Chapter 1: All The Days Remain The Same
“The timing of death, like the ending of a story, gives a changed meaning to what preceded it.” ~ Mary Catherine Bateson
Rainbow Dash awoke with a yawn, lifting the white silk sheets up with her as she sat up in the bed. It had only been a couple of months since the incident happened and ever since that day she never got much sleep. The little sleep that she did get was often fraught with nightmares of that fateful night, the events constantly replaying every time she felt herself finally beginning to relax underneath the warm covers. With a small stretch, Rainbow got out of bed and walked towards the bathroom, staring at her reflection in the mirror with lost intent. The memories of that tragic night poked at her subconsciousness once more, this time more insistent than usual.
Often the thoughts would reside in her mind for a couple of days but at least once a week, they would rise back up and force themselves to be known. Sometimes Rainbow would win the internal struggle, pushing the painful memories back into the dark crevasse they crawled out from, but today it seemed to be a battle that she wouldn’t win. With a defeated sigh Rainbow closed her eyes and let the thoughts replay themselves as they saw fit.
“Why are you here Sombra?” Applejack asked as she took a couple of steps into the Everfree.
“Me?” Sombra said as he pressed a hoof to his chest. “You really think that I would give up so easily after you banished me from the Crystal Empire? Just simply retreat to the shadows, never to arise once more? Foolish creatures! I shall exact my revenge for you six making a mockery out of me. First I will destroy you, and then there shall be nothing stopping me from ruling this wretched home of yours with an iron hoof.” Sombra let out a evil laugh, the vile chuckle echoing ominously throughout the dark forest. “So many fresh new slaves, all just waiting for somepony to rule over them!”
“We will defeat you Sombra,” Twilight said with a stomp of her hoof. “We’ve stopped you once before and we will do so again.”
“You truly think that you miserable excuses for ponies can stop me?” Sombra said, his voice dripping with malicious intent. “You ponies? The ones who had to give up the Elements of Harmony just to save some poor and pathetic tree. Don’t make me laugh.” Sombra raised his hooves into the air, a thick dark green magical coating spreading its way across the black limbs as they rose up. With a thunderous slam back to the ground, the magic surged into the soft earth below, sending a violent quake of pure energy through the ground towards the six. Within moments, columns of dark crystals erupted from the ground extending clear into the dark sky above. The sky began to pollute with a dark set of magical clouds, completely blacking out any source of light that remained.
“Your damn right we’ll stop you,” Rainbow said, her voice full of courage.
“Very well,” Sombra said with an evil smile. “Lets see how long you last!” Dark energy released from Sombra’s horn, roaring towards the six with murderous intent. Both Twilight and Rarity stepped forward, and a magical force field erupted from the center of their horns, completely covering the six in its protective embrace. The spells blasted the shield with a thunderous strike, causing the shield to flex uncontrollably from the shear force of the blast. After moments the energy blasts detonated, leaving behind a thick cloud of black smoke in their wake.
A cyan coloured blur shot out from behind the forcefield and immediately made its way towards Sombra, leaving behind the signature rainbow coloured contrail as it soared. With minimal effort, Sombra ducked underneath Rainbow as she flew overhead. However the pegasus was not ready to be beat by such a simple maneuver as she abruptly turned back towards her target. This time Rainbow’s hoof connected with it’s target, sending Sombra flying back into one of the dark crystal pillars behind him.
“Impressive,” Sombra said as he freed himself from the indentation that he made in the crystal column upon impact. “Your flying abilities are truly something to be respected.” A surge of black energy bubbled from Sombra’s horn and dissipated in a flash as five dark swords materialized in front of the evil tyrant. “However it doesn’t matter anymore.” With an deceptive smile, Sombra sent one of the blades flying towards Rainbow. The magical blade whizzed past Rainbow’s head, missing her skull by mere inches. Rainbow looked over at Sombra with a cocky smile.
“Ha! You couldn’t hit the front side of a-” Rainbow words were stopped short as she heard the sound of the blade piercing through soft flesh behind her.
“Foolish pegasus!” Sombra said with maniacal laugh. “Why would I aim for you, when killing the pony behind you would be all the more satisfying.” Rainbow spun around and let a scream of pure sorrow escape her lungs. Twilight stood there with a dumbfounded expression as she gazed at the blade that now had wedged perfectly into her chest. A couple of moments of silence hung in the world, and then Twilight collapsed. Instinctively Rainbow flew as fast as she could and grabbed Twilight before she could hit the ground.
“No no no,” Rainbow panically said as she stared at the blade. “Not here, not now.”
The playback of that night abruptly ended with a bright flash, snapping Rainbow back into the rather bland room. With a wing, Rainbow grabbed the brush and ran a couple of passes through the unruly bed head of a mane that sporadically lay across her face. After some simple movements, her mane fell into its normal style.
“Well…” Rainbow thought to herself as she placed the brush back its rightful location. “I’ve got the day off, but that doesn’t really mean that much anymore.” Rainbow craned her head to look out the small window in the room. The pristine sky lay in front of her, completely pure in every sense of the word, but something always different to Rainbow ever since that day.
