Chapter 1: Death In His Work
DEATH IN PONYVILLE
CHAPTER 1:
DEATH IN HIS WORK
Celestia's sun had just disappeared below the horizon, and Luna's moon had taken its place in Equestria's sky. Below the glow of the moon lay another glow - the glow of the many towers and buildings of Manehatten.
Sitting hidden away on the corner of a busy intersection was a bar by the name of Bridles. It was a small establishment, but it was extremely popular with the locals, and others who frequently walked the streets of Manehatten.
One such individual stepped through the open doorway, whistling softly to himself as he trotted past ponies drinking and talking at tables, and over to the bar. He was a medium-built, brown Earth pony with a dark brown mane and tail. On his flank was a cutie mark of an hourglass.
He came up to the bar, and quickly got the attention of the bartender. "One beer, my good pony," the brown Earth pony asked.
"You got it, buddy," the bartender replied, quickly ducking under the bar, returning with a bottle clenched in his jaw. Setting it down on the bar, he grabbed a metal device in his mouth and expertly plucked the cap of the bottle right off.
The brown Earth pony grinned. "Impressive," he said.
"Thanks," the bartender replied. He watched the other pony for a moment as he picked the glass up in his hoof and took a drink. "So, what brings you round to Bridles? I think I've seen you around a few times before,"
"You have indeed," the brown Earth pony replied. He took another drink, then set his bottle down for a moment. "And to answer your question...work,"
"Work?" the bartender asked.
"Well, I should say that the work I have is at an apartment a few blocks away from here," the brown Earth pony amended. "But I have plenty of time to pay my favorite bar a visit,"
The bartender smiled, pleased at the compliment. "Thanks a lot for that, bud. You know what, that beer is on the house,"
"Why, thank you," the other stallion said, taking another drink.
A loud shout caused him to glance over at a table near the bar. His eyebrow raised in surprise when he saw a yellow coated unicorn sitting at the table with some other ponies. The yellow unicorn was knocking back beer after beer, as his friends cheered him on.
"What's going on with them?" the brown stallion asked.
The bartender glanced where he was looking, and laughed. "Oh, old Lucky Lottery? He's a regular here. He just got a huge promotion at work, so he's celebrating,"
"Ah," the brown stallion said, looking back at the unicorn, who was now engaging one of his friends in a nacho eating contest.
I shouldn't...Ah, why not. No harm will be done.
With that thought in mind, the brown stallion trotted over to the table where the yellow unicorn, Lucky Lottery, was sitting. He cleared his throat, causing the group of ponies to turn and look at him.
Lucky Lottery wiped some nacho cheese off his face, and shot a beaming grin at the brown pony. "Hi!" he greeted cheerfully.
"Hello," the brown stallion greeted. "The bartender tells me you just got a promotion at your work," He raised up his bottle and tipped it towards him. "Congratulations,"
"Thanks, man! Hey guys, cheers for me!" Lucky Lottery cried. All the other stallions at the table whooped, lifting up their beer glasses and clinking them against Lucky's own, which was being held up by his magic. Chuckling, the brown pony lifted his own beer bottle up and took part in the cheers.
"What's your name, brother?" Lucky asked once they had quieted down.
"Time Turner," the brown stallion answered.
"Well, Time Turner, how about you join us for some drinks? Bet you can't beat me at a hot sauce drinking contest!" Lucky Lottery challenged, picking a hot sauce bottle up off the table.
Time Turner shook his head. "I appreciate the offer, Lucky Lottery, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to say no to that,"
"Aww, you sure man?" Lucky asked, sounding genuinely disappointed. Time Turner nodded, and Lucky shrugged. "Oh well, can't make ya if you don't wanna. Hey, bartender, another round of beers, stat!"
Time Turner turned and trotted back to the bar, where the bartender set several bottles of beer on the table, which were promptly grabbed by Lucky Lottery's magic and taken over to the table and the cheering stallions. The bartender shook his head at the sight, and looked over to Time Turner.
