Evan's perspective...

The sun beat down upon us, the soft beach sand spreading through my fingers as I sifted my hands through it. Leaning back, I sighed, relaxed and content.

Moving my hands from my side, I tucked them behind my head and crossed one leg over the other, humming to myself as the wonderful summer sun basked its warmth upon my body. I tapped my one foot to the tune of the beat I was humming.

My humming was interrupted however, as my back arched upwards a little and I let out a rather prolonged yawn. Clucking my tongue several times I stretched out a little more and resumed my lax state.

Just as I began humming again, a splash of water washed down upon me, making me yelp and scurry back.

Taking a look to the lake, I saw the culprit. The lavender alicorn, a smirk plastered across her face as she giggled wildly. A playful smile came across my face as I jumped to my feet, feeling sprightly and young as ever.

“Oh... it's on, you're in for it now!” I laughed, chasing after her. A squeak of joy left her mouth as she galloped down the beach, myself chasing after her. She looked back to me and I took notice her horn was glowing. My brow rose but it was only then I noticed a darkening shadow casting over me. I stopped and looked to my side, only to realize a large tidal wave splashing towards me, coated in a magical aura.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of my lips. 'That's not even fair...' I thought to myself as I was hammered by the wave that dragged me further up shore. I laid there with a risen brow. 'Okay... I see how it is,' I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and laid still, body completely limp.

I heard her giggling coming closer and closer until it stopped. “Evan?” she called out, then again, with a slightly more alarmed tone.

“EVAN?!” she cried out, and with it I felt her presence reach my side. “Nonononono, please don't be... it was just-” I cut her off, opening my eyes and hosing her with a mouth full of water.

“Gotcha,” I chuckled and she lightly hit me on the shoulder. I pulled her into a kiss, both of us struggling to maintain the kiss as we continued to giggle in a playful demeanor.

“You know, we came to the beach and all you've done is sit around,” she mentioned and I nodded.

“I know, it's quite relaxing,” I commented. She gave me a dumbfounded look before grabbing me in a magical hold. “EH! Hey wait, woah-woah-woah-WOAH, HOLD ON!” I yelped before she playfully tossed me in the water, jumping in after me with a gleeful 'YIPPEE!'.

I floated around beneath the surface, a rather unimpressed look on my face. She swarm around in front of me, the sun's rays sparkling through the lake's surface and gleaming upon her body.

Looking to me, she giggled. Several bubbles of air left her mouth as she did so. I exhaled and went to speak, my mouth and lungs suddenly filling with water. 'STILL UNDERWATER!' I thought frantically as I quickly surfaced, gagging and hacking up water.

She laughed at me, quickly paddling closer before taking me into an embrace. I held her close, enjoying the close bond we held. Her soft wet fur against my bare skin... it was more than anypony could ask for.

We let the soft and most gentle tide bring us to shore, laying in the shallow water and sharing the most precious moment.

She bopped her nose into mine, blushing intensely. Eyes fluttering shut, I leaned my face towards hers, connecting our lips. For the longest of times we held the pose, soft lips connected, holding each other while laying in the warm water.

Breaking from the kiss I looked to her, a loving expression on her face. “I love you,” I whispered to her but, as though by a radical force of nature, everything grew dark, and with it the water went icy cold.

“GWAHH... Yikes!” I gasped, shivering intensely. I stood up but noticed my mother did not follow. “M-mom?” I asked hesitantly as she lay in the cold water, face tilted down and looking away from me.

“Why?...” she murmured.

“What?” I asked back in utter confusion. I went to kneel down but she pushed me back, myself falling to my arse in the water. “Guh! Mom?!” I gasped and she turned her head away from me, heavy tears of sorrow dripping down her face as she stood up.

“How... how could you? Just...” she trailed off and rushed away, leaving me alone...

I went to stand but gasped, a sharp pain whizzing through my body. Letting out a yelp of agony, I fell to my knees, gripping at my chest that felt... constricted. I clenched my eyes shut and gasped yet again, a slew of brass tasting liquid leaving my mouth.

“Ahhh... ughhh!” I sniffed and coughed, more of the brassy liquid dripping from my mouth in profuse quantity. I forced open my eyes, but found my left eye severely damaged, a dark red blur hampering my vision. I forced it close but felt blood dripping out from it.

I began to crawl towards shore, but felt a mass of weight holding me down yet... nothing was physically atop of me. I collapsed into the water...

With another gasp I looked to the water... no, it was blood. Dark, red, deathly blood. “Ugh... what?!” I gasped in fright as I tried painfully to drag myself to shore, only to fall short a few feet. I collapsed in the lake of death yet even so the blood never began to drown me... I just sort of... laid there, partially submerged, floating...

