Twilight Sparkle was more than a little nervous; she was terrified. She had heard stories of Death, but they did not prepare her for actually seeing him. This is very, very bad, she thought to herself. Death never brings good news.
Death stood in front of her, just a few feet away. He was motionless. He said nothing and he did nothing. He just started at her, with his unblinking red eyes.
“Am I dead?” Twilight asked. “Is that what's going on?”
Death remained utterly expressionless. “Does this look like the land of the dead to you?”
Twilight looked around. Everything was frozen in time, but she was still unquestionably in the throne room of Canterlot Castle. The color had been removed from the world and replaced with shades of gray, but the world was still recognizable. Nightmare Star was still there, on the verge of destroying the city. This was clearly not Tartarus.
“Well, no, it doesn't. But I don't understand. When I hit that building back there I broke my wing, and now it's whole again. My injuries are gone too. How is that possible?”
“You misjudge me,” Death replied, shaking his head. “I am not here to hurt you, Twilight. In fact, I have come to do you a favor – to present you with a choice. When I give you this choice, I want you to be at your very best. I do not want it said that I took advantage of you when you were at your lowest ebb. Therefore, your wing has been healed, your injuries recovered, and you are at full strength. Is this not true?”
“Yes, it's true,” Twilight admitted. “But you're death. You only kill ponies. You can't heal them.”
“How little you know of me. Clearly your education has been lacking. Did you not know that I can appear as an angel of light?”
“I find that hard to believe,” Twilight replied. She hesitated. The alicorn hated talking to Death, but she didn't see any alternatives. Death was clearly not going to let her go until he had accomplished his mission – whatever it was. “So, um, why are you doing this? What favor are you going to do for me? And why would you, of all ponies, want to do me a favor?”
“Isn't it obvious? Your valor in this war has been extraordinary. Even in the war's final moments you rushed into Canterlot to save your friends, oblivious to your own safety. That love and compassion should not go unrewarded. It is true that you were unable to save anyone, but I have stepped in to help you. I will give you the chance to accomplish your mission.”
“You will?” Twilight asked, confused. “Really?”
“I will indeed. Why not?”
“But I'm out of time. Celestia's spell is going to go off any second. It's not possible anymore. It's too late.”
“That is why I stopped time for you. The procedure is simple, Twilight. I am surprised you did not think of it yourself. If you reverse your time spell, you can reverse its affects. Instead of speeding up time and making it possible for you to do great things in mere moments, you can instead freeze time. The flow of time would stop for you and you alone, while it continued on for everyone else. All you have to do is find the pony that you wish to save and then cast your spell around them. When the blast occurs, it will not affect you because you are frozen in a moment of time. Once the blast is over, you can drop the spell and you will be unharmed.”
“Oh,” Twilight said. “Huh. I hadn't thought of that. That's actually a really clever idea.”
Death nodded. “So make your choice. I will allow you to save any pony that you choose. But you can only choose one.”
“Just one?”
“Think about it. Your friends are scattered all over the city, and you cannot cast a spell wide enough to encompass all of Canterlot. Nopony can do that. All you can do is cover you and one other pony – or perhaps two, if they are standing right next to each other. You are going to have to decide who you want to save.”
“I guess you're right,” Twilight said slowly. “But how could I make a choice like that? How can I decide who should live and who should die? I don't want any of them to die.”
“I'm afraid Celestia has taken that choice from you. However, this decision can be made very simply, by giving it a little thought. I'd be more than happy to help you. Let's start with Rainbow Dash. She's quite a pony, isn't she?”
“She certainly is,” Twilight agreed. “She's fast, she's brave, and she's a loyal friend.”
“I would not go quite that far. She may be the Element of Loyalty, but loyalty is simply not in her nature. She's a rather proud, arrogant pony who is quite full of herself. Do you not remember what she did when she became Ponyville's town hero? You had to become the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well to teach her a lesson. To be quite honest, I'm not sure she ever learned it.”
“I remember,” Twilight admitted. “She can be a bit of a pain at times. But she is loyal.”
“Is she? Was she loyal that night when you told Celestia that something was wrong with Cadence and she was not who she appeared to be? As I recall, Cadence had been replaced by the Queen of the Changelings, and you alone were fighting her. Did Rainbow stand by you on that fateful night?”
“Well, no,” Twilight said reluctantly.
