//------------------------------// // 25: Death Is Here // Story: My Little Pony: The Seal of Death // by Azrael the alicorn //------------------------------// When Azrael opened his eyes he expected to be once again in the Dusk of Souls. Instead, he found himself lying on something which shone with light. He got up, noticing that all around him there was neither darkness nor light, but something that he couldn’t quite comprehend. He focused then on where his hooves stood and his mouth opened in a gasp when he noticed that under him there was the complete Existence! He could have spent all eternity watching it and he would have seen barely a quarter of it. The angel of death wondered what this could mean… and somepony answered his question. “That is the manifestation of how I feel the Existence. Or at least a way for us to meet on a solid ground.” Azrael recognized that voice, and turned his attention to the being in front of him. “Greetings, Death,” he said, trying to force his voice to be strong instead of sounding meek and cowardly. “Hello, Azrael,” responded the towering alicorn, with an enigmatic tone. Time seemed to slow down as angel and abstract stared at each other. “I’ve made a terrible mistake, Death,” said Azrael in the end. He felt like a worm and he knew that he was right to feel so. “I’ve made a great mistake too, Azrael,” replied the pale alicorn, his horn started to shine sinisterly. “But I’m here to solve it. As I should have a long time ago.” Despite being prepared for any punishment Azrael couldn’t help but feel his heart (or maybe soul?) freeze in fear. He recalled all the stories he had read about heroes who proclaimed not to fear death. He doubted that they would have said so in front of the Grim Reaper himself. * The eyes of everypony stared at the pale alicorn in front of them, his sole presence releasing an aura of unmatched power. Twilight could feel that in front of such power they were nothing more than ashes in the wind. Celestia and Luna exchanged a glance, and gave an almost imperceptible nod. They were both ready to give their lives to Death to make sure than Twilight and Cadence, who weren’t natural born alicorns, would not become victims of the revenge of the Grim Reaper. Silence ruled the land with its weightless presence for a long time, interrupted only by the heartbeats of everyone, waiting with fear for what Death would have said… or done. Princess Luna stared at the pale alicorn and confirmed what she saw in Azrael’s dream, with him being tall, strong, and yet not having an exaggerated form. The pale alicorn, on the other hand, seemed to stare at the large army before him without hinting at what he was thinking, be that because of the mask he wore and the calmness in his eyes. Then, when everypony was thinking that this would have dragged on forever, he spoke. “Greetings, princesses,” he said with his charismatic voice, giving a small bow in front of them. Hearing that voice made most of the females blush and Rarity almost fainted. “Wait a second…” said Pinkie Pie, out of loud, “Death is a him?!” At that exclamation Death seemed to look like he had frowned. “Pinkie!” shouted Twilight. “Now is not the time!” She then turned to the pale alicorn and made to try to apologize for the outburst of her friend, but Death just snickered. “You don’t have to worry, my little pony. This is not the first time someone has mistaken me for a she, nor it shall be the last,” the Grim Reaper said. He then noticed how everypony was looking at him as if he was ready to take their souls and added, “You have nothing to fear from me. I don’t mean to harm you.” “Really? We thought…” muttered Celestia. “That I was angry at you? No, I am not. I thought that bringing you back made this pretty clear,” he said, raising a eyebrow in amusement. “That was you? We thought—“ Luna made to say, while looking where Azrael had disappeared. “What?” Death asked, curious. “Nothing,” she said, looking sad, just like the Mane Six. Celestia changed the argument. “We thought that you would been furious to us, the alicorns, for what our ancestors have done to you.” “What your ancestors have done is part of the past. Your kin sadly suffered a great fall because of their arrogance, but I knew that from the ashes of their mistakes, new alicorns would born. Smart, strong, and yet kind and humble, beings worthy to be called sovereign,” Death said, his words making Twilight, Celestia, and Luna blush as if they were school-fillies. “Though,” Death suddenly said sounding more serious, making the ruler of Equestria heart stop for a second. “There is something I should tell you.” Celestia felt something weird and looked at her friends. Everypony and everything seemed to have frozen, as if time itself had decided to stop. Death’s doing, without a doubt. When she turned her attention back to the pale alicorn she