The Will to Live is Magic

Twilight looked in utter shock at the skewered and bloodied Evan hovering above her. Her friend was smiling at her from what she didn’t know nor did she care because of the shock and now fear. His smile was soon broken as his eyes followed hers to the spear that protruded from his chest. The look of shock was apparent on his face before his eyes glazed over and his body went limp, dangling on the skewering spike that was held by a shocked diamond dog.

Twilight let out a muffled scream for her friend as she squirmed in her confinements. She cursed the shackles and the diamond dogs that put them on her. Evan needed to get to a hospital before it was too late. But all she could do was squirm because of the cold heartedness of these dogs. She closed her eyes and sobbed as she could hear the struggles of Rainbow behind her. Why would they want to hurt her and Evan like this? Did they enjoy it? Where they happy with what they had done?

Her hatful musing was cut off by a yelp and thud from where Evan was. Twilight’s eyes snapped to the sound to see Evan and his murderer on the floor at the feet of the Alpha king. The king of dogs’ eyes narrowed at the diamond dog laying at his feat. His eye’s held a fire in them that brought fear and respect to all that would look into them.

“Why did you kill him?! He could have been useful to us!”

The diamond dogs only response was paralyzing fear. The king growled at the lack of response and in retaliation, grabbed the scruff on its neck lifting it up to eye level.

“Then you can die with him.”

The diamond dog king hurled the insubordinate solder off the edge of the cliff edge. As he flew the solder flailed while yipping then howled its last long howl as it fell through the abyss until a sickening crunch was heard at the bottom of the cliff. Twilight almost felt bad for the creature until she noticed the still bleeding Evan on the stone floor. She struggled desperately to use magic to teleport them out of the stone throne room and to the surface world but the horn shackles kept her from the elusive magic.

Then she noticed the cold chill that washed over her coming from the king’s eyes. He looked at her with disgust that made her cringe from his piercing gaze. It was as if all his problems where caused by her and he was trying with all his power to show that in that one look. Then the diamond dog king’s face changed from disgust to curiosity and moved closer to scrutinize her. She tensed at his searching gaze and she could only wonder what it was he was looking for in her. It seemed like he looked for hours before he snarled once again and turned to his troops.

“You sniveling, dirt minded, bat brained, worm infested clopholes! This is the student of princess Celestia!”

The golden retriever diamond dog stepped forward. “Sir, would it not be good to have student pony? We could use for ransom.”

The Beagle walked casually to the much taller general. He stated in his usual cold tone, “that is a good idea. Only one problem, WE ARE NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO FACE CELESTIA!”

(mood music)

The general audibly swallowed, “what do you want to do with them then?”

During this argument twilight had been moving slowly toward Evan. She might have made it if the conversation had been longer. The diamond dog king turned walking to where she was and stopped in front of her. He bent down to look her in the eye and the king gave her the largest expression of disgust that she had ever witnessed. However, as he looked she thought she saw a trickle of fear run off his visage. “She is one of the elements along with the other one. They are useless to us alive.”

His sneer turned to a wicked smile as he got back up, “We need to start over else ware. Prepare the troops, we are moving out.” He turned and started to leave.

“What of the ponies sir?”

He stopped mid-step and turned to grin at his peon. “I said they are useless to us alive,” his grin immediately wiped away as he returned to his exit.

Twilight didn’t know what was happening. Was this all a horrible nightmare that she will never wake up from? She turned to her friend bleeding out from a pierced lung on the floor as a stray tear fell from her eye. She felt the diamond dog wrap its paws around her midsection but she didn’t struggle. Was this truly the end for her and Rainbow? She looked to find her other friend being held by a different diamond dog. They now where brought next to the side of the cliff that Evan had kept her from falling off or being skewered like he was. Rainbow had tears streaming down her face as her eyes pleaded for an answer for their currant fate but there was none that could be seen. Then the feeling of weightlessness had overtaken her as the wind whistled passed her. She closed her eyes and thought of her life as time seemed to slow; how all the moments in her life had brought her to this moment. Spending time with her brother, becoming the princess’ student, raising spike, learning in the canterlot library, meeting her friends, becoming the element of magic, and finally meeting Evan. She had led a good life and she resigned herself to her fate as she waited for the inevitable impact.

…

…

…Am I dead yet? She thought. She noticed that the whistling wind had stopped and the only thing that could have caused that was the impact. She slowly opened her eyes to see the ground only a few feet below her. I must be dead, but where is my body? As she looked around and noticed that rainbow was next to her also hovering. This would not have been odd had she not had her restraints still on her.

