The six ponies stood before the figure, a black stallion fading into the darkness surrounding him. His peircing red eyes scanned each of the ponies calmly, emotionlessly. The stallion stood high above all of them, even the Alicorn Princess, though he was simply a pegasus. His broad, feathered wings stretched out behind him, seeming to the make the night even darker.
The stallion looked out over the Elements of Harmony, or at least what was left of them. Sure, on the outside they seemed whole, unphased. But inside, they were broken into a thousand peices, a puzzle that could never be put back together again. They could barely be considered ponies anymore, they were simply empty shells that did their best to survive each day.
No ordanary ponies were meant to live this long but, as destiny would have it, these were no ordanary ponies. They were special, to most. But in the eyes of Death, they were all equals. They were all ponies in the end, and in the end all ponies had to die.
"Who are you?" The fearless leader demanded, her wings outstretched and her horn flairing with magic.
"Who am I? I am the pony who is going to take away your pain."
"Excuse me?" Sneered the rainbow mare, though her voice was weighed down with an invisible burden.
"I am the being that is going to take away your pain and suffering." The stallion repeated calmly, "That is, if you'll allow me."
"Allow you to do what?" Questioned the pale unicorn, her coat a sickly green color.
"As i said. Take away your pain."
"Uh...w...what do you mean...?" Stuttered the yellow pegasus, though she was sure she already knew.
"I am here to take you away from this broken world of death and destruction, and into the next world of peace and harmony."
"We already live in harmony, ya creep!" Snorted the farm pony, stopping her front hooves.
"Yeah, leave us alone you big meanie!" The pink party pony agreed.
"Yes, you live in your so-called harmony. But I am talking about true harmony. A place free of the burdens of life."
The stallion waited and, when no other response came, he continued.
"You little ponies have lived for far too long, and the only reason you've made it this far is because of Princess Celestia."
"What about her?" The purple Alicorn questioned, quickly getting protective of her teacher.
"I doubt she has mentioned me to you, no sane pony would go around bragging that her father was Death himself."
There was a silence, but it was quickly broken by the uncontrollable laughter of a particular rainbow-colored pegasus.
"Are you serious?!" She howled with laughter, "You want us to believe that Celestia, the guardian of all things good, is the daughter of Death? How stupid do you think we are?"
"I would understand ones hesitation. Your limited world view would be shattered in moments. Hm... but what exactly will you make of the peices?"
"Wait..." The rainbow pony stopped laughing, "You're being serious?"
The stallion nodded with a heafty snort, and the group of little ponies fell silent. The first to break the silence was the Alicorn Princess and, though she shook with fear, she remained brave as she asked,
"Why are you here?"
The stallion sighed, "I am here to do what should have been done a long time ago."
"And what exactly is that?" Asked the farm pony.
Another sigh came from the black stallion, "Why, tell me, do you think you haven't aged a day in nearly a millenium?"
"It's... somethin' to do with the Elements... righ'?"
"In a sense... but that is not the full story."
"Well, what is the full story?" Asked the party pony.
"I have all the time in the world to answer your menial questions, but I am just going to cut to the chase. You little ponies should be long dead, and the only reason you still walk this earth is due to a promise I made to my eldest daughter on the day my younger one was freed from her exile, exactly a thousand years ago. I promised to her that I would spare the lives of you measly ponies for a thousand years, and for those thousand years you six would protect Equestria with the Elements of Harmony."
"Yeah right..." The rainbow pony chuckled, though her voice shook with realization, "Like we're supposed to b-believe that the only reason we're alive is because of... of some deal Princess Celestia made with Death... that's... that would never happen , she would-"
"What do you get out of the deal?" The Alicorn Princess interupted.
"The promise to my return to the throne as King."
"Yeah, now we know you're joking," said the rainbow pony, her confidence returning to her, "Celestia would never let you destroy Equestria!"
"Who ever said I was going to destroy it?"
"You're Death. It's what you do."
"Hmm... such fictitious views of death. Death cannot exist without life, and life cannot exist without death. The two must exist in a balence, a harmony if you will. Life and death, sun and moon. Don't you see? All four are nessicary to create the harmony by which you live. You, of all ponies, should know that."
"You don't know anythin' about us!"
"Oh, don't I?
The black stallion stepped forward, looking down at the honest farm pony.
"For a nearly a hundred years, Applejack, you had remained the same, honest pony you had been almost all your life. Dispite the death of Granny smith, Big Mac, and even Applebloom, you stayed true to yourself and remained at the farm. You settled down with a stallion named Bayberry and together you had a foal, a little filly named Appleberry. And, as the years went on, you even had a couple grandfoals. But then you faced you own immortality when you had to lay you only daughter to rest."