noticed he had moved closer to her. “What is it?” Celestia said, trying to not sound nervous. “There are two things that we have to talk about. First one: turning Twilight into a princess and an alicorn. I’m not a fan of turning ponies into alicorns unless is totally necessary. It’s not that I think Twilight doesn’t deserve the title or the new form; she has done a lot after all, especially these days.” “Then what is the problem?” she asked, but then she realized what was wrong. “It’s because it happened too soon, isn’t it?” “Most likely.” “Yes, you’re right,” she admitted. “Probably I let my pride towards Twilight’s skills make me think that she was already prepared to assume the role. But you must believe me, Death, that I would have never turned Twilight into an alicorn if that meant to make her immortal. I really care for her, but I will never do such cruel thing as separate her from her friends.” Death nodded. “I know that you really mean that.” “What is the second thing you wanted to talk me about?” “Discord’s reformation.” “I should have seen that one coming,” she commented, sighing in comedic relief. “Indeed. Just like with Twilight I can see your intentions behind wanting to turn the very spirit of chaos into a powerful ally.” “But?” “But turning the very god of disharmony into the harmony side could lead to a lot of complications in the near future. You have compromised the Balance, Celestia. I’m surprised that there aren’t been consequences already, but they will come. You can count on it.” “I’m sorry,” she said, frowning at the thought that her, the one being which tried to keep the cosmic balance in place, had done something like this. Suddenly she felt something on her shoulder and she saw Death putting his hoof on it, as if comforting her. It felt so strange to her to be this close to Death. She felt her body shiver in cold but, at the same time, she felt her soul get warmer. And being so close to Death made her blush intensely. “I know that you didn’t have bad intentions, Celestia. Many people have done far worst things that you did for a greater good. I just want to warn you to be careful and ponder more on your choices in the future,” he said, his voice comprehensive and kind. “I don’t blame you for your mistakes. The Balance can be very complicated; you just did what you could to maintain it. And I have to say, except for those two things, you did a good work.” With that said Death moved back where he was before and time began to flow as it should. It didn’t seem that anypony had noticed the whole spell. “Now let’s deal with another matter,” the pale alicorn said, and turned to where Chrysalis stood. But she wasn’t there, nor any of the changelings. Apparently they had took advantage of Death’s arrival to fly away or even teleport their army away. But if the queen of the changelings thought that it was so easy to escape Death, she got herself a bad surprise. The Grim Reaper horn lighted and Chrysalis appeared in front of him, sitting down as if she was a filly who was about to get scolded. Death moved closer and held his hoof ahead. “The amulet,” he said, menacingly. He didn’t have to said that twice; the changelings queen gave away the relic. Apparently she knew better than show arrogance in front of the towering alicorn. Death grabbed the alicorn amulet with his magic. “You helped Sombra to do a lot of bad things, not to mention your plan about the Canterlot Wedding,” he said, making the queen shiver in fear. “But in the end your assistance was of a great help in defeating Sombra’s army. And I know what your past is like. So I will spare you a similar fate to the one of your former ally.” With that said he gave the Amulet of the Alicorn back at her. “Take. I have removed all of the negativity in it so you can use it to feed your people so they don’t have to suffer the hunger.” “Oh, thank—“ she made to say, but Death interrupted her. “But be sure to not try to take advantage of it to take over anything. Because in that case you will receive my visit. And it’s not going to be a friendly one,” he added, his tone not admitting replies. And so she did. She grabbed the Amulet and, after giving a quick nod, she flew away. Not everypony thought it was right for the changeling queen to keep the Amulet, but they knew that Chrysalis wouldn’t be so foolish so as to defy the will of the pale alicorn. “Now that this story is done, I have two things left to give you,” he said, opening his large wings. “I think I will start with the right one.” He closed his right wing, and again time seemed to freeze, even if this time it was more of a metaphor than a spell, as everypony stared at the pony who seemed to appear out of thin air. * Azrael held his breath, wondering what kind of punishment an abstract could do. The last thing he expected was Death doing nothing more than opening a magic window