. You’ll drive yourself crazy if you try to make sense of it all,” said Spike.

Carter could only shrug in response. With what little knowledge he had collected about the ponies, it was only reasonable to believe that, like the unicorns, perhaps Pinkie Pie had her own magical powers, albeit without a horn. It was still anything goes.

“So, Mr. Human, I’d like to ask you some questions about yourself if that’s alright with you.” said Celestia.

Carter tilted his head downward and took a moment to think before replying to the eldest mare. He was ultimately fine with answering questions as long as they didn’t pertain to his past, but after thinking it over, he wondered just how many of those would be about that very thing. Settling on a middleground, he decided to just let them ask their questions and keep his answers brief.

“Go ahead. I doubt you’re the only one with questions, anyway,” said Carter.

“Oh goody!” Celestia took a moment to clear her throat. “So, Twilight tells me that you claim to be from another world entirely. Is that true?”

“Yes, Ma’am. Earth is the name of my home world.”

“You can just call me Celestia. I’m done with formalities, but I thank you, nonetheless.”

Carter nodded in reply.

“But back to the subject, I’m quite astonished to admit that I’ve never heard of any place called Earth. I mean, we call the soils of the land by that very name, but I have no recollection of another world called Earth.” Celestia pressed a hoof to her chin and looked away from the others, pondering the thought. “It is rather unusual. Perhaps you truly are from a place beyond Equestria. But then again, Twilight’s brought many more species of all kinds from neighboring nations and beyond, so I can’t necessarily say that it’s hard to believe.”

“Neighboring nations? Other species?” Carter said, perking his head up in response to the eldest mare’s words.

“Why yes, darling,” answered Rarity. “There are many others around the world. Or rather, our world.”

“Is that so?”

“Well, you’ve already been acquainted with Spike, haven’t you?” said Fluttershy, sarcastically.

Carter flicked his eyes to the dragon then back to the pegasus.

“Fair enough. But are dragons the only others you mentioned?”

“Not at all. There are many more. Griffons, Changelings, Yaks, and Hippogriffs to name a few,” said Twilight.

Carter leaned back in his seat and chuckled under his breath. Just the princess’ words alone baffled him. Besides yaks, it seemed like all things myth and legend could be found in this new world.

“Fascinating.” Carter said, still trying to process the information.

“What’s Earth like?” inquired Fluttershy.

“In short, it’s just a planet where humans are the superior. Although we don’t have magic like you guys do. For the most part we are more technology and science driven,” said Carter.

“Interesting,” said Twilight. “I couldn’t imagine a world without magic.”

“And you said you were here to learn about friendship, correct?” asked Cadance.

“That’s the goal,” said Carter. “Although it pains me to admit that. You’d think an adult human such as myself wouldn’t require such a youthful punishment.”

“How was it again that you were sent here?” asked Luna.

Carter froze for a moment, forming an answer that didn’t reveal too much of his past.

During that short moment of silence, Luna simply stared at the human with a stoic expression.

“I made some mistakes that I now regret. I… pushed a lot of good people out of my life and was sent here to learn from the error of my ways and become a better man.” replied Carter. “Like I said… sounds childish, but it’s what has become of late.”

“Don’t beat yourself. This ain’t the first time something like that has happened around these parts,” said Applejack.

“Really?” Carter replied, raising his brow.

“Well I mean, what do you think the ‘Princess of Friendship’ does?” Twilight said with a giggle.

“Point taken. The only thing is, I’m not quite sure where to even begin,” said Carter.

“Leave that to us,” said Twilight.

“Us?” Rainbow Dash flicked a glance at the princess, looking somewhat appalled by the idea.

“But of course! We’ve done it plenty of times before. What’s one more?” replied Twilight.

“You didn’t say anything about us when we talked about this!”

“What she means is that we aren’t sure if each of us has the time to do that.” Applejack said, looking back at the pegasus with a stern glare.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“Yeah… that’s what I meant.”

“Don’t fret about it, girls. I obviously won’t pressure you to help him out if you can’t find the time,” said Twilight.

“I thought you said I wouldn’t be a burden,” Carter said, looking over to Twilight.

