//------------------------------// // A Reason to Live // Story: War of the Fallen Race // by PegasusKlondike //------------------------------// After his meeting with the military tribunal, Aaron was drafted by the medical staff to assist in med-bay. Suffice to say his knowledge came in handy. He was on his way to his quarters when a nurse interrupted his stroll. "Dr. Patterson, we need you in sick-bay! We think we have a case of Chaos Plague!" Aaron rolled his eyes, "It can't be Chaos Plague." he saw the concern in her eyes. "Fine, I'll come along to prove you wrong." Quickly they marched to sick bay, Aaron feeling like his time was being wasted. They stopped in front of a comatose soldier's bed. "Is this the one?" "No sir, but we believe he may have succumb as well." He took a pen light and flashed it in the comatose soldier's eyes. "You idiots! This guy just has hibernation sickness!" He searched along a wall of medicines, he picked one out. "Sir! What are you doing? That's an amphetamine!" "Yup, it sure is." He filled a syringe and jammed it into the large muscles of the man's leg. "Here, watch my impersonation of Jesus." he lifted his hands and looked to the sky like the messiah. "Lazarus, come forth!" The soldier sputtered and coughed, waking from his coma. "There ya go champ. And nurse, it helps if you don't try to open their modules with a sledgehammer." "Dr. Patterson sir, would you please shut up for a second and follow me?" "Hey soldier, think fast!" He threw a drink pack to the soldier, who caught it with lightning reflexes. "Haha! You enjoy those cat like reflexes, Speed will do that to ya. They'll wear off in a day or two, but the effects of hibernation sickness should also have worn off by then. If I were you I'd take it easy for the next day or two, chat it up with some nice young ladies or something. Doctor's orders." "Thanks Doc!" The soldier climbed out of the bed and walked out into Lazarus proper. "DOCTOR PATTERSON!" screamed the diminutive nurse. "Fine, what?" "The Chaos Plague victim! She is right this way." He began to follow the frantic nurse, "Let me give you a little news flash nurse, there was no such thing as the Chaos Plague!" "Tell that to her." They stopped in front of a window facing into a clean room, inside a woman was strapped to her bed, twisting and fighting like a madman. She screamed at whatever she saw, looking at her own reflection she laughed like it was the best comedy in the world, her laughter chilling. Aaron summoned a tiny bit of his magic to increase his magical sensitivity. He saw quite a bit of magical damage to this poor creature. "Okay, we may have a bit of a problem here." "It gets worse, she is 38 weeks pregnant, due any day now if she keeps this up." "Any viable treatment?" The nurse pantomimed a gunshot to the head. "What idiot put her in a stasis chamber?!" The nurse glared over in the direction of a man sitting in a waiting chair. Obviously a civilian, this man had probably snuck his pregnant wife into Stronghold after the Day of Judgement, though she had most likely been exposed to Discord prior to her being smuggled in. Aaron walked over and sat across from him on a bench. He had salt and pepper hair, though he looked to only be in his mid thirties. "What's your name?" he directed to the man in a low tone. "Frederick, my wife Sara is in there, is she going to be alright?" Aaron shook his head. "I don't know, but what you did was incredibly thoughtless. Sneaking in a contaminated person could have compromised the safety of the entire facility." Frederick snapped at the younger man. "She wasn't like this before! She was loving, kind and a good person! I had to do something for my family, any good person would have tried everything!" "Calm down, I'm going to do everything I can to help." The distraught man looked at Aaron closely. "You're him aren't you? It can't be, you are way too young for a person of his achievements." "That depends on who "he" is." "You're Dr. Patterson. Those soldiers out there say your name with reverence, they say things that make you sound like some kind of modern Hercules." "What do they say?" "That you built the ultimate weapon for humanity. That you were captured but spit in the faces of gods. You personally fought for peace and dared to confront the enemy generals on the battlefield. You exposed the old general as a murderer and showed mercy to him. They say you escaped from the demigods after the Day of Judgement. And that you personally woke us all up. How much of this is true?" "I say this with all humility. All of it and much more. But now I need to focus on saving your wife and your child, if it doesn't end up killing me in the process. I'll need some special help