Two mares in the underworld

Octavia could feel a cold chill run across her body as she slowly came back into consciousness. But she wasn't met with the floor of her and Vinyls kitchen, instead she found herself lying on the cold floor of a cave. She looked around and saw what appeared to be a small lounge set up in one corner of the cave. A fireplace burned with a welcoming fire, while a comfortable looking sofa sat near the fire. An armchair faced the fireplace, and a cup of warm tea sat atop a small table next to it .

"Good, your finally awake."

Octavia jumped a little at the unknown stallions voice, her eyes darting around the cave until they rested on the armchair. A black aura surrounded the handle of the teacup as it was brought to its owners lips. Octavia wanted to say something, but couldn't out of fear from not knowing where she was.

"Don't be scared. I don't bite."

Another teacup levitated near the sofa, hinting to Octavia to sit. The mare walked cautiously over to the couch and sat down, the smell of the tea wafting into her nostrils. She took the still levitating teacup with her hooves, drinking deeply from it.

"Earl Grey, my favorite." Octavia savored the taste for a moment before looking over at the armchair. The unknown stallion had a black robe on, completely concealing his body and face. A bone white horn protruded from the hood. "Um, I don't want to be rude, but who are you?" Octavia asked.

The stallion chuckled a little before taking off his hood. Octavias pupils had become the size of pinpricks when she saw his face. He had no hair, or skin for that matter. He only had a skull with red dots for pupils in a sea of darkness. He outstretched black wings as he took another sip from his teacup.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Death. But I normally go by Mort." Mort explained casually.

"D-does that mean I'm d-dead?" She stuttered, fearful of the truth.

"Yes, yes you are. But just because your dead, doesn't mean you can just mope around. Why do you think I gave you tea?"

Octavia took another sip of her tea to calm her nerves. The tea helped a little, although now she had more than a few questions.

"I was wondering, how did I die?" The mare asked.

"I'll tell you as soon as your companion gets here." Mort brought a skeletal foreleg with a watch on it up to his face. "She'll be here in about three.......two.......and one."

Immediately after he said one, the familiar snoring of Vinyl Scratch filled the cave. Octavia looked over her shoulder to see the DJ sprawled across the floor, her shades reflecting some of the light coming from the fireplace. She was completely oblivious to the chill Octavia had been awoken by.

"Should I wake her up, or should you?" Mort questioned as he took another sip of his tea.

Octavia set her tea down before getting off the couch and walking over to her marefriend. "Oh, Vinyl, wake up." Octavia said in a sing-song voice. After a few moments without a response, she merely resorted to lightly nudging Vinyl with a hoof. "I said, wake up." Her voice was just loud to be the voice of a stern mother, but Vinyl still didn't wake up. That's when she decided to resort to yelling while kicking Vinyl. "Wake up!" She repeated with every kick, but all she was doing by now was just tiring herself out. When she finally stopped kicking and started panting, a steaming bucket of water floated next to her. "Thank (pant,pant) you." Octavia said through breaths of air.

When she finally stopped panting, Octavia took the bucket with her hooves and dumped its contents right onto Vinyl, getting immediate results from the now screaming mare. She started clutching her face as she felt horrible burning seeping into her skin. "It feels like I'm burning!" She started looking around for a way to stop the burning, and found another bucket, this time with ice inside, levitating towards the distressed mare. Not questioning who decided to help her, she plunged her entire head into the bucket, and then resurfacing with a new found relief.

Lifting up her glasses, Vinyl Scratch was finally able to take in the entire cave, and Mort. She blinked a couple times before shaking her head with her eyes shut, thinking that she was still asleep.After opening her eyes again, she realized that this wasn't a dream.

"Hey Tavi, where are we?"

"Well, you might want to sit down for this."

Vinyl complied and sat down on the sofa and was shortly followed by Octavia.

"Okay, so now will you tell me?" Vinyl asked.