“All the days since then have been the same… There is nothing to look forward to any more. I haven’t seen Flutters or Pinkie Pie in three weeks, and Applejack and Rarity are doing Celestia knows what right now.” Rainbow stood in the room for a couple of moments before her wings gave a small twitch, their eagerness to fly making itself known. Well I guess it looks like I’m going out for a little bit.
With a simple robotic motion Rainbow walked out of bathroom, and proceeded to grab some small fruit from the kitchen before she took off into the sky, absently flying with no clear destination in mind. After that terrible night many weeks ago, she had started to distance herself from her friends, constantly isolating herself more and more each day, eventually reaching the point to where she wouldn't talk to anypony else. Everyday had fallen into the same old routine. Wake up, go to work, grab something to eat, and then head back home to wait until the day started over once again. Day in, day out, the same thing every time, but she didn't know what else to do.
The first couple of days after Twilight's death had been the worst for her. During that time Rainbow had never once gone out from her home, she could not accept that Twilight was gone... She refused to accept it... Everyday she would sit in her room, patiently waiting for Twilight to barge through her front door and tell her everything would be all right, that it was all a bad dream. But deep down she knew that she was gone and that she would never be coming back no matter how hard she wished for it.
After a couple of moments passively flying through the empty Ponyville skies Rainbow looked around and noticed that she was overtop of Ponyville Hospital. With minimal effort, Rainbow glided down towards the large building, and landed softly in front of the doors. For moments she sat there, staring at the building as the memories started to poke and prod their way through her mind once more.
“It looks like it is going to be one of those days,” Rainbow thought to herself. “Each time I finally think that I am starting to get over it, shit like this happens and all the memories come flooding back at once.” Rainbow let out an exhausted sigh. “Whatever… Let’s just get this over with so I can move on with this miserable day.” Rainbow sat and closed her eyes, and let the world around her slowly disappear once more. “Well come on, I don’t have all day.”
Drip… Drip… Drip...
“Come on Twilight,” Rainbow said to the unresponsive purple body that lay motionless across her back. Twilight’s hooves were stretched across Rainbow’s neck, loosely dangling back and forth with each step that Rainbow made through the Everfree Forest. Each step felt sent a bolt of pain up Rainbow’s body, but she continued to walk through it, not slowing down in the slightest. The only sound that filled the forest was the sound of Rainbow’s voice, and the faint sound of droplets of Twilight’s blood falling onto the soft forest floor below.
“We’re almost to Ponyville,” Rainbow said through the pain. Twilight sleepily shuffled on Rainbow’s back as she tried to say something in return, but no words would leave her mouth no matter how hard she tried. Mustering all the strength, Twilight craned her neck over towards the deep gash that lay open across her midsection. The wound was bleeding profusely and it didn’t take the smartest pony to know what inevitably was going to happen. Twilight gaged the width of the wound, and felt her face curl in smile as she did some small calculations in her head.
“About 30% already,” Twilight weakly thought to herself as Rainbow continued to walk. The loss of blood had already started to take it’s toll on her body. “Thoughts are getting scrambled, heart rate starting to compensate for the loss, and my body is starting to go into shock.” Twilight mentally laughed at herself as the thoughts entered her head. “I guess that medical textbook wasn’t a complete waste of time.”
“Just a little bit further Twilight,” Rainbow said the exhaustion clear in her voice.
“You know…” Twilight thought to herself. “I can’t really say that I’m disappointed with how this turned out. Sure I don’t want to die yet, and there is so much that I still want to do. But I’ve had a good life. I’ve meant so many ponies in my life, and done so many things that other ponies wouldn’t even dream was possible. I helped free Luna from the clutches of Nightmare Moon, repelled an Ursa Minor from attacking Ponyville, and became the first unicorn first ever ascend to an alicorn.”
Twilight nestled her head right next to Rainbow’s neck, an unfolding wing meant Twilight’s chin halfway as she rested her head on the makeshift pillow.
“She’s so soft… Like the feeling of a newborn foal. Why didn’t I do this before? All of those days thinking about asking her out, and never able to work up the courage to get the words out whenever she was around.” Twilight let out a sigh and let her body begin to relax as her head bobbed in perfect rhythm with Rainbow’s walking. With her last amount of strength Twilight tried to keep her eyes open but it was a losing battle. “I am glad to know that all of those dreams that I had were not wrong… And maybe if I had actually been able to ask her, she might have said yes…”
With those last thoughts, Twilight let out a sigh as she accepted the path that now lay in front of her with open arms. Mustering the last bit of strength, Twilight nestled her head deeper into the makeshift pillow that Rainbow had made for her and smiled. She felt the control starting to leave her body inch by inch. The soft sound of Rainbow’s hoofsteps seemed to be getting further and further away each and every moment that passed. The trees around her began to fade into black as her eyes began to close. Every passing moment felt like hours to Twilight, but oddly enough she felt truly at peace as the world around her continued to slip into darkness. Twilight let one final quiet chuckle escape from her mouth, and closed her eyes for the last time.
