The psych ward of Ponyville Hospital was surprisingly pleasant. Walls of pristine white and utilitarian gray gave way to hues of soothing blue and pleasant green. They were a sharp contrast to what was confined within them. Ponies in various stages of breakdown occupied the rooms on either side of her. Those that didn’t pose a danger to themselves or others were allowed to move about their rooms freely. Behind one closed door, she could hear sobbing. The door across from it was open and occupied by a single stallion, who stared at nothing while convulsively sipping from an empty cup. Another held a mare who batted at things only she could see, cooing happily. Applejack focused her gaze to the floor and marched on, hoping to find Dash’s room quickly and leave. She didn’t like this place.

“Hey!”

Her eyes snapped up and she saw the colt again, still with his bruised eyes and broken muzzle. “Hi there. You’re a bit far from where Ah last saw ya.”

The colt shrugged. “I come up here from time to time and watch the ponies. There’s not much to do when you’re dead.”

“Ah wish Ah could sympathize.” She responded. “The big pony’s kept me busier than a beaver in Spring.”

“Speaking of which, have you had a chance to talk to him?”

Applejack smiled. “Walk with me.”

Down the hall they went, passing by patients and doctors and unnoticed by all. “Ah’ve gotta bit of good news for ya.”

“Really?” The colt asked, an edge of excitement creeping into his voice.

“Eeyup. Turns out that you’re near ready for Elysium. There’s just one more thing ya need to do.”

“There is? Is it easy? Oh, who cares if it’s easy, I get to go! Is my sister gonna be there?”

She sat down. “The only thing I can tell ya is how to do it. Ya need to realize somethin’.”

The colt looked confused. “Realize something? What’s that?”

Applejack stared at him a moment. “This ain’t gonna be easy. Ah need ya to realize that none of this is your fault. Everythin’ your mama did to ya, everythin’ you’re goin’ through now, none of it was your fault.”

He cocked his head in confusion. “I don’t understand. Why would mom punish me if I hadn’t done anything wrong?”

She swallowed. “Your mama was a very sad, very sick mare. When your sister passed, somethin’ inside her broke. Ah can’t tell ya what, but she was hurt bad. She didn’t take her hurt right. Instead of gettin’ the help she needed, she tried to get help where she had no business goin’. It didn’t get rid of her pain, just made her mean. She wanted to hurt ponies like she was hurtin’, and the only pony available was you.”

“But, if she was hurt, why didn’t she go to a hospital?”

She reached out with a hoof and ran it through his mane. It was as if somepony had put a blade through her heart. “Ah wish Ah could tell ya, sugarcube. Ah really do.”

“But,” his voice was beginning to crack, “Didn’t she love me?”

The blade twisted. “Ah’m sure she did. After ya died, the pain finally became too much. She took her own life.”

The colt cringed at that. She wrapped her forelegs around him and pulled him in for a tight embrace as he began to sob. “Ah’m sorry, sugarcube. Ah’m so terribly sorry, but ya needed to know. Ya needed to know these things, bad as they are. Your mama hurt ya, but none of that’s your fault. None of it, ya hear me? The sooner ya realize that, the sooner ya can leave this place.”

After a while, his sobs ceased and he pushed away.

“Now,” Applejack said. “Ah need to ask ya somethin’. Were ya a good boy?”

“I...I tried to be.”

“Nah, that ain’t gonna do. Remember what Ah told ya; nothin’ that happened to ya was your fault.”

He gave a single nod. “Right.”

“Now, were ya a good boy?”

He frowned for a moment. “Yeah. Yeah, I was. I didn’t hurt nopony and always did what I was told. I washed my face and brushed my teeth and did my schoolwork the best I could and...What’s that?”

Applejack turned and saw a large door behind her. It looked sturdy and seemed to be made of heavy oak. Furthermore, it hadn’t been there before. In fact, she was willing to bet that it had appeared around the same time the colt had started listing off the ways he was good. She hunched down and whispered into his ear. “Ah think it’s for you.”

Hesitantly, the colt stepped forward, stopping only a few inches from the door. He let out a startled yelp as a pony trotted through, oblivious of the obstacle. He stood for a moment, hoof pressed to his chest as he panted, before looking back at Applejack.

She gave him a nod of encouragement.

He reached up with a single hoof and grasped the lever. Pulling it down, the mechanics within the lock clicked and the door slowly swung open, revealing the hallway continuing on the other side.

He turned back to her with a questioning look, which she responded to with a shrug. She hadn’t seen a pony pass over to the other side, so she really didn’t have any experience in the matter.