A cough left my mouth, more of a gag really, and I finally found the strength to drag myself up to the shoreline. I flopped down in the mud which slimmed across most of my body, my lower half still submerged in the liquid death. “Ironic... isn't it?” asked a steely cold voice.

I let out a grunt of effort as I sat up, a dark figure before me. He was dressed in... a dark, long, tattered trench coat and an equally dark desperado like cowpony hat covered his facial features.

I forced myself to my feet, my full height, which stood nearly a third higher than him, and it was only then I realized he was quadrupedal, though I couldn't actually see his legs as they were covered by his tattered clothing.

“Who... who are you?” I asked, a little softly as I staggered about to try and keep myself up.

“That is not important... but what is important, Mr. Burdick, is you,” he stated and I perked a brow, still panting heavily as blood dripped down my face, leaking out from my eye that bled profusely. Suddenly I felt over a dozen painful wounds open up on my body, making me yelp and cry out in pain and I began to bleed out from the wounds.

I felt blood oozing out from all over my body, leaking into the sand and tainting it. I struggled to keep my footing but only then realized my head was gashed open as well. Looking to the pony... thing, whatever he... it, was, I watched as he walked towards the lake of blood and with that, the blood disappeared and was replaced with clear water.

I staggered over but collapsed a few feet before, having to drag myself the last little bit. “You may walk the world... disguised as an angelic presence... but those among the living cannot see into your soul as I do,” he told me, motioning to the water. “Perhaps, through all the lies you've buried yourself under, not even you can see your true self anymore,” he mentioned.

I dragged myself above the water and looked down upon my reflection, only to gasp in horror. The... image before me... my reflection...

A man looked back at me, his left eye damaged beyond belief, bleeding horribly. Several wounds were slashed across his body, coupled with gunshot wounds. A nasty piece of shrapnel was lodged in his forehead, just above his bleeding eye... but then I realized it...

That was no piece of shrapnel, it was a horn. His damaged eye flashed at me, the pupil vertical and the iris glowing dark red. “And your heart,” the creature beside me spoke. “Is as dark as death itself.”

I looked to the reflection and saw his chest, a large hole blown straight through him but his heart still remained, supported by several dripping arteries. His heart oozed a black oily substance, the organ itself... jet black yet still beating healthily.

“And your time, has finally come,” the voice spoke. I closed my eyes. That couldn't be me... it just couldn't be...

I opened my eyes once more, now finding that both worked in pristine fashion. Beside my deathly reflection was another... a skeleton pony with burning red eyes, a sickly looking scythe raised above his head just as he began to swing it downwards.

“NGH!” I grunted, rolling quickly to the side and dodging the decapitating swing. I crawled to my feet, wiping my lips clean as I panted heavily.

“Hmm, defiant bastard, I'll give you that. But death among mortals is inevitable, so why don't you just accept it?” he asked, beginning to slowly trot towards me. Fear invoked me, penetrating me right to my core. I began to slowly crawl backwards, trying to put distance between us but to no avail.

The bony hooves of the pony gripped around his scythe as he went to swing it again. “NGHUHH!” I gasped, clenching my eyes shut and frozen in fear. 'Was this really it? Was this the end?'

A powerful gust of wind nearly took my body airborne as the ground began to shake violently. I managed to crack open my eyes. Not far off stood Derreck, fists clenched and body tense as ever.

“HOW MANY OF YOU IDIOTS WILL THOSE TWO FOOLS SEND?!” Derreck boomed, his voice crispy and like a boom of thunder. He sighed, exhaling deeply as his body relaxed. “I guess they'll never learn... too bad,” he commented as he walked forwards.

The cloaked pony snarled in his direction. “Stay out of this, it does not concern you!” he growled but Derreck merely chuckled as though this pony was not a threat in the slightest.

“Tell me Death... do you feel pain?” he asked as he stepped between us. The pony, Death, simply walked forwards and tried to push his way past my big friend who grabbed him by the chest.

“Ah-ah-ahh...” Derreck commented before giving Death a shove backwards. “Me first,” he told the bony stallion of death, in a most cocky manner. The stallion reached up with one of his bony front hooves and grabbed his hat, quickly tossing it to the side and revealing his deathly face. Death's eyes glowed red, his teeth razor sharp and a dark smog surrounding his immediate presence.

“So be it...” Death darted forwards, swinging his scythe with deadly proficiency. Derreck just stood there, completely calm about the matter. I clenched my eyes as I heard the wisp of Death's scythe swinging downwards.

