Chapter 10
Eternity
Fluttershy held back her tears as she ran after the soldier. Now was not the time to mourn.
Gunfire shredded the trees and low-growing shrubs behind them. she ignored it, listening only to the beating of her own heart and the pounding of her feet on the ground.
Don't trip, don't trip, don't trip...
Keep going! Don't stop!
Something wrapped around her waist and lifted her up. She cried out, kicking and punching, and she and her captor crashed to the ground and rolled, tumbling down a hill and into the Everfree.
Why the Everfree? Why?
Now was not the time. Fluttershy kicked backwards, landing a solid hit on...
"OW!"
Discord.
"Oh, Discord, I'm so sorry..." she squeaked. "I- I..."
He staggered to his feet, grasping his injured....
He-he.
Fluttershy flushed bright red and glanced away.
"Sorry..."
"For such a sensitive girl- You can sure kick like a mule." he groaned.
""Wh-what did you grab me for?"
"I was trying to help you. Fat lot of thanks it got me."
Fluttershy flushed even brighter.
"S-sorry..."
Dark.
Cold.
Rainbow Dash shivered, hugging herself in an effort to keep her naked body warm. But it was no use. The cold penetrated all. There was no escape. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to run. Her own body, she discovered, was covered in frost crystals, the sparkling crystals of frozen water forming beautiful crystal tattoos all over her thighs, stomach, arms, and breasts. She shivered uncontrollably, her feet buried in a foot-thick layer of snow.
"Wh-where am I?" she asked no one in particular.
"Where are you?" a woman's voice echoed across the empty plain of snow. A light, airy chuckle filled the air. "Why darling, you're dead. Didn't you know?"
"I-I'm dead?"
"Yes. You died in a simply tragic accident involving a road mine and your dear friend Fluttershy."
"Flutters-shy? Is s-she alright?"
"No need to be alarmed. You were miraculously the only casualty."
Rainbow Dash comforted herself with this tidbit of information as she stood in the cold. That cold...
"W-who are you?"
A part of the shadows swirling over the snow seemed to rise and coalesce into a human form. a black horn sprouted from her forehead, tattered black wings hung from her back. a thin black shift covered her form, but as it was next to translucent, it did little to hide her body.
"Darling." the woman said. her face remained a blank, shifting mass of shadow. "I am Death. You have come to my kingdom because you are dead."
Rainbow stared into the woman's face. she caught glimpses of many faces... There was her mother, who had died years ago... her big brother, killed in a flying accident when she was only a baby... hundreds of others, from faces she'd known and loved to those she'd only caught as a glimpse.
"Try not to look to deep into my face, dear." Death said. "Many have become lost, never to return from the depths of my despair."
"Your dis-spair?"
"Of course. Did you think I enjoy seeing all these mortals die? That I take their souls as some kind of game? I feel all of their pain. Every death, every broken bone, every cut, every severed limb..."
She bent down close.
"Every ruptured organ..."
It was at this point Rainbow Dash felt pity for this woman.
"Wh-hat did you ever do to deserve this?"
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. This is what I was made to do. So I do it."
"L-let me s-share your burden."
Death stopped and stared.
"You would- do that? You? A mere mortal?"
"I-It's what any decent pers-son would do."
Death was silent.
"You are certain you wish to do this?"
"I am."
"You would free me from my burden? Even for a brief moment?"
Rainbow Dash hesitated only a fraction of a second.
"Yes."
Death seemed to shrink slightly.
"Alright then... If you are sure..."
Rainbow Dash suddenly crumpled. She couldn't even scream. The pain was impossible to comprehend, the suffering, the anguish... she felt as if she would be lost in a river- No, a sea- of pain and suffering.
She gritted her teeth.
"How-do you-do-this?" she grunted.
Death was beside her, a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Find peace."
Rainbow Dash felt through the endless pain, finally grasping something..."
An old man, quietly breathing his last. No pain, no sorrow, simply- acceptance.
Death smiled at her.
And it was all gone again. Death staggered visibly as she shouldered the burden once more.
"Even if it was only for the briefest moment- I am eternally in you debt, Rainbow Dash. For giving me- the smallest reminder of what it is like to live."
"It's no problem at all." Rainbow gasped, struggling to her feet.
"I suppose I should thank you somehow. You will be leaving me shortly, anyway."
"Really- It's not- Wait. Leaving you?"
"Of course. You are being re-awakened from my cold kiss, even as we speak."
"By who?"
"I do not know. My sight does not extend into the mortal world."
Rainbow sighed.
"What if you promise to send back one of my friends if they ever die?"
"That is but a small price to pay for the kindness you have showed me. Agreed."
Rainbow Dash wrapped her arms around Death, hugging her tight. Death, despite her surprise, hugged her back.
"When I come back- I'll take half of your burden." Rainbow Dash said. "No one should have to do what you do alone."
Death stroked Rainbow's hair in a motherly fashion.
"That would be- wonderful, Rainbow Dash."
Her voice seemed to fade as Rainbow started to feel warmth in her body again.
"Simply wonderful."
Rainbow Dash gasped as she came to her senses. her limbs were cold, and seemed unresponsive. She tried to lift her right arm. It was slow and sluggish to respond.
A soft feminine hand gently pushed her arm back down.
"Hush now. That's the Saline solution you're feeling, we had to pump you full of it to keep you from rotting while we figured out how to bring you back."
"Wh-who are you?"
The woman giggled.
"Why, Rainbow Dash, being dead for two years must have muddled your brains! I'm Princess Celestia, of course!"
Rainbow suddenly had a very bad feeling...