A young Death by the name of Lily is sent to Equestria after one too many emotional outbursts on the job. There's just one catch: Equestrians don't die.
They always say "When you're at work, leave your problems at the door." The problem with that is that Lily's problem IS her job. And this also isn't a job where you get mandatory breaks and sick leave... Lily is dead. She has been for several thousand years. And working as a Death isn't very fun at all. It gets incredibly annoying dealing with the troubled souls of wary wanderers, lost adventurers and the plain unlucky.
After a particularly stressful day, she finally snaps and just about does the unthinkable. Thankfully, her higher-up intervenes, telling the young Death that she's being reassigned to a different universal plane: The magical land of Equestria. Her higher-up informs her that it's "better for everyone", and sends her on her way. There was just ONE little detail she wasn't informed of...
You only went to the Wellspring if you had a damn good reason, and typically for Lily, there was really only 2 of those. You're dead, or you're a Death. The living can absolutely come to the Wellspring any time they wished, however most would be wise to avoid it. It's not dangerous, per se, it's just incredibly unnerving. A fountain full of ghostly spirits, a hooded girl wielding a scythe and a large soul orb wearing a pink flower, and a scent of ectoplasm was usually enough to drive people off. Not that Lily could harm anybody living, or that she would, it's just the thought of it actually happening.
Unfortunately for Kyle Longburrows, that's exactly where he was heading. He walked into the foggy plaza, looking around nervously. The sound of rushing water spilling into the fountain before him was the only sound around aside from a few pages being turned by the hooded girl, and the thick leather tome in her lap.
"Kyle Longburrows. Aged 23. Cause of Death: Blunt Force Trauma and Blood Loss as a result of a DUI accident," she stated professionally, never looking from her book.
"Wait, what? Cause of.." Kyle's face paled and his eyes shrank, panting heavily. "Wait wait wait no! I can't be... You can't be serious!!"
"I'm as serious as the accident that brought you here. You're dead Kyle. Maybe you should've paid attention to all those Drinking and Driving adverts." she frowned, turning another page in her book. "Then perhaps your parents would've been able to send you that letter telling you how much you mean to them. Instead, they have to read it as a eulogy."
"What the HELL?! A-ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Kyle was getting belligerent. They always do.
A heavy sigh escaped Lily's lips as she finally looked up at him, the upper half of her face shrouded by her hood's shadow, only leaving two scarlet eyes blinking at him; the half-frown on her face seemingly engraved on her pale skin.
"Yes. I'm serious. Now can we get this going? I have a lot of souls I need to deal with today and you're #549." She closed the book, setting it beside her, before reaching into the pale blue waters of the Wellspring and produced a golden set of balance scales. She carefully stood it up on top of the book before standing up and deadpanning at the freak-out that Kyle was in the middle of.
"You can't be serious! I-I was going to go steady with Stacy! My parents were gonna buy me a car! You can't be serious! You-" He stood up straight, looking at her before quickly beginning to approach, pointing his finger at her accusingly. "You gotta send me back. You hear me you stupid little freak? You gotta send me back RIGHT NOW."
Lily's eyes looked down at his waggling finger before slowly looking way back up at the hunched over jock, his varsity jacket covered in blood and char marks, likely from the gas fire that consumed the car after the accident. Without missing a beat, she waved her hand toward the scales.
"These scales are going to show you the balance of good and-"
"Didn't you hear me, shrimp? I said SEND. ME. BACK," he interrupted, making the young girl grind her teeth. Her thick fluffy tail was starting to get antsy behind her as her ghostly orb danced around her. Ignoring the rude man, she cleared her throat and began again.
"These scales are going to-"
A look of surprise overtook the man's face before he raised his hand to backhand her. Swinging her other arm out, the scythe that was once leaning against the fountain flew into Lily's grasp and she pointed it at his face, scowling. The sheer speed at which she was able to do that made Kyle step back a few feet in surprise, lowering his hand slowly.
"I wouldn't do that again, if I were you. Now stop interrupting me while I'm trying to help you to the afterlife," she said, a low growl in her voice as the pointed ears under her hood were laid flat against her head, "I certainly didn't ask to be your Death but we're stuck with each other. So love it or lump it."
Kyle's face screwed up into a crooked frown as tears began to well up. He began to bawl, dropping to his knees in defeat. This gained no sympathy from Lily, however, and only seemed to annoy her further. Shaking her head, she turned around and put her weapon back where it was before sitting on the edge of the Wellspring, waiting patiently for the man to stop whimpering. It felt like an eternity, but then again, that's what eternity feels like. After he was finally composed enough to listen, she motioned back toward the scales.
"These scales are going to show you the balance of good and evil that resides in your soul. Depending on which way the scales tip is which afterlife you will be sent to."
"C'mon man, you can't just make an exception?" he managed to choke, "I was only 23! I had so much more of my life to live!"
The only thing that could get Lily so seething mad was a mention of how "young" a person was before their passing. Her eyes began to glow bright yellow as she grabbed up her scythe and stomped over to the curled up wayward soul, aiming the end of it right at his chest.
"You don't get to tell me what I do or don't do! I don't give a damn if you were 23 or 103! You were lucky enough to die in a drunk driving accident! Half of the people who come in here are murdered by loved ones, poisoned by nurses, or even suicide attempts that worked a little bit too well! I was only 12 when I died, you absolutely ignorant, ungrateful PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A MAN!"
Standing her scythe up beside her again, she lifted it and slammed the handle into the solid cobblestone below them, making a loud thunk that echoed throughout the plaza.
"Now you can either stand up and take your afterlife, or I could just whip my scythe through you and let you live the rest of eternity in Limbo!! DOES THAT SOUND LIKE A PLEASANT TRIP?!"
Kyle whimpered, wincing at every sharp word like he was getting struck by a whip. He shook his head nervously, tears streaming down his cheeks. Lily took a deep breath into her ancient lungs, before letting it out. Regaining her composure, she turned around and walked to the scales again, standing just beside them.
"I don't want to give my whole speech again, so get your sorry ass over here and touch the fulcrum."
He slowly got back up, approaching the golden scales and reaching out, grazing the tip of his finger against the pointed tip protruding from the center rod before quickly retracting his hand in surprise. Looking at his finger, he saw a bead of crimson slowly appear, then glanced at the scales again. A pair of blood drops slowly traveled down the precious metal, one along each arm of the scales before dropping into the cups affixed by chains to each end.
Before his eyes, a pair of fires appeared in each cup, one a bright bluish-white, the other a deep blackish-red. The scales teetered back and forth for a few moments before settling, the blue flame being heavier by the red flame by a clear margin. She looked up at him, one of her ears flicking a bit under her hood.
"Lucky you. Despite the fact that there was absolutely no luck involved. Just you being a decent person," Lily said flatly, standing up and walking to the other end of the plaza, waving for him to follow. At the other side, an ivory escalator slowly lowered itself from the inky black void outside, a bright glowing white light shimmering at the top, "Here you go. You're going to the celestial afterlife."
Kyle looked way up at the staircase, before looking to the girl beside him. "Well, if you can't send me back, can someone up there send me back?"
"Kyle.."
"I mean like, they're way more powerful, right? They must have a way to send me back to Earth."
"Kyle," she said, more forcefully this time as she clenched her fist around the handle of her scythe, her tail flicking up and down.
"What?! I just don't wanna go to some crummy afterlife when I was just fine where I was!!"
That was it. The spark that ignited the powder keg. If Lily's scythe were breakable, she would've just snapped it in two just from the sheer grip she was exerting against it. Kyle looked at her, backing up a few feet like before as the ivory staircase suddenly lifted back into the void, the shimmering light fading.
"Did... you.. just call... the celestial afterlife... CRUMMY?!" she roared, even her ghostly orb quickly darted behind her as if to avoid being scolded. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT SOMETHING LIKE THAT WOULD MEAN TO SOMEONE LIKE ME?! I'D FINALLY BE ABLE TO REST IN PEACE!" She began to advance, slamming her scythe's handle into the ground with each stomp while Kyle did his best to get away from her, but quickly stopped before he fell into the void below them.
"WELL IF YOU DON'T WANT IT, I'LL GLADLY SHOVE YOU INTO LIMBO!" she screamed, raising her scythe and bringing it down, making Kyle curl up in fear. There was a pause. Kyle uncovered his eyes, looking around in confusion. He expected to be in some foggy forest or a deep dungeon with no way out, but he was still at the Wellspring. He sat up and looked around, before his eyes caught Lily looking down at him in surprise and fear, her scythe's half-crescent blade hovering just above him in her hands.
But there was a third hand gripping the scythe, this one closer to the blade. One made entirely of bone. The two of them slowly looked up at who belonged to the skeletal appendage. A gigantic hooded figure was standing between them, having caught the weapon before it struck Kyle down. The figure's hood, unlike Lily's, completely shadowed his visage, if he even had one. Lily quickly retracted her scythe as the figure let go of it, standing before him and looking down at the ground shamefully.
The figure looked at Kyle, and his blood ran cold. Raising his arm, the figure pointed a bony finger towards the end of the plaza, the staircase returning from it's place in the sky. Not giving it a second thought, Kyle sprinted to the staircase and flew right up, the staircase quickly retracting after Kyle stepped on.
"Lily..." he began, his voice sounding like his lungs were full of dust and his throat was made of parchment, "I... am... disappointed in you. You... are a Reaper. You... are not... the one who... judges."
"I-I know, but-" Lily began but was quickly silenced as Death raised a finger to her.
"You... are... a passionate.... young... girl. You did... not choose this life," he said, his voice almost sounding sympathetic. But Lily knew better. Death made no room for emotions, and so she was in the wrong for reacting so harshly, "You are... being... reassigned."
Lily's ears perked up as she looked up at her mentor, giving him a questioning frown. "R-Reassigned? Where?"
Death pointed to the end of the plaza where Kyle had just made his exit, and a large ornate doorway emerged from the ground. The door creaked open, leading into what looked like an empty field just outside of a forest. She looked back at Death, silently begging him to reconsider. Death only stared back, never moving. She sighed, waving for her ghostly orb to follow her as she approached the door, looking through it cautiously.
"Where is this place...?" she said, frowning. She turned around to look at her higher-up, only to see that the Wellspring, the endless black expanse, and Death, was gone. It was nothing but more grassy fields and nature. She hadn't even needed to step through the door. Just one look and she was here.
She frowned, looking around unhappily. This was highly unusual... Normally, a Death's station has something for them to use as a conduit for bringing the souls to the afterlife... A fountain, a statue, a desk, an office.. She'd even take an old costume chest or something! But there wasn't anything. Just more grass, more forests, and an old dirt road that lead toward what looked like a village made of stone and thatched roofs, a gigantic tree-like crystal structure being the biggest landmark there.
She looked at her orb, sighing a bit. "Where are we, Spirit?" she asked. The shapeless apparition danced around her, as if frolicking in the grassy plains, completely ignorant of her question. With a shake of her head, she decided she'd settle in. If she was going to spend an eternity here, she might as well get comfortable. Pulling the old leather tome from her robes, she opened it up to check her assignments for the day. But there was nothing written. She flipped through the pages curiously, the old parchment flicking past her thumb as she gave it a concerned frown.
"That's... strange. The log usually has hundreds of souls for me to guide," she sighed, giving a slight eye roll. "Maybe he just needs to update my book... I'm sure it'll come around eventually."
But nothing came.
Weeks past, and Lily had done nothing much past laying in the field, staring at the sky and watching the day change to night, seeing some strangely shaped birds flying by, and the clouds drifting freely. Every hour she would check her log, and every hour, the pages seemed even more blank than the hour before it. She was beginning to grow anxious. Deaths needed souls to guide, and she was no different! She slowly sat up, looking around and shouting into the heavens.
"Boss? I know you can hear me... Where did you send me to?" she called out, but there was no reply, "Boss?" She called again, softer this time. She wasn't certain what this meant, but she was certainly going to find out. Standing up, she started down the dirt path towards the village. She was going to get to the bottom of this mess, even if it took a whole eternity.
The long path stretched onward, and despite each step bringing her closer to her goal, it never seemed to get any larger. Not that she seemed to mind. She was used to walking seemingly endless expanses, your destination always seeming farther away with each step you take. After 5000 years of reaping, a 2 hour journey into town is hardly an inconvenience. Every mile or so, she'd check her book again, silently wishing that she'd see a scribble appear in it. A name, a cause of death, an age... Anything, really! But alas, it was blank every time.
Tucking the tome back into her robe, she looked at the bouncing ghostly orb following closely beside her. She frowned at her spirit, quietly condemning it for being so happy at a time like this. As pretty as this atmosphere was, this was hardly what she'd call an enjoyable situation. Being reassigned with no work, no Wellspring, no scales, no nothing! Just her, her scythe and her spirit companion. Well, and this stupid book that apparently doesn't want to inform her of her duties!
Eventually, she did finally find herself on the outskirts of the town, looking in from beyond the town line. That's when she saw what looked like a colorful equine creature, walking with a similar creature of a different color. They were chatting about something she couldn't hear, blissfully unaware of her spying. She blinked curiously, half-frowning at the pair as they walked out of sight.
"Ponies?" she muttered to herself, blinking, "Okay so... my omniscience is still working."
She continued into town, knowing that she'd be invisible to these "ponies", as they are still alive. Deaths only appear to those who are passing on. Wandering toward the castle, her pointed ears caught on to soft mutterings from behind her. She quickly spun around, seeing a pair of younger ponies, "foals", staring directly at her and muttering behind their hooves. She quickly dismissed it, rolling her eyes.
"Boys..." she muttered to herself, walking toward the large crystalline structure's trunk. "Probably talking about some girl or whatever."
Completely oblivious to the fact that she was not nearly as invisible as she thought, she continued to wander around the town, unaware of all the stares she was receiving and quiet mutterings behind hooves. Circling the base of the tree, she approached the steps, looking up at the door, the branches, the shining leaves... It was incredibly beautiful, creating a feeling she couldn't quite describe. A feeling welling up inside of her chest, as if something long buried was trying to claw it's way back out from within.
Clutching at her scythe's handle a little tighter, she swallowed the sensation and approached the door, giving it a few firm knocks with the head of her scythe. Deaths, like most undead, cannot enter houses or buildings by phasing through walls. They needed to enter through doorways, windows and the like. Thankfully, unlike a certain undead species she refused to name, she didn't need an invitation to enter, just an open door.
The door swung inward, and a lavender pony stood behind it, a pair of feathery wings folded neatly at her sides, and a long spiral horn protruding from her head. Blinking her huge purple eyes in surprise as she regarded the strange creature standing at her door, she gave a curious head tilt.
"Hello..?" she said, as if not sure what to expect. As a princess and element bearer, she wasn't completely taken aback by this creature; But that wasn't to say she wasn't cautious.
Being completely ignored as the creature walked right past her as if she wasn't there was not what she had expected, however. Sure enough, Lily walked right in, bypassing the princess and walking into the foyer, then into the throne room beyond it; The little ghostly orb prancing behind her. Twilight frowned, closing the door and quickly followed after the hooded creature, blinking.
"Are you lost?" she asked, only to be ignored again as Lily walked over to the Cutie Map and gently poked at it with her scythe handle.
"What a curious palace... This must be a map of the world they live in..." she said to her ghost, giving it a sideways glance before scanning her eyes across the map, then pointing to Ponyville, "That must be where we are."
Twilight trotted up beside her, smiling awkwardly. "Yep! That's Ponyville."
The fact that she was being spoken to suddenly dawned on Lily, making her jump onto one of the thrones in fright. Looking at Twilight in surprise, she hugged her scythe close to her.
"Y-You can hear me?! You can see me?!" she said, her voice shaking more than she was. Twilight blinked, tilting her head to the side at the strange creature and it's equally strange behavior and questions.
"Of course! I've been trying to talk to you since you invited yourself in..." she said, frowning. "And I'll be honest, I've never met a creature like you before... But, you're welcome to stay as long as you need while you figure things out! My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle. What about you?"
Still in shock that she was "discovered", Lily regarded the pony princess with a frown. "These creatures must be of a magical nature," she thought, "And what does she mean she's never seen anything like me before...?"
"My...name?" Lily questioned, slowly stepping down from the throne, but keeping her distance from the equine. "My name is Lily."
"What a pretty name~" Twilight said with a smile. "Are you a gardener? Or a farmer?"
"Farmer...? Gardener?" she parroted, raising an eyebrow. Not that Twilight could SEE her eyebrows.
"Yeah! It's just that your name is Lily, and you're carrying that big scythe.." Twilight said, pointing a hoof at it. "I figured you must work in agriculture."
"...I...um..." she blinked, thoroughly confused at this point. "No... I'm neither. And I don't work in agriculture either. I'm a Death...ya know, a Grim Reaper?"
Now it was Twilight's turn to be confused. "I beg your pardon?"
"I'm a Death." Lily said, getting a little annoyed at this point. "Ya know, harvester of souls, guide to the afterlife... The hood, the scythe... That doesn't give it away?"
"I'm afraid not.. I've never heard of a "Death" before." Twilight said, raising an eyebrow. "And what's this about afterlife and souls..?"
Lily's frown worsened, as she tried to process that fact. A creature who's never heard of Death? Or souls? Or afterlife? What kind of crazy, topsy-turvy world is this?!
"Ya know, like.. a life force? A spirit? What happens when one of you dies?" she questioned, hoping to get some answers that made more sense than "I don't know." Unfortunately, that's exactly what she got in return.
