"You all sure picked a great time to die, the festivities are starting right now!" The mysterious pony exclaimed.
The element bearers remained silent, especially Applejack.
"What's wrong? You all looked like you've seen a ghost..." The pony trailed off, before laughing at their own joke.
Silence.
"Wow, tough crowd. Anyway, I'm supposed to greet newlydeads, so if you have any questions, please ask away." The pony said,
"Ahem…” Rarity began after another moment of silence. “I suppose introductions are in order, I'm Rarity."
"I'm the one and only Rainbow Dash!"
"I'm Fluttershy..."
"HI! I'm Pinkie Pie! I love parties!"
"And this here is Applejack, though for some reason she has yet to wake up." Rarity concluded,
"Wow, you all know each other? That's interesting... I wonder how you all died, I hope it wasn't some sort of freak accident or something."
"Don't worry darling, it wasn't. We were actually sent here to find our friend, she ahem died earlier today, so we were hoping to find her here." Rarity explained,
"Died earlier today huh? Well there was only one new arrival today, so that means... Wow! You guys are friends with the alicorn! How awesome is that? Also, what do you mean by 'sent here'? It almost sounds like you died on purpose." The pony wondered.
"Well... sort of... we really didn't know we were going to die, we were just told we were going to be sent here." Rainbow Dash spoke up.
"Ah, makes sense, well you're dead now, might as well enjoy it! That's what I say." The pony exclaimed.
"I don't believe you have given us your name. Care to introduce yourself?" Rarity asked.
"Oh right, yes! My name is Wheat Germ, I used to be a farmer, but now I guide Newlydeads, funny how dying will change your life." Wheat Germ answered.
"Well, Mr. Germ, would you be able to direct us towards our friend? We would like to see her as soon as possible." Rarity said,
"See the problem with that is I don't know where your friend went, it wasn't my shift when she arrived. I'd have to go back to the office to see who is guiding her, and even then we wouldn't know exactly where she is. Mortemopolis is a big city after all." Wheat Germ explained.
"Well then, I guess we have to start looking right away." Rainbow Dash cut in, and began to walk towards the city.
Wheat Germ stepped in front of her, "Wait! Hold it, I still have to guide you guys, it's my job to do so. I can't just let you roam the city without supervision. There are rules here y'know.” He thought for a moment. “Tell you what, since I have to stay with you for the next few hours, I'll help you get situated, and maybe even help search for you friend." Wheat Germ suggested.
"Why, how kind of you, darling. We would really appreciate the help." Rarity said,
If skeletons could blush.
"I have a question," Fluttershy murmured,
"Go on... Fluttershy was it?" Wheat Germ asked.
"Um, would you happen to know why our friend Applejack hasn't woken up yet? I'm getting really worried about her." Fluttershy said.
"Hmmm, let’s see." Wheat Germ took a moment to inspect the pile of bones, "Something's probably preventing her from fully entering this world."
"What kind of something?"
"I don't know, it could be a memory, a connection, or simply pure stubbornness."
"Is there any way to help her?" Rarity asked,
Wheat Germ shrugged, "Well, this isn't exactly common, but from what I know, there are two ways to help. Either we coax her into this world with something familiar, or we solve the issue back in the land of the living." Wheat Germ explained.
"What could we possibly use to wake her up here?" Rainbow Dash paused, then loudly shouted right into Applejack's skull "APPLES!"
No reaction.
"I have no idea, it really depends on what's blocking her from waking up. You'll just have to go around and try to find something." Wheat Germ said.
"Speaking of going around, is there any other way we can carry her? I'm starting to feel a bit of magic fatigue here." Rarity said, her voice straining slightly.
"Hmmmm, hold on, give me a moment." Wheat Germ said, before trotting back towards the city.
Rarity carefully set down Applejack, and sat down as well, she was no Twilight, any longer and she wasn't sure if she could carry all those bones.
"Am I the only one not tired here? Despite the magic use, that was quite a long run, I haven't done something like that in ages." Rarity realized,
"Yeah, you’re right. I'm not even winded. This is so awesome!" Rainbow Dash said, doing a small jog around the group.
Fireworks continued to flash overhead, and Pinkie Pie looked about ready to fall apart. She had long since passed mimicking a xylophone and was now reaching towards a full on orchestra of percussion.
"Just wait a bit longer Pinkie, I'm sure Wheat Germ will show us around town," Fluttershy reassured,
"I know! It's just that there's a huge festival in honor of Twilight, and I'm here! Not there! I really want to go party!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, her bones rattling.