“And you aren’t Carter. I promise,” replied Twilight. “I just think it would be better for you to learn how to befriend different types of ponies.”

“Oh, you must understand, we would absolutely love to help you with your goals. We just simply have other things to do in life, as well,” explained Fluttershy. “You know, like housework, jobs, families… -”

Carter felt a sharp pain run through his heart. His body shook for only a blink of an eye. He stared blankly out in front of himself, fighting back a sudden onslaught of negative emotions filling his mind.

“- ... you understand, don’t you?”

Carter snapped back to reality once Fluttershy finished her sentence.

“Right…” he said, still stuck in his mind, slowly resuming eye contact with Fluttershy.

The other ponies, along with Spike, all tilted their heads in response to the humans words, more specifically how he spoke.

Twilight quickly picked up on Carter’s sudden mood change, knowing that something didn’t settle well with him.

“However, like I’ve said, we will help you reach your goal and teach you about friendship!” Twilight said, speaking louder than normal to draw the others’ attention away from Carter.

“I appreciate it, your majesty.” Carter said, lifting his head and making an effort to smile. “Rest assured, I’ll make sure to do my part and listen to what you have to say.”

“Yes! The food is here!!!” Pinkie Pie’s shout could be heard echoing throughout the dining room for quite a while, startling everypony around her.

Multiple stallions dressed in tuxedo-like attire stepped out from behind the kitchen doors and proceeded towards the ponies, each carrying a tray with food. Each one of them stopped in place next to someone seated at the table and remained still until each of them had gotten to where they needed to be. From there the stallions set the tray down in front of their respective guest and then lifted the tray, carrying it away with them as they took their leave.

It was there that Carter realized he overlooked one key problem: he was an omnivore, the ponies were not.

Looking down at his tray, Carter saw what appeared to be a sandwich with hay between the bread. A hay sandwich.

While it did not necessarily look unappetizing, the thought of eating hay of all things was something that did not sit well with him, let alone for his first meal in a while.

Carter looked over at the others, who all had bright smiles along their faces. Certainly they viewed the meal as appealing. Even the young dragon, who he at first figured would be at least carnivorous with a similar repast on his tray, was already halfway through his respective sandwich.

Rolling his eyes and sighing, Carter knew the others would start asking questions if he didn’t begin eating. And so, Carter reluctantly picked up the sandwich in front of him and gritted his teeth.

“Jusqu'à la fin d'un voyage.”

Without another word, Carter took a single bite and chewed slowly. To his surprise, the taste was pleasant to his senses. Perhaps it had been too long since he last ate anything for his palette to compare it to anything else. But alas, he was pleased that his body wasn’t trying to puke it all up. He took another bite just to make sure it wasn’t only the one, but like the first, the taste was just as enjoyable.

Enjoying some hay… I’m going insane.

Carter let out a nervous laugh.

“How’s the food, Carter?” inquired Twilight.

“Oh yes, very good,” replied Carter, trying his best not to look suspicious.

“Goody! I was nervous for a moment that you couldn’t eat hay based foods. Looks like my little gamble paid off.”

Carter’s eyes widened ever so slightly. He kept his smile while gritting his teeth.

“Yeah… lucky.” Carter turned away for a moment.

Unbelievable!

The luncheon went on for a while longer. Everyone ate, drank and talked amongst each other, making sure to bring Carter into their conversation whenever the opportunity presented itself.

When the food was gone and everyone’s stomachs were full, they began the next part of the day’s festivities.

“Whew… I’m stuffed,” Rainbow Dash said, propping her hind hooves up on the table.

“Right there with ya, partner,” said Applejack.

“That was definitely delicious. Thank you so much, Twilight,” said Celestia.

“Of course! Anything for you, girls,” replied Twilight.

“Does this mean we can move on to the next part of the evening?” Pinkie Pie inquired.

“Yep, it sure does,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Pray tell, what’s the next part?” asked Luna.

“Ah brought up a couple barrels of apple cider with me on the way here. We planned to just hangout together, drinkin’ and talk about what’s been goin’ on between us. Just a little catchin’ up session,” explained Applejack.

“Ooh, I like that idea very much!” said Celestia. “Well then, let’s waste no more time and get right to it.”