and making him look at it. Not having other options available, the angel of death obeyed his master and father figure and looked at what was going on in it. A earth pony was galloping as best as she could on a mountain, carrying something in her backpack. The reason behind her actions could be seen far away: the Soul Eater. The titan was trying to eat a group of alicorns who were trying to take him down with all they got, wasting a good amount of energy. She didn’t turn back to watch the one-sided battle, continuing to run and climb in her search of an entrance in the caves. There, she hoped, would have found a shelter and an hideout from the beast. Her thoughts were interrupted when suddenly a grim silence dropped behind her. She turned around and saw with terror that Soul Eater was staring at her, his unnatural eyes staring at the very soul he wanted to eat. The alicorns were nowhere to be found; maybe dead, perhaps having retreated from the unstoppable monster. Panic boiled her blood as she turned around and rushed to try and get as far as possible in a futile attempt to escape the maw of the Soul Eater. The beast covered the distance between them in a matter of seconds, crashing against the mountains reducing most of the into rubble. The red earth pony felt the world turn upside down as her body flew, slamming against the hard ground, almost knocking her unconscious. But then she noticed that she had lost her backpack and now was rolling down towards a cliff. Shaking off the pain, she darted towards it and leaped forward in an attempt to grab it. She succeeded, but she found herself dangling from the cliff… and the Soul Eater was there, ready to eat her. Facing what seemed like her inevitable demise she embraced herself and her backpack, in a probable pointless attempt to protect it But the colossal worm never devoured her. She heard a loud explosion and a roar growing more and more weak. She opened her eyes and saw the Soul Eater collapsing to the ground, defeated. A monster that for days brought destruction to every corner of the country and that not even the combined effort of god-like beings seemed to stop now lied defeater and lifeless. But who could be that powerful, she asked to herself. Suddenly she felt herself being picked up by magic and brought away from the cliff, landing on the still standing side of the mountains, finding herself face to face with the tallest alicorn she had ever seen. “Are you alright?” he asked, staring at her with interest. She nodded quickly. “Who or what are you?” she asked, fearfully. “I am Death,” he said. Those three words sent a shiver down her spine as questions filled her mind, but she lacked the courage the ask them. “You don’t have to worry about the Soul Eater anymore,” he said, and made to leave. “Wait,” she called, finally finding the bravery to speak, making the pale alicorn stare her with a glint of confusion. She grabbed the backpack and open it, revealing a baby pony who couldn’t older than few weeks. The little one didn’t looked very alive. “Please,” she pleaded, “you have to save him!” Death looked at the newborn with attention. It didn’t take long for him to conclude the diagnosis. “There is nothing that I can do.” “But you are Death!” she replied, desperate. “You have the power to save him!” “It’s not that simple. He’s so close to the Beyond that bringing him back would be defying the order of the Balance. My intervention against the Soul Eater was necessary; this one, sadly, is not,” he explained, trying to keep his tone neutral, but the pony could feel regret and sadness in his voice. “I’m sorry, but you have to accept this loss and move on. It is the only way to truly leave.” he added, trying to use some wise pearls to comfort the pony, knowing much too well that no words could fill the hole inside of her. “Farewell.” “Wait!” she screamed, making the pale alicorn turn to her. The pony seemed to have a seconds of doubt, but she ignored them and, summoning all of her bravery, and stated, “Take me in his place.” Death just stared at her, “You… you will give your life… for his?” he asked, as if he had trouble believing what she had just said. The pony just nodded. Death seemed taken aback from the small pony’s valor and had to ponder well on what to do. Sighing, he knew it would be unfair to ignore her act of courage. “In that case I guess there is a way to save him,” he admitted, but then added, “But once the ritual will be complete he will turn into an alicorn and thus he may never reach you or your families in the beyond. You may never meet again.” “It doesn’t matter as long as he lives,” she said and, upon seeing the doubts of the pale alicorn added, with pleading tone, “Please… it is not fair for him to die like this.” Death stared at her intensely, but then, noticing of sure she was of her choice and how strong her love was, nodded. “Then