"Just a bit longer Pinkie Pie, once Mr. Germ comes back, we can go party all you want," Rarity said,
Pinkie Pie started humming loudly, trying to distract herself from the obvious festival taking place right next to her.
After about five or so minutes, Wheat Germ returned, this time towing a small wooden cart. There was no way a normal pony could fit inside, but Applejack wasn't a normal pony right now.
"This is all I could find, wood isn't exactly common around here y'know." Wheat Germ said, unhitching from the cart. its special design made it so that it could fit a skeleton easily.
"This will work wonderfully, thank you for all your help. I don't suppose we can enter the city now, Pinkie Pie here really wants to attend the festival." Rarity said.
"Yes, we can enter the city right now, but unfortunately, before you can attend the festival, I have to teach you the rules here. It should really only take about ten minutes, and we will be on a tour the entire time. I'll try to make it quick, I want to go to the festival too, so let’s get started right away." Wheat Germ explained,
Pinkie Pie groaned, but stood up with the rest of the group and began heading in the opposite direction of the festival, towards a more empty part of town.
"I'd say living here is very similar to your normal pony life, don't steal, don't attack anypony, all that jazz. Also, this place is where most of the ponies here live, check in with the main building over there to find a place to stay." Wheat Germ began,
"We don't have any money though, how can we pay for a room?" Rarity asked,
Wheat Germ laughed, then spoke, "We don't use money around here, everything is mostly free since there really isn't a point for money. It's the vendor's right to give it to you or not, so just be a good judge of character and you should be fine,"
"That's... interesting to say the least, I suppose it does make it easier to live around here." Rarity commented,
"Wait a minute, what's to gain for giving something away for free? Why would anypony do that?" Rainbow Dash asked,
"It's simple really, in this 'afterlife', you no longer 'live', so there isn't any point to making money. The ponies that stay here simply live out the rest of their existence just like how they lived before they died." Wheat Germ explained,
"Ponies that stay here?" Fluttershy asked,
"Yes, all ponies that die arrive here, but not all stay. If you were a really good pony, then you 'ascend' up into paradise, but if you were a bad pony, then you fall into a deep pit of despair. If you were mostly neutral however, you simply stay here, living the exact same way you did before," Wheat Germ said,
"That sounds a bit boring really. What did you mean by 'rest of their existence'? Can you 'die' here too?" Rarity asked,
"Not really, but there comes a point when a pony's soul just doesn't have enough power to keep existing. Some speculate it has something to do with their memories in other ponies, once no more memories of them remain, their soul simply fades away into nothing," Wheat Germ said,
"My, that sounds absolutely dreadful!" Rarity exclaimed
"That's not going to be a problem for me! When I get famous, I'll go down in history! Then everypony will remember me!" Rainbow Dash shouted,
"I'm not sure that's how it works, and you're already dead, so I'm not sure how you’re going to get famous like that." Wheat Germ said,
"We'll see about that," Rainbow Dash huffed,
Wheat Germ paused to look at her, but didn't bring anything up. "Anyway, this here is sort of our business location, where you can use any of these buildings as a sort of 'business' where you can practice your talent."
"Huh, so ponies really just continue living here huh." Rainbow Dash commented,
"Yeah pretty much, most are happy with just that, they are free to do their special talent without consequence." Wheat Germ explained,
"Except farming?" Rainbow Dash guessed,
"Except farming," Wheat Germ repeated, his tone dropping a bit, "Hey, it's not all bad, I get to bake all sorts of breads and such."
"Where do you even get the supplies? I'm not seeing much a an economy around here," Rarity asked,
"Y'know, I never really thought about it, I have no idea where all this stuff comes from, maybe it just appears." Wheat Germ said,
"If only Twilight were here, she would press this issue for sure," Rarity said,
"Moving on, this is the last and final place of the tour. You could call it a court I guess, it's where souls go to get judged. Everypony has to come here sometime." Wheat Germ explained,
"Why do they need to get judged?" Pinkie Pie asked,
"That should be obvious, they get judged to determine where they get sent. I was only judged a few months ago, it was pretty interesting. They had like a giant scale or something." Wheat Germ described,
"Sounds interesting to say the least, are we able to get judged right now?" Rarity asked,
"Probably not, souls from all over get judged everyday, since you only died today, I'd say you’re on the end of the list at the moment. Based on recent events, I'd say it'd take a few days for you all to get judged." Wheat Germ said,
"Recent events? What’s going on?" Fluttershy asked,
"I heard that a war started somewhere, lots of new souls coming in," Wheat Germ answered,
"Oh my," Fluttershy said,
"You said this was the final place on the tour right?” Pinkie Pie rattled incessantly. “Can we please go party now?"