though." ************************************************************************ Princess Celestia walked with her soldiers, she did not fly, and she refused to be carried in a litter or a carriage. She wanted to be there for them, not to seem like some far away presence that only gave commands without regard for her soldier's lives. Luna felt the same, and so she trudged with her Nightguards. And so she walked under the noonday sun. She felt something dark and evil come into the world, then vanish in seconds. Without warning she collapsed, clutching her head with her hooves. Dozens of her guards rushed to her side. "Princess! Are you alright?!" "I am fine captain, send for my sister." The pegasus took the message himself. Several soldiers offered her water and shade, she politely refused. He flew back with Luna in a minute. "Celestia! What has happened?" "He succeeded Luna, I felt him use Lucifer, but I also felt the Elements come together." "I felt the evil as well, but there was something else after the Elements, a rush of magic that seemed to cry out in joy." "It could only be Legion. It has been purified by the Elements and released. That was their purpose, to be purified. What do you feel of Lucifer dear sister?" Luna looked off to the horizon, "It is strange, all these centuries I have felt Lucifer in my mind, a tiny itch in my subconscious. But now it is gone." "Then you know what this means, he purified Lucifer too. The Army of Man once again walks the Earth." *************************************************************************** Aaron hadn't yet come back from his errands, but Eve had made her way back for the evening. And with her help the six embodiements of the Elements of Harmony were figuring out some of the human technology. Rainbow Dash stared oddly at an old Gameboy, playing a game that made little to no sense to her. Applejack and Twilight simply enjoyed some human literature. The rest plugged in a mobile DVD player and were enjoying Gone With the Wind, Dr. Mcentyre included. "Oh this part here is so romantic, it always gets me." "Shh!" the three pony women hissed, the moving pictures in a box holding their utmost attention. "Why can't I find a romantic stallion who would kiss me like that?" Rarity dreamily mused. A knock on the door broke their train of thought. Rainbow Dash replied without looking up from her game. "Go away, Aaron's not here....errands or something." "Cupcakes damn it!" they heard shouted from the other side of the door. Eve opened the door, "No sorry, we don't want any Girl Scout cookies today." "Dr. Mcentyre, I need a consult in sick bay. Rarity, Twilight, I might need you two as well." "Can't it wait dearie? It just got to the good part." "No, it can't wait. And the movie will still be here when you get back. You know what? Let's make it a family outing, everyone with me!" The six pony women grumbled and groaned, Dr. Mcentyre was concerned. "Aaron, what is going on?" she asked as the group walked out the door. "Oh nothing major, just some poor woman infected with Chaos Plague." "Why the hell didn't you say so? Let's move it ladies!" *********************************************************************************************** With a few non magical waves of his hand Aaron banished the various nurses and doctors watching the poor woman in her madness. "Everybody out. I'm taking charge of this case." "Dr. Patterson sir, you aren't a medical doctor." "This is possibly an unknown illness of indeterminate lethality, this case has been moved to the jurisdiction of the research department." He headed to the door to the clean room, "You can't go in there without a suit Dr. Patterson! There is an unknown pathogen at work and it could spread to you." Aaron looked to the M.D. "There is no pathogen, there never was." he beckoned his friends close and whispered to them. "Alright, Rainbow and Applejack, you two stand outside the door and make sure none of these people try to get in. Everyone else is with me." He opened the sealed door to the clean room. The twisting and struggling woman stopped and looked at him with a predatory stare. "Fluttershy, be a dear and shut the curtains, would you?" she obliged, cutting off the medical staff's view. He grabbed a chair and pulled it next to her bed. "Sara is it? I'm Dr. Patterson, your attending for the evening. Technically I'm not a physician so this is all probably incredibly unethical." The mad woman screamed in laughter, "I'll kill you all! Swallow your souls! HAHAHAHAHA!" "Well that is not a very nice thing to say. Twilight, have you ever dealt with anything like this?" Twilight took a step closer to the struggling woman, leaning her head in and getting a better view. "Once, when Discord