//------------------------------// // Old Friends // Story: A Pony Called Death // by thehalfelf //------------------------------// Old Friends Dashing Cloud sat within his office, a large, opulent affair in the west wing of the castle, behind his desk.  Nominally, he was an aid to the minister of interstate commerce--a job that actually meant nothing.  The princesses had told him he had served well enough, and needed to do no more.  Either way, he had enough money saved from his time as Death to live comfortably until it was his time. But living with no work for the better part of the rest of his natural life didn’t sit well with Cloud.  Thus, he had accepted a job from Luna, though the amount of work actually done was minimal, especially now that Rose Petal was able to do her job on her own. Not for the first time that day, or even week, Cloud was debating on simply quitting his job and staying as a guest of the princesses when the door to his office opened.  Though he was in no danger of getting fired, the golden pegasus quickly found a piece of paper and held it before his face, as though he had been reading. “You know, reading is much easier when the paper is the right way around,” called a familiar voice from the doorway with a laugh.  The flustered pegasus put down the paper, the right way around, and looked up at his visitor. “Ah, Rose, how nice of you to drop by,” replied Cloud with a smile.  He motioned to a chair on the other side of the desk.  “Please, take a seat.” Rose Petal shook her head.  “No time.  I have a job to do, out in Dodge Junction.” The gold pegasus cocked an eyebrow.  “That would explain why you’re wearing the cloak, but not why you’re here.  It’s been a month, do you still need me to hold your hoof?” Despite her best efforts, a light blush spread across Rose’s cheeks.  “I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t need it.  The call is for a trapped spirit.  I’ve never handled one of those.” Cloud was nodding before Rose even finished her sentence.  “If you’re asking me to go with you, of course I will.  But first, what do you think of my office?”  Death looked around the room.  Directly opposite the door, where she was still standing, a large window was set into the wall, with a view off of the side of the mountain.  Cloud’s desk was set up against the left wall, behind which stretched a number of bookcases, laden with binders of files.  A faux plant sat in a vase atop a pedestal.  Rose made a note to offer him actual flowers from the shop later. “This is your actual office then?  You didn’t steal it?” “Ha ha, very funny.”  Cloud rolled his eyes. “Yes it’s my office,” he snapped. “And your job is... what, exactly?”  Rose padded over to the corner and poked the vase, never taking her eyes from the pegasus. “Well, it’s simple.”  Silence fell, stretching until Rose softly cleared my throat.  Cloud shrugged.  “I don’t really know.  To be honest, I don’t need it, but I need something to keep going, you know?  I spent decades rushing around the world, saving living beings from unbearable pain.  You’ll find out one day that going back from that can take some getting used to.” With a shake of his head, Cloud got to his hooves.  “Doesn’t matter.  We have a spirit to deal with.”  A golden hoof was extended, met shortly after by a white one, and both ponies were whisked away into the cold shroud of Death’s personal transportation method. ***** The tunnel deposited the duo in the middle of an orchard of trees.  Scattered here and there were workers, busy bucking the trees and catching the cherries that fell in wicker baskets.  At various points, wagons loaded with filled baskets sat upon small dirt roads.  Cloud looked around before turning to his companion and raising an eyebrow.  “Where are we?” “Cherry orchard outside of Dodge Junction,” Rose replied, setting off down one of the roads towards a complex outside the edge of the trees.  “I had a call out here, one of the workers had a dead tree fall on them.  Firebug, or something like that, Fire-something.  Anyway, this isn’t the place, it’s just the closest I could get us.  We still need to head due south-west.” Cloud jogged forward, propelled by a flutter of his wings, trying to catch up to the walking mare.  “Anything interesting go on here?” Rose shrugged.  “I heard rumors of a mare that lived in Ponyville coming here for a week or so, but she came back.  Other than that and the client, I don’t know anything.” Before Cloud could respond, one of the workers spotted him.  “Ay!  Ay, you!  What are you doing here?”  A rather large blue stallion, baskets strapped to his sides half filled with multicolored cherries stepped from behind a tree. Rose stepped closer to the golden pegasus.  “What can I do?” “Stay close,” Cloud whispered out of the corner of his mouth.  “I’ll try to talk my way out of it, but you may need to do some magical intervention.  Just remember, they can’t see you unless you want them to, but they can still run into you.” Even with the warning, Rose barely managed to jump out of the way before the stallion was upon them.  “Mister, this is a restricted area.  I’m gonna have to take ya to my boss.” Cloud stepped back in supplication.  “I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t mean to land here.  