"Dyes...? If you're looking for dyes, I could take you to my friend Rarity. She's a seamstress! Surely she would have some dyes we can use-"
Lily facepalmed, getting panicky. "No! Not 'dyes' with a Y. 'Dies' with an I! You know! Like.. kicking the bucket? Biting the dust? Taking a dirt nap?! Any of those ring a bell?"
Twilight began to look concerned, approaching the girl. "I don't understand... You need a kick a bucket of dust and dirt...? Why? That seems awfully messy... Are you feeling okay?"
"NO!" she shouted, backing up and nearly tripping over her own tail in the process. Holding her scythe with both hands, she looked around in a blind panic. "No I'm not okay! This isn't right! Where the hell did you send me?!"
"I didn't send you anywhere! R-Really! We're still in Ponyville!" Twilight put her hoof to her chest. "I haven't cast any spell at all!"
"NOT YOU!!" Lily screamed with a stomp, making Twilight back up a bit to give the poor girl her distance. "M-My higher up! H-He said I was being reassigned and that it'd be better for me! This isn't anything like what he said!"
"Re-assigned? Better? Like who said?" Twilight's voice was beginning to get a little shaky as she desperately tried to help the strange creature. "Are you from a different world? Maybe the Princesses know how to get you back!"
"No! I can't... I need... I need to go!" Lily shouted, running right past Twilight and out the door, Twilight galloping after her.
"Wait, where are you going?" Twilight shouted after her, stopping in the doorway of her palace as she watched the strange girl run into the distance, turning a corner and disappearing from sight.
Lily kept running, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks for the first time in several millennia. Ignoring the concerned calls of ponies on her way by, she sprinted out of town, down a dirt road heading towards a densely packed forest. She ran and ran and ran, but her ran slowed to a jog, then from a jog to a walk before she finally collapsed into a ball on a low hill. Breaking down was completely out of the question for a Death, and the shame that she felt only made her cry harder.
Screaming into the open air, she cried out,
"WHERE THE HELL AM I?!"
But there was no answer to her call. Not even a whisper in the wind. Just the sounds of birds in the trees and wind blowing through grass. And.. crunching. It started as quiet, repeated crunching noises, and slowly started to get louder. Soon, the noises seemed to be right on top of her as a shadow loomed across her crumpled form. Uncurling just a little bit, she peeked a red eye out from her hood, whimpering a little.
Before her was a butter yellow pegasus, her baby pink mane covering one eye. Reaching over a hoof, she gently nudged Lily's side.
"E-Excuse me..." she cooed, "A-Are you... okay? I heard crying... Was that you?"
Lily didn't respond, only curling up again and letting out a few choked whimpers. Fluttershy frowned, sitting close to her.
"It's okay, strange... black thing," she said, gently petting her head with a hoof. "There's no need to cry."
"W-Who are you?" Lily managed to mutter, barely more than a whisper.
"My name is Fluttershy..." she said, putting her other hoof to her chest. "What's your name?"
"L-Lily..."
"You have a very pretty name, Lily." she giggled, "Would you like to come to my house? It might be more comfortable to be in a cottage than here on the ground.. I live just over the next rise. I could take you there, if you wanted."
Lily sniffled, considering it for a few moments before slowly getting up and wiping her eyes with her sleeves. "Uh huh..." she whimpered, as Fluttershy stood up, being no bigger than Lily was. She put a wing around her side as she led Lily to her house.
"Are you lost, Lily? Is that why you were crying?"
"I...I...yes." She sounded unsure, but considering all the facts, 'lost' was probably the most accurate way to put it.
"Don't worry... Maybe I can help you find your way home!" Fluttershy said sweetly, almost maternally. "And then you won't be lost anymore."
The cottage was incredible, so full of life and wonder; No place for a creature such as Lily. She may be other-worldly, and she may have a fox's tail and ears, but she didn't belong in such a place and she knew that. What shocked her the most was when they walked in, the animals didn't seem to make a sound at all... Normally, animals would go crazy when a Death walked into the room, barking and screeching, hissing and cawing at nothing in particular. But Lily was greeted with just cheerful chirps, pleasant purrs and happy barks when she entered.
Despite the coziness of the cottage and it's walls, the kindness of the pegasus mare leading her into her home, and the amount of happy animals who didn't seem to regard her as a spirit of any sort, she was immensely uncomfortable. Taking a seat on the couch near the window, Lily wondered what in the name of everything that was both holy and demonic she was doing in a place like this. She has no business being in a place so full of life, so full of happiness. She was only to cause grief and sorrow in creatures like Fluttershy and her animals, whether it was intentional or not. That's just how a Death is. It's like how her mentor described it to her... "Life is a beautiful lie, and we are an ugly truth." The words echoed in her mind like marbles rattling around inside of a metal can, reverberating endlessly.
So why had Fluttershy been so willing to allow a Death into her home...? "Wait... If that purple pony, Twilight, didn't know what a Death was..." Lily thought to herself, "Fluttershy must not know what I am either..." That thought only served to discomfort her more, realizing that this poor mare had taken in a creature like her so unknowingly, so..naively. She couldn't bear the thought of accidentally causing her to go into an emotional breakdown because all of her animals she seemed to love and care for so much died overnight! She had to go. She had to get up, and leave, and never ever come ba-
"Would you like some tea, Lily?"
Oh my gosh that voice. That voice that was so sickly sweet and innocent, so warm and maternal... That voice could melt butter if it were in the same room. How could anybody say no to a voice like that? They'd have to be some sort of monster. Although, the problem with that thought was that Lily was a monster. An evil, ugly, life-stealing monster...
"Um...what kind is it...?" Lily managed to sniffle, still trying to get over her breakdown from before. If her mentor were here right now, she'd get such a talking-to. Her emotions were to be kept in line at all times. That's just how Death's are. If you show even the slightest amount of sympathy or regrets, you become useless to help the souls of the departed. Useless. Useless and stupid.
"Apple cinnamon. I would've made peppermint if I had any, I know that's always a good pick-me-up. But I know that the smell of apple cinnamon always makes me think of Applejack's apple pies, and I can't help but smile." How does one get away with being so cute and kind?! You can't buy this from any amount of stuffed animals, or get this kind of sweetness from any amount of candy and sugar! "Just say no!" Her mind screamed, "You don't deserve this kind of kindness, especially from someone so innocent!"
"...Sure..." Despite all of her reservations, she reluctantly accepted the offer of the warm beverage. Maybe she just needed something to calm down with. Fluttershy came over, carefully balancing a tray on an extended wing before gently setting it down on the coffee table in front of Lily. Taking a seat in a chair just across from her, Fluttershy leaned over, picking up the teapot's handle with her mouth, then tilted it to pour a stream of tea into a pair of china cups.
Lily slowly reached down, scooping up her cup and saucer, bringing it close to her face. As soon as the strong scent of apples and cinnamon hit her nose, that same feeling from before started to well up again. The same feeling she had when she was looking up at the palace of that Twilight pony... That weird, uncomfortably warm feeling that clung to her insides like thick honey. But it wasn't just in her chest anymore, it started to make her face feel the same way. She was so caught up in the strange sensations that she hadn't even realized Fluttershy was staring at her, a serene smile on her pale yellow muzzle.
"The smell is divine, isn't it?" she said, breaking Lily out of her stupor. "Do you have apple pie where you come from?"
Lily once again swallowed the feelings, giving Fluttershy a thankful, albeit awkward smile before taking a slow sip from her cup. The flavors danced on her tongue, warmed her ancient bones and gave her nose a slight tingling sensation... Not enough to make her sneeze, but enough for her to notice. "Must be the cinnamon... I wonder if it's freshly ground...?" she thought, setting the cup back into the saucer in her hands before looking back at Fluttershy, who was waiting patiently for an answer.
"I... um... No. Not where I come from anyway. I know the living ones do, though..." she said, unaware of what she just spilled the beans on.
"Living ones?" Fluttershy repeated, curious. "What's that mean?"
"Oh..." Lily, realizing her error, let out a soft sigh. "I'm a Death, Fluttershy... It's... hard to explain. Basically, I'm a guide for departed souls to enter the afterlife."
Fluttershy listened intently, despite having nary a clue of what Lily was talking about, as she sipped her tea.
"I... suppose you have no idea what any of that means, huh?" Lily said, the disdain dribbling from each syllable.
"I'm afraid I don't, Lily... What's death?"
"Oh no..." Lily's eyes shrunk as she choked on her words for a minute. "No no no no! You can't tell her what death is! She's too innocent! It'll break her heart and then stomp on the pieces!" Her hesitation must've been noticed, however, because Fluttershy scooted a little closer, frowning a bit.
"Lily, whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm a grown mare. I can handle it." she stated confidently, the air of innocence quickly fading from her voice, which took Lily off-guard. It was like a switch had been turned off.
"Death...is...kind of....it's kind of like sleeping, but...forever." Lily said sadly, looking into her cup of tea. "Your...body stops functioning, you just... turn off. And then your mind and spirit depart, leaving your physical form behind... The spirit then comes to find me... or someone like me. And it's my job to guide the spirit to an appropriate afterlife... Depending on how good of a creature you were in life, depends on which afterlife you get... One is a sort of like a sanctuary, where everything is worry-free, your troubles and responsibilities are gone, and you can finally relax. The other is more akin to a prison, where they endlessly punish you for your misdeeds and torment is never-ceasing."
Fluttershy's brow lowered as she listened, sipping her tea every now and again. Lily's eyes began to tear up without her realizing it as she spoke.
"I think the worst part is how scary death actually is... Everybody wants to avoid it, and when it finally happens..." She began to whimper a bit, making Fluttershy slowly put down her tea as she watched the young reaper speak. "I-It's like I'm stealing someone away from their loved ones, their families, their friends! They didn't choose this! So many people come to me, begging to be sent back to their old life and I can't!" The tears began to fall, making Fluttershy spring into action. Without so much as a second thought, the pegasus went over and sat down right behind Lily, wrapping her forelegs around her tightly while she rested her head against the top of Lily's.
Lily squeaked in surprise, feeling the warm body of the mare wrapping itself around her and giving her a hug from behind. Before she could ask what was happening, Fluttershy spoke up.
"It isn't your fault, Lily... You were just doing your job," she said reassuringly, right into Lily's ear. "It sounds a lot like you didn't choose this path either."
Lily's mouth curled up into a wobbling frown before she began to bawl for the second time that day. The sheer kindness she was receiving was so foreign to her, but for some reason she never wanted it to stop. Her ghostly orb managed to float down and catch the cup and saucer right as Lily broke down, carefully setting it on the table in front of them while Lily completely lost all composure she had previously. She was a blubbering mess, but Fluttershy didn't seem to mind that in the slightest as she squeezed Lily close.
"You don't like being a Death, do you?" Fluttershy said, knowing she was hitting the nail on the head. "Why don't you just quit?"
"I caaaannn't!" Lily cried, "That's not *hic* not how it works! I can't just *hic* quit my job! N-Not right after my reassignment! Awhhh if my mentor saw me nowww..."
Fluttershy continued to snuggle her, letting the small girl let out 5000 years of regrets and sadness, something she had been holding in for too long. Softly uttering "there, there" and "it's okay" between sobs, she gently rubbed at Lily's sides with her wings. Lily continued to cry for another 20 or 30 minutes, despite Fluttershy's best efforts. But Fluttershy never gave up, relentlessly comforting the little girl in her forelegs.
After her second breakdown that day, Lily was drained; Something she was not used to feeling. Deaths were sleepless, all-seeing beings with no need for food, for drink, for comfort... So why was she feeling so lost, tired and sad? This had to be some sort of punishment from her mentor for almost sending that poor boy to Limbo... That was the only conclusion that made sense. Death had sent her here as a cruel and twisted punishment for her behavior; Somewhere she would make a complete and utter fool of herself with all the needs of a Living. This couldn't get any worse.
Fluttershy, at this point, had cleaned up the tea set and was tending to her animals, checking on Lily every so often. Lily didn't want to move, she didn't want to cry, she didn't want to do anything. She just wanted to sit there and feel sorry for herself. But that didn't sit well with her host, so as soon as she had a minute, she flew over with a thick pillow and a comforter.
"Lily...? I'm sure you're awfully tired from your breakdown earlier, so I brought you a pillow and blanket, in case you wanted to take a nap." The same disarming sweetness to her voice was back, making Lily wince a little bit; Fluttershy's words hitting her like sugary daggers. If daggers felt anything like warm fuzzies.
"D-Death's don't need sleep," Lily said, looking to the side. Fluttershy just smiled and set the pillow near the head of the couch and the folded blanket beside it.
"Well, if you change your mind, you'll be ready," she said with a soft giggle, before turning and flying back to tend to the rest of the household. Lily had no intentions of changing her mind, and certainly didn't want to be here any longer than she needed to be. In fact, it was high time she got going.
Or, she would've got going if a cat hadn't hopped up and curled up in her lap. Confused at this gesture, she was at a loss for what to do now. She'd only ever dealt with dead things, and this cat was very much alive, purring and everything. She frowned, motioning her hand at it curiously, hoping to shoo it away.
"Go...scat. Get out of here." she muttered, to no avail. Suddenly, the cat craned it's neck up and pressed it's head against the palm of Lily's hand, making her turn white as a ghost. She covered her face with her hands, internally screaming. "Oh no! Oh no oh no oh no oh no!! I just touched it! Oh no Fluttershy is going to KILL me! If.. she could. I can't believe I just killed a-"
Then she felt something gently bump it's head against her chest. Looking down at it, she was shocked to see the cat was still alive and well, completely unaware that it was literally playing with death.
"...cat?" she said in disbelief, her eyes widening as she stared at the vibrating feline slowly curling back up into her lap. That's when it hit her. All the puzzle pieces finally fell into place. The ponies not knowing about the words "death" and "afterlife" and "souls". The empty log book. The lack of work. It all clicked into place.
"You... can't.. die," she said softly, picking up the cat and holding it in front of her face, the purring feline hanging limply by it's shoulders, "You can't die!" she said, louder this time, a huge smile suddenly crawling onto her face, "Holy FUCK YOU CAN'T DIE!!" She was practically shouting at this point, making Fluttershy fly back into the room to see what the commotion was.
She saw Lily hugging the cat tightly, like she was just given it as a pet for Hearth's Warming. Fluttershy giggled and flew over, smiling at the display.
"Someone seems happier. What happened while I was gone?" she asked innocently, ignoring the foul language of the reaper.
Lily looked up at Fluttershy, putting the cat down and practically pouncing her, with Fluttershy only barely managing to catch her and still maintain the hover. "Whoa!"
"YOU CAN'T DIE EITHER!!" she squealed happily, squeezing Fluttershy's middle tightly. The pegasus just smiled awkwardly, hugging and rubbing at Lily's back gently, "You can't die! I can't kill you!" Whatever Lily was ranting about, she was awfully excited about it.
"Well, as long as she's happy..." Fluttershy thought, giggling a bit before landing and setting Lily back down.
"Um... I'm not sure what that means, but if you're happy, I'm happy," she said, giving her a warm smile. This somehow only made Lily only more excited.
"I made you happy!! I MADE SOMEONE HAPPY!! HOLY SHIT THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!!" she began to run around the coffee table, circling it like someone who just won the Powerball. Fluttershy coughed into her hoof with a light giggle.
"L-Language, Lily..." she said firmly. This was enough to make the girl stop her tirade and look at her host, then blush.
"S-Sorry, Ms. Shy," she said, arms behind her back.
"It's alright. And you can call me Fluttershy. All my friends do," she said with a big smile.
"I'm your friend?" Lily's scarlet eyes lit up like fireworks, and then she began running around again. "I MADE A FRIEND!! I'M NOT HATED ANYMORE!! THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!!"
That last part made Fluttershy blink in surprise. Waving a hoof at her, she frowned.
"W-Wait, what do you mean 'You're not hated anymore'?"
Lily stopped, then looked at her. "Oh. Um.. P-People always regarded Deaths as these... evil beings who go and steal away their friends and family... Everybody tries to avoid us as much as possible, because when we arrive, it usually means someone is going to die.. And if you can see us, that means it's usually you who's about to die... But you can't die! So it's okay!" she said, grinning.
"That seems awfully mean...It's no wonder you were crying so much," Fluttershy said, looking sad. "Well you don't have to worry about those meanies anymore. You can live here for as long as you need~"
"WOO HOOOOO!" Lily cheered, throwing her hands up before leaping back into Fluttershy's forelegs, hugging around her neck happily. "Thank you thank you thank you!!"
Night quickly approached, faster than Lily would've liked. But, her host needed to sleep sometime, right? As she laid across the couch, head on the pillow and blanket pulled up over her like she saw the Living usually do, she glanced over at her spectral friend as a thought entered her mind.
"Spirit...? Do.. you think our mentor did this by accident? Why would he send a Death to a place where nothing ever dies...?"
Her spirit companion was quiet as ever, curled up on a chair nearby.
"No.. You're right. Nothing he ever did is 'by accident'. It's always thought-out and deliberate. But... that doesn't really answer my other question..."
There was another pause as she glanced at the flower-wearing orb, blinking curiously.
"You think so? But Death's don't take vacations.. And it doesn't seem like him to send me here just so I can shun my duties as reaper..."
Another pause. Sitting up, she looked at her orb with a concerned expression.
"You don't think...he sent us here to kill these ponies, do you?! A world where nothing ever dies and there's no other Deaths stationed here...Maybe the reason they don't die is BECAUSE there wasn't ever a Death stationed here?!"
Her orb swirled softly, silent as the night outside the cottage.