“mmuuumph,” Twilight tried to speak but she quickly discovered that she also was still in her restraints. This was rectified however, as the restraints seemed to fall to pieces. The idea that she was dead was starting to surface again because no magic aura had surrounded the parts before falling apart. She was about to ask Rainbow what was happening but before she could ask the question they where jerked upwards by an unseen force. Again, there was no magic aura surrounding them suggesting that no magic was being cast. They sored upwards and reached the cliff edge again. Being placed gently on the ground they saw all the diamond dogs that had been in the room pulling on the doors trying to leave the room. This included the alpha king who was yelling at the others to get it open.

Then a diamond dog noticed her and rainbow. “The ponies keep us here!” it said pointing at them. They all turned to look at them before the alpha king yelled, “get them!” in fear and disorientation Twilight watched the oncoming diamond dogs charge her while rainbow took a defensive stance. When the solders where but a few feet away they where flung by an unseen force. Twilight looked for her savior and saw Evan starting to stand, his arms useless and hanging from his shoulders as he slowly rose from the earth. Then she noticed that it wasn’t by his libs that he was getting up, but by the same unseen force that lifted she and rainbow to the cliff edge only moments ago. It lifted him until he was hovering in the air upright along with a few stray rocks. As he lifted his head, she saw the blank emotion his face gave. As his eyes opened, glowing white light replaced the eyes that Twilight knew.

She and Rainbow where baffled at the display along with the dogs. The diamond dog king was the first to recover from the shock. “Kill it! Kill the human!” He yelled as he ran to a different door and exited the room. The warrior dogs responded by throwing their spears at Evan. Twilight could not watch her friend get skewered again. She chanted in her mind to gather the arcane powers to catch the missiles. She stopped as many as she could but there where to many for her to handle and she watched as a few stray spears hurtled toward the floating Evan. Fear gripped her as they flew but they stopped just short of hitting him by the unseen aura. Then they spun around to face the warriors and with an upward nod by Evan the spears where flying through the air again toward their owners. Each spear struck true, felling the warriors that tried to cause him harm.

Twilight watched in horror at the utter disregard for life. Evan had never been filled with more then empty threats and cheap jokes. Sometimes he had a temper but he was gentle even in his anger. This was cold and emotionless slaughter and she had no idea where it came from. It scared her that this might be a part of him. No, This is not the Evan I know.

The rest of the diamond dogs snarled and charged the human. His arms slowly lifted from his sides, a feat in its own right as they were bleeding from the deep gashes that went down them. The diamond dogs slowly rose from the ground with the human’s hands and screams of terror were made, as they seemed to disintegrate to dust, their spears clattering when striking the ground. Twilight turned to her friend in terror at what was going on and Rainbow returned her frightened look. Even was a monster greater then she had ever seen.

A door slammed open that made her head turn. She saw the diamond dog king come out of a room holding a strange looking tool. It looked like a pipe with holes in it and two grips with a third curved piece that fit between the two grips. The king yelled, “take this you accursed abomination!” and the loudest of noises Twilight had ever heard assaulted her ears, as fire seemed to flash from the metal pipe that the diamond dog held.

She closed her eyes and put her hooves over her ears while waiting for the noise to be over. When the thundering noise had passed she cautiously opened her eyes. The King of diamond dogs looked stunned and slowly started backing away. When Twilight followed his gaze she saw Evan floating in mid air with an outstretched palm and several floating… scraps of metal (or so she thought) floating not to far off.

From the first time since he had opened his eyes the scientist’s face had an expression. However, it was one the royal student never desired to see. Pure rage.

The human then screamed at the diamond dog king. The Beagle promptly dropped the strange pipe device and ran, fleeing as far away from the being he had angered as possible. Before he got to far though the man flew and pined him to the wall faster then Twilight could blink. The fierce hatred could be seen in the human’s eyes as the king was chocking for the life giving air that was potentially to be refused him.

She could stand this senseless violence no more. She needed to stop Evan from himself before he would do something he would regret. She moved toward Evan to stop him when a flash of blue stopped her. “What do you think you’re doing?! He’s not in his right mind!”

Twilight looked at her friend in pleading “Rainbow, he’s about to do something he might regret! I can’t let him do that!”

Rainbow pondered on Twilight’s words for a moment, but the king was getting paler by the moment and the student had no time to discuss it. The unicorn ran passed her friend, her cry of “Twilight wait!” falling on deaf ears.