"Yes, we can go,” Wheat Germ said with a sigh, “but I still have to keep an eye on you for a bit, make sure you learned everything, besides, you guys look like an interesting bunch."
"YES!" Pinkie Pie shouted, then galloped off towards the festival,
"Wait!" The rest of the group called out after her,
"This day just keeps getting more and more interesting," Wheat Germ shook his head.
The rest of the group took off as well.
It didn’t take long to get to the festival, and it was going on at full force. Decorations hung everywhere, there were plenty of vendors on the sides of the road, and it looked like they were even setting up a parade as large floats were being constructed off to the side. Music and conversations permeated the air.
"WOWEE!" Pinkie Pie gasped,
Skeletons were everywhere, ponies, griffins, even a changeling exoskeleton was visible in the crowd. Pinkie Pie zipped between each stall, looking at all the merchandise. There was food, vanity, even a face painting booth, or rather skull painting now. Pinkie Pie wanted to try everything.
"Pinkie darling, there you are! You sure ran off fast.” Rarity said as she neared her. “So tell me, what dazzling things are here at this festival?"
"OHMYGOSH! RARITY THERE'S CAKE, BEADS, DRESSES, FOOD, DANCING, EVERYTHING!" Pinkie Pie shouted,
"Don't forget, we still have to search for Twilight, don't spend all your time partying."
"But I still have time to party right?" Pinkie Pie asked, trying her hardest to make puppy dog eyes as a skeleton, it didn't work out too well.
"Twilight take’s priority, darling, though the princesses did say to come back within two days, so I suppose we do have a bit of time," Rarity recounted,
"Right! Twilight! I won’t forget!" Pinkie Pie saluted, "OOH! Look Rarity! Let's go get our skulls painted!" Pinkie Pie grabbed Rarity and attempted to drag her along, her joints separated and extended, effectively stretching her whole leg.
"Wait a moment Pinkie, we can't just leave Mr. Germ!" Rarity said.
Wheat Germ, along with the rest of the group, then caught up with Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash was hauling Applejack in the cart.
"Oh Mr. Germ, can we please, please, PLEASE go and party?" Pinkie Pie asked, pointing towards several stalls.
"Yeah, I saw some things over there I wanted to try out!" Rainbow Dash said, gesturing in the opposite direction Pinkie Pie wanted to go in.
"Ugh, this is why I hate taking on large groups," Wheat Germ said, putting his hoof to his skull. "Fine, I trust you enough to go off on your own, but take your friend Applejack with you. I'm going to be watching over you guys," He gestured to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who began to unhitch herself from the cart.
"Thank you very much Mr. Germ.” Rarity bowed slightly, “And remember guys, we are trying to find Twilight first, let’s meet back here in an hour or so."
"Gotcha," Rainbow Dash said, turning to leave.
"Do we really have to split up?" Fluttershy asked, a shiver echoing through her skeleton,
"We'll cover more ground this way, darling, just stick with Rainbow, you'll be fine." Rarity assured,
"Ok..." Fluttershy trailed off,
"C'mon Rarity! Let’s go have some fun!" Pinkie Pie shouted, continuing to drag her away,
"Remember, an hour!" Rarity yelled to the other group, making sure to grab Applejack's cart in her magic.
"Are you sure splitting up is really a good idea?" Fluttershy asked,
"I'd say we’re fine, we get to search more ground, and we’re in a nice city, what could go wrong?" Rainbow Dash explained,
A crack of thunder was heard overhead, or maybe it was just a firework. Either way Fluttershy ducked down and covered her face.
"Relax, Fluttershy, it was just a firework. Now come on, let’s go see some of the things I saw earlier, you coming with, Wheat?" Rainbow Dash said,
"Yeah, I kinda have to y'know." Wheat Germ deadpanned.
"Nice, let’s have some fun,"
There were many attractions down the main road, which meant it was packed with skeletons. That didn't stop Rainbow Dash however, as she beelined straight to the one booth she had seen before.
"Come one! Come all! And witness the mystical, magical, and extraordinary tricks of the Great Hoofdini!" A loud voice overtook the crowd,
Rainbow Dash smiled, and went over to sit down in front of the small stage. "Remind you of anypony?" she snickered, "This should be good."