"He couldn't have! I know we're supposed to hate all forms of immortality because it makes our jobs that much harder, but that would be a new low, even for him!"
Lily stared at her orb as it lay there, never once uttering so much as a "whoosh".
"N-No.. No you're right... If that were the case, then that cat would've died the second I touched it... So.. why did he send me here...?"
Lily laid back down, staring at the ceiling of the cottage, the half-frown she was so used to wearing returning to her lips as her scarlet eyes did their best to burn a pair of holes in the cottage roof. The sheer silence of the house was nothing unlike the silence of the Wellspring, albeit more cozy.
"Well whatever the reason, we're here now. And it doesn't seem like we're going to be leaving any time soon either... I just hope that there's a good explanation for all this."
Giving her spiritual cohort one final glance, she let out a soft sigh as she rolled on to her side.
"...I wonder if Fluttershy has anymore of that apple cinnamon tea..."
The couch felt cold that evening, and the sounds from the animals sleeping was strangely quiet, replaced with what sounded like running water. Lily shivered as she laid there, shifting her hand to tug the comforter up a bit higher, only to find it missing, and the "couch" felt an awful lot like cool stone. Opening her eyes, she found herself laying on the ground in a familiar plaza, with a familiar fog surrounding it. Sitting up and turning her head, she saw a familiar fountain, but an unfamiliar figure sitting there.
She was back at her old station at the Wellspring. Feeling around for her scythe, she found it was missing as well.
"Spirit..." she muttered. "I don't like this..."
Once again, her companion was silent, but strangely...more so than usual. She turned to look at it, only to find that the ghostly orb was missing as well. Whimpering, she stood up and looked around in a panic. Completely unarmed, alone and back at her Wellspring was not where she expected to wake up. Well... She wasn't completely alone.
The figure was a foot or two taller than she was, likely a Death who died when they were older than she was. Nothing completely unusual, she did die pretty young. They had a long scythe, much longer than her own, which was topped with what looked like a burnt scrap of fabric. Every Death's scythe always had something like that, and it usually tied into how they died. "Poor guy..." she thought, her ears lowering, "He must've died in a house fire or something."
She slowly approached the Wellspring, the sound of pages being turned making her jump.
"Excuse me..." she said timidly, "Are you... the Death assigned to the Wellspring now?"
The figure paused, it's hooded head lifting up in response to the question, but not answering. Instead, it posed a question.
"Who approaches...?" That voice... it sounded so... familiar.
"Lily. I'm a Death too. But... I seem to have lost my scythe..." she said, sounding a little embarrassed, "I was wondering if you could maybe send me back to...wherever I was reassigned to? I think I left it behind."
"Lily...?" The figure muttered, sounding irritated. He stood up, making Lily take a step back, "You used to work here."
She frowned. She never said anything about working at the Wellspring. She only implied that she was reassigned and that she was unfamiliar with him. Something wasn't right.
"Um... Yes... How did you-"
Before she could finish her question, the figure spun around to face her, making her blood run cold. A humans face stared back, scowling at her. That face. That voice. That scrap of fabric.
"K-Kyle?! Kyle Longburrows?!"
"You... YOU did this to me!" He began to walk towards her, grabbing his scythe on the way by. Lily began to back pedal, eyes wide.
"N-no! I-I didn't send you into Limbo! Y-You were sent to the celestial afterlife! I saw you!"
"YOU stole my life from me AND my afterlife! YOU DID THIS!!" he screamed, his pace getting faster. Lily whimpered and continued to back up, soon stopping when she saw the endless black void looming behind her. Her feet scraped the edge of the plaza, a few stray pebbles tumbling into the inky expanse below.
"No! Please, Kyle! I didn't do this! You were saved! I-I didn't steal your afterlife!" she begged, to no avail. Kyle stormed over to her, stopping a foot or so away from her, huffing and puffing out of anger, "You were saved and my... our mentor! He sent you to the celestial afterlife! I was reassigned! Don't you remember?!"
"All I remember is YOUR blade tearing my spirit apart! You stole my afterlife, just like you steal EVERYBODY'S life from them! You're nothing but a monster, and that's what you created! You shoved ME into Limbo, so now it's YOUR turn!"
Lifting his foot, he planted it against Lily's chest, delivering a firm kick and knocking whatever wind was still in her lungs out. She flew off the edge of the plaza, screaming as she watched Kyle look down at her, then turn and walk back into the fog.
With a dull thud, she slammed down onto a wood paneled floor, the sound of a crackling fire nearby. She groaned, shifting in her prone position before slowly sitting up and gasping. Before her was her mentor, Death. He was sitting behind a rotten desk, a huge leather-bound tome laid out on it as he casually flipped the pages. Lily stood up, whimpering a bit as her mentor continued to look through his book.
"Lily, no last name given. Cause of Death: Forced Drowning. Age: 12." His ancient breaths were like sandpaper to her ears.
"B-Boss? Why are you reading my entry? I-I already died several thousand years ago..."
"Sit," he said, and a huge chair suddenly slid across the floor, stopping just behind Lily. Climbing into the ornate chair, she sat down and looked up at the huge spirit, who never once looked up at her. "I am...very disappointed... Lily."
She swallowed hard, her hands fidgeting in her lap.
"Sending that...poor....soul into Limbo....Breaking down... in front of...a Living..."
"B-But sir, I-"
"And now... asleep on...duty...." He interrupted. "Do...you have... any idea... what I am.... to do with you...?"
"B-But I didn't send him to Limbo! You stopped me, a-and then you reassigned me to a world where nothing dies!" she protested, but Death didn't seem to listen at all.
"You... have left me... no choice. I am... sending you... to Limbo... for eternity... You are hereby...stripped of your scythe...and your companion."
"S-Sir!" she begged, "Please, reconsider! I-I was weak then, a-and that pegasus-"
"I have... seen enough," Death said. "Goodbye."
The door to the office opened up, and it began to tug Lily's chair into it's dark opening. She screamed, leaping from the chair and grabbing onto the desk as the chair was ripped out from under her and launched into the abyss. Her feet began to leave the floor as the door's suction got stronger and stronger.
"BOSS PLEASE!! J-JUST GIVE ME ANOTHER CHANCE!! I'LL DO BETTER!"
Death ignored her, the spirit simply turning to her page in the book, then slamming a large stamp against it. Lily gasped as she saw that the stamp had said "DENIED FOR AFTERLIFE", her grip starting to lose itself on the old wood of the desk. The desk's edge began to crack, then snap as the door continued to flap outward into the void, anything that wasn't nailed down being sucked out.
The wood snapped in Lily's grasp, and she found herself flying head-over-heels, squealing as she was sent into Limbo, the door to Death's office slamming shut.
Fluttershy nearly dropped the bag of feed she was carrying as Lily sat up in the living room, screaming. Setting it down and flying over to her, the poor reaper's face was white as a ghost, tears streaming down her cheeks. The pegasus grabbed her shoulders and started to gently shake her, making Lily open her eyes in surprise.
"Lily! Lily wake up! What's wrong?" she said, the concern in her voice apparent. Lily looked around, expecting to be in some dark expanse, but found herself back in the cottage, under a comforter and sitting on a couch. She looked up, seeing a pair of big aqua eyes staring back with a worried expression.
"F-Fluttershy?" she squeaked, almost in disbelief.
"Yes, it's me. What's wrong, Lily? Were you having a nightmare?" The mare frowned, gently petting at Lily's head.
"I..I don't.. it...it felt so real." she whimpered, making Fluttershy hug her against her chest. She hugged back, rubbing her wet cheek against the downy fur of the pegasus as she tried her best to calm down.
"Don't worry Lily, it was just a bad dream... It's okay." she said, reassuring the girl in her charge. "You're safe."
She whimpered and sniffled a little more, soon managing to calm down enough to talk. Fluttershy pulled away, smiling warmly at the little reaper.
"Are you okay now?" Lily gave a curt nod, wiping at her face with her sleeves. "Good. I need to get my animals some breakfast. Would you like to help?"
Lily nodded again, taking a tissue from a box on the coffee table before blowing her nose into it, tossing it into the trash bin. Fluttershy smiled and led her over to the feed bag she was carrying before, offering her a metal scoop.
"Here. Just put one scoop of the dry food into each of the metal bowls. I'll get to work on feeding the birdies."
Lily took the scoop from her host, scooping some of the dry, brown kibble into each bowl while the pegasus hovered above her, filling up plastic bowls with bird seed, dried fruit and nuts before putting them into metal rings attached to several stands hanging from the ceiling. The duo continued to feed Fluttershy's animals, the work going by a lot faster with them both doing it. Soon, they were back in the living room, another pot of apple cinnamon tea sitting in front of them.
"So... do you want to talk about the nightmare you had?" The mare said curiously, scooping up her cup with her hooves before taking a slow sip from it. Lily sat quietly, head low as she stared into her cup of tea. She wasn't certain she wanted to talk about it at all, all things considered. Fluttershy had no idea what "Limbo" was, or who "Kyle" was... So she quietly shook her head.
"That's okay." she said, smiling. "You don't need to talk about it. I just thought maybe it'd help to get it off your chest."
Gosh she was so sweet... And that warm fur. It was like being wrapped up in a cozy blanket when they hugged. Lily sighed a little bit, sipping her tea before looking up at Fluttershy curiously.
"So...where are we, anyway?"
"Hm? We're in my cottage, silly."
"No, I mean.. what's this place called? This world?"
"Ohhh. I forgot you're new here. We're in a world called Equestria," she said, pausing to sip her tea before continuing, "The Land of Harmony."
"I see," Lily said, frowning. Why had her omniscience not caught that? And furthermore, why would she be sent to a world of cuddly pony things who can't die...? There were so many questions she had and not a single one was being answered. She needed to get to the bottom of this, and her mentor seemed to be completely ignorant to her calls, "It's very lovely here, Fluttershy," she said, hoping to defuse the awkward silence.
"Thank you~ I hope you've been enjoying it here, even if it's only been for a few days."
"Oh.. I've been here for a few months."
Fluttershy choked on her tea for a moment, coughing before looking up at her in surprise.
"A few months?" she said in disbelief. "Wh-What have you been doing for so long? Where have you been staying?"
"Oh... um... Nowhere... I spent the past few months laying in a field an hour or two out of town, waiting for my book to update."
This didn't seem to help Fluttershy's concerns.
"Your... book?"
Lily set her tea down, reaching into her robes and produced her log, opening it up for her new friend to look at it. "My log. It's supposed to have a whole list of souls that I need to help guide, but it's been blank ever since I got here. I thought it was an error, so I waited for it to update, but nothing came... After several weeks, I came into town in hopes of finding answers, but I only ended up with more questions..."
Fluttershy scanned the blank pages curiously, before glancing back up to Lily. "But what happened when it rained? Or when it was cold?"
"Oh... The weather doesn't bug me... I'm dead. I can't catch colds, or anything like that..." she said, shrugging a bit. "Besides, it was clear skies for most of the time I was out there."
"I see..." The mare frowned, sipping her tea again as Lily put the book back into her robes. "But didn't you get lonely out there?"
"No... I'm used to spending time alone." she sighed softly, looking a little sad. "Even if it does get boring."
"Well, you don't need to worry about that anymore. You can stay with me as long as you need." Fluttershy smiled warmly, setting her empty tea cup down. "I can introduce you to my friends, we can go out for lunch...I could even introduce you to-"
That's when the room suddenly lost it's gravity, everything beginning to float around aimlessly, much to Lily's surprise. The pegasus only seemed mildly inconvenienced by this, giving a soft giggle as she looked around curiously.
"Discorrrd... Quit that!" she said, sounding more amused than annoyed.
"Discord?" Lily repeated, before a bright flash made the room go right back to the way it was, and the teapot rumbled before a tall draconequus shot out from the top, the lid balanced on his head like a hat.
"DISCORD!" he shouted, giving a loud chuckle as he spread his arms out show-biz style. "Live and in person!" Another bright flash, and they were suddenly seated in what looked like a theatre, bright spot lights circling on the stage before aiming at the center of it. The curtains parted and the same bizarre creature stepped out, this time wearing a two-piece suit with the jacket buttoned up sloppily and half his shirt tucked in. He took a few bows, making Fluttershy giggle.
"I just flew in from Fillydelphia and BOY are my arms tired!" he said, his arms literally falling off, making Lily wince uncomfortably. Another flash and they were back in Fluttershy's cottage, sitting where they were, while the strange creature hovered in front of them, pretending to lay on something while he smirked at Lily.
"And you are?"
Lily blinked in surprise, looking around as if to check she was all there, then looking back at him. "Uh... Lily."
"Lovely to meet you Lily. My name is Discord. D before the I which is followed by the S, all wrapped up with a cord," he chuckled, levitating the teapot over and taking a bite out of it's spout, "Resident draconequus, and you?"
"Um.. I'm a Death." she muttered.
"You're deaf? Well that can't be right, because you're responding to everything I'm saying! Or are you one of those lip-reading deafs...?"
"N-No.. Not deaf... DEATH. With a TH."
"Ohhh I understand now." Discord nodded understandingly, taking another bite from the teapot. "You're one of those new students at Twilight's school, right? Mercy, that must be dreadful..."
Lily opened his mouth to correct him, but Fluttershy interrupted.
"No, she's not a new student. She's from a different world. It's a little hard to explain. I don't really understand it fully either..."
"Well lucky you! You get to see a brand new world with your own two eyes! Unless you want a different set. You can borrow mine, if you wish." He reached up and grabbed out his eyes with his lion paw, extending it to Lily and dropping the glassy orbs into her hands, making her squeal in fright, dropping them. They bounced across the floor before Discord picked them back up, dusting them off and putting them into his 'pocket'. His eyes then literally rolled back into place and he chuckled.
"A simple 'no' would've sufficed."
Lily gave him a fussy frown, scrunching up her face. Fluttershy looked at him with a disapproving frown. "Discord! Don't scare her like that, she's not used to your antics."
Putting up his hands, he smiled at the mare. "Very well. My apologies, Lily." He extended his hand in friendship, and Lily carefully took it, giving it a shake. That is before Discord's arm popped off for the second time that day, making her squeal again, dropping the appendage.
"Discord!" The pegasus said, a bit more firmly this time.
"I'm sorry, Fluttershy, I was only trying to give her a hand!" Laughing, he picked up his arm and put it back on. "Well, I'll leave you be, you seem to be busy. Let me know if you need some chaos, alright?" And with that, he spiraled into a ball before disappearing in a magical flash. Lily sat there shaking, curling up on the couch.
"Sorry about that, Lily. Discord means well, he just doesn't know when to stop sometimes," she said, hoping to reassure her, "But he's actually very sweet."
There was a silence as Lily sat there, trying her best to relax after the disturbing display. A knock on the door made her jump, squeaking in surprise. Her host blinked, then smiled, setting her tea cup down. "I'll get it. You just stay here, okay?"
She flew to the door, opening it and smiling at the purple mare behind it. "Oh, Twilight! What a lovely surprise!"
"Hey Fluttershy. Could you come to the castle? I don't really have time to explain, just know that it's important."
"Oh, of course. Do you mind if my new friend comes along? I couldn't bear leaving her alone..."
"New friend?"
Fluttershy opened the door a little more and let Twilight inside. The alicorn walked past her and looked at the couch, gasping at Lily.
"Where did you find her?!" She quickly ran over, making Lily incredibly uncomfortable, fidgeting on the couch as she was cornered by the mare.
"Oh, I found her outside just yesterday, she was curled up on a low hill, crying," she said, frowning, "I couldn't bear to let her sit out there all night, so I brought her in. Her name is Lily."
Twilight looked at her friend, then back at Lily with a calm smile. "Lily, right? I'm sorry if I frightened you before... You remember me?"
Lily looked up at her, whimpering a bit as she nodded. Twilight looked at Fluttershy curiously, frowning.
"She came to the palace sometime yesterday... She thought she was invisible at first, but when I told her that I could see her, she got super antsy and panicky, shouting about "being sent somewhere" and "a higher-up"... Do you know anything about that?"
Fluttershy shook her head. "No, not really. She told me that she's called a 'Death', and she's some sort of guide from another world. And that we can't die? Whatever that means..."
"Die with an I, right?"
The butter pegasus nodded, furrowing her brow. "If that's what she told you."
Twilight turned her attention back to Lily, who was still clearly unnerved by the alicorn standing so close.
"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. We just want to help. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"
Those "few questions" lasted long into the afternoon, as every answer Lily gave only seemed to further the confusion of the two mares. Words they knew not the meaning of, concepts completely foreign to them, and just more questions. Lily wasn't sure she could give anything more than what she knew, which wasn't a lot as it was. How do you explain death or souls to a creature that never dies?
Eventually, though, the questions did stop. Fluttershy went back to her animals, and Twilight sat with Lily as she tried to piece together the confusing picture.
"This is all very.. interesting, Lily. So you have no idea why your mentor sent you here?"
Lily nodded quietly, gently petting the ghostly orb that had nested in her lap.
"But you don't want to go back, because you fear that he'll punish you...?"
Another nod.
"But you're also convinced that he's mistaken for sending you here."
"Yes," she said, looking upset. "And... if it's what I fear, then I don't want to be here anymore."
"What do you think it is?"
"I think he may have sent me here to be this world's Death, so that you all stop being immortal or something... I don't want to kill you!" she said, the panic setting in again. "I-I don't want to ruin this place! You're all so happy!!"
Twilight blinked, waving her hoof. "C-Calm down, Lily, it's okay!"
"I don't want to lose you! I don't want to go back to being hated!!"