"That Lucky is such a nut," he said. "But he brings in good business, so I'm happy for him,"
"Yeah," Time Turner agreed with a nod. He looked over at Lucky Lottery, who was now animatedly performing some sort of story, even standing up on his chair, much to the amusement of his friends. "Yeah," he repeated, taking another drink from his beer bottle.
You know, sometimes I wish I could actually get drunk.
Lucky Lottery pushed open the door to his apartment, his face stuck in a happy grin. He always loved hanging out at the bar with his buddies. Humming to himself, he kicked the door shut behind him.
Dropping his saddlebags on the ground by his kitchen table, Lucky paused to let out a big yawn.
Suppose it's time to hit the hay, he thought to himself.
The unicorn stallion began to trot towards his bedroom, when he suddenly shivered as a blast of cold nighttime air brushed against his coat.
"What the..." he muttered, looking around. He saw that the sole window in his apartment was wide open. Remembering that he had opened it to air the room out after he had made a particularly gross trip to the bathroom before leaving for work that morning, Lucky giggled.
"Oh yeah," he spoke out loud, unable to stop giggling in his intoxicated state. "Better go shut that!"
Lucky Lottery continued humming as he trotted over to the window, and lifted up his hooves to grip the windowpane...only to find it not moving.
"Huh?" Lucky continued tugging on the window, and quickly became irritated as it refused to move. Tugging it harder and harder, Lucky grunted in anger when the window did not close. "What the buck, window, stop being such a dick!"
It didn't occur to Lucky in his hazy drunken condition, that he should have remembered that his window had been given a special spell that only allowed Lucky's magic to open and close it, to prevent robberies. It also didn't occur to Lucky that sticking half his body out of the window to try and tug the window shut from outside his apartment was also not a very good idea.
But that's exactly what he was doing. Gritting his teeth, Lucky began to pull harder, staring right up at the window.
"Dammit, why are you stuck?!" Lucky shouted, unintentionally disturbing a cat sitting on a windowsill above. It jumped into the air and let out a loud, surprised screech. The screech, in turn, caused Lucky to jolt in surprise, causing his hooves to let go of the window.
This, in turn, caused Lucky Lottery's entire body to fall out of the window, head first.
Lucky only had time to turn his eyes downwards, as the street rushed up at him at a very quick speed. He opened his mouth to scream, but didn't get a chance before his vision turned completely black.
Almost instantly, the blackness disappeared, and Lucky Lottery gasped as the black pavement of the street filled his vision. Shakily, the stallion stood up on all four hooves, his mind racing.
"W-What?" he breathed, raising up his hoof and staring at it in shock. He looked down at the rest of himself, and was quite stunned to see that he was not a flattened pony pancake. In fact, he didn't appear to have even a tiny scratch on him.
Looking up, Lucky Lottery could barely make out the window of his apartment, almost seven whole stories above his head.
"Sweet Celestia," he whispered.
He rubbed his head, and was shocked yet again when he felt no blood. He continued to stare up, his mind boggled. He felt much more sober than he had the whole night. Falling out of a window and landing head first on the street might do that for him. Except...
"How in Tartarus am I still alive?" he asked himself out loud.
"Well, you see Lucky, the current situation here is that you're not,"
Lucky Lottery whipped his head around to find a second stallion standing right by his side. He recognized him immediately as the stranger he had run into at the bar less than an hour ago.
"Time Turner?" he exclaimed.
Time Turner smiled. "Oh, you remember me?" he asked. "Good, good! I was a bit concerned you would be too drunk to do that,"
"What are you doing here?" Lucky Lottery asked.
"Well, I'm here on account of the fact that you are very recently deceased," Time Turner replied. "As the Grim Reaper, it is my job to attend such things,"
"...R-Recently d-d-deceased?" Lucky stuttered as he felt his heart began to pump in his chest. W-What is this crazy pony talking about, my heart is pumping, I'm not recently deceased, I'm alive, I'm totally alive, WOW my heart is pumping really fast.