“And didn't Rainbow Dash once sell Fluttershy into slavery in exchange for a book?”
“But she regretted it immediately! She just momentarily lost sight of what really mattered. That's all.”
“Rainbow is supposed to be the Element of Loyalty. Loyalty should be the core of her being – the focus of all that she does. Yet I see very little loyalty in her. All I see is a pony who, if pushed hard enough, will eventually do the right thing – but only with great reluctance. Rainbow has not been a good friend, Twilight.”
“I think you're being a little hard on her,” Twilight replied. “All of my friends are good. Take Rarity, for instance. She's the Element of Generosity. She once made a dress for me for the Grand Galloping Gala. It was really nice of her to do that.”
“How sweet,” Death commented. “She did you one favor during the entire course of your relationship. And how many favors have you done for her? Did you not save her life when Tirek invaded? Did you not give up your magical powers to save her skin?”
“Yes, I did – and I would do it again.”
“And has she ever saved your life?”
“Well, not exactly. But I don't really expect her to. She's not an alicorn, you know.”
“It sounds like the relationship is a little one-sided. I seem to recall that you once modeled a dress for Rarity in order to help launch her new line of Princess attire. Did she ever pay you for that endorsement?”
“Of course not! We're friends.”
“Which apparently means that Rarity feels no obligation to treat you with any measure of respect. She would have paid any other model that she hired – but since you are her friend, she simply takes advantage of you and gives you nothing. When Rarity went to Manehattan to present her fashion lineup and discovered it had been stolen by someone else, you worked for hours to help her create a new set of outfits. Do you remember how she treated you? She yelled at you, as if you were some kind of imbecile. She treated you with far less courtesy than she would have treated even a lowly hired employee.”
“Well, sure. But, I mean, you can do that with friends. Not that you should or anything. But sometimes that's how friends are.”
“Is that what friendship is all about? It seems rather poor to me that ponies treat strangers with kindness, but they treat their friends with rudeness and disrespect. You pay strangers for their services, but you yell at your friends when they help you and give them nothing for their hard work. How is this behavior the living embodiment of generosity? I see nothing generous here.”
“Rarity really is generous,” Twilight insisted.
“Is that so? Have you forgotten the time you celebrated your birthday here in Canterlot and Rarity promised to make you a dress? Rarity did not keep her word. Instead of doing what she promised, she spent her time lying to the upper crust of Canterlot and making friends in high places. She never made the dress that she intended to make because she decided that trying to impress rich ponies was far more important than keeping her word to you. I see nothing generous in Rarity. All I see is a selfish pony who cares more about her image and her fashion line than her friends.”
“Rarity can be complicated,” Twilight admitted. “Nopony is perfect. But one pony you can always count on is Pinkie. I've never seen anypony who cared so much about her friends. She's always throwing parties for them, and she remembers everyone's names and birthdays. She's the friendliest pony I've ever seen. You can't tell me that she doesn't embody laughter!”
“She certainly does do that,” Death agreed. “But she is also quite unstable. Pinkie is just one accident away from a complete psychotic breakdown. Do you remember what happened when you tried to throw a surprise birthday party for her? She replaced you with a rock, Twilight. She became utterly unhinged.”
“That was just one time,” Twilight insisted.
“Was it? Tell me, what happened when Cheese Sandwich came to town? How well did Pinkie handle meeting another pony in her line of work?”
“Well, it was sort of hard for her at first. But they did eventually become friends!”
“But that's not how it started out. As I recall, Pinkie became so upset that she gave up her entire line of work and tried to find a different job. She simply could not handle it. Yes, it is true that Pinkie loves making other ponies smile. But you seem to have missed the fact that her life literally depends upon those smiles. Pinkie only feels that her life has value if she can make other ponies smile. If she ever starts thinking that she can't do that, she completely falls apart. She starts to believe that she is worthless and she snaps. Pinkie only values her life as long as she is the center of attention. If that attention ever stops then Pinkie will die. She is skating on very thin ice.”
“I hadn't thought about that,” Twilight replied slowly. “But I'm sure she can be cured.”
“That's an excellent point. Let's think about that, shall we? Suppose that you save her life. Pinkie will know that you saved her life and, in doing so, allowed her other friends to die. Pinkie – the pony who needs friends in order to believe that her life has value – isn't going to have those friends anymore. On top of that, she will know that they are dead because of her. If that isn't bad enough, all of Equestria will blame her for their deaths. How well do you think a pony as unstable and brittle as Pinkie will handle that? Will she endure it with joy and understanding?”
