Twilight was feeling very pleased with herself. She had found and captured five souls in the woods, and it hadn’t been very hard.
A little use of power, and she walked through the trees and thorns. A little more and she didn’t have to walk. A little more than that and animals and predators would actively avoid her. She even suspected that her strength was increasing from the use of her power.
In all, it was a very satisfying day. The only thing missing was a conduit to Death. She hadn’t found one and her jar was growing full.
She looked up after a time and noted the late time. It was almost time for her meeting, unless Applebloom didn’t tell Applejack. She should have, but if she didn’t then Twilight would have to do something.
Like hang her from the roof or shave her bald, or something like that. Not kill her, just… make her suffer a little.
And she had thought about what she was going to do and say during the meeting. It was actually obvious, and she was wondering why she had been uncertain before.
She was going to yell at Applejack. For leaving her behind, betraying her… that was something… unforgivable really. She had thought she could smooth it over, but it was never going to go away.
She had thought them friends, but looking back, she was obviously just deluding herself. She would feel much better after yelling and maybe, possibly, very likely really, killing Applejack.
A reaper is not meant to purposefully end life.
“But I’m alive. I work as a reaper, but I am not one, not like that. I can do what I want on my time.”
… True… Be cautious though. There are many ways that my power can change you.
“I am the same Twilight I always was.” she said. Death didn’t respond as she headed toward Zecora’s home.
A tiny part of her was screaming to be heard. She felt locked away in a mockery of herself, something cold and unfeeling overtaking her mind. Only a tiny part remained, powerless to effect anything anymore.
She hadn’t seen it in time. Applebloom had been the last chance, and she slipped from the cliff. Now, all she knew was anger and satisfaction. Anger toward her friends, and the satisfaction of breaking them.
She did err toward some mercy though; she would make it quick. There was no reason to make her suffer after all.
“What is this I have found? Something that belongs in the ground?”
“Zecora?” Twilight asked, surprised. Then she shook her head; of course Zecora would be near her own home.
And that was going to be a problem.
“Is it Twilight Sparkle in that form, the one that was once food for worms?”
“… It’s me Zecora. I’m back. Alive again.”
“Only as a servant of the end. To a friend, my aid I will lend. You must not stay like that, come to my home and we shall chat.”
“I don’t have the time.” Twilight said, growing annoyed. Zecora was getting in her way, and she was running out of time.
“Your mind is shifting, going to waste. If we are to save it, we must make haste. I see the anger in you, and I already fear what you may do.”
“Zecora… get out of my way.” she growled.
“I will not until you are fixed, the potion I have, already mixed.”
“I said move.” Twilight’s horn lit and Zecora took a step back, her eyes widening.
“Twilight, this is not truly you! And that is not a thing you should do! Listen to me, hear what you say! It is your mind that truly does decay!”
Twilight yelled, and focused. Zecora leapt, but too slowly.
The land under the zebra’s feet erupted, and she screamed as a spike or rock sliced into her side. She flinched form it, and Twilight grabbed her in her magic and tossed her away.
That done she looked up to the night sky. She was late and now she was upset too.
Maybe she wouldn’t make it slow after all.
Applebloom had told Applejack, and her sister had believed her. It was stunning to think what she had thought a hallucination had been real, but it was real. Real enough to threaten and terrify her little sister.
She had gone and gotten the others, and the five of them walked in the woods, dreading what they were going to find. None of them spoke, each one occupied with their own thoughts, and the fear they all had.
“Stop my friends! Up ahead,” coughing, “Up ahead may be your ends!”
They stared as Zecora limped from a bush, her side bleeding heavily and one leg limping badly. Fluttershy went to her, but Zecora waved her away.
“Zecora, what happened!?” Applejack asked.
“Twilight Sparkle is back, and if you go ahead she will attack.”
They glanced at each other before Rarity sighed heavily. “I am afraid that that is what we are here for.”
“We can’t turn back.” Applejack said.
“Applebloom might be in danger.” Fluttershy whispered, softer than she normally did.
