The New Steed

      Forlorn and broken, the Alicorn princess of the Sun shuffled her self down the long corridor. She paid little to no attention to the other Ponies that were there; each one going about their daily lives. She wasn't even sure if any of them gave her more than a look of respect, or a simple head bow. They had all become accustomed to her presence now. As far as any of them were concerned, things were going just as they always had. She was there now, just as she had always been, and she knew none of them thought for a single moment that this one time in the hallway might be the last time they would ever see their ruler alive and well.

   Yes, she had decided to give her own life to protect the lives of others. She didn't know why the spirit of Death had come to her world. She didn't know if it's intentions were simple, complex, malicious or benevolent. The only thing that she did know: it came here uninvited, with out warrant or introduction. It was galavanting around her lands as if it owned the place, speaking to whatever Pony it saw fit, with not one consideration towards the consequences of how things must balance out. She could not, and would not allow such trespasses to go unanswered, and if she had to destroy herself to make that point, then that is what she would do.

   "Sorry, did you say something?" the golden clad guard Pony asked who was now walking right next to the Alicorn. This one sentence made Celestia stop dead in her tracks, while at the same time letting her eyes flash open. She couldn't remember him being there before. She wondered if she had asked for an escort, and just didn't remember doing so. What ever the case was, there he was; a normal sized Earth Pony, wearing the traditional royal guards armor, looking up at her with a small twist of wonder on his face.

   "E-excuse me?" Celestia asked still trying to figure out where it was he had come from, and where it was that he had joined her side.

   "It sounded like you said something Princess," the guard answered back in a friendly voice, and a small head bow. "I was just wondering if you were addressing me? Or if you were talking to yourself."

   "Oh, no. It's nothing like that. I, umm, I just. I'm sorry, who are you again?" she asked, as of now the question of who he was, and where he came from seemed to override even her current situation.

   The armored Earth Pony once again bowed his head, though a little deeper now than before. "First Place, Princess."

   "First Place?" the Alicorn echoed, trying to place the name, his face, anything really that would let her know where she had seen him before. "And you have been here with me the whole time?"

   "Yes Princess," First Place said with a smile. "Ever since you left our new guest in that room." This made them both look back towards the direction from where Celestia had just come from. "Quite the character if I may say so," First Place added as he looked back towards Celestia. "Not sure what to think of him myself. Though, he kinda seems hurt to me."

   Celestia's head was still very much reeling at this Pony before her. She didn't know if it was just him, or if the academy trainers were actually teaching the Guards to be so informal with their rulers. It wasn't that she minded really, she just wasn't used to random guards striking up conversations with her. "First Place?" she asked, making him nod towards her in acknowledgement. "Just how much of what went on in there did you hear exactly?"

   "Pretty much all of it," First Place said with a small laugh, one that Celestia did not share. This made First Place quickly stop, and let out a quick throat clearing. "I do have to ask Princess. Do you actually plan to go through with it? I mean, the whole spell thing."

   Celestia felt almost ashamed now that she knew another Pony knew what her plans were. As she thought back on it now, she realized just how quickly she had agreed to the sacrificing of her own self to just rid her world of something that would more than likely just come back after she was gone. She thought then that perhaps Luna would make the same sacrifice to repeat the spell, then Cadance, and even Twilight Sparkle. She wondered if all the Alicorns would make the same sacrifice to try to stop Death, something that couldn't be stopped. "Yes," she blurted out, then let her head hang down towards the ground. "I don't know. Maybe, perhaps? I have already agreed to it. It just isn't as simple as yes, or no."

   "Well, I'm no Alicorn, or Unicorn for that matter," First Place said as he illustrated his point by reaching up, and tapping the front of his helmet with his hoof. "But from just what I heard. It kinda seems like the spell needs an immortal life to function. As far as I know, immortal means forever. Who's to say where all that forever comes from?" The two looked at each other for a brief moment. Then Celestia's eyes grew wide as her wings popped up from her side.