“Probably not. I guess you're right. I would never want to put Pinkie through that. I think Applejack could handle it, though. She's strong, honest, and courageous – and she has her family. They have a very strong bond.”
“Yes, the Element of Honesty,” Death said. “Amusingly, she is also the only pony among your friends who has ever broken a Pinkie Promise.”
“Well, she didn't technically break it,” Twilight said quickly. “She–”
Death held up a hoof. “Applejack deliberately mislead you in order to avoid being honest with you. And why was she so insistent on avoiding telling you the truth? Because of her pride. She was willing to abandon her family, her home, and her friends over a little foolish pride. I would expect the Element of Honesty to be a little more honest. She didn't exactly live up to her role, did she?”
“What are you doing?” Twilight asked suddenly. “Why are you attacking all my friends?”
“That is my role,” Death said coldly. “I am the Accuser. Did you not know? It is my task to evaluate the life of each pony, to see who is worthy and who is not. You may not want to hear this, Twilight, but your friends are not worthy. Rainbow Dash has not been loyal; she is an arrogant pony who cares more about herself than anyone else. Rarity has not been generous; she takes advantage of you, she gives you very little in return, and she treats you worse than she treats her own employees. Pinkie Pie is unstable and depends on being the center of attention in order to remain functional. Applejack will lie, mislead, and abandon everyone if she decides it's in her best interests. And Fluttershy – Fluttershy is the most dysfunctional pony of all. She's terrified of everything and she can barely muster up enough courage to leave her home.”
“That's going a little too far. Fluttershy's not that bad!”
“Really? Tell me, where does Fluttershy spend Nightmare Night?”
“Under her bed,” Twilight admitted.
“Princess, I am not telling you anything that you do not already know. Your friends are deeply flawed. In my opinion they are simply not worth saving. They have not lived up to their Elements. Most importantly, they have failed you.”
“But failure is part of life! Everyone fails their friends at one point or another. No one is perfect.”
“Don't you think you deserve to have better friends? Think of who you are! You are a princess of Equestria. You are charged with the defense of your nation – a duty you have carried out faithfully time and time again. You need friends you can count on and Elements who live up to their duty. You need a pony who actually is loyal. You need a pony who is generous enough to keep her promises. You need a pony of kindness who isn't terrified of her own shadow. Your friends are deeply flawed. Can you not see that?”
“But I can't let them die!”
“What about everyone else?” Death asked. “Can you let them die?”
“What do you mean?”
“Look around you! At this very moment Canterlot is full of ponies who are one second away from being incinerated. Think of the guards who are patrolling in this castle. Think of the homes that are outside the castle walls. There are thousands of ponies in this city – ponies such as your own parents, for instance. They both live here in Canterlot. Are they worth saving?”
“Oh,” Twilight said. “I hadn't thought of them.”
“Exactly. They both live here, and they are both about to die. You know that, and yet saving them didn't even cross your mind. But why should it? After all, we both know that they don't love you.”
“Of course they love me!” Twilight said defensively.
“Are you sure? Tell me, Twilight. When you celebrated your birthday in Canterlot, why didn't they come to the party? They both live here in the city. They were both home. They had nothing else to do that evening, and yet they did not show up. Why is that?”
“They love me,” Twilight insisted. “I know they do!”
“How many times have they come to Ponyville to see you?”
“That's different. Look. They enrolled me in Celestia's magic school, didn't they?”
“They certainly did. The first moment they could they dumped you into a boarding school so they wouldn't have to deal with you anymore. That has love written all over it. Face it, Twilight. Your parents don't come to your parties. They don't visit you. They don't write to you. The only time they've ever showed up was at your coronation, and that was because Celestia made them be there. But the real evidence is you. When you saw Canterlot about to be destroyed, you didn't even think about saving them. It never crossed your mind.”
Tears began to form in Twilight's eyes. “But my parents love me!”
“The real question is, does anyone love you? Because I'm not seeing it. Your so-called friends just take advantage of you to advance their own interests and careers. Your parents ignore you. Your brother uses you to fix his problems, but he has never once shown up to help you. Shining Armor controls an army, Twilight. Yet when your life is in mortal danger he just stays home. He never comes to help you. You have gotten more help from Discord than you have from your own family.”
