“aaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!” Deep Dig wailed in pure agony, as he felt excruciating pain all over his body. Unimaginable waves of torment tore through him down to a microscopic level, twisting all his insides, extinguishing every live cell and rendering it dormant. He could practically feel his organs turning into powder, suddenly vanishing with great fanfare and leaving vast void inside of him. He could feel his own heartbeat diminishing, yet he still unnecessarily continued on living, clinging to this plane of existence with or without necessary organs to do so. It was both physically and mentally arduous experience. It was slow, it was brutal, barbaric. It was probably the worst ordeal one could possibly imagine and bestow upon other creature.

All of it happened in the brief span of a few artificially elongated seconds full of dread on Twilight's behalf. She had to watch helplessly as a new friend and fellow researcher disintegrated in front of her, till the point in which nothing was left but a pile of dust on the now noticeably empty ground. The gruesome spectacle in front of her would turn into a ghost of a once pleasant thought, tormenting and haunting with its presence for the lifetimes to come, for it became integrated and intertwined with her very soul. Burrowed deep into her mind, nesting itself within her psyche and forever engraving its vile memory on her otherwise delicately impeccable retinas, akin to a pungent chemical reacting with an instant film.

Twilight never saw somepony just... fall apart. Heck, she never saw somepony die before. Now she watched in fear as a previously nice stallion who she met mere minutes ago, was transformed by the ways of pain from civilized being into a feral animal, thrashing around and screaming on top of his lungs like one possessed by a malevolent spirit. Twilight wanted to think. Thinking was a thing she did. Yet, unsurprisingly she found that she couldn't do so. Her rational and often pragmatic mind absolutely refused to acknowledge what had transpired in front of her vision, resetting itself by pushing all bad thoughts aside to be buried deeply, sadly along with all the other normal ones. It made Itself a completely new page of a blank scroll, just waiting for any kind of "ink" to fill it back up.

It all rushed back to her in milliseconds. Deep Dig was dead now. He died and she did nothing to help him in any way, shape or form, completely struck with motionless and held captive by the abhorrent situation that she found herself in. Now, she didn't want to think, no more. Now, she wanted to scream uncontrollably and without reason to the heavens. To call for help, the fact that no one will answer notwithstanding. To curl on the cold and dusty stone floor into a tiny ball of mournful misery and stay there for the rest of her presumably rather lengthy life.

Suddenly, the mare was brutally shaken out of her safety cocoon by the temperature drop unlike any other she'd ever felt, her surroundings becoming a bone-crushing island of cold amongst the thick rock walls of the, ironically, hot volcanic origin. In rapid succession to the bitter chill followed some more tangible signs of the degree drop as she could already see water vapor coming in the extended surges out of her mouth and nostrils. Twilight, already confused and cornered by fear into silent obedience, reluctantly focused her sight on Deep Dig or rather whatever was left of him.

She stared absently at his scattered ashes as if he was intended to return from the predicament that had befallen him and somehow rebuild himself anew. Defile the laws of nature on a whim, like they weren't there at all and attack her in a blind rage with a righteous vengeance any second now.

And from the ashes, he rose. Summoned by the taunting of the fate, appearing suddenly like a black cloud of thick smoke on the thunderous sky. Dust ascended from flat of the tiles powdered with remains, flying around and colliding with themselves in a vortex of particles formerly known as an enthusiastic archaeologist. What started to emerge from within couldn't be and certainly wasn't him, quickly making Twilight feel awfully small in comparison to the lurking entity. First to appear was a massive hoof attached to equally overgrown bones of a foreleg, its bleached white tint bereft of any tissue reflecting off the walls with an otherworldly sheen. Right behind it went a second one, equally tremendous and distressing as its predecessor. What followed them was a horn, but no ordinary one. Sickly alabaster cone reminiscent of an ivory tower standing tall and proud, with tip sharper than a sewing needle and length putting even Princess Celestia to shame it almost resembled a sword more than what should be, after all, living tissue. Yet, most hope-sucking and shocking to Twilight was not the impressive horn itself but rather what it was firmly attached to. After it loomed a huge skull studded with threateningly looking rows of pointed teeth, it's eye sockets glaringly empty and devoid of all joy or happiness. One could even accuse the pair of them to actively suck the light out of the area around them, making themselves seem like even blacker pools of noxious tar. All of those grotesque sections were affixed rigidly to a bare spine the length of a monumental whip, whose sickening creaking sounds echoed through the whole of the sizable cave.

When the complete skeleton stepped out of the disgusting whirlwind of former body parts, it was clearly visible how truly enormous its frame was, for it could easily tower above somepony like Celestia a good twenty inches while looking down on over millennium old diarch like on a still growing child. What's important to note, yet without the help of additional muscles and flossy coat to make the disproportion even more apparent that it already would be.