"You won't be hated, Lily!" Twilight frowned, looking toward the back of the house, hoping Fluttershy would come in to defuse the situation.
"I-I need to go!" Lily stood up to run, but Twilight quickly caught her, the magenta aura surrounding the girl and bringing her close. Giving her a warm hug, she wrapped her wings around Lily carefully, rubbing her cheek against Lily's. This seemed to make Lily stop panicking, but she clearly was still upset.
"It's okay, Lily, you're fine... A-And besides, even if you WERE here to kill us.. whatever that is.. You said that you can't, right?"
Lily whimpered, nodding a bit as sat in Twilight's embrace.
"So that means you aren't here to kill us. Because if you were, your book would be full, and your powers would still work."
"But... but..." Lily wanted so desperately to argue, the doubts clawing at her mind refusing to let up. But... it made sense. The only thing that wasn't making sense in her mind was why she was here. If it wasn't for work, and if it wasn't for punishment, then why was she here? Death may work in mysterious ways, but he's almost always direct about it. If he wanted it to be mysterious, he would've made it OBVIOUS that it was a mystery. So why did she feel like she was missing something?
Twilight continued to snuggle her, squeezing her close. She was so warm and soft, just like Fluttershy was. But this time, she didn't feel like breaking down. Perhaps she had just run out of tears, or maybe she just didn't need to cry anymore. Regardless, Lily decided it was better to just enjoy it. Leaning back into the purple mare's chest, she smiled, feeling safer than ever like this. She felt protected.
Night fell once again, and Twilight had since taken her leave, telling Fluttershy that Lily was probably better off in her charge than the castle, something Lily was silently thankful for. Coming back over, the mare tucked Lily in, giving a soft kiss to her forehead.
"If you start to have another nightmare, you're free to come and sleep with me if you need," she said with a smile.
The pegasus nodded, then turned and went upstairs and out of sight. Lily let out a soft sigh, unsure if she wanted to experience 'sleep' again, after the awful dream last night. It was so realistic. She never wanted to experience something that scary again, so perhaps she'd just lay there awake tonight.
"Lily..."
He sat up with a start, looking around in surprise. "W-Who's there?"
"Lilyyyy..."
She grabbed her scythe, holding it close as she looked around the room. It was almost totally empty, aside from all the sleeping animals. She frowned, biting her lip.
"Up here Lily."
Looking up slowly, she jumped in surprise, seeing an apparition coming down from the ceiling. The figure was clad in white clothes, floating just above the table. As the figure's head came through the ceiling, she gasped.
"K-Kyle?!"
"Yep." He gave her a warm smile, chuckling. "I bet I was the last person you'd want to see, huh?"
"What are you doing here? H-How are you here?! Aren't you a-"
Kyle raised his hand, silencing the little girl.
"Relax, Lily. I'm not a reaper, and I'm not in Limbo. I made it to the celestial afterlife, and it's great here! I actually came back to apologize..."
"Apologize...?" she said, confused.
"Yeah... I was acting like real meathead before. You were just trying to help, and I should've just listened. I heard you were having nightmares, so I wanted to tell you that I was okay." He tucked his hands into the varsity jacket he wore, chuckling.
"Wait, how did you know that?"
"I can't really say. I don't have a lot of time. It takes the angels a lot of work to keep me here like this, so I just wanted to say thanks... and I'm sorry."
"I-It's okay, Kyle... I was acting like a brat too..." she frowned, her ears lowering, "That's why I got reassigned here."
"I know," he chuckled, "But hey, all is forgiven. Enjoy your reassignment."
"H-Hey wait, how do you-"
But when she looked up, he was gone. Frowning, she laid back down on the couch, setting her scythe aside again. That was weird. But at least Kyle was okay. She wasn't certain she could bear the thought of him having his afterlife stolen from him over a stupid over-reaction. But how did he know all that stuff? Who was telling him? And why did he say "enjoy" at the end? Nobody should enjoy working as a Death, least of all Lily. Especially given her circumstances.
Things were only getting more and more confusing, much to her dismay. And oddly enough, she was feeling awfully tired. Maybe trying out that 'sleep' thing again wouldn't be so bad after all.
"No nightmares last night?" Fluttershy chirped as she saw the young girl waking up, rubbing her eye with a fist and yawning cutely. A nod from the reaper confirmed her suspicions, which made the soft yellow pony smile. Kicking her legs off the side of the couch, the fox-tailed death sat up, smacking her lips a bit. She was still getting used to this whole "sleeping" thing. After 5000 years of having no need for sleep, it was strange to get back into the habit, even if it was only twice now.
She reached into her robes, producing the book curiously and leafing through the pages, as if expecting something to have changed. And, not surprisingly, it was still blank as ever, like a parchment desert that begged for a drop of ink but found nothing but dust and wind. Tucking it back into her robes, she looked up to see Fluttershy staring at her curiously.
"What's wrong?" she asked, frowning.
"Well... pardon me if this is too forward... But.. You've been wearing those robes for a few days now... Don't you want them washed and pressed?" The mare asked, turning to pour some food into a bowl for her critters.
Lily blinked, then looked at her robes, pinching a part of them and tugging it forward to inspect it. She lifted them up a bit and sniffed them, they.. didn't smell any different. Dusty, dry, and ectoplasmic. They've smelled this way since she got them from her mentor. She looked up at Fluttershy with a puzzled frown. Why would she need to wash them? They smelled just fine. Besides, she wasn't into smelling like riverwater and goat fat.
"Uh... Not really. I think they smell fine. Besides, I haven't changed them in 5000 years, so it's no different," she stated, which only prompted an eyebrow raise from Fluttershy. The mare turned to look at her, setting the bag of feed down.
"Well 5000 years of wearing those robes, and you're telling me you never once got dirty?" she said disapprovingly. She was sounding more and more like a mother every day.
"Must be 'cause of my age. I am pretty young... At least in relation to the other Deaths... " Lily thought, giving a small shrug in response, "If I did, it was shaken off after a while."
"Lily, I really think you'd be happier in clean clothes," she said, "And if you haven't changed out of those robes in so long, then you probably haven't bathed in forever too."
"Well... I'm dead, Fluttershy. I'm supposed to smell... corpsey," Lily said, giving a roll of her hand and a half smile, as if Fluttershy was supposed to understand and just move on. No such luck, however.
"Lily..." she frowned, the sweetness gone from her voice and replaced with a stern tone. "If I'm going to be taking care of you, I'm going to treat you to the same comforts as I give to the animals. Which means regular baths and clean clothes. Besides, I'm sure Rarity could make you something to wear while your clothes are in the wash."
"Rarity?" She said, blinking. "Twilight said that name too...Is that another one of your friends?"
"Oh, yes! She's the local seamstress and she's a very good friend of mine~" There's that sweetness again. "I suppose I haven't introduced you to her yet. OH, or any of my other friends. Well, no time like the present!"
Finishing up her chores quickly, Fluttershy started to trot out the door, carrying Lily on her back. Lily squeaked a bit, startled from the sudden ride she was receiving, and held on to the mare's neck loosely. She'd never ridden a pony before, or a horse, or anything for that matter. Heck, she never even "rode" her scythe like a hobby horse. There's a certain level of professionalism you need as a Death, and pony-rides were out of the question..
Come to think of it, several of the things she's been partaking in are out of the question too...
But what could she do? She was at the mercy of these ponies, practically. Her scythe couldn't harm the living, and even if she could, these ponies were immortal anyway. It'd be like writing with a broken pencil... pointless. So if these ponies wanted her to sleep, eat, and be merry, she didn't really have a say in the matter.
The ride was nice, though. She got to actually take in the countryside and the rustic atmosphere of the whole place. It was quaint, in a way that only a town like this could be. Her ghostly friend bounced alongside them, sometimes circling between Fluttershy's legs and making her giggle from the sensation. They soon found their way into town, and ponies didn't seem to look twice at them anymore. They just waved, greeted Fluttershy and herself, and went about their days. Something about that experience made the reaper smile, just a bit.
They arrived at Carousel Boutique, and Lily climbed off Fluttershy's back, being careful not to get anything tangled in her long mane. The mare gave her a smile, then turned and knocked on the door with her hoof.
"COOOMMMMinnnnnngg!~" A voice cheerfully called from somewhere in the shop, with a sing-song tone that reminded Lily of the few Victorian opera singers she had encountered over the years. She always hated opera. She loved the outfits though, so colorful and vibrant, even when splashed with blood. Her thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and a white unicorn with a curled indigo mane stepped out, her huge eyes like brilliant sapphires behind a pair of professional red-framed glasses.
The scent, however, was less to be desired. She smelled like she bull-charged into a make-up factory and hit every holding tank on the way out. Lily didn't want to be rude, however, and bit her tongue from making a remark about the whole thing.
"Fluttershy, darling! It's so good to see you! What's the occasion? It's not our spa day for another week!" She said, beaming at the yellow mare.
"Hehe! I know, but I'm here for business, not pleasure."
Lily had to do everything in her power to not roll her eyes right there.
"I'm actually here for Lily," Fluttershy continued, turning her head to look at the girl standing beside her. Rarity looked at Lily and shrieked, making the two cover their ears in surprise as the door slammed shut.
"Well... that was certainly something," Lily said flatly, scowling at the door as she uncovered her ears.
"Oh um... I'm sure it wasn't anything personal, Lily... She tends to do that with a lot of ponies when she first meets them." the pegasus said, giggling a bit, "She's a bit of fashionista."
"I couldn't tell." the reaper dripped, the eye roll from before rearing it's ugly head.
The door was opened again, and Rarity came back, giggling nervously and waving a hoof at Lily.
"I'm so sorry, darling... I just... It was just your ensemble! Come now, darling, black cloak with red eyes and pale complexion? That is so last season!"
"I beg your pardon?" Lily said, giving her a puzzled frown, "Last season? What's Springtime have to do with my cloak?"
Clicking her tongue disapprovingly, Rarity turned around and started into her shop. "Come come. I can't have you walking around looking like that."
Lily looked at Fluttershy, shrugging and giving her a puzzled look. The pegasus just giggled and nudged Lily with her hoof, extending her foreleg into the shop. Following her directions, she went in after Rarity, her host following quickly behind, closing the door after them.
Rarity took them into her studio, racks and shelves full of dresses, suits, and fabrics of all colors; Mannequins... ponequins? whatever... were lining the walls, each dressed in a different outfit. The floor was surprisingly clean, Lily noticed. Most tailors had floors covered in pins and needles and lost scraps of thread. Then again, it's not like these ponies wore shoes all the time, so that was probably why.
"Now, Lily, was it? We absolutely MUST get you into something more... YOU," Rarity said, turning to face them. "And the sharp contrasts of light complexion to dark cloth simply ISN'T working. When you've got a coat like mine, you need to add more bright pastels and soft shades to help your tones shine a little more."
"Shine...? Pastels?" Lily was only getting more and more confused by all this fashion talk. "Is all this really necessary?"
Rarity gasped, putting her hoof to her chest. "Is this all really necessary?! Of COURSE it is, darling! You can't expect to look your best without clothes that look their best!"
Suddenly, a long roll of measuring tape was surrounded in a blue aura, being carried over to Rarity before she waved a hoof over to Lily.
"Now come over here and let me get your measurements."
Lily blinked, walking over to Rarity and standing up on a low stage surrounded by mirrors on one side. The blue glow levitated the tape over to her and was stretched out beside her leg, then her arm, then it was suddenly tightly wrapped around her chest.
"Ack! Hey!" Lily protested, but the invasive tape kept going, binding itself around her hips and waist before floating back to Rarity, who was looking at the chart she had been scribbling on for the past few minutes.
"Hmm... Your proportions are very unique, darling... But I've never backed down from a challenge!" she said triumphantly, extending her foreleg above her head. "Trust me, before the end of the day, you're going to have a brand new outfit that you are going to-"
"-die for?" Lily finished, smiling at her own joke. Unfortunately the punchline was lost on Rarity, who gave her a confused look.
"N... No, darling. I was going to say 'love'. Why in Equestria would you dye for it? The outfit's colors will be perfect as it is."
"Er... no, not dye with a Y, die with... oh forget it." She waved her hand dismissively, crossing her arms. Fluttershy giggled at the display, however, then went to Rarity.
"Rarity, would it be okay if Lily used your bath?"
"Oh of course, darling! As long as you make sure to leave it as clean as when you enter, I don't mind in the slightest."
Fluttershy smiled, thanking her unicorn friend before leading Lily into a different part of the boutique. Entering the bathroom, Lily was assaulted by a multitude of scents that she was only barely familiar with. Whatever it was, it was flowery. VERY flowery. Ignoring the smell, the pegasus trotted forward and started to run a bath, pouring a long stream of purplish ooze into the water, making the surface foam up with a thick cloud of bubbles.
Lily stared in wonder at the bubbles, quickly running over to the side of the bath and looking in.
"How'd you do that?!" she shouted in disbelief, "Was that some sort of magic potion?"
The mare giggled, shaking her head. "No, nothing like that. It's just lavender bubble bath!"
"Bubble bath?" Lily repeated, looking at her curiously, "What an odd name for a potion.."
This made the butter pegasus frown, furrowing her brow. "Have... you never heard of bubble bath, Lily?"
"And where's the water come from?" She looked at the metal spout protruding from the wall curiously, "There's no basin or tank to siphon it from..."
Fluttershy blinked, then gasped when it finally dawned on her. "Ohhh you're from a time when this stuff wasn't invented yet, huh?" she said, smiling.
"I guess so," Lily said, looking at her, "When I died, the most we had for a bathroom was a bucket of water and soap made from animal fat. If we were lucky."
"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore. You can take baths whenever you like now, and the soap is made from special ingredients so that it cleans more and smells better." she chirped, turning the water off, "I'll give you some privacy. Just leave your clothes near the door so that Rarity can wash them, okay?"
"But I'm not gonna be in the bath that long!" she protested, looking at her with a frown, "Washboarding this stuff would take hours!"
"We don't use washboards anymore, silly! We have machines that do the work for us, and much faster too."
"No way!" Lily said, grinning like a kid in a candy store, "How was I not informed of this stuff?!"
Fluttershy just giggled and shook her head, turning around and leaving the room, closing the door behind her. Lily giggled, playing with the bubbles for a while.
A nice long bath and several minutes of blow-drying her tail and hair later, Lily waited patiently in a towel for her new clothes to be delivered to the bathroom as she chatted with her ghostly companion.
"I wonder what kind of cloak we'll get this time, Spirit! Do you think it'll be ash black or charcoal black?" She said excitedly, "I've always kind of thought of myself as more of an ash girl."
The spirit ball bobbed around a bit, aimlessly floating about without a care in the world.
"Really? You think I could pull off charcoal?" Lily's cheeks flushed a bit as she giggled, "You're just saying that."
Soon, there was a soft knock at the door and Rarity's voice came through.
"Lily, darling, your clothes are here! Come see me when you're all dressed!"
"Thanks Rarity!" she called, looking back to her companion, "C'mon Spirit, let's see which cloak she made for us!"
Opening the door, she quickly brought in a folded bundle of clothes before closing it up and unwrapping them with the gusto of a child at a birthday party. But her excitement quickly waned when she saw her new outfit.
"Huh?"
She lifted up a pair of baby pink pants, sized perfectly for her, with a pink pond lily embroidered on each hip. Then a rose pink short-sleeved shirt with a small sunflower decal on the upper left chest of it. She pulled out the undergarments and socks, then the red canvas flats that went with it, looking in the empty package expectantly, only to find nothing.
"Well... m-maybe she just wanted to save the best for last," Lily said with a light chuckle, quickly dropping the towel and getting changed into the new clothing. Even if it wasn't exactly business wear, it was incredibly comfortable. Rarity certainly knew what she was doing. She stood up and looked in the mirror, her hair hanging down loosely, like a black tangled mess with shaggy bangs. "At least my hair looks good."
After cleaning up the bathroom and making sure it was exactly like how she went in, Lily stepped out and into the studio where Rarity and Fluttershy were waiting. Stepping out and doing a little twirl, Lily giggled with a big smile.
"How do I look?"
Fluttershy seemed to like it, but Rarity...
"Darling... I hate to nitpick, but... why didn't you brush your hair?"
"Well, it's just gonna be covered up by my cloak, right?" Lily said with a big smile, "Where is it anyway? I can't wait to see what kind of cloak you stitched for me! Is it charcoal or is it ash? I was saying to Spirit that I'm more confident in ash but they say that I could pull off charcoal."
"Cloak...?" Rarity frowned, "I didn't stitch you a cloak, darling. Don't you remember what I said about dark cloth on a light complexion? The soft pastels work so much better," She said, doing her best to sound friendly, yet professional.
"W-Wait, you expect me to walk around without my cloak?!" Lily protested, "H-How is anyone going to know that I'm a Death without a cloak?!"
Rarity looked at her friend questioningly, but the butter pegasus just shrugged with a quaint smile, a soft giggle escaping her lips. Turning back to Lily, the unicorn gave her an awkward smile.
"Darling, I'm not sure what a "Death" is, but whatever it is, they definitely need better fashion sense. Besides, don't you like the outfit I made for you?"
Lily looked a little upset, but looked at her new outfit, considering the point that the fashionista was trying to make. To tell the truth, the splash of color against her otherwise dreary disposition was a welcome change. And the clothes were incredibly comfortable. And best of all, they didn't smell like dirt and ectoplasm. It smelled soft, flowery and warm, which is exactly the way Lily felt for a moment, anyway.