However, Rainbow continued to walk towards the hospital, absently talking with Twilight’s dead body as she continued to walk completely unaware that her friend had passed away moments ago. “Once we get you to the hospital you will be alright Twilight, the doctors there will be able to fix you up and you’ll be reading those lame books again in no time… Just hang on for a little while longer.”
Now standing in front of the hospital, Rainbow could feel her hooves starting to give from the shear effort that had been placed upon them, but she still continued to walk until well in through the front door of the hospital. A small brown nurse stuck her head from underneath the desk that she sat at, a wave of complete shock washing over her face as Rainbow walked in the hallway. The pegasus was covered from head to hoof in scrapes and cuts. As Rainbow stood still in the hallway her and Twilight’s blood softly dripped onto the pearl white tile floor below. With a couple more steps into the hospital, Rainbow collapsed onto the floor, the exhaustion that had been placed on her body finally winning against her willpower. The unknown brown mare shot out from behind the desk and tried to help Rainbow up, but the combined weight of the two ponies proved to be much to handle on her own.
“Don’t worry about me…” Rainbow said, panting heavily from the exhaustion. Rainbow craned her head up towards Twilight the best she could. “Help Twilight first…” The brown mare shot a confused look at Rainbow, and then at the purple body that lay draped over her back. Twilight lay there perfectly still, no distinguishable signs of life at all. With a careful movement, the nurse slipped her hoof underneath Twilight’s midsection and pulled her off Rainbow’s back. As she laid her head to Twilight’s chest, no sound emanated from the alicorn’s chest. No breathing… No heartbeat… Just silence…
Rainbow shook her head, snapping her mind back into reality as the memories began to retreat into the dark corners of her mind. With a heavy sigh she turned from the hospital and began to walk down the main road back into town. With no clear destination, Rainbow just walked through the busy streets. Ponies smiled at Rainbow as she walked by, some of them taking time to ask how she was doing. However Rainbow mostly ignored them as she continued to walk through the busy crowds, until she stopped at the library. She stood there for minutes, just staring at the building, thinking back to the old times that she missed. All of the times that she had stayed at the library and simply read with the egghead for hours on end. Back then it seemed so minor, but now Rainbow would give anything to be able to relive those moments once more.
Rainbow walked up to the door, and proceed to walk into the library. As she looked around the library, Rainbow felt terrible on how bad the library had slipped with nopony to look after it. A thick layer of dust covered every book in a dull grey coat, something that would have never happened when Twilight was around.
After Twilight's death, Spike didn't want to live in the library any more. Everyone begged him to stay, but he always said that there were too many memories that came with the old home. Rainbow couldn’t blame him, if it would have been her she would have done the same thing in heartbeat.
“Hey...” Rainbow softly said, her voice quietly echoing through the empty room. “I know you aren't here any more, but I just wanted to let you know that things are going alright at least.” A tear started to make it's way down Rainbow's face. She knew that nopony was listening to her, but it felt right to talk about the current state of everything. All of that pent up emotion that Rainbow had tried to keep inside finally had enough of being ignored, and now it was time to let it all out. Deep down she had a little hope that Twilight was still able to hear her, wherever she might be now.
“I heard from Spike a couple of weeks ago... He seems to be doing well from what I can tell. After you died, he moved out and went to stay with Princess Celestia. Apparently he now works as a royal messenger. In his last letter to me, he mentioned that he was just in the Griffon Kingdom, meeting with the Griffon King, on Celestia's behalf.” Rainbow let out a little chuckle, as tears continued to roll down her face. “He has really grown up in the past month, Twi... I know it would make you proud on how well he has grown up without you.”
“I still wish you were here though.” Rainbow managed to say through her sobbing. “You helped bring us together, and it doesn't really feel the same without you. Everytime I wake up, something just seems like it’s missing from the day. Without you here everything just seems to be blending into the same old thing everyday. Everything seems duller, nothing’s filled with the same bright life that you seemed to bring out of everypony… I don’t know how you did it, but everypony just never seemed to be the same afterwards.”
A book flew off of the shelf, landing with an extremely loud thud that radiated throughout the empty library. Rainbow looked down at the book that had landed at her hooves, and felt her face curl up in a smile as she picked up the novel. Emblazoned across the novel's cover was a picture of Daring Do swinging on a vine, a priceless artifact nestled safely underneath her wing. Rainbow clearly remembered the book. It was the last one that she had read with Twilight, just a couple of days before they had set out to fight against Sombra’s resurgence.
With a simple push of the book’s dusty cover, Rainbow opened the book up and a small picture fell out from between the pages. Rainbow looked down at the picture that now lay sitting peacefully on her lap, and wave of happiness washed over her. The picture was a simple sketch of Rainbow and Twilight sitting in the library, a large book levitated in front of Twilight, while Rainbow had her head laid on Twilight’s side. Both mares were smiling in the picture, seemingly enjoying each other’s company more than the literature that lay open in front of them. Sitting in the corner of the pristine sketch, in complete perfect penmanship, lay Twilight’s signature, with a small note underneath.
