A Pony Called Death

by thehalfelf

Death, Trainee

Death, Trainee

“Don’t worry, Rose, no matter what happens up there in Canterlot, you always have a place with us back in Ponyville. I’m sure you’ll do great.” Roseluck’s final words echoed through her daughter’s head as she walked the vaulted halls of Canterlot Castle alone. Her destination: a little-used meeting room that Princess Celestia had generously offered for her training.

At long last, the door stood before her. A pair of guards passed with a nod--the message about Rose had apparently gone out already, the castle guards never asked who she was, nor inquired about her business. They were always polite, but they had an air of almost disregard.

She raised a hoof to knock on the heavy wooden door. Pulled from the inside, the door swung open on well-oiled hinges, inviting Rose inside. She walked inside, nosing the door closed behind her, then looked around the room. The table, used for meetings, was shoved unceremoniously back into a corner, chairs haphazardly tossed on top, all save one. The one chair left was occupied by Cloud, right in the middle of the room.

Cloud followed Rose’s gaze over to the table in the corner and grinned. “No magic anymore. Had to resort to flipping them with my wings.” He shrugged. “I think it worked well.”

Rose cocked her head. “Magic? But you’re a pegasus. You shouldn’t have ever had magic.”

“Lesson one,” Cloud replied, rising from the chair. “Death is magic. That cloak empowers you, enabling you to do your job. While in the cloak, you will be able to use magic. With practice, you can cast basic spells without.”

“Is that why you told me not to use it?”

“Partly. If you had incinerated yourself, we might have had a problem, but there’s more to it than just that. How about you put it on, and walk towards me.” Cloud kicked out with a hind leg, sending the chair through the air to join its brethren.

“Uh...” Rose looked down sheepishly. “How?”

“Well, how did you get it off?”

“I sort of just wiggled,” Rose replied, shaking her back hooves in demonstration.

Cloud’s mouth twitched as he suppressed a smile. “Right... Well, whenever I wanted it, I just remembered what it felt like while I was wearing it.”

“And that worked?”

“Try it.”

With a shrug, Rose closed her eyes, imagining the weight of the heavy cloak on her as it was last night. Suddenly, she was again enveloped by the comfortable heat and weight as the cloak magically appeared on top of her, though this time, the scythe was slung over her back, as she had seen on Cloud before.

The gold pegasus beamed at her. “Good. Now, walk towards me.” Cloud’s smile quickly died as the mare took five deft steps, leaving them muzzle to muzzle. “What?” he spluttered. “I don’t.... Oh! Of course, the guise of Mortis would have changed to match your form.”

Rose gave Cloud a flat stare. “What?”

“Well,” Cloud began, “the cloak transfers the guise of the original Death, Mortis, onto the current officeholder, allowing him or her to use magic as a unicorn, along with other things. It does not, however, transfer experience.”

“Right,” Rose nodded. “I don’t get it.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Cloud sighed. “That just means we won’t have to spend time getting you acquainted with your body, as it were. We can move onto the fun stuff.”

“Fun stuff?” Rose’s eyes lit up as her ears perked forward.

“Of course. You need to learn to control your magic.” The gold pegasus looked around for a moment before settling his gaze on the pile of wooden furniture in the corner. “Levitate over one of those chairs.”

Once again, he was subject to a flat stare. “It really isn’t difficult,” Cloud explained. “Simply move your magic like you do your hooves, grab the chair and bring it over.”

“If it’s so simple, why does it take unicorn foals years to learn it?” Rose snapped.

“Because their bodies are still growing; the magic still developing inside them. Mortis, and by extension, you, didn’t have to worry about that; he was fully grown when he entered the office. You will have limits to the magic you can do, independent of what he could, but we can find that barrier later. Move the chair.”

Though she glared another hole into her instructor, Rose complied. She shut her eyes again and concentrated, imagining a giant magical hand grasping one of the chairs on the pile and bringing it over, gently placing it in front of Cloud. Instead, she heard something whoosh through the air, followed by the tinkling of shattered glass.

Rose opened her eyes to see Cloud prostrate on the floor, forehooves over his head. Behind him, one of the giant windows overlooking the courtyard was broken, small glass shards littering the floor around it. The chair was still flying.

“M-Maybe a little less enthusiasm next time, Rose,” Cloud said, cautiously getting to his hooves. The white mare quickly suppressed a snicker. “Once again, and please keep this one inside the room.”

Another deep breath to steady her nerves, and to forestall any cases of the giggles on the way, Rose once again pictured her giant hand, and moved another chair, this time much more slowly. As the hand in her mind set the chair down on the ground, there was a massive cracking sound, and several lines of pain flared up on Rose’s hooves.

“Ahh!” Rose cried out. Opening her eyes, she saw part of the chair right where she put it. She had set it down with too much force, and the legs had shattered, flying off in different directions.

