//------------------------------// // .___________________________________________________________________________. // Story: .until the last pony is ferried. // by shortskirtsandexplosions //------------------------------// . to my astonishment, she even had a coin . . how it did not turn to dust over the machinations of eternity was beyond me . . i did not ask any questions; i rowed out immediately towards her . . she awaited me with a gaping expression, her wings spread wide as if to steady herself from the shocking blow of my presence . . charon? . . her breath was a hurricane force wind upon the long-tattered veil of night . . i nevertheless stood resolute . . you know me? . . she faltered slightly, perhaps stunned to be speaking to another creature in so many ages . . i know what you have to do . . her voice wavered, shaky yet courageous . . i am sorry for keeping you waiting . . she held the coin out in a lavender hoof . . i looked at it; i reached for her leg instead . . she hesitated only once, but then let me hoist her onto the raft . . i gave the crumbling shore a push with my rod, perhaps the last push i would ever have to make . . i watched, aghast, as the coast disappeared into the inky fabric behind us . . this was indeed the last soul; all of existence melted behind her . . i thought that i had seen everything . . she said, then shivered . . and nothing . . i listened quietly as i pushed us along over the disappearing waves . . i've seen kingdoms born and dissolved in a blink. i've held funerals for hundreds, thousands, and millions of loved ones. i've seen dragons into the eternal amberlight that waits for them beyond the midnight roosts, and i've buried sea serpents along the outer shores of cocytus . . the lone lantern dangled loosely at the bow of the raft, flickering, its light finally starting to die out after all its innumerable voyages . . i've watched as equestria withered into dust, with all the memorials and graves that had marked it turned to ashes. for years i stood vigilant over an empty wasteland, with no stars or nebulae left to guide my trotting hooves. i fashioned song out of the last patches of atmosphere left to afford sound, and i wove art with the very last particles of light that this freezing universe could maintain . . at last, she looked towards me, and in those watery eyes i felt a spark rising up inside me . . this moment was too real; she knew it as much as i did . . perhaps it's what made her breath so fractured when she next spoke . . i did not expect you to be here. after all this time. after all the souls have withered and gone. why did you wait for me? . . i had a task to accomplish, just like you were inadvertently made the undertaker of all reality . . she shook her head . . no. it is different. perhaps i did not ask to be given the job that i've held myself to. but you? . . i was quiet . . there was nothing to say; there was everything to be said . . she was ahead of both of us . . how was i to expect any differently? . . i know more than any pony who has ever lived. i know about the afterlife. i know about the abyss that awaits to put us all to sleep, even an immortal alicorn such as myself. and i also happen to know that in the classical era, the time of my birth, a time so ancient that even my mind weeps to acknowledge it, that things were different than as i now see them . . what could you possibly mean by that? . . charon is a stallion . . she spoke; she glared . . at least, charon is supposed to be a stallion. but you? your voice? you are not what the ancient texts prophesied. i know this, for even in all the centuries that have blinked by, my mind is incapable of forgetting one single detail . . then perhaps it is capable of forgetting one thing . . impossible. the only likelihood is something that i theorized long ago, that the role of the ferrypony is something that is volunteered, passed on from one soul to another, when every eon or so there comes a mortal pony selfless enough to carry the burden of the dark waters . . the silence fell into the space between us . . she drifted forward, cutting the emptiness like a knife . . take your hood off . . what would that even accomplish? . . it will either dissuade or confirm my fears after all these eons. now do as your queen commands, charon, and remove your hood. i wish to see your face. i wish to see who has put my subjects, my family, and my friends to sleep for the last portion of eternity . . there was no point in resisting; we were the last two souls upon the brink of the void . . so, i obeyed her . . i stripped of my hood, my cloak, and even my whole robe for the first time in as long as i could remember . . immediately, she was crying, for i could see the colors reflected in her tears . . it lit up her whole face, so that when she breathed it was through the gentlest of smiles . . you did it. you actually did it. somehow, a part of me knew that you would. tell me, did they know? . . i quietly shook my head . . they didn't have to know. all that mattered is that they went where they needed to go without pain or fear. they didn't even put up a fight . . that's because you did. you fought for them. you fought for all of us . . her body flounced between a laugh and a sob . . the boat rocked lively in the waters; the river was emptying all around us . . but you didn't have to prove yourself. you waited for them, and i am glad for that. you didn't have to wait for me . . of course i did . . i smiled for her, something i wanted to do for a very long time . . my job wasn't finished, twilight. not until the last pony was ferried . . she gazed into me, her eyes like feathers that stroked my soul, making me feel like i was flying again . . has anypony ever been so true, so loyal? . . her words trailed off, as did her tears . . when the boat struck the island, the jolt startled neither of us; we were prepared for this moment . . twilight braced me with a hoof over my shoulder . . you can't imagine... all the endless nights i spent wondering... all the empty ages of darkness that i wept away, until matter was no more, and i could finally have my rest. and all of that time i dreamt... i wished... that i might actually have the opportunity to see one of you... any of you... to see a dear friend of mine and look into her face and tell her from the bottom of my heart . . she held her breath, gazing at me as the life flowed from her eyes . . there was a momentary flash between us, a final pulse of light as our breaths became one . . i love you so much. i've only ever loved and cherished you. each and every one of you. you have made this existence worth it. be it a brief candle or a dark, dying inferno. i would gladly live it all over again--the torture and the triumph--just to know how much i mean to you, and for you to know how much all of you have meant to me. this is the greatest gift, the greatest opportunity, and i thank you . . i smiled . . i reached in and held her sobbing figure, stroking the space between her wings as i murmured into her ears . . the greatest gift is knowing that all of my friends are at peace . . she sobbed with joy . . i had forgotten how beautiful music sounded, and hers was the most gorgeous song of all . . we didn't need to hold each other for long; eternity had already drained the sorrow from the moment . . when we parted ways, she trotted backwards toward the pond, as if still needing to keep her vigilant eyes on the dead realm beyond the river . . i will wait for you . . she spoke with a smile . . the island formed a black halo around her; the pondwaters accepted her royal limbs with a rippling sigh . . someway, somehow, i will wait for you. for that time when a magical spark reignites the gasp of life from beyond our fathomless slumber . . close your eyes, your highness . . twilight did . . and . . she was gone .