The group departed from the dining table and proceeded towards the family room located behind the throne room, where they would continue with their day.

Though Carter preferred to be in the back of the group during their little walk, he was soon pulled to the front when Celestia hounded him to come to her side so she could ask him more questions.

Upon arriving in the family room, Twilight began to assign each of the group members a job to set up for the next event.

“Alright, everypony, let’s split up so we can do everything quickly. Fluttershy and Rarity, you tend to the fire. Pinkie and Spike, you two rearrange the furniture. Cadence, you just sit down and relax, I’ll go get the cups for drinks. Celestia, Luna, you can also relax while we get things set up.”

“Well then, me and Dashie will move the barrels into the room,” said Applejack.

“Alright then, let’s move,” Twilight clapped her hooves together, and from there the group began their assigned chores.

Carter, standing awkwardly while everyone else was doing something, looked to the princess to offer his assistance.

“Your Majesty, erm… Twilight!”

“Oh, forgive me, Carter. I don’t know how I missed you,” said Twilight.

“All good,” he replied, smiling and nodding his head. “Anyway, I can help if need be.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to. We’ve already got everything covered.”

“You sure?” inquired Carter.

Twilight was about to repeat herself, but quickly noticed the two mares heading outside to retrieve the barrels, specifically Rainbow Dash. The princess pursed her lip for a moment, pondering an idea.

“Actually, if you really want to help, I’m sure AJ and Dashie could use your help bringing in those heavy barrels, outside.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash quickly spun around and stared Twilight dead in the eyes. “No, we got it. We don’t need any more help.”

Twilight smiled and shrugged her shoulders. She knew Rainbow Dash still wasn’t opening up to Carter, and felt that she had to step in and help her learn to trust the human, and vice versa for Carter.

“Awe, come on, Dashie. Ah’m sure Carter could help us out plenty,” said Applejack. “Besides, there’s quite a couple barrels to bring in.”

“But I… you don’t… we…” Knowing that there was no way around it, Rainbow Dash groaned aloud before stomping outside. “Fine!”

Applejack and Carter both raised their brow in surprise to the pegasus’ reaction.

Applejack looked back at the human and tittered before quickly chasing after Rainbow Dash.

Carter on the other hand turned his attention to the princess, looking at her in a way to let her know he questioned her decision. She nodded in return, smiling just as she usually did. Carter nodded silently and walked outside to help the other mares.

When they came across the barrels, Applejack hopped into the cart holding them all in place and proceeded to roll one to Rainbow Dash and Carter, respectively.

“Take these here barrels. We’ll start off with this, then come back for more if we need to. But Ah highly doubt it.” said Applejack.

Rainbow Dash rolled her respective barrel along the ground in front of her while Carter mounted his upon his right shoulder and held in with his arm. While the pegasus rushed off towards the others, Carter waited for Applejack to come down from the cart with her barrel of cider.

While waiting, Carter noticed jars of rainbow-colored jam behind the remaining barrels in the cart.

“What are those, Applejack?” he inquired.

“Those are just jars of zap apple jam,” Applejack replied.

“Zap apple?”

“Yeah, special apples that grow around this time. Twilight loves them just as much as anypony else and ordered some ahead of time. These here are her’s.”

“I guess she really likes them,” said Carter.

“Everypony does, which is why me and mah family back on the farm make so much.”

“I see.”

The orange mare hopped down once she lowered the barrel to the ground and rolled it inside; Carter followed closely behind.

While on their way back, Applejack looked up at Carter, who just stared blankly out in front of himself. She could tell something was on his mind, and it was quite obvious to her what it was.

“Please excuse Rainbow Dash. Ah know she doesn’t mean to be rude… she’s just-”

“I’m sure she has her reasons. No need to explain.” said Carter, keeping his eyes locked straight forward. He already knew from Twilight why she did not trust him.

“But Ah still feel bad. Ya shouldn’t have to deal with that.”

“Maybe you’re right… but I’m not going to argue with her. I’ll work to gain her trust, in time.”

“*sigh* Just promise me ya won’t think of her as the enemy. She has a good heart, she’s just a little shaken up is all,” explained Applejack.

