The ponies wandering the outskirts of the now clear Ponyville turned to look at the figures approaching from the Everfree Forest. Their first reaction upon seeing these ponies was relief and joy at the site of the group of friends who had saved them time and time again, and who had supposedly saved them now. These feelings were quickly replaced with anger and irritation, however, as they turned their eyes to Discord, the supposed cause of their recent suffering. Finally, they turned to the last figure...and were shocked to see a human boy standing in the land of Equestria.
The group hadn't managed to get much out of the boy. He had been drained considerably by the Plundervines before he could regain consciousness, and a ruined castle in a forest full of monsters was no place to interrogate anyone, let alone someone in that state. All they knew was that he came from another world. The only other thing he revealed was his name: Daniel Hayes. A peculiar name, Twilight thought, very unlike the names of ponies. Perhaps his world was far more distant than the other worlds she was familiar with.
Rainbow was, of course, rather suspicious of this newcomer. With what little information she had, she couldn't tell if Daniel was really as evil as his nightmare counterpart, Death. However, his encounter with the Plundervines gave her some startling insight. Given the duration of the attack, Daniel was being drained for quite some time, yet he still had more than enough power to effortlessly crush his captors once he had recovered from crossing dimensions. Even more troubling was that he seemed perfectly fine, like the drain on his power was insignificant to him. Come to think of it, the nature of his power had its own implications. Previously, the Plundervines seemed impervious to all but the restored power of the Tree of Harmony...and he just swatted them aside. And it was clear that the power he wielded, the power the vines sought, was far from harmonious in nature. While Daniel's moral standing was still in the air, it was clear that he was quite dangerous. If he was truly Death, then blood would certainly be shed.
Daniel, himself, was taking in the sights of this new world. The ponies had led him to a quaint rural village, the houses topped with straw roofs that somehow didn't clash with the more elaborate walls. At the other edge of town rose a crystal palace that gleamed in the sun, and shattered the quiet feeling of the town with its very presence. The sheer contrast of it hurt his eyes. Even worse, this palace seemed to be the tour's destination. Rather than look at the towering structure, Daniel instead looked down at the numerous pairs of pony eyes glued to him, filled with wonder, as he proceeded down the street with his escorts. Finally, some positive emotions, Daniel thought. Maybe I can get a fresh start here.
Suddenly, a dust cloud started to gather at the end of the road, and slowly got closer, revealing the form of a pony in front of it. She was a pale green unicorn, with a mane and tale of two different shades of white, and eyes of golden yellow, much like his hair. A picture of what looked like a harp from this distance adorned her flanks. Come to think of it, a lot of ponies have marks like that, Daniel thought. I wonder why. Only then did he look at his escorts' reactions. Discord seemed as clueless as he was, though the draconequus almost didn't show it. Clearly, he hadn't met this pony before either, or at least didn't know her well enough to recognize her. Pinkie, by contrast, had lit up, eyes and smile wide, having apparently recognized a friend. Twilight...had a hoof in her face. Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity's faces seemed to reflect her feelings. Fluttershy was starting to back a way. Oh dear God, Daniel suddenly realized. Who could this possibly be!?
Suddenly, the mare stopped just short of Daniel, an amazing feat considering the ponies surrounding him should have acted as a wall. "Ohmygosh, you're real!" She started blurting out. "A real live human! What's your name? I'm Lyra Heartstrings, human enthusiast. Know everything about 'em. Say, why don't you come over to my house and we can..." Her constant talking slowed to a crawl as she reached for Daniel's hands. She was...drooling.
"Nope." Daniel jumped upward, landing on the roof of a nearby house. He had seen that many of these ponies had wings, and he was so glad at this moment that that crazy green horse did not, as he looked down at a dazed and confused Lyra. He turned around to leave.
"Found ya!" Daniel tumbled off the building from the sheer shock, hitting his head on the ground. But this injury, rather minor to him, was not the reason for his newfound headache, as he tried to comprehend how a pony he had left behind on the ground ended up on that rooftop with him. Shaken by the encounter, he was now more than happy to head to the palace; anywhere to get away from Lyra.
"Sorry, sugarcube," Applejack apologized as she and her friends closed the gates to the Palace of Friendship. "We shoulda warned ya. Figured she'd do somethin' like that."
Daniel was going to respond, but then he saw something in the other room. Sitting by itself in the middle of this room was a mirror, set in a purple frame adorned with jewels, with a six-pointed star at the top, like the ones on Twilight's flank. "Say, why is that mirror just sitting there?" he asked, pointing.