For a few moments I kept my eyes shut, but when I didn't hear the thump of a body, it made me curious. I peeked open an eye then gasped and went wide eyed as I looked to the spectacle before me.

In a very casual manner, Derreck had caught the blade of Death's scythe between his index and middle finger and was holding the posture ever so effortlessly. Death grunted, trying to force down the weapon. “WH-WHAT IS THIS?!” Death growled his body shaking in futile effort.

“Your final damnation!” Derreck hissed, pulling the scythe and with it Death as well, in close before hammering him in the chest with a brutal strike from his free hand.

The skeletal incarnation of, whom Derreck called, Death was sent tumbling back while my big friend retained the sickly weapon. Looking upon the scythe, he muttered to himself. “Such a useless form of aggression,” he mentioned before gripping it with immense strength.

I gasped as the entire weapon, handle and all, shattered apart into tiny fragments, no larger than that of granular bits of sand, before being taken away into the breeze that fluttered past. Death now cowered backwards as Derreck slowly walked forwards. “Come now... is that the best you have? Surely those two imbeciles would have sent someone better than the last piece of trash I disposed off,” Derreck commented.

Death scrambled to his hooves and launched himself forwards, hammering a brutal punch against Derreck's face that didn't even make him wince. The strike, as powerful as it seemed to be, didn't even move my friend's face an inch.

“Im... impossible!” Death gasped, his facial expression going dire. Grabbing the stallion by his bony wrist, he began to thrash his body against the ground, slamming him around like a mere rag doll before crushing his body into the mud.

Taking a few steps back, Derreck laughed as Death painfully rose to his hooves. “What's the old saying? Oh yes, a mere touch from Death is supposed to kill me? And yet you can't even manage to do that with a full powered haymaker? You're pathetic,” Derreck taunted, before turning his back to the staggered stallion.

Death took a running charge. “DERRECK!” I yelled out but he didn't seem to mind. Just as Death sprung violently towards my friend he reacted in perfect precision. As though he had eyes in the back of his head, he delivered a perfect elbow strike straight into Death's chest, without even looking back.

The stallion wheezed, still being held airborne by some ungodly force of nature. He hacked and gagged in agonizing pain while my big friend laughed. “So... the legendary Death does feel pain... ironic isn't it?” Derreck mused before pivoting his entire body and delivering a brutally powerful backhand that slammed Death into the ground with enough force to create a small crater around his body.

Hocking back a loogie, Derreck spat right into Death's face. “Next time... if they really want us dead, tell them to send someone worth my time,” Derreck commented before making his way over to me.

I coughed in pain as I tried to stand but found myself unable to do so. Derreck reached down and helped me to my feet, putting one of my arms over his shoulders to keep me up. “Come on, time to wake up. We got things to do, ponies to kill,” he mentioned.

“Wake up?” I asked but didn't get his answer, as there was a deathly hiss racing towards us.

Derreck dropped me, tilting his stance slightly and cursing our aggressor. “YOU'LL FIND THAT EVEN DEATH CAN DIE!” He boomed, tangling his arm around Death's foreleg then tripping him to the ground. With a mighty roar, my big friend cocked back his fist which was quickly enveloped in a red electrical current. With a powerful, ground shaking roar, he hammered down his fist.

The impact shattered Death apart and the resulting shock wave sent me hurtling through the air, my world going dark...

I awoke with a gasp, followed by a shiver. I grasped at my face, relieved to find myself back as I should be... even if it was alone, at least I didn't have that demonic look I did during my... whatever it was... a dream I guess.

I heard a wheezing cough come from across the room. It took me a moment to focus in but I quickly remembered everything. Derreck and I, accompanied by this mysterious mare, Echo... we stopped at this motel for the night. It was a small town without much to see and Derreck said it'd be safe to sleep here for the night.

Another wheezing cough came from the bed. I stood up, a little staggered but quickly got my footing. “Hey... you okay?” I asked as I made my way over to the bedside.

“Fine, just fine-” Echo was cut off by another hacking cough, followed by sharp, wheezy breathing. “Just a cold,” she grumbled stubbornly. She coughed again, this time it sounded as though her body was trying to get rid of built up mucus.

I put my hand to her chest, which she quickly tried to shoo away. “What are... you doing?” she asked through several coughs.

“Breath normally,” I told her and again she tried to push away my hand. “Stop!” I grabbed her hoof and held it down. Her breathing picked up and aggravated her symptoms. She began to hack and wheeze violently and with it I could feel slight tremors coming from her chest.

“You've got bronchitis,” I told her as I withdrew my hand to which she shook her head.