Maybe dreams do come true…
Rainbow sat in the middle of library for minutes, never saying a single word as she sat and stared at the simple sketch. With one last long look, Rainbow pulled the picture close to her chest and began to sob.
“Why didn’t you tell me Twi?” Rainbow said through the tears that rolled down her face.
Author's Note
Well this has been sitting in my unpublished stuff for a long time now, so here you go. The original idea was to release Chapters 1 and 2 together as a set because they are directly related to each other and happen at the same time, but after Monkhm suggested a really go way to take the story, I will have to do some creative exploring to decide where this is going to go. Both paths that the story has are similar in some regards, but different in others... So you will have to wait a little bit for the second chapter as it will dictate how this story will unfold.
Anyway... Hope you enjoyed the chapter! As always feel free to leave behind any questions, criticism, or other comment that you wish, and I will definitely get back to it once it pops up. I am off to try to figure out which way I want to go. Although I might be annoying my editors a bit. So hopefully we can be a little bit more decisive with the chapters after the second.
Chapter 2: An Impossible Choice
“You always do what you want to do. This is true with every act. You may say that you had to do something, or that you were forced to, but actually, whatever you do, you do by choice. Only you have the power to choose for yourself.” ~ W. Clement Stone
Twilight stretched for the first time in what seemed liked ages. Her bones popped like popcorn with each small movement, and it felt like she had been sitting still for weeks. Each simple movement sent a small jolt of pain through her body, but it was a welcome reprieve from the searing pain that the blade had left in it’s wake. As Twilight looked down where the magical blade had sunk into her flesh, she noticed that there was no open wound, but in it’s place lay a dark scar that stretched around her midsection.
“That’s strange…” Twilight thought to herself as she brushed a hoof across the old injury. “It looks like it has been a while since I got that wound, but…” Twilight gave a quick shake of her head. “No that is impossible…”
Taking a second to wipe the sleep out of her eyes with a hoof, Twilight looked around the odd space that she found herself in. As her eyes wandered around the barren area, she noticed that the wooden walls of the room that she found herself in, were semi transparent, showing a vast array of shining stars behind their simple finish. Catching her attention however was not the night sky behind the walls, but rather a cloaked pony that lay sitting in the middle of the room. The shroud that covered the figure was black as the night, with small sections of golden piping accenting the cloak's features. A large scythe eerily floated over the cloaked figure's head, no magical aura surrounding the blade as it patiently hovered next to its owner.
“I’ve been expecting you, Miss Sparkle,” the cloaked pony said. “You’ve always been perfectly on time. I like a pony who doesn’t waste my time.” A pale white hoof peered from underneath the black cloak that covered the mysterious pony, and patted the floor next to it. “Please sit down, I’m sure that you have many questions for me.”
Twilight walked up to the unknown entity with extreme caution, making sure to trot around the sharp blade that hovered dangerously close to her head. With a nervous motion, she sat beside the cloaked figure in silence. As she sat next the figure, Twilight could feel waves of magical energy emanating from him, the shear force of it weighed heavily against her own, threatening to snuff out her magical essence in an instance.
“Do you know who I am Miss Sparkle?” the figure curiously asked, it’s gaze remaining fixated on what lay in front of it. The unknown stallion’s voice was very deep, and had a commanding tone that seemed to demand the undivided attention of all things within earshot.
“No I don’t,” Twilight said with a quick shake of her head. “Should I?”
“Well for a scholar such as yourself, maybe a riddle will help you understand who I am. I truly have no name. I have no beginning, and I have no end. I’ve seen the beginning of the universe you call home, and I shall be there to see the end of it. Some ponies say that I am unfair, while others say that I'm needed when justice is demanded. Most ponies fear me all their lives, doing everything that they can to avoid me, but as the endless pursuit of time takes it’s toll on them, they eventually give come to my presence. I sit at the end of every being’s path, and I shall wait patiently until their end.”
The figure shifted its gaze towards Twilight, revealing a set blue glowing eyes that brightly glistened below the dark hood. “Now Miss Sparkle, can you tell me who I am?” Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin, her focus completely on the riddle that had been given to her.
“Something with no beginning, and with no end,” Twilight thought to herself. “Some ponies fear it, but others accept it… One who sits patiently at the end of all paths.” Numerous thoughts of what the answer could be coursed through Twilight’s mind, however none of them seemed to be the correct answer. “One who waits at the end of all... The only thing that waits at the end of all things is...”
“Are you Death?” Twilight nervously asked, her ears flattening to her head as the words left her mouth.
The figure let out a small chuckle from underneath the robe. “Your reputation precedes you, Miss Sparkle.” In one simple motion, the unknown pony’s hooves rose up to his head and pushed the black hood away from his muzzle, revealing a pearl white coated stallion underneath. Glancing into the pony’s eyes, Twilight noticed that there was no pupils, only irises made of pure blue energy that seemed to magically change in shades as she stared into them. “Indeed, I’m the pony spirit of the aspect that embodies death. I’ve waiting for months for you to awaken from your slumber.”
