Yeah, this is where you would expect the almost cliche part about waking up, right? No. Screw that.

I never stopped watching her, even as I felt my eyes dim and my vision dim and my mind dim.

Intellectually, which was a level of thought I hadn't really been using the best of my abilities, I knew that I was dying. I knew that my blood was pouring from me.

And then, abruptly, almost uncharacteristically, her cold always steely eyes softened. Broke into tears. Looking at me with not pity, but desperation.

She cared for me. I knew that in a single brief moment of watching her body shake, of feeling her warm wing become wet with my blood.

My thought process shredded, torn into thousands of parts as waves of pain lanced through my body. She cared about me.

In another second, it hit. She was my principle love interest.

My mind wanted to tear the thought to bits, but my rationalization of the story fit. Somehow, the threads of fate wanted to throw us together.

The smooth curve of her face was haunted by spatters of blood. It wasn't too hard to picture it being her blood.

Another train of thought rammed my appreciation of her face into the back ground. This one was of the line that I shouldn't be thinking about this, that I should enjoy the moment.

If I stayed with her, developed out this obvious interest into a fulfilling relationship it would only last long enough for the time it would take Fate to tear us apart, probably killing her before my eyes.

A flash of her body, her own blood coating it, still and unmoving haunted my eyes. I felt paralyzed. I couldn't move, couldn't do anything but think. Think and look at the griffon trying to save me, feel her desperate attempts. Feel a few tears splash against me.

My heart ached. It ached so much at what I decided.

Fate would not take her from me.

----

Canary sighed. "So... how much do you want to bet that they are having a romantic moment?" He kicked a piece of pavement and watched it skip across the street before colliding with a wall, breaking into a few pieces.

His diamond dog companion blinked. "...Stop trying to be genre savvy." She kept walking ahead.

He clopped up beside her. "I feel unimportant."

She stopped and shot him a dark glare. "You are the healer. Don't forget that."

He shrugged. "I still feel like an after thought in this party."

Boss looked around. "Look, it's always great to have another rational mind in the group." She drew her sword. "Where is everyone?"

----

I kept staring back at her, my heart pounding. It slowed to a crawl as I calmed down, faintly bumping along.

And I remained staring long after she collapsed, her face hitting my chest, her body still pressed against my wound. I could faintly smell her over the blood. She smelled like the sea and like the sky, like free things. I felt confined.

I felt like I cared for her.

Love?

I understood what it meant, empirically. A strong emotion of personal attachment and strong affection.

But how did you know if you loved someone? Was it a sign from the heavens or did physical evidence only exist in the land of figurative speech, only made clear by flowing flowery language? Was it a sharp lance from the heavens, like some lightning bolt made by fate to fuck with me?

Wasn't love when you felt like you felt better being near someone? Was love that feeling of completion? Was love safety?

I cared for her.

I knew that.

Once again, I stared at her, remembering what she looked like while my brain revolted against everything.

And once again, I made my choice.

----

I was still awake when Boss and Canary caught up to us, still awake when they thought I was dead.

I was still awake when I got to a doctor. I was still awake as Catastrophe stared over me, watching me stare at her.

Have you ever done something horrible? Something so honest to god bad that you felt like your body was catching alight with every blasphemous whisper you spewed forth from it? How about having the knowledge that saying it was for the better, no matter how bad it made you feel?

There was a week in the hospital bed.

A familiar week, where my vitals were checked countless times and I only really got to hear the sound of my own thoughts.

And the thoughts of a few others.

All through out, all the time I was in the room, my friends were at my side, all looking over me, all telling me that I was going to be ok, that I should take it easy.

It was a blur for a long time.

I held on to my choice.

----

And now for something completely different.

Song

Like an angel who has forsaken sympathy

Rise up, young boy, and make yourself a legend!

A blue unblinking eye stares at you for a long time as the opening phrase kicks in, doing nothing but staring. The camera slowly pans out to reveal a single large glistening tear come out of the eye. The eye that completes the pair was trapped in the grips of mania and insanity, a pained look in it that cuts straight through any real explanation.

The camera zooms out further, revealing Ivan looking up at the sky thoughtfully, his face seeming to be at serene peace.