I was out flying, morning exercise, you know?  But my wing cramped up, and I had to land.  So, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just be on my way.”  The pegasus moved to step past, but the worker quickly moved to block his path, placing a hoof on Cloud’s chest. “Heya there, Hazy, whatcha up to?” asked one slight little earth pony mare who couldn’t be older than Rose. “Just somepony I found skulkin’ ‘round by row E, Breeze,” the large stallion, apparently named Hazy, replied.  “Just leadin’ him back to Cherry so she could have words with him.”  He didn’t wait for a reply, instead pushing past the mare.  Rose was barely able to dodge to the side before Breeze begun trotting alongside them. “Yeah, that’s great, but what about the creepy chick in the cloak?”  Cloud’s ears twitched, but other than that, he showed no signs of recognition.  Rose, however, felt her blood turn to ice.  The cloak was supposed to protect her!  It was supposed to protect her identity and even visage from others without her express will. Hazy seemed almost as confused as Rose.  “What mare?”  He looked back over his shoulder at the small earth pony.  “Are you losin’ it, girl?  Reckon you’ve been out in the sun too long.” “What are you talking about?  She’s right here!”  Breeze stretched out one light blue hoof and took a swipe at Rose.  She ducked, but not quick enough.  The hoof reached forward, and arced right through her head.  Rose barely managed to withhold a gasp, something Breeze didn’t manage.  “W-What?” Cloud’s escort just rolled his eyes.  “Enough, Breeze.  Go back to work.  Actually, don’t.  Go inside, get some water, cool down.  Sounds to me like you’ve got a case of heat stroke comin’ on.” Breeze, however, stayed put, staring at the form of the ethereal Rose.  “B-B-B-But, there’s a pony.  Right there!  She’s right there!”  She stood there, repeating the same things over and over until another workpony came over and put a hoof around her withers. “Breeze, come on, let’s get you inside,” the new stallion said. “What?  N-No, I know there’s somepony there!  Look, she’s right there!”  Breeze pointed a hoof at Rose again, hobbling along on her other three while the workpony gently pulled her towards the farmhouse.  Cloud suppressed a chuckle as he extracted himself from Hazy’s grip, moving in the same direction.  The stallion cried out, but followed behind shortly after, though wary for any other tricks.  In the back of the line, Rose trotted along silently. ***** Just inside the front door of the farmhouse, the group split ways.  Breeze was led off deeper into the house by her escort, while Cloud was led up the stairs by Hazy, shadowed by Rose Petal.  On the landing, the workpony led Cloud into a large office at the back of the house.  The gray stallion walked inside after knocking, leading Cloud in.  Rose rushed forward to try and slip in before the door was closed, but she was too late.  She barely had time to pull back before her muzzle was slammed into the slab of wood. Out of options but unwilling to leave her friend behind, Rose sat up against the door, careful to not bump into it, and pressed her ear against the crack between it and the doorframe. There was a pregnant silence after the door closed; eventually broken by a voice with a heavy drawl.  “Hazy Hills, who is this?” “A pegasus I found out by Field Four, ma’am.  I thought you might wanna talk to ‘im.” “Alrighty then.  Take a seat mister...” “Cloud,” Rose’s mentor said.  “Dashing Cloud.”  There was a faint creak as somepony sat in a chair.  “Pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss...” “Cherry Jubilee,” replied the accented voice. “Ma’am, not to interrupt,” Hazy said, “but I have two more rows to buck before we close up for the night.  If you need somethin’, holler.”  Moments later, the thud of hoof on wood warned Rose to duck out of the way as the large stallion pushed the door open.  Rose dove forward, managing to only reach in a hoof before the door was shut on it. “Huh, that’s strange,” Hazy said, looking at the seemingly empty gap in the doorway.  He pulled the door back again, pushing hard, slamming the door into Rose’s hoof.  She bit on her tongue to hold in a gasp of pain, and quickly pulled her hoof back, resigning herself to listen at the door, and pray Cloud could get free on his own. “Now then, Mister Cloud,” Cherry Jubilee said inside the room.  “Mind tellin’ me what you were doin’ out in my orchards?” “Of course,” I heard Cloud reply in a calm voice.  “As I explained to your...”  There was a pause.  “Employee, I was simply out for an early morning flight when my wing cramped up and I had to land.  ‘Twas only by chance that I landed in your fine orchard.  In fact, I was on my way out when I was stopped.” “Uh-huh.  And so you were just passin’ through?  Mindin’ your own business?” “Yes, ma’am.” “Now, I don’t like bein’ lied to, Mister Cloud.”  There was a tinge of annoyance to her voice. “I”m not lying,” came the reply, calm as ever. “Then why have I never seen your face in town?” The silence lasted long enough that Rose almost charged in, invisible or not.  “I’m a traveler.  I was just passing through on my way to visit a friend of mine in Appleloosa.” There was another lull in the conversation.  