“Yeah, a little bit too forceful,” Cloud said, wiping a thin line of red off his cheek. “One more time. You need to get this down.”

“Why?” Rose asked. “Can’t we work on something else?”

“There is no way I’m teaching you to fight until you can do basic telekinesis well.”

“Fine.” Once more, Rose closed her eyes and grabbed a chair.

*****

“Now then, Death has to take souls all over the world, not just in Canterlot or even Equestria. It’s important you be able to picture areas near where the Instinct says there is work to be done,” Cloud said. The golden pegasus was standing over an exhausted Rose, hood pulled back over her head.

The white mare looked out the broken window. “But the sun’s going down! Can’t we pick this up tomorrow?”

“Sorry, kiddo. Death doesn’t just stop. The longer we take, the more work you’ll have to do later. It’s best to do it as fast as possible. We’ll start this, and finish it up tomorrow.”

With a resigned sigh, Rose asked, “So what do I have to do?”

“Well, I want you to picture a place, preferably somewhere in this castle. Paint a picture in your mind, but make sure you picture it empty. Then, still concentrating hard on the picture, walk into a wall.” Cloud grinned at the shocked expression on Rose’s face. “Trust me, if you do everything right you’ll be fine. You’ll end up wherever you’re thinking of. It’s a useful trick in this line of work.”

Still skeptical, Rose did as she was told. She pictured in her head her room here in the castle. The massive bed big enough for four ponies, the window spilling light from the afternoon sun. The strange half-wall that separated the main room from the kitchen area. She pictured it all in her mind like a Vincent VanHoof painting, and walked into the nearest wall.

Thud!

Cloud couldn’t help it. Try as he might, when he saw Rose run muzzle-first into the wall, as he had done on his first attempt, he just couldn’t restrain himself. Large, bubbling gales of laughter escaped his open muzzle. Even once Rose turned around and fixed him with one of her patented water-freezing glares he didn’t stop.

“Well... Well, work on it some more tonight, and we’ll go from there tomorrow,” Cloud said once he had calmed down. As soon as she thought he wasn’t paying attention, Rose again walked into the wall, eyes screwed tightly shut.

A second later, she was stuck underneath something warm and oppressive. The more she struggled and flailed her hooves, the more trapped she seemed to become. As her panic grew, so did a pressure in her head, until at long last it burst forth. A wave of raw energy filled the room, and the object of Rose’s struggle, the blanket on her bed, melted right through her. At long last she was free, lying atop her bed and blanket, still garbed in her cloak of office, stunned senseless.

The next day, Rose asked Dashing Cloud what had happened. “The cloak has certain magicks that make you unable to die by normal means while wearing it, and other powers to facilitate your job,” the golden pegasus explained. “It seems that whole struggling with the, uh, blanket, you triggered one of them, which turned you intangible until the ‘danger’ had safely passed.”

Rose raised an eyebrow. “Are you mocking me?”

“Nooooo.... yes, but not out of spite.” Cloud quickly finished. “Only because I had sort of the same thing happen to me when I took office, but it involved a mop, a bush, and a lot of cobwebs.”

Rose grinned. “Fair enough. So what are we doing to--” The white mare suddenly stopped, right in the middle of her sentence.

“Rose?” Cloud asked, eyebrows creased in concern. “Rose Petal? Are you alright?”

She started, as though Cloud had just dumped a bucket of water on her. “Cloud, I think something is wrong. I... I have to go to north.”

Cloud nodded. “Well, looks like training time is over. That is the Instinct. You see, most deaths in the world happen naturally, but when we--you--have to actually do something, the cloak tells you. What you feel is the cloak telling you where to go. With time and practice, you will be able to get it down to the exact location, and ignore it when you need a break. After all, most of the jobs of Death don’t have to be done right away, there is a little give.”

“What do I have to do?” Rose asked breathlessly.

“We have to go to wherever it is, and handle it.” At Rose’s astonished look, Cloud laughed. “Yes, I’m going with you. You’ve only had the job for a day, Rose. I’ll be going with you until you’ve the hang of it.

“Now, what I’m going to do,” Cloud continued, moving to stand next to Rose, “is travel with you. Focus on where you feel like you need to go, and I’ll direct the jump. It might take longer than your one last night--the farther you go, the longer it takes--but we’ll get there.”

“O-Okay,” Rose said. She squeaked quietly and averted her head, hiding a light blush when Cloud put his hoof in hers.

“Hold on,” Cloud warned before willing the duo through space. Rose shivered as a feeling not unlike passing through a sheet of cold water washed over her. After too long, the feeling abated as the two stepped out into the bright morning sunlight. Rose repressed the urge to check herself and make sure her coat wasn’t soaked, contenting herself with looking around instead.