Remaining ash particles started to settle gently on top of the bone cage like a mellow rainfall against a glass pane, forming an ethereal cloak black as night itself, its onyx expanse covering and obscuring all visible cavities from the sight of anyone undesirable. The repugnant skeletal jaw began to move unnaturally without the help of any tendons, making the attempt to speak look like a poor joke of a first-year med school student.

Before it actually spoke in a deep, crisp and hollow voice.

“Thus, the sin of one became a fall for many.”

“Wha- what?” Twilight effectively forced her brain and lungs to cooperate with her once more, refusing to sit idly after such a display of absolutely abominable power, if she was any judge. “What are- who are.. who are you?”

“My dear Twilight, do not ask the silly questions you know the answer to beforehoof. It is not becoming of a mare blessed with an intellect such as yours,” He responded cryptically with conviction, showing his perceptiveness and making Twilight aware of his own intelligence in the process. Yet, not even once he turned to look or even casually glance at her, instead choosing to glare, what appeared to be, straight ahead.

The monstrous mass slowly started shuffling in her general direction and the nearest environment immediately reacted to his leisure movement. All the lowly and half-alive blades of the most resilient grass on the planet, ones that survived countless years in almost total darkness and absence of water, were instantly encased in a thick layer of hoarfrost the closer he got near its few foci. When "blessed" by some direct proximity, the already deflated plants simply darkened and rotted before the eyes of Twilight like a sped-up time lapse-movie.

What she couldn't see or feel, were all the microscopic specks of life wilting and shriveling along with their bigger cousins. Be it a small ant or a simple bacteria, no matter if it's technically alive or not. If it moved or performed even most basic of functions, it died under the influential aura of the newcomer.

When the creature finally reached his chosen final destination situated barely a meter in front of her, all life except for the mare was long extinguished and the feeling of punishment given to the plants barely a minute ago was finally extended to the lone pony as well. The will crushing frost, chilling Twilight's both mind and body to the very bone and freezing down each and every tissue except the ever-flowing blood in her lively arteries.

All the while a hideously long bony neck bent downwards to meet the young princess face to face and look her straight in the eyes despite not having ones himself. Somehow despite being unable to see anything but the immense darkness inside the sockets, you just knew that he was always keenly looking and observing everything around, boring into your psyche and building upon your most irrational fears to his advantage.

“Come now, I know you can do it,” he taunted and rushed the answer out of her.

Twilight summoned all of her wills, all of the once overwhelming power stored in her overflowing pool of confidence, just so she could use it as a deterrent in the emotion concoction designed to render any need to scream on the top of her lungs null and any need to run away obsolete. Somewhere deep inside, the primal instinct told her that this would be a bad idea, no matter how much she wanted to ignore it and bolt ahead.

“You are Death,” she said quietly, managing to dumbfound herself with her own simplistic declaration. Even imagining a scenario in which she would speak out loud those exact words was hard enough of a task. Thinking she would address them with conviction at somepony.. something.

Almost all from the many cultures inhabiting the planet had some personifying depiction of a death incarnate, be them long extinct or ones still existing to this very day. Roughly seventy percent of the known representations painted some form taken from mother nature -like a naked skeleton of a given species- she remembered reading once in a psychology study article. So it happened, the very picture of the stereotypical image designed by the civilization of equines starred down at her this very moment.

“There we go,” he said and rose his head back to its previous position, now standing tall above her once more. “Grim Reaper. Angel of death. Harvester of souls. Pale Pony. All of those describe me well enough, based either on the physical depiction or my primary function.” He stood a few seconds in complete silence. “Yet what you said, I feel is most fitting. It's short and efficient... but conveys so much information, all of it compressed into one light and easy to understand package. A characteristic it shares with the life itself when it's clearly in greatest opposition to it. Also, easy to remember. Perfect, one could say.” Another few seconds of silence followed the brief speech on the understanding of one's name, making it seem like the Reaper was thinking intensely.

“I suppose you want me to explain myself and the grand "master plan" you already perceive or outright assume the goal of as fairly obvious?” he asked while once again looking down at her, this time in a way which suggested quizzical expression and established his ability to emote as at least impressive, given that he lacked any eyebrows to do so. Twilight only nodded recurrently in silence, for she feared that any wrong sentence coming out of her would set him off. “I certainly could... after all, we're both abusing the principles by hoarding all the time in the universe for our own uses and agenda.”

When no response, not even a peep, except for the penetrating gaze came from the Alicorn, he took it as an invitation to continue the monologue undisturbed. “It shall be so then. I'll leave you be, allow your hate to mature and fester within you in peace for some time and in exchange... you will be my regal messenger. I'm making this exception available only because you are one of royal standing, so remember that... it's a deal I extend once, only this once.” Then he broadly performed what someone could call a glare in his doing. “Next time we meet each other, one of us is going to perish. However, remember... that I was never technically alive to begin with.”

Twilight gulped rather audibly, in her notion almost possessing a clear mental picture explaining the perilous nature of the struggle yet to come, its threatening substance ever closer. Surely it will require immense planning on her part, one that was painfully made obvious as one beyond her current ability, since as of now, it took all of her available courage to even talk back to the adversary without stuttering.