"I do," The reaper said with a small smile, twirling again, "Thank you so much, Rarity... I guess after 5000 years of wearing the same thing, I just got used to it. The outfit is beautiful. But I suppose if I'm going to go around without a hood, I should style my hair some..." And as if on cue, a tangled bang swished down into Lily's vision, making her giggle.
"Allow me, darling," Rarity said with a smile, walking over with a comb, a brush and a few hair accessories.
Fluttershy led the young reaper out of the boutique, looking over her shoulder at Rarity. "How much do I owe you, Rarity?"
"Oh, no charge for you dear, or our adorable new friend. It's on the house today."
"Are you sure? It was so last minute, I'd hate to make you go through all that and not pay..."
"Pish posh, Fluttershy! The satisfaction of knowing I helped a friend is payment enough!"
There it was again, that strange, warm sensation. It seemed like every time it reared it's head, it managed to get out more and more, like some sort of weird... emotion zombie. "Yuck..." she paused her train of thought for a minute. "Why'd I have to say 'zombie'? Of all the undead creatures, I had to pick the one that's falling apart and smells like rotted meat." Shaking her head in hopes of shaking off the strange sensation, she gave Fluttershy a smile as they walked out.
"You're okay walking, Lily? I don't mind giving you another ride," the pegasus said with a smile, looking at her. "Especially since you've got to carry your scythe and your old clothes.. I should've brought my saddlebags."
"I'm fine, Fluttershy. That Rarity pony was really nice! I can't believe she made this stuff for free! I wish I could thank her properly..."
The sensation wasn't going away as easily this time, however. It clung to her like wet glue... Not quite enough to hinder her, but certainly enough to be annoying. It was like her shadow was out to get her.
"That's Rarity for you~ I can't think of a more generous friend!" she said with a giggle. "Would you like to visit Twilight? I'm sure she'd love to learn more about you."
"Maybe tomorrow... I'm not sure I'm up for answering questions about myself today..." Letting out a huff, she rolled her scarlet eyes, "I swear, it's like trying to explain the color orange to a blind person.."
Giving a nod, the mare looked at Lily with a smile.
"You've been very patient, though. What do you think of your new hairstyle?"
Lily blinked as she thought about it. Her shaggy black hair was now brushed and combed, then trimmed down before being tied into a low hanging braid, complete with a bright red bow to tie it together.
"I love it..." she said, a pink tone coming to her otherwise pale cheeks, "I haven't felt this way in centuries!"
"That's good!" her host chirped, "Although, if you don't mind me asking, what do you mean?"
"I already told you I'm over 5000 years old..."
"No, I mean... which way haven't you felt?"
Lily stopped dead in her tracks, no pun intended, as a puzzled look quickly found itself plastered to her face. Fluttershy stopped, glancing behind her when she noticed Lily wasn't following anymore, pausing and turning around to face her.
"Lily...? I'm sorry if that was too personal... Are you okay?"
The girl frowned, looking lost for a while. Fluttershy's voice seemed to fade in and out as she tried to find an answer to the question; The feeling from before looming behind her... not threateningly... but knowingly. Twisting her mouth into a crooked frown and her eyebrows raising, she stared at the ground as her brain buzzed. The mare approached, gently putting her hoof onto Lily's hand, snapping her out of it.
"Lily? Do you need to go to the doctor? Are you feeling okay?" she asked, the concern in her voice wrapping around Lily like a shawl.
"N-No, I-I mean... yes, I'm fine. I don't need to go to the doctor. Sorry... I just... didn't know how to answer your question? ...I think." She fidgeted with the bundle of clothes for a moment before looking back up to Fluttershy. "Could... we actually go talk to Twilight after all? I feel like she might be able to help me make sense of this."
Turning tail, the duo started back towards Twilight's palace. Well, Fluttershy did, carrying Lily on her back. She was insistent on Lily not walking until she was sure that her charge was okay. Stepping into the giant double doors and heading into the Map Room, they came in on the familiar alicorn chatting with a pink unicorn with a purple and blue striped mane and tail; the former of which turning around to greet them cheerfully.
"Fluttershy, Lily! What a pleasant surprise!" She said, waving them over. "I was just talking about you!"
The two came over, the unicorn giving Lily a polite, albeit stressed, smile.
"Lily, this is Starlight Glimmer, my student! Starlight, this is Lily, the.. what was it you said? Death?" she questioned, turning to Lily curiously. A nod from Lily confirmed this, and Twilight turned back to Starlight with a smile.
"She's not from here, but Fluttershy has been taking care of her while we figure out what to do with her."
"Heyy..." Lily said, scowling. "I'm not a pet ya know."
"Sorry."
Lily climbed off of Fluttershy's back, then approached the two other mares, leaning her scythe against the Cutie Map.
"Miss Twilight, I was actually wondering if you could help me with a problem I've been having since I got here."
Raising an eyebrow, the alicorn sat down in place and smiled. "Well, whatever it is, I'll do my best to help out."
"I've been having these weird... sensations lately... It's like a heavy, warm feeling in my chest..."
The three mares exchanged looks, but none of them seemed to be of concern, or worry... It almost looked as if they were smirking at each other. Twilight looked back at Lily, giggling a bit before she let Lily continue.
"Um... a-anyway... It feels like something keeps filling me up with... warm fuzzies..."
The three mares giggled, interrupting her again, which only served to annoy her further.
"Sorry..." Twilight said with a big smile, "If you don't mind me asking, when do these sensations normally occur? Is it a constant feeling, or is it in small pulses?"
"The second one... Although I wouldn't call them small. They keep getting bigger. It usually happens when someone does something nice for me, or to me."
Starlight covered her muzzle with a hoof, doing her best to suppress her giggling while Fluttershy held her breath, looking away with a goofy smile.
"What's so funny?!" Lily said, stamping her foot. This made Starlight lose all composure, giggling like a filly.
"I-I'm sorryyyy!" she said between giggle fits, "Y-You're just so cute!"
"You are pretty adorable, Lily. Especially with that new outfit of yours," Twilight said, pointing a hoof at her.
Lily's cheeks became red and her tail swished side to side, her ears perking up.
"Th-thanks," she said softly, then shifted uncomfortably, "Gahh, there it is again!"
Twilight gave her a patient smile, watching Lily trying to ward off the sensations building up in her chest, before levitating the girl over and giving her a big hug, snuggling her close.
"Hee hee! Relax, Lily. That warm sensation is a good thing!" She gave Lily's cheek an affectionate nuzzle, "It means that you feel loved and cared for."
"...loved?"
The room fell silent, the giggling stopping entirely. Starlight blinked and Fluttershy looked ready to faint.
"...Lily..." Twilight said cautiously, "...do... you not know what being loved feels like?"
What should have been a typical day of relaxing at Fluttershy's cottage, enjoying the animals' company and drinking tea has quickly nosedived into a hillside and exploded. Sure, the change of clothes was nice, and Rarity was really sweet, but now everything was quickly unraveling. The three ponies stared at Lily in utter horror as she slowly shook her head, getting increasingly worried by their expressions. What was the big deal?
Well it turns out the big deal was that, truth be told, Lily had no idea what being cherished felt like at all. Dying young by forced drowning in the middle ages, then being recruited by Death to be one of his servants and being denied a happy afterlife, or any afterlife at all for that matter, tends to make a girl feel pretty unwanted. But she just figured that was the norm. Everybody she ever guided to the afterlife always seemed miserable, regardless of which afterlife she was sending them to.
"Y-You've never felt love before?!" Twilight asked; Okay, asked was putting it lightly. She practically screamed it, and with Lily being in her forelegs, it was especially loud. The reaper winced a bit from the volume, frowning before shaking her head a second time, which didn't seem to help calm anypony down.
"No, I mean... Not since recently, if what you said is right," Lily said quietly, as if she were being scolded, "Love is that weird warm feeling I keep getting in my chest, right? When someone does something nice?"
Twilight looked at Fluttershy, as if expecting some sort of explanation, but the poor pegasus was at a loss for words. She just stood there, looking like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car. Frowning, she looked at Starlight.
"Starlight, gather up my friends as quick as you can, this is a friendship emergency!"
Soon, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy and 3 other unfamiliar ponies were all seated around the map in their respective thrones, with Lily sitting in a smaller throne that a baby dragon offered for her to use. Apparently it was his...? She thanked him for his kindness, as it was the only throne there that was of a somewhat normal size, at least for Lily. Starlight was there too, standing on the other side of Twilight's throne.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," Twilight began, "I know you were likely busy with your own tasks, but this is big!"
"Well, we weren't called by the map, so how big could this be? And who the hay is that?" a rainbow-maned, raspy-voiced cyan pegasus said, pointing a hoof at Lily accusingly.
"Girls, this is Lily. She's from another world called Limbo, and she's in desperate need of our help," the alicorn said. "It's hard to explain in detail, because the few details she could provide were mind-boggling to say the least."
"Well, whatever Lily needs from us, we'll do our best to provide," an orange pony said, tipping the stetson atop her blonde mane. Her voice reminded Lily of a few departed souls of cowboys she ran into.
"So what's the problem, Twi?" the rainbow pegasus asked, "Some baddie loose in Limbo? Does she need us to go to Tartarus and whoop flank?"
Feisty one.
"No, no, nothing like that..." The look of disappointment in the cyan pegasus' eyes was enough to make Lily smile, just a little bit. She was awfully cute when she looked like that.
"Lily is a Death, from what she's told me. Which, apparently, means that she's a guide for Limbo, allowing departed souls to find their appropriate afterlife. And from what I understand, she's not nearly as young as she looks. She's actually well over 5000 years old."
"Whoa! That's like SUUUUPER old!" the pink curly-maned pony said, leaning in, "She's like... as old as Celestia and Luna or something!"
"Okay but that doesn't answer the question, darling... What's Lily need help with?" Rarity piped up, sounding a little impatient.
"I'm getting to that." Twilight continued, "Lily, while being 5000 years old, is also... not alive in the same way as we are. She apparently passed away, but was then resurrected by someone she only refers to as her 'mentor'. I'm not quite certain what any of this means, but the bottom line is that she's looks young because she died young. Which brings us to the problem..."
"Just spill it already!" the feisty one groaned.
"Lily... apparently never experienced genuine care or love in those 5000 years."
The same hush fell over the whole room, just like last time. Why was this such a foreign concept? Death being strange? Yeah, that made sense. These ponies were immortal so they probably have no clue what Twilight's talking about. But not being loved? That's just life for a reaper like Lily. That's how it is for all reapers... It's normal.
Isn't it?
"I beg your pardon?" the orange pony said, feigning ignorance, "I thought you said that Lily here didn't know what love was."
"That's exactly what I said," Twilight confirmed with a concerned look, "Poor Lily here was completely unaware of love as a concept, similar to how we were unaware of the concept of death before she came here."
"WHAAAAT?!" the pink mare screamed. "YOU MEAN SHE'S NEVER HAD A BIRTHDAY PARTY?! OR BALLOONS?! OR PRESENTS?!"
"I'm afraid not, Pinkie."
Okay so the pink one was called "Pinkie".
The ponies looked at each other, trying to make sense of it. Soon, the orange pony looked at Lily, lifting her head a bit.
"Didn't ya'll have a family before... you uh... died?"
Lily couldn't really answer that, at least not honestly. Because truth be told, she had no idea what her life was like before she died. Those memories were stripped from her the minute she became a reaper... Something about 'breaking ties to your old life so that you don't have regrets on duty'. She just accepted that as a fact. So... she just shrugged.
"You don't know?" Rarity said with a frown.
"No, I don't..." Lily said softly, looking more confused than upset, "All I remember is my mentor, my duties, and Spirit." She glanced to the bouncing ghostly orb beside her, "Past that, there's not much... Except for the pond."
"Pond?" Twilight said, looking at Lily, "You never mentioned a pond before."
There was a good reason for that. Or rather, a very, very bad one. And the more Lily thought about it, the more she wanted to bury the memory deep in the darkest recesses of her fractured mind. There was a reason her name was Lily, and she certainly didn't like that fact.
"It's not important," Lily said dismissively, looking away while crossing her arms uncomfortably.
Knowing better than to push a sensitive subject, the group decided it was better to move on to the more pressing matter.
"So... for all we know, you had no family, no friends... and no nothing," Fluttershy said timidly, tears welling up in her big aqua eyes.
"So...?" Lily said, looking up. The mares gasped, staring at Lily like she had grown another head.
"S-SO?!" the blue pegasus shouted, "W-What do you mean 'so'?!"
"I mean... Reapers are used to being hated... Nobody likes seeing us because we're taking someone away, and they're always trying to avoid us as much as possible. We get yelled at, cursed at, blamed... I can't think of a single soul I helped who was happy to see me," she said with a small shrug.
"Well, you won't have to worry about that here, sugarcube," the orange pony said, "We'll take care of ya from now on, and you'll see what it's like to be cared for."
"Yeah! And I can throw you 5000 birthday parties just to catch up with all the years you missed out on them!" Pinkie shouted, pulling a blue cannon from nowhere and firing it into the air, causing a rain of confetti and streamers to shower down in a small radius.
"You won't have to worry about not having a family or friends ever again, darling," Rarity said, waving her hoof with a big smile.
"And that warm fuzzy feeling will become the norm for you!" Starlight added, coming around and giving Lily an affectionate nuzzle against her cheek, making the reaper giggle happily.
"Thank you everypony. I know this is a tall order, making up for 5 millennia of no care, and I think I can safely say Lily will be very appreciative too!" Twilight concluded with a grin.
The 3 new ponies came around later, introducing themselves as Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie and happily telling Lily all about the fun plans they had for her. Eventually though, they had to file out and get back to whatever business they had prior to the meeting. Soon, it was just Twilight, Lily and Fluttershy sitting together in the Map Room.
"So, Lily... About this mentor you keep talking about..." Twilight said inquisitively, "What's he like?"
"He's... quiet. Doesn't like talking much unless he needs to... He mostly just sits in his office and makes sure that every other Death is doing their jobs, assigning them to different planes of existence appropriately. I was reassigned here after I almost hurt an innocent soul over a stupid emotional outburst."
"Reassigned...? Where were you before?"
"It was a little plaza called the Wellspring. It had a fountain there, but not much else. I helped mostly souls that looked like me. Bipedal, hands and feet... A couple had extra parts like wings or a tail, but not all the time."
"Well... did your mentor say why he was reassigning you to a place where nothing dies?"
Lily shook her head, frowning. Twilight blinked, rubbing at her chin in thought. "Have you tried asking?"
"Several times... I never get a response."
"Hmm... Alright, well... if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask, okay?" Twilight gave her a hug, rubbing her warm purple cheek up against Lily's, something Lily had come to enjoy more than anything. If these ponies were good at anything, it was hugging and nuzzling. They were experts in the field. And that warm feeling in her chest was back, but she didn't feel like fighting it this time. In fact, it was kind of making her feel a whole new sensation.
Her head started to become foggy, her eyes began to droop and she opened her mouth, letting out a lonnnnnng yawn.
"Mmph... This feels weird..." she muttered, shaking her head a little, "Why do I feel all slow suddenly...?"
Twilight giggled, smiling warmly.
"Sounds like someone's awfully sleepy!" she teased, "I'll let you two get back home. Are you going to be around for school tomorrow, Fluttershy?"
The pegasus scooped Lily up onto her back, who was barely hanging on. In fact, she wasn't really hanging on at all. Instead, she just kind of buried her face into the top of Fluttershy's head, using her thick pink mane like a pillow as her arms hung limply at her sides.
"I'll try, Twilight. I just don't want to leave poor Lily at the cottage all alone..."
"You can bring her along, if you want!" Twilight smiled, before yawning herself, "We'll talk about it more in the morning, though. Safe travels, you two~"
Fluttershy went back home, smiling as she felt Lily relax against the top of her head. It was a quiet walk home that evening, the wind hardly making a sound as it traveled through the grass. About halfway between the castle and the cottage, Lily lifted her head a bit, groaning a bit.
"Fluttershy...?" she mumbled sleepily, "What's school?"
"It's a big building where fillies and colts go to learn about different subjects. The Friendship School is different though. Creatures of all different kinds come there to learn about friendship in the hopes of easing tension between nations."
"Sounds borinnng..." she muttered, sounding just like a kid again, which made the pegasus giggle.
"You haven't been there yet, Lily! I could take you tomorrow, if you wanted."
"Beats staying at the cottage all day..." she said, flumping her face back into the soft pink mane and nuzzling happily, "So warm..."
The two of them made it back to the cottage after some time, and Fluttershy carefully helped the sleepy reaper off of her back and onto the couch, tucking her in with a big smile.
"Good night, Lily."
"G'night Flutters...-" But she couldn't finish saying her name, as her eyes drooped and finally closed, falling into a deep slumber. The mare just giggled, leaning in and delivering a kiss to her forehead before heading upstairs to her own bed.
As night surrounded the tiny cottage, Lily slowly turned over and sat up, restless for some reason. Standing up, she decided that the best thing to do was to take a walk outside, maybe clear her head from the events of the day. She grabbed her robes, slipping them on but leaving the hood down, then paused as she glanced at her scythe. Deciding ultimately she didn't need it this time, she turned around and left the cottage, quiet as a mouse.
Stepping out into the cool night, she took a deep inhale through her nose before exhaling through her mouth with a smile. The air was so much nicer here. The Wellspring's air was almost always dusty and gross, with a scent that you might find in an attic, or from a chest of old clothes. But out here? It smelled so much more clean and welcoming. And nothing was overpowering.
