//------------------------------// // 303. The Pale One - Part 2 // Story: Blaze the Pony Tale // by Wolven5 //------------------------------// Ale Cask's funeral was held just days after the accident. It was attended by Ale's wife and sons, the Apple Family, the rest of the Council of Friendship, close friends and neighbors, and even some business associates of Ale's brewery. Ale's oldest, Strong Ale Cask, would inherit management of the brewery, which he now owned in equal share with his younger brother, Red Ale Cask. After the service, Applejack was approached by Ale's widow, Framboise, who gave the farmer a notebook with copies of all the brewing recipes Ale had made with apples from Sweet Apple Acres. "He would have wanted for you to have them," Framboise had told her. The gesture had come close to penetrating Applejack's emotional composure, though she'd been unable to deny shedding that one tear. She'd hardly said anything to anyone since the accident. A part of her felt that it was her fault, that Ale didn't need to die to save her life. But what truly troubled her was what she had seen. The hooded figure that had taken away Ale's... ghost? No, more like his spirit. It had terrified her in a way she hadn't felt since her parents' funeral, and that familiar cold pressure weighing in on her heart and shoulders... She'd hoped she'd never have to feel that again. Her family and friends had tried talking to her, but she'd shut them all out. She just wanted to be alone, to process this out for herself. At the moment, Applejack was at the local cafe, trying to enjoy a light lunch, but she hardly had an appetite and didn't get down more than a few bites of her sandwich and soup, and had only taken a single sip of her drink. “I swear, the Pale One must be a happy camper right now." Applejack's ears perked in the direction she heard those words and she carefully peered over her shoulder and recognized two ponies from the funeral service, having lunch together. “At least He's keeping us employed. I mean, imagine a world without death. We'd have to look for other work,” the other one said with a shrug. “But aint' He, like, a collector of souls?" “Busy work, that, but it's a sad state of affairs. It almost feels like He has no regard for the friends and family of the deceased.” “It feels like that, but He does care. To Him, death is sacred, another fact of life. Now shut up and eat. I'm in no hurry to meet Him." Th' Pale One... Applejack knew the name, and its association with death. Until the day of the accident however, she'd always thought it was just metaphorical, a religious figure. Then she realized something else when she'd seen that figure take Ale's spirit away. He was an alicorn! Twilight and Midnight were trying to enjoy a nice read in the lounge, but the last few days weighed on their minds. "I'm worried about Applejack," sighed Twilight, putting her book down. "Join the club," Midnight sulked a bit in his armchair, "We all tried talking to her. Me, Bloom, Granny Smith, Mom, Thunderlane- She just won't open up! I knew she was gonna mope after Granny Smith brought up visiting her parents' graves, but Applejack sure didn't need-" *Knock-knock-knock* They looked up from their seats to the door, Twilight calling, "Come in." In walked Spike, who said, "Uh, sorry to disturb you guys, but..." He moved out of the doorway, allowing Applejack to enter with a solemn look on her face. "Applejack!" Twilight got up while Midnight sat up, a little surprised to see his foster sister. "Wh-what brings you by? You... need to talk?" "Yeah, but..." Applejack took a deep breath before looking at Twilight and Midnight, "Ah need t' know somethin'... Is th' Pale One real?" Twilight looked perplexed by the question, but Midnight looked shaken, which didn't escape Applejack's notice. "Spike, go to your room." "What?!" Spike protested but a look from Midnight, where his pupils turned to predatory slits cowed him into complying and he left the lounge, closing the door behind him. Standing up, Midnight sighed before asking, "What brought this up?" "...Th' day Ah wen' t' see Ale Cask," Applejack explained the dark shroud she had seen around Ale, that it would be there and then gone the next moment. How she'd dismissed it as her eyes playing tricks on her, being tired from Applebucking Season. "But then... th' accident happened, an' it was there again. Only this time, a tall figure came out of it, wearing a dark hooded cloak, an' Ah saw he had a horn and wings! He looked at me, but then touched Ale, an' Ah think Ah saw Ale's spirit come up outta his body, an' th' alicorn took him away. "Midnight, Ah need t' know." "Midnight?" Twilight looked disturbed by what Applejack had described, but began to dread whatever Midnight was about to say. "The Pale One..." Midnight spoke softly, "Merciful Haydes, the Warden of Tartarus... the Pony of Death. He is real, and He is the figure you saw." "How do you know this?" asked Twilight fearfully. "Because I met Him," Midnight