"Just because you're dead doesn't mean your heart stops working for your soul's form," Time Turner said, catching the other stallion off guard. "I never really understood why a soul's spiritual manifestation has organs. I've been doing this for so long and I haven't found a single reasonable answer for that! Can you believe it?"
"W-What are you talking about?!" Lucky cried, backing away from the brown-coated pony. "What the buck are you talking about, dude?!"
Time Turner cleared his throat and pointed his hoof to the right. "I do warn you, Lucky, it's not a pretty sight,"
Lucky turned his head to look in the direction Time Turner was pointing - and immediately screamed, falling to his rump in shock.
"Not pretty at all," Time Turner repeated.
The other stallion looked away from the grisly scene, staring at Time Turner with horrified eyes. "I-Is...I-Is that...Is that m-me?" Lucky asked quietly.
Time Turner nodded. "I'm afraid it is, Lucky Lottery,"
Lucky squashed down a second scream that was coming out of his throat. He somehow managed to bring himself to look back at the body before him. "W-What happened to my h-head?"
"Well, I'd wager that most ponies heads aren't really built to come out of slamming into solid pavement from a great height unscathed," Time Turner replied. He titled his head curiously and regarded the sight of Lucky Lottery's body. "I will admit, it is impressive that your bodies horn is intact, considering the entire left side of your bodies head has been turned into a gaping hole. Hey, did you know that brains are gray and not pink?,"
Lucky Lottery stood up on his hooves again, staring at the remains of....himself.
"I-I'm dead," he whispered. He could feel himself begin to shake, even worse then before. "I...I'm really dead..."
"Oh good, he's one of the ones who get the gist of it straight away," Time Turner said, speaking mostly to himself. "Having to explain everything started getting boring around 455 B.N.M. Good thing Star Swirl the Third invented musical numbers, or I swear..."
"N-No!" Lucky Lottery began to scream, his eyes watering. "N-No, I can't be dead! I-I...I can't be dead!"
Tears begin to freely flow down the stallion's face as the gravity of what was happening struck him fully. He was dead. As in, no more living Lucky Lottery. He began to frantically whip his head back and forth, switching between looking at the sight of his down dead body and Time Turner, still screaming. "T-There was stuff I still wanted to do! I-I just got my promotion at work! I-I was going to propose to Windy Spin once I had enough money to buy her a ring! Oh Faust, Windy Spin, what is she going to do now? And my M-Mom, and my f-friends...I-I don't want to die yet, not this young! I'm only 25! I can't live only twenty-five years, that's not fair!"
Lucky Lottery's hooves collapsed beneath him, and his face fell into his front hooves. "T-This can't be happening! Please, please don't let this happen! I-I-I don't want to be dead!" he sobbed.
He felt two hooves grab him by the shoulders, then hoist him up into a sitting position. Lucky looked through his teary eyes to see Time Turner staring right back at him. His face was neutral, but his eyes showed nothing but sympathy. Wordlessly, Time Turner wrapped Lucky Lottery in a hug. Lucky did not question it. Instead, he buried his face into the other ponies shoulder, and weeped for his own lost life.
It felt like they sat like that for half an hour, before Lucky, tears mostly dried, let go of Time Turner. He looked at his dead body one last time, before he shut his eyes and turned away.
"For what it is worth," Time Turner spoke up. "I'm sorry that you are saddened by this,"
Lucky couldn't help but chuckle. "You're sorry that I'm sad that I'm dead, but not sorry I'm dead?" he asked, his voice quivering slightly each time he said the word "dead".
Time Turner gave him a grin. "Well, if ponies didn't die, I'd be out of a job, wouldn't I?"
Lucky turned his gaze back to the other pony, his apprehension returning. "So, you really are, like...the Grim Reaper?" he asked.
Time Turner nodded. "Yes, that is correct," he said. "Need a soul reaped? Time Turner is your pony,"
Lucky chuckled against his will once more, wiping at his eyes. "So...so what happens to me now?" he asked, a bit fearfully.