“What are you doing?” Twilight asked, fighting back the tears. “Why are you telling me these things?”
“I'm only telling you the truth. Think about it. You have saved Equestria time and time again – and yet when you tried to catch a cab in Manehattan, you were yelled at. No one treated you with any respect at all until you became a princess – and then all they cared about was your title, not your magnificent acts of heroism. Every pony in this nation owes you their very lives, but they never show you any gratitude. When you went out to fight monsters, did the citizens of Ponyville join you to defend their own homes? No. They didn't.”
“But that's not a fair thing to ask them! They're just ponies, not soldiers.”
“And for a long time you were just a librarian,” Death pointed out. “Pinkie is a baker. Fluttershy takes care of animals. Rarity makes dresses. Rainbow Dash manages the weather. Applejack is a farmer. Twilight, none of you are soldiers.”
“Hold on just a minute,” Twilight interrupted. “Outside this city is the largest army the nation has ever seen. All those ponies are fighting now. Doesn't that count for something?”
“They're fighting because Luna commanded them to fight. They have all come to get their revenge on Celestia. Yes, they are there now – but they never showed up when you needed them. This is not the first time you've tried to save Equestria. Haven't you noticed that you never got any help? Even Celestia and Luna didn't lift a hoof to help you defend their own home. You have always been on your own.”
“That's not true! You're making everyone sound horrible.”
“I'm only pointing out what they've done,” Death replied. “Twilight, you are fighting to save friends who have treated you poorly and taken advantage of you. You are fighting to save a nation that has never been there for you when you needed them, and has never shown you any gratitude. You think you have friends, but you don't. You think you're loved, but you aren't. You don't have admirers; you only have ponies who wish to take advantage of you for their own ends. True friendship and love may exist, but you have never found it.”
Twilight was struggling not to cry. The weight of Death's words was dragging her down. Had she really been a fool? How could she have missed the fact that no one actually cared about her? She had done so much for others. Why were all her relationships so one-sided?
Death saw the effect that he was having on her. “The real question, Twilight, is this: why save any of these ponies? What have they ever done for you? You don't have to do this, you know. You can simply walk away. The ponies of this city owe you a great deal – but you don't owe them anything. You aren't in their debt.”
“You're right,” Twilight finally admitted. “I have done a lot for them. Even if I could save all of them, the chances are they'd never be grateful for it. They've never thanked me in the past.”
“Exactly. They are unworthy. In fact, the truth is you should be their Queen. You should be the one ruling over them. After all, you deserve it. Think about it: you are a princess, you have great power, and you have put your life on the line for them time and time again. Why shouldn't you take Celestia's place and rule over Equestria? Who else could be more worthy than you?”
Twilight looked at Death. She knew he was telling the truth, and yet she also knew that it was not the whole truth. There were a great many good things her friends had done that Death had failed to mention. Death was painting a very grim picture – but it was also a very misleading one.
Twilight tried to remember what she knew about this dark and unsettling character. What is he up to? If there is one thing I know about him it's that he doesn't do ponies favors. There is something very wrong here.
“You remind me a lot of Discord,” Twilight said aloud. “You seem to spread chaos and destruction wherever you go.”
“Ah, Discord,” Death said. “What a disappointment he has been. Discord could have been great, but he has failed to live up to his potential. But I can tell you that I am most certainly not Discord. I cannot be reformed by the friendship of Fluttershy. I come from a much greater family. There are four of us, you know.”
“Four of you?” Twilight asked.
“Of course. Have you not been told? The first of our family is the white horse of Conquest. The second is the red horse of War. The third is the black horse of Famine. Then there is me – Death. I am the one who comes at the end. We are the Four. Thanks to Celestia, we have been set free to ride across Equestria. She is the one who invited us in.”
Twilight's eyes widened. She glanced over at the fiery horse who was still frozen in time. “Celestia did this?”
“Of course. Haven't you been fighting her for the past six months? Have you not seen what she has done? She is yet another pony who is not worthy of your love and respect. She is the one who marched out in conquest. She spread war across the globe, which led to famine and death. She unleashed the four. Her immense greed led to our freedom.”
“Her greed?” Twilight asked, confused. Then a realization struck her. She stepped back in horror. “This was all your doing, wasn't it? You tricked her! Celestia would never have agreed to this. You turned her into Nightmare Star.”