“No- not that I wouldn't appreciate some basic explanation from you, any kind of explanation really, but... and don't take this as a bit of advice on how to do your wrongdoings.. why would you tell me any of this in the first place? Don't you think you shouldn't tell your plans to somepony who can stand in opposition to you going through with them? Someone who can try and stop you, should you?”

It was always the same, endless cycle. They would lecture him of all beings, in turn, he would swiftly correct their impertinence and then, finally at the very end of the road, they would claim to know best from the start anyway. It was pitiful the first time around and it is so still. “You're starting to think too highly of yourself. It's not as if you could stop any gears already set in motion eons before your time. I have a higher purpose to fulfill and I thoroughly intend on doing just that, It is a decision set in stone. No living being can change it, not you, not your meager friends, not anyone.” The Reaper exposed more of his nasty yellowish teeth while sneering at her, showing the clearest emotion since his sudden arrival. Yet, any of that was simply irrelevant to Twilight at this moment, for his actions paled in comparison to the much more meaningful message carried by his words. Friends..? My friends? How does he- how much does he know? The mare tried to think of a viable reason behind his frighteningly accurate information while he continued his best to try and crush her fighting spirit further. “Revealing any of my reasons and motivations will not change a single thing in the grand game, for beings higher and older than you by a great margin made their final decisions. Pieces on the chessboard are long set and you, little pony, are losing.”

Twilight wasn't exactly sure how she's supposed to respond to that kind of statement, with how she received at best some residual information up until now. Losing? Losing what... and how? No, thinking like that won't do her any good. She figured her best bet for now is to sit quietly and listen to what the peculiar creature has to say for himself.

Another period of silence presented itself assuredly, Reaper once again immersed deeply in complex thoughts known only to him. Unbeknown to Twilight he didn't think about what to say to her, that was fairly straightforward. Rather... how. How do you simplify something so grand, so divine while in its original unchanged form, that a mere corporeal equine wouldn't be able to even begin acknowledging its splendor. It's something rather beyond its simple plane of comprehension.

“You're Evil.”

What? Did- did she mishear him... or maybe she heard him right but refused to simply allow herself to think about it, even for a second. What he meant by.. that she's.. what? Did he really suggest that SHE, of all despicable ponies out there working tireless day or night to earn such a title and wear it proud, was capitalized Evil? The one and only?

“Not you specifically. Ponies, as a collective body of society,” he explained too calmly for Twilight's own comfort before she was even done thinking about unraveling the mystery of his bold claim.

Did he just.. did he just read my m-, She caught herself mid-rant, before she thought of something that could complicate her already problematic situation even more. After all, if he's reading her thoughts somehow, he also would be made aware of how truly terrified of the aura he emanated she was right now. While all her previous foes delighted at the full range of emotions they could instill in the young mare, terror never was one of them. Fear? Yes, always... to very various degrees. Yet, what none of them accomplished, not Discord nor Tirek... Reaper had done in an instant. Apparently, he's pretty good at what he does. Such skill most probably comes with the occupation, she figured. Yet, Twilight known one thing to be paramount. If she could help it, she absolutely shouldn't give him the satisfaction of making her feel so. That's something she certainly doesn't want, nor could afford in front of him. Not that rather obvious slight trembling of her whole body wasn't giving it away already. Even the violet noble herself wasn't sure if it's the bitter cold or his presence making it happen, but.. getting back to him reading her mind...

“No. As a matter of fact, I didn't do anything of the sort. It is merely a rather useful aftermath of being around mortals long enough. Like a good watchmaker, you steadily learn how are they build and by the time you earn your mastery of the craft, you know how they tick inside. Think. Behave. Rationalize. Ironically to my very purpose, I know how they live.”

Ok.. okay, so he's not reading my mind. Probably. Which only means that he isn't right now. Not that he absolutely couldn't do it. Assuming he's not lying entirely by playing mind games in circles around me. Mentally slapping herself, Twilight tried to get her keen intellect back on track, where it could be most useful. Focus. Keep it together... remember what Princess Celestia said about any kind of diplomatic talks. No matter how fierce, they're all the same. Find out as much as you possibly can while giving away as little as possible. After all, this is just a more bizarre version of the diplomatic talk, right? With a glance up on her newest opponent in the mental game of grandiose chess, she believed her own reasoning less and less. Only with someone who probably won't negotiate. Not that I can or want for that matter and we both know this. Okay, calm. Calm. I'm calm. Listen, don't talk Twilight. Don't talk.

“So tense.” With his head curved curiously to the side personification of Death observed what he'd seen countless times before, yet its persistence through the ages never ceased to amaze him, even if it's just a little bit by now. “After assured that It won't be hurt... It's always the same. Always on a verge of a breakdown and a mere accidental spark could set it off, for it's ready to strike without warning and sometimes even without reason. Like an animal. But isn't that what you are at your core? Just a slightly more advanced animal? Still despicable of you, if you'd ask me,” he started ranting, chattering more with himself than the mare in front of him. A slight tilt of the white skull was performed once more to empathize while his every word was carefully tracked and analyzed by Twilight's methodical nature over and over.

