The hospital ward was quiet. I looked outside the window and placed this hospital to be in Canterlot. I felt my robe give pressure against my back, pushing me gently in the direction of the young filly named Feather Bright. I wanted to run but the robe kept me moving forward, a phantom force driving me onward. As it passed overhead I looked up at the arch, a vibrant rainbow and balloons decorated the sign reading children's ward. I felt sick. My hoof steps were silent, instinctively I stopped in front of a door, and with hesitance I stepped through, the hem if my robe trailing behind me. Unlike the old ponies room I was last in, this one was filled with get well cards, wishes of good luck, stuffed animals, and day old flowers. In the center of it all, there in her hospital bed lay Feather Bright, with nopony around. I walked up to the end of the bed and began to lift my scythe just wanting it to be over.
"Mom?" A small voice squeaked. I froze as the little filly rolled over and looked at me with her hazel eyes. My scythe lowered as the young filly stared up at me. Her ears flattened against her bald head as her wings tucked against her sides. My hind legs gave out as I began to weep. How could I end the life of a child...?
"I didn't make it did I?" Came a small voice, shattering the silence. I looked up to see she had made her way to the end of the bed and was looking down at me with sad eyes. My voice caught in my throat as I could only shake my head. She smiled sadly, catching me off guard.
"Don't be sad." She chuckled. Finding my strength, I stood up as the filly went back to her bed. She patted the bed offering a place to sit. I obliged as I wiped my tears away.
"I thought death was a hard, scary pony but you seem...caring." She said placing her hoof on my forehoof.
"I'm not very good at it yet." I said explaining meekly. She laughed and put her hooves over her mouth and smiled.
"Its nice, to know Death is nice." She smiled at me. I couldn't help but smile back. Her energy was infectious.
"I don't want to reap you...it seems unfair." I found myself saying. Feather Bright's smile faltered and she looked down solemnly.
"My mommy said life is like a circle." As she spoke she drew in the air with her hooves.
"We are born. We grow up, we get old and then die." She said suddenly looking haggard and tired.
"I've been in and out of these hospitals since I was 9. I've had needles, and tubes put inside me and I've had a few of my birthdays in here..." She paused.
"But my mom and dad never gave up on me...so I didn't give up either."
"What do you think life is about and why did I get this illness...?" She asked, looking up and into my eyes, searching for an answer. I didn't have one....hell I don't think even Celestia had one, but this filly was going to die and wanted answers that I couldn't give.
" Feather Bright. I don't know why you got cancer. But what I do know is you have influenced the lives around you." My mind began to flash back into foreign memories.
"Your little brother. Always looking up to you, your friends whom you spend time with writing music to help them gain their cutiemarks. Feather, life is not about the beginning or the end, it's the journey you take on getting there. Your journey however short your life has been." I placed my hoof on her shoulder.
"Has reverberated in the world touching hundreds of ponies." I didn't know where I was coming up with this. It felt like my heart was able to flow freely conveying what I wanted to say. She scrunched her nose and looked up at me.
"What is..rever..rebidated...reverbetated." She began to ask. I chuckled and smiled.
"Reverberated. It means you have effected a lot of ponies with your smile, your struggle and your constant fight." I explained.
"Too bad I lost it." She said and the room became quiet again.
"Does it hurt? To die?" She asked after another moment of quiet. I flinched, but looked at her shaking my head, hoping it to be true.
"I'll miss mom, dad. Of course my little brother." She smiled sadly. Looking up at me, tears filled her eyes and she gave me a crooked smile. All the strength she seemed to have had just a moment ago was gone and her body seemed too heavy for her.
"Can I ask a favor...?" She asked. I felt uncomfortable but nodded.
"Can you write down what I'm about to say. So my family can read it." I nodded. I could that.
"Sure thing." I said.
---
Hopping down from my seat after writing the farewell letter. I positioned myself at the foot of her bed, lifting my scythe over her. My tears began to flow again, making everything blurry. The scythe moved to touch her forehead and her body seemed to get heavier as the last air escaped her lungs. The heart monitor flatlined and soon a nurse bursted into the room, soon calling down the hall for help. The spirit of Feather Bright landed beside me with a sad smile. Her bald head now had a beautiful mane full of curls.
"I feel a lot better...you were right it doesn't hurt. Thank you Death." She said. My heart swelled as water leaked from my eyes. I was in a storm of emotions, easily being swept up in it. A light began to brighten the room and both of us looked at it.
"Grandma?" Feather Bright said smiling as the chaos of the room became numb to her. Doctors and nurses rushed about, trying to resuscitate her. Feather trotted slowly into the light, embracing her Grandmother, and soon the light receded leaving me in the room full of doctors and nurses. Soon after, two other ponies burst into the room. Feather Bright's parents. Her mother took one look at Feather's limp body and collapsed, tears welling up in her eyes. Her father held her to his chest as he openly sobbed. It was then I realized that death is sad, but it is also to be celebrated. The dead do not worry about pain or suffering, they are free of it and it is the living who are in constant pain. I felt bad for them. The activity in the room had blown the letter under the bed where it couldn't be seen. I panicked but only for a minute as I reached under the bed with my scythe, catching the edge of the page and sliding it to where the mother could see it. She blinked once and leaned forward to pick it up. She took a breath and began to read it out aloud, making everypony in the room stop.
"Dear mom, dad, little brother. Everyone.
I'm sorry that I have to tell you this but I'm not going to make it. I tried. But as you're reading this I will have moved on. Don't be sad, I find that I've lived such a wonderful life. Mom, I loved the blueberry muffins you always made me after a treatment. Dad, I loved it when you took me out to the park on my good days. I'll miss getting into fights with my brother. But most of all I'll miss your support. When you tell my friends, tell them to celebrate my life as I hope you all will. I'm sorry that it didn't work out. But if anything Death has told me is true, it's that life -- in my case -- even though short, has impacted my friends and family in the greatest of ways. Love and Friendship is what I gave and I got love and friendship in return. I love you all and hope you can all live you lives to the fullest..." She finished reading and she hugged the paper forcefully, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. I turned around and lifted my key, inserting it into the lock and putting the whole scene behind me. I walked into the office where Apple Scroll stood there waiting. She looked at me with a soft smile.
"You did well." She said as she hugged me. The hold on my scythe let go as I sobbed into her shoulder, hugging back.
"Its not easy but at least you have a heart Grape Vine." She murmured comfortingly into my cowl. I looked at her and smiled.
"Thank you." Apple Scroll patted me on the shoulder. Lifting out the scroll I looked at the next name burning into the paper.
"Berry Green, 34, electric chair." I read and looked up at her.
"Never rest for the dead." She chuckled. I smiled meekly.
"If Death is not working. I know I know.. But what about that book I am suppose to get." I asked. She perked up.
"Oh how forgetful of me." She went behind her desk and pulled out a book labeled 'how to be Death for dummies'.
"Thanks." I said taking the book and putting it into my robe as I walked to the door lifting the key. Opening the door I walked into a room with several ponies looking through a glass at a Berry Green who was strapped into place as a metal conductor on his head.
"From the frying pan and into the fire." I said to myself.