   "I have to go!" she shouted as she took off as fast as she could down the hallway. She then suddenly stopped as the thought of her being rude passed through her mind. She was sure the guard had no intention of giving her the idea that came to her because of their conversation. She could not just leave him there however, as she wanted to thank him for showing her another path. "First Place! Thank y-" she called out as she spun around on her hooves to face where he should have been standing. Nothing, no pony was there, just an empty hallway, the helpful guard pony had vanished just as quickly as he had appeared. For a few moments the baffled Alicorn let her eyes scan from side to side. Looking for a way for him to have vanished so quickly. There were many doors in these halls, she wondered if he had bound into one when she turned away. It was something she would have to dwell on later, as for now, she had to find the other Alicorns.

*****

      Dinky sat in the dirt of her home's back yard. Even though this is where her body was, her mind was a million miles away. Over, and over again she replayed the events that happened to her earlier. She couldn't get them out of her head, no matter what she tried to think of, no matter what else she thought of, everything that had happened, and everything that Samael had told her came rushing back into her mind. That's when she picked up a stick; holding it in the bend of her ankle. She placed the narrow end into the ground before her, and started to scribble. 'I am Death,' was the phrase that read out in the ground's dirt. The small purple filly just stared at the words for a long moment, then quickly smashed her tiny hoof into the ground, and moved it violently back and forth to erase the words she had drawn. With a sharp sigh, she then tossed the stick back to the ground, and lowered herself completely to her stomach, where she buried her face into her hooves.

   "Hey there D," Samael said with a soft voice as he came walking up behind the little sulking filly. This appearing act was now something that Dinky had become completely desensitized to at this point, as she didn't even raise her head to take notice of him.

   "Leave me alone Samael," Dinky sighed into her hooves, still not looking up to acknowledge that he was there.

   "No Sammy huh?" Samael said with a smirk on his face. "Well I guess I am in trouble now."

   "Trouble?" Dinky echoed in a mocking tone as she now yanked her head from her hooves, glaring at him with as a mean of a look that she could muster. "Trouble?" she repeated while jumping up onto her hooves. "You're in more than just trouble Sammy! I want you to leave. I want you to get out of here, and never talk to me, or any of my friends again!"

   "I could, yes. That still wouldn't change the fact of the matter however." He then adjusted the glasses on his face, before looking over to her, and giving a twisted smile. "You are who you are. Me being, or not being here will never change that."

   "I don't want to kill Ponies! I don't want to kill anything! You can't make me!" The little enraged filly screamed as she stuck her muzzle as close to Samael's face as she could in an effort to make her point extremely clear. Though much to her surprise, Samael just let out a loud laugh, while clapping his hands together.

   "Well of course you don't!" he said while still laughing openly. "Do you actually think I would choose a Denizen that would want to go out and take the lives of living creatures willingly?" Dinky didn't have anything to say to this. She just let out a mild scoff, before turning around and placing her back to him before sitting herself back down on her haunches. Samael stopped laughing after this, and there was a short silence between the two as he looked down, and saw the remnants of what she had written in the dirt. "D, do you know why we know everything's names?"

   "I don't care," Dinky mumbled as she looked from side to side with just her eyes. taking notice that she could still in fact know everything's names as soon as she looked at it.

   "Oh I think you do," Samael chuckled while raising up to his feet, and brushing himself off before putting his hands into his pockets. "I also think you know as well. I think you figured it out almost as soon as I let the power to do so take blossom inside you. So why don't you tell me?" This made Dinky turn only her head over her shoulder to look at up him as he asked. "Tell me why Death would need to know the names of the souls it takes."

   "To know who's turn it is to die I suppose," Dinky answered as she returned her head back to it's forward position.

   "Oh now you're just being stubborn," Samael said with a smile. "Come on, tell me. It might make you feel better to actually hear the words. Instead of letting your mind corrupt them with other thoughts you are having."

   "I dunno, I guess it's about umm, not being lonely I guess." After saying this, Dinky looked up into the sky, and for whatever reason, let a small smile come over her tiny face. "I mean, if I were old, and, dying, I guess. I think it would make it a lot easier, and me a lot happier if some pony, any pony really was there with me. Some pony that knew who I was, and knew my name. Even if I had never seen that Pony before in my life."

   "A friend." Samael added with a quiet voice. Speaking almost to himself, as he looked up towards the same point in the sky that Dinky was gazing to. "Someone who is there with you in the final moments of everything you know. Someone to guide you to the places beyond this one."