“Where are we?” the white mare asked.

Cloud looked around. “We’re up north, in a town called Vanhoover. I put us in the area, but you have to take us where we need to go. The Death cloak provides for your job, locked doors will open at your touch, you cannot be injured by most things while on a job, and most ponies will never question why you’re there, nor see you for what you truly are, unless you force your will onto them. On the other hoof, they will question me, so I recommend we get a move on before the questions start rolling in.”

“What about money and things I need to live? I can’t exactly get a job waiting tables while moonlighting as Death,” Rose replied. While waiting for her answer, she set off down the street, letting her newfound sense of direction guide her through the town. It was slightly larger than Ponyville, but nothing like Canterlot.

“The princesses provide room and board, and most expenses can be written off, which is nice. You no longer technically exist, so you don’t have to pay taxes until you give up the office, but you are somewhat right. You can’t really lead a normal life as Death. Some things can be done, but you will never be able to live as a normal pony until you retire, but on the bright side, the severance package is amazing.”

While Cloud was talking, Rose had arrived at what she thought to be their destination. Whenever she thought of moving beyond, it was almost like her hooves no longer wished to obey, rooting her too the spot until she decided to move forward. “Um, Cloud I think we’re here.”

“So go in,” Cloud responded nonchalantly.

“B-But that’s breaking and entering,” Rose replied, looking around nervously. “We can’t do that.”

“We can’t, but you can. You’re Death. What did I just tell you about your powers?”

“Doors won’t block my path, and there’s a great retirement package.”

“So just go open the door. The Death cloak will unlock it, and we can go inside. Just do it quickly, before we start attracting attention.” Cloud discreetly looked up and down the street. It seemed most ponies were either still asleep or already working, as the area was mostly deserted. A few stray ponies walked the empty streets, but they weren’t paying attention to Death or her companion, for now.

Still somewhat concerned, Rose nevertheless walked towards the unassuming white-painted door, thankful that her cloak covered her mane and most of her coat, and most importantly, her cutie mark. With a shaking hoof, she turned the knob, which yielded to her touch, and pushed the door open.

“Is anypony home?” she asked with a trembling voice.

“You do realize if somepony is dying in her, they won’t answer, right?” Cloud asked, pushing past Rose. “Lead the way and let’s get out of here. Remember: Death should always be punctual.”

While her mentor’s back was turned, Rose stuck out her tongue before pushing ahead of him, intentionally bumping into him on the way, headed deeper into the small two-story house. Now that she was inside, that little voice in her head was telling her to go upwards. The cloaked mare quickly found the stairs and ascended, following her Instinct to a closed door.

“He is in there,” Rose said, motioning towards the door with a hoof.

“Well, all you need to do is to go in and touch him somewhere with your scythe, but make sure not to touch him with the blade. He may be dying, but it’s really sharp, and can still hurt him,” Cloud replied.

Rose nodded, again opening the door and entering the room. As soon as she laid eyes on her client, however, she squeaked and bit back the urge to vomit.

“Is everything okay in there?” Cloud asked. When Rose didn’t respond, he pushed into the room, ready to do whatever necessary. His eyes quickly scanned the room, searching for a danger that wasn’t there. Eventually, they stopped on the sight that had Rose rooted to the spot. “Ah, fantastic...”

Lying on the bed, held down by the weight of his own lifeless legs, was a blue earth pony, spread eagle. His hooves were slashed, giving an outlet for his life’s blood to run out. Rose and Cloud were late, most of it had already happened. What were once light blue bedcovers were stained a dark red. The knife was lying near his right forehoof, blade pointed away.

On Cloud’s entrance, the pony looked weakly up. He blinked once before his head fell back down onto the pillow. “Go on,” Cloud said softly, reassuringly. “Save him from his torment. Free his soul.”

“I-I can’t,” Rose whispered back. “How could he do this? Why would he?”

“That doesn’t matter. Your job is to take his soul and send it to Eternity. Just touch him with the scythe.”

“Cloud, I can’t!” As if to reinforce herself, Rose took a step back, staring straight down at the floor. The hem of her cloak shook in time with her tremors.

The gold pegasus sighed. “I had hoped you would do better on your first collection than I did...” He gently took the scythe from Rose, and touched it to the dying pony’s forehead. The light went out of the blue pony’s eyes, and his body relaxed into the blood stained bed.

“Come on,” Cloud said, wrapping Rose in a one-hoofed hug. “You’ll do better next time. It’s always a bit of a shock the first go.” Rose simply buried her head in Cloud’s neck and cried.

Author's Note:

This is the meat of Chapter 6. This is also one of my favorite chapters of the story. I personally think that the training scene flows really well. I just hope the rest of the story follows suit.

Enjoy the double update!

-thehalfelf

Comments

[Dee Forty-Five]

Poor pony...