“I promise,” Carter said, turning his head to look the mare in her eyes.

The barrels were soon lined up in the corner of the family room and each member of the group grabbed a cup of cider before continuing with their evening. They all sat in a circle around with a coffee table in the center. A warm, cozy fireplace was lit to keep everyone warm while they enjoyed each other’s company.

With most of the seats taken, Carter walked over beside one of the sofas and remained standing. He didn’t want to ask them to move over, and he didn’t mind standing all too much, anyway.

Fluttershy took notice of Carter and shifted herself away from the closest armrest. She then caught eyes with the human and beckoned for him to sit by her, patting the open spot beside her.

Carter, though hesitant at first, nodded and sat beside the pegasus, thanking her once he had seated himself.

“Blanket?” Fluttershy asked after grabbing a soft, blue cover and holding out for him. The human nodded and reached out for it, but instead, Fluttershy reached over and wrapped it over the front of his body and hung it behind his shoulders.

Surprised by the kind act, Carter thanked Fluttershy once more as he adjusted the blanket.

“You are very welcome.”

From then until dusk, the group shared each other’s life stories, filling everyone in with everything that had happened since last they saw each other. Laughs were shared, questions were asked, gasps were heard, and even some tears were shed.

In short, they had a good time.

At one point, Princess Twilight flipped to a page in her scrapbook with a picture of all six mares and Spike smiling at the camera. But there was one more creature standing behind them all, someone who he didn't know in person, but rather one he recognized from one of the colored glass arts he found in the castle.

“Twilight, that creature behind you. The… amalgamation, for lack of better words. Who is that?” Carter said, pointing to the creature in question.

Twilight and her friends looked closely at the picture, trying to spot the creature Carter was referring to.

“Ah, you mean Discord.” Fluttershy said, being the first to spot it. “You see, Discord is a unique creature to this world: a draconequus. He's a good friend of ours.”

“Friend? Pardon me if I'm being too nosey, but on one of the castle's glass wall arts it seemed like you were fighting against him,” said Carter.

“You're actually right. But he's not evil anymore.” explained Twilight. “Before he was reformed, Discord was bent on conquering anything and everything he could get his claws on. His tactics were without equal and chaotic in nature, as his name implies. Celestia and Luna defeated him years ago, encasing him in stone. Time passed and the sisters chose the six of us to try and reform him, which thankfully we did thanks to Fluttershy.”

“Now, now, girls. It was a team effort.” Fluttershy couldn't help but blush in response, shying her head away and hiding it behind her long mane.

“I mean, he's still kind of chaotic,” said Rainbow Dash.

“That is true, but for the most part Ah say he's turned over a new leaf,” said Applejack.

The mares laughed with each other, recalling all the times this so-called “Discord” went back to his old ways and nearly destroyed Equestria. Carter was surprised as the list went on, revealing to him that the ponies had a surprisingly large amount of tolerance and forgiveness towards the creature in spite of everything he had done against them.

But about midway in their discussion, Carter's attention was pulled toward a separate picture, or rather the corner of one hanging out from behind other pages of the scrapbook. It was nothing breathtaking at first glance, but as Carter studied it further, he felt his heart sink inside him.

What Carter saw in that small portion of the picture was a lone mare clad in battle armor. Her coat was darker than anything he could comprehend, and her eyes resonated with a very familiar color. While they were otherwise cyan, they illuminated and gave off a green aura, the very same color that the evil pegasus possessed, along with himself whenever he gave in to his darker, alternative self.

Without giving it much thought, Carter assumed that it was a more recent photo, perhaps a shot of the first infected pony ever reported.

But one very crucial detail stood out to him, sending a chill down his spine: the image of the moon along the mare's flank.

What…?

Filled with curiosity, Carter slowly raised his head and looked at the younger of the sisters. To no surprise, but still giving him yet another spine chill, the very same cutie mark was found along Luna's flank.

Luna suddenly stared back at the human after sensing his gaze.

Carter shook for a moment before looking back at the picture with Twilight and her friends, hoping that the mare wouldn't get suspicious.