   What Samael said right there made Dinky's ears twitch, and even perk up a little as she spun her head back around to look at him. "That's it, isn't?" she asked as she raised up to all fours, and turned around to completely face him. Samael just looked down towards her, the smile fading from his thin lips. "This whole time. I thought it was about me, about all the Ponies and creatures I would have to help you kill. But that's not it at all. It's all about you. You need a friend there with you."

   "That Dragon today," Samael started before looking back up to the sky. "He was one of the easy ones. He knew his time had come. He was content with the life he had led. He was even happy to see his own version of death come to him, his Great Mother, the one that would usher him from this world to the next. It is not always this way." He paused for a moment as he let out a sigh. "Most are angry, some are disbelieving, then others. Others are so sad that they can become something horrible if the proper measures aren't taken. But all of them, no matter what state they are in, must be taken care of. It is nice to have someone there with you at the end of the day."

   "I know," Dinky said as she stepped in a little closer to the saddened looking figure, who right now didn't look as imposing as he normally did to her. "But Sammy, I am just a little kid. Fillies like me aren't supposed to be wondering about whether or not they should become Death or not. I should be thinking about kids stuff you know. Paying attention in school, dealing with other kids my age, trying to learn all about the world." These last words made Samael get another smile on his face.

   "Learn all about the world huh?" He repeated as the smile grew larger. "D, have you thought about at all why I appeared here as this?" He made a quick gesture by looking down at himself, while at the same time moving his hands and arms in an up and down motion at his own body. Dinky just shook her head from side to side, then waited for him to continue.

   "You see," Samael started while lowering himself down to one knee so that he didn't have to bend his neck to such an acute angle to look the little Unicorn in the eyes. "I appeared like this to prove a point really. What I look like now is called a Human. And they, much like the Ponies here live on a world that is not all that different from this one. The planet they live on is warmed by a Sun, much like yours is." He stopped for a moment to look up at the very sun he was referring to. "Now that is just one world. One world that exists in an ocean of stars that stretches out as far as the mind can conceive. When ever you look up into the night sky, you see an uncountable number of stars. Some of them have worlds just like this one, and the Human world. Some of them have civilizations and populations that strive, multiply, live and die. And those are just the ones you can see. This one Universe is full of countless worlds. Some are normal, while others are almost to grand to imagine. Then when you think that you have seen everything, another whole Universe is brought to light, full of sights and wonders that you never even had the courage to dream of." After giving his little speech, Samael looked towards the young Pony, who now had a gleaming look of wonder in her widened eyes. "Now, why learn about just one world. When you can learn about them all?"

   "A-all of them?" Dinky asked with a child like voice that even made Samael tilt his head to the side, and stifle a laugh that was brought on by the over whelming adorableness that she was showing. "And we, I mean I would have to help all those, umm, Denizens accept their fate, and move on?"

   "Yes, we would have to do that," Samael said, putting a large emphasis on the 'we'  as he reached over to give the little Pony a quick stroke on the head. "Some won't be easy, others will be joyous. Some times you will be looked upon with an unbridled fear that could suck the very life out of any that looked on your image. While others will raise you up, and revere you as a creation of something far more divine than themselves. But no matter what the case, I will be there for you, as you will be there for me. It has been this way since the beginning, it will be this way until the very end. So travel with me Dinky Hooves. Become Death itself, and witness the wonders and horrors through out creation that even the most powerful of Denizens only dream about."

   Time seemed to stop to Dinky as she took in all this new information. She also realized another reason on why he took this form, one that maybe even he did not know of, or did not tell her. If it would have been just a simple Pony that walked up to her, and told her these things; showed her these things. She would have thought it might have been a bad Unicorn, or a powerful Changeling. She would have been constantly suspect of everything he would have told her. Now though, she believed every word he said, and to add on top of that, she wanted it as well. She wanted so much to see all the things he had described to her. To visit all those worlds, to see all those different creatures living on them. She thought of flying like a Pegasus through the Universe he had described, seeing entire systems of stars and worlds rise and fall while all the while time seemed to pass her by.