Time Turner could hear the fear in Lucky's voice, and that tugged at his heart. He smiled warmly, hoping it would soothe those fears. "Well, now Lucky, I'm going to be taking you to your final resting place,"
Lucky couldn't help but gulp. "A-And where would that be?"
"Where else Lucky?" Time Turner replied. "Heaven,"
Lucky's breath stopped as soon as he heard those words. "H-Heaven?" he repeated. "R-Really?"
"Yes, really," Time Turner said, smiling brightly. Lucky saw a light form out of the corner of his eye, and he turned to look down the end of the street. What looked liked a completely different world, the entrance to a softly glowing ethereal tunnel, had appeared just a few feet away.
"W-Wow," Lucky Lottery could not help but gasp.
"Never gets old," Time Turner piped up, appearing at Lucky's side. He gestured towards the tunnel with his hoof. "Shall we?"
Lucky could only nod, his fears vanishing into nothing as the warmth of the light beckoned him in, and he began to walk forward, away from the Manehatten streets he had grown up on and towards...a new place. He did pause as a thought occurred to him, and he turned to look at the Grim Reaper next to him. "Is...Is that why you were at the bar? Because I was going to die tonight?" he asked.
Time Turner shook his head. "No, you just happened to be there. Just because I'm the Grim Reaper doesn't mean I don't enjoy a nice cold beer every now and then,"
Time Turner watched from his spot as Lucky Lottery vanished out of sight at the end of the ethereal tunnel. He stayed in place for a few seconds, then smiled as he heard Lucky's voice in the distance, crying out in joy.
"Dad! It's really you! Oh Dad, I'm so happy to see you!"
Time Turner continued to smile even as he turned and instantly departed from the Crossing Over, reappearing back on the streets of Manehatten. He always did get a warm feeling in his immortal heart whenever he had the chance to hear loved ones reuniting on the other side. It was one of the perks of the job.
That, and getting to scare the living Faust out of the souls bound for torment in Tartarus. But right now, he was focusing on the happy.
Very few ponies would consider it a happy thing for anypony to die at all. But Time Turner knows differently. He's been doing his job since the very beginning of Equestria. He's ushered every pony that ever walked or flew on this planet to the other side, whether it was the good one or the bad one. He's guided the souls of the old, the young, the successful and the sorrowful. He knows that Death is not what everypony fears it to be.
Because he is Death. The hourglass on his flank represents the passing and end of life. All ponies lives eventually come to an end. And when they do, Time Turner will be there.
That's his job.
And he does it very well, thank you.
Chapter 2: Death In His (Other) Work
DEATH IN PONYVILLE
CHAPTER 2:
DEATH IN HIS (OTHER) WORK
The sounds of pounding hooves filled the ears of the Earth pony stallion as he ran. His lungs hurt, but he continued to run. He couldn't let them catch him.
He knew what would happen if they caught him.
"Where'd that rat go?!" a loud booming voice shouted.
Hearing that, the stallion picked up his speed, feeling his heart pounding inside his chest. He turned through all the street corners, empty of life in the late hours of the night. He had no clear idea of where he was going, but he was too caught up in his frantic desire to escape that he didn't care.
That is, until he ran smack dab into a dead end.
"Buck!" the stallion yelled, rubbing his now pained head. Then he covered his mouth with his hoof, hoping that nopony had heard his outburst-
"I heard something over here!"
Buck! the stallion thought. He quickly turned on his hooves, determined to escape the dead end alleyway he had turned into and get out of Canterlot as quickly as he could.
That plan came to a halt as his path was blocked by four other ponies, all dressed in the golden armor of the Royal Guard.
"Halt!" the leader shouted, pointing the spear held in his hoof.
"Get the buck out of my way!" the stallion at the end of the alley shouted.
"Candy Corn, you are under arrest for the murder of nine foals," the lead guard continued speaking, ignoring the stallion's shout as he and his comrades began to walk forward, cornering him in the alley further.
