//------------------------------// // A Desperate Ploy // Story: A Pony Called Death // by thehalfelf //------------------------------// A Desperate Ploy Twice in one week. Divine Sight blinked up at the stars overhead, taking in the smell of the fresh air so far outside the city she had grown up in, and the book she currently called home.  All of it was so unfamiliar; so much had changed since the last time she stepped outside of her “office,” some few odd centuries ago.  Even so, knowing what she had been sent to do weighed down her hooves, turning what could have been the stroll of a tourist into the plod of a resident. Ponies that she passed in the street never gave her a second glance.  Divine Sight may not have been Death, but she was protected by her own anonymity of office.  Even so, the small crowd walking the streets that evening parted without a second thought to the empty bubble of space moving freely through it. Once she was out of the main part of town, the flow of ponies slowed until Divine Sight was alone in an empty street.  Unlike Death, Fate did not have any sort of guiding instinct, as the officeholder never really needed it.  For lack of innate direction, Luna had given Divine Sight explicit directions to Rose’s house, and instructions for when she arrived. Directions did little to ease her discomfort, however.  Every single step she took down the road became shorter, but not short enough to keep her from finally arriving at the doorstep.  Slowly, Fate raised a hoof to knock, barely bringing the tip down to touch the door before backing up quickly. Inside, a very soft whump could be heard for all of half a foot. Come on, girl, you can do this.  With a shaky breath, Divine Sight took another step forward and knocked, too hard this time.  The door shook in its frame, small bits of dust drifting down from the frame. “I’m coming, jeez.  Don’t break my door in!” shouted a voice from the other side of the door.  Seconds later, a mare pulled it open. All it took was one look at the tuft of pink mane before Divine Sight closed her eyes.  “Mrs. Rose Petal, I have a message from Princess Luna.  She and Princess Celestia have found a ritual that, if performed, may restore some of the powers of your office; just enough to track down Shade and take full control.  I also want to apologize for my misjudgement of you, again.  My predecessor taught me that my job was very strict, and believed that any deviation from the path that I weave could bring about the collapse of the entire system.  I hope you can understand.” “So, it was you.”  The unfamiliar voice on the other side of the door prompted Fate to crack her eyes open.  The first thing she noticed was the mane; it was pink, yes, but slightly darker than expected and bordered by raspberry-colored hair.  The further down Divine Sight’s eyes traveled, the more different the two mares looked.  This one was slightly taller, and cream not white.  The expression was the same at least.  Both this mare and Rose seemed to prefer glaring at Fate. “It was you,” Roseluck repeated.  “You’re the one who took my Rosie’s job away, and caused this entire mess.” “So you’re her... mother?” Divine Sight asked. Roseluck just glared, unblinking and unamused. “Ayuh--I’ll take that as a yes...?  I’m sorry for what I did to your daughter, but I was only trying to do what I was taught was the best to do.  Our jobs are very important, and the responsibility and threat of failure weigh as heavy as our immortality.  My predecessor taught me that improper handling of souls would lead to the end, and I was simply doing what I felt necessary.  Now, I am trying to fix my mistake, but to do that I need to speak with your daughter.  May I?” Much to Divine Sight’s relief, Roseluck stepped back and shouted into the house, “Rosie, Fate is here for you!”  The sandy mare walked past Roseluck, tying her best to neither look at or touch her. Rose Petal was waiting for her in the main living area.  “So, one of the princesses found something?” Divine Sight nodded, pulling a tightly-rolled scroll from her saddlebag.  She stepped forward and set it down on a low table in front of Rose.  “Yes... but there is a catch.” “Oh, good, a catch.  Just perfect, isn’t it?”  Roseluck stepped into the room.  Having made her complaint known, she leaned on the doorframe.  “As if stealing her job wasn’t bad enough.” “Mom...” Rose sighed.  “We’ve been over this.” Roseluck sighed.  “I know.” Turning back to Divine Sight, Rose spoke again.  “What’s the catch?” “Well, most of the power of office is tied to the scythe itself.  