It was like an nice mix of every little bit of nature, with nothing being too much or too little. Something she was very open to. Her nose twitched curiously, drawing her attention toward the forest behind Fluttershy's cottage. The scent was familiar to her... Flowery, with a hint of spring waters. The forest was completely unexplored territory to Lily, and it seemed like the perfect avenue to take on her little nature walk.
Before long, she was deep in the forest, walking along a narrow path. The sounds of unfamiliar animals echoed through the maze of flora, but not a single one was present. Her ears twitched at each little noise she heard, most of which were distant in relation to her. But then she heard a noise that she didn't think she'd hear in a forest like this... Running water, the splashing noise indicating to her that it was being collected in a large basin of some kind. Picking up the pace, the reaper turned and went off course, following the noise.
The noise only got louder and the scent of those flowers got stronger. But despite everything, she couldn't quite place where she remembered them from. Her face became steely as she pushed through the underbrush, determined to find the source. Her tail swished up and down as she ran, covering the soot-colored fur in dirt and leaves, the thick fluff snagging on loose twigs and stones. Her flats smacked softly against the soil as her robes seemed to get caught on every bush and tree she brushed against, almost as if trying to get her to stop her relentless advance.
But the scent was hypnotizing and the noise of rushing water continued to assault her ears as they laid flat against her head. Nothing was going to halt her from her mission. The forest became darker and trees became more similar, but as long as she kept following the noise, she knew that she'd find what she was looking for. And unfortunately for her, she found it.
The source of the noise and smells was right through this bramble bush. Lily silently cursed herself for not bringing along her scythe, knowing that it'd be the perfect tool for hacking her way through with ease. Instead, she now had to shove herself through the thorny mass in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she shoved her hands into the brambles and began to force her way through it.
Cursing at every little prick, poke and scratch, she slowly progressed through the thorns; the bushes defenses ripping into cloth and flesh alike. They raked across her skin, tracing red lines as Lily pressed on, taking chunks of fur and cloth with them. But she refused to be beaten by a lowly bush, not after all this. And right when she was about to pause for breath, her hands burst free from the brambles and she stumbled forward from the sudden lack of resistance.
Tripping on a gnarled root, she landed with a dull thud, kicking up a cloud of soil and leaves. Groaning from the stinging of her scratches and the pulsing pains from the fall, she slowly pushed herself back up, dusting off her tattered robe with filthy, bloodied hands. Her hood was completely useless to shroud her face now, as it looked more like a slice of swiss cheese than a garment of clothing.
"Fluttershy is going to kill me for getting all dirty again right after my bath..." she said disdainfully, looking at herself with a sigh.
The sound of running water caught her attention, however, and she looked ahead, laying her eyes on the source of the noise. It was a bathtub with a curved metal pipe standing against it, ending with a large dome-like piece. The flat face of the dome part was littered with holes in a circle pattern, each of them spitting a long, thin stream of water before it seemed to run dry, slowing to a dribble.
Lily sniffed the humid air, the scent of those damned flowers was stronger than ever.
"This is... odd." she muttered, "What's this bathtub doing in the middle of the forest?"
Approaching the bath seemed to be the only course of action that Lily deemed appropriate, so approach it she did. The bathtub was filled up, almost to the brim, with water that had a sort of.. greenish tinge to it. But it wasn't the water that caught Lily's attention as she got close. It wasn't the reason she stopped her advance, just a foot from the tub. It wasn't the cause of the tight, choking feeling she had suddenly caught in her throat.
It was the lilies.
3 lily pads were floating on the surface of the water, each sporting a bright pink flower with narrow petals. Pond lilies. Her face turned ghostly pale as she got a little closer, inspecting them from a distance. That flowery scent that seemed so familiar yet so haunting. The greenish water. The bathtub. That sudden tightness in her chest.
She stared into the algae infested water, her fearful gaze staring back. Then... a pink mane and yellow muzzle slowly rose up from behind her. She went to turn around but before she could, a pair of hooves slammed into her back, shoving her head and shoulders under the water. Her screams were quickly silenced as she went under the surface, which rose up and made the tub overflow. She pushed with all of her might, but her grip continued to slip off the wet edges of the bath.
The hooves against her shoulders held her under the water as water began to fill Lily's mouth and throat, the taste of algae and pond scum coating her tongue. Lily cried, screamed, begged for Fluttershy to let her up but with each word, she served to only seal her doom. The water slowly filled up her lungs as she gasped fruitlessly, the disgusting taste of pond scum and algae coating the interior of her mouth as the pegasus' hooves dug deeper into her shoulders...
"LILY! LILY WAKE UP!"
The poor pegasus shouted, holding the reaper's shoulders in her hooves as she tried to shake her awake. The poor girl was having such a noisy night terror that it woke up practically everything in the cottage, except herself. The girl only kept struggling in her sleep, tears pouring down her cheeks like little waterfalls, as if trying to escape from Fluttershy's grasp. She kicked and squirmed, wriggled and wept, but to no avail. Fluttershy had a firm grip on her.
"Lily, you have to wake up!" she cried, doing her best to get her to open her eyes.
Eventually, however, a certain bunny decided to take matters into his own paws, delivering a buck-toothed bite right into Lily's arm. Squealing in a mixture of pain and fear, Lily's now bloodshot eyes popped open, only to see Fluttershy holding onto her.
"Lily! Oh thank goodness you're-" The mare was quickly interrupted however as Lily reached up and shoved Fluttershy's face away, finally breaking free from her grip and scrambling to get over the arm of the couch to hide, screaming in fear before curling up and whimpering.
This behavior was incredibly unlike how she was only hours before, which only made her host even more concerned.
"L-Lily, what's wrong?" she asked, "I-It's just me-"
"GET AWAY FROM ME!! YOU TRIED TO DROWN ME!!" Lily cried as her voice shook in utter terror.
Completely taken aback by that, the mare frowned and went to approach, but quickly stopped after she stepped in... water? She looked at the floor, and noticed that a large puddle of murky water had appeared out of nowhere. Or at least, that's what it seemed until she heard what sounded like.. wet clothes shifting. Taking a few cautious steps forward, she gasped in fear as she laid eyes on her charge.
Lily's pale skin had become blue, her hair and tail was soaked and waterlogged, and her clothes were drenched. What's more, her ears seemed like they were mostly chewed off, and holes were appearing all over Lily's body, as if she was rotting.
"L-Lily, please! I-I don't know what you're talking about! You were having a nightmare! W-What's happening?!" she whimpered, "Y-You're starting to look really really sick!"
If Lily still had ears, they would've just perked up. She was still shaking, not wanting to look at Fluttershy directly.
"N-Nightmare...?" she said cautiously, "Y-Y-You mean... I-I wasn't... in the forest?"
"N-No, you've been here all night! Lily, you're all wet and you're turning blue! We need to get you to a doctor!" Fluttershy reached over to pick Lily up, but she quickly cowered away from her reach. "L-Lily, why are you so scared of me?"
"Y-You... You held me under the water! I felt your hooves on my shoulders!"
"L-Lily I was trying to wake you up! You were screaming and crying in your sleep! I wasn't drowning you! Please, Lily! You're not well! We need to get you to the doctor, NOW!"
Lily shook her head, whimpering and coughing up a mixture of blood and pond scum. "N-No! You'll just take me to the pond and hold me under!"
"W-Why in Equestria would I do something like that?! I love you, Lily! Don't you remember? We had a whole talk about it yesterday!"
There was a long pause as Lily tried her best to remember the day prior. She looked down, seeing the clothes she was wearing were soaked through, but they weren't scratched up and ripped. The cuts on her hands and wrists were gone, although her skin was awfully bluish-grey now, and she could see the bones of her hand through a hole in her palm. It slowly all began to click, and Lily's form began to slowly regenerate. The rotten holes in her skin closed up, her skin got it's color back, and her ears slowly reformed themselves.
Fluttershy watched in a mixture of horror and wonder as Lily seemed to magically turn back into her old self. Even the water and blood went away, as if it were never there. Once she was absolutely certain that she was safe, she slowly peered over the edge of the couch at the shaking mare.
"...Fluttershy...?" she whimpered nervously.
The pegasus knew she had to be strong for Lily, so she swallowed hard, giving her a stressed smile and a nod. "I-It's me, Lily."
"You love me?"
"Of course, Lily... Why wouldn't I?" she said, the smile becoming a little more natural, "You were just having a nightmare... I'd never do something like that to you."
Lily suddenly climbed over the couch, nearly tripping in the process, and slammed into Fluttershy's chest and buried her face into the downy fur. Fluttershy let out a soft squeak of surprise, then sat down and wrapped her forelegs around Lily, giving her a close hug as the reaper cried against her chest.
"It's okay Lily... It's okay."
"I'm sorreeheeheee..." she whimpered, choking on her words.
"It's okay, Lily... I'm here, I don't ever plan on leaving you."
The mare hugged Lily a little tighter for good measure, as the hysterical reaper continued to profusely apologize to the pegasus through sniffles and whimpers. This went on for several minutes before she finally managed to calm herself down, and they broke the hug.
"Would you like to sleep next to me tonight, Lily?" Fluttershy cooed softly, the maternal tone coming back into her voice.
Lily nodded and wiped at her eyes with her fist, her ears flat against her head. "Uh huh..."
Fluttershy laid on her belly, letting Lily climb onto her back before she carried her upstairs, being careful to take it slow. Arriving in Fluttershy's bedroom, Lily climbed off carefully, getting into the queen-sized bed as Fluttershy climbed in on the other side, pulling her charge close into a warm embrace.
They were there for only a few moments before Lily asked something that's been on her mind for a little while.
"...Fluttershy?"
"Yes, Lily?"
"Can...I call you Mom?"
The mare giggled softly to herself, planting a kiss on the top of Lily's ashy hair.
"Good morning, Lily!~" Fluttershy cooed as the girl slowly climbed out of bed, sunlight beaming in through a nearby window, partially blinding the scarlet-eyed demi-fox. Of course she'd be happy. She just got herself a new daughter.
"...Morning Mom." The tone of her voice was far less cheerful, and at first glance, it may have come off as her just simply not being a morning person. Then again, the past night was really rough for them both, Lily especially. How do you recover from a nightmare of that caliber? Lily felt like she had a pretty damn good answer: Never sleeping again. Ever. 2 out of 3 times she's slept, she's had night terrors. She's better off staying awake.
"Are you ready for your first trip to school?" her host teased, "Geez, I'm even sounding more like a mom now, huh?"
"Yeah... Exactly like a mom," thought Lily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she twisted her mouth into a half-frown.
"Lily, you going to be okay today?"
Removing her fist from one eye while still rubbing the other one, she looked at the butter yellow pegasus hovering in front of her, who seemed reasonably concerned.
"You don't have to come with if you're not feeling up to it."
Lily paused, letting out a quiet yawn before blinking at her and giving her a tiny smile. "I'll be fine, Mom. Really."
"Are you sure?" her adoptive mother frowned, "I don't want to over-exert you right after... you know."
"You can just drop me off at Twilight's if you're that worried... It's right beside the school, right?"
"Alright, Lily. Now get on, we don't want to be late."
Landing beside the bed, Fluttershy turned away from her, allowing Lily to climb onto her back and get settled. Then they were off, cantering into Ponyville for a new day. The trip was shorter this time because of the speed that Fluttershy was maintaining, who muttered to herself quietly as they walked. Something about "friendship lessons" and "field trips". Lily was only paying half-attention, lost in her own thoughts and memories of last night.
A part of her wanted to talk to Fluttershy about it. A much bigger part of her wanted to bury it and never talk about it again. But she knew she had to do something about it.
Arriving just outside of the school, the two parted ways; or tried to, anyway. Fluttershy kept turning tail and flying back to make sure that Lily was okay, and that if she needed to talk to just come find her in the school, and that she wouldn't be far, and that-
"Okay okay!" Lily said, giving an awkward smile, "You're going to be late if we keep this up!"
"Oh you're right! Okay, you know where to find me! I'll pick you up after school, Lily~" And with that, she flew into the school and the doors shut behind her. Lily walked to the double doors of Twilight's castle, a short walk from the school grounds, and went inside, her ghostly companion following closely behind her.
Entering the foyer, Lily paused, then looked down the adjacent halls before leaning on the wall near the door to the Map Room, taking a deep breath and sighing.
"Thank god, I swear that charade was getting hard to keep up... C'mon, let's get a look at that map."
The duo quickly entered the map room, made sure they were completely alone, then went to the table, inspecting it closely.
"Alright... That's Ponyville... Annnnd that looks like a set of train tracks," she said to Spirit, pointing at the dashed line that passed through the tiny town, "If we could figure out what time the train enters the station, we'll be able to catch a ride out of town."
Spirit floated in front of Lily's face suddenly, making the reaper lean back in surprise. It gave her a few sharp bounces, making soft jingling noises, as if trying to talk to her. This was the first time Spirit ever did anything like this. It almost sounded... upset.
"Of all the times you decide to speak up, the ONE time I'm trying to make a decision to ensure our safety and you're telling me it's a bad idea?!"
The ghostly ball shuddered and shook, the soft tingling noise from it getting a little more adamant... If that was even possible.
"Yes I called her 'Mom', but that's because 'Mom's hurt children! And the fact that she's happy that I called her 'Mom' is just proving my point! That pegasus is bad news, Spirit. The sooner you accept that, the better!"
The ghostly ball turned away from Lily, tingling and jingling as it shook.
"What do you mean you're not going to do it?! You're playing right into her trap! We may not be able to die, but she's setting us up. This has to be some sort of punishment. The nightmares, the sleeping, the new world, the lack of work, the weird clothes! Our mentor didn't reassign us, he's making us suffer. That pegasus is going to get us all comfortable and cozy and it'll be THAT much more heartbreaking and crushing when she inevitably springs the trap! That nightmare was a sign, Spirit!"
Spirit turned back around, getting closer to Lily's face and jingling a little louder.
"I'm NOT paranoid! We had this coming a mile away, Spirit! You know it and I know it!"
The orb whipped at Lily's cheek with it's tail, causing the reaper to lean back to avoid it, all the while jingling and tingling noisily.
"Fine! If you love her so much, then YOU stay and get the rug pulled out from under you! I'm getting out of here, and fast! WITH or WITHOUT you."
With a sharp huff, Lily turned around and stormed out of the castle, leaving her companion behind. Growling and muttering to herself, Lily didn't even notice when she began to drip, her hair becoming heavy and her clothes soaking through. Ponies all over looked at her with concern, watching the strange creature practically falling apart as she went through town. Pausing, she looked around as she heard a mare gasp from her appearance. Looking down at herself, she let out a frustrated shout, which only seemed to make her appearance even worse.
"Stupid reaper magic..." she said with a scrunch of what was left of her nose, "Oooh you have to be this emotionless husk otherwise you start to look more and more like how you died, blah blah blah, too much emotion and you'll fall apart... nyeh nyeh nyeh."
Walking all the way back to Fluttershy's cottage was a bit of a chore, but she finally managed to make it there, despite most of her legs being decayed. As she entered the house, however, all the animals who once didn't care at all suddenly began to freak out. Rolling the red wisps of light that remained in her skull sockets, she walked over to the couch and picked up her robe and put it on, then grabbed up her scythe before briskly heading back out, leaving the door open as she did so.
"Stupid animals... Don't care when I show up the first time, and now that I look a LITTLE different, everybody start screaming!"
She was halfway back to town when she took a long, slow deep breath to calm herself down.
"You don't need Spirit, Lily... Just catch the next train out of here, and we'll figure out a way to get out of this crazy world."
Her body slowly regenerated itself as her began to clear her head, and by the time she was in town again, she was back to her usual appearance. Quickly, she walked towards a passerby, scowling.
"Excuse me..." she asked, "Which way to the train station?"
The shuddering stallion stared into her scarlet eyes, at a loss for words, so he just slowly pointed a hoof to his left.
"Why are you shaking so much? I just need directions."
"A-Are you feeling okay? You.... were falling apart and dripping water all over the street just a while ago..."
"I'm fine," she snapped, "Now just tell me where the stupid train is!"
"Three blocks that way, take a right and it's just ahead of you."
Without so much as offering a thanks, Lily walked away, her scythe clacking against the ground as she headed in the direction of the train station. A dull thud from behind her indicated the stallion she was just speaking to must've collapsed, not that it mattered.
"The sooner I'm out of here and away from that pegasus, the better..."
The train ride was anything but enjoyable. For the first time in 5000 years, Lily felt completely alone. Her ancient heart ached from what she was doing, telling her to go back and just forget about it. She wanted to run back to the cottage, embrace Fluttershy and act like everything was okay. But it wasn't. If it was, she wouldn't be sitting in the back of a cluttered luggage car, speeding towards who-knows-where, without her best friend to talk to.
"It's better this way," she insisted to herself, as if trying to convince her heart to agree with her brain, "If we stayed there, it would only make it that much more heartbreaking when she inevitably hurts me."
But if it was, indeed, 'better this way', then why did she feel so bad? What was she running from other than a loving home, a group of mares who were genuinely worried about her, and worst of all... Spirit?
Spirit was dragging her down, obviously. And it was all a false act of kindness, a ruse. If she wasn't so caught up in her own stupidity, she would've seen that days ago. All she needed was her scythe, her book and her robe.
Although, on the other hand, how could she be so sure? That's an awful lot of work to go through just for some ruse, and if the intention was to trap her and punish her, there was a lot more ways to do it that are much more agonizing.