“No... ack, you've...” she inhaled sharply, followed by more coughing. “It's just a cold,” she insisted. “I won't... slow you... down! Come on, we gotta hurry,” she demanded and I looked to my watch, taking note it was only 2am.

“You've been up all night, haven't you?” I asked, figuring that the sickness had disturbed her sleep. She shook her head and I held her down.

“HEY! LET GO OF ME!” She demanded, kicking and squirming aggressively, only making her symptoms get worse as she began to hack violently.

“Just hold still, I'm not going to hurt you,” I informed her, my left hand pressed just below her neck while my right palm pressed against the broad of her chest. She continued to squirm slightly and gasped as my hand was coated in a blue aura.

“GWUH, hey that's cold!” she squeaked. I felt her... the sickness in her lungs. My arm seemed to bond into her body, making us one for the time being. Then I felt it. The tickling in my lungs... the filling fluids... the raspy breath. I took my hands away from her and she scurried back, away from me.

“What the hay was that?!” she shouted then blinked in confusion as I arose. “Hey... hey I'm all better!” she spoke mostly to herself as she realized her lungs were no longer inflamed and her breathing was once again normal.

“Mmph... gwuh... ack...” I tried to hold my breath to keep back the coughing but couldn't manage and broke down into a fit of wheezing, coughing and gasping for air.

“Uhh... h-hey, what's... what did you do?” Echo asked in confusion.

“I... I... bwa... I...” I tried through sharp, choppy, gasps for air. “Nothing... just... try to get some... sleep...” I rushed off out of the room. Hopefully I could find some kind Eucalyptus oil or something there of...

Later that morning...

I stood out front, leaning on the front fender of the F&F Gran Torino. I huffed, trying to keep my coughing to a minimal. Finally it became too much. A vast quantity of fluid had built in my lungs, giving me a drowning type feeling of which I couldn't stand and broke down into a fit of coughs and wheezes.

Coughing up a large quantity of excess mucus and fluid, I grunted as the puddle on the ground beneath me grew even larger. All morning I had been coughing and it surprised me to see that the puddle had grown this large. 'Where does this shit come from?' I asked myself quietly.

There was a pat on my shoulder. “Always taking another pony's problems and making them your own huh? Goddess your stubborn... you never learn do you?” Derreck asked and I shook my head.

“I try to be... ack... kack... haaa... ughhahh...” I wheezed up some more of the viscous fluid.

“Mmm... I'll take that as a 'No'.” Derreck mused to himself and I just rolled my eyes. This crap was giving me a headache as well, along with chest pains and raspy breathing that just got worst if I tried to hold it in. When I did breath, there was a tickling sensation that would aggravate me into coughing.

Derreck cocked a brow. “Surprising your healing factor hasn't kicked in and got rid of it yet,” he made note and I nodded. “Like the time that king cobra bit you,” he laughed and I nodded.

“Yeah... and after three agonizing days...” I coughed violently and Derreck finished the story.

“The snake died,” he laughed and I nodded.

“Or that time you slammed a revolving door... ahahahaha... more like smashed it,” I chuckled, wheezing slightly but a bright smile on my face.

“Yeah... they won't let me back in that place eh,” he mentioned, both of us chuckling. “Well... you have fun with Bronchitis, I've got a few things I wanna do,” he said before beginning to walk away.

“Wait... what about Echo? And that stallion?” I asked in a raspy voice. He just smirked.

“In good time, in good time,” and with that he was gone. I grasped at my chest, coughing up what was left in my lungs for the time being. It just sort of... comes out of nowhere... like there's a mystic portal opened in my lungs and someone is pouring this shit in there.

“Ah Derreck... why don't you go start a fire with some ice cubes so I can get warm,” I chuckled with a sigh. That man defied reality... he defies death, and to this day walks the world like a casual person without a single fear. What I'd give to be him.

“Morning,” came a sprite voice. I turned and gave Echo a nod. She came around the side of the vehicle then made a disgusted face as she looked to my puddle of vile fluid. “Gross... did that come from...” she didn't even need to ask. “How did you do it? Take my illness? And why would you put it upon yourself?” she asked, making me chuckle.

“One question... ach... ahem... at a time,” I coughed, my lungs already beginning to fill again. “I just... I dunno. Sometimes it's better to just...” I didn't have the words to explain. “It's good to just be nice,” I replied and she gave me a stupidified look.

“Well... taking another pony's sickness, especially what I had last night, isn't on my to-do list,” she commented and I just shrugged.

“Well... I never said it-” I was cut off as I hacked up more slimy mucus. “Hmm... ahem, well... we're all different,” I replied.

“So where's Derreck?” she asked and I just shrugged.