As she reached Evan she hugged his leg with her forehooves pleading, “No don’t do this!”

A force pushed at her causing her to be flung back. She watched the world turn many times over before gravity and friction slowed her, causing many bruises in the process. “Twilight!” her friend called flying to her aid and landing beside her to help her up. She pushed herself up with Rainbows help before seeing Evan. To which she flopped to the floor again and started to cry.

All seemed hopeless from her perspective. Evans face held the same hate filled emotions. There was no reaching him while he was in this state and she feared she might never get her friend back. “Rainbow, what do we do? I can’t stop him.”

Rainbow looked on at the human trying to find a solution to the problem and noticed something that she hadn’t before. “Is he… Crying?”

Twilight lifted her head to see if Rainbow’s notion was true and sure enough a stray tear was running down his cheek. How could he cry with a hate filled face like that? She then thought of princess Luna and what her sadness had driven her to. She never understood then what kind of sadness you had to feel for it to turn to such hatred. But the way Evan looked right now made her feel even more for her friend, and also realize the road that he was walking down.

No! I will not let my friend be lost to hate! She lifted herself off the ground with great effort, a look of determination on her face.

“Twilight, no! Its no good!”

“Rainbow, Evan is hurting and only we can help. We need to help him. He’s our friend.”

Like a hoof to the face the cyan pegasus finally understood what twilight had moments ago. Rainbow smirked at the purple unicorn “Well why didn’t you say so. I’m willing to help a friend anytime.” The unicorn smiled back at her then together they ran at the human once more.

The force came back but Twilight was prepared for it and pushed back with her magic. The force got stronger the closer she and Rainbow got to Evan but they made steady progress. They watched as stone stalactites fell and where pushed away around them. When they finally reached Evan, he looked down with scowling contempt. Then as he gazed at his friends it all seemed to melt away. Both ponies sat at his feet with tears streaming down their face and his grip on the diamond dog king loosened. Evan’s look was no longer pained but showed curiosity. He dropped the now unconscious diamond dog king and both Twilight and Rainbow where lifted by the same force that had saved them before, bringing them to eye level with the monster Evan. Tears continued to flow from the ponies as the human’s face studied theirs with grate curiosity.

“Please Evan.” The human’s head whipped to Twilight’s voice. “Don’t loose who you are.” She reached out to wipe Evans tear stained check.

He grabbed it and pulled it back to study her hoof and seemed to study particularly the water staining it. He lifted his head to look at them both with a creased upward brow. One of Twilight’s tears slowly started to fall, instead of falling with the pull of gravity when it separated form her it instead floated to Evan’s palm as he scrutinized it with a sad frown. His head lifted to show a deep sorrow toward the two ponies. Repeating the unicorn’s actions he wiped her tears, but unlike her attempt all moisture had been wiped from the aria as if a tear had never fallen there. He repeated the act with Rainbow and they smiled at their friend. He smiled back in return as he caressed their dry cheeks. They where gently let down to the ground, then Twilight and Rainbow watched as Evan closed his eyes and his body fall limp. Before he could hit the cold ground, a purple aura enveloped them all. With a flash they were nowhere to be seen.

The cave was eerily quiet except for the rasping breaths of the once unconscious king. The entire cave seemed to be devoid of life except for those breaths that turned to sobs. The sobs of the last remaining member, in the cave that was home, to the diamond dog rebellion.

(End Mood Music)

Bright.

That’s all that Evan could register when coming back from… He didn’t know. He knew he was in a bright place but

Wait, who am I again.

It was like coming out of a dream. Slowly he started sensing two parts of him that spread underneath him and a third much larger part that split in two farther down.

Oh yah, I have those. Arms and legs?

Then the memories started coming back. He remembered his life right up to the point before falling unconscious.

Why had I fallen unconscious? He thought about it for a moment before he remembered what he had been doing.

“TWILIGHT!” his eyes flew open as he shot up from his resting place and was rewarded with searing pain that struck all his body.

“AH!” he fell back closing his eyes on instinct and landing on a much softer surface then he expected for being on a stone floor he remembered he was on. Then he heard an unfamiliar voice that spoke in a soothing tone. “Calm down you need your rest.”

“Where am I?” he asked with gritted teeth due to the relentless waves of pain he had caused himself.

“You’re in ponyvill hospital. You were vary lucky.”

Not with my experience, He thought.