“Waiting for me?” Twilight asked, one of her eyebrows slightly askew. “Why would you be waiting for me?”
“I needed to speak to you, Miss Sparkle. You see, you’re a victim of one of the many unfortunate realities of this thing we call the afterlife...” Death’s scythe levitated over in front of the two, and sliced through the empty air. A sickening sound radiated from the blade’s wake and with a bright flash, a new field of reality tore open, revealing a pristine view of Ponyville.
“You used to live in the mortal plane,” Death continued as Twilight stared at the portal with a dumbfounded expression across her face. “This is the place that all things, whether they be good or evil call home. Here all forms of life are cherished, and all beings are free to live their lives however they feel. However as you might be guessing now, there are other places of existence that extend past this small world of yours.” Another slash with the scythe tore the view of Ponyville in half, and replaced it with a new sight that was full of sprawling nature. Many colourful birds flew through the skies above, and immaculate trees towered high into the sky. As Twilight looked around at the new area that stood before her, she noticed that it looked oddly similar to what her ideal paradise would look like. Everything that lay in the world before her was the exact same as what she pictured it would be, right down to the bright orange and yellow leaves that coated the forest floor below.
“Behold Atheros, Miss Sparkle,” Death said as he waved a hoof through the landscape. “This place is the reward that awaits those who devote their lives to helping others. Some ponies do as much as they possibly can in order to reach this plane, while others help whenever they believe it is right. The amount of their deeds doesn’t matter though, rather it is the intention of these deeds that determine if a pony is worthy of living in Atheros. This is where you rightfully belong Miss Sparkle. However, you seem to be a special case, one that I’ve not encountered for many centuries now.”
“What do you mean a special case?” Twilight questioned as she gazed into Atheros.
“Most ponies simply go to their rightful location when I reap them, but you’ve been caught in the middle space that encases the many worlds of the universe. A place that is neither living nor dead, a place that simply exists. No evil, no good, no life, no death, just simple presence. It is here where you can make the decision to stay in this plane, or to fully pass on to your rightful place in Atheros.”
“Why do I have the decision?” Twilight questioned. “If you really are Death, shouldn’t you be able to bring me to Atheros whenever you want?”
“When a pony unfortunately gets stuck in this spiritual limbo of sorts, they’re the only one that can decide their fate.” Death continued to explain. “In this world your will is very powerful and is directly ties your presence here. If you want to leave you are able, otherwise nothing will be able to pull you from this timeless existence. If you choose to stay in this place, you'll be able to watch over your friends, keeping a close eye on each of them as they go throughout their lives. You’ll see every moment of happiness, but you'll also see their sorrow, not able to say or do anything as you simply observe their lives unfold. Over the course time, they will grow, some will have families, while others will not... But all things that live in the world will eventually come to an end.” Death sat with a pause before continuing. “When that time comes, you’ll have to sit here and watch as I go and claim everyone of them with my blade.”
“Or…” Death said with a change of tone in his voice. “You can pass on to Atheros and wait for your friends to arrive there. However you will not see them for many decades.”
“What do you mean I wouldn't be able to see them?” Twilight asked confused.
“In order to answer fully answer your question, I must give you a small lesson into how Atheros was created. You see, Miss Sparkle, each pony that visits the heavenly plane is given their own special piece of it to call their own, and these places limit who you will be able to see. When Atheros was first created by the gods, it was what you could call a communal paradise... A place where all creatures, no matter race or gender, would gather and cherish the moments that they had in the realm of the living. However this caused many complications as each creature's view of what an ideal paradise should be was vastly different than the others in the world, which lead to conflicts between the numerous souls, and so the infinite paradise was split into countless small utopias. Every pony was given a piece of the Atheros that they could call home, each different in it’s own right. Your world seems to be filed with nature and lush scenes of forestry that stretch to the very heavens with their beauty, while other ponies’ views may be filled with vast cityscapes that remind them of their home in the city.
“To fully answer your question, you will be unable to see them until their time in the world of the living has finally come to an end. Upon their death, my blade will send each one of them to Atheros, and because of the strong bonds that you have formed with your friends, you will be able to see them in their own worlds whenever you wish."
"What makes my bonds between them so special?"
"Atheros is a place that tries to reproduce your ideal paradise as much as possible so that you may be peaceful for all eternity. In many cases, a pony's ideal paradise involves another. If the connection between them is strong enough, their paradises form a sort of web like structure where the boundaries of the worlds can be easily crossed. I hope that answers your question."
"It did, thank you." Twilight said quietly as she sat and gazed into the heavenly world that lay manifested in front of her. She had been given an impossible choice, one with innumerable options in both directions. Did she wait her friends in Atheros, or does she watch over them from the middle of the two worlds? The debate continued to roll inside of her head for a couple of moments as she gazed into the portal.
However there was something that Twilight needed to see before making any decisions related to the matter. There was one pony that she wanted to see, one pony that she needed to see before start to narrow her choice.
"Can you show me where Rainbow Dash is?” Twilight asked as she gazed into his blue shifting eyes with pleading intent.