escaped from his prison." "Wait, that monster escaped?" "Yeah, we dealt with him before he could do too much damage. She looks like an exaggerated version of what us ponies went through when we were afflicted." "How did you cure it?" "A simple memory spell, that's all." He turned back to the madwoman. "Sara? I'm going to do a little test, are you alright with that?" She struggled to tear out his throat, the restraints on her bed holding strong. "Splendid. Gals, hold her down, and don't get in range of her teeth." He charged up his magic and touched a single finger to her forehead. *********************************************************************** Magic works in strange ways, and Aaron saw the turmoil inside of the woman's mind. It was a city, any old city, but somehow this city was special to Sara. But it had been leveled by the battle of magical forces in her mind. Two great titans battled for dominance, one shining bright in the light, the other the definition of darkness. They were even matches, the force of light needing some kind of a boost to overcome his adversary of darkness. Aaron saw the symbolism, the titan of light was his magic, the harmonious magic that had been purified inside of Lucifer. The titan of darkness was the soul eating madness of Discord, sent here to drive the poor woman mad. Though he looked everywhere, the only entities inside of Sara were the fighting titans and a tiny presence that seemed separate. He withdrew. ******************************************************************* He snapped back to reality, "Okay, she does not appear to have a soul in there. There are two forces of magic working against one another, but the one we want to win needs a little help." "Why does she not have a soul?" asked Dr Mcentyre. "Discord consumed it for sustenance, thousands of years ago. He fed on her, but there was something else in there. I felt a small presence, and the force of light was defending it. Wait, she's pregnant, Discord didn't feed on her child! If only we could give the light some help somehow. Twilight, Rarity? Any suggestions?" "Well, when Discord was defeated by the Elements, all the bad he had done was unmade. Maybe her soul is out there somewhere, and if we convince it to come back the force of light can overcome with her love for her child." "Brilliant! But Discord ate her soul." "But Aaron, Princess Celestia told me that Discord was a Legion, like you were. And what happened to all of your souls when we purified you?" "They went back to the Earth!" Dr. Mcentyre looked dumbfounded. "Okay, someone explain what the hell is going on in here." "No time! MOTHER!" he shouted. Is it really necessary to shout? I can hear your thoughts you know. "I know you can, it just helps to talk it out." "Oh God, are you getting Her involved in this Aaron?" Eve said. "It's the only way Eve. Mother, do you have a woman named 'Sara' with you?" Narrow it down a bit. I have hundreds of thousands of women named 'Sara', it is a very popular name you know. Aaron stood and opened the door to the waiting room, he pointed to Frederick, "What's your last name?" The accosted man looked up from his melancholy, "Does it really matter?" "If you want your wife back I'll need your last name damn it!" He looked confused and concerned, "It's Coppell." "Thanks." he slammed the door behind him. "Okay Mother. Sara Coppell. She was pregnant when her soul was taken." One moment please. Mother began to annoyingly play some 'on hold' music. "Very funny Miss Planet Earth, can you stop messing around now?" Aaron tapped a foot impatiently. Behind him the woman still thrashed and screamed. Dr Mcentyre, still able to hear the thoughts exchanged between Aaron and The Mother, tapped him on the shoulder. "Aaron, is Mother always this odd?" Aaron considered it for a second, then nodded. "Pretty much all the time, except when you meet Her in person, which I've done. I'll tell you all about it later when this is over." Hello? Who are you, why do you want me? "Sara Coppell?" Yes. Oh, Mr. Patterson sir! Thank you so much for making us whole! What can I do to help? "Enough gratitude already, you need to come back to us. You didn't die, your soul was forcefully removed from it's body." But, I like it here. Mother takes care of us, I get to see all of my friends again. Eve decided to take over. "Sara, you have a child here. And your child needs you right now. Nothing is more important to a mother than her child, trust me." I have a child? If that's true then I have to come back! But I don't know the way. "That's what I'm here for Sara. Me and my friends will show you the way. Rarity, Twilight, we need to link our magic for this one." The three joined hands, closing their eyes to