answered, recalling that bitter experience, "It was about a year after I revived the Brotherhood. I was personally leading a mission with several Hoods to stop a shipment perpetrated by a smuggling ring. They were about to ship out a cargo, a cargo with beating hearts... Ponies they were selling to a buyer overseas. We saved the ponies from a fate worse than death, but the smugglers weren't happy we'd ruined their transaction. "A fight broke out, and during the chaos, I saw one of my best Hoods was being followed by a dark shroud." Applejack's eyes widened, but she kept listening. "I didn't know what it meant, but I didn't have time to worry about her. I was protecting a mare who was with foal, and I thought my operative would be fine, she was one of my best. But even the best can falter, make a mistake, or sometimes the unexpected happens..." "Yer operative died," Applejack realized. "Murdered," Midnight corrected with furrowed brows, "By the leader of those scum selling innocent ponies like they were nothing but merchandise. Once the conflict turned quiet, I hurried to my fallen Hood, and that's when I saw Him appear. He took her spirit, hardly gave me a glance, and they were gone... "I reported the whole thing to Princess Celestia, and she explained to me what I'm explaining to you. The Pale One had escorted another on to what comes next." ... ... ... "So Death has a face..." Applejack said softly after a long uncomfortable silence, looking away from her two friends. "Applejack?" Twilight uttered, unsure of what to say, when Applejack turned to face them, determination in her eyes. "Which means we can stop him!" Twilight and Midnight shared a troubled look, the former echoing, "Stop him?" "All along, Ah thought death couldn't be stopped," Applejack explained, sounding almost morbid, "but now Ah know better! Let's gather th' rest o' th' council, an' go after him!" "...Applejack," Midnight looked at her, disturbed by her words, "The Pale One cannot be stopped, you're acting like He's a force of evil." "He brings death wherever he goes," Applejack exclaimed, anger in her eyes and tone, "O'COURSE HE'S EVIL!!" Midnight and Twilight cringed at Applejack's outburst, but Midnight spoke gently, "Applejack, I know the last few days have been... difficult. But you have to understand, death is a part of life as much as birth. It happens to everyone." Applejack snorted, "'All life comes to an end', whudda load o' crap!" "Applejack, please," Twilight said kindly, "I can't even begin to understand what it's like to-" "YER RIGHT! YOU DON' UNDERSTAND!!" Applejack shouted at the top of her lungs, "You don' know wha' it's like t' lose somepony you love, or be th' reason somepony died!" Then Applejack spun around and stormed out, slamming the door behind her so hard that Midnight and Twilight both flinched, feeling the force of it through the floor beneath their hooves. For a moment, neither of them moved or said anything, but Midnight began to walk towards the door, only to feel Twilight's hoof on his shoulder. He looked to her, and she shook her head sadly, "She needs some time to herself. Anything we say to her now..." Midnight hung his head, and then felt Twilight nuzzle up against his chin, and he welcomed her gesture with an embrace of his wings. Somehow, Applejack found herself in the middle of her orchard, far from town, from her house, nothing but her and the apple trees. How could they say those things to her? How could they not see her point of view? It wasn't fair. None of it, just like it hadn't been fair when her parents were taken. She remembered that day bitterly, how Granny Smith and Big Mac had cried, how baby Apple Bloom had napped soundly in her hooves, blissfully unaware of the mama and papa she would never know. How peaceful they looked before the caskets closed and they were lowered into the ground. A part of her had resented them, for leaving their family, for leaving her. It was why she originally left Sweet Apple Acres back when she was a filly. Saying she didn't want to be a farmer had been an excuse, a lie to everyone else but mostly to herself. At that time, she just wanted to run away from everything that reminded her of her parents. But living with her Aunt and Uncle Orange in Manehatten hadn't helped. It'd left her miserable and lonely, trying to be something she simply was not, trying to fit into a society of ponies who looked down on good, hard-working ponies like her parents had been. Then she saw that rainbow, and it led her back home to where she belonged, and she swore she'd never leave home and family again. "Bit for your thoughts?" Applejack gasped and turned around to see Him, leaning casually against an apple tree. He wasn't wearing his cloak this time, exposing his tall and slender form, almost skeletal to the point where she barely could see his ribs in his barrel, his wings folded tightly against his sides. She noticed his cutie-mark was a withered lily flower. His mane, white like sun-bleached bone, hung like worn drapes but