“You don’t need to ask me Miss Sparkle,” Death replied with a wave of his hoof. “Just look through the window yourself, and imagine whatever you want to see. Think about the moments you cherished in the living world and those shall take you there.”
Twilight closed her eyes and the let the memories of her life make their way to the surface. With a deep breath she began to think about Rainbow. She began to remember the many late nights that the two mares would have in the library. Ever since Rainbow found her love for reading it seemed she was at the library everyday, reading whatever she could get her hooves on. Once in a while Twilight would find her late at night, nestled comfortably on a collection of various cushions, completely absorbed in one of the many stories that she had grabbed from the shelves. However, those were not the thoughts that Twilight cherished the most with her friend. The memories that she cherished the most, were the couple of times where they had both lay in front of a warm fire, taking turns reading to each other until the long hours of the night.
With a small shutter, the window into Atheros dissipated and a new view of the Ponyville library materialized in front of the two. Twilight gazed through the portal and stared at the dusty interior. Although she was a little annoyed that a thick shroud of dust cover most of the books, she was happy to see everything sitting in its rightful place. Looking around the large central room, her gaze stopped abruptly on the sobbing cyan pegasus who still had the sketch of the two of them pressed heavily against her chest.
“I miss you Twilight… More than anything in the world...” Twilight heard Rainbow softly mutter though the tears. Upon hearing those words, Twilight slowly began to raise a hoof towards the portal. Right now the only thing that she wanted to do was to reach through the portal, wrap her hooves around the crying mare, and tell her that everything was going to be okay. But as the realization of her inability to do so began to sink in, she lowered the outstretched limb back towards the ground.
“You loved her didn’t you?” Death asked, as he watched Twilight’s motions. Twilight looked over at the stallion with a confused look, as she tried to think of a reason that Death would even have a shred of interest in her life.
“Why would you ask me about something like that?” Twilight questioned.
“During my infinite life across the many worlds of this universe, I’ve slowly began to ask ponies that I reaped for a story of their life. At first I didn’t really care for them, as most of them just seemed to drone on and on for what seemed like hours, but after a while they had started to grow on me. Over the course of time I began to notice the sutile body movements that accompanied most of the stories that I have heard. The way you moved your hoof towards the portal, the way your face slightly light up from just the sight of her instantly gave away your feelings for her. So if I may ask you again… Did you love her?”
“Y-Y-Yes I did,” Twilight said while trying as hard as she could to hold back the tears that tried to make their escape, but that was a battle that she was destined to lose. After a couple of seconds, she could feel the pools of water starting to form underneath her eyes, the tears matting her fur as they slid down her muzzle. "During the first incident we had with Discord, I had to use a very complex memory recollection spell to get my friends back to normal after Discord had changed them. The spell itself was relatively safe, but it did have one side effect... It made me able to see all of the memories that came flooding into each of my friend's minds. Everything seemed to be happening as I expected they would... That is until I cast the spell on Rainbow... When I made her remember, I not only saw her memories, but I could also feel the emotions that her mind unconsciously paired with each memory."
Taking a moment to collect her thoughts, Twilight reached out with a hoof and pressed against the portal. A small clink sound emanated from the magical window as her hoof made contact with the portal, a rush of pure magical energy through her body accompanied the soft sound. "I felt every little thing... From the happiness that she felt upon winning the young flyer’s competition, to the lack of self confidence she had before she wrote the Wonderbolts test. I don’t know why she was the only one of my friends that provided that kind of magical feedback. Maybe something about me being closer to her then what I thought I was… Who knows?”
“Ever since that day though," Twilight continued with a shaky tone. "I noticed that I was beginning to feel different about her. Throughout the course of the day, I would often find myself reading a book, and thinking to myself how much she would like it. I began to notice that I was beginning to love the small little quirks that make Rainbow the mare she is. It was the little things that stuck out the most like her extreme confidence towards everything she devotes herself to, and the way that she would often hide her habits from the other because she didn’t want them to know about it…”
“At first I simply thought that it was a simple crush that I’d be done within a couple of weeks. But as the days went on, the feelings didn’t seem to weaken, in fact they had seemed to be getting stronger as the time passed.” Twilight took a deep breath, and then turned her gaze back towards Death, a large smile now across her face.
“It was only a matter of time before somepony noticed how differently I acted when Rainbow was around. Pinkie was first to confront me about my feelings, which didn’t surprise me that much. She always had some weird psychic ability when it came to things like that. A couple of weeks after she had cornered me in Sugarcube Corner to ask me about my feelings towards Rainbow, she decided that she would throw a party where Rainbow and I’d get together by the end of it...” Twilight slowly hung her head. “But I couldn’t bring myself to go.”
"Why didn’t you?” Death asked, his curiosity momentarily getting the better of him. "Were you scared of telling her?”