   Even now the aspect of becoming Death had a slight romantic feel to it. She could make sure that she was the most friendliest, and lovable death that all those creatures could ever imagine. She would become the friend that they never knew they had. She would make sure all of them that had to die would feel warm and loved, even the angry ones. That's when she looked up to Samael, and gave a small nod of her head. "Okay," she said giving him a smile, as he returned one in kind, while slowly bowing his head towards her.

*****

      There at the table of assorted items Pestilence stood. He stared at each piece of the spell, making sure every detail was nothing short of perfection, for what he was planing to do, while it had been attempted, it had never succeeded. A dark snicker came over him though, causing his teeth to show themselves as he thought of how this plan would all come to fruition very soon. He just needed one more thing; one more final ingredient that would make this particular slice of magic all but unstoppable. That's when his attention was drawn from the table, to the door behind him, as he heard the steps of the Princess; come to give him the final component of his masterpiece.

   "Ah, Princess," Pestilence said as he heard the door open. "Just in time, I was just thinking about you. Have you come to fulfill your end of the bargain?"

   "That I have Pestilence," Celestia said as she stepped proudly into the room, her wings held high, along with her long neck, while her head housed a stone like glare from her eyes.

   "As have I," Luna said as she too came stepping into the room, taking her place right by her sister's side.

   "Me too," Cadance added coming in along side Luna. All the while wearing a narrowed eyed stare towards the frail looking stallion.

   "A-and me," Twilight Sparkle said with a small waver in her voice. Though the look of pure determination on her muzzle would not suggest an ounce of fear.

   "Oh? What is this now?" Pestilence asked with a devious grin that came unnaturally to his lips. He looked from Alicorn, to Alicorn, trying hard not to laugh as each of them gave him a fierce stare. "Ah I see. She told you did she? Have you all come to try to prevent her from giving herself to the magic I have prepared? Or will one of you be taking her place? It really matters not to me. Just as long as the deed is done." After saying this, the marble patterned stallion let out a sudden laugh, making all but one of the Alicorns recoil from the wretched sound of it.

   "Be silent you cackling cur!" Luna shouted as her wings popped open, and outside a loud thunder crack could be heard. While her demand, and display of power did indeed bring Pestilence's laughing to a halt. The look on his muzzle showed all to well that he was neither impressed, or entertained by the Godling's sudden show of gumption. "How dare you try to coax my sister into such a heinous act," Luna continued, not once showing any care for the stallion's look of annoyance.

   "Oh I am afraid I did not coax our dear Princess into anything little Moon thing." Pestilence said with a sinister tone as he took a step towards the dark coated mare. "I am simply doing what has to be done. I told her what was needed, she understood it, and agreed to aid me in the affair. No amount of your pathetic muscle flexing will change that."

   "That's where you are wrong!" Twilight shouted as she stepped up along side Luna. "The Princess told us all about how you want her to give her immortal life to you to power the spell."

   "Did she now?" Pestilence chuckled as he stepped towards Twilight. "And what of it little Alicorn hmm? It is the only solution to your lands problem. It is the only way to remove Death, and stop his plans to abduct one of your very own for his own devices. She is going to give her life, there is nothing you can do about it!"

   "Wrong again," Cadance said with a mocking giggle. "Now I may have been just a Pegasus before becoming an Alicorn. But I have been keeping up on my studies. Your spell needs an immortals life? Fine, then Princess Celestia will give you some, but not all. I will add some of my own to it."

   "Mine will join as well," Luna said with a snide grin.

   "I will add as much as I can too," Twilight added, all the while looking over at Celestia with a deep reassuring smile.

   "You see Pestilence," Celestia said as she stepped in front of the other three Alicorns. "We are not just simple Princesses, going about our royal, and political day to day duties. We are family, and through the love that families share with each other. Anything is possible. Even something like giving life, to stop death."

   "Oh please stop before I become ill," Pestilence said as he rolled his cold eyes at the quartet of Ponies that stood united against him. "You know, let me give you some inside information about family my dear Princesses. It seems nice; warm and enveloping. You will think that with it you could take on the Universe itself. But then, just when you think that all is well," He then smashed his hoof to the ground, causing a massive rumble to over take the room. A quake that was strong enough to power through all the Alicorn's balance, making them quiver, and stumble to regain their footing. "It all comes down on your head. Those who you thought loved you, or at least were your friends turn their backs on you. They tell you that you are no longer needed, or wanted. And they run off to find another that is more suited to the tasks you have done since the beginning of time!"