Without much thinking, Carter was about to ask the princess about the mare in the photo, but his mind went blank following a loud clap.

Princess Twilight closed the scrapbook and stretched her forelegs over her head, letting out a much needed yawn.

“Aaaaaalright, girls. I think it's time we call it a night.”

“Is it really over, already?” inquired Pinkie Pie. A frown swept across the mare’s face as she hung her head and sulked.

“I’m afraid so, Pinkie,” said Rarity.

“I hate that it’s over just as much as you do, Pinkie,” said Twilight. “But to be honest, it was absolutely amazing to see you girls again.”

“Agreed. It’s definitely been a long time. Feels good,” said Applejack.

“It was really nice to get to see you, too!” said Fluttershy, speaking to Celestia, Luna and the Crystal Empire family.

“Our pleasure, my little ponies,” replied Celestia, giggling to herself.

“We can’t thank you enough for inviting us, Twilight,” said Luna.

“Glad you could make it, and even more so now that you’re both staying here a little longer!” said Twilight.

“Yes, though it hardly feels like we left at all,” said Luna. Her little remark caused the group to laugh.

“Well, the only thing left to figure out is where everypony’s gonna sleep,” said Applejack.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already planned that all out,” replied Twilight.

“Of course you have,” said Rainbow Dash, letting out a lighthearted sigh.

“Girls, I’ve set up the master bedroom for us all to sleep in. We can stay up late and do whatever we want, like tell spooky stories, share gossip, anything!” Twilight looked over at Spike and giggled. “Don’t worry, I saved one of the spares for you, by yourself.”

“Thank goodness. Last time you girls had a sleepover you stayed up the whole night,” said Spike. The mares laughed in unison in reply to the dragon’s comment, recalling the events of their last sleepover. Spike turned to Carter, the sisters, and the royal family before continuing. “They wouldn’t let me sleep at all. And come to think of it, I think one of their spooky stories kept Fluttershy up all night, as well.”

Fluttershy let out a frightened yelp and yanked her blanket over her head, shaking violently beneath the cover.

“Eeep! Don’t remind me!” she said, timidly. The other mares laughed once more.

“Anyway, with that said, Celestia, Luna, you of course will get your own room. And big brother, you and your family will also get a room for yourselves,” said Twilight.

“Thank you so much for thinking ahead, Twily,” said Shining Armor.

“You always were a good planner,” said Celestia.

“And Carter, if you’d like, you can also sleep in your own room,” said Twilight.

“I’d like that a lot, your majesty,” replied Carter.

“Perfect! Then let me escort everypony to their room before we call it a night”

Twilight hopped off the sofa and landed on her hooves, walking down the hall. The others followed suit, allowing the princess to lead the way.

Near the back of the group, Carter couldn't stop thinking about the photo with the mare. He didn't want to believe it, but there was no denying that it looked just like Luna. But even if it were true, why was that moment with her in Twilight's scrapbook?

Maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe Luna was never corrupted. Hell, who’s to say it was even her? I think I'm just overthinking things…

After realizing trying to decipher everything only resulted in more questions, Carter put his thoughts aside and quietly continued following the others.

But even then, all those thoughts quickly faded away once Carter realized who he was walking beside.

Rainbow Dash…

Carter and Rainbow Dash walked side by side. They dared not interact with each other, not even as much as giving eye contact. They just continued walking in silence.

Carter, lost in thought, felt mixed emotions toward the blue pegasus. On one hand, he knew she had reasons to not trust him, even if he was doing his best to prove that he wasn’t responsible for the prior attacks on Canterlot. But on the other hand, her persistent hatred toward him was starting to get to him, so much so that his sympathy began to fade away quickly.

Carter couldn’t seem to choose between confronting her or just letting her be, and without thinking, he opened his mouth to speak with her.

“You girls seem to really get along.” Carter’s face froze once he finished speaking. While it was just an innocent question to spark conversation, he felt his heart sink and as he cursed himself for not keeping his mouth shut.

“Yes we do. They are my best friends and they mean a lot to me,” replied Rainbow Dash.