"Buck you, I didn't do shit!" Candy Corn snapped. His eyes darted around, trying to find the nearest exit.
"Do not deny your crimes, you scumbag!" another guard, this one a mare, shouted. "How could you do those horrible things to those innocent children?!"
Candy Corn felt a cruel smirk cover his face. "Because it was just so much fun," he said slowly, unable to keep the pride of his actions out of his tone.
And it was. Watching the foals sob for their parents in his special room, hearing them scream and cry and desperately try to claw at anything they could as he dragged them by their tails to his work room. Watching their tears fall as he restrained them, then got out his tools...
It was the best fun he had ever had.
That statement only served to enrage the four guards. "BY THE ORDER OF PRINCESS CELESTIA, YOU ARE TO BE TAKEN TO THE HIGH CANTERLOT PRISON AT ONCE!" the leader cried, advancing forward.
"Over my dead body!" Candy Corn screamed, running forward. He could totally take on this four guards, these guards were pushovers, there's no way he was going to go to jail-
SHNK.
Candy Corn gasped as a sudden pain erupted in his chest. Then, suddenly, the pain disappeared, and he found himself lying on the ground in the alley.
"W-What was that?" he demanded, placing his hooves on his chest. He looked down at himself, and didn't see any kind of marks. He appeared to be fine.
Looking up, Candy Corn saw the four Royal Guards staring down at them. The lead guard had a neutral, hardened expression on his face, and in his hoof was clenched the spear.
The end of the spear was dark red.
Another guard was staring down at Candy Corn with a grimace. "Was...Was that necessary, sir?" he asked unsurely.
"Captain Defiant Scale was clear that, if the criminal attempted to attack, lethal force was authorized," the leader stated.
The mare was glaring down at him. "Good riddance, I say," she spat. "After what he did to those foals..." The mare was visibly shaking at the thought.
"What the buck are all of you talking about?!" Candy Corn demanded, moving his legs so that he could stand up, prepared to fight his way out once more. "Get the buck out of my way, you stupid pieces of sh-HEY!"
Candy Corn cried out as he fell back down to the ground, unable to move. He looked down at himself - dark black chains had appeared on all four of his hooves, practically hog-tying him down. He shook himself, trying to get out of them, only to cry out as every single movement caused a searing, burning pain to shoot through his skin. The murderer looked up at the four guards, who were still staring down at him - or at least, he thought they were.
"What-What the buck did you sods do?!" he shouted, struggling through his bonds, even as they burned him. "Get these off of me!"
"The guards didn't do that," a new voice said. "I did,"
Candy Corn's head shot up, and he stared in shock at a brown Earth pony stallion that had suddenly appeared before him. His Cutie Mark was an hourglass, and he was staring down at Candy Corn with cold eyes.
"What the buck?!" Candy Corn cried. "Where did you come from, this alley is a dead end!"
"Death can move anywhere it wants," the brown Earth pony said. "For now, it's here,"
The words caused a chill to course through Candy Corn's body. "D-Death?" he repeated. "What the buck are you talking about?"
The other pony slowly walked up to Candy Corn. A sense of dread filled up Candy Corn's body as the stallion got closer and closer, until he was standing directly above his face.
The brown stallion lowered his face, until he was staring right into Candy Corn's face.
"When you committed those terrible crimes," he spoke in a soft whisper, but to Candy Corn the words were suddenly and unbearably loud. They blasted into his ears, and he moaned as his head started to throb in uncontrollable spasms of pain.
"Did you ever wonder what would happen when your life came to an end?" the brown pony continued to whisper. "What would happen when you're time came up? When the sand in your hourglass ran out? Did you wonder what would happen when you left this life...with absolutely no regret for what you have done?"
"Stooop!" Candy Corn cried, shaking his head frantically back and forth, trying to make the throbbing pain stop. "Please, stop, it hurts!"