It didn't make sense to do it that way, though. Her emotions are what got her into this mess. She's a stupid, sensitive little idiot who thinks with her heart first and not her brain. She's got a job to do and her heart got in the way of that, and now they were going to punish her the only way you can punish someone overly sensitive: By giving them everything they wanted, then destroying it while they watch helplessly.
Surely that wasn't the case, however. Death wasn't a malicious entity, and is constantly talking about how "he's not the one who judges". The whole concept of him punishing Lily was absurd in the long run.
Lily really wanted to believe that.
As soon as the train pulled into the next station over, she immediately flung open the door to the outside and hopped out, being careful not to leave her scythe behind, and to not slam her tail in the door on the way out. Looking around, she found herself in a huge castle town attached to a mountain side. If only she knew WHERE she was.
"Now arriving in Canterlot Station!" A loud train whistle tooted, and the doors to the passenger cars were opened. That answers that question.
Climbing up off the tracks and onto the train station platform, she made her way past several ponies giving her weird stares and muttering to others nearby. Ignoring the rudeness, she started into the unfamiliar territory. It was a busy place, to be sure. Lily figured that if they were going to keep anything that might be able to send her back to Limbo anywhere, it'd probably be in the huge castle at the end of town.
With her goal in mind, she started towards the castle without a second thought. It was going to be a long, lonely walk without Spirit, but that's just how a Death works, isn't it?
However, back in Ponyville, things weren't much better. School had been let out for the past 2 hours, but rather than being home with Lily, Fluttershy was bawling in the Map Room while Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash did their best to comfort their friend. The bouncing flower-wearing ghost was the only thing left of Lily's in town, and Twilight was doing her best to get information from it, without much luck.
"I'm sorry... Go over it one more time."
The ball made a slow, low-toned jingle as it drifted to the floor, then it popped back up and bounced around frantically. Stopping near the map, Spirit made several jingling and moaning noises before darting toward the door, floating back and "looking" at Twilight expectantly.
Unfortunately, Twilight was completely lost at what the strange creature was trying to convey. Her ears flattened against her head as she gave it a slow shake, frowning.
"I'm really sorry, Spirit. I just don't understand what you're trying to say." She turned to Starlight, hoping that she was having better luck in finding a spell to allow Spirit and herself to talk in a common way. "Anything, Starlight?"
"It doesn't look good, Twilight. I've poured through these spell books 5 times over, and there's not a single spell to communicate with... whatever Spirit is."
"I'm a terrible motheerrrrr!!" Fluttershy shouted, burying her face into her forelegs, choked breaths making her back arch sporadically.
"Y-You're not a bad mother, Fluttershy! M-Maybe she just got lost or something!" Rainbow Dash insisted, hoping that would console the hysterical pegasus.
"Or maybe she's playing a really great game of hide and go seek! Ya know, without telling anypony?" Pinkie offered, but when that didn't work Rainbow Dash gave her a deadpanning scowl. "Whaaaat? It COULD be why Lily disappeared for no reason."
Rarity and Applejack came into the room, each one panting heavily.
"I searched the whole farm and not a single hair of her was found! It's like she went and vanished!" Applejack said between breaths.
"No luck in finding her in town either. I asked around, but most ponies just avoided the question like I was asking them to boycott Sugarcube Corner! But I got a lead that she was seen heading in the direction of the train station..." Rarity said shortly after.
"The train station? Why would she go to the train station?" Twilight said, frowning, "This doesn't make any sense."
Spirit bounced and jingled, sounding only more annoyed with the whole situation. But unfortunately, it was completely voiceless and couldn't tell anyone anything useful.
"If only we knew what you were trying to say, Spirit." Twilight whimpered, looking across the table at her crying friend, "Maybe we'd understand why Lily is missing."
Spirit, seemingly having enough of the nonsense, flew off somewhere. There was a lot of clattering and clunking for a moment before Spirit flew back into the room, carrying what looked like a piece of cardboard, a glass cup and a crayon.
"Spirit, this is no time to play!" Rainbow snapped, but Twilight waved her hoof at her.
"Hold on, I think Spirit has an idea."
The ghostly orb began to scribble words onto the cardboard surface. It began by writing the whole alphabet in two neat, curved rows in the center of the board, then the numbers 0 through 9 right under it. It wrote "yes" and "no" in the two upper corners, then wrote "Goodbye" near the bottom before tossing the crayon away haphazardly. It lifted up the cup, placing it open-end down onto the cardboard, then it started to move it around the board.
"I think it's trying to spell something! Quick, somepony grab a quill and paper!"
Starlight levitated a quill and a piece of parchment to Twilight, who quickly began to jot down each letter and number as it showed up.
"Lilydrownedbyfluttershy?" Pinkie said questioningly, looking over Twilight's shoulder, "That's not even a word!"
"Shush Pinkie. It's a sentence. It's saying Lily had a nightmare about being drowned by Fluttershy." Twilight corrected, then quickly backpedaled, "Wait WHAT?!"
The cup slid over "Yes" before sliding over the letters again.
"Forced...drowning...mother...to...blame." Rarity followed along, putting her hoof over her mouth in shock.
"Lily...thinks...nightmare...was...sign." Applejack looked at Twilight, frowning. "A sign of what?"
"Shh!" Twilight hissed.
"Thinks...mothers...are...evil. Thinks...Fluttershy...was...tricking...her," Starlight continued, her ears lowering.
"Ran...away...to...avoid...heartbreak," Pinkie Pie said, her hair making a loud popping noise before deflating, her eyes becoming watery.
"Please...find...Lily," Twilight said, sounding sad, "She's...not...well."
"I...miss...her," Fluttershy said, making all the ponies jump and look at her as her teary aqua eyes followed the glass as it slid sporadically around the board, "Please...find...my...friend."
The ponies all looked to each other, armed with the new information, but unsure of what to do with it. Twilight turned to the ghost, frowning.
"Spirit, we really want to find Lily, more than you know. But we don't even know what train she got on, or where to look first!"
Suddenly, everypony minus Starlight's cutie marks began to light up, making soft twinkling noises. The ponies immediately turned their attention to the Cutie Map, watching as the 6 marks slowly emerged from Ponyville, then floated all the way over to Canterlot, flying little circles around it.
They looked at each other, exchanging determined looks before looking to Fluttershy, who was wiping tears away with her hoof.
"If our theory is correct, that friendship problem is probably Lily, and she needs our help," Twilight said, putting a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder, "And most importantly, she needs you, Fluttershy. She's got a skewed view on maternal figures, and she projected that onto you. But I know that with enough kindness, she'll come around. Now let's go find your daughter!"
Fluttershy gave Twilight a weak smile, giving her a hug before turning and racing out the door with her friends. Twilight paused, turning to look at Starlight.
"Starlight, keep an eye on the map. It's our only lead to Lily's location, so if something changes, let us know right away!"
"On it!" Starlight said with a determined nod.
"Spirit, are you coming?" Twilight said, looking at the ghostly orb who had settled on the cup, it's flower drooping. Spirit slowly scooted the cup over to "No", then started to spell something out.
"Find...Lily...Spirit...wait...here," Starlight read, looking to Twilight with a shrug. "I'll keep an eye on Spirit. You go find Lily!"
Twilight nodded, then galloped off to catch up with her friends as Spirit sadly pushed the cup over to "Goodbye".
"Whoever invented stairs, I wish I could've sent the bastard into Limbo."
Lily groaned as she walked up the 15th staircase of the day, huffing softly from exertion. Normally stuff like this doesn't have any effect on her, but for some reason, going long distances without any breaks was starting to take it's toll on her. Practically dragging herself up the stairs, hanging off of her scythe with each step higher, she finally made it to the top, her aching legs begging her for relief. But she refused, knowing that every moment she's waiting around was a moment she wasn't finding a way out of this crummy universe.
Pushing herself through pain she hadn't felt in thousands of years, the little girl dragged on out of pure spite. But as she got more and more mad to psych herself up, her body began to deteriorate once again, rotting and turning ashy blue and green. Ponies looked at her, gasping at the horrific display before running in fear from the hooded zombie fox. Lily's wispy red eyes narrowed in her sockets as she felt the water soaking her bones.
"Yeah, run away, like you always have... You're no different than anybody else. Nobody is. Who could love something as disgusting and cruel as a Death anyway..."
But as she continued through the city, Lily couldn't shake the feeling of being followed... Watched by some unseen presence. She paused her advance, wrenching her neck around with a rotten crackling noise as the smoky red plumes in her eye sockets slowly scanned the area behind her. There was nothing but a crowd of preppy ponies running away from her in the distance.
If she still had lips, she'd be frowning right now. Instead, she turned back around and pushed on, her ancient tail bones creaking. She was only another couple miles from the castle. And when she got there, there was going to be Hell to pay. Oh yes, there was going to be Hell.
Twilight paced in the busy passenger cart impatiently as the Friendship Express clattered down the tracks noisily, the countryside zooming by the windows. Fluttershy, at this point, had managed to compose herself a little more, although anypony could see she was only one or two wrong words from another breakdown. The others, meanwhile, were talking quietly, discussing what they had learned...
"So Lily was drowned by her real mother..." Rarity said softly, looking at the floor.
"Well, that's still no excuse for lying to us! And if she thought mom's were evil, that means she thought Fluttershy was just as bad! She basically insulted her by calling her that!" Rainbow snorted, "I swear when I get my hooves on her..."
"Now Rainbow, calm down. Lily was just... misinformed. She can't be blamed for not knowin' any better! Besides, we promised Spirit that we'd find Lily and bring her back safely." Applejack said, glaring at Rainbow Dash from across the aisle.
"I'm sorry, I just can't believe she'd say something like that about Fluttershy!"
"Like Applejack said, darling, she didn't know any better! And that nightmare she had only made matters worse. She's clearly a very troubled girl."
"I hope she'll be happy to see us..." Pinkie said sadly, pawing at her seat softly, her long straight mane swaying a bit.
"Don't worry Pinkie Pie. I'm sure once we get this whole mess straightened out, she'll come around again."
The rest of the train ride went along in a similar fashion. Thankfully, it was a short trip up the mountain, and they arrived in Canterlot Station around half an hour later. The 6 mares quickly got off the train, running into town before gathering in a square just a block or two away to formulate a game plan.
"Alright girls, Lily is probably somewhere in Canterlot. Now, we just need to figure out where! Rainbow Dash and I will take to the air and get a bird's eye view of the whole city. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie will be ground team one, searching the main streets and avenues. Rarity and Applejack will be ground team two, searching the alleys and backstreets. As soon as any of us get a visual on Lily, we're to inform the other teams immediately!"
"Orr... we could just go in the opposite direction of those scared ponies." Rainbow said, pointing to a crowd of frightened citizens racing by.
There was a beat as they watched the crowd run by, hearing them squealing and screaming, a few shouting something about a "monster in a hood" and "something straight out of Tartarus". Looking at each other, the 6 mares quickly darted in the opposite direction, racing toward their next lead. They knew they were on the right track when they saw a trail of pond scum and murky water seemingly appear out of nowhere, then slowly drag itself in the direction of Canterlot Castle.
"Why is she going to the castle?" Rainbow said as she flew behind her friends, "If she's trying to get away from us, wouldn't it make more sense to go somewhere else?"
"She must believe there's something up there that can aid in her escape!" Twilight answered, galloping down the street.
"Well, we better stop her before somepony important sees her! Who knows what they'd do!" Applejack shouted.
Lily's advance only slowed more and more as her body continued to deteriorate. At this point, she was not much more than a skeleton wearing clothes, but her old bones were starting to weaken as well. She'd already lost most of her tail bones, as well as parts of her feet. But she refused to stop, she couldn't! Not when she was so close to her goal! She grunted, grinding her teeth as she took another step forward. Then another... and another.
She just knew there'd be something up there for her to get home with! A portal, an amulet, a looking glass, something! There had to be! There just had to-
Wait, what's that noise?
Her bones clacked and creaked as she slowly turned her head, looking over her shoulder. It sounded like... hoofsteps. Rapid ones. And a lot of them. And it was getting louder. Squinting, she could see a cloud of dust slowly approaching from the street behind her, a little flurry of color leading it. What were those colors called again? Gah, Rarity told her, right? Started with a P... Pretzel... Parcel... Pestle... pastel! That's it.
The blurry colors were pastels. Wait... Pastels?! That means that a group of ponies are after her!
"But... who'd be chasing... oh no."
She turned back around, looking for a place to hide. She slowly managed to get to the side of the road before clumsily climbing into a parked chariot and hiding inside. Her bones were thankful for the break, as they began to slowly rebuild themselves now that Lily was somewhat relaxed. Well, relaxed was far from what Lily was, but at least her bones were becoming stronger.
The galloping got louder and louder, making Lily curl up a little more in the chariot.
"Lilyyyy!" Twilight called from somewhere outside the chariot. It sounded distant, but she wasn't sure. Her ears weren't exactly there anymore. "Lilyyyyyy!!"
Please just go away, you're making this harder than it has to be!
The galloping slowed to a canter, which slowed to a walk.
"Anything Rainbow?"
"The trail doesn't continue toward the castle, so she must've stopped somewhere around here!"
"Well, let's see if we can find where she went."
"Wait, I smell pond water from over here!"
Oh god damn it. Of COURSE she'd leave a pond water trail, why didn't she think of that?!
The sound of hoofsteps got closer and closer to the chariot, then stopped just outside of it. Lily paused, hoping that they'd just turn around and walk away. Instead, there was a soft knock on the side of the chariot.
"Lily...?" Twilight said softly.
There was no answer.
"Lily, we know you're in there... We can smell pond water."
"Go away..."
"Lily, please... Just come out and talk to us?"
There was another silence, and soon Lily peeked out from the chariot, making all 6 of them back up in fear. Twilight squinted, then looked concerned as she leaned in curiously.
"...Lily...? Oh my Celestia, what happened? You're all... you're all bones!"
"It's... part of my reaper magic... If I get too emotional, I start to look more like how I died..."
"Oh... so... you're... okay?" Twilight said cautiously, giving a sheepish smile.
"I wouldn't say that..." Lily said, her red plumes of smoke looking down at the floor.
"We... know why you ran away."
There was a pause from Lily's end as the red smoke darted back up to look at her, making Twilight jump before continuing.
"You're afraid of being hurt or abandoned, like how YOUR mother hurt you...But Lily, we're not like that. We really, truly love you, Lily. We'd never hurt you."
"You're only saying that because he's making you. This isn't real. This is some illusion to punish me."
"Because who's making us?" Rainbow said, scowling.
"My mentor! None of you are real! He just wants to get me all attached to you so that he can rip you away when I get comfortable!"
"Lily, we're not illusions. We're real ponies with real, genuine care for you..." Twilight said, extending her hoof to Lily, who tried to swat it away.
"No you're not!" She protested, tears starting to form in the corners of her sockets, "Y-You're not real! No matter how much I want you to be!"
The mares looked at one another, frowning before looking back to Lily.
"Lily, what can we do to prove that we're real?"
"Real things die."
The ponies went silent, shocked by what Lily just said.
"Lily... are... you saying you want us to die?"
"It's the only way to know you're telling the truth! And you can't die, so you can't be telling the truth!"
"But Lily... You can't die either," Twilight said, lowering her brow, "So by that same logic, you're as fake as the rest of us."
"But... Wait, that's not fair, I already died!"
"Not THIS version of you."
"B-But... that... no! That's not how that works!" Lily whimpered, tears streaming down her cheekbones.
Twilight knew she was striking a nerve, but she knew it was the only way to get Lily to understand.
"How can you be so sure, Lily? For all you know, we all died in a previous life too."
"B-But... But... th-that doesn't make any sense!! Why would my mentor send me to a place full of creatures who have already died?!"
"I didn't..."
Everybody jumped at the rusty voice that suddenly echoed from everywhere at once. Lily looked up in surprise at the gigantic cloaked figure that was suddenly standing behind the 6 mares.
"B-Boss?!"
The mares looked behind them and screamed, backpedaling from the huge figure towering over them. It was easily as tall as a house, and it didn't cast a shadow.
"WHAT THE HAY IS THAT?!" Rainbow shouted.
"SUGARCUBE, THIS THING IS YOUR BOSS?!" Applejack said, looking at Lily and pointing a hoof at Death.
"Quiet..." he said, never breaking the stare he was sharing with Lily, "Lily... You... are confused."
"W-Well... YEAH!" She shouted, obviously annoyed, "I've only been trying to talk to you for the past 4 days with no answer! What the fuck is the deal?! Why did you send me to a place with a bunch of ponies that can't die?!"
Death's shoulders rose and fell a few times as he let out a raspy chuckle, making Lily immediately look more fearful. She... never heard Death _laugh_ before.
"B-Boss... a-are... you... laughing?"
The chuckles continued, ancient wheezes and choked laughter only growing louder as he held his stomach. Despite the laughter, everybody was only further discomforted, even Pinkie Pie. Soon, he stopped laughing, letting his hands drop to his sides again.
"You... always were... a feisty girl. Even... now... when you talk... to your boss." he said, sounding more like a father to Lily than a boss. "You... want answers... that I... have not given."
Lily nodded quietly, shrinking away into the chariot a little more.
"I cannot... say. You must... figure it out... for yourself."
Lily suddenly rose back up, looking angry.
"F-Figure...it... YOU SENT ME HERE TO FIGURE IT OUT?! THAT'S ALL I'VE BEEN TRYING TO DO!!" She was interrupted when her mentor lifted his hand to her.
"I can... say, however... that you... are not... being... punished."
"I'm... not? But that poor boy, I almost-"
"You... are an emotional... girl... and you lost... control. You need... guidance."