Rose raised a hoof and gently laid it down on the handle into the room.  “An’ you weren’t stealin’?” Cloud laughed dismissively.  “Ma’am, I don’t even have saddlebags on.” “Fair enough,” came the reply with a lilting laugh.  “Go on, then, enjoy your trip.  Sorry for the trouble.”  Rose had plenty of time to get out of the way before Cloud emerged from the room, followed shortly behind by an older, cream earth pony mare, who Rose assumed to be Cherry Jubilee. “Thank you, ma’am, you have a nice day,” Cloud offered in farewell before walking back down the hallway to the stairs.  Rose followed behind, staying silent until they made it outside of the house, and making sure they weren’t going to be overheard. “How did that mare see me?” Rose asked as Cloud steered the duo over towards what he assumed to be the exit from the orchard. “Who, Breeze?” Cloud asked, receiving a nod in answer.  “The same way I do.  You aren’t invisible, simply unnoticeable, much simpler magic.  However, it isn’t as strong.  People close to death will always see you, such as your clients and those close to them, though they themselves may be perfectly healthy.  Doctors often can as well, as some of them spend a good portion of their lives dealing with dying patients.” “But what about you?  You’ve never had problems seeing me.” Several responses flew through Cloud’s mind, forcing him to choose the one he thought the least offensive.  “I was Death myself, Rose.  I think it’s safe to say I’m pretty close to it.  But even if I hadn’t, some ponies can just see through the cloak.  I wondered about it for years before giving up.  Magic works in mysterious ways, and not always correctly, which is why I always tried to stay out of sight, just in case.” “Makes sense, I guess.  We need to get moving, though.  I’m starting to get a headache...”  Without further preamble or questions, Rose moved off, towards the faint outline of train tracks in the distance. Slowly, steadily, over the course of half an hour, the two generations of Death made their way to their destination.  As they drew closer, what started as a faint wind became something more akin to faint cries of pain.  Rose shot a concerned look at her mentor and took off at a full gallop towards the tracks. “Rose, wait!” Cloud called, but she didn’t listen.  Left with no choice, he took off after her.  To make matters worse, when she was almost on top of the tracks, Rose collapsed with a cry.  Worried, Cloud pumped his wings twice, lifting himself off the ground enough to rocket over next to the body of Rose. “What’s wrong?” he asked, giving her a once-over for obvious injuries.  “Are you hurt?” “T-That pony... oh, goddess, I know her...” Rose replied, breathless.  It was only then that Cloud looked at their client--a young red mare, head topped with a tuft of yellow hair, around Rose’s age--who had obviously been hit by something, though whether by the train itself or just a cart and then moved he didn’t know. “Rose,” Cloud whispered in her ear, “there’s nothing we can do, it isn’t even her.  It’s just her spirit trapped here.  She needs your help.” “I can’t, I can’t,” she whispered softly.  Rose crawled forward, gently laying a hoof on the dead pony’s spirit.  “I grew up with her, Cloud.  I can’t, I can’t, I can’t...” “But you have to.”  The pegasus moved to lay next to her.  “She is trapped, Rose, trapped in the moment when she died, and she can’t get out.  You have to free her, only you can.”  Using his mouth, Cloud gently drew the scythe from Rose’s back and put it within her reach.  “Go on, take it.  Free your friend.” Rose reached out with her borrowed magic and took the scythe.  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.  Gently, as though not to disturb the spirit, Rose touched the scythe to the spirit’s chest.  The wailing turned back into naught but wind as it drifted off, leaving the distraught Rose and her mentor prone by the train tracks. ***** Roseluck was working in the backroom of their family’s shop when the bell dinged.  The lack of her sister’s usually cheerful greeting brought the mare from the room.  Her tail wasn’t even out of the office before something darted from her left and something wrapped around her neck.  Roseluck screamed and scrambled backwards. “Mom, calm down,” Rose Petal said, causing the older mare to stop in her tracks. “Rosey?”  Roseluck looked over, only now realizing that the perceived attack was nothing more than a hug. “Mom, do you remember the filly I used to play with?  Red coat, yellow mane...” Rose asked frantically, pulling back from the hug. Roseluck nodded.  “Yeah, what was her name... Chrysanthemum?” Rose Petal nodded vigorously.  “Yeah.  She moved, right?”  Roseluck nodded.  “Where did she move out to?” “Uh, Dodge Junction, I think.  They went to take care of their cousin, Breeze...?  Yeah, Breeze,” came the reply.  “Why?”  Instead of a response, she got another hug, this time with the added bonus of tears.   Confused, Roseluck looked over at her sister.  Lily shook her head and mouthed, ‘work.’ “Oh, Rosey...”  Rose’s mother returned the hug, joined soon after by Lily Valley.  “It’s going to be okay,” Roseluck whispered, echoed by her sister.  “It’s going to be okay...”