Carter eyed the pegasus with a fire in his eyes. While her words would’ve sounded kind and supportive otherwise, her tone was very passive aggressive. He had to hold back from stopping her then and there and getting into a heated argument. That is until a thought came to his mind. Taking a deep breath, he turned to look her in the eyes and spoke.

“Listen, I get you don’t like me, and I know you must have your reasons. But rest assured, your friends are the ones who agreed to help me. Who would I be to betray them?” Rainbow Dash didn’t look back at him, instead staring ahead angrily as she marched on. “I may not know about friendship, right now… but I've had friends before. I know how much they can mean to you.” The mare’s glare slowly faded, shifting into more of an understanding look. Carter looked away and sighed. “Look, at the very least, if and when I fulfill my task and leave this world, you won’t have to ever see me again. I'm sure you'll be much happier, then.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped ever so slightly. She felt a pain in her gut strike her like lightning. An overwhelming amount of guilt began flooding her conscious, eating away at her pride.

“W-W-Wait, don’t say that,”

Carter raised his brow and looked to her once more.

“I… I don’t hate you. I really don’t. I just…” Rainbow Dash felt tears form in her eyes, causing her to swiftly turn her head away. She took a moment to recollect herself before continuing. “This whole thing has really affected me. I just want to find the one responsible and bring justice. I just want it to be over, already. When I first saw you, I thought you were the one to blame, but more so just to pin a target on anypony than actually believing that you were the mastermind. I wanted to blame you, like it would somehow make everything stop. But deep down, I know that it won't.”

“... I see,” replied Carter.

“Look, I… I want to… apologize.” Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth, finding it difficult to admit her apology to the human, but feeling a sense of relief once she did so. Carter looked inquisitively at the mare in response to her statement. “I know just as much as anypony that you don’t deserve that hate I’m giving you, and so I want to just say that I’m… sorry. I let my emotions get the best of me, and I'm sorry. I just… ugh, I just can’t bring myself to trust you… but I want to. If that even makes any sense.”

“No, no… I get it,” replied Carter. “Believe me, I have my fair share of trust issues, myself. I can understand how you feel quite well.” The two of them shared a quick giggle. “With that said, if you let me, I’ll do my best to earn your trust.”

“And I’ll do the same.” Rainbow Dash held out her hoof to Carter. “No hard feelings?” The human curled his hand into a fist and bumped it against her hoof, nullifying the conflict in their growing bond.

From there, they continued their walk without scowls and glares, but rather smiles.

Unbeknownst to them, Twilight had overheard their conversation and couldn’t help but smile. It felt good knowing that her friend had begun to open up to the human, and that Carter was starting to see her as a friend, just like the rest of them.

Once everyone arrived at their respective rooms, the group said their goodbyes before splitting off.

Carter opened the door to his room and took a moment to see everything it had to offer. There was a bedroom with a quite comfortable looking bed, albeit pink in color, an unfortunate realization, and a desk beside said bed. There was also a bathroom, as well as a balcony overlooking the city separated by the rest of the room via sliding, glass door.

Without hesitation, Carter closed the door behind him and went straight for the bed. He practically jumped onto the mattress, landing all sprawled out along the covers. After everything that had taken place in his life, it felt good to be given a nice, soft bed to sleep in for the night.

A sharp pain bolted through Carter’s body, however, as he neglected to take his wounds into account before jumping onto the bed. He winced for a second before rolling onto his back and lifting his tunic-like outfit up to examine the wraps around his ribs. It seemed to him that he was healing quite well, but figured it would be best to avoid further jumping-onto-beds until his injuries were completely restored.

While he couldn’t wait to get some sleep, Carter got up and walked toward the balcony in order to clear his mind for a moment and get some fresh air. He opened the slide doors and left them open to allow the breeze to flow into his room.

Carter leaned down and rested his arms along the balcony beams, staring up at the starlit sky in awe as he allowed himself to take a moment to truly relax and reflect on all that had taken place up to this point.

So much change had occurred, and there was no doubt that it would only get even more different with time.

Carter couldn’t help but laugh, coming to terms with knowing that all this happened because of his final choice on earth. He was still unsure if he would truly recover, but if he did, he figured it would be one crazy story to tell everyone.