“Petrified was probably a better term that described how I felt about it… As always I focused on the worst case scenario." Twilight said as she continued with the story. "What if she doesn’t feel the same way? What if she isn’t into mares like me? Could the relationship work and if things didn’t work out between the two of us, could we go back to being friends?" Twilight paused for a moment, taking the time to let out a deep breath as she tried to calm the many emotions that surged through her body. “All of those thoughts in my head clouded my decision, and now that I'm unable to tell her, I’m finally starting to see how silly I was to even think that in the first place.”
Twilight gazed into the portal and softly laughed to herself. “I even started to study art with the idea that I’d be able to show her a drawing and maybe that would work. For months I spent time reading on the base concepts, practicing as much as I possibly could, but even then I couldn’t bring myself to show her.” Twilight wiped away the tears that had started to roll down her face. A brief moment of silence passed in between the two ponies as Twilight gazed into the portal. As she sat, one question entered her mind, demanding that it be given an answer. It was the one question that she didn’t want to ask. She already knew that the answer wouldn’t be one that she wanted to hear, but the inquiry continued to insist that the answer to it be known.
“How was she after I died?” Twilight asked, her gaze remained fixated on the portal.
“She never was the same after your passing. Out of all your friends she was the one that changed the most. Every waking moment of that poor pony’s life is blackened with thoughts of sorrow. The light of her world has slowly begun to diminish, and her dreams are plagued with terrible recollections of that night.” Death looked over from the portal and stared at Twilight. “She blames herself for not being able to save you Twilight.”
“Why would she blame herself for my death?” Twilight asked with fresh tears rolling her down face like a waterfall. “There was nothing that she could have done…”
“Part of her knows that Twilight,” Death said as he wrapped a hoof around Twilight’s now trembling body. “But there is another part of her that refuses to accept your death, no matter how much she tries to move on. Your friend is trapped in a terrible cycle and to her it seems like there is no way to break it.”
“I-I-Is there anyway that I can help her?” Twilight asked with a whimper.
“From this realm? Probably not.” Death said with a shake of his head. “Many ponies before you have tried to interact with the outside world from here but nopony has ever succeeded in communicating. I'm sorry…” Twilight felt like she was going to be sick. Her stomach felt as if somepony had used it for filly scouts knot practice, contorted in uncountable ways, never able to return back to normal. The amount of varying emotions that coursed through her had pushed her well past her breaking point. Her mind had begun to refuse processing her thoughts, and she could feel her limbs starting to go numb.
“I need to be alone…” Twilight said with a hushed tone.
“Understandable. I’ve given you an impossible choice Miss Sparkle, one that I never wished I had to give anypony again. I shall find you in a moment’s time and ask for your decision then. If we wait any longer, your soul will start to become accustomed to this realm and it will be extremely hard to separate from this reality.” The scythe above Death’s head twanged with a surge of magical energy, emanating a dull black glow while the magic coated the sharp blade. With a bright flash Death vanished into nothingness.
“Why Rainbow… Why do you blame yourself? I was already dead before we got into the hospital. There was nothing that you could’ve done.” Twilight instinctively put a hoof on the solid magical portal and began to cry. “There wasn’t anything at all…” For hours, Twilight sat crying into her hooves until no more tears would come from her puffy eyes.
A loud snapping sound came from beside Twilight as Death materialized into the open space, the scythe clearly absent from the pony’s side. “So Miss Sparkle, have you made your decision?”
“Not really…” Twilight said as she choked back another sob. “Part of me wants to stay here and watch over them, not wanting to let go of what I had before. But the rational part of me knows that staying here isn’t the right choice. Sure it is better in the short term, but once they have passed to Atheros, I'd never be able to see them again.” Twilight looked over at the portal with a heavy heart and stared at the mare of her dreams that lay behind it. Rainbow stood up from the library floor with a shaky wobble and tucked the hoof drawn sketch of the two of them underneath one of her wings. With a simple spin, Rainbow turned to face the door and began to make her way towards it with her head hung low.
“You said that there was no way back right?” Twilight said softly. “Because if there was a way… Anyway at all… I’d do it…”
Seeing Twilight like this filled Death’s heart with a sadness of it’s own, something that rarely happened to the powerful deity. Here sitting before him, was a sobbing mare that had her time in the world cut short by some overzealous villain hellbent on world domination. Never in her life did she get to enjoy the experiences that came with growing old with somepony that she held close to her heart. Never would she be able to enjoy the feeling of having her own children. Twilight’s life had been taken before her rightful time and for Death there was nothing worse in all of the worlds then somepony that didn’t experience the joys that they were rightfully entitled too. With one final look at the violet coloured mare, he knew what he must do for her.
“There is one way back to the world of the living,” Death said, his scythe materializing with a loud snap as the words left his mouth. “The reincarnation trials…”
"The what?" Twilight asked, as she wiped a fresh collection of tears from her muzzle.
"A series of extremely difficult tasks that a pony can undertake if they get stuck in this dreadful plane. Upon creating the planes of existence scattered throughout this world, the gods that created them made sure to have a doorway that can be accessed by those in the middle of the many worlds. The deities deemed that a fate in this world was unfit for even the most cruel of ponies, and thus made sure that there was a way for them to return home. However they didn’t want just anypony that found themselves lost in this world to be able to find their way home. In order to guard the precious reward at the end of the quest, the gods developed a series of challenges that must first be overcome. These ordeals are three individual tasks in which one will face a collection of powerful aspects, each one embodying a different element of life and death. Each of these aspects is harder then the next, and the chance of beating even one of them is extremely slim. Ever since the trials have been established, there is nopony that has been able to complete them and obtain the reward that awaits."