He opened his eyes to be greeted with searing light again. He cursed the offending photons and waited as his eyes adjusted to the light. When they did he inwordly sighed. He was laying on two beds that where pushed together to accommodate his size and he saw a white pony with a red cross on her hind end and a light pink mane and tail tending to him. Luna is going to have my skin rug decorate her floor, He thought to himself as he watched the pony finishing her changing of the sheets. It was odd. Unlike the other experiences when meeting another species, this pony seemed calm and collected around him when all the others (at least in the beginning) where always wary. As she was watering the flowers questions ran through his mind until he settled on only a few to ask so as not to bore the poor thing.

“May I ask a question?” The human asked with a tilted head.

“Of course, what did you need?” she leaned closer to the man and smiled.

“Actually a few questions. One, where is Twilight? Two, do you know what I am? And thirdly, who are you?” he asked warily, afraid of the answers she might give.

She giggled before answering, “Twilight is downstairs getting something to eat, you are a human according to what Twilight and Rainbow told me when they brought you in a week ago, and my name is Nurse Redheart.”

Evan nodded his head, “well it’s nice to meet you Nur-I WAS ASLEEP FOR A WEEK!?”

Redheart flinched from the sudden outburst and her ears flattened to the back of her head. “Maybe I should get Twilight to explain what happened.” She turned and rushed out the door before Evan could respond.

Evan facepalmed. “Great first impression dumb ass… Would that even be a double insult here? Or is it just racist?”

Before the scientist could try and answer his own questions on the possible racial slurs of equines, a blue blur flew in gently tackling him in his bed, not enough to push him off the bed but enough to cause a sharp seething pain to spread across his whole bodies nervous system. His face froze and his vision blacked out from the pain. When his vision returned he looked down to see what his body’s bane was. He was greeted with the visage of Rainbow Dash smiling and nuzzling his chest with her eyes closed.

I am so mad at you right now… I’M MAD DAMN IT!... CONFOUND THESE DAMN PONIES I CANT STAY MAD AT THEM!!!

Evan smiled at the blue pony and decided to wait for a moment, to enact his revenge. When Twilight came through the door he coughed, “not now Rainbow Twilight’s here. You’re going to have to wait till later.”

The light blue pegasus’ coat turned red and she leapt of the man before further scaring could be made. Twilight on the other hand ran over ignoring his comment and moving in to hug him… She did and as the injured patient watched it appeared as if it was happening in slow motion and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

“Twilight-ow please stop-ow ow ow OW!”

Twilight leapt off him quickly blushing as well, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to, I’m just so happy to see you awake and well-“

“Twilight, it’s ok. You didn’t hug me nearly as hard as Rainbow” he looked to the pegasus to revel in her shame. She ducked under the foot of the bed in a futile effort to be invisible. The human smiled at his accomplishment and decided to have a heart and drop it. Chuckling in pain he turned to Twilight “Ok girls, do you mind filling me in on what happened?”

Rainbow removed herself from her invisible shielding to raise a brow at him and Twilight tilted her head. “We brought you here after all that happened. What else?”

Evan’s brows furrowed, “but how? You and Rainbow where tied up and diamond dogs surrounded you before I blacked out.”

“You don’t remember?” Rainbow Dash had completely exposed herself and stood at the foot of the bed.

“Should I?” Evan said lifting his left arm, as his right would have caused pain.

Using her magic twilight closed the door to allow more privacy. When the room was secure she looked to her friend. “You saved us Evan.”

“How?”

Twilight then gave a complete recap of what happened between his falling unconscious, to the point of getting to the hospital. To say he thought she was in a pipe dream was an understatement. A diamond dog with an M4 by twilight’s description and Evan basically being ascended into god status was a very large pill to swallow. Sure Aldaphedrapsychomean XIII had done a number on him, but making things disintegrate? That seemed just illogical. That and the idea on having such power was frightening to him. It was more logical that he manipulated their minds to see what they did in his unconsciousness.

As Evan thought of different possibilities a frightening one struck him and he looked to the door and opened his mental awareness to make sure the question would go unsnooped. When he was satisfied he looked to the mares. “Who have you told?”

Twilight sighed as she said, “no pony. You kept it a rather good secret and I assumed that you did for a reason. Princess Luna does know you’re here though and wants to know when you wake up. But if you expect me to keep this secret you need to fess up mister. Can all humans fly like you?”

Evan sighed as he said “No. Thanks for keeping this a secret both of you.” He gave another heavy sigh before continuing. “If you want to know how I was able to do that then I need to tell you how it all started. And what it cost me.”

Author's Note

Wo ho! I can finally post the back story.

not today though.

didn't think it would be that easy did ya?