//------------------------------// // 続 // Story: Everypony Lives // by Chinchillax //------------------------------// The stallion lay slumped in slumber at the foot of Princess Twilight. “Thoughts?” she asked. The dragon leaned his long neck over to the stallion, setting his head down right next to the pony’s body and watching him breathe. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, Twilight, but in his case… I think it would be okay if we let him go. It looks like he’s been in a lot of pain for a long time.” "I'd have to agree with Spike," added Discord. "Not everypony is meant to live forever." “No,” said Twilight. “I promised that I would never allow death to touch any of my little ponies ever again.” “Can’t we make an exception for him, though?” asked Spike. “Just this once?” “And what about the hundreds more just like him?” said Twilight. “Do you want to let them die too?” “A few hundreds out of billions. We compromise and help them on whatever other wish they would like, why not this one?” “No, Spike. I will not reintroduce that plague to Equestria. Ponies grieved too much over death and loved ones before the transition. And besides, I know if he managed to make some friends he would be fine.” “You don’t know that,” said Discord. She blinked, her eyes darting to him. “You may be fine with exploring the upper limits of immortality, Twilight. Perhaps most of Equestria is as well. But there’s a limit as their lifetimes approach infinity. And some may reach that limit sooner than others.” “You’re wrong, Discord. Whether they are sixty or six hundred, when ponies are struggling we help them! We don’t stand idly by being depressed about a problem that can be fixed. We fix the problem and continue!” The draconequus frowned. The tower stayed silent for several long moments. The only sounds different from the usual crystal echoes were the deep breaths coming from the unconscious stallion. Twilight sighed, staring down at the pony. “Discord, do you think he might like that second Equestria you’re terraforming?” Discord continued to frown. “Not the way he is now.” Twilight sighed, bringing up her hoof and massaging her muzzle. “Isn’t there some kind of compromise we can make for him?” asked Spike. “A compromise between life and death? Of course not, there is nothing in between.” “There can be,” said Discord. A yellow crystal flashed into Discord’s paw as he pulled the sleeping stallion into the air with his magic. In a haze of blue light the stallion slowly got younger… and younger, his cutie mark vanishing. Discord siphoned off every scrap of memory the stallion had into the crystal, leaving nothing behind. By the time he was done, a sleeping baby foal was all that remained. “The compromise between death and life: reincarnation.”