The brown stallion chuckled darkly. "Oh, you haven't even begun to know pain, my dear Candy Corn," he said. "Everything you feel right now? Compared to what you have coming to you...this is a tickle,"
Candy Corn shrieked in fear as the brown stallion suddenly took on a completely different appearance. His brown coat had turned dark gray, his brown mane turned pitch black. His eyes, bright blue before, had transformed into sunken, dark and black. The stallion opened his mouth, and Candy Corn nearly wet himself when he saw that his teeth had become deathly sharp, like the jaws of a beast about to feast on its pray.
"WHAT THE BUCK ARE YOU?!" Candy Corn screamed, trying in vain to move away from the horrible looking pony, only to cry out as his chains rubbed against his skin, scorching his fur, and the throbbing in his ears intensified. "G-GET AWAY FROM ME!"
"To answer my own question, dear Candy Corn," the dark stallion said, leaning down and running his tongue across Candy Corn's face. The other stallion screamed - the touch of his saliva felt like burning acid, searing into his skin. "This is what happens,"
"AAAH!" Candy Corn only screamed, tears spilling out of his cheeks. His entire body felt like it was being burned alive. "STOP, STOP, PLEASE!"
"STOP STOP PLEASE! STOP STOP PLEASE! STOP STOP PLEASE!" the dark stallion roared, silencing Candy Corn, who only stared up at him in horror. "Wasn't that exactly what all those foals asked of you? Did you listen? DID YOU?"
"N-No, I didn't!" Candy Corn screamed. His mind wasn't working - all he wanted was to get away from the horrible creature before him. "I-I'm sorry, j-just please let me go, please!"
"You are not sorry, Candy Corn," the dark stallion growled. "If you were, I would be acting MUCH nicer. But, for now...it's time to face eternity,"
Candy Corn yelped in fear as the stallion suddenly moved himself from above him. He lifted up a dark gray hoof, and picked up the end of the chains that bounded Candy Corn's hooves. "I suggest you get used to these chains, dear Candy Corn, and soon," he said, a vicious smirk appearing on his face. "Because they're NEVER coming off,"
Candy Corn cried out as the stallion suddenly began dragging him down the alley, pulling him along by the end of the chain. "W-Wait!" he shouted. "S-Stop! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
The dark stallion smirked at him, showing all his razor edged teeth. "Taking you home," he said in a mocking tone.
Behind the dark stallion, in clear view of Candy Corn's eyes, the back of the alley suddenly transformed. The brick walls seemed to melt away like ooze, revealing a blackened tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, Candy Corn could see flames. Dark flames. He could hear the sound of wailing, of ponies screaming in pain. Everlasting pain.
Candy Corn suddenly understood exactly what was happening. He knew what that place at the end of the tunnel was.
And he knew that he was being dragged there.
"NO!" Candy Corn screamed, frantically thrashing, desperate to slip out of the chains. "NO, NO, PLEASE DON'T TAKE ME THERE! I SWEAR, I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"
The dark stallion did not answer - he only continued to pull Candy Corn along, as the tunnel and the flames and the wailing got closer and closer and closer...
"NOOOOOOOO!" Candy Corn sobbed, desperately trying to find anything in the alley he could use to save himself.
Just like what his own victims had done.
That thought did not cross his mind. It would though. It would many times during the eons and eons and eons of torment he faced.
Nopony escaped the prison that was Tartarus.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" A final wail ripped from his throat as Candy Corn felt the dark stallion finally drag him away from the world of the living, and into the dark tunnel.
Watching her fellow guards wrap the body of Candy Corn, a well-known serial killer of foals, for transportation, Moondancer felt a soft brush of wind through her coat. She turned around and looked down the alleyway. There was nothing there.
"Huh," she mumbled, turning back to the task at hand. "Must just be imagining things,"
A few minutes after the four guards left to report what had happened, and deliver Candy Corn's body to the morgue, Time Turner stepped out of the alleyway. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I wonder if there is anything wrong with my mental state with how much I enjoyed that?" he wondered out loud. "Oh, of course not! I'm Death, I do what I want....And I want a smoothie,"
With that, the Grim Reaper pony departed, humming merrily to himself.