concentrate their magic. Aaron's hands took on their glow, the forehead specks of the two unicorns took on theirs. The three made a magic beacon for the lost soul. A flickering orb came from the floor, the purified soul of Sara Coppell drawn like a moth to light. "What the hell is going on here!?!" The concentration of the three magic users broke, the spirit began to fly randomly around the room. In the doorway stood Sara's husband, Applejack and Rainbow Dash trying hard to throw him back outside. "Let him in." The two guard women let go, he stumbled in. "Alright, now you're in on this Frederick. Do you know what that is?" He pointed to the orb flying around the lights. "Some kind of firefly? What does this have to do with my Sara?!" "That IS your Sara! Now sit down, shut up and don't interfere!" They gagged the thrashing, soulless body. Rejoining hands they resumed their spell over the mad woman; but they were not alone, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow and Applejack also joined their circle, offering their latent magic to those who could use it. The fluttering soul came to rest between the group, slowly falling into the woman's body. She was still for a second, then she violently thrashed, her eyes taking on the green glow of soul magic, then becoming normal. She breathed hard, her face taking on a sane and confused look. Aaron removed the gag. "Sara Coppell?" "Yes." She reached with her restrained hands and touched her own face, physically feeling for the first time in millenia. "I'm back. I heard your voices in the hereafter." "It's best if you don't talk about that." he undid her restraints. She sat up and looked around the room, "Thank you all. Fred, is it you?" He stood and ran to his wife, throwing his arms around her. "How is this possible Sara? You had the Plague!" Sara looked over her husband's shoulder to Dr. Patterson, who shook his head and made a sign for her to keep silent. Her face contorted in pain, and she screamed. The pony women all recoiled, thinking they had failed. "It didn't work!" screamed Pinkie. "Everypony panic!" "Yes it did, this is something we should probably get out of the way for." Aaron herded his flock of women out the door. Walking down the hall he caught a physician by the coat. "Doctor, patient in the clean room shows no sign of infectious pathogens, she is absolutely clean." "If you say so Dr. Patterson." "Also, she has gone into labor, give my congratulations to the parents." ***************************************************************************************** He parked his charges in the waiting area, himself taking a chair. "You girls know what we just did? We cured that woman of the Plague that killed mankind!" he was giddy with how well they had worked together. "We saved a life in there, didn't we?" asked Fluttershy. "More than one dear Fluttershy, we saved two and rebuilt a family in the process. I'm so proud of all of you, how can I make you happy tonight?" "Well, we were enjoying that 'movie' or whatever you called it dearie. Maybe some dinner to go with our show?" "Absolutely! I'll treat you all to the finest restaurant Lazarus has to offer. Of course that is code for 'eating reconstituted MREs with all of the soldiers'." The nurse that had bothered Aaron earlier appeared around the corner. "Dr. Patterson sir, your patients have requested you." "What? Haven't you heard the news, I'm not a physician." "Yes, but they requested you by name." He addressed his friends, "Well ladies, duty calls, would you wait for me here?" He went back to the room with the nurse, two doctors walked out looking impressed. "Damn, five minutes of labor, that has got to be a new record." Sara lay in her bed with a small bundle of life in her arms. Both she and her husband looked to the man with smiles. "Thank you," she whispered, gently hugging the tiny life that lay in her arms. Her husband stood and walked to the younger man. He extended a hand for Aaron. Aaron took his hand to shake it, only to be drawn into a hug by Frederick. "I don't know what you are," he murmured, "some kind of angel, just a man or even Jesus Christ himself, but you brought her back to me. You brought back my Sara and made my family complete." Aaron withdrew from the embrace. "Sir, if it's alright, I would like for my friends to see this." "The young women who helped you? It would only make me happier to see them here as well." He briskly walked out of the room, coming to the waiting area he called for his friends. "Come on, I want you all to see something." They gladly followed. They entered the clean room to stand around the woman and her child. Each young woman held back her gasps, holding a hand over their heart at the true beauty of this sight. "Look at that, the first human life to be born in centuries. This tiny little girl represents everything I came back for. The love and harmony that we are capable of, the hope and peace within all of us. She is the true first of us, the new human race. She has so much potential, unlike me she was born without the specter of hate and war hanging over her shoulders. This infant is why I have faith in humanity, why we deserved a second chance at life. Think, she'll grow up to live in a world of wonders that I could never have imagined in a lifetime. She is the child of all of us, the living embodiment of hope and dreams where only the stars are the limit. And I would give my life to see her grow up happy." His lips curled up in a small smile, the perfection of what he saw drowning out the fact that humanity was a hunted race, that an army was marching as he spoke to destroy them. Aaron felt a warm hand gently lay on his shoulder, he looked to his side to see Twilight looking to him with shining lavender eyes and a gentle smile on her face. "If the people of Equestria could see this, they would know you are good inside. This beautiful sight just makes it real." "Dr. Patterson sir, would you like to hold her?" asked the new mother. "It would be my greatest joy," he said with utter sincerity. He gently held the newest member of the human race in his arms, the only thing he wanted was her safety and to build a brighter future for her. "Hi there little one, welcome to the world. I know you've been waiting a long time to come and see us, and we were all so worried for you and your mom. But it's alright, everything is okay now. You don't have to be afraid, we don't have to be afraid anymore. I'm gonna make this a better world for you, better than anything I could have ever hoped for myself." He turned back to the new parents, "Would you mind if my friends got a chance to see her?" The new mother smiled. "Not at all Aaron, for what they did for me, for all of us, they deserve it." She gave a wink, knowing the true identities of the young women. Gently he gave the bundle of life to Twilight. "She's so...helpless. Like she needs me. She's so beautiful, ma'm." She gave the little girl to Fluttershy. She was absolutely speechless, she cradled the infant human in her arms, relishing in her own paradise. Fluttershy hummed a lullaby, gently rocking the resting infant in her arms. Rarity took her turn next, cooing softly to the life which she had helped begin. "All my life I have sought frivolous beauty in gems and cloth, but this...this is true beauty." Rarity's eyes watered as she gently passed the child to Applejack. Applejack and Rainbow Dash took their turn together, neither being the really the type to indulge in such things. The child next made her way to Pinkie, her heart almost bursting with how much love she felt for the tiny human. "If you ever need a babysitter, I'm really good with kids." She handed the infant to Dr Mcentyre. She was the only one with actual child experience, so she gave tips and pointers to the new parents. Frederick and Aaron stood back to let the women get their fill. "You know something Dr. Patterson?" Frederick said to his fellow man. "Call me Aaron." "Aaron, we haven't really thought of a name yet. Since you did....well, whatever that was for my Sara, my heart and soul, we think you should name her." Aaron stood back, aghast and utterly stunned. "Sir, I am a First Lieutenant in the Army, I have received the Medal of Honor, I have spoken to god Herself and been a friend to some of the greatest leaders of our time, but this would by far be the greatest honor of my life." Frederick smiled gently, placing a hand on Aaron's shoulder. "You really are him, the hope of mankind." "No, people like you and your wife have always been mankind's greatest treasure and our beacon of hope. I'm just a man who has been made a hero through his own dumb luck." Both men turned back to the wondrous sight. "How about Sophia? It means 'wisdom' in ancient Greek." "It's perfect, thank you my friend." Something caught his eye about the child, he walked over and with a single finger moved aside her wispy hair. "It can't be." By his resting finger lay a small silver mark on her forehead, like Twilight and Rarity. In his mind, Mother smiled. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world. ************************************************************ Every time I doubt myself, every time I feel like there is no hope for me, every time I feel the world is just slowly choking itself to death, I read this. I read this and I know that there is love and hope left in this world. And I know that if I can put such love on paper, then we can all put it in our hearts.