“Said he needed to do something. I guess he'll just... catch up with us later I suppose,” I replied. I began to walk down the main strip of the small little town, Echo trotting close behind me.

“Where are you going? Shouldn't we be taking that motorized thingy majig?” she asked but I just waved my hand.

“Soon, soon. Just... a little walk,” I coughed again but felt the sickness already starting to subside. About damn time. It kept me up for most of the morning. My cowboy boots treaded lightly across the loose dirt road. My duster coat encased most of my body, the flaps hanging low, far below my knees.

Beneath my coat I dawned a white monk-like robe. It was strange really, I wasn't sure what possessed me to wear such a thing but it kept me warm so I didn't complain... heck, it kinda reminded me of something Obi-Wan Kenobi would wear. 'Jedi robes beneath a cowboy duster, ha!' I thought silently to myself.

“So what are we doing exactly? Is there a reason to this or are we just wasting time?” Echo said hastily and I wavered my hand for her to relax.

“Just enjoying life. If you rush through it in haste... then did you really live?” I asked and she blinked in slight curiosity. “When you're young, you don't really see everything as it is... feel the world... embrace it, let it flow through you,” I told her and she huffed.

“This is ridiculous. Why can't Derreck be here? There's a stallion who could very well destroy the world if we don't hurry and you're here...” she looked to me and sighed. “Sniffing the air?” she asked and I nodded.

“Fresh air, nature's gift. Without it we'd suffocate. You don't really take notice of these things until they're gone. The precious things in life you take for granted...” I trailed off as painful memories of my mother, Twilight, surfaced in my mind. How arrogant I had been in the beginning, how selfish and how much I took her for granted... and now she was gone.

“Yeah well... all of that will be gone if we don't hurry up!” she commented, still hasty as ever. I let out a simple sigh, coughing just ever so mildly.

“Alright then, let's go,” I told her, figuring it was no use arguing. She huffed at my slow pace.

“About time... fresh air,” she scoffed irritably as we headed towards the car. Just as we neared the car, a small colt came skipping around the corner, a nice soft serve ice cream cone in his hoof as he hopped merrily along.

Echo nearly froze, her mouth slightly open. I looked to her and she quickly shook off whatever she had been thinking about. “Something the matter?” I asked and she shook her head.

“No, n-nothing just... who the hay eats ice cream in November?” she asked, but I could tell it wasn't what was bothering her.

“That little colt-” I was cut off as he tripped and time seemed to slow. The poor little colt slowly fell forwards, his ice cream hurtling through the air as he cried out. The ice cream splatted a few feet in front of him and time quickly returned to normal.

“UGH!” I rushed over, Echo grunting and rolling her eyes as she followed. The little colt whimpered as he looked to his ruined ice cream, his mouth quivering in deep sorrow.

“Hey, hey easy kiddo. Don't fret. Where'd you get that?” I asked and he just continued to whimper. “Hey buddy, it's alright, we'll get you another one, how's that sound?” I asked and his ears perked up as his face went from gloomy to bright.

“R-really?” he asked and I nodded.

“Come on, just show us where you got it,” I replied and he stood up, quickly trying to lead us to where he got the treat.

Echo leaned towards me. “You're not serious, are you? His mom would probably just get him another one,” she mentioned but I just shrugged and followed the colt, Echo exhaling rather irritably as she too followed.

The little colt brought us up to an ice cream stand, which was surprising considering it was near freezing temperatures outside. “Right here, right here!” the colt said cheerfully.

I looked to the vendor. “Alright bud, get 'em an ice cream, a big one,” I said and the vendor quickly whipped up quite a large cone.

“Oh come on,” Echo commented. “That thing is like twice the size of the one he dropped,” she mentioned and I nodded, the vendor speaking up.

“That'll be seven bits,” he told us to which I looked at Echo and motioned towards the vendor.

“ME?! Why don't you pay for it? This was your idea,” she countered, much to the young colt's dismay.

“I left my wallet in the car. Besides, I know you're carrying around that sack of bits. What's seven to you?” I stated plainly and she huffed, fishing out a few bits and paying for the treat.

The vendor went to hand it to her but she shook her head. “For the kid-” she was cut off as the young colt grabbed her into a hug.

“THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!” He cried out in joy, holding her tight. Echo's face went wide eyed as her mouth gaped slightly.

The colt hugged just a little tighter before retrieving the ice cream and taking off, trotting along with an unbelievably joyful skip. “I... I... he...” Echo murmured, still shocked as she went to embrace the colt but found he was no longer there.

I patted her on the shoulder with a smile. “Sometimes, the smallest things go the furthest,” I told her...

Third person...