Ready to strike? What on Equis is he talking about? she wondered between his convoluted sentences.

“I'm talking about your deeply encoded nature, my dear. Yours, your family's, your friends, neighbors or even complete strangers you've never met. Your nature is the evil I spoke of or rather the ability to sow it like no other,” The Reaper suddenly stopped, mulling over his last words for a second before continuing. “Actually, let me rephrase that so you can understand. at least to some meager degree. You see, no one is inherently evil. Yet, nor is he simply good. Creatures simply are, their alignment decided by themselves or thrust upon them by others and their actions. Those actions, yours own in this case, had led both of us to where we are today.” He pointed around with his foreleg, annoyingly reminding Twilight about the decorated cave around them as if she had any audacity to forget what happened here.

“The whole premise of life is based on what little time it has upon this material world and what it does with it. For It barely shows up and ends as a mere dust moments later. Logically, It should cherish its existence and better itself with every waking second it has, no? What does it do instead? It consumes without giving, kills what is good and beautiful, starts petty wars over most meaningless of reasons, sometimes leaves weak and sickly in favor of fully capable, destroys lesser beings that were so gracefully given to them to look after... It craves wealth on the expense of others, even when it isn't in need of a single luxury more. When it achieves a brief period of peace paid for with strife of countless, almost immediately squanders it attracted by any gain that it could have, no guarantees.” The dark lord audibly voiced his displeasure with the current state of affairs, at least as they were according to him.

“Most vile creatures of all life however... are ponies.”

Twilight could not believe what she was hearing. Accusing ponies of supposedly being the evilest and despicable of all existing life? Sure, they were not perfect, no one is... but the worst? That's far from reality and she knew it. Even races such as dragons, with as many embarrassing flaws as they had, weren't deserving to be called vile in her opinion. “What? That's not even remotely true!”

“One more word out of order and I will consider our agreement forfeit,” His mere brash glance was enough for Twilight to immediately shush herself shut. Despite his bass voice not being threatening in the least, it notified everyone around and warned of the consequences should anyone continue. “You speak when I say speak. You answer when I ask. When it is clearly your turn... that's how dialogue works.”

Stupid..stupid..stupid..Don't talk. Is that so hard Twilight?

Gargantuan pony continued without pause or her agreement as if he just stated a simple fact of existence no one agreed upon for they needn't. It would be so regardless of what anyone was thinking. Facts were prone to do that.

“Ponies. In their very design intended as paragons of purest harmony in this world. An example for others, something to strive for in the future and admire from up close.” For the first time since they started the whole debacle, Twilight saw something that could resemble a glint of a scowl on the Reaper's "face" and it wasn't a good sign in the least. “Nothing but a bunch of rancid lies under the guise of innocence. You let others wallow in their self filth while you prosper and marinate in complacency, additionally stroking the shaft of the whole state whilst patting its back at a job well done. Throwing others meager remains of what you have and not even out of the goodness of your heart... but to feel better about yourselves and I'll prove it.”

Taking a while to recall all the necessary details and sort through the immense knowledge that he now had, riled beyond measure but still standing calmly Reaper continued.

“Like sending a pair of ambassadors to asses the situation at a bordering foreign power. That's just some responsible thinking. Making the lives of a few citizens just a little less miserable, calling it a day and consider that it's a job well done? That's just plain cruel,” He started, at first confusing Twilight with the origin of such a scenario, yet she felt it sounded oddly familiar and somehow close to her. Despite taking longer than it should, Twilight finally recognized the rough sketch as a description of the ordeal Pinkie and Rainbow Dash went through at Griffonstone a while back. Before she had any time to ask where was this going, the ominous skeleton carried on further.

“Then leaving someone to their own devices by argumentation that they have to learn on their own in order to rise up from their knees. In order for what they rebuild to last ages. From what will they rebuild, tell me?” He waited for the answer, but it never came. “They'll feed their starving with barren lands? Maybe fix their homes with the materials long stolen by the brigands? Or pay each other for the work done with the money they don't have? No, the simple answer is... they won't last, period.”

When Twilight increasingly struggled in a panic to come up with any kind of answer or retort to his accusations, the shadow decided to insert the final nail into the coffin of this prime example in a form of a metaphor.

“Planting a healthy seed at the land where there are none is good and easy. Caring for what you've sown is truly righteous and a great deal harder.”

Reaper stopped for a few seconds, barely keeping his devout judgment in check, knowing it was not yet time to unleash it upon the world. He waited for so long already, what was a few additional minutes? So he started further explanation by the way a mare such as Twilight would understand the most... straight statistical data.

“When Deep Dig prematurely left the material world behind, so did his knowledge. Straight to me,” He painfully reminded the alicorn of the recently deceased, earning him a saddening grimace out of her. “So it appears, he was a rather well-read stallion. For our first example, did you know that in Manehattan alone there are roughly one hundred twenty orphanages?”