"Pinkie, darling, would you please stop squirming?" Rarity pleaded, a little annoyed,
"But it tickles!" Pinkie Pie laughed,
"We can't even feel anything darling, how does it tickle?"
"It just does!"
"Well, just hold still for a little longer please."
It wasn't too hard to finish painting the design on Pinkie Pie's skull, the original painter had long since given up due to her non-stop squirming, so Rarity had to finish the job. Despite having to incorporate the mistakes into the design, it certainly looked nice, despite the constant twitching and jittering.
"Wow, that looks very good, ma'am," The painter commented,
"Why thank you, I do try my best." Rarity beamed.
"I need a mirror!" Pinkie Pie yelled, and was quickly offered one. "OOH! It's perfect Rarity, Thank you so much! Yours looks good too,"
"Thank you darling," Rarity said, inspecting her own paint in the mirror as well, it was a lot cleaner than Pinkie Pie's.
"By the way, you wouldn't happen to know where we could go see the alicorn would you? I would like to talk to her," Rarity asked the painter,
"I wouldn't know myself, though a lot of ponies are asking about that. I've heard she's going to be appearing during the parade," The painter answered,
"Oh! Well thank you very much, for both the information and the paint, it looks absolutely splendid." Rarity complimented.
"No thank you! Most folks around here don't want to get paint on their bones, it's a real pleasure to be able to do what I love!" The painter replied, "Come back if you need a touch up!"
With a smile and a wave, they left the booth and entered the festival proper again.
"Alright Pinkie, we know Twilight is probably going to be at the parade, let’s see what else we can find out." Rarity stated,
"OOH! The food over there looks great!" Pinkie Pie suggested,
"Hold on, we need to…” Rarity trailed off, thinking, “Can we even eat? Much less taste food like this?"
"Who cares!? I wanna eat something good!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed,
Rarity sighed, "Very well, let’s go see what's over there."
There were all sorts of carts set up, with all manners of food laying about. Rarity wondered if she could even gain weight like this, hopefully not. Despite being a skeleton, her sense of smell was only slightly hampered, and a copious amount of fried foods hit her senses. It wasn't bad per say, but Rarity certainly didn't like the aspect of it. Pinkie Pie however, was zipping to and from every cart, sampling everything. There weren't any large portions, considering nopony actually needed to eat, it was mainly to taste everything, then simply let it fall out. It was a little disgusting, but nopony else was complaining.
"Hot Cakes!" Came one cart
"Funnel Cakes!" From another
"Fried Ice Cream!" Another cart.
Rarity looked around, nothing looked appetizing to her. While Pinkie Pie was still making her way down the line, Rarity just skipped through in search for something good.
"Apple Tarts! Come get yer Apple Tarts!" A new cart yelled out.
With an imaginary ear twitch, Rarity turned to face the voice, "Oh, those sound delightful, I'll have to try one," she said to herself.
Walking over to the cart, she could see a whole tray of apple tarts cut into bite sized pieces.
"You said these were apple tarts, correct?" Rarity asked,
"Sure are! Care to try one? They're mighty fine!" The vendor said,
"I do believe I will. Say, you seem familiar, have we met before?" Rarity inquired, picking up a piece of apple tart in her magic.
"I don't recognize ya, not even from the land of the living! Ah'd know ya if ah did." The vendor stated.
The cart Rarity was hauling shook, something inside was shaking it hard. Eventually, a blonde maned skull peaked up from out of the cart.
"Momma?" Applejack asked, a little drowsy.
"Did you hear? A new alicorn died, how crazy is that?"
"Quiet, you dolt! You can't just go around saying stuff like that! You don't know who's listening! Especially here of all places! You’re coming with me, rookie."
"But-"
"NOW!"
"Yes sir..."
As soon as the pair left, a deep rumbling laugh echoed throughout the chamber, black smoke filled with red embers started billowing out of a crack in the wall. Then, a faint sound of scraping and chains rattling could be heard.
Something big impacted the wall behind the crack, and it grew larger. Another impact, the crack worsened; several red tinted stones fell out of place. A third impact, and a large chunk broke away. The smoke now filled the room, but a final impact could be heard, and the sound of the wall crumbling was heard throughout the chamber.
Laughter again, an evil, deep laugh. Large steps could be heard making their way out of the chamber along with the sound of dragging chains.
To Be Continued...