Echo sat across the campfire from her companion as he played a harmonica. She leaned with her cheek in her hoof, listening to him play. “Is there anything you can't do?” she asked, almost as if entranced by her friend.

“Well...” he said, slowly taking the harmonica away from his mouth. “There are a lot of things that... 'I' cannot do, such as eat my own head,” he mentioned comically, much to the giggling amusement of Echo.

He looked up to the night sky, the moon shining down upon them and the stars sparkling in the sky above. “There is much in life I can teach you,” he told her and she nestled in closer to him.

“I don't need to learn anything though, all I want is for you to love me. You can protect me right?” she asked and her friend just chuckled.

“Well, yes I suppose... but it's always good to learn as well. If you had never pursued a life of science, we'd have never met, so perhaps learning is a vital thing in life, no?” he asked in a very wise manner and she smiled, blushing deeply as she recalled how the duo met.

“As you know, I am an avid martial artist,” he told her and she nodded, completely intrigued and letting herself get lost into his speech. “And there is one such move that almost any artist who practices hoof to hoof combat aspires to learn.” He began to play his harmonica yet again.

“What is it?” she asked and he finished his note before speaking.

“The five step... heart exploding strike technique,” he informed her and she rose a brow.

“And what is this... illusive technique that martial artists aspire to learn?” she asked, curious to his story.

“Well, to put it simply... the user strikes his, or maybe her, opponent in several key spots on their body... mostly pressure points. In doing so, it severely restricts and pinches the main arteries around the victim's heart... and, as the legend goes, when the victim takes five steps, the pressure from the needed blood circulation causes the arteries to erupt and the victim... quietly drops dead. Hence, the five step, heart exploding strike technique.”

Echo was silent as the green stallion began to yet again play his harmonica to a catchy tune. “Do you know it?” she asked and he sighed, slowly bringing the harmonica away from his lips.

“No. No I do not. Only warriors of legendary ability could ever hope to achieve such a move...” the stallion trailed off and began to play his harmonica yet again, memorizing Echo with his soft tunes...

Echo jolted awake, the harmonica tune still playing as she frantically looked from side to side. Evan stopped and looked back to her, brow risen as his harmonica rested in his hands. “Sorry, I uhh... heh-heh...” the man chuckled nervously.

“What... what are you doing?” Echo panted, her breathing a little shakey.

“Oh uhh... nothing, it's nothing. I uhm... my great grandmother used to play one for me... she taught me a little too... but uhh... when she passed away I sorta... kinda stopped playing,” he mentioned timidly, a touch of sadness in his voice.

Echo exhaled deeply, her dream of a memory soon fading as she once again relaxed. She looked to the man as he slowly slide the harmonica into a case. “Keep playing it,” she whispered softly, making the man look to her with a somewhat surprised look. “I like it. Please, keep playing it,” she whispered. The man shrugged, chuckling a little.

“Well... okay, but I'll warn you. I'm not very good, and most of it is pretty sad,” he warned lightly before bringing the harmonica back to his lips and beginning to play again. Echo laid her head into her forelegs as she rest across the backseat, letting the harmonica's tunes sooth her nerves, making it seem as if everything else was non-existent.

Echo felt her eyes grow heavy. Keeping them open became a chore more than anything. In the end she just let her eyes flutter shut however she never truly fell asleep, more just a state of motionless conscious.

Before she could tell what was happening, the music stopped and the door to the car opened. Her head perked up immediately and she watched as the man got out. “Wh-where are you going?” she stammered and he briefly peeked back into the car.

“To start a fire and cook some food. I'm hungry and it's cold out,” he mentioned and she blinked in curiosity before he stomach grumbled, making her wonder how long it had been since she had properly eaten.

Just as she sat up, a chill went down her body. Looking outside, she realized the only true source of illumination was the cab light in the car, only on due to the door being open. “Gah jeeze! It's freezing!” she mentioned, taking note that it was colder now due to the sun having set, yet even still there was no snow on the ground.

A voice chuckled from behind the car as the man rummaged through the trunk. “Yeah, that's why I'm gonna light a fire,” he commented with a chuckle as he pulled out some packets of noodles and a bag of fruits.

Echo shuddered and shivered as she left the vehicle and followed the man over to a clearing nearby. The man gathered together some kindling and pulled out a shiny Zippo flint lighter. On the face of the lighter were engravings, those of a wolf with the moon in the background.

His lighter sparked and a flame came to life. Lighting the kindling aflame, the man carefully brought the fire to life. Echo took a closer look at the interesting lighter. It was far different than anything she had ever seen, like much of the man's technology he possessed. “That's a cool looking lighter,” she mentioned and the man nodded.