The already soundly conflicted mare was startled with a swiftness the Reaper displayed in recalling yet another saddening detail present in their society. W-well, I agree, that's by no means something to be proud of, but what that has to do with-

“..Or that Stallinograd is within the grasp of countrywide gangs for well over seventy years now? Maybe you wish to know murder rates of ever charming Fillydelphia? Mug statistics of prestigious and exemplary Canterlot? Rape data of never-sleeping Las Pegasus? Or even casual property damage of say... charmingly rural Ponyville?”

Twilight's eyes suddenly dilated in surprise, at last predicting where he was attempting to go with this train of thought.

“Yes, yes. Now I know about that too. What do you think fresh Princess? How much yours and your friend's little escapades has cost this country and its people? A million bits? Ten million? Maybe a Hundred? Like I've said in my previous example, the money isn't grown on trees, you know. Sometimes taxes are a sleazy thing to have. Do you ever wonder, how many foals living their lives in some distant remote villages had to work alongside their parents tending to the land, throwing away their laughably short childhood?” After the first time with Discord Twilight would recognize that kind of tactic anywhere. Sadly, with no way to disprove his confident words with knowledge of her own she had to assume that he was just trying to get under her skin using falsified picture sprinkled with detailed disinformation. Yet she promised herself that this wouldn't work. She wouldn't.. she couldn't let him.

“Life at the outskirts isn't as pastel and colorful as it is here, closer to the representational part of the grandiose charade. How many adults had to walk hungry all day long in order for their offspring to live happily, just because they had to pay the crown their share in order to repair the damage that you and you alone caused? You'll have to admit, your mere presence attracts trouble to anywhere you go. Remember the proverb, The road to hell is always paved with good intentions.”

Twilight had enough of it. No more of this... slander! Meddling and muddling her already tarnished psyche to the point where she couldn't tell the right from wrong was too heavily reminiscent of some outlandishly absurd Sombra-Discord hybrid. Even if any of his claims were remotely true, how bringing it up now could justify any of his actions, present or previous. That's not true! That's not... It can't be! No! No. He's lying! He tries to undermine my world view, mock my.. no, our way of life. So far it.. he, has been nothing but hostile towards me. I wouldn't put manipulation of facts past him by now. But I'll let him go on like that a little bit more. Maybe he'll let slip some valuable piece of information I could use later.

“I will simplify things a bit and make this short as much as I am able. Just for you.”

He paused for a few quick breaths that he never really needed in the first place but ones that, in his wisdom, were needed for a dramatic delivery. A sudden appearance of a pair of red spheres in the previously empty sockets revealed the surprising fact that indeed, he had something substituting for the eyes. Significantly more scary thought though, was that up until now he simply decided not to open them. The terrifying replacement for eyes, surely superior beyond the limitations of their fleshy counterparts were cast upon Twilight in the most chilling gaze that she ever received and actually physically felt on her. It was like being intimately touched by an inanimate gesture.

She almost wished that she was dead instead of facing that sort of look.

“You're... a disease. A miserably failed experiment. A mistake in the grand equation. An irrelevant speck of grime in the vast greatness of cosmos. Something that is neither wanted nor needed. You will be gone soon enough and no one or nothing will ever miss any single of you.” The conviction to the case presented by his voice was frightening, clearly caring over a previously decided message. “Better to just put you out of your misery... before you go and somehow do it yourselves.”

That is his sole purpose... his.. unholy mission, as self-imposed it is. To destroy me, my friends and anyone else who dares to stand in his way. He's just another threat to our harmony that I can dispatch on its merry way. I can do it, right? Tirek.. Yes! Tirek wanted to do basically the same thing, brutally subdue and wreak havoc and look where that has led him. Straight back to his cozy place in Tartarus. With the help of my friends, I can do it! I can-

“By now you know some of my motivations,” he interrupted her hopeful train of thought rudely. “Yet, like a mirror, there is always a second side, so listen well and let me start from the very beginning.” For the first time since his coming Twilight felt something resembling a sudden inflow of curiosity within herself. That always was, is and will be the way of living creatures. While she indulged in the primal want to know, the walking skeleton started pacing around in a calm manner, akin to Twilight's own chosen method for clearing one's thoughts in the times of need.

“All the studious of this world would no doubt give up a limb or even life for the information I'm about to disclose to you, so listen well,” the Reaper grimaced as if he fought with himself whether to tell her or not. “For the countless centuries an endless number of ideologies or religions had risen up and crumbled alike, with but a hooffull surviving to this day. Yet almost all of them had a vision of something greater, beyond and above them. They conjured whole pantheons of beings able to manipulate the world according to their whims. Weather, emotions, concepts, even mortals themselves. You name it, surely there was someone contrived to control it,” he droned on slowly, wanting of the thought to grip the brain like magical fire would encompass the flesh thoroughly and relentlessly.