so be it” he said, summoning a gigantic scythe. “Fear not… it is going to be quick and painless.” But the earth pony didn’t show that much of fear. She hugged her baby softly and kissed him on the forehead while tears fell down her eyes, which she wiped off. “I’m ready” she said. When her soul left her body, her smile was heartwarming. * Azrael was so taken over by that images that he didn’t realized there were tears in his eyes. “So… that was how I came to be,” he said, incapable of finding better words. “Indeed. Your mother was one if not the bravest being I have ever known. Actually, the ponies in those times were truly amazing creatures. They had no wings, no magic, nor the might of an alicorn, and yet they didn’t let those limitations to stop them. Unfortunately their progress was stopped by the Alicorns. Once a noble kin, after the disaster with the Soul Eater, something had poisoned their minds, turning them into arrogant beings who felt the need to rule others. For my limited time on the earth I’ve tried to make them change their ways, but I knew that once I would have left they would return to their egotistical ways. Not all of them were evil, though; there were those who understood that enslaving the ponies was an horrible action. This would have led to a war between two factions, a conflict between beings so powerful would have lead to the destruction of the world, so I had no other choice than depowering them and taking away their immortality,” Death explained. “Alright, but why did you leave me at the orphanage just to then pick me up again some years after? And why didn’t you wanted to reveal your plan?” “Because I didn’t think I was fit to take care of you. Think about it: me, Death, the Grim Reaper itself, taking care of such young life? It didn’t feel right for me. I left you in the orphanage because I hoped that sooner or later someone would adopt you and then I would teach you how to control that unique power of yours. But time passed and I felt your pain and loneliness—so I had no other choice than be both a father figure and teacher. The alicorns didn’t like that so I tried to keep you less involved with our discussion, so that maybe they would not see you as an agent of mine. And I didn’t wanted that you to get too attached to me either, because I didn’t wanted to make you feel abandoned again.” “Death,” Azrael muttered as he heard the tone of the pale alicorn getting more and more sad. “In the end you had grown on me, becoming like the son I never had. So you can imagine how hard it was for me to have so many secrets and plotting behind your back. But time was running short, and I couldn’t stay on the earth any longer, so I had to make choices of which I’m not proud of, forcing you to do something that you have regretted for so long.” “I know. Life told me about your plan. In the end your plan was necessary to keep the Balance and create a force of good which would have protected the weak from the forces of evil. You have done nothing wrong.” “Yes I have, because I have created the very being who caused your suffering.” “What are you talking about?” Azrael asked. Then he started to unite the dots. “You mean that the one who has created the Soul Eater and brought back Sombra are the same being?” Death nodded. “He calls himself the Lich King. I created him long ago, out of nothing more than curiosity. When he showed to be a creature capable of thinking, I tried to teach him what I have taught yo. But the more he learned about the Livings, the more he despised them. He used my teaching for his own ends. He used necromancy and alchemy to create the Soul Eater, and when the alicorns tried to open a passage to the other world, they gave him the chance to test his creation. Once I managed to stop that wretched monster, I went down in his own dimension, where I saw that he had already created more of those abominations. Filled with rage I destroyed those unholy monsters and confronted their maker, trying to make him see the suffering he had caused—but he didn’t listen. He said that he would never stop until Life and the Existence itself would cease to exist, so I had no other choice than banish him in his own world.” Azrael flinched at what Death had just told him. A being so merciless, so full of hate towards the living to create monsters like the Soul Eater? An entire army of them? He wondered why he didn’t destroyed him. “You couldn’t imagine he would become such a treat,” the angel of death said. “No… but I did leave him a chance to pick Sombra’s soul.” Azrael made to reply, to ask him why he would do such a thing, but he stopped thinking about what his master had just told him. His mind put all the lines in their place. “You knew of his plans!” Death just nodded. “Why? Why did you let all of this happen?” “For a lot of reasons. The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony need it to be tested to their limits and find out about the true potential of their power. There are forces coming, Azrael, forces of great power that will put each one of them in front of their opposites and against their own friends. Because the Seal needed it to be broken; because doing so you would meet the ones who would be capable to show you the power of friendship, helping you to face your fears, and to overcome the wounds of the past.” Death added, “And you don’t have to worry for the fallen ones. After you destroyed the Seal everypony was back alive. I would never let innocents be sacrificed for my plans to succeed.” Azrael remained silent while absorbing the explanation of his master. He already knew how much Death was capable of planning ahead. He shouldn’t be that surprised about it after what he found out in the Dusk of Souls… and because he never had beaten Death in a chess game. And yet he couldn’t help but be in awe by the intelligence of his master, which seemed to be near-omnipotent. “Well, I guess then everything is alright. Everything has gone according to your will,” said the angel of death, not knowing well what other say. “It should be, but I’m not satisfied,” said the Grim Reaper, his tone somber. “Why?” “Because, as Life told you, I don’t like to use ponies like pawn. They have the right to live their own life, after all. And how I’ve manipulated your emotions and become the cause you lost your parents… that makes me feel even worst.” “You don’t have to feel so bad,” protested Azrael. “I have to. I taken upon myself the responsibility to look after you and show the way to control your amazing powers. And when the Balance called I had a fight inside my mind between my duty towards the Balance and the duty of being a good father. And as you know I let the Balance win. And that led to you passing eons suffering for mistakes that could have been avoided if I was a better father. I felt your torment for every single second for every single day until Sombra’s arrival. I shouldn’t have made you go through that,” said Death, his mask couldn’t hide his expression of shame and remorse. “For all that… I’m sorry.” “Death—“ Azrael tried to talk, but Death interrupted him. “If you want to accept my apology, I need you to say it with sincerity. I will understand if you don’t,” he said while bowing his head in sign of submission. The angel of death stared at the abstract of death with bewilderment. The most powerful being he had ever known was asking his forgiveness like the most humble of the beings… and he couldn’t accept it. “We live our lives as best as we could,” said Azrael. “A life without errors or hard choices sounds heavenly, but it’s through errors that we can understand our mistakes and grew, improving ourselves.” “One of the very first lessons I told you,” said Death, raising his head. “Indeed it was,” replied Azrael, his eyes started to tear up, but this time not for sadness, but for happiness. “Then I would say to try this again.” With that said, Death got closer to him. “Nice to meet you again, son.” “Greetings… father,” said Azrael, before rushing to the taller alicorn and hugging him. Death seemed embarrassed by that, but he returned the act of affection. After a while the two detached. Azrael wiped his tears. “Now what is going to happen to me?” “That is yours too to decide. You can join your parents in the Dusk of the Souls, but now that you know of that place have found out with your true potential, you don’t need to pass away to have a chance to meet them, so…” suggested Death with a humorous tone while opening a passage. “I think it’s time for you to enjoy the friendship you have just found.” Azrael couldn’t do much more than smile. * The Mane Six and Princess Celestia and Luna couldn’t believe it. Azrael stood there, less than 10 meters away from them, in one piece and with a warm smile on his face. “Hi, girls,” he said. The Mane Six made to rush at the angel of death to hug him, but a blue blur surpassed them and beat them to the goal. If it wasn’t for his fast reflexes Azrael would have fallen to the ground by the sudden embrace of the princess of the night. While he was surprised by her act of affection this time the angel of death returned the hug. “Don’t you dare do that again,” she whispered in his ear, her words sweet and soft. “I won’t… I promise you, on my very soul, that I will never leave you again” promised the angel of death, his voice kind and caring. The two broke the embrace to stare each other in the eyes, a smile gracing their features. The vast crowd smiled too at the scene, especially Celestia, who was so happy and proud of her sister. She had managed to unleash her true power and now she had find somepony who might be her special pony. But the heartwarming moment got ruined. “Now kiss!” said a voice, suddenly. “That