   All four of the Princesses looked back and forth to one another before returning their gazes to the stallion who now was taking in deep breaths to recover from his outburst. "Fine," Pestilence said with a calm tone. "It matters very little to me how the spell is powered, just as long as it is." With that, he looked over towards the table, and a small plain looking flask came hovering towards him. "The process is simple really. Just focus your life's energy to this container. The enchantments I have placed on it will do the rest." Once more the mare all looked from one to the other. Each one now showing the slightest amount of nervousness one would expect after being told to willingly give away one's own life. "The quicker it is done. The faster we can part company." Pestilence said, trying to add a bit of incentive to expediate the process.

   Celestia gave each of her comrades a quick nod with her head, reassuring them that everything would be fine. She then looked towards the flash that still hung motionless in the air. Her horn began to glow a bright yellow, as she slowly lowered her head, and closer her eyes. A striking beam emitted suddenly from the pointed spiral atop her head, followed by several flashing pulses as the beam made solid contact with the flask. Luna was next to join as she copied her sister's actions. She let her own horn begin to channel her life force, to join Celestia's. Cadance and Twilight were next to join the adding of life to the container. Each one letting just a bit of their eternal selves flow into, and fuse with their elder Alicorn brethren. Only after a few seconds of this, all of the Goddesses had to suddenly pull themselves away as the flask suddenly started to glow a bright white.

   "How very wonderful," Pestilence said as he brought the flask over to slowly spin in front of his face. He then looked towards the four Princesses, who by now had to place themselves on the ground due to the overwhelming exhaustion of the act they had just performed. "Congratulations my dears," he said as a malicious, and twisted grin came to his muzzle. "All of you have just given me the ability to do what cannot be done. I am going to kill Death." Pestilence then threw his head back, as a dark whinny emitted from his throat, and out of his outstretched mouth.

*****

       "Keep that horn glowing Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom said as she hopped from one rock to the next. "I don't want to get lost in here."

   "I told you we should have brought some lanterns," Scootaloo whined out as she jumped as well from one side of the cave's room to the next.

   "We don't need no lanterns. We have a Unicorn," Apple Bloom argued back. "Besides, it's kinda hard to pack lanterns when your saddle bags are full of explosives." The Unicorn, and Pegasus looked at one another with concern as they saw Apple Bloom's face contort into a wicked grin while looking at the bulging sacks that rested on her side.

   "Where exactly was it you got all that stuff from?" Sweetie Belle asked as the trio of fillies continued deeper into the cave's dark depths.

   "Applejack, and Big Mac use this stuff all the time to remove stumps from old trees they had to knock down. Don't worry girls. I have seen them use it a hundred times." Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo just shrugged to one another, then hastened their steps to catch up with Apple Bloom.

   For another good thirty minutes the Cutie Mark Crusaders pushed further, and deeper into the subterranean cavern. telling stories of school and home life, exchanging childish jokes, all the while giggling and talking about future projects were this one to fail. It wasn't long after that, did the fillies come across something that made them all stop, and get starry eyed at what they saw. "Well will you look at that," Apple Bloom said as she ran up to the shimmering gold vein that ran along the wall. "I told ya'll there would be gold in here!" Both Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo let out large gasps as the little Unicorn's horn illuminated more of the precious ore as she got closer to it. "Why, there's so much of it in here. It's just falling from the walls!" Apple Bloom chirped out as she placed her saddle bags on the ground.

   "Yeah!" Sweetie Belle squeaked out with a crack in her voice. "I bet there's so much of it in here. We will be able to buy our own town!"

   "Crusader City," Scootaloo mused. "A place where all the blank flanks of Equestria can come to find their special talents inside a giant state of the art training course." The little orange Pegasus then placed her hoof up to her chin, and went into a series of thoughts. "Hmm, Mayor Scootaloo. I think I like the sound of that."

   "Pfft, whatever!" Sweetie Belle taunted as she poked her friend in the side. "You can be mayor of trash pick up." This made both Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom get a good laugh at Scootaloo's expense. Who just rolled her eyes at the two.