That’s why Dashing Cloud gave you the scythe, and why I took it when I, um, fired you...”  Fate coughed nervously and tossed a glance towards Roseluck.  “We can give you back some power.  We can restore your Instinct, which should be tuned towards the first death that was scheduled to occur when Shade vanished.  We can also return the method of travel, but you won’t have most of the powers you were used to.  The Office won’t protect you anymore, not until you get it back.” “Alright.”  Rose got to her hooves and kicked the coffee table out of the way, to the visible disapproval of her mother.  “Let’s get it over with.” Divine Sight paled.  “Right here?  B-But, I didn’t bring any of the things for the ritual, and... and... and... it’s not a secured, safe place.  Anypony could wander in!” A very vocal glare told Divine Sight what exactly Rose thought about her argument. “Okay, fine, fine, we can do it here,” Divine Sight waved her sandy forehooves in supplication.  “Come here.” While Rose was getting into position away from anything that might be breakable, Fate busied herself digging through her saddlebags for the enchanted crystals Luna had given her.  Her search also came with the added bonus of keeping her eyes well away from those of Roseluck.  Aided by the push of Fate, the crystals surrounded Rose in a circle, with four points stretching out towards the cardinal directions. Right after the crystals, an old scroll floated out of the bag leaving a small trail of dust.  “That is a really old scroll,” Roseluck said from her new position right beside Fate, making the other mare jump. “Um, yes.  It was written by the first Fate, and has remained unopened in a highly restricted section of the Canterlot Archives since.  It is a failsafe... at least, we think it is,” Divine Sight finished.  Carefully, mindful of anything that even remotely sounded like ripping vellum she unrolled the scroll, exposing markings so archaic they didn’t even resemble letters. After comparing a stylized drawing of wavy lines and blocky circles to the crystals lying on the floor, Divine Sight peered around the aged paper at Rose.  “Now, neither Luna or myself really know what this is going to be like, so...” Once again, Roseluck spoke up.  “You know, Rosie, I don’t know if this is such a good idea.  Even the Princess doesn’t know what this spell does, what if it backfires.  For that matter,” she added, turning towards Fate, “can you even read that?”  Roseluck pointed an accusing hoof at the scroll, giving it the same untrusting glare that had earlier been aimed at Divine Sight. “Princess Luna has told me everything I need to do,” Divine Sight replied.  “Reading is not required.”  As she finished her sentence, a small flame flickered into existence near the edge of the scroll.  Almost as though in response, the nearby crystals began to faintly glow, pulsating slowly in time with one another. “Are you sure, Rosie,” Roseluck tried one last time, nervously eyeing the pulsating crystals. Rose nodded and, before her mother could interrupt again, Divine Sight brought her constructed flame into contact with the ancient paper, which erupted into a fire that consumed it in a matter of seconds. Everypony in the room stared at the spot where the paper once was, reduced now to a small trickle of ashes slowly drifting towards the ground.  “Well, that was a--”  Before Roseluck could finish her taunt, the crystals around Rose lit, each one in a different color, throwing multicolored lights and hundreds of shadows all over the room.  To make matters worse, wind began whipping around the crystal outline, dousing all other lights in the room. Above the four lines of crystals, at shoulder-height to Rose, the colors of the crystal formed together, each color swirling around its counterpart but never actually combining.  At once, the four shifting lines of color shot towards Rose.  Everything flashed white for a moment, then faded to nothing. In the middle of the dormant circle, Rose blinked to get the spots out of her eyes.  “Well that was a little... excessive,” she said once her vision was passable. “If I recall correctly, the first Fate was a showpony before she was inducted into office,” Divine Sight elaborated.  Under her watchful gaze the cloudy crystals returned to her saddlebags. “How do you do that without a horn?” Roseluck asked suddenly.  As she realized her thoughts were made vocal, she blushed and rubbed her forehooves together.  “Um... did I say that out loud?  You, um, you don’t have to answer that...”  Roseluck ended her shaky speech with a nervous cough. “Fate has power as well.  