Through the Gate

There was a stillness over the area. It permeated every inch of the dry terrain, not a living thing to be seen. All there was were scattered skeletons of varying sizes laying bleached and broken, legs splayed out and arms grabbing at their bodies.

The middle of this space held a single well, from which a glow emanated, shining up into the fading night sky. It was a portal, showing only a world that had fallen. Skyscrapers had collapsed into nothing, and small fires burned slowly.

Around the well were dozens of of black notebooks, all reading a single phrase. Some were ruined, shredded and torn, while some looked pristine and untouched.

A trail of dust arose from a pair of solitary footsteps; the creator of this disturbance was a single shinigami. The creature's body was deteriorating, pieces of a bone-like outer shell falling off of him, cascading to the dirt and melting out of existence.

He picked up one of the notebooks and stared at it for a moment. He flipped it open and stared at the writing within.

"The Death Note of Insanity," he said, seeing a multitude of crazed drawings and hypothetical theories. "Should've known he'd still flock to the humans in the end."

The shinigami flipped through the notes and examined the notes upon an "Alternate Dimension."

"He actually believed there's another world from which to take lives," a smirk crossed the shinigami's face and he threw the Death Note down, watching the dirt fly up.

He picked up another Death Note and took a look inside. Another theory of an "Alternate Dimension."

"Seems some of us took quite an interest in Insanity's plans," he said. "Only then did they feel right."

This notebook was also thrown down, clattering against a set of bones.

"I wonder how many fell to this theory. Could have been all of us."

He took one of the shredded notebooks and opened it. Inside, there was only one thing: a map drawn in blood, with words written down the side of the page reading "The Other World."

"Hm..." the shinigami said, reading the key and finding locations on the map. "It seems someone managed to find this place."

He removed the page and dropped the rest of the Death Note.

"I might as well go looking," he said, raising up his head and looking into the distance. "I'll die either way."

~

One shinigami looked through the portal, staring at the inhabitants below. Her eyes narrowed as one of them looked up, almost seeming to see her.

"Why can I not see their names?!" she hissed, teeth bared and a puff of air breaking from her nostrils. "They are no different than the humans!"

Her Death Note lay beside her, doing nothing but gathering dust. A small breeze made the pages flutter slightly, but it caused her to look up and see another shinigami approaching, a piece of paper grasped between his fingers.

"I assume you are the one who left the map?" he asked, lifting the page up.

"Yes," she replied. "However, it appears to be pointless. I cannot see their names, nor does their lifespan show. They are undetectable."

"Have you thought about just going in? Maybe you can get something from that."

"But that would be disrupting their world, something I am not inclined to do."

"Are you growing a conscience? This would be the most improper time to acquire morality."

The female stood and grabbed her map from his hands.

"Masakura, you of all shinigami should understand that messing in another races affairs can only bring pain."

Masakura turned away and closed his eyes.

"You have as much blood on your note as well, Redukuna. Do not act as though trying to avoid our final extinction redeems you from anything."

Redukuna grimaced and pulled her note closer to herself.

"But I can redeem myself," she said.

"In the eyes of who?" Masakura replied. "Certainly not mine. All you will do is slowly rot into nothing unless you forget these morals and enter this world."

Redukuna only opened her Death Note and stared at the pages within. They were all empty, nothing having been written in a long while.

"I don't know," she said. "I don't want to cause our fall."

"Doing nothing will ensure it," Masakura said, approaching her. "Going to this world may give us the chance to continue."

Redukuna merely stood and stared at the portal, watching the creatures move about. She lifted her Death Note and threw it in.

"What are you doing?" Masakura asked.

"I would rather corrupt one and let them kill then do it myself," she replied.

"Then you still ensure your death."

"It does not matter to me anymore," Redukuna said, standing over the wormhole. She took and step and jumped in.

Masakura got on the edge of the portal and looked inside. He gripped his Death Note tightly as he stepped inside.

~

Masakura found himself in a place he was not sure how to cope with. The world was comical, the colors pastel and bright, bringing an air of joy to the place.

"I'm already unsure about this," he said, trying to find the words to describe his new environment. "A place like this is so... terrifying."

The sound of rampaging footsteps grew closer, and he turned to see... ponies.

"What?" he asked in shock, trying to process his sight. Humans were odd, but ponies? A completely foreign idea that he never expected.

The group of equine ran through him, and he shuddered.

"I wonder where Redukuna's Death Note landed?" he asked himself.

He glanced to the world around him and saw he was in some sort of park, like humans had. There were buildings in the distance, poking through just barely above the treetops.

“It looks so... fake...” Masakura said, the features of the building lacking any complexity. The lines of the building looked just like a drawing.

A few ponies emerged nearby, and he decided that he should learn what they spoke about.

“I don’t know, Derpy!” the orange one said, exasperated. “Could you ask somepony else about it? I’m sure at least one pony has seen it!”

Masakura slipped between them and watched in a sort of confused awe as they spoke.

“But you must have at least seen it!” Derpy cried. “It was just a black notebook!”

The shinigami smiled and moved closer.

“You only had it for, like, three minutes!” the orange pony replied, turning away. “Now, please, leave me in peace!”

Derpy just complained loudly and followed the pony across the park.

Masakura chuckled, and Derpy turned her head. She stared straight at him, and the orange one sprinted off.

“Hello, mister!” she said, trotting up. “You’re really strange.”

Masakura froze.

“Yo-you can see me?” he asked, confusion overtaking him.

“Of course I can!” the gray pegasus replied. “Why would I not?”

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“Because I’m not stupid! My vision may be messed up, but that doesn’t make me any dumber! If Carrot Top didn’t react, then she couldn’t see you! So I decided to stay quiet! And then I forgot you were there... and then I remembered when you laughed!”

Masakura paused and laughed again.

“So, you said you found a notebook?” he asked.

“Yeah!” Derpy said. “I only had it for a bit before I lost it. I’m really bad at keeping track of things.”

Masakura rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He flexed his claws and grabbed Derpy’s face. He stared into her eyes.

“Woah,” Derpy said, spinning wildly as he released her. “What did you do? It’s making me feel dizzier than usual.”

“It’s something I learned after we started running out of life,” Masakura spoke, sniffing around. “Each of us shinigami began to develop special powers. Not that it really mattered. Still murdered ourselves in the end.”

“Shinigami?” Derpy asked, cocking her head to the side; she wobbled dangerously on her hooves. “What’s that?”

“We are lords of death, or at least, we were,” he replied. “We had the power to take lives, extend our own lifespan. But, with such strength comes a desire to always have the strength. We grew paranoid, slowly draining our only world that we knew dry. When our only life source vanished, we could only rot as our lives expired.

“I was one of the only ones left, and I found a map in a Death Note that led me here.”

Masakura stepped back.
“I must leave,” he said. “I just looked through your memories, and I know where to find the notebook.”