Blue skies and beckoning winds

The camera zooms out further, revealing Catastrophe, her hind quarters a dark shade of grey, flying through the air and landing next to him. She smiles at him.

Are trying to open the door of your heart

Canary and Boss come running up the hill, the zebra floating a book and Boss unceremoniously hits Canary over the head with the hilt of her sword, a look of irritation flashing over her face. The both stop beside Ivan and look up with him before looking at Catastrophe and shrugging.

But you're gazing at me as if you cannot see

His gaze remains unchanging and another tear strikes the earth in a glistening wave, soaking the dirt. He shakes his head after another second and smiles cheerfully at the rest of the cast, though his smile seems forced.

You just stand there smiling vacantly

His eyes flash a light blue with magic and his smile becomes real.

Your eyes hold such innocence

His eyes flash again and suddenly he is standing over a group of ponies and zebras, all marching into a ship. One stumbles and he leaps down from his platform and seems to scream, forcing the red pony to straighten up and stream onto the ship. In the background, Canary shakes his head.

You're blind to the fate that will soon come to pass

A dark storm fills the skies, bits of electricity sparking off into the air with a distant rumble. Ivan screams at the rest of the group when they stumble on to The Scourge. A massive lightning bolt descends down from above and he throws himself into front of one of the group, a barrier forming from two points to divert it. It strikes far away from them and the ship fills much faster.

But it's summoning you with a touch like a sigh

He hurries on board, soaked through, his fur a mess. He smiles at the rest of the group and takes a bite out of an apple. Again, his gaze turns towards the sky.

You seek it without knowing why

A single piece of paper descends from the clawed grasp of Catastrophe and all of them looked shocked. Ivan is nowhere to be found in the scene. Catastrophe turns and begins to scream at a shadowy figure, no features easily seen.

But someday I know that you will be awakened

Ivan is standing out on the prow of his airship, pointing decidedly at a large structure. The wind blows by and the ship speeds up a fast pace, sending Ivan falling back on to the ship.

And your eyes will finally see

A flash of Catastrophe without her prosthetics crying out for help, her tail and her right back leg gone. It is raining hard and her body covering are plastered to her side.

These wings on your back are just waiting to guide you--

A brief blue of motion revealing Boss and Canary coming to her rescue, Ivan running from the opposite direction. Boss is scene to roll her eyes, though her smile isn't faked as she forces Ivan to turn and face the direction he was running from.

The future will soon set you free!

There is a flash of light that seems to burn into the soul and a horrendous scream. Once again, the camera is focused on a pair of eyes, this time on Catastrophe's a few tears trickling from them. The camera pans out to see that the rest of her face is contorted into rage.

This cruel thesis, a spiteful angel's litany,

A wound covered Canary fights over the felled body of boss, hurling magic and parrying blades just as easily. He is wearing some sort of light chain mail and his enemy appears to be a collection of mechanical monsters.

Will soon soar from the window of your destiny

There is a seen of what looks to be the saddest victory party imaginable, bits of monsters being sorted through while a collection of weapons is stacked up.

White hot pathos, a desecrated symphony

The weapons are melted down, each drop of liquid metal following a scream of torment and a flash of blood, the molten mix hungrily eating the crimson fluid. Faintly, the smirk of two zebras and a griffon is seen. A paw is seen grasping a hammer and beating out a piece of steel.

The dirt covered floor still has glowing splashes of metal speckling it.

Stay true to this and don't betray your memory!

A flash of canines, hundreds of them, all of them twisting in extreme pain as Ivan watches, seeming to also be in pain. A spider next to him is zoomed in on for a split second.

Come now, reach out—you must embrace reality

A blast of magic, lightning magic streaks down from the heavens as something dark and obscured rises from below the land.

Rise up, young boy, and make yourself a legend!

Ivan, lying in a coffin, unmoving, while several figures pay their final respects.

Far in the night sky over head, the form of a massive griffon blots out everything else, his eyes glistening with sincerity and torn with regret. Boss and Canary stand to the side, turned away.

Catastrophe looks down, her face not visible. Her body shakes.