My first predecessor, however, was not a unicorn.”  Turning to Rose, Divine Sight continued, “Did it work?” Rose Petal closed her eyes and stretched out with her mind as she had done countless times before.  Unlike the last couple of weeks, she felt something latch on, pulling her towards a small village north of the Foal Mountains, west of Fillydephia.  The location tugged at her mind, pulling towards the north-east, and to the would-be client of Death. “The Instinct is working at least.  I feel the client... small town, north-east,” Rose responded.  “Only one way to see if I can still travel quickly.”  Before anypony else could say anything, Rose poked the wall with a hoof and vanished. Roseluck and Divine Sight exchanged a look.  “Does she do this a lot?” the latter asked. Roseluck just smiled. ***** Hollow Shades was a small town, nestled just north of the Foal mountain range and surrounded by the Brightleaf Forest; it was just about as small a town there was without being a border outpost.  “A town tucked away from time,” the brochure at Fleetwing’s Flyaway Travel Agency read.  “Surrounded by forest and nestled against a mountain range, Hollow Shades has something for everypony.  Whether it is to get in touch with nature, or out of touch of bustling city life, the charming natives, rich culture, and amazing food are all sure to help you find what you’re searching for.” It was in this small town, from a wall in a back alley, that Rose found herself.  Momentarily disoriented by her teleportation, she stuck out a hoof to steady herself against a wall.  Above, light was just starting to trickle onto the edge of the horizon.  “I must be out of practice,” Rose mumbled to herself before retracting her hoof and slowly making her way into the street. The tug in her mind said east, Rose hung a left out of the alley and took off at a brisk trot down the main street.  It was somewhat strange how similar this town was to Ponyville.  The streets were paved the same, the houses were all built pretty much the same, just of darker wood.  The only real difference Rose could see was the size; especially when she arrived at her destination before the sun had woken the sleepy little town. Much to the quasi-Death’s surprise, the front door of the client’s house swung open with no protest.  From further inside, a quiet sniffling could be heard.  Wary, Rose placed one hoof in front of the other and entered the small apartment-like abode.  After shutting the door behind her, she entered the house proper and took a look around. In the main room, resting on a light beige couch sat a stallion, but Rose could tell right away he wasn’t resting.  His eyes were wide open, though they saw nothing.  His chest rose and fell with the unconscious motion of life, though it was almost imperceptible.  It wasn’t the stallion that attracted Rose’s attention, however.  That honor rested solely on the unicorn stallion sitting next to him; a jet-black stallion with an equally dark mane, softly crying.  The streaks of matted fur under his eyes suggested he had been at it awhile. Rose drew herself up, blowing a stray lock of mane from her eyes, and knocked on the side of the doorframe.  At the sound, the black stallion sat straight up and wiped his eyes with a hoof.  “Who’s there?” he called with a croaky, disused voice. “Somepony here to help,” Rose replied softly.  “Can I come in?”  With the stallion’s hesitant nod of permission, quasi-Death stepped into the room, careful not to make too much noise.  She stopped near an end table, within hoof’s reach of her client.  “Did you know him?” “He was my brother,” the stallion responded.  “I...I came downstairs last night, and found him like this.  I don’t... I don’t know what to do.” “It’s alright.”  Rose took another couple steps forward, placing herself between the black stallion and her client.  “I can help.  What’s your name?” “Shade.” A hoof shot out of nowhere, colliding solidly with Rose’s jaw.  The struck mare reeled backwards, falling to her back on the floor.  She reached up, blindly waving her hoof around trying to find a way to pull herself back up, but it was too late.  Just as Rose touched something solid, Shade appeared over her, black color melting out of his mane to reveal gray hair. Mortis raised his hoof to strike the mare once again.  Right before he brought it down something caught his attention from the corner of his eye.  “What?” Rose followed his gaze towards the couch, where a light blue cloud was drifting towards the ceiling.  Before she could think on it, Mortis brought his hoof down and the world went black.