The farm pony gasped slightly, the memory of her precious daughter dancing in her mind. The stallion snorted, shifting his red eyes from Applejack to the generous fashionista.
"And you, Rarity, you suffered the least loss. You lost your parents, you sister. But you never settled down, never had a family. In fact, you never gave youself the chance. Smart, in my opinion, since you knew it would only end in heart break. You sealed yourself away withen you boutique, sheilding yourself from the pain of the outside world. And, in your own solitude, you became mad."
The sickly green unicorn whinnied in distaste, lifting her head nonchalantly into the air with a 'hmph!'. The stallion's eyes peirced through Rarity for a long while before he slowly moved onto the next pony in line; the rainbow-colored mare of loyalty.
"And you, Rainbow Dash, you are one of my favorites. Even after you lost your parents, you did not let the pain weigh you down. And when Daring Do died, you brought it upon yourself to continue writting in her name, for you refused to let her stories die along with her. And then came the death of your, dear, beloved Scootloo. Now that broke you down, but if I remember correctly, you made a promise on her death bed. She made you promise that, no matter what happened, no matter what you went through, that you would remain awesome. And you were true to your word, you are the Element of Loyalty after all..."
Rainbow dash went to object, but her words fell silent before they even escaped her mouth. She looked down at the earth, her ears flopping flat against her head. The stallion looked towards the second pegasus and, somehow, his voice seemed kinder.
"Sweet little Fluttershy, another of my favorites." He chuckled softly, "I suppose I have a thing for Pegasi. You suffered the greatest loss, more loss than any creatures should endure in their lifetime. Your parents, you brother. None of those deaths compared to the pain you felt when you lost dear Angel bunny. Yet you did not let the darkness phase you. You adopted three little foals, you heart was always so giving. Timid little Shyren, animal-loving Fawn, and rebellous little Arebella. And, even though their death came before you had a chance to grasp it, you kept on adopting. You gave a home to those in need, to those who wanted nothing more than a mothers love..."
Fluttershy stared up at the massive pony standing in front of her; she smiled a shy smile, though her eyes glimmered with memory. The stallion stared at her for a moment and, was he smiling too? He quickly shook his head, looking towards the dull party pony.
"Pinky Pie... you had the biggest family of all, and that begs the question as to why you haven't nearly as much loss as Fluttershy or Applejack. Well, there is a simple explanation for that. It is not how many you lose, it is how dearly you cared for those you lost. I know, the first couple times it stung. It was the worst pain you felt in your entire life. But, as history repeated itself, you became numb to the pain. Though you loved all of them, you didn't love them nearly as much as Maud or your parents, your husband and children. You could never love anyone as much as you loved them."
Pinky pie didn't even try to object, she simply sniffled and nodded with the sad realization that dawned in her. With a last, deep breath, the stallion turned towards the Alicorn that stood fearlessly in front of him.
"And last, but not least, everyones favorite purple pony Princess. Your situation, Twilight, is much more complicated than the others. You are an Alicorn after all, and that begs the question, who exactly did you lose? There were your parents, Shining Armor, and that's about it. You still have your teacher, you still have your sister. You still have your neice and your precious sidekick. One could argue that you've lost even less than little miss Rarity over here, but hmm... ah! It's appears i've forgotten something. And what could that thing possibly be? Hmm?"
The stallion pretended to be deep in thought; and though the other five ponies had no idea what he was talking about, the Alicorn knew it all to well.
"Ah yes, that tiny little colt. Radient Dawn, was it?"
The stallion looked around and, upon seeing the confused looks on five of the six ponies, he scoffed softly.
"She didn't tell you? I would have thought higher of you, Princess. I understand completely why you didn't tell them, but allow me to fill in the details of your illegitimate son. You found out you were pregnant after a one-night stand with some stallion you barely knew. You were trying to figure out the best way to tell everypony, but your situation fixed itself. Perhaps your child knew he was unwanted, or maybe he just didn't want to live in a world of death."
A silence fell upon the mares, a silence that was desturbed only by the songs of crickets as they flew through the fields of the night. Yet again, the Princess stepped forward, wiping tears from her eyes.
"W...What do you want from us?" She asked in a defeated voice.
"I want you to accept death. Come willingly, your pain will end. You will reunite those you lost."
He turned to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, "You will see your parents and grandparents."
He turned to Pinky pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity "Brothers and sisters,"
He turned to Twilight, "You will see your unborn child. They are all waiting for you and all you have to do is say,-"
"Yes..."
Author's Note
Death doesn't discriminate
Between the sinners and the saints
It takes and it takes and it takes
And we keep on living anyway