“It came to my attention that Celestia wanted certain... knowledge,” Death said evasively. “As it turns out, I had that knowledge and I was willing to give it to her. It is not my fault that she failed to read the fine print. Knowledge comes at a cost, and great knowledge comes at a great cost. She got what she wanted and I got what I wanted. It was a fair exchange.”
“You lied to her!” Twilight said accusingly. “You are the reason she is corrupted.”
“She corrupted herself. Celestia was the one who wanted the forbidden knowledge. I simply gave it to her. She was destroyed by her own desires.”
“You did not tell her the consequences!”
“I am not her friend, princess. I am the adversary. I exist to kill, and steal, and destroy. I ruin lives and crush nations. That is my role in this world.”
“You are evil. You have been the real enemy all along! You are the one who started all of this, and you've destroyed countless lives. You are the true horror.”
“I am indeed, and I am proud of it. Yet, Twilight, in spite of your great anger, you can do nothing to harm me. You cannot even attack me, for I am beyond your reach. I have created a physical form so that you might glimpse me, but I am not bound to it. All of your magic and skill is powerless against one such as I. Death is a foe that you cannot begin to fight.”
“But you can be defeated. You are not invincible.”
“How little you know. You are so ignorant – so foolish. Do you know where I came from? Do you know what gave me the right to step into this world? You know nothing about me. Even if you knew the answers, you would still be powerless. You are a creature of this world. Even you have corruption lurking within. None of your race can defeat me.”
“But you will be defeated all the same,” Twilight said boldly. “You will fall. Your end is coming – I can see it. You, Death, will be swallowed up in victory.”
“I find that difficult to believe.”
“Do you? Then, in that case, I have made up my mind. I want to save the life of Starlight Glimmer.”
“You want what?” Death asked, surprised. “But she is not here. She has already died. It is too late to save her.”
“But you are Death, aren't you? What difference does it make? One soul is as good as another. I want Starlight Glimmer back.”
“That is not an option,” Death replied.
“And why is that? I bet I know the answer: it's because you don't have her. You can't give me what you don't have! Starlight Glimmer was not an evil pony, so you don't have her soul. Her soul is residing in a very different place – one that is out of your reach. You only have the souls of the wicked – those you have managed to drag down into destruction. Which is exactly what you are trying to do to me. You haven't come to help me, have you? You are trying to destroy me – just as you did Celestia.”
“You cannot be serious! Twilight, if I had not intervened you would already be dead. The only reason you are still alive is because of me.”
“Exactly. If I was dead, my soul – and the souls of my friends – would be forever out of your reach. You stopped time so you could corrupt me. You want me to become Dark, like Celestia, so you can drag my soul down into the abyss. You want me to betray my friends, seize power, and extract my revenge. That's what this is all about, isn't it? Well, guess what: I'm not going to do that. Yes, my friends have failed me – and I've failed them, too. But I forgive them, as they have forgiven me. Yes, Equestria hasn't been very grateful for all I've done for them – but I still love the ponies of this land, and I'm still going to save them. I am going to defend them from the likes of you. I'm not doing it because I'm being paid to do it. I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do. I care about them, and I care about this land, and I am going to save it.”
“Then make your choice,” Death said. “But be warned that there will be consequences. Since you accuse me of lying to Celestia, allow me to be honest with you. Your strength only allows you to save one pony – or perhaps two, if they are close together. This city is full of young and old, rich and poor, parents and little children. You cannot save them all. If you save your friends, the city will hate you for your favoritism. If you save one family, the city will hate you for choosing them over their neighbor. If you allow them all to die then you will be hated for doing nothing. No matter what you choose, you have lost. You will be hated for your choice. And, lest you get any ideas, you cannot touch me. This is one battle you cannot win.”
“What are you saying?”
“I am saying that your only real choice is to die. If you lost your life while trying to save your friends, why, that is something the city could forgive. You made a valiant effort and you failed. Then you would be remembered as a hero. But if you try to save somepony then you will never be forgiven.”
“You want me to deliberately kill myself?” Twilight asked, horrified.
“It's up to you. You are free to do as you wish.”
“I will never do that,” Twilight said decisively.
“Then choose. Whatever you choose, I will not interfere with your choice – you have my word. I will abide by your decision. So what will you do?”