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// Epilogue Two: Cobalt [History Overwritten] 
// Story: Split Second 
// by wille179 
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	For the first time in a very long time, Cobalt had no schedule to follow but his own. And so, with nothing to do today, he went to a local, rarely crowded coffee shop and bought what his love called “a silly, frou-frou noble’s coffee,” that had way too much whipped cream and sugar for his liking. And there, with coffee in hoof, he sat.
It was a waiting game now. The letter sitting on his nightstand, one that had mysteriously appeared after Sparkle’s demise, claimed that she was still alive, and the mere presence of Dye, one of Sparkle’s specters, in his body confirmed that what her letter had said was true. Now, he just had to wait.
With Sparkle out of commission, Dye inactive while Sparkle recovered, and Thorn having flown off to who-knows-where, Cobalt was on his own.
He didn’t know how to feel about that, to be honest.
What he also didn’t know was what his teacher’s new face would look like. Would she look similar to the way she did now? Would she be born with corruption? Would her new body be sickly or healthy? What tribe would she be born as? Would she be beautiful or ugly? Would she still be a she? Cobalt didn’t know.
He took a sip of his drink. The sugar made him want to gag, but at the same time, he needed something sweet, if only to cover up the bitter taste of worry.
Cobalt closed his eyes and set his head on the small coffee shop table. Sunlight fell on his back, but it didn’t bring him any warmth or comfort. The sun hadn’t felt pleasant for him in a long time, not since he had become Sparkle’s student, but today, the light was particularly unpleasant.
“Are you waiting for somepony?”
Cobalt opened his eyes, though he didn’t lift his head from the table. There, across from him, stood a grey, earth pony mare with a wild, black mane, and vibrant lavender eyes. She was looking at Cobalt expectantly.
“Yes. No. It’s complicated,” Cobalt replied without much enthusiasm.
“We’re all waiting for somepony, it seems. Mind if I join you? Everywhere else is taken,” the mare asked.
“No, go ahead. I’m probably not going to be the best of company, though,” Cobalt replied.
The mare took the only other seat at the little table. “Thanks, Cobalt.”
That got the painted stallion’s head off the table. “How did you know my name?”
The pegasus across from Cobalt snickered. “We in the death business should always take a moment to learn about each other. You’re kind of a celebrity among professional killers. Name’s Glass, by the way.” She offered out a hoof.
“Cobalt, but you already knew that,” he replied, shaking the gray unicorn’s hoof. “Nice to meet you, Glass.”
“So, have you heard about the Crystal Empire returning? It’s exciting to think that there was a whole pony tribe that had been erased from existence, only to return a thousand years later,” Glass exclaimed, ruffling her wings as she spoke.
“Yes, I did. My friend’s on an... extended trip up there. I’m waiting for her to come home,” Cobalt said.
“Mmm... trips like that can really change a pony, you know? I’m sure she’ll be back before you know it, though,” Glass replied, followed by taking a sip of his coffee. “I myself like taking trips. Sometimes, I feel like I’ve been all over creation, and then I find something else new. You know?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know the feeling,” Cobalt replied. “I don’t travel much outside of contract work.”
“You should get out more,” the gray earth pony replied. “I know Sparkle has a bit of wanderlust herself.”
Cobalt set his drink down and glared at Glass. “Alright, who are you? I never mentioned anything about her name.”
“Cobalt, I’m surprised it’s taken you this long to realize that something was amiss.” She smirked. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to cause trouble. I just wanted to talk with my favorite little assassin.”
The illusions around them shattered, revealing that the two of them were, in fact, alone in the coffee shop. The unicorn - and Glass was now definitely a unicorn - smiled at Cobalt, who was hastily taking in the new surroundings. “Sorry about the drink, by the way.”
Cobalt looked down at his cup. Instead of coffee, his cup was filled with plain water. “What in the world?”
The mare waved his hoof, and the coffee shop vanished, leaving the two of them sitting at a table in a void of white. Then, the mare across from him flickered and was replaced by Death herself. "Hello, Cobalt," Death said. Her voice was soothing, laced with magic that kept Cobalt from panicking at her monstrous form and foul presence.
 "Death," Cobalt replied tersely. "Sparkle escaped you. I guess you came after me, then?"
 "Nothing of the sort. I merely wished to talk. Is that too much to ask?"
"You know, I thought that you'd be the kind of girl to get mad at somepony defying you," Cobalt replied.
 Death smiled, showing off her wickedly sharp teeth. "Oh, I do. I despise the sort of thing she was trying to do. Stealing souls from me will rather quickly land you in the infernal pits."
 "But her resurrecting herself?" Cobalt asked.
 Death's expression became more serious. "Do you want me to be mad at her for that?"
 Cobalt immediately regretted his words. "No no no! Please don't be mad at her!"
 The smile returned. "Then it's a good thing that I'm not, isn't it? After all, in the end, Death is certain," the dark goddess declared. "You can run all you want, but nopony can escape me. Especially not her. But, today is neither about her death nor yours."
 "What is it about, then?" Cobalt asked as he stared into the water cup.
"You."	 
"M-me?"
"Yes, you. Although, I admit, I have already seen everything I wanted to see. Everything's going as it should be. I'm curious, is there anything you want to ask me? I'll answer any one question of yours. Ask carefully."
Cobalt frowned. One question for the dark goddess? There were a million things Cobalt wanted to ask Death. But to ask just one thing? What should he ask? Finally, he settled on a question. "Death, what's your connection to the Dread Necroptica? You obviously know the demon inside."
Death looked surprised. "Really? That's your question? I was expecting you to ask something like who I actually am or something similar. Should have known better." Chuckling, the dark goddess answered, "You could say that I commissioned it. Back then, I was summoned by a group of necromancers to lay waste to a new country, so that my summoners' kingdom could take its riches for themselves. Instead, I forced them, along with some other dark mages of the time, to pool their collective knowledge together in six books. The seventh was my own creation, and, while still useful, was ultimately a honey-pot trap that would lead Sparkle to her temporary demise."
"What?"
"That's another question, Cobalt." The monstrosity laughed as she and the white void around Cobalt started to fade to black. "Everything is as it should be. Death is certain."
"Come back here, Death!" Cobalt screamed. "Tell me!"
As everything faded away, Death sang, "Everything is certainly fine~!"