in a way that seemed angelic while his tail dragged behind him, his expression tired and distant. His hooves were dull and cracked in places, like an old sidewalk. "Ah, uh..." Applejack felt dread rise up in her. "Well, spit it out," He said, sounding just slightly impatient. "I have places to go, others to see. Others who all have to go somewhere in particular." "...Ah'm not lettin' tha' happen," Applejack finally found her voice, standing to the full of her height, "Ah'm not gonna stand by an' let you take anyone else!" "And what makes you think you can stop me?" He asked, narrowing his pale blue eyes, "I am inevitable. I am what awaits everyone when their time comes to an end." "You have no right!" Applejack argued, "You go around, takin' lives an' leavin' everyone else t' deal with th' loss!" "Of course..." He sighed with a shake of his head, "Why else would you see me as though I were the ultimate evil?" "Tha's cuz you are!" "No! I am not evil, nor am I good, I just am," the Pale One declared firmly, "But you don't see that... because all you see is someone to blame for your loss. Who was it? A husband? A brother?" Appljeack backed away from Him, trying to keep her cool, trying to refuse the tears. "No... Your parents," He rolled his eyes and condescended, "I've heard it all, the pain, the anger, how everyone blames me for taking way their loved ones. i saw you then, you know." "Stop it..." applejack whispered, backing up more as he stepped towards her. "How stoic you looked, even as mommy and daddy returned to the earth," the Pale One said coldly, "Didn't even shed a tear, even as your grandmother and brother let it all out." "Jus' go away...!" Applejack finally began to sob. "No. You wanted me? You got me!" He scolded, cruelty in his words, "All this time since their passing, you've locked away your tears, denied yourself the chance to heal by clinging to the refusal to accept death for what it is, especially now that you see my face! I am not a villain, I am not a monster!" "Stop it!" Applejack cried, but then He reached out with his hoof and made her look him in the eyes. "I'm the Pony of Death!" He whispered in a sinister voice before asking with a mocking tilt of his head, "What were you the pony of again?" "STOP IT!!" Applejack screamed, pulling her face away, and falling down to her knees, finally letting it out. She didn't know how long sat there, crying into her hooves. but then she felt a comforting hoof stroke her mane, and just barely peeked to see Him, giving her a look of genuine sympathy, almost like a father comforting his filly. It baffled her, even as he held his hoof to her, and she hesitantly accepted it, letting him pull her up onto her hooves. "I have felt your pain more times than I care to remember," He explained, to her surprise, and she heard real pain in his voice as he recounted "I have fallen in love, fathered children, but watched them all grow old and die. Or worse yet, I had to stand by as my family was taken from me, for the most unfair of reasons, petty, or even meaningless, and then I had to guide them away from this life. "I am every bit a pony as you, I feel. I have a heart, and just as you have come to realize, it doesn't get easier when you lose someone close to you." Applejack was speechless, but doubt yet lingered in her mind even as her instincts told her He was being nothing but honest. He gently lifted her face up to look at him again, and he said, "There is something I want to show you." He held out his hoof to her, but this time Applejack looked at it warily. "Don't worry. It's not your time." Slowly, Applejack reached out and grasped His hoof... ...and in a whirl of warm vaporous shadows, she found herself in what looked like a dirty old alleyway. The buildings were brick and mortar, the sky above cloudy, but then she heard a loud clanging and looked down the alley to see a Dog around her age, with white fur, spotted black and brown with a shirt around his chest, floppy ears, running scared out of his mind. On his tail were four Diamond Dogs, vicious looking, stony colored pelts with ugly tails, and gem-studded collars, more ape-like than the Dog. "Wha's goin' on?" Applejack watched as the Dog came her way, and she took a stance, ready to help him... only for him to walk right through her, as did the Diamond Dogs, like she wasn't even there! "Wha' in Sam Hill?!" She chased after them, shouting, "STOP! Leave him alone!" But her words fell on deaf ears. indeed, neither the Dog nor the Diamond Dogs made any indication they heard her as the Diamond Dogs continued to chase the Dog through the alleyways. Unfortunately, the chase abruptly ended, as the Dog found himself facing a dead end. He turned around, whimpering at the sight of the Diamond Dogs coming his way, scraping their sharp claws along the brick walls, sharpening them. "Please...!" The Dog begged, getting down and making the begging gesture, "I won't tell anyone, I swear!" "That's right...!" the biggest Diamond Dog snarled cruelly, "You