“Yeah I... my step dad gave it to me,” he commented as Echo sat across from him, the fire between the duo slowly building.

“Step dad?” she asked and Evan nodded.

“Yeah he... he always thought I was the greatest. Said he knew I was going to go far in life, knew I was gonna become something...” he trailed off, a tear trickling down his face.

“But?” she asked, the question lingering before the man answered.

“Well... I ended up here, in Equestria... so much for being great,” he commented, putting himself down.

“Well there's nothing wrong with that. You've done great things. Heck, you're 'The Punisher!' The one who punishes evil!” she mentioned and the man just shrugged.

“But sometimes...” he looked to the moon, thinking about the mother he so yearned for. “I wish I could've been everything she wanted me to be.” Echo looked to the man, the fire crackling between them, half his body illuminate and the other half dark as night. He just sighed, wiping the tears from his face as he set up a pot of water over the fire and let it boil before adding the instant noodles.

“Well... I think you're pretty awesome,” Echo commented and he just shrugged it off, handing her a bowl with some chopsticks. “Chopsticks?” she asked, struggling to get a hold of them in her hoof before quickly resorting to magic.

“Yeah. Old Chinese, errm... I think here it's Gryphon, or Zebra tradition... not sure.” The man stirred the pot of noodles for just a few moments before adding some dried vegetables to the mix. He motioned for her bowl to which she levitated over to him. He poured her a generous amount before pouring the other half into his own bowl.

Setting the pot aside, the duo began to chow down on the instant noodles. Echo struggled profusely with the chopsticks, grumbling as she brought her lips down to the ridge of the bowl, tilting it so she could just pour the noodles into her mouth.

Stopping for a moment, she looked to the man and nearly gasped. He was in a calm state, legs crossed with the bowl sitting on the ground just in front of him. He would ever so gently, carefully and fluidly, reach down with the chopsticks and take a small amount of the noodles and feed them to himself, never once failing to do so.

Echo watched in absolute fascination before a wet nose pressed against her neck, making her yelp and jump back, nearly spilling her noodles. “Gah! What the hay!” she screamed, though even so it never even fazed the man's concentration.

The deer looked to her then stepped forwards, nosing at her bowl of noodles. Her own stomach grumbled and she pulled the bowl away, swatting her hoof at the wild deer and trying to shoo it away.

“Go on, shoo, get outta here, go!” she ordered the animal.

“She's hungry,” the man across from her mentioned.

“Yeah, well so am I. This thing can find it's own damn food!” she snapped. Looking to the man, she gasped as she saw him feeding some noodles to a much younger looking deer.

“Don't give them too much. Deer aren't supposed to have large supplements of grain in their diets. Noodles will sit heavy in their stomachs. But...” he casually reached into a bag and pulled out some sliced apples. The doe deer that was recently pestering Echo trotted over to Evan as he fed the adolescent fawn some sliced apple. “They like apples.”

The doe reached over his shoulder, nibbling at him just before he fed her some of the apple slices.

“Wha... I've... I've never seen deer like this!” Echo gasped and Evan just chuckled lightly.

“Of course not. Why would they come to you if you just shoo them away heartlessly?” he asked.

“Wh-what do you mean heartlessly?” she asked curiously.

“You wouldn't even share your food with them, despite having an abundance. In late fall months the trees start shedding their leaves. The grass on the ground dies off and much of the deer's natural food is diminished, meaning they have to look for new food sources. In winter months, the temperatures drop and they need food to sustain minimal dietary needs...” the man chuckled as the fawn nibbled at him.

“I... I had no idea,” Echo whispered in complete shock to the man's unusual caring nature. She had never before in her life met somepony so selfless, so loving and so in touch with not only nature but the world around him. Only once or twice had she ever heard rumors and talk of a mare such as him, but he was no mare.

The man smirked. “Go into the sack there. Fetch out the bag of nuts,” he told her. She blinked before doing as instructed. Holding the bag in front of herself, she arched a brow as she read the label.

“Trail mix?” she asked and he nodded.

“Shake the bag a little, get their attention.” Echo was unsure at first but did as he said, shaking the bag. The doe and fawn's ears perked up and they both looked to her. “Now open it, and take out a hoof-full for each them,” he instructed, Echo doing so.

The fawn mingled over, it's nose twitching cutely as it approached Echo ever so cautiously. In utter fascination, the mare watched as the fawn deer graciously ate the small assortment of nuts and dried berries right out of her hoof, it's textured tongue licking her once it had finished the food.

“You can give him a little more if you want. But...” he trailed off just as the mother doe began to lick at Echo's neck. “Ah-ha-ha... you might wanna give her some too,” the man said as he peeled a banana for himself.