"I don't know how or why Vinyl, but we are no longer of mortal flesh and blood." Vinyl Scratch adopted a confused look as she tilted her head. "It means we're dead, Vinyl." Octavia deadpanned.

"Ohhhh." Vinyl said as she understood what Octavia said. But then she understood what Octavia said. "Ohhhhhh. That's bad."

"I'm sorry, Vinyl." Octavia put a hoof on her marefriends shoulder.

"Well that sucks. Oh well." Vinyl said as she put her forelegs behind her head.

"I know it's hard to accept, but we can- wait what!?" Octavia couldn't believe what she just heard. "How are you accepting this so easily?"

"There's no use crying over spilled milk. Life is life, and death is death. Simple as that. And besides." Vinyl pulled her shades back down. "The afterlife isn't gonna know what hit 'em after DJ PON3 is done with them." The DJ once again had her usual cocky smile spread across her face. "So how did we die, skeleton dude?" She asked as she turned towards Mort.

"I would like it if you called me Death, but prefer Mort. Now on how you both died." Mort reached into his cloak and pulled out a small leather bound journal. He opened it up and started flipping through the pages before stopping on one. "Ah here it is. Scratch, Vinyl. Occupation: Disc Jockey. Hometown: Ponyville. Time of death: 4:33 a.m. Cause of death: multiple organ failure due to liver poisoning." Mort looked up to see if Vinyl had any questions. And of course, she raised her hoof like a school filly. "Yes?"

"I've been drinking as long as Berry Punch. Hell, we even shared our first beer. How am I dead before her?" The DJ asked with a hint of annoyance.

"It's a little thing called not going to your doctor for three years and not noticing the first stages of liver failure.But as for Berry Punch." He facehoofed as he explained. "I don't even understand how she's still alive after drinking so much." Mort sighed "She should be dead ten times over already. I think she either made a deal with a demon or she just has a golden liver of the gods." Mort regained himself before flipping through the pages of his journal again. He stopped and turned to Octavia, the mare already sensing that he found her information. "Here's your info. Philharmonica, Octavia. Occupation: Cellist. Time of death: 3:55 a.m. Cause of death:hemorrhaging of the brain." Mort looked up and was once again met with a hoof being raised.

"Would hitting the side of a table be able to cause death?" The cellist asked.

"Normally, no. But if you've been drinking, then yes. The blood would've been thinned out, which means it wouldn't be able to harden to stop the bleeding." At this, Mort could hear an audible smack across the back of the DJs head.

"Ow!The hell was that for?!" Vinyl said as she held the back of her head, glaring daggers at Octavia.

"That was for getting us into this mess!" Octavia yelled, smacking the back of Vinyls head again.

"How did I get us into this mess?!"

"You're the one that said 'What have you got to lose?'. And look at us now, we are dead!!" Octavia was now hyperventilating from all her anger, not having anything to deal it out. Right then and there, a pillow surrounded by a black aura floated next to her, and she immediately started punching it until it was nothing but a deflated piece of wool and cloth. "Thank you, Mort."

"You're welcome. But now, I'm afraid I must take my leave, I've got other souls to deal with you know." Mort got up from his armchair and gave the two mares a reassuring hug. "Both of you will be living in the underworld counterpart of Ponyville. Midnights Moonshine." A bright flash blinded the two mares, causing both of them to cover their eyes. "Look for a building called 'Necromancers delight' and all your needs will be accommodated. Ta ta."

The light disappeared, and along with it, Mort. The two mares had suddenly found themselves in the middle of a street in a very similar, but different, town. The streets were cobblestone while the buildings were a gentle dark blue. A large clocktower showed that the time was 5:30 a.m. A little before sunrise. Both mares just sat for a few moments before Octavia got up and started walking down the street.

"Where are you going, Tavi?" Vinyl asked.

"To where Mort said. Not that you care I'm guessing." Octavia said, anger still obvious in her voice. "are you coming or not?"

"Well, duh." Vinyl go up and went to catch up with her pissed off marefriend.