He lowered his hand, motioning toward the ponies below him.
"They... will guide you."
Lily looked down at the mares at his feet, then looked back up to her mentor. She let out a soft squeak when he suddenly squat down, leaning on his knees and reaching out to her with a single bony finger. She shivered as he got closer, then... gently tapped at the top of her nose hole. Lily's form glowed brightly for a few moments, and when it was done, she was back to her old self, flesh and all. She looked at her hands in wonder, then looked up at her mentor thankfully.
"Boop." he said, and Lily swore she saw a bony grin under his hood's shadow.
She giggled, closing her eyes from the sheer informality of her boss in that moment, and when she opened them, he was gone, leaving behind 6 VERY shaken mares and one reaper with an adorable smile.
"...Let us never speak of this again." Rarity said curtly, making all of her friends give a series of frightened nods and muttered affirmations.
Lily climbed out from the chariot, taking her scythe with her before walking over to the ponies.
"I...I think I'm ready to try again... if... you'll have me."
The mares all looked at Lily in surprise, then smiled and quickly crowded around her, giving her one of their patented pony group hugs. Lily meeped sharply, caught off guard by the downy tag-teaming she was receiving, before smiling and enjoying the warm embrace. That's when she heard several... twinkling noises.
"Girls...? Why are your butts vibrating?"
The ride home was a lot more enjoyable than the ride there as the 6 mares gushed over Lily's return, Fluttershy more than anyone. Lily certainly didn't mind the attention, and armed with an answer she really could've used at the beginning of her journey, she was more than happy to go back to Ponyville. Although, everypony agreed that Lily would definitely need more TLC before she would call anypony "mom" again. This didn't stop Fluttershy from snuggling Lily like she was her own foal, however.
"Fluttershyyy, c'monnn!" Lily giggled, "I missed you too, but we've been cuddling ever since we sat down!"
Fluttershy just giggled and nuzzled the top of Lily's head, planting a kiss right between her ears, only tightening her embrace. She even got her wings involved, surrounding Lily like a feathery shield. Lily peeked out, looking at Twilight who sat across from her.
"Help me~" she squeaked playfully, which only made Fluttershy hold on a little tighter.
"Hehehe! Well, she IS the Element of Kindness, Lily."
"Element of what now?"
The ponies all went silent as they looked at Lily in surprise. Lily feigned ignorance for a moment before losing her composure and breaking into a giggle fit.
"I'm kiddinnnng!" she assured, kicking her legs happily. The ponies all began laughing with her, rolling their eyes and shaking their heads.
"Okay but seriously what's an Element of Kindness...?"
Fluttershy carried Lily back to her cottage, taking it slow so as not to jolt the sleepy girl on her back. They went inside, and the animals immediately swarmed Fluttershy and Lily, the former waving her hoof to get them to settle down.
"Quiet down everyone~" she said with a giggle, "I know, I missed her too. She's safe now."
The pegasus gently let Lily off her back, who sleepily began to stumble her way to the couch again. But Fluttershy was quick to stop her, guiding her toward the stairs instead.
"Wha... why?" Lily said sleepily.
"I want to make sure you don't have another night terror~ You're sleeping with me tonight."
"But..." Lily began, but stopped as she saw Fluttershy's maternal smile, "Oh alriiight."
The two of them went upstairs and got into bed, getting comfortable. And right when Lily was about to close her eyes, a soft jingling noise made her jump. Sitting up, she looked toward the window. Suddenly, a ghostly white orb wearing a pink lily flew into the room, circling the bed a few times.
"Spirit!" Lily shouted happily, extending her arms as her ghostly friend swooped down to her, wrapping her arms around them. "Ohh I missed you so much~ I'm so sorry about before, you were right all along... Can you forgive me?"
Spirit bounced up and rubbed up against Lily's face, making her giggle as Fluttershy watched with a big smile.
"Aww I love you too, Spirit~ C'mon, we should let Fluttershy sleep though... She's gotta teach tomorrow."
Her ectoplasmic companion flew out of her arms, then floated down to the foot of the bed and laid down, settling in place as Lily laid back down, sighing softly. There was a silence for a while before Lily turned to look at Fluttershy.
Lily dropped off her book bag near the door of the cottage, giggling as several of the animals crowded around her excitedly. Fluttershy came out from the back, dusting some dry food crumbs from her chest with a smile as she looked at the reaper happily.
"Welcome home Lily! How was your study session?"
"Gooood~" Lily chirped, although the nervous strain of her voice and the big cheesy smile on her face as she avoided eye contact seemed to suggest that studying was the last thing Lily had been doing for the past few hours.
"Lilyyyy... You WERE studying, weren't you?" Fluttershy said, lowering her brow but her smile never fading.
"Mmnn... Maybe... not the whole time I was out."
Fluttershy crossed her forelegs over her chest as she hovered in the den, raising an eyebrow with a huge smirk.
"Lily, do I have to use The Stare again?"
"Eep! No! Don't use The Stare!" Lily squealed, giggling and covering her face with both hands, which only prompted Fluttershy to swoop over and scoop Lily up into her forelegs. Lily squealed again, gleefully kicking her legs as the mare pressed her nose against her forehead and gave it a firm, loving nuzzle.
"Okay okay..." Lily said, defeated, "I ended up going to the arcade with my friends."
"Lilyyyy..." Fluttershy said disapprovingly, but with a big smile on her face that refused to let up, "You're gonna be up all night tonight with that homework!"
"Well maybe if somepony hadn't assigned so much homework..." she started, only to be assaulted by kisses from her host, making her kick her legs and giggle happily again.
"You know that if Professor Twilight caught me treating you special just because you're my house guest that she'd only give you MORE work in HER class."
Lily did her best to frown and cross her arms, but it quickly melted into a big goofy smile as she covered her face, giggling madly.
"That's no faiiiir, you're too cute to be mad at!"
"Well that makes two of us." Fluttershy cooed, nuzzling Lily again before setting her down so she can go back to her animals. "Now get to that studying or you really WILL be up all night. Or else there'll be no dessert tonight~"
"Whaaat?! No fair! Professor Pinkie Pie makes such awesome cupcaaaakes!"
"Hehehe, then you'd better get to work!"
To say that Lily was happy was an understatement. She had a home, a loving host, an awesome school to go to, and a whole town of adorable pastel ponies to play with, and as she quickly found out, even OTHER awesome creatures! Yaks, Changelings, Dragons, Seaponies... or were they Hippogriffs? Griffons and more! Apparently there were all sorts of civilizations that weren't primarily pony populated. Gah, that's a mouthful...
And speaking of mouthfuls...
"Mrrmmm~" Lily moaned happily with her cheeks stuffed with frosting and cake, chewing eagerly as Fluttershy giggled at the display.
"Sugarcube Corner does bake the best confections in all of Ponyville~" Fluttershy said, closing the pink cardboard box lid over the sugar-loaded treats.
"More like all of Equestria!" Lily said after a big swallow, licking her lips to get all the crumbs off them, "They're SOOOO good! I wish I had treats like these 5000 years ago!"
"Now Lily, what did I say about living in the past...?" Fluttershy said, gently waving her hoof at her.
"Living in the past doesn't let us appreciate the presennnt..." Lily said, in a way that suggested that she's heard it several times before; And if her tone didn't give it away, the big smile and eye roll certainly did.
"That's right. Your old life may not have had cupcakes, but THIS one does~ So rather than wishing that you had this earlier, you should be thankful you can have it now!"
Lily raised an eyebrow, giggling and pointing at Fluttershy.
"You keep saying 'old life' and 'new life'... I'm not alive, Fluttershy! I've been dead for like... ever!"
"Well, in that case, I suppose you don't want these cupca-"
"NO NO NO NO!!" Lily shouted, giggling, "I want the cupcakes! I want the cupcakes!"
For someone who was dead, Lily certainly wanted to live her new life to the fullest. That meant eating new sweets, trying new things, exploring new places, and of course, spending as much time as she can by Fluttershy's side. And the other professors too~ She may not have a pulse, but something about being in Equestria made Lily feel alive again. It was taking some getting used to, though. And on that note, she hadn't been having as many night terrors ever since she began to open up more to Fluttershy about her feelings. Once her stresses and worries were out there in the open air, they seemed a lot less stressful and worrisome...
"Fluttershyyy...? What's the answer to Number 3?"
"C'mon Lily... My tests aren't that challenging~"
"Pleaaaase?"
"Okay, but this is the last hint I'm giving you..."
And for some strange reason, Lily was feeling kind of weird around her host. Not the bad kind of weird that you get when you've taken a joke too far or tried too hard to make someone like you... The good kind of weird that you feel when you meet someone just as quirky as you or when you find something you never knew you could like from the strangest of sources. It was difficult for Lily to put it into words, but Fluttershy always seemed to know what she meant, even if she didn't always say it.
"Lily?"
"Yeah Fluttershy?" Lily paused, sitting up on the couch as she looked toward the stairs where Fluttershy stood, about halfway up.
"You know you can some sleep in my room any time you like."
"I knowww... But I've been sleeping up there for the past week..."
There was a short pause as Lily avoided eye contact with Fluttershy because she knew that she looked back into that knowing stare, she'd break. Fidgeting in her seat, a small, barely noticeable part of her brain wanted Fluttershy to leave it at that and just go upstairs.
"...Do you want to come sleep in my room tonight?"
"...Yes."
Coming back downstairs, Fluttershy walked over to the couch and sat down near it, allowing Lily to climb onto her back. Soon, they were heading back upstairs together as her sleepy charge rested her head against her soft pink mane, hugging her neck like a teddy bear. Getting into bed together for the 8th night in a row, the pegasus lovingly pulled Lily into her embrace, making sure that the little reaper felt as safe as possible; Just in case those meanie night terrors decided to come back.
"Fluttershy..?"
"Yes Lily?"
"I love you~"
This elicited a light giggle from the mare as she nuzzled the top of Lily's head, smiling.
"I love you too~"
Life always had a funny way of working out at the end of the day. Even when the whole morning seemed hopeless and the afternoon bleak and the evening would be better left in the bin, by night things were just... happier. It was a time to relax, to unwind, to cry if the stress was just too much... And of course, to sleep. Life just had a way of always working out in the end. Lily knew that better than anybody. She's dead, after all.
And the morning always brings in a new day, a fresh start. A chance to have a brand new experience, or relive some old ones. Whether she was going to Friendship School, having fun with her new friends, or just simply enjoying what could only be called a second chance, Lily always had a reason to keep on... well... you know.
She was never quite the same after her reassignment to Equestria. Deaths from all over the multiverse heard rumors and tales of the "Little Death Who's Living", but most of them were dismissed as false and nonsensical. Who ever heard of a Death assigned to an immortal plane and then goofing around instead of doing her job? The very idea was taboo, completely unprofessional. As if the big boss would allow something like that to happen? Certainly that reaper would've been punished.
After all, it was like he always said: "Life is a beautiful lie, and Death is an ugly truth." Life works itself out, Death is a result of when it doesn't work out. Life is meant for the fullest, Death only comes from starvation. So for a Death to shun her duties and instead choose to frolic and be happy in some made up place with made up immortal creatures? Preposterous. Death is a universal constant in the land of the living. You're born, you live, you die, then you find someone like them to guide you to your new forever home.
If you're good, you'll get a good home. If you're evil, you'll be punished for your deeds. Every Death knew this. And likewise, every Death knew that they had some sort of debt to clean up, or perhaps they were just not good enough for the Celestials, but not quite evil enough for the Demons. Maybe they were cursed? Perhaps they were apart of the wrong cult or fell into some never-ending void...?
Or maybe they were just too tormented already, to the point that they would be unable to handle the paradise that is the Celestial afterlife. The sheer shock of being pampered and cared for without any worries or stresses would cause their very spirits to simply cease to be.
Regardless of how you got your robe and your scythe, you had a job to do and that job wasn't going to do itself. So messing around while you're supposed to be working is just simply ridiculous. Wayward souls need guides not playdates. Even if that means giving up your chance for eternal happiness.
Life has a funny way of working out. And Death has a funny way of working too. But in Lily's case, working is the last thing she'd be doing for a very, very long time.
There was a soft knock at the door to Death's office. Without tearing his shadowy gaze from the thick leather tome sitting on his desk in front of him as he scribbled into it with a tattered quill, he let out a low groan of annoyance. He knew exactly who was at his door, and he knew exactly why they were there. The knocker persisted, rapping their knuckles against the rotten wood. Being all-knowing sure was a pain in the ass, and he knew that. He also knew that whoever was on the other side of his door (but he knew that too) wasn't going to stop knocking until they were let in and he dealt with their pestering.
The knocking persisted again, the series of knocks getting longer and louder each time. Why can't they just go away? He's a very busy spirit and he doesn't have time for their nonsense. Well, that was an outright lie. He had all the time in the world, actually. The rest of eternity. That didn't mean that he felt like dealing with the knocker, regardless. After the 4th set of knocking, he finally let out an ancient sigh.
"Come in..." he said with his usual smooth as sandpaper voice.
The door slowly swung open, revealing a pale woman in a snow white dress that went down a foot or so too far, making it drag across the ground. The woman's face was almost featureless, save for a pair of icy blue spots that resembled eyes. She walked... --hovered? It was hard to tell in that dress...-- toward his desk, standing in front of it and looming over the hunched over shroud that was Death.
Giving another annoyed sigh and putting the quill into his inkwell, he slowly sat back up and looked up at the woman, his ancient bones crackling with each movement. This phased the woman not, as she stared unflinchingly at him.
"You know why I'm here." The woman's voice could only be described as thousands of people talking at once, but in complete harmony and unison that almost made it sound like one voice, if it wasn't for the irregular resonance it had.
"I do..." Death wheezed, slowly intertwining his bony fingers while he rested his elbows upon the weather pages of the tome. "But... for the sake... of conversation... what brings... you to... my office... Life?"
Life, never breaking her icy gaze from her counterpart, stood silent. She was clearly not here for conversing.
Letting out another raspy sigh, Death leaned back in his chair, the wood creaking noisily as he did so, more so than his bones did.
"You... are here... about Lily."
"Yes," Life confirmed, "I am. I have several concerns that must be addressed."
"We've been... over this. Lily... left your domain...-"
"-Exactly 5031 years, 32 weeks, 23 days, 9 hours and 10 seconds ago." Life finished before continuing, "And now, following her passing, she has been under your charge for-"
"5031 years, 32 weeks, 23 days, 9 hours and 1 minutes, by my count..." Death said surprisingly quickly, taking over the conversation again, "Just what... is it that.... you are concerned... about?"
"Her recent reassignment. You assigned her to a universe that's on the edge of both of our domains, one that's in-between life and death, where the very concepts of either of us don't exist. We're universal constants, and yet, in that universe, neither of us are present. The creatures there only exist, in a state of being that is neither alive, nor dead. They're..."
"They're... what?" Death said, coaxing Life to finish her thought.
"They're gods and goddesses, in a sense. Never dying, but never truly living. They only exist. Why would you send her to such a place?"
"Something... tells me... you're not concerned... about Lily's reassignment."
"Is it not obvious, Death?" To the untrained ear, Life would've sounded stressed. "You have never sent a Death to an Afterlife or an Immortal Plane. This is the first time this has happened in all of eternity."
"You... are worried... I have become... soft?"
"No. I am worried you have made a decision to hastily. It is clear you care for Lily, as you do for all of your children. You almost sent her back to my domain, those years ago."
"Almost... is not the same... as actually... doing it."
"Maybe so, but for a moment, and only a moment, you had considered... giving her a second chance."
Death slowly leaned back towards Life, his bony appendages forming the same steeple formation as before.
"What... was I... to do...? She... died young. She... was too traumatized... for the Celestials... But did not... deserve damnation. If anything... the only decision... that could be considered... hasty..." he hissed, "was taking her... under my wing."
"So why did you not send her back to me? If not for but a few more years?"
There was a long pause as Death contemplated silently, the deadlocked stares never breaking from each other.
"It's been 5 millennia... If I had done... that now... her spirit would... have shattered."
The two spirits stared, never moving, never blinking. Death slowly leaned back in his chair as he finally broke his gaze from Life's visage, looking down at his tome as the pages turned by themselves to Lily's entry. The black ink plainly read:
Name: Lily (Surname Not Given) Cause of Death: Forced Drowning Age: 12 Afterlife Status: CelestialLimboEmployed as DeathUndetermined Additional Comments:
The duo stared down at the page together, silently thinking the same thing. Finally, they looked up at each other and stared once again, Life giving Death a curt nod of approval. Lifting his hand, he slowly grabbed the tattered feather pen and brought it down, slowly dragging the metal tip across the word "Undetermined" with a low, dull scratch. He silently scribbled down another word in place of it, then scribbled something into the additional comments.
They looked back up at each other, Life's eyes full of glee.
"You're a good man, Death."
"Get out."
With that, Life turned around and floated back out of his office, the door closing silently behind her. Exhaling softly, Death re-read Lily's entry a few times in his book. Well, it was over with, now. He can't go back on it.
Name: Lily (Surname Not Given) Cause of Death: Forced Drowning Age: 12 Afterlife Status: CelestialLimboEmployed as DeathUndetermined Equestria Additional Comments: Reassigned to Equestria permanently. Employment Terminated.
He considered to himself if he should retrieve the scythe and robes from Lily now that her contract was voided. Ultimately he decided he couldn't be bothered. He just hoped that Lily enjoyed her new home, and pondered for a moment if he should start putting an actual time limit on these contracts...