Echo was taken into a world of shock as the two wild deer ate right from her hoof like some kind of domestic pet. After several minutes of feeding the duo, the man spoke up. “Alright, you shouldn't give them too much. It isn't good to feed them an abundance this time of the year,” he told her. Echo sighed, slowly closing the bag of nuts, almost regretfully so.

The man picked up the pot of noodle water, whistling gently. The fawn deer's ears perked up and it mingled back over to the man. The water, no longer hot, was the perfect temperature for the hungry fawn, which quickly began to drink from the pot of noodle water.

“With all the dried vegetables I added to the mix, there is some stray essence of vital nutrients this little guy needs...” the man trailed off as he began to slowly stroke his hand down the fawn's back.

Echo sighed contently as she watched the fawn deer lick the pot clean. After several minutes, the fawn mingled back over towards Echo but went past her just slightly before nestling into its mother, whom was laying down just a few feet past Echo.

“What... I didn't think deer slept in open areas,” she mentioned and Evan nodded.

“They don't... usually. They mostly rest in forests or thick brush, where they feel safest,” he commented. Echo looked back to the deer, watching as they nestled in for the night. “It might just be that it's warm here, or maybe...” Echo's ears flickered as the tune of the man's harmonica began to play again. Even though the tune was sad, it was relaxing in a way. Enough so that Echo laid down, resting her head into her front legs as she let out a yawn.

She was slowly soothed to sleep be the sound of the man's harmonica, leaving him the only conscious one of the group. The man played for a while longer, his tunes traveling out into the emptiness around him...

Lassie stood on her hindlegs, leaning against the door frame of the sliding glass door that led onto the back deck of the Burdick Manor. She wrapped her front legs around herself, sighing in a depressed way as she looked to the moon, a said violin chorus playing on the radio she had set on the table nearby.

“Does Miss request anything?” asked a blank voice from nearby. Without even looking back, Lassie shook her head.

“Nah Alfred... it's cool. Just...” she trailed off and there was a long pause of silence. “You know, listening to some good ol' music and looking to the moon... I should almost be howling huh?” she joked, but her voice was riddled with depression.

“Well Miss... I do believe only wolves howl to the moon, but if she is to request anything, I am only just down the hallway,” the butler made mention before trotting away. Lassie felt a tear trickle down her cheek, dampening her fur ever so slightly.

Looking back to the moon, she thought back on all her adventures with her master... her owner... “No, he's my... my friend,” she mentioned to no pony in particular. Letting out a sigh, she shook her head. “Where are you now... you old buffoon?”...

Twilight lay restless in bed, tossing and turning as she tried to force herself to sleep, much like she had done on so many occasions over the past few months. Her pillow was damp... cold from the tears she had shed early that night.

Standing up, she rubbed her eyes and dipped her head down with a depressed and most heartbroken sigh. Looking back up, the first thing she spotted was the little statuette of a crystal pegasus, an angelic halo ring above its head.

The present Evan had given her so long ago. Though she had thought all her tears had been shed, more began to dribble out from the corners of her eyes. She clenched her eyes shut, standing and trotting over to the window, looking to the moon. “Why... why did you...” she trailed off, figuring it pointless to ask...

Evan stopped playing his harmonica and looked to the fire. A gust of wind blew past, huffing up a fume of smoke that blustered into the clearing, bright embers gliding through air as the smoke seemed to take form.

Evan watched in heart wrenching depression as the smoke played out memories of him and Twilight together, along with Spike and Lassie... back in the good times. Even when Lassie was a puppy... when he was a good man.

He flopped back, looking to the moon as a lone tear trickled out of his only good eye. “What have I become?...”

Author's Notes:

The man stood before the sink, washing the blood from his face. Resting his hands on both sides of the sink, he breathed heavily, water dripping from his exhausted facial features. He looked up and gasped from his reflection in the mirror.

A blood soaked man looked back to him, a demonic horn growing out from one side of his head, his damaged eye glowing hellish red and blood dripping down his face. His clothes were torn and shredded apart, filled with dozens of bullet holes and the wounds to match. "How can you say you vanquish evil, when you yourself walk this world... a demon?" the reflection asked.

The man's grip around the sink tightened before he lost control and punched the mirror, shattering the reflection. Blood dripped down from his knuckles and splattered in the porcelain sink. He slowly withdrew his hand before speaking. "I am evil, and once I'm done... I'll end it."

Another presence entered the room. "Burdy, come on, we gotta go," the other man said. Burdy looked down to the sink, to all the blood soaked shards of glass, briefly seeing his hellish reflection. Ever so slowly, a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips...