Ponies All Day-Writing Challenge

by ThunderTempest

20:00-20:30 "The Final Journey"

The mists were thick here. But that mattered little to those who cannot see them. Princess Luna sat, and waited. It would not be long now. Everypony was allowed their last goodbyes.

And there she was, bouncing along, not even realising that she’d crossed the border. The younger princess stood, and uttered but a single word.

“Stop.”

The pink pony froze in mid-bounce, suspended in the air, only able to turn her head.

“Princess Luna? Is this just a dream, then?” Princess Luna tried to ignore the spark of hope that the thought brought to the cheerful pony’s eyes, and sorely regretted that it was her duty to crush it.

“This is no dream, I am afraid, Pinkamena Diane Pie. This is as real as it gets.”

“Oh. But...where’s the grim reaper, the pony with the scythe?”

“You mean this?” Princess Luna’s form withered away practically instantly, leaving behind only an animated skeleton. A wave of one hoof whisked a large scythe into existence. And then, just as quickly, the skeleton refleshed itself, and Princess Luna was standing once more before Pinkie Pie.

“That was created for a prank, to scare naughty foals. It was never a collector of the dead. There has always, and only been me.”

“But...why you?”

Luna smiled. “Walk with me, Pinkie. The realm of dreams and the realm of death are so very, very close together. Close enough that they often overlap. You have heard tales of ponies seeing dead relatives in dreams, conversing with them. This is not a trick of the mind. It is because in their search of the realm of Dreams, they have instead found the realm of the dead, giving them one last chance to say goodbye. The moon, Selene, is sometimes referred to as the Guardian of the Dead, and as its living avatar, I am charged with taking souls on the journey from the living and onto the Eternal Feilds.”

“Is that why we’re walking towards the moon?”

“Indeed,” said Princess Luna, and the two continued on in silence for a while. They finally stopped, and Luna turned to face Pinkie, and said, “You have lived a good life, Pinkamena Diane Pie. I commend your spirit to the Eternal Fields.”

Princess Luna stretched out a metal shod hoof, barely brushing Pinkie’s chest, but the instant it touched, Pinkie began to fade, quickly vanishing into the ether. Luna turned back, and alone, began the walk back to the border, to await the next unfortunate soul. She would likely not have to wait long.

Author's Note:

Written for Prompt #313: “Chooser of the Slain”
The guide between life and death.