The final respects are paid and the coffin lid slowly closes.

You've slept for ever so long

A flash of steel on steel fills the visible area, scattering about fragments of sword. Another sword switches into the hand of Boss, replacing her shattered one and ending the life of a particularly angry looking griffon. Using her sword as a pivot, she hurled him at another enemy allowing Ivan to slit his throat with a knife.

Embraced in affection and cradled with care

A flash of cars and various human thing goes by, reflected in a pair of blue eyes. A massive explosion shakes through it all and the vision shatters, fading to blue prints of a car, a jet, and a boat.

But with morning's approach comes an echoing cry

Prisoners, hanging on a wall, blood draining out of them into a few funnels which feed into bottle. A mechanical arm swoops them up and takes them away while a whip strikes them.

Canary watches over it without emotion. His cold eyes take in every twitch and plea the prisoners give and slowly a smile inches over his face. He looks satisfied.

It tells you to wave your dreams goodbye

A blur of something massive in the sky, a blur of blue eyes opening in steel.

And the moon is shining above

A flash of a starry night, Ivan looking at it with longing while Catastrophe sits beside him. Neither says a word. The stars cleared to show a massive web of thread and spiderwebs.

It wishes to show just how fragile you are

Ivan, covered in nicks and scratches hurling himself in front of a magic bolt, letting out a cough of blood while he guards over a young filly.

You're so frail and slight in its silvery light;

He falls to the ground almost lifeless until the attacker come closer and Ivan buries a fireball into his stomach.

Our fate is not one we can fight

A flash of the island of Rej, torn to shreds from past conflicts, the rock and cobble stone streets shaking free at a distant explosion. The airship Scourge floats over, bits of green dust floating off of it like a bastardization of pollen.

But someday I hope that we'll be reunited

A fragment of Ivan talking to a massive griffon, familiar to him. Boss leans against a wall and watches, Canary is reading.

If that is what's destined to be

A flash of an armada of airships, dragons in tow, barreling down towards a castle. One shoots off a burst of flame.

Perhaps we'll discover that elusive bible

Ivan and his party are surrounded by shadowy figures, the figures are obscured and featureless.

And then we will finally be free!

Something explodes, The Scourge falling down to land with an explosion, scattering parts every which way.

This cruel thesis, a spiteful angel's mockery,

The sky, blue and free. Flying through it without any hesitation.

Will bring with it the sorrow of futility

A few tears trickling off a family as something large blitzes through a house. Ivan walking over and comforting them while he keeps a barrier up.

Hold on tightly and do not lose vitality

Shades, hundreds of them, descending from above. Something exploding, sending a blue shockwave through them, dispelling them.

You must wake up, for now the dream is history!

Ivan, choking a child with a smile until the foal collapses, his laughter echoing through the air.

Come now, reach out—you must embrace humanity

A flash of steel and a flicker of blue eyes in a mask of metal.

Rise up, young boy, and make yourself a legend!

The Scourge flying through the air amongst hundreds of griffons, Ivan with a massive smile on his face while Catastrophe shoots glares at him. Canary shakes his head and goes back to reading, a staff beside him. Boss goes back to shadow boxing with her swords.

Love is the thread of the story that's woven

A group picture of all four of them, all looking happy. Ivan looks untouched by anything, his mind free.

Of future and present and past

A flash of Ivan when he was a human. A flash of Ivan as a zebra. A flash of darkness.

I may not ever ascend to the heavens

Catastrophe trying to grasp at Canary falling, while Ivan keeps her steady. Boss is over to the side, one of her legs clearly broken. Bits of debris and shrapnel falls from the ceiling, a large beam of sunlight trickling through.

But I know my love will still last

A single picture of Catastrophe and Ivan, the middle slowly tearing as the scene goes on. The picture falls to the ground, where Ivan collapses on top of it, his face wrenched with anguish.

This cruel thesis, a spiteful angel's litany,

Will soon soar from the window of your destiny

White hot pathos, a desecrated symphony

Stay true to this and don't betray your memory!

Come now, reach out—you must embrace reality

Rise up, young boy, and make yourself a legend!

Welcome to season two.