“Sometimes they formed and shaped the laws ruling the world around a singular entity, so immensely powerful and all knowing that you could as well call it omnipotent and omniscient. Unlimited and eternal... Almighty.”

Twilight could and did look on ever dumbly. Was he truly hinting at what she thought? Did he really implicated that.. that...

“Oh, yes. I see the realization setting in quite nicely already.” The Reaper undoubtedly took a sick pleasure in tormenting her like that. “Informing and educating, like a child who should already know better now. I'm telling you of a God. A one that on everything you know and see bestowed a blessing of existence. A one that very much exists and a one that sometimes chooses to act on the world it created.”

Now there it was, finally out in the ether and free to echo around the recently empty cavity that normally should house a brain of a certain mare. She assumed right, dammit. A God. Now, if anyone would to confront her with such a claim without any proper evidence, she would laugh it off and quickly dismiss them. But... out of him...

“So, a while ago ..once upon a starting precipice of time, if you're so curious.. our Creator, this infinite architect, by then it already knew that what it had forged shall turn to dust someday, according to the set of laws it itself established. Maybe not right then and maybe not for a long time, but it will have to come to an eventual end someday in the distant and cloudy future.” Though having virtually none guaranty that his words were even remotely true, for the sake of the future and pony kind Twilight efficiently restrained the basic scholar inside herself for now. Receiving credible information about the one supposedly responsible for the design of the entire universe and everything in it? It had to be charted as one of the greatest mysteries in existence, way up there with the meaning of life, the secret of eternal youth or unreachable understanding of Pinkie Pie.

That was good and everything, but also had some of that utterly intimidating overtone for the ones who tended to think a little bit too much. Namely, ones as Twilight. If the most prominent theories on the current and future state of the universe are true (.. every little piece of data gathered till now suggests that they are..) and it really is infinite... that would mean it required an infinite knowledge to design it, infinite resources to build it with, infinite amount of time to actually do it and infinite presence to maintain it further.

Meaning... if there truly was anyon- anything that orchestrated all of the genesis on its very own, under its sheer power alone.. It would have probably planed this very moment as well. It would be watching both of us right now, most possibly.

Now better than anywhere in the past was the appropriate time to admit something. Twilight, despite her rather academically shifted persona, never considered herself an atheist. More like.. agnostic until proven otherwise. However, after the recent one-sided "debate" or rather exposition dump of the fiend before her, one truth was made painfully obvious. She suddenly felt rather self-conscious about sensing an additional pair of eyes on herself, following her every move with cold calculation and it wasn't a pleasant feeling of attention, not by a long shot. They felt more judgmental and piercing than any gaze cast her way by disappointed Princess Celestia. Ever.

“And for the.. how do you- ah! Pièce de résistance of the whole debacle, In all its glory and wisdom the Creator gave the final task of ending the mortal plane someday.. to me,” he revealed the biggest secret yet, one with terrifying consequences for all involved. “However I wish... whenever I wish. The decision how and when to do so was, and still is, solely mine.” If Reaper could appear smug, now would be the perfect time to do that for him. “It would seem, that it trusts some of its creations more than the other ones.”

Another installment of existential dread pushed violently upon Twilight's psyche. To think that any single being had that kind of authority, to end them all... and based on a pure whim, no less. Yet little did she know, a little respite would be given to her.. only to come back with its bigger brother and crush her even worse than the first time around.

The Reaper lifted his hoof to the ceiling in an attempt to signal a particularly important part. “But.. one was made crystal clear. If I should fail, it would not intervene in the least. "They worked for it and they've earned it.", it said.” The skeletal servant made a strange set of facial motions, making it seem as he wasn't entirely on board with the upper management decision.

All the while Twilight couldn't believe in the cruel joke she was just served dead cold. Making both sides able to fight and virtually setting them up to battle at some point sooner or later? That's like.. the grandest and most mischievous gladiatorial duel of all time!

“That's just.. cruel! What kind of a God is that?”

The sudden outburst of defiance roused the Reaper a little and made him quick to explain, strangely without any kind of hinted anger this time. “Pray tell me, where exactly is it written that an all-powerful being who reigns supreme should also be a caring and kind individual?”

The dark servant continued when the silence was the only answer he got.

“Just like you, it's not evil nor good. It and Its decisions just.. are. It's making them because it can. Who are we to tell it no?” The reference to them both, including Reaper and Twilight alike, didn't escape her keen attention. “That it can't do that since it would be immoral to do so? Maybe it is by mortal standards, but in the greater picture it really changes nothing.”

When the Reaper finally stopped pacing around, he looked upon the ceiling of the cave in a gesture Twilight wouldn't attribute to the rather brutish, if certainly intellectual being. A sign of wonder and doubt, while from the other side of the spectrum crept both conviction and resolve.

“Building a whole world and then leaving it alone to either rise above expectations or decay into nothingness.” He sealed his concrete faith in the might of his maker. “Does that signify indifference for its fate and cruelty to whatever he created... or is it.. generosity of all things, the act of granting you a free will and tools to forge your bright future yourself?”