He turned back to the door and took a few hesitant steps towards the door. First one hoof, then another, then a third, crossed the threshold. He was nearly through when he spared another glance back at her. Without warning, he spun around and galloped back towards her, tackling her in a hug and burying his face in her chest. “Thank you.”

The chuckle she gave wasn’t some forced bubble, but truly genuine as she gave him a playful noogie. “Ya’d better get goin’. Ah don’t know how long that thing’s gonna hang around, but Ah’m sure it ain’t gonna be forever.”

“Yeah. Right. I gotta go!” He agreed, charging back to the door, pausing only long enough to wave goodbye, before he stepped through and vanished. There was no flash of light. He didn’t fade away. One moment he was there and, the next, both he and the door were gone.

Applejack gave a surprised grunt. She had just helped her first spirit pass over and it was easier than she thought. All she had to do was convince him that nothing that had occurred to him was his fault.

She chuckled as she continued down the hall, always checking for Rainbow’s room, when a disturbing thought occurred to her. She had just sent a young colt to Elysium on nothing more than his word. Sure, he had said he had been good and everything she knew of him and his story had pointed to that, but she hadn’t been there to witness it herself. There was no doubt that what he had suffered wasn’t his fault, but what did this mean for the future? Could she be so easily convinced to give a pony who had done evil a free pass to paradise, or damn an innocent soul to eternal torment just on the word of that pony?

She sat down and took a deep, shuddering breath. It was a good thing this was only a temporary job. She didn’t think she could do it for much longer and she could now understand why Death needed a break. Anypony would after this much stress.

Her nerves calmed, she continued her search for Rainbow Dash’s room, wondering how much further she’d have to go. There hadn’t been any sign of of the pegasus and hoped that she hadn’t been released again. She wasn’t a psychologist, but she knew it would take a long time for her friend to heal.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, she found the door. The white board beside it indicated who’s room it was with R. Dash written out in red pen. She stood before the door, unexpectedly hesitant. She didn’t quite know what to expect on the other side of the solid-looking metal door. There was a small window at eye-level, where doctors could look in on a patient and, while she expected a slot where food could be pushed through, there wasn’t one. That was a good sign. Rainbow was stable enough to not stay locked in and restrained.

Now that she thought about it, there wasn’t really a reason to keep Dash restrained. Certainly she was a danger to herself, but precautions could be taken to keep that danger to a minimum. The probably monitored her often, with lots of therapy and medication to help her.

Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle at the mental image of a strung-out Rainbow bound to her bed with leather belts. It wasn’t funny, but it was a ridiculous thing to fear. She stepped through the door and into the room itself.

The first thing that struck her was that it didn’t look very comfortable. The bed was a solid-looking thing made of metal and built to last. There wasn’t much in the way of comforts in the room, but that was to be expected.

On a little table by the bed, there were a couple of books, but the didn’t look like they had been touched.

Dash sat on the bed, staring down at her hooves. Her mane was unkempt and her wings looked like she hadn’t preened them in days. She was thinner now, her usual diet of high-fiber granola and protein shakes, having been replaced with the more varied meals provided by the hospital staff. Her fur was matted where she slept on it and hadn’t brushed it back out.

Applejack shook her head at the sorry state of her friend and tried to decide how she could lift Dash’s spirits. The fastest way to do that would be to tell the mare what she wanted to hear, even though it would be a lie. With Dash feeling better, she would be released from the hospital, hopefully in time for the meeting.

She began to pace, trying to figure out how to get her message across to Dash. Rainbow was not like Twilight. She would not come to the same conclusions as the unicorn. Odd happenings were just that and were to be ignored until they stopped. Either that, or Dash would begin to believe she really was losing her mind.

There was a window near the bed. The glass was thick and reinforced with steel mesh. She trotted over to it as she thought about the past weeks?...Months?...Years? She really had lost all concept of time. Rainbow Dash, proud to the point of vanity, was reduced to a shamed shell of herself. She had nearly died by her own hoof and, if it hadn’t been for her intervention, Rainbow Dash would have been her second soul-reaping lesson.

She wondered how things could have gone so horribly wrong. Everything was falling apart and she was able to do nothing more but stand to the side and watch it happen. Perhaps this feeling of utter helplessness was what the Princess had been referring to when she said that watching the world change and not being able to do a thing about it.

She let out a sigh, and the window fogged over a bit.

She stared as the condensation dissipated, the wheels turning in her mind. Leaning close, Applejack panted on the glass, making the spot of fog grow. Satisfied, she raised a hoof and began to draw. She worked quickly, before the condensation had a chance to dissipate again.

She stepped back and admired her hoofwork, looking over her shoulder to see if Dash had noticed.