Zecora glanced to each in turn, seeing fear and pain on each one.
“She is strong and fast, if you go as you are you will not last.”
None of them responded. None of them could meet her eyes and Zecora felt deep concern for them. She had a suspicion she knew what they were planning to do.
They were not planning to fight. They were planning to die.
“…If this is something you find you must do, then I am going with you.”
“Ya don’t have ta…”
“It is my home, and my land. It is where I also must stand.”
They soon arrived at her home, most of the lights doused. The ground seemed cleared, and a pony shape was in the darkness in front of the home itself. The group stopped at the edge of the light, and for a moment, none had the courage to do anything.
Then Applejack called, “Twilight?”
“It’s me.”
They all flinched at the anger in the voice. The cold indifference. Twilight had never spoken like that.
“I didn’t expect everypony. I am pretty sure I only asked for one.” The shape stood up and turned, “but this does make everything faster.”
Twilight walked into the light, and the bearers backed up in fear and disgust.
Her form was burned and torn, necrotic flesh easily visible. She was almost bald but for a few scraps of purple fur still on her. Her left side had exposed ribs, and the right was little better.
Her mane and tail were black, scattered over her, caught by rotting skin and flesh. They saw her cutie mark and the skull that it now laid on. But the worst was her face.
She smiled hugely, far too wide to be considered normal. Bone was visible around her horn, and her eyes…
Her eyes were gone, leaving two black pits. A black substance leaked from them and caught the bearer’s collective vision, pinning them in place.
“Hello my dear, dear friends.” she chirped. “It’s been a little more than a year we’ve been apart, but I’m back.”
“Twilight…”
“I’ll explain. It’s rather simple really. I got a chance to live again. I took it.”
“At first, I thought that we could meet again, and that nothing had changed. That we were still ‘friends’. It took me a while to realize that I had just been deluding myself from the moment I met you all.”
“How far does the betrayal travel? Does a true friend so easily betray another? Or was it all a lie? A big, fat, giant, LIE?”
“I’ll go from least to greatest.”
“Pinkie Pie.” The pink mare started and leaned away. “The element of happiness. You… you’re just blind. And insane. One hint of ‘party’ and that tiny brain of your simply shuts down. Do you think, or is it all just a random collection of spasms that make it seem like you do?” Pinkie was lying down, covering her head. The others heard her sobs.
“Rarity. Generous to a fault. Whenever it doesn’t hurt you, your image, or anything you might happen to care about, which is yourself. The vainest peacock of a pony I ever met. You do your element a disservice.”
“Darling…”
“Don’t darling me. It’s far, far too late for that.”
“And Applejack. Honesty. And yet, you can’t tell when somepony is lying and when another is telling the truth. Totally consumed with what’s easiest, rather than what’s best. I was honest. It didn’t seem to make a difference.”
“But really, I can’t decide which is the worst. Is it Rainbow, the element of loyalty, the same loyalty she shattered without even a second or first thought!? Or is it Fluttershy, the element of kindness, the same kindness that spat on any chance of my happiness and stomped on my spirit!? Well!? WHICH IS IT!?”
She watched them all, and not one could match her gaze. Most were in tears.
“Can’t defend it. That’s fine. It is indefensible after all. Celestia might be the worst, but you five are close. To think I thought I made friends. I made enemies in disguise. Was it ever real? Was it? Was anything ever really friendship, or just some sick joke played on me?”
“It doesn’t matter. There is only one thing that can make up for everything.”
“Your deaths. But don’t worry; I can guide you to rest once I think you’ve suffered enough. It could be quick; I haven’t decided yet.”
Twilight stepped forward, and Zecora limped in front of the bearers, standing strong.
“This is my land, and my house. So long as I breathe, you shan’t harm even a mouse.”
“… You’re already half dead Zecora. I don’t have something against you. Move.”
“No.”
Twilight’s horn lit, and both mares glared at each other for a few moments.