“There is no right answer, little one.” Turning his sight from the "sky" he looked upon Twilight once more, glowing eyes open this time around. “It is and always have been a matter of chance. If you use the gifts given and flourish, to paraphrase- "You worked for it hard and you rightfully deserve it", If you fester while squabbling and disappointing... you die. Simple as that.”

When no response came even after such a revelation, not an angry one nor defiant, the beast decided on pushing yet another needle into the pincushion called alicorn consciousness.

“You have to face the music, as they say... and please, don't infantilize yourself. Surely you've seen it coming. Beings called Gods do not care for your petty feelings, for you're just an amusement park to them at best... and guess what? As of now, the tickets stopped being profitable. This whole joyride on the coaster of life stops here, today.”

With that metaphor, the Reaper spoke the final line of his latest round with a tone somepony could even call sympathetic. The last of its kind out of him they'll ever hear.

“Once more I've decided. Enough is enough.”

Twilight couldn't believe that.. that.. utter crap! Just what kind of an existence is this supposed to be? A reality without any higher purpose, in which you're not even allowed to make one for yourself because everything will be decided by someone else anyway? Then, as it turns out.. It's rather true what some use to say. Sure, search for the answer to the questions about your existence all you like... but are you sure you want that kind of knowledge?

Suddenly Death spoke. Any kind of twisted sympathy, as little as he had it displayed previously, now gone forever. Twilight wasn't sure if he predicted her thoughts once more or if he had really started reading her mind this time around. “I'm hardly a dullard. I simply know that you will be one of the biggest thorns in my side. Luckily for you, I keep my promises so that you'd have your chance to be that insignificant thorn at all. Remember this kindness.”

Kindness? He calls promise of killing everypony I ever held dear, kindness! Twilight was almost riveted to the stone flooring with building anger.

“That's why I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Can you keep it hush-hush, just for me?” he asked, this time with almost genuine sweetens in his voice which in tandem with his unnerving appearance created a rather grotesque image. When the purple mare agreed silently, the choice not up to her anyway, it only stepped up to a highly unsettling level of creepy.

“I don't do anything halfway. If I'm to cleanse the world of all that is even remotely breathing, I'm going to make sure that whatever comes after you will remember this as a lesson and a warning. So I WANT you to know what awaits ahead. I know no mercy, forgiveness or sympathy. Those are mortal principles and If I should choose so, they do not apply to being such as I. It's true that I may know what they are, I may understand where they're coming from, I may fake them myself or even decide to bestow them upon someone, but I will never truly feel them. We prefer, as one of your books states, An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth approach. Only, unfortunately for you on a thousandfold greater scale.”

The Grim Reaper closed the already minuscule distance between them even further, almost to the point in which Twilight could feel the cold breeze that tried passing for his breath on her own face, with her eyeballs threatening to freeze over like the poor plant life.

“But let's make this even more thought-provoking now, shall we? You'll agree that lessons are better learned hard after all. Go, prepare yourself, rally your troops, evacuate your citizens, go ahead and give them a spark of false hope. Give yourself a feeling of duty to your loved ones, say them straight in the eyes that you will protect them, keep them safe from all harm, lie to them and as you do it.. think about their comforted faces. This will be the last time you see those ever again. Where there is a crime, there is also punishment. You are too far gone to come around. Face it, princess, your world is coming down whether you like it or not.”

That brief "speech". That was the one thing it took to strip away all the confidence Twilight managed to build up earlier, for it to vanish in an instant. Now she stopped lying to herself, this was nowhere near Tirek level. It was not a matter of freedom or enslavement. It was a case of live or die.

When the pale skeleton was finally satiated and contended with his marvelously villainous work, he rose slowly in preparation to leave the place that previously acted as his point of residence for an untold amount of time. He passed Twilight like she never existed in the first place and prepared for a lengthy walk to see the light of the day star for the first time in millennia.

While Twilight stayed where she sat, with her gaze fixated somewhere untold thousands of kilometers ahead of her.

Reaper, currently climbing numerous steps leading from the inside resting chamber to the outside world, decided to speak his last piece to her.

“Oh.. and a little friendly tip for you before I go. I would watch my back if I were you. For it will get stabbed, sooner or later,” he said with twisted assurance upon reaching the very top of the stairs. Little did Twilight know, not Universe, nor Reaper were done destroying her psyche just yet.

The apparent pupil of the higher being turned his head a little to gaze behind with disinterest and lazily waved with one hoof as if to recall a dog to his heel. “Come, Deep Dig.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

Those three little words were enough to break the inner "spell" put on Twilight and brutally force her to return from the mental banishment she sent herself on, turning her gaze in the general direction where once Deep Dig stood beside the golden ark. And surprisingly, where he stood once more.