won't." The Diamond Dog leader raised his paw... and pointed while saying, "Sic'em." "NO!!!!" Applejack's scream went unheard as the Diamond Dogs all attacked, and she turned away, unable to watch but that didn't stop her from hearing the poor Dog's screams as he was torn apart. She fell back down onto her haunches, crying, and then the slaughter ceased. She sobbingly looked back up and the Diamond Dogs were high-pawing, laughing, their teeth and claws stained with blood. They left, and Applejack looked on in guilt-ridden horror at what they had done to that poor Dog. Then, from out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Him approach the body, and gently touch the Dog. Just as she'd witnessed before with Ale Cask, the Dog's body glowed before the glow rose up and formed into his spirit. He looked up at the Pale One, who kindly embraced him with his wings, and then everything went black... ...and Applejack found herself back in the orchard, the Pale One standing over her, his face full of pity. "...why?" Applejack uttered with pain and guilt, "Why did you show me that? Why didn't you let me help him?" "You would have been alone, outnumbered," the Pale One answered. "But Ah could'a fought them!" Applejack pressed. "You would have died, Applejack," the Pale One reasoned, causing Applejack to gasp lightly. "And then I would have been taking you." "...You know mah name?" "You are the Element of Honesty," the Pale One shrugged, "but lately, you haven't been honest with yourself. You'd convinced yourself, Applejack, that I was an evil to fight against, but in doing so that leaves you vulnerable to the true evils of this world. It's why you've been able to see me. Because you couldn't accept, or perhaps you'd just forgotten, a simple truth that every earth pony should know." "An' wha's that?" "Death is as natural as birth," the Pale One explained, “As an earth pony, and as a farmer, you cherish life, nurture it. You plant your seeds, care for them, and watch them grow. It is the same with all living creatures, but as all living things do, their time comes. Just as it did for your parents.” Applejack shuddered, the emotions having calmed down, as she whispered, "It still ain't fair... Mah little sister hadn't even said her first words." "Death is the ultimate fairness, Applejack," the Pale One responded, "Sometimes bad things happen for no good reason, however much we might look for one, and even then it doesn't make us feel any better. As pointless as the circumstances may seem, that in and of itself is the point of Death." Applejack hung her head, shuddering, refusing to cry anymore, but she couldn't help but say, "But... how do Ah make it stop hurtin' so much?" "...You mourn, Applejack." She looked back up at him, and was surprised as he sat beside her, wrapping a wing around her shoulder to warm her up, "And then you move on. I wish I could say the pain eventually goes away, but it doesn't. But with time, it hurts less and less as you go on, and it helps to have those who love you at your side whenever you're feeling low." Then He gave her a warm fatherly smile, and she couldn't help but smile back and lean against Him. But then, He whisked them away, and she found herself standing on a hill overlooking the front yard of her house. There, she saw Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, and even Thunderlane, Midnight, Twinken, and Faerie Tail, all gathered outside the front door, listening to something Granny Smith had to say. "Cherish the time you have with your family Applejack," the Pale One advised, "especially your grandmother." Applejack gasped and looked up at Him in worry, but He gave her a small smile, "Don't worry. She still has time. But she's old, Applejack. She's getting ready, and she's not afraid." "Ah don' understand," Applejack whispered. "For some like your grandmother," the Pale One explained, "Death is not something to be feared, but welcomed. When her time comes, it won't be sad. More like... going to bed, after a very long day." Then, He turned to leave, his cloak appearing over him like mist. But Applejack called after him, "Wait!" He paused and looked back out the side of his hood, and she asked, "Wha's yer name? Yer real name." He smiled and gave a tip of his hood before he answered, "Thanator, at your service, ma'am." Applejack chuckled a bit but then Thanator said, "I'll see you again, Applejack. But not, I hope, for a very long time." With a twirl of his cloak, Thanator vanished as he stepped into the shade of a tree, leaving Applejack alone on the hill. Except she wasn't alone, as she looked down towards her family, and strolled down to join them. Seeing her approach, they all paused as Applejack walked up to her grandmother and gave her a hug. Granny Smith returned it warmly, when Applejack said, "Ah'm sorry... Can Ah still come with y'all, visit Ma an' Pa?" "Oh child," Granny Smith replied warmly as they broke the hug and she gazed into her granddaughter's eyes, "Ah was afraid you'd never ask."