Then Zecora yelled, and threw something that clouded the air. Twilight backed away from the cloud, and fired within it. Zecora came from the right and rammed into her, sending her sprawling.
Zecora took her chance, and reared back and tried to stomp on Twilight’s head. Her hooves passed right through.
Twilight grabbed Zecora in her magic and lifted her up as the fog fell and she got to her hooves.
“I told you to move aside.”
Zecora didn’t say anything, waiting, staring at Twilight.
“Any last words?”
“You are still Twilight, and this we can mend.” Zecora gave her a wicked smile, “And know this…”
“You are still my friend.”
Twilight stared before screaming at her in rage. The bearers gasped at the sudden crunch. Zecora gasped once, and then her broken body was tossed in front of her home.
One spell and the entire home was in flames. Twilight turned back to the bearers, giving a faint laugh.
“I told her. She just didn’t listen.”
She saw them standing against her. Glaring, ready to fight where once they hadn’t been.
“… It comes to this. I understand.”
Her jar appeared next to her and she smiled as her horn lit again.
But then she frowned, her horn’s light dying for a moment.
“What… what are you doing…”
Her jar rocked, and she looked at it instead of at the bearers.
“My jar!” she yelled. That’s when they charged.
Twilight reacted, but something seemed to catch and hold her to allow the bearers to jump on her. She fought them, struggling and screaming in anger, her horn flashing.
They overcame her, and as one, in a single moment, threw her into the flaming home.
Twilight didn’t make a sound in the fire, and they stood, panting, staring. Then they saw her again, coming out, burning fast.
She made it outside as they backed up, uncertain. She looked up, disintegrating before their eyes.
“I’m so, so sorry.” she said, her voice normal once more. “Thank you…”
She collapsed, her legs falling from her, and Twilight moved no more. Her jar shook and then faded away as if it had never been.
Her friends stared at her burning form, and then at the blaze that consumed Zecora’s home.
“Is it over?” Rainbow asked as Fluttershy sat down.
“She’s gone.” Rarity remarked, and then sighed. “But…”
“She was there…” Pinkie said sadly.
“Just for a little bit.” Fluttershy added.
Applejack sighed as her friends slowly cried over what had just happened. They had lost Twilight again; they had killed her that time.
But they had saved her from whatever had consumed her. And even as she burned, she had saved them.
The monster she became had said everything they had feared she would say. But Twilight… Twilight had said sorry.
Twilight didn’t think those things. Twilight didn’t blame them. Not even for this.
Applejack got tears in her eyes. It hurt, it hurt badly, but it was a good pain. A pain they carried for years could finally begin to heal.
If only Zecora hadn’t died getting them to see what they needed to do. A heavy sacrifice for so little. For something they should have seen immediately.
But Applejack looked up at the smoke that obscured the skies above. Because she had thought she had seen something. Just for a moment. Just an instant.
Two familiar ponies, preventing Twilight from doing anything as they fought her. Stopping her magic. Letting the bearers do what was needed. It was only for an instant, and in the rush of adrenaline, but…
“If it were you… Thanks.” she said, crying. She sobbed openly, as did everypony else, pride forgotten.
And somepony else sobbed as well, in a mixture of sorrow and happiness. The male soul comforted his wife, a single tear in his own eye.
“They did it.” He remarked.
“But… But that poor zebra… And Twilight…”
“I know.”
“An our daughter.”
“She’s become as strong a pony as me. I couldn’t be prouder o her.”
“I think she saw us.”
“I know. Maybe we can’t change much o anything, but… we did good here. They did good here. It’s jus how life works sometimes; we all lose thins. Least now they can properly mourn.”
The female sniffled. “She’s going to be alright, isn’t she?”
“Yep. Applejack’s plenty strong.”
“I meant Twilight. I saw death take her soul, but what does he want with her? What is he going to do now?”
The male hesitated for a long time, watching the fire. “Dunno. But I think we’ll find out sooner or later.”
They remained, watching the fire with the bearers. The pain was strong, but cleansing. It burned away the doubts and fears they had carried for so long.