"Although you must be warned about what will happen at any time you fail the challenges that are given to you. Should you fail the gods of the universe will deem you unworthy and you’ll be hurled to the Underworld. It is a miserable plane of existence, in which you'll be subjected to every single possible kind of terror you can witness. From endless manual labour to soul crushing torment, your soul would never fully come to rest." Death looked over and at Twilight and stared into the violet coloured pools with a serious gaze.
"Now that you know the nature of the trials, I will ask you one question, Miss Sparkle... Do you wish to risk the options that I've given you for one small chance to see the ones you care most for?" Twilight opened her mouth in attempt to quickly answer the powerful deity's question, but found herself unable to do so. Even though she didn't show it, the result of the potential failure frightened her to the very core of her being. Within an instant, the petrifying fear started to work its way through her body, causing each hair of her fur to stand on end. With a deep breath, Twilight took a second to calm the racing emotions in her body. After a couple of calming exhales, she began internally debate about the new choice that had been given to her and as she did so, one phrase started to sound in her head.
"If there was a way… Anyway at all… I would do it…" That one phrase that she had said struck a chord with her mind. Slowly Twilight repeated the line again and again in her head, each repetition gradually pushed the fear out of her body until it was no more. After the fifth iteration, Twilight looked towards Death, her choice known beyond a doubt.
"I'll do it," Twilight said with a slow nod.
"Very well," Death replied with a quick bow. The scythe roared to live and quickly raced towards the portal of Ponyville. With a simple cleave of the scythe’s blade, the world contorted and materialized into a fresh new plane. "The portal to your first ordeal awaits." Nodding her head in acknowledgement, Twilight turned towards the portal and began to make her way towards it.
"Now there is something that I never thought I would see," an new angelic voice echoed through Death's head as he watched Twilight walk towards the portal. The voice that filled his head was sweet as honey, pure of any evil intent. For some ponies, it would've sounded like an angel’s voice was ringing through their mind, but for Death it was simply a voice to the one being that he cared for the most in his eternal life, his sister. "I thought you told me that we'd never let anypony know about the trials. Don't you remember what happened to the last pony?"
"There is something about her sister," Death said across the telepathic link that had formed between them. "Something... Different... When I gazed into those pleading violet coloured eyes, I saw something that I haven't seen in many eons."
"And what might that be brother?" the voice said with a curious tone.
“I saw a pony that would risk everything just for one small chance to see her friends again. One pony that is willing to put her entire existence on the line just to see the mare that she loves. As long as Miss Sparkle maintains that demeanour, I truly believe that she'll be able to complete the momentous ordeal that has been given to her. She’ll be the first one to finally fight her way back to the living." The playful voice let out a small chuckle that silently echoed through Death's mind. “What’s so funny?”
"Oh nothing," the heavenly voice chimed with a loud laugh. "I just find it funny that my brother is finally taking a living pony’s side." The voice that sounded through his head remained silent for a moment before speaking again.
“So is there anything that you need me to take care of?” the voice asked, her tone now more serious than before.
"Could you tell Rainbow about the trials that the living needs to complete?" Death asked through the telepathic link. “Miss Sparkle’s part will all be for naught if she is the only one that completes them. Without Rainbow’s trials completed, she will find herself in the exact same position she was before."
"Of course my brother," the heavenly voice replied in a deadpan tone. "What did you think I was going to do? You think I was going to have poor Twilight do her part and have no way back home?"
"Just making sure sister," Death said with a small laugh. "Do you believe that they'll be able to bring Twilight back?"
"Of course they will! Twilight will be in the hooves of her very special athlete once again, just you wait and see." With those words the mental link between the two siblings shattered and Death's thoughts were quiet once again.
“I hope you're right sister…” Death whispered to himself. “I hope you're right…”
Author's Note
So it is finally finished. I have gotten around to updating this story. Really sorry about how long this took to update. At first I had written the majority of the chapter, and then one of the editors had made a suggestion about where the story could go, which meant I had to rework the entire ending of the chapter and it exploded from a 2000 word chapter, to a 5000 word chapter. As of right now the grammar nazi editor hasn't sent me back their edits yet, so there may be some problems here and there within the chapter, and for that I apologize in advance.
Anyway... I am going to try to get an update out for this every month if possible, but please don't hold up to much hope on a solid update schedule. I am going to be focusing on my TaviScratch and new Twidash story a little bit more before I get into this story too heavily. As always feel free to point any issues / grammar problems that you may have with the chapter. Thanks to the editors as usual, and to Hardc0r3Br0n3 for pre-reading the chapter before it was published.
The next chapter will be focusing on Rainbow and Death's sister meeting. Should be a fun one to write 