As he stared into the night sky, one particular star stood out to Carter. A bright, luminous star, flickering amongst the others. He couldn’t seem to understand why, but it strangely made him think of the spirit he met in Hell. The one who sent him to Equestria, as if the star was meant to represent the spirit looking down on Carter from above.

No matter what would happen, Carter knew he had the spirit to thank for giving him a chance at redemption and to avoid an otherwise unfavorable fate. But even then, he was still unable to understand why the spirit chose to help him in spite of his past. He cocked his head and pondered.

Why me…?

A knock from the door echoed through his room, breaking him from his thoughts as Carter turned around.

“Come in!” he shouted.

The door opened and revealed the princess.

Twilight had changed into a purple, pajama-like gown. Her mane was glossy and it hung down the sides of her face, as if she just came out of the shower, and she charged her horn with enough magic to act like a nightlight.

“Sorry, am I interrupting?” she inquired.

“No.” Carter looked back at the stars.

By that point Twilight had become quite accustomed to the human’s one word answers, and so she could help chuckling briefly as the expected silence soon followed. She childishly galloped her way over to Carter and stopped at his side, picking her front hooves off the ground and resting them along the railing of the balcony, joining Carter in stargazing, wondering what he was thinking about.

He didn’t mind her presence, but it took Carter longer than necessary before realizing that the princess likely didn’t just come to him in his room for no reason. Feeling embarrassed for taking so long to read the situation, he let out a sigh and turned to face Twilight.

“Where are my manners… I assume you want something from me?”

Another chuckle slipped out from the princess as she too turned to give Carter eye contact.

“No, no. I just came here to check on you to make sure you’d be alright for the night.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. I can’t thank you enough for giving me a place to stay for the night, let alone a room all to myself. Than- erm… you have my most sincere gratitude, princess,” said Carter.

“You know, you don’t have to use all those fancy, elaborate words around me, right?” replied Twilight.

“Well, at least how I was raised, you speak any other way to royalty and you’d probably be beheaded on the spot,” Carter said with a stern look.

Princess Twilight gave him a doubtful look, but it quickly shifted to a smile.

“Was that a joke?” Carter couldn’t find it in himself to contain his own smile, surprised by her response. “Didn’t think you were capable of joking.”

“Unfortunately I don't think it's a joke… but I haven’t forgotten that I am still just a guest here in the castle. I’m a firm believer in courtesies.”

“That’s sweet, Carter, thank you. But you can use… simple speech if you wish. I’m used to it and you won’t ever hear me and my friends talk like that around each other,” said Twilight.

“Very well.”

Twilight and Carter looked back at the night sky.

“You know, I never would’ve thought of you as somepony who likes looking at nature,” said Twilight.

“Some-pony?” Carter replied arrogantly, raising his brow at Twilight.

“You know what I mean!” The princess rolled her eyes in response.

“Funny you should say that, though. I don’t normally do this. I guess… maybe this night sky gives me a sense of calm that the one on Earth doesn’t.” Carter smiled for a moment, continuing to look up at the stars.

Twilight felt a sense of contentment whilst looking at the smiling human, seeing a side of him that she otherwise thought him absent of. It was like there was an entirely different person within him, trapped and contained behind the gruff, much more serious human that she normally saw him to be.

Carter quickly picked up on the princess’ staring and dropped his smile in the same instant.

“Either that or I’m going insane, which I’m sure wouldn’t be too far fetched,” said Carter.

“I think you’re still just processing all this change,” replied Twilight. “And might I just say that you’re doing a better job than most I know.”

“Maybe I should just call it a night and get some sleep.”

Carter stepped away from the balcony and proceeded towards his bed. He sat along the edge of the mattress.

“If you don’t need anything from me, please don’t let me keep you from seeing your friends, again,” said Carter.

“You know what, there’s actually one more thing I wanted to talk to you about,” said Twilight.

Intrigued by the princess’ response, Carter leaned forward and placed his arms along his knees.

“I wanted to give you this.” Princess Twilight approached Carter, pulling something out from a hidden pocket with her nightgown. Once it came into view, the moonlight reflected off of it, giving it an alluring appearance.

The item looked like a book and was blue in color with a purple gem in the center of it, similar to Twilight’s cutie mark.