As the fire slowly died and the sun began rising again, they felt renewed. A new day had dawned, and their hopes were back. Maybe, just maybe, they could move on. They went back to Ponyville, resolving to keep what had happened to as few ponies as possible. Shining Armor and Spike needed to know, as did the princesses, but nopony else.
They were… ready. They would be happy later, but it would take a few days for their nightmare to truly end. A few lingering pains and doubts that would fade in time. They were healed, just not healthy.
And Twilight was back in the darkness, sobbing.
She was herself once more, and she cried for everything she had done. Everything she had said.
She had been cruel and ruthless. Cold and heartless. She had blamed them, and attacked them in the most hurtful way she could have imagined.
And if the two souls hadn’t been able to overcome her, she might have killed them. Like she killed Zecora, crushing the zebra in her magic, relishing the snapping of bone.
She saw Death, still in her dead form, and grew angry at it.
“You did this!” she yelled. “You and your ‘life’!”
“I hurt them! I tried to kill them, wanted to kill them! Because of you!”
She stared at it, panting in her tears. “Everything is worse now.” She said, and turned from death. “Go away.”
“You should look again Twilight Sparkle.” it said in her voice.
“What should I..!” she snapped, before stopping. Death was gone, replaced with images of her friends. Just a few, but enough that she could see them healing. That they weren’t devastated, that they knew that Twilight hadn’t said those things, done those things.
“What?” she whispered, staring at the images.
“Their pain is less.”
Twilight looked and found Death next to her.
“Their regrets are less. They are renewed in their lives. They try to spread that renewal to others. In life, I think that is not ‘everything is worse’.”
“… But I… I did all that…”
“You will find ponies to be understanding and forgiving. Perhaps another race would hate you, but not them. And there is something more.”
“What?”
“The souls you helped.” Death gestured, and Twilight saw the eight she had gotten. They slept, peaceful and happy. Each one at rest, even the one who had fought her. Even the ones she had found tormented in the Everfree. Their pain was over.
“This is the duty of a reaper. I cannot guide souls to rest; only reapers can. I can only provide them their place.”
“Eight souls, three found the moment or moments after their death, and the other five. They had wandered for decades in that wood.”
“Decades?” Twilight asked, incredulous.
“I have few reapers, and many souls. There are only two that are on Equestria; you are the second.”
“Your life might have hurt some, but the growth after death is the strongest. And your duty helps every soul you find.”
“Our contract broke when your body turned to ashes. But we can make another.”
Twilight was silent for a time.
“…Can you make my body again?”
“… It would be almost impossible to raise you from the ashes.”
“I understand. Then what would I be?”
“You would be as a spirit, unable to touch or be touched. A more proper reaper than you were before.”
“… No. I can’t… I don’t trust myself like that. I lose myself like that.”
“…Very well.” Death said. “I shall leave you to your rest.” It turned away from her and took a step.
“Wait!” Twilight called, Death stopping. “I… I want to say something.”
Twilight took a breath. “Thank you. Even if… even if it went horribly wrong, you did let me see them again. Even if everything went bad, I saw them, and I spoke to them. Just for a second, but… That’s more than I expected before you came.”
“So thank you. For the second chance. I hope you find somepony who can help.”
Twilight sighed, and settled down, closing her eyes. Perhaps it could have gone better. Maybe it was fated to have gone so badly. But either way, things were better.
She had very nearly made everything worse, but it somehow worked out. Her friends were better, and maybe they could help the others in turn. There was hope, where hope was missing before.
As for her, she would rest. Find some peace.
She had before. It wouldn’t be hard to do so again.
She felt… unaccomplished. She had truly failed, and only won because things had fallen in the correct way. She hadn’t had a good chance, and had ruined it, not noticing what she was becoming until it was too late.
It was better than her regrets she could have carried, but it still bothered her. Peace might be a little hard to find, just like it had been before.
Twilight sank, and though her thoughts ended, the idea that she had a chance and failed remained with her.