Reaper Mare

As the sky changed from velvety blue to pastel pink, Applejack sat by the window of Twilight's study, watching her friend work. Twilight had several books full of strange writing and symbols open before her. She paced between the books and an open area of the floor, where she had drawn a massive five-pointed star within a circle within a square. The points of the star extended past the circle to touch the edges of the square.

“The mark has been drawn.” She announced.

“What does it mean?” Spike asked.

She thought a moment. “It's an ancient spell used by griffon priests to commune with the dead. I've only seen accounts of its use and hypotheses about how it works. I'm not entirely sure I did it right.” She swept a hoof over the symbol. “This is a Seal. The star represents Magic. The circle represents Life, while the square is Death. The points of the star are able to pass through Life and into Death, but not beyond. Nothing escapes Death.

“With this Seal, I hope to use my own magic to travel through to Death and contact Applejack.”

“What if something goes wrong?” Spike asked, his voice wavering slightly. “What if you're not able to get in contact with her? What if you find something that isn't her? What if you get there and aren't able to come back?”

“I've already planned for that.” She responded, pointing to two letters on the desk. “Should anything happen to me, send that to Princess Celestia. It details everything that I've done. Hopefully, she'll find a way to reverse it. If not, the second letter is for Rarity. Give it to her, she'll know what to do.”

Carefully, so as not to step on any of the chalk lines, Twilight stepped into the center of the star. Her horn glowed as she muttered rapidly in a strange language. She lowered her horn and touched the tip to the line directly in front of her.

Immediately, the magic traced the outline of the Seal, causing it to glow. The pulses of energy beat against the unicorn, causing her mane and tail to be buffeted about. The room began to fill with a bright glow as Applejack opened a rift and returned to Death's realm.

x----x

She could feel the pulses of energy as Twilight forced her way into a place she should not have access to and, for the first time in a long time, Applejack was genuinely afraid. This should not be able to happen. She didn't know if Twilight would get stuck here or how Death would react to the knowledge that his home could be invaded by any being powerful enough.

She followed the pulses to where a rift was beginning to open. It looked like a tiny star hovering in the middle of space. She watched as the star stretched and grew brighter. Finally, with a hiss, Twilight emerged.

It took her a while to gather her bearings before her eyes locked onto Applejack.

“Can't say Ah'm not happy to see ya, Twi, butcha really don't belong here.” She said solemnly.

Twilight's eyes roamed. “Where is 'here' exactly?”

“Death's Realm. Not even the Dead get to come here. Ah suggest you keep your visit short, before It discovers you.”

“What?”

Applejack facehoofed. “What can Ah do for ya?”

“Rainbow Dash has tried to commit suicide.” The unicorn announced.

“Yeah, Ah told ya about it.”

“How did you know?”

Applejack shrugged. “Went to visit her. Ever since Ah died, Ah've been checkin' up regularly, just to make sure everythin' is alright. Ah saw your little tantrum.”

Twilight blushed. “You did? Sorry about that.”

“'Salright.” The farm mare responded. “The point is that ya made up for it.”

“But, Applejack, you still haven't said how you knew she was going to try to take her own life.”

Applejack shuffled her hooves. It was obvious that Rainbow's secret crush on her was just that; a secret. It wouldn't be right to tell Twilight something that the Pegasus didn't want shared. “Well, Ah went by there, like Ah said, to check up on her. The last time Ah saw her, she was laid up in the hospital and drugged out of her head. Ah wanted to see how she was getting on. Ah went up to her house and went to her room. She was cryin' and talkin' crazy talk 'bout how it was her fault Ah was dead and how she shoulda died too. Then, she started talkin' 'bout how life wasn't worth livin' anymore. That scared the hay outta me and Ah had to go tell somepony.”

“Why Princess Luna?”

“Luna and Celestia, because they're immortal, can see and hear me. Ah didn't know where Celestia was, but Ah knew she had left the library and Ah knew there was a good chance that Luna would be in the throne room. Ah went there and she told me to come and let ya know.”

“But, I can hear you now.”

“That's because ya'll are here, in Death's Realm. Speakin' of which, ya ain't supposed to be here. It can't be good for ya to be here and Ah don't know what bein' here this long is gonna do to ya. Ah have a feelin' that the longer ya stay, the harder it's gonna be for ya to get home.”

Twilight looked hurt. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

“Yes.” Applejack sighed at her friend's expression. “Twi, listen. You ain't dead. You're still alive and Ah intend to keep it that way. Ah don't want ya exposed to this place's magic anymore than ya already are. Ah don't know what it'll do to the livin', but it's the magic of Death so it can't be good. Please, Twilight, for both our sakes, go home. Ah'll look after ya, but ya won't see me. We'll figure out somethin' to keep in touch.”

She put her hooves on Twilight and began pushing her back towards the rift. “Now, ya gotta get goin' before somethin' bad happens. Ah promise we'll talk again.”

Twilight dug her hooves in. “I'm not going anywhere until I find out more about what's going on.”

Tears sprang into Applejack's eyes as she noticed a massive white pony marching purposefully towards them. “Please Twilight, ya gotta go.”

“Applejack, what's wrong?”

“Consarnit, Twilight! Git to steppin'!”

“Please, talk to me. I'm scared for you. Nothing's right.”

An idea popped into her head. For Twilight's own safety, she had to get rid of the unicorn. There was only one way to do this, but she didn't like it.

Twilight never expected the hoof that caught her muzzle. Tears were in her eyes as she looked back towards Applejack. “W-why did you hit me?”

“'Cause ya ain't leavin'.” Applejack snapped. “Ah'm through with ya, Twilight. Ah'm dead and buried and ya'll need to let me lie. Ah got important work to do and Ah ain't got time for your tomfoolery.”

Twilight stumbled, looking confused and hurt. “Applejack, why are you acting like this?”

“Because Ah don't want ya around. Ah don't need ya, any of ya. Ya'll can sit in Tartarus for all Ah care.”

Twilight's ears fell back. “B-but I only wanted to help.”

She let out a derisive snort. “Ah don't need you, or your help, or your friendship. All of ya'll can just stay out there and leave. Me. Alone!” She roared.

The look in Twilight's eyes made her feel sick. She hated hurting her friend, but it seemed rejection was the only way to get rid of her.

To keep her safe.

With a sad shake of her head, Twilight turned and reentered her rift, returning to the mortal realm.

The burning knot clenched Applejack's throat. Hot tears slipped down her cheeks as her breath hitched.

“Ah'm so sorry, Twi. Ah didn't wanna hurt ya, but ya didn't give me any choice. Oh, sweet Celestia, Ah hope ya can forgive me.”

Death stepped up next to her. WHAT WAS THAT?