The Pegasus stared at the window with a mixture of shock and rage. She locked onto it, her mouth flapping wordlessly while her wings buzzed in agitation. Dash mewled in pain before taking a deep breath.

The reaper wasn’t the least bit prepared for the string of high-volume profanity that left her friend’s mouth. The pony jumped off of the bed and stomped over to the window, wiping away the message with a single hoof.

“What the hay is wrong with ponies? Did they think I would feathering like this? Did some featherbrained nimrod think this was feathering funny?” She ranted as Applejack worked to reform what her friend had destroyed.

Rainbow returned to the bed. “It’s okay, Dash. If you don’t calm down, the doctors will come in a drug you again. Just remember what Doctor Script said. Deep breath. Relax. The sun is warm. The grass is…”

Her mantra halted as Applejack up the finishing touches on her work. Their initials in a drawn heart.

She turned back to see Rainbow staring at the window in open-mouthed shock. “Applejack? Is that you? Are you here?”

“Yeah. Yeah, Ah’m here. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

Rainbow continued to stare at the window. “Is this for real?”

Applejack turned to look back at the fading heart. “It’s what ya needed to hear, sugarcube.”

l-l-l-l

Returning to Death’s Realm, Applejack found the Four Ponies of the Apocalypse waiting for her. She took in the group. “Ah guess Ah oughta get out the extra placemats and put fresh linens on the beds.”

WE NEITHER EAT NOR SLEEP, APPLEJACK. Death responded. The others nodded their consensus.

“Ah know that, boss. I was makin’ a joke.”

AH, PLEASE WARN US NEXT TIME. WE’LL BE SURE TO ACT ACCORDINGLY.

As it seemed Death lacked a sense of humor, She simply gave an embarrassed grin and nodded. “Sure thing, boss.”

HAVE YOU MANAGED TO HAVE WORD WITH THE PRINCESSES?

She shook her head. “Not yet. Ah was a bit busy ensurin’ there’d be a new Element of Honesty and gettin’ Rainbow Dash outta the mental ward. We’re gonna need all hooves on deck if we’re gonna get rid of this Auditor feller

AND WHAT PROGRESS HAVE YOU MADE?

“Ah’ve been havin’ words with Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic, and she’s told me that she’s found a few ponies that might make good replacements. Ah can’t say for certain ‘till Ah’ve seen ‘em for myself. There’s gonna be a few meet and greets while Ah sit on the sidelines and watch.”

MAKE CERTAIN YOU VISIT WITH THE PRINCESSES AT THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY. WE HAVE VALUABLE TIME THAT CANNOT BE WASTED.

Applejack held up a hoof to stop him. “Ah don’t feel comfortable making any plans for the future until we have a new Element of Honesty brought up to speed and ready to go. Not to mention that Dash is still sittin’ pretty in the mental ward and Ah gotta make sure she’s clear before anythin’ else happens.”

I SEE. VERY WELL, CONTINUE AS PLANNED BUT TAKE NO MORE DEVIATIONS FROM YOUR GOAL. ALLOW ME TO RESTATE THAT WE HAVE NO TIME TO SPARE. AM I UNDERSTOOD?

She snapped off a salute. “Loud and clear, bosspony.”

ALSO, IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION THAT YOU ASSISTED A SOUL IN CROSSING OVER.

“Eeyup, that colt that was in the hospital.”

WELL DONE. WHILE I HAVE NOT INSTRUCTED YOU IN HOW TO PROPERLY PERFORM THIS TASK, I FIND INITIATIVE TO BE AN EXCELLENT QUALITY. HOW DID YOU FIND THE EXPERIENCE?

“Rewardin’,” she replied after a bit of thought.

INDEED. AS IT SHOULD BE.

As she turned to leave, Death called her attention again.

ONE FINAL THING, APPLEJACK. INFORM TWILIGHT SPARKLE THAT SHE IS NEVER AGAIN TO INVADE MY REALM WITHOUT MY PERMISSION.

She felt her blood freeze a moment. How long had Death known?

WHILE THE MAGIC HERE CANNOT HARM A MORTAL, I DO NOT APPRECIATE THEM RUNNING ROUGHSHOD THROUGH MY HOME. IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN, I WILL HAVE TO HAVE WORDS WITH HER MYSELF.

Death let that threat hang in the air for a moment before raising a forehoof and flicking it at her. ON YOUR WAY.

Author's Note

Hi, guys.
Apologies for the wait, but there was a pretty massive upheaval in my life recently that I've had to devote most of my time to compensating for. Unfortunately, I'm still not done compensating. Not to mention, there are chapters for some of my other stories that I want to get out before I return to this one. Therefore, it's hard to say when I'll be back with more for you to read. Hopefully, very soon.