voice…” said Rainbow Dash. “Is he…” made to ask, Fluttershy, happy. “Sadly yes, it is,” confirmed Death, frowning in annoyance. The two alicorns looked around, confused. Then after a flash of light Luna and Azrael founded themselves wearing clothes made for a wedding. “Hooray for the happy couple!” Discord shouted, while a crowd made of his clones clapped enthusiastically. “DISCORD!” shouted both Luna and Azrael, enraged. “What is it? Do you want to make a loving speech?” asked the spirit of chaos, teasingly. “We are not in love!” stated Princess Luna. “Agreed. Falling in love in such short time is nonsense!” added Azrael, looking no less furious while he and Luna ripped off their clothes. “And they say that while getting rid of their clothings,” commented Discord, making the two alicorns blush at that. “This… doesn’t mean anything,” Luna tried to say, fighting to control the red on her face, having as much success as Azrael. The princess of the night couldn’t help but frown at what Cadence would have said if she heard of their embrace. She could already see the smug smile of her niece as if to tell her told you so. “Ah, can you believe it people? They don’t think love at first sight is real. Twilight, give me an hand here,” asked the draconequus. “Why me?” asked the purple alicorn, confused. “Oh well, I thought that because in that famous book made by Cadence you were so in love with—” made to say the draconequus, getting abruptly interrupted by a raging princess. “Don’t you dare, Discord,” she said, her voice firm and her eyes glaring at the spirit of chaos as if she would kill him. “Don’t. You. Even. DARE.” The tone and her death glare seemingly convinced Discord to not insist on that matter, but he told himself to keep the picture he had taken of the hug of Azrael and Luna and show it to Cadence... with the right adjustments. He would also have to mention Celestia blushing at Death… good material for her fanfictions. “Anyway, where have you been, Discord?” asked Fluttershy, the only one of her friends to notice the disappearance of the spirit of chaos. “Yeah, where have ended up to? You missed the whole fight and how awesome we have been!” pointed out Rainbow Dash. “Well, that’s a long story. One I would prefer to forget. All that you need to know is that I couldn’t be here without the help of my new best buddy here,” said Discord while putting his arm behind the pale alicorn neck. Death didn’t seem to enjoy this one bit, glaring at Discord before putting his arm off him. “Don’t touch me,” said Death in a cold tone. Discord just grumbled in annoyance for the disdain that the Grim Reaper reserved to him. Yet he couldn’t help but wonder why he saved him from the Lich King. At that question his mind went back some minutes ago… * Death advanced slowly towards the Lich King, stopping right beside Discord. The draconequus was impressed by the size of the pale alicorn: he was as tall as he was plus some inches more! He shivered when the Grim Reaper turned his eyes on him, giving him an enigmatic look, before turning his attention back to his creation. “Lich,” said Death, his tone hard to decipher. “Death”, replied the undead lord. His voice sounded like a mix between hate, respect and fear. “Did you came here to save this thing?” asked while nodding towards Discord. “Yes, that… and to talk to you.” “Let me guess… is about what I’ve done.” “He’s really good at guessing stuff,” commented the draconequus. “Quiet” hissed Death. He turned to face the King. “Indeed it is.” “Then you can spare your breath, Death, and leave.” “I hoped that time would have helped you get through that hatred.” “Then you are an idiot!” blurted out Lich. “But then again that should not surprise me, because you already proved how naïve you can be when those pathetic creatures are involved!” “I have already explained to you how much strength these beings that you despise so much have. Why can’t you just open your eyes for once,” replied the Grim Reaper, his voice sounding… melancholic. “Because I saw what they are: petty beings who acts for they own good.” “No, you just see a part of what they are. Yes, they are imperfect beings, but that’s what makes them perfect.” “You speak nonsense.” “No I’m not. It’s the way that the Balance work. Good calls evil and evil calls good, just like death calls life and life calls death, or, again, as chaos calls order and order calls chaos. They are the opposite of each other and yet they are both necessary to make everything work. Everything is linked to each other. And I think that the Livings incarnate the Balance at their best/worst because of how varied their nature can be. There must always be opposites, but not always such opposites must be enemies. Nothing is eternal and, at the same time, everything can last forever.” The Lich King just stared at Death, irritated by his speech. “This is not