   "Alrighty," Apple Bloom said as she finished placing the long line of explosives along the bottom of the floor. even stuffing some inside a few large cracks on the wall for good measure. "I think that should do the trick just nicely."

   "Umm, wow," Scootaloo said as she swallowed hard while looking at the large collection of bright red sticks that lined the floor and wall. "That's a lot more than I thought there would be. You sure we need this much?"

   "Nah, it's fine," Apple Bloom said in a reassuring voice. "Applejack only uses like a half of these to blow up a stump. But since this is rock, and rock is way harder than wood. I figured we would need all we could get!"

   "Sounds right to me," Sweetie Belle commented as she shook her head up and down.

   "Alright girls. Now when I light this, we all have to run behind that there wall over yonder. We really don't want to be here when this stuff goes. Oh and cover your ears, this is going to be really, really, really loud." After saying this, Apple Bloom reached into her saddle bag, and pulled out a single match. One that she looked at like it was the last one in all of Equestria.

   "Got it!" the other two said in tandem. Each of them looking at the match Apple Bloom held with the same amount of wonder.

   "One," Apple Bloom started as she lowered the match down to the ground. "Two," she said as she quickly ran the head of the match across the rough rocks of the floor. "Three, run!" She shouted as she struck the head, causing it to spark to life as she threw it to the ground, where it landed right on the long fuse that in turn became a dancing sparkler as it raced towards the explosives. All three of them now bounded away with giggles towards the protective wall that Apple Bloom had pointed out earlier. Quickly they dashed behind it, then each of them poked their heads out from their barrier to watch the fuse get closer and closer to its mark. Then just as it hit the rest of the fuses that connected all the sticks together, the three fillies darted back behind the wall, huddled up together while placing their hooves over their ears.

   The resulting explosion was one that shook the very foundations of the cave itself. Every stick of dynomite went off all in concert of one another. The wall that they were placed upon was completely obliterated, turning it into a violent storm of rubble, gravel, and dust. Shards of razor sharp rock flew through the air at break neck speeds. They collided, smashed, and bounced off the surrounding walls to either shatter into more pieces, or penetrate, and cause even more of the cavern to turn to debris. It was only moments after this did the very ceiling itself start to give way. Massive plates of stone and boulders let loose, and fell to the ground where they crashed into one another, and rolled around in random directions. It was there in the midst of the continuing chaos where three unheard screams of fright, and horror came out, as the Crusaders held onto each other for dear life as what would seem the entire world came crashing down around them.

   Hours seemed to have passed now as Apple Bloom once again paced in a circle around the perimeter of the much smaller room now. She had done this many times before, each time looking to find some kind of crack, something that would suggest they could get out of this enclosed space. "H-how's Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom asked as she came up to Sweetie Belle, who was just running her hoof over Scootaloo's mane as the little Pegasus lay there unconscious, but breathing."

   "I don't know," Sweetie Belle said in a soft whimper. "She won't wake up. I have tried to get her to, but she won't wake up." Apple Bloom just lowered her head as she once again started to pace around the room.

   "Arrgh!" Apple Bloom cried out as she got into a bucking stance, and kicked at the collection of stone boulders that covered the once wide mouth of the room that would have let them out. "I am so stupid!" she shouted again as she kicked once more, doing nothing but bouncing off the solid stones. "What was I thinking? We are all stuck down here, and it's all my fault!"

   "It's all our faults," Sweetie Belle said as she looked down at her shallow breathing friend. "I mean, it just wasn't your idea. All of us decided to come down here."

   "I know it's just-" Just as Apple Bloom was speaking. A low rumble ran through the cave, causing more light rubble to fall from the walls, but even worse, the ceiling.

   "Apple Bloom!" Sweetie Belle cried out as she held a hoof out towards the little yellow Earth Pony. Apple Bloom quickly dashed over to the Unicorn, who suddenly wrapped her front legs around her body, and started to openly weep into her chest.

   "I don't want to be in here anymore!" Sweetie Belle cried as she pushed herself harder into Apple Bloom's body. I want to go home! Do you think they are going to find us? Are they going to get us out of here?"

   "I dunno Sweetie," Apple Bloom whispered into Sweetie Belle's ear as she looked at the collapsed walls around her, then winced as another low rumble ran through the room, causing more stone to fall to the floor. "I just don't know."