But as soon as Twilight set her eyes on him proper, she truly wished she didn't. Instead of a once proud, strong, cheerful stallion, was a literal monster pulled straight from the adult horror novels. Eyes appearing to be overcast with thick mist akin to someone befell with cataract, coat a matted pale shadow of its former self. Sunken jaw and cheeks ..or better described.. lack of the latter with rotting teeth clearly visible through created holes. A big gaping and revolting chasm in a place where his chest should be, cracked ribs and no longer beating heart out in the open. Left rear leg completely devoid of any supporting flesh, naked to the very bone. At last, various spots all over his body were missing coat, with some cases devoid of skin and muscle tissue as well.

Twilight's terrorized scream sounded anew through the entirety of the cave and to anyone uninitiated in the current situation it would sound probably much like a pure terror of somepony being murdered ruthlessly. In this case, the one murdered was Twilight's innocence... or what was left of it at this point.

A small distance away, under his black cloak Reaper managed something that any observer would call an alarmingly unholy attempt at a smirking smile.

“I'm glad you can appreciate how he turned out. I've done what I could, while working with what little material I had left,” he said more to himself than to her, knowing very well that she probably didn't hear any of that, to absorbed in her cacaphony of terror. With opportunity to amuse himself passed, he slowly yet steadily proceeded down the long corridor towards the outer halls and in short time the surface proper.

Twilight lay on the cold stone slabs of the former prison for goddess.. or god... whatever knows how long. The passage of time mattered little to her, she had far more pressing concerns as of now. She quietly wept to herself without care if somepony could actually hear her desperate plead for consolation. Now Deep Dig was not only dead. Now he suffered a fate worse than death by an untold margin, displayed in any conceivable measuring scale.

And it was all her fault.

Why? Why did I let him touch that blasted tomb? If I just ..sob.. stopped him. He... he probably had a family! A one tha- that loved him. Such outgoing pony surely had many Friends who'll miss.. Friends... my... my friends. The damnable bastard of a bone bag will go after mine ..sniff.. friends and countless other innocents for sure. I can't let him do that, I can't. I must warn them! Princess.. I must get to the Palace, warn Princess Celestia and... and Luna too. All of them.

Accompanied by the overwhelming feeling similar to a ton of lead laid screwed to her scalp and interwoven into her bones, Twilight struggled to rise. After trying to perform this indeed gargantuan task of resilience for what felt like literal hours, straining for what seemed to stretch indefinitely into eternity, she felt a mysterious newfound reserve of power previously hidden from her sight somewhere deep inside. Yet in the end, It mattered not from whence the power came as long as it helped her do what she must. She won't allow anyone else to get hurt because of her foolishness and in order to do that, she needed to hurry.

With this most recent thought taking a hold of the greater part of her mind, she set herself on a one-track path leading outside the cursed cave and to the world above. Trailing after the Reaper.

Author's Note

Talk, TALK, talk, Talk, TALk, talK, and talk once again.

Too much of it? Well... maybe.. maybe. But it's one of several chapters in the story almost solely dedicated to dialogue, because of its importance and impact on the later story... Huh? And without the fancy words? Yeah, I guess it's just an exposition dump then. What do you expect, I'm a retard, not Stephen King.

I wish I was Stephen King. Do you know how much cocaine you could buy with that much money? A lot. A lot is the answer.

(But seriously, I don't do drugs and neither should you. Except for alcohol. Which, I guess is technically a drug. At least, it definitely is at the quantities I'm absorbing it. Yes, not drinking, we're way past that. I simply pour it on top of my head and absorb it through my skin like Pillar Men from JoJo.

Ehh... Esidisi was my favorite.)

Also, I deleted all the chapters past this one. Zonk! Whaaaat?
They were shit...tier than usual. In a true Rarity fashion (Rarity, fashion.. see what I did th- ah, nevermind.) I'm beautifying them, so your eyes don't have to bleed no more.

You're welcome!

Now to the thoughts!

Jumping from 3,029 words of the original to the whooping 8,206 that you've just read now. Bazinga, I'll say.

The map of the world I promised is going ...ehh, well... it's going..well. In the works, it is. Work in progress. Road work ahead. Pozor, musíš počkat. Achtung, du mußt warten!

All this pseudo grandiose talk about gods, death and whatnot makes me 'hella hungry for some weird reason.

Oh, by the way. The Gore tag is not for this chapter yet. I'm getting it worse. Much worse. The worsest.

If the Reaper appears to be contradicting himself at a few points, ahaha! Surprise! There's an actual story reason for that, you sneaky bugger.

What...? Tell you? Goddess, fuck no. Why would I spoil you on future juicy stuff?
...
Ohh, okay. It's because Ha ha! You thought it was a spoiler, but it was me,ゴゴゴゴ Dioゴゴゴゴ!
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As always, If anyone sees something weird in the chapter, notify me right away and I'll be sure to correct it if it truly turns out a flaw.

Sponsored by music that I listened to while writing this :

The Weather Girls - It's Raining Men >>> Yes, yes.. I know.
Carl Orff - O Fortuna >>> He he, funnyyyyy...