logical. Every single thing you just said is not logical. What is certain is that everything that lives dies, so why is there a point to all of this life… this… thing that you call Balance to exist in the first place!” “To live and learn, Lich King. Everypony has the right to live their lives. Sometimes they can do a lot of bad things, but other times they can do good. And a life well lived, surrounded by friends and family, is that. And death, as many poets and philosophers said, is just the beginning. A new start of something greater, where even those poor unfortunate souls who didn’t had the chance to have an happy life can find peace.” “Enough!” shouted the undead lord, “All these words are an insult to the both of us. Go, keep doing your pointless work for that idiotic Balance! But know this, pale alicorn: As long life will exist I will be here. I will never stop trying to end this FARCE. I am the opposite of life itself: I AM THE LICH KING! I will always be a thorn to Existence side!” The rant concluded, the Lich teleported away. Death stood still for some second, lowering his head as if something was troubling him. “Well, that was sure something, right, Death?” commented Discord. “Kids this days! Always thinking to be better than their—” He noticed the glare that the Grim Reaper was giving him; a silent invitation for him to keep his mouth shut. The alicorn sighed. “We have wasted enough time here,” said Death, getting up without showing any trace of sadness left. “Should we get moving? Or maybe you prefer stay here?” he asked. Discord couldn’t understand if he was being sarcastic or what, but he knew what himself wanted to do. “No thanks. I prefer places which are more… alive.” And with that said he and the pale alicorn disappeared like a mirage from that place. * Discord couldn’t help but wonder why Death hadn’t turned that undead monster into dust. Or why he looked so sad when Lich refused to listen to him. Before he could get more questions out of what he had witnessed Fluttershy hugged him, happy that he was alright. “Well, I guess that is all,” said Death, his voice neutral. “Do you really have to leave?” asked Azrael, sad to see his father figure leave. “You know that I have to. I can’t stay that long on this plane of existence unless there is a threat to the balance,” Death said. Then he put his hooves over his shoulder and added, “But you can be sure that whenever you will need my presence, I will be there. But I do believe that in one way or another you will be in good company.” He motioned to Luna and the Mane Six. Azrael just smiled and nodded. Before Death could take more than five steps Celestia called him out, “Wait, Death!” The pale alicorn stopped and turned around. “I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for what our kin has done to you… and for how much we disrespected your name,” she said, her voice sincere. “In the name of all us alicorns I beg your pardon,” she said, bowing. “Like I’ve said before, you don’t have to be so harsh on yourself. The Livings will always fear what is beyond their control and what lies beyond their normal world. It is something that I’ve come to accept a long time ago. After all,” he said with an ironic tone, “Who would ever call themselves a friend with Death?” The question wasn’t really expecting an answer. And yet… “I do,” said a meek but yet strong voice, which belonged to nopony else but Fluttershy. The small pegasus flew near the towering alicorn while he stared at her with perplexity. The little pony at first seemed afraid, but then she showed an honest smile and hugged the neck of the Grim Reaper. “What the...” muttered Death, surprised. Soon after her all the other members of the Mane Six (plus Spike) joined their not-so-shy friend, embracing the pale alicorn, while Celestia, Luna and Azrael watched with the rest of the army the good nature of the Bearers of Harmony. Discord tried to join it too, but a scythe appeared on his way, another silent warning for him to not get near. Death stared at the little ponies who were embracing him. Sure, it wasn’t the first time he got hugged, Azrael had just done that recently, but this was different. Azrael, after all, was his adoptive son and they got to know each other over the years. But this ponies? They knew him by few minutes and they didn’t let fear made them forget that he had helped them to save the world and were more than ready to have him as a friend. For the first time in a very long time, Death found himself speechless. Indeed, the power of friendship may not be capable to wipe away a galaxy with a thought, but after all, not all the great powers of creation need to destroy to be great. “Thank you, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Spike, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle,” Death said in the end, his tone kind, before fading away.