It's Not a Goodbye

by FHix

Chapter 1: In denial

"Come, Wilkilén, sit next to me - she had told Vieja Kush -. I'm going to tell you about one who, from tonight, will be my sister and eternal companion. Don't be scared when you hear her name, or blame her for doing what's necessary. Do you know someone who likes to eat apples hanging years and years from the trees? I don't know him either. And tell me, how would new apples be born if those that already did their thing did not leave room in the branches? Could you and I be old at the same time? Who would teach who? Sister Death carries atask everyone understands but few forgive. Without it, men would not look at the sky on clear nights. They would not sing either. Without it, neither sigh nor desire would exist. Without it no one in this world would be concerned with being happy. ”

The world has changed. It always changes, both for good and for bad. The universe and its laws are a dynamic system, always renewing itself, always rebuilding itself. Some beings were made to survive the centuries, while others ... jump from life to life, from death to death.

It was not very common to see so many sparrows grouped in one place; it was customary for small groups to be located in the vicinity of some houses. It seems as if they are waiting for something from the cabin on the edge of the Everfree Forest. The other animals kept a respectful distance from them, because the aura they gave off demanded it. When someone had to go through where the sparrows were, they moved away without bustle, always generating concern with their patient presence. And they certainly had to be patient.

In front of Ponyville Castle, the breeze swirled in the starry calm of the night. Lights like wildfires danced in it like dry leaves in the autumn wind, forming a whirlpool to which was added some dust from an unknown place. A strange being was formed in this way: she had pony features, but it couldn't be said for sure that she was one, given her gaunt appearance and gray, almost white eyes that stood out on her bony face. In fact his pupils were not visible to the naked eye.

The houses slept around him, but at the castle gate of the not-so-recently-crowned princess, a figure waited in the dim light. As she took a few steps forward, the dim moonlight illuminated her violet colors.

"Come on," said the cadaverous being, and the alicorn followed obediently. She was still somewhat ... well, a little ... confused by the being's visit the night before, but she understood well the reason that had brought him there, not once but several times. And until then, she still didn't know the inevitable truth she would learn that night, as did the friend she had to… help, somehow.

They walked through the solitude of the town, that Ponyville that was already distant from the one that the lavender princess had met when she first arrived. But it was still pretty and affable, and the ponies that inhabited it, the generations that generated the previous ones, maintained good customs, that good character of the people.

“I know you have many questions to ask me, but I don't have time to answer them”  the creature said suddenly, and Twilight shuddered.

“How…?”

“It is very obvious.  You know where I come from and who I represent, who wouldn't be curious to ask?”

“Oh ... it's true” admitted the lavender pony.

The conversation died down, leaving the silence as the only company of the walkers to the cabin on the edge of the Everfree. The sparrows flew in circles in front of them when they arrived, and perched quietly again on the tree branches. Without a word, Twilight went to the door and knocked three times, just as she had agreed with the spirit envoy, because if he knocked, they most likely would not open. Some light seeped in through the closed shutters, so someone had to be awake.

“Who lives?” asked a voice from inside.

“It's me, Twilight.”

“…”

“Okay, there is nothing to fear.”

“I won't open you, I know you're not alone. I will not allow them to take her away.”

Twilight sighed. If it weren't for the charm that guarded the door of her friend's house, she would have entered long ago.

“But you have to let her go, it's been a long time.”

“She is my only friend!”

Another silence followed as the alicorn stared helplessly at the spellbound wood. The pony from the world beyond, the "guide", stepped forward to intervene.

“How long will you prolong his suffering, Discord? You're just making his life wither more and more. Her body can no longer contain her soul. And for any creature, holding their soul in a withered body is one of the worst punishments there can be.” His voice could have made all the beasts of the forest tremble, instead the sparrows remained impassive, and Twilight tried to imitate them as best she could.  “You should not force me to use all my strength to enter this house. You must abandon this madness, or you would pay a price too high.”