"Oh, that? That's a magic mirror, a gateway to another dimension," Twilight answered. "That goes to a world that's very special to me."
"I see. Just like my world," Daniel replied. When Twilight looked at him quizzically, he continued, "My world was connected to three others like this. Heck, it was more like four parts of the same world."
"Interesting," Twilight's reply had a hint of curiosity in it. Her friends assumed this one comment would lead to a long session of extradimensional research, likely involving regular interrogation sessions asking their new guest about his world. They knew their friend well.
"Well, if you don't need me anymore, I'll be off," Discord suddenly remarked before poofing out of existence. The ponies kind of wondered why he had stuck around as long as he did. Perhaps he was also curious about the new arrival.
"So that guy was chaos incarnate," Daniel mentioned to himself. "Seems like a real piece of work."
At this point, Rainbow decided it was best to tell Twilight about her fears. She directed the purple alicorn into a nearby room, the proceeded to tell her everything about her dream the night before, about how the boy in the next room would supposedly destroy Equestria. Twilight seemed to take the information in stride. Normally, she would be more panicked, but perhaps the fact that this all came from a dream calmed her down. It could all be a coincidence after all.
Finally, she spoke. "We should bring him before Celestia and Luna. Either way, they need to know about this. And Luna might be able to tell you more about your dream."
"What if decides to just turn around and say, 'Hey, I was evil the whole time!' the moment we take him to our leaders?" Rainbow asked. She wasn't going to take chances with someone that dangerous.
"There's one of him, and there'll be eight of us, plus all the guards in the castle," Twilight pointed out.
"They don't count," Rainbow said bluntly, a flat expression covering her face.
"Even so, he can't beat all of us," Twilight replied.
The train ride seemed like it would be much more eventful than usual. As in Ponyville, all the ponies stared in amazement at Daniel. Twilight found this kind of funny, considering her past experiences with crowds. Alicorn princess coming through? Eh, no big deal. Human walking by? Stop everything. She couldn't help but giggle a little at the simple contrast of it. Even so, she was fine with falling under the radar. Unless she had something especially important to do, she was happy to live her life as she always had. As Princess of Friendship, she was happy her role had not changed her relationship with her friends.
In reality, not much was different about the short ride to Canterlot. Daniel got a number of stares, but that was it. Except...Daniel himself seemed to be thinking rather deeply about something. Whatever it was, it was troubling him, and he soon went out to the caboose for air. Rainbow, impatient and wanting answers, followed him, and a worried Twilight followed her. They exited the train car, and stepped into a dark red room, with a bed in the back. An image of buffalo flashed through Rainbow's mind. To the left, Daniel was standing with his face sticking out an open window. Nopony else was in the room.
"Okay, spill it. Why are you here?" Rainbow asked.
"Don't know," Daniel replied, turning to face the cyan mare. "Don't even know how I got here." He could see the distrust and disdain that Rainbow was bottling up in her eyes. And there it is, he thought.
"Oh, cut the act!" Rainbow snapped, causing Daniel to jump and bump his head on the window frame. "I know why you're here, Death!"
"Rainbow!" Twilight snapped.
Daniel, on the other hand, was at a loss for words. Death. She had called him Death. Just like the people of his world called him... Just like his father had called him. With that one word, the rainbow pegasus showed that she knew far too much about him. Not that there was anything wrong with that, just... The other ponies had no idea who he was. Of course they didn't; he had only just arrived in Equestria. So why did she?
"Alright, let me offer you a deal," he asserted, a cocky smile spreading over his face. Whatever the answer to this mystery, it thoroughly intrigued him. "You tell me what you know about me, and I'll fill in the blanks."
"You don't have a problem with me being here?" Twilight asked, feeling cut out of the conversation.
"Hey, you followed your friend here. I'm assuming she told you what she knows." Twilight nodded in response.
Daniel leaned back and closed his eyes as Rainbow recounted her nightmare to him. When she had finished, he reopened his eyes, a mix of determination and puzzlement swirling behind them. "Geez, the 'Death' part's right, but that guy's just...out there," he replied. "If that's your first impression of me, then I really do need to tell you my story."
Daniel's tale was somehow even more implausible than what they had all already been through. He told a story about how the leaders of his world's four dimensions planned to fuse their planes together with a tower, and how the monster that sprung from the result killed those leaders and subjugated the land. He told them of how he was hated for the dark power he was born with, and how he used that power to defeat the monster...supposedly at the cost of his own life.