Carter found himself drawn to the object, wondering what it could be and why the princess would want him to have it.

After a moment or two, Twilight hopped onto the bed and sat herself beside Carter.

“It’s something I hoped would help you on your path. Something I once used when I was learning about friendship, myself. Many years ago.”

“What is it?” he inquired.

“It’s a journal.”

“Journal?” Carter felt almost disappointed, though the fault was his own, as he expected it to be something magical or otherworldly. But he dared not let it show through his voice.

“I know it’s not much, but a journal is something I have a special place in my heart for,” said Twilight.

“You see, when I first came to Ponyville, my home before all of this princess stuff took over, Celestia sent me there with a simple goal: learn about friendship. All that I had with me was Spike, and a journal similar to this one. Every day I’d take a few minutes to write down a lesson about friendship that I learned with my friends, either from a crazy event or something I read. Anything, really. It wasn’t much, but as time went on I used those writings to remind me why friendship is so important. I even sent them to Celestia and helped broaden her understanding of the topic.”

“You had to learn about friendship, too?” Carter inquired.

“It’s where my story began. I had to walk the same path you are, Carter. I know how it can be, and while I can’t simply do it for you, I only wish to make your journey a little easier. And, well, I feel like maybe this journal could be of use.”

Twilight reached over and placed the journal in Carter’s hands.

“What do you want me to do with it?”

“I don’t need you to do anything. It’s completely up to you. You can write in it as much or as little as you like. Then perhaps one day you’ll go back and read through everything that’s happened to you since the start of your adventure.”

Carter stared at the small journal for a moment, trying to understand why Twilight would think that this would help him reach his goal any easier. While he couldn’t find a reason, he thanked her, nonetheless, as he felt as though Twilight had done nothing but help him since she first met him.

“Thank you, Twilight. I might just use this,” said Carter.

“That’s great to hear. And again, don’t worry. I’m not expecting you to send me a list of things you’ve learned over time, although you are more than welcome to if that helps you move forward,” said Twilight.

“Maybe…” Carter set the journal on the desk beside his bed and laid back across the sheets. “If it’s all the same to you, though, I think I should be getting some sleep.”

“Yes, I bet you need it.” Twilight hopped off the bed and landed on her hooves. She made her way to the door and opened it, pausing for a moment before stepping out of the room. She looked over her shoulder and eyed the human one more time. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you home one way or another, and we’ll also make sure that you return as a new man.”

“I seriously appreciate everything you’ve done, Twilight. Thank you,” said Carter.

“Goodnight, Carter.”

“Goodnight.”

Twilight stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Carter to himself once more.

Now able to finally get some sleep, Carter got comfortable in his bed and laid his head against the soft, fluffy pillow beneath him. From there he laid motionless, aside from periodic respirations. He waited for his body to go limp and his brain to clear him, allowing for the effects of sleep to take over.

But it didn’t come to him, and as minutes passed, his annoyance only grew.

After about half an hour or so, he angrily rolled onto his back and grumbled, throwing his hands up violently.

“What the hell?” he whispered.

Carter rubbed his eyes then rolled onto his side, ready to go for round two. But before he closed his eyes, he saw the journal resting on the desk, reflecting the moonlight back at him. He propped his back against the backboard to sit himself upright and be able to reach the journal. Carter picked and up and intended to simply move it away from the light, but once he had a hold of it, he didn’t want to let go of it quite yet.

Carter leaned against the backboard and held the journal close to his face so he could see it with the limited moonlight illuminating the room. He fiddled with it for a moment, opening it and flipping through the blank pages. He noticed a ruby red pen located between the spirals holding the pages together. He pulled it out from its confines and rolled it between his fingers, pondering for a moment.

“Ah what’s the shame? I’m not sleeping anytime soon, I guess. Might as well write something to pass the time.”

Carter clicked the pen and opened to the first page of the journal, where he began writing his first ever entry.

Comments

[SUPERETHAN2]

Surprised to see an update and in time for the holidays. An interesting one and hopefully we don't have to wait long for the next.

[Anonymous69]

Good chapter man

[Anonymous69]

Can't wait for next