“Please, Discord” Twilight pleaded “Do not make it more difficult than it already is…” 

“Well, you're supposed to be on my side, Twilight,” replied the voice of the draconequus “Do you want Fluttershy to leave too?”

“Is not that…! It's ... it's inevitable. I too would like her to stay with us, but not like this… she can barely see, hear, or even stop. You have to understand ... she is suffering a lot. Don't you think it would hurt to see what you're doing? You've been isolated for too long, bent on preventing that... that…” Twilight couldn't continue, couldn't say what she wanted to say.

“Whatever you do, you cannot avoid his fate. But you can do something favorable for yours…”

“Right now, I don't care much about my fate…”

“A selfish design is going to end you, draconequus. Listen to me, or the fury of the great immortals will fall on you.”

“…”

The Lord of the Chaos meditation lasted a few minutes, until he finally removed the magic seal from the door, and it opened very slowly, revealing the state of the house that for many years was the dwelling place of Fluttershy, bearer of the Element of the Goodness. Everything looked different inside under the influence of Discord's magic, who waited there in the room, crossed-legged, and looking at both of them with his white brows furrowed.

“Not you, Twilight.”

Before the alicorn opened her mouth to protest, the guide stopped her with a gesture. He gave her a look like saying "Go make the preparations, I'll take care of it." And as much as the Princess of Friendship had wanted to stay, she understood that she should not contradict the guide of souls, so she nodded and flew away.

“I would like to negotiate” Discord said when they were inside the room.

“No, souls are not negotiable.” 

Both beings stared at each other, generating a certain tension in the environment. Obviously, for the guide of souls it would be difficult to reach an agreement with the Lord of Chaos, but he would fulfill his objective, no matter what it cost. Ever since the good-natured pegasus fell ill, since the time of its appointed hour began, Discord had insisted on not allowing the Death envoy to enter the Fluttershy's house, using magic that went beyond what he could do. Two, four, six ... that was the seventh time that the spirit crossed the barrier of the Erebus to accompany the soul of the mare to her dwelling, and it would be the last time, since she was empowered by the Immortals to use the prohibited powers in case that there would be no other recourse. But that rarely happened.

“I understand that letting her go is hard on you. I have seen that feeling millions of times in mortals.”

“But I am not a mortal being. Fluttershy has been my only great friend in centuries, I will not abandon her. Yes, there will be Twilight, Starlight and everyone else, but it's not the same as with her.”

“You knew from the beginning that she would not live forever, although I understand that at the beginning the beginning of your friendship with the pegasus was not completely voluntary. However, there is no way to keep her any longer on this earth. At least ... not for now.”

“Not for now?” Discord asked, surprised “What does that mean "not for now"?”

“You see, there's probably a lot you don't know about the secrets of life and death.  Your powers move in the ambivalence of good and evil, and from the moment of your creation, your essence was always dynamic but concrete, a chaotic but strangely stable essence. And that does not happen with all beings, that's why there is a certain difference between souls and spirits, souls are more volatile compared to spirits, which are more likely to remain in a disembodied form, and still influence the environment.”

“Hmmmm” Discord may have thought “so if you are a spirit, you don't have a body, but you can still act on things.”

“Not as freely as you are. My function, like that of the other psychopomps, is to guide souls to the portals of the spiritual world, once their cycle has been completed in the body they incarnated. We have no power over physical matter.”

“Psycho- pomps , huh? And what are all those birds out there for?”

“They're kind of like watchers.”

“Death watchers ... hey, tell me one thing, what you were saying about the volatility of souls and their cycles, I think I heard something about that, what was it called ...?”

“Reincarnation. Therefore, it is absurd that you try to keep Fluttershy alive, his soul has already completed its cycle, and must return to Erebus until it is time to incarnate again.”

The draconequus' suspicion of reincarnation was then confirmed, something Celestia had perhaps told him a few years ago. In that new perspective, he came up with an idea to keep his best friend without interfering with the psycho's task. So she motioned to him, and led him to the old Pegasus' room.