"...except instead of going to Paradise, I ended up here somehow," he finished. "That's the gist of it." Twilight was skeptical. Parts of his story seemed vague, like he was leaving the most important part out.
"Okay, so you have dark powers," Rainbow started. "Why does that make you Death?"
Daniel's expression turned somber. "My powers aren't fully developed, but...they can do more than just kill," he replied.
"Wait. Do you mean...necromancy?" Twilight asked.
"Can't be certain right now, but something along those lines. See, Death isn't just some title," Daniel explained. "It's who I was born to be." He straightened up, and cast the two ponies a look of deathly seriousness.
"You are looking at the genuine Grim Reaper."
Canterlot was far different from Ponyville. All the buildings were regal and elegant, making the giant castle in the distance seem much more at home here than the Palace of Friendship was in its hometown. It would have all seemed normal if the whole city wasn't built into the side of a mountain. On the other hand, the ponies here were far different than those in Ponyville. They all seemed to be wearing frilly outfits that obviously cost a pretty penny, as if to mimic the regal state of the buildings around them. They shot looks of disdain not just at him, but at the whole group, even at the alicorn princess leading them. Make no doubt about it, Canterlot was the city of the one percent.
I already hate this place, Daniel thought, rolling his eyes as he approached the castle with the ponies.
"I'm afraid I won't be able to make the meeting," Rarity said suddenly. "I've got to check up mon the boutique while I'm here." With that, she left.
One down, five to go.
The group soon approached the castle gates. Before they could enter the large doors, a couple of armored stallions, a gray pegasus and a white unicorn, barred their path. "State your business, one of the guards barked, giving Daniel the evil eye.
Of of course, Daniel thought. What's better than people treating you like crap? People who get PAID to treat you like crap! On closer inspection, however, he could feel how the guards' strength paled in comparison not just to his...but to all the other ponies'. Even Fluttershy was just the tiniest bit stronger than these armed guards. Daniel could blow on them and they'd pass out.
Twilight explained the situation to the guards, and they were all let through. She then led Daniel to the throne room, where a tall white alicorn mare stood waiting for them. Her mane and tail shimmered with hues of blue, green, and pink, and seemed to move with magic energy. Her purple eyes showed, despite her serious expression, that she was far kinder than the rich snobs in the city below.
"I have heard about you, Daniel Hayes," she greeted him, before letting her expression soften into a smile. "I am Celestia, the ruler of this land, along with my sister."
"Speaking of Luna, where is she?" Twilight asked. "Rainbow has some questions about a nightmare she had. Frankly, so do I."
"Unfortunately, my sister is sleeping right now," Celestia replied. "Your queries will have to wait. In the meantime, perhaps I could speak to you and Daniel in private?" Daniel shrugged, as if to say, "Sure, why not?"
"Then what are we supposed to do?" Rainbow asked, her patience at an end.
"Simmer down, sugarcube," Applejack answered. "If we hafta wait, we hafta wait. Let's go ckeck on Rarity, 'kay?" Rainbow huffed, but left the castle with the others.
Celestia guided Daniel and Twilight into a vacant room, then asked her guards to leave. The room was simple, with a black and white tile floor. The walls were a bland white, with yellow panels near the floor. At the other end was a balcony, with a stunning view of Equestria.
"Now, if you would, could you please tell me who you are?" Celestia requested.
Daniel recounted his story for the princess of the sun, but as he finished, he noticed something in the corner of the room: a tree, with a shard of glass hanging from it. Curiosity got the better of him, and he walked toward the tree. Celestia almost jumped.
"So, uh, why's there glass hanging here?" he asked.
"That..." Celestia's mood turned somber. "That is what's left of a world that was very special to me. Even if I could go back, there is nothing there for me now."
"So this is another one of those dimensional mirrors," Daniel remarked, reaching for the shard. "Fascinating."
The moment he touched it, all hell broke loose.
His body started to glow, and the wind started whipping violently around him. The light steadily got brighter, and the wind got steadily more turbulent. The process was just slow enough...that Daniel was able to realize, dread rising up within him, what exactly was going on.
"Daniel! What is this?" Twilight shouted, coming up next to him, perhaps hoping to pull the boy away from whatever he had caused.
"No! Stay back!" Daniel warned.